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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023031S
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00:13 (music ends) 00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:18 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:19 We're delighted that you could be with us again today 00:22 as we continue our study through the book of Ephesians. 00:25 It is an incredible book, 00:27 and we are learning some incredible things. 00:29 This week is lesson number 6, 00:31 and that is "The Mystery of the Gospel." 00:34 We're glad that you could join us today. 00:36 Let's begin with prayer. 00:38 Father, we wanna thank You for being with us today 00:40 as we are looking at the book of Ephesians 00:43 and gaining a deeper understanding 00:45 of Your love for us and Your plan for our lives. 00:49 We ask now that You will bless our time together 00:51 and guide us through this study. 00:53 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:56 >>Amen. >>Well, not only 00:57 are we glad that you're here; 00:58 we're also glad that our special guest here 01:01 is here as well, 01:02 and that is the author of the Sabbath school lesson, 01:04 Dr. John McVay. 01:05 He is the president of Walla Walla University. 01:08 John, welcome back once again. 01:10 >>Eric, there's no place I'd rather be 01:12 than right here studying Ephesians with you. 01:14 >>This is an exciting book, 01:16 and no doubt people have read it before. 01:19 They've gone through it, 01:20 they've picked at it, they've heard a few verses 01:22 commonly quoted from it, 01:24 but we're looking at some grand themes here. 01:27 >>We are, we are. >>We are looking 01:28 at some very deep things, some very practical things. 01:31 And today we're looking at "The Mystery of the Gospel," 01:35 "The Mystery of the Gospel," 01:36 especially as we find it in Ephesians, chapter 3. 01:40 So give us a little overview of Ephesians, chapter 3. 01:45 There's 21 verses in this chapter. 01:48 How is chapter 3 structured, 01:50 and what can we expect to get out of this? 01:53 >>Well, if we go back to our first lesson, 01:55 you'll remember that Ephesians, 01:57 like many Pauline epistles, is divided in two, 02:00 and so where it divides is at the end of chapter 3. 02:04 So, we're moving toward that dividing point. 02:08 Paul is still focusing on the grand Christian story, 02:13 salvation history, how God has been active 02:15 in salvation history for believers. 02:17 He's still on the doctrine side, 02:19 teaching us about Christian faith 02:22 and God's action in Christ to redeem humankind. 02:25 At the end of this, then, chapter 4, 02:27 we're gonna turn toward that instruction 02:30 in the nitty-gritty of Christian life and discipleship. 02:34 But he's still soaring here, Eric; 02:36 he's still soaring. 02:37 And one thing about Ephesians we haven't really discussed 02:41 is that the language is--some people call it 02:45 "flying high," "full-blown," "fulsome." 02:49 It's rich language, but it can have a certain impact on us. 02:54 We can read a passage, 02:55 we can know that it's wonderful language, 02:57 but we can struggle a little bit to say, 02:59 "Now, what did that really say?" 03:01 So I think it is valuable to slow down, 03:04 listen to this rich language, 03:06 and try to get a handle on all these great things 03:09 that God has done for us in Christ. 03:12 >>So we're doing that here in chapter 3. 03:14 Walk us through chapter 3. >>Sure. 03:16 >>What are the different sections of chapter 3, 03:18 and what is Paul hoping that we're going to be able 03:21 to understand as he writes this? 03:24 >>The chapter itself, like the letter as a whole, 03:26 divides into two. 03:28 So chapter 3, verses 1-13, is a biographical, 03:34 autobiographical reflection. 03:35 Paul, now, you'll remember, is in prison, 03:38 he's at an advanced stage in his career, 03:41 he senses that the end is near, 03:44 and so he's ruminating; 03:46 he's thinking about the privileges 03:49 that he's had to serve Christ. 03:51 He's looking back and thanking God for the ways 03:55 that He has blessed him in his ministry 03:58 as an apostle to the Gentiles. 04:01 So that's the first half, if you will, verses 1-13. 04:05 And then when we get to the second half, 04:08 we have the prayer report, verses 14-19. 04:11 He's discussing the reasons for his prayers 04:15 on behalf of the believers in Ephesus 04:18 and what he prays about, 04:20 and then he concludes with a brief doxology. 04:22 So first half, second half, second half, verses 14-21. 