Transcript
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The speaker asks for prayer, welcomes guests and online viewers, and introduces the Ephesians series. He frames the message as a call to spiritual growth and opens with a prayer over the sermon.
Be seated.
The Apostle Paul had a habit of
asking other believers for prayer.We should not be ashamed to do that.I've been having issues with my vocal cords for the last two weeks and I am struggling to talk.And uh I want to ask you that you would pray for me as I pray for you.
That God would do a work in my vocal cords.
That today I might be a little tamed
because I have to make it through the end of the day.I know I need vocal rest, but I want to preach the word of God to you.
And uh so I ask that you would pray for me
as I pray for you.
If you are a guest, we welcome you to uh we welcome you to 2018.But we are faithful about the spread of God's word and the multiplying of disciples in these final hours of the church age.To all of our digital disciples watching live across America and around the world, we welcome you to this sacred time together where we open up God's word.And if you are not a follower of Christ and somewhere somehow you made it into this gathering, some way somehow you're watching right now across this camera, we are thankful that you're here.We know that you're here.And our prayer is that when you hear the spirit of God knocking on your heart,
you would not turn away,
but that you would yield,
surrender your life to him in a moment
before time has run out on you.We are in a series called in Christ where we are walking through the New Testament letter of Ephesians together.
It is one of the most sound christoologgical documents ever recorded.I will continue to say that it exalts the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.It grounds the believer in Christian identity.It helps the believer to understand their position in Christ in his ascension and not only in his death.I will continue to prophesy to you.That if you study the letter of revelation and you sit in these gatherings, you will be a different person by the time this series is over.You will be stronger.You will be wiser.You will be more gangster for the Lord Jesus Christ.We promise you that
the devil will have a hard time with you when this is over.
Yeah.We going to talk that talk.
We going to talk that talk.
And when this is done, we going to walk that walk.
Our text today is coming from Ephesians chapter 2.verses 1- 10,
eternal God and ever of a wise father,
may the eyes of our understanding be be enlightened.
And may you give us a spirit of revelation and knowledge and the work of Christ.What that has meant for all of us who are in Christ.Have your way.Holy Spirit and strengthen your servant.We ask in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our sooncoming king, the Lord Jesus Christ.And all God's people said, "Amen."
He reflects on the hardships of the Christian life and how God uses exhortation to strengthen believers. This leads into Paul’s reminder to the Ephesians and the setup for Ephesians 2.
You know the Christian life,it is a very difficult one.
It is a life that is marked by challenges and trials, hardships and tribulations.It is a life in which the one who is truly living for Christ holds in one hand joys and juxtaposes they hold in the other hand sorrows.And the longer you walk with Christ, the longer you will testify that this is a life of joys and sorrows and hardships and trials and difficulties and disappointment.There's a life of mountaintops and it is a life of valleys.And the longer you walk with Jesus, the longer you will be able to testify of that truth.
And along this journey of becoming more like the person of Christ and the character of Christ, God sees that in our human frailty sometimes we drift into discouragement or we drift into moments of weaknesses or we drift intomoments and where we forget.And God in his love and in his kindness would inject into your life what I would call words of exhortation
to encourage you
or to reor reorient your mind and your heart around some sustaining truth that builds you up in your faith and helps you to continue on in your journey.If you've lived long enough, you know what this feels like.When maybe you're in a difficult season, you get a text message from a friend or somebody ministers to you in a moment and reminds you about something God has said in his word.And as you are reminded about that, you find strength in your walk to get up another day and confidence and to continue on the journey that God has called you to.Just a few weeks ago, the Lord injected an exhaltation into my life through the form of a reminder of what God has done.when a friend texted me and said to me, "Brother, all of the persecution you are suffering on social media, all of the hell that you are going through, all of the warfare against your name and against 2018 and
everything that's happening right now in your life, God says he wanted you to remind you that this is your thorn to bear in this life
and that it's not going to stop."AND SO GOD SAYS, "SEE IT AS AN act of his mercy."
And as I read that text, I was reminded of this truth, of the sustaining grace
of Christ.
That although he will not remove this storm, said the text, you will deal with this until he calls you home, it will not end.
The text says, "So just EMBRACE IT AS PART OF YOUR MINISTRY.And as I sat there and I read that text in tears, I was REMINDED OF THE GRACE of almighty God that Paul said is able to sustain us
in all things.That that thorn that will remain in my side and yours, God says to that thorn, my grace,
it is sufficient.that is I will not take it away but I will give you the strength to endure it all the way
to the end.And it was a reminder to me that there are some things we pray for the Lord to take away that he will not.
But some way somehow he will get glory in it
and glory through you
as you continue to stand
and walk out your calling
while you bear that thorn.It was a reminder to me of a sustaining truth that I've read a thousand times in the word of God.And something about pain often times causes you to have amnesia
about the things that God has said to us.
And so every now and then the Holy Spirit and his kindness will give you watch this word again a reminder
of what God has said.And as what pain has made you forget,
this is what we approach in our text this morning.The Apostle Paul, former persecutor turned preacher, missionary, and church planter, writes a reminder and a form of a exhortation to the believers in Ephesus that he had not seen in maybe a decade.It is an exhaltation that is extremely theological and extremely powerful and it echoes in your life and in my life.And he reads or I read to you the exhortation of the apostle Paul to the brothers and sisters in the ancient city of Ephesus in chapter 2 beginning in verse one.And you, he said to them, talking to the Gentiles, and he would also include the Jews, were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the powerof the air, the spirit.Oh my.That is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.Oh my.
