(soft music) - Hello everyone. We're gonna be starting our Bible study week, number 10 on Ephesians chapter three, verses seven through 13. Now I do wanna make a quick announcement that this week we'll have this Bible study and then the following week starts our Easter services. And so as you recall, there is going to be Monday through Thursday, evening 7.30 p.m.

devotions. And then, excuse me, on Friday, there's going to be our Good Friday evening service at 7.30. And then we'll have one Easter service at 10 a.m. on Sunday. And then we'll pick back up onto the Ephesians Bible study the week after. Would you take a moment to pray with me as we begin our study?

Lord, we thank you God for your grace. Thank you Father for your love and mercies. Thank you God that you have allowed us to be a part of your redemptive plan. You have allowed us Father God, such great privileges and blessings in your salvation. And I pray Lord that by faith, we would continue to grasp and understand the depth of our privilege, the depth of our blessing to greater degrees.

We thank you Lord, it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Okay, as we take a look at the passage, what I would like to do is take a moment to read verses one through seven. So please take your Bibles and follow along with me. What I'll do is set up my PowerPoint really fast.

In verse one, it says, 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.

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

We take a moment to pause there and review what he's been saying. Recall that the end of chapter two, apostle Paul said that Christ has made us into one. And as he was talking about the ramification of the gospel, he emphasized that the church is a building, it's a household, and importantly, it is a temple of God.

And that signified God's dwelling place. That signified that God was building a place for by which he could meet his people. And so that has incredible significance for us. And what's more, in this passage that I just read in verse one through seven, he's emphasizing this truth. If you really understand this, this is an incredible mystery about the church.

That what constitutes this temple and household of God, surprisingly, is not just the chosen people of the old, but rather it is inclusive of those who have previously considered without God so far, including all the Gentiles. And so with that said, apostle Paul essentially challenges the audience and asks, do you actually understand?

And last week I made much of this point that apostle Paul is taking a moment to pause and ask the question, do you really understand? Do you understand that in receiving this powerful gospel, we receive the power of God to break every dividing wall, the incredible wall that exists between us and God, and also the walls that exist between ourselves.

And so consequently, we recognize that what God is doing with the church is absolutely incredible, but also we recognize that the church therefore is precious in God's sight. As we know that in scripture, our Lord Jesus Christ talks about in the gospels how he is building the church, right, Matthew 16, how even the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The church is founded upon, established upon God's power. It is established for God's glory. It is empowered by the love of Christ, and it continues to serve God's purpose. And so the church is both vital and it's precious in the sight of God. And what we see is that in Paul's attitude and perspective, it's therefore precious in Paul's sight as well.

And so the passage that we have connects as apostle Paul speaks of his perspective in his ministry and servanthood towards the church, towards the administration of the gospel. Okay, so with that being said, I'd like to read the passage for today. I'm gonna read again verse seven and work our way down.

And the scripture says, of which I have, sorry, 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. 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.

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose, which he carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart on my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. I wanna begin by just giving you a brief kind of outline.

I've broken this section down into three parts, verse seven through nine, where it speaks of the apostle Paul's responsibility. Verse 10 through 12, the grand purpose of God, and verse 13, the encouragement that Paul gives. Beginning with the first one, Paul's perspective on his responsibility, which was given to him by grace, okay?

Paul's perspective on his responsibility given to him by grace. Let's take a look at this passage one more time. It never hurts to read the passage again. And it says, "Of which I was made a minister "according to this gift of God's grace, "which was given to me according "to the working of his power.

"To me, the very least of all the 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." Okay, one of the observations that we make is, throughout this passage, verses one all the way down, apostle Paul has various labels or descriptions about himself.

And so one of the study questions is, let's label, or at least identify, all of these descriptions. And what it really describes is apostle Paul's perspective on who he is in relationship to the gospel he's received. Who he is in relationship to how God is going to now use him.

And what I'd like to do is have you look at your Bibles and scan again with me, starting from actually verse one. Remember this section, verses two through 13, was one paragraph, it's one long thought. And within it, he has a lot to say about, again, his perspective of where he fits.

