Sunday Sermon: Encouraging Your Hearts, a Review of Ephesians (Ephesians 6:21-24)

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You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.

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Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

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New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament, and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

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Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series, presently going through the book of Ephesians. Here's Pastor Gabe.

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The Apostle Paul writing to the church in Ephesus. So that you also may know how

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I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the

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Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

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Peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our

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Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, as we come to your word today, as we think about everything that we have studied over the last six months in this book of Ephesians, may we come to understand the grace of our

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Lord Christ and the love incorruptible that has been given to us by God.

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May it fill our hearts. May we never be without understanding, assurance of the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the grave, ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God so that all who believe on his name will be saved.

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Our sins are forgiven and we have citizenship with you in your eternal kingdom.

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May we be assured of these things again today as we come back to this wonderful letter written by your apostle to the churches in the

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Holy Spirit of God. It's in the name of Christ that we pray and all God's people said, amen.

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Thank you. You may be seated. I don't know. I never did ask

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Becky why she asked me this question, but yesterday she asked me about terms in golf and she was with some friends and wanted to know like what different scores were in golf.

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So I explained, well, anything over par is a bogey or a double bogey or triple bogey. Then you've got par, which is set for the hole.

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Anything under par is a birdie. That's one stroke under par. Two strokes under par is an eagle. Three strokes under par is, does anybody know?

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A double eagle? Some call it a double eagle. An albatross, anything lower than an albatross?

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Anybody know what four under par is? A hole in one. A hole in one on a par five is what that is.

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And there's only been four in recorded history of golf. Hole in one on a par five, anybody know what the name of it is?

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It's a condor. And it was just back in 2012 that the longest hole in one ever in history was recorded.

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And it was 517 yards, sorry it wasn't 2012, it was recorded on July 4th of 2002.

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And Mike Creon is the guy who's credited with the longest hole in one in golf history. He was playing hole number nine in Denver's Green Valley Ranch Golf Club and the drive was aided by the thinner air of the

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Mile High City as well as a 30 mile per hour tailwind. Now neither

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Creon nor his three playing partners saw the ball drop into the cup. I don't know if you ever played a par five, but that's a long way.

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Over 500 yards, that's nearly the length of two football fields. So he hits that ball, it just goes and goes and goes and they don't even see where it ends up.

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He thought he lost the ball. So he pulls out another ball and starts playing that ball and he and his three friends played through the hole.

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They get to the cup and he looks in and there's the ball. Right there in the cup, the first ball that he hit and it turned out to be the longest hole in one in recorded golf history and only one of four condors ever recorded.

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It can only happen on a par five and it has to be a hole in one on a par five in order to score a condor.

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Well, one of the things I liked about that story at the same time that I was studying through Ephesians, Becky and Sonia and a friend of theirs were in Kansas City yesterday.

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So while I was at home, I was going back through the book of Ephesians again and one of the things that I was thinking about as I was reading in Ephesians chapter one is oftentimes we don't think about the reward that is already stored up for us in heaven in Christ Jesus.

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This guy, Mike Creon, didn't realize he had just recorded the longest hole in one in golf history and now his name is in the golf history books forever.

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He didn't even know the ball was in the cup until he got over there and he saw, hey, I got a hole in one.

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And sometimes we don't think about that in Christ Jesus, we have great riches and reward and our name is written even in history with Christ forever in glory.

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God had predestined us for salvation, for adoption to himself as sons through Christ Jesus according to the purpose of his will that we read about at the start of this letter to the

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Ephesians. This is a very praising letter that the Apostle Paul has written to this particular church and not just to the

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Ephesians, but this letter would go out circulated to all the other churches there in Asia Minor.

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That's why we have the letter today as part of canon that we can open up the Bible to and read this letter that had been written 2 ,000 years ago, preserved by the will of God and the intention of the

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Holy Spirit for his church. We come to the very end of this letter again today.

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So those were a few verses there at the very start and here we read the final greetings in Ephesians 6 verse 21.

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Paul says, so that you may also know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the

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Lord will tell you everything. This is a name that we see come up a few times in Paul's letters and Tychicus is generally considered to be one of those itinerant ministers.

