The scripture reading this morning is from the book of Ephesians in the New Testament, chapter 1 verses 3 through 12. That's Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 12. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have maintained an inheritance, having been predestined, according to the purpose of Him who works all things, according to the counsel of His will, so that we who are the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory. The word of the Lord. Thank you, Julie. It's an incredible passage. Julie and I were talking about for the service. She said, sure, it's a long sentence. It's actually one sentence in Greek, and you're sort of searching, certainly there's a verb in here somewhere, but you get this sense that Paul's so ecstatic about the glory of Christ, and you get this sense that His emotions were way ahead of His ability to articulate everything that He was trying to celebrate in His heart. So we're going to look at this passage. We're in a series now where we're looking really at a number of passage. It's more of topical series. And so we're going to use this passage, but many others to look at God's plan as our security. Let's pray and ask for His help. Lord, thanks for the opportunity we have once again to look into your word. I pray that you, Holy Spirit, would help us to be focused, anything else, everything else that's on our minds right now that would be a temptation to be diverted to and distracted by. I pray that you would remove those and help us to focus supremely on you and show us how your plan, Lord, is the security of our lives. In Jesus' name and for His glory, we pray. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of taking my youngest daughter, Mary Caroline, on a trip I had a meeting up in Philadelphia, and so we went up there together and spent a couple extra days looking at the sights of that incredible city in terms of our nation's history. And one of the places we went to was the Franklin Institute. Have you ever been there before? It's this fabulous museum, right? In center city, Philadelphia, that celebrates the life and legacy of that great, genius, inventor, Benjamin Franklin. And there are a lot of fascinating things, probably the most memorable was they've got in this one sort of atrium-like room, this high wire. And you can go up and it's way above the ground, you can go up way above the ground and actually get on a bicycle and ride across the high wire. Now, that has never really fascinated me that concept. Some of you are going, that sounds horrible. Well, my little daughter is a little bit more adventurous than I am and she wanted to do that. Now, those of you that know me well and certainly my daughters and wife know that I am a little bit protective, some would say a control freak. I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration, nevertheless. I was thrilled for her to do this. Why? That sounds absurd. Well, it's because, as you might imagine, this was very secure. There was a, yes, she was riding across a bicycle on this high wire but there was a support system there that was keeping the bicycle in place so that if she went one direction or the other, she didn't absolutely fall over. And besides that, you know, that still might not have done it for me. Frankly, my great security was that there was this massive net that was underneath the high wire. So that regardless of what happened, if she collapsed and fell off, the support system gave way, she would be safe. Now, we are beginning, as of last Sunday, this sermon series on the one life that we have. And one of the things we talked about the main thing we talked about last week is, look, we've, it's an obvious thing but we tend to forget the obvious. We only have one life to live. Let's not waste it. Let's make the most of it. How do we do that? We said last week, we make the most of it by living every, in every year of our life, for the glory of God. And you said, well, that's wonderful. I have a purpose now. Yay, I have a purpose in the meeting. But as soon as you begin to think through that, it probably becomes pretty daunting. And for some of you, it can even become depressing, because you think, well, great. I've failed at everything that's fairly insignificant in my life. Now, something tremendous and incredibly difficult, like living for God's glory, I'm doomed, you know? Sort of Charlie Brown outlook on life. What do we need? If God's glory is the overarching purpose of our life. If it's sort of the sky that surrounds us, then what safety net is there that can be our security, that can support us, that says, you know what? You cannot possibly fail at this. It's the wonderful truth that runs like this magnificent stream throughout the pages of the Bible called God's sovereignty. See, God has given to us the privilege of living for His glory, and so we should plan our lives that are in every single area of our life, we're living for His glory. But that can become really overwhelming to us. What is it that gives us the ability to breathe and to live boldly, to charge across that high wire? Because of the safety net that God's plan undergoes everything, God's plan is my security. We want to look at that this morning, and think of it in three movements, that God's plan is comprehensive, it's compassionate, and it is Christ fulfilling. All right, first of all, God's plan is comprehensive. Well, Bible paints this picture, this is nothing new if you've been in our church for some time. The Bible paints this picture that from Genesis to Revelation, from first to last, God is the king. He is decreed everything, and we can't, you know, that creates a lot of questions for many of us. But the mystery of God's sovereignty is so fantastic, and so consistently affirmed throughout Scripture. I heard one person say, you know, it's like an all devouring avalanche. Thankfully, I've never had to experience that firsthand. But imagine, you