Day 25 - Understanding Your Identity by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

God's Grace Makes the Least into a Minister

Ephesians 3:7-8

Paul says he was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God. Not by his education. Not by what he had worked toward. It was a gift. And then he says something remarkable: this grace was given to me who am less than the least of all saints.

Paul — arguably the most prolific apostle in history — said: I am the least of all. Not false modesty. Genuine recognition that what God was doing through him was out of all proportion to what he deserved.

Be humble enough to say: what God is doing through my life is a gift. I did not earn it. I did not pray it into being. He gave it.

The Church as God's Billboard

Ephesians 3:10

To the intent that now, unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be made known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.

God wants to use the church as a display board for his wisdom. The most intelligent people should come from the church. The best engineers, the best doctors, the best artists. We have the mind of Christ. We have the wisdom of God working in us.

If God wants to show the world how deep and multifaceted his wisdom is — he wants to show it through you.

The church should be producing the brightest minds in every sphere. That is the intent — not just producing preachers, but producing the best of every field: manufacturing, medicine, technology, arts, economics.

Boldness Must Be Added to Access

Ephesians 3:12

In Christ, we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. The door is open. But many believers have access without boldness.

The prodigal son's elder brother had access to everything the father owned. The father told him: all that I have is yours. But the older son never had the boldness to ask for it. He stood outside the abundance and complained that he had never been given even a small goat. Access was not his problem. Boldness was.

Boldness is the key that unlocks what access makes available.

Hebrews 4:16 — let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Even when you come asking for mercy, you come boldly. A lot of believers have been trained to come to God begging — beggarly postures in prayer, beggarly expectations in life, always settling for the smallest portion. God says: add boldness to your access.