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That means he's not always in one church for a very long period of time, but Paul might send him here for a limited amount of time and then move him on to another church.

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We consider that itinerant preaching. So that was Tychicus's job. In fact, at the end of 2

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Timothy, the Apostle Paul knows that he's about to die while he's in prison in Rome.

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He's about to be martyred. The Holy Spirit has revealed this to him. So he writes to Timothy and says, I want you to come to me.

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And he has some requests of Timothy, things I want you to bring with you. And he says, oh, I know that I've sent you to Ephesus to preach in the church there.

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Tychicus is going to come and take over for you so that you can come to me in Rome. So he sends

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Tychicus even there to Ephesus that he might fill that preaching role that he sent Timothy there to fulfill so that Timothy could come and serve

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Paul in his last days. So here we know that Tychicus has been to Ephesus more than once since this letter was written during Paul's first imprisonment.

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So the first time he was imprisoned in Rome for preaching the gospel, he has written this letter during that time of persecution.

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So you see all the joy and the rejoicing in the gospel that Paul brings up in this letter.

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Keep in mind, he's rejoicing in the gospel of Christ from prison. So how much more should we be filled with the joy of Christ's gospel, we who are free and have not been in prison for preaching it, at least not yet.

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So Paul mentions this man, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, who will tell you everything about how

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I am in Rome. So they would not be in despair. They wouldn't be discouraged to hear about, well, the apostle's been thrown in prison.

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Paul says, no, there's cause for much rejoicing. In fact, we know from the letter that Paul wrote to the

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Philippians during the same imprisonment. He said, even some of the palace guard has come to salvation in Christ because of what's happened to me.

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So the Lord always bringing something good out of even the persecution of his saints. In verse 22,

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Paul says, I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

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With stories just like this, hearing about how the gospel is going out in Rome, even though Paul is in prison there.

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Paul says in verse 23, peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God, the father and the

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Lord Jesus Christ, just the way that he started the letter, which we're going to go back to the very beginning and look at. And then verse 24, grace be with all who love our

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Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. I love that, love incorruptible, especially when you consider

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Paul writing from a Greek civilization, one that was even controlled by the

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Romans at that particular time. Whenever they talked about love, well, it was always love with some attachments to it, right?

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Or what I like to call love with spam. I love you, but you got to give me this. And the love that I have for you is conditional.

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It may change tomorrow. My own prejudices and my own biases, they all might change with my shifting mood tomorrow.

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So we're talking about human love being corruptible love. But the love that comes to us from our

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Lord Jesus Christ is not based on certain conditions or attitudes or what

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God's mood is going to be like today. We know and we are assured of an incorruptible love in Christ Jesus, which

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God has had for us before the foundation of the world and will continue to have for us even into eternity, all those who are in Christ.

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Let's look at that together as we go back through the entire letter now.

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Ephesians chapter one, turn back a few pages to Ephesians chapter one. And what we're going to do today, as we have done regularly with the conclusion of these books that we study, is we're going back through the entire thing and we're catching the high points.

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We're going to highlight key verses. So if you have a pen with you or a highlighter, or maybe you use an app that has a highlighting feature, we're going to grab some of those key verses as we go through this.

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Now, I want to tell you how difficult a task this was for me. There are things that I have highlighted over the course of the study of this letter, but certain things that served my purposes and maybe not the purpose of catching the highlights.

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I have almost the entire book of Ephesians highlighted. So it's like, why did I even start doing that in the first place if I was just going to highlight the whole thing?

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Some of you might even color coat things. My grandmother did that. So when you opened her King James Bible, you saw like five or six different highlighting colors all the way through that.

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And she knew what each color meant. She didn't have a color key in there for the rest of us. So that when she passed and we got to look at her

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Bible when it was there on display at her funeral, we didn't know what those colors meant. But they meant something to her.

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She knew exactly what each color of highlighter meant and why she highlighted it in that particular color in her

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Bible. So maybe you're that way in your mind. That's kind of the way that you do things. I just use a black pen.

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So everything's the same color all the way through Ephesians here. But I want to try to narrow down some of those key passages for you.

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And this has served, we've had, you know, a response from members of our congregation said this has served them well and understanding how to read the

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Bible, how to highlight certain passages, and what are the most important things out of this particular letter that I should take with me.

