By the Will of God

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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If you can stand with me for the reading of God's Word in Ephesians chapter 1. And though today's main text will be only in verse 1 and 2, we're going to read through verse 14.

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Hear ye the word of the Lord this morning, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our

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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our

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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.

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In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the beloved.

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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 all 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.

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In him we have obtained 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 were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

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In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised

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Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

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Amen. You may be seated. Well, this morning's message is going to focus on the first two verses, but I want to preface today's sermon, which is called

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By the Will of God, and start with first some acknowledgments, and I'd like to acknowledge

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Pastor Josh and Pastor Conley in thanking them for their graciousness and their love and support for myself and my family during this transition in time as I become your pastor.

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I'm also thankful for the work that they have put into this ministry, the foundation that was laid, which is

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Jesus Christ and him crucified. And so with that premise, with the cross before us, we will continue to exhort you, to encourage you with the word of God, and to teach you the marvelous will and work that he has for all of us to partake in.

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I also want to preface this by saying, why have I chosen to preach from the book of Ephesians?

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First of all, I know there's like a, it's a cliche, right, young reformed guy comes and the first book he wants to preach from is

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Ephesians, like of course. Is there any other book to preach from? But there's another reason why

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I chose Ephesians, and the reason I chose this incredible work from the

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Apostle Paul is because in it we find the foundations of our reformed beliefs and doctrine in soteriology.

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And I want to let you know that before, in my previous church, our church was probably split 40 to 60, 60 % being

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Arminian, 40 % being Calvinist or Calvinistic leaning,

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I'd say. And so this is the first time where I get to preach from Ephesians without having to be nervous about what 60 % of the congregation is going to think.

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This is also a time which I get to preach the whole counsel of God without being hindered in getting a barrage of emails after the fact of why

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I preached from a reformed perspective. And so I never not,

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I never stopped preaching from a reformed perspective, but I always got a little bit of pushback. So now I don't anticipate that, at least not as much.

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And so I'm excited to be preaching from this incredibly rich text of scripture, the book of Ephesians.

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And something that you might notice differently as well is that when you received your bulletin this morning, inside should have been an insert.

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That's kind of my style, that's kind of my MO is I like to preach and teach, and so my preaching usually has a pretty hefty aspect of teaching in it.

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And part of the way that you can follow along in today's teaching is by following along in the insert today, and you can fill in the blanks as we go through it.

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This is a, I think a good thing for you to follow along, and in that it does a couple of things.

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One, during midweek group, when the group leader asks you, so what was the message about on Sunday?

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You don't have to look at your thumbs and try to figure out what did the pastor preach on Sunday?

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I can't remember. And it's not that you forget because it wasn't good, it's just that on average, the average person only retains about 20 % of the preacher's message after the first week.

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And so it's not your fault, even myself, I have forgotten some messages that I've preached.

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I'm like, what did I preach last week? Well, here's a record that you could follow along so it could help you remember the word that is preached.

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And what it also does, beloved, is that it creates a record, a record of what is being preached to you.

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And this is something that can be used to encourage you, to bless you, but also for it to be a record of the teaching that you've received as a mechanism to holding the preacher accountable as well.

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Because in it there's scripture, and if there's something that is incorrect, I'm a fallible man,

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I am only doing the best that I can by means of the spirit of God that is in me.

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But it is incumbent on you, beloved, to not only hear the word, but to test all things and prove fast that which is good.

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And so hopefully you will find blessing and enjoyment in following along in today's teaching and preaching.

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Before I go into the preaching of the word, let me ask the Lord to bless us in prayer. Magnificent, sovereign

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Lord, we come before you this morning grateful for all blessings that you've bestowed on your people today.

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Thank you, Lord, for the blessing that was Sunday school today as we begin to examine the importance of evangelism.

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We come back to this crucial statement that will echo throughout history and time, that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. And because he is Lord, we are under holy obligation to follow your word, to obey it, and to keep it.

