The Mystery of the Gospel (Ephesians 3:1-13)

But back there. Yeah, okay. So the Apostle Paul When you think about the Apostle Paul, what do you think about? Perhaps if you've been a Christian a long time you think about possible the one who the Apostle Paul who wrote most of well, a fair portion of the New Testament. Anyway, we know that Luke actually wrote most of it Luke and acts it by verse count anyway, but we have the Apostle Paul's letters. We have his ministry as an evangelist and a missionary and planting churches, all over Asia, Minor and then going over to your up and planting churches there and then ending up in Rome. And when you read about the Apostle Paul, you read that he was wasn't very good looking man, it seems to imply by the text that he is when you read the letters to the Corinthians that his personal presence when he was with, you was not anything that you would be impressed by. He didn't have a lot of Charisma, he didn't have a way of speaking. That was what the Greeks anyway, loved which was rhetoric. And eloquence in a presence about him that would make you think. Will this is someone to listen to Back, we know that that he was plagued with some Thorn that theologians historians have thought perhaps it was blindness because of what happened on the road to Damascus or perhaps it was another ailment that he received in his missionary Journeys. But he was not always well, he was beaten numerous times. He was Shipwrecked he was he born his body, the marks of Jesus so he must have been scarred perhaps disfigured. but Paul what he remembers In this passage and what we're going to see today is that he was the chief of sinners. The he persecuted the church that before he was a Christian, he was what we would call a terrorist. He was going to find Christians and to persecute them in to kill them and have them put to death. Nepal, when he writes this letter to Ephesians, he's in prison for the sake of the Gospel. So things have turned around and he tells the Ephesians these things so that they might not lose heart in their tribulations. And so Paul is really wanting us to see his life as an example of the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he wants the Ephesians to not lose heart in their tribulations and this makes it a very practical passage for us in our tribulations. And I don't know what you might be going through. I know what some of you were going through having spoken with you recently. I don't know what all of you were going through, but I trust that this passage this morning would Minister to your heart, that God is faithful. And he's proven it by giving his son and the cross is where we'd look to to see the faithfulness of God. I remember Pastor Tim Keller saying once that if God himself has suffered, then our suffering is not senseless. And the cross demonstrates that God himself has suffered. And so he knows how to comfort us in our suffering. What an incredible thought. Well, I titled it, the mystery of the gospel because Paul uses those words, in fact let's just read these 13 versus together or I guess I'll read it. You listen for this reason. I Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles. Assuming that you've heard of the stewardship of God's grace, that was given to me for you. How the mystery was made known to me by Revelation as I've written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to the sons of men and other Generations as it has now been revealed to His Holy Apostles and Prophets by the spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles, our fellow heirs members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus Through The Gospel. And of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though, I'm the very least of all the saints. This Grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, The unsearchable Riches of Christ and to bring the light for everyone. What is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God? Who created all things? So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the Heavenly places and this was according to the Eternal purpose that he's realized in Christ Jesus. Our lord in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I asked you not to lose, heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. This is one of those passages is your preaching or is I'm preaching expositionally Through the Bible. Verse by verse that, you think well this is really Paul just giving a bit of a biography. Hey, I was called to this ministry. I was called to be an evangelist and a minister and it was for the Gentiles and he's riding to the Ephesian church and encouraging them that even though he's in jail, they shouldn't be fearful. And at first glance, we might think we'll what is this have to do with us? How does this? Help us tomorrow morning when we wake up? How does this encourage us? Well, I think Paul wants to remind them. Of where he was before he knew Jesus. And where he is now because of the Gospel of Jesus and that it's all about Grace and it's all about the Father's Love in the Sun for us so that we could draw near and have access to the father as he says in verse 12, with confidence boldness because I think the Temptation in our suffering and our trials is to not draw near to God. But to pull away for one of two reasons one, we think that there are fault and perhaps they are, are false. Perhaps, we're suffering the consequences of our decisions and we think, well, if I was God, I would punish me. And so I'm not going to draw near to God because I deserve this.

