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[0:00] Please turn in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 3. And this morning, in Ephesians chapter 3, we will be looking at verses 1 through 11.

[0:20] But before we start, please take a look at verse 9, 10, and 11.

[0:37] I will be reading 1 through 11, but when I get to 9, 10, and 11, look carefully at it. Because that's what Marv wants emphasized.

[0:57] For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus 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.

[1:24] By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations were not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.

[1:47] To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise 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.

[2:18] To me, the very least of all 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 mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

[3:00] This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. And this all has to do with the mystery to which the apostle is referring in verse 3, when he says, There was made known to me the mystery.

[3:27] And then verse 4, And by referring to this, When you read, You can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

[3:39] That's what we're going to be focusing on for the next few moments we have together, because it is something that is so key and so central to all of the plan and program of God.

[3:50] It has to do with the mystery, which might also be translated, The secret, The secret aspects of the person of Christ. So we are going to begin in this hour, Before there was a beginning.

[4:07] A beginning speaks of time, but there is none in eternity. And that's where we are going to go back and focus on for just a few moments.

[4:18] Think of it. Eternity, In just a few moments. That's a nice trick if you can pull it off. Let's move along. The eternal God is a spirit being who is himself the uncaused first cause.

[4:38] This being is one who exists because of himself. His existence is self-derived and self-contained.

[4:50] This being we call God has no needs that exist outside of himself. He is self-contained.

[5:01] This being we call God subsists in three distinct beings while comprising but one God. One God subsisting in three persons.

[5:14] Each of these three beings consists of spirit or non-materiality. All three members of this triune Godhead are spirit in essence and not physical.

[5:32] Immediately we have difficulty comprehending that. This means that it is the spiritual that transcends all else. This also means that it is the spiritual which is superior to the physical.

[5:47] This means that all that is physical has a spiritual origin. And by spiritual we are not talking about godliness or religiosity or anything of that kind.

[5:59] We are simply talking about that which is not physical. That's the way we are referring to the term spiritual. Now it's a little confusing because there is such a thing as a spiritual Christian or a carnal Christian.

[6:14] There is such a thing as growing spiritually and that's all of a different matter. All we are meaning when we use the word spiritual is that it is contrasted to the physical.

[6:27] It is non-physical. If it is non-physical, how can you see it? You can't. How can you measure it?

[6:39] You can't. It being non-physical escapes all of our physical senses. Five of which we use to identify a lot of things.

[6:51] But you cannot see, taste, touch, smell, feel, or hear that which is spiritual. It is immaterial. That automatically makes it a very mysterious kind of concept.

[7:04] But you have such an essence dwelling within you. It is part of what makes you who you are. You have a human spirit that is immaterial, non-physical.

[7:20] And it is that which makes you who you are. In addition to that, you have a physical body. And you put those two together, your non-physical spirit and your physical body.

[7:32] And you have what the Bible calls a soul. As I have told you many times, you do not have a soul. You are a soul. And in your soul, you possess a physical body and a non-physical spirit.

[7:47] These three beings, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, were all there was before anything they ever created came into being.

[7:59] And all three members of this triune Godhead are physical in essence, are spiritual in essence and not physical. That means the Father is a spirit being.

[8:14] The Son is a spirit being. He isn't now, but he was then. The Son who was a spirit being became a physical being.

[8:26] And that occurred at the incarnation. The Spirit of God was and is spirit. So all three members of this triune Godhead have non-physicality about them in their origin.

[8:40] There was a time when Jesus, the Son of God, was spirit, not physical. His physicality began in Bethlehem.

[8:51] Prior to that time, he was spirit, as was his Father. And I think that this is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he communed with the woman at the well in John chapter 4, I think verse 24, when he said, God is spirit.

[9:07] And he didn't say God is a spirit. That's the way some translations render it. But he says, God is spirit. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

[9:20] This means that you do not worship God with your body. You worship God with your spirit. That is that intangible part of your being where your will and volition and imagination and norms and standards and everything else is lodged.

[9:39] You worship God with your intellect, with your mind, not with your arms and legs and feet. Although you may do things worthy of worship with your body, nonetheless, the actual worship of this divine being is with your spirit.

[9:55] And it is with God's spirit, with our spirit, that tells us that we are sons of God. His spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

[10:07] Why the triune God decreed that anything should be created was solely due to their good pleasure, a la Revelation 4 and verse 11.