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So Lord, we ask that as we open your word this morning, as we learn about the will of God, that you would indeed guide and protect our conversation and bless this time together.

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In Jesus' name, amen. The first thing I'd like to do is reread the first two verses.

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

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To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our

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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As you can imagine, this letter, this epistle from the apostle

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Paul was directed to a church in Ephesus. Now, I'm not sure if you know anything about that city, that ancient city of Ephesus.

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It was one of the seven churches of Asia Minor, which would be modern day

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Turkey. And this particular church, this particular city, was a marvelous city.

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So marvelous that its name, in fact, meant desirable.

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So you're following along in today's insert, the name Ephesus means desirable. This was such a nice place to live, like they literally named it desirable, like it's so nice.

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It's like there's another city in the Bible that also has a modern counterpart today, and it's

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Philadelphia. Does anyone know what the word Philadelphia means? What does it mean?

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Brotherly love, right? And it's like, you know, they're just naming it after what they feel the city represents.

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And Ephesus was a desirable place to live in the ancient world. Now, there's another definition for it, but I'm going to give it to you a little bit later.

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But this church in Ephesus, and we're not going to have time to look into all the references, but I placed them in the insert for you, was likely planted by the

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Apostle Paul himself. And we see belief for this in Acts chapter 18, verse 19 to 21, where Paul was the one who made a stop in Ephesus and began the work there.

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And the church that was started there was likely a church plant by the Apostle Paul himself.

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Now, back to the reason as to why I decided to preach from the book of Ephesians, that many preachers, including myself, find this letter to be like our favorite of the

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New Testament, because Paul delivers an incredible theological treaty on the will and purpose of God for the ages.

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And yet it also delivers onto the people of God a practical word for us to receive and so be encouraged, so that we may not only hear the word of God, but that we can learn to apply the word of God in day -to -day life.

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Because often what happens in churches is that you have these severity of degrees where on one end, it's only all theological and philosophical, and Christianity is just something to ponder in your mind, but not so much in your heart.

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Whereas other extremes tend to emphasize the practicality of Christianity to the detriment of the theology that is contained therein.

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But friends, there's a balance that I'd like to try to invoke in us. That yes, the book of Ephesians is filled with incredible theological rich truths.

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But the theology, which is the teaching of God, is not meant just to puff up, to fill up our minds, but also fill our hearts, so that we can live out the will and purpose of God for our lives.

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You see, Ephesus was a desirable place to live, and it was one of the centers for the culture of the ancient world.

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See, on the surface, the church in Ephesus seemed to have it all together.

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When you're reading the book of Ephesians, there's very little that Paul brings as a way of rebuke to the church in Ephesus.

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A contrast to what we see in other letters, such as Galatians, and the first and second

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Corinthians. The church in Ephesus was a spiritually -minded church. It was a mature church, filled with believers who knew and kept the

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Word of God. Yet what's interesting is that we see later on in church history what is happening in this particular church in Revelation chapter 2.

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I want you, if you can, to turn to Revelation chapter 2, the last book of the

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Bible, and the Lord Jesus giving instruction and encouragement and a word for the seven churches.

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He addresses in Revelation chapter 2, verse 1, it says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

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Look what Jesus says to them, I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance.

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And now you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

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I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

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What an incredible praise the Lord Jesus has for the church in Ephesus.

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Such praise that he had for this church. This is, you've endured patiently, we can only imagine as a church to receive such blessing and word of affirmation from the

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Lord Jesus Christ. I would take that, have you read what he says to the other six churches in Revelation?

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By far, Ephesus is above and beyond the rest. So much so, that the

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Lord even says that you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you found them to be false, it says,

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I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake.

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This is a church that had patience, had endurance, had good doctrine, was not bearing up with false teachers, but verse four tells us what it was that they were missing at this point in time.

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He says, the Lord to the church in Ephesus, in verse four, but I have this against you, you have abandoned the love you had at first.