04:26 But there's something really interesting 04:28 about the structure here, and that's the fact that he begins 04:32 to give his prayer report, 04:35 and then he interrupts himself 04:37 and moves into this autobiographical reflection 04:40 about his career as apostle of the Gentiles. 04:43 And then he moves back to his prayer report. 04:45 Now, how do we know that? Well, look at verse 1. 04:48 He starts in verse 1: "For this reason I, Paul, 04:51 a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles." 04:55 And then he breaks off, right? And moves into this, 04:59 and then we know that he picks it back up 05:02 because in verse 14, 05:04 he again uses the language "for this reason," right? 05:07 So he starts giving his prayer report: 05:10 here's why I pray about you; here's how I pray about you, 05:12 for you; here's the things I pray about; 05:14 here's my prayer list on your behalf. He starts that, 05:18 breaks off into this autobiographical reflection 05:21 about his life and ministry, and then he picks back up 05:24 with that prayer report in verse 14. 05:26 So, do you ever get interrupted 05:28 and go off on little tangents and return to the original 05:32 line of thinking? >>Sure. 05:33 That's very, very common. 05:35 And if you're writing and that happens, 05:36 you might just hit delete, delete, delete-- 05:38 >>Yeah. >>...and you get rid of that 05:39 verse 1, as it were, and pick it up. 05:42 But he doesn't. It's left there for us to kind of marvel at. 05:45 >>Sure. The chapter really hangs together beautifully. 05:48 And I'm inclined to think 05:50 he almost did this intentionally, but nonetheless, 05:55 he does break off and come back to this prayer report 05:59 in the last half of the chapter. 06:01 >>A beautiful insight into Paul and his character. 06:05 I love that. 06:07 So what is the--we're looking at the book of Ephesians. 06:09 What is the purpose of Ephesians? 06:10 Why is it here? Why does it mean so much? 06:13 What was Paul pouring into it that we can take out? 06:17 >>Well, back in lesson 1, 06:18 we did look at chapter 3, verse 13 06:21 as a clue to the purpose of Ephesians. 06:24 So, Paul is giving this reflection on his life 06:29 as an apostle to the Gentiles. 06:31 And he comes to the end of that, and he says-- 06:34 he's basically saying about his life-- 06:36 this is the basic gist of the first half: 06:39 "There's some stuff in my life that looks pretty awful. 06:43 There are things that have happened to me that are bad," 06:49 afflictions and challenges and this and that, 06:52 but he's saying to them, "All of that is part of God's plan. 06:59 "All of that mean-spirited stuff that I've experienced 07:01 "is part of God's work in my life. 07:04 "And as I look back on it now 07:05 "at this advanced stage in my career, 07:09 God's had a hand in all of this." 07:12 And so, verse 13, "You shouldn't despair about me." 07:18 And apparently that's exactly what they're doing. 07:20 They're in some despair that their great champion, 07:22 their leader, their pastor is in prison. 07:24 And if he's in prison, 07:26 that means that Christianity's shot. It's over, 07:29 it's finished, it's done. 07:32 In verse 13, he says, "So I ask you"-- 07:36 he specifically and forthrightly asks something of them-- 07:39 "So I ask you not to lose heart 07:43 "over what I am suffering for you, 07:46 [because it's actually for] your glory." 07:48 It's in God's plan, part of God's plan. 07:51 So, the easiest way to describe the purpose of Ephesians 07:56 is to move to that verse and say that Paul is concerned 08:00 that Ephesians, that believers in Ephesians 08:04 in the house churches that have grown up 08:05 in the last six or seven years, 08:08 that a lot of people he doesn't know here, 08:10 he's concerned that, with him in prison, 08:13 with things taking a downturn 08:15 in the greater metro-Ephesus area, 08:18 Christianity not being as popular as it once was, 08:21 that they're gonna lose heart, and they're gonna lose faith, 08:24 and they're gonna move back into their pagan ways 08:27 of worshiping many gods. He's concerned about that. 08:31 And so he's talking about what God has done in Christ 08:34 in establishing the church, this great enterprise, 08:38 and he's trying to help them see the grand significance 08:40 of being part of that great enterprise. 08:43 >>So we find that the purpose of Ephesians, 08:46 here in this interruption, as it were, 08:49 and we also find this very interesting phrase 08:52 in verse number 4. 08:56 It says, "By which, when you read, 08:59 ...may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." 