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So that's what we're looking at together here. Now, typically when we come to the end of a book, we've also done kind of a

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Q &A. And I'm not doing that this time for a couple of reasons. First of all, because I want to jump right into Matthew and I want to be able to do that before Christmas.

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We don't have too many Sundays left before we get to Christmas. This is one of three before Christmas. So I want to be able to jump right into Matthew and catch the

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Christmas story at the very start, which we're going to begin to do next week with our introduction to the book of Matthew.

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So that's one reason why I'm not going to take another Sunday to do a Q &A. The second reason why

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I'm not going to do a Q &A is because the last couple that we've done really weren't responded to all that well.

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And I take that as a great joy, in fact, that we didn't get a lot of questions the last time we asked the congregation for questions like a

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Q &A as we finish up the study of a book. That means to me that the different Bible studies that we've got going on, whether it's the

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Sunday morning study or the women's study or the men's study or even the Q &A that Becky and I do on the

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Friday podcast, a lot of these questions are getting answered there. So you're not now asking further questions on top of what it is we've studied over the course of a book.

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So I think that's great. Continue to ask those questions. We've never had a closed -door policy.

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It's always been any question you want to ask of me or of Dave or Pastor Dwight. Between the three of us, we know everything there is to know about theology.

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So if you come to one of us and ask a question that one of us doesn't know, we'll just say, well, that might be a question

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Dave knows the answer to. We'll deflect to the next one. And of course, not just us pastors, not just us elders, we're the ones that the church has appointed to that position of preaching and teaching, but there are other mature men in the

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Word who are growing up in the faith even here at church that you can turn to and ask questions of, the teachers that are in Awana and things of that nature as well.

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So I hope that we continue in this progress of sanctifying one another in the faith and in the truth of God's Word.

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In Ephesians 1, we have a beautiful greeting that Paul gives. In fact, almost the entire first chapter is greeting.

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I would say the one place where you might designate Paul's greeting coming to an end would be verse 14, because then in verse 15, he gives a prayer of thankfulness to the

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Ephesians. Maybe the greeting comes to an end there, and then he shifts into a prayer, and then we jump into more theology in chapter 2.

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But the book of Ephesians is separated out in this way. The first three chapters are gospel, and then the next three chapters are the application of that gospel.

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So over and over again, Paul preaching about the goodness of Christ and the wonderful treasures that we have in him through faith in these first three chapters of Ephesians.

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Then you get to chapter 4, and Paul basically gives, here's now how all of that applies.

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So we've talked about the gospel. How does that apply to the Christian? How does that change the Christian's life?

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So as we go through these first three chapters, we're highlighting those wonderful high points of the gospel of Christ that Paul gives.

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And he starts this out in verse 3, with, That is a boundless treasure, and you will not find anything on earth that compares.

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I read a very, very tragic tweet yesterday on Twitter from a well -known actress who has a very famous TV show, probably one of the most popular shows on television right now, called

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The Good Place. And one of the actresses in that TV show had said that she was thankful for a decision that she made years ago to abort her child.

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Because if she had not done that, she would not be the millionaire that she is today.

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My friends, if you talk to any one of the celebrities that have been celebrities for 20, 30, 40, or more years, if you have a privilege of ever talking to one of those celebrities, or you read an interview from one of those celebrities, one thing that you will see consistently from these decades -long celebrities, they will say this almost universally across the board.

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They will get to 50 years into their fame, and they will say, I'm still not happy.

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I'm still not satisfied. So how clouded this woman's judgment is to believe because of some sin that she did a long time ago led to the happiness that she has today.

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She will soon find that the treasures that she has stored up on earth will not actually bring her happiness.

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They will actually bring her misery. Worse than this, the things that she has stored up on earth will not save her.

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She will stand before God in judgment one day, and he will not be impressed with her fame and celebrity and all the riches that she stored up for herself on earth.

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But even for a sin as murderous as abortion is, there is forgiveness for this.

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There is forgiveness in our Lord Jesus Christ. And I quoted that woman's tweet and included that in my response to what she said, and I hope she reads it.

