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[0:00] And we heard the 930-something age congregants singing that at the top of their voice. And I thought we need to add that song to our heart.

[0:16] Simple but true. Take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 3. You'll find that on the Pew Bible, page 977, Ephesians chapter 3.

[0:37] We're looking at the first half of chapter 3 where Paul begins to pray. We'll find his prayer at the second part of chapter 3.

[0:48] But he begins this prayer and then he interrupts himself to tell the Ephesians and us some details of the mystery of God that he feels we need to understand.

[1:05] And so we come to some wording here in these verses that we just need to walk slowly with Paul. Paul is one of these meticulous scholars who is defining and working out everything.

[1:25] And so if we follow slowly, I think we'll grasp onto it. And it's to our benefit to take some time to look at it. So first I want to read the text and then we'll pray and then we will dig into it.

[1:39] If you're able, please stand as I read from the Word of God, Ephesians chapter 3. I'm going to read 1 through 11. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ 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.

[2:17] And by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of the 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.

[2:38] To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promised in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power.

[3:04] To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the ministry, excuse me, to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies.

[3:48] So it reads, let us pray.

[4:02] Father, in these moments, Lord, open our minds, soften our hearts to receive the truth that Paul describes for us.

[4:13] Hold our attention, Father, with truth that we might grasp what Paul's getting at so that we might better understand your purposes, your eternal purpose, why you sent Jesus, why you love the world so much that you sent your only son, that we might live.

[4:37] We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Do you remember, way back in the Old Testament, do you remember when God showed His glory to Moses?

[4:58] Remember that story? Right? It was right after the golden calf, right? They'd come out of Egypt, right? They'd come to Mount Sinai, right? They got the law from up on the mountain, the smoke on the mountain.

[5:11] And while Moses was up on the mountain, right? The people played, right? They partied. And they offered their worship to a golden calf that Aaron carved.

[5:26] And since Moses was so long, 40 days, 40 nights up on the mountain, they got impatient and they wanted to make their own God.

[5:39] And they made their own God. So this, when Moses asked God to show him his glory, it happened right after this.

[5:50] So Moses comes down, right? Breaks the tablets, right? He's angry that the people have already sinned. And these are the people that Moses was called to take into the promised land.

[6:05] So now it's at a crisis point, right? They've come out of Egypt. They've got the law. They already broke the law. They broke the tablets. And the people have played. And Moses is feeling, well, we're not told how he feels, but he is angry.

[6:20] He's confused. He's confused. He's supposed to take these people. These are the people of God. These are the children of God. And they've already blown.

[6:33] And so he needs a little reassurance, I'm guessing, because why do you ask God to show your show his glory to you at this crisis point? So God says, OK, Moses, stand in the cleft of the rock.

[6:48] I will pass before you and I will proclaim my name. But you cannot see my face because no one can see my face and live. But I will go by and I will hold my hand over you and you can see my backside.

[7:03] And I will proclaim my name. As God descends in a cloud, he says this. The Lord descended in a cloud and he stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord.

[7:16] Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, or literally Yahweh, Yahweh Eloheinu.

[7:28] Compassion, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Who keeps loving kindness for thousands. Who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

[7:42] Yet, he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

[7:59] Here's the description God gives. Here's my glory. And the glory is the proclamation of his name. He proclaims his name. And his name is so big, it has all these characteristics.

[8:11] Right? Compassionate, loving kindness, forgiving. Forgiving even the worst kind of sin. Forgiving, forgiving, compassionate, loving, merciful. Yet.

[8:23] That's not all that I am. Yet he does not forgive. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. So how do you take that?

[8:37] How do we grasp that? A God so big. We love all the first part. Can we just leave that last sentence out? Right? We love the forgiving, the merciful, the kind, the compassionate.

[8:51] All that, right? All the graciousness. All that stuff we know of God, we love God for. A friend of sinners. But then there's this other aspect of his character that is holy.

[9:03] Righteous. Just. Just. So we have a tension. A tension. A great tension. How is God's love and mercy compatible with his holy justice?

[9:20] How does a holy and just God forgive rebellious sinners? That's the question.

[9:32] How does he do that without dismissing part of who he is? He can't. So it's a great mystery. And to answer that question.

