The Unfathomable Riches of Christ

December 30, 2012

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Scripture referenced 8 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 103:1-5 read aloud at the opening to call the congregation to bless the Lord

1 Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name!
2 Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits;
3 who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases;
4 who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;
5 who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

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Hebrews 13

cited as the biblical definition of praise as a sacrifice offered to God with the mouth

1 Let brotherly love continue.

2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.

3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”

6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

9 Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.

12 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.

13 Let us therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.

14 For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.

15 Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.

16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.

18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.

19 I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner.

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,

21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words.

23 Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.

24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.

25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

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Psalm 107

quoted as 'let the redeemed of the Lord say so' to encourage vocal praise

1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

3 And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

6 Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

7 he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.

8 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!

9 For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.

10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,

11 because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.

12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help.

13 Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains.

15 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!

16 For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.

17 Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.

18 Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

19 Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

20 He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.

21 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!

22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing.

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters;

24 These see Yahweh’s deeds, and his wonders in the deep.

25 For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

26 They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.

27 They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

28 Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

29 He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

30 Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven.

31 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds for the children of men!

32 Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,

34 and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

35 He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.

36 There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,

37 sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.

38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn’t allow their livestock to decrease.

39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.

40 He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.

41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.

42 The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.

43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh.

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Hosea

quoted as 'take with you your words, render unto God the sacrifice of your lips'

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Psalm 63

read aloud during worship, expressing thirst for God and a vow to praise Him

1 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.

3 Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.

4 So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.

7 For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.

9 But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

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1 Peter 1

mentioned as the passage where prophets and angels longed to look into the mysteries of the gospel

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials,

7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

8 whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory—

9 receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

11 searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.

12 To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.

13 Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

14 as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,

15 but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior;

16 because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”

17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear:

18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers,

19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ;

20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:

23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;

25 but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

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Ephesians 3

read in full as the short message, covering the mystery of Christ revealed to the Gentiles and the manifold wisdom of God made known through the church

1 For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,

2 if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you;

3 how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words,

4 by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;

5 which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

6 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

7 of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.

8 To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

9 and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ;

10 to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,

11 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord;

12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

13 Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.

14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,

19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

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1 Corinthians 15:3-4

quoted as Paul's succinct statement of the gospel: Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose on the third day

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This was a fifth-Sunday singing service at First Baptist Jackson, with Pastor Ryan leading a short message woven between songs of praise. The message centered on Ephesians 3 and the mystery of the gospel: that God's grace in Christ was always intended to reach every family on earth, not just the Jewish people. The whole service, songs and message together, was built around one idea: God is intentional about being close to us.

What was said

Before the message, one of the worship leaders reflected on how God's intentionality toward us runs through all of Scripture. From the moment He formed Adam and breathed life into him, to the cloud on Sinai, to the incarnation itself, God keeps choosing to close the distance. That intimacy did not end when Jesus ascended. He is still, as she put it, intentional about walking each moment of life with us.

The short message picked up that thread and moved it into Ephesians 3. Paul writes as a prisoner, which he treats not as a disgrace but as proof of how seriously God takes the task he was given. The stewardship Paul received was the mystery of Christ: that the nations, every family outside Israel, were always meant to be fellow heirs and fellow members of the body.

Pastor Ryan paused on the word "nations," pointing out that it means any family on earth apart from the Jewish people. The prophets knew something was coming, and even the angels longed to look into it, as the song from 1 Peter 1 had just described. But the full scope of what God was doing was not made known until the gospel was preached.

That gospel, Paul states plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and Pastor Ryan quoted it directly: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. That is the thing Paul calls unfathomable riches. It is not something the church invented. It is the way things are.

The scope of the mystery, though, is wider than most people think about on a Sunday morning. Paul says the manifold wisdom of God is made known through the church not only to people but to rulers and authorities in heavenly places, the entire spiritual realm, good and bad. Pastor Ryan noted that John Piper writes about this extending to the demonic, and that we tend to shy away from that middle ground where the spiritual has direct effect on the physical, but Paul does not shy away from it.