[10:21] Would you turn there, please? We will be in the Revelation for just a little while, devoting much more detailed attention to it in later sessions. But for now, we simply have to get this on the record.

[10:33] Why did God decide to create anything? And if God is supposed to be all-knowing and know the future as well as the past, didn't he know the mess that man was going to make of things?

[10:48] Yes, he did. Didn't he know about Lucifer's rebellion and what all that would involve? Yes, he did. Then why did he create anything? Well, this is the text that will tell us.

[11:01] Revelation chapter 4. I'm going to just jump in for time's sake with verse 5, but this is a scene that is taking place in heaven. And verse 1 makes it clear that John is seeing this vision that is occurring in heaven, and he is recording it.

[11:20] And for time's sake, if you will come down to verse 5, we read, Let me just stop there.

[11:53] And inject a comment. We have no idea what kind of creature this is, apart from what is described here. We would say, from first appearance or imagination, that it looks like maybe it's rather grotesque or ugly or something of that nature.

[12:09] But may I assure you that we look at everything through our limited perception. Our vision and our understanding is very limited as to the significance of what we are looking at.

[12:24] So we need to keep in mind when we see these creatures that are described, some of which have six wings, and some are full of eyes. Rather than thinking of them as some kind of extreme oddity, we ought to think of them as just being different from ourselves.

[12:43] Because after all, I suspect some of them may look at us and say, looky there. Did you ever see anything as weird looking as that person?

[12:53] So it goes both ways. You know, the whole thing is beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So don't be thrown by that. Verse 7 says, the first creature was like a lion.

[13:04] He doesn't say it's a lion. He says it's like a lion. It reminds him of a lion. And the second creature like a calf. And the third creature had a face like that of a man.

[13:15] And the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. These are all tremendously significant. And we will see what their significance is at a later time. And the four living creatures, each of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within.

[13:33] And day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy. Perhaps reminiscent of there being three distinct persons comprising this Godhead.

[13:51] Is the Lord God the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come? And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders.

[14:11] I have no idea who these are. Commentaries are replete with all kinds of speculation referring to the church and referring to Israel. Simple truth is we just do not know.

[14:23] It would take a better mind than mine to figure out exactly who these four and twenty elders are. But at any rate, we are told what they do. They will fall down before him who sits on the throne.

[14:35] And will worship him who lives forever and ever. And will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

[14:53] Why? For or because thou didst create all things, and because of thy will, they existed and were created.

[15:08] This is the sum and substance that answers the question, why is there something rather than nothing? And apart from this verse and the truth it communicates, we have no idea why God chose to bring anything into existence.

[15:23] This text simply tells us God did it because he wanted to. He did not do so out of need, for he has no needs that cannot be met within his own person.

[15:36] He chose. He was pleased to create what he did, how he did. Knowing full well everything that would ensue from that.

[15:50] He, by his creation, is setting in motion an enormous situation that we today are right in the middle of.

[16:06] This thing called creation is going somewhere. It had a point of origin. It will have a point of conclusion. We are moving inexorably toward this end.

[16:19] And John, in the Revelation, is simply giving us a bird's eye view of what is going to transpire. Not only that, but these things were never intended to be kept a secret.

[16:31] And they were never intended, certainly, to be ignored. I am amazed at the number of people, some of whom are even preachers, who say, Oh, we never deal with the book of Revelation.

[16:41] It's too confusing. It's too difficult. It's too symbolic. Nobody understands what it means. It's a waste of time to read it. There are so many different opinions and ideas.

[16:53] But do you know, this is the only book in all of the Bible where God says he has a special blessing for those who read the contents of this book.

[17:10] Now, so far as I am concerned, that is reason enough in and of itself not to stay away from this book, but to delve into it. And when we shout, you will be amazed.

[17:21] It isn't nearly as difficult as you might think. When you apply a few of the basic principles of interpretation, you will find this book unfolding and opening like a flower.

[17:34] It is a beautiful thing. What God wants to do is not keep secret those things he has intended upon the earth for believers, and he wants to let us in on it.

[17:45] That's why we have this record. So, we will be examining it eventually. In Revelation chapter 4, we have the rationale for their worshiping God because he created things for his pleasure.

[18:00] In other words, God being the supreme potentate, the creator, the originator, the sustainer, he really has carte blanche to do whatever he wants.