Like the rest of mankind.So, I want you to follow the progression of Paul's letter to the believers in the church at Ephesus.He starts the letter with a greeting.He moves on to remind them about their identity as faithful saints.
Then he continues until he teaches them of all of the spiritual blessings that they have received in Christ.Blessings that are far greater than anything material you will ever have in this life.He tells them that they were chosen before the foundation of the world.He tells them THAT THEY WERE PREDESTINED BEFORE THE foundation of the world.He tells them that they were adopted before the foundation of the world.He reminds them that they were redeemed.He reminds them that they were forgiven.He reminds them that they were in Christ.He reminds them that they have an inheritance.He reminds them that they were sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit.And then he launches into a prayer over their lives.And as we read through their prayer last week, we see the maturity of Paul in his prayers.
We see the intimacy of Paul with the relationship of Christ and his prayers.We see the depth of Paul's relationship with Christ in his prayers.We see the love of the Apostle Paul for these people and his prayers.In fact, if we read Paul's prayers to them, we see in Paul prayers that we should be praying over ourselves and praying over our homes, praying over our children and praying over watch brothers and sisters in the faith.In fact, I have recorded every single prayers of Paul on a sheet of paper that I pray over 2819
that all of the words of the Apostle Paul he has ever uttered in prayers.I have all of those in one document and I pray them over every local and digital disciple across America and around the world.And the reason I pray that is because those walls, those words can't fall to the floor.I am praying the word of God over you
and I EXPECT TO SEE A HARVEST IN YOUR LIFE.
The sermon explains humanity’s spiritual deadness, inherited sin, and the influence of the world, Satan, and the flesh. He expands on how these forces shape life outside the kingdom.
He prayed for them that God would give them the spirit of wisdom
and revelation.
He prayed for them THAT THE EYES OF THEIR HEARTS would be enlightened.THAT IS THEY WOULD SEE CLEARLY.They would INTERPRET CLEARLY.HE PRAYED FOR THEM THAT THEY WOULD HAVE WISDOM.THAT THEIR EYES WOULD BE ENLIGHTENED.WHY?WISDOM FOR WHAT?Revelation for what?Being enlightened for what?THAT THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING HE WAS TEACHING THEM ABOUT SALVATION in Christ.AND THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HE WAS ABOUT TO TEACH THEM IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS SECOND CHAPTER.THAT THEY WOULD NOT GLOSS OVER IT LIKE IT WASN'T IMPORTANT.SAME FOR YOU.BUT THAT YOU WOULD SEE IT THE MAGNITUDE OF WHAT HE IS TEACHING IN THE SECOND CHAPTER AND IT WOULD MEAN SOMETHING to you and it would move you closer to Christ and it will cause you to marvel overthe salvific work of God Almighty in your life.
HE SAID TO THEM AND YOU WERE DEAD
IN TRESPASSES AND SIN NOT ONLY THEM BUT YOU.EVERYBODY LISTENING TO ME RIGHT NOW, MAN, I FEEL THE SPIRIT OF GOD.YOU WERE DEAD.IN TRESPASSES and sin THAT HE'S SAYING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU Ephesians and every person under the sound of my broken voice, you all were born dead.
You were born spiritually dead.
YOU WERE BORN SEPARATED from God.
AND YOU SAY, PHILLIP, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT.BUT PAUL wrote to the church in Rome in chapter 5 and verse 12.Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, Adam,
and death through sin,
so death spread to all men BECAUSE ALL SIN.SO, ADAM WAS CREATED perfect
in fellowship with God.
AND GOD GAVE HIM A COMMAND.YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IN THIS GARDEN.YOU CAN HAVE IT.THIS ONE THING DON'T TOUCH.Isn't it like us instead of focusing on everything God gave,
we like to nitpick him over his restrictions,
WE GET MAD AT ALL OF THE THOU SHALL NOTS
LIKE GOD IS RESTRICTIVE LIKE HE'S TRYING TO KEEP YOU FROM LIVING YOUR best life.
But we don't LOOK AT ALL THAT HE HAS POURED OUT ON US.INSTEAD, IN OUR FLESH, WE JUST FIX OUR EYES ON EVERY THOU SHALT NOT.
AND INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON EVERYTHING GOD GAVE HIM, HE SET HIS GAZE ON THE ONE THING GOD SAID, "DON'T TOUCH."And God said, "In the day you eat of this fruit, YOU SHALL SURELY DIE."
HE FOLLOWS HIS WIFE INTO REBELLION, EATS OF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, and immediately he dies.Not physically,
spiritually, ADAM DIES.AND IN THAT MOMENT BECAUSE OF SPIRITUAL DEATH, HE IS separated
from God.AND THEN PHYSICAL DEATH KICKS IN WHEN HE STARTS TO AGE.
