Okay, so I'm really looking forward to preaching for you guys this Sunday. You
don't get to do it very often. Good to see the turnout as well. I think my
family obviously adds a lot more seats there, so I think this is fast
becoming the children's section, so it's looking pretty good so far. Well look, I
wanted to, I finished a series on the family. Been going for the series on the
family, finished that up on Tuesday, and I wanted to get back to a chapter by
chapter teaching in the Bible, and I was considering this church, and I was
thinking about what this church, what I believe this church is, as far as how
how much this church has grown, how mature this church is, the faithful
families, the faithful members that are in this church. I decided that we're
going to teach through the book of Ephesians. Now if you look at Ephesians,
just look at verse number five first of all, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5. It
starts off by saying, having predestinated us, having predestinated us, and that's
actually the title for the sermon this morning, having predestinated us, and I
wanted that predestination right there for a reason, because there are those
that would take the definition of what it means to be predestined in accordance
to God's Word and twist it to something totally different, okay? So I wanted to
have that title there, but I want you to notice there in verse number one, Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 1, it says, pull an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
God to the saints, okay? Now when the Bible says the word saints, that's another
way of saying believers. That's anyone that's saved. The word saints comes from
the word sanctified. If you've been saved, you've been sanctified, you've been
forgiven of your sins, your sins have been paid for by Jesus Christ, you are a
saint. And I know, you know, many of you, probably some of you have come into the
Roman Catholic Church, the institution, and they call saints
basically people that have died, so-called Catholics that have died, and
may have done so-called miracles after their death. I think it's like free
miracles that you do after your death that are recorded by the Catholic
Church, and they'll call those people saints. Now every believer, everyone that
is saved, is a saint of Jesus Christ. And then it says here, and to the faithful in
Christ Jesus. So not only is the book of Ephesians written to the church of the
Ephesians, but it's written to all those that are faithful in Christ Jesus. And
when I think about this church here in Fairfield East, I see a church that is
faithful. I see families that are faithfully attending, even though, you
know, you don't have a full-time pastor here. You know, even though, you know, we
don't get to meet as often, even though we don't have the facilities, as
comfortable as other churches are, I see the faithfulness of this church, and I
thought, well no, this would be a good book to teach through, so we can continue
working for the Lord, so we can continue being faithful to the Lord. You see, the
book of Ephesians, unlike some of the other books of the Bible, it doesn't go
into the gospel in great depth. Now if you look at the book of Galatians, you
know, the Galatian Church was having major problems. People were coming in
teaching a false gospel, so Paul spends a lot of time just going through the
gospel with the church in Galatia. Now I'm not saying that the gospel is not
found in the book of Ephesians. Of course it is. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9,
we love using that, don't we? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
But the key thing about the book of Ephesians is, hey, your faithful church
continue doing the work, continue working hard, continue living holy lives. Now
think about this, brethren, if someone wants to come and teach a works-based
gospel, someone wants to come and teach another gospel, which books of the Bible
do you think they're going to turn to? They're going to turn to a book like
Ephesians. Why? Because it is about work, but it's not about working for your
salvation. But they love to take anything that's about work, anything
that's about holy living, and say, well, see, this is salvation. Wrong. Okay? And
that's why Paul has Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 near the beginning to just clarify, hey,
it's not of work salvation, but you should be striving to live godly. You
should be striving to live holy lives. And that's the message that I have for
you guys this morning, and as we go through this chapter, chapter by chapter
in the book of Ephesians as I keep coming during the week, that we're going
to be spending time going, hey, church, you're faithful, keep working hard, keep
serving the Lord. So the first thing I wanted to cover, look at verse number 5
again, having predestinated us, there is a doctrine known as Calvinism. Okay?
Doctrine known as Calvinism. Now, I'm not a Calvinist. In fact, I hate Calvinism.
It's a false gospel. It's a false doctrine. Okay? Now, when I say that, there
are many people that claim to be Calvinists, but they're not really
Calvinists. Now, there are some that are full-on Calvinists. Okay? They believe
all five points of, if you know the system, it's called Tulip, and the T
represents something, the U represents something, the L, the I and the P. The T
represents total depravity. The U represents unlimited, no, what is it?
Does someone know? What's the U? Unlimited atonement? Is it? Unlimited election?
Unconditional election, that's the one. And then the L is limited atonement. Now,
when it comes to all of these, the one that just points out, it just shows
the error of the doctrine is the limited atonement, the L, limited atonement. What
they teach is that when Jesus Christ came to die on the cross, He did not come
to die for all men. They teach that He only came to die for very few, in fact.
He only paid for the sins of very few, and God has chosen most people in the
world, according to this doctrine, the false doctrine, to just cast them into
hell. To have no chance, just prior to their birth, prior to God creating the
whole world, He knew who would live, He already decided who He wanted to
damn, and He decided who He wanted to save. And those that He wanted to save,
that's when He sent Jesus Christ to die for their sins. Now, that's such a false
gospel. If you guys can turn to, please go to the book of John. Go to John chapter
6 for me. John chapter 6. And while you're tuned there, I'm going to read to
you from 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 10. You guys go to John chapter 6. I'm
reading to you from 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 10, which says,
Therefore we labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who
is the, look at this, who is the saviour of all men, especially of those that
believe. Jesus Christ is the saviour of all men. He came to die for all men, but
then it says, especially of those that believe. You see, the only ones that, the
salvation that Jesus Christ has to offer, it's only those that actually believe on
Him. But here's the thing, He's died for all men. And then it says, especially of
those that believe. Then we're talking about a small few that actually believe
on Him. Yeah, He is our Saviour. Praise God. Now, He can be the Saviour of anybody
out there that's unsaved. He can be your Saviour if you're unsaved. You don't know
you go to heaven. He can be your Saviour. But what you need to do is to believe, is
to trust on Jesus Christ. Now you guys, in John chapter 6, look at verse number 44.
