Ephesians 3:1-13

Dr. Terry is reflecting on his 30 years of teaching and the number of students he has taught. He emphasizes the importance of the mystery revealed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 3. He explains that the mystery is the inclusion of Gentiles in the kingdom of God and the responsibility of the church to proclaim this mystery. He talks about being a prisoner of Jesus Christ and the significance of the church in spreading the gospel to all people, including rulers and powers in the heavenly realm. He concludes by urging the audience to not lose heart and to recognize the glory in his tribulations. This is the 30th birthday party you've had with this class. You know, you've got some friends in this class, I'll tell you that. Good morning. Thank you all for being here this morning. By the way, the only reason Brother Jimmy doesn't know how to do this (hop his chair to the mic), I've been doing this for 55 years. I have one of these at the seminary. In fact, I have a beautiful new picture at my house that the president and what we call our senior leadership team gave me last week on Wednesday when we had our meeting. It's a picture of me sitting on top of a table with my feet out and my thing in front of me like I am here and I had a class all around me. And on the picture are the following letters. 7,565. And the vice president who is in charge of our computer tech asked me, he said, Dr. Terry, do you know what the numbers mean? I said, I don't have a clue. He said, we went back in the records. That's the number of students you have taught in the last 55 years. 7,565. It was great. It was great. And I saw a young man sitting in that class. That must have been probably sometime around 87, 89. He became one of the finest ministers of education that the Southern Baptist Convention has ever had. And he is gone now. He died a few years ago. But he was a fine, fine minister of education, fine young man. I remember sitting there right in the class, right in front of me. So I've been like this for 55 years. This is nothing unusual. I just get this chair and look up there. Okay. Please forgive my throat a little bit today. Yesterday at this time, I nearly called Eddie and said, Eddie, how would you like to teach tomorrow? Not much. Because it was getting a little bit weak yesterday. So I'm going to try to stay on this side of the microphone today. Can you hear me okay is what I need to know. Can you hear me okay? I'm not going to project much further than where I am right here. Now, Chapter 3 in the book of Ephesians is a magnificent chapter because it's divided into two parts. Verses 1 through 13 is a magnificent statement by the Apostle Paul where he's going to introduce to us what Dr. Criswell, for so many, many years at First Baptist Church Dallas, loved to say he's going to introduce to us what Dr. Criswell called the mustarion. The musterion. And Dr. Criswell loved to teach the musterions of the Bible. That means mystery. And in this chapter, the Apostle Paul is going to introduce a mystery. And I'm going to read the chapter through, and then we'll go back and take a look at it because I want you to know. I'm going to read through 13 because beginning in 14, the Apostle Paul, next week when we come together, is finally going to say amen to his prayer. Now, he's still praying. He's been praying since Chapter 1. And just like any other preacher, he started praying. Then he got real busy, started preaching, kept on preaching until he got to the middle of the chapter. He realized he hadn't ended his prayer, so he started praying again. And in verse 14, he says, so I bow to thee, you. He realized he still had not finished his prayer. And 14 on to 22, he will finish the prayer. And finally, at the end of 21, 22, he'll say amen. And he'll be through so that Chapter 4 picks up with a different subject. Let me read the chapter to you so you can understand what we're talking about. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for you, and I want you to emphasize that particular word, given to me for you. The Apostle Paul is saying I was given this ministry in order that I might bring you Gentiles along with us into the kingdom of God. Given it for you. How that by revelation he made known to me the musterion, the mystery, as I wrote before in a few words. I will stop there in a few minutes and tell you what happens. You see, I have been telling you all in a few words for the last 29 years. The Apostle Paul was only here two years and three months. So he only told them two years and three months. I have been telling you all for 29 years. Have you all learned? Okay? You know, that's what the Apostle Paul was saying to hear. Do you remember I told you a little bit, I told you about that before. By which when you read, you may understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ. Mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men. You'll need to bark those two words. Sons of men. That's a very interesting statement that the Apostle Paul is going to say. And as we come back we'll look at it. Because he's going to say that in the Old Testament, all those who were prophets had the Spirit coming and going on them. And the Spirit did not come and stay. It did come and stay on a few of them. But it didn't stay on all of them. And you remember the Spirit would come and go and come and go. Well, now he's talking about the musterion of the Holy Spirit which is to come and stay. And so he's going to be talking about that. So he said the mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. Mark that. He talks about sons of men. Then he talks about holy apostles and prophets. And there's a very important reason why he says that. We'll talk about that in a few moments when we get there. That the Gentiles. Now, have you ever read a mystery novel? Do you like mystery novels? I love a mystery novel. I have all kinds of mystery novels. Barbara is encapsulated with mystery novels around me. I have all kinds of mystery novels. I love a mystery. Now, ladies and gentlemen, a mystery is what is known. A mystery is known. It's not unknown. It just happens to be hidden. And that's what you've got to understand. So it has been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel of which I became a minister according to the gift of grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power to me who am less than the least of all the saints. This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all people see that he is the mystery. What is the mystery? Which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God. Now, that's where the mystery was. It was hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ to the intent that now the metaphor wisdom of God might be made known to the church, to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. I want you to mark that verse. To the intent that now the metaphor wisdom of God might be made known by the church. Who's going to make known this metaphor wisdom? I'm going to read it to you again. Listen carefully. You've got to listen carefully. To the intent that now the metaphor wisdom of God might be made known by the church. Who is going to be responsible for making the metaphor wisdom of God which is the mystery of godliness, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory? Who's going to be responsible? Say big word. Church. Say church. Who is that? Church. Yes. So God has intended you and I along with Paul are responsible for making this mystery which is Christ in a person, the hope of glory. That's the mystery. And so he says it will be made by the church to and here's who we're going to make it to. Who makes the principalities? The church has knelt before rulers and brought them to Christ. The church has knelt before kings and brought them to Christ. The church has knelt before infidels and brought them to Christ. Who is responsible for telling the mystery of godliness? The church. Us. Okay. According to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for which is your glory. Okay. Now we'll go back and take a look at this puppy. This particular chapter comes to the conclusion that the responsibility of the kingdom of God is squarely and unabashedly placed upon the shoulders of the church. We are responsible. We are responsible to take the gospel to whomever. And when he says principalities and when he also says not only principalities but also he says powers he's thinking about chapter 6. Paul's already thinking about chapter 6. Where he said in this world that's between us and the third heaven there are rulers and principalities and powers and people of the dark age who are between us and the church is responsible for taking the gospel to the people who are controlled and incorporated by those people in that area of heaven. We are to go to the lost house of God and we the church are to proclaim to them. So let's see what happens here. Paul's saying for the reason I'm telling you I'm a prisoner. Now this word prisoner is an interesting little word. It's just a real simple little word. It happens to be just a little word desmios. desmios. Paul says I am a desmios. I'm a prisoner. Well the little word means to be bound or to be incarcerated or to be held in a place where you can't get free. And so the apostle is calling himself a desmios. I am a prisoner. He says I am the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Pardon. Wait. He's giving you two meanings to this word. desmios. Right here he's giving you two meanings. He says I am physically in house arrest in Rome. I am a physical prisoner in house arrest. But at the same time like you and like me I am also the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Now on another occasion the apostle Paul was trying to tell the people in Philippi where we will be studying in a few weeks. He was trying to tell the people in Philippi who were retired Roman generals, colonels, and majors of the Roman army who had been given Philippi by Augustus the Emperor, the Caesar, after the great battle of the Plains of Philippi when Mark Antony and Cleopatra and when Brutus and Cassius were both defeated. And he gave, the Caesar gave Philippi to all of the Roman soldiers who fought on the Plains of Philippi. That city was a pure Roman city. It did not have a synagogue. It did not have many Jews. It was a city sitting up on the Plains of Philippi and the scripture says that it was the microcosm of the macrocosm of Rome. Now that tells you what that city was like. It was just like being in Rome. You know what the apostle Paul did in Philippi? You remember he met a lady down on the river bank who was a seller of purple? And she was the first European who was saved and her name was Lydia. He also healed a little girl that had a spirit of divination and was thrown into prison. And at night they were singing and praising God and God opened the prison and Paul escaped. That's Philippi. Now he went on down to Thessalonica and in Thessalonica there were a lot of synagogues and there was a big synagogue in