Verse one, he says, "I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, "for the sake of you Gentiles." Right? And we have to take a moment to remember that he's literally in prison. That's not a figurative statement. That's not saying I'm so devoted. No, he's literally in prison, and it's not for two weeks.

It's not confinement or quarantine for just several weeks. We're talking potentially years here, right? Some commentators think it's up to four years that he's already been in prison. Verse two, he says, "If indeed you heard of the stewardship "of God's grace which was given to me for you." And so what you have then is Apostle Paul being a steward.

And I'm gonna highlight these for you here. Apostle Paul is a steward. He's a steward of the grace for the people. Verse three, "That by revelation there was made known "to me this mystery as I wrote before in brief." And so then he becomes essentially a writer and a scribe, jotting down all that God has given him.

In verse seven, in this passage he says, "Of which I was made a minister according to the gift "of God's grace which was given to me." So Apostle Paul is a minister by the grace and power of God. And then in verse eight through nine, he says, "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." So Apostle Paul clearly recognizes what is his calling, what is his job, responsibility.

What God has given him by grace, and that is to be a preacher. Essentially a man who is to speak, open his mouth, and be loud, to be an incredible light of the gospel of Christ. And that much is very clear. Now, as we think about this then, when we see Apostle Paul's perspective on his role, that altogether is very challenging.

As Apostle Paul sees the stewardship, the ministry of the gospel, the administration of the gospel and the grace of God, he recognizes then that he's a prisoner to all that. He recognizes then that he's a minister to all of that. And I want us to take a moment to dwell on that for a little bit.

Because what that shows us is in his sight, the cause, the responsibility is massive. The magnitude of what God has called him to, already in his sights, he is showing to us what he sees and understands. And what he says is profound, because he says that he has been made a minister.

I want to highlight something here. If we look up the word minister, it's the Greek word diakonos. And that's where we get the word deacon. But essentially, when that word was used outside of the church context, it meant servant. It meant somebody who was a lowly servant, who was more like a busboy.

It was somebody who was like a waiter, so to speak. It was somebody who would clean up after the mess. And so when you think about this, it's not some classy leader. He's not a spokesperson. He's not deemed as a great guest speaker. He is seeing himself as a role subservient to the great cause of the administration of God.

And that's exactly how he actually tells the church to consider him. Take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter four, verses one through two. Apostle Paul says this. "Let a man regard us in this manner, "as servants of Christ and stewards "of the mysteries of God. "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards "that one be found trustworthy." Here in this passage, Apostle Paul takes it even to another step, where he describes himself as hupertest, which just simply means you're an underling.

He sees himself as a servant of the stewardship of these great mysteries of God. And the way that I want to think about this is, you know, a lot of people make much of being a part of a great cause. And it makes them feel like, wow, that was so rewarding.

Even if, let's say, they weren't paid for it. And you know what I'm talking about. People in this day, they talk about being a part of a great movement that really inspires them. And yes, those are inspiring, especially, let's say, if we're talking about disaster relief movements, when we're talking about crisis scenarios, and we're willing, because the cause is so great, then to take a moment's pause from our daily activities.

People, when they are willing to sacrifice the security of their jobs, they let it go, and they go join a cause, is that a bad thing? No, that's actually a great thing, especially if that cause is something worthwhile and noble. What's really interesting to me is that people do that for lots of different causes.

If they get a chance to, let's say, travel on tour with the band that they love, with the team that they love. And sometimes, I've been seeing right now, there's a lot of game shows, reality TVs. And people are straight up willing to risk their job so that they devote full time into something like American Ninja or something like that.

Now, if that was your dream, I'm not trying to crush it, but here's what I'm saying. Apostle Paul, here and now, is showing to us, in his perspective, his sight, his appreciation for the grandeur of God's call, for the absolute, just sheer magnitude of a cause so big, it just naturally causes us to lose sight of our little significance.

See, Apostle Paul, he's not elated, he's not grateful, because he was a leader before, clearly, right? When he was a Pharisee, when he was a Sadducee, when he was a leader amongst leaders, and thank goodness, now he gets to become another leader. Now he gets to become a spokesperson.