BECAUSE IN GOD'S ORIGINAL PLAN, THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS AGING or sickness or pain
or funerals.HE NEVER INTENDED FOR YOU TO GO TO A FUNERAL.HE NEVER INTENDED FOR HUMAN BEINGS TO FEEL WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO age or to be separated FROM PEOPLE YOU LOVE THROUGH DEATH.IT WAS NEVER HIS ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR YOU TO ATTEND A FUNERAL BECAUSE YOU WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE.
That's why they hurt.
That's why they hurt.AND THE MOMENT ADAM DID THAT, HE SPIRITUALLY DIED AND HE BE TO PHYSICALLY DIE.That spread to all his seed.
SO THAT EVERY HUMAN BEING coming from Adam was born spiritually dead.
Every human being was born separated from God.HE SAYS, "NOT ONLY WAS YOU BORN DEAD, YOU WERE BORN DEAD IN TRESPASSES."I like how HE DOES THIS."AND IN SIN."
SO HE PUTS YOU BOOK END BETWEEN TRESPASSES AND SIN.So nobody can escape this theology.
What is a trespass?IT IS YOU KNOWING RIGHT FROM WRONG, staring at wrong,
ruminating on wrong,
and saying, "I'm going to choose
to do wrong."He's handsome.
He's tall.He's darkkinned.HIS PIPE GAME IS TIGHT.I SHOULD NOT BE HERE PAST 11:00.
THE SPIRIT IS SAYING GO, BUT MY BODY IS SAYING STAY.
I choose to stay.
I choose to lay down.
Trespass.
You've done that more times than you can count.
And I have.But but but but FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ULTRA RIGHTEOUS.I said, "No, I've never done that.YOU WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES.WILLFUL SIN."NO, I've been holy my whole life.Perfect.Okay.DEAD IN TRESPASSES.THAT'S NOT ME.AND IN SIN.THAT'S EVERYBODY.
NO ESCAPE.SO EVEN IF YOU LIE AND SAID, "I'VE BEEN PERFECT MY WHOLE LIFE,"
you were still born with an inherited
sinful nature.
The evidence for that is that you don't HAVE TO TEACH A CHILD TO LIE.
Your little baby, you think it's so cute,
just let them get two, four,
SIX.
THEY'LL START LYING ON THEIR OWN.
THEY'LL BE DISOBEDIENT on their own.THEY'LL BE REBELLIOUS ON THEIR OWN.YOU'LL BE HAVING TO DISCIPLINE THEM IN A RESTAURANT.
WHY?BECAUSE THEY ARE SINNERS WITH AN INHERITED SINFUL NATURE.
IT'S WHY EVIL EXISTS EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD.NO MATTER SKIN COLOR, RACE, OR PLANET OR ETHNICITY, I'M SORRY, PLANET OR CONTINENT ETHNICITY.EVERYBODY WAS BORN in sin.
IT IS THE DISEASE OF HUMANITY.
My God.He said, "You were born DEAD IN TRESPASSES and sin."And because you were born dead IN TRESPASSES AND SIN AND DEAD PEOPLE WALKING LIKE ZOMBIES, YOU NATURALLY WERE LED BY THREE THINGS.
NUMBER ONE, HE SAID YOU WERE LED BY THE WORLD.YES.
The systems, THE CULTURE, THE MORAY, the norms, the ethos
OF EVERYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE KINGDOM THAT WE ASCRIBE to before WE ARE SAVED.SO IF THE WORLD IS DOING IT, WE JUST THINK IT IS RIGHT.IF THE WORLD BELIEVES IT, WE THINK IT'S RIGHT.HE SAID, "WHEN YOU ARE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SIN, YOU FOLLOWED AFTER THE PATTERNS OF THE WORLD."AND YOU CAN TESTIFY to that cuz when I was a sinner, I did everything I WANTED TO DO ACCORDING TO WHAT THE WORLD I JUST WISH I HAD SOME MORE BAPTIST FINGERS THAT WOULD SAYS YES ME.
YES, you was.Don't agree.
When you was unsaved, YOU DID EVERYTHING YOU SAW in the world.
He said you follow AFTER THE WORLD.HE SAID NOT ONLY WAS YOU INFLUENCED BY THE WORLD, TOO.YOU WAS INFLUENCED BY THE PRINCE OF THE POWER of the air.Prince speaks of a person.
THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL WHO THAT PERSON IS.HIS NAME IS SATAN.
LUCIFER.
THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN.
THE ONE WHO THE SCRIPTURE SAYS IN REVELATION WENT OUT TO WATCH THIS WORD deceive
the whole world.
He said WHEN YOU WERE DEAD IN SIN, YOU WERE INFLUENCED BY THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR.NOW WATCH THE TITLE CAREFULLY.PRINCE speaks of what?HIERARCHY.
TALKS ABOUT A PERSON WHO HAS RULERSHIP OVER DEMONS.
HE CALLS HIM THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR.WHERE IS AIR?EVERYWHERE.
WHICH MEANS EVERYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE KINGDOM IS BEING INFLUENCED
BY SATAN.IT SPEAKS OF THE EXTENSION OF HIS REACH, THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS INFLUENCE, micro influence that we see his influence show up in our relationships with people,
arguments between husband and wife, boyfriends and girlfriends, family members, church members, slander, deceit, backbiting, discord, all these things.influ micro influences of the devil, macro
influences of the devil
where he has his hands in everything outside the kingdom.