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In today's insert, you saw that the name Ephesus means desirable, did you know there's another option for translating the name

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Ephesus or one of its meanings is actually first love. The name

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Ephesus meant desirable or first love.

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Isn't it then fitting that the Lord Jesus, when speaking of this church in Revelation chapter two, he says all the great wonderful things that they've done and accomplished, and yet what they had lost was the love that they had at first.

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What that means is that the church in Ephesus growed cold in their fervor, love and desire for King Jesus.

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You know the churches throughout history grow through phases. In the book of Acts, we see the church as a movement.

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It's exciting, it's powerful. You're seeing the works of the apostles and healing the sick.

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You see the proclamation of the gospel going forward in the infancy of the early church, but then it comes to a point where the church kind of becomes an institution and we have to beware as Christians that while we are in that phase of being an institution, that we do not lose the heart that we had while we were in missions.

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And that as the church grows out of infancy, that we don't lose that simplicity of love that we have for the

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Savior and for one another. Indeed, there is much for us to learn from this book of Ephesians.

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Much that we can learn from the teachings of the Apostle Paul and also what we can learn from the church in Ephesus itself.

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There's a timely warning for us all in this book. Going back to Ephesians chapter 1, you know

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Ephesus was also known as a place of culture, but it was known for its worship.

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I want you to write this in here in the second bullet point. Ephesus was known for its worship of Artemis, the goddess of nature.

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We see that in Acts chapter 19, verse 23 to 41. Again, Ephesus was a city that was well known for its wealth, its wisdom, but also for its wickedness.

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In Ephesus, there was a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis. The temple of Artemis was actually known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

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It was a fantastic structure, but it housed one of the houses of worship for the greatest false religion of their day.

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You may be wondering, Artemis, which goddess was this? Well, in Greek mythology,

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Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and she's the goddess of nature, hunting and chastity.

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She also later becomes known as Diana or how maybe some of you would recognize her today as Wonder Woman.

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The figure Wonder Woman from the DC comics and movies is based upon this figure in Greek mythology whose name was

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Artemis, the daughter of Zeus, goddess of nature, hunting and chastity. Now, though Ephesus was a desirable city, pleasing to the eyes, it was filled with false worship.

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Does this sound familiar? Here we are in what is known as Silicon Valley, the epicenter of today's new god, technology, software, social media.

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And you have temples that are laid out all around this pleasing to the eyes city.

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You may work in some of them, we won't hold you against you. Google, Apple, Yahoo, you got all these great big tech companies and you've got all this culture that is being created here in this valley.

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It's not only the technology that we create in this valley that goes all around the country and across the world, but it's also the culture that this place is creating, that is being imported across the nation and across the world.

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Brothers and sisters, what an opportunity we have as the bride and church of Jesus Christ to import and export the greatest culture, the culture of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Like the church in Ephesus, we have amongst, in our midst, the ability to speak the gospel of truth into a godless culture.

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We can speak of the true God to a technocratic civilization and area.

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We see then why it is important for us to start, I think, our time together in this incredible piece of work called the

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Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. Because here, even today, as the church in Ephesus sets a template for us to follow, we today are surrounded in a wicked and pagan culture.

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And like the church in Ephesus, we can be a model for faithfulness and spirit -filled culture so that we can proclaim the will and wisdom of God in the face of a godless culture.

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To our main text in Ephesians 1, verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

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The apostle Paul establishes his greeting by establishing his authority and ministry not by human wisdom, not by human merit or pedigree, but instead upon that which is a sure and firm foundation, the will of God.

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In the third bullet point, if you're following along, the apostle Paul establishes authority and ministry by the will of God as opposed to any human merit.

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Again, in his letter to the Philippians, in Philippians 3, verse 3 -6,

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Paul has to contend with the party of the circumcision, those who were Jewish Christians who believed that we as Christians had to follow the mosaic law and system surrounding circumcision.