[9:46] The gospel. Enters into the picture. How does God forgive a sinner? How does God forgive me? Who does not deserve his compassion and graciousness and forgiveness?

[9:58] Because he sent his son. Right? God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Right? To do what?

[10:11] To die on a cross in our place. To pay the penalty that we deserve. That's the gospel. That's how the justice and the love meet in the cross.

[10:24] That's how he can be both just. Punishing the sin. And merciful. How much God loves.

[10:36] We were looking at a verse in the first hour this morning. Where James brought up the fact that it said. In Isaiah 53. It said it pleased him. It pleased God to crush him.

[10:48] Speaking of Jesus the Messiah. It pleased God the Father. To crush his son. I just take that statement by itself. It sounds like. What?

[11:00] How can it please him to crush his son? And it wasn't that it pleased him in the doing of that. But in the result of that. It pleased him to crush Jesus on the cross.

[11:11] Because that saved us. And by the way. How did Jesus do after the cross? He raised up and God exalted him where? To the highest place.

[11:22] And he gave him the name above every other name. So it's not like Jesus got dismissed in all this. It pleased him. Because it showed the glory of the son. And it pleased him. Because it showed the mercy of his love.

[11:32] And how he made justice and love meet. In the cross. So we began a couple weeks ago in this chapter.

[11:42] Chapter 3. We're taking kind of a walk through here. Because Paul's bringing up some stuff that, you know, just at a casual glance doesn't make sense to us. So we're walking through Paul's words.

[11:54] We saw him bring up in the first seven verses this mystery. He calls it the mystery of the Christ. And Paul says that that mystery. It's called a mystery because it was hidden for all these ages.

[12:06] It was hidden. It was not revealed in the Old Testament. It was not revealed until Christ came and revealed it to his apostles and to the prophets of the New Testament. So Paul called that his stewardship.

[12:20] It was God gave that to him to then give to the church so that the church could understand. And that's what he's doing here. And then we saw in verse 8 he brings out the message of the gospel.

[12:33] He brings up two things here. What is the effectiveness of grace? So grace is part of the gospel. But how effective is God's grace?

[12:43] Amazing grace we call it, right? God's grace toward us. But how effective is it? And Paul says it's so effective. He says verse 8, To me the very least of all the saints.

[12:56] The least of the saints. Or the least of the saints. Paul considered him at the very bottom.

[13:07] The very bottom. The least deserving of all believers. Because he had persecuted the church of Christ.

[13:22] So grace is effective because it came to him who was unworthy and undeserving. Yet what we notice is it did not. He did not focus on his unworthiness. You know we can go there, right?

[13:32] We can go where hey I'm undeserving and I do not. Right? I'm unworthy and we wallow in our unworthiness. We can get stuck by that. Paul didn't get stuck in it.

[13:43] He recognized it. He owned it. But he did not get stuck in it. It was not hindering him. The grace came to the least. But it enabled him.

[13:54] It freed him. It empowered him to preach the gospel. It moved him. It motivated him. And then we saw the essential gospel. What he calls there in verse 8.

[14:05] He's preaching the unfathomable riches of Christ. Or the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's the gospel. It's unsearchable. It's unfathomable.

[14:16] Literally untrackable riches. His grace is so rich that it's too deep.

[14:27] It's too vast. It's too high. It's too wide. That doesn't mean we don't search it. It doesn't mean we search it. But we'll never come to the end. There will always be more that we find out about this gospel.

[14:40] The gospel is so simple. But it's also deep. Which is what we found out in the first hour. As we studied one part of the gospel. Which is atonement. How many know about atonement?

[14:52] Good for you. You've heard of it? In other words. Not a part of your regular vocabulary. Is it? But it's one aspect of the depth. Of what God does through Christ.

[15:03] In the gospel. So it's the riches of Christ. Well how rich is Jesus? How rich is the master?

[15:15] How rich is the king of kings? The riches of the gospel are the abundance. Of what Christ won for us. In chapter 1-7.

[15:28] It talks about how we're blessed. Because God forgave us. According to the riches of his grace. Chapter 2-7. It talks about we are saved by grace alone.

