Wisdom - Ephesians 1:8-9

We are examining together the blessings that we have received as Christians. Some of these blessings are enumerated for us here in Ephesians 1. We've discovered the blessings of God the Father. In Ephesians 1:4, He has chosen us, in Ephesians 1:5, He has adopted us, and in Ephesians 1:6, He has accepted us. Now we are examining the blessings from God the Son. In our last study, we discovered in Ephesians 1:7, of Ephesians 1, that through Jesus Christ, we have redemption. This means being set free from the slavery of sin. And we have forgiveness. This means the debt has been paid. The burden of sin has been carried away.

Now in Ephesians 1:8-10, we have a second blessing from God the Son, and this is the blessing of wisdom, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Now the little word wherein means wherein in grace. That is, in this grace that has come toward us in Ephesians 1:7, the riches of His grace, through this grace, God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Now if anything makes a man ignorant, it is sin. For some reason, the world has the idea that the sinful people are the clever ones, the smart ones, and that Christian people are ignorant. Now the Lord Jesus did say that sometimes the children of this world are wiser in their generation than are the children of light. That means for this brief lifetime, they may know how to make more money or how to pull more deals. But ultimately, the Christian is the wise one. The wisdom of this world according to 1 Corinthians 1 is foolishness with God. God isn't impressed with people's wisdom, with the knowledge that men try to discover. God's wisdom is a spiritual wisdom. His ways are far beyond our ways. His thinking is far above our thinking. But when a person becomes a Christian, through Jesus Christ, he is given this wisdom. Now we need wisdom today. This is a difficult world in which to live. There are many decisions to make. The older a person gets, the more he needs wisdom, because his decisions affect far more people. When I was a little child, my decisions didn't affect too many people, but now the decisions I make affect my family, and my friends, and the church that I pastor, and many other people. Now we need wisdom. Where do we find this wisdom? Well, not in the wisdom of the ages. I enjoy sitting down reading the great writings of the past ages. If for no other reason than to discover how ignorant some people were.

There's some great philosophy being taught today. Men tell us we must go back to the great ancient Greeks and to the Romans and, and to these great philosophers and learn their principles. Well, I say we need to go back to Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom of God. Now the word that Paul uses here is the word abounded. He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. The Christian life is an abundant life. Over in Romans 5, the Apostle Paul says, where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. Now sin is abounding. We see sin on every side. At the cross of Jesus Christ, sin came in great abundance as men schemed together to crucify the Son of God. But where sin abounded there at the cross, grace hath much more abounded. The abundant grace of God gives to the Christian the abundant wisdom of God. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. You see, dear friend, there are two ways you can live your Christian life. You can live your Christian life in the shallows. You can walk along the shallow part of the shore and barely get your feet wet, or you can launch out into the deep where the abundance is. God wants us to have an abundant life. God does not want us to have a life of meagerness and cheapness and poverty. Much is being said about a poverty program. I believe that one of the greatest places for poverty is in the local church. You'll recall over in Revelation, the word of God says of a certain church that they thought that they were rich, and God said they were poor. And of another church, they thought that they were poor and God said that they were rich. God has made us abundantly rich in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder today, are you living on the abundance of God's grace or are you depending upon your own feeble resources? The word of God says, He giveth more grace. Over in Romans, we're told that we go from faith to faith, Romans 1:17. We also go from grace to grace. We go from strength to strength. We go from glory to glory. The Christian life is a life of growing in abundance.

