Sermon Tone Analysis

Readings

Brothers and Sisters in the Hope that we share, at the start of this, last month of the year, we read Hebrews and chapter 11 in our daily readings.

That chapter is known as being a chapter of faith, so we will touch on faith in our exhortation.

Our readings are one of the gifts that Yahweh has bestowed upon us, and does so on a daily basis, if we are willing to carry them out.

Ideally, they should be part of our daily routine, something that is first in our queue to take some of time, that we have been granted each day.

Other worldly things should be set aside, so that we can learn from and hear about the truth within the scriptures, that we may be washed daily with his word.

As we come to the end of the year, have we slackened in our readings and other things to do with the truth.

Have we weakened as the year went on?

We are at a time of endings, a time when the world around us says that it is to remember Christs birth, but its really about pagan traditions , gluttony and greed.

It is also a time when as the year has gone on, with no return of Christ, we may have weakened in our resolve, and in doing so, we are more susceptible to the lure of the falseness around us.

So it’s a time when we should try and hold fast and strengthen our resolve and look at scripture even the more intensely.

The world, is about to set new years resolutions, about things they could do better in the year to come, but then often fail in their endeavours soon after.

We should renew our resolve to have an active faith and strengthen that faith, but daily, not yearly.

We shall start our exhortation in Ephesians and chapter one with the words of the Apostle Paul

“To the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1v1).

These words may seem very simple on the surface, but they are Very important words, because they express to us all, the magnificence of our special relationship with Yahweh our Heavenly Father through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

It also unites all of us, because we share in that same faith.

One True GOD, the only Son and the unity of one faith provided for us all in the saving name of Jesus the Christ.

verses 3 - 5 of this first chapter:-

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

We should all thank Yahweh day by day shouldn’t we, for all that we have and for what is to come?

We have our readings, we have our fellowship one with another, our meetings, our prayers, and we have that hope of a place in the kingdom, to come.

But do we use the gifts that have been bestowed upon us, the readings and that fellowship one with another, in our meetings, and our communication through prayer, as often as we should.

Do we need to remind ourselves of the words of comfort and warning, from the Lord jesus in verse 20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

We only need to open our Bibles and to be with the Lord Jesus who we are here to remember this morning, and we have just read these words

“who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

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Our Bible is our heavenly place in Christ!

We are with our Lord every time we open our Bible or think about what our Lord has done for us, or when we share fellowship one with another, discussing our walk to the kingdom, he is with us every moment of our life, if we are faithful.

We should remind ourselves of this every day and in our every action, and yes it is a comfort for us, but also a warning, that we should strive to be always faithful, forgiving and thankful, for all we have, as Yahweh and Jesus are there, always at hand to help, and prepare us for the kingdom.

That we may, Yahweh willing, receive that gift of eternal life, to praise him forever.

We have been given the gift of prayer our communication to Yahweh, through our mediator and saviour the Lord Jesus Christ

verse 15, Paul says:-

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints”.

I know Paul here is talking to the Ecclesia in Ephesus, but these words apply to us all, and to all ages of people.

For if we are faithful, if we ‘agape’ love each other, ours is a saintly inheritance, Paul tells us this in verse 18 ;

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”.

This is where our faith should lead us; it should take us onwards to our inheritance!

Our inheritance is in our Lord, no other person in this world can provide this for us, and we are lost if we do not realise this.

In recent years we have experienced the downfall of the global monitory world, men’s hearts did absolutely fail them for fear!

Their faith in the world’s banking systems was being shattered, large companies suddenly collapsing, well known brands disappearing one after the other.;some of the biggest in 2018 remmington firearms valued at 921M, Claires accessories 2,000M, Iheart media 13,000M, all hope for them was disappearing as fast as they watched their stock fall, one after another; from one end of the earth, to the other.

Shopping centres once packed with shoppers feeling like it would never end and they would continue making money, now deserted and being purchased by councils at huge £m discounts, and only partially filled with charity stores and discount shops.

In the last month 4 large volcanoes have erupted around the world causing tsunami’s.

Men’s hearts are truly failing them for fear of what has happened and what is to come.

It should be a wake up call for us all, life can change in a moment, no matter how much money, strength health, power, all can be ended in an instant and out of our control.

