7-14-24 Sermon "Trust In Jesus" - 21 Minutes

Ephesians 1:3-14

This morning I'll be reading Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 14. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Ephesians 1:3-14 This letter was written by Paul to the church in Ephesus to strengthen their faith,,, these were Gentile believer's and he wanted to help them see that when Jesus comes back they would receive the same inheritance as the Jews,,, and,,, hopefully we can use it today to strengthen our own faith and be reassured as well. Ephesians 1:3–14 (HCSB) 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. 7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 10 for the administration of the days of fulfillment —to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him. 11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Ezekiel 2:1-5,,, and we seen that Ezekiel’s task was to declare God’s Word to them so that they could realize their mistakes,,, and turn back to God. I explained,,, that should be our focus as well,,, especially in light of the direction that many churches are beginning to go. We must let others know that they are going in the wrong direction,,, and we need to be strong with our response. We should respond without fear,,, but we still need to respond in love. Being careful that we don't turn those away that we need to help. Of course,,, just as God told Ezekiel,,, whether they respond correctly,,, is up to them! I told you that you may be sitting out there and thinking,,, "I'm not ready to share my faith with others at this time,,, especially in today's society". And that's not the end of the world,,, I understand,,, I've been there! That's why that I've reminded you over and over again that the way that you live your life is the best witness that you can ever have! Most people will never confront you about your day to day life in the same way that they will retaliate to a spoken word that shows them a better way to go. But your actions can show them,,, without ever saying a word. And it will be seen as a truthful representation of that witness,,, when its reinforced by day to day living! And that when we live a life that shows them the way even better than words,,, we will be free from many of the dangers of confrontation,,, and our witness will be even more believable,,, when they see the difference God has made in our life. That's something no-one can argue with,,, and it will be noticeable,,, as we complete "Our Task",,, that God has given us,,, as well! This morning we will look at these verses in Ephesians,,, and see how they help us in our walk with God this week. ___________________________________ Verse 3 said: 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

The very first word that we see this morning,,, should remind us again,,, that we should praise God,,, which is something that we don’t do enough of.

And when do we praise God?

All the time!

We need to give God praise for all that He has done in the past,,, what He is doing for us today,,, and,,, for what He will do for us,,, tomorrow!

We should praise Him no matter what we are going thru.

It’s easier to praise Him when something that we have been praying for is answered the way that we want,,, but we shouldn’t wait until then.

When we pray,,, we can praise God,,, right after prayer,,, even before we have an answer to prayer,,, this praise helps us to keep our focus on His power and His ability to get us through whatever it is that’s bothering us,,, which is what is desperately needed at that time!

The same thing when we are going through a trial or hard time,,, praise helps us to remember who is in control,,, who is with us,,, and guiding us through it all.

We can do this because we know that God is faithful and He will answer our prayer in the way that will help us the most.

Paul is also talking about thanking God because of the blessings of grace that we all share,,, Jews and Gentiles,,, that share in the inheritance that we all receive,,, because of Jesus Christ.

Notice also that Paul is talking about spiritual blessings,,, and my Believer’s Bible Commentary says that the easiest way to explain this is to contrast them with the blessings of Israel under the law.

In the Old Testament,,, a faithful,,, obedient Jew was rewarded with long life,,, a large family,,, abundant crops,,, and protection from his enemies. (Deuteronomy 28:2–8).

The blessings of Christianity,,, in contrast,,, are spiritual,,, that is,,, they deal with treasures that are nonmaterial,,, invisible,,, and imperishable.

It is true that the OT saints also enjoyed some spiritual blessings,,, but as we see,,, the Christian today enjoys blessings that were unknown in previous times,,, at least up to this point.

___________________________________ Verses 4 through 6 said: 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.

Paul is applying a concept that was only available to the Israelites before Jesus.

Just as God chose Israel as His treasured possession,,, He now chooses believers to receive the blessings because of the reconciliation done through Christ in His life,,, death,,, and resurrection.

