All right, if you have your Bibles, turn over to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1.
I had someone say, wow, pastor, oh, you look so young with a
hat. I said, I guess I should wear it
more often. It's amazing how many people
sometimes do not recognize me when I'm wearing my hat.
So and I wear many hats. They're just invisible.
Anyway, turn over to Ephesians chapter 1.
We're going to talk about reserve tonight and I want to
start this thought process. I don't know how long we'll go
with it. The Lord really was speaking to
me and says, listen, I they need to know there's a reigning
society again. How many believe the Lord's
coming back? How many believe the Lord could
come back in your lifetime? Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's hot. I mean, you should believe for
that, right? You should believe 'cause
somebody's going to be the catching away generation.
Might as well be us with all this going on.
Might as well be us. But you understand the catching
away society is a society or a group of people who reign in
Christ. And again, Christ is not just
some phrase. Again, this is a term that that
churches use all the time. And again, sometimes if we don't
take time to actually define what that means, then it becomes
a clicheish type statement. I know Pastor Roddy and I were
having a conversation. He says, you know.
I'm around people all the time and I'm just have this
impression. They really don't know what
they're saying when they say I'm in Christ because they don't
know what it means to be in Christ or what Christ actually
is, which is the anointing, the anointed one in his anointing,
which is in relationship to his kingship.
And so when we say we're in Christ, we're really saying
we're in the royal family, right?
We're in his anointing that is a bestowed on him because he's
king, because again in in the Bible and Luke, he said the
spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me right,
and that was his kingship. That's why when the father said
this is my beloved son. In essence, he's communicating
to the world. The King is here.
That's why Jesus's message was repent, for the Kingdom of
heaven is at hand. The King of the Kingdom is in
your midst. Come on, how do you believe
that? Amen.
Hallelujah, I want some espresso hallelujahs tonight, OK, Amen.
I'm I might have to roam a little bit anyway, so the Lord
spoke to me and says, I want you to break down churches from the
Bible because these letters that Paul wrote to the churches was
to. Communicate what a reigning
society looks like because again, you and I do not get to
pick what it looks like. The Lord reveals what his
society or believers or sons or citizens look like.
I do not base anything on someone's experience or just
their words. I always go back to the Word
because that is the standard that is God speaking to us.
So when Paul wrote to the churches, by all rights he's
communicating, hey, this is the lifestyle of the Kingdom.
This is how you're living now. And so we're going to jump right
into Ephesians and I'll probably jump into some other of the
churches as we kind of go on. But I want to take the book of
Ephesus. And though I will not go line
upon line, precept upon precept because I'm not A5 fold minister
teacher, all right, but I am going to go through the first
couple of chapters and bring out some truths concerning it.
Because there is things for this reigning society that are
reserved for us, right? Because the reigning society by
all rights is the reigning church.
Are you? Hearing me.
Now you can be born again and live defeated, but that's never
God's intent and the only reason why a born again believer would
live defeat is because they do not renew their mind to the word
they want to keep. Their thinking, which is
abnormal actually behavior in the Kingdom of God.
All right, so in Ephesians chapter 1, we'll start here in
verse one through 7. I'm reading out the legacy
standard Bible, which is just another translation of the new
American standard. They're they're just trying to
be even more accurate to the original context of Scripture.
But Paul greets the church. He says Paul, an apostle.
Of Christ Jesus. Now I'm going to just stop right
there. Paul had no problem telling the
church the gift. He is in the body and he's not
bragging. He's letting them know this is
my gift to you. That's what he did.
So again, if you find yourself struggling with people's gifts
in the fivefold ministry, well, then you would have a hard time
reading anything Paul writes, 'cause Paul's letting them know.
Paul, an apostle of who? Christ Jesus.
He puts Christ's title, his kingship, in front of his name.
Then he goes on, he says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, what
by the will of God to the Saints who are at Ephesus and who are
faithful in Christ Jesus. So Paul has communicated we're a
church, I am in the five fold ministry as an apostle and you
are Saints within that body. I just my wife heard a minister
recently make this statement and she says what do you think?