Just recently I was conversing with a banker friend of mine, and he was telling me about the situation relative to money these days, and there isn't a great deal of abundance, because some tight controls have been put on. The money is there, but people can't get it. Now with the grace of God, the grace of God is there. God's provision for every need is there, and we can get it. He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Now the Christian life cannot be lived in ignorance. The devil always keeps his crowd ignorant. You read your Bible, and wherever you find Satan at work, people are in the dark. Satan came to Eve there in Genesis 3 and said, oh, if you'll disobey God, then you'll get smart, then you'll become wise. God knows that you'll become as God. Did sin make them any wiser? No. Sin made their minds to be darkened. Paul talks about people whose foolish minds were darkened. Now, sin always keeps a person in the dark. Judas was following the leadership of Satan. He went out, and the word of God says, and it was night. And it still is night for Judas because he was went off to a place of eternal judgment. Ananias and Sapphira came to church and they didn't know what was planned. They had sinned. They had listened to the devil there in Acts 5. And they didn't know what was planned. When they came to church, they discovered God judged them. They lost their lives. They fell down dead. The devil always keeps his crowd in the dark. Now God wants His people to be intelligent. He wants them to have spiritual wisdom and prudence. He wants them to be able to take the knowledge of the Word of God, that's knowledge, and make it practical in their daily lives, that's wisdom and prudence. Now I must confess that some Christians don't have much wisdom. They do very foolish things. They make decisions that God doesn't want them to make. They excuse themselves by saying, well, we prayed about it. More things are blamed on prayer than this world dreams of. People pray themselves into all sorts of decisions, and it never was the leading of the Lord. But the spiritual Christian is the one who has wisdom. This spiritual wisdom that comes from God. James 1:5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. Now God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us, says Ephesians 1:9, the mystery of His will. Now the word mystery in the Bible has nothing to do with detective stories or horror stories. A mystery in the Bible is a spiritual truth that up till now has been hidden, but now has been revealed. If you want to have an interesting Bible study, take your concordance and trace the word mystery. In Matthew 13, we have the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. The truths concerning this present age, which were hidden until the Lord Jesus revealed them. We're told over in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 that the mystery of iniquity is now at work. The devil's secret plan for this world is now at work, and God has revealed what it is. We're told about the mystery of Israel. There's the mystery of Babylon in the book of Revelation. A mystery is simply a spiritual truth which has to be understood through spiritual wisdom. It is darkness to the people of the world, but to those who are saved, these spiritual mysteries are just as bright as the sun. You'll recall back in the book of Exodus when God delivered the nation of Israel from Egypt, He led them by a cloud. In the daytime, this cloud looked like a regular cloud. At night, it was a pillar of fire. Now one day the Egyptians were going to attack the Jews, and the cloud came between Israel and Egypt. And the word of God says that the cloud was darkness to the Egyptians, but it was light to the Jews. This is a picture of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit's revealing of God's will. The Word of God is darkness to the unsaved person. He doesn't understand these mysteries. But to the believer who seeks to know the will of God, these mysteries are revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Now God has made known to us in Christ the mystery of His will. What is it God is trying to do? I may have used this story before in these studies, but it bears repeating. A drama instructor in a high school was going to produce a play. They didn't have enough money for the budget for the play, so he bought a few copies of the script and cut the script into pieces and gave each part, each player in the production, his cue and his lines. So he cut all these scripts to pieces and handed them out. When they got together for their rehearsal, no one could do anything. They knew their cues and they knew their lines, but nothing went right. They did not know the entire story. And so the producer put everyone down and he read the entire play to them from start to finish. And as he read the play, they could see where their lines and their cues fit in. And when he was through reading the script, someone said, so that's what it's all about.

Now I fear that many people in the world may have their cues and they may have their lines, but they've not read the whole script. They don't know what God is trying to do. This is why churches and preachers and Christians in general often get onto detours. Sometimes we are criticized for not joining certain programs or sharing in certain endeavors. All I'm trying to do as a pastor is find out what God is doing in this world and then try to work with Him in accomplishing it. Now what is God doing? He tells us in Ephesians 1:9, he's made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. The will of God ultimately is for the glory of God. What God is doing in this world is not simply for the good of men. I have emphasized this again and again in these studies. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, it wasn't simply to rescue drunkards out of the gutter. It wasn't simply to change dope addicts into good honest Christian citizens. It wasn't simply to take enslaved sinners and set them free. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, His basic goal was to glorify God. You see, sin has robbed God of His glory. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now the purpose that God has for this world, the purpose that He has in sending Jesus Christ, is all wrapped up in Himself. Now if I had a purpose all wrapped up in myself, it would be selfish. If I went home and said to my wife, we're going to do this because I want to do it. This would be selfish. But when God does something, God is love. And the most perfect thing that God can do is for Himself. Because when God saves a sinner, this is for His glory and for the good of the sinner. When God builds His church, this is for the good of mankind and for the glory of God. And so His purpose is wrapped up in Himself.