Verse 5 says that He predestined us,,, and for us,,, with our limited human understanding,,, this can be troubling to us if we aren’t careful,,, because God does choose men for salvation.

At the same time,,, the Bible never teaches that God chooses men to be lost,,, or send them to hell.

We have a choice,,, and we have the chance to make the correct choice,,, but it’s still our choice to make.

Anyone can be saved by repenting of his sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore,,, if a person is lost,,, it is because he chooses to be lost,,, not because God desires it.

We can see this in a single verse,,, John 6:37,,, which says: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out”.

The first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice; the last half extends the offer of mercy to all.

Verse 40 helps with this as well where it says:

John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

___________________________________ Verses 7 and 8 said: 7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We have been bought by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiven of our sins,,, if we choose to answer the call from the Holy Spirit,,, and not because of anything that we have done or will do,,, but because of God’s “grace”!

A “grace” that He gives in abundance and is free for us,,, simply because of His love for us,,, even while we were still sinners!

___________________________________ Verses 9 and 10 said: 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him 10 for the administration of the days of fulfillment —to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

This is the “mystery” that Paul was talking to them about.

This plan that God had in place,,, even before sin was brought into the world,,, was hid to them,,, but is now brought out for all to see.

___________________________________ Verses 11 through 13 said: 11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory. 13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Paul is talking about the Israelites here in verses 11 and 12,,, then the Gentiles in verse 13.

God’s plan was to bring salvation into the world for all the earth through the Israelites.

Through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, that has been accomplished.

Now,,, the Gentiles are able to share in the inheritance made available because of Christ.

___________________________________ Verse 14 said: 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

Jesus Christ,,, is the only thing that could have saved us.

His life,,, death,,, and resurrection were the down payment for our inheritance,,, our share in the glorious richness of grace,,, to the praise of His glory!

___________________________________ We must remember we were created by God for His glory,,, and we were created perfectly!

But sin,,, messed everything up.

We know that God had a plan in place to deal with that,,, and we've been struggling with the consequences of sin ever since,,, and that will continue until Christ comes to maker everything right again!

Some can read these scriptures and say that God already knows who will be saved and who is not,,, but that doesn't agree with other scriptures that we have.

That's why that I reminded you why we were created,,, so that hopefully we can see that God wants all to turn to Him,,, not just a select few!

God knows what will happen in the future,,, just like He knew what happened yesterday before it happened,,, and what is happening today,,, even while events are taking place.

We can't understand that,,, we just have to accept it,,, even while we agree that we don't understand it!

___________________________________ In these verses,,, Paul is doing everything that he can to help the Gentiles,,, and us today,,, see,,, that we are saved because of Jesus Christ!

God knew how His plan would be carried out,,, and He knew that nothing would change that plan.

There is nothing that anyone can do to stop God's plan,,, or change it in any way.

And we don't need to be distracted by the thoughts that God has determined before hand who will be saved and who will not,,, when we have clear evidence that Jesus Christ came into the world so that "all" might be saved!

John 3:16 says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That's what we need to remember,,, don't be led astray by worrying about something that we can't control,,, or understand.

God wants what's best for us,,, and He's giving us every chance to make the right decisions,,, so be sure that you stay on the right path.

___________________________________ Put your faith in Jesus Christ!

Trust in Him,,, and Him alone!

If you do that,,, you will stay the course,,, on the narrow road,,, that few will follow because many are led astray,,, not because God has chosen them to go that way,,, but simply because they have not followed the direction that God gives,,, each and every day!

So be sure that is your intentions today,,, and every day,,, to listen for God's voice,,, and then proceed in obedience!

___________________________________ And if you aren't sure if your relationship is where it needs to be,,, don't wait any longer to fix it.

Let me remind you that Jesus said that His peace is always available,,, but you have to make that choice.

It will not be forced on you,,, that is something that you must decide to do.

If you have never made the commitment to allow Jesus to be your Personal Savior,,, please make that decision today.

We aren't promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready.

And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, be sure that you have made that decision today!

___________________________________ So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------