But we have to remember the gospel, of course, that the father so loved, as he gave us his son to pay the penalty for our sins, so that we could draw near. So that even in the midst of our current sending the sun is our high priest in heaven. Who's interceding? You're the reason we draw way is because we think that perhaps it's not because of our own sin because we basically are suffering the consequences of our poor decision. Perhaps it's we think that God is far from us. In the midst of our suffering. Maybe we believe the lie that he's too busy with other more important people, or that he fell asleep at the wheel or that he's, you know, he's not interested in us, we're not somebody significant in the Kingdom. But that's just a lie from Satan. Our Father. Is always available. He's always ready to hear. He's always Drawing Near through his son by the spirit so that we would draw near. And so, this passage before us reminds us of these things in the life of Paul in the life of the Ephesian Church, which means this is who God is, this is how he deals with his people. That's how he deals with you. And I, and I want you to go away from here. Incredibly hopeful that your father in Heaven Is Not Forgotten. You, he's not abandon you, he's not forsaken, you he's given you his son, so that you would draw near with boldness and confidence access and not lose heart.

Reverse one. Paul reminds them of his calling that he was called to be a minister to the Gentiles and that he was called to supper. Jesus told him you're going to suffer many things when you do this and it's interesting. How first one, Paul doesn't finish. This thought in fact in your English Bibles, you might have a, a dash there. That is basically him taking a, a rabbit Trail, which is the rest of these verses and he never actually goes back to his initial thought. He, he just as he's writing this, he he goes into a rabbit Trail of the mystery of the Gospel, a rabbit trail of these things, because he knows that this is what they need to hear. This is most important. Now he does mention at the beginning for this reason, going back to what we heard. Last time we were in Ephesians that both Jewish people and gentile people are one in Jesus especially versus 18222 you are no longer strangers and Aliens, your fellow citizens, with the Saints, you're members of the household of God being built on the foundation of the Apostles, and the prophets Christ. Jesus himself, being the Cornerstone. I had your being built into a structure, a holy Temple in the Lord verse 21 in him. You're being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. So as Paul says, for this reason, I want you to know this, he saying to the Ephesian Church, you are the temple of God, where the holy spirit is dwelling. God is in your presence. God is in your midst. And this is a good reminder for us, isn't it? The heater Trinity Church of Benicia. We are the Holy Temple of the Lord where the holy spirit is dwelling. And I know I've said this before, but remember this reality, in the Old Testament, if you wanted to go into the Manifest presence of God, on the Earth, where did you have to go Jerusalem? And you had to go into the temple, and you had to do the clean, the clean laws and you had to have the proper approach, and you actually had to have the proper Heritage because if you weren't Jewish the closest, you could get to the Manifest presence of God was the court of the Gentiles. Now, if you were Jewish, you could go into the inner court, but you had to be of the tribe of Levi to be able to draw near closer, to be the priesthood. But in the New Covenant, what's true? Where the temple? Where the priesthood we have access to God right now? And so this idea that God might be far from us, is simply not true, he's here. And now if people want to meet God, they don't go to Jerusalem anymore, they come to us. The church. That is an incredible thought that is encouraging, that we would be Ministers of this New Covenant. We would be the ones who are taking this good news to the people to say, God is Drawing Near and he's drawn near and he's proven it by his son Jesus, who is called Emmanuel God With Us. I need died for our sins and he was raised for our justification and the spirit was poured out as a seal in the down payment and a pledge that. Yeah, all of God's promises are yes, and amen. And you can draw near to him.

Isn't that an incredible thought we can draw near to God? God loves you. He really, really loves you. I know sometimes it's hard to believe or we believe it's a logically. We believe it intellectually we say oh yeah, that's what the Bible says, God. So loved the world. We just put your name in that sentence. God loves you. and you go with her like squirm, a little

I don't know that he should not only just got love you, he likes you.

