If you have your Bibles this evening, I'm gonna invite you to turn to the book of Ephesians. In times like these, where I told you my allergies are kicking up, some of y'all probably think I'm finally maturing. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not. Y'all pray for me. I'd like to start this book because we're not going to get very in depth with it as far as right off at the beginning. What we're looking at at the beginning of this book is kind of a bird's eye view and looking at the big picture and the greatness of our God. This book can probably be read in about five or ten minutes. It wouldn't take you that long It's only got you looking at roughly six chapters. That's not that much. If you counted up all the verses you would count up about 155 verses. That's really not that much. Therefore let me encourage you to read the book of Ephesians as we go through it. Not just once but every chance you get. Familiarize yourself with it. This book was written to the Ephesians and that's the name given to the people who lived in a town of Ephesus who actually that town was in Asia Minor back in biblical times. That would be modern day Turkey in our day. And it's the area also you could read about if you were to read in the book of Revelation about the seven churches that our Lord addressed. Those seven churches were all located in Asia Minor. And it was kind of a circuit route that John was writing that our Lord shared that revelation with, and that it kind of just went around in a circle, those churches did in Asia Minor. This one here in particular, Ephesus, it was the center of worship of the goddess Diana. It was this worship, this goddess, that men had made a man-made goddess had become actually one of the seven wonders of the world. Paul himself spent about three years in the place of Ephesus. There was a revival that broke out while the Apostle Paul was there. You can read about it over in the book of Acts. There were books that were burned. And it was kind of amazing because out of all those books that were burned, they tallied up how much all those books would have cost back in that day and time. And it was 50,000 pieces of silver. That's a lot of books. In our day and time, if that were to happen, people would call us intolerant and call us all kind of things. Those were ungodly books. They needed to be burnt. in that day and time because this revival that broke out. And people turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and put their faith and trust in Him. They turned from believing the false goddess. The silversmiths that actually made the little icons in the image of Diana started losing a lot of money. Now, you know what's gonna happen when some big corporation starts losing a lot of money because of Christianity? They're gonna start calling Christians, they're gonna make the Christians a scapegoat. Well, exactly is what happened in the town of Ephesus. You can read about it over in the book of Acts, chapter 18, down in verses 19 through 21. And all this happened around the year of 53 AD. Paul first ministered there for two years. And as he was preaching and teaching, witnessing, he saw that whole area pretty basically evangelized. And what you find is a little bit of the history of that over in the book of Acts chapter 19. Might as well turn to the book of Acts 19. Acts chapter 19 Notice what the word of God says. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and he found certain disciples. And he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, we've not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, and to what then were you baptized? And they said unto him, unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul laid hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues, that is other languages, and prophesied. And all the men were about 12. And he went into the synagogue, spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of the way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of Tyranus. This continued by the space of two years. so that all that they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And God brought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs of aprons, and diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them, which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. And there were seven sons of one Siva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling in Ephesus. And fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also, which used curious arts, brought their books together, burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. It was the word of God that God used to prevail over unbelief. And what a stirring that was, that revival. It describes the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Now envision this, after Paul had preached there and that church at Ephesus had started, about 10 years later the Apostle Paul found himself in prison at Rome. And the charges against him could possibly even be the death penalty. But the Apostle Paul was so burdened for the churches that were started, that was his main concern even over his own life. I want you to notice what it says in chapter three in verse one. In chapter three in verse one, the Apostle Paul wrote this. For this calls I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Notice in 4.1, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. Look over in chapter 6. In chapter 6 and down in verse 20, for which I am an ambassador in bonds or chains. that therein I may speak boldly, is all to speak. As the Apostle Paul is a prisoner in prison, probably the maritime prison over in Rome, the hole they dropped you in, he was also chained in that prison. Now you know what, if we were chained in a hole in the ground with a bunch of other wicked men, where it was probably rat infested, and all kinds of stench down there, you probably would not think about writing something like the book of Ephesians or the book of Philippians which was written from the same place. And yet what occupied the mind of the Apostle Paul was these small churches that were started. It was in 62 AD roughly, 62-63 AD when he's on trial for