Who Am I?

Calvary Community Church of Tampa LIVE PM Service Service with Pastor Jesse Martinez

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say who are you who are we in this new body of Christ take your Bibles and go to the book of Ephesians Ephesians is a
really good book and it's a good book because it just explains all the things that the
believer has in Christ and and I I I was listening to a
Bible teacher on YouTube I don't know how many of you guys have heard of this gentleman his name his name is Mike Winger and Mike Winger almost he's got
over 500 000 subscribers the guy gets a lot of views on his videos
but he posted a video on Friday there's about a five minute video and in it
he was in Ephesians and he was in Ephesians chapter four and we're not going to be in Ephesians chapter four tonight but it was talking about how
because we are no longer Children of the of Darkness we are now children of light we should stay away from those
who are still in those unfruitful works and I don't know where Pastor Mike is on
these things but he clearly does not believe that a person once they are born
again they have a new nature that cannot sin but they still wrestle with their old nature and this is the old nature
and the new nature that we fight against all the time but he basically said there's three types of Christians there's Christians
that are Christians in profession but they have not believed unto eternal life
there are Christians who are Christians in profession and they have the works to back it up
no what he just said there it's very important and then he said there are those in the fuzzy category where we're just not sure
what I liked about what Pastor Mike said was he was honest in that I can't tell you what that fuzzy category is and I
know it's scary to be there I am so glad that the Bible does not teach that there is a fuzzy category
Christian somebody who has believed on Jesus Christ for eternal life yet they don't have enough works to prove that
they're really safe that person doesn't exist the Bible says very clearly you are
passed from Death unto life when the moment that you believe on Jesus Christ
and it says also very clearly you will never be brought into condemnation again
I mean I say that very clearly and some people want to debate it they say well clear is an interpretation no clear is
the sky is blue that is clear because it's simple now if I said
the sky on certain days and certain weather and patterns may be a yellowish
pink Hue now that's up for interpretation right because it's not it's not clear
but there are there are statements of assurance and Clarity in the scription one of them is when you believe you receive the power to become the sons of
God that happens immediately but there are there are pastors out there with huge followings
and they they still don't understand who we are in Christ what has transpired as a
result of your faith in Jesus Christ in Ephesians chapter 2 is especially
important for you and me because it it's addressing the Gentile which is what you and I are if you're
Jewish by birth then you are not a gentile okay if you're not Jewish then welcome to the
club called everybody else okay regardless of what background you may
have come from before Jesus Christ died on the cross
salvation was still available to the Gentiles but Salvation was coming through the Jewish faith
it was teaching of the coming Messiah there was the Mosaic Covenant to keep a proper
balance within the person's life so that they would not be experiencing God's
Wrath but ultimately those who died before Christ they looked forward to the cross
and those who died after Jesus Christ they have believed they look back onto
the cross salvation's still the same but for the Gentile especially back in
Paul's time when he's writing this book these are the heathens and I don't mean that in a comical way I mean that in a
very serious way I'm talking about six sacrifices
very immoral practices in daily life if you want to you you should you should
know that the where we get the word gymnasium from is not a good thing there were a lot of things happening in
Roman culture with sports and men and just homosexual Behavior it was very common
back in their time and now people are the Greeks they're hearing this news of
Jesus Christ and it's it's bringing them to want more they
want to know what is being taught here not many of them got saved but of those who did believe on Jesus Christ that he
was the one who paid for their sin which separated them from God it was a massive culture change
about a massive culture change and you can see this because of First Corinthians the reason why Paul had to
write that first letter to the church in Corinth was because I mean they were they were taking pride
in immoral sexual relationships where uh a man was sleeping with his mother-in-law and the church kind of
just endorsed it didn't say there's anything wrong with it they were taking Believers to court trying to sue them
for money and Paul was saying don't you know we're going to judge the angels we should behave differently because we're in this
new category now we're in this body of Christ one of the big ones was in First
Corinthians 11 when they were using the Lord's Supper as a feast so everyone got together hey you bring that ham that's
really good and I'll bring the mashed potatoes it's really good and we'll just have a big party at the Lord's Supper
they were preferring one another one of them would come in and be full meaning they'd have all the food that they need
and others of the same body of Christ would come in and leave hungry and he's like you're missing what this point is
