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Lighthouse Baptist Church
Adopted As His Children
(upbeat music) - Thank you for listening to this message. Brought to you by the audio ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church. It's connected in New York. For more great content, please visit us at LighthouseBaptist.org. Now let's open our hearts and minds to the word of God. (upbeat music) - If you haven't, go check it out online at Freshland Buy, we just Google it. And you'll see it. It is a very unique way to kind of look at the word of God. We have a couple panoramas that I haven't hung yet because I didn't have the supplies, but they will be hung this afternoon. And so one is for Ephesians, which are studying this morning. And then another one is really small, and it's Philemon, which we're studying on Wednesday nights. And so those will be both, one will be about where Mike is standing above the thermostat, that'll be Philemon. And then on the other wall will be Ephesians. So I encourage you tonight, go check it out. And basically what you see there is what Freshless Bibles all about. They do these full book panoramas, which are on one page, and they're really beautiful. And but it's also a way to study God's words. I encourage you to check that out. Have you seen the map yet? Who's seen the map? That map is so awesome. I keep looking, I keep like to standing there and just thinking about how many people are on it. And so what we're gonna do is we're actually gonna use that for outreach. And so you'll see on the map that there's grids, and each grid is like A1, A2, those kind of things. We have as a PDF. And so I'll actually print those off, and we're gonna laminate them, make them look all pretty. And then we'll take them out with us when you go on an outreach, and then we'll return them, and then we'll know it's done. And then I'm gonna start marking stuff off that we've already done, and I think they'll start to see that we've done a lot, but there is a lot more to do. And as I look at the map, that's what I see, because you'll basically see our church and we've kinda hit around our church and then down. But you see all the homes up in Schenectady that we want to hit, and my heart is burdened for them, and I hope yours is as well. And that will keep that in the forefront of our minds. That is the goal of that map. And so hopefully you've looked at it, hopefully you've seen it. That is the introduction, so we're gonna dive right in. Ephesians chapter one is what we're gonna look at this morning, Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians is a great book written by Paul to the church at Ephesus. And there's a lot of practical stuff in this book. And so I want you to understand that because this morning there's gonna be some kind of deep things you have to cover because we're gonna go verse by verse through this book. And so let's all stand, I'm gonna read Ephesians one verses one through six. And then we will dive right in, okay? You ready? So you find it yet Ephesians one versus one through six. It says this, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Isn't that a great verse? I love it, hopefully anybody else with me? Nobody, okay, that's a great verse. Okay, verse number four. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holding without blame before him in love. Verse number five, having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now, if you are listening to Brother Fielder, a couple of those verses may be like, "Uh-oh, don't worry, we'll explain it." And we'll get there eventually. So pay attention, okay, that's the goal. Don't fall asleep, pay attention. All right, let's pray, let's ask the Lord to use this message in our lives this morning. Heavenly Father, what are we so grateful for the opportunity that we have to come and assemble? What do we have to come and sing with your praises? Or what a powerful several songs we sang this morning? But I am so grateful that I am saved, but I am so grateful for the work that you've done in my life. What would help us today? Or to not just sing these songs, but what would help them to impact our life. But Lord, now as we open up your word, what is preached this morning? Lord, to impact us in a very real way. But you've done a great work in our life and we are grateful for that. But help us, Lord, to find something this morning that we can apply or so we can live better lives for you through the rest of this week and through the rest of our lives. But we're so grateful for everything that you've done and everything that you're going to do. We pray this all in the wonderful, precious, holy name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen, thank you, may be seated. So Ephesians, a great book, and I don't know if you were with me, but as we were reading some of those verses, you're like, yeah! And then you find another verse and you're like, uh-oh. You know, when I read, like, that we were chosen and we were predestined, you're like, uh-oh, don't worry. Don't worry, we will understand it here in a bit, okay? And so stick with me, I am not a Calvinist, okay? I'm making that clear this morning. I don't think that is a biblical model we need to follow. And so we're gonna look at it and we're gonna look at what it means and what it doesn't mean. And so kind of bringing that all in, but eventually, okay? So don't be like, oh, what is this? Don't worry, we'll get there, okay. So, as we dive in, let's look at first of all this morning, Paul's greeting, point number one this morning, Paul's greeting. There is a lot of information we're gonna cover this morning so we can make sure that we handle it biblically and so be prepared, I may talk faster than normal and we may move a little faster than normal so we can get it all covered, okay? Is that okay? Can we do that this morning? If you don't say, if you don't say yes, I'm gonna do it anyway. So just say yes, okay? There we go, okay. Versus