Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, church, I am very excited about our new sermon series on the Book of Ephesians. I'm truly excited because I really believe it will change us.
[00:00:13] I really do. I believe it's going to change how we see our place in the world, how we respond to problems. And I think it's going to open our eyes to see what God's doing, because here's the truth. You may have come in today with some big problems, and I think what Ephesians will expose is that we have a bigger God.
[00:00:39] You may have come in just feeling like your world has been turned upside down, but we're going to see that God's plan has been in place before the world was even made.
[00:00:49] Ephesians will show us that according to God's plan, under the authority of Christ, everything works out.
[00:00:57] Everything works out. So to start our series on the book of Ephesians, let's turn to Second Kings.
[00:01:06] It's what you call a misdirect.
[00:01:09] We really are two Kings. We're going to start there. If you're using a Bible from the back, we're on page 223.
[00:01:15] We're going to start in 2 Kings because there's a story tucked into this Old Testament book that does exactly what we're asking God to do for us in our study of Ephesians. So if you're using a Bible from the back page 223, second kings, 6, 15, you're just going to want to circle this whole story and remember this.
[00:01:35] So in the story, God's people, the Israelites, they're surrounded by enemies. There's an enemy army all around them. They're under attack. The prophet Elisha was there. His helper was there.
[00:01:48] And he comes to Elisha, and there were troops, horses and chariots everywhere.
[00:01:54] Oh, sir, what do we do now? The young man cried to Elisha, don't be afraid, Elisha told him, for there are more on our side than on theirs.
[00:02:04] Then Elisha prayed, oh, Lord, open his eyes and let him see.
[00:02:10] The Lord opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
[00:02:21] God opened his eyes and he could see the truth, that God was fighting for his people. Right? God opened up that mysterious spiritual realm, and he saw the hill was filled with warrior horses and chariots of fire. That, yes, he was right. There was a big, big problem.
[00:02:39] And it was met by an even bigger God.
[00:02:43] That's what I'm going to pray that God would do. For us, through the study of Ephesians, to open our eyes, to help us see that, to help us wrap our heads around God's promise to work everything together for good, right? God promises that for his people to work everything together for good. But the thing is, we usually miss it because we're focused somewhere else, right? We're busy worrying about a relationship that we're clinging to, or we're fearing the future, or we're stressed about money.
[00:03:14] Our problems, they're like this paper that's convenient. It says problem.
[00:03:20] I'll use this. Here's the thing. When we focus on the problem, we can't see anything else, right? There's an army that God is fighting for his people. But when we're focused on the problem, that's all we can see.
[00:03:35] Or there's a problem and we just say, you know what? I don't want to deal with that.
[00:03:41] I'm going to pretend it's not there. I'm going to close my eyes, I'm going to do something to distract myself. Often those things are harmful.
[00:03:49] We just want to escape. So we gamble, we use pornography, we eat too much, we eat too little, we spend money we don't have, just something to focus on instead of the real problem.
[00:04:00] So throughout the series, what we're going to do is ask God to open our eyes, help us to see what he's doing and help us to look at that. Help us to draw our attention to him, to see that he is bigger, that he is stronger, that his plan will succeed, and because of who he is, everything will work out.
[00:04:21] That's the theme that I'm praying through. The next several weeks will just rest deep down on us, that everything works out according to God's plan. According to under the authority of Christ, everything works out. And yes, you may have some really big problems, but you have a bigger God.
[00:04:42] Your world may feel upside down, but God's plan was in place before that world was even made.
[00:04:49] And everything works out.
[00:04:51] And I know the reality is when this many people gather, someone in this room is probably in the hardest, darkest, most hopeless season of their life.
[00:05:02] And you're thinking, man, it's easy for him to say that, but how could my thing ever work out if that's you? First of all, I want to say I'm sorry.
[00:05:11] And more than that, I just think we should pray.
[00:05:16] So let's pray. God, I think it is safe to assume that when this many hearts gather, one of them at least is broken.