John chapter 6 verse 44. The Calvinist would use these texts here in John
chapter 6 verse 44. It says, Jesus speaking, says, No man can come to Me
except the Father which have sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the
last day. And I say, see, no one can come to Jesus unless God the Father draws
that person to Jesus. And what they'll say is, even though the text
does not say this, they'll conclude, well God must not be drawing everybody. He
must be drawing just some people. And those that He doesn't draw to Jesus
Christ, well that, He just wants them damned in hell, doesn't He? Well that's
what they teach, right? Let's keep reading verse number 45. It is written in the
prophets that they shall all, look at that, that they should all be, sorry,
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that have heard and have
learned of the Father cometh unto Me. Not that any man have seen the Father, save
here which is God, he have seen the Father. Look at this, verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that believeth on Me, hath everlasting life. So how are we
drawn to Jesus Christ? How are the, what has happened? It gets there, it
says that we're taught of God in verse number 45. Verse number 45, it is written in the
prophets. Hey, where do we have the writings of the prophets right now? It's
in our hands, right? You all have one, I hope you all have a copy. This is the
writing of the prophets. This is what God uses to teach all men. This is what God
uses so that we can believe on Jesus Christ. Now please go to John chapter 12,
just a couple of chapters later, John chapter 12 verse 32, John chapter 12
verse 32, Jesus had said no man can come to me except the Father which have sent
me draw him. How does the Father draw men to Jesus Christ though? We just saw it's
through the writings of the prophets, it's through the words of God that we
use, but look at John chapter 12 verse 32, John chapter 12 verse 32, in the same
book, the same Jesus Christ speaking, he says and I, if I be lifted up from the
earth will draw all men unto me. What's that? All men unto me. How are all men
drawn to Jesus Christ? What was the process? The teaching of God's Word
points in us to the time when Jesus Christ would be lifted up. When was he
lifted up? On the cross, on Calvary, right? When he was lifted up, he was put on the
cross. That is the process. That death is what draws all men to Christ, okay? And
it's our job and I'm glad this church are faithfully going out there
every week. Our job is to teach them what the prophets said about Jesus
Christ, right? Faith comes by hearing, hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Listen, you're not going to get anybody saved just by saying believe Jesus, just
by using your own logic, using your own words. No one's going to get saved like
that. You must use the Word of God. That's what brings forth faith, okay? And that's
what God uses to draw all men, all men, to the one that was lifted up and that's
Jesus Christ. This doctrine of Calvinism, limited atonement, just makes a
mockery of Jesus Christ, makes a mockery of what he's done. Now, you know, I'm not
someone that will turn around and say everybody that's a Calvinist is unsaved.
You know, I recognize that some people are truly saved. They get into bad
churches. They hear bad doctrine. They don't know. They're babes in Christ. They're
new believers. They don't know and they accept some of this teaching and again
there are some Calvinists that are like, well, I'm not all five-point Calvinist. I
don't believe all of it. I don't believe limited atonement but I have my faith in
one of these points or something like that and so there are different varieties
of Calvinists but I'm saying the hardcore Calvinists, especially because
of the P, perseverance of the Saints, those that teach, you know, if you're
truly saved you're going to persevere to the end. They're not even saved because
what they're saying is salvation is not just on Christ but salvation is based on
you persevering to the end. You doing the works. You live in holy. That's salvation.
No, salvation is a free gift paid completely by Jesus Christ, okay? And I
know some Calvinists because they're embarrassed by that. They don't believe
that. They'll change the P to preservation of the Saints and I believe
in the preservation of the Saints. Once you're saved, you're always saved. Praise
God. But you're always saved because of what Christ has done for you. Again, not
because of your efforts. You're always saved because Jesus Christ, when he was on
the cross, paid for your past, your present and even your future sins that
you're still to do, okay? Now all of that just so we can get to Ephesians chapter
one because I don't want to spend my whole time debunking Calvinism in this
chapter. I want to just teach you what the Bible says about this, okay? Now
the Bible says here in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1,
Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the Saints which are at
Ephesus and to the faithful in Jesus Christ, grace be to you and peace, the
next, notice the next words, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
From the very beginning guys, we see a distinction, don't we, between Jesus
Christ and God the Father. It doesn't say here from God our Father Jesus Christ.
Okay? The fact that it says from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
these are two individuals, these are two different people and yet the Bible
teaches us about the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus Christ
and God the Holy Spirit. Later on in this chapter we'll see the Holy Spirit come
into view, okay? But this chapter begins by teaching us about the Trinity. Even
though there are three, you know, the great truth of the Bible is that they
are the one God, the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is three
persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is the God that we worship, okay? The
other thing I want you to notice is how does the writer, how does Paul
differentiate the Father from the Son? How does he do it in that verse, all
right? It said there, from God our Father and from the Son, does it say that? How
does he differentiate the Son? He uses the name and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now if the Father's name was Jesus Christ wouldn't that be completely make
no sense whatsoever? I mean from God the Father who's Jesus and also Jesus? Like
you know what are you talking about, right? The fact that the name of Jesus is
being used here to identify the Son means that Jesus is the name of the Son.
Jesus is not the name of the Father otherwise you'd have major problems
that you wouldn't know what's going on, right? Or the name of the Holy Spirit and
this is something that's super important. A lot of you guys know why I'm saying
this, okay? Because of the history of this church but this church teaches the
Trinity. We believe the Trinity. We believe Jesus Christ is God just as much
as the Father is God, just as much as the Holy Spirit is God but there is a chain
of command. God the Father in that chain of command is above, okay? And yet Jesus
Christ is submissive to the Father and we'll see later on that His name, the name
of Jesus is the name above every name. Praise God. Some people struggle with
that. They say well if God has a higher authority than Jesus Christ how is that
Jesus Christ has a higher name? Well the Father's glorifying the Son. You know
I've got I've got a lot of sons. You know what I want for them? I want them to be
better Christians than me. I want them to be more successful than me. I want to I
want them to have a better you know a life than I did. You know and if I can
see that with my own children then we can see how God the Father wants to
exalt the Son and He gives Him a name that is above every name. We'll go into
that later on. Look at verse number three. Verse number three. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's not just our Father but He's the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Again you know Jesus Christ is not His own Father, okay?