his life but his concern and his heartthrob was for those churches that had started and grown because they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Over in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 the Apostle Paul lists a bunch of things that he had to go through in life and what he listed is a bunch of beatings and torturings and shipwrecks and things, but I want you to notice in verse 28, he says, besides those things that are without, those problems that come to me from the outside, that which comes upon me daily is the care of all the churches. Notice he did not say the church, there are the churches. There were multiple church plants throughout. that the Apostle Paul is probably the greatest missionary of all time started, all these churches that started, he knew that persecution was coming. He knew that ravenous wolves would come in, these men with false teachings and false doctrines to subvert young believers. And Paul's burden was for those young churches that were established. what this book will do as we delve into it. This book will deepen our drive for an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we dig into this six chapters, what you're gonna see, you're gonna see more and more concerning the gospel. and we pray that you grow in understanding of the gospel and the mysteries of God. The Apostle Paul uses that word quite frequently in this book. You're gonna see the glory and the riches of our Lord Jesus Christ. He emphasizes the importance of the Lord's church. Notice in chapter three in verse 10. to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." God desires for His wisdom to be known. God reveals His wisdom through His churches. It is very interesting to note this little phrase that the Apostle Paul used when he said, in heavenly places. I find that a very interesting little phrase. As we look into this doctrine of salvation throughout this book we're going to be looking at it from a vantage point and get your mind set upon this. The Apostle Paul has envisioned himself in heavenly places. He says that, notice in verse three in chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ. Look in chapter one in verse 20, which he wrought or worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Look in chapter two in verse six. and he has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Here's the status of the child of God. You are sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It's also found, that term, in chapter three and verse 10, which we had just read. It seems, now ponder this thought with me, this is rather fascinating. It seems like the Apostle Paul is viewing from a heavenly place, and as he's looking down from heavenly places, he's seeing God's plan of salvation. And he's seeing redemption from the viewpoint of heavenly places. Now we all know the Apostle Paul was called up into the third heaven. Word of God teaches us that. Maybe he is reflecting upon some of that. We don't know for certain. But here's a unique viewpoint of salvation. It's a viewpoint of looking down from heavenly places unto where we are. It's as if Paul cannot fully express himself throughout this book. He piles adjective upon adjective upon things because it's so grand and so great and so magnificent. Notice what it says in verse 19 in chapter one. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power. There is that exceeding, that means superabundant and beyond the greatness of His power. And not only that, His mighty power. It's not just power, but there is the mighty power of God. And the Apostle Paul He's seeing that, and he's in awe of who God is. In verse 21, he says, it's far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in the world, which also which is to come. In chapter two, in verse 21, chapter two in verse 21, I believe I've got the wrong verse there. Chapter 2 in verse 8. I still believe I've got the wrong verse there. Verse 8 in chapter 3. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles." And what was he preaching? The unsearchable riches of Christ. When you think about the riches of Christ, the Word of God describes its unsearchable riches. Why is it unsearchable? Because it's so vast. and so wondrous. The more you dig in the Word of God and look at Christ, you know what? You're just scratching surface. There's so much there. And here the Apostle Paul is just enthralled with it. Look down in verse 18. And he's praying that we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. In other words, we can never reach the full depths of the love of Christ. You can dig and you can dig and you cannot fully see all the greatness of the heights of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor the length. It is amazing. What Paul is saying, he's trying to express himself. And he's saying to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. It goes way beyond all that we know. And then notice what he says in verse 20. Now unto him that is able to do. What is God able to do? He's able to do, notice what he says, exceedingly. Abundantly. In other words, I'm trying to express, but I can't put it into words. It's far beyond. Above all we can ask or think, that's what God's able to do. God's able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you can ask or think, how big is God? He's wow. Let me tell you something, don't you get discouraged. There's no reason to be discouraged. Our God is on the throne. we are heading his direction. And you know what, we'll be in his very presence someday, right before his throne, worshiping around that throne, praising him who has redeemed us. And you know what, I believe, you know what Brother Overby used to teach, I remember him in class, he said, he believed heaven was like, once you get there, you're just gonna grow and grow and grow in knowledge. And learn more and more and more of the depth of the love and the wisdom of Christ. Wow. The wonders of the glories of our Lord. The Apostle Paul is enthralled by it as he's writing throughout this book. It's not just one verse of Scripture. It's another verse of Scripture and another verse of Scripture. And he's trying to express the vastness