Music,
politics,
government,
policies,
sports,
entertainment,
movies,
media,
television,
social media,
religion,
religion.And I'm coming to that, brother.Thank you.I I'm working I'm working it, brother.I was on my way there.
I mean I mean I don't got notes in front of me, but the outline is in my heart.I was on my way there.
False religions.
Everything outside of the kingdom according to this is being influenced by Satan.Now, I'm going to go a little bit deep and I'm going to move on.
That means you should mark everything outside of the kingdom.
Mark everything
outside of the kingdom
as being infected by the influence of the devil.
laws and regulations,
and men USING THE BATHROOM WITH WOMEN
AND CHANGING THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE,
GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, SPORTS, MUSIC, SOCIAL MEDIA, MEDIA.WATCH.AND HOW DOES HE INFLUENCE ALL OF THAT?WHERE'S WATCH THIS WORD LIES?BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE CALLS HIM THE FATHER OF all lies
and that THE TRUTH IS NOT IN him
is going to register when you get home.THAT MEANS EVERYTHING OUTSIDE THE KINGDOM HAS BEEN INFECTED.
Your eyes are going to be open.LET ME SAY THIS WORD TO YOU WOMAN.LET ME TATTOO THIS TO YOUR HEART.WATCH THIS WORD.EVERYTHING PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR.EVERYTHING OUTSIDE THE KINGDOM HAS BEEN INFECTED BY THE INFLUENCE of the devil.Whether micro, MACRO, SUBTLE OR EXPLICIT.
Satan has influenced it in some shape, form or fashion.
He warns that discerning Christians should not believe everything they see and hear, then returns to Paul’s description of humanity as children of wrath. The section emphasizes the seriousness of sin and the reality of judgment.
is why discerning Christians don't believe everything they see, read, and hear.
Stupid.Some of y'all are so stupid.
I think I need to SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME SO I'LL GO ON RECORD.DISCERNING CHRISTIANS DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THEY SEE, hear
and read.
SOME PEOPLE POST AND TALK IN SUCH A WAY WE AUTOMATICALLY KNOW YOU HAVE no discernment.
I would go deeper, but I don't want to get in trouble.But but no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no.Just let me just SAY THAT SOME OF US, WE MAKE DECISIONS
in society
and how we move and how we govern ourselves and it shows we have no discernment.
I'mma leave it right there,
man.I when I get older and I'm not up here no more.I'm I'mma let loose.
I still got a wife and kids to protect.But I'm I'mma go off.If the Lord let me live old and I'm no longer a pastor, I'm telling YOU RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO BE BLOGGING LIKE A CRAZY MAN.
Cuz I be leaking things undercover
like Jesus telling parables that you need to decipher.
HE SAYS, "YOU WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SIN.And while you were dead, you were influenced by three things.The world right there in the text, the prince of the power of the air, leading people while leading people while they are dead, influencing your marriage, putting thoughts in your mind, influencing how you move, what you listen to,what you watch, what you do, where you go, who you sleep with, all the things."
And he said being influenced by the flesh,
which is a metaphor for the fallen part of you.This thing that we're wrapped in
that I be want to take off because it aggravates me.
And you know, the flesh, the flesh is the thing that makes you naturally selfish
and naturally a sinner.It's why you got to win every argument
and it's why you out for you instead of being out for others
when Christians should be in competition.
Said Philip, how well Paul said we should outdo one another in honor.
So we should be a competing church trying to outdo one another in how we love and how we honor.But we don't do that.Our selfish nature try to what?Get honor for ourselves and glory for ourselves.that we're all about ourselves instead of being more about others than ourselves.
What makes you selfish?Why does your wife think you're selfish?Why does your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your husband, why do these people think you're selfish?Because you're wrapped in the
And according to Paul, when you were dead, it controlled you.
Now watch.He said to the Ephesian believers, everybody watch the text.He said to the believers in Ephesus and to everybody in this room who was once not saved, you were dead in trespasses and sins, you were led by your flesh by the devil and the world.And because of that, you were naturally children of wrath.You were objects of God's furious wrath.
So that means every person outside of Christ is an object of God's wrath.He looks upon them and a judgment is coming for them.Wrath is the full execution of God's judgment upon the person who is unredeemed
upon those who reject him upon everyone in every false religion.Wrath is what's coming for every person that dies separated from Christ.God will execute his full wrath on that person.
They will get a body, this is all Bible.THEY WILL GET A BODY FIT FOR DESTRUCTION, BUT THEY WILL LIVE FOREVER IN A CONSCIOUS STATE OF TORMENT, in fire, and in the lake of fire.
That's all IN REVELATION.IT'S COMING.NOBODY'S GOING TO ESCAPE THAT.
You can argue all THEY WANT NOW.WHEN THEY DIE, THEY WILL be the recipients of God's wrath.This is all in the word of God.
Teach us.
That means EVERY HUMAN BEING ACCORDING to Paul's words was born, watch this word, damned.
