Latest / HBCWestminster / Guest Speaker (February 20 2019)

Transcript

Guest Speaker (February 20 2019) · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Good evening. In December, Pastor Sam mentioned in his sermon that he was a big fan of Tolkien's books, The Lord of the Rings. Do you remember that? And that seemed to strike a chord with at least some of you from the Second Service. So I thought that I would start my message tonight by reading one of my favorite passages from the book, The Two Towers.
• 0:30
  The passage is the dialogue between Frodo and Sam as they are on the stairs of Sirith Ungol. Now, if you've read the book and then watched the movie, you will know that the movie changed this part of the book significantly. But anyway, here's the longer section from the book. But as I read it, please stay with me, okay? Because I think you will see as the sermon progresses.
• 1:01
  Just how relevant this dialogue is to the main point of Ephesians 3, 1-13, which is the passage we'll study tonight. I don't like anything here at all, said Frodo. Step or stone, breath or bone, earth, air and water all seem accursed, but so our path is laid. Yes, that's so, said Sam, and we shouldn't be here at all if we'd known more about it before we started.
• 1:33
  But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things and the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo. Adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were the things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for because they wanted them. Because they were exciting and life was a bit dull. A kind of sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered or the ones that stay in the mind.
• 2:02
  Folks seem to have just been landed in them, usually. Their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back. Only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't have known because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on. And not all to a good end, mind you. At least not what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end.
• 2:31
  You know, coming home and finding things all right, though not quite the same, like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in. I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into. I wonder, said Frodo, but I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take anyone that you're fond of. You may know or guess what kind of tale it is, happy ending or sad ending.
• 3:03
  But the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to. No, sir, of course not, said Sam. Baron now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorajan. And yet he did. And that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it. And the Silmaril went on and came to Arendelle.
• 3:32
  And why, sir? I never thought of that before. You've got some of that light of it in that star glass that the lady gave you. Why? To think of it, we're in the same tale still. It's going on. Don't the great tales never end? No, they never end as tales, said Frodo. But the people in them come and go when their parts ended. Our part will end later.
• 4:03
  Or sooner. Now to appreciate this dialogue, you need to remember that Frodo and Sam were on the verge of entering Mordor. And it was a dark and desperate time. They were thirsty and exhausted. And they need to find some source of hope and strength. And they do so in what may be an unexpected way.
• 4:31
  By realizing that their lives and journey were just a small part of a much larger story. One that started long before they were born and would continue long after they passed on from the scene. And recognizing that gave them perspective and grounded them and filled them with fresh courage for their mission. Stories can have that power, right?
• 5:01
  at least the ones that really matter. Now I want to ask you tonight, what sort of tale have we fallen into? Are we part of a great tale that never ends? I believe that one of the reasons that our contemporary American society is dealing with massive identity issues and mental health problems and political division and rootlessness is because our culture has largely lost
• 5:37
  a meta-narrative. The important stories of who we are, where we come from, and where we should be going. And yet, for believers, this should not be so. Let me share a quote from Richard Bauckham that beautifully expresses how believers ought to relate to Scripture. Because you realize, don't you,
• 6:05
  That most of the Bible is historical narrative. Right? Most of the Bible tells stories. And the backbone of all of Scripture is the eternal unfolding plan of God for this world and for us. The story that explains all other stories. One story to rule them all. So here's the quote.
• 6:37
  To accept the authority of this biblical story is to enter it and inhabit it. It is to live in the world as the world is portrayed in this story. It is to let this story define our identity and our relationship to God and to others. The Bible's narrative does not simply require assent. Like all stories, it draws us into its world, engages us imaginatively.
• 7:07
  allows us at our own pace to grow accustomed to it. But to accept the Bible's metanarrative as authoritative is to privilege it above all other stories. It is to find our own identity as characters in that story, characters whose lives are an as-yet-untold part of the story. Now, if you were to inhabit the story of the Lord of the Rings, you might look...
• 7:38
  something like this, right? You would immerse yourself in that narrative world and imagine your own role in that story. But what does it look like to inhabit the biblical story? Here are just a few questions to test yourself, to discern how in tune you are with the scriptural plot line. Can you connect the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah?