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I hope she hears it from somebody that there is forgiveness for your sin in the

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Lord Jesus Christ and life everlasting. The stuff that we store up on this earth will not last, and we know that from common sense.

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You can look around the world today, and you can see things are just wasting away. Stuff is just falling apart.

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The cell phone that you have in your pocket today is going to be the thing of tomorrow's garage sale. It's going out of date as you have it, and Verizon's going to convince you that you need the next new model of phone tomorrow.

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The stuff is perishing even as we own it. It will not last, so it cannot bring us any lasting happiness.

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The fulfilling joy, the only fulfilling joy that we can find is in Christ Jesus our

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Lord, who has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even stored up in a place that is not susceptible to corruption or decay, in heaven above with Christ.

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That's the way Paul starts this letter, and that is the wonderful treasure that we have in Christ Jesus that cannot be taken from us by any man.

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Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Underline that.

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All seven words. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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That is what we have in Christ Jesus. Now, in addition to those seven words underlined,

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I've also underlined verses four, five, and six, and you can certainly join me in underlining those if you so choose.

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For we read in verse four that God 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, with which

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He has blessed us in the Beloved. And that's where my underline comes to an end.

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Verses four, five, and six. My friends, the doctrine of predestination, the doctrine of election is not some kind of ism.

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It is not some sort of doctrine that was invented in the 15th or 16th century. It is a biblical doctrine, and we find it right here, that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, and specifically

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He chose us for adoption to Himself. He chose us out of all of sinful man whose default state is to go to hell, and He chose us out of rebellious, sinful, depraved man to be saved from that sin, to be saved from that judgment, the judgment of God, and to receive instead every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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Every spiritual blessing that we will receive as adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Romans 8, 28, and 29. Now Romans 8, 28, you probably have memorized, because that's our go -to verse whenever trouble hits, right?

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We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.

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And then we have exactly what that good is mentioned in verse 29. For those whom

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He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.

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What is it that God has predestined us for? To be conformed to the image of Christ.

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That we would become more like Christ Jesus. Not just that we would come to salvation, but even that we would grow in that salvation until the day that Christ returns or He calls us home, whichever comes first.

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We've been predestined for adoption, to grow according to the purpose of His will, and what we receive is every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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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

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He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. He lavished upon us.

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It is a great, wonderful blessing of God that we have been lavished with in Christ.

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Peter uses similar language at the start of his first letter as well, in 1 Peter 1, that we have received such wonderful blessings in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord. Underline verse 11, for that kind of summarizes what we've just read here in verses 4, 5, and 6.

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Ephesians 1 .11. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

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Ephesians 1 .11. It's in John 1 where we are told that we are saved not because of the work of any man, but because of the will of Him who saves us.

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Why is this so important to understand? Why is it so important to behold

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God's sovereignty from even before the foundation of the world? Because my friends, everything that you believe as a

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Christian and every assurance that you have in Christ, you only have that assurance because you believe that God is sovereign.

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We might try to philosophically understand or wrap our minds around God's sovereignty, but you cannot understand it in any other way except by what the

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Word of God tells us. And all the assurances that we have in Christ Jesus are only because God is sovereign.

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As R .C. Sproul has said, if there is one maverick molecule in the universe outside of the will of God, then

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God is not sovereign. And what are the practical implications of a non -sovereign

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God? If God is not sovereign, then you cannot believe that any one of God's promises will ever come to pass.

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But that is not what we believe, is it? Do you believe that God has a plan?

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Do you believe that you can trust God? Do you believe that God answers prayer?

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Do you believe your sins are forgiven? Do you believe that Christ is still on His throne?

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Do you believe every promise of God will come true? Do you believe

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God will never leave you nor forsake you? Do you believe Jesus is coming back again to judge the nations?

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Do you believe that if you are saved, you cannot lose your salvation? Do you believe, as it says in Acts 1731, that the day of Christ's return is fixed?

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Do you believe there is no one or no thing that can thwart the plan of God? Do you believe that God knows your every thought and intentions of your heart?

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Do you believe, as it says in Psalm 1104 and Hebrews 721, that God will not change

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His mind? Do you believe that nothing will separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord? If your answer to all of these questions is yes, why do you believe these things?