Now, this tells me that our God is a sovereign God. God's purposes don't depend upon the whims and the fancies of human beings. The way some people talk, God is sitting up in heaven ringing his hands. He's wondering what to do next. Don't you worry about it. God knows what He's doing. He has purposed these things in Himself. Now here is His purpose in Ephesians 1:10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ. Both our, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him. Now what is God's purpose? God's purpose is to unite the universe in Jesus Christ. Now at this point, we want to turn over to Colossians 1. Colossians 1. I'm going to begin reading at Colossians 1:14. It's going to sound like Ephesians chapter one. In whom, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. This does not mean that Jesus Christ is a creature whom God created. The word firstborn in your Bible means the highest. The firstborn son was the highest son. Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of all creation. He stands the highest in creation. This does not mean He was created by God because Jesus Christ is eternal God. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. Now here's an amazing truth. God Almighty planned the universe. The Son of God created the universe. By Him were all things created. And this was done not only by Him, but for Him. The universe exists for Jesus Christ. Now Colossians 1:17 says, and He is before all things. Notice this phrase all things. Colossians 1:16: for by Him were all things created. Colossians 1:16 at the end: all things were created by Him and for Him. Colossians 1:17: He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. The word consist means hold together. What holds the universe together? Jesus Christ.

A friend of mine was taking a tour through a nuclear laboratory, being shown these great machines that produced nuclear power. And the guide was explaining that matter really is made up of electricity. Matter and force are the same thing in different forms. That what we think is a solid table is really electrical particles, neutrons and protons and electrons and, and they're all spinning around and really matter is mostly space. And my friend asked the guide, well, sir, what is holding everything together? And the guide says, we don't know. Well, of course we know. Jesus Christ is holding everything together. He made the universe. The universe was made for Him and He holds it together. By Him all things consist. Now back to Ephesians 1. God's purpose according to Ephesians 1:10 is that one of these days, at a period that He calls the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ. Now we live in an age of separation. Things are not being gathered together. Things are falling apart. Everyone in this world is either gathering with Christ or scattering with the devil. The devil is the divider. Wherever the devil is at work, there's confusion and division and disturbance. God is not the author of confusion. Jesus Christ can hold your life together, but sin will tear your life apart. Jesus Christ can hold your home together, but sin will disrupt your home and destroy it. Sin is tearing our nation apart and sin is tearing the world apart. And today, Satan, the god of this age, is destroying. He's called in the Bible the Destroyer. The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, said Jesus. But I am come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly. I wonder today, are you on the side of the Destroyer or the Creator?

Now God's purpose is that one day Jesus Christ will gather everything together in Himself. There will be a perfect orderly universe. There will be peace on earth. There will be glory and praise and honor. There'll be no more lying and no more stealing and no more lost. There'll be no more cheating, no more hypocrisy, no more war. There's a statue in the front of the United Nations building in New York. A statue of a man who is beating a sword into a plowshare. This is from the scriptures. The prophet said the day is going to come when men are going to learn war no more. They're going to beat their swords into plowshares. But you know, every year when the delegates come back to the UN, that man is still there. He's still beating that sword into the plowshare, but the sword is still there. There's no peace in this world. Nations are falling apart. Governments are falling apart. The only person in the world, in the universe who can keep things together is Jesus Christ. Now we cannot take time in this lesson to look at that interesting word dispensation. The Lord willing, this will be our study in our next lesson. But let me close by saying this: Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. You know, He's called the Sun of Righteousness, S U N. The sun is the center of our particular galaxy in which the earth is rotating. Jesus Christ is the center of God's universe. He holds everything together. Now when Jesus Christ is put at the center of our lives, He'll hold our lives together. He makes everything to hold together, to be cohesive. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. When Christ is at the center of the home, He holds the home together. When He's allowed the place of preeminence in the church, He holds the church together. Whenever you find Jesus Christ in His proper place in the Bible, He's in the midst. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. When they crucified Him, they crucified two thieves along with Him, but Jesus Christ in the midst. When He arose from the dead, He appeared in the upper room, in their midst. Jesus Christ wants to be in the midst, in the middle, in the center. He is the center of the universe. And one of these days God is going to gather together all things in Christ. Do you know Him as your savior? Are you one of His? I trust that you are. You can be by simply putting your faith in Him. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for that great day that is one day going to dawn, when Jesus Christ shall have all the preeminence, and He shall be glorified, and the church shall be glorified, and God shall be glorified when everything is gathered together in Christ. Oh, we pray, Lord, hasten the day when Thy Son shall return and put things back together again. May someone today trust Him as their Savior. In His name we pray. Amen.