Thessalonica which the apostle Paul will call later the synagogue of Satan. That gives you a little idea of what he thought about that synagogue. So now he is talking about that. So he's saying I want you to know I am two kinds of prisoners. I am the prisoner of the Roman Empire but I also have been caught. Now he uses a word about being caught. He says I have been captured by Christ. And having been captured by Christ Now hang on to this because this is vitally important for all of us. Having been captured by Christ it is incumbent upon us to capture everything that he has for us through him. Paul says I have been captured for Christ and I am trying to capture everything Christ has for me that he wants to give to me. I am a double prisoner. I am a prisoner of the Roman Empire. I am a prisoner of Christ. And I have been caught for that which he demands for me to do and I am attempting to catch everything for which he caught me. That is a beautiful passage. I've caught him and he caught me. And now I'm trying to catch everything he has. So I'm a prisoner of the Lord and because I'm a prisoner of the Lord he has made known to me the mystery of the revelation of God. Now ladies and gentlemen it is so simplistic that it's almost, you almost feel foolish about saying it again because it's so simplistic and while at the same time being simplistic it is profound. And that profoundness is the real truth of the matter is Christ is living in you. Get over it. Get over it. Christ is living in you. Now the day that you said Lord Jesus I'm a sinner I cannot redeem myself there is no way that I will ever be able to be worthy enough to come into your heaven therefore Lord Jesus I prostrate myself at your feet I honor you by giving myself to you dear Jesus give yourself to me and you've got the Holy Spirit. And now God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are in you. And you are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body which is His. So you belong to Him. He has captured you and now He's expecting you to capture all that He has and what He has is what's the rest of this chapter. He is going to fill this chapter with Himself. Let me share something with you that's kind of a phenomenon. God wants you and me to stop trying to live the Christian life. That's too much of a struggle. He wants you to stop trying to live the Christian life because the truth of the matter is we can't. There is no way you and I can live the Christian life. There is no way that we can live a life worthy enough to be accepted by eternal God and by our Redeemer Jesus Christ. There is no way we can do that. The only thing we can do is to fully remove everything of what we are out of us and allow everything of who He is to come into us and to replenish us totally with who He is and get rid of who we are. One of the best words I've ever seen is by Ian Thomas who is a major in the British Army who is a biblical teacher. He said, quit trying and start trusting. You cannot give God anything. God doesn't need anything. He sure doesn't need your trying. The only thing you can give God is your life. And if you give God your life then He will give you His life and He will replace our ugly life with His beautiful holy life and He will make of you a holy temple. Know you not that your body is the temple of God which who dwells in you. Good morning. The scripture says that God is dwelling in you. Do you really recognize that every day? Is that a reality to you every day? Is the fact that while I'm sitting here God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are sitting right here with me. And whenever I get mad and want to get mad at somebody I have to stop and realize who's sitting with me. And every time I get to the place where I want to really have an out with somebody I've got to stop and remember who's sitting with me. Oh, by the way, Jesus Christ is right by your side. That's so simple. It's profound. The simple things of God are the profound things of humankind. God has always been profound. Now, the mystery that has been hidden from the ages that he's talking about here is, very simply, you ready? Here's the mystery. I'm going to tell you who the killer was. I'm going to tell you who did the murdering. I'm going to tell you who did the thing in the book. Here's the hidden thing. Christ in you. That's it. That's the mystery. Now, back in all of eternity the Apostle Paul is talking about that here. Back in all the Old Testament the Apostle Paul is talking about that here. Outward into the New Testament the Apostle Paul is talking about that here. He is talking about the fact that eternal God from eternity past is working diligently in eternity present preparing us to get into eternity future. It's all a part of the divine plan. It's all a part of God. Ladies and gentlemen, God wants to give everything to you. Let that sink in. God wants to give you His entire kingdom. God gave you Christ. We know about that. That was a historical fact. If God could give His only begotten Son who would die on the cross in order that you might be redeemed from your sin and be prepared to live in eternity future and in eternity present. If God would give His only begotten Son don't you think that God would give all things to you? But He will. And that's what Paul is getting ready to start talking about here. Now, Paul is going to name two kinds of people. He's going to name one group of people that he's going to call Sons of Man. In fact, it's right here in this verse he says and I want you to