No. There's a Father who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is who
have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Okay? Now that there as we go through this chapter and through this book there
are two things you need to realize. God wants us to live holy today. Okay? But
when you look at verse number three He wants us to think about the heavenly
places in Christ. This is not our final destination brethren. You know it's not
just about this earth. There is a future to come. There is an eternity. You know
and this is the point of the Bible. This is the point of Jesus Christ. To lead
us to heaven. To lead us to those heavenly places which are eternal. The
Bible compares eternity to this life on the earth. This life on the earth as a
vapor. You know it's here one moment, it's gone the next. That's truly how it is. You
know we might live 70, if you're healthy you might live 70, 80, 90 years,
100 years if God's blessed you. You know you may live that long and that
feels like a long time. People that are elderly that I've lived a long time.
Praise God you have. But here's the thing compared to eternity it's just a
vapor. It's here today, gone tomorrow. And so the context here, one thing you need
to understand as we go through this, Paul is continually pointing to the heavenly
places. He's continually pointing to the future and in light of the future
because we see the heavenly places, we see that we ought to start living and
striving to live as though that's the case for us today. And it is the case of
us today if you are saved because God has given you a new man. He's made you
born again. You've been born of the Spirit and there's a part of you that is
perfect. There's a part of you that is without sin and that's the strike, that's
that's the challenge that we have every day. To walk in the new man, to walk in
the Spirit and not to walk after the lust of this flesh. That's how we
overcome sin. That's how we live holy by living in the new man because that's our
little snapshot of what heaven will ultimately be like. Look at verse number
four please. Verse number four. Now here's the verse that is used by Calvinists to
say well God has chosen some to go to hell and chosen some to go to heaven.
Look at verse number four. According as he have chosen us, now brethren have we
been chosen? Absolutely. We just saw it there, right? Chosen us. In him, in who? In
Jesus Christ. That's super important for you to understand, okay? Because here's
the thing. Is someone that is unsaved, let's let's say God has chosen me to be
saved but I'm still unsaved. I've got to get to a point where I'm regenerated.
That's that's the term they use. When I'm in a point of being unsaved, am I in
Christ? Absolutely not. You're only in Christ when you are saved. So the choosing
is when you're where? In Christ. Think about that. It's in Christ. You cannot be
at a state where you're unsaved and then you're chosen because you're not in
Christ at that point. But here it says according as he have chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world that we should, look at this, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. What has he chosen us to do? For
what purpose? Is this saying he's chosen some to go to heaven and some to go to
hell? Is this saying that he's chosen some to be saved and some to be unsaved?
That's how the Calvinist reads this, okay? Now think about it. Let's say this is about
salvation. Let's say this is about salvation. All right, so he's chosen us
to be saved. Let's say it is. So according to verse number four, how does someone
get saved if that's what we've been chosen to be? What does it say there?
That we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Brethren, is that the
gospel message? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, you have to be holy. You have
to be without blame. What are you saying? You've got to clean up your life. You've
got to keep the commandments. You've got to be sinless. You've got to overcome sin.
You've got to work for your salvation. Is that the gospel message? Of course not.
Of course not. Salvation, as we said, is believing, trusting on Jesus Christ, the
free gift of salvation. So you can see when you start applying this for
salvation, God has chosen us to be saved, well now he's starting to teach a
workspace gospel because what God has chosen us is to live holy, to live
blameless, to those that are in Christ, to those that are saved. That's what you
have been predestined to do, brethren. And if you're living like the world, you're
living sinful, you're still saved, but you're not living in
accordance to what God has predestined you to live by. You know, he's given us
the power of him. We'll see this later on. He's given us his power. He's given us
his Holy Spirit. He's given us the new man so we can live holy and blameless
lives. But that's to someone that is saved. The unsaved cannot live holy,
blameless lives before God. Okay? They're unsaved. They're lost. They're sinners
before God. And so we understand that. And again, if you, you know, this is
still, verse number four is attached to verse number three, right? Where it's said
again at the end of verse number three, who have blesses for all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This is talking about a saved person. If
you're saved, you've been chosen by God. You've been predestined by God to live
holy, to live blameless lives. That's what's expected from us, brethren.
Okay? And I see a faithful church. I see you doing good works. God says, according
to his word, continue being faithful. Continue living holy. Continue trying to
be blameless in your daily living in light of the heavenly places to come.
Live like you're in the heavenly places today, is the message of the book of
Ephesians. Look at verse number five. Look at this. Verse number five. Having pre-
now this is another verse that they use, right? Having predestinated us,
predestined unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself
according to the good pleasure of his will. So you can see there, it sounds like
we've been predestined to be adopted as children of God. In fact, we have been
predestined to be adopted of children of God. But let's keep going. Verse number
six. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he have made us accepted
in the Beloved. And we need to think about this, brethren. When you got saved,
the moment you believed on Christ, were you adopted? When we think about, you
know, parents, when you have parents, there's two ways to have children
basically, right? That's through natural birth, you know, that's the fruit of the
womb. That's one way. That's your biological son. Another way you can have
children is to adopt, you know, in some places. Some people who can't have
children may decide, or even if they have children, they may just decide to
adopt children, orphans that don't have parents, these kinds of things. Is
adoption the same as birth though? If you were to have children, are they the same
process? You know, one's physical, one's coming from the
loins of those parents, the other one's coming from other biological
parents, right? Adoption. So if you can please keep your finger there and go to
Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Go there, Romans chapter 8. Because a lot of
preachers, and I don't blame the preachers, you know, I don't blame them,
they do teach that when you get saved, you're adopted into God's family. Now
what I'm going to say, and I'll prove this to you shortly, is that we've been born
into God's family. We've actually been spiritually born, well I'll show you that
in a minute, and the adoption is yet to come. And I'll prove this to you. We'll go
to Romans chapter 8, go to Romans chapter 8, and I'm going to wait your turn now,
just read to you from John 3-3. A lot of you guys know this, Jesus answered and
said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And of course John 3, we
have the famous John 3 16, right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. So how is it that we're born again? How is it that we're born of God? How is
it that we're born of the Spirit? Born of the family of God? By again believing on
Jesus Christ, right? Believing on him. And when you believe on him, you've been
born into God's family. That's why they use the words born again. So why then, in
Ephesians, are we talking about an adoption? If we've been born into the
family already, what do we have to be adopted by? Well look at Romans chapter 8
please, Romans chapter 8 verse 22, it says here, for we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Okay, the Bible says all of
creation is just groaning because of the curse of sin. Even in ourselves
we're groaning, we have this sinful flesh that we're constantly battling with.
