What in the World is God Doing?

We read the word of God from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 7 through 12, speaking about our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, in which he hath abounded toward us, in all wisdom and prudence having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. And may God's words speak to our hearts and control our lives. The question today is what in the world is God doing? Is God at work at all in this world? Now there are those who tell us that he is not at work in this world because he is not.

These people call themselves atheists. They tell us there is no God, that what is going on is simply the result of natural forces. They don't know where these forces came from, or for that matter where this universe came from, but they're sure there is no God.

There are those who tell us that we can't really be sure. They call themselves agnostics. They are not quite sure whether there is a God, or if there is a God, whether he's at work in this world.

Perhaps he wound the whole machine up and went off somewhere and he's just letting it run down. I suppose one of the most celebrated agnostics in recent years was Sir Bertrand Russell. He was at a dinner one day and a lady dared to say to him, Sir, you tell us that there is no God, or if there is a God he's not doing anything.

Suppose you should die and come face to face with God, what would you say? And in a rather arrogant manner Bertrand Russell said, Madam, I would say to him, you did not give us enough evidence. I think there's plenty of evidence that not only there is a God, but that he is at work in this world. We as Christians believe with A.T. Pearson who said, history is his story.

In the verses we read from Ephesians chapter 1, Paul tells us that God is at work in this world, and he answers four basic questions. If you and I know the answers to these four basic questions, it's going to make our life in this world much more meaningful. You'll not have to go through life just enduring it or tolerating it.

You'll be able to go through life with some degree of understanding and with the blessing of God. Now the four questions are these. What is God doing? Why is he doing it? How is he doing it? And for whom is he doing it? Now these four questions are answered in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 8 through 12.

Let's take question number 1. What is God doing? The answer to that question is found in the word in verse 9, mystery. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, twenty-seven times in the New Testament you'll find this word mystery. Now to you and me a mystery makes us think of a detective novel, something weird, something eerie, but that's not what it means in the New Testament.

In the New Testament a mystery is a truth known only to God, hidden by God, and then revealed at the right time. Someone has said a secret is something you tell one person at a time. God doesn't do things that way.

A mystery is a sacred secret. It's a truth that God has that God hides, and then when the right time comes God reveals this to his people because they need to know it. Now he tells us what this mystery is in verse 9. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, what is it Paul, verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ.

Here's the mystery. What is God doing? God is gathering. That's what God's doing.

Now this mystery was purposed by God, verse 9, which he hath purposed in himself. He didn't ask you. He didn't ask me.

He didn't call for a committee meeting of the sages and the philosophers. God purposed in himself that one day he would gather together all things in Christ in heaven and on earth. Now you remember from your reading of the Bible, over in Philippians chapter 2, we're told that one day every knee is going to bow before Jesus, Philippians 2.10, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and of things in earth and of things under the earth.

There are three areas. One day everything in heaven, everything on earth, and everything that belongs to the demonic satanic sphere under the earth will bow down to Jesus Christ. But Paul is telling us that one day God is going to fulfill his purpose in gathering together all things in Christ that are in heaven or on earth.

That means that throughout all eternity those things that were under the earth will not be gathered together in Christ. That means if you don't belong to the right family you'll not be gathered. So this mystery was purposed by God.

It was hidden by God. Paul tells us this over in chapter 3, in verse 5, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. God had this plan, he hid it, then he revealed it by his Holy Spirit through Paul and the other apostles and prophets so that now we know what God's doing.

What's God doing? God is gathering together everything in Christ. Now it's not all gathered yet. You see there are two forces at work in this world.

There is a force that is scattering. That's Satan and sin and flesh and unbelief. There's a force that is scattering and there's a force that is gathering.

Jesus said, He that gathereth not with me scattereth. Now I realize that Jesus is scattering the seed of the Word of God. I realize that his people are being scattered to various places to minister.

That's not what Paul's talking about. Paul is saying that in this world there are two forces. Sin wants to pull everything apart.

Grace wants to bring everything back together again. When you read the first two chapters in Genesis you find everything together. Heaven and earth are getting along with each other.

People are getting along with each other. Nature is getting along with itself. Everything is in harmony.

In chapter 3 an interloper comes in. Satan comes on the scene. And then before you know it everything's falling apart.

The first man, the first woman, sin. And then there's a separation between heaven and earth, between God and man. And that separation is because of sin.

And you get to chapter 4 and you find Cain killing Abel. There's a division between men. And then in chapters 6 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 and 11, things are falling apart.

Oh men, try to put them together. One of the purposes for the Tower of Babel was to try to unite people. And God said no.

Sin is at work in this world and sin divides and scatters. It does, doesn't it? You've seen sin divide people's lives. You've seen sin divide people's homes.