know, you've got this massive avalanche coming right at you, you might avoid a few snowballs or rocks. But you're going to be consumed by the avalanche, and you might have a few questions about God's sovereignty. I'd all might not make sense. All the pieces of the puzzle might not perfectly fit together. But it is this all-consuming avalanche throughout the Scriptures that rolled down with mighty and glorious steam throughout and into our lives. The beginning of our order of worship, the call to worship by Isaiah 46, I am God, and there is no other. I mean, just contemplate and meditate on those words, I am God. And there's none like me declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things, not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. And, you know, you, again, if you think in terms of man, it just seems so oppressive to think of life, however well-ming and living it day-to-day consistently for God's glory. Proverbs 19, 21, many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. And Proverbs 16, 16, 9, there's a number of Proverbs that are parallel to this concept. In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Isn't that comforting? See, there's a safety net there. I can mess up. I've got the freedom to fail, to ride across life boldly because God's sovereign plan cannot be thwarted. Proverbs 21, 30, there is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. He is the divine architect. He is the engineer. God never fails to accomplish what he sets out to do. Creatures may oppose him, but they never prevail. His will, his plan, his purpose cannot be thwarted. And, of course, in the past, as Julie read for us, you have in your order of worship from Ephesians, this is just bleeding all over the place in that passage. In chapter 1, verse 12, he talks about how all that God is doing in redemption is according to the purpose of him who works all things. If you've got your Bible and you don't think it's a blasphemous to do so, underline those words. All things according to the counsel of his will. Now, how is this a security to you? Hopefully it's just obvious. But, you know, it takes the pressure off. If he's in control, totally, ultimately, then I don't have to be in control. I don't have to be obsessive about being in control, about having all my ducks lined up. I don't have to live in fear. I can live boldly. Listen, where we're all insecure in different areas of life. Where are you insecure? In relationships, thinking about the future, living in terms of guilt from the past, where are you insecure? Where do you live in fear? You don't need to live in fear. You can live with joy and ride boldly through life because God's plan is moving forward. God is at work. He will not fail. Period. And this should be a security that it should sustain me when things aren't going as planned. I mean, we say that when things aren't going as planned. This certainly isn't how I expected my career to go. This is not how I expected my marriage to go. I didn't expect my children to be like this. I expected to be married at this point in my life. I didn't expect to be getting this debilitating physical condition. Fill in the blank. It doesn't go according to what? Our plans. But it is the Lord's plan that prevails mysteriously. Because we don't know what's going to happen. Remember the very prophetic words of Forrest Gump. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. And you know, you can debate, tell the Calescombe home as to the philosophical theological underpinnings to that movie. But look, sometimes that mentality, you know, you never know what you're going to get. What is that breed or what is it? What is it? A symptom of a fatalism that is that either leads to or springs from cynicism. You know, just kind of a whatever. One more negative thing. One more negative thing in my life. One more failure. One more thing. You know, it's kind of the black cloud that follows you around. See, and that's just the problem is, when we reduce life to that, we're saying, I am God and there is none other. We're forgetting as Clay was saying so masterfully earlier. The God is God. And we're actually being practical atheists at that point. We're living life as though the king is not in control. So take comfort that life is not haphazard or random. It is coherent. And that should give us peace amidst the storm. Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to dive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of this horrible situation, one of the men, a very daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck and made a dangerous passage to the pilot house. And he saw the steerman at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly. And inch by inch, turning the ship out once more to sea. For the pilot saw the man and smiled. And then the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer. I have seen the face of the pilot and he smiled all as well. We live in a storm-filled world. No surprise, right? If you're living in the midst of peace and tranquility now, guess what? Your boat is drifting near a storm. It's just a matter of time. And you can either live life, panic, interfere, gotta be in control as though we could control a storm. Or you can look into the pages of scripture, peer into them. The Bible is like a telescope. It's not intended to be looked at but looked through. You look through the Bible to the sovereign God beyond and allow his comprehensive plan to be your security. That's the first thing, it's comprehensive. Secondly, it's not only comprehensive, it's comprehensively good. It is comprehensively compassionate. See, God is not just arbitrarily out there working things. He is working things for good. And it's good in a couple of sense. I mean philosophically, it is impossible for God to do anything morally deviant. So everything that is part of God's larger construct, everything that is gathered up in His divine