Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/96275/blessings-in-christ-part-3/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Amen. Okay, we're ready to get back to Ephesians and just kind of a bit of a review just to kind of organize all of chapter 1 and on into chapter 2, I remind you again that there are really three emphases in chapter 1 verses 3 all the way to chapter 2 and verse 10 and I have named them this way.

[0:49] First of all, praise. The first emphasis that we find in the passage is praise, praise. So in chapter 1 verses 3 through 14, which we're in right now and going to be in probably another Wednesday after this one, not next Wednesday, we'll be flying to China next Wednesday.

[1:13] Brother Tom's going to be taking over things on Wednesday, but when I get back we'll be still in this section, the section on praise, because there's so much here. This is deep, rich doctrinal truth that we need to understand.

[1:30] And when we do understand them, and by the way, that's going to kind of be our subject tonight. God is gracious to give us understanding. And when we do, we praise Him.

[1:40] And that's exactly Paul's point here. So verse 3 is kind of the introduction to this emphasis, and it says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

[1:56] All right? So that's kind of the introduction to this section that I'm calling praise, because that's Paul's emphasis. He leads it out with that very word.

[2:06] Well, it says blessed in most versions of the Bible, but it is the same word that means praise as well. And then the second section, and it'll be a little while before we get into it, the emphasis is prayer.

[2:20] It's prayer. And so in chapter 1, verses 15 to 23, all the way to the end of chapter 1, Paul prays. Now, he's really giving us the substance of his ongoing prayer for the believers at Ephesus.

[2:38] But he prays. What's he praying for? He's praying that our eyes, their eyes, our eyes, would be open to the fullness of God's blessings in Christ Jesus. So he's praising God for his blessings, and all the while describing those for us so that we can join him in this praise.

[2:55] And then he's going to pray that our eyes would be fully opened to these blessings so that we can praise God. And really, verses 15 and 16 is the introduction to this second emphasis.

[3:09] Now, you've already looked. None of this is in your notes. I'm just, this is reviewed. And we've talked about this before. But let me just read verses 15 and 16. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus, and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

[3:32] And that's how he introduces this section. And then he's going to describe the substance of his prayers. All right. So, first praise, then prayer, and then the third emphasis will take us into chapter 2.

[3:46] And I'm not sure when we'll get to that. Just be patient. You can read ahead, okay? But in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, the emphasis is purpose. Now, we're still, you know, it's still the same theme all the way through.

[4:00] The theme is our redemption in Christ Jesus, of this gracious act of God where he redeems us.

[4:11] That's really kind of the overarching theme. But he's praising God for this. He's praying their eyes will be fully open to it. And then he, in chapter 2, is going to give us why God is doing it, his purpose.

[4:25] And so, in those verses, Paul details God's sovereign purpose in blessing us in Christ Jesus. And verse 1 of chapter 2 is really the introduction to this third emphasis where Paul says, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.

[4:44] Here's his purpose for redeeming us, to make us alive because we were dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and that's the purpose for which God blesses us in Christ Jesus.

[4:57] And so, for 10 verses there in chapter 2, that's going to be what he is teaching us and describing for us. All right, so then, for the past several Wednesdays then, I'm not sure when we started this study.

[5:11] It's been a number of Wednesdays now. We're not even out of chapter 1. But don't worry, not to worry. But for the, you know, since we started here, our focus has been Paul's and our praise of God for his marvelous, infinite blessings in Christ Jesus.

[5:30] That's what we've been talking about. We're going to be talking about it tonight. And when I get back from China, we'll have at least one more session on this subject. And so, again, let's bring our focus together here.

[5:45] Paul says, blessed, or again, the very word can mean praise. Praise is be to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:56] And why? Why should we praise him? Because Paul goes on to say, because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Now, we've already studied that passage.

[6:09] But now, what are those spiritual blessings? And I have said, and this has kind of been my approach to studying and teaching this text, I've said that the key verbs here in the passage identify these spiritual blessings.