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It became known as the party of circumcision. And Paul, I want you to turn to Philippians, just the next book over, in Philippians 3, verse 3 -6,

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Paul says this, For we are the circumcision who worship by the

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Spirit of God in glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

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And if anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.

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You see, Paul in Ephesians 1 could have easily begun his introduction by saying,

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I, Paul, a member of the circumcision, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a

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Pharisee of Pharisees. He could have gone into all of his human pedigrees, his scholastic achievements, his earthly, worldly achievements, but he didn't go that way.

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He describes to us this in Philippians chapter 3. He says in verse 5,

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He was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel by the tribe of Benjamin, a

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Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

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So Paul is saying, if I wanted to boast in the flesh, I could. And no one else could probably make the same claims that he could.

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In terms of all of his achievements in the flesh, all of his achievements and his zeal and his

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Judaism. Yet he says in verse 7,

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But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

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When we come to Christ, all of our achievements, our degrees, our earthly achievements at work, at home are not unimportant, but they pale in comparison to the weight of knowing

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Christ Jesus. It doesn't even compare to being and knowing the will of God.

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And this is what Paul is trying to get across, both in Ephesians chapter 1 and in Philippians chapter 3.

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He's reminding the church that his apostleship, his authority, his weight as a minister of the gospel of Jesus doesn't come from a seminary, doesn't come from an establishment in Judaism, but instead flows from the very will and purpose of God.

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Paul understood that giving too much weight to earthly, worldly institutions would only detract from the life -saving message of the gospel and not add, because the gospel in itself is sufficient.

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We cannot add anything to it by means of our merit, nor can we take anything away from it from our merit or lack thereof.

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The gospel is sufficient, and it is all based upon the will of God.

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Because, again, Paul says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. And Paul elsewhere describes how he was like one who was born later.

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If you recall, he's the last of the apostles to be called to ministry in Scripture.

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And like one born untimely, he felt like he had often time to contend with some of the apostles or those who later on are claiming to be super apostles.

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He again establishes his own pedigree, not by human merit, but by the will of God.

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So instead of relying upon his earthly merits, Paul appeals to a higher authority as a source of his apostleship, the immutable, irrevocable will of God.

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Now, the question that you might be asking yourself this morning is, well, what is the will of God?

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And it'd be a fantastic question to ask and ponder, and I believe there's actually the will of God in Scripture can usually mean one of two things, depending on the context.

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Well, for the purpose of today's message, we will focus on the one that the later verses in this chapter of Ephesians 1 seems to affirm, which is to say that God's will is his eternal decree and sovereign desire that he predestined for his glory before the ages and is fulfilled in redemptive history through his creatures.

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What are the implications then of the will of God for our lives? Well, first and foremost, as Paul begins to share and we'll be preaching next week in verses 13 through 14,

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Paul lays out the immutable, irrevocable, sovereign will and decree of God, that when

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God speaks and when God foretells, it comes to be.

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So what does that mean for you now? What does that mean practically for us Christians living today?

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Well, here's what I believe there's some great value for you and I. You are here today by the will of God.

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You are sitting in this chair, these pews today by the will of God. You are employed or not employed where you are today by the will of God.

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You are living, breathing, doing life and work in this time and space by the will of God.

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And when you can discern what is God's perfect and pleasing will, my brothers and sisters, you will find joy and peace in your lives.

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Knowing that God's will is not for our detriment, but for our blessing.

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For the Bible says that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion, that he desires good for you, he desires life for you.

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And when you know that this is the truth of the matter, that all things are as the

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Lord wills, that you are in the exact place that you need to be in this time and season.

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What assurance, what a blessing it is to know the will of God and to be in the will of God.

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But how can one be in the will of God? Only through faith in Jesus Christ.

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Only through true and saving faith in Jesus can you truly be in the will of God for you.

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For God's will is not that any should perish, but that all should attain life and salvation.

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God's desire for you, dear saint, is life and salvation.

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And yes, even Jesus himself said that he came so that you may have life, life, and not only life, but abundant life.