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Because you believe God is sovereign. And if you don't believe that God is sovereign, you can't believe that any of these things are true.

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You could never have assurance of any of those things. But we know that God reigns over all because He has created all.

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And He has called us to salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ, by the purpose of His will, not ours.

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Now, as we continue to talk about that particular doctrine, and we can certainly talk about that even beyond the sermon today, this does not override our responsibility to preach the gospel.

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Let no one ever, ever say, well, if God is already predestined, then we don't need to preach to anyone.

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Au contraire, my brother and sister. We have been called to this work and this purpose, that we would go out preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of those who would believe it.

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We don't know who the elect are. God does. Our responsibility is not to know who the elect are.

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Our responsibility is preach the gospel. And God has elected for Himself a people for His own possession, as we read about in Titus 2 .14,

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purifying them through His gospel that they would turn from sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and so be saved.

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So go out and preach it. We teach our kids verses in the gospel in Awana on Wednesday night so that they would come to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, all by the working of the

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Holy Spirit in their hearts. Let us be faithful to the gospel.

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God will be faithful to fulfill His promises. Amen. I would love to sit on that and continue the sermon there, but we have more of Ephesians to get to.

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Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15 through 23 is where we have that prayer of thanksgiving for the

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Ephesians, for these Christians that Paul so personally loves. But even more than that,

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Paul even prays for the saints who are to come, those who will believe in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, that He was raised from the dead and seated with God at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

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I just quoted for you Ephesians 1 21, underline that. Ephesians 1 21, that we might be reminded that the name of Christ is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

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Now, Ephesians chapter 2 is a complicated chapter to underline because, again, this is one of those you just want to underline the whole thing.

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I put a bracket around Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 10. I put a bracket there in the margin, something that kind of brings all of that together, so you have something that separates out that passage.

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Now, why is that whole section important to single out? Remember that at the very beginning of Ephesians 2, we read, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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That's who we were before we came to Christ. But then after we heard the gospel, we read verse 4, but God being rich in mercy, this is even before we heard the gospel, but we see the transformation happen through the hearing of the gospel, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.

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Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 10 is a great blueprint for sharing the gospel.

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So, how do you share the gospel with somebody else? You can talk about how

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I was dead in my sins and my transgressions. What I deserved because of my sin and my rebellion against God was the wrath of God.

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I deserve judgment. To be eternally separated from God, to be cast into hell and away from his presence forever, that's what

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I deserve. But God showed me mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the grave so that by faith in him my sins are forgiven and I have everlasting life.

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And then it's in Ephesians 2 .10 where it says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which

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God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So, not only have I been saved by grace through faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, but I've also been called to good works in Christ that I should walk in those things.

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And so, this is a great way to share the gospel with somebody using Ephesians 2 .1 through 10 as a blueprint.

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Now, as far as passages go to be underlined, I singled out, you could probably even guess, Ephesians 2 .8 and 9.

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Underline, for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.

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As a Protestant church, this is why we're Protestant. Because we believe we've been saved by grace through faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God alone. And this according to what the scripture tells us.

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Rome, or rather the Catholic church, will tell you that you're saved by faith and works.

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You have to do these works in order to merit your salvation. And not just do them according to what the

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Catholic church says, but in some cases, you even have to do those works in the Catholic church or they're not even real legitimate works.

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We don't stand with that false teaching, which is why we had the Protestant Reformation that happened in the 16th century.

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And as a result of that Protestant Reformation, we are a Protestant church today. The gospel of Christ had become corrupted in the

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Roman Catholic church and there was a reformation. And it's because of passages like this that that reformation took place.

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For even in Catholic catechism, it says that if anyone declares that they're saved by faith alone, let them be anathema.

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That's in direct contradiction to what we read in Ephesians 2 .8. That's why that passage is so important.

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And so we remember our salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in him alone and by no other way, not by our works.

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The good works that we do, and keep in mind, there are good works that we're called to. That's what verse 10 says.

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But the good works that we do are not what causes our salvation.

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They are a result of our salvation. They're the demonstration of the fact that we've been saved in Christ, but they don't save us.

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Our works will never save us. It is the work of Christ that saves us.

