Sum up All Things in Christ

Introduction: Review of Ephesians 1:3-9 and the Nature of True Worship

0:03 After several weeks, we return this morning to our studies in the book of Ephesians. And in order to help us with that difficult verse that I felt we could not handle a few weeks ago, the ushers are going to pass out a study sheet with some diagrams that I trust will be helpful both in giving a brief review of what we have previously covered and then moving into the heart of verse 10. While the ushers are passing out the diagram, let me just briefly bring into focus

0:45 the leading themes of Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 14. This paragraph that is, for all intents and purposes, a hymn of praise to the triune God for the greatness, the expansiveness of God's salvation. The Apostle Paul is not writing a theological treatise as he does in the book of Romans. Rather, he's penning a hymn of praise to God.

1:20 The word blessed is a word which means praised, honored, magnified, be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then as the Apostle pens his hymn of praise, he brings into it such, such mind-stretching concepts as God's choice of us in eternity. And so his praise focuses upon the part of the Father in our salvation. Blessed be the God and Father who hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, having foreordained us unto adoption as sons.

2:05 And so he praises the Father for election in Christ, unto holiness, predestination unto sonship through Christ. And then as he mentions that this great salvation, rooted in God's election and foreordination,

2:25 has come to us according to his good pleasure, the latter part of verse 5, it has as its goal the praise of the glory of his grace, grace bestowed upon us in the beloved. And then the foreordained, focus of his praise moves from the Father to the Son. And he mentions that in the Son we have the great blessing of redemption. There has been the payment of a ransom, securing our release from the bondage of sin and of the devil. And so he says, in whom we have

3:01 our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And in our studies thus far, we have looked at this blessing of redemption which comes through the blood of Christ, this great blessing then which follows of wisdom and prudence which have come through the gospel. And let me pause at this point to remind you of something that we've underscored week after week. As we get the perspective of this hymn of praise, we should learn on the one hand that a non-doctrinal,

3:40 or non-doctrinal Christianity cannot produce true worship. For the apostle is worshiping. His heart is white-hot with devotion to his God. But his head and his spirit are permeated with these grand and expansive doctrinal concepts. And so the whole idea that you must have on

4:02 the one hand either a devotional Christianity that is non-doctrinal, or nondoctrinal as my British friends say. Or the idea of the different doctrinal denominations. Or the idea of the Christian faith. Or the or on the other hand that you must have a Christianity that is heady and stodgy and weighty with doctrine but is devoid of life this dichotomy between head and heart between doctrine and devotion is utterly unknown by the apostles for this is a devotional hymn blessed be God he's caught up in worship but in his worship he moves all the way from election, predestination, redemption, wisdom prudence and all of these great theological concepts and so we should learn and be reminded

4:47 every time we pick up this portion that on the one hand there is no such thing as a non-doctrinal Christianity which can produce true worship and on the other hand there is no such thing as a non-worshipful or non-devotional adherence to the doctrines of Christianity I'm saying starting a campaign to blot out the term and the concept of dead orthodoxy there's no such thing orthodoxy is the truth according to the word and part of the truth of the word is that the heart must burn if there is true Christianity

Translating and Defining Key Terms in Ephesians 1:10

5:29 so there's no such thing as dead orthodoxy any more than there's such a thing as doctrine-less devotion these are concepts foreign to the New Testament to all of Scripture and we see it so vividly in a passage such as the one that is before us now looking at the diagram before you we've gone through the brief review we come this morning to verse number 10 this verse that is one of the most difficult verses in all of the New Testament and certainly probably the most difficult in the book of Ephesians and to show the thread of thought as its woe

6:12 and to show the fact that we've been woven together so intricately you will notice this block on the top left hand side the Apostle Paul having mentioned in verse 7 that we have redemption through the blood of Christ says that that redemption comes to us according to the riches of His grace and so we have an equal sign and next to it something that is supposed to look like a bowl that I'm telling you what it is so you'll know and that's the storehouse of God's grace what is the measure of redemption the measure of redemption is

6:53 the great storehouse of divine grace so the Apostle says in Christ we have redemption through his blood according to the riches of his grace then when he mentions grace he takes off and he says that grace which has been the measure of redemption is the grace which has abounded better translated verse 8 which has overflowed to us in wisdom and prudence and so the cup of great overflows and brings to us wisdom and prudence and you'll notice a little number one next to wisdom and prudence the same grace that is the measure of

7:36 redemption is the grace which is provided with the that is Penetrating insight into divine realities and prudence, the ability to apply those realities to life. The great question, who is God? How can I know God? How can I please God?