About that I said, man, that is really good, she said to her and
but I know the Kingdom she. Said you could liken the five
fold ministry to the executive branch of government because
they are specifically identified offices by the head of the
church or the one who sits on the throne.
And they have been given a responsibility and an anointing
to function that Saints do not because are all apostles, are
all prophets, are all evangelists, are all teachers
are all which one did I leave out pastors?
Obviously not. Most people try to leave those
pastors out anyway. With that being said, they're
they're that doesn't make them better than Saints.
It just means they have an assignment.
That's what that means. So Paul starts out, this is
letter to the church. He said, now listen, I'm an
apostle of Christ Jesus, not because man made this, not
because I like that the you know this saying and I want you to
identify no, God did this and he did this to you because you are
the one that God gave me oversight.
And you know what's great about these Saints is that they are
faithful to Christ. Verse 2, it goes on to say grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. So again, he's identifying
within the whole church. Guess what, we have grace.
And if you're functioning in the grace that God has in your life,
you're going to have peace. You'll have peace even to miss a
conflict. Why?
Because you will rely on the grace.
That's why God told Paul in a conflict one time, he said,
listen, son, my grace is. Sufficient for you?
So you understand the grace in your life is sufficient for you
that you can walk in perpetual peace no matter what's going on.
And Pauls reminding the Church of this, that the grace they
have and the peace they have not comes from their personal study
or their own efforts, but it comes from God him self.
And that good news? So then we get into verse three.
He said blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly
places where in Christ, in Christ.
So all the spiritual blessings are located in the home country
in Christ and we're blessed people.
Now whether you feel it or not is irrelevant.
You have an inheritance and in Christ you can access it in the
King or functioning within the boundaries.
We could say the word of the king.
Let's put it that way. That'd be the best way to say
it. When we function in the Kingdom
based upon the word of the King, then all of the spiritual
blessings that are are for us are made accessible to us.
And again, it's not our personal effort that did it away from
God. It's us in Him and acting on His
word that is releasing those faith is causing it to come to
pass. Verse 4.
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love.
I'm going to break this verse down here in a little bit by
predestinating us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will verse. 6 As
to the praise. Of the glory of his grace which
he graciously bestowed on us in the beloved verse 7.
And then we'll come back and talk a little bit in him.
We have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of our
transgression, according. To the riches of his grace.
So when we jump back into verse 4, you understand every
spiritual blessing that is in the heavenly realm in Christ
Jesus God, just as God the Father chose us in Jesus before
the what foundations of the world, He chose who us.
Now I want to explain this a little bit because we need to
understand God's perspective of what He's saying to Paul here
because Him choosing us is not based upon who we are today.
What does it mean when He said He chose us in Him before the
foundations of the world? In essence, how did God see man
in the beginning? This is what He's saying.
Many times we hear this man, He chose me.
He knew what I was going to be like.
He knew the mess I will be in. He knew.
And yes, He did know that, but He's not looking you in that
way. He's looking at you in an
original intent. So when he says just as he chose
us, what was he? He chose us, what we call humans
or mankind. He chose us.
How in him? Well, what did how did Jesus
function on the planet? Jesus function as a former
individual. OK, Jesus is considered the last
Adam. Are you hearing me?
Every miracle Jesus performed was in the dominion.
Adam lost. Adam was given the same mandate
that Jesus has. In this context.
Just obey. All this is yours.
Just obey. We have a relationship through
our your obedience. You're in my nature.
Come on, let's look at it. You I know you know where it's
at, but let's read it again in Genesis 126 to 27 says then God
said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness
so that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea, over
the birds of the sky, over the cattle, over all the earth and
every every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Yes, Lord, I'll say that. And he created man in his own
image, in the image of God. He created him male and female.
He created them. The Lord just said to me, he
said, you know how many people do not believe that verse?
And the reason they don't believe that verse is because
they do not take dominion over all these things in their life
as a new believer. And it doesn't matter how many
times I read it, if you let anything have dominion over you,
you do not get Genesis 126. If you let your emotions have
dominion over you, if you let your feelings have emotion
dominion over you, let plants have dominion over you, you let
you know things. Rule you things on the outside.