The passage closes with Paul on his knees praying that the church would be strengthened through the Spirit in the inner person, rooted and grounded in love, able to grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, and filled up to all the fullness of God. That prayer, and the doxology that follows it, was where the message landed: God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or think, according to the power already at work within us.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The preacher described praise as something the Bible calls for 'out loud,' with the mouth, as a sacrifice. What has shaped the way you personally express praise to God, and does anything hold you back from doing it freely?
Pastor talked about lying in bed in the morning and letting the Lord start his day, struck by how intentional God is about intimacy with us. When have you experienced God being intentional about closeness with you, even in an ordinary moment?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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0:54 Good morning, Firstbee family. How are you? If you're cold, just move in close next to the person by you. Alright. Well, why don't we stand together?

1:49 We're gonna sing out anyway here. From Psalm one zero three five one through five says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that's within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfied you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Should we bless the Lord this morning?

6:05 Your God, thank you for this beautiful morning.

6:22 It's crisp and cool and God, I thank you for the beauty of the snow and for the wondrous moonlit night last night, God. We just praise you. We are in awe of you and we want to tell you about it, God. I pray that you would receive this praise this morning that it would be a fragrant aroma and God, I just thank you for the sounds of life among us. We are so so thankful for you and we want to show you lord.

6:48 It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Y'all can be seated for a minute and get all the rest you can this morning because we're going to be up and down and up and down. This is a fifth Sunday, the fifth Sunday of December and in the on the fifth Sunday of September, we did an all praise service and it was fairly well received. In fact, there are two things that I have not received any complaints about since I got here and one of em was the Sunday that I didn't preach and the second one was when we curve the chairs.

7:22 Everybody like the curved chairs. So, we're going to curve the chairs back for next Sunday but this Sunday, we're doing a fifth Sunday singing and so please feel free to stand, sit, stretch your legs if you need to, wander about, that's fine but I want to read a few things. Are you appraiser? The biblical definition of praises. This is an offering to God as a sacrifice of praise from Hebrews 13.

7:48 It is with the mouth out loud. No pressure. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you but I want to free you up. If you've all kind of sat there and you're just a little timid, I want to free you up. Enter into his courts with praise.

8:03 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart. I have declared you, oh Lord. That's from Psalms. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Psalm one zero seven.

8:13 Take with you your words. Render unto God the sacrifice of your lips from Hosea. Oh give thanks to the Lord. Let them say out loud. I will bless the Lord.

8:23 His praise shall continually be in my mouth. It's just over and over and over throughout the Psalms. So, I'm going to try to free you up this morning. Feel free to praise God out loud. If you're not a singer, don't worry about it.

8:36 You can say the words. If you're somebody who just is like looking for good, meaty sermon, there's plenty here. Plenty here. Contemplate the words of what it is that you're singing. Aaron is not here this morning.

8:48 He's in California and he's do the guy who beats on the box, Aaron Howley, if you don't know him and sometimes in the middle of band practice, he'll just stop and say, man, think about what we're saying here. Do that. Think about what it is that we're saying and who it is we're saying it to here. So, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in any way but we're just going to play a lot today. We've got Amy's going to be leading a few songs and Ryan will be leading a song and I'm going do a Mensajito, a little bitty message towards the end but please stand with us again and we'll go into the next couple of songs.

9:22 Tyler, say hi.

10:09 When I see the beauty of a sunset's glory, amazing artistry across the eagle sky. And when I feel the mystery of a disenkopsy, it all's and humbles me to be loved

12:31 time just in silence to praise God, Lift him up. Prepare our hearts just to be with him this morning. From Psalm 63. You, God, are my God. Earnestly, I seek you, and I thirst for you.

13:09 My whole being longs for you. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live. In your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods.

13:31 Singing lips, my mouth will praise you. God, may that be us. May we thirst for you, or we long for you, just desire to be with you. May the the words of our mouth, the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you.

14:49 Reward with their fear for. It's no more awesome than I know. It's all of you. It's more than enough for in you is more than enough. There's none like you.

18:07 Into the darkness shine. Doubt on who that she's realized. There's no one like you. There's none like you. Our God is greater.

18:28 Our God is greater.