[15:39] A grace that is a surpassing riches of grace. So Paul's emphasizing a couple of subjects here.

[15:54] He says. There's two things he's doing. Verse 8. He is preaching the unfathomable riches. And verse 9.

[16:04] He is bringing to light. What is the administration of that mystery? He's unpacking what those riches are. What that mystery is.

[16:16] There are two subjects here. One is the unsearchable riches. And the other is the plan of this hidden mystery. In verse 9. Notice what he says in verse 9.

[16:31] To bring to light. He's not only preaching the gospel. But verse 9. He's bringing to light. What is the administration. Or the plan of the mystery. Which for ages has been hidden in God.

[16:46] Who created all things. Amen. Amen. The plan of the hidden mystery.

[16:57] What was unknown until Christ. He's enlightening. He's illuminating. How God blessed the Gentiles in Christ. Remember the Old Testament.

[17:08] It's all about the children of Israel. Up until Christ. It's all about the children of Israel. The Gentiles can kind of come in on the outside. Can kind of get a little bit.

[17:18] But they're not allowed to go all the way into the temple. Right. They're not allowed to approach God. But they're to stay way out. So now Christ brings this.

[17:29] This mystery. It's the mystery of. How would the rest of us. What about us who are not Jewish. What about us who are not part of the children of God. How do we get into this.

[17:41] That was the mystery. The Old Testament talked about that God would bless all the families of the earth. But it never told us how. And so now when Christ comes.

[17:52] Not only are they allowed into the holy place. They're allowed to go all the way. To the father himself. Remember.

[18:05] The veil before the holy place. Right. And when Jesus died on the cross. The veil was split in two. Which is the picture of now it's open. Jesus's body was the veil.

[18:18] It's the thing that said. And now that his body was broken. We had a way in. So God in Christ removed.

[18:29] We saw that in chapter two. He removed the barrier. Of hostility. Which was the law. Jesus kept the law. He removed that barrier by keeping it. And then dying on the cross.

[18:41] So if the mystery is hidden. How does God expect us to understand it? So this is what Paul's explaining.

[18:51] How do we come to understand this? This mystery that was hidden. Remember Jesus told parables. Remember he started speaking in parables.

[19:01] And he'd tell these you know. The kingdom of heaven is like this. The kingdom of heaven is like that. Right. And he called them parables. He also called them hidden truths. He called them secret.

[19:13] Secrets of the kingdom. He didn't tell parables. To be like a story. That explains things. He told parables. As a story.

[19:23] To hide things. Parables were kind of the dividing line. It showed who were his disciples. And who weren't. Who came back to ask. What did that mean? And those who walked away.

[19:37] Parables were the turning point. So parables. Jesus said. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter. What has been hidden. Age. What has been hidden.

[19:48] Since the foundation. Of the world. So he's. So Jesus brings these mysteries. And he started doing it by the parables. Parables teach us. A whole bunch of things. But we have to dig.

[19:59] To understand it. Surface level. Isn't where the parables teach us. We have to dig to understand. What is the. What do the parables mean? So Paul explains.

[20:10] In 1 Corinthians 2. If the mystery is hidden. How does God expect us to understand? So here's. Here's a little clearer teaching. I think on this whole issue. 1 Corinthians 2.

[20:22] Paul said. Yet among the mature. We do impart wisdom. Although it is not a wisdom. Of this age. Or of the rulers. Of this world. Not worldly wisdom. Who are doomed to pass away.

[20:34] But we impart. A secret. And hidden wisdom of God. Which God decreed. Before the ages. For our glory. So. We know he's talking about. The same.

[20:44] Hidden wisdom. Hidden from the beginning. None of the rulers. Of this age. Of this world. Understood this. For if they had. Understood it. They would not have.

[20:55] Crucified the Lord of glory. God had hidden it. From the rulers. Of the first century. With the result.

[21:06] That they killed his son. If they had understood. The mystery. They would not have. Killed Jesus. But God kept it hidden. So Jesus would die.

[21:17] But as it is written. What no eye has seen. Nor ear heard. Nor the heart of man imagined. What God has prepared. For those. Who love him.

[21:29] These things. God has revealed. To us. How? Through the spirit. And we impart this. In words. Not taught by human wisdom.