understand that in Revelation the Mission by which you read understand that He made the Sons of Man. I'm going to find that one right here. Yeah, verse 5. Look at verse 5. Which in other ages was not made known to the Sons of Man. Watch. What's been made known to you and to me? To the New Testament church? To the New Testament apostles? To Paul, Peter, James, all of them? What has been made known to them was never ever shared with the Sons of Man in the Old Testament. God never told them about Christ in them. Christ never shared the hidden mystery that one day they would have Jesus Christ in them. He kept that from the Sons of Man. But later on in the dispensation of the New Testament He did that when He did this in verse 5. He said, which in other ages was not made to the Sons of Man as it has been revealed by the Spirit to His, watch the new word, to His holy apostles. Old Testament, Son of Man. New Testament, holy apostles. Two different groups of people. This mystery of God had to be hidden until the Messiah came. If God had told the Sons of Man back in the Old Testament about a resurrected person who would be living on the earth although in many different scriptures in the Old Testament Christ's resurrection is prophesied. In fact, in many of the Old Testament prophets the resurrection of Christ is prophesied. In Psalm 1, the resurrection of Christ is prophesied. In Psalm 1 it says, come my son and sit here while I make for you the nations as your footstool. He told that to the Old Testament. But the Sons of Man were not the holy apostles and priest prophets of God. Two different groups of people. He told them. And on occasion the Spirit of God came into them and left them. Now, there are a couple of the prophets that the Holy Spirit never left in the Old Testament. One of them's name was Enoch. Do you remember the story of Enoch? Do you remember how Enoch was a great man of God? And he was the son of the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah. And do you remember how Enoch walked with God? Go back and read Genesis about Enoch. And Enoch was full of the Spirit of God. And God never took that Spirit out of Enoch. God translated him. He's standing in Gaza and he's blind. And his strength is gone. And he's chained between two pillars in the Temple of Dagon in Gaza. And a little boy had led him there. And Samson says, Lord God, there are enough people here that I could kill it all with one pull of these pillars. Lord God, fill me again. And the whole thing collapsed on thousands of Philistines. Went and came. Enoch stayed. Elijah. Elijah's spirit came and stayed. It stayed to such an extent that his mentor, Elisha, said to him, Master, give me the Spirit that is in you. And although Elijah took his garment and put it on the shoulders of Elisha, Elisha later died. Elisha never had the Spirit like Elijah had it. And Elijah had the Spirit of God which came to him and stayed in him. And that Spirit of God made him a holy man so that one day he and God were walking along and God said, Elijah, we're closer to my house than we are to yours. Why don't you just come on home with me? And the Scripture says, and Elijah was not. But he was taken. Now fast forward to Jesus Christ. And fast forward to the sacrifice at Calvary. And fast forward to what the Apostle Paul here is saying in 6. That the Gentiles might be fellow heirs through Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Do you know what Paul just told his friends, the Jews? You have no idea. You have no idea how these Jews hated these Gentiles. Every morning when a Jew got up, here was his prayer. Honestly. Lord, I thank Thee I am not a woman. Sorry about that ladies. I thank Thee that I am not a slave. And I thank Thee that I am not a Gentile dog. Now how would you like somebody to pray that for you every morning? That's what they were. They were Gentile dogs. They hated them. And every time a Jew could get near a Gentile, he would say what Brother Jimmy shared with us in chapter 2 last week. Where he was talking about uncircumcised and circumcised. And the Jewish men would look at these Gentiles and they would say uncircumcised. Sneer. Ugly. Let me tell you the Greek word. Akrobustia. That's the word for uncircumcised. They would walk up to a Gentile and they would say Akrobustia. That's how much they loved him. Akrobustia. And then they would back up and say circumcised. Peritomí. Peritomí. That's circumcised. Akrobustia. Peritomí. Now watch. These peritomís and these Akrobustias are now fellow heirs. Now if you don't think God has a sense of humor, I see you laughing and you need to laugh. That's God's sense of humor. I'm going to bring these guys who are out here yelling Akrobustia with these guys who are over here saying Peritomí. I'm going to bring these two together. And what I'm going to do, I'm going to make the Gentile fellow heirs of the same body, of the same promise, and of the same gospel. In this world, there are just two kinds of people. And it has nothing to do with color. It has everything to do with the heart. In this world, either you are born again in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or you are destined for devil's hell without God. That's all. And so the Apostle Paul now is saying, here is the mystery. The mystery is that our Father loves us so much, not only did he give us the only one of a kind, the only one of a kind. The only child of a kind. Gne is child. Mono means one. Only one given. There is no other. For God so loved cosmos, the world. He gave. God