and why they had that problem is because there's a lot of pagan Idol uh Idol sacrifices that looked just like that
lots of food lots of drink lots of gluttony lots of immorality
blood being shed people being sacrificed I mean often they were the the mentally
disabled uh children were being sacrificed so there were there were Temple prostitutes they're very common
that would be solely there for the pleasure of men and then when the child came to term and was born it would be
killed as a sacrifice just things that you and I would look at today and go perish the thought well
if you look at what's happening in our nation today it's the same stuff guys it's the same stuff people want to sleep
around without consequences abortion is on the rise I mean these things are being hotly
contested as a right I kind of cringe when I hear women's rights and then I hear something
like two and two to an abortion I don't know how those things go together but there's a lot of things that are being
explained nowadays and Justified but they're not right and now these people get saved
what do we do now you got a new way to live life you should not live the way that you
used to live not to be saved but because God's Gonna you know the truth now so you need to know who you are in
Christ and live in the truth of where you are but Ephesians chapter two I'm really praying we can get through the
whole chapter I think does an excellent job of talking about who we are in Christ so let's pick it up in verse one
and you have to quickened this is a note I want you to make here the word Quicken means Made Alive
who were dead in trespasses and sins now what does that mean that means that we were dead useless because of our sin it
we are born separated from God Paul says that they've been quickened
now because they've been made alive in Christ previously they were of no use to God
they were just there for judgment who were dead in trespasses and sins he
explains this further wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world I want you to take a note
here that there is a path this world will lead you down you follow what everybody says is right
what the world says is right you will go down the course of the world and it leads to destruction
for the Lost person it leads to an eternity separated from God in hell
to the saved person it leads to a destruction of opportunity and ultimately of their body they will die
according to the prince of the power of the air who is that that is the devil yes the devil does have a title and he
does have power here on the Earth rest assured of that the spirit this spirit this attitude
that now worketh in the children of disobedience Paul now explains further as he goes
into verse three among whom also we all had our conversation now
this is interesting he's not only saying just you Gentile is my audience he's including himself
what's it say conversation by the way it's a archaic word
used in this way it means Behavior okay you see a kid with bad conversation
good conversation that would be saying you know bad behavior good behavior there's a difference you can see it and
Paul says among whom these children of Disobedience that spirit that worketh on the children of
Disobedience among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in and so
how do we see those things manifested number one the lusts of our flesh when you see that word lust it doesn't
always mean sexual desire by the way it just means desire matter of fact it's used in Galatians chapter 5 is that the
flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit lusteth against the Flesh and you might go oh no Spirit lust that's good
and bad those are no it's just it's just a word to describe desire we can lust after a good thing now we
don't use that word in our society today in a good way okay normally it's used with negative
connotation but we can see that it just means desire so number one
how are we uh behaving in times past before we were saved
by whatever we wanted to do that's what it says there's less of our flesh
I'm hungry I'm going to eat I feel like doing this I'm going to go do it look what it says fulfilling the
desires of the Flesh and of the mind this is also a very interesting teaching
there's a lot of people that think our brains our thoughts are just chemical reactions you know you just everyone got a
different level of chemical reaction if you take two chemicals and you put them together
you're going to get the same reaction every time based on how much chemical there is but even in the difference of chemical the difference in reaction is
not going to be something totally different we may bring in a nice apple pie into
the sanctuary and some of you will go and I'll know that you're saved and some of you would go ah and I'll
know that you're lost I'm just kidding but we're going to have different reactions well wait a second
if it's all the same if it's all the same chemicals and it's just a nose smelling things wouldn't we all think
that something smells good or something smells bad I mean some people don't have a problem with the smell of burnt hair gross
I mean there are like some perfumes that everyone would be like oh that sounds smells fine like that smells disgusting
because we're all different we all have different interpretations of things because not it's not all only just our
bodies and our our physical ability that drives us it's very clear here there's a distinction
the desires of the Flesh and of the what you got going on up here
your body's kind of like a puppet to your mind we don't understand how all those things