No, that's not what he's thinking. What he's thinking is the cause of God is so great, it absolutely makes him subservient. It causes him to be a servant of the cause of Christ. And so he recognizes the ministry of God is so massive. You see, one of the things I want to challenge us in that moment, then, is to ask, last time we recognized that Apostle Paul was teaching about the gospel, and again, how mind-blowing it should be, to take us from dead to life, to take us from far to near.

And that shift, we have to regularly stop and ask, do we actually appreciate and understand the magnitude of the gospel? Otherwise, all of these roles that I just highlighted for you, being a prisoner, a steward, a writer, a minister, and a preacher, none of these things will be privileges for you.

None of them will be worthwhile. All of the things actually could be very well a burden to you. And as a matter of fact, if I come to you then, and you actually don't understand and grasp with Apostle Paul, the incredible cause that we are a part of, then if I come and say, hey, can I ask you to do something?

Then your first response wouldn't be, yes, what can I do? Your first response would be like, oh, what is it, right? There would be hesitancy. You would have to start asking, like, is it worth it? But what if these questions were asked of you to be a small part, perhaps, to be in God's wisdom?

Remember how this church was called a body, and within the body you had presentable parts and unpresentable parts? The parts that you want to show off, you know? And the parts that you just kind of want to hide? I share with people all the time, I have really ugly hands, right?

They're very fat, they're like, it almost looks, one time someone looked at my hands and they turned around and asked me, like, your hands are swollen, and I said, oh no, it's not swollen, that's just the way it looks. And we just had a fun laugh, right? But think about that for a moment.

For the great cause of highlighting the great redemptive privileges in Christ, the glory that we have in Christ, should God ask you, be the hands, the calloused hands, be the feet, the sweaty feet. Is that to us a privilege because we understand the greatness of what God is calling us?

Or do we have hesitancy to think, like, I want to be a steward, but I don't want to be a steward of the janitorial supplies, I want to be a steward of the proclamation on the pulpit, right? Like, what are we actually willing and wanting, because we understand the magnitude of the cause.

And we also know that in the future, Apostle Paul is going to call us. This is not just for pastors, this is not just for the preachers. He's going to call every single one of us later on in chapters three, four, and five, chapter four and five, what we should be in imitation of Apostle Paul, but even greater, of God himself.

Now, in thinking about this then, there is this challenge, which is, Apostle Paul, in his perspective, he has a response and an attitude that shows forth. And his attitude I summarize as, I humbly and greatly accept. Okay, I humbly and greatly accept. You see, when we think about our possible responses, Apostle Paul was not necessarily, like, given choices.

Do you want to be the spokesperson, or would you like to be the background player? God didn't give him those choices. Apostle Paul says, "God gave me this privilege." Now, what's interesting is, there are different responses, perhaps. For example, someone could have this impervious attitude and say, "You know what?

"Yes, I get it, the Lord gave me a call. "Like, how am I supposed to respond to that? "You know, I don't really have a choice here, right? "I just have to be like, well, thanks, big guy, "and then I got to do it, right?" And they might have just this really kind of bitter, unfair mentality and attitude.

Or we can do a Moses. You know, "Lord, no thank you. "I stutter." You know, like, that's what Moses did. Or on another scene, Moses went, "I got a better idea, what about that guy? "You send him. "I've got good ideas. "I like to play the supportive role. "We'll send Aaron." Right, like, we could have different kind of responses.

Or Apostle Paul, he essentially almost, like, repeats multiple times, starting from verse two. He talks about this gift, this grace. I highlight for you here in verse seven, he says, "According to the gift," like, this is grace, okay, grace given. "And according to the working of his power." Think about that.

When you say this is a gift, an intentional gift of God and the working of his power, that precludes, that excludes them, like, "Oh, God, "did you, like, accidentally, you know, tag me? "I think you meant to tag him." Like, there's none of that. This is God's intentional giving of grace to us.

And you have to understand that this intentional gift of God includes Apostle Paul being a prisoner, right? And what's crazy is if you look at Philippians 1:29, Apostle Paul essentially states this. He says, "Not only have we been given the privilege "to know the gospel, "but the privilege to suffer for the gospel." This is God's gift.