Stress as if all kinds of things that are out there, If they are
ruling you, you do not yet have the revelation.
And as many times as we read this, we'll say Hallelujah, and
then all of a sudden something will come and we'll let it
dominate us. We'll let it rule us.
And how do we know real 'cause we follow it.
You follow it. So here God in the book of
beginning says, let us make man in our image and his likeness,
which tells us even before this event, before the foundations of
the world. OK, thank you, Jesus.
This is what I love about, I have to admit.
This is what I love about having a Bible app that has all the,
you know, concordances in it because you can just go straight
there, OK? Before the foundations of the
world, OK. God chose us in Him.
This word world is the same world used in John 316 for God
so loved the world. It's the word cosmos.
OK, we we it's not planet as much as it is systems.
So before the 1st systems of the man, which man had dominion over
the systems of the world before they get into play, God has
already chose him, chose us in Christ.
So before man has the ability to start functioning in his
dominion, the Lord has already chosen him in Christ, which
tells us this, and I'm going to read from a particular scholar.
He said it this way. He says the eternity of the plan
suggests another thought in verse 4.
It is this salvation is an original thought and resolution
it and resolution it is no novel expedient struck out of the in
the fruit. Futility of divine ingenuity.
But God's first purpose in regard to man had failed through
man's apostasy, meaning it is no.
Afterthought, but the embodiment of a design which, foreseeing
our ruin, had made preparation of it.
Meaning, even though, and we say this all, where would Adam be if
he had never eaten the fruit? However, because God is all
knowing, He already knows. Even though I've made man and I
in my image and according to my likeness, and if he will just in
a sinless state, no sin, His body is glorified.
His mind has never been polluted by one wrong thought, never
acted on it, never had any of those things.
His spirit man is directly connected to God.
God can come from his realm of heaven into the earth.
There is no issue for them to commune.
He does not run from him, He does not hide from him.
He is in a perfect state, yet God knew and he was prepared
before he communicated, which tells us this.
When God said this is my design for man, he already had the plan
of salvation. Now why?
Because God is obligated to fulfill his own word.
He's he's obligated So God doesn't just say things and then
like, oh, he ate the fruit. Now what am I going to do?
Listen, before God even speaks, he's already calculated
everything that he will have to do to fulfill everything he
says, especially when it came to man.
Because at this point, as far as beings are concerned, and when I
say beings, I'm talking spirit beings, man's redeemable, the
angelic host that fell are not. Don't pray for Lucifer.
He'll never get saved. He can't and he has no desire
and none of the ones that fell with him.
So all the demonic spirits don't try.
Don't have compassion for them. There is no such thing as
compassion for them. And if you felt like I want to
have compassion, I'll understand why God.
Then you're trying to make yourself a God, and you're
already off because you're not righteous, holy, just like God
who always fulfills his word. So when God says I'm going to
speak man, he already knows it will cost me my son.
So the minute I say let us make man in our images according to
our likeness, and let them have dominion, I know that my first
son Adam is going to disobey my word, which in Acts I must keep
that word. If you eat the fruit, you die,
because the wages of sin is so it has to be fulfilled.
And the Lord says, however, I want man to have dominion.
So I'll put my son in a suit as a man, because my first son will
lose the dominion as a man. I'll come in the earth with my
son as a man. He'll get the dominion back and
pay the price for everything my word requires to satisfy death.
That way man can come off of eternal death and use the road
of mercy. To connect him back to the
original thought of man and that is to have dominion.
Hallelujah, come on, Hallelujah that God.
God is so thought out that he already took into account every
sin that ever would be committed and the price required, which is
eternal separation. And he says I'll pay every price
with my son. So before the foundations of the
world, before this system starts rolling, God says man's pathway
will be back through Christ. And he chose us.
Who did he choose? He chose humans.
You are a human, so you qualify. Now we like to make it personal.
He chose me and He did choose you personally.
That's true. I understand that because He
chooses all of us. However, not all of us choose.
So again, when you make it personal, He.
May know because he's all knowing that you are going to
accept him, but there are those who do not and he made provision
for them. And he paid the price for all
their wrongdoings. Doesn't matter what they've
done, He's paid the price. All they have to do by faith is
accept Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Hallelujah. So we know when Adam eats the
fruit. Genesis 315 says this.
