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Lighthouse Baptist Church
God's Redemption
[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. [music] >>Efeasions chapter 1 is what we're going to look at this morning. Of course, Ephesians talks about understanding our unity in Christ. And we talked about some deep stuff last week. That was great fun. And hopefully that helped you out. And I encourage you even as we study this book and we study the little book of Philemon, and we have the wonderful, fresh-look Bible panoramas back there for those two books. Check them out. They really kind of help you understand the breakdown of these passages that we're looking at. So we're in Ephesians chapter 1 this morning. And what we're going to talk about is God's work for us. And I want you to know this morning, and I think you'll find this out very quickly. God's work on our behalf is a tremendous, tremendous thing. And I want us as a church to be rejoicing in that and thinking about that, and let it be a motivation for us as we share the gospel with those around us. Hopefully you are in Ephesians chapter 1 already. Let's all stand out of respect for the reading of God's Word. And we're in a read Ephesians chapter 1, verses 7 through 10 this morning. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 7 through 10. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward us and all wisdom and prudence. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." Let's ask God to use these verses in our life as we talk about God's work for us, specifically his wonderful redemption. And so let's pray right now. Heavenly Father, Lord, we are so grateful for your Word. But we're so grateful for this book, Ephesians. Let me get to dive into this morning, what I ask is that this message would impact our hearts. So that we would find ways to apply it to our lives. So it would help us to really be overwhelmed by the work that you have done on our behalf. But we don't deserve it. We know that. But we are so grateful for what you have done. It would help us to just be renewed in that this morning. But we are so grateful for, once again, your Word. What I ask is that you would use it to impact our lives in a very real way, not just today, but Lord for the rest of our lives. And we pray this all in the wonderful, precious, holy name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Thank you, may be seated. So in this part of the book of Ephesians, you're gonna see a similar phrase. It is in whom? Okay, so you see that in verse number seven. Okay, if you jump down to verse number 11, in whom, once again, if you jump down to verse number 13, you see it again in whom. And so there are several things that the Apostle Paul lets us know because we're in whom. Now, who is this whom? What do you think? It's Jesus. Yeah, go back to verse number five of Ephesians chapter one. It says, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption "of children by Jesus Christ, to himself, "according to the good pleasure of his will." And then it continues to the praise of the glory of his grace, speaking of Jesus, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And then it says, "In whom?" So it's referring back to our Savior, Jesus Christ. And so it's very important for us to make that statement, okay? Because as we look at this, it is because of the work of Jesus Christ that you and I are redeemed, okay? And that's really the whole point of these verses that we read this morning. So point number one, this morning, if you're taking notes, okay? It is this, God's redemption, okay? God's redemption. God's redemption is a tremendous thing. Redemption really means this, to gain or regain possession of something in exchange, in exchange for payment. And of course, as you read these verses, you see what that payment was. Look at verse number seven of Ephesians chapter one. In whom we have redemption, what are those next three words, church? Through his blood, okay? That is the payment. Now we're gonna get to that in a second. But I want you to also go over to Hebrews chapter nine, okay, keep your finger in Ephesians 'cause we're coming back. Hebrews chapter nine, verse number 12. So Hebrews nine, verse number 12. Now if you look at verse number 11 of the same passage, you'll find out who he's talking about. So we'll read that as well. But Christ, being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats, but by his own blood, Jesus. He entered in once in the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. I just wanted us to look at that verse. I think it's a really good one, but there you go. So Hebrews nine, verse number 12, a wonderful kind of added verse to kind of help us understand this. So first of all, let's look at God's redemption. Letter A, if you're taking who notes, it's source, okay, it's source. What is the source of our redemption? We find it right there in those next three words that we already said, in whom we have redemption through his blood. Of course, shed on the cross of Calvary for us. Church, I don't want this beautiful cross to be just a decoration for us. I want it every time that we walk into this building to be a reminder of what God has done on our behalf. God paid a tremendous price