And he said, "THIS IS THE WAY."WATCH THESE WORDS.YOU WALKED, WHICH MEANS WAY OF LIFE.I'M TEACHING YOU THE SCRIPTURES.WHAT DOES THIS MEANS?THAT MEANS APART FROM CHRIST, WE WALK AS DEAD PEOPLE.YOU'RE RAISED AS A DEAD CHILD.YOU GO TO SCHOOL AS A DEAD PERSON.YOU START DATING DEAD.YOU GET MARRIED.DEAD.YOU BUILD A CAREER.DEAD.YOU START BUSINESSES.DEAD.YOU GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA.DEAD.YOU HAVE GRANDCHILDREN.DEAD.YOU HAVE INVESTMENTS.DEAD.YOU BUY HOMES.DEAD.YOU BUILD A LIFE.DEAD.YOU TRAVEL.DEAD.GO ON VACATION.DEAD.READ BOOKS.DEAD.GO TO THE MOVIES.DEAD.HAVE FUN.DEAD.YOU DO ALL THOSE THINGS.DEAD.HEADED TO HELL.
The message turns sharply to the hope of Ephesians 2:4: 'But God.' He explains God’s mercy, great love, and justice, showing why salvation is entirely an act of divine intervention.
He said this was every single human being.
No escape from that.
Okay, now watch verse four.Lord have mercy.
Lord Jesus have mercy.
Watch the two WORDS IN THE BEGINNING OF VERSE FOUR.
Lord have mercy.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
LOOK AT THE FIRST TWO WORDS OF VERSE FOUR.
But God.
But God.
BUT GOD.
BUT GOD.
BUT GOD.
GOD.
HELP ME, HOLY SPIRIT.BUT GOD.
GOD.YOU KNOW WHAT that is?A massive cosmic
THEOLOGICAL SPIRITUAL
INTERVENTION
IN THE LIFE
OF THE PERSON WHO was dead.
But God
THROUGH WORDS THAT SPEAK OF GOD AS AN INITIATOR.
God man.I feel the spirit of GOD SPEAKS OF GOD AS AN INITIATOR.
YOU DIDN'T DO IT.HE DID IT.
You did nothing.
Saw you dead.
ROLLED UP ON YOU AT SOME SEASON IN YOUR LIFE.
And you got the nerve
to just be dancing over a house in a car.
I just need to think about the cross.
I'LL RUN AROUND THIS ROOM AND DO A BACKFLIP OFF OF THE RISERS.
You think I NEED A NEW CAR TO SHOUT?
YOU THINK I NEED A BETTER JOB TO SHOUT?
You think I need more money to shout?
I JUST CHECKED THE RECORD OF HEAVEN AND SEE MY NAME UP THERE.
This me to the devil.
But
God
being rich
in mercy.
MERCY
IS A THEOLOGICAL WORD THAT MEANS KEEPING YOU,
SPARING YOU FROM WHAT YOU DESERVE.AND WHAT YOU DESERVE FOR BEING BORN A sinner
is wrath.
Deserve nothing.
AND THIS IS HARD
FOR US TO UNDERSTAND because we live lives of human accomplishment.
Your resume got you a job.
Your skill set put you on a platform.Your hard work got you a raise.So we are accustomed to doing and seeing the reward of doing.And we think salvation is the same way.
God,
but God, not but you.
Rich in mercy
because of his great love.
with which he loved us,
Jew,
Gentile,
even when we were dead.
When did his love begin?
After you were saved.
His love was poured out on you
when you was his enemy.
For while we were yet sinners,
Christ died.
He wrote to Rome.That is the evidence of God's love is not in the things you possess.
The evidence of God's love is in where you are positionally saved in Christ.But God rich in mercy and because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses.Now watch the verbs.Three things he did for you.Made us alive together with Christ.By grace you have been saved.Watch the second verb.And raised us up with him.
And watch the third verb.and seated us with him
in the heavenly places in Christ.
SO GOD SAW dead people
and HE COULD HAVE CHOSEN TO ALLOW ALL OF humanity to burn
and somebody will say God is cruel
that all people are headed to hell.That makes God cruel.The people who talk like that don't understand biblical theology.You said, "Philip, you can't say that.How could God allow the whole human race to go to hell?"Okay, let somebody murder your child.
Stand before a judge and tell the judge, "Let me go free because I'm a good man."
You're not having that.
You're going to ask the judge to sentence that murderer because they are, watch this word,
guilty.
You want justice for your child.
God wants justice for sin.And because he's holy, his nature punishes sin.So he is just to let everyone go to hell.
He unpacks regeneration as God making spiritually dead people alive, using Lazarus and Nicodemus as illustrations. The speaker stresses that conviction and new birth are works of God, not human effort.
Hell is God's justice.
But in mercy, he looked down and said,I'mma grab a remnant of people from every generation
for myself.
So he moves towards them in love and mercy.Paul said this is what he did to you.Ephesians what he did to others and he did three things for you.Made you alive,
raised you up
and seated you all in Christ.
Let's work them one after the other.Made you alive.Now everybody listen to me very carefully.If you've ever been to a funeral and seen a body in a box, that body can't talk.
It's gonna make sense to you.That body can't plead.That body can't ask.That body can't pray.That body can't walk.That dead person can't do, watch this words, nothing.
That means a person who's spiritually dead cannot manufacture
salvation for themselves because a dead person can't do anything.