gave. God gave. God gave you his only begotten son. God gave you his spirit. God gave you his kingdom. He is wanting to give it all to you, and you can't give a thing to him. You hurt God if you try to give him anything. God doesn't need anything. God sure doesn't need me. He sure doesn't need you. But aren't you glad he saved you? Aren't you glad he came into your life? Now watch what he says here. Paul says, of what I just told you, this mystery, this really strange hidden truth, that God not only wanted to get into the heart of Jews, but that he also wanted to get into the heart of Gentiles, so that he could make both one. He said, in order, because of that, I became a minister according to the gift of grace, which God gave to me. Paul said, I didn't earn the gift of grace. You don't earn the gift of grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is God's love for you. Grace is when God steps for you and no one else steps for you. Unmerited favor is the grace of God. He gave it. Now ladies and gentlemen, if you stop and think, just for a moment, as you read the Word of God, look at every time the Word of God says something about God's giving. God is never taking. Have you ever checked that out? The only thing God takes is your sin and does away with it. God's always giving. Oh, by the way, as Brother Jimmy says, the next breath you take is a gift. Breathe it carefully. And if you go through the Word of God, just check it sometimes when you're reading it, how many times God gave. Because I've been partakers of the mystery of the ministry according to the gift of grace of God, given to me. And it was given to me by the working of God's power. I didn't get it because I'm a good guy. I didn't get it because He saved me. I didn't get the gift of grace that I can give to you Gentiles. I didn't get it because I'm anybody special. God gave it to me. He gave it to you too. You're nothing special. God gave you the same gift He gave Paul. And He continues to keep giving it and giving it and giving it. You check it out in your reading of the Scripture. Just watch and see how many times God gives. He never takes. And so the Apostle Paul says in verse 8, To me who am the less than the least of the saints. Now Paul says that three other times. And when we study the book of Philippians we'll see where he says, I am the least of all saints. We'll study in the book of Galatians where he says, I'm the least of all. Study in the book of Ephesians where he says, Paul says, I'm the least. I'm the least of all saints. Now I, and here it is again, watch. Look at verse 8. You've got a word give again. Paul said in verse 7, He's given it to me. He's given it to me. In verse 8 he says, To me who am the least less than the least of all the saints. This grace is given me. He says it again. It was given me that I should preach among the Gentiles what? The unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. That's what we need to take to Jews and Gentiles. Because we too, as Paul, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit of God. So then Paul says, And to make people see what is the fellowship of the mystery. Whoa. What's the fellowship of the mystery? Christ in you. God's only hope. Now I must pause there for just a moment. I said it specifically. Christ in you. God's only hope. Ladies and gentlemen. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed and prophesying, is the only hope left for the kingdom. You can bet one thing. Putin's not going to tell about Christ. He's not going to tell about Christ. Iran's not going to tell about Christ. Most of the Jewish people are not going to tell about Christ. Now all of a sudden, it gets down to real touchy business. If Christ and this mystery of him being in a person as the temple of God, if that is the truth, and that is our responsibility, and our responsibility as the church is to do what? Tell. Give it away. Give the gospel away. The more you give it away, the more glory God gets. That's one of the things that you can give away and never run out. Watch what he says in verse 10. Now, he just got through telling us that all of us have to give it away. And he means to everybody around us. But now he's going to come in verse 10 to tell you something else. Not only are you going to be able to give it to everybody around you, but to the intent that now God's manifold wisdom might be made to the principalities of the air. To the powers and rulers of the darkness of this world. To the faces in heavenly places. God says, I'm going to let you tell the principalities and the powers of the darkness of this world. And it's going to be done through who? The church. Isn't that interesting? That the church might tell the principalities and the powers that are in heavenly places. Did you realize you were that powerful? Did you realize you had that much power in you? Do you realize that the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy, dwells in you? Do you or do you not realize you have the same power on earth that Jesus Christ had here on earth? That, ladies and gentlemen, is phenomenal. To think that there dwells in this ugly body the majesty of God. So he goes on to say, according to the eternal purpose for which he accomplished in the Lord Jesus. Now, he's talking about the eternal purpose. The eternal purpose is not only to win all of the people to the Lord, but it's also to bring these principalities into rulership. He'll tell you that in chapter 6. But on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand the wiles