Series:
Ephesians
Title:
Abounding Wisdom and Prudence
Text: Ephesians
1: 8-9
Date:
March 22 & 24, 2013
Place:
Bible Class & SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 1:
8: Wherein he hath ABOUNDED toward us in
ALL WISDOM and PRUDENCE; 9: Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to h is good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
Subject: Abounding
Wisdom and Prudence
God’s wisdom
is his knowledge. God’s prudence is
his skillfulness in choosing how to carry out “his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself.”
Our
text says, “God hath ABOUNDED toward us
in all WISDOM and PRUDENCE, HAVING MADE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL…”
Do you
know the mystery? The mystery of his will is the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 2: 7: But we SPEAK the WISDOM
of God in a MYSTERY, even the HIDDEN WISDOM, which GOD ORDAINED BEFORE THE
WORLD unto our glory:
The
gospel is secret until God reveals it in our hearts. It is the hidden Wisdom, which God ordained
before the world. The Wisdom ordained before is Christ in whom the Father blessed
us with all spiritual blessings
Ephesians 1: 3: [God the Father] blessed us with all
spiritual blessings IN CHRIST.
1 Peter 1:20: Who verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you,
1 Corinthians 1: 24 unto them which are called, Christ
the POWER of God, and the WISDOM of God.
Our
text also says, “God abounded toward
us in WISDOM and PRUDENCE, according to
his GOOD PLEASURE which he hath purposed in himself.
Proposition: I want to show you 8 things
revealed in the Scriptures that are the good pleasure of God. This is how God
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, this is the will of God and this
is the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
I. (Col 1) FIRST, GOD ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN
ALL WISDOM AND PRUDENCE BECAUSE IT WAS THE FATHER’S WILL TO GIVE ALL PREMIENCE
TO CHRIST HIS SON, FOR IT PLEASED THE FATHER THAT IN HIM SHOULD ALL FULNESS
DWELL.
Colossians 1: 12: Giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light: 13: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:16 For by him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by
him, and for him: 17 And he is before all
things, and by him all things consist. 18: And he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he
might have the preeminence. 19: For IT PLEASED THE FATHER that in him should
all fulness dwell;
The fullness
of grace is in Christ. God blessed us with all spiritual blessings by giving
all to his Son to give to us. Of his fullness the saints receive abundance of
grace—“according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward
us.”: free justification, free righteous, free pardon, free adoption, free sanctification.
All the graces implanted in the born again child by God the Holy Spirit, from
God the Father are in Christ and from Christ.
All light and life, wisdom and strength, peace and joy, and comfort come
from Christ’s fullness. All the promises
of God are yea and Amen in him. So that our future glory is safe and secure in
Christ.
Col 3:3: For ye are dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God.
Before the foundation of the world, God
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence by leaving nothing about our
salvation in our hands, but putting all spiritual blessings into the hands of
his Son to distribute to his elect as he will.
Illustration: You
don’t trust riches to the hands of robbers!
God the Father spoke from heaven, saying of Christ, “Behold
my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.” (Mt 12: 18) So everything else we will see that
was God’s good pleasure, is all to this end, of bringing all glory to his Son.
We will end where we began—in glory with Christ.
II. (1 Sam) GOD ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL
WISDOM AND PRUDENCE ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE TO MAKE YOU HIS PEOPLE (1
Samuel 12:22; Eph 1: 3)
1 Samuel 12:22: For the LORD will not forsake
his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath PLEASED the LORD to make
you his people.
Ephesians
1: 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4: According as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,…[our text says v9:
“according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”]
What a mystery of God’s will! Before he
created this world he chose us to spend eternity with him in the world to come.
Before he hung the sun in the sky, he choose us in the Sun of Righteousness. Before
he set the planets rotating on their course, he predestinated us to the
adoption of sons, to be conformed to the image of his Son. Why? He saw nothing good in us. No. But
in wisdom and prudence he chose us because we surely would have never chosen
him. He did it “according to the good pleasure of his will, according to the
riches of his grace, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in
himself.” (Eph 1: 5, 7, 9)
III. (Is 53) HE ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL WISDOM
AND PRUDENCE, BECAUSE HE WAS PLEASED TO BRUISE HIS SON IN PLACE OF HIS PEOPLE.
All
that you and I contribute is sin. We broke the law in Adam. Our story is
described in
Ps 58: 3: The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray
as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
In
our blindness some of us called our lies rigteousnesses. But truth is,
Isaiah 64:6: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
But it
pleased God to send forth his Son to fulfill his law for his people.
Isaiah 42:21: The LORD is WELL PLEASED for HIS
RIGTHEOUSNESS’ SAKE; HE WILL magnify the law, and make it honourable.
So when
our Lord had fulfilled all the earthly work given him of the Father, he then
went to the cross—TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THOSE GIVEN HIM.
Isaiah 53: 9:…He had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10: Yet it PLEASED THE LORD to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief:
Isaiah 53: 5: But HE was wounded FOR OUR our
transgressions, HE was bruised FOR OUR iniquities: the chastisement of OUR peace
was upon HIM; and with HIS stripes WE are healed.
Romans 8: 3 For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
Who but
the God of all Wisdom and Prudence could design this glorious work wherein he
is a Just God and a Savior!
Illustration: Substitute Teacher takes the place of another because
the other is sick. The Substitute
Teacher knows who they represent before they arrive. The Substitute does all the work.
Sinner,
do you see that God is just and the Justifier because he chose the Substitute
and he chose the people for whom he would die? But with Christ our Substitute,
he does all the work then divides what he earned with those for whom he worked.