one and two, Paul's greeting. First of all, what does he say here as he opens up this book? Paul, an apostle. What would you understand when an apostle is? An apostle is one who saw the resurrected Christ. We see that in apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, if you go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, go over to 1 Corinthians 15, hold your finger here in Ephesians, we're coming back, okay? As always, you know me by now. I don't just look at one passage. I like to look at it in the whole of scripture and so let's look at first Corinthians chapter number 15. As you go there, this is a wonderful passage and it talks about Paul, an apostle. Now, Paul as he writes many of his epistles, especially the prison epistles, he talks about how he is an apostle. And here in first Corinthians 15, verses seven and three nine, we see something that is pretty powerful. Now, if you understand first Corinthians 15, of course, it talks about the gospel, okay? So let's read a couple verses here. Let's kind of understand. It says in verse number one of first Corinthians 15, "Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preach unto you, which also ye have received and where any stand, by which also ye are saved. If ye keep in memory, what I preach unto you, unless ye have believed in vain, okay? Worthless faithless works, okay? For I've delivered unto you, first of all, how that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and then that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And that he was seen as Cephas, Peter, right? Then of the 12. After that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater power remained under the present one, this book was written not today, okay? They're not still alive. But some were falling asleep. After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. And we've got to understand this, okay? We've got to understand this. And we read verse nine, two, why not? I said my notes, we'll read it. For I am the least of the apostles that I am not need to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church. Here's what we got to understand. There are no apostles today. Why, I have not seen our resurrected savior. I've not seen him. So I'm not an apostle. Now I am called to be a disciple, one that is a tutor, okay, of a teacher, of Jesus Christ. I am called to be a disciple, one that studies his word, one that follows his teachings. I am called to be a disciple, but I am not, and neither are you, an apostle, okay? Just making that clear. 'Cause there are some churches that teach that even like the pastor is an apostle, no, I'm not, okay? There's a lot of names for a pastor, a bishop, but a pastor, a shepherd, okay? An elder, a lot of different things that we're called to do as pastors. But I am not an apostle, okay? So as we see this introduction, Paul an apostle, he saw the resurrected Christ. He saw his resurrected savior. As we continue on, look at this, Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, what does he say next to the saints? Okay, who is it written to? Who is this book written to? The saints, which are at Ephesus. Now of course, these saints are people that have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. If you go over one chapter in Ephesians to Ephesians chapter two, verses eight and nine, in which we'll get there eventually, probably 18 weeks from now, Ephesians two verses eight and nine, these are great verses versus you should have memorized, okay? Church, if you don't have these memorized, memorize them. We say, well, I can't memorize. Yes, you can, you just haven't tried it yet. Work hard at it, write it down on a three by five card, put it in your pocket, study it. I just put your hand in your pocket to grab your keys or whatever. You'll be like, oh, what is this? Oh, it's a card and that's the verse that I'm trying to study, okay? If you don't have pockets, ladies, put it in your purse, okay? And if you're like my wife's purse, you probably will never find it. Anyway, Ephesians two, verses eight and nine. For by grace are you saved through faith and then out of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of worse, lest any man should boast, okay? They have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. This church that he's writing to, he's not writing to the unsaved, he's writing to Christians, okay? They are saints, they have been placed their faith in Jesus Christ. They are living a holy life, okay? I want you to understand that you are not just called to be saved, God expects you to live a life that is different than those around you, okay? Romans six is very clear about this. What shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? What is his answer? God forbid. And so the answer to this is not like, live however you want because you're saved and God's gonna forgive you. No, live your life in a way that brings God honoring glory. By the way, if you want to study what that looks like or how to live that, Romans six is a great passage to study, okay? So write that down, Romans six is a great one. To the saints, they have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. They are trying to live a holy life. And then look what it says next and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Remember these people, they are trying to live a consistent life for God. It's hard to live that life, isn't it? Anybody else recognize that this morning? That it is hard to be consistent in your Christian life. But that's what God has called us to do. One of the things that always challenges me and what kind of pastor I want to be for this church is to be faithful. One of the verses that really hits me, I believe this in first Corinthians. It talks about moral burdens required in stewards and a man be found faithful. You may not be gifted to be a great orator for the faith, but you and he has called you to do be faithful. You may not have all the answers