But look at verse number 23, and not only they, that's the world, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, so these people that are saved, right, we
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling in your
life, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption. What's
the adoption? The redemption of our body. What is the adoption according to the
Bible? The redemption of our body, the resurrection. Okay, you've been born again,
you're born into God's family, you have the new man, praise God, but the adoption
is what we're waiting for, it's what we're groaning, right? Ah, this sinful flesh, why
can't we, you know, it's so frustrating God. One day God promises us at the
rapture, at the resurrection, to give us resurrected, redempted bodies without sin.
That's the adoption, that's the adoption. We're adopting, as it were, the body of
Christ, we're going to be like Him, okay, and so when we read the Bible, are you
going to understand these two things? You're born into His family, when you're
saved, you're born again, okay, the Spirit is born, but the resurrection is the
adoption, the resurrection is the adoption. Go back to Ephesians chapter 5
now, Ephesians chapter, sorry, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5, Ephesians chapter 1
verse 5. Now that we understand that, that's very clear for us in the Bible, I
don't think anyone's going to argue with what we read in, we're waiting for it,
right, it hasn't happened yet. So when you read this, verse number 5, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children, are we talking about salvation?
No, we're talking about the resurrection, we're talking about receiving the new
resurrected bodies, okay, so what have you been, what has God predestined for you?
Once you're in Christ Jesus, you're predestinated to get a new resurrected
body like Jesus Christ, praise God, this is not about salvation, it's about
receiving the new resurrected body, okay, so you can see how the Calvinists can
take these passages and fool people, okay, because they've not compared these
passages, they've not seen what the adoption is, they don't differentiate
between adoption and birth. Okay, look at verse number 7 now, Ephesians chapter 1
verse 7, in whom we have, in whom that's been Jesus, we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace,
wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. The word prudence
means to be cautious, okay, now not only, this is what it's saying here in verse number 7
at the end of verse number 7, it says according to the riches of his grace, not only are
we saved by grace through faith and not of works, not only does grace save us, but
God through his grace has also given us other riches. Verse number 8 said,
what those riches are, wisdom and prudence. Praise God for that, okay,
because he wants us to live holy lives, he wants us to live blameless lives, so
he gives us wisdom, he gives us prudence, that's caution, protecting ourselves
against sin, to protect us against wickedness, to protect us against the
ways of the world, or the ways of the devil, he's given us this knowledge, but
brethren, you know where you have to learn the knowledge, you got to pick up
this book, you got to read this book, okay, you got to come to church, you got to get
yourself into a good church, you got to get yourself on the good preaching, you
got to open up this book, this is where the wisdom of God comes from, okay, so you
know, if you're neglecting the Bible, you're neglecting your study, you're
neglecting your growth, you're neglecting the grace of God in your life, okay,
that's the riches that he wants to give us in this life right now, he knows we're
struggling in this flesh, so he gives us his wisdom, he gives us his word, now
brethren, if you're struggling in sin, if you've been, you say to me, man, I'm in a
backslid and slayed, I'm just, I seem to be chasing after the world, the way, you
know, sin, I'm pretty confident it's because you've neglected your Bible
reading, I'm pretty confident that's why, you've neglected your own reading, you
know, you've neglected your own growth, you've neglected your own prayer time,
you've neglected the times to confess your sins before God, you know, you're
not using the wisdom that God has given us, and I beg your brethren, you
know, if you're backsliding, if you're finding yourself in a bad state, you know,
you know, struggling with sin constantly, now we're all going to struggle with sin, okay, but
you're just having these constant battles, you never can seem to have power
over it, you need to get back into the grace of God, back into the wisdom and
the prudence that he gives us, verse number eight says, we're in here abounded toward us, in
all wisdom, it's not like he gives us a little wisdom, just a little bit, he wants
to give, he wants us to abound in his wisdom, okay, and again, don't neglect the
reading of God's Word, because that's where you're going to find it, verse number nine,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will, now I'm going to come back to
this, just remember this, the mystery of his will, alright, according to his good
pleasure, which he had purposed in himself, that the dispensation of the
fullness of times, he might gather together in one, all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him, now we've got to
debunk another doctrine out there, okay, what did it say in verse number 10, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of times, there is another doctrine that is
called dispensationalism, okay, now I don't want to go into all this, it needs
his own sermon, okay, now again, most independent Baptists, most of my pastors,
men that I love, men that I've learned great things from, have been
dispensational in their teaching, okay, so I'm not having a go at the people that
believe this, okay, now there are different forms, there are different
expressions of that, some people are totally extreme, where they believe some
people were saved by works, or can be saved by works in the future, or things
like that, okay, that's an extreme form of dispensationalism, the Bible does use
the word dispensation though, I do believe in dispensations, because it's
there in the Bible, I believe in predestination, because it's in the
Bible, but we need to just understand what the Bible's talking about, when it
says these things, right, now if you were to ask a dispensationalist, I'm not
saying the average person in the church, if you went to ask a Bible college
professor that teaches dispensationalism, say what is this doctrine about, what's
the key thing about it, what's the main learning here, they'll say to you
whether there's a distinction between the nation of Israel, the Jews, and the
Gentiles, or the church, the saved people, there's a distinction, and what
dispensationalism tries to do, is create a separation between these two groups,
now in times past, there was a distinction between those two, we'll touch
on that soon, okay, but what did we just read here, let's read it again verse
number 10, I'll get back to verse 9 soon, but verse number 10, that in the
dispensation of the fullness of times, he might separate these two groups, that he
might gather together in one, all things in Christ, does this sound like a
separation of dispensations to you, of different groups of people, or does it
sound like a gathering of one together in Christ, you know, so I want you to
think about this, but let's look at verse number 9 first, actually
keep your finger there, and go to, where can I send you, I'll send you to
Ephesians, yeah actually you're in Ephesians, so go to chapter 3 for me,
Ephesians chapter 3, I'm gonna have to remember to go back, so I've sort of
missed my notes a little bit, but anyway, let's look at Ephesians chapter 3 verse 4, it
says here, because we don't need to wonder, we don't need to wonder, okay, the
Bible gives us the answers of the mystery of his will, here in Ephesians chapter 3
verse 4, whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ, what's the mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the
sons of men, but it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit, by the way that's the third part of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, the
Holy Spirit, there it is, verse number 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs
and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,
what's the mystery of his will, what's the mystery that we read about here, we
saw later on, talks about being gathered in one, what are we reading about here,
again let's look at verse number 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs,
fellow heirs, with who, the Jews, the prophets, the Old Testament saints, this
is the great thing about Jesus Christ, is that in times past God had a physical
nation of Israel, praise God for that, it served his purpose, right, but the thing
is the Gentiles, if they wanted to have the God of Israel, most often they would
need to migrate into the nation and have God as their God, that's not the only way,
there's other ways, for them to simply believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, alright, but what we have today, because we've reached a fullness of
times, I'll show you this shortly, is that now that Christ has come, both Jews and
Gentiles are made up of that one body, we are fellow heirs, we're not strangers,
alright, when someone migrates to Australia, they get their Australian
citizenship, they become a fellow heir of the Commonwealth of Australia, don't
they, they're no longer a stranger, that's the same thing guys, everybody, there's
no special people, we're all the same, we're all one blood, we're all from Noah,
we're all from Adam, you know, and I look at the church here, we're all from different
backgrounds, I don't care, we're all one and if you're in Jesus Christ, we're in
one, we're one in him as well, we're fellow heirs, we're the saints that have gone
before us, now what I want to do, please go to Galatians chapter 4, Galatians
chapter 4 verse 4, Galatians 4 verse 4 and Galatians 4 actually, because again
it's written by Paul, right, so it puts all these thoughts together, what are we
talking about, we're talking about the fullness of times, what is dispensationalism or
dispensations of the Bible, it's bringing people together, not separating people,
so what is the fullness of times, we'll have a look at this shortly and I
already kind of covered this and also we talked about the adoption, didn't we, the
adoption which is the resurrection to come and in Galatians chapter 4
verse 4, look at this, but when the fullness of the time was come, oh there it
is, right, the fullness of time, of the time was come, what happened at the
fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to
redeem that, that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons, look how Galatians 4 puts it all nicely together for us, everything that
we've been looking at so far, right, the adoption, that's going to be the
resurrection, to redeem us, the fullness of time, what is the fullness of times
then, that's the separation between the Old Testament and the New Testament, what
separates that is the death of Jesus Christ, his burial and his resurrection,
when the fullness of time was come at the end of the first covenant, God sent
his son, now notice that, who did he send, his son, he didn't become the son at his
birth, the son already pre-existed and he was sent by the Father, okay, we believe
in the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ, okay, so he sends his son at the fullness
of times, to redeem them that were under the law, that being the Old Testament
Israelites, that we, now who's the we, he's writing to Galatians, he's writing to the
church, he's writing to Gentiles, that we, Jews and Gentiles, right, that we
might receive the adoption of sons and because ye are sons, God have sent forth
the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying Abba Father, you know what, we can
call God Jesus, the Father of Jesus Christ, we can call him our Father, we can
cry to him Abba Father, when we have a need, when we need help, verse number 7
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ, the fellow heirs, there it is, the heir of God, we made fellow heirs
with the Old Testament Saints, don't you love how when the Bible is just so
consistent and perfect, it just comes together, just a bit of study, we don't
need to be tricked into some complicated Bible college, you know, way of
interpreting the Bible, the Bible explains it for us nicely, we just need
to do the study, we just need to do the work, okay, so what is the true definition
of dispensation, okay, it's something that God has dispensed, okay, one way to
understand the words dispense, two ways, is either you distribute something, you
know, we don't have a water dispenser here, but some people at work might have
a water dispenser, you go to the water dispenser and you get water, right, but
another way we use the word dispense is to throw something out, to be done away
with, you know, I might say to you, can you dispense of that plastic bottle, so
you'll take that plastic bottle, you know what I'm talking about, you throw it in
the bin, all right, and so when it comes to the dispensation of fullness of
times, the time was done, God had done away with the old covenant and has
brought in the new covenants, okay, that's what it is and when he brought in the
new covenant, guess what, Jews, Gentiles in Christ, one body, no separation, one body
in Jesus Christ, all right, so please go back to Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians
chapter 1, verse number 11, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, verse 11, and here are
the words we talk about, as being fellow heirs, these kinds of things, look at
verse 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, that's where the word
heirs come from, inheritance, heirs, okay, same idea, being predestinated,
or there it is again, right, predestinated according to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, look at, what are we
predestined for, verse number 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ, now let me go back to Calvinism for a moment, okay,
because they believe, they believe that some have been chosen by God to be saved
and they believe a man on his own cannot be saved, and that's true, I guess a man on
his own cannot be saved, that's true, those say, well, before you can actually
even believe the gospel, before you can even trust the gospel, God has already
regenerated you, God has already given you a born-again spirit, that's what they
say, before you even believe, and so when you receive that born-again spirit, at
whatever point in life that is, okay, then because you have it, you're going
you're going to at some point believe on Jesus Christ, at some point you're going
to believe the gospel, you see the difference between what we believe and
what they believe, they say you're saved before you believe on the gospel, okay, we
say no, you can only be saved when you believe the gospel, okay, now the Bible
uses the word predestined here in verse number 11, and we ask the question, well
what does that mean, verse number 12, that we should be the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ, what comes first, brethren, what's the first thing we've
done, we first trusted in Christ, you know the word trust, we'll have a look at this,
is belief, is faith, when you trust, when you put your faith on Christ, that's the
first thing you do, and then when you're trusting Christ, now you've been
predestined that we should be to the praise of his glory, you know, we ought
to be people when God looks down at us, he's praised, people say, man, you must be
one of those Christians, you must be that person that believes in Jesus Christ,
that gives God's praise, that gives him glory, when people can recognize that
there's something different about you when you're walking according to
according to God's ways, but it's not about walking in God's ways to be saved,
no, you first trust in Christ, that's salvation, that's once you're saved, we ought to be
being his glory, being his praise, alright, verse number 13, now if you don't
believe me when it says first trust in Christ, about that being about faith, look
at verse number 13, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, remember what did we say, how does someone believe, faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word, okay, a word of God, and here it says, whom we also trust
after that we have heard the word of truth, so we heard the word of truth,
that's what caused us to trust, then look at it, the gospel of your salvation, in whom