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Now, in the margin, if you've got enough room in the margin over there next to Ephesians 2 .1

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-10, right in there somewhere in the margin, these references also, Titus 3 .3

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-7 and John 3 .16

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-24. Why would I tell you to write those passages in the margin next to Ephesians 2 .1

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-10? Because they actually follow the very similar pattern of Ephesians 2. And I'm going to leave it as homework for you to read those later today.

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Our women's group has actually already gone through this together. But Titus 3 .3 -7 and John 3 .16

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-21, those are also good passages to provide for you a blueprint on how to share the gospel with somebody else, in addition to Ephesians 2 .1

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-10. When I went through Ephesians with our high school group about three years ago, we're going through Ephesians and Galatians together in one school year.

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I told the students, this is a passage that you should memorize. Ephesians 2 .1

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-10, have it memorized. You can make that a personal spiritual goal for yourself to memorize that section.

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Because again, that will help you in how you share the gospel with someone else.

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In Ephesians 2, I have one other passage underlined, and it's from verses 19 -20.

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So this is Ephesians 2, a little bit further down in the chapter. The apostle

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Paul writing to the church says, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

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Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. Underline that, Ephesians 2 verses 19 and 20.

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What is significant about those two verses? It's because we understand that the church itself exists on the testimony of the apostles and the prophets.

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The prophets who gave us the Old Testament, the apostles who gave us the New Testament. This is the foundation the church is on.

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Christ is the cornerstone, meaning that he is the cornerstone, is the stone that all the other stones are set in relation to.

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If the cornerstone of the building is off, the rest of the building will be off. Wherever the cornerstone is set, that aligns every other stone.

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So even the apostles and the prophets are set in alignment with Christ, who is the cornerstone. And then all the rest of us, who

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Peter talks about in 1 Peter 2, are living stones being built up into a holy house unto the

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Lord. As we are being built up, we are being built on top of that foundation. Christ the cornerstone and the foundation of the testimony of the gospel through the apostles and the prophets whom

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God called to preach this message to the nations. Very, very important verse for us as a church.

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We understand what our foundation is and what we are building upon, Christ and the message of the gospel.

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Ephesians chapter 3 now, we move on into chapter 3, and this is the chapter where Paul begins to close up his sharing of the gospel with the

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Ephesians before he gets to practical application. Underline in Ephesians chapter 3 verses 9 and 10.

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Ephesians chapter 3 verses 9 and 10. The apostle Paul talks about that the mission of the apostles and prophets was to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

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Now, next to verse 10, somewhere in the margin, write Ephesians, or you can put

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EPH 612. Here we are in Ephesians, but you're writing the reference

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Ephesians 612. What is Ephesians 612? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

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What do you think I'm going to have you write in the margin next to Ephesians 612 when we get over there? I'm going to have you write

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Ephesians 310. It's so that we come to understand that our preaching of the gospel has the power to release a person from the snare of Satan.

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The apostle Paul talks about that in 2 Timothy 2 25. We've all been ensnared by Satan to do his will because we're descendants of Adam, and it's by the hearing of the gospel that we are released from that snare and set free from the bonds of sin and death to instead be in service to God and worship him gloriously, which we could not have done when we were under the snare of Satan.

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This is what the gospel does, and this is who our fight is against, not the flesh and blood person in front of you, but rather the spiritual forces of darkness that have ensnared them.

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The apostle Paul has talked about this over the course of the study of this letter, not just in Ephesians 6, though that's the passage that we tend to zero in on when we talk about our battle is not against flesh and blood, but even here in Ephesians 3, he makes a point to state that the gospel is made known not merely to people but to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

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When we go out in spiritual warfare as a church, that's who we're doing battle against, Satan and his forces.

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Underline, if you would, in Ephesians 3, verse 19. This is the second prayer of thanks that Paul gives for the

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Christians, and this is how he finishes up the first half of the letter with this prayer.

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In verse 19, he prays that they would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

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That's a great description of the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.

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Now, surpasses knowledge does not mean that we cannot know it, but it does mean this, my friends, we will not know it fully until we get to the other side.

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You will spend all your life studying the beautiful riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you'll never come to the end of that.