and you may be struggling and you may be still growing. He has called you to be faithful. And no matter how old you are this morning or how young you are this morning, the it is level God expects us all to be faithful. And I want you to think about that. How are you living a faithful life? These people, the people that are faithful, they have dedicated their life to their Savior and they do what he has for them to do. By the way, one of those things is sharing the gospel. Why do I push it so hard? Because there are a ton of people in this area that need to know the gospel, right? We recognize that? It will change everything. If we are faithful, reaching people with the gospel, it will change the politics, it will change the level of violence in our communities, it will change all of that, why? Because God will change their life, but it starts with the gospel, okay? Makes sense? We all need to vote and we need to vote biblically, but what it really comes down to, how we're gonna change our nation, it is by you and I sharing and preaching the gospel. That's what it comes down to and it's not easy and it's awkward and it's weird, but that's what God has called us to do. Makes sense? Following along? Okay, look what he says next in verse number two of Ephesians chapter one, verse number two. He says, "Grace, be to you and peace from God our Father "and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace, be to you, remember God's grace is what saves us. Remember Ephesians two, eight, nine, four by grace are ye saved through faith? God's grace is what saves us, but God's grace also sustains us. Do you remember when Paul is talking about the thorn in his flesh, the thing that he asked the Lord thrice three times for God to remove it? What is God's answer to him? My grace is sufficient for thee. Meaning God's grace sustains us even when it feels like there is something that is fighting against us. Now people have debated what that thorn in the flesh is. I don't care about the debates. It was something that affected Paul's ministry. And here's the thing we gotta understand. There are things in our lives that will affect our ministry for God, but God's grace is enough to sustain you. We gotta understand that. So when he talks about God's grace, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't just look at that as just an empty verse. Sometimes as you read through the epistles, you're like, let me get to the meat and just kind of jump over this introduction. Now all of it is inspired by God and all of it has a point. The grace be to you, God's grace is what saves you. God's grace is what sustains you and Paul here speaking about something that he knows a lot about. And so we gotta understand that. Look at the next thing, peace. Of course, peace comes from God. The world is searching for peace, aren't they? They want peace for the kind of flex. They want peace for all the different words. They seek peace all the time. But you know what peace really comes from? Your God and his word. Why can we have peace in a world that is completely messed up? Because my peace is not found in some diplomatic solution. My peace is found in my God who is in control. I can sleep well at night, why? Because I know my God has things under control. And he has a purpose in all of it. And so peace comes from God. Let's continue on. So now is the fun part. Okay, point number two this morning. Paul's recognition. We're not quite to the fun part yet. This is the middle fun part, okay. Paul's recognition, Ephesians one, verse number three. Look at what it says here. This is a verse that I wanna just start running up and down the aisles. Anybody else with me? No? Okay. I'll be all alone. It's fine. You can all just stare at me. It's fine. Like he did in Sunday school when I was trying to walk on a line, he couldn't do it. By the way, if you're not coming to Sunday school, you need to. 'Cause you could have seen me try to walk on this line and I was caved in the middle of the floor. And I could not walk on that line worth anything. Then he put these goggles on me, trying to make it harder. And I'm like, I can follow the line without the goggles. So you need to come to Sunday school, but that's another point. Come to Sunday school, come Sunday night, come Wednesday night. Okay, there you go. Now let's get back to the verse. Ephesians one, verse number three. "Blessed be the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ." Does anybody else get excited when you read that? Anybody else with me? Nope, you guys, you're killing me. I got one, I got Crystal. I got another one, okay. Anybody else, okay. Come on, over here, I need some people over here. Okay, there you go. This gets me excited. Man, I have been blessed. I am blessed by God. That is a great thing. And we gotta understand that. Sometimes we're like, we get that eore mentality in our Christianity. Oh, everything's terrible. No, it's not, come on. We serve a great God and we've been blessed by him. And it's okay to be happy in church. Okay? You with me? Come on, peeps. All right, there we go. I got one. Trying to wake you up. Okay, blessed be God. Why should God be blessed? Because in him, we have hope. Go to Ephesians chapter two. And I know I'm already like jumping ahead in this book. And we'll get there eventually. And we'll look at more of this. And you'll probably all forget, and that's okay. Ephesians two versus 12 and 13. Let's look at these verses. Look what it says here. That at the time we were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. Look at these next three words. Having no hope. And without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Do we have any like Jewish descent here in the auditorium? Anyone that's like actual Jew? No, you know what that means? All of us are Gentiles. Aren't you glad that the gospel was available to us? Without that, I would have no hope. I would be like everybody else. And I would have no hope in this world. But God made us who are sometimes far off made nigh by his blood. That is a great, great thing. We have hope in Jesus Christ. Why should God be blessed? Why is this first part of this verse here? Blessed be God in the Father of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Because in him, we have hope. Go to 1st John chapter five. Hold your finger in Ephesians 'cause we're coming back. Or you can use a little tail thing, whatever that thing's called. It's a little ribbon. 