And so sin is at work separating men from God, separating men from men, family from family, nation from nation. A person doesn't have to be a theologian to know that. All he has to do is watch the news or read the newspaper and he knows that we're living in a world where everything is falling apart.

It's scattering. Now what is Jesus doing? Jesus is gathering. It's rather beautiful the way he did it.

Back in Genesis chapter 12, he said, all right, you Gentiles have failed. Chapters 3 through 11, you Gentiles have failed. I'm gonna go and call myself a Jew.

And he called Abraham. He said, Abraham, through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. There's a division between Shem and Ham and Japheth, the descendants of Noah.

And men are scattered. But God calls Abraham. And God said, I'm gonna build a nation.

And he does. And through that nation came the Bible. And through that nation came the Savior.

And the Savior went to the cross and paid for sin that he might be able to gather. And then the Holy Spirit comes down. When you get to the book of Acts, you find that God is reversing what sin did back in Genesis.

Back in Genesis, men couldn't understand the tongues. And there was separation and division. Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit comes down.

Men are speaking in different tongues. And they're understood. There's a sense of unity, not a sense of division.

Then the Holy Spirit begins to bring things back together again. In Acts chapter 8, God saves an Ethiopian treasurer, a descendant of Ham. In Acts chapter 9, he saves Saul of Tarsus, a descendant of Shem.

In Acts chapter 10, he saves Cornelius and his household, a descendant of Japheth. And so you have what was separated back in Genesis being put together again by the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. What is God doing today? He is gathering.

That's what Ephesians is all about. Chapter 1, reconciliation between men and God. Chapter 2, reconciliation between Jew and Gentile.

Chapter 3, reconciliation between an old covenant and a new covenant. Chapter 4, reconciliation among men in the church, walking in unity. Chapter 5, husbands and wives.

Chapter 6, children and parents, employers, employees. Ephesians is saying, let's get together. God is gathering.

Which raises the interesting question, are you on the gathering side or the scattering side? If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior because of your life, my friend, you are scattering. But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be involved in what God is doing in this world. He's gathering.

I would hate to be guilty of scattering where God wants to gather. And yet there are people who will cause division in Sunday school classes, cause splits in churches, cause division in homes because of sin. And when God wants to gather, they're scattering.

What is God doing? He's working out his mystery. He's gathering together everything in Christ. Question number two, how is he doing it? The answer to that question is in the word dispensation in verse 10.

What is God doing? The answer is mystery. How is he doing it? The answer is dispensation. Don't be frightened by that word.

In the Greek language, the word dispensation is composed of two little Greek words. The word for house, oikos, and the word for law, namos. And you put those two words together and you have our word economy, really.

Our word economy comes from those two Greek words, the law of the house. What is an economy? It's the system by which you run things. Pre-war economy, wartime economy, post-war economy, recession economy.

An economy is a system of management. You can substitute the word management, the word economy, the word stewardship. You see, how is God working out his purpose? Through various stewardships.

You see, if you look at this world as a house, it's so easy to understand it. When a young couple first gets married, they manage their house a certain way. Along comes child number one, there has to be some adjustment in the management.

Along comes child number two or triplets, there has to be some change in the management. Now you've done this in your life. At certain stages in your life, you have various economies, various stewardship.

Now God is this way. God made the world. He said to Adam and Eve, okay, you're going to manage the house.

Here it is. Along came Satan and said, hey, I can help you manage that a lot better. You don't really know what you're doing.

If you listen to me, you'd really run this house right. And so, pow, sin comes into the picture and God says, well, I've got to start a new management. We have a whole new factor now.

Man has rebelled against me. And so God has a new dispensation. Along comes Abraham and he knocks at the door and says, look, I'm a part of this house.

God has called me to be the one through whom the Savior is going to come into the world. And throughout the Old Testament, you have various economies. You have paradise and you have conscience and you have law.

Moses shows up and says, hey, new economy from now on. Here's the law of the house. Then Jesus comes along and says, okay, everything you've done up to now has prepared the way for me.

Now here's a brand new economy. We today don't live the way Moses lived. And the people of Israel lived differently from the way Abraham did.

And Abraham lived differently from the way Adam and Eve did. There are different economies in the Old Testament. You get to the New Testament era, the Lord Jesus ushers in this present economy of the church.

When the church is gone, God will have another way of managing things. Now all throughout history, God's principles are the same. He punishes sin and he honors faith.

God's purposes are the same, but God's management changes. St. Augustine used to say if you distinguish the ages, the scriptures harmonize, and they do. So how is God working out his purpose? He's working it out through various dispensations, various economies.

Now you and I are right now living in the dispensation of the church. What's God doing during this age? He's building a church. He wasn't doing that back in the Old Testament.