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That's not to be confused with the prosperity gospel where abundance means temporal, material things.

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Because friends, I've been across the world and I've met people who have very little, who are far happier and fulfilled than those who have much in this country.

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And so the blessing, the abundance is not in one's possessions, but instead, it's in the good possession of the gospel in the heart of the believer.

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That is the good possession that you and I should strive for. That when you and I receive and know the

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Lord Jesus, living and walking in his will, we receive this good measure of grace and peace.

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Again, what are the implications for the will of God in our lives? Look no further than the apostle

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Paul and how he saw the will of God in his life, and he credits it for the very office and work he was partaking in.

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It is by the will of God today that you are here to hear this message.

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And the will of God is not a trivial matter. It's not something that's so difficult to understand or comprehend.

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It is very near even here in this text. But I want to give you a word of wisdom that I think will be a blessing to you.

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I think I've made sure this with you when I came last time, but it's one of the most practical things that I can possibly impart to you as a

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Christian. And you're lucky you're getting this early on, and I'm not making you wait for it.

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But essentially, how can you discern the will of God in your life?

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It's very simple, dear friends. There's a section here for you to take notes in your bullet, in the inserts if you want to take notes.

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Number one, it has to be biblical. God is not going to call you into something that goes above and beyond or outside of the jurisdiction of his word.

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I'll give you an example. When I was a church planner in Canada, I had a young couple who

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I loved dearly. They were dating, and I blessed and approved of their dating.

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And they took me out to dinner. They know I like steak, so they took me out for steak. And they're buttering me up.

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And about halfway through the dinner, they said, Pastor, we want to tell you something. I'm like, oh, great. They're going to get married, or they're going to get engaged.

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This is great news. But instead, they said, Pastor, we've been praying about it, and we feel like the

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Lord is leading us to move in together. And I said, well, I put the fork down and the knife.

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And I said, I don't think we're praying to the same Jesus then. Because my Jesus would not contradict his word, and he's not called you into that.

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He's calling you out of that. And so, friends, we can't allow ourselves to be led by emotion.

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We don't become the sovereign will and decree of God. We must follow the sovereign will and decree of God.

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And when God says something, it is for our good, because he knows best. And so, number one, it has to be biblical.

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It can't contradict the Bible. Number two, the

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Spirit of God will bear witness to God's will and purpose.

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The Spirit of God is meant for us, according to John chapter 16. He is the one who will convict of righteousness and sin.

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And the Spirit of God in Romans 8 bears witness of our spirit that we are sons of God. The Holy Spirit will testify, will bear witness, of what the perfect and pleasing will of God is.

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Romans chapter 12, we see that as well. Number three, godly counsel should affirm it.

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You see, we as Christians, we don't do life in a vacuum. We do life in community. The community of the saints, the community of the church is so important, because we need to rely on each other.

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We need to cry together, rejoice together, grow together. And when things in life are happening, and we are trying to discern what the will of God is, should

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I move there? Should I move over here? Should I stay here? Should I go? Should I get this job or that job?

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Should I marry this person or that person? We bring it to God's people, to whom we are in fellowship with, and to whom we are accountable to.

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And when we open our lives up in that way, and we're not afraid, and we say, well, this is what

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I think God is doing in my life, and people in your life who are saints and fill the spirit will say, you know what,

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I think I affirm that. That sounds like Jesus working in your life. Or they might say,

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I'm not so sure about that brother or sister. I think we need to look at this from another perspective.

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And that's why bringing our life's decisions, not just in the vacuum of our own hearts or even our own families, but bringing it to God's people is such an important facet to understand

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God's will for our lives. Godly counsel will affirm it. And the biblical model is by two or more witnesses, every matter established.

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The last thing, the fourth, to understanding and knowing the will of God is very important.

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It's the one that is often overlooked. And it's that the circumstances cannot be forced.

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You cannot force the circumstances. You cannot force the hand and will of God. There are times in life where maybe it's a good thing.