[6:25] And so, that's been my approach to teaching the passage. And by having us focus on these key verbs. Now, we've already studied three of them here.

[6:36] And let me remind you of those. Verse 3, he has blessed us. That's a marvelous verb. Probably, you could say, the overarching verb for this entire passage.

[6:47] He has blessed us. Verse 4 says, he chose us. Verse 5, he predestined us. All right, you're beginning to see a pattern here, aren't you, in these key verbs?

[7:01] And why it's easy for them to be identified just when we read it. Blessed us. Chose us. Predestined us. And so, we've studied all three of those under the overarching subject of the doctrine of election.

[7:22] So, we did that and kind of completed that last week. Though, we're going to continue to revisit that. Because it really runs all the way through these first couple of chapters.

[7:33] All right, now we're ready for the fourth verb. And now, you can look at your notes. We shall begin. The fourth verb. Verse 6, Now, you need to look at how I have that printed in your notes.

[7:57] If you're looking at a New American Standard Bible or ESV Bible, maybe even NIV, it's going to be worded differently. And we'll explain that here in just a minute.

[8:08] But here's the verb, made us accepted in the Beloved. Now, let me just point out a few things about this verse. And you can fill in the blanks in your notes.

[8:20] First of all, verse 6, you must understand that verse 6 is a continuation of what Paul wrote in verses 3 through 5. So, it's not come to a stopping point.

[8:32] Now, we're talking about something else. It's a continuation. And here's how I would explain it. The basis upon which God chooses us and predestines us, which is what we talked about last time, the basis upon which God does that, according to verse 5, is the good pleasure of His will.

[8:51] Right? That's what verse 5 says. The basis upon which God chooses and predestines is the good pleasure of His will, as opposed to what? Anything in us.

[9:02] Anything that might cause Him to choose us. Anything in us. It's all within God. And it's according to the good pleasure of His will. The motivation for which God chooses us and predestines us is, according to verse 6, to the praise and glory of His grace.

[9:23] That's His motivation, to bring glory to Himself. Or, you know, it's all about His grace. Or, literally, and I think the ESV probably renders this more literally, His glorious grace.

[9:39] His glorious grace. That's the motivation for which God chooses and predestines. And so, that's why, then, number two, there in your notes, Paul uses a form of the word grace twice in verse 6.

[9:58] It's there twice, though you only see in the English text. It's not very apparent. Not apparent at all. But, actually, a form of the word grace appears twice. And, I think I put this in your notes.

[10:11] Here's the verse. To the praise of the glory of His grace. That's grace. Charis is the Greek word. By which He has made us accepted.

[10:22] That's one word, by the way. Has made us accepted is from one word in the Greek. Now, it just takes a lot more words in English to say what is said in the Greek.

[10:34] And then, when I get a hold of it, it takes even more words. But, has made us accepted. That's one word. And, it is the word keritao. Keritao. And, the root of that word is keris.

[10:47] Grace. In the beloved. Alright. So, a form of the word, the idea of grace, appears twice in that verse. Now, the first time it appears, it is a noun.

[10:58] Alright. Grace is a noun. And, it refers to the, really, to the nature and character of God. Alright. Like what Peter said in 1 Peter 5.10.

[11:09] He wrote of the God of all grace. The God of all grace. So, keris, as it's used here the first time in verse 6, is pointing us to, it's a descriptive of, denotes, if you will, the nature and character of God.

[11:27] Now, the second time the word appears, it is a verb. And, it refers to what, just what, the God of all grace does on behalf of the believer.

[11:39] Alright. So, first it's a noun. Then, it's used in the sense of a verb. First, who God is by His very nature and character. And, then, because of His nature and character, what God does.

[11:53] He's not only a God of all grace, but He is a God who graces. And, that's the idea here in verse 6. You've heard the expression, handsome is, as handsome does.

[12:05] Anybody ever heard that expression? It's an old, old one. Only had one hand. I did have, I did have a few. Yeah. Have you ever used that expression? Handsome is, what does it mean?