21:07 Thank you, God, for being such a great God. I wanna just call on you this morning and and worship you and praise you. God give the adoration that you so deserve. Again, Lord, I pray that our hearts would be humble, that we would come before you God truly wanting to to just be with you and to praise you and to give you honor and to give you glory. In our lives, we get so busy, so caught up with stuff, and I pray that we just be able to you'd be able to clear the clutter right now so we can just be with you.

21:58 Up our heads. If the joy of the Lord is a strength. We bow down and worship him now. How great, how awesome see. And together we say, holy is the Lord God

25:50 If I could get the offering team to come down forward though. We're going to go into, we've been offering a sacrifice of praise. This is the time where we give back a portion of that which God has given to us. I'd like to pray for that. God, we thank you for this past year.

26:09 I'm amazed lord with all the changes that you have brought about. God, I praise you for working out your will in our lives. We pray that we would always look to you and always trust you lord. We are not all going through happy and good, pleasant situations in life right now from the outside, lord, but we know that we can praise you in spite of our circumstances that we see and know that lord, when we can't trace what you're doing, we can't trust your heart and we can always give you praise. We ask you right now to receive this offering and to spread your gospel to this world through it.

26:48 Lord, we don't know exactly how that works but as a church, we pray that you would show us the right places, the right times to place this in the hands of those who need it. Lord, that you would do your work through what we give back to you. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

28:21 Good morning. Good morning. Yesterday morning, was I was just a lot of times I love to just lay in bed in the morning just before I get up for a while. I wake up really early and I just I just lay there and just let the Lord just start my day and just see if He has anything to say or anything He wants to do in my heart before I get up that morning. And yesterday, He just really struck me so deeply again with how intentional he is about us.

28:53 I know.

28:54 He's so intentional about his intimacy. From the very first moment of creation when he reached down and formed Adam and breathed into him, to the moment that he came down in the dark cloud and spoke to Moses, and then hid himself in the rock so Moses could kinda see a little bit, to what we're celebrating this week, his intentional message to us of love in the way that he humbled himself, stripped himself Amen. So intentionally to be intimate with us. And the amazing thing is it it didn't quit. It didn't stop when Jesus left the earth.

29:39 He's still very intentional with us every day. He intentionally wants to walk each moment of your life with you. He intentionally wants to be a part of your dreams at night. He intentionally wants you to hear his voice, and and that just amazes me. It amazes me.

29:58 And, so I'm going to do a couple songs. I think the words are going to be up there. You're welcome to sing, but you're also just welcome just to sit and just let Him, right now, speak to you. I mean, right now, that's what all of this is about, is to meet with Him, to encounter Him. This is just not about Him, and He's out there somewhere.

30:20 He wants to be very much right here with us, speaking to us, and and ministering to our hearts, even if we don't have the words to say back to Him, just to sit and let him do what he does so well. So, we're gonna choose this.

31:00 Of mountain paths by ancient maps. Straight to my heart you go to search and find beneath the surface of my soul must be brought forth by hidden foresight just the perfect hour Now come again and lead me back to quiet past your screen where hope believes and faith receives the depths of the earth and you hold in your hands oh my God oh yes the depths of my soul

41:40 Amen.

41:46 This morning, I wanted to share, I know it's past Christmas, but I wanted to share quasi Christmas song that talks about, how the angels long to look into the salvation that God's providing for us. And in first Peter one chapter one it talks about how the the prophets of old long to know what God had in store and and the angels long to to look into just the mysteries of of the gospel and and how God has prepared a way for us to have a relationship with him. And it talks this song just talks about the angels glorifying God.

42:54 They never knew a dark night, always had the sun's light on their face. Perfect in glory, broken by the story of untold grace. Come that day. Majesty had come down. Glory had to come now to flesh and bone.