• 8:11
  Abraham and Sarah, Moses, the judges, Saul, David, the prophets, Mary, and Jesus into one larger overarching storyline. Can you do that? Do the genealogies of scripture hold any meaning for you? Can you recount any of the history of the Jewish people from the time of Malachi and Nehemiah until the vision of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist? Does Jesus'
• 8:45
  teaching on the kingdom of God come as a surprise to you after you're reading the Old Testament? Are you astonished when you read that the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household? And can you perceive how Revelation chapters 21 through 22 ties off a multitude of threads, a multitude of threads that run throughout the Bible story?
• 9:16
  And here is one last question to test how plugged you into the biblical story you really are. After reading the glorious truth in Ephesians chapter 2, are you tempted to skim over Ephesians 3, 1-13 before re-engaging with Paul's incredible prayer in 3, 14-21? Now, I mean that question seriously.
• 9:47
  I wouldn't be surprised if many of you have memorized verses from Ephesians chapter 2 or bits from Paul's prayer in 3, 14 through 21. But I would be shocked if anyone here has memorized anything from the passage we will study tonight, Ephesians 3, 1 through 13. Rather, if we are honest, most, if not all of us, probably rushed through this section.
• 10:17
  and don't consider it all that relevant to our lives, or we're confused by it. And yet, I believe that this passage has the power to shape us in profound ways, even if we cannot find immediate and direct application of it to our lives. So, I'm entitling the message tonight, Inhabiting the Biblical Story.
• 10:46
  And you'll please forgive the long introduction, but let me finally just read the passage to you, Ephesians 3, 1-13. For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly, when you read this,
• 11:14
  you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
• 11:42
  Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God.
• 12:10
  who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he is realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you.
• 12:40
  which is your glory. Let's pray. Father, we believe that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for our instruction. And Father, I must confess, when I was assigned this passage, I didn't really know what to do with it. God, it seems pretty distant and strange. But I pray that you would help all of us tonight to grasp what you might be saying to us.
• 13:23
  through your word. And I pray that even as Paul is inviting the Ephesian believers into a totally different story and world than they would have known before they came to faith, I pray that we too would be drawn into this world, God, this biblical story, and identify ourselves in it and to take up our part within it, our part which is not yet fully told.
• 13:55
  So I pray that by your Spirit you'd come and help us tonight. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So as we consider this passage, the first thing you might notice is that Paul starts a thought in verse 1 only to abruptly interrupt himself. So the Greek grammar is very awkward, which is why I think the ESV rightly puts a dash after verse 1.
• 14:27
  You see that? Verse 2 then starts something by digression in Paul's thought. Now when we compare verse 1 to verse 14, the verse immediately after our section, we can see that Paul was probably intending to launch directly into his magnificent prayer about the love of Christ, which will be familiar to many of you. And yet, something he dictated in verse 1,
• 14:57
  I think, triggered a thought in his mind. A thought like this. Well, before I convey my prayer for these believers, I need to stop and explain this first. And that's why he went into the digression. And I believe that what gave Paul pause was his mention of being a prisoner. He reasoned that the believers to whom he was writing might be tempted to misinterpret
• 15:28
  his imprisonment. They might have thought that Paul had done something wrong or that God was failing him or that not all was according to plan. And that is a natural thought, right? I mean, imagine how you would feel if the police burst through those doors and seized Pastor Danny. Where did he go to? He's already gone. Seized Pastor Bob.
• 16:01
  And put him in handcuffs and escorted him out of the building and threw him in jail. And you would probably be thinking, oh no, what has Bob done? And what's going to happen to all of us? And you would likely be discouraged and disoriented and full of troubling questions.
• 16:29
  I think Paul anticipated that the letter recipients might feel a similar way when they heard of his imprisonment. The Apostle Paul imprisoned. Which I think is confirmed in verse 13. The last verse of the passage. Paul writes, So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you. So Paul anticipates that his imprisonment and suffering
• 17:00
  might cause confusion and despair. And so, in my understanding, verses 2 through 12 are Paul's digression to address this issue of his suffering and imprisonment before he gets to his prayer in verses 14 and following. And look again at verse 13, and in particular, that little word, so.