That means IF A PERSON WHO'S DEAD WILL BE RESURRECTED, THEY NEED A POWER OUTSIDE OF themselves
to resurrect.SO WHEN LAZARUS WAS dead
and in a tomb for 4 days, he would remain there except Jesus did not say, "Lazarus,
come forth."That dead man NEEDED A POWER OUTSIDE OF HIMSELF
TO make him
alive.And when a person wandering the world is spiritually dead and having fun dead, they will remain dead unless God chooses
to make them
alive.How do we know he's choosing to do that?WHEN WE START FEELING CONVICTION, HE IS APPROACHING THEM TO MAKE them alive.
So then the CONVICTION OF THE SPIRIT IS AN ACT OF LOVE AND MERCY TO WOO YOU out of death
towards Christ.
Hallelujah.
It's all going to MAKE SENSE FOR YOU IN A COUPLE MINUTES.
So where YOU GOING WITH THIS?WATCH WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS.
SO GOD MOVED TOWARDS THE DEAD EPHESIANS AND THE DEAD PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM AND THE DEAD PEOPLE WATCHING WHO ARE SAVED.HE MOVED TOWARDS YOU.He made you alive.
THE THEOLOGICAL WORD FOR THAT IS REGENERATE.
He made you alive.
And he HAD TO DO THAT BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN DEAD.
THIS IS WHY HE SAID TO A RELIGIOUS MAN, RELIGIOUS man named Nicodemus WHO THOUGHT HE WAS SERVING GOD, BUT HE WAS SERVING GOD DEAD.HE SAID, "DON'T YOU KNOW BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN DEAD, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.
This is crazy to me.HE TOLD A RELIGIOUS teacher who thought they was walking with God.
That man didn't even know he WAS SPIRITUALLY DEAD.HE SAID TO NICODEMUS, "Don't you not know, JOHN 3, THAT YOU MUST BE born
because everybody's born dead.You must be born
again.You're born physically alive, spiritually dead.So, you must be born again.You must be made spiritually alive.
This is important.I'm almost done.Because you are a spirit
that lives in a body
and you have a soul.
And the spirit who you really are will live forever.
Is the part of you that interacts with your creator
but cannot do that while you are dead.
So there is no intimacy.People be like, I I got a relationship with God.NO, YOU DON'T.THERE IS NO INTIMACY WITH GOD WHILE YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD.That is the PART OF YOU THAT WAS DESIGNED TO INTERACT WITH GOD.
IT'S WHY ALL OF YOU WHO ARE SAVED, YOU KNOW THE MOMENT WHEN YOU PASS FROM DEATH TO LIFE AND YOU WAS LIKE, "OH SNAP, I'M IN THE KINGDOM."YOU START HEARING GOD AND SENSING GOD AND YOU START UNDERSTANDING THE WORD OF GOD.Come on, man.Come on, man.Come on, man.Come on.I KNOW WHEN I WAS MADE ALIVE IN A BATHROOM BECAUSE WHEN GOD SAVED ME IN THAT BATHROOM, I HAD AN AWARENESS THAT he was alive.
My team and I were in Hawaii on the last stop of my podcast toward 3:00 in the morning eating food talking about we I asked everybody around the table, do you remember the moment when you passed from deathto life
and they all telling their stories when they knew that something had changed on the inside of them?That is they they we were recounting the story of when we were made alive
2003 in a bathroom on the floor over a toilet seat.I was made alive.
The sermon explains being raised with Christ and seated with him in heavenly places. He applies this to a believer’s mindset and authority over spiritual opposition.
He said, "Not only make you alive, but he raised you up."
All of this is what happened to Jesus.Jesus physically lived.Jesus physically died.You were dead.He raised Christ from the dead.
So Christ was raised physically.You are raised spiritually
in Christ.
And that's why he writes to the church in Colasse, which was not that far from even not that far.All in the same place of age.He writes to them in Colossians chapter 3.Listen what he says in verse 1-2.I just want to teach you the word of God.Colossians 3:es 1 and 2.If then you have been what's the word?
Raised with Christ.Seek the things that are where?Above.
Where Christ is what?Seated at the right hand of God.Watch verse two.Set like a thermostat.Your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
And why is Philip always talking about eternity?And why he's always talking about being with God and because you don't read.
It's crazy the things we attack in culture that's in the Bible.
Paul said since you are alive, you should train your mind to think more about what?Eternity.That is if you belong to Christ, you should not be so overly attached
to this life.
You should train your mind to think more about where you are going
because you WILL BE THERE FOREVER.THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY.
AND YOU THINK I'M I'M A FANATIC.
NO, I read
You've been raised UP WITH CHRIST.SO IT DEMANDS A DIFFERENT MINDSET.
SINCE YOU WERE RAISED, AS SOON AS YOU RAISED, YOU START THINKING THIS IS NOT MY HOME.YOU START THINKING, I'M A SJOURER.YOU START THINKING THIS LIFE IS TEMPORARY.SO YOU START USING YOUR DAYS MORE WISELY.
You see everything through the lens of eternity.You understand how temporal right now is.So he says, "Since now is temporary, let me use it for the GLORY OF GOD."WHY?BECAUSE IT'S TEMPORARY.So he made you alive.He raised you up.And I love this part.And then he seated you with Christ.Now my family, come on family.Jesus is not a spook.He's a physical man who is God in the flesh.And he's physically seated at the right hand of the father.And Paul says that you are seated with Christ.So you are alive on the earth physically but positionally in the spirit you are seated with Christ.IF YOU'RE SEATED WITH help us Holy Spirit.IF YOU'RE SEATED WITH CHRIST POSITIONALLY IN THE EYES OF GOD, he is seated in a place of authority.