He's called your friend. Moses was the friend of God in the old Covenant. Now in the New Covenant Jesus says, you're all my friends. More than that were part of his family brothers and sisters in the Lord, part of the family of God. This is what Paul is rehearsing to the Ephesian Church. You were without hope and without God chapter 2, but you've now been brought near in Jesus. And for this reason, I'm in Chains, and I'm a prisoner, but the gospel is not bound and it's working in your midst. And so be comforted, Hallelujah. This is we're only in the world in this verse one and I'm already on the Rabbit Trail off of my notes. What turned over to Philippians chapter 1. I want you to see what Paul says in this letter chapter 1 verses 12 to 17. He says I want you to know Brothers Then what's happened to me is really served to advance the gospel song about being imprisoned so that it's become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. So he had been imprisoned in Rome and this is his first imprisonment and he was chained to a imperial Roman guard. And here he is I got a captive audience, to share the gospel, all day long with this Roman guard and it's become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard. That the reason I'm in prison is for Christ. And most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord, by my imprisonment or more, bold to speak the word without fear, some indeed, preach Christ, from Indian rivalry, but others from Good. Will the latter do it out of love? Knowing that I'm put here for the defense of the Gospel? But he's rejoicing. That the gospel is proclaimed back to Ephesians. He says it's for the sake of the Gentiles. It's for this Mission. If you were to turn over to a 21 when he talks about this mission, that was entrusted to him by Jesus himself by Revelation, is to go be the Apostle to the Gentiles. And that brings me hope because has a gentile living in Benicia California on the other side of the planet, this gospel went beyond the borders of Israel 2000 years ago and went to the ends of the Earth and now I who was without hope and without God have been brought in here. This is incredibly comforting, the Jesus commission Paul to this heat empowered him for this heat, he actually empowered them to the point of deaths. He was beheaded for the sake of the gospel and he says in Ephesians, he says I'm on the behalf of you Gentiles doing this and he he's willing to lay down his life for the sake of the Gospel. Now, that's a little bit convicting, isn't it? I don't know that we're always willing. You suffer much less lay down our lives. I mean, we're good Americans. The idol of our choice is not suffering. We've developed entertainment that we don't have to be bored and suffer boredom. We've invented medication that we never have to suffer pain, we've invented all sorts of things to get rid of. Suffering. Paul here says well, we've been called to it.

Will we lay down our lives? For the sake of the Gospel? Is the gospel worth it. Well, I know what it's done in my life, I know that it's changed my life. I know that that that if it wasn't for the gospel, I don't know where I would be after all, I grew up in Vallejo, you can never trust those Vallejo people. You don't know where they're going to end up. They met but the Lord saved me in and he's changed me and he's given me so many blessings. How could I not share that good news with others, What the Lord Has Done In Me? Amen. Paul stewardship. He says of this mystery vs. 227. It seems that every time Paul talks about his ministry to the Gentiles. The reason he takes this Rabbit Trail and never finishes, his thought is because he cannot get over God's marvelous Grace towards him. If he uses the word grace in verse 2 and verse 7 & 8, he uses the word gift in verse 7 and he says the word given vs 2 + 7 and 8. Any focuses on the Divine kindness of the father to Paul and to the Gentiles who are recipients of this boundless Riches of Christ, look at what he says here. Assuming verse to that you've heard of the stewardship of God's grace, that was given to me for you. And then down to verse 7 of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. And then he concludes Verse 8, to me, Don the very least of all the saints. This Grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, The unsearchable Riches of Christ. Beyond searchable Riches of Christ. He says, this is a a stewardship. This is a passing of the Baton that he would protect this gospel that he would Stewart it. Well, that he would give it to others and make sure that he didn't change it. He didn't dilute it, he didn't, he didn't make it more appealing, that he just simply gave it as it is. And God's grace was given to the Apostle Paul for the sake of the Gentiles. God saved Paul so that the Gentiles would see that Paul, as an example, if God can save all he can save anyone

Paul was a murderer.

Paul was The Conspirator. Paul hated Jesus and violently tried to eradicate the church when it was a fledgling church and got to save them and God used them. Don't you think he could save, you doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how great your sin is God's grace is greater, you can't out sin, the grace of God, you can't do it, it's greater And not only can he save you, he can use you. He will use you because he doesn't save people to not use them. He saves them in order that they would be as we saw and 2:10, his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. For good works that he prepared in advance that you would walk in them. That is good news. Doesn't matter what kind of mess you've made of your life. Jesus is able to fix the mess. God is able to heal the Brokenness. God is able to restore what's been lost.