[12:19] That's the funny thing about, about expressions. We've heard them and maybe have even used them. We don't even know what they mean. Well, it means just because you're good looking doesn't mean you're a good person. And, so, you know, handsome is, is what handsome does.

[12:34] Now, handsome, of course, has taken on a little different meaning in our culture. We just think of handsome in the sense of outward features. And, in a sense, that's behind the expression.

[12:45] But, the idea is that a person's character is always revealed by what that person does. And, you can't say you are something if your actions speak otherwise.

[13:00] So, handsome is as handsome does. And, so, God is a God of all grace. That's what Peter said. And, grace is what grace does. Now, we're not putting God through the test and say, well, let's just see what he does.

[13:12] See if he really is gracious. God is gracious whether you see his gracious acts or not. But, the point is that God is a gracious God.

[13:23] That's who he is by his nature and character. And, God also expresses that. God does gracious things. He's a gracious God. And, so, that's what Paul is saying.

[13:34] According to his glorious grace, he has graced us. In fact, we could translate it that way. According to his glorious grace, God has graced us. He's graced us.

[13:45] Or, literally, literally, he has made us objects of his grace. And, this is what Paul is talking about. What he wants us to understand through the use of this verb, made us.

[13:59] This is the idea that the subject or this is all about grace. So, that leads us to a third thing. The word beloved, we need to understand.

[14:11] And, by the way, it's capitalized in most English versions. In fact, maybe just the King James is the only one that doesn't capitalize beloved. But, then, if you look in the King James, the King James never capitalizes pronouns for God.

[14:25] Or, these kind of secondary names or designations for God. But, it's capitalized for a reason. Because, the beloved here is not us. The beloved is Christ.

[14:37] It's Christ. It's Jesus Christ. Alright, so what does that tell us? It tells us that it is because of the person and work of Christ on the cross that God graces those whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him.

[14:54] That's a mouthful. It is because of the cross. It's because of the person of Christ and the work of Christ. The beloved. God's beloved.

[15:05] His beloved son. It's because of who he is and what he did that God then graces those whom he has chosen and predestined.

[15:15] And, that goes back to what he said in the previous verse. So, he has made us accepted. He has graced us in the beloved. In Christ Jesus. Alright, let's move on to the fifth verb.

[15:28] The fifth key verb is in really what's found in verse 8. But, it's connected to everything that is said in verses 7 and 8. So, let me read that entire, those two verses.

[15:40] In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us.

[15:52] Now, made is the verb, but put the verb phrase together. Made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. And, here too, you'll have a little different wording in some of the other versions.

[16:07] But, let's just kind of break this down. This verb phrase is really the starting point for understanding all that is said in verses 7 and 8.

[16:19] I think you'd agree with me. There's a whole lot said there in those two verses. And, it's a rather complex sentence. And, so, for us to really get the full, I guess, full import, the full meaning of what God is saying to us in his word, we need to kind of break it down.

[16:37] But, the verb is all important. God has made us to abound. Made something to abound toward us. The word made to abound, again, one word in the Greek text, really speaks of an overflow.

[16:54] An overflow of blessings, of blessings from God. Some versions even have the word lavished. And, I really like that. Lavished on us.

[17:05] So, God has made something to abound toward us. Or, something that he has made or lavished upon us something.

[17:16] And, so, what is it? What did he make to abound toward us or lavish upon us? Is it wealth? Well, you know, you look at the Bible there and you say, well, I don't see that there.

[17:29] Health? Even though there are a lot of people in our world, a lot of preachers in our day who are preaching these kinds of things. This is what God wants to lavish upon us. Wealth, health, happiness in this world.

[17:43] Freedom from hurtful things. Freedom from hurtful people. Is that what Paul's talking about? Well, what does Paul say? He says the riches of his grace.