And I'll put enmity between you and the woman, in between your
seed and her seed. She shall bruise you on the
head, and you shall bruise him on the hill.
So it says before the foundations of the world in
Ephesians 1/4, that He chose us in him.
Before the foundation of that we would be holy.
Come on. Put verse 4 back up there real
quick if you would. Ephesians 1/4 He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world.
Now what condition does he want to find us in, since He chose us
in Christ? This is what a reigning society
or the reigning church looks like, that we would be what?
We'd be holy. Now why would we be holy?
Because He is holy? Because again, before you came,
before the systems function for Adam fell, he already had the
plan of redemption through Jesus and that the add the actions,
behavior, lifestyle, and nature that the first Adam had and
lost, Jesus restored for us so that we could be back in that
original nature. Now we're waiting on the
glorified body, but it's coming. And the Spirit that we couldn't
have changed, Christ changed for us and put it in US.
And in the process we renew our mind because in Him we're going
to be holy. We're going to be blameless
before him in love. Because what does love do?
Love keeps the word I said. Love keeps the word.
Jesus said if you love me, you keep my word right?
Well, you know I love you, but you don't do anything I say OK,
let's go on then verse 5. He said he predestined us to the
adoption of sons. Now notice look what this says.
Look how this works. It says by predestined us.
And this is not predestination in the context that he that he
is picking certain ones and others he's not picking no, we
all have free will. The predestination is let us
make man in our image according to our likeness and let them
have dominion and everyone that has ever been born has the right
to that place and he's predestined us to do that.
However, if you choose not to, then you won't live it but his
destiny. So predestination or predestiny
is what God's idea or his destiny for you?
The question and he's already picked it for you before you
even know it. But if you don't accept it, then
you can do your own destiny. So he predestined us to the
adoption of a son through Christ Jesus to himself according to
the good pleasure of whose will again, and we're going to see
here throughout this particular, you know, church example is that
the things that are happening are for his glory
for his glory because it's about him.
Why did God go after you? Well, because he loves me so
much. God went after you because he
predestined you would be in a state and that is loving you
because it's keeping his own word towards you.
But what he's doing is he is making a pathway so that you can
know him. But we, if we don't watch out,
we're making the gospel where it's about US and we talk and
sell this man God, he'll come after you.
He loves you. It's all about you.
He'll, he'll, he'll do this. He'll come here.
He'll leave the 99. It's about you.
It's coming after you. It's about, you know, it's about
I'm doing my work so you can come to me.
It's about you being there to come back to me because it's
about me. Your your new birth experience
glorifies God because it shows that what you couldn't do, He
did. You're not the object.
He's the object and He is making the pathway so that you can
discover Him. It's about him.
And then when I'm like, wow, look what you did so I could get
to know you because I'm nothing compared to you.
You are the center of it, all right, Right, right.
So again, he did all this according to the good pleasure
of his will, not my will. I mean, he's doing this to
fulfill His will so that he's glorified, so that he's honored,
so that he's lifted up. He goes on to say the good
pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of whose
grace It's His grace which He graciously bestowed on us in the
Beloved. In Him we have redemption,
through whose blood, his blood and the forgiveness of our
transgression according to the riches of whose grace His The
object here of, of salvation is not us, it's Him.
Because again, if none of us of our own free will except the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and the forgiveness of
the blood of Christ, God is still going to do it.
To fulfill his word, because God is not a man that he should lie,
He should lie. And when Adam ate the fruit, God
enacted amendments to be able to help us.
Find him to have a relationship with him.
He made provisions so that we could come off this place of
death that has to be satisfied and he.
Gave us the way, man, he's awesome.
So this enmity that took place between man and God, because
Satan now has the dominion Adam lost.
And he says I'll have put enmity between you and him, although my
relationship with man is cut off, but I'm going to bring a
seed. And that says he's going to tear
down that which stops them from being with me because he's going
to crush your head. In essence, he's going to take
the dominion back. So turn over real quick the
Ephesians Ephesians chapter 2 again talking to the church
starting in verse 13. We'll read the 19.