He's the one who promises to restore the years. The locusts have eaten. Go read the minor Prophet. Joel. Imagine, you're in a land where you're an agricultural community in the locust. Come in and it's for waves of locusts, and they just devastate everything. And it's a judgment from God, because of their sin. And yet God says, to them, I'm able to restore the years, the locusts have eaten. Feel like your life is that way. That your life is like it's just stubble, there's nothing even alive anymore. It's like this burned-out shell of a city in Maui. God is able to restore He's able to raise the dead. Jesus from the dead. He can raise your life from the dead. This is what Paul is, so excited about why he's willing to die for himself and to live for others. For these Gentiles. He says, listen, this is a mystery, this is a mystery. He uses the word mystery in verse 3 and verse 6 when he says Mysteries not talking about a detective show, not something that you can figure out. He's talking about something that was not revealed previously, but now is revealed in Jesus. And the mystery of Christ is that the Gentiles would be part of the people of God, the God wouldn't just be a savior of the Jewish people that he would be a savior of all the nations. And we don't have time to turn there but in Revelation 5 Every Nation, every tongue every language on Earth. Every tribe is represented around. The Throne of God, praising the father and the lamb, and that's a picture of the ends.

This is what Paul. Was given to Stewart, is this mystery of the Gospel that is going to go to the ends of the Earth? And we know from the book of Isaiah 49, 6, that it's too small of thing that the Messiah would simply save Israel. He's going to be a light to the Nations that God's salvation would reach the ends of the Earth. It was revealed through the apostles and Prophets, Paul says that here verse 5 by the holy spirit's, and here's the mystery verse 6 Gentiles. Our fellow heirs members of the same body and partakers of the promise, the three realities fellow Aires It's not that there is categories of inheritance. We're all co-heirs with Christ. We're all going to inherit all things.

There are no second-class citizens in the Kingdom. There's no Haves and Have Nots. There's no class system in God's Kingdom.

The ground at the foot of the cross is level where all save the same way. As he said, in Chapter 2 by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, + nothing else until 4 a.m. by grace, and not by works. The good news, is that your inheritance is not by works. It's by grace, And you're going to get it all. Why Paul told the Romans, if he doesn't didn't spare his son, how will he not with him freely? Give you everything else. New heavens and a new Earth. We don't even know what that means.

but God is now our father Christ, Our elder brother, we are members of the same body, he's the head of the body, where the body of Christ and we're partakers, he says, of her six of the promise in Christ Jesus Through The Gospel. Well he had said in chapter one, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit verse 13, 2:13. We all because of Jesus have access in one Spirit to the father and he says here in verse 12 that we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

When you pray, do you pray with boldness? Confident access or do you pray coming? Like one would come to a Supreme Court judge. Really, you're hoping they wouldn't notice you but now you're in the court. Now they do notice you. So you're just going to say as few words as possible or perhaps you're going to pray thinking that you have to say the right words to get God on your side.

That's simply not true. The father initiated this plan in chapter one, he sent his son. To bring us to him. So that through Jesus, we have access. And now when we come, I love the Greek word here for boldness confidence. These synonyms parecio, confident access It's this idea that you have every right to be there. There's no reason for you to doubt that you're supposed to be there. Think of it. Like if the new King King George, if one of his grandchildren wanted to come into His presence there at Buckingham Palace, that grandchild would have every confidence that he has the ear of the king. Why? Because of who he is to the king? He's related. What's true with us as well? We're a child of the king. We're Sons and Daughters of God, we have access and so our father says come with boldness and confident. Access walk. Right in in fact he had said in Chapter 2 of Ephesians the dividing wall, a partition has been torn. It's been torn open, there's no more barrier to access. So when you pray, pray, boldly, pray confidently. Knowing that your father in Heaven loves you and he hears you, and he wants you to come to him. He doesn't consider your prayer. You're coming to him as a burden or a drain, he's not like a human father. Even the best of us. Even those who want to be like our Father in heaven. We have to confess that at times, we blow it with our kids, don't we? I can fast. I've tuned out my children. They come to me and wanted to share something, a story, something happened and my eyes glaze over. That's not right of me. That's wrong of me. I should be interested in my children every minute of the day because they're my children and I love them but the reality is I'm sometimes not cuz I'm selfish. Our Father in Heaven is not like a father on Earth. He's a father who hears always, who Delights for you to come. He never considers, you're coming inconvenience. And when he answers, he always answers in the best way, with the best resources for the best reason his glory in your joy. So, draw near to him. Paul says, you are now a fellow heirs members of the same body partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the sphere in the blessing of the Gospel. It's why we're willing to dive to self to live for others to Delight in, not triumphant over others. But delighting in the gospel that unites us to others. It, frees us from judgmentalism. It frees us to say, well, the only reason I'm a Christian is because of the grace of God, I don't deserve to be there, I don't deserve to be in heaven. Jesus is the one who deserves. But his righteousness has become my righteousness because my sin was put upon him at the cross. And so, the only reason I have any standing in the kingdom is because of the grace of God. I don't deserve it, but we saying, but we rejoice in it, don't we? Because it's a manifestation of Our Father's Love and so when others come in, we're not jealous or excited. They're not taking part of our inheritance, God's infinite, there's an incident inheritance. All of the ways of the world are upside down in the Kingdom. The last or first in the first or last and greatest in the kingdom is being a servant of all Jesus's.