IV. GOD ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL WISDOM AND
PRUDENCE BECAUSE IT PLEASED GOD TO RAISE CHRIST FROM THE DEAD SO HE COULD
FINISH ACCOMPLISHING THE FATHER’S GOOD PLEASURE OF DIVIDING THE SPOILS WITH
THOSE HE REDEEMED.
Isaiah 53: 10:…he shall prolong his days, and the PLEASURE of the LORD shall prosper in his hand—in the hand of
Christ Jesus…12: Therefore will I
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong; because he hath poured out
his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
It pleased the Father to raise his Son so
that the rest of God’s good pleasure shall PROSPER—flourish—in the hand of
Christ. That is why the next verse,
Isaiah 54: 1: Sing, O barren,
thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that
didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than
the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. 2: Enlarge the place of thy
tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not,
lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand
and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited. 4: Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be
thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the
shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any
more. 5 For thy Maker is thine husband;
the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God
of the whole earth shall he be called.
Remember those
principalities and powers Christ made in the beginning of the world. Now Christ
is raised.
Ephesians 1: 21: Far
above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that
is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth
all in all.
In all wisdom and
prudence, God the Father raised Christ giving him the stewardship—the
government, the administration—over all things to the church throughout this
entire gospel dispensation,that Christ might fill ALL in ALL:
·
Fill all the good
pleasure of God’s will
·
Fill all his
pulpits and his pews
·
Fill all his elect
with the Holy Spirit
·
Fill all his body
to completion with his people—the fullness of the stature of the body of Christ
·
Thus filling the
fullness of times
Brethren, rest assured, “The pleasure of the
LORD shall prosper in Christ’s hand—the God of the whole earth shall he be
called.”
V. (1 Cor 1) HE ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL WISDOM AND PRUDENCE,
BECAUSE IT PLEASED GOD TO USE THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL TO REVEAL THE MYSTERY
OF HIS WILL IN US.
1 Corinthians 1: 21: For after that in the wisdom of God
the world by wisdom knew not God, it PLEASED God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe.
There are two reasons given why it pleased
God to save through preaching.
First, by this means God our Savior is
bringing the wise and prudent of this world to nothing.
1 Cor 1: 19: For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent…25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.… 27: But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise…to confound the things which
are mighty; 28…to bring to nought things that are: 29: That no flesh should
glory in his presence.
Illustration:
Riches carried in a plain brown wrapper!
By using things which are foolish and despised by the wise and prudent,
God keeps the riches of his gospel hidden, while destroying the wise and
prudent of this world.
Secondly, by using the gospel to call his
children, we give Christ all the glory.
1 Corinthians 1: 18: For the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of
God….23: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and
unto the Greeks foolishness; 24: But unto them which are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Christ our Head is King with all power over
providence to bring his gospel to each child. Christ our Head is the Prophet
with all wisdom to teach his gospel through his preachers. Christ our Head is
the High Priest with all power to pray the Father to send the Spirit into their
hearts to make us new. Christ our Head is the essential Word which he plants in
our hearts making us one with him.
1 Corinthians 1:30: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption: 31 That, according as it is
written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Illustration: Hearing Involves No Work: all other senses except hearing require doing: to see you
must look, to smell you must breathe, to taste you must open your mouth, to
touch you must feel, but to hear you must do nothing. That is why the means of preaching is
foolishness to them that perish—but why unto us who are called it is the power
of God unto salvation.
VI. (Mt 11) GOD ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL
WISDOM AND PRUDENCE, BECAUSE IT PLEASED HIM TO HIDE THE MYSTERY FROM SOME AND
REVEAL IT UNTO BABES.
Matthew 11: 25: At that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
26: Even so Father: for so it SEEMED GOOD in thy sight” it is literally, “Yes, Father, because so it was good
pleasure before thee.”
Galatians 1: 15: But when it PLEASED God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by
his grace, 16: To reveal his Son in me,…
Romans 9:18: Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
VII. (Eph 1) HE HAS ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL
WISDOM AND PRUDENCE BECAUSE IT PLEASED THE FATHER TO GATHER ALL TOGETHER IN
CHRIST.
Ephesians 1: 8: Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence; 9: Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good PLEASURE which he hath purposed in himself: 10: That in
the dispensation [stewardship-administration] of the fulness of times he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth; even in him:
When Christ has at
last filled all in all, then shall God gather together all in him.
Application: So you see in all of these
things which it pleased God to do, the chief end is to give Christ Jesus all
Preeminence in the salvation of his elect. This is how he abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence; this is the good pleasure which he purposed in
himself; this is the mystery of his will he makes known in our hearts.
Colossians
1: 26: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27: To whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28: Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Eternally, the believer’s hope of glory is Christ in you—having
come in the earth and accomplished redemption for us through his blood. Personally, our hope of glory is Christ in
you—having been formed in our hearts whereby we trust we are complete in him. Collectively as his church our hope of glory
is: Christ our Head in our midst, with all power, over all, who shall
accomplish the pleasure of the Lord by his hand through his gospel.
VIII. AND WITHOUT A DOUBT, WE SHALL KNOW
FULLY THE ABOUNDING WISDOM AND PRUDENCE OF GOD TOWARD US BECAUSE OUR HEAD SAYS
TO US.
Luke 12: 32: Fear not, little flock; for it is your
Father’s good PLEASURE to give you the kingdom.
Then we shall be
where we were from the beginning—in glory in Christ. What abounding wisdom and prudence God has shown toward
us! The pleasure of the LORD has, is and
shall flourish in his hand!
Amen!