"And the way he receives it is humbly "and gratefully, I accept." He says, "Oh," like, almost like, "Me?" Take a look at verse eight. "To me, the very least of all the saints." I mean, think about the contrast of attitude. On one side, it's like, "Did you get this right?

"Like, did you mean to call on me?" But Apostle Paul on the flip side is like, "Oh, wow, like, me, you wanna use me?" This is an entirely different kind of attitude. And what's more in humility, he considers, "Lord, I am the least of all the saints." Now, again, Apostle Paul here at this moment, he didn't just get converted.

He's already been, like, traveling, preaching. He's been standing up to the Jews. I mean, throughout so many different instances, he preached with authority and boldness. Some people hailing him, some people hating him. He's not, essentially, he's not a noob, right? From the time that he was converted, many people actually believe that more than 10 years has passed.

So that means he's not necessarily at the beginning of his ministry. He's in the latter part. And for him to say, "I'm the least of saints," what he's doing there, he's not just being, like, overly dramatic. He has the right perspective. Is he worthy to have this privilege? Is it because of his merit, his know-how, his prestige, his reputation, and how everybody already knows him?

No, it is not. He recognizes that the grace to be a part of the gospel ministry is just that, it's grace. He's not deserving of this and that. So what humility? Like, I love it. What kind of, like, realistic, God-honoring humility? And this kind of humility flies against what I think modern kind of leadership training is all about, where it's like, you need to exercise your full potential, and you need to have those opportunities to showcase your giftings of, come on.

Like, that is not the way Apostle Paul is thinking about this privilege. He's thinking about how he is a servant of the church. He's a servant of the household of God. And as a servant, then, he is also willing to be slave and prisoner. He loves the church, cherishes the church.

He cherishes the people of God. And to their glory and to their benefit, he is willing to be like a mother, a father, a brother, and worse, busboy. And his delight is to serve the church. He sees it as a unique privilege. And so by way of conviction, I want to say, Apostle Paul has this kind of attitude, the way I like to summarize it is, I get to.

It's not a do I have to? It is an I get to. I get to preach the unfathomable riches of Christ. Brothers and sisters, if you're in the habit of being all apologetic, when you encourage people, like, God loves you, you know, or even the, you need to turn to God, right?

And when you preach the gospel to unbelievers, please don't be so apologetic, where perhaps you've come to them, saying, I don't want to bother you. I'm sorry to bother you. You know, if you're telling somebody that you have an opportunity to be rich underneath the loving, the fatherly love of the master of the universe, the king of the world, I'm not sure you have to be apologetic, right?

But rather, you should be ecstatic. You should be joyful. You should be eager. Now, Paul says, I get to preach the unfathomable riches of Christ. You know, we have a lot of teachers within our church, and so shout out to you guys. We appreciate you. We, you know, encourage you and support you, especially in this time when things are crazy.

And the thing about it is I love it when teachers say, like, man, you know, there are these students who you see their eyes go bright, and they have those aha moments, and, you know, even beyond all the endless nights of grading papers, you know, I relate to teachers because lesson prep, you know, lesson prep is so hard.

There's no end. I mean, like, you could always think of a better example. Sometimes you get done seeing an example, and you're like, I don't even know if that came across right, and it's hard, right? But isn't it rewarding? Isn't there, like, this intrinsic rewarding privilege to bring to light?

And that's what Apostle Paul says. Like, he is going to be bringing to light what is the administration and the mystery, the dispensation, the management of God, and that to him is his delight. He gets to do this for the people. And so, therefore, again, we see Apostle Paul's mentality.

He's not saying, sorry, sorry I get to teach you and shed light to you in your dark world. No, Apostle Paul, to him, this is a privilege. And so, again, I spent a lot of time on this because I believe this is the emphasis. We, brothers and sisters, are a part of something so massive, it transcends time, space, and even whatever we think are the limits.

It just transcends everything. And so, to that, I want to move to the next section. We are a part of something so grand, and God reveals to us that he has this grand intentional purpose for the church. I'll read for us verse 10. It says, "So that," again, highlighting, whenever you see the so that, you should pause and say, okay, purpose statement, purpose clause.