Let's just read it and then we'll come back and give some
comments. He said, But now in Christ you
were formerly far off. Have been brought near by what
the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who
made both groups one, and broke down the dividing wall of the
partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the law of
commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Him He
might create the two into one new man, making peace, and might
reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having
in Himself put to death the enmity.
And He came and preached the good news to of peace to you who
were far off, and peace of those who were near.
For through Him we have our access in one spirit to the
Father. So then you are no longer
strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the
Saints who are God's household. Now I'm going to read a
particular illustration that allows us to understand God's
use of the law, God's use of the law.
Because when we read the law, understanding Genesis 3 from
only the fall of man perspective, then you understand
we say a lot about the law. In fact, in studying this one
commentary said it this way, Jesus fulfilled the law.
And what's abolished in one sense or removed is the
ceremonial laws. Now, why did they say that?
Because Roman tells us that whether you're under the law or
not, there's already a consciousness of doing right and
wrong. Romans clearly states that that
more morality is there. What made the Jews despised is
because the ceremonial laws is was the blood covering the
transgression so that they can maintain holiness and be
blessed. And no other type of religion or
God participate had the same effect.
Now that doesn't mean blood wasn't being used, I'm not
saying but it had no power because their gods are not real.
So there's a ceremonial of the lamb, the goats, the different
things that Jesus fulfilled, all that.
That's why we don't have to do sacrifices.
Jesus is the sacrifice once and for all.
However, the law of morality has not ended in the new and better
coveted Thou shalt not still still applies.
It still applies. Thou shalt not commit murder
still applies. Thou shalt not commit adultery
still applies. Do not cover your neck.
That's still a plot. Those moral laws are there.
Here's the difference. In your flesh you could not
acquire righteousness. In essence, you tried to do the
law by a letter, meaning in the flesh, but the law had to be
fulfilled or is fulfilled by the Spirit and Jesus by the Spirit
fulfills so that you can now live a moral life because you
are a new creature in Christ, but the intent of the law.
Is summed up very well in this illustration.
It says the wife of a drunkard once found her husband in a
filthy condition, with torn clothes, matted hair, bruised
face, asleep in the kitchen. Having come home from a drunken
revel. She sent for a photographer.
So obviously this is an old illustration that they didn't
have their own camera. She sent for a photographer.
And had a portrait of him taken in.
All his wretched appearance, and placed it on the mantle beside
another portrait taken at the time of his marriage, which
showed him handsome well. Dressed as he had been in other
days. When he became sober, he saw the
two pictures and awakened to a consciousness of his condition,
which from which he arose to a better life.
Now the office of the law is not to save man, but to show them
their true state as compared with the divine standard.
It's like a glass in which one soothe what manner of man he is.
In essence, the law came so that man realized the condition he is
in is not Genesis 126. The law came to reveal to us we
are a wretched thing. How in the world can God have a
requirement of morality and righteousness?
When I'm confronted, I see what I was in a previous.
Time. Oh, you all know what here.
Man in a previous time, in the beginning when God made the
heavens and the earth, he was without spot or wrinkle, holy,
blameless, righteous, full of faith, no issues of sin.
That was his original state. But then he falls.
And in his falling, man does what seems right.
Yet he's having issues in his moral mind, in his mind because
of the temptations, and he begins to move.
He does what seems right to him, but what seems right only leads
to what? So much so that God regrets that
He made man because left to themselves in this state, so he
destroys the planet starts with another family in covenant
through a promise which is just re conversing Genesis 3 or
Ephesians chapter 1. I chose you before the
foundations of the world in him. This is what you look like.
So when the law came, the law says this is what this was a
standard. And when you look at yourself,
you're like, I don't meet that as Paul said, the things I tried
to do, right, I did. And he said, who is this
wretched man that will save my life?
But thanks be to God. Come on, thanks be to God.
Come on, thanks be to God that in Christ Jesus we've been made
to triumph. In essence, the minute you make
Christ your Lord, then you get set back.
In the original state, the law was not to condemn you, it was
to show you your state that you would aspire to be different and
say I want to be this. I want to be what I originally
was. And in it ourselves we can't.