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When we get to glory, as it says in 1 John 3, 2, we will see Him as He is because we will be made to be like Him.

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And as we read in 1 Corinthians 13, 12, and 13, we see now as though through a glass darkly, but soon we'll see face to face, and then we will know just as we are fully known.

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Moving on now to Ephesians chapter 4. Now, these opening verses are all beautiful, but in particular, in verse 1, underline, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

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Underline that. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, or whatever summation of words that you have there in whatever translation of the

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Bible that you read. But then underline verses 4 through 6.

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There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one

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Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

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The next part, I want you to highlight or draw a bracket around, because this is a long section, is

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Ephesians 4 verses 11 through 16. Now, this was something like the third sermon that I preached here at First Southern Baptist Church was on this particular section,

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Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, that God 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.

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When I was still being considered for the head pastor position here at First Southern Baptist Church, I stood before this congregation and I said, the job to equip you for the work of ministry is mine, but guess whose job it is to do the work of ministry?

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Yours. So I said, don't depend on your pastor to do all of that work.

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That was what I said when the church was still considering me for that job. I'm standing up here going, I'm not going to do all that work.

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It's your job to do all that work, and you still voted for me anyway, so I appreciate that.

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I'm just telling you what scripture says. As elders, we have the responsibility upon us, and I know it seems very self -serving for me to say this, but I'm just telling you what scripture says.

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Your elders are a gift to this church. God gave you the elders, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip you for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

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This passage became so important to us after I preached on it. It became kind of a launching point for us as a church to become more biblically centered and grounded than we already were, and we made it a statement in our newly drafted constitution, which was passed this month, five years ago, unanimously by this church, that we would be a church founded upon this.

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God commissioning the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers for growing in the body of Christ until we all attain to a unity of the faith, speaking the truth in love, growing into Him who is

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Christ, from whom the whole body joined together with every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

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That is a beloved passage to me, and I hope that it is to you as well. The next portion here in Ephesians chapter 4

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I want you to underline is actually in verses 22 and 24, but don't underline all of that. Rather, underline right at the very start of Ephesians 4 .22,

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put off your old self. Underline that. Put off your old self. And then in verse 24, underline, put on the new self.

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Because as we're talking about practical application of the gospel here, this is where it begins. Put off the old self, put on the new self.

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Don't walk in sin anymore. Remember Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3, you were once dead in your sins and transgressions, don't be that person anymore.

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Walk in the one who has been brought to life in Christ Jesus, the one who has put on the new self.

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In the margin, write Colossians 3, 9 through 10.

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Because it's in that passage where Paul says the exact same thing. Put off your old self, which has been corrupted through sinful desires, and put on the new self, which is being renewed after the knowledge of our

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Creator. Colossians 3, 9 through 10. In verse 26, underline that just because it's such a popular verse.

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Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Why do we not let the sun go down on our anger?

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What is that supposed to mean? Well, it's because we're supposed to be children of the day. That's the way the apostle Paul describes us in 1

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Thessalonians 5, 5. So do not let in our anger ourselves descend into bitterness, which could potentially drag us into darkness.

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Do not give the devil a foothold, but rather handle your anger in a responsible and righteous way so that it will not become a snare.

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Verse 29 is so incredibly important for us as Christians in the way that we control our tongues and handle ourselves in the way we speak to others in this world.

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Ephesians 4, 29. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

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Underline that. Ephesians 4, 29. On to chapter 5 and underline verse 3, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints.

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We should not even have the desire for it. As it says, all impurity and covetousness even must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints.

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Do not let your mind meditate on the things of your flesh you want. So let us pursue righteousness and holiness in Christ Jesus.

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That's the call there. Underline verse 11, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

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There've been some folks who get frustrated whenever I'll actually name false teachers. Hey, I liked that teacher and now you're calling them a false teacher.

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Yeah, you need to be aware of what's in their doctrine, the problems and what they say. Even as I've called out

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Roman Catholicism today, you may have family members who are Roman Catholic and that may offend you.

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Are you saying that my Roman Catholic family members are walking in darkness? They might. If they actually know what the

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Catholic Church teaches and they're choosing to believe that in contradiction to what the Word of God says, then they're walking in darkness.