[17:54] That's what he has abounded toward us. What he has lavished upon us. The riches of his grace. And so, then, number two. God has made the riches of his grace to abound toward us.

[18:07] Or, literally, we could read it. The wealth of his grace. All right, we're just kind of stepping through, kind of walking through these two verses and just taking it bit by bit.

[18:21] All right, so, he has lavished upon us something. And that something is the wealth of his grace. The riches of his grace.

[18:32] And what is that? What is the wealth of grace that God has lavished upon the believer in Christ? What is it? Well, number three. The riches of his grace, or the wealth of his grace, is really summed up with the word redemption.

[18:47] That's Paul's subject. His overarching subject. Redemption. He said, in him we have redemption. And then we could skip to the phrase, according to the riches of his grace.

[19:00] He put those two together. That's what he's talking about. In him we have redemption, according to the riches of his grace. So, the word redemption, then, is key. Here.

[19:11] Here. Here's what Paul's talking about. Redemption is the riches of God's grace that he has abounded toward us. Made to abound toward us. Or lavished upon us. The word redemption, you know, is the grand subject of all that God has revealed to us in his word.

[19:28] I mean, you'd take the entire Bible and say, this is all about redemption. That's what this book was written for. To communicate that, to reveal that, to give us understanding of it, to call us to it.

[19:42] But, the Bible is all about redemption. Redemption is the key to understanding the Old Testament. I mean, all those historical writings, starting with Genesis.

[19:53] Even the creation account of Genesis. If you can remember, way back when, when I did a series through the first 11 books of Genesis. We kind of went through the Genesis or the creation narratives.

[20:05] And then beyond that. It's all about God's plan of redemption. And the genealogies. Starting with Adam.

[20:16] That's the subject there. That's the purpose for those. To have us see God's plan of redemption working its way through history. The law. The sacrificial system.

[20:28] The historical writings concerning Israel. All the way through their history. And as it's recorded. All the kings. And all of it. They're bonding.

[20:38] All of it's about redemption. The prophetic writings. Certainly. About God's plan of redemption. All of it. And then when you get into the New Testament. Redemption is the key to understanding the New Testament.

[20:49] Certainly. The coming of Jesus. And his life. His ministry. Recorded in the Gospels. That's all about God's redeeming people for himself. And the birth and growth of the early church in Acts.

[21:03] That's the subject. The underlying subject. The great doctrines of the faith. That we have in the epistles. And even obviously going into Revelation. The revelation of the Apostle John.

[21:15] Concerning the end of the age. And the beginning of the next. Redemption is the subject. The theme. That runs all the way through the Bible.

[21:28] And so what does the word redemption mean? I've been using that word a lot. What does it mean? Well the word. The very word redemption. That we have in our Bibles here.

[21:42] Conveys the idea of a release. Or a deliverance. It's a release. It's a release from some bondage. Or a deliverance from some situation.

[21:56] A hopeless situation. That is. It is a release. That is affected. By payment of a ransom. Ransom. I mean that's just what the word means.

[22:09] Now. You know. We. We. Hear that definition. Then we right off think about the cross. Don't we. But the. Just the. The word itself. Even in a secular sense.

[22:20] It means. It means. It means. The payment of something. To redeem something. To release something. Alright. So. Then. Number four. The ransom price.

[22:31] For our redemption. Paul says. Was. Through his blood. See. That's right here in these. These two verses. He just walked through these things. Through his blood.

[22:41] Hebrews 9.22. Says. Without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness. Of sin. Then. Number five. The result of our redemption. Is what?

[22:54] Forgiveness of sin. You see. Redemption. Redemption. Is. The theme. That's the riches of God. The wealth of God's grace. That he's abounded toward us.

[23:05] The result of that redemption. That great redemption. Is the forgiveness of sins. And essentially. The phrase. The forgiveness of sins. Is really a further. Definition of the word. Redemption.

[23:16] In fact. You can barely separate the two. Because the word forgiveness. Means. A dismissal. It means.