7:59 These are questions which only the gospel of the grace of God can answer. So Paul says, grace overflowed to us in wisdom and prudence. And then as he often does, having stated wisdom and prudence as the overflow of grace, he then enlarges upon this wisdom and prudence. And the first thing he does is to answer the question, how was this wisdom and prudence conveyed to us?

8:26 And in the first rectangle above the circle, it came to us as he made known unto us the mystery of his will. Verse 9, he abounded to us in wisdom and prudence. How? How? Making known to us the mystery of his will.

8:43 And in our study of that phrase, we saw this is just another term for the gospel. God's grace overflowed to us in wisdom and prudence. How? By bringing the gospel to us.

8:56 Well, then someone says, why did he ever bring the gospel to us? And you go to your top rectangle, the next thing he deals with, according to the good pleasure which he purposed in him. Why? there should ever be a gospel, which in grace would overflow to bring wisdom, giving insight to these great eternal verities. It's according to God's good pleasure. Well, then how was

9:24 God's good pleasure carried out? And that's the question he answers in verse 10, and the issue to which we address ourselves this morning. The American Standard reads, Unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things that are in earth, in the heavens, and the things upon the earth. Now the first thing we must do in seeking to grasp the meaning of Ephesians 1.10 is to come up with a more

9:54 adequate translation. And I'm not going to take you through all the hours of wrestling and contemplating and weighing, but I'm satisfied in my own mind. And for any of you who want to trace it out as to why I came to that conclusion, I'll be glad to talk with you afterwards, that the translation given by Lenski, the very able and astute Lutheran commentator, is perhaps the most helpful and accurate rendering of the sense of Paul's words. And that translation is found on your green sheet, and here it is. The end of verse 9 says, According to his good pleasure which he purposed in his

10:36 name, unto or for administration during the fullness of the time seasons, to summarize all things in the Christ, those that are in the heavens, and those upon the earth. Now let's consider, first of all, the meaning of these key words as they are given to us in verse 10, as they are translated for us by Mr. Lenski. And the first key word is this word translated, dispensation. Now the word itself means a stewardship,

11:18 an administration. The noun for this word is the word used of a house manager. Here's a wealthy man who buys a big estate. Well, he can't stay there to administer the estate.

11:33 He has other affairs, the very affairs that provide the money to buy estates. So he finds a very able man who knows something about administration, and knows something about how to govern an estate. And he takes this man and comes to terms, and he appoints him as the house manager of his estate. If he did that, this man would be called an administrator, and that would be the word that the apostle uses here in its noun form. Therefore, when

12:05 that man administers, we call him an administrator. He's a very good man. He's a very good host. He's a good host. He's a very good host. He's a good host. He's a very good host. He's

12:07 his responsibility, what he does is his administration of that entire estate. And that's the word as we have it in the text. So the word then has the idea that Christ has been appointed an administrator by God. All of God's gospel purposes are under the administration of Jesus Christ.

12:36 So much then for the meaning of the word dispensation or administration. Now this little phrase, the fullness of the time. The only other place it occurs, very similar, of course, is in Galatians chapter 4, a passage familiar to many of us. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son.

13:05 Now there are parallel phrases. This is in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 1. God, who spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. In these last days.

13:24 So often when we read the phrase, the last days or the latter days, we always look down and say, well that has to do with the end of history as we know it. But you see, the latter days, began with the manifestation of Christ at his first advent. The writer to Hebrews says, God hath in these last days, and that was A.D., probably around 68 or so, just before the destruction of Jerusalem.

13:54 And he said, these are the last days. It's the phrase we find elsewhere in Scripture. 1 Corinthians 10, 11. These things are written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages are come.

14:11 So then this phrase, the fullness of the time, or as Lenski translates it, the fullness of the time periods, has reference to that period of time bounded by the first and the second advent of our Lord. The first words our Lord preached when he went out is recorded in Mark chapter 1 and verse 15. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of heaven is at hand with Pentea and believe the gospel.