work we know there's electric signals and all that the brain is uh what'd you say created like it has a purpose I
can't imagine you know Evolution says these things took millions of years I don't know how something can get
better starting off worse the Single Cell amoeba how does it know that it needs another one
does it even have awareness of itself I I don't know why I ever question why I
never question these things in high school but that just doesn't make any sense how do you know you need an eye if
you don't have the concept of sight I think about that for a moment I mean where what are we believing
it is easier to believe the things that God says are true than what science is putting forth
oh rest assured nothing is something I wish Bank of America believed that
I wish my bank account believed that nothing was something where's your mortgage payment well you
got something what'd you send nothing okay late fee
ding on the credit but anyway there's a distinction there fulfilling the the desires of the Flesh
and of the mind and where by Nature here's who we were please highlight this the children of Wrath
even as others meaning in regards to the entire world being separated from God we
were just like anybody else regardless of how good we behaved
whether we just fulfilled good desires or bad desires we were separated from God
verse 4. two great words here but God
and there are some characteristics that are described of him following this next statement who is rich in Mercy
what does it mean to be merciful it means to get what you do not deserve
Mercy we know what that Mercy is like because we've experienced that Mercy on the
cross we should have spent an eternity separated from God but Jesus died in our
place that is getting what we do not deserve and so many times I hear Believers falsely excuse me erroneously say we
need to move on from the gospel no we don't we need to move into the gospel we
need to get further into it I've talked to some people that are here today that have gone to Bible studies and when
the gospel is brought up it's like oh come on this is a Bible study
we all know Jesus died on the cross we all know he paid for sin let's talk about something different
like did Adam have a belly button I mean they don't talk about that per se but look I think people can get
sidetracked on Prophecy prophecy is very important but what's the what's the point of Prophecy you
better believe on Jesus Christ before he's coming back a second time and you don't have a chance to believe
these things are serious but people can get sidetracked on genealogies
archeology nothing wrong with those things but if that becomes the only thing that you're doing and you're not
keeping the gospel at the top through those things you're missing out
I remember I had a friend of mine that was witnessing to an atheist some Friday night Soul winning and they talked for a
long time and he was telling me I had to keep pushing off of the creation argument I
had to keep pushing off of it because that's all he wanted to talk about my friend knew it'd be better if he went to heaven and believed in evolution
but he believed that Jesus died on the cross for his sins then it would be for him to go to hell and believe in
creation not saying those things are not important but one is more important than the other would you agree
we need to keep the main thing the main thing and this is what Paul is saying here God has been rich in Mercy he has shown
Mercy to us and that Christ has died first look at what this says for his great love wherewith he loved us now
hold your spot here and we just wrapped up first John so I want you to recall first John 4. hold your spot there
go to first John 4 that word love is thrown around today but it's not thrown around in the
scripture it is not thrown around the Scripture it doesn't mean oh be nice to everybody
just let them do what they want to do blah blah blah no that's that's not what that means
look what it says in first John chapter 4 and verse 9. page 13 24 in this was manifested the
love of God toward us manifest means to make known what was made known the love of God so this is the love of God defined we can take this definition and
plug it into what was said in Ephesians chapter 2. because that God sent his only begotten
son into the world that we might live through him here in his love not that we
loved God there's nothing wrong with that as a matter of fact Paul or John just got done telling him you should
love one another and that's how you love the Lord but look what this says but that he
loved us he was the first mover that's why I like in Ephesians 2 4 it
says but God you got all this negative stuff dead and trespasses of sins
the desires of your flesh children of Wrath similar to the children of Disobedience but God who is rich in
Mercy and has demonstrated this great love what is that great love verse 10 here in his love not that we loved God
but that he loved us and sent his son to be the substitutionary
sacrifice for our sins propitiation big word simple meaning substitute
he went in our place every time around Resurrection Day
I think of that song I should have been crucified I should have suffered and died
I should have hung on the cross in disgrace but Jesus God's son
took my place I loved that song didn't get to sing it this year because we had
we had a great program there was there was so much in there but I love the truth of that song
he stepped in my place that's love all right go back now now that we've defined that
verse 5. even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ by