[23:26] A sending away. Of something. And so. It's very closely connected. To redemption. So. Redemption. Then. Is. What? It's the release. From the guilt.

[23:37] The condemnation. The penalty. Of sin. That's. That's what redemption is. So this describes then. The wealth of God's grace. That he has made.

[23:48] To abound toward us. Or he's lavished upon us. Well. Actually. Lavished. Only. Upon those who believe. Because. He says.

[23:59] These truths. Are. In fact. The verse. The two verses. Seven and eight. Are introduced with the words. In him. In him. That is. Here's the idea.

[24:09] The wealth. Or the riches. Of God's grace. Are only. Awarded. Or lavished. Upon those. Who through. Who through faith. Have trusted in. Have been born again.

[24:20] In Christ Jesus. Been placed in Christ. So. This is for believers. So. Redemption. Is all about. About those. God has chosen. Predestined.

[24:31] For the foundation of the world. That they would be. Holy. Walk holy. And blameless. Before him. Sixth verb. Verse nine. Having made known to us.

[24:41] There's another verb phrase. Having made known to us. The mystery of his will. According to his good pleasure. Which he purposed. In himself. And then the next several verses.

[24:53] Are going to expand upon. That verb phrase. Now. Again. You see the. Kind of the consistency. Of Paul's use of these verbs.

[25:04] In the text. These verb phrases. I mean. It's. It's. It's easy. They just stand out to you. Verse three. Blessed. Us. With every spiritual blessing.

[25:16] Verse four. Chose. Us. In him. That we. Should be holy. Verse five. Predestined. Us. To adoption. As sons. Verse six.

[25:26] Made. Us. Accepted. In the beloved. And now. And verse seven. Redemption. He made. To abound. Toward. Us. Us. And now. Here in verse nine.

[25:37] Made known. To us. I mean. The word us. Is in. Is connected. With all of those verbs. Those verb phrases. He's made known. To us. What? The mystery. Of his will.

[25:48] Now. What is that? You can. You know. First of all. Our number one. There on your notes. God has made known. To us. Here's the mystery.

[26:00] His. Eternal. Plan. Of redemption. That's what he's made known to us. His eternal. Plan. Of redemption. The word mystery. By the way.

[26:12] In the Greek. Is. Mysterion. That's where. Mystery. Just comes right. From the Greek. And. It's used. Twenty one times. By the way. You can jot this down. If it's interesting to you.

[26:23] Paul used it. Twenty one times. In all of his writings. Used it. Six times. In the book of Ephesians. In this letter. To the Ephesians. Now. It's. It's important. We understand.

[26:34] That the word. Does not mean. What we normally think. The word mystery means. Or how we use it. In our day. The word. Does not refer.

[26:45] To something. Mysterious. In the sense. Of hard to understand. It's a mystery. I don't understand it. And that's how we would. Typically. Use the word. Or don't see it.

[26:55] Don't understand it. The meaning of the word. Is a revealed secret. It's a revealed secret. It was a secret.

[27:05] But now it's revealed. Something previously hidden. But now. Brought to light. That's what Paul's talking about here. So the context. Of the passage.

[27:16] Makes it clear. That the revealed secret. Is God's eternal plan. Of redemption. In Christ. Number two. The mystery of his will. Then.

[27:27] Is. Divinely revealed. Not. Humanly. Discovered. This is very important. To see. It's divine.

[27:38] Something God has revealed. It's a divine revelation. And it's not something. You and I. Can just simply discover. On our own. Paul said.

[27:50] That God's redemptive plan. Was what? Here. This gets us to the verb phrase. It was made known to us. We didn't discover it. It was made known to us. You and I.

[28:00] Would never have found it. Had God. Had God not. Willed to reveal it. I'm not just talking about. His revelation. His written revelation.

[28:11] The Bible. I'm talking about. You. Being made known. To you personally. In a singular sense. Each one of us.