• 17:32
  which could also be translated, therefore, or for this reason. To me, this indicates that not only do verses 2-12 address Paul's imprisonment, but they also provide the reason why these believers should not become discouraged. In other words, what Paul writes in verses 2-12 are intended to give the believers courage in the face of their doubts.
• 18:04
  even though the way in which Paul does this might surprise us. So, how does Paul do it? How does he reassure the hearts of the Ephesians and others that his ministry has not veered off course? Verse 1 already begins to point to the answer. Paul is a prisoner for Christ Jesus. He is not ultimately a prisoner of Rome.
• 18:37
  He is Jesus' prisoner. And he is a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles. His imprisonment is serving them. It has a larger purpose. It is part of a larger story. Then sandwiched between verses 1 and 13, there are just two long and complicated sentences in the Greek.
• 19:11
  Verses 2 through 7 is one sentence, and verses 8 through 12 are another. And you will notice that at the beginning of each sentence, Paul speaks of the grace of God that was given to him. In this case, the grace of his apostleship. So here is my basic summary of this puzzling passage.
• 19:42
  Paul wants the Ephesians to know that he is suffering in prison because of grace. The grace that God has given to him. And the rest of the verses in this passage simply develop and further describe this grace of Paul's apostleship. Once the Ephesian believers recognize this grace for what it is,
• 20:11
  when they understand how Paul and they fit into God's unfolding plan, they will no longer despair. Indeed, they will consider present suffering to be glory. Verse 13. So their perspective will be transformed. So, let's look at these two Greek sentences, starting with verses 2 through 7. And I'm labeling this section,
• 20:44
  A mystery revealed. In verse 3, Paul immediately describes his stewardship of God's grace as a mystery that has been entrusted to him. A mystery made known to him by revelation. And Danny explained in his introductory message within the series that in the language of Ephesians, a mystery is like what you would find behind door one in a game show.
• 21:17
  The biblical term does not refer to something that is incomprehensible or a puzzle that needs to be solved. Rather, it is a disclosed secret. So notice verse 5. This mystery was not made known to the sons of men and other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets. And in verse 9, Paul writes about the...
• 21:48
  plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God. So this secret that was hidden for ages has now been revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and prophets including Paul himself. And Paul writes about this mystery thereby disclosing it. I think in verse 3 when he talks about
• 22:19
  as I have written briefly, I think he's actually referring to earlier portions of the letter, especially chapter 2, verses 11 through 22 that we heard about last week. And by reading the letter aloud and hearing it, the Ephesians and others may also perceive the insight that was granted to Paul. And pause here for a second to appreciate that. You too,
• 22:51
  by reading this letter to the Ephesians, can perceive the greatest mystery of all time. A secret of the universe. What Gandalf might call the turn of the tide. And verse 6 summarizes the content of this mystery. The Gentiles are fellow heirs.
• 23:21
  Members of the same body and partakers of the promise. Now for Paul and for first century Jews and understanding Gentiles, this was a paradigm shift of epic proportions. A shocking revelation. A great mystery indeed. And what is our reaction? Right?
• 23:55
  Don't we take this for granted? Don't we just assume that Gentiles ought to be co-heirs, co-members, and co-partakers with Jews? For Paul, verse 6 was a dramatic and unexpected burst of revelatory fireworks. And for us, it is one of those dull little sparklers that kind of fizzle for a little while, right?
• 24:27
  Whoop-de-doo. However, if that is essentially our reaction, then we have hardly even begun to inhabit the biblical story or to comprehend its plot line. Because this, verse 6, is hot stuff in the first century. Okay, this is groundbreaking news. This is an unimaginable achievement that could only be accomplished through the gospel.
• 24:59
  the death of Israel's Messiah and God's Son. And Paul's explanation of this mystery obviously compresses a massive span of the Bible's narrative into just a few words. So for the next few minutes, perhaps you'd indulge me a digression of my own so that I can provide just a very quick flyover of certain aspects of the Bible's storyline.