decree as King of the Universe is absolutely totally good. Paul speaks in Romans 12 of God's good, pleasing and perfect will. Because you and I question what God is doing. Because we cast a jaundiced eye at particular experiences of evil in this world or in your own life. Because we do that is a problem in our own perspective. It's because we don't have all the facts and we cannot see all that are great and gracious God is doing. That's why Job finally imploded. He had some friends who were kind of helping him in that journey. But his whole life collapsed. His wife tells him, curse God and die. And his friends come in and tell him, because you screwed up Job, it's kind of this karma thing. And finally Job gives way. And God comes under the sea and says, look, I am God and there is none other. You just don't have all the information. You don't know what's going on. There is mystery there. Our vantage point is incomplete. So how do I understand things that don't make sense in terms of God's sovereignty? Look, it's like trying to take the Atlantic Ocean and put it into a fumble. It's going to be challenging. The fumble is our brain. Our ability to comprehend the vast ocean of God's sovereign plan. So he is good in all that he does. But more than that, and this is really the point certainly that you see unfold in the Ephesians passage, he is good to us, to his people. His plan is not only comprehensively compassionate in every way. And God will even use the sinful acts of human beings to bring about his good for his people and for others through them. Joseph in the Old Testament is perhaps the quintessential example of this. His brothers got so fed up with him being the favorite son. And so they sold him into slavery, basically assumed he was dead. Years go by. Joseph has his ups and downs. And when the families at a crisis and the world in the ancient Near East is in a crisis because of this horrible famine, they go to Egypt because there has been a wise man there who has stored up plenty. They go to this man to beg for help. And who is it? It's Joseph. In God's providence, in God's comprehensive and compassionate plan, he held Joseph up. There was a security net under him throughout his life. So the nothing could touch him apart from the will of God. And he held Joseph up and saved him and elevated him, but not only for Joseph's good, but for the good of many as he goes on to say, when his brothers freak out, when they finally tell who it is, Joseph said, look, don't fear. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Do not fear. And of course, the supreme example of how God will even use the sinful acts of human beings for the good of his people is found where in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of how evil it was that human beings tortured and killed this perfect man, the Son of God. And Peter, on the day of Pentecost, the dramatic sermon that he delivered, talked about this. Talking to, in essence, the same race that brought Jesus to his death said, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God, however, raised him up. Sinful people that horrible, insidious things, but it was also somehow mysteriously gathered up in the safety net unto Jesus and through him, unto you and me, that is our great hope. It is part of God's definite plan that he carried out. And that's where Ephesians 1 comes in, where Paul reminds us, verse 7, in him. In this one who was tortured unto death, in him we have redemption, how? Through his blood. Do you know that in your life in a personal way? I'm not asking, do you go to church? Do you believe you're a Christian in contrast to another world's religion or philosophical system? But do you know that you have no hope apart from the blood of Jesus Christ? That God has redeemed you, Paul, says he's bought you out of the slavery of a life given to self and given you life through Christ and what he calls the riches of his grace. Now goodness, how should the compassion of God's plans serve as my security net? Again, it's so plain. It reassures me that not only is God totally in control but he is totally in control for me and for my good. And we know, and that word in Greek is a deep experiential knowledge, that for those who love God all things, underline it again, work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. And I love, 1 Corinthians 2.9, no eye has seen nor ear heard nor heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. What's freaking you out right now? What's depressing you? Look, if God could take the most unjust situation in the world, Jesus's torture and death and turn it into the most praiseworthy, wonderful, liberating event in all of human history, this same God whose plan is comprehensively compassionate for you can take your particular situation. And turn it upside down. He raised Jesus up, he can raise you up out of that situation as well. And of course it's in his turning the sovereign plan of God, his love for us in Christ toward us that his plan is most compassionate. And that leads to our final point that God's plan is not only comprehensive and compassionate but it is Christ fulfilling. And here's the point that I'm making here. We talked last week about how we have a purpose in life because we live for the glory of God. This is kind of getting at that same concept here, especially in this Ephesians passage. But the idea is, not just with you and me, but throughout the pages of the Bible, this stream, many different streams, are all moving, talking about the glory of God, and all of those streams eventually dump into an ocean, the ocean of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that God is working in everything to spotlight the glory and beauty and excellency of Christ, that all things are fulfilled in Him. Every promise in the Old Testament, Paul tells us every promise is finds its yes and amen in Christ. All of those streams lead to Him. But the remarkable thing is