[21:40] We don't teach. The human wisdom. Of the world. But taught by the spirit. Interpreting spiritual truths. To those who are spiritual. The natural person. In other words.

[21:50] The unbeliever. The person. That does not have. The spirit of God. The natural person. Does not accept. The things. Of the spirit of God. Why?

[22:02] Because they're folly. To him. And he is not. Able to understand. Not able to. Fully grasp them. Because they're spiritually. Discerning.

[22:13] So the mystery is hidden. To the world. The mystery is hidden. The mystery about Christ. Is hidden. To the natural man.

[22:24] Who does not accept. And is not able to grasp. These things. This mystery is understood. Only through the spirit of God. We are taught by the spirit.

[22:36] They are truths. Of the spirit. They come in spiritual thoughts. And spiritual words. Question. Has God revealed them.

[22:47] To you. Are you beginning to grasp. You may not understand. The whole thing. Are you beginning to grasp. These mysteries. That were not.

[22:58] Understood before. So. Second question. Why does God do it this way. Why does he hide. This. Why. Why didn't.

[23:08] When Jesus first came. Why. Why didn't he. Let people in on it. Jesus was open. Jesus was open. About who he was. In fact.

[23:19] He was killed. Because he was open. About who he was. This is. My father in heaven. Before Abraham. I am. Right. They tried to stone him. Because they saw him.

[23:29] Blaspheming. Calling himself. The son of God. He was clear. About who he was. But why did God. Keep it hidden. From the past.

[23:42] Well. Second aspect. We see in verses 10 and 11. Is he clarifies the purpose. For God's mystery. He said. He's clarifying why. It was hidden.

[23:54] So look at verse 10. Right. In order that. Right. So that's purpose statement. In order that. He's bringing to light.

[24:06] About the mystery. Verse 9. Which was hidden for ages. Verse 10. In order that. Okay. Here's why he hid it. In order that the manifold wisdom of God.

[24:18] Might now be made known. Through the church. Not any other way. Through the church. To.

[24:29] Here's the surprising part. To the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Okay. Let's unpack that. So that. Here's the purpose.

[24:41] God does it this way. To make known his wisdom. To make known the wisdom that is manifold wisdom. And it's a many sided wisdom. It's a multi colored wisdom. It has a variety to it.

[24:54] When we say wisdom. What's what is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge skillfully. Okay. It's one thing to know things. It's another thing to know how to do things.

[25:07] Wisdom is a skill of application. Wisdom is a skill of taking the knowledge and knowing what to do with it. Okay. That's wisdom. That's the book of the book of Proverbs is full of wisdom.

[25:18] Right. Learn wisdom. Learn to recognize truth from error. Learn to recognize. Right. How to clarify things. You look at consequences of action.

[25:28] You look at motivations for actions. Right. That's wisdom begins to understand those things and then apply it to life. Right. I recognize that a fool does this and this.

[25:39] And here's the consequences of his action. So wisdom says. Okay. Let's avoid that. Here's the wisdom of the wise man. This is what he does. He trusts in the Lord.

[25:49] Right. He does not lean on his own understanding. In all his ways he acknowledged God. And what happens? His paths are straight. Wisdom. Knows to not rely on self.

[26:00] In fact to distrust self. And to trust God. His ways are not our ways. So that's wisdom. And then notice where.

[26:11] Where does he make this wisdom known? To whom does he make it known? Here's the unexpected thing. We thought it would be to us. Right. But actually he uses us.

[26:24] To make the wisdom known to others. Specifically the end of verse 10. To the rulers. And the authorities. What kind of rulers and authorities? Where do they exist?

[26:35] In the heavenlies. So we're not talking about earthly rulers and authorities. That just became interesting didn't it? God uses his church.

[26:46] He uses his believers in the church. To show to those in the heavenly realms. Whether they be angelic servants of God. Or they be demonic rebellious spiritual servants.

[26:59] Of Lucifer. To let them know. What he's doing. Why he does it. These rulers and authorities in heavenly places.

[27:13] Ephesians. We saw them. Referred to in chapter 1. Where he talks about Christ is exalted. Far above all rulers and authorities and powers and dominions. Right.