14:43 Therefore, and I know this demands that you think, and I'm not embarrassed to ask you to think, because the Holy Ghost gave us these words, and if you have any controversy, you ask the Lord about it. I didn't put them here, he did. This text tells us in the first place, that Christ is an administrator of God's purposes, not primarily in the future, but his administration has to do with this present gospel age. When history records anything about the administration of Richard M. Nixon,

15:26 it will have reference at least to the years 1968 to 1972.

15:35 When Ephesians 1.10 speaks of the administration, it has reference to the period between his first and his second coming. Failure to grasp this simple fact has brought untold confusion in the interpretation of this text. People assume that this gathering together in one, all things in heaven and earth, is a future thing.

16:03 And then they have problems. They say, boy, we don't want to teach universalism. Christ gathering everything to himself in heaven, and in earth, that sounds like universalism, and universalists love this text. No, no.

16:15 God's purpose in Christ has reference to an administration which falls within this time period, the fullness of the times. Now, what about this strange word, to sum up all things in Christ, or to gather together in Christ? And it's a complicated word. It's three words all thrown.

16:40 It's three words all thrown together, a compound word. And the only other place it's used in the New Testament is Romans 13.9. The whole law is summarized in this one word, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

16:54 But the word can mean, not so much as a sum, but to unite under one head. When you take a bunch of numbers, you kids at school, and you've got, say, ten different numbers, and you add them up, the sum of that number gathers together under one number all the lesser numbers. And that's the picture here. That as Christ administers God's purposes in this gospel age, He does so as one under whom everything is summed up.

17:32 Everything finds its head in Jesus Christ. And then the next words are, all things in heaven, and all things in earth. And these words are used as a sweeping description of the totality of the universe. Everything in heaven, everything in earth.

17:55 Every realm where intelligent creatures exist. You have a parallel passage in the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Jesus said, All authority hath been given unto me, where? In heaven.

18:09 In heaven, and on earth. In every realm where intelligent creatures are found, I have absolute authority. Look at verses 20 to 22 in Ephesians 1, where we have an expansion of this thought.

18:29 He's speaking of the greatness of God's power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all, all rule and authority and power and dominion in every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. And He hath put, past tense, not He shall put, He hath put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth, all and in all.

Capturing the Basic Concept: Christ's Administration of the Gospel Age

19:15 Now, so much for a brief definition of these words. Can we bring all those strands together and capture the basic concept of the text? Well, let me attempt to do it, and I hope you can follow me as I do. Paul has said, Redemption comes to us according to the fullness of God's grace.

19:40 That grace overflows, flowed to us, and what did it bring us? Wisdom and prudence. How did it bring it to us? Through the gospel.

19:49 Why did the gospel come to us? It was God's good pleasure. How was God's good pleasure worked out? It was worked out in keeping with His commitment to Jesus Christ of the administration of the whole gospel age.

20:06 You Ephesians, you know why you're blessed with heavenly wisdom? It's because Christ is, He is an efficient and a powerful administrator of every purpose of God in this gospel age. That's the core of the apostles' thinking in this passage. Let me quote Lenski's attempt to summarize this in his own words.

20:31 Christ is now God's great oikonomos. That's the Greek word. He's God's administrator or manager. To His administration, God purposed to commit the good pleasure of what He had willed.

20:47 Christ's administration is to carry the good pleasure of God into execution. From election onwards, remember it was election in Christ unto holiness, all the way through, everything in God's salvation is connected with Christ, especially during this New Testament period, during the fullness of time. This is grand beyond comprehension, but the thought is quite clear. The many things in this life are not left to drift or operate for themselves.

21:26 They are made to constitute one Son. It is our Lord and Savior, the head of the church, the administrator of God's good pleasure, of His grace and His gospel, who takes in charge all the things in heaven, and on earth, in order to rule them with all authority. It is thus that He makes all things work together for good to them that love God, that is to His church, and to every individual in it. You see, the picture is one Christ in whom all of heaven and earth is now summed up that He might rule

Instruction Concerning Our Lord: His Unique Person and Kingly Work

22:09 to carry out the purposes of God's grace in calling sinners to Himself and in preserving them for His everlasting kingdom. So much for then the meaning of the words, the basic thought. Now we come to what I trust will be the heart of the message to us as we sit here this morning. First of all then, consider some very vital words of instruction that flow out of this text.