But in Christ we are. Hallelujah.
And so Paul was writing to the church saying, listen guys, it
when when you came into the Kingdom of God by the blood
through the forgiveness of sin, you now have reserved.
Seating. Go back to Ephesians one, he's
telling them, listen man, we've been chosen through God's grace
and what he's done. He has set us in a place and
then he concludes that chapter by saying that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, verse 17, the Father of glory, he may give to
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge
of him so that you so that you, the eyes of your heart might be
enlightened. You will know what is the hope
of His calling, what are the riches of the of the glory of
His inheritance in the Saints? What is the surpassing greatness
of His power towards us who believe according to the working
of of of the might of His strength, which He worked in
Christ by raising him from the dead and seated, seating Him at
His right hand in heavenly places far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this age, but also in the age to come.
What is he saying? Hey, now that you're born again,
God give you wisdom so you can see yourself back in the garden.
You've been he, He was raised up.
If you look, Jesus has been given the name above every name.
He's above every principality and powers the condition of man
in the state he was in. Christ has paid the price and
has given you a pathway. I fulfill my word.
I have honored it. You can come and be back in my
original intent because I always originally thought I'll save you
before I say something because I'm going to get you there if
you want it. And if you get there, you're
going to be Jesus has raised up all this, then it says verse 22,
but he put all things in subjection under his feet and
gave him his head over all things.
Where to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him
who fills on all and again, Ephesians are the Bibles written
in chapters and verse. But really we should just keep
reading. Paul is saying, listen, I'm
praying that you get this revelation that because Christ
has paid the price, because Christ came from a place of
dominion, stayed in a place of dominion in the flesh, conquered
death, hell on the grave, and destroyed the works of the
devil. The works of the devil is
disobedience to the crown, the king, and the word of God.
He's destroyed those works. They do not have to be a part of
your life. You have dominion whether you
feel it or not. It's yours.
You just have to access it by faith, through the grace of God,
by the grace of God that's in your life because Christ made
you this way. And so you can pull on that so
that you reign in life, you reign in life.
Come on, you reign in life because He did it with His
power, with His might, with His strength, with His insight, with
His obligation to fulfill his word concerning you.
But again, he says all these things, that Christ is far above
all principalities and powers and dominions in this age, but
also in the one to come. And then he says, oh, by the
way, he's extended that to his body.
Come on, He's the head, you're the household of God.
He's extended it. So then Paul keeps going because
again we get chapter and verse, but Paul keeps going.
So you go to the next chapter, verse 1.
He says now you were dead in your in your transgression and
sin, which you here it is. You formerly walked according to
the course of this world, according to the ruler of the
power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons
of Come on. You don't want to be equated
with the sons of disobedience. You do not want to be associated
as a son of disobedience. And a son of disobedience is
simply someone who will wants to do their own will despite
knowing God's will. So again, he said Jesus has got
all this power, all this authority has been raised up.
I'm praying that you get this knowledge of all that actually
is extended actually towards us because what is actually he has
obtained and it goes towards the church.
So I want to remind you, you were dead.
You used to in your former say former, former.
Come on, say former, not today. Don't resurrect a former.
Come on, Because here's the thing, you cannot resurrect an
old life. You die back in that life.
Dead things are dead. If you're resurrected, it's in
life. If you want to go back to
former, you're choosing to die. You're willfully going back to
death. So you formally walked.
He's like, listen, I want to remind you did these things and
it was according to the course of the power of the air of the
spirits that are now working in the sunset, which tells me this,
your disobedience because you're being influenced.
Right, right. Come on.
This is the craziest thing. We do have a free will, but our
free will is not without constant influence.
No decision you're making is independent thought.
Either your flesh is talking and the flesh is not alive.
Are either one of these spirits are talking and they're pretty
good seducers, or the Lord's talking.
And if you're alive to Christ, you should be able to discern
your flesh's voice, the wrong spirit's voice, or the word of
God. And God did the the voice of the
Spirit of God and God did a extra.
He said, not only will I speak to you by the Spirit, but I'll
leave my word so you'll know it's actually me.