[00:05:24] But thank you. That you might meet a broken heart right where it is.
[00:05:30] And that true hope and redemption are found in you. So would we find it in you today? In Jesus name, Amen. I also want to tell you, if that's you, you came to the right place.
[00:05:42] Like if you were looking for true hope and healing, it is found in Jesus.
[00:05:47] That's the only place you're going to find real, true, lasting hope and healing. So you're, you're on the right track. Today could be the day it all turns around. And you're not alone.
[00:05:57] You have an enemy who wants you to believe you're all alone. And that's a lie. This room is filled with people with stories of redemption and hope who would love to walk with you. And the Creator and the King of the universe promises to be in that valley with you. So you're not alone.
[00:06:12] Romans 8:28 promises us that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called to according to his purpose for them.
[00:06:23] It's important to distinguish. It doesn't say everything is good, right? But it says, for those who love God, everything is worked together for good.
[00:06:33] And we see this throughout the Bible. Like the story of Joseph.
[00:06:37] His story is painful.
[00:06:41] It was not good that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery.
[00:06:46] That's not what you would call good.
[00:06:49] It's not good that they lied about his death. It's not good that he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned. It's not good that he was forgotten about and abandoned in prison. None of that was good.
[00:07:02] But later, Joseph would tell his brothers, you intended to harm me.
[00:07:06] But God intended it all for good.
[00:07:10] Even his story according to God's plan, under the authority of Christ, it works out okay. So we're going to be in Ephesians 1. Now, if you're using a Bible from the back, we're page 704.
[00:07:29] Page 704. If you're using one of these Bibles, I'm going to read verses 9 and 11. It says, God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ, which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan. Hold, hold your place right there.
[00:07:46] When the Bible says, and this is the mystery, or it says, this is the plan, that's kind of a cue to really pay attention.
[00:07:54] You know, there's a lot of mystery, but every once in a while it says, and here it is. So here it says, and this is the plan. At the right time, God will bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we're united with Christ.
[00:08:11] We have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance. And he makes everything work out according to his plan. Everything works out according to God's plan. Under the authority of Christ, everything works out.
[00:08:29] And just to be clear, this is not a feel good help, self help message because it takes on a whole new weight when we learn the origin this message. The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church in Ephesus saying everything's going to work out.
[00:08:44] While he was in prison, while he was in chains. He said it's all going to work out because the truth was based on the fact the reason he was in prison, because he was preaching that Jesus is the Savior and he was alive after his very public death.
[00:09:03] And he believed that. He said, I'm willing to go to prison for it. Lock me up. That's okay. And they just said, if Paul. If you'll just quit saying that. He said, no, this is the truth.
[00:09:11] So he's in chains, saying, guys, everything works out.
[00:09:16] God's in control.
[00:09:19] So he wrote to the church in Ephesus what's true for us today. He encouraged them to be united, to love one another, and to cling to the hope of the living Savior, Jesus, while they were in a dying world.
[00:09:33] Do you think this is going to be helpful for us?
[00:09:36] Yes, I believe so.
[00:09:38] So in the letter, chapter four begins by Paul saying, lead a life worthy of your calling, for you've been called by God.
[00:09:48] Let your faith be obvious by the way you live.
[00:09:51] And these first three chapters before we get there are going to tell us how to do that.
[00:09:56] We've got a lot to learn from this book. So let's pray. Let's ask God to help us. God, thank you for these words that your spirit gave to Paul while he was in prison, confident in the fact that your plan will succeed.
[00:10:13] Thank you, God. Through your son Jesus, by bringing us into your plan of victory in life, could you open our eyes to help us see what you were doing so that we could live a life worthy of the calling you've put on us?
[00:10:28] God, would you use my words in spite of me for your glory in Jesus name? Amen.
[00:10:35] Spoiler alert.
[00:10:38] Really, I really mean it. I'm about to spoil the book for you.
