All Generations

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his

Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this passage.

We thank you for your word which feeds our soul, and we ask that we would be fed today. We pray that you would make this truth clear to us about the nature of receiving glory, you receiving glory throughout all generations, forever and ever.

We pray that we would be able to give a firm amen to this truth. In Jesus' name, amen. So we have been looking at this doxology in Paul's prayer the past several weeks.

He prays that the Ephesians would know the depth and the height and the breadth of the knowledge of the mercies of God, of the love of Christ, this thing that surpasses knowledge.

He would have them to know that which surpasses knowledge. And it is possible that that could happen, because they may be given the mind of Christ.

And this activity of Christ granting his church knowledge brings the

Father glory through Christ and through the church. And now we see that this is something that does not just happen once, but it happens forever and ever throughout all generations.

The word generations is a word that we use a little differently than you see used in Scripture.

In Scripture, it refers to all the people that are alive in any given time. So we would refer to, we speak in those terms of ourselves, of all being of one generation.

Nowadays, when people talk about generations, people belong in different generations. There's Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, Gen Z, Alpha, etc.

Right? But that's, I don't know what, 20 years, something like that, maybe 15 years. But in the

Bible, it's usually more along the lines of the century. That's why in Genesis 15, 6, it says that they will come back here in the fourth generation, speaking of the 400 years that the

Israelites were away in Egypt before the Exodus.

So it's about 100 years. And then you see Jesus also say that this generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished.

Speaking of the destruction of the temple, if those words are being spoken somewhere around 30 AD and 70

AD, the temple is destroyed, well, he's talking about something that'll happen 40 years away. So this generation, this people at this time, something that he is imagining being part of a, you know, a larger set of years.

So repeatedly, the Bible speaks of generations more as centuries. Then, on top of that, you have the phrase forever and ever.

More literally, this is of the age of the ages. But the idiom means forever and ever.

You see this term ages used elsewhere here in this book, several times over.

In verse 9, it said, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

Same word there. This was hidden for ages. And then later on in verse 11, this was according to the eternal purpose.

More literally, that's the purpose of the ages. This is God's eternal purposes, purpose for all time, for all the ages.

This is it. This is the thing that transcends all of those. There are several in chapter 2.

There are two different instances in chapter 2, but skipping back all the way to chapter 1, and Ephesians 121 speaks about Jesus being above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

So here, he speaks of Jesus having the name above every name in this age, and also in the one to come.

Now, if you remember, the way I've laid out this book for you is Ephesians 1 is giving the summary of everything that he's going to explain doctrinally.

So there, when you end in Ephesians 121 with a statement about Christ's name being above every name in this age and the age to come, that's explaining the purpose, and then he gives all the details behind this purpose, until at the end of chapter 3, he is praying that God would accomplish that purpose for all the ages.

And then in chapter 4, just like we read in Romans 12, there's a switch into practical application and practical matters.

But here, this is the end of the doctrinal portion, where he has summarized that Christ's name,

God's purpose is to make Christ's name great over all things in this age and in the age to come, and to fill with the fullness, his fullness, the church.

Now we've had a prayer that says that God's purpose is to fill the church with the knowledge of Christ, and then how is that going to happen?

That is going to happen forever and ever. It's going to happen through all generations of the age of the ages.

This age and the age to come. All ages. This is not just saying that it's going to happen at some point, and then from that point forward, it's going to continue.

It's saying that this plan, which has now been revealed, from that point that it's been revealed, it will continue for all time.

Important thing to realize, this is not just Paul's personal prayer that he is making in his own personal time.

This is scripture. This is a Holy Spirit -inspired prayer. God has instructed us to pray according to the will of God.

We sometimes do not pray perfectly according to the will of God. That's why our prayers often are not answered. But Paul, being inspired by the

Holy Spirit, cannot pray contrary to the will of God. What he is praying is not something that might happen.

It is something that must happen. It's not just that he's hoping that God will receive glory, and maybe he won't, as we can sometimes pray about things where we don't know the will of God, and we pray that something might take place.

Paul is praying for something that certainly will take place. The primary thing that you should take away from this, or the most fundamental thing, we're going to build on top of this, but the most fundamental thing is that the church has existed from that time when it was founded.

It has existed in every generation. This is foundational truth. It has existed in every generation.

When I was growing up as a young Christian, my understanding of the Christian faith is, okay, you had the apostles, you have some things after them, and kind of who knows where things were after that.