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Maybe it's a godly thing to pursue. You know, back when my wife were married just about a year, there was an opportunity for us to buy our first home in Connecticut.

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And we were so excited because we thought we were going to build our whole lives in Connecticut. And the things like we talk to people like, yeah, that sounds like that's

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God's doing. It's not unbiblical to want to buy a house. And things seem to have been lining up.

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But then we saw the circumstances began to deteriorate. And the circumstances were no longer there for us to purchase that house.

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Now, we could have done it. We could have made it happen. But then how do we have done that? We likely wouldn't have not answered the call to ministry to Canada that came just a couple of months later.

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And then let alone be here before you today. And so sometimes when

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God opens a door, well, not sometimes, but anytime God opens a door, no man can shut it.

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But when God closes the door, no man can open it. Therefore, be sensitive to seek the time and understand the times in which you are living in.

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So that you are not forcing something that the Lord has not desired or ordained for you in your life.

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Forcing the circumstances like trying to pick a piece that doesn't fit in the puzzle and trying to ram it and make it fit.

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You'll only damage the piece and the pieces around it. And so steer clear from that error and seek what is the good and perfect, pleasing will of God.

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Just as the apostle Paul certainly set the model for us today and that he lived his life almost in reckless abandonment of all other things and pursuits so that he could pursue the glory and the grandeur and the greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Paul goes on to address this letter in verse two, actually in verse one, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

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Paul addresses this letter, if you're following along in the insert, the fourth part, Paul addresses his letter to who?

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The faithful. The faithful in Christ Jesus. I want to talk to you this morning a little bit about the importance of faithfulness in our

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Christian life and walk. You see, it is God's will that you be faithful.

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It is his desire that he yearns for that you be faithful to his commands and to his word.

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And all that which he has willed for you, he will also empower in you.

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Whatever God purposes for your life, he will also, alongside that purpose and will, empower you to fulfill all that it is that he has called you and required of you.

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He will empower you. So it's not like just an edict from a faraway king where the king says, do this or else our

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Lord, our God, he's a good father. And that which he proclaims and desires of you, he will enable in you by the good measure and will of the

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Holy Spirit living in you. He doesn't just leave you out to figure things out.

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He gives you a companion, the Holy Spirit who will be with you, who will teach you, who will lead you into all truth.

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And will edify you by means of the word that was spoken in Holy Scripture. Again, if we want to look at a life of faithfulness, look no further than the apostle

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Paul. Paul was a man who was faithful, faithful till the end. Faithfully proclaiming the gospel, faithfully feeding the sheep, faithfully loving the brotherhood, all things which

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Christ has called us to partake in. To love the brotherhood, to be faithful to one another, to love each other.

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You see, in this world, we as individuals yearn for faithfulness.

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And we expect faithfulness from those closest to us. Which is why when a friend or a family member or a spouse breaks that confidence, breaks that faithfulness, it hurts.

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And it hurts like not many other things in life can hurt. Because we expect it.

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We expect this person to be faithful. And when they're not, it creates a vacuum in our hearts.

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It creates conflict, creates disorder, creates questions.

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And yet, God yearns for you,

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His beloved in Christ, to be faithful. Just as He is faithful to you.

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You see, in the will of God, we uncover the heart of God. That His heart for you is not that you should be lost.

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It is not so that you should be tearing and carrying around this world without any concern for Him or His kingdom.

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He wants you. Just as you'd want your spouse to be holy and fully dedicated to you, so the

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Lord demands and desires for His bride, the church, to be faithful unto

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Him. Now, the Lord Jesus in His infinite grace and mercy understands our weakness.

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Are we always going to be faithful? No. Will people in your life let you down, even

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Christians? Yes. Will your pastors at times let you down? Yes.

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We're not perfect. We will have to repent of things and grow and learn and be sanctified by the

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Spirit as well. But what is God's overall desire for us? That we be faithful.