[00:10:41] I don't feel bad. It was published in 1938. You've had 88 years to read it.
[00:10:46] It's on you. The book, the Yearling.
[00:10:50] It's about a young boy who adopts an orphan fawn. You can see with his cute little deer has anybody read this?
[00:10:55] Oh, you have?
[00:10:57] Awesome. Okay, the rest of you, sorry about to spoil it.
[00:11:02] So, Jody, the main character, this boy, he enjoyed a picturesque childhood enjoying nature and the company of his pet deer.
[00:11:13] You know where this is going, right?
[00:11:15] Like all tales between a boy and his pet, the deer dies.
[00:11:20] I'll spare you the details of how, but just imagine the saddest scenario. You can make it a little bit sadder. And there you go.
[00:11:30] But the true tragedy can be traced back earlier in the book when Jody's dad is bitten by a snake.
[00:11:40] That's where the whole problem begins, with a snake in the garden.
[00:11:45] The same is true for us.
[00:11:47] There is a problem.
[00:11:51] The first man and woman that God created had a picturesque life enjoying nature and the presence of God. The problem that remains with us today began with a snake in the garden. Genesis 3. 1. The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals. I'm going to pause right there. This word translated as shrewd. The original language, the original word is subtle.
[00:12:15] Subtle, right. The enemy doesn't always attack by, like, dropping a grand piano off a cliff onto us. Right.
[00:12:23] A lot of times it's subtle.
[00:12:26] A lot of times it's something that's in our life. It's been there a long time. It started innocently and has started to gain some control in our lives.
[00:12:34] Maybe it's something that somebody else has pointed out to you.
[00:12:38] Hey, is everything okay? I've noticed this, and I don't feel like this is great for you.
[00:12:46] It's subtle.
[00:12:50] So if that's you, get away from it because it will grow.
[00:12:56] Okay. Serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day, he asked the woman, did God really say, you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?
[00:13:06] Because God had promised to care for them, to meet their needs, to even give them purpose.
[00:13:12] And then the snake in the garden warped what God said. He twisted God's words and he planted seeds of doubt and death.
[00:13:21] He said, can God really be trusted?
[00:13:28] Shouldn't you be in charge?
[00:13:30] Don't you want control?
[00:13:33] And then the man and woman tried to take God's place, right? The problem wasn't just that they ate a piece of fruit or that they disobeyed God. They tried to become God.
[00:13:45] They tried to put themselves in God's place. And then we watched. The result is that their freedom and their innocence die.
[00:13:53] And then God tells the snake, I will cause hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring, he will strike your head and you will strike his heel. So there is a problem, but God has a plan.
[00:14:08] How beautiful is this? God's immediate response to our problem is his plan.
[00:14:14] In Ephesians tells us, verse 10, this is the plan. At the right time, he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ.
[00:14:22] Everything in heaven and on earth. So God's response, it's not a panicked reaction, right? God says this has been the plan all along.
[00:14:33] Verse 4. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
[00:14:41] So the plan is for Jesus and His followers to be victorious and re enter the picturesque existence enjoying the company in the presence of God. And that's a good plan.
[00:14:55] That's a plan we can rest in, Right?
[00:14:59] Okay. Two weeks ago, after church, I left from here. Literally left my truck here, got in a church van, drove to the airport to go on a mission trip to Africa. This is the boy we sponsored through World Vision.
[00:15:10] If you're wondering if you sponsored a kid, if you're wondering if they're real, they are.
[00:15:15] I played with them. I hugged him.
[00:15:18] It was really one of the best moments of my life. He wouldn't stop hugging me.
[00:15:24] We won. He is the cutest one who was there. So sorry for the rest of you, but I praise God for the rain we're getting. But if you remember, two weeks ago, it hadn't rained since like 1987, but it rained that afternoon at the airport and there was lightning.
[00:15:41] And we sat on the Runway for about two hours.
[00:15:44] This trip to Africa and back was six days.