22:40 There is instruction concerning our Lord Himself, and then there is instruction concerning the gospel. What does this passage tell us about our Lord? Well, it tells us two things. It is first of all an affirmation of the uniqueness of His person, and secondly, it is an explanation of the nature of His work.

23:09 If the administration of all that God is doing in the gospel age, from the first advent to the second advent, if the administration of all of that is committed to Christ, and it's committed to Him in such a way that He has absolute power in heaven and in earth to carry out the Father's purpose, what an affirmation this is of the uniqueness of His person. No angel is adequate for such a thing. No angel is adequate for such a thing. No angel though he be the highest exalted archangel, for he himself is but a created thing.

23:52 He's one of those things in the heavens. Angels are things in the heavens, and other creatures are things upon the earth. But this text says, the great administrator of God's gospel purposes has control over all things, therefore he himself is not a thing. He himself is God.

24:20 There's a beautiful statement in the Psalms which says, Psalm 89, concerning God's purposes to carry out His work of grace through David's line, these words occur, Thou hast laid help upon one that is mighty. And as the Father commits His work, He commits the administration of this gospel age to His Son. He is committing it to one who is mighty, who is called by the prophet, the mighty God, the Father of eternity. If this administration involves everything in heaven and in earth, and it's all reduced under one sum in Jesus Christ,

25:05 then we see why the apostle can say as he does in Colossians 1, 17, Then we see why the apostle can say as he does in Colossians 1, 17, In Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, all things consist, or they hold together. Men look out into life in our own day, and one of the things that causes despair is they say, Nothing seems to make sense. How can you get any purpose out of Vietnam, crumbling cities, the problems of ecology, the great tension between the races? All of this seems to make sense.

25:42 All of this seems to make sense. All of this seems to make sense. All of this seems to make sense. It's so chaotic, so meaningless, so purposeless.

25:47 What's the meaning of the whole thing? If you understand Ephesians 1, 10, you understand something that has completely bypassed the most penetrating thinkers of our day. You know that though you cannot rationally lay it out to the satisfaction of others, that behind the mess of Vietnam, behind the racial conflict, behind the crumbling cities, behind the disintegration of everything, Jesus Christ is administrating the purposes of grace,

26:27 and he's doing it with all power in heaven and in earth. God has put all rule and all authority under his feet, not shall, he has. We read in Ephesians 1, 20 to verse 1, verse 22. And so as we come into the presence of our Lord to worship him this morning, we need to worship him in the perspective of Ephesians 1, 10.

26:56 We worship a Christ to his God. We may fall at his feet with Philip and with Thomas, and say, my Lord and my God. But not only does this text give us instruction concerning our Lord's person, but it gives us an explanation of the nature of his work. Most often people focus upon Christ's work in the past.

27:25 He died for us. Christ's work in the future. He will return for us. But his present work is so often obscured.

27:39 But Paul says to these Ephesian believers, if you view your salvation rightly, you will not only praise God that you have been saved, you will not only praise God that you have been saved, but you will also have redemption through the blood of Christ. And, as he brings in verses 13 and 14, that you have the assurance of a completed redemption through Christ and the Holy Spirit, even the redemption of your body when he returns. But he says you need to look upon your present experience of grace as the fruit of Christ's present work as an administrator of gospel purposes. as an administrator of gospel purposes.

28:19 Yes, He redeemed you as a dying Savior. He will complete your redemption as a coming Lord and victor, but He's brought you into the benefits of that redemption, and He will complete that redemption because He is a present administrator to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given.

28:44 Mr. Bischoff's prayer this morning, he worshipped the Lord Jesus, and I trust we did with Him as our prophet, as our priest, and as our king. And as the old Shorter Catechism states, Christ occupies and exercises these offices both in the state of His humiliation and in the state of His exaltation. And this particular text focuses upon Christ's work right now and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ's Regal Office: Ruling in the Midst of His Enemies

29:16 As king, it's His regal office in which He carries out the purposes of redemption. Notice how clearly this is brought into focus in passages like the second psalm. This psalm that is quoted perhaps more often in the New Testament, I believe, than any other psalm, sections of it. Here is the raging of the nations, the kings of the earth setting themselves, taking counsel against the Lord and His anointed, verse 3, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.