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And faithfulness doesn't mean, in this side of eternity, to always be perfect, but that even when we meet ourselves in imperfection, that we grow closer to His perfect image in Christ.

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That we learn to forgive. That we learn to grow together in grace and peace. God desires for you to be faithful.

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And God has not only desire for that, it's His will for you.

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I want you, if you can, to turn to the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. One of the shortest but most important verses you can memorize.

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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 3, the Apostle Paul delivers unto us what the will of God is.

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So if you've been wondering, if you've been looking for a life verse to figure it all out, here's a great one for you.

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Verse 3 says, For this is the will of God. What is it?

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Your sanctification. That's God's will for you. That is what

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God wants for you in your life, is your sanctification. You may be asking yourself, what does that word mean, sanctification?

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Well, it's a very rich theological word, which basically means that it is a process in which

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God is making you holy. Holy. You see, in the pagan world that we live in today, there's a saying after every fairy tale and after every rom -com, and it's happily ever after.

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That's what the world's looking for. Everyone's looking for their happily ever after. Because what's the prime word there?

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Happy. I want to be happy. You know what God wants for you? What his will for you?

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Isn't your happiness. It is your holiness. That is

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God's will for you, that you be holy. Now, what does it mean to be holy?

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The word holy in itself just basically means, and it's a root word. If I could give you an imagery of it, it would be simply this.

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Here's a picture of holiness, and I've seen this before. I'm not an original illustration, but this is what holiness looks like.

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It's cut and separate. Cut and separate from the world, from that which is unholy, from that which

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God has called you out of, which is why in the Garden of Eden, when God saw

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Adam and Eve in their sin, He had to cut and separate Himself from humanity.

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And the tools that we see in the Old Testament of God rectifying that wrong in the garden was used for our holiness.

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It was purification laws in the Old Testament to help us draw nearer to holy space and instruments.

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But now in Christ, He has called you to be cut and separate from the world, to not touch the unclean thing, to be a holy and distinct people by the will of God, who has called you into His marvelous grace and out of the darkness of this world.

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God desires your faithfulness but that faithfulness can only be achieved in the work of the

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Spirit sanctifying your heart. And so this is

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God's will for you, your sanctification, which is why Paul then goes on to say, flee from sexual immorality.

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Flee from anything that would rob you of the holiness by which God has called you.

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Anything that would rob you from your sanctification. And that's why we have to, as a people of God, draw ever closer to Christ and to each other so that we can, not on this side of eternity, we'll never be perfect, we'll never have it all together, but that so far as it depends on you and I, we can be called

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Christians. To be a Christian means to be separate, means to be different, means to be distinct.

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And if people can't tell that you're Christian by your life or by your social media account or by the way that you carry yourself, surrender to the sanctifying work of the

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Spirit. Grow in the will of God for your life, which is holiness.

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The same will that the Apostle Paul gave himself over to and begins his letter by identifying himself as an apostle, not by human merit, but by the immutable word and will of God.

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And he goes on to say in verse three, he gives the church in Ephesus his greeting, and it's a pretty standard greeting from the

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Apostle Paul. You'll see this mostly throughout all of his letters or something to this degree. And he goes on to say in his greeting to the

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Ephesian church, grace to you and peace from God our

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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The last bullet point for today's teaching the promise of grace and peace come from our

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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you.

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Grace. What's so amazing about grace?

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We sing it in our hymns and we talk about it as a theological concept, but what is the heart of grace?

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What is grace? Well, grace, dear friends, is very simple. It is essentially

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God's unmerited favor. His undeserved kindness towards you, a sinner.

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Grace is not something you can achieve. It's not a reward. It's not something that you can attain by your own merit, by your own strength, by your own intellect, by your own theories, or the theories of this world, but instead is only attained and achieved in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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You today can have grace, unmerited favor.

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Despite what you've done in life, despite all of your sins, despite all of your hangups, your addictions, all the things that you try to hide beneath the surface of your life that God is well aware of,

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He will meet you with grace, undeserved kindness, unmerited favor.