for our redemption. And we, I think in Sunday school, Pastor Pete mentioned this about the value of human life and really what the value of human life is. We got to understand this. The value of anything is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it, okay? Now we look at inflation and we're like, oh, it stinks, but guess what? We're all willing to pay for it, okay? We haven't stopped buying stuff. We're still buying stuff and so we're willing to pay it. So what is the value of human life? What is someone willing to pay for it? The value of human life is that God loved us so much that he sent us his son to die for us. That is why human beings are valuable. It doesn't matter about your race. It doesn't matter about your creed. It doesn't matter about where you're from or what language you speak. You are valuable because of what God did for you and what he paid for you, his precious blood. So let's look at, so we saw it's source, letter B and we're gonna move 'cause we got some more stuff we need talking about. It's source, let's look at it's substance. What is, what does this redemption do for us? Why did he pay this cost for us? Let's look at our verse again, Ephesians 1 verse number seven in whom we have redemption through his blood. What are those next? I gotta count them four words. My forgiveness of sins. What does it do? It forgives our sins. Of course, if you don't know Christ as your savior, the Bible is very clear that you are a sinner. Romans 3, 23 tells us that all have sin and come short of the glory of God. That means me, that means you, that means everyone. The Bible is very clear that you are not a good person. Scripture tells us that all our righteousness are its filthy rags. Disgusting, used rags. That's what it's talking about. And it even goes as far as to say that the payment for our sin is death in Romans 6, 23. For the wages of sin is death. That means separation from God forever in a literal place called hell. You are a sinner and there is a payment that has to be paid and that is separation from God. It's a pretty terrible part. The gospel is called good news, but so far it's not good news, is it? But for those who know Christ as their savior, they're all smiling. You know why? 'Cause they're not the end of the story. Romans 5 tells us that but God commended, He demonstrated, He proved His love for us in that while we were yes sinners, Christ died for us. I am a sinner, I have violated God's law. And because of that, I deserve hell. But God proved His love for me and that He died on the cross for me. And that's the tremendous thing. Ephesians 2, 8, 9. Now how does this great payment come to my account? Well Ephesians 2, 8, 9 says, "For by grace God giving you "that which you don't deserve are you saved through faith." And then out of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not have worse us than any man should boast. You see, it's not about what you do or what you could do. It's about what Jesus Christ has already done. And church, I know that we've all heard this before. But can I tell you something, when was the last time this really impacted you? Some of you have been saved longer than I've been alive. In case you're wondering, I'm not that old, okay? I am 38 and I don't, it may be shocking. You may think I'm older than that 'cause I'm bald, but yes, I am 38. But here's the truth, when was the last time you were so overwhelmed by God's redemption for you that you couldn't help but share it with somebody else? Do you remember, go all the way back to when you were first saved. Do you remember those days? When you were first saved, you couldn't help but tell other people about what God did. They wanted you to shut up and you just kept going anyway. And it didn't matter what they did. You were gonna tell them, church? I think sometimes we've lost that. Now that we've been saved for a long time, it's kind of lost this luster 'cause we've heard the gospel preach many times. But here's the truth, it shouldn't. Is God's salvation any less important to me now that I've been saved for 23 years? No, no it's not. It's just as important as it was back then but church, here's what happens. We often forget that. Why did we spend a lot of money, right David, on that big map? Because that big map, every time I walk by it, I am overwhelmed with how many people are in our community that need the gospel. That's why we did it. I want you to walk by it every day and I want you to use that bathroom over there because I want you to see it. Because church, sometimes we go, "Well, our church is great." And yes, our church is great. But there is a community out there that needs the gospel and we have to be overwhelmed with sharing that truth with them. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Let's look at letter C. Okay, so we've seen its source. It is through his blood, the substance, the forgiveness of sins. Now let's look at its supply. And this is a great phrase here in this verse. Look what it says here at the end of the verse. It says according to the riches of his grace. Aren't you glad that God's grace isn't just like a limited supply? That is not like I could only say five people. No, it's limitless. He wants to redeem everyone. God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That is what it is. And it is amazing for us to get that truth. It's supply, it is limitless. God's riches are not like mine that fleet and they go away. I'm like, "Oh, great, I got money." And then I'm like, "Oh, never mind, I got bills." Yay. You will never exhaust God's supply of grace. You never will. Look at verse number eight, as we continue on with this passage. We're in, because of the riches of his grace. We're in, he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence. You know what wisdom is? It is the practical application of knowledge. You can be a very knowledgeable person but if you don't apply your knowledge, guess what you are? You are a fool. We have a lot of people in this world that are very knowledgeable people because of what they believe. It is very clear that they are biblically a fool. You know what the Bible says? That those people that say that there is no God, they're a fool. There's a lot of people that are smarter than me but the Bible calls them a fool. Why? They know things but they are not wise. Church, you may know a lot about this book but if you don't apply it, uh-oh. Guess what you are? You're a fool. I know, man, but it's Sunday morning. Yeah, we need to hear this because God does not want you to take this book and just put it in your head. He wants you to take what you know and then now live it out. And church, that's what I'm encouraging you to do as we study this and as we look at Ephesians, I want you to not just know about the book, I want you to apply it. Well, look at that next word, prudence. It is practical insight, practical insight. We can look at the world and we can kind of know where things are going. Why? 'Cause God's word told us about it. And I'm excited here in about four weeks, so I'm doing my math, right? We're gonna start the study in End Times. I'm excited about it. And we're gonna look at what God says and what he doesn't say. And we're gonna apply a lot of things. As someone reached out to me and they're like, "Hey, can I ask you questions?" Of course you can. I love questions. I may not have all the answers, but you're gonna ask me questions. And eventually, by the way, there's a little insight to the calendar next year. In the spring time, we're gonna have a Q&A. It is not, trust me, okay? The Q&A is not meant to be stumped the pastor, okay? I'm just making that clear, okay? I want it to be things that you're like, "Man, I've studied this and I've read this, "but I want more knowledge. "I want to understand it more. "How do I live this truth out, pastor?" That's what I'm looking for, okay? And by the way, you don't have to wait till spring to ask me those questions, okay? There's a reason why my phone number is still in the bulletin because I want you throughout the week to be reading God's wording and you're like, "Hey, I don't understand this." You reach out to me, "Hey, pastor, I don't get it. "I don't know what this is saying. "Am I missing something?" And we can talk about it, and I can study it with you and we can encourage each other in the faith. So practical insight. It is looking at things from a biblical worldview. So, letter one, letter one, there's not a one letter, by the way. Letter I, okay, or one, or whatever you want to do, Roman rule number one, God's redemption. Now, Roman rule number two, God's plan, okay? God's plan. First of all, under God's plan, letter A, his revelation, okay? Let's look at Ephesians one, verse number nine. "Having may known unto us the mystery of his will, "according to his good pleasure, "which he have purposed in himself." There's a cool word there called mystery. When you look at the word mystery, what do you think of? Kind of think of like, you know, like something that you can't quite figure out, you know, like the mystery of this crime or those kind of things. That's not what I want you to think about when you see the word mystery in God's word, okay? It is something that God has not revealed, but now he is fully revealing, okay? So he hasn't talked about this quite yet. It is something new that God is showing, okay? It's not like this thing where you're like, I'll never learn, right? No, God wants you to know it, but now he is revealing something that he has previously not revealed. And so when we see this, "Having may known unto us "the mystery of his will," it's a pretty amazing thing, isn't it? God is about to reveal something that is truly amazing. And I like it because it includes me. Aren't you glad when you read scripture that you're like, "Hey, Jesus included me too?" You know, like, "Hey, that's me." He didn't mention my name, but that's me. And it's written for me. And this is one of those things. Let's look at his desire, letter B. At the end of this verse, it says, "According to his good pleasure, "which he hath purposed in himself." I want to kind of park here for a moment because we got to understand this, that God knows what he's doing, okay? God knows what he's doing. And you look at it and you're like, "What is today?" Today's the 15th, okay. I look at today, September the 15th, 2024, and I see a world that is in chaos. Anybody else see it? Do you see it? Aren't you glad that God knows what he's doing? That God has never sat