He's doing it now. He's building a church. If you are not a part of what God's doing, you're outside his economy.

What a tragedy that would be. What an awful thing it would be to spend your whole life on this earth and not be doing what God's doing. What is God doing? God's gathering.

How is he doing it? He's doing it through various economies, various dispensations. Now for whom is he doing it? Well the answer to that question is in the word inheritance in verse 11. The mystery of his will? He's gathering everything together in Christ.

He's doing it at various stages and times. For whom is he doing it? For those who share in the inheritance. He's doing it for those of us who are saved.

This to me is a magnificent truth, and I hope it gets through to your heart. Jesus Christ is not just simply the Savior. He is that, and we rejoice in it.

He is the administrator of God's affairs. This is the way the book of Hebrews begins. When you start the book of Hebrews it doesn't say Paul the Apostle or Apollos or anybody else.

It starts off with the greatest word you can think of, God. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. New whom also he framed the ages.

Who is the administrator of God's economy? Jesus. Just as Joseph back in the Old Testament was Potiphar's steward, and Joseph was lied about, and Joseph was arrested, and Joseph was in prison, and Joseph suffered, and yet he was raised to glory, and because of his experience he saved both the Jews and the Gentiles. So the Lord Jesus is the great steward of God's economy, and he came here and he was lied about, and he was arrested, and he was persecuted, and he was in prison, he was crucified, but he went from suffering to glory, and he arose again, and he's on the throne of the universe, and because of this he can save Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus is God's great steward. Jesus is God's great administrator, God's great trustee, and he's the one who's framed the ages. It rejoices my heart to know that my Savior, my friend, my elder brother is running the world.

I don't have to worry about my watch or my calendar. He is in charge of the ages, and when the right time comes this age is going to end, and a new age is going to usher in. I don't know when this is going to be, and you don't know when this is going to be, but he does, and I belong to him.

Do you see what this means to you who aren't saved? You are outside of what God's doing. What is God doing? He's gathering, but you're outside. How is he doing it? Through various dispensations, but you aren't in his church.

For whom is he doing it? Those who are sharing the inheritance. That's a magnificent thing, that you and I should have an inheritance through Jesus Christ. I doubt that most of us, if any of us, but I doubt that most of us would ever inherit a great deal.

It's not likely that someone will come knocking at your door tomorrow and say, we have these papers and someone has left you ten million dollars. I hope it happens. I'm not so sure it will.

But Peter says to us, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. First National Bank can't get a hold of it. Recession can't get a hold of it.

Inflation can't get a hold of it. The devil can't get a hold of it. Sin can't get a hold of it.

We have an inheritance because we're a part of what God is doing. Which leads us to the final question. What is God doing? He's gathering.

He's gathering together everything in Christ. One day in the future when Jesus returns and establishes his reign, he will gather all things together and every angel and every saint of God and everything in heaven and on earth will be united in Christ and everything outside of Christ will be separated from God for all eternity. What is God doing? He's gathering.

How is he doing it? Through various stages. For whom is he doing it? For those who share the inheritance. Why is he doing it? The answer is in that greatly misunderstood word in verse 11, predestinated.

So often when I'm witnessing to unsaved people they'll say, Preacher, you believe in predestination? I say, certainly do. And they're confused. If you take this word predestination and what the Bible has to say about it, you discover all it means is that God has a predetermined program for his people.

He's not talking here about unsaved people predestined either to go to heaven or hell. I find no place in the Bible where it says God predestines people to go to hell. Predestination is God's plan for his people.

We are his inheritance and in him we have an inheritance. Why is he doing all of this? To the praise of the glory of his grace. Now we've seen this phrase over and over again in Ephesians 1. In verses 3, 4, and 5 we have the blessings of God the Father.

Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace. In verses 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, the blessings of God the Son. Why? Verse 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory.

Verses 13 and 14, the blessings of God the Holy Spirit. Why? Verse 14, under the praise of his glory. Why is God doing what he's doing? Now this ought to shock us.

This ought to stultify somebody. It ought to just jolt someone today. You know why God saved you? He saved me to make my wife happier.

No. You know why God saved you? Well, I was a lost sinner. No.

God saved you and God saved me and God is gathering that he might one day be glorified. The church's responsibility throughout all eternity is verse 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory. And that's the part of the predestination.

Let's look at some verses together as we close our message today. Back in chapter 1 of Ephesians, where we are. Verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ.

If you're saved, you are predestined one day to have a new body. That's Romans chapter 8 and verse 23. We are waiting for the adoption.

That is, the redemption of our body. Oh, we don't have new bodies today. We have old bodies today.