of the devil, having been made to stand. Stand, therefore, with your courage to go about with truth, with the helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith. He'll tell you how to stand. Right now, we're sitting. Next week, Jimmy's going to get us walking. And I'm going to continue the walking. And then together, he and I are going to get the standing going. You see, the book says sit. Ladies and gentlemen, the problem with us and the eternal God is when we get saved, the first thing we want to do is walk. We want to go tell somebody. We want to go do something. We want to do something for God. You can't do anything for God. Nothing. God can do all for you. Quit trying to think you can help him. Oh, by the way, I love that thing Barbara has on our refrigerator. Good, good morning. This is God. I will not need your help today. Have a good day. Now, folks, if you don't think that wakes you up in the morning when you go to the refrigerator and get an orange juice out, where it says, good morning, this is God. I do not need your help. Come on, folks. God does not need our help. What God needs is our worship. Now, we can give him anything. We can give him worship. We can love him. We can adore him. We can appreciate him. We can tell him how much he means to us. If you tell him that, you'll make God happy. He loves for you and me to talk about his boy. And if you ever have a boy, you know what I'm talking about. Barbara's father went into a semi-coma about the last month and a half of his life. For nearly two weeks, he said nothing to anybody. We were by his bed. We were with him. Not a word. Not a word. Total silence. Douglas was in his junior year, sophomore year in high school, and he had a major part in South Pacific. And that particular week was the week that Barbara's daddy was really, really sick. And Doug said, Dad, I'm not going to do that part. I'm coming to be with Grant. He loved his granddaddy. And Barbara said, no, Doug. Grant would rather you go and be at that play. After you get through on Saturday night, then you come over to Terrell. So Saturday night when he finished, he came to Terrell. We were in the room. He walked in about a quarter to one. And as he walked in, Barbara's daddy heard his voice, his eyes opened, and he said, the boy. The boy. And he died. God loves for you to say, Father, I love you, boy. Say it a lot. Tell him you love Christ a lot. He loves for you and me to love his boy. You will never know how much he loves that. If you want to give him anything, give him your love for his boy. And so he says here, verse 12 and 13, in whom we have boldness and access. Can I share something with you? You're sitting here, and God moves on your heart to pray. And you say, dear God, do you realize that just as soon as you said dear God, he moved you next to him in heaven? When I'm talking to you, did you realize that when you said dear God, he moved you next to him in heaven? He gave you access to the Father. You know why heaven is going to be so great? Because what we can do here on earth with our minds, going from here to heaven, in heaven, we'll be able to do it with our whole body. If I want to go see Saturn, I'm going to go see Saturn. If I want to go look at the black hole, I'm going to go look at the black hole. If I want to see my Redeemer, I'm going to look at my Redeemer. What he said, he has given us access with confidence. I know, I know, that when I say dear God, I am there, and he is here, because he is here. Got it? So that he says, therefore, don't lose heart that I'm being persecuted, Paul said. It's for your glory. Now, listen carefully. Great, great gospel song. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. He giveth more strength as the labors increase. To add an affliction, he adds his mercy. To multiply sorrow, he has multiplied peace. His love has no limit. His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men far out of the riches in Jesus. He giveth, and he giveth, and he giveth again. Now watch. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength is failed, and the day is just half gone, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's own giving has only begun. His love has no limit. His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men. Proud of the infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth, and he giveth, and he giveth again. Quit trying to give to God. Start loving Him for His magnificent gift. Christ in us. God's only hope. Amen? It's a tough lesson, folks. Got a lot of good stuff in it. Even the Akrobustia is in it. But so is Peritomí. So we pray. Now we're sitting at the right hand of God when you bowed your head and said, Dear Father, He was here. Thank you, Lord, for being right here with us. Thank you, Jesus, for being in our midst. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for guiding us to pray. Thank you, eternal Trinity, for what you mean to our lives. We are so poor. We are so needy. We are so helpless in our own ugliness. And yet, God, you have given and given and given. Help us to be grateful. Help us to express gratitude. Help us not to try to keep you from giving to us. Help us simply to sit back and enjoy being with you and your son, your boy. Thank you for letting us be with you and him and the Holy Spirit. And thank you for letting us sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so rich and free. Thank you, Lord. You are a wonderful giver in your holy, righteous, and lovely name. Amen. See you next week for the other half.