and the greatness and the majesty of Almighty God. Now, let's back up. There's kind of an overview a little bit. Remember the first three chapters are doctrinal, the last three chapters are more practical, how you put it into practice, how you flesh it out. Look back in chapter one and verse one. In chapter one and verse one, the word of God starts out, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. What is its purpose in writing? Let me tell you what its purpose in writing. It's found in that phrase right there. It didn't even complete the whole verse. It's all about God. Just like the whole Word of God, it's about God. We often come to the Word of God with self. self-importance, about me. Let me tell you something, you've got to start with God. The whole Bible is about God Himself. And you gotta start with Him, who He is and what He has done. And what you see as you get into God's Word, I know there's other sub-themes throughout the Word of God, but the main emphasis is about who God is and what God has done. It's ultimately about Him. So therefore you gotta start with him. And as you start with God, what you're gonna see is you're gonna see his greatness. The creator. By the word of his mouth he created. Let there be and there was. Boom. You talk about a big bang theory, that's a big bang theory. Our Lord has a bang in his voice. And it ain't like the secular people think. He spoke and it was. Can you imagine being in Mammoth Cave and they turn out the lights and you say, let there be light. And all of a sudden light comes on. Well, we can't do that unless we're at the light switch. But God can do it. He can create light out of darkness. What a great God we serve. This, as we start with God, we see His greatness. We see His glory. We see His power. We see His riches. We see His will. As we're reading this one little verse right here, we see that God is eternal and God is self-sufficient. God don't need you and me. He's working all things according to the good pleasure of His will. God ain't working to the good pleasure of your will. God is working to the good pleasure of His will. The Apostle Paul, look at his example. It's by the will of God. I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. An apostle was once sent. Sent by Christ. There are no apostles in our day and time. Let's get that straight up front. They've all passed away. It is almost like as we get into this book, you remember back in the Old Testament, back in the book of Exodus, Moses said, show me your glory. He desired to see the glory of God. Here we're opening up Ephesians, which is full of the glory of God. It is almost like, maybe I need to take my shoes off because we're on holy ground. It's a view of God and how he works and how he gets his will done. We're going to see His splendor and His majesty as we cover these pages of Scripture and these passages of Scripture. As we look at His will and we look at His works, I believe we should stand amazed at His sovereignty. The little song we sang this past Wednesday night. He is sovereign over us. Boy, when you can get a grasp on that, that God is sovereign over every aspect of your life, you are humbled and dependent upon him. Paul. an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Look back in the book of Acts chapter nine. In Acts chapter nine, did Paul call himself to be an apostle? Is that something the apostle Paul chose to do? Was this a desire to attain? Did he volunteer to be an apostle? Before Paul was, he was Saul. Saul, you remember, was the first king chosen by the people of Israel. And yet the name Paul, that he initially became known as, or after Saul, he became known as Paul, it means little or small. And I believe what happened in chapter nine, he saw himself in the sight of God. The word of God says, and Saul was breathing out. threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, he went unto the high priest. In other words, he had murder in his heart. He wanted to kill Christians. He was a New Testament terrorist. and he desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, that is, Christians, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And he journeyed, and he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, the Lord speaking to Saul on the road to Damascus, He's going with the intent to tie him up and have him killed. And all of a sudden, it's kind of like out of thin air. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Listen to this terrorist. He responds, who are you, Lord? You can imagine hearing a voice from heaven and how stunning that was for Saul as he's got murder in his heart. The Lord responds and he says, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. Now who was Saul persecuting? It was the Lord's church. Notice how personally connected our Lord is with His church. I am Jesus who you persecute. And Saul, this terrorist, this bad guy that everybody's running from, everybody's scared to death of, Saul in verse 6 it says he trembled and he was astonished. In other words he's shaking in his sandals. And he says, Lord, what would you have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Rise and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless. They heard a voice, but they saw no man. Saul rose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. Did Paul? volunteer, God struck him down in his tracks. And therefore he can write over in the book of Ephesians chapter 1, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. It was God's will for him to be an apostle. God stopped him. God smote him. God blinded him on his way to do terroristic acts. What a mighty God we serve. It is He, that is God, who has blessed us. And let me use some terminology Paul is using here. He has chosen us. He has predestinated us. I'm using the terms the Apostle Paul used. If you got a problem with it, you got a problem with the word of God. He's made us accepted in the beloved. That's what God has done. You didn't do it. He's given us redemption and forgiveness of our sins. It is God who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It is God that initiated that. And it is God who still initiates