I should understand what God is intending to do. What's this for? The manifold wisdom of God might be now, sorry, might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.

Wow. I asked this question as a Bible study question. What is God's intended role for the church? And it's really clear, right? We don't have to necessarily go look up word study and things like that. What is very clear is that there is an overarching, umbrella vision of God for the church that he desires to make known his own wisdom to everything, to the heavenly places, to the world, that the revelation of God, the character trait, not just one trait, but the manifold, multiplying wisdom of God be made known through the church.

And so the way I labeled it in your handout is this is a cosmic showcase. Two, and what's interesting here, are the heavenly beings. This is very interesting. I'm not gonna make more of it than I can because this is like an opening of a door where he's giving us sight into God's plans beyond what we can see with our eyes.

We recall that our significance in the world is even smaller than sometimes we think because the world as we know it is just so tiny. But the world as God knows it is massive. There are heavenly hosts, right? Hosts. There's myriads and myriads, scripture says. There are angels, there are mighty ones of God, there are seraphim and cherubim and all kinds of heavenly beings.

And then there are those who are rulers and authorities, those enemies of God perhaps. Ephesians chapter six describes there are these like circles and hierarchies of the demonic forces and there's legions of them, right? There's legions of them. Understand this, this is profound, but again, perhaps we won't know too exhaustively.

God is going to showcase his church as a means to shame the enemies of God and to show forth his amazing power and his rich love through the church. He is going to showcase his wisdom through the church. Here's an interesting passage. First Peter chapter one, verse 12. It was revealed to them, that's the angels, that they were not serving themselves but you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

The redemptive plan of God is so profound, it's so amazing that even the heavenly hosts carefully look into. And so what I want to highlight is not only is there this heavenly purpose for the church, but there is also an eternal purpose. God has for the church an eternal purpose where he says that this was in accordance with the eternal purpose carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The redemptive plan, the history that we see, all of it, although it's been riddled with sin, waywardness, destruction, and hardship, all of that, throughout all of that, God was still sovereignly working his redemption. I want to highlight some interesting passages for you. In Ephesians chapter one, Apostle Paul says this, and he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Just take a moment to recall. The Jewish people, the people of God, have been waiting so long for somebody to come over them, for a king, for one who would provide, who would be their provision, their protection, who would be their leader. We essentially have that in Christ in the church.

And what's more, in verse 27, it says, "And he raised them up and seated us with him "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, "so that in the ages to come, "he might show the surpassing riches of his grace "in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." You know, what's pretty amazing is that God is not just going to use the church for a season, during hardships, maybe in 2020, right, he's gonna use our church.

No. Those who are redeemed, God has chosen to use us to showcase his rich, rich love for all eternity. In heaven, we are going to be singing with united voices, perfected voices, the glories of God's grace, his love and his mercies. It's gonna be amazing. And I think about this, the privilege within this passage, Apostle Paul highlights this incredible privilege that we are going to be able to approach God, that we are going to be able, with boldness and with confidence, access God.

And that to us is an incredible privilege and a great, great mystery. That to us is also a wisdom of God, that God would create an avenue by which unholy, evil, wicked individuals would be able to approach a holy God without dying. It's going to be through union with Christ.

Now, I want, just to highlight that one thing for a little bit, I want you to think about this. We're thinking about stuff that's like beyond us, right? Heavenly realms, angels, you know, the authorities and the rulers. Think about the incredible scene of Isaiah 6, where there are the host of angels around God.

The train of his robe is filling the temple. The glory is shining greatly. And even the angels, they have their eyes covered. Now, think from their perspective, looking at us. It's like, what? I am actually one of God's holy creatures, but I need to cover my mouth. I need to cover my feet.

How is it that you, human, that you boldly and confidently approach God Almighty? Right? The angels probably instinctually would be like, "Stop, holy ground." But I imagine this is all just reading in between the lines. To angels, this would be quite the incredible thing, to see humans who were once broken, lower than the angels, right?