And they get older and older. But I want you to know something. Because you are a part of God's gathering, because you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has already predestined that one day you'll have a new body.

That's glory. And throughout all eternity in our glorified bodies, we will glorify the grace of God. Now God doesn't need the church to show people how smart he is.

Creation shows that. God doesn't need the church to show people how strong he is. Creation shows that.

But God needs the church to show how gracious he is. You don't find grace in creation. And so throughout all eternity, age rolling upon age, one wave of eternity upon another wave of eternity, we shall be to the praise of his glory and the praise of his grace.

That's why he's doing it. That's the meaning of Romans chapter 8 verse 28. You people hang on to Romans 8 28 when you have a flat tire and a migraine headache.

It's much bigger than that. And we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. What is his purpose? For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.

That's glory. That's the new body, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Now verse 30 is tremendous.

Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. God called you by his gospel, and you trusted Jesus Christ. And whom he called, them he also justified, gave a right standing before God.

And whom he justified, them he also, notice the tense of the verb, glorified. Not will glorify, glorified. We are already glorified.

It just hasn't been shown yet. All of creation is waiting, says Paul in Romans 8, for the manifestation of the children of God. And the glory is already here, it just hasn't been shown yet.

So why is God doing this? He's doing this to the praise of his glory. Here then are four basic questions you have to answer for yourself. What is God doing? He's gathering.

Well, what are you doing? Has God ever gathered you? Are you a rebel? Are you outside of God's plan? You aren't outside of God's love. He loves you, but you're outside of his plan, if you've never trusted him. What is God doing? He's gathering.

How is he doing it? Through various stages of history, which will culminate in what he calls the dispensation of the fullness of the times. We just have the partial now, but one of these days we're going to have the fullness. When God's fullness comes, where will you be? For whom is he doing it? For those who are a part of his inheritance.

Is that you? You know how to get into an inheritance? Get your name in the will. How do you get your name in the will? By trusting Christ as your Savior. Jesus said this cup is the New Testament, the new covenant in my blood.

You can get your name in his will and be a part of his inheritance. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. Why is God doing it? He's doing it for his glory.

Are you a part of his glory? I read once about a drama instructor who was going to produce a play and she did a very dumb thing. The budget was rather low and so she couldn't afford to buy enough scripts for everybody in the play. And so she took a couple of the scripts and she ripped them up with the cue and the part and pasted them up and handed them out.

And so each person in the play memorized the cue and his part. And so they sat down and she said, now we're going to go through the play. And so they opened the curtain and they began their rehearsal and nobody knew what he was doing.

And they were stumbling around and wasting time. And finally she said, look, sit down. So they all sat down.

She went and got her copy of the script and she read the whole story to them. And when she had finished reading the entire play, one man said, so that's what it's all about. Now imagine how difficult it would be to play your part if you didn't know what the story was.

You've got to know how the story began, how it develops, and how it's going to end. Life is this way. You've got to know how the story got started and where the story is now and how it's going to end.

And that's what Paul's talking about. Now where are you in this story? I know how it's going to end. I'm not at all worried about the Near East or the Far East.

I'm concerned, but I'm not worried. We're not worried about inflation or deflation. We're concerned, but we aren't worried.

We know how it's going to end. How's it going to end? Christ is going to come back. He's going to start gathering everything together in himself.

If you are not in him now and he returns, you're outside forever. And so I say to you who aren't Christians, here's the story. God wants to gather you.

He wants to make you a part of what he's doing. He wants you to glorify him throughout all eternity, and you can do this just by trusting Christ. Now to those of us who are believers, let me add this word of admonition.

Don't be guilty of scattering. Whatever it may cost, however much you have to pray, don't be guilty of scattering. God's program is gathering.

He's gathering out of the nations of people for his name. He's gathering together all one in Jesus Christ, and one of these days he shall complete his gathering. Are you a part of the gathering process? Have you helped to reach out to gather anybody, to change the image a little bit? Are you bringing in the sheaves? God is gathering.

Satan is scattering. If you follow Satan, you'll be scattered. If you follow Christ, you'll be gathered.

And one day you will share in that magnificent event, so absolutely tremendous words can't describe it, when Jesus Christ shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and there'll be no more division. All things shall be gathered together in Christ. We come, our Father, with gratitude that you have shared your secrets with us.

We can understand the meaning of history. We can see where it all fits together, because we've met Jesus Christ. I pray now for those who have never been gathered, that today they might come and trust the Savior.

And Father, for those of us who are a part of your inheritance, help us to do the thing that you are doing. Help us to be found busy gathering, not scattering. Uniting, not dividing.

Building, not tearing down. Loving, not destroying. O gracious Father, as this invitation is now extended, may the Spirit of God work in hearts.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.