salvation. It is God that works in the heart of the sinner. And it's all because of his will. Here we're looking into the will of God. By the will of God is what Paul says, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. God is the one who determines the times and the seasons. God is the one who struck Paul down at a particular time. God is the one who sent his son, born of a virgin, right at a particular time. Matter of fact, look back in the book of Galatians chapter four. In Galatians chapter four in verse four, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. It is God's plan, God's time. Why didn't God send Jesus Christ earlier? Because it was not the fullness of God's time. Man's not in control of that. It is God who determines the times and the seasons. Not only in sending his son, look back in chapter one of Galatians. Chapter one of Galatians, look down in verse 15. The apostle Paul's writing here says, but when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." You see what God did in Paul's life? Even when Paul had no knowledge, no understanding, He was an infant in the womb, and let me tell you, that is a baby in the womb. It is a human being in the womb. It's not some blob, and it's not just some, what they want to call fetus, which fetus means a living thing and a living person. They don't know what they're talking about. Here, Paul is saying, even in my mother's womb, he separated me in his time. You know what, we can say that in each one of our lives. God separated you from your mother's womb. And the Apostle Paul goes on to say, he called me by his grace. If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God called you at a particular point in time. That's God. And you know what, when God calls and it's God's will, it's an effectual call. In other words, it's a call that produces effects. In other words, God is sovereign, it's God's will, God's will will be done. Wow. Look how great our God is. As Paul is writing here, God revealed his son in him. What we see in the book of Ephesians, we're gonna see the revealed will of God. The mystery of his will is gonna be shown forth in this book of Ephesians. As we ponder this book, and I want you to read this book, we gotta say with what the Apostle Paul said back in Romans chapter 11 and verse 33, oh, the depth. of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. There's such depth there. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. You cannot exhaust the riches of God in all His wisdom and all His knowledge. all that we might desire to grow, to know Him more and more and more. Look in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 8. In Ephesians 3 and verse 8, unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. How deep are the riches of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what, we who have tasted salvation, we who know salvation, we who know Him as our Lord and Savior, we've tasted the riches, but you know what, there's a lot more depth to His riches still to be uncovered. As we're getting into this book, may we have a divine sense of expectancy as we're coming to it. There's so much there. And I pray as we go through this, and as you read it on your own, that you will see God in his glory all the more. God reveals himself through his word. And you know what? Even after we're through with this book, going through it, going a little bit at a time through it, because it's so deep, we're just scratching surface. There's so much more depth that our minds cannot fully comprehend. My heart's desire is that you have a hunger and a thirst to know Him who knows you. And He calls us by name, just like He called the Apostle Paul, when he was Saul, before he was the Apostle Paul, he called him by name. And you know what? He knows his sheep. And he calls each one of us by name. He knows you personally. He knows your thoughts, your deepest needs, your hurts, your pains. And he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, our weaknesses. Every one of us. That's amazing. I hope you stand amazed in the presence of our Lord Jesus. We're gonna give a hymn of invitation. And the hymn that we're gonna sing is, Give Me Jesus. If we cannot go to the depths of all the riches of his wisdom and knowledge, I want Jesus. that I might know Him more. And as I learn to love Him more, know Him more, I love Him more, and know Him more, and love Him more, I hunger and thirst for more, and you know what, He fills me up and He gives me that hunger to know Him more. May that be our walk with Him. May it be our deepest desire is to know Christ, to know Him. the fullness of His love. I'm afraid too often even seasoned Christians, those who are older Christians, lose sight of the depth of the love that God has for you as His child. It goes way beyond what our thoughts can think. As our Lord was upon that cross, He loved you that much. Father loved you so much, He gave His Son. What love! It's an out-of-this-world kind of love that God has shown toward us. If you've never experienced the love of God in Christ Jesus, you don't know Him as your Lord and Savior. You've never bowed before Him. I pray that God reveals to you your sinfulness and your need of Him. And you know what? When God saves, He saves to the uttermost. You know what that means? He saves completely. We have questions at times. We have doubts at times. God don't. God don't change his mind, he don't change his will. He's not wishy-washy like we are at times. He doesn't get caught up in emotions. What he says, that he will do. And let me tell you, if he's promised eternal life, that's a promise from God. What blessings we have in him. Let's stand and go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we pray that you would give us a hunger for you, to know you more and more and more each day. And as we delve into the riches of your glory, Lord, we cry and hesitantly show us your glory. What a cry that is. Show us your glory. We desire to know you better. We ask you work in our hearts, in our minds, in our thoughts. Bring each and every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Christ. and we'll give you the praise for Christ's sake. Amen.