[00:15:47] So our team leader said, hey, we're getting close to missing our connection from Atlanta to South Africa.
[00:15:54] And if we're going to miss that, we're going to go back home.
[00:15:57] Trip canceled because it's a short trip and transatlantic flights aren't offered hourly.
[00:16:03] So it was a narrow window.
[00:16:06] And we had tickets, we had an itinerary, we had a plan. If you could zoom in on this and see it, every minute of our trip was planned. We had a plan based on factors beyond our control, like lightning.
[00:16:22] I can't control lightning.
[00:16:24] But God makes everything work out according to his plan.
[00:16:29] God has a plan, and in his plan, everything works out.
[00:16:35] So this introduction to Ephesians, it ends by telling us why God does this, why he makes everything work out. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.
[00:16:47] God has a plan and he will work everything out so that we will praise and glorify Him. So that we will say, you are God and I'm not.
[00:17:00] So that we will be close enough to God to say, you know what?
[00:17:03] My marriage is suffering, and I think it's because I've put my spouse in a place that only God can be.
[00:17:09] Or I've been so fearful of the future, but I realize God's in control of it. And thankfully he cares more about the development of my character than my comfort.
[00:17:22] Or I've been stressed about money, but I realize God's let me be in this place so he can teach me that he owns it all and he wants me to trust him.
[00:17:31] God's plan works out so that instead of trying to be God, we praise God, right? There is a problem. There always will be on this earth, but God has a plan and everything works out so that we would praise and glorify Him.
[00:17:50] But it's really important that in this, that we.
[00:17:53] We point out who this promise is for, who God promises to work everything out for. Paul begins the whole letter, verse one by saying, this letter is from Paul. I'm writing to God's holy people in Ephesus. Holy people who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. So his promise to work everything out is for his holy people.
[00:18:17] You may not feel like a holy person.
[00:18:20] You might be like me. You've been called a lot of things and buddy, holy ain't one of them.
[00:18:27] It might be hard for you to accept that God chose you, right? You may. You may be used to feeling like people are just stuck with you, but this letter tells us that God chose you.
[00:18:42] Before God even created the world, he chose you.
[00:18:45] And through Jesus, he makes you holy.
[00:18:49] Through faith in Jesus, he makes you blameless. And he did this because he loves you.
[00:18:55] God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
[00:19:04] Congratulations. You are part of the world.
[00:19:06] You are a whoever. God loves you and invites you to be part of his family. Through faith in Jesus, God wants you in his family, right? Verse 5 says God had decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, God adopts us into his family.
[00:19:29] And for the Ephesians, this picture of adoption was like a weighty picture for them because in their culture there was a whole ritual.
[00:19:40] When adoption took place, this child was taken from this family. Their legal connection and rights, everything was removed. They lawfully became a member of the new family and they were considered an absolutely new person.
[00:19:55] And when you put faith in Jesus, you are Adopted into God's family in your past, your sin, your shame, all that's forgiven and left in the old life, and you become an absolutely new person.
[00:20:11] Romans 8:29 says, God knew his people in advance and he chose them to become like his son, so that his son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. You know what this tells us about God?
[00:20:25] That he wants a big family.
[00:20:28] And he invites you into his family through faith in Jesus because He loves you.
[00:20:34] And that invitation, that love is offered to you today, for those who have accepted it, who trust Jesus as their Savior, everything works out according to God's plan. Under the authority of Christ, everything works out.
[00:20:49] And yes, you may have some big problems, but you have a bigger God.
[00:20:55] Your world may feel like it's coming unwound, but God's plan was in place before this world was even made.
[00:21:03] Everything works out.
[00:21:05] So through this series, we're going to pray that God would open our eyes to what he's doing, to that truth. But here's the thing. We still choose where we look, right? God can open our eyes and show us the truth, but we still choose where we look. So I'm going to give you this picture to remember. There's a principle in photography called the rule of thirds.
[00:21:25] It's based on the idea that the human eye is drawn to the intersection of thirds.