Grace ye are saved now what does this mean even when we were dead in sins mean
that means that while we were yet sinners while we were classified useless
to God because there's no righteousness that we could ever do of our own to earn eternal life he quickened Us by grace
and we received that grace through faith which you'll see in verses 8 and 9. this does not mean that God had to hover over
you first listen to me now that God had to hover over you first and breathe in
the gift of belief that's not the order there is a prominent teaching that that
are taught by it you may have his Study Bible Mr John McArthur Mr John Piper the late
R.C Sproul who on his deathbed said I hope I make it he had no assurance
of his salvation none you can go look that up it's incredible it's actually incredibly sad
I pray that RC Sproul at least knew enough to put his faith in Jesus Christ but what they teach and this is the
calvinistic doctrine is that God gives you the ability to believe and then you
respond to belief it is irresistible Grace once you receive it once you have heard it and God has
predestined you to believe you will believe it's like he turns on the light switch in your life to be able to
believe they take that word dead and they take it to the extreme you can't reason with the dead body if
you went to the cemetery and tried to talk to people you'd be taken out but that's not how God treats us
a chapter 1 and verse 18 after he talks about all the things that Israel is doing incorrectly he says come now let
us reason together why would God reason or ask someone to reason with him to
which he has not given them the ability to reason that's like me asking my smartphone
something that to do something that I know I cannot do and then hold it against it
it's not programmed to do that we are not robots we're not living out some path that God
has predetermined for us because then we have to now we have to say does God predetermined sin
did God predetermine a person to commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
now hold on a second that's serious who will be able to stand before God and
have excuse I think the one that says you asked me to believe as a matter of
fact you commanded me to obey and yet I could not obey
I do not believe that God operates in that way I want you to see this here in Romans chapter 5 and verse 8. hold your
spot there but in Romans chapter 5 and verse 8 we have what I think is a good
expounder upon Ephesians 2 5.
Romans 5 8. but God commendeth archaic word which
means demonstrated but God demonstrated his love now have
we defined love this evening yes what is that love that God sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins okay toward us
in that I want you to note this while we were
this is why we were meaning while we were in this state what's the state yet sinners Christ what died for
us there's another teaching in Calvinism it is called oh
limited atonement and it means that God only died for the elect
hang on that's not what this verse says he died for people while they were yet
sinners who's a sinner everybody
so that doesn't make any sense how does this make sense God makes salvation available to all
the difference is regarding who will be saved whether you believe or not that's the difference
we don't have to make it more complicated we don't have to over complicate the sovereignty of God by the way sovereignty means he is all-powerful
he has all the power can God in his sovereignty give man a free will and hold him accountable to the choices he
makes yes can you imagine if we treated our children the way Calvinists treat theology
I'm serious about this you would say the child that is disobedient would not be worthy of Your Love
but no there's a problem with that child they got they got an issue with rebellion and they need to be loved to
learn how to obey but can you imagine if all the difficult children were just unloved and separated
from their families cast into judgment possibly even killed
as unprofitable perish the thought yet people look at God and say oh praise
God that's how he works um I don't see that in Scripture go back to Ephesians 2 5. we're going to
really start moving here where we were dead in our sins
he's quickened remember that word means Made Alive us together how excuse me with who with Christ how is
Christ Made Alive he came back again from the dead on the third day so that's why when in baptism we say buried in the
likeness of his death and we don't drown people we don't keep him under there and say I
hope you really were saved you got to struggle now can you imagine I'd be in jail I'd I'd baptize one person
what happens I bring them up and I say raised to walking in a newness of life that is a direct quote from Romans
chapter 6 because as this teaches I was dead in my sins I believed and when when
Christ when Christ walked out of that grave I walked right up with him and
I've got newness of life I have a new nature I have a new purpose God's mercy has been shown to me
I've been quickened I'm alive now verse six and hath raised us up together
and made us sit in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus this is one of the things I
want you to see about this question who am I you are seated in the heavenlies
isn't that amazing you are not sitting in the nosebleeds
you are on the field you walk in with him
that's different I've been gifted some seats at sporting games that are really nice and I sit
there and go boy this is nice but it's different than being on the field participating
it's a lot different than being in the Suites verse 7.