[28:23] Now we have God's word. But it's through his word. That he. That he obviously. Reveals it. But we would not. Get it. We would not. Understand it. We would not. We would not. Discover it.

[28:35] It is divinely. Revealed. He. Made it known to us. And. Paul says. Three things. About. About this. This revelation.

[28:47] The revelation. Of his. Of his. Redemptive plan. First of all. And this takes us back. To the last part. Of verse eight. It is. By. Grace.

[28:57] That we can understand. And respond. To God's eternal plan. It's by grace. Verse seven. And eight. Again. Or. We kind of. Move into.

[29:08] The latter part. Of it. According to the riches. Of his grace. Which he made. To abound toward us. In all wisdom. And prudence. So we have to. Go back to the last phrase.

[29:19] Of verse eight. In all wisdom. And prudence. This. This is connected. To. To this. This blessing. Of God. That he has made. Known to us.

[29:30] The mystery. Of his will. All. In all. Wisdom. And prudence. Now the word. Wisdom. Refers to. Intellectual.

[29:41] Knowledge. That is. What you can learn. In your mind. What you. Can see. In your mind. It is. If you expand. Upon that. It is. The knowledge. That sees.

[29:53] Into the heart. Of things. Which knows. Them. As they really are. That's. That's. Someone else's. Definition. And. And. In this case.

[30:03] It's applied. To God's eternal plan. So we. God. Makes known to us. In all wisdom. That we can. See. With our minds. The understanding.

[30:14] Of our intellect. Those. Those things. That are. That really are. That. That are true. And God. Is the one. Who. Imparts.

[30:24] That wisdom. Give that wisdom. To us. And he does it. According to his grace. That's another part. Of the riches. Of his grace. The word. Prudence. Refers. To. A practical.

[30:35] Understanding. A practical. Understanding. That is. It's. It's. It's kind of. Like. Wisdom. In action. It is. The understanding.

[30:45] That leads. To an. Active. Response. To what the intellect. Knows. To be true. So. So. He. Makes it. Known to us.

[30:56] In our intellect. So that we. We understand it. And. Then. He. Also. Enables us. To understand. What to do. About it.

[31:08] And how we should. Respond to it. It's. Wisdom. In action. And so. Wisdom. Satisfies. The mind. The thinking. The understanding. In our minds. Prudence.

[31:19] Leads. To the right. Response. This is what. God. Has abounded. Toward us. According to the riches. Of his grace. And so. Again. Where does this. Wisdom. And prudence. Come from.

[31:29] It doesn't. Come from. Discovery. Both of these things. Are given. As gifts. Which the believer. Receives. By grace. And through faith.

[31:39] In Christ. Number two. We're talking about. How. Paul. How Paul. Describes. This. Revelation. This.

[31:50] The making. Known to us. The mystery. Of his will. Number two. It is. By his sovereign. Pleasure. And purpose. That God. Makes his plan. Of redemption. Known to. To man.

[32:01] His pleasure. And purpose. Verse nine. According to his good pleasure. Which he purposed. In himself. Now some versions. By the way. Have. Purposed.

[32:12] In him. And. I think. Even the ESV. May even have. In Christ. That he purposed. In Christ. Does it have that. In ESV? Which is set forth.

[32:23] In Christ. All right. Set forth. Or purposed. It's the same idea. But. In Christ. All right. Now. That's technically. Not correct. Even though it's very difficult.

[32:34] To. To say that. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. Somehow separated. But. The word. In the. In the original.

[32:45] Greek. It. It. Is. In. Alto. It's. In. Himself. It's a reflexive. If you. Remember. Your. Grammar days.

[32:55] When you were in school. Anybody. Remember. Your. Your. Learning. Grammar. When you were in school. Reflexive. Means. Themselves. Or. Himself. Or. Myself. And so.

[33:06] So. What. What is he saying? He's saying. Paul is clearly talking about. God's eternal purpose. That comes from his own. Sovereign counsel. Now. Jesus is in there. Christ is in there. There's no separation.