• 25:32
  which will hopefully bring to light for us the plan of God's mystery. Okay? Are you with me? Are you going to hang in there? Jerome, are you with me, brother? Alright. Okay. The story begins with the creation of humankind in the image of God, by which I think it means that we are created to reflect the glory of God and represent His likeness in this world.
• 26:06
  And God gave the first human beings a commission to multiply and fill the earth. So as I understand it, when you put these two things together, God's intention from the start was to fill the entire earth with his own glory through the people whom he had made. Nevertheless, Adam and Eve chose to doubt God's word and his goodness.
• 26:36
  and to choose for themselves what they considered to be best. And this was a slander against God's character and glory. So, being jealous for his glory, God mercifully spared Adam and Eve, but was compelled to expel them from his immediate presence. And outside the garden, the sin of mankind only increased.
• 27:08
  So that although humankind was multiplying on the face of the earth, they were filling the earth with violence and wickedness, not the glory and likeness of God. So God sends a flood in judgment to again show himself holy and to indicate that this wicked, fractured, polluted world was not the world he intended when he created it.
• 27:39
  However, we must recognize from a comparison of these verses, which are both before and after the flood, that the heart of man has not yet been changed. A judgment and renewal of the external world has not yet recreated the evil heart of man. And so with another sin in a garden, the pattern of depravity starts again.
• 28:11
  This time culminating in the so-called Tower of Babel. Now when most Christians think of this structure, the Tower of Babel, we imagine a structure by which humans try to ascend to heaven, making themselves equal with God. Yet I think a careful and informed investigation of the passage reveals that the structure the people were actually building was this.
• 28:44
  It's a ziggurat. It's a very well known structure in the ancient world. And although this building was basically a giant staircase, the purpose was not for people to walk up, but rather to coax the gods to come down from heaven to receive food and drink offerings on earth. And by so doing, people could manipulate the gods.
• 29:14
  and gain leverage over them, so that the gods would do what the people wanted them to do. And this kind of mindset is still prevalent in many places of the world, including parts of Indonesia, where evil spirits are appeased and bargained with through offerings. And yet this ziggurat published a blasphemous lie about the true and living God.
• 29:46
  the creator of heaven and earth, who is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Rather, God is, in the words of one of my former professors, the sovereign, self-sufficient supplier of all things. So in order to restore a right knowledge of God in the world, God scatters the people, confuses their language,
• 30:16
  and then chooses one man, Abram, and his descendants, and enters into a covenant with them, so that all the peoples might know the nature and character of the one God. And yet, while Israel is given a good law by which the nations might perceive the character and wisdom of God, what is still lacking is a renovation of the heart.
• 30:47
  The law solves to some degree the problem of the Tower of Babel, but it does not solve the problem highlighted by the flood. So Moses can say of the people of Israel, after the giving of the law, to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. So predictably, although Israel appears to flourish for a time,
• 31:19
  eventually they succumb to sin, slandering God again by their sin. And they are exiled from their land. When they return, an attempt is made to restore the right worship of God. And importantly, at the end of the Old Testament story, Nehemiah is trying to implement reforms, including the purification of the temple, the keeping of the Sabbath,
• 31:50
  and the rightful distinction between Israel and the other nations, which had been blurred through intermarriage and idolatry. You may remember Nehemiah's concluding testimony. He says, I cleanse them, that is the people of Israel, from everything foreign. Remember me, O my God, for good. Within a hundred years, the land of Israel would be invaded again.
• 32:23
  by Alexander the Great. And although his army represented a military threat, the deeper and more insidious threat was a cultural one. You see, when Alexander conquered the land, he brought Greek culture with him. And the people of Israel were drawn to the sophisticated civilization of the Greeks, even to the point where some young Jewish men
• 32:54
  were trying to reverse the sign of circumcision so they could exercise naked in the Greek gymnasiums without shame or reproach. And this cultural threat came to a head under the reign of Antiochus IV, who in 167 BC stormed Jerusalem, captured the temple, and sacrificed a pig.
