The Mystery of the Church of God

The sermon opens by explaining two mysteries in Ephesians 3. The first mystery concerns the Gospel: through the Good News, Gentiles become fellow heirs together with Israel, members of one body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus. The second mystery concerns the Church: through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms — angels and demons — as well as to all people on earth.

The pastor clarifies the nature of the Church based on the Greek etymology of ekklēsia, meaning a group of people called out to assemble together in a public place. The Church is not a building or physical structure, but believers whom God has chosen and called to worship together, live, and act according to His Word. Jesus Christ Himself established the Church, as He declared to Peter in Matthew 16:18, and the Church was purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

The sermon then addresses why God chose the Church to display His wisdom, contrasting divine wisdom with human wisdom through 1 Corinthians 1:18-29. God chose the foolish, weak, and lowly things of the world to shame the wise and the strong, so that no one may boast before Him. This principle runs completely contrary to how the world selects and evaluates people.

The pastor uses the historical illustration of more than 150 empires over the past 2,000 years — all of which have vanished — to highlight the remarkable mystery that the Church of God has endured for over two millennia despite being composed of sinful, imperfect, quarrelsome, and divided people. This demonstrates that the Church's strength comes not from human ability but from the power of God.

The sermon concludes with a practical call: when you forsake the gathering of the Church, it is not the Church that suffers loss but you yourself, because God promises His presence when two or three gather in His name (Matthew 18:20). Though imperfect, the Church is the very instrument God uses to shape new people in Christ, displaying His life-transforming power to the entire world.