not simply that all of the Bible finds its fulfillment in Christ, but what the Bible teaches us is that all of life, every single thing in all human history, every particular in your life, is gathered up in the streams that are moving to this magnificent, overwhelming ocean of the glory of God. Of the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. How does this breed security in me? Well, one of the things that the Bible, the book of Revelation, calls Jesus Christ as the Alph in the Omega. That means He's the beginning in the end. He's the first in the last. That means, practically speaking, that everything that happens in your life and mine is somewhere in the middle. And that means that we know not only how the story begins, we know how it ends. And we know that everything that's going on in our lives is leading towards that ocean, towards that end, towards the consummation of all things in Christ. That's what Paul was talking about in Ephesians chapter 1, where he talks about the fulfilling or the summing up of all things in Jesus in verse 10, as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. So you don't have to fear. Remember that Tom Clancy book made into a movie, the sum of all fears. It's built around a context that really doesn't have any relevance to today, terrorism, and a dirty bomb and all of that. And it's basically saying, imagine the worst case scenario. This is it. At all of the fears that you can ever imagine will be brought to the forefront. Well, what the Bible is saying is all those fears that you have in life are nothing compared to the summing up of all things in Jesus. You can either live in those fears and become depressed, further depressed, discouraged, live as a control freak, or you can live with the realization that this security net is there in God's grand comprehensive compassionate plan that is leading to the great ocean of Jesus Christ. And ultimately, what this is teaching us is that our life is about Christ, not ultimately, about me. And the odd thing about that is that the first time you hear that, you might think, that's too bad. And that may breed in security. Wait a minute. I thought everything was supposed to be working towards the giant ocean called me. But you know what? When the tables are turned on us, and we begin to see at an experiential level, this great theme of the scriptures, it actually breeds security rather than insecurity. Paul Tripp, I've mentioned this a couple of years ago, but it bears repeating as I'm going to quote him. It's a story he tells about this point. So for four years, I was a kindergarten teacher. Once a mother came up to me at school and asked if she could use the classroom for a birthday party for her daughter. I told her it would be okay. And when the day arrived for the party, we entered the room to find that the mother had decorated lavishly. More lavishly than I thought, appropriate for a kindergartener, I thought, where's this going after this? Disneyland, the Bahamas, Europe? Well, the birthday child had a mound of presents and every other child had a small bag of party favors. You know what party favors are for to reinforce the fact that it's not your party. You sit there with a bag of things that all total didn't cost probably 27 cents. And you're looking down at the table at this kid that you can't even see because of the huge pile of gifts in front of her. And you know it's not your party. He said, well, I watched a little boy pick up his party favor back. He dropped it and said, and someone asked him, do you want some cake, young man? And again, he said, and finally one of the, and in fact, for about 15 minutes, this is all he did. One thing after another. And finally, a mother had had enough over in the corner of the room and she marched over to him, got down her knees, looked him in the eye and said, Johnny, it's not your party. You know what? I live my life thinking, this is really my party. And do you know what that breeds in me? In security, disappointment, fear. But there is a certain bizarre freedom. This is one of the undercurrents of this entire series. It's not on the undercurrents of the entire Bible. Look, if you try to pursue, go out and try to be happy today. I guarantee you'll be disappointed. But if you try instead, as Jesus said, to lay down your life, what's going to happen? You're going to find it. Loose yourself, and you'll be saved. Don't try to pursue your happiness in making your life a party about yourself, but realize the privilege that you have of a life that is moving towards him who is praiseworthy beyond our imagination. How do you do that at the end of the day? Same way, evidently Paul did in Ephesians 1. So I was saying earlier, it is a tricky passage. By no stretch is it grammatically exemplary, but it is this picture that the Apostle Paul had been meditating. He had been soaking in the wonder of God's plan that his comprehensive, compassionate, and Christ-fulfilling, and all of a sudden he was fulfilled because that safety net lifted him up and directed him to him who is glorious beyond imagination. Are your emotions ahead of your ability to articulate what's going on in your heart? That's usually how we live, and it's usually out of fear. What the Bible says is that if you pour your heart, if you think if your heart is a sponge, and we're all soaked up with the things of this chaotic life, your heart is going to sour, but if you squeeze that sponge and soak up the wonders of God's eternal plan, ultimately fulfilled for us in Christ, then your heart will sing even and especially in the midst of life's greatest tragedies. And of course all of this in God's great safety net is only possible through that great act of God's divine sovereign will in sending Christ to suffer and die for us. Look to Him, look through the Bible to the wonder of God's gift in Jesus and your heart will come alive in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.