Then Luther came around, and I'm not really sure where things were after that, and then eventually, in the early 1900s, that's when the

Assemblies of God was founded. I didn't really know, okay, and that's not, you know, official

Assemblies of God doctrine. That's just what I was, that was kind of the understanding I was exposed to, because I didn't really know much more than that.

I'm sure people who did know more than that believed more than that in that denomination, but my understanding was very limited.

It was just, maybe the church has not existed in every age. What you are to learn from this verse is, in part, most foundationally, the church has existed in every age.

If it's going to give God glory in every age, it must have existed in every age, in every generation.

There's not a time where the church ceases to exist, and then later would come back. It has continued existing.

Now, this is rejected by many different groups, groups that are known as Restorationist groups.

I don't know if you've ever heard that term before, but that's what it refers to, the idea that the church fell away and then later needed to be restored.

Okay, so this would include things like Seventh -day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Campbellites, also known as, you know, the different Church of Christ churches, those are

Campbellite churches, Christadelphians, all these different kind of groups, a lot of them starting in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A lot of these groups teach that after the Apostles, everything went south, and then sometimes they'll say some good things about Luther, but then they will say that, and then our group came around, and that's when the church really started.

That's Restorationist theology. There's no reason to believe that, given this verse.

The church has existed in every age, if it's going to bring God glory in every age. Many will appeal to 1

Timothy 4 .1 that says, now the Spirit expressly says, in the later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons.

So, this is what the Restorationist groups will do. They'll point at 1 Timothy 4 .1, and they'll say, look, the

Spirit tells us that some are going to depart. Say, some is not all. In fact,

I would argue that some, in this case, is you. If you are teaching the kind of things that these different groups teach, right, teaching that Jesus is not

God, teaching all kinds of false doctrine, then what this is warning about is not that everyone is going to fall away and then it will need to be restored later by Joseph Smith or whoever it may be,

Charles Taze Russell, doesn't matter. It is saying that some will depart from the faith and that you are to be on guard against this.

But we have confirmation here in Ephesians 3 .20 -21 that God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.

So, the church must exist in every generation. There's another verse that a lot of people use to show this, and that is that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church, and that's in Matthew 16.

Now, that's a good verse too, but it is not quite as powerful as this one, I believe, because if you think about it, what is that saying?

That's saying not that Hades will not destroy the church, but that the church will be successful in raiding

Hades. The gates of hell are a defensive structure, and if the church is to go on the offense, that is guaranteeing victory.

It's not talking about defense. So, it still applies, and I think it reinforces this truth that the church would not fall away, but that's not directly what it's saying, even though a lot of people would immediately appeal to that verse.

I would more immediately appeal to this doxology. In fact, this whole series that I'm doing on this doxology, originally

I just wanted to teach on this one particular phrase, and then I decided, oh, maybe it'd be good to go through all of this.

But this is why I have this verse memorized. This is why I, not that I don't cherish the other parts of it, but this is the part that I especially cherish about these two verses together, that they guarantee that God will receive glory through the church in all generations, forever and ever.

Amen. And this is what he is doing. Now, of course, there are more sensible views that recognize that the church has not always been in the most healthy of conditions.

There's room for acknowledging the need for reformation. In fact, this is a Reformed church, which means we care a lot about the

Protestant Reformation, and we realize that it was not in the best of conditions for many years before God worked mightily through the

Reformation to glorify his gospel. But the claim is not that the church ceased to exist.

The church existed. And I would go beyond saying just that the church existed, but that God received glory through the church in every generation.

That means that even when it was not in its healthiest possible condition, there is some measure of good thriving that existed in those times.

What this is not just saying is that God would receive glory in that generation that then kind of is forgotten, but rather that he would receive glory in the way that God receives glory, a glory that is to be remembered.

Consider the various statements that God makes about his glory. I'll just share one with you, but even that hymn we just sang, which was a psalm, speaking of God's acts being carried up from generation to generation to your children's children, etc.,

suggests the same. Psalm 145 verse 4, one generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

When God glorifies himself in each generation, it is not something that is to be forgotten. We may not remember everything at this moment, but it will all be brought to mind eventually.

God will not have any of his works forgotten. So he is bringing glory to himself in every generation.

Now this is important because it guards us in understanding that there was some measure of thriving in the church in every generation, guards us from what

I would call restorationism light. Restorationism, once again, the idea the church completely fell away and then later needed to be restored.