The world’s leaders begging the ordinary man’s representatives to bail out the banking system, companies asking for money from banks that still might be able to provide, or private investors willing to put their own fortunes on the line for the existence of a company or brand name.

Countries falling apart, and it doesn’t have to be a big event, even at the smallest of actions by single people ripple through the country.

We should be constantly watching for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, our eyes wide open to the events of this world.

We have been taken by surprise before, a single man in Egypt sets himself on fire and not long after the country false into chaos and so the surrounding countries, by seemingly one mans actions.

Then most recently the largest financial economy in the world, America shuts down, people are sent home without pay, and the repercussions of this will undoubtedly be felt around the world the longer it goes on, this was in January this year, another shutdown happened this month.

Also Donald trump causing ripples around the world even with a single tweet on a phone app, or Putin taking action in countries and blatantly denying his involvement even with evidence stacked against him.

As instructed in the scriptures we must be continually watchful and ready, for we know not even what the next second will bring, let alone tomorrow.

Our every thought, action or saying may be our last.

But we can see here the will of Yahweh shaping the world for the things to come.

Are we brothers and sisters like the virgins prepared, or are we caught unawares with little or no oil in our lamps, are we asleep to the coming of the lord Jesus, have we fallen back into the world.

The false gods of mammon is fast becoming their downfall, beware that it is not ours too!

Our faith; in yahweh; provides us with a much better hope than this world can provide, with it’s reliance on mankind.

In verses 10-12Paul expresses this hope for us.

“That in the dispensation of the fulness 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: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

We need faith and in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 were read of a list of faithful people whose lives we can follow; walking in their footsteps.

Faithful men are in all ages!

We also have examples Abel, who worshipped in faith, by providing the acceptable sacrifice, Enoch who walked in faith, lived his whole life to Yahweh, Noah who witnessed in faith, with 120 years of preaching before the flood came, Abraham who wandered in faith, doing all that Yahweh asked of him till he could find a true place to rest in.

This is the true hope of all the faithfull who believe in God’s true word and follow His Son as the perfect example of that one, true faith.

Paul, in verses 13 - 16 assures us with his words because of two key words, they are persuaded and embraced: as we read:-

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

Is this not true for us also; we are persuaded; we are embraced in truth by our faith, so much so that we seek that same country.

If at any time our faith seems to falter, we only need to read verse 16.

This verse should strengthen us in our endeavour to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and follow him in faith and hope all our lives.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Yahweh is called our God, he is not ashamed of us, neither should we be ashamed of him!

We can stand tall, we are upright in our faith, we are in fellowship with Jesus by that same faith, because Yahweh loves us, as sometimes we can feel that we are not worthy of his love because of circumstances at the time, but he does love us, nothing wavering, nothing to shake our faith, from us!

It is sure and firm.

Yahweh so loved this world that He gave His only Son to die; that we may have hope.

Paul, in this second chapter of Ephesians reminds us of how we were in our lives before we took on the saving name of Jesus, we were dead in trespasses and sins.

In the second verse he reminds us of how, in the past, we walked according to the way we lived our lives, in the world, and that this was in line, with the children of disobedience.

Verse 3, really brings this home to us how we lived and would continue to live, had we not taken on the saving name of Jesus, and verse 3:-

“Whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

This lowers human nature down to its very base level, and shows to us how far our faith in Yahweh has projected us into a hope of a better faithful life.

The next 4 verses explain to us how this was accomplished for us:- (verses 4 - 8)

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

In verses 10 - 12, it shows us how this love came to us:-

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Verse 13 now; at the time of exhortation, shows how faith unites us all throughout this world and gives us all hope in our time of need:

- “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

And by this exhortation and others we have each week, and now a year closer to the kingdom.

We regularly remember the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he said,

“this do in remembrance of me”

The Greek here in these verses can be better translated:

“in memorial of me”,

Which shows in clearer terms, to identify with the significance of the sacrifice that he made for us and himself.

In doing this momentous act , the Lord Jesus is the one above all others whom we should remember.

As we have said lists many faithful witnesses, who, together with us, are in that position of privilege through their faith in the sacrifice of Yahweh’s beloved Son, who is

“the author and finisher of faith” ().

The brothers and sisters to those the Apostle Paul was writing were renouncing their faith in the sacrifice of Christ and going back to the works of the Law.

Their former conviction in the Lord Jesus Christ was obvious by their love for the Apostle Paul.