29:59 He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision. Then will He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. And this is what God says, Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

30:18 You don't like what I'm doing, God says. You oppose my purposes. Acts chapter 4 shows that this psalm had fulfillment when men rose up and put the Lord of glory to death and now we're rising up attempting to squelch their witness. God laughs at them and says, You rage all you want.

30:38 I have purposed to put my king upon my holy hill of Zion and I've decreed to do something. I will tell of the decree the Lord said unto me, Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

31:03 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. You see what God is saying? I'll establish my administrator upon a throne of administration and nothing will frustrate His purposes in working out my eternal decree.

31:24 The same perspective is set forth in the 110th psalm. Psalm 110.

31:33 Another great messianic psalm. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Now notice this last phrase of verse 2.

31:51 Rule thou. In the midst of thine enemies. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. How did the gospel come to the Ephesians?

32:07 Why was it that it was effectual to bring them out of pagan darkness into marvelous light? Why was it that they could sing, Redeemed how I love to proclaim it? Paul gives them to understand. Look you Ephesians.

32:22 You were brought into the blessings of the gospel because the Father committed an administration to His Son. One in which He invested Him with all power to rule where? In the midst of His enemies. There at Ephesus.

32:37 The devil, the world, the flesh had you captive. And the devil said, I'll not give them up. And the world said, We'll not give them up. And the flesh, their unregenerate flesh said, We'll not be trampled underfoot.

32:50 We'll hold these Ephesians captive. And King Jesus said, I will release them. And He stretched out the rod of His strength. And what happened?

33:03 You read the account in Acts 19 when we prefaced our series with the study of the birth of that church. Jesus as God's administrator ruled in the midst of His enemies and called out a people for Himself and blessed God. He's doing it right to this present hour. Why?

33:23 God's purposes in Christ are for administration of the fullness of the time. And we're in that time. And He is ruling. And He's calling to Himself a people.

33:37 Notice how that thought then is beautifully carried on in verse 3 of Psalm 110. Thy people offered themselves willingly in the day of Thy power.

33:52 In the midst of His enemies He puts forth His power. All power in heaven and earth. And what happens? His people.

33:59 Those for whom He entered into covenant. Those for whom He became incarnate. Those for whom He shed His blood. They offer themselves willingly when King Jesus puts forth His center.

Christ's Consciousness of His Administration and the Triumph of the Gospel

34:15 Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of Thy power. Our Lord was very conscious of this administration committed to Him. Listen to His own words in John chapter 17. As our Lord comes, to the end of His earthly ministry, and the crowds have dwindled and all that is left outside of a few here and there is this little band and one of them's a betrayer.

34:44 And yet is He frustrated? Is He frustrated that the multitudes have turned away?

34:51 Listen to His words in John 17. These things spake Jesus in lifting up His eyes to heaven. He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee even as Thou gavest.

35:08 Not shall give out in the future. Even as Thou gavest Him authority over what? All flesh. For what purpose?

35:20 To bring peace amongst the nations? To solve all the problems of ecology and racial tension? No, no. Thou gavest Him authority over all flesh that to all whom Thou hast givened in Him He should offer eternal life?

35:36 No, He should what? He should give eternal life.

35:42 If you were living as an onlooker in the days in which our Lord ministered you'd say as people say today there's no sense to it. Look at this nation with such a tremendous history. Tremendous heritage. And now they're trodden underfoot by this usurper power called Rome.

36:00 Soldiers through the streets of Jerusalem who at their own whims could grab hold of the power of God. They could grab hold of you and say look, carry this burden for me. That's what Jesus had in mind when He said if anyone compels you to go one mile, go two. It was a practice then in the Roman government.

36:13 A soldier could take any citizen, anyone in an area where they ruled and make him a common porter. And you'd see this mess and you'd see the poverty and you'd see the ignorance and the heathenism and you'd say what's going on? Nothing makes sense. There's a little stir and the stir becomes a big one and everybody's talking about this prophet out of Nazareth and he has great followings and after a couple of years the followings begin to dwindle and you hear rumors that the religious crowd are out to get him.

36:43 They're out to his hide and they want to kill him. And you'd say it doesn't seem to make much sense. Seems to be so little order, so little plan. What is all of this?