[33:18] God doesn't. Think. One thing. And Jesus thinks something else. Or God knows this. And Jesus knows. They're all. In perfect unity. With one another. But it's. Important.

[33:29] In our understanding of the text. He's talking about something. That. That. Takes place. Within. Within. The whole Godhead. Within. God himself. It's.

[33:39] It's. Within himself. And so. He is. He is doing these things. He's abounding these things. Toward us. According to his good pleasure. And according to the purpose. That's in himself.

[33:51] Himself. And so then. Three. The substance. Of what God has made known to us. Is the truth. Concerning the ultimate destiny. Of the universe.

[34:02] And it's very interesting. How this is put here. What we're talking about. Is the redemption. Of all things. To Christ. All things. Verse 10.

[34:13] Says. That in the dispensation. Of the fullness. Of the times. He might gather together. In one. All things. In Christ. Both which are in heaven.

[34:23] And which are on earth. In him. What does that mean? What does all that mean? I mean. That. That. That's pretty complex. Let me read it again.

[34:35] Slowly. This time. That. In the. Or. We really need to bring in. Verse 9. According to the good pleasure. Which he purposed in himself. Remember. He's making known.

[34:47] To us. The mystery of his will. He's doing so. According to his good pleasure. And his purpose. And then. Then we get to the substance. Of that. Mystery of his will.

[34:58] And he says. In verse 10. That. In the dispensation. Of the fullness. Of times. He might gather together. In one.

[35:09] All things. In Christ. Both which are in heaven. And which are on earth. In him. Okay.

[35:22] The words. That. All right. Begins. Verse 10 begins with the word that. The word that. And then the words. He might gather together.

[35:34] In one. Guess what? One single word. In the Greek. And it's a long. It is. Hideously long. Has eight syllables.

[35:46] Let me write it. No. I can't even write it. Can't write it. Can't say it. Eight syllable word. And so. Maybe we can understand. How it takes what?

[35:56] One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Seven. Seven English words. To convey the idea of the word. The meaning of the word. It. But it literally means. To sum up together. Does that help you?

[36:09] The idea is that. There's coming a day. When. God will restore. And redeem.

[36:22] A lost condition. God has made known. Here's. Here's. Here's all of it together. That God has made known to us. That in the end.

[36:34] Whenever that's going to be. All things. Will be restored. Under one. Supreme Lord. And that would be. King Jesus. All things.

[36:46] So. You know. You hear. Somebody. Ask. Well. What's this world. Coming to? It's coming to Jesus. It's coming to Jesus.

[36:56] That's the ultimate. Ultimately. It's coming to Jesus. That means. Everybody's going to be saved. No. Everyone. Everyone will be under. His. Supreme Lordship. Some will be spending.

[37:07] Eternity in hell. Under the supreme. Lordship. Of King Jesus. Others. The redeemed. Will be spending. Eternity. In.

[37:19] Heaven. Under the supreme. Lordship. Of Jesus Christ. Everything. One day. Is all going to be restored. Right now. It's in a lost condition.

[37:30] Because of sin. And wickedness. And. And that started way back in the garden of Eden. And things haven't been right since. And. In our day. It seems.

[37:40] And. I think. I think we're correct in our. In our understanding. Our conclusion. That everything is just. Quite crazy. You know. The wickedness of that.

[37:51] That's out there. The heinous sin. That's dangerous. And the rebellion. Against God's word. Against God. And. And. You know. It's like.

[38:02] You know. Everything's just going to hell. In a head basket. There's that expression. Well. One day. It's all coming to Jesus. All coming to him.

[38:12] And he. Will. Then be. The supreme lord. King of kings. And lord of lords. And. So God has made that known to us. We knew that.

[38:24] Didn't we? This. This is what he has made. Known to us. The mystery of his will. Not a mystery. In the sense of.

[38:35] I don't understand it. But something that was hidden. And has been revealed. And that. Is it. According to his. The riches of his grace.

[38:48] Thank you.