[18:14] Whatever he, by his own power and ingenuity, brings into existence is entirely within his purview to do so. And who can say to him or criticize him, why have you done thus?

[18:29] Of course, that doesn't keep many today from leveling criticism against God, but none of it is founded. Can he not do that which he pleases with that which is his own?

[18:42] Like Paul said in Romans 9, It is entirely within the prerogative of the potter to do what he deems best and wise.

[19:01] And that's simply the option that God exercises. He is in charge. He doesn't have to answer to any of his creatures. And as I pointed out to you before, God does not do what is right.

[19:15] What God does is right. Because God himself is the standard for what is right or wrong. He does not have to comply with some set of dictates that are posted somewhere in the universe and see to it that he maintains faithfulness to each of those.

[19:35] Whatever he does is right simply because he is the thrice holy God. And whatever he does is right, needs no justification from anyone.

[19:47] So this is the rationale for creation and worship here. Then when we come down to the next chapter, it is quite interesting because in chapter 5, we have verse 8, the four and twenty elders again, the four living creatures, and the elders fall down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[20:13] And they sang a new song. Well, what is this new song? What was the old song? The old song was worship and praise for creation.

[20:24] That's in chapter 4. The new song is worship and praise for redemption. Read it. Worthy art thou to take the book and to break its seals for or because thou wast slain.

[20:42] This, of course, is speaking of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion. Thou wast slain and didst purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

[20:56] And here, worship is ascribed to him, not only for creation, but here for redemption. And both of these ideas set in progress a plan that begins to unfold.

[21:11] And we are starting way back before anything was ever created. The orders of angelic beings that were brought into existence were spirit beings as well, possessing rank and order in their number.

[21:31] They are described as angels, as seraphim and as cherubim, living creatures, appearing to have physical appendages like wings and heads and eyes and so on.

[21:46] These beings, innumerable in number and varied in their order and assignment, were all endowed with the capacity of volition.

[22:00] When God deemed it wise, according to his good pleasure, to create angelic beings, he made them spirit beings.

[22:10] He made them without physical bodies. Our physical body is an anomaly in creation. We are like the exception. Most of creation doesn't have physicality like we do.

[22:25] It is here on planet Earth and in connection with our humanity that there is so much physicality. But it was not so in the beginning. These were all spiritual entities.

[22:36] And the angels that God created, whether cherubim or seraphim, Daniel, Michael, etc., and others, were all spirit beings. The water is somewhat muddied, however, because they obviously possessed a capacity to assume the likeness of a human being.

[22:57] They were viewed as humans and regarded as humans by Abraham in Genesis chapter 19. Angels were present at the resurrection of our Lord.

[23:10] In fact, it was an angel that rolled back the stone from the tomb. And the women saw an angel there. And we are told that they are described or referred to as young men.

[23:26] So they obviously have the ability to assume a human form, even though they are spirit beings. Angels are of an entirely different order. So far as we know, they are sexless.

[23:39] There are no male or female angels. There's no indication that they reproduce or that they have capacities like physical beings do. These beings, innumerable in number and varied in their order and assignment, were all endowed with the capacity of volition.

[24:01] All of these angelic beings were created by God the Creator and given a volition. They were given a moral capability.

[24:15] They were given a will that enabled them to make independent choices on their own, for good or ill, for obedience or disobedience.

[24:28] All were given a free will that enabled them to render obedience to the one who created them, or to engage in rebellion by resisting and disobeying their Creator.

[24:41] The apparent chiefest of all God's created angelic beings was named Lucifer. He is also described as the star of the morning.

[24:52] You'll find a description of him given, which we'll not take time to investigate now, but will later, in Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 through 23, and Ezekiel chapter 28, verses 11 through 19.

[25:08] Also, in Revelation chapter 12, and while we are there, for time's sake, if you'll turn to it, we will look at this reference simply because it is in the neighborhood, but I want you to see the original rebellion and what is taking place in chapter 12, and you'll see, of course, that Israel is right in the thick of it.

[25:29] Chapter 12 of the Revelation, a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet.

[25:40] Those are very significant. And on her head, a crown of 12 stars. These, of course, represent 12 nations of Israel or 12 tribes of Israel.

[25:50] And she was with child. And the child, of course, is none other than the Lord Jesus and Israel being the birth vehicle for the Lord Jesus.

[26:02] And she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon. This is nothing more than Satan himself.