43:23 In the arms of a manger, in the hands of strangers that could not know just who they hold. And the angels filled the sky all of heaven wondered why their king would choose to be be a baby born to die and all feel silent for the cry of an infant, the voice of God was dividing history for those with eyes to see the sun would shine from birth that night and the angels filled the sky all of heaven wondered why why the king would choose to be be a baby born to to break the chains of guilt and sin to find us here to so we can join in heaven's song and with one voice around the throne angels filled the sky I can't help but wonder why this king would choose to be be a baby born for me be a baby born

46:13 the men's a little short message. I want to read from you all of Ephesians three. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles. If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

46:41 The angels is what that song was talking about. This one goes even further than that. It's talking about the whole spiritual realm. Gentiles also think about this, means, nations, anything, any other nation, any other family on Earth except for the Jews. The Christ was to be born of the Jews just as the prophets had said and they knew that there was something about this but listen to the rest of this, which in other generations was not known.

47:11 The mystery of Christ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. To be specific that the nations, our fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promised in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The gospel, as succinctly put as Paul ever put it and since this is immense, I hate though, I'll put it that way. The gospel from first Corinthians fifteen three and four. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also receive, received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures.

47:56 That's the gospel right there. Christ Jesus died for sins. There's no doubt about it. There's not something that we made up. We didn't come up with this.

48:04 This is the way that it is and Paul was privileged to be there right at the beginning of this and he understood it. God made it very clear to him. In Ephesians, we think it was a very practical book and it is. Daily life type stuff but it also has a cosmic scope. Listen to the rest of this.

48:24 That the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers in the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel of which I was made a minister. According to the gift of God's grace that was given to me according to the working of his power. To me, the very least of all saints. What a humble man. This grace was given to preach to the nations, the Gentiles, every family of the earth.

48:48 Ethne. The unfathomable riches of Christ. That's what he's talking about. The unspeakable, the mystery, the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God, the variegated, the word is the same one where we get varied, variegated. The manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church.

49:19 The mystery might be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in heavenly places. This is not just to the angels. It's not just to the peoples. This is to the whole spiritual realm, good and bad. Piper goes on and on about this being to the demons.

49:37 We think about the demonic and we kind of shy away from it. It's the neglected middle. Those things where spiritual has an effect on the physical but when you're going through a hard time, you can really feel that but what Paul is saying is that God wants to make known his wisdom through the church, through those who believe. To the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus, our lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

50:14 Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf for there your glory. For this reason, I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name that he would grant to you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit and the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love may be unable to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. To him be the glory. In the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

51:07 Amen.

51:17 Amen. Let's stand up again. Just like this song is saying, let's let this be our prayer that God would would reign in us, that he would reign in our hearts. After he ascended into heaven, what did he promise us? The Holy Spirit.

51:42 The Holy Spirit to live in us, to reign in us. It's a power of God at work in us.

52:23 You knew our names before we came to be. We saw them there and they would fall away from you. That you would reign in us. Spirit of living

56:10 Amen. As we get ready to go here, let this be our prayer that, you know, where where God goes, that's that's where we're gonna go. Where he stays, that's where we're gonna stay. And when he moves, that we're gonna follow.

56:36 When you move, I'll move. I'll follow. I will trust in you who know when you look. Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I stay.

57:36 I'll follow you. Light unto the world. Light unto my life. I will live for you alone. For the one I see, knowing I will find all I need in you alone.

58:19 How you serve, I serve. Because this life I lose, I'll follow you. I'll follow you. In you, there's life everlasting. In you, there's freedom for my soul.

58:45 In you, I'll stay. When you move, I'll move. I'll fall on you. Whom you love, I love. How you serve, I'll serve.

59:09 If this life I lose I'll fall on you

59:27 May God bless you as you go this week. Have a very happy New Year. Be careful, safe, look out for those other folks too and I just want to pray a prayer blessing over you as you as you get ready to go. God, thank you for revealing yourself to us and God most likely the way that you've done it. It's always through your word but most likely the way you've done is through your church.

59:48 Lord, as believers, as born again Christians, believing in you and your name, let us carry that gospel to others this week. Lord, if there's anyone here among us who does not know you, I pray lord that they would be open to your spirit's movement and that they would find someone and just ask em, what is this all about? God, we love you. We're thankful for you. It's in Jesus name that we ask your blessing on this crowd as we depart.

1:00:20 Amen.

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God'S Intentionality Mystery Of Christ Praise And Worship Prayer The Gospel

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