1st John five, verse number 11. Look at this verse, this is a great verse. And this is the record. The God had given to us eternal life and this alive is in his Son. How many are grateful for eternal life? You know, eternal life is not something that's like way down the road. God has given you eternal life right now. You know how I can know that? Because what God has promised, he will fulfill. It's not like, man, I hope I have eternal life one day. Now I can rejoice in that right now. Why? Because everything God says is true and I can take it to the bank. And if God has given to me eternal life, guess what eternal means, it never ends. And that is a tremendous, tremendous truth. Why should God be blessed? Because we have hope, because we have life. And this last one is kind of because of the other two. Because he gave us his Son. Look at John chapter three, John chapter three. Now all of this, I want you to remember all of these things because we are, okay? I'm setting you up for something later, okay? We gotta understand this, that he has made us nigh and that is a great thing. And he has given us eternal life. And in John three, 16, we find another wonderful truth. And yes, I literally want you to turn there, okay? If you already have the verse memorized, great. But I think sometimes it's good to look at it. Okay, John chapter three, verse number 16. Okay, I'll let you get there. Higher pages turning. Look what it says, "For God so loved." What's the next two words? The world. By the way, the world is not just a select few. The world means the world and everyone in it, okay? That he gave, that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You know what I don't find in there? Any kind of like qualifier. So he's like, okay, if you're a good person, if you're a Jew, if you've followed my laws, no, it's anyone who believes. That's what God expects. And again, I am, we are, I'm sending you up for what we're gonna talk about later, okay? But God is, why should God be blessed? Because he gave us hope, he gave us life and he gave us his son. Go back to Ephesians chapter one. Go back to Ephesians chapter one. Hopefully you did, hopefully you kept your finger there or kept the ribbon in there or whatever. That's what I'm doing. Ephesians one, verse number three. Let's look at the source of all blessing. Now, before we get there, how do you can say you've been blessed, okay? You guys are getting in now. Thank you. I see a couple of things that didn't raise their hand. Let's try it again. How many of you would say this morning that you're blessed? Raise your hand. Teens, I see that? I see that, okay. Let go to says here in verse number three. Blessed be the God and Father of Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with, what's that next word? All spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Guess what my source of blessings is, it is my God. He has given us all spiritual blessings. You know what all means? This is really deep. You know what all means? All means all and that's all that all means. Okay, it's not a complicated word. All means all and that's all it means. You don't have to be like, well, eh, no. All spiritual blessings came from your God. That is a tremendous thing. You know, sometimes I drive down the road and, you know, I'm like, man, that was really close. You know, there was one time I was driving home and it was late at night. I don't remember what I was doing but it was late at night and I was driving home and there was this car. I was driving on the, driving on the through way. I was minding my own business, driving in the lane. All of a sudden this car went and just like cut in front of me and guess what? God allowed me to see him do that before he ran into me. You know what that is? That was a great blessing. I didn't get wrecked. I didn't die. I'm thankful for that. And so sometimes we've got to understand that those moments, they're not just happenstance. They're not just circumstance. They're God blessing you. There are some people that preach a, you know, wealth, gospel, you know, all those kind of things where you give and God's gonna give you 10 fold more. I don't believe that's true. God will bless you and he can do it sometimes financially but most of the time it is something completely different. And I am grateful this morning for the blessings that God has given me. One of those being eternal life. That I don't have to wonder where I'm headed. That I can know. That I can know exactly where I'm going when I die. That is an amazing thing. Now here's the fun part. Point number three this morning. Paul's gratitude. Okay, Paul's gratitude. Now this is where we kind of get into the fun verses. Are you ready for the fun verses? Everybody paying attention. You guys awake this morning. All right, let's look at these fun verses. Verse number four. According as he hath chosen us in him, uh-oh, we'll get there, before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Okay, so as we read this verse, a simple reading will be like, oh man, God chose me. Uh-oh. So I want to make it clear. Okay, this morning is kind of where we're going to spend a little bit of time here. What it doesn't mean. Okay, what this verse doesn't mean. I want to kind of share something with you if you're taking notes right this down. Use the things you know from God's word to help explain the things that you don't. Okay, use the things you know in God's word to help explain the things that you don't. There