[26:14] Having seven heads and ten horns, all of which are significant. Don't get lost in the symbolism. And on his head were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

[26:31] This has to do with his recruiting and successfully enlisting one third of the angelic beings that God had created. All of them were cast down to heaven, including Lucifer.

[26:44] And as far as we know, these have become what in the New Testament is referred to as demons or fallen angels. The dragon stood before the woman.

[26:56] The woman represents Israel, who was about to give birth, give birth to the Messiah, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. Why?

[27:06] Well, because this is the one in whom all of the promises rest. This is the one who, if he can be destroyed, the plan and program of God is foiled. And of course, Satan knows that.

[27:17] And he is out for Israel and for the seed of the woman any way that he can be in any time or age. And then when she gave birth, he might devour her child.

[27:29] And she gave birth to a son. This, of course, is Christ, the male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. He never has done that. He's never even come close to doing that.

[27:41] He never ruled Israel, much less the world. But he will. Her child was called up to God and to his throne. And the woman, that's Israel, fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for 1,260 days.

[28:02] That's nothing more than three and a half years, 42 months, or one half of the period called the time of Jacob's trouble. This is the tribulation period of seven years.

[28:14] And Israel is going to be secreted away, lest she be absolutely destroyed by the Antichrist during that particular time. The apparent chiefest of all of God's created angels, being Lucifer, is referred to in references that I've already given you, and you can add Revelation 12, verses 1 through 9.

[28:34] These explain the origin and the ongoing struggle in the angelic conflict. The entire cosmos is engaged in a spiritual battle that has continued for several millennia.

[28:49] It continues to this very day and will not be brought to a resolution until Revelation chapter 20. That, too, will be reserved for later.

[29:01] Lucifer, whose name is changed to Satan, and the word Satan means the enemy or the one who opposes. He's also referred to as Apollyon, which means he is the destroyer.

[29:17] That's what he does. He lies and deceives and destroys. God is the giver of life. Satan is the taker of life.

[29:28] And that's what he specializes in, in undoing anything that God has created. He is the opponent and continues his recruiting tactics by corrupting humans, whom God created in his own image and likeness.

[29:47] This all began in Genesis 3, with the temptation, the fall, and the subsequent corruption of the first humans who would pass their moral corruption to their progeny or their offspring.

[30:03] Hence, we have an entire humanity that is corrupted with the evil and the vice instigated by Satan himself. Upon that moral and spiritual corruption, God made another strategic move.

[30:20] Now, I want you to picture this if you can, and I realize this is somewhat superficial and inadequate, but there is this great cosmic conflict, this battle of the ages, the invisible war that is taking place, and visualize, if you will, the idea of a chessboard.

[30:42] Of course, the objective is to win the game.

[30:55] The time is coming when all of this maneuvering is going to come to an end. And when it does, Satan himself is, in effect, going to hear those inevitable words.

[31:12] Checkmate. And his doom will be sealed. Meanwhile, the struggle goes on. And humanity is right in the middle of it.

[31:25] But we, whether we realize it or not, are players in this cosmic conflict. And the greatest contribution you and I can make in this cosmic conflict is to be rightly related to the one who is our chief.

[31:44] And that, of course, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan succeeded in corrupting the entirety of humanity, as recorded in Genesis chapter 6.

[32:00] We are told that God looked upon the earth that he had created, and behold, the whole earth was filled with violence.

[32:12] It was men doing injury and mayhem to one another. Kind of like what's going on today.

[32:24] God extracts one man and his family to begin anew and perpetuate the conflict by preserving a line, just one line, for deliverance.

[32:39] And this was through one of the sons of Noah named Shem. And Shem will become the first Shemite.

[32:51] Only we usually drop the H and call it Semite. And those who oppose the Semites are called anti-Semitic.

[33:03] And there are a lot of those today as well. This would be the origin of anti-Semitism with Satan himself at the head.

[33:17] Shem's line, and you can read it in Genesis, Shem's line would eventually produce Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob's 12 sons would comprise the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.

[33:32] All the while history is unfolding, the unseen but real angelic conflict continues to rage like an ongoing chess game of moves and countermoves.

[33:45] This will continue with God's master move in the incarnation at Bethlehem. And that is going to result in God's greatest gift.