And you let the devil get away with what?
And wreck shop in your mind
and your heart like you don't got no authority.
I got authority.
I got authority to pray against evil,
to pray against demons,
to say to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you.
I got authority to lay hands on the sick and believe they can't recover.
I GOT AUTHORITY TO PRAY for the will of God in the earth."Man, you got authority
like a COP IN THE STREET THAT STANDS OUT THERE AND SAYS, "STOP.NO more devil."
We don't act like people with authority.We don't act like sons and daughters with authority.
That's why we always bragging about everything the devil is doing to us.and woe is us and the devil got me and my tires flat and the devil and blah blah blah blah blah blah and d we brag about him like you don't have no darn authority
should change your I want to smack you in your mouth with the spirit
just change the way you pray and the way you talk and the way you post and the way you live
smack the word of God into you.
Imagine Jesus complaining about the power of the devil.Why would he do that when he's seated in authority
and you are seated in him?Maybe you should start acting like it
and talking like it
and posting like it
and praying like it
and walking like it.
Somebody just shout, "I got authority."
I got authority.
He teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, not by human works or merit. The speaker clarifies that faith is the means by which grace saves and that good works follow salvation.
All right, let me finish the text.
So you seated with Christ in heaven.That's everything God did for you in salvation that you could not do for yourself.And the evidence is that, watch what he did.He did all of this for what reason?Verse seven, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us who are in Christ.Okay, look everybody, look at me.God did all of that for you from all the way from chapter one to right here, family.I mean, like, I'm overwhelmed by everything God has done for me and for you.
Watch everybody, but watch this.He This is crazy to me.He did all of that so everybody look at you with your saved self.He did all of that so that in the ages to come, he can show off his glory.
Okay?Phillip, I don't understand.
He did.He He did what he did in you.
So that in the ages to come,
he can show off
his glory.
Ages to come is a tagline for, watch this word, forever.Watch.
You know who's with God right now?Angelic beings.Yes.
You know what?They are not human beings.
You know who they don't expect to be with them?Human beings.
Cuz we are born dead in sin.
But you know what?They've been seeing coming up every generation.
Human beings appearing in heaven
from every generation.and that a day has come
God is going to say look at them
from every tribe
every nation every color
black, white, brown, former murderer, former rapist,
former prostitute, former hoe, former drug dealer, former businessman.Just look at them.
You and I will be trophies.
of his glory.He will show off to all OF THE ANGELIC HOST.LOOK AT THESE RATCHET HUMAN BEINGS.
Look at them.LOOK HOW I SAVED THEM, WASHED THEM, CHOSE THEM, PREDESTINED THEM, ADOPTED THEM, sealed them, brought them all INTO MYSELF, SAVED THEM, AND NOW THEY'RE WITH ME.
THEY'RE WITH ME NOW.Watch forever.
Hallelujah.Hallelujah.
But God, I thought you was going TO LET THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE GO TO HELL.I COULD HAVE,
BUT I WANTED TO SHOW OFF THE POWER OF MY GLORY.
GOSH, MAN.So when he saved you,
for the endless ages of eternity, HE'S GOING TO LAVISH YOU WITH HIS love and show YOU OFF AS A TROPHY.
GOD, MAN.of his like
the knucklehead from Queens
will be a trophy
of God's glory.
The former drug dealer.
The man who robbed people at gunpoint.
The man who's been arrested more than four times.
THE MAN WHO RUINED LIVES AND PAID FOR ABORTIONS AND DAMAGED WOMEN.
I will be I will be a trophy OF THE POWER OF SALVATION.
I WILL BE A TROPHY OF THE POWER OF GOD'S SALVIFIC WORK TO SHOW OFF IN HEAVEN and in the eternal state forever.GOD WILL BE ABLE TO BRAG AND SAY, "LOOK WHAT I DID.
He was dead.
Saved him, RAISED HIM,
SEALED HIM,
POSITIONED HIM.NOW LOOK AT HIM ON MY SHELF.
Look what I did.
My God.
My God.
Ephesus or you and I think that you had anything to do with this.
He says to them in verse eight, "For by grace
you have been saved."
Watch these words carefully.Through faith,
and this is not of your own doing,
it is the gift of God,
not a result of works,
so that no one can boast.
God said, "Salvation had nothing to do with you."
Now, why I'm about to I'm Listen,
I know what you're thinking.He said, "But but Philip, I made a decision to follow him."Okay, watch
to rob you of of any credit.
He said, "You were saved by grace."Watch this word.Through faith.
Watch.So, what did it take to even believe faith?How did you have faith to believe?God gave that to you.
He gave you enough faith
to believe.SO YOU HEARD THE GOSPEL, HE GAVE YOU FAITH TO BELIEVE.
SOMEBODY SHARED THEIR TESTIMONY WITH YOU, HE GAVE YOU FAITH TO BELIEVE.YOU WERE SITTING IN CHURCH, HE GAVE YOU FAITH TO BELIEVE.YOU WERE READING THE BIBLE, HE GAVE YOU FAITH TO BELIEVE.