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding Riches of his grace and
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus who am I I am a recipient of the
exceeding Riches of his grace and kindness we don't understand this because we
don't understand the concept of Eternity time is going to stop at some point today today will end tomorrow we'll
begin we don't understand what it's like to literally I want you to dwell in this for a moment to have eternal life the
opposite being Eternal death while yet alive
burning in hell with a body that does not fail
I cannot fathom that I can't get my mind around suffering forever I can imagine
suffering for a few moments after a severe leg break or maybe after an operation waking up
and being in tremendous pain these things are probably on my mind I was talking to my father-in-law about the
pain that he went through with his knee surgeries and when he broke his leg and all that
he said that some of the worst pain he's ever had that is Comfort compared to hell
that's why we look at this verse and we say Amen I'm saved I'm going to heaven that is exceeding riches we don't get
that this is why I think every mouth will be closed and every knee will bow
when it comes to Jesus Christ he is the Messiah the one that has brought about
eternal life we throw that phrase around eternal life eternal life what does it mean
being with God forever we are a participant in that who am I oh
you know I'm saved by grace but boy it's tough you don't have to live that way
and I don't mean to be insensitive I know things are tough but I want to encourage you to remember who you are you are redeemed do you love to Proclaim
it it's like we were saying a minute ago now here's those verses that we know 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 what's the gift of God
faith is not the gift of God every man exercises faith I got faith that this
creaky stage will hold me up we're going to try and fix the creaking so that I don't have to have too much Faith to be
up here you know what I'm saying faith is not the gift Grace is the gift
Grace is what I've been given that I don't deserve that's the gift
for by grace are you saved through faith how am I saved through faith in Christ
Jesus isn't this good stuff and that not of yourselves it is the
gift of God he clarifies further not of works not of Works lest any man should
boast why is it not of works because then someone could boast someone could say oh don't forget about
me I stand right next to the blood of Christ redeemed because I came to church 52 weeks out of that one year in 2007.
redeemed because look at my tithing statement redeem because look at how much I've given
not of works because no man will be able to stand and say I am also my own
Redeemer there is one and his name is Jesus Christ verse 10. for we are his workmanship oh
you know what workmanship means this is the result of a creative intent
I am not a crafty person if you have a big event coming up and you want me to do a painting you don't
want me to do a painting do you understand I'm not creative in that way
the only thing I really enjoy creating is music and even then it's limited I
used to write music in high school because I was studying advanced placement music theory and it was prevalent on my mind
but I used to love how to you know creating all that stuff at the time there was the Star Trek remakes were
coming out and there was this really cool thing that was in the beginning and I wrote a four-part
um performance for the bay for the brass section
word for line for line on that music I enjoyed doing that I never really created my own music
but I knew people that could and boy when you see someone who could really write music and they understood
harmonies and tonality and all that and they put it together like wow that's someone's that's a product of
someone's creativity that's a person's workmanship you are the workmanship of God do you
recognize the the honor in that statement we stand here today fully delivered as a
trophy of God's grace that's you
regardless of what the world may say about you that's what God says about you isn't that enough
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto meaning we should grow up
into something specific what's it say Good Works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them yes there are opportunities that God has laid out before us but he does not slip into the control of
our lives and we like robots go and do these things that he's asked us to do he's still given us a free will
the shame of a carnal Christian is that they bring shame to God that's the shame
of it they take the blood of Christ and they trample it some pretty strong big gulp warnings in
Hebrews chapter 10 it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God
that's not to unbelievers that's the Believers that are I like this
playing games they're playing games you ever you ever hung around someone that's just always playing games they're not really about
it you're like you better wake up before life hits you hard I've seen some teenagers play games and
it puts major scars on their lives before they even turn 21. their lives are changed
and keep playing games but God has given us these this opportunity to walk in good
works now we we got time so let's keep moving verse 11. wherefore remember
he's transitioning verses one through three he's talking about who we were four through ten talks about who we are
and how we got there 11 he's reminding them again this is their position by Nature I like Scofield's title there
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 hand so there's a
difference here a common sign that you were a Jew and you were born into a practicing Jewish family was the
circumcision on the eighth day that was the sign that God had said to Abraham was going to be the sign
okay so all those who were uncircumcised you're not of that Covenant doesn't mean you can't get saved these are pictures
and they're saying well Paul's saying here is you were a part of the ones who were outside
this is who you were in your flesh meaning this is what you were born into verse 12.