are some verses, and I read this verse when I was first thinking about preaching this series, and I'm like, oh boy, do I want to touch that? And I was like, yes, sounds kind of fun, right? But as I read through it, I'm like man, this doesn't make any sense with what I understand. Well, you know what it does, you know what that means? You probably need to study a little more. And you need to look at the other verses where God is expressly clear on what he is and who he is. So let's kind of break this down, what it doesn't mean. First of all, go to second Peter chapter three. Second Peter chapter three. While you're turning there, I want you to understand something. God's word will never, ever contradict itself. Why? Because God's word wasn't written by just Peter. Peter was moved by the Holy Ghost, meaning God bore him along. He shared exactly what he wanted him to know and what he wanted to write down. It wasn't Peter's will when he wrote this down. It was God's will. And so you know what that means? The author of scripture is God himself. And so God will never, ever contradict himself. So second Peter chapter three, look at verse number nine. This is a great, great verse. And let's read verse number eight two, why not? 'Cause it's good. Word verse eight, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. Great verse, isn't it? Kind of teaches you to be patient, allow God to work because sometimes you're like, but God, yeah, I'm gonna answer this in three days. Yeah, don't worry, that's a seconds to him. Okay, and so you can rest in him. Look at verse number nine. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness. But his long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know what that teaches me? That God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. What hell was actually designed for? The devil and his angels. That's why it was created. Of course, man made the choice in the garden. And guess what? We made the choice. And all of us would have done the same thing. Well, if I was Adam, I wouldn't have done it. Yeah, right, okay. Yeah, right, you would have done the same thing. Adam was a fair representation for all of us, but what we have to understand is God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So what it doesn't mean, that God is choosing certain people to go to heaven and choosing other people to go to hell. Like, well, I don't like this guy, go to hell. I kind of like you, you're doing all right. I'll send you to heaven. No, that's not how it works. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Look at the next verse, first Timothy chapter two. First Timothy chapter number two. Now these are just general statements that I want you to kind of understand as we think about this verse. I mean, we're gonna talk about more verses, okay? So we're not done yet. First Timothy two, verse number four. First Timothy two, verse number four. Now we saw in the last verse that God is not willing that ain't should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Look at this verse, verse number four, first Timothy chapter two. Who will have all men to be saved? Who is that who? Our Savior, if you look at the verse before. Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. You know what that means? God desires for that person who cuts you off and treated you wrong for them to be saved. That is his desire. That is what he wants. And so as we understand this, what it doesn't mean that God has chosen some people to be saved and others to go to hell. It does not mean that. I want you to understand something as well. Go to Psalm 139 and we're gonna look at several verses here in this wonderful Psalm, Psalm 139. Anybody else with me that loves the book of Psalms? I think they are phenomenal. And sometimes you're like having a bad day. Go to Psalms and read them. And you're like, oh yeah. You kind of see like David's heart or whoever wrote the Psalm, the Psalm that you're reading. And you see it and you see it on the page and you're like, man, that's me. I'm so glad that I may have doubt but then it can be reminded of God's truth. The Psalm 139 and we're gonna read verse number two verses four and five and verse number 16. So in this, I want you to understand that God knows everything. Okay, he knows everything. There is not anything that God does not know. He knows it all. Let's look at it, Psalm 139, verse number two. Thou knowest my down sitting and my up rising. Thou understand us my thought of far off. He knows when we sit down. He knows when we stand. He knows our thoughts. We'll jump down to verse number four. For there is not a word in my tongue but lo, oh Lord, thou knowest it all together. Thou has beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. You know what that means? Hey, God knows the words that you say. When you're saying it under your breath. Uh oh. When you hope no one hears? Uh oh. Yeah, God knows the words that you say. Jump down to verse number 16 of the same Psalm. So Psalm 139, verse number 16. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. You know what that means? God knew who what you would look like before you were even conceived. And that is a tremendous thought. God knows everything. And you know what that means? God knows who will be saved and who will not. Understand what I'm saying? God knows that. Now how does this work with free will? I have no idea. Anybody else with me? I have no idea how this all works out. But God knows everything. The Bible is very clear that he knows everything. He knows every thought, everything we've ever done. He knew us before we were born. He knew all of it. He knew what was going to happen in our lives before it ever happened. God has a purpose in all of it. God knows everything. Now how does that happen to fit in with free will? I don't know. But here's the truth. God also teaches us that there is free will. That everyone has a choice. Go back to John chapter three, verse number 