Hallelujah. So listen, I don't care what
you're doing. It's not an independent thought.
You're listening to something. And here's the thing, what you
give attention to, you act on. And Paul's reminded them you
formally listened. Come on, say I don't listen to
that no more. Come on, say I don't listen to
that no more. I don't listen to that no more.
Amen. I don't listen to that no more.
Jesus himself had two voices talked to him when he asked the
question Who do people say that I am?
And then it tells him that he's going to die.
Peter comes up according to his his emotions.
His flesh speaks 1st and then Satan enforces the message.
He says you're not going to die and the Lord addressed get thee
behind me, Satan. That was not an independent
thought for Peter. He heard it.
Hallelujah, so he said this, among whom we all verse 3 also
formally conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, doing the
desires of the flesh and of the. So not are we trying to satisfy,
making our body feel good with stuff that's just killing us,
but we're trying to satisfy our mind with stuff that's just
killing us. And we were by nature this is
talking to our spirit children of the wrath, even as the rest
all but we all love verse 4 right?
But God come on. But God being rich in what you
know how he's rich in mercy. You know what what the wealth of
his mercy is. It's his blood because when he's
paid all the price for all sin, he can be merciful to say you
can come off. I know you did that, but I've
really already paid that You come off.
OK, I realize you've done that, but that's OK.
I've already paid that. You can come off.
Well, now can I do that? Look, it won't matter what
you've done. I've paid for it.
So I'm merciful. It's no, It's because you're not
getting away with it. It's not like it's unnoticed.
No, I've actually already paid for all that.
So go ahead and commit another crime and my blood's got that.
Go ahead and sin again, my blood's got that.
Go ahead and rebel again. My blood's got.
I've already paid for it. So This is why I'm merciful,
because you're not getting away with it.
I'm paying every price of your disobedience.
I'm footing the bill here. This is what Jesus is doing.
He's footing the bill and he's rich in mercy 'cause his blood
paid it all. But if you don't accept his
mercy payment, if you don't come to the mercy seat, then you'll
have to pay your own account. It won't go to your.
Account. He's like everything, every debt
you're accumulating right now, I have it in savings.
It's in the mercy seat. I can.
All we got to do is make a withdrawal and pay it all.
So God being rich in mercy because of his what?
Because of his great love with which He loved us, What is that
love? Let us make man in our IMS
according to our likeness and let him have dominion man.
That's what I've said about man, and that's what I will keep as
the ability for man to be, even though God could say you don't
deserve it and he's right. But God says I, I fulfill my
word not because of deserving. I keep my word.
I keep it because this is about my integrity.
This is about my holiness. This is about my justice.
This is about my glory. This is about my supremacy.
This is about my sovereignty. This is about my righteousness.
Because I am the only righteous holy there is.
And even though you don't deserve it, I'm not emotionally
attached to move towards you one way or the other.
I'm moved only by what my word says.
And my word says man's going to have dominion.
And even though none of you deserve a pathway back, I make a
pathway for my sake, for my name, for my glory, for my
honor, for my majesty. And you have the privilege to
know me. Hallelujah, I said.
He's God. He's God.
And he's rich, he had great love towards us.
I will keep my word. I will do it verse 5 when even
when we were dead in our transgression made us alive
together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.
Here it is verse 6 and raised us up with him because verse
chapter one said his seat is far above.
All principalities and powers and dominions, not only in this
age, but the age to come. But no, it's now he raised us
up. Reserve seating.
He's got a reserve section for us.
Not everybody can be here. It's been reserved.
Oh, excuse me, Sir. Yeah, I have reserved seating.
Oh, how's that? I'm in Christ.
Oh, I know where your seat is. Come on up here.
You're seated right here by the right hand of the Father.
You're in Christ seat. He's seated at the right hand.
You're in his seat. OK, come on down here right now.
Come on up front here. You're in the reserve section
now. You're not in a reserve section.
If you disobedient, if you're trying to live a formal life,
you're losing access to your reserve seat.
God wants you to stay in the reserve seat.