What restorationism light is, is that the church was kind, is not worth considering during some areas.

Maybe it existed, but it's not worth considering because it was so miserable and wasn't necessarily giving

God glory. One way of considering that is those people who would look to scripture in such a way that they would reject any other testimony to what scripture says from those who have gone before us.

We're called to be taught by those who have gone before us. We're called to be taught by those who are leaders in the faith in Hebrews 13.

But this applies not just to those who are still living, it applies to former generations as well.

Many people would say that the idea that you just go to scripture and look at scripture by itself and you do not get help from any kind of outside source, a lot of people would say that that upholds what's known as sola scriptura, the idea that scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice.

Well, scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice, but to do that, to cast aside the various means

God might use to help us understand that sole infallible rule is to disregard what scripture says about how it's supposed to be, how you are supposed to grow in the faith and your understanding, because it tells us to use the means that God would give us.

We are to go to those means, and otherwise what you have is not sola scriptura, but what some have called solo scriptura, because you're just going solo, or nuda scriptura, because you're making scripture naked without the things that God has given to us in order that we might understand it.

So the issue is not that scripture is not the sole infallible rule of faith and practice, it is the only infallible rule of faith and practice, it is sufficient for us.

However, God has given us means by which we might more efficiently discern its doctrines.

It is sufficient if all you had, if you were on an island, this is all you had, you would have everything you need to know what

God requires of you, but it is difficult to study this work, and he has given us means, including his own people, to teach us.

Think about this in other areas. God has called us to holy living. One of the means he gives us for that is brothers and sisters, and that we should not have bad company.

It says in 1 Corinthians 15 .33, bad company corrupts good morals.

Now certainly you could expose yourself to bad company, and there is a guarantee that there would always be a way of escape, but should you really expect

God to bless your endeavors if you surround yourself by bad company? Would you not expect that occasionally, being exposed to more temptation, you would fall into more temptation?

Similarly, at any moment in time, you can. God has given you what is sufficient to resist lust, but he has given us special means where you should not expect your fight against lust to be fruitful and successful apart from the means that God has given.

It says in 1 Corinthians 7 .2 that because of temptations to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband, and later on it says it is better to be married than to burn.

Should you expect that if you delay marriage, etc., now at every moment in time that you are not married, there is still no excuse.

There's not a situation where you can say, it was impossible for me to resist temptation, but should you expect that to be blessed if you do not use the means that God has given?

Consistently, God gives means in addition to giving what is sufficient. He gives us means to make what is sufficient more efficient.

What it says just in the next chapter, verses 11 through 14, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by ways and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

Now what is Paul arguing for here? He's not arguing that scripture is not sufficient, but in order to not be tossed around by every wave of doctrine,

God has given us not only a scripture but also teachers by which we may efficiently understand his scriptures.

Then, going back further, in Job 8 through 10, consider these words,

For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are a shadow.

Will they not teach you and tell you in utter words out of their understanding? I want to read that again.

For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.

Will they not teach you and tell you in utter words out of their understanding? You should inquire of bygone ages.

Job is saying what is just common sense. This isn't even something that you would need divine revelation in order to understand.

It's just common sense that you are but a shadow. You do not know enough to be able to discern things as well as those who stood on the shoulders of those who stood on the shoulders of those who stood on the shoulders of others, all being led by the

Holy Spirit, not in any kind of inspired way, but to study the Word of God as he might lead you.

And so as you build upon that, you are coming to scriptures with the means that God has encouraged you to come in order that you might rightly understand them.

So the truth of this passage of God receiving glory in every generation does not just imply that the church has existed in every generation, but that it is worth considering the activity of the church in every generation and how you might learn from it.

And so reading what God has done in history is a matter of reading his providence in history.

It's not that every Christian writing from the past is of equal value or anything like that, but you should consider what

God has done in those generations. When God has made the truth of the Trinity glorious in the fourth century through Nicaea, is that not something worth considering in a way that you wouldn't consider either other men writing about the

Trinity, etc.? Is that not worth considering what God did? Not that any of those documents are inspired, but has

God not worked and has he not promised to work in this way such that we should be caused to learn from those of bygone ages, as Job instructs us to do?

Same thing with the Reformation. When God works mightily to show his plan of salvation in a way that is very pronounced in the 16th and 17th centuries, is that not worth a special heeding as you might heed a father, as you might heed your pastor as a voice that you should especially consider that may not be perfect, but you should especially consider.