also after that ye believed, and ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
so you notice how verse 13 uses the word trust and then uses the word believe,
because they're one and the same thing, okay, when you, when we go out there we
tell people you need to believe on Jesus Christ, we're not just saying you got to
believe Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead and you paid for
your sins, okay, we're not just saying you got to believe the facts, no, now that
you know the facts, now that you understand the facts, now you need to
trust the facts, now you need to trust Jesus Christ, you need to trust the final
work that he did for us on the cross and his resurrection, and when they believe
on Jesus Christ, they trust in Jesus Christ, okay, now Brethren, I hope you're
all Brethren, you know, what are you trusting in, can you say with full
confidence I trust in Jesus Christ 100%? That's what, I mean, is there anything
else to trust in this verse so far? Or are you saying, well, I trust 90% Jesus
Christ and 10% New Life Baptist Church, or Pastor Kevin Sepulveda, or I trust
90% Jesus and I trust 10%, you know, my Roman Catholic Church, or I trust in 10%
in my good works, look at me, I'm so good, you know, of course I'm saved, look how
I'm living my life, look how I dress, look at my nice haircut, you know, look I've got
my tie on, definitely saved, is my full trust on Jesus when I'm doing that? No,
just a little bit of your trust, some of your trust is on Jesus, the other trust
is on, look at me, look how good I am, boasting, right, and that's why Ephesians
2 is there for a reason, because if it was by works, if it was by our efforts, we
would be boastful, and you know, you immediately know when someone's not
saved, because they boast of themselves, oh how do you know you're going to
heaven, I'm such a good person, I'm good enough, that's boasting, no one's good
enough for heaven, no one's good enough, otherwise Jesus Christ will not have had
to come to die on the cross for us. Verse number 14, verse number 14, it said,
sorry, at the end of verse number 13, it ties in, it says you were sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise, so you've heard the gospel, you heard the Word of
God, you trusted the Word of God, and then the third point there was the Holy
Spirit has come to indwell the believer, it's a promise of God, and then it says
in verse number 14, which is that the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our
inheritance, now the word earnest there means like a down payment or a
commitment, okay, have you ever heard of the word term earnest money, I don't know
if you've ever, like if you purchase a house, often when you make an offer for a
house, they ask you to put down a like a like a deposit that you can't get back,
it's I'm not talking about deposit for the house like a mortgage, I'm talking
about the offer, they'll say can you put in like maybe with your offer like
$2,000, and the reason they do that is because they don't want people to back
out, and if you do back out, then the owner gets that money, okay, because then
he might take it off the market, he might, you know, whatever, he might change things,
and then there's a, you know, you cause them problems, so when you
put down, when you make that offer for the house, you put down that little, that
whatever it is, $1,000, $2,000, you put that down with the real estate, and it's
like a true commitment, this is a promise that I'm actually, I mean my offer, I want
to buy this house, well this is what God has done for us, he's given us the Holy
Spirit, which is our earnest, our down payment, our commitment, he says look I'm
giving you the Holy Spirit, because you're not in heaven or places right now,
you're not, you know, your body's still, you're still throwing the sinful flesh,
but I'm giving you the Holy Spirit, this is a guaranteed that you're saved, this
is a guarantee that you'll receive resurrected bodies, this is a guarantee
that you'll be with me for all eternity, a guarantee that you will never be damned
and go to hell, once saved, always saved, is the teaching here, verse number 14,
which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory, what's the purchase of the, redemption of
the purchased possession, this possession, this purchase right, the resurrected body
to come, this old flesh, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the
Bible says, this body needs to perish, this body needs to be changed, at the
rapture, at the resurrection, we received the redemption of the purchased
possession, verse number 15, wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus and the love unto all the saints, I love that, you know what Paul says
about the church in Ephesians, because I've heard about your great faith, I've
heard that your trust in Christ, praise God, but then he says, I've heard about
your love unto all the saints and brethren, I think this is one we always
struggle with a little bit, now I think this church is very loving, but you know
there's a lot of good churches out there that struggle with loving the brethren,
they're saved, okay, now what made this church super excellent in the eyes of
Paul is not only are you saved, not only do you have the faith for Christ, but I
can tell you love the Saints and he's just thankful about that, right, he's just
lifting them up, you know, he heard about it, praise God, that you have great
love for the brethren, and brethren, let me encourage you, you know, again, I say
this all the time, because you're not always going to get along, sometimes
you're going to have little clashes and little things going on in life, but one
thing that, you know, and that's just life, you've got to accept that, but one thing
that I want you to learn is to love the brethren, and you can see how God, you
know, acknowledges that in the Word of God, how he praises that when you have
love for one another, and I can truly say to you that I really love each person
here in this church, you know, I really do, and I wish, you know, I could be with you
guys more, you know, but unfortunately, I mean, it's not unfortunately, I've got my
church up in Queensland, praise God for that, right, but we need to make
sure that we continue striving to love one another, you know, when we have
visitors, a lot of people are interested in our church because of the doctrines
that we teach, they know we teach the Bible, okay, and that's what brings
people through the door usually, but you know what's going to keep people stayed,
stay in church, is if they feel loved, at the beginning it's, yeah, great
doctrine, praise God, I'm on the same page, but then it's like no one talks to me, no
one spends time with me, no one loves me, I'm gonna find another church, that's what
happens, that's what happens a lot of times, but if you can show love to
visitors and to, you know, first-time visitors and get involved in their
lives and just understand, hey, this person's probably not on the same page
as me on all the doctrines, this person's probably not on the same page with me,
maybe if he's newly saved, he doesn't really know much, right, maybe I've got to
take this person under my wing and teach him a few things, you know, and I hate
when I see believers just thumb up their nose, you know, they've been saved for 20,
30, 40 years, oh look at me, I'm so good, some guy comes in with long hair and
tattoos, oh who's this guy coming here, you know, that's so ridiculous, because we
all have to start somewhere, okay, we all need to start somewhere and we need to
show love to the Saints. Verse number 19, sorry, verse number, we're after guys now,
I've lost myself, verse number 16, 16, he says, so he heard about the church, he
says, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
that's another thing, that's another way of showing love, by praying for one
another, he says, you're such a great church, I'm always talking to you, to God
about you in my prayers. Verse number 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him. So what does Paul pray for the church? He goes, I know you're
saved, I know you love one another, but I'm praying that God will continue giving
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. See brethren,
saved is great, loving the Brethren is great, but where do you go from there?