09:02 >>Yes. >>So this interruption here 09:04 has some meat in it. What is this-- 09:07 we see the purpose here-- >>Yes. 09:08 >>...what is this mystery of Christ that 09:10 Paul is talking about, that he doesn't just address here, 09:13 but he talks about it and wants us to understand something-- 09:17 what is that? 09:19 >>Well, it's a term that he uses a few times in Ephesians. 09:22 He uses it here in verses 3, verses 4, 09:26 and verse 9, verses 3, 4, and 9. 09:30 And he uses it elsewhere, a string of places, 09:32 in Ephesians as well. 09:34 So it's an important term for us to understand, 09:36 part of the fabric of the epistle to the Ephesians. 09:40 Fortunately, chapter 3, verse 6, gives us 09:43 probably the clearest sense of what he means by it. 09:48 A synonym would simply be "the gospel," right? 09:51 The mystery is the gospel. 09:53 And he says here, "This mystery is"-- 09:58 and so here comes the definition, right?-- 10:00 "that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, 10:05 "members of the same body, and partakers of the promise 10:09 in Christ Jesus through the gospel." 10:12 So a way to summarize that would be 10:14 the full inclusion of the Gentiles 10:18 within the church and within God's plans 10:21 for the future of humankind, right? 10:23 Full inclusion of the Gentiles. 10:25 Now, of course, it's the gospel of Jesus Christ. 10:27 It's God's actions in Christ to bring that about. 10:31 Why the term "mystery," then? Because this is something 10:34 he's wanting to shout from the mountaintop. 10:36 So what's the bit about mystery? 10:39 Well, part of it is historical. 10:42 Paul sees this mystery as being unfolded in his ministry 10:46 and in the ministry of others in this era. 10:49 So it has been a mystery, but now through their preaching, 10:53 it has become an open secret, right? 10:56 The mystery has become an open secret. 10:58 There may be another reason that he uses the term here, 11:01 and this is much less certain, 11:03 but there were something called "mystery religions" 11:07 in the first century. So what would a mystery religion be? 11:13 Would be a religion focused on a mystery, right? 11:15 So you could go through all these strange rituals 11:17 as an initiate into these mystery religions, 11:20 and you would be told these secrets 11:22 that you promised never to tell. 11:25 And so there were these mystery cults, 11:27 and they were very popular and very common 11:30 at the time of Paul in the first century. 11:33 And so it's possible that he's implying here, Eric, 11:36 that if you wanna know a real mystery, 11:39 if you really wanna be inducted into something that matters, 11:42 you wanna become an initiate 11:43 in the greatest of all mystery religions, 11:46 the only one that's true, 11:48 you need to know the mystery of the gospel. 11:50 You need to know what God is doing, 11:52 in Christ, to create the church. 11:54 >>And so he's giving us, 11:56 now opening up what this mystery is, 11:58 at least as much as we can grasp it today, 12:01 seeing the fullness of the gospel 12:04 as he's laying it out for us 12:07 and giving us insights into God's desire 12:10 for everyone here on Planet Earth, 12:13 the Jews and the Gentiles together, 12:15 bringing it all together, a beautiful, beautiful picture. 12:18 John, before we go to break, 12:20 I wanna give you another opportunity to share with us 12:22 a little bit more about what's going on 12:24 in the companion book. 12:26 We've been reading through the study guide 12:28 day by day. >>Sure. 12:29 >>But we've also got this companion book that is available. 12:32 Tell us a little bit more about what's in here. 12:34 >>Well, the companion book gives me an opportunity 12:38 to unpack some of the wonders of Ephesians. 12:40 Now, we're working on this in half-hour segments, 12:44 week by week moving through, 12:46 and it seems like a lot of time together, 12:49 but in some respects, we are just scratching the surface. 12:52 And if you'd like to go a little deeper, 12:54 see some of the concepts 12:55 that we've been talking about unpacked, 12:57 applied to our lives, 12:59 the companion book is a good place to find that. 13:02 >>Fantastic. So if you'd like to pick up the companion book, 13:05 it is very easy to do. 13:07 Just go to itiswritten.shop, 13:09 again, itiswritten.shop. 13:11 Look for the book "Ephesians" by Dr. John McVay. 13:15 You will find it there. 13:16 You can pick it up, 13:17 and it will be an immense blessing to you 13:19 as you continue to delve into 13:21 this incredible book of the Bible. 13:24 We look forward to seeing you back in just a moment. 13:26 We're going to continue our study of lesson number 6, 13:29 "The Mystery of the Gospel." 13:31 We'll see you back in just a moment. 13:32 (uplifting theme music swells and ends) 13:37 >>Racism is a serious issue 13:39 that challenges societies around the world. 