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And I tell you that so that you might teach them the gospel so that they would come to repentance and true faith in Christ Jesus.

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This is part of my responsibility as a pastor. That we take no part in the fruitful works of darkness, but instead we expose them.

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I know it's not popular, but it's part of my job. Titus 1 .9 says that a pastor must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it.

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I'm just fulfilling my job requirement and doing this to the glory of God and for your benefit as well, by the way.

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Ephesians 5 .17, therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the

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Lord is. Underline that. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

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How do we understand what the will of the Lord is? We read our

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Bibles. This is it right here, the revealed will of God. That is your commission to read your

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Bible right there in Ephesians 5 .17. Now we get to the section on husbands and wives, children and parents.

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So underline Ephesians 5 .22, wives submit to your own husbands as to the

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Lord. That is counter -cultural. That is even against liberal

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Protestantism and Christianity, egalitarianism. They hate that passage, but it is nevertheless an instruction of God.

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Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. Husbands, you're not off the hook. Underline verse 25, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

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You have an even greater responsibility as husbands than the wives do. Underline in chapter 6, children obey your parents in the

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Lord for this is right. Ephesians 6 .1, children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

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Now, unless we have any parents elbowing their kids, pointing that out going, ha ha, see, see what you've got to follow.

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Parents, how do your kids obey their parents in the Lord for this is right? Because you've got to teach them.

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So underline verse 4, fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the

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Lord. Your children know to obey because you've taught them to obey. That is more a burden on you than it is upon your kids.

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I was listening to the briefing from Albert Moeller just this past Friday, and one of the things that he alerted us to very graciously on that edition of the briefing is the fact that there are liberal college professors out there right now, and he was quoting one of them in his broadcast,

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David Gushy, who is an ethics professor at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. There are liberal college professors out there right now who are boldly saying, parents, if you haven't gotten your kids yet, we're going to get them, and we're going to teach them all the liberal stuff that you were not guarding your kids against when they were in your homes.

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And David Gushy even went as far to say that your kids are already being indoctrinated with this stuff in their public schools.

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So as soon as we get them, it's just going to be that much easier for us to inculcate them in with the culture.

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So be aware. They know this strategy, and they know it probably better than you. Guard your children with the training and the instruction and the discipline of our

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Lord God according to what we have in the scriptures. Next part I want you to bracket is

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Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 20. This is the whole armor of God. Put a bracket around that.

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Your Bible may even have this sectioned out with bold print already. But Ephesians 6, 10 through 20, putting on the whole armor of God.

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Now you've put a bracket around that section, but I want you to underline the individual parts of that armor.

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So starting in verse 14, underline belt of truth, underline breastplate of righteousness.

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Verse 15, underline shoes for your feet. Same verse underline gospel of peace.

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In verse 16, underline shield of faith. In verse 17, underline helmet of salvation.

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And also underline sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Underline sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

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Now what does it mean to put on the whole armor of God? I didn't summarize it this way last week, but I'm going to do it for you this week since we're doing a summary of our study of the book of Ephesians.

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What does it mean to put on the armor of God? Somewhere in the margin, write Romans 13, 14, or you can write

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R -O -M 13 colon 14. What is

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Romans 13, 14? Anybody know that off the top of their head? Put on Christ.

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What does it mean to put on the whole armor of God? It means to put on Christ because these pieces of armor, as Paul describes them, is exactly the way

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Isaiah described this armor in the book of Isaiah. That's what Paul is drawing from.

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Isaiah's description of the spiritual armor that the righteous one is wearing, the coming Messiah, and that's our

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Lord Christ. So to put on the armor of God means to put on Christ, make no provision for the flesh, but instead desire him and his righteousness.

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The last thing to underline here in our study of Ephesians is Ephesians 6, verse 24, grace be with all who love our

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Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. My friends, that is our study of the book of Ephesians.

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In seven years, I've preached through every letter of the apostle Paul. Thank you for letting me do that.

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Thank you for listening to our weekly sermon presented by First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, Kansas.

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For more information about our church, visit fsbcjc .org.

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On behalf of our church family, my name is Becky, inviting you to join us again this week, growing together in Christ when we understand the text.