• 33:24
  a pig on the altar in the temple of Jerusalem, deliberately polluting it. And he banned the practice of the Jewish religion, including circumcision, the food laws, and Sabbath keeping. So what was a righteous Jew to do? Simply stand by and allow the Jewish way of life and the worship of the true God to be eradicated? Here's the description of the suffering of this period.
• 33:57
  period by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. And indeed, many Jews there were who complied with the king's commands, either voluntarily or out of fear of the penalty that was announced. But the best men and those of the noblest souls did not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country, read the Jewish law.
• 34:28
  Then concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient. On which account they every day underwent great miseries and bitter torments. For they were whipped with rods and their bodies were torn to pieces and were crucified. Jews were crucified for the freedom to circumcise their sons and to keep the law. To maintain...
• 34:57
  their religious identity, and preserve the way of life given to them by God. During this tribulation, a great Jewish champion arose, who, like King David, overthrew the Gentile oppressors against all odds. His name was Mattathias, and one of his sons, Judas Maccabee,
• 35:26
  cleansed the Jerusalem temple three years after it was desecrated. A great act of deliverance that is still commemorated today in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Right. So here's what you need to understand, friends. Throughout Jewish history, it was the faithful remnant who were concerned to keep the law.
• 35:55
  and maintain the distinction between the people of God and the foreign nations. And throughout history, it was those who compromised, who abandoned the God of Israel, who claimed that circumcision counts for nothing. And after all, did not even Jesus himself tell the Canaanite woman, that Gentile, it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
• 36:30
  So when the Holy Spirit fell on an uncircumcised Gentile, Cornelius and his non-kosher household, is it any wonder that Peter and those Jews with him were amazed? They couldn't figure out, God, what are you doing? Our ancestors died for this. And is it any wonder that a council was convened in Jerusalem to try to make sense of what was happening?
• 37:01
  And during that council, Peter rises to say, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them.
• 37:33
  having cleansed their hearts by faith. Do you see what Peter is saying? He is claiming that God has finally dealt with the problem that started in the Garden of Eden and that was highlighted in the flood. The problem of the human heart. And through the gospel, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God did what the law never could.
• 38:05
  He brought about the cleansing of the heart and the definitive forgiveness of sins so that His original plan for creation could be carried forward. So that all nations could worship the true God. So that finally the earth could be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Brothers and sisters, have you entered into
• 38:36
  That story. Do you inhabit it? Does this story, the story of the Bible, define your identity? And do you view yourselves as characters in this great tale that never ends? The Bible. The Bible is not a systematic theology textbook.
• 39:08
  The Bible is not merely a list of abstract doctrines to believe. Rather, the Bible is primarily a storybook. It's a storybook except the story it tells is true. And it is the only story that really matters. I believe that by proclaiming the mystery of God, long hidden but now revealed,
• 39:44
  Paul in Ephesians 3, 1-13 invites us to enter into that biblical story and let it so capture our imagination that it becomes our own story, transforming the way in which we interpret all of reality. Okay, digression is over on my part.
• 40:14
  Let's move to Ephesians 3, 8-12, which I'm calling a message to preach. So if this story is true, then it must be proclaimed, unfolded, explained. And that is exactly what Paul writes in verses 8 and 9. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
• 40:48
  Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. And God's purpose in Paul's preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles was to create a multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural church that would manifest God's manifold
• 41:20
  Wisdom. In verse 10. You see, by weaving together so many twists and turns in the plot of his story, by introducing surprising but ultimately satisfying developments, by creating dramatic tension and then resolving it, God has written in human history a story that displays his multitudes
• 41:51
  multi-layered, diversified, and richly intricate wisdom, all to the praise of His glorious grace. And this story is not only epic in scope, involving the whole world. It is not only wide-sweeping, encompassing all of history. This story and drama is cosmic in that it displays
• 42:20
  God's wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. It penetrates realms seen and realms unseen, friends. And in the center stage of God's celestial plan is us, the church. We are the primary evidence of God's wisdom and love.