[27:24] Talking about heavenly authorities. He referred to them in chapter 2 verse 2. Where we used to be formerly walking according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air.

[27:37] Of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Who's that? Who's the prince of the power of the air? In other words heavenly. Right. That's the devil. Satan.

[27:50] Diabolos. And then at the end of the book chapter 6 verse 12. It talks about our warfare. We battle not against what?

[28:01] Flesh and blood. But our battle is against the rulers. And the authorities. And the spiritual forces. Right.

[28:14] Which are not earthly. I was touching it. It's touchy. Even Peter.

[28:30] In 1 Peter chapter 1. Talks about. He talks about the gospel. How it. When it was revealed. That it was new stuff. Right. New good news. And he mentions that.

[28:42] That even the angels long to look. They didn't know. It was a surprise to them. They didn't know. This thing that God hid. For all these ages.

[28:53] And now. Once he sends his son. Now it's becoming revealed. And even the angels. Are longing to look. And understand. What's going on. What God's doing. They don't know.

[29:04] All of that. They just get orders. And they do it. Right. Like last night. Send the rain. So they sent the rain last night. You know angels are.

[29:15] Controlling the weather. Right. I'm serious. Book of Revelation. So.

[29:30] Even they don't see it coming. They don't understand. So when we battle against Satan. Understand. Understand this. He knows a lot. But he does not know everything.

[29:40] He reveals to us. Things. Things. That he does not. Reveal. To the devil. I know.

[29:55] I agree. So. How is the wisdom shown? Verse 10. He says it's through the church. It's now made known. Through the church. Church.

[30:05] So when we say the church. What do we mean? What's the church? Is this building? Us. No. It's what? Us. The people. Right? It's good to be in the Lord's house.

[30:17] With the Lord's people. I sense a movement. Thank you. Sorry. That's alright. That happens. I know. Don't worry about it.

[30:31] So the church. Through the people of God. Through the believers of God. A church is. The church. The word church. In the Greek. Means what? Anybody? Ecclesia.

[30:43] Ecclesia. Yes. Ecc. Out. Calling. Called out. Those who are called out of the world. Right? And then are gathered. Together. They gather in God's name.

[30:55] Right? We gather to worship. We gather to learn. We gather to fellowship. We gather to love one another. We gather to serve one another. We gather to be encouraged on this day.

[31:06] So that as we go to the next day. Lord. You know. We've got some refocusing again. And we're. We're. Helped to go forward. The church. God's people.

[31:17] God's people who walk with him. And trust him. People who gather together. The wisdom's made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies.

[31:28] Through the church. The church. The believers. Display God's wisdom. They.

[31:39] These rulers and authorities. See. In us. The tangible. Proof. Of God's work. Proof. Which they do not understand.

[31:54] And it's all done in Christ. Look at verse 11. Finally. This was in accordance. With the eternal purpose. Which. God carried out. In Christ Jesus.

[32:05] Our. Lord. It was the eternal purpose of God. In other words. The gospel. And Jesus Christ. And the Gentiles coming in.

[32:16] Is not plan B. It was plan A. From the very beginning. It's not like God didn't know what he was doing. It's not like God didn't. Couldn't make happen.

[32:26] What he wanted to make. Happen. And he brought it about. In this great. Mystery. We're the mystery. We're the mystery.

[32:37] We. We get to participate. In everything. That God's children get. And more. We are fellow members. We are fellow partakers.

[32:49] All they said in verse 6. Right. We're fellow heirs. Fellow members. Fellow partakers. Of the promise. We get it all. Why? Because it's in.

[33:00] Christ. Which he carried out. In Christ Jesus. Our Lord. So when we read. John 3.16. God so loved the world. What did he have in mind? Right.

[33:13] He so loved the world. And by the way. Before Jesus came. Who's the world? Every sinner. Every sinner. Every rebel. Everyone who's cursed God.

[33:25] Everyone who's. Who's rebelled against God. Everyone who has. Shook their finger. Finger. Fist at God. Or some cases. Finger.

[33:35] I suppose. I'm not going to do that though. Okay. I'm so tempted to go somewhere with that. It's all done in Christ.