You need to learn, gain wisdom, gain knowledge, study the Bible, learn the
Bible, hear great preaching, okay, that's what Paul wants for the church, that's
what I want for this church, I want you to grow in knowledge, not just love, great
love, knowledge as well, in wisdom, start learning your Bibles, I want you to
know, why do I believe these doctrines? Why do I believe salvation is by grace
through faith and not of works? You know, how do I handle these difficult passages
about predestination, about being chosen? You study, you learn, you gain wisdom,
that's what we need to be brethren, a church that has great wisdom, because if
we have great knowledge in the doctrines, when the false prophet comes in, when the
false teacher comes in teaching you false things, you'll be able to identify
him immediately. He won't be able to take away, you know, any, you know, deceive
anybody in the church, you know, because you have wisdom, you have knowledge, you
know, how to defend your doctrines. Verse number 11, sorry 18, verse number 18,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is
the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the Saints. So not only do I want you to gain knowledge, he says, but I want you
to also, that your eyes, what did you say? That your eyes may be enlightened,
being enlightened, that you may look, that you may know what is the hope of his
calling, what God is calling you to be, is to be like Jesus Christ, but you're
not going to be fully like that till the adoption of this purchase possession,
until the resurrection, right? And so what he's saying here is, he says, look to the
church, I want you to live for eternity, don't live for this temporary life, don't
live for the earthly things, don't live for the possessions of this earth, live
for that which is to come, have your eyes set on eternity, and listen brethren,
that's going to change the outlook on your life. Most people, everybody out there,
everybody that's unsaved, you know what they live for? They live for today, they live
for now, they live for money, they live for the status, a big name, a big house, a
lot of money. Paul says, don't live like that, live like your eyes are for
eternity, and when your eyes are fixed on eternity, it's going to shape the way you
live your life, it's going to shape the things that you put as priority in your
life, okay? And so that's what he's striving this church to do, verse number
19, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, word, who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power? So there it is again, the power
that he gives us, right? The exceeding greatness of his power to us, word, who
believe. God has given us his power to live those holy lives, he's given us
power to live like Christ. Again, he comes in that new man, he comes walking after
the Spirit, according to the working of his mighty power, he says, God has given
you power. You know when you're weak, you know what you need? You need the power of
God. Even when you're strong, even when you're healthy and things are going well
for you, you know what you need? You need the power of God in your life. That's
what's going to get you through life, that's what's going to help you overcome
sin, to live holy, be blameless. Now he says that power that we just read about,
look at verse number 20, which he wrought in Christ, the word wrought is the word
worked, okay? Which he wrought or he worked in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. You know
what he's saying there? The power that God used to raise up Jesus is the same
power he gives you today. The same power to raise up the dead, to raise up Jesus
Christ, to overcome sin and overcome death, is the same power that's available
to me, to you, right now, is what Paul is saying. What a promise, what a promise.
Keep your finger there and go to verse number, Romans chapter 6 please,
Romans chapter 6, go to Romans chapter 6.
You see, for you to live holy, for you to live, to overcome sin, you need the power
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, okay? Romans chapter 6 verse 1, it says here,
what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? God
forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Okay, so look,
you're going to sin for the rest of your life, right? But that shouldn't be just,
okay, I'm just gonna sin, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna deal with it. I'm just
gonna sin for the rest of my life. We should be striving to live holy, right? We should be
striving to overcome that. How do we do it? Verse number 3, know ye not that so
many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in
newness of life. And this is where we get the name of our church, New Life Baptist
Church. Right there, and verse number 4, that we should walk in newness of life,
okay? What's being said here is we shouldn't live like we lived before we
were saved, okay? We shouldn't live in sin, we shouldn't continue living that way,
but we should strive there to be walking newness of life. And again, it's talking
about the resurrection of Christ there, the power of the resurrection of Christ.
That's how you're going to do it. And after the service today, we're going to
have some baptisms. And you know what baptism represents? Baptism will never
save you, by the way. Whether you get baptized or not doesn't save you. But
what baptism represents there, let's look at verse number 3. Verse number 3
again, know ye not that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? So when you go under the water, that represents the
death of Christ when he was in the tomb, right? When you stand out of the water,
that's a picture of the crucifixion. When you get in the water, it's a picture of
the death. Then it says there in verse number 4, therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so should we walk in newness of life. Now brethren, if
you've not been baptized, let me encourage you, we've got an opportunity
today. You're just going to get wet clothes if you didn't bring a change,
you guys. But let me encourage you to get baptized, because it shows a picture of
the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bible refers to this as walking in
the newness of life. You know, when you read the Bible, when you look at these
people getting saved, you know what happens immediately after they get saved?
They get baptized. Why? Because it's the first step of obedience. It's the first
step of that newness of life, to live a godly life. And I had this experience, I
know other people have had this experience, is when you've been baptized
biblically, you've been able to live for the Lord a lot better, a lot greater, you
know, because you're taking on that picture, you're taking on that, you
know, that public confession of what you've done in Christ, and you're
identifying with the power of the resurrection of Christ. That's what's
going to help you live more holy, to overcome sin in your life, okay. Let's go
back to Ephesians 1 verse 21. Ephesians 1 verse 21. Let me just make it clear once
again, baptism does not save anybody. Make that very clear, okay, very clear.
Whether you're baptized or not, the thief on the cross did not get baptized, right.
He just said, Father, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. What did
Jesus say? Verily, verily, today thou shalt be with me in paradise, he said. The thief
on the cross, all he did was trust in Christ, was put his belief on Jesus
Christ, was never baptized. He didn't even go to church, he never read his Bible, he
never did a single good work, he just died, okay. But because he placed his
faith in Christ, he was in paradise with Jesus Christ. Verse number 21. Far above
all principality, speaking of Jesus, and power and might and dominion. See, Jesus
Christ is above every power and might and dominion, speaking of the devil.