that at that time you were without Christ
so this is who was I you were without Christ you were also aliens
uh more common word would be what foreigners
not natives from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers from the covenants of Promise
having no hope and without God in the world
wow that's who I was it breaks my heart when I hear Believers say I just feel like I don't have
anything to look forward to I don't have any hope not mad at them not mad at those those people at all
because they're suffering but let me tell you they've taken their eye off the ball that's who we were we have hope now we
have purpose now but now look at that I think it's so interesting 11 and 12
we've got all these bad things but we also have that phrase but now just like we had in verse 4 but God is a
transition here but now presently in Christ Jesus you who were sometimes afar
off are now made nigh by your good works no
by what the blood of Christ that's how we are made nine
um it's like man could not have written this
really man man could not understand these Concepts this is from God 14 for
he is our peace who hath made both
the Jew and Gentile one how oh I like this and have broken down the
middle wall of partition between us I remember in school in uh oh boy it was
eighth grade let me tell you 8th grade was a weird year and old Jesse Martinez's life just a weird year I was
like that theater kid I don't know why it was just a weird year but I remember we were in Portables
that year and there were large Portables and when we would go in for testing like FCAT you
would have to everyone would be in the uh portable together but there'd be a huge accordion
partition and I was always just amazed by those they were in my Sunday school at Westgate they were they were here at
Calvary we have rolling partitions back there but they're made to separate people there's not a partition in my house
I don't go to the partition and speak through the crack of the partition and say hello honey good to see you
I love you so much no I like that the I like that phrase breaking down
what does it mean they're torn out of the way the things that separated us you're on the outside the promises are
not to you they're removed now it's almost like they've been violently destroyed
like the tearing of the temple veil from the top to the bottom there is now nothing standing in the way
between God and man well I love that and have broken down the middle wall of partition having
abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of Commandments contained in
ordinances the Mosaic Covenant the laws to which you would have to keep perfectly in order to be saved he's done
them for you he's abolished those in his flesh because he was the sacrifice
for to make in himself of Twain Jew Gentile
one new man so making peace
so now when God looks at you and me he says righteous Justified
at peace with me this is why I believe that God does not judge us from a position of Wrath
can we bring God to to anger with our Disobedience yes but there's there's a
clear difference in scripture between wrath and anger I think there's righteous anger
absolutely Jesus demonstrated that now that doesn't mean you can go around and flip tables because your pastor said
there's righteous anger that would be funny but you should not do that
but there is there is a reason to get upset Paul and Barnabas when they heard a false gospel acts 15 says and they
caused uh excuse me and with no small dissension they vehemently
defended the faith that doesn't mean they're like oh excuse me for by grace are you
now they're probably doing a little yelling doing a little shouting I don't think they're duking it out with anybody
but they were definitely defending their position we're not under God's Wrath anymore that
was satisfied on the death by the death of his son we're a new man now we've been brought
into this body the body of Christ and 16 that he might reconcile that word means
remove that which is out of the way excuse me remove that which is in the way
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross having slain the
enmity thereby look at this as an illustration okay Jew over here all right Gentile over here
separation in the Covenants okay what Christ did read that verse that he
might reconcile both Jew Gentile unto God in one body reconcile means to
remove that which is in the way the requirements to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant he's done it so now we're one
in Christ peace with God
understand that's who we are now I like the idea of an of an individual
but I'm a part of the body of Christ I'm a part of a greater thing than myself I saw a Republican senator one time he
was being he was being baited to talk about his race and you know this lady was trying to get
him to identify in some way but I like his answer she said well what are you
what do you identify as and he obviously perplexed he goes I identify as an American
and you know we like that because we're Americans and go America and that's good
there's nothing wrong with that but I started daydreaming about if that was me and somebody were to ask me
what do you identify as I identify as God has called me I'm his child
but somebody say that in Congress that would be great I'd want to vote for
that guy that that would be interesting thing but people don't look at themselves that way
who am I yes I'm a husband yes I'm a pastor yes I'm a friend all these different things but primarily
I'm assigned sealed and delivered child of God and I have humbled myself as a servant
for him I like that title or as second Corinthians 5 says we are
ministers of reconciliation oh put that on a desk on a name badge that's nice
you know that same pastor says you're an ambassador oh now we're talking that's when you bring out the starched
collar you know I'm an ambassador careful how of what how uh how you're representing anyway