[34:01] The idea, the concept, the mind-boggling thing to entertain about this being who was from eternity past in existence in a spiritual essence as the Son of God actually is going to leave that coveted kind of position that the Apostle Paul referred to in Philippians chapter 2 even though he did not see it as unfair or unjust or robbery to forego or to retain that position.

[34:49] In other words, he willingly forfeited that which was rightfully his and took, well, let's go to Ephesians. I'm sorry, Philippians chapter 2. Paul explains it better than I could.

[35:01] Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. And in verse 5, he is admonishing those in his audience by saying, have this attitude.

[35:17] Let this be your disposition, because it was the one who was in Christ Jesus, and we are supposed to imitate him, who although he existed in the form of God, he was there with deity, as deity.

[35:33] He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Jesus never took the position, this is my rightful state, and I'm not going to surrender it for anyone.

[35:46] This is who I am and what I am, and I deserve to be where I am and who I am, and I'm not going to forfeit that. He did not take that attitude. He took an utterly selfless attitude and was willing to lay that coveted position aside and remove himself from this Trinitarian concept of beings to come to earth and assume human flesh, be born of a woman, a human being, so that he could become one of us, so that he could be authentically and genuinely human, with a human body, at the same time, never losing his regal nature of deity.

[36:43] So in the person of this one, we have the one and only God-man. The word Emmanuel means God with us.

[36:57] This is the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, and we beheld his glory. This is the most incredible thing that has ever taken place, and this is the principal way that God is going to resolve the angelic conflict.

[37:15] You see, it isn't just about people. It's a lot bigger than that. In the same way that the kingdom of heaven coming to earth isn't simply about the church, the body of Christ.

[37:29] It's a lot bigger than that. This involves all of creation, all that Christ redeemed. It is a much bigger picture than we tend to think. And while we're here in Philippians, I want to remind you of that key passage in Ephesians chapter 3, because this is where it is all going.

[37:47] This is what is going to be realized when this thing finally plays out, when the chess game is over. This is what will have been accomplished. And it is found in verse 9, 10, and 11.

[38:06] Paul said, he was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles to bring to light. What does that mean? It means that it's kind of in darkness.

[38:20] It isn't very well known. It isn't very well understood at all. And Paul is assigned the task of bringing this concept to light. Do you know something?

[38:31] Surely you do. There still isn't very much light shed upon this. What we are dealing with here in Ephesians chapter 3, I am sorry to say, is one of the most roundly ignored concepts and passages in all of the Bible.

[38:49] And it ought to be near the center. Because this has to do with the objective. This has to do with what's going to be accomplished. This has to do with where everything is going.

[39:02] And why? This is the resolution of that angelic conflict that began before heaven and earth were ever created or Adam and Eve were ever brought forth. To bring to light what is the administration or the dispensation of the mystery.

[39:21] And indeed it is. Which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things. In order. Purpose clause.

[39:32] To the end that. The manifold wisdom of God. Manifold means variegated. It means it has a lot of sides, a lot of facets, a lot of connections, a lot of parts to it.

[39:46] It is the manifold wisdom of God. The multiplied wisdom of God. It isn't just one shot of us. It's wisdom all over the place. The manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church.

[40:05] That's you. That's me. That's all believers everywhere all over the earth who have ever lived from the time the body of Christ began somewhere in the book of Acts under the leadership and apostleship of Paul who was designated the apostle to the Gentiles.

[40:29] This makes us major players, key players in this scheme, in this ongoing cosmic conflict might be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

[40:50] Who are these? These are the ones who rebelled. These are the ones who followed Lucifer. And these are probably the ones who didn't.

[41:03] And when this comes to pass, they're really going to be glad they didn't. And when this comes to pass, those who did succumb to his temptations are really going to be sad that they did. We are going to be put on display.

[41:16] This is why I refer to us we are the B team. The angelic beings are the A team. And what God is going to do, He is going to use beings who are weaker and of less significance and of less power and of less authority and of less wisdom and of less knowledge.

[41:40] He is going to use all of these to surpass the machinations and the evil of those who fell.

[41:52] And God is going to be vindicated. He is going to put His glory and His wisdom on display. And it will be an in-your-face kind of thing.

[42:06] Whereby God will be vindicated against all of those who rebelled against Him from Satan on down. That's where all of this is going.

[42:21] And this, verse 11 says, was in accordance with the what kind of purpose? the eternal purpose.