up on his throne and he's like, "Oops." I say, "Oops" a lot, right? I'm like, "Oops, my bad." But I'm so glad that my God's not that way. God knows what he's doing. Go to Romans chapter 11. Keep your finger in Ephesians, but Romans chapter 11, this is a great passage. And I know I say that all the time, but it's the truth. Romans 11, and we're gonna look at verses 33 through 36. God knows what he's doing. I may not fully understand God's full plan of how he's gonna work all these things for his good pleasure, but I know that God knows exactly what he is doing. Let's look at Romans 11, verses 33 through 36. I still hate pages, we're gonna wait. Okay, we're good. Okay, Romans 11 verse number 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out, we could stop right there, but we're not gonna. Gonna, that's a great word. 34, for who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom he glory forever, amen. You know what that tells me? God knows what he's doing, and oftentimes, I'm not gonna get it. Do you see that in verse number 33? And his ways past finding out, you're not gonna understand everything that God's doing in your life. And I'm not gonna understand everything that God's doing in your life. Why? God's God and I'm not, and neither are you. But God knows what he's doing, and I love verse number 34. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Like, okay, God comes up to Sharon, to Sharon Dittin' and he's like, okay, Sharon, what should I do? He's never done that to anybody. He's not done at the pastor prime. He's not done it to me. He hasn't done it to Mike or to pastor Pete or to any of you. He doesn't seek advice why he doesn't need it. He already knows what he's doing. Or who hath first given to him verse number 35, and he shall be recompensed unto him again. God is not indebted to anyone. God doesn't owe me anything. As a matter of fact, I owe him everything. He owes me nothing. So some of you go, well, how can God be good and allow evil into the world? God doesn't owe this world anything. We owe him everything. Our very breath is a gift from him. Our life is a very gift from him. Everything we enjoy is a gift from God. I don't, he doesn't owe me anything. I owe him everything. And that's a tremendous truth that we need to understand. God knows what he is doing. Go over to Romans chapter nine, verses 17 through 20. So just probably a page or two over. Romans nine, verses 17 through 20. So God knows what he's doing, right church? I think we all agree, right? God knows what he's doing. Point number two under here, under this kind of subpoint here. God can do what he wants. Okay, God knows what he's doing, and God can do whatever he desires. Get what I'm saying? Romans nine, verses 17 through 20. Look what it says, "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, "even for this same purpose, have I raised the up, "that I might show my power in thee, "and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. "Therefore, hath he mercy on whom? "He will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. "Thou will say, then unto me, why doth he yet find fault, "for who hath resisted his will? "Nay, but oh man, who art thou that reply is to against God?" Show the thing, form to say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Do you see what he's saying? God can do whatever he wants. God used Pharaoh, a wicked person, to accomplish his will. Who said no, repeatedly, and you know what God said? Oh, watch me. I'm gonna do it anyway. And God used a wicked person named Pharaoh, even in the hardening of his heart, to accomplish his will. That verse number 20, by the way, in that passage, Romans 9, verse number 20, "Nay, but oh man, who art thou that reply is to against God? "Who are you to say God? "I don't agree with what you're doing." That's the idea. And then he says, "Shall the thing form to him?" "Shall the thing formed? "Say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?" Saying, okay. This water bottle. Can this water bottle say to me, "Why did you make me a water bottle?" No, 'cause it's a water bottle, right? Who are we to say God? Why did you allow this into my life? God can do whatever he wants. He made you, and there are terrible things that may have happened to you, and I understand it, but can I tell you something? God wants to use those things for his honor and his glory in a way that he could not have used your life without it. Do you know what I'm saying? I've talked to some of you, and I'm my heart breaks for some of the circumstances that you've experienced. But can I tell you something? God wants to use that for a purpose. Let me say pastor, what is that purpose? I don't know, but God wants to use it for a purpose. Here's what I would encourage you to do. Lean into that purpose. See, okay, God, I understand that my life has been erect, and I understand that God, you haven't, the things that you've allowed in my life, they are terrible, I get it, but Lord, allow me to see an avenue of ministry through this. Church, that's what I desire for my life, and that's what I would challenge you to desire in your orders. You and I found out in ministry, this is shocking, this is a secret. Nobody's supposed to tell you this. Okay, you ready? Everyone