13:43 In the United States, racism has again come to the fore. 13:47 Tensions have escalated. 13:50 The Bible speaks directly to the question of racism. 13:54 An unlikely New Testament story shows how God feels 13:58 about racism and demonstrates 14:01 that love and unity can be accomplished 14:05 when the Holy Spirit is allowed to change hearts. 14:09 Don't miss "Jesus and Racism" 14:12 and see that division is not inevitable 14:15 and that unity is achievable 14:18 through the power of the gospel. 14:20 "Jesus and Racism," 14:23 addressing an important subject affecting today's world 14:26 and offering hope through the Word of God. 14:29 Don't miss "Jesus and Racism," 14:32 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 14:37 You know that at It Is Written, 14:38 we are serious about studying the Word of God, 14:41 and we encourage you to be serious as well. 14:44 Well, here's what you do 14:45 if you wanna dig deeper into God's Word. 14:47 Go to itiswritten.study 14:49 for the It Is Written Bible Study Guides online, 14:52 25 in-depth Bible studies that will take you through 14:54 the major teachings of the Bible. 14:57 You'll be blessed, and it's something 14:58 you'll want to tell others about as well: 15:00 itiswritten.study. 15:02 Go further: itiswritten.study. 15:07 (uplifting theme music) 15:11 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:13 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:15 We are looking at Ephesians, chapter 3 today 15:18 and "The Mystery of the Gospel." 15:21 John, when we take a look at verses 14-19 15:24 here in chapter 3, 15:26 we see some prayer requests that Paul makes 15:29 on behalf of believers. 15:30 What's the significance of these prayer requests, 15:33 and why are they important for us to see? 15:36 Why were they important for Paul to put in the letter 15:38 and for us to see today? 15:40 >>Isn't this an incredible thing 15:41 to have Paul's prayer list for believers, 15:44 to actually be able to read his prayer list? 15:47 This is wonderful, and it should teach us something 15:51 about how to pray 15:53 and what we have a right to ask for 15:57 before the throne of God. 15:59 It's very touching. 16:00 So you could break this down, I think, nicely, Eric, 16:04 into three prayer requests. 16:07 So, they're all kind of complicated 16:09 because they're part of this rich language of Ephesians 16:11 where he tends to add prepositional phrase 16:13 to prepositional phrase to, you know, 16:16 lengthy description of something. 16:18 So it's a little hard to divide it, 16:20 but let's call verses 16 and 17 16:22 his first prayer request. And in that prayer request, 16:27 he asks God to grant believers in Ephesus 16:32 an abundant spiritual experience. And as you would expect, 16:36 it's rooted in the presence of the Holy Spirit 16:38 in their lives, right? 16:39 So he wants inner strength through the Spirit's presence, 16:44 "strengthened...in the inner man," 16:47 strengthened with the power through His Spirit 16:49 in your inner being. 16:51 So he wants something deep in our hearts 16:54 and minds to happen. He wants the Spirit to dwell there, 16:58 to make His presence felt in our lives, 17:01 down deep in our hearts, right? 17:04 Down deep in the very, very inside, 17:07 central part of our being, 17:09 that we would find God present through His Spirit. 17:12 That's a grand request. 17:14 And he's joining with that in his first request, 17:17 that he wants us to have what I would call 17:20 "intimacy with Christ." 17:22 And this part of his prayer has become very special to me 17:25 as I've just meditated on it and thought about it: 17:28 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts 17:33 through faith." 17:35 What a privilege as Christians! 17:37 And Paul is praying that that will happen. 17:39 Not a little visit now and again, 17:42 not just a high spiritual moment once every six months 17:45 where you sense Christ within you, 17:49 but that Christ would dwell, 17:51 stay, remain, inhabit, camp, (chuckles) 17:56 set up His dwelling place in your heart, in your mind. 18:01 This is, these are not trivial blessings 18:04 (chuckling) that he's praying for. 18:07 And then he wants them to have-- 18:08 still on the first prayer request, 18:11 compound prayer request, we could call it-- 18:13 a settled, secure, spiritual identity, 18:17 that they might be rooted and grounded in love. 18:21 Whose love do you suppose he has in mind? 18:23 >>God's love. >>God's love. 18:25 So at the very heart of our being 18:28 and our identity as Christian disciples, 18:31 Paul wants to plant the Spirit, the presence of Jesus, 18:37 and a settled sense 18:38 that I am valued by God. 18:43 Those who sit--those three Beings 18:47 that sit on the throne of the cosmos, 18:49 the Godhead, treasure me, know me individually, 18:54 and They love me. 18:56 Wow! What a prayer request. 