[33:48] Because in Christ. All power is subjected. All those rulers and authorities. Are now subject to Jesus. Jesus. Well. They were subject to him. All along.

[34:00] And we knew it. When Jesus came to earth. And started preaching. And this. And these. These demonic spirits. Kept springing up. Right. Whenever Jesus tried to preach. There would seem to be another one.

[34:11] Springing up. What did he do? Did he make a big show of it? No. He just told them. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

[34:22] Shut up. And in many cases. He said. Get out of that person. Leave that person alone. Setting them free. They're all subject to him.

[34:33] So Christ's power. Neutralizes. All the hostility. That's why. When he talks about. How we're saved. By grace. You've been saved.

[34:44] When not only have we been made. In chapter two. We've been made alive. Together with Christ. We've been. Seated with Christ. Right. We've been raised up. With Christ. Because that's our stance.

[34:55] We're with Christ. Though we're not in heaven yet. Our authority is. Our victory is. Christ. And that's why. We can tell. When the.

[35:05] When. The demons come. And when the. When the evil one. Throws the fiery darts. We can hold our shield up. And stop it. And that's why. Peter says. Resist the devil.

[35:17] And he will. Flee from you. How in the world. Do I have that kind of authority? Who am I. To do that? Well. The only reason I do that. Because I'm seated with Christ.

[35:27] In heaven. That's why. That's why. I have no authority. To send them away. But I. I speak Jesus. Speak Jesus. To them. I like that.

[35:38] Speak Jesus. Jesus says. You have to go. No. Don't do it like that. So. God's wisdom. Is totally unexpected. But it's the way.

[35:51] God. Choose. To save us. It's the way. God. Chose to work. Listen. To Paul's description. Once again. In first Corinthians. One. Paul says. Christ did not send me.

[36:02] To baptize. But to preach. The gospel. And not with words. Of eloquent. Wisdom. Lest.

[36:13] The cross. Of Christ. Be emptied. Of its power. So in other words. Paul says. I'm not going to use. Fancy words. I'm not going to. Spellbound you. I'm not going to. I'm just going to.

[36:23] Give it straight. Because I don't want. The cross of Christ. Emptied of its power. For the word. Of the cross. Is folly. To those. Who are perishing. But to us.

[36:34] Who are being saved. It is. The power of God. For it is written. God said. I will destroy. The wisdom of the wise. And the discernment. Of the discerning.

[36:44] I will thwart. Where is the one. Who is wise. Where is the scribe. Where is the debater. Of this age. Has not God. Made foolish. The wisdom.

[36:54] Of the world. For since. In the wisdom. Of God. The world. Did not know. God. Through wisdom. The world.

[37:05] Does not know. God. Through. Worldly. Wisdom. It pleased. God. Through the folly. Of what we. Preach.

[37:16] To save those. Who believe. Let me read that again. Because I love that. It pleased. God. Through the folly. Of what we preach. So what I'm doing. Right now. Is folly. I'm telling you.

[37:27] Folly. But you believers. Know it as power. And unbelievers. Think of it as. Folly. Silly. Wives tales. Old fashioned.

[37:42] For Jews. Demand signs. And Greeks. Seek. Wisdom. But we preach. Christ crucified. A stumbling block. To the Jews. And folly. To the Gentiles. But to those.

[37:52] Who are called. Both Jews. And Greeks. Christ. Is the power. Of God. And the wisdom. Of God. For the foolishness. Of God. Is wiser. Than men. And the weakness.

[38:03] Of God. Is stronger. Than men. For consider. Your calling. Brothers. Not many. Of you. Were wise. According to worldly. Standards. Not many. Of you.

[38:13] Were powerful. Not many. Of you. Were of noble. Worth. You puffed up. Yeah. You feel. Feeling good. In other words. You know. You guys aren't it.

[38:27] What's God choose? But God. Chose. What is foolish. In the world. To shame.

[38:37] The wise. God chose. What is weak. In the world. To shame. The strong. God chose. The low. And despised. In the world. Even the things. That are not. To bring to nothing. Those that are. So that no human being.

[38:49] Might boast. In the presence of God. And because of him. Because of him. You are in Christ Jesus. Who became to us.