[42:33] This goes way, way, way back before Adam and Eve, before Eden, before the heavens and the earth were ever brought forth.

[42:44] This goes back beyond that. The eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[42:57] that's it. That's the Christmas message. This is Bethlehem. This is the manger.

[43:09] And this is what it's all about. So much greater. So much bigger. So much more significant than reading the story about the tiny harmless little baby born in a manger.

[43:25] this is the mighty Prince of Peace, the Son of God, very God of very God, enclosed in human flesh, come to earth to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

[43:40] This is God's greatest gift. It is the resolution of this angelic conflict.

[43:50] Jesus Christ wants to recruit you in the same way that Satan recruited angels.

[44:03] Only his objective is a holy one while Satan's is an evil one. So what it amounts to is are you ready to sign up or have you already?

[44:16] because if you haven't signed on with Jesus Christ, you're already on the other side. You just don't know it, but you are.

[44:29] And spiritual blindness is part of being on the other side. You don't even know you are, but you are. Christ said, he that is not with me is against me.

[44:44] And for people who say, well, I'm kind of neutral. You know, regarding Jesus, I'm kind of neutral. I'm the guy that's on that fence. I can't make up my mind whether to accept or reject.

[44:57] What that means is you're already in a rejection mode. If you haven't accepted, you have rejected because there is no neutrality. This is as important as it gets.

[45:10] And listen, if Jesus Christ is not who he claimed to be, he's the greatest con man that ever pulled a con.

[45:22] He has not only hoodwinked hundreds of millions of people into following him, but he's also hoodwinked who knows how many into even giving their life for him.

[45:35] What a charlatan. What a phony. What a scam artist. That's all you could make of him. that's all he would be if he is not who he claimed to be.

[45:49] But if he is who he claimed to be, nothing in this world or in the next matters more than you being rightly related to him.

[46:05] And God has given you a gift that enables you to do that. It's called your will. That is God's second greatest gift.

[46:17] His first greatest gift is his son. His second greatest gift is your God given ability to receive him unto yourself.

[46:31] What a privilege. I trust if you haven't already exercised that privilege and come to know him whom to know aright is life eternal that you will even right now.

[46:48] Would you pray please with me? Loving Father, there is so very much about what we've said that we ourselves don't begin to fully understand.

[47:02] But we know enough about the basics because you revealed them in a very straightforward way and we are accountable and responsible for what we have heard. And we recognize that among these dear folk here there are no doubt are those who have questions, reservations, doubts, and all the rest.

[47:22] It's just part of the human condition. We understand that and we know that you understand it because you've given us inquisitive minds that make us wonder and question and doubt things.

[47:33] but you've also given us sufficient evidence that when we honestly examine it we can come to no conclusion other than that you are who you claim to be and that you really did so love this fallen world that you gave.

[47:54] You gave a portion of your very self in a way we can't begin to understand. You allowed this divine trinity to in some way we can't fathom to be interrupted to be to be divided in a way that had never occurred before in order for one of those beings to be born of a human.

[48:28] You gave yourself in a very real way and the very least we can do is give ourselves to you in response to your gift for us.

[48:46] Lord Jesus we pray if there is someone here boy or girl man or woman struggling with these issues we pray that you will quiet their heart by revealing yourself to them and enabling them to see you as their only hope to see Jesus Christ as your most magnificent provision and gift to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

[49:15] We cannot fathom that love. We want to honor it by responding to it with simple childlike faith. If you're here this morning without the Lord Jesus would you be willing to say to God in the quietness of your heart would you be willing to say God I don't know if all this stuff is true or not but I want to know.

[49:37] I want to know the truth and I'm looking to you to reveal it to me whether it's what Pastor Wiseman has said or something else. I want to be open to the truth so I can respond to it with the will that you've given me.

[49:54] And dear friend God will hear that prayer he will see to it that you get the truth and then you need to be responsive to the truth that you hear and understand.

[50:07] Thank you Heavenly Father for this time to share and enjoy together. Thank you for the blessed season of the year. Despite the fact that we know so many people don't have any idea of what it's really all about yet it gives us another occasion another opportunity to set forth what the Apostle Paul described as the mystery of Christ the secret now made bare and we are so thankful for it.

[50:34] Pray your blessing upon each of these dear folk as we continue to celebrate this joyous season of the year and all that you've given us. We bless you for it in Christ's wonderful name.

[50:46]  Amen. You are dismissed.