18:58 >>And that's only the first 18:59 of these three. >>That's the first one. 19:01 >>He's got two others here. 19:02 So as if that weren't enough-- >>Yes. 19:04 >>...he says more. 19:06 >>Each of these can give us just plenty 19:08 to think about, meditate on, pray over. 19:13 Let's access Paul's prayer list. 19:16 Let's make it our own. Let's hear him praying for us. 19:20 Let's lay claim to these blessings 19:22 that are so crucial to the Christian life. 19:25 So his second prayer request, verses 18, 19:29 the first half of verse 19, 19:31 invites fresh understanding for his audience 19:36 in this language: "Strength to comprehend 19:38 "with all the saints what is the breadth 19:41 "and length and height and depth, 19:43 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge." 19:46 So again, he's interested in planting God's love 19:51 and Christ's love, the sense that Christ loves us 19:56 at the very inner part of our being. 19:59 And notice how many dimensions he uses here. 20:02 We're used to three dimensions, right? 20:04 But in his effort to express the wonder of all this, 20:07 he adds another dimension. So there are four dimensions 20:12 that he mentions here of Christ's love. 20:15 So we take away from this, from all of this, 20:20 just a wonderful sense of God's love for us, 20:24 His care for us. 20:26 It's hard to really tune in to this language in one sense 20:30 because it's just so grand and glorious. 20:32 >>It almost sounds, at the end of verse number 18, 20:34 like Paul trails off in wonderment. 20:37 >>Yes, there's a sense of that. 20:38 >>"The width and the length 20:40 and the depth and the height"-- 20:42 and his mind just goes-- 20:44 >>But he has one more prayer request 20:45 that kind of puts it all in a little more crisp way, 20:50 includes everything--the grab-bag prayer request, 20:53 we could call it. Prayer request number three, 20:55 summing up the intent of his prayers: 20:57 "That you"-- (chuckles) Eric-- 21:00 "That you"--human being that you are-- 21:03 "[might] be filled with all the fullness of God," 21:07 filled to the brim 21:09 with God's grand blessings of grace, 21:13 knowledge of God's love, 21:15 a settled sense of who you are in the presence of God. 21:18 >>Can't imagine not wanting to experience that, 21:22 I mean, every Christian believer desires to experience that, 21:25 and that's Paul's prayer, that we would experience that. 21:29 >>What a prayer, what a grand prayer. 21:31 >>An incredible prayer. 21:34 There's something else here that we see in this chapter, 21:37 and we get this picture of Paul as a mentor. 21:42 Help us to see what's going on here. 21:45 >>Well, for me, focusing much of our attention here 21:50 on verses 1-19, 21:55 particularly 1-13, but also including his prayer, 22:01 it's interesting to think of Paul as a mentor. 22:03 Could you think of a better mentor? 22:05 Greatest, arguably the greatest Christian missionary 22:08 and apostle of all time, 22:10 what if he tapped you on the shoulder, Eric, and said, 22:12 "Eric, thank you for all the efforts 22:14 you're taking to spread the gospel. Could I be your mentor?" 22:18 >>I think I'd probably take him up on. 22:20 >>I think we would. 22:21 And in a sense, we have that privilege here. 22:24 So I've tried to read this passage-- 22:27 I work with college students all the time, 22:29 so I'm trying to think of Paul 22:31 as mentor of college students here, 22:32 tapping them on the shoulder, saying, "Let me tell ya, 22:35 "if you want to live a successful life, 22:37 a life of true significance, here's how to go about it." 22:42 And I think there are some real principles here 22:44 as we move through the passage. 22:46 Now, I unpack these in some detail in the companion book, 22:51 and I'm just gonna mention them in very brief scope here. 22:54 But, for example, first bullet, first point: 22:58 "True success is all about getting caught up 23:01 "in the grand plan of God. 23:03 "God is calling you into His great project 23:06 to unify all things in Christ." 23:09 So, don't just look for some job that may pay well 23:13 but has no real significance attached, says Paul. 23:16 You want to, in some way, you want to be involved 23:20 in the grandest plan of all, 23:23 and that is God's great plan to unify everything in Christ. 23:28 If your work and your life isn't about that, 23:30 you're missing out; 23:31 you're missing an opportunity for deep significance. 