• 42:52
  And we are the realization of His eternal plan in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Through Christ, it says in verse 12, we have regained the access to God that was lost by our first ancestors. So I ask you tonight, what sort of tale have we fallen into? What kind of mind-blowing, breathtaking mystery?
• 43:26
  is this, that we would find ourselves a central part of the greatest story ever told. So, what application can we make of this passage tonight? At one level, this text may seem rather distant to us. None of us are troubled that Paul was in prison. None of us lose sleep over that.
• 44:02
  So Paul's encouragement not to lose heart over what he suffered may seem irrelevant to us. The secret to applying this passage to our daily lives is not to apply it at all, but rather to live within the world that is portrayed in this passage. Let me read Bauckham's quote again. To accept the authority of this biblical story is to enter it.
• 44:34
  and inhabit it. It's to live in the world as the world is portrayed in the story. It is to let this story define our identity and our relationship to God and to others. The Bible's narrative does not simply require assent. Like all stories, it draws us into its world, engages us imaginatively, allows us at our own pace to grow accustomed to it, but to accept
• 45:01
  the Bible's metanarrative as authoritative is to privilege it above all other stories. It is to find our own identity as characters in that story. Characters whose lives are an as yet untold part of the story. And the best way to do this that I have found is to immerse yourselves in biblical
• 45:33
  Now, some of you may be saying, biblical theology? What's that? Isn't all proper theology supposed to be biblical? Well, yes. But I mean biblical theology in distinction to systematic theology, practical theology, or historical theology. As a technical term,
• 45:58
  biblical theology is a theological discipline which attempts to discern the inner unity of the biblical text, considered as a whole, and then to present this unity in a manner which is sensitive to the historical and progressive nature of God's revelation, and which reflects the concerns and categories of the text itself. Now, you still may be confused. So, in simpler language,
• 46:27
  Biblical theology attempts to trace the plot line of the Bible, to discern the unfolding story of Scripture. So whereas systematic theology may expound the doctrine of man, the doctrine of God, redemption, and the church, biblical theology follows the biblical themes of temple, circumcision, Sabbath, etc.
• 46:59
  as they are developed within history. And if all this is new to you, I would recommend buying and reading one of these two books. Von Roberts' book, God's Big Picture, tracing the storyline of the Bible, or Graham Goldsworthy's book, According to Plan, the unfolding revelation of God in the Bible. And tonight, in my rapid...
• 47:32
  summary of the Bible story, I could give you only a quick sip from Fire Hydrant, right? And I apologize if I've overwhelmed or confused anyone. But reading one of these two books will more effectively draw you into the biblical story, the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, so that you can begin to inhabit that narrative world.
• 48:03
  And although it may not make much sense, for example, how tracing the theme of God's temple from Genesis all the way to Revelation can be an exercise of any practical benefit, all I can leave you with is my personal testimony that perhaps nothing else has grounded me in my faith, shaped my identity and worldview, or directed my values and life path
• 48:34
  more than studying biblical theology. So I would highly commend it to you as I believe the Apostle Paul would as well. Let's pray. Father, your eternal plan, which you have been progressively unfolding throughout history, is far more rich and deep and full of wisdom than I could ever communicate tonight.
• 49:18
  let alone in 45, 50 minutes. God, I just simply can't do justice. And yet I pray, God, that maybe for some who have never really thought of the Bible in this category before as a story and how to live under the authority of that story, I just pray that you would give them a taste for the riches of your word.
• 49:45
  and the mystery that was hidden for ages has now been revealed. Help us to be impressed by and stunned by the things that stun and impress people in your word. God, help us to get into it like that, to enter into the biblical story so that we might identify ourselves as characters in that story whose parts are not yet finished. We don't always know the ending.
• 50:16
  God, but we know if we don't know the ending of our own lives, we do know how the greater story will end, that it will never end, that we will be with you forever and ever. And I just pray that we would rejoice in that, draw hope and fresh strength even this week as we consider this wonderful tale that we've fallen into, that you have placed us in. And we give you glory.
• 50:49
  In Jesus' name, amen.