16. John three, verse number 16. This verse is very, very clear that it's not just for a limited few. It's not just for the chosen. It's not just for the elect. It is for all. Okay, John three, 16. There's a verse that you all know. You probably could quote it this morning. If I ask you to stand up, you probably forget it, but that's okay. John three, 16. That's why I'm turning to it. John three, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That what, what is that next word? Well, who's whoever means? Anybody, everyone. It doesn't matter what has happened in your past. It doesn't matter if you were a murderer or whatever happened to you. God said anyone who's whoever, believe it in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. There is a free will. Everyone has a choice. Go to Romans chapter number one. Romans chapter one. If you don't believe me there, look at some more here. Romans one verse number 16. I think that's the verse I wanted. Maybe it's not. Yeah, okay, yeah it is. Okay, we're good. You have these moments of the past where you're like, is that the right verse? Oh no. What was the right verse? I'm good. I'm good. Romans one 16. This says this for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. What are these next three words here? To everyone. Not just a select few, not just God's chosen, not just his elect to everyone that believeeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, to the Gentile, which is us, okay? And I'm grateful that it's not about lineage, it's not about your line or what you have done. God says it is to anyone that believeeth. Go to Romans 10. Romans 10, verse number 13, probably a very familiar verse as well, should be a great verse. Romans 10, verse number 13. Says this, "For whosoever shall call upon the name "of the Lord shall be saved." Remember whosoever is anybody. Look then down at verse number 14. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? So what happens first? The belief happens first, the call happens second. 'Cause how can you call on someone if you don't believe that they actually exist? Okay, and they're actually the way. So how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And that's not just me, that's you, okay? That's all of us. How shall they hear without somebody declaring God's truth? So we've seen what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that God is randomly picking people or like, hey, I like this guy, or ooh, I like his hair. I don't like his, so I'll see you later. No, he's not doing that. He knows because he's God, but in that moment, you have free will, okay? And so it's a very powerful thing we've got to understand. So what does this verse mean, pastor? What are you getting at? Why are we talking about this? Because we need to understand what this actually means. So let's go back to Ephesians chapter one, verse number three. Actually, verse number four, verse number four. We already diverse three, verse number four. According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holding without blame before Him in love. So who is this written to? Look what he says, has chosen us. What is us? All of us, but specifically in this, it is Paul who is a Jew. And the us is the Ephesians, which are Gentiles. You know what that means? You know what it actually shows us? And I think it's much deeper than what the Calvinist would probably take this as, is that God has chosen to redeem, not just his chosen people, but everyone. And that is a tremendous thing. Look at Ephesians chapter two, verses 12 and 13 again. We looked at these verses already, but let's look at them again now as we understand this. Ephesians two, verses 12 and 13. That at that time, you 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. This is the Ephesians, okay? These are, this is this Gentile group of people. Now, for summer 13, but now in Christ, you who were sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. The gospel is not just limited to a select few, the Jews, it is available to all. God has chosen us, the Jews and the Gentiles, in him before the foundation of the world. He always had a plan. And aren't you glad that he did? Aren't you glad that he's not like, eh, we'll figure it out. He always had a plan and part of that plan included bringing the Gentiles to know him. And I am so grateful for that. So look what it says here. According to this, he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. You know, holy means it means we set apart from the world and set apart to God, that's what it means. And so God has called us, all of us, the Jews and the Gentiles to be fully set apart from the world and set apart to God. And I wanna make this clear, because sometimes some churches take this way too far. It doesn't mean that you are never to rub shoulders with the unsafe. No, you are. God has called you to do that. What does the Bible tell us? Be holy for I am holy. Jesus, 100% holy, and none of us would argue that. You know what he did? He rubbed shoulders with an awful lot of sinful people. Not to condone them, but to share the truth to them. At church, here's what we need to understand. We are wicked people. The Bible tells us, hey, you look on a woman to lust after her, you committed adultery in your heart. Uh-oh, hey, you hate a brother or a sister in Christ without cause, you've committed murder in your heart. Hey, you covet, you know what he equates the covet distance with, idolatry. So you know what I might tell you this morning? Our church is full of adulterous, murderous, idolatrous people. Uh-oh, you know what that means? If that's true about me, then I shouldn't look down on anybody out that door. We are gonna have people come into this church and they may not talk like us, they may not look like us, they may not understand who we are and what we do, they may not dress like us. And here's the truth, I want you to get this. So what? We're gonna reach them with the gospel. Why? The gospel is bigger than all of that other stuff. And we were wicked, I was wicked. And I love, I think it's first Corinthians, what is it, first Corinthians six, I believe? Go there real quick, I want you to see this verse. And I know, I see the time, I know it, it's fine. Okay, first Corinthians chapter six. We okay, we all good, okay. First Corinthians six, I want you to go there. This is a great, great verse. First Corinthians six. And we're actually gonna look at several verses. I'm beginning verse number nine. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived in either fornicators, nor idolatchers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revelers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And look what he says next. You ready? This is where it gets good. And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. That is what we have to understand. We were in that same boat. And the truth of the matter is we still are, but God redeemed us and God bought us. And now we can't live righteous. And that is an amazing, amazing, amazing tree. Look at Ephesians one, verse number five, because we're not done yet with confusing verses, okay? So he has chosen us. The Jews and the Gentiles in him before the foundation of the world, he had a plan. And that plan included you and it included me and I'm so grateful for that. Look what it says next. Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Uh-oh, we have another buzzword for the Calvinists, don't we? We have predestinated. It means to predetermine. But you know what, what does it say here? Having predestinated us, predetermined us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. Go to Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter eight. And I know we're looking at a lot of verses and I know it's already 1204. We will live, I promise. There will still be food at United Buffet, I promise. Okay, by the way, I went there. All that food is so good. I went there with Josh, great food. Okay, Romans eight, I won't tell you where else we went. But we had a lot of fun. Okay, David will seal the receipts. Okay, Romans eight verse number 15. No, we weren't that bad, I wasn't that bad. Romans eight verse number 15. I'm gonna say, "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, father." You know what "Abba" means, it means daddy. Well, my boys, when my son or my daughter says, "Father," I know they want something. When they say, "Daddy," you know what it means? My ears bet towards them a little bit more. And God wants us to cry out and say, "Daddy, daddy, I need your help." And that's a good thing. Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, you know what it means? They got predetermined to include the Gentiles in his plan for salvation, that we are adopted. It's not like there's like a separate class where it's like the Jews are in this other class and the lowly Gentiles are way down here. No, he has adopted us all in the same way to be his child. That is a great, great thing. He predetermined it, meaning he had a plan for this all along. And by the way, the Jewish people got one of them to be a beacon of who he is to people around them. He wanted it to be where he had this nation and people would come to this nation, to join this nation, to worship their God. But you don't happen with the nation of Israel. They failed ethically. It didn't happen. Apart from a few cases, it really didn't happen at all. You know at church, God has called us to do the same thing. He has called us to be a beacon of light to the world and say, "Hey, we are different and I worship the true God." And I live different, why? Not because it earns favor or anything else, because I want to, because of what he did for me, because of how he died on the cross for me. I don't want to go back to that wicked way I used to live. I don't want to go back to that. Why? Because God has bought me. And that's when he has predetermined. He has said, "Hey, I have predestinated you "to be adopted as children by Jesus Christ to himself. "We are saved because of the work of Christ, "not our genealogy." Aren't you glad? It's not about who your dad was or what nation you dwell in. It's not about that. We are saved because of the work of Jesus Christ and that alone. Look at the last part of this verse, according to the good pleasure of his will. You know what that reminds me? That God can do and will do whatever he wants. And he doesn't need to ask me for permission. He doesn't need to ask you for permission. He can do whatever he wants. Why? Because he is God and you're not. Aren't you grateful that he's God? Because the way that we look for vengeance, man, we would have wiped out this planet a long, long time ago. Aren't you glad that God is patient? He is long-suffering. In the Old Testament, it talks about this, that the cup of their iniquity was not yet full. You know what that means? God waited for his judgment, even for the Canaanites, for a long time. And he was waiting for them to turn to the truth. But when they wouldn't, then he wiped them out. At least that's what they were supposed to do. Church, here's the thing. God is long-suffering to you and he is long-suffering to this world. Why hasn't he judged America yet? I have no idea, but he is long-suffering. And I am grateful for that. And look at verse number six, and we're almost done. I know every time a pastor says that, you can basically count another 30 minutes, but that's not true to me. Okay, visions one, verse number six. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. This is a great verse, and it's a powerful verse. He has made us accepted in the beloved. Accepted means this, that you are in dude with special honor. Remember, it's not my words of righteousness that I'm saved. I'm saved by his grace through faith. So why am I in dude with a special honor? Because he has promised me that I am his heir. And that's an amazing thing to be accepted in the beloved. It's not about what you do that makes you accepted. The Jews kind of got stumbled up on that, didn't they? You look at Jesus and you look at even how they accused him of being unrighteous and being a sinner, because he wasn't what they expected. He goes, no, it's not just about you. It's about more than you. Even one of his disciples, Matthew, he was a tax collector. Now, I know it means nothing to us, and I'm not looking bad on David, okay? I'm not. I try not to. He signs my checks, I wanna be nice, okay? Love you, David. But tax collectors back then, they were basically like working for the enemy. They were, remember, the nation of Israel was under the authority of the Romans, and what tax collectors would do, is they would collect taxes and they would raise the taxes to where they got a good chunk of it, and then they'd give Rome their part. And so they got super wealthy, basically praying on other people. And that's not David, okay? Right? Oh boy, oh boy, no. He's smiling, okay? That's not David, okay? But we gotta understand is that is who they were, and Matthew as a tax collector, he was someone that was really praying on the most vulnerable in his society. And yet what did he gotta do? He chose to call Matthew to be one of his disciples. And if you follow church history, Matthew would eventually suffer a horrendous death in India, where he was torn apart by horses, if I remember right. Why did he do that? Because it wasn't about what he did, it's about his savior. And if God can call someone like Matthew to be his follower, and Matthew can be so radically changed by the truth of the gospel, that needs to happen in our life too. You may say, well, you don't know what I did in the past. You know what, honestly? I don't care. Now, if I need to help you and I need to counsel you, I would love to do that, but honestly, it's not about that. You are accepted in the beloved. You are in dude with special honor. The only way to be accepted in the beloved is through Jesus Christ. But this also means that God's grace has been put on full display in his offer of salvation. God's grace has been shown to the world and to us that it's not just about your genealogy, it's not about the life you used to live, it's not about how well you kept the law. No, it is about him and him alone. I don't deserve his grace or else it wouldn't be grace. Remember God's grace is God giving us that which we don't deserve. I don't deserve grace, but God's grace has been put on full display here in this book because of our amazing adoption into his family. In church, when we understand this, when we understand these verses, that it's not talking about God picking and choosing people to go to heaven or hell, that it's not like pre-determining that you would be safe and you would go to hell, it's all about this, that God already had a plan and his plan included you and it included the people outside these doors. You know what that means to me? It means that I have a responsibility to share what Jesus has done in my life with others. You get it? And we're gonna talk about some amazing inhums and you'll see that throughout the rest of the passage here in Ephesians 1. And we're gonna talk about great passages like Ephesians 4 and the wives and husbands will be put on full display and we'll talk about all of that. And it's gonna be great, but don't forget, don't forget this powerful little passage in Ephesians 1 verses one through six, that shows us that God already had a plan. And by the way, his plan for you is that you will be used in reaching others with the gospel. So while I'm old, I can't get out and I can't do these things. You can be faithful right where God has placed you. You bring out a track. You invite people, you talk to people. People come to your house to help you with things. You share the gospel with them. You share the gospel with your mailman. You share the gospel with everybody that you come in contact with. You can't help but share it. Why? Because you are amazed and what God has done in your life. The church we're gonna do right now is we're gonna have a time of invitation. And I think what we need to do is say, God, God allow me once again to be amazed at what you've done in my life. Because sometimes we've been saved for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years. And we completely forget about the amazingness, the awesomeness of our salvation. So I don't encourage you this morning if you don't know Christ as your Savior, come get my attention. I'd love to share it with you. But if you do know Christ as your Savior, I would ask one thing that God would once again show you the awesomeness of your salvation. Just how amazing it really is. And I think once you get that part, the second part of the invitation will come naturally. Once you're amazed at what he has done, you will be shouting from the rooftops what Jesus Christ has done in your life. To be coming up, we're gonna have a time of invitation. Let's all stand. I'm gonna open up with a word of prayer and then I'm gonna ask you to do business with God. And I know it's 12, 15, I already warned Pete. It's okay. Let's ask God to work in our lives. Let's ask God to do real business. He'll do real business with us. That we'll do real business with him. And we follow over so grateful for your word when I'm so grateful for the fact that Lord, your plan, your plan for the gospel that included me, included all of us, the Gentiles for the people that honestly, Lord, we're far off the Lord, you made us nigh by your precious blood. We'll help us Lord this morning to once again, be amazed at the offer of salvation, we'll help us once again, what to maybe Lord just consumed with sharing the gospel with others. But help us to realize that there is a lost and dying world around us in this community that desperately, desperately needs the gospel. And help us to be faithful. And pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful, pray that it's all in the wonderful,