/ 7. Is Transitional 2 verse 8. This next section where Paul is making known the mystery in God's Eternal purposes versus 8 to 12. He says, I am the least of all the saints and he has a good reason to say it. He was a violent persecutor of the church ve rights to Timothy in 1st, Timothy 1:13. I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent opponent but I received Mercy Now, the magnitude of his sin. He describes it. Three ways, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent insolent person, which is outrageous. Disregard for other people's, right? He didn't care. I need he's in his defense in Acts 26. He says I was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing, the name of Jesus of Nazareth and I did. So in Jerusalem not only locking up many of the Saints in prison. But when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them and I punish them often and all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme end and raging Fury against them. I persecuted them even to foreign cities He says the next 22. I bound up and delivered to prison, both men and women. He says the next 22 again day. They themselves know that in one synagogue. After another, I imprisoned in beat those, who believe in you and when the blood of Steven, your witness was being said, I was standing by and approving watching over the garments of those who killed him. He have the authority. See he didn't. He didn't throw the stones at Stephen because he was higher up. That's what the lowers did through the stones, but he was watching the garments as the superior with the authority to say. Yeah, put him to death. He may as well to pull the trigger. He tells the Galatians, I made Havoc of the church. You heard my former life in Judaism, how? I persecuted the Church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

And then he says here.

Of this gospel I was made a minister to me though. The very least of all the saints, this Grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, The unsearchable Riches of Christ. He tells Timothy and 1st Timothy 1:15, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom. I am the foremost. And I know there's discussion in the commentaries over, whether he was just saying, hey, we're all the chief of Sinners or if he meant, no, I'm the worst sinner that's ever lived on the planet. Because he tried to persecute and kill the Church of God and we don't know the answer to it. But either way we know that what Paul understands is that everything that he has is by grace That he got what he deserved. He would be eternally, separated from God. And yet, God saved him. And God used him to be a steward of this mystery. And the reason he's rehearsing all of this is not to put make his name great, he's rehearsing all of this to remind me of fusion. Church of how great Jesus is. How great the gospel is, how great the love of the father is how great the ministry of the spirit is

See, the greatness of Paul's debt is what makes the magnitude of Christ riches all the more plane. Which is by the way in our own lives. Why Christian maturity is never afraid of repentance. In fact, we desire it. The more we mature in the Christian Life, we know that all of our Salvation is by grace and so we're not surprised if we have to repent of sin. we're not surprised if we find sinan Our Lives that we need to repent of But I might have told you this before. Maturity in the Christian life is not that you send less and less because we will never stop our fight with sin until we're in glory maturity. And the Christian Life Is that the time between or sending an AR repenting gets less and less. The we don't stay in our sin for months and years at a time it becomes weeks and days and hopefully hours and minutes and seconds.

The greatness of our debt makes the magnitude of Christ riches. All the more plain it is the unfathomable Riches of Christ. And if this is what God is doing to bring to light verse 9, what is the plan that he had from the beginning of the world? And it's through the church through us that he preaches, this plan. That's what's amazing. That's what I said earlier that God not only saves us, even though we don't deserve it. He uses us, he says, okay, I'm going to save a people that don't deserve it, not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. I'm going to make them one people. And I'm going to do it all of Grace by faith plus apart from works, not of Works, lest anyone should boast. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to take this good news of the gospel and the means I'm going to use to spread it around the world is the same. People I saved who didn't deserve it. The church verse 10 through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known. Two rulers and authorities. In the Heavenly places. God has made known this plan. This word was this this manifold wisdom of God. It's it's it's a multifaceted wisdom of God. The gospel is beautiful. It is sufficient. It is what we all of us need and is able to suffice for anything in our lives.