in the church is different. Isn't that mind-blowing? I mean, all of your hair just fell out. I mean, it's mind-blowing. Can I tell you something? Your salvation story is different than mine. I got saved on September 11th, 2001. Literally that day I got saved. You probably didn't, but your salvation story is different. Your past experiences are different. Why? Because God uses all of that to accomplish His will. We're talking about spiritual gifts, and we're gonna continue on it tonight. I know we have a business meaning, but guess what? I'm still gonna preach, okay? So hopefully you're okay with that. If not, I don't care, I'm gonna do it anyway. But you are all different. And God is able to use your circumstances, your past failures, what God has allowed in your life for His honor and glory. Now that is not an opportunity for you to say, "Well, I can just do whatever I want." Romans 6-1, watch how he continues in that grace may abound. What does he say next? God forbid. No, absolutely not. That is not what I'm talking about. In church, that's not what I'm talking about either. What I'm saying is you have experiences, you have things that have happened to you, use it for God's kingdom. Some of you have gone through tremendous loss, and you are able to comfort somebody who's been through the same thing. Some of you have dealt with past addictions and you've been freed from it. You can challenge people that are in that in this moment to now say, "Hey, you and I found God was the answer." And to me as a pastor, who's never been through that before, I don't know what it's like, but you do. And God can use you for that in that someone else's life. Look at the next part, verse number 10 of Ephesians 1. Do I actually Ephesians? I know we are in Romans for a bit there. Romans, Ephesians, oh my word, I cannot talk. I'm so excited, I cannot talk. Anybody else ever get there? Yeah. Words, okay. Look at verse number 10 of Ephesians 1. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in all things, in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. So letter C, if you're taking notes. So we've had letter A, his revelation. Letter B, his desire. Letter C, his time move. I want you to understand, dispensation is simply God's plan, okay? God's plan. Now, you can break down it into many different dispensations, so you can have that talk and we could, whatever, we could do that. But I want you to simply understand that dispensation means God's plan, okay? So what I said, that in the dispensation, so in God's plan of the fullness of times, okay? So God's had a plan. And remember, God has always had a plan. So here's what I want you to understand under this point. So we have already seen it, we're kind of breaking this down a little bit. God knows what he's doing. God can do whatever he wants. Now kind of along that same idea, God can do it, his will, when he wants. Go to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18. And I know we're thumbing all over the place, but it's okay. We have the Bible, let's use it, okay? And Genesis 18. By the way, if you don't have a Bible, I should have said this earlier. We have them in the pew in front of you. So you can use that. I probably should have said that a long time ago. But now that the sermon's almost done, now you can grab it. Genesis 18 verses 11 through 15. Now of course, Genesis 18, it's Abraham and Sarah and God's promise of the seed, okay? God's promise of a sign. Okay, so with this, we need to understand that God can do it when he wants, his will, he can accomplish his will when he wants. Look at verse number 11 of Genesis chapter 18. And we're gonna read all the way down to verse number 15. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and stricken in age and is ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure? My Lord being old also. And the Lord sent into Abraham. Wherefore did Sarah laugh saying, shall I of a surety bear a child which I'm old? Look at verse number 14. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Of course the answer is what? No. At the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied saying I laugh not for she was afraid. And he said, nay, but thou didst laugh, okay? Of course God knew because he's God. And also I want you to understand, did you see that in verse number 14? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. Do you realize how old they are? They're like old old. Okay, so you got like old and then you've got old old. Okay, in case you're wondering, that's kind of how my brain works. You got like old and you place yourself wherever you want in this, okay? But they are like seriously old. When they have a child, Abraham's 100, Sarah's 90, if I remember right? They're old old, okay? You're tired of a hundred year old dude and saying, hey, you're gonna have a son and a 90 year old wife, you would laugh too, okay? But guess what? They have a son, even when they're old old. They have a son. God had a plan and church, he accomplished it. You know, sometimes we do. We in our kind of foolish way of thinking, we go, well, God, you haven't answered this prayer request in my timeframe. Wait a second, God can do what he wants, when he wants to do it. But well, God, I prayed about this for