Now be raised to even greater than them. That'd be pretty incredible, wouldn't it? A sight to see. And so you think about this, God eternally desired. Man, this part is really crazy. God eternally desired to show forth His incredible mercies, and He desired to do that in you. Because God in His nature, with His fatherly love, desired to create and then be one with that creation as a father.

That is all initiated, thought out. That's all from His heart. That's all from His character. And that's why He is good father. To me, it's just like crazy to think about. And so as we're thinking today and reflecting with Apostle Paul, the manifold wisdom of God is going to be shown forth for us who are but vapors in time, for us who are but a breath, like a breath we see on a cold day.

God is going to eternally use us to showcase His wisdom and love. And so I want to move forth into this kind of reflection. For us then to appreciate this, we are again like trying by faith to see beyond our case, right? For us right now, as we look at our own time, our own kind of situation, perhaps maybe you don't necessarily see it that way.

Like how am I a showcase of God's love, right? But here's an encouragement for you. Verse 13, Apostle Paul says, "Therefore I ask you, do not lose heart." Okay, why would they lose heart? Because they're looking at tribulation, right? Like they're looking at Apostle Paul's tribulation. They're looking at their own tribulation.

So I want you to take a moment to think about this. Across history, there has been incredible suffering. And even secular historians would say our history throughout time is just a simple record of kings and kingdoms and the war in between. That's what one historian said. Another historian said, "Essentially our history is just riddled "with kingdoms and moving the map, "moving territories, moving the battle, so to speak." And then a not so famous historian, Henry Ford once said, "History is just one poopy thing." I say poopy, but he used another word I'm not going to say.

Just one poopy thing to another poopy thing. That's what he said, right? In thinking about that, even in Ecclesiastes, the wise King Solomon said, "Listen, what is the point? "What is advantageous for a man "in all his work under the sun? "Generations come and generations go. "The sun rises, the sun sets." And he goes on to say, "But still we cannot tell.

"We're not satisfied. "We're not seeing and not hearing. "We're not filled. "And no one remembers. "'Cause who can say there's anything new under the sun?" There is such a vanity in this world. There is just so much pointlessness in this world. And when we look at history, we might be tempted to think the same.

If we use our human eyes to evaluate our own lives, we're still surrounded by pagans. There's still sin in the church. There's still our weaknesses. And if we're thinking about the church at Ephesus in this time as the readers of this letter, the guy who's preaching to them and saying, "Look, chapter one, God has blessed you.

"Look, chapter two, in the gospel you have life. "You have completeness. "You have redemption. "You who are far have been brought near." And he's trying to show them the incredible love of God. God loves you. But they're hearing this from a guy in prison. If we are only using our human eyes, none of this makes sense.

But through the eyes of our faith, we are learning. Brothers and sisters, do not lose heart at the tribulations because we are a part of something huge that includes all of history as we know it. For the secular individual, all of history is just from one event to another.

All we can do is track kings and kingdoms and wars. For us, we're seeing the intentional hand of God move all of history towards Christ and then the gospel that is going to redeem. What we see is a masterful, powerful, loving God moving throughout history, but also moving in you.

God is going to use you eternally. If you are in Christ, your life is eternal and you have absolute life, indestructible in Christ. And therefore, we have then glorious expectation. Well, what Apostle Paul is saying is, yes, perhaps right now, suffering first. Yes, perhaps right now, tribulation. But remember, glory would come through suffering for Christ and likewise for us, it's the same.

And so Apostle Paul says, these tribulations, they are serving to the end for your glory, that you be able to glory in Christ. Let's take a moment to pray. Lord, we thank you again for these encouraging words from your scripture. We pray, Father God, that by faith, we would recognize, Lord, that we have an indescribable privilege, an incredible weight of glory with Christ.

And Lord, that cause of sharing that light, the cause of sharing in the ministry of the gospel, Lord, that is the greatest privilege. Father God, that is the singular cause where it would be appropriate to just jettison and forget everything else. And I pray, Father God, that we would then share in the joys of the I get to's with Apostle Paul.

Lord, we thank you so much. And I pray, God, that you would strengthen our faith. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Have a good week, everyone.