23:34 Second, don't just tune in to your passion. 23:36 Now, you know, commencement speakers for high school 23:40 and college everywhere say, "Tune in to your passion." 23:44 But it is as though Paul is saying here, 23:47 "That didn't work out for me. I tuned in to my passion. 23:49 "I ended up on the Damascus Road 23:51 "knowing that my life needed utter transformation. 23:54 "And then I lost everything. And when I lost everything 23:58 "because of my commitment to Jesus, 24:00 that's when true significance began." 24:02 Don't just tune in to your passion; listen for God's call, 24:07 again, summarizing verses 1-6 there 24:09 in that sense he gives us. 24:11 Another one--again, verses 1-6-- 24:14 "True success is all about getting caught up 24:18 in that grand plan of Paul," as we talked about. 24:23 "The best opportunities are not earned 24:26 based on your own merit." 24:28 We think in the world of résumés and jobs 24:30 that it's all about, you know, getting my résumé just right 24:33 to highlight all the accomplishments 24:35 that I've made and everything that I've done 24:37 and present myself as a person of great wisdom 24:41 and great skill and wonderful education and experience. 24:46 But Paul gives some sort of counter-cultural 24:49 advice here, doesn't he? 24:51 "The best opportunities are not earned on your own merit; 24:55 they are gifts of God's grace," verses 7-8. 25:00 "Again, the scope of God's plan for you is vast," verse 10. 25:04 "He imagines you engaged in cosmic leadership." 25:09 And you get that. Again, he wants these believers 25:12 to live lives of significance. 25:15 I like this next-to-the-last point: "Don't work for a boss. 25:21 Join the family business. Work for your Father." 25:24 Verse 14 talks about God as Father. 25:27 And then finally, "Be sure to choose a powerful Mentor"-- 25:31 capital "M"-- 25:33 "who will provide you with everything you need." 25:36 And there's where we come to that prayer request 25:38 where he prays that all of these grand blessings 25:40 will be provided by God to these disciples. 25:44 Choose a Mentor, capital "M," 25:46 "who [can] provide you with everything you need." 25:48 >>So this is great advice from a mentor, 25:51 lowercase "M"-- >>Yes. 25:53 >>...about taking up a better Mentor, capital "M." 25:57 >>He wants to pass us off to the real Mentor. 25:59 >>He really does. And that's kind of interesting 26:02 because when you look at verse number 8 in this chapter, 26:05 Paul says, "To me, who am less than the least 26:09 of all the saints." 26:11 So here he is, we think of him as this great Christian, 26:15 and he calls himself "less than the least." 26:19 It seems a little...odd. 26:22 >>It is a little odd. But as you look at this, 26:26 throughout Paul's correspondence, 26:28 there's a fascinating progression that goes on here-- 26:30 or maybe a regression from one standpoint. 26:34 Galatians is one of his earliest letters, 26:36 some think probably the earliest. 26:39 He starts out there, "Paul, an apostle, 26:41 appointed by God through Jesus Christ." 26:44 "I'm an apostle," you know, 26:46 and he certainly was and certainly has a right 26:48 to lay claim to that, now, doesn't he? 26:50 But then, later he introduces himself, 26:54 1 Corinthians 15, verse 9, as "the least of the apostles" 26:58 and "[not even worthy] to be called an apostle." 27:01 What's happening to him, Eric? 27:02 What's happening to him as we move along? 27:05 Here in Ephesians, we see that he describes himself 27:08 as the very "least of all the saints," 27:10 not the officials of the church, but least of the saints. 27:15 And finally, in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, 27:17 he describes himself as the "chief"--or worst--"of sinners." 27:23 And it seems to be that the closer and closer 27:26 we get to Jesus, the less we will think of ourselves 27:30 and the more we will value His grace, 27:34 His acceptance of us, His love for us, 27:36 just as we are, warts and all. 27:38 >>I think that's encouraging, 27:40 and hopefully that's encouraging to you as well. 27:43 If you've ever felt like you fall short just a little bit 27:46 or like you fall short a whole lot, there's hope for you. 27:51 Paul recognized that Jesus was his hope as well. 27:57 We're looking forward to seeing you again next week 27:59 as we continue our study through the book of Ephesians. 28:03 We're learning some beautiful insights into Paul 28:06 and more, especially, into the character of Christ. 28:09 We look forward to seeing you again next time. 28:11 God bless you. 28:13 (uplifting theme music swells) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-07-30