like a whole five minutes. Why haven't you answered this yet? God doesn't have to answer it on your timeframe. And oftentimes church, he won't. Why? Because he is developing your faith. God has a bigger purpose in mind. Let's go back to Ephesians chapter one. Let's continue on with our verse in Ephesians 1-10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. Now, what we're gonna dial in here is this fullness of times. I want you to understand that God worked out his plan at his precise time. I've often thought why did Jesus have to come during the Roman period, right? You think of like the many different times that Jesus could have shed his blood, right? We've had capital punishment for years, he's stoning other things, why did it have to be a cross? Because that's when God wanted it to be. It was the fullness of times. Why is it that the Gentiles were now included, like what we talked about last week, in God's salvation plan, why did he wait till then? Well, it was the fullness of times. God worked at his precise time and we will never fully understand it. Why? We are human beings and he's not. I am finite, he is infinite. God always knows what he is doing and church, he always has a plan. This is important. God knows what he's doing and he always has a plan. Get it? Everybody pay attention? God knows what he's doing and he always has a plan. So let's continue on. What is his plan? What is he talking about here? Well, I'm glad you asked. Letter D, his purpose. Okay, if you're not taking notes and you finally decided to take notes, letter A, his revelation, his desire, his timing, now his purpose. What is his purpose? Look at verse number 10 again in Ephesians 1. Then in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one. That's his plan. Hmm, what does that include? You and me. Go to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter number three. If I can remember where it is, that would be helpful. Christine, no comment. I'm just kidding. In case you're wondering, I had a problem trying to find what book was that? Me and Maya, I could not find him. Probably because he's so short, he's knee high. No. Nobody, no, okay, we got a few, okay. You'll get it eventually, okay. Colossians three, verse number 11. By the way, he's not the shortest person in the Bible. It's been dead to shoe height, until the case you're wondering, okay. Look at verse number 11 of Colossians three. I know my jokes are corny, it's fine. I'm bored. I'm a dad. Okay. Got it? Colossians three, verse number 11. You ready? I still hear pages. I'm waiting. I'll awkwardly stare at all of you. We'll get there. I want everyone to see this. I still, I still hear of Colossians three verse number 11. Where there is neither Greek, nor Jew. Circumcision, nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free. But Christ is all, and in all. You know what that means? Christ didn't just die for the religious elite. He died for everyone. You could break down all these different groups and you could look at the Greek, the intellectual, and you could look at the Jew, the spiritual. The circumcision, the nor uncircumcision, the barbarian. The person that is completely unreligious. The Scythian, the bond, nor free. The person that is a slave, or the person that is free. The person that has slaves. But Christ is all, and in all. Church, you know what that means? That when Christ, when we go back to our first Ephesians 1,10, that he might gather together in one. He's speaking of all of that. All of our stories are different. You may have been in a different religion and you may have a different story, and you may have known about God's word, but maybe not really preached God's word before. And you can know all those things. There could be someone that didn't have any religious background at all. We are all saved the same way, and that is through faith. You know what that means? We're all equal. You know what I'm saying? We're all equal. There's not a hierarchy in the Christian faith. I'm your pastor. But guess what? I'm a sinner just like you. It's truth. Ask my wife if you don't believe me. Okay, she'll tell you. I'm a sinner just like you. I fall. I make mistakes. You do too. And guess what? There's not a hierarchy in this church. There's the pastor. There's the board. There's Sunday school teachers. There's sound guys. We all work together for the cause of Christ. Can I tell you something? You may look at me today and you'd be like, "Well, you don't know what I've done in the past. God does, and He saved you, and He's working in your life, and you are in the process of sanctification just like me." And guess what church? We are all together in one. We are unified. Well, we should be. And we'll get to that eventually. We should be. Let her eat. If you're taking notes, if you aren't, it's too late now 'cause we're almost done. His scope. His scope. Look what it says. He might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. Now we're almost done, okay? But I've got some more verses, okay? You all good? Anybody starving yet? Too bad? Well, we'll all get there eventually. Okay, let's look at things in heaven. Let's break this apart. Ephesians two. Good Ephesians two. Ephesians two, verses five and six. Even when we were dead in sins, have quickened us together, made us alive. Is that idea of quickened? Us together with Christ, by grace, year saved. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together and heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Hey, isn't that an amazing truth? You were dead in your sins, meaning you couldn't help but sin. But yet, God made you alive. We've talked about this before, but Romans five, verse 10. Talked about how we were enemies with Christ, but yet He reconciled us. He fixed that relationship. Church, aren't you glad that now we are going to eventually sit together and heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Aren't you glad that this is not the end of everything? Aren't you glad that it's not like, hey, live your life for all the pleasures that you can enjoy. Aren't you glad that that's not the life you live? That God has something much greater for you. Go over to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. This is eight. I know I've said this a lot already, but this is an awesome passage. Okay? Do you ignore all the other ones? But this is a, no, I'm just kidding. This is a great passage. Romans eight, verses 16 and 17. What is the greatest indication that you are a child of God? The Holy Spirit's conviction. The Holy Spirit's work in your life, and we find that here in these verses. So whenever I had a team that would talk to me about assurance of salvation, my first question was, are you convicted of sin? Why, if you are, that's a pretty good sign, right? When you sin and you're like, man, I know I'm, this is, and this does not please God. That's a great sign that you are saved. Look at Romans eight, verse number 16. The Spirit itself, the Holy Spirit itself, bear with witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. You know, that means, hey, if you are convicted of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit's telling you to do something that pleases God, that's a great sign that you're a child of his. Can I save this too? I'm gonna say it, okay? This is another secret thing, okay? You ready? Can I do secret number two this morning? The devil will never tell you to do something that brings God honoring glory. Well, how do I know if it's God or the devil speaking? Does it bring him honoring glory? It didn't come from the devil. I guess where I can know it came from. It didn't come from my flesh, right? Paul says, I know that in my flesh. 12, no good thing. It's not the world. So who does that leave? It leaves God, right? So if it brings God honoring glory, it's not the devil, it's not the world, it's not my flesh. There's only one other voice it could be. It's God. Let's continue on, verse number 16, the spirit is self-earth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Look at verse number 17. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorifying together. Hey, you wanna know something? You are a child of God. Come on. I'm a child of God. I'm a joint heir with Christ. I don't deserve that. It's nothing that I have done. Church, that's an amazing thing. Hey, He has brought us together in one. Things in heaven. Hey, I now have a home in heaven. Hey, I know I'm a child of God. I have direct access to His throne. That's an amazing thing. Some of you are getting it. That's an amazing thing. Oh, come on, guys, come on. (congregation laughing) Come on, I know it's 1205. Come on. Come on, do it again, you know what you got at this time. That's an amazing thing. - Amen. - There you go. Hey, guys, see that wasn't that hard. (congregation laughing) Was it that hard? It's okay to talk in church, not when you're talking to each other, but talk, it's okay to reply, or else I'll preach longer. That's all right, I got to eat me classes for mission. Okay. (congregation laughing) We have a wonderful home in heaven because of Jesus Christ. Go to Revelation chapter five, and we're gonna finish it here. Revelation chapter five. You and I love about lighthouse. There's a lot of things I love about lighthouse. One of the things is that we take our missions program seriously. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that David reads mission's prayer letters every Sunday school, by the way, if you're not coming to Sunday school, you're missing out on one. And every Wednesday, it's Sunday morning, do you do it right? Do you do it? No, we don't do it on one. Sunday school, Sunday, Wednesday night. We may get 'em to read more. I'll get, I'll work on it. Sunday school, and Wednesday night. We read prayer letters. Why? It's good for our church to know what's going on in the mission field. Why? God is a God who believes in missions. Let's look at Revelation chapter five, verses nine and 10. I almost said 19, but that's 19 and 10 doesn't make any sense. Nine and 10. And they sung a new song saying, "Thou aren't worthy to take the book "and open the seals thereof for thou was slain "and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood." Listen to this next phrase here. "Out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation "and hath made us unto our God kings and priests "and we shall reign on earth." Can I tell you something? God desires that not just every American knows Jesus Christ as their savior, but