And then he says it's preach, not only to the world, but to these rulers and authorities in Heavenly places, which in the book of Ephesians are our enemies. When you get to chapter 6, we don't battle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces in Heavenly places. These rulers and authorities. But these rulers and authorities these hostile forces cannot hinder the advance of the Gospel through the church. The gospel is being preached. Even to them that their defeated foes

That's why he goes on to say. This is verse 11, the Eternal purpose that is realized in Christ Jesus our lord, the high point of the ages. What was hidden is now revealed? Its now preached on the rooftops. It's now preached around the world. And this is the Father's Eternal purposes. As he said, in chapter 12, some up all things in his son to make Jesus the head of all things, and put all things under his feet and make all things subject to him.

This is why Paul goes on to say, in verse 12, Jesus is the one we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So this is what the father is doing through. Jesus around the world, to establish his kingdom. Don't you think he wants to listen to you? Who's a part of his church? Don't you think he wants you to draw near because he had planned in chapter one that you'd be blameless holy and blameless before his presence for all eternity and he planned it in love he predestined it implanted so that you would be with him forever. That means he wants you to be with him now today because he wants you to draw near. And now Satan's the one who doesn't want you to draw near? He doesn't want you to receive the power. That's already at work in your lives. You remember chapter one that prayer that. Oh, guess what? You already have resurrection power at work in your life. Doesn't want you to remember that. He's going to pray again here after this in chapter 3, to say your loved how high and wide and deep and long that love is then if you would know it, you'd be filled with all the fullness of God doesn't want you to know you're loved by God. He wants you to think that the God is you do patiently putting up with you but he'd rather not, you know, it's kind of like you know, he's stuck with you. Because you put Faith In Jesus. And now he's stuck with you that maybe he'll make something out of it. No, that's a lie from the devil. He chose you. He said his affection upon you Christian and he gave you some for you. When you were at your worst thing gave you his best himself and along with it will give you all things. He's empowered you. He's made you his workmanship created in Christ. Jesus. Chapter 2 says for good works and he wants you to draw near to him you with boldness and confident access verse 12. And that is why Paul says in verse 13. So I asked you not to lose heart. Over what I'm suffering for you. This is the plan of God don't lose heart. these sufferings these trials that we see, They don't upset dogs plan. God doesn't have a plan B. He has a plan. A, there's only one plan. And it's from before the foundation of the world and nothing upsets it. He's already worked all those things into his plan. Remember what he told? The Romans, God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love him who are called. According to his purpose. They can take even the evil and work it to good. Hasn't done it in your life. You've done it in mine. So he reminds the Ephesians, don't be discouraged. Paul's able to see if suffering from God's perspective and Delight in it and this is why he endorsed these things. This is the hope we have. because we all experienced suffering in this Fallen World, whether it's physical suffering due to sickness, or Illnesses age, it could be spiritual suffering because of persecution. It could be mental suffering, depression.

This suffering without Jesus. There's no hope. But with Jesus, we know there's help because there's purpose in it. There's meaning in it. It's a part of the plan of God to shape all things to bring all things in subjection under his son to conform us into the image of Christ.

And like Paul, we ought to be willing to suffer all things for the sake of the Gospel. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the comfort that it brings. As we turn to the table now. Made that reminder of Jesus blood shed in his body, broken for us, his willingness to suffer for us. Be a reminder of your great love for us.

That you haven't abandoned us, you haven't forsaken us, you haven't left us alone, but you've provided a savior, a family house, a church, a kingdom Heaven that will have forever in your presence. And those who have lost, hope may you rekindle their hope those who've lost their Joy menu restore their Joy. Those that the darkness won't lift from their eyes. Father, would you give them a glimpse of the light of Life your son Jesus, that in his light? They would see life. Minister by your spirit to your people. Now, even as we take communion, I pray in Jesus name, amen.