36:53 Our Lord interprets it right here. He said I have had all authority over all flesh entrusted to me and I have given eternal life to all that the Father has given me. And so when the Apostle affirms in verse 10 that God's purposes have reference to an administration of Christ in this gospel age, this is a word not only affirming the uniqueness of Christ's person as God, but also explaining the nature of his work as a king who rules to dispense gospel mercies. That's why Peter could preach

37:37 as he did in Acts 5 and say this Jesus whom you crucified God exalted with his right hand to be a what? A prince and a savior to give repentance and remission of sins. He not only died to purchase forgiveness he is a reigning prince to part repentance unto forgiveness. Then you have that summary statement in 1 Corinthians 15 20-28 we'll not take time to read it where you have the picture of Christ who's been exalted in the place of authority and then that beautiful statement

38:20 he must reign till he hath put all enemies beneath his feet. Not he shall reign when all enemies are destroyed. He must reign. He is reigning and will continue to reign and then Paul says when the work of mediation is done and the whole mediatorial kingdom is complete then the Son shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father and he'll say Father you gave an administration to me you gave to me the task of ordering all of the events of the gospel days to bring home to yourself all those whom you purposed to save.

39:01 Father I've done the work here is your people I give that kingdom up to you and then the scripture says God shall be all and in all. There's the explanation of the apostles thought in Ephesians 1 10 that the gospel has come to the Ephesians bringing wisdom and prudence because God's purpose focused upon Christ and the administration of gospel days committed to him. But not only is this a word of instruction about our Lord his person and his work but it's also a word of instruction concerning the gospel

39:44 how and why the gospel triumphs in the hearts of men. Why does the gospel still triumph?

39:55 How does the gospel triumph? It triumphs as a fruit of the administration of Christ. That's why.

Exhortation 1: Trace Your Conversion to Christ's Administration

40:05 And there is not one single gospel triumph that is not a monument to the mighty administration of Jesus Christ in this gospel age. But not only is there this word of instruction there is also a word of exhortation and I would like to suggest two lines of exhortation this morning very briefly. First of all from this passage learn to trace your conversion back to this administration of Christ in power. This was Paul's purpose in writing the Ephesians.

40:43 Remember this is a hymn of praise and everything he says is with a view to leading the Ephesians to think about their salvation as Paul thought about his salvation that they would praise God as he praised God. And so as the apostle Paul contemplated his own salvation he had but one explanation. I'm sure there were many times when the apostle Paul lying upon his bed at night or walking out from one missionary appointment to another would reflect back upon those days prior to his conversion. And he could remember when his heart was full of this venom against the people of God.

41:25 So determined to blot out the name of this imposter Jesus that he goes to the religious authorities and he has the credentials stuffed in his pocket telling him he's got the right to take these Jesus followers and put them in the church. And he's got the right to do that. And he's got the right to do that. And he's got the right to do that.

41:38 And he's got the right to do that. And he's got the right to put them in prisons and even get the death sentence against them where possible. And he contemplates how there was absolutely nothing in the external circumstances of his life ever to indicate that he was just a few hours from the kingdom of God when he started out for Damascus. And he thinks of that blinding light and that thundering voice and those words Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

42:07 And his mind recounts those events which led him to become a humble bondservant of Christ and the Apostle Paul delights to remind himself everything that happened to me that changed me from Saul the Christ-hater into Saul, Paul the bondservant of Christ was the fruit of Christ's mighty administration of gospel purposes. That's why when he writes to the Galatians he can say, when it pleased God and the word when is an adverb of time. When it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb

42:50 and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. You see what his perspective was? If you asked him, Paul, when did you get saved?

43:03 He'd say, right on schedule. Right on schedule. When it pleased God to reveal His Son to me. Right on schedule.

43:14 Why did you get saved right on schedule? Because Christ is a mighty administrator of the fullness of the time. That's why. And oh, I exhort you, my dear Christian brother or sister, if you've been able to rejoice in verse 7, in whom you have redemption through His blood, you've been able to rejoice in verse 8, that grace has overflowed giving, giving you wisdom and prudence.

43:44 You know God. You know how to know God. You know how to have forgiveness of sins. You know how to live.

43:51 You're blessed with wisdom and prudence. And you follow the Apostle's thought through to where he traces this to the Gospel, having made known to us the mystery of His will. And you trace it back to the exercise of God's purpose, which He purposed in Him. May God lead you on this morning and enable you to rejoice that all of God's purposes with reference to bringing wisdom and prudence to men through the Gospel come as a result of the administration of Christ, who is God's appointed administrator.