[00:21:29] To take a picture that captures attention, you put the subject on one of those thirds, like this cat.
[00:21:34] There's a grid, if you can see it, and the cat's not in the center, it's on one of the thirds. It's just the idea that the human eye is drawn there.
[00:21:44] And that's what happens. Scientists study and say that's where the eye is drawn. That's where you look. But we still choose where we look, right? We still make a choice. I can tell you your eyes drawn there, but you're like, well, you don't tell me, I'm going to look at those flowers, right? We still choose where we look.
[00:22:03] So we're going to pray throughout the series to help us to look to God while we trust him to work everything out, that we would focus on Him.
[00:22:13] That when our world feels like it's coming unwrapped and it's upside down, that we would look to him because problems are always going to be here, right?
[00:22:24] But we choose where we look. So we can focus on our problems, or we can ask God to show us what he's doing, to trust him, to help us recognize and even rejoice that he is God, and we don't have to be.
[00:22:40] Amen.
[00:22:42] Amen.
[00:22:44] Okay, so every week in this series, what we're going to do, God's plan is to bring everything under the authority of Christ. So we're going to agree to that plan. The plan works if you work it and you're worth it.
[00:22:54] So we're going to do it.
[00:22:55] So we're really going to take a moment and say, God, I got a real problem and I need to submit it to your plan or my world is totally upside down right now. And I just need to say, I know your plan is good and working, so help me trust you.
[00:23:13] So we're going to take a moment to do that. Now. We're also preparing to take communion. So part of that may be saying, God, I just need to confess this to you. I need to.
[00:23:22] I know you know, but I need to tell you this. And it could be something that you've been telling God for decades.
[00:23:30] He's not tired of hearing it.
[00:23:33] He still wants to help. He still wants to give you freedom. It could be just a new struggle that's shown up in life that you just need to say, God, I don't want this to be part of my plan. I know your plan is good, so I trust you.
[00:23:48] So what is it? What is it that you need to just give to God because he can handle it.
[00:23:58] He cares.
[00:24:03] What is it that you just need to say? God, I know you're good. I know your plan is good. I don't know what to do with this, so I'm just going to try to release it to you so he's listening. So we'll just take a moment now to pray for him. Pray to him. God, thank you for hearing our prayers now.
[00:24:47] God, we thank you that your word says that you bend down to hear our prayers and that your word says that everything will work out according to your good plan.
[00:25:00] Just pray over the next several weeks that we would experience that we would believe it or want to believe it now, but then as we spend more time in your word, that we wouldn't be able to refute it, so that we would praise and glorify you, God, in Jesus name, Amen.
[00:25:26] So God gave us the gift of communion to remind us not just that everything will work out, but that it already has.
[00:25:35] Because even in that. In that prayer time, if you confess something to God, you've never been honest about before, God's loving, kind response is, I know.
[00:25:45] I knew when I was on the cross. I knew when I was redeeming. That I knew.
[00:25:50] And he doesn't just tell us it all works out. He gives us proof.
[00:25:56] I mean, this is proof that the betrayal of Jesus works out, right? One of his closest friends literally sold him out and God used it for good.
[00:26:08] And then Jesus followers who were starting to wrap their heads around the truth that he was God, they watched him die and then they saw him alive.
[00:26:21] It already has worked out.
[00:26:25] So you can open the bread.
[00:26:32] On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take and eat. This is my body, which is given for you to remember.
[00:26:42] Do this as often as you eat it.
[00:27:01] In the same way you can open the juice.
[00:27:05] Jesus took the cup, and after supper he said, this cup is a new covenant that's confirmed in my blood.
[00:27:12] Do this as of. Excuse me. Do this as often as you drink it to remember me.
[00:27:26] Jesus, we praise and glorify you that your death and your resurrection is the proof that according to God's plan and under your authority, everything works out to this we hold our hope is only Jesus. So let's stand and proclaim that together.