Don't think. Listen, because you've come out,
you get reserve seating. You've been raised up with him
and seated with him in heavenly places in, in Christ, not in
your work, not in your effort, but in the finished work of
Jesus, that then he speaks to you of which your spirit is made
alive, so that you want to obey God, because the new Spirit
that's in Christ obeys, obeys the Father Jesus, obeyed the
Father Jesus. Said I don't do anything, I'm
all in will. But whatever the Father says, I
do. And guess what?
You have that spirit. You have that spirit, you have
the connection, you're alive, you can hear.
Then you have the third person of the Godhead.
The Holy Spirit lives in you. Then he's endued you with power.
These are heavenly blessings that are yours in Christ because
you're a child of the king. Verse seven goes on to say this.
He says so that in the ages to come he might show the
surpassing riches of His grace and kindness towards us in
Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith. It is not of yourself.
It is a gift of God, not of works, so that you may boast,
meaning you can't say I'll do this and you have to accept it.
You can't do that for we not of works that no one can boast.
You can't do it on your own. You have to accept what Jesus
did. Verse 10 For we are his created
for not born again. For heaven you're not born
again. For heaven you're not born
again. So you'll know where you'll go
when you die, which is heaven. That's not why no, you are here.
Who's who's? This ain't about you, this about
him. It's not about you, it's about
him. Because if you want to be what
he is or what he has, then you got to do it his way.
And listen, he's not compromising. 0 Compromise.
This is why you want to compromise.
Let me tell you what Rd. you're on.
It's pretty wide. You want to negotiate with God
now, Lord, you know I want to be right with you.
But there's some things down here I kind of like my.
Former do you understand? I mean, I've come to church, but
but he said no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I made you away. I did that.
You're different. You're my workmanship.
And if you're my workmanship, then you've been created in
Christ for. Good works which got prepared
beforehand so that they would. So you're walking is according
to his design. When he's Lord, you've died.
Yeah, that's right. You've died to your own
pleasures, your former manner of life, your way of doing things.
Now you say, well, man, I don't even get a say so no, in one
sense you don't, and you don't want your own say so.
But you can't have a say so within the context of what's
holy and righteous. Listen, God would have no
problem to assemble a bunch of human beings and say, listen, we
want to do this. What do you think?
And this is his will. And you're like, well, we could
do this, which is according to your will.
Well, you know, but we could do it this way, Lord, according to
your will. We could do it this way, Lord,
according to your will. Cause nothing we're saying
violates your will. And he can say, well, we can do
that. And he allows you to have a buy
in. Are you hearing me?
I mean, you can wear clothes as long as the buy in is in the
term modest. Oh.
Y'all don't want to hear? That's fine.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
I mean there are things that are going on that you can agree with
and you still are a part of the pracles.
God made you too creative. But you can't say I'm not doing
what you want because that the a reigning society does not.
Have that attitude. We only have what's in Christ.
Whatever the Father says I'm going to do, I love to do it
because I love him and he's life.
And if I if I don't, then I'm willfully saying I want death.
So he reminds them, listen, all the principalities and powers
are under the feet of Jesus of which he's given to the church.
And I want to remind you, you lived away, but by grace through
faith, you're now a child of God.
You've received the gift of life for in Christ, for you to be a
good work of His that He can glorify you, can show glory to
Him through your life's behavior in the world.
Can I get an AM? That's the key and this is just
first couple of chapters of him talking to the church at
Ephesus. We're we're a different society
now, different breed of people. We function differently now and
when we function that way, it glorifies God and it will cause
man to say I look like a drunken stupor and I used to look like
that. Oh, you don't want to, do you
understand? You're not showing the law
anymore. You are the new law because it's
written in your heart. You're under the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus. When you walk in a room, people
should say that's what I could look like, so that's what I look
like. That's what you look like.
Look at me.
I mean, you have peace. I don't.
You have sanity. I don't.
You're calm. I'm not.
You have Lovejoy peace kind of self.
I don't have any. You mean that's me.
Oh, that's you in Christ, man. This is you in Christ.
This is you in Christ that when you live it, you testify to
everyone. You come around.
They're like, is that what I could be like?
This is what you can be like, how Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus. So is your portrait of life the
original? Or when you go to work, do you
have the same portrait as everyone else?