Exhortation 2: Base Gospel Expectations on Christ's Administration

44:28 And then secondly, by way of exhortation, child of God, fellow believers, let us learn to base our expectations for the success of the Gospel, not upon our administration of the Gospel, but upon Christ's administration of Gospel purposes. Has God put Christ at His right hand to be the administrator? Yes. Then learn to base all of your prayers and your expectations for the success of the Gospel not upon your cleverness or lack of it, not upon your ingenuity or lack of it,

45:12 not upon the favorable or unfavorable circumstances which surround the preaching of the Gospel. The success of the Gospel is rooted in the mighty administration of Christ.

45:27 That's the core of its success. That's what God had to get through to Paul at Corinth. He began to look at the circumstances and get afraid. So the Lord comes to him at night, and what does He say?

45:38 He says, Paul, don't be afraid. Don't hold your peace. I've got much people in this city. I'm administering this.

45:44 I'm administering this business. Don't you forget it, Paul. Isn't that what He told him? I paraphrase, but that's the substance of it.

45:50 He says, Be not afraid. Hold not thy peace. I have much people in this city. And the next verse says, He abode there for a year and six months teaching the Word of God.

46:00 He got his focus right again. Lord, this is your business. This is your work. Now, did that make him sit back and say, I won't do anything?

46:07 No. That would be a wrong understanding of it. No, no. We are to preach.

46:12 We are to pray. We are to witness. We are to entreat men. But where is our expectation?

46:18 In our preaching? In our praying? In our earnestness? No.

46:23 But in the mighty power of this great administrator.

46:29 May I suggest that Jesus actually teaches that that perspective must pervade all gospel efforts, whether parents praying for their children, pastors preaching and teaching their flock, missionaries on the mission field. Where does our Lord begin? The Great Commission in Matthew. He doesn't begin it with, Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

46:53 He doesn't begin that. Where does he begin?

46:56 Where does he begin? You look at it in your Bibles. Where does he begin?

47:01 The therefore has reference to a statement of the very thing we're studying this morning.

47:11 Matthew 28 and verse 16. The eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus has appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, And can you imagine what it was like?

47:28 Here are the first words he's going to utter on this memorable occasion. When he's gathered with them for the last time and he's about to leave. And these words that he speaks will ring in their minds and come before them again and again. They're gathered together.

47:46 The place Christ appointed. He stands before them and he opens his mouth and the first words are not Go. The first words are All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore under what canopy and perspective?

48:07 The perspective that I am the administrator of all that goes on. The success and the accomplishment of your mission rest not upon you, but upon me. All authority is mine in the realm of heaven and in the realm of earth. Now you go out under that perspective.

48:29 Well, you have to go. He speaks. He's Lord of heaven and earth. I must obey.

48:35 And when I go and I find men's minds indisposed to the truth of the gospel, what shall I do? Shall I accommodate the gospel to make it a little more attractive? Shall I dress it up and try to flavor it to make it palatable to their unregenerate nature? Not on your life.

48:54 Shall I go out in huckster off the Son of God? No, no. No, no. What shall I do?

49:01 I will go out in the consciousness. He's the administrator. With all authority in heaven and in earth, the success of the mission is in His hands. Mine is to obey.

49:12 What has He told me to do? Make disciples. Not go out and just get decisions.

49:19 Make disciples. Then do what? Say, lead them to the Holy Spirit? No.

49:23 No, I'm to baptize them. That is, gather them into visible communities of believers. You're to plant churches, He says. The administrator, not you.

49:35 You may think the work can get done better by just going out and preaching a minimum amount of truth and running to another town. But I'm telling you, make disciples and baptize them and don't stop there. Teach them to observe everything I've commanded you. Secure a teaching ministry that will build them up into practical godliness.

49:55 Not teaching them but teach them theory. Teach them to observe. Teach them to observe. Now you see, when that perspective grips us, we cannot afford the luxury of shoddiness in our gospel enterprises.

50:14 If I own the estate and I say to the man who's going to be my administrator, look, this estate is precious to me. And this is how I want it administered. And I come back in a year and I find that he's only carried out one third of my orders. And I say, what's the problem?