but look what he says 17 and came and preached peace to you
which were far off what is the preaching of Peace that's the preaching of Jesus Christ his cross
and to them that were nigh uh by the way them that are far off who would that be you were Gentile
Gentile those that were nigh the Jews so look at this salvation is the same
not a different set of rules for one or another for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the father and
there's a great case for the trinity Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit and the father all access for the believer
verse 19. now therefore ye Are No More Strangers this does not mean that they
no longer act like strangers this is very important because they do still act in their
carnality but in the eyes of God they are no more outside of the promises they're in the
body of his son do you see this difference there is a difference because if we're saying you no longer act now your
salvation is determined upon how you continue to behave but what this is our position this is
where we are placed now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners we could also say aliens like it said up
there in verse 12. but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household so
not merely working in the house as a servant you are of the house
and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Cornerstone
in whom all the building all of those in the body of Christ when
they are yielded and obedient fitly framed together groweth up unto a
holy Temple in the Lord in whom ye are also builded together for inhabitation
this is where you live this is where you experience the joy of your salvation for inhabitation of God through the spirit
how does all this come about it comes about as we explain chapter four
chapter four chapter three by the way talks about the dispensation of Grace excuse me
how Paul said these things were not understood before they're being understood now
I'm not saying you can do this but for the sake of following the same thought you can take three and set it aside and
read right into four because he just said it's fitly framed together the body is fully framed
together to it groweth into a holy Temple why would he have to
have chapter four if everybody's going to grow automatically if you're saved you'll grow that's not a real life world
it's not a real world case and that's why when pastors like Mike Winger God bless the guy because I've heard him
give the gospel clearly but when it comes to once saved always saved he's wishy-washy on these things
and I just watched a video where he clearly said there are some people where I don't know if they've done enough to be saved you only have to believe
but the reason why excuse me for getting a little excited here the reason why
we are commanded to grow is because there is a temptation to be carnal we still have that capacity
nothing within us has changed in regards to our old nature we struggle with it
now look at four I therefore the prisoner of the Lord
beseech you that you walk worthy Paul would not have to beg them to walk worthy if they were going to do it
automatically that would be insanity
he's begging them why is he begging them because there's a there's a chance they could walk unworthily
I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called what's the vocation you're called into
eternal life you're a part of this body that is fitly framed and joined together don't ruin it
don't mess it up not your salvation but this body of Christ
foreign with all loneliness and meekness and long-suffering for bearing one another
in love that's how you maintain spiritual growth it's not get stronger get better work
harder all those things are great but humility look at the statement loneliness and meekness
when's the last time you've seen a guy hit a walk-off Grand Slam and he goes
yeah yeah I mean he's flipping the bat now and the guy's like
uh we won the game I mean it's fun I get it but it's like that's not loneliness and meekness okay I like the baseball
players that hit the home run out of the park and they just dropped the bat and and and they let the power of their feet
hitting all those bases say everything I like those guys I don't like the ones that are like and they got the big oh
look at me yeah and they do the some of these things they got all this stuff going on The Dugout nowadays
anyway my point is lowliness meekness by the way you want
to see meekness two people in the scriptures Moses and Jesus was the only two ever described in
scripture to be meek and the only other time it's used is a call for believers to obey in
meekness long-suffering forbearing one another in
love well I don't like them so let's let's kick him out of the church this guy's annoying let's get him careful
careful that people are not that you're not being the one that's being forebeared you know what I'm saying look at what it says endeavoring to keep
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Paul would not have to talk about these
things if it was not a threat to happen he's asking for Unity here because there
is a threat for division he's asking for humility because there is a threat to Pride in the body of
Christ no there's no way yes there is way how because we are still sinners
we still have a carnal sinful nature but we've been delivered from that
we've been given the promise of eternal life one day you're going to experience the Deliverance of that promise when you
die or when you're raptured but while you're living here just as Titus said I love that Gary read that
this morning lives soberly righteously and godly in this present world
good stuff huh guys that is one chapter 22 verses plus
three of another book of another chapter wouldn't it be good tonight if you could just kind of you know I don't know if you like the
house cold or if you're like me and you like a big blanket you know and just read the whole book of