He's above every single power, because he's the Lord God. And it says here, and
every name that is named, the name of Jesus is above every name that's been
named. Any name you can think of! The name of Jesus is above every name, not only in
this world, but also in that which is to come. Verse number 22. And have put all
things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.
You see, the future's still to come. There's going to be a millennial reign
of Christ, it's going to reign for a thousand years, and at the end of that
thousand years, I mean, as far as what God says right now, he says everything's under
Christ already, okay? But the full realization of that is at the end of
the thousand years, when even death is subjected unto Christ. Everything is
under Jesus Christ. And notice, not only all things, all powers, all dominions, you
know, all names, it's said here in verse number 22 at the end, that to him be
the head over all things to the church. Who's the head of this church? Let me
tell you something, it's not Pastor Kevin. It's not Brother David who preaches
normally on Tuesdays, or Sunday, sorry. It's not you, okay? The head of this
church is Jesus Christ, okay? And every decision I make, you know, I can make
mistakes, you know, I'm a human being, I'm sinful, I have sin. You have sin,
okay? So please never elevate me above anybody. I'm just, I'm Brother Kevin, okay?
That's who I am, I'm your brother in the Lord, okay? But I have been given
authority in this church, but at the end of the day, that's because I'm under the
authority of Jesus Christ, and so are you, so are you. You know, anything I teach from
the Bible, this is not a cult, it's not like I taught this and you have to go
and do it at home now, you know, I'm gonna come to your house and check that, are
you doing it? You know, if I preach against Hollywood movies one day, I'm
gonna come to your house and check your DVD cabinet, that's not what I'm gonna
do. No, at the end of the day, Jesus Christ is your head. You have to decide am I
going to live after Christ, you know, I'm going to decide the things that I learned
in church, the things that are in my Bible, am I going to place this, am I
going to do this in my home or not? You know, but some Christians are like that,
let me check that person, what's Brother so-and-so doing over there, you know,
what sins has he got? We all have sin, we all have weaknesses, we all have problems,
but Christ is our head, Christ is the head of this church, and for this church
to continue to grow, to be successful, we need to always remember who the head is,
always remember, it's Jesus Christ, okay? This church may have rotational passes
in the future, I don't know what the future holds for this church exactly,
okay? But one thing that is never going to change is the head, Jesus Christ, okay?
Please don't make church about, I prefer this pastor over that pastor, never be
that way, okay? Because otherwise you're going to church for the wrong reasons,
you're not going for the reason of having Christ as the head of this
institution, and so one thing I want you to turn, the last place I want you to turn
is in Philippians please, Philippians chapter 2 verse 9, Philippians chapter 2
verse 9, I just want to finish up on this, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 9, because when
it's said here that all things are under the feet of Jesus Christ, and that every
name, above every name that is named, this actually comes from Psalm, Psalm 8,
Psalm 8, I'm going to read to you from Psalm 8 verse 6, it says, thou madeest him to
have the minion over the works of thy hands, thou has put all things under his
feet, you know, speaking of God the Father, putting all things on the feet of the
Son, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air,
and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea, and
then it says this in verse number 9, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name
in all the earth. You know there's a movement coming called the Hebrew Roots
movement, and they want to take away the name of Jesus Christ, they want you to
call him Yeshua. Yeshua is not in your King James Bible, you know the name
Yeshua is not in the original Hebrew nor Greek, okay, the name that is excellent
above all names is the name of Jesus Christ, praise God for that name, when you
go out and preach the gospel, you preach and you name Jesus Christ, you know,
salvation is not I believe in God, oh you believe in God, oh man you're saved, praise
God, no, they have to believe on Jesus Christ, they have to believe in the name of Jesus,
and he shed blood on the cross. You guys are in Philippians, look at chapter 2
verse 9, Philippians chapter 2 verse 9, it says, wherefore God also have highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, and at the name of
Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father, and the Father has given Jesus the best name of
all, Jesus Christ, and you know what, it says here, verse number 11, to the glory
of God the Father, he gives God the Father glory to have given the name of
Jesus to his son, so I said to you, you know, as a father, I want my sons to do
better than me, I want them to be better believers, right, even though God the
Father has the authority, and I have the authority in the home, I still want them
to be better than me, well God the Father wants to exalt Jesus Christ, and by how
did he exalt him? By giving him a name above every name, please make sure you
go out and do the work, back to Ephesians chapter 1, last verse, Ephesians chapter 1
verse 23, we'll talk about the church, the head over the church, and then
verse number 23 says, which is his body, man, what a responsibility brethren, Jesus
Christ is not walking the earth today, but his body is here, and that's the
church, that's you, that's this congregation, okay, the body, which is his
body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all, just think about how
important this church is, and other churches that believe in Christ, that are
true churches of Jesus Christ, that they're called the body of Christ, if you
want to have the fullness of Christ, if you want to be filled in God, you know
where you need to be, in church, you know, make sure you don't become someone that
misses church on a regular basis, now of course you're going to miss it from time
to time, for whatever reasons, okay, legitimate reasons, but make sure, you
know, part of you having the fullness of Christ, yes, you know,
you go, I don't know, you go door knocking, I don't know if it happens in Queensland, they're like,
I need to go to church, I have it all, you know, I've got my Bible, which is good,
you know, I've got my faith, which is good, but they think that's enough, they think
that's enough, no, the fullness of Christ will be experienced in church, so
important that this church exists, so important that you can continue coming
to this church, and experience the fullness of Christ, because Christ says,
we're two or three are gathered together in his name, that he'll be here in the
midst of us, Jesus Christ is here right now, you know, his presence is here, and
so that's the end of Ephesians, brethren, let me just conclude very quickly, have
your sights on eternity, on eternal matters, the redemption of your body,
you're gonna be resurrected one day, you're gonna have full power over sin,
well you don't need to wait, you can start living that way today, you can
start living after that, God has given us his power, he's given us his Holy Spirit,
that's what he wants us to do, live that blameless, holy lives, and make sure
brethren, be in church, and be in church, because this is the opportunity for you
to learn to love the brethren, let's pray.
you