50:28 He says, well sir, I just thought that this part of your directions were rather immaterial and non-essential. And I just carried out what I felt were the essential parts of my administration. What would I say to him? I'd say, yours was not to evaluate and to pass sentence upon what was essential and non-essential.

50:51 This is my estate, precious to me, and I've given you directions for its administration. You are simply to administer it according to my directions. The Lord Jesus, the great administrator, appointed by the Father, speaks to us and gives us an administration. That's what Paul means when he says unto me is given a dispensation of the gospel.

51:16 Same word, an administration. And I'm to carry it out in terms of the rule and the orders of my living head. And so I would give this word of exhortation, learn to base your expectations for the success of the gospel upon Christ's mighty administration. And dear child of God, when you get that perspective, though you're not indifferent to the problem of the crumbling cities, you're not indifferent to the racial tension, you know that all things in heaven and earth are summed up under Christ, and He can administer the gospel with power in the midst of all that mess.

Solemn Warning: Christ as Judge and the Call to Kiss the Son

52:00 With one mighty swoop of His hand, call out of it multitudes and make them willing in the day of His power. Oh, may God fill our hearts with earnest prayer that we may yet see an administration of gospel power, the likes of which we've never beheld. But then I cannot close this morning without issuing not only these words of instruction, words of exhortation, but some solemn words of warning. Listen, my friends.

52:33 This same Bible that speaks of Christ being the administrator of the gospel age and everything in heaven and in earth subsisting under His headship teaches that one day every rational being, angel, man, demon, will acknowledge this position that God has given to His Son. For the book says in Philippians chapter 2, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things where? In heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess

53:15 that Jesus Christ is what? Lord to the glory of God the Father. You see what God's going to do? He's going to wrench from every rational being the confession, O God, You were wise, when You made Your Son the administrator, when You exalted Him to Your right hand and gave Him a name above every name and put all things in heaven and earth under His feet.

53:42 You were wise. He is worthy of all of this. God will wrench that confession from every rational creature. Listen as you sit here this morning.

53:53 If that confession does not flow out of your heart in this gospel age as the fruit of God's grace, it will be wrenched from you in the day of judgment for the last work Christ does as administrator of the gospel age is a work of judgment. John chapter 5 says, The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, and the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice and shall come forth. Listen my friend, you may have sat through all of this this morning and said, I don't know if this administration is going to be anything to me. Yes, it does.

54:35 Part of that administration is going to be to summon you into His presence in the day of judgment. Christ's administration involves being your judge. What if He summoned you there this morning? What if He summoned you there this very hour?

55:00 Oh, I plead with you with this solemn warning at the close of our study this morning, just as the Christian religion rejoices that the Father has made Christ the administrator of the gospel age. So every unconverted man, woman, fellow and girl ought to tremble. And that's the note upon which the second psalm closes, the same note. God having said, I've set my King upon my holy zeal, the Zion closes with the words, Be wise, be instructed, kiss the Son, lest He be angry and we perish in the way.

55:40 Don't you think that when the Lord Jesus puts out His rod of judgment to crush you that the Father will stay His hand and say, Oh, no, no, my son. I've given you no right to judge. I'm the loving Father. I will show love and leniency to these.

55:54 Don't crush them. No, no. The Scripture says the Father has put into the hand of His Son the rod of judgment. And the Father says to the Son, Will that rod as you will, and I'll be pleased.

56:08 That's why the psalmist says, Kiss the Son. Bow in subjection, in homage and in faith, lest He be angry and ye perish in the way. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Ah, my friend, He's God's faithful administrator.

56:25 And just as certainly as no sinner ever comes in repentance and faith and pleads for mercy through Christ, who will find the Father saying, Well, my Son accepted you, but I won't. No, no. He's God's faithful administrator. And likewise, everyone whom the Son receives, the Father is pleased.

56:45 He's His administrator. And likewise, everyone whom the Son crushes, the Father will never negate or cancel the bruising, crushing work of His Son. God's grace has abounded to us in wisdom and providence, having made known unto us the mystery of His world, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Christ for administration of the fullness of the time seasons, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in heaven, the things in the earth. May God grant that our hearts shall run out with love and devotion to this great administrator

57:29 of gospel grace. And may some of you be the fruit of that administration even today. It's no accident you're here. No accident that God has caused you to fix your ear upon the truth.

57:42 May God grant that you bow before His Son and find mercy from this sovereign Savior. Let us pray.