[39:00] Wisdom from God. Righteousness. And sanctification. And redemption. So that. As it is written. Let him who boasts. Boast in the Lord.

[39:14] See. God's wisdom. Is totally different. From the world. The world. Hears the gospel. And they say. A savior dies. That's not what.

[39:25] Saviors do. Savior is weak. He dies. He submits. How does that save. That's foolishness. If we were writing.

[39:36] The story. We would never write it. That way. Would we. I mean. The savior. Is gotta be. You know. It's like the kids. Bible. Used to read. Zach. All the characters. Are all buff.

[39:46] It's like. John the Baptist. Like a 15. Not 15. Like 20 inch. I mean. That's what we think. Is powerful.

[39:56] That's what we think. Is. Is a hero. Right. Special skills. And Jesus came. To save. By what? By humility. Humiliation. Speaking. Speaking forth.

[40:08] The truth. Boldly. But submitting. To it. Like he told. Pilate. Right. Pilate's like.

[40:18] I got authority. To you know. Cut you loose. Or to. Send you. Send you. To your death. And Jesus says. You. You got no power. If I wanted.

[40:30] I got 12 legions. Of angels. At my disposal. How do you think. He could handle that. Pilate. So he. You know. He. He submitted.

[40:42] How hard. That must have been. He had all the power. But that's not why. He came. Right. God's wisdom. Is totally different. From us. It's a foolish. Message. It's a.

[40:52] We use a foolish. Method. Message. Of the gospel. We use a foolish. Method. Called preaching. Which is outdated. Today. And we have a. Foolish means. By which we come.

[41:02] To Christ. Which is not. Methodology. But the spirit of God. That's it. And why do we do all that? Why do we. Not.

[41:14] Puff up. The gospel. To look better. Why do we not. Use new methods. Instead of preaching. Why do we. Not do other things. That you know. Clearly. People. Have different learning styles.

[41:24] And they need different things. They need to see visuals. Why do we not do. Paul could have done all that. In that day. Not the visual thing. But. He could have used all the. Manipulations. Of the day.

[41:37] And why do we wait. For the spirit of God. Instead of trying to manipulate people. Into the kingdom. Yeah. So that the power might not be. The power of the cross.

[41:48] Not be. Not be emptied. And that it would be clear. That God did it. We see it.

[41:59] And even in who God chooses. He chooses. What. Who does he pick for his team. All the foolish. The weak. The despised. Why. So that God gets all the glory.

[42:09] And we know. He doesn't pick the superstars. He doesn't pick the mighty. He doesn't pick. The powerful. And. The noble.

[42:23] That should really. Boost all of our. Self-esteem. Shouldn't it? I mean. God sees me as weak. Well. I. I pretty much agree with him.

[42:33] I. Yeah. I'm weak. So what difference does this make? Can you see. God using you today. Since the wisdom's made known through the church.

[42:47] Do you see God using you as part of the church. To make that known. Why did he choose you? Why did he choose you?

[42:59] Has God made his son known to you? Has he. Has he. Has he given his spirit to you. So that you can start to understand. These mysteries. And to know Christ. Have you accepted him?

[43:11] Have you known him? Have you experienced the work of the Holy Spirit? What is the work of the Holy Spirit? Well. First he comes to convict us. To convict us.

[43:27] Of sin. Of righteousness in Christ. And of the judgment that is coming. He keeps it simple. Has he convicted you?

[43:41] Is he revealing Christ to you? Is he teaching you? Is he drawing you to himself? And do you see. How the cross. Solves our greatest problem.

[43:53] The problem of God's justice. Meeting God's mercy. It's an amazing truth. We sing it.

[44:06] How can it be? That thou my God. Shouldst die. For me. Let us pray. Father. We thank you. For the truth. Lord.

[44:16] I pray. Lord. That your spirit. Clarifies. A lot of what I said. I feel like. This was kind of hard stuff today. But you have it for us.

[44:28] Lord. In this book. And you have it for us. With an author like Paul. So help us. To walk away knowing what we need to know today. Whether that's one thing.

[44:39] Or that's a concept. Or it's about the Holy Spirit's work in my own life. We trust you Holy Spirit. To do. What glorifies Jesus.

[44:52] This we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[45:03]  Amen. Amen.