Ought you not to heed those voices in a special way given what God has said about him bringing glory to himself through the church in every age?

Same thing is true with other things. Baptists thought, I am very interested in what the 17th century particular

Baptist said about baptism more than I would be with other generations of Baptists.

Now this is a good view of tradition, right?

In Roman Catholicism you have scripture being equal with tradition, things like that. Scripture is not equal with tradition.

Scripture is a sole and fallible rule of faith and practice and it is sufficient, but God has given us generations in the past where he has brought glory to himself through them and we should be reading his matter of providence in them.

Even as we've been going through the work by John Flavel on the mystery of providence on Wednesday nights, we should be reading

God's providence in every generation and part of that helps us to understand even his own word.

Now not only does God receive glory in every generation, it is an increasing glory. The works that he has accomplished are a greater number of works as he adds to the number every year.

What he has done in total between the time when he created Adam and Eve all the way up to 2024 is less than what he has done from the time that he created

Adam and Eve all the way up to 2025 and so on to 2026. He has done more works now, at least from our temporal perspective, than he had at those other times, cumulatively speaking, and these are works that are not to be forgotten.

Ultimately, they are all to be remembered. He is accomplishing greater glory. He is bringing more people to himself that would glorify him more and these people, while they live on this earth and die, they will be raised again and grow indefinitely as they glorify him in their understanding of him.

As we grow in knowledge over time, is it not the case that we would, in having the fuller knowledge that's described here, we can have the peace that passes understanding, but as it becomes clearer and clearer to us, us having that perfect mind of Christ, but in our own selves as limited, finite humans, understanding more and more that infinite goodness of God, is it not the case that he receives more glory through us in every generation?

This is something that is increasing. Philippians 1 .6, it says,

I am confident this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. There is a work that he is bringing to completion on that final day, but that is the beginning of something that goes on forever.

As it said in Ephesians 1 .21, that he is the name above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

Even in the age to come, he will continue to receive glory. He will continue to be glorious, and God will receive glory through the church and through Christ in every generation.

You should reject restorationist thought, either whether it be formal restorationism with one of the groups that I mentioned earlier, or even if your own mind, if you've thought that maybe the church didn't exist in some eras, that is not the case, because God has guaranteed through this

Holy Spirit -inspired prayer from Paul that God will receive glory in every generation forever and ever.

You should likewise respect the work that God is doing in every generation.

You should have some concern for the history of the church. Now, God is going to call different people to different things.

I don't believe every person here needs to be a church history buff, but it is worthwhile caring about the things that God has done.

Some of the tracts in the tract rack there are about church history. There are things worth considering, and when you hear appeals made to church history, if your mind is the kind that thinks in sort of the solo scriptural way instead of the sola scriptural way, and you're inclined to dismiss historical considerations, don't do that.

Embrace them, understanding how you are supposed to read these things, reading them as God's works of providence, that in every age he is glorifying himself, and he may have glorified himself in different ways in different generations, and all that must be considered as you consider what he has done.

We will be doing this in a particular way this upcoming September at our second

DorianCon, DorianCon 2026. The theme is Retrieving a Doctrine of Simony.

What that is doing is recognizing that God worked in certain eras to give a good understanding of what he was teaching through various passages, including

Acts 8, that God had worked, especially when there was much corruption in the church that needed to be dealt with, much financial corruption, that he worked to develop in the church a good theology to combat that, and that was combated in certain ways and is worth retrieving in some measure.

So I would invite you to, if you have the capacity to, to join us for that conference that will be upcoming in September, but in general, be supportive of those works to understand how

God has glorified himself in each generation, even as it includes understanding his word more fully, reading it in light of his providence.

And on top of all that, we have reason to be grateful for the work that Christ is doing, because it's not a work that...

There is a work that was done once and for all, and then there is the work that will be brought to completion on the day of Christ Jesus, but there is a work that is ongoing forever and ever.

We are told in Hebrews chapter 7 that it is important that he lives forever because he is able to always intercede for us.

There's some work that's already accomplished. There's a work that is yet to be completed, and there is another work that will go on forever and ever.

And this work that will go on forever and ever is something to be especially excited about because it means that God will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, increasing glory forever and ever, because he is the name that is above every name, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that you would impress this truth upon our hearts of your work in every generation forever and ever, through Jesus Christ and through your church.

We ask that we would understand the implications of this and that we would value your work throughout history.