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He will treat you and receive you, not as a rebel, but as a son or daughter.

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What an amazing gift then grace is. And again, how can it be attained?

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How can grace be attained? Only through knowing God and Christ. Now, what is this peace?

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The greeting starts with grace to you and peace from our God and Father and the

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Lord Jesus Christ. What is this peace? Now, what is this peace that is offered?

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It is the shalom of God. You see, the Israelites and the

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Hebrews would greet themselves with this greeting. They'd say shalom. And shalom is the

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Hebrew word for peace. Now, it's not just a generic word for peace or a generic greeting.

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Shalom in its definition means harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility.

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All things that you and I would want to sign up for, right? If you can sign up for that, if you can attain that somehow,

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I'd be the first in line for those things. You see, life can often be devoid of peace.

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And when the stresses and anxieties of this world accumulate, it can be hard to see or comprehend or know and receive peace.

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A lasting peace, let alone. It seems so out of sight. You see, so many folks today in this world struggle with mental illness, with anxiety, with stress because of a lack of peace in their life.

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And this is what the Lord, through the words of the Apostle Paul, is offering to you today.

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Grace and peace to you from God, our

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Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to know, friends, that this peace, it is attainable.

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But it won't be by any human effort. No amount of self -health books will attain it for you.

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No amount of distractions will bring you peace. No amount of money will bring you peace.

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The peace that we need is the peace that God offers. And peace usually means enjoyment of life, devoid of conflict.

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But friends, this is not the peace that God offers. Instead, the peace that God offers is the enjoyment of life through himself in the midst of conflict and chaos.

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See, God's promise of peace to you isn't that you'll have no conflicts, but that even in the midst of conflict, you can be at peace.

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Grace and peace are gifts from our benevolent Father who's in heaven and our merciful

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Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can have this peace.

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You can have peace in the midst of conflict by the will of the sovereign Almighty God. And I want to invite you today, if you've only heard of this grace, but never tasted it, if you've only heard of this peace, but never experienced it,

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I call you today to repent of your sins, turn away from a lifestyle that is displeasing to God, put all your faith and trust in Jesus, fully surrendering to his good and sovereign will, and he will grant you grace and peace like you've never known or tasted before.

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It'll be amazing grace. It'll be a peace that surpasses all understanding, that will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

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See, the promise of the gospel is clear. Whoever so would call upon the name of the

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Lord will be saved. If God is calling you this morning to respond to this gracious invitation of life, this gracious invitation of knowing and living in the will of God, all you must do is receive the

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Lord Jesus Christ, repenting of your sins, knowing that through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ, you and I have access into this grace in which we now stand.

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And the Bible says we can then rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. This grace and this peace is for you.

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And so my hope and prayer is that if you have not come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have not made a personal commitment of faith,

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I call you to do so today. For the Bible says, while it is still day, you can call on his name.

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And while it is still today, the Bible says in Hebrews 3, do not harden your hearts as in the days of rebellion.

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If you believe God has been calling you and speaking to you through this word, do not neglect that great calling and trust in Jesus.

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And for those of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, may this word be a word of encouragement to remind us not to lose the love that we had at first, which was the error of the church in Ephesus, but instead walk ever so closely to the will and purpose of God for our lives.

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To him be the glory, both now and forever. Let me pray. Gracious, bountiful Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word.

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We thank you that today you have given us peace and grace, not through any work that we have done, but because of the merits of another by the righteous work and blood of Jesus who grants us peace and everlasting life.

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Lord Jesus, if there be anyone in here today who has not made that commitment of faith, may you put it on their hearts to do so today, to be right with you.

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For tomorrow was never promised to any one of us. And Lord, what a terrible thing it would be to die apart from your life, saving grace and knowledge.

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So Lord Jesus, help us in our weakness to find strength, to find peace.

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And overall, Lord, to be in the will of God and that grace in which we stand to Christ be the glory.