Ephesians and see the entire overarching theme there are websites you can go on where
you can read the Bible in paragraph form I encourage that I like that because it's like you're
reading a letter that was written sometimes you know with a study Bible I mean look at this thing I got I got a
center reference I got notes on the bottom I've got paragraph titles I've got little numbers and letters sometimes
it's nice to just have an unedited copy of the word and read that letter you read Ephesians you're
going to go wow that was short and it's like six chapters worth
and you're like wow kind of destroys the whole in my Bible a day I just read two verses
for I know the plans that I have for you and there's nothing wrong with that verse but you know there's so much more
in the Bible there's so much more I like messages like this I've got a few of
them before we decide the next series I'm actually thinking about doing a study on the seven warnings in the book
of Hebrews which I think would be a really good study but it's not a feel-good study like like tonight was
all feel good it's like yeah we could we're gonna go Pentecostal in here hoot and hollering jumping up and down I can
see you know I can see how people would be motivated to have that kind of response for people that are coming to
the the truth they're coming to the understanding of these truths for the first time I can see how people are excited
I get that not saying I endorse it like we should do it here but man I I I don't have any problem
with getting allowed and praising the Lord and just being thankful for who we are man we're going to sing praises to
Him forever last song I sang that was pretty much it my voice is starting to hurt
and I know not all of us sound great you know there's a difference between a good sounding voice and a Joyful Noise
yeah you know what I'm saying three people from the choir just laughed and now they're wondering if I'm talking
about them no I'm just kidding but I'd encourage you to continue to read read for
read five and six of Ephesians there's a lot of good application there as you
grow and we've got we've got so much to do and it's not a bunch of hard work we
just trust the Lord more and more amen if this hand represents you and me I'll let my wallet represent sin I put this
on top of my hand because the Bible says for all his sin then come short of the glory of God he loves us very much he hates this sin
because it separates us from him in order to get to heaven we have to be perfect just like God without any sin
but we all fall short that's the definition of the word sin it means to miss the mark the wages of sin is death
it's not any good works it's not any promise to keep a promise that you make or any kind of turning from Evil Deeds
or any kind of good behavior or money there's no amount of good works that could ever save you what is the weight
is the sin it is death and there are many people who will die today and spend an eternity in hell
and that should motivate us to reach as many people as we can with the truth I'm serious about that you think about hell
long enough it'll change your life when you realize that there are people
heading there today this hand represents Jesus Christ God's only begotten son fully God and fully
man and what Jesus did on the cross is he took all of our sins became that sin for us
he was endured that cross for you and me and then he died
he went into the heart of the earth he did not suffer in hell but he went into the heart of the earth raised again three days later with that sin totally
gone and paid oh he went in there and he duked the devil out no when he sat on the cross it is finished this was removed that's when
the temple veil was torn it wasn't torn three days later it was torn the moment that Jesus says
it is finished because the sin was paid for and you know what sin was paid for on that cross mind all of it
every last one paid don't have to worry about that ever
again in John 3 16 says for God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son his name is Jesus Christ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but I
have everlasting life I know I'm going to heaven because Jesus Christ died for my sins and I have put my faith in him
the moment that I put my faith in him I'm forensically declared righteous in
the court of God I've been Justified I'm given the righteousness of God I'm given a brand new nature I'm sealed as a sign and
promised from the Holy Spirit and now I have good works to do
now I have a purpose now I can actually do things that bring praise honor and glory to the Lord before I was in the
pattern of this world you were 12 years old how bad could it be bad enough to send me to hell
bad enough to send me to hell but God
who is rich in Mercy amen please believe on Jesus Christ do not wait let's go to the Lord in prayer
heads about nicer closed if you're here in the audience and this makes sense to you for the first time you understand
now that the only way to get to heaven is by Believing on Jesus Christ maybe
you were trusting in a pattern of good works or a promise that you had made or maybe a prayer that you had prayed but
you didn't understand it you just prayed the prayer none of those things Save You Jesus Christ is the one who can save you
you are saved by Believing on him if he got saved this evening and that
makes sense you never had done that before meaning you've never put your faith in Jesus before I'd like to pray for you would you just
slip up your hand and let me know this is available to you on the internet as well and this will be replayed I
don't know how many times but the offer is good all the way up until you die but please don't wait
believe today believe and receive everlasting life father thank you for your word we just looked at one chapter
and there's so much in your word for us to excavate and apply thank you Lord in
Jesus name we pray these things amen