the entire world knows Jesus Christ as their savior. Church, you don't see this like I do, but because you're just not looking like, you're looking this way, I'm looking that way. But back on that wall, we've got a map of the world. You know why? We need to be reminded that God's heartbeat is missions. And we have missionaries that are up there and we've got little placard thingings that you can take home and you can pray for the missionaries and I encourage you to do it. And church, we meet once a month and we sit and we literally pray for missionaries. You go, well, what are you doing in the missions prayer meeting? I can tell you, we're praying for missionaries. It's not that complicated. We spend time in prayer. All of us do. And church, I think that would be wonderful if that is one of the biggest attended events we have at Lighthouse. Why? Because I want to know what God is doing around the world not so I can be like, well, this guy hasn't sent us a prayer letter. No, I want them to send us prayer letters, but our desire is so that we can be a part of what they're doing. Church, we're about to have a missions conference. October 16th through the 20th. You know what missions conference does? Of course, it sets our budget for our missions program for the entire year. We do something called faith promise. You write down something and you say, hey, this is what I promise to give God in missions throughout the year. It's a great thing. But you know what it's going to do more than that? We're having missionaries that are going to be presenting their work. They're going to be preaching Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Saturday they get the day off, yay. We're going to have a cookout and stuff and have fun with them. And then Sunday, they're going to present their stuff and we're going to be able to rub his shoulders with them all throughout these days. And we're going to ask them questions or we're going to talk to them and who knows? I may be throwing a Q&A there. I don't know. Church, here's what we want to do. I want to get to know these missionaries and I want them to know that we as a church support them. Why? Because God has a plan and he is accomplishing his plan and he is reaching people of every kindred and every tongue and every nation and every tribe. He is reaching them with a gospel in church. I want us to do more. Why? As I see God coming closer, guess what we need to do? We need to share the gospel more. You know what the scripture talks to us about church attendance? I'm going to sit here for a second. The Bible says it's not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner such is, but so much the more as you see the day approaching. Church, here's the reality. We shouldn't be less faithful to church. As we see Jesus Christ coming here, we should be more faithful to church. Uh oh. 'Cause you wanted to find across this nation, Sunday mornings, it's well attended. Sunday night, it's a little less attended. Wednesday night, man, you could play dodgeball in the auditorium. Church, wait a minute, we need to be faithful. God has a plan, but God has a plan and he is working out his plan in our lives and aren't you glad for his plan of redemption? 'Cause if he didn't have that plan, you and I wouldn't know the truth. I'm a Gentile and most of you are the same. Guess what? God had a great plan and that plan included us. So church, here's what I challenge you to do this morning. You ready? We're gonna have a time of invitation. Debbie's gonna come up. I want you to do something. I want you to commit yourself to doing God's business. God had a plan and his plan was to redeem the world. But guess how he does that? Us. He could have had an angel declared on the whole planet, but for some reason, he chose us to be a part of something that is so amazing and how he reaches the world with the gospel. The church, I can't expect the missionaries to be faithful with reaching people with the gospel. If I'm not faithful here and neither can you. So church, let's all stand, let's have a time of invitation and let's say, okay God, your plan was redemption and I'm so glad that you purchased me, that you bought me back, but God allowed me to share that message with somebody else. Let's pray, we'll have our time of invitation. Heavenly Father, Lord, we are so grateful for your word. I'm so grateful, Lord, for your plan of redemption. I'm so grateful, Lord, for what you've done in my life. Lord, help us, Lord. To be once again, Lord, just amazed in awe, Lord of what you've done in her life and Lord, how you have bought us will help that to motivate us as we press forward, as we reach people with the gospel. What I'm grateful for what you've done, would allow your spirit to work in our lives, would help us to simply surrender to what he's doing this morning. We'll be praying all of this in wonderful, precious Holy Name, Lord, Jesus. (upbeat music) - We hope that message was an encouragement to you. To stay up to date with us, please follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook at LBC's Connective. If you would like more information on how Heaven can be your home, please visit LighthousePaptist.org/TheGospel. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)