SOMETHING HAPPENED IN A MOMENT.HARDSHIP, TRIAL, A SERMON, HE GAVE YOU THE FAITH TO BELIEVE.BUT FAITH IS NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE.IT'S ONLY ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU A FRAMEWORK TO BELIEVE.FAITH is like a syringe, but it's not the medicine.The medicine is the grace.
Grace through
faith.
SO HE GAVE YOU FAITH AS A FRAMEWORK TO BELIEVE AND THEN HE WALKED through faith with grace
to draw you to himself.
He did all of that so that nobody can bribe on your salvation.accept God.
So he said your works did not do that.Your good behavior, your morality, your church attendance.
See, and there is no dispute between James and Paul.
Works do not save.But the saved person works.
WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS, but if we're truly saved, we work.
WE'RE NOT SAVED BY GOOD BEHAVIOR, but if we're saved, we live out a different life.
No contradiction between James and Paul.
So faith is like the syringe.Grace is the medicine that injected you.and regenerated you and made you alive.
He said, "This is not of your doing.It is what?"A gift of God.Something he gave you unmmerited.
The final verse is explored as a statement that believers are God’s workmanship, created for good works prepared beforehand. He urges listeners to discover God’s purpose for their lives and respond with awe and wonder.
Last verse.Now, this to me is stunning.And I land the plane here.He said to everybody who is saved, everybody pay attention.This right here is is this this right here will change your life.
This last verse will change your life.It is one of the most powerful verses in the New Testament.I pray this over people every time I meet them in the street.Now, family, look at verse 10.Because you are saved.How do I know that?Verse 10 starts with four, which is a conjunction word.For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works.Lord have mercy.Which God prepared
beforehand.
Now here comes a choice that we should, which is a decision you make,
walk in them.Okay?
This is one of the most important verses in the New Testament.Peep the theology of the verse.If you are saved, everybody look at me.The devil can't rob you of this of this revelation.If you are saved,
you are not will be God's workmanship.The word workmanship in Greek translate to two English words poem
and masterpiece.Yes.
So then if you are saved, you are God's poem.You're being read by others.
And if you are saved right now in your insecurities, dang it, Lord, help us.and your feelings of shame and your feelings of unworthinessand your trials and tribulations.If you are saved right now, you are his masterpiece.
Talks about an artist creating something on a canvas.If this is true and you will be with him forever, that means earth is his workshop.
Heaven is his showroom.
That means in this life through your trials, tribulations, everything you're going through, he is fashioning you
into his masterpiece.
And in glory, he will put you in his showroom.
But look at the back half of the verse.And this is the part that changed my life.He said, "Since you are saved, he's already he's already had works."Watch this word prepared for you.He said, "Philip, I don't understand."You know what prepared is?That means before you were born, the Lord already knew your anointing,
your gifting,
your talents,
your acumen.Watch this word and your assignments.
And if this is true, that means the Christian's life is less about manufacturing a path
and it's more about discovering
what God has already intended
for you.That is I'm not busy trying to build things
which is futile.I'm busy trying to discover what he already intended
for me to do.
So my prayer is not Lord give me give me give me.My prayer is Lord what would you have me
to do.Why?Because if you already had your life planned before you got here.
Your life is less about what you want to build
and it should be more about what you need to discover.That means before I was born, he already knew I would be a pastor,
an evangelist, an author, a all the things I'm doing now, he already knew.I just had to discover
those paths.And my question to you is, I wonder what path you have not walked in yet
because you're busy building, but not busy asking.
God, what would you have me to do?What if there's something he has you to do you ain't even thought about yet?
He
said, why does this happen for every Christians?Because he said we should walk in them.You know what should is?It is a decision you make whether or not you will discover what God has for you or not.
So, he already knew you would be a mother and the deposit you're supposed to make in those children.He already knew you would be a father and the deposit you're supposed to make in those children.He already knew you would be a pastor.He already knew you would be an author.He already knew you would be a podcaster.He already knew you would be a singer.He already knew you would be a businessman.He already knew you would be all these he the works, the good good works, they're already mapped out.
So you don't pick a purpose, you discover it.
And what is the right response to this for the Christian?The only way to respond to what I just taught you
is with a heart of awe
and wonder.
Like what is what is the application from the message?Awe
and wonder over a God who saw you dead
and pursued you, made you alive, raised you up, seated you with Christ, prepared good works for you.Your response to your salvation should be awe and wonder.And your natural response should be, God, whatever you want me to do with the rest of my life, from this day forward, I submit myself to do whatever you want me TO DO IN THIS TEMPORARY LIFE because Iam your workmanship.
Any other RESPONSE TO THAT, YOU ARE FOOLISH.
THE ONLY RIGHT RESPONSE TO THE text
is A AND WONDER.WOW,
I CAN'T BELIEVE THE MEASURES YOU WENT THROUGH TO SAVE ME.AND IN RESPONSE TO ALL YOU HAVE DONE, LORD, HERE IS MY LIFE.AND WHATEVER YOU WANT ME TO DO, NOT MY WILL, your will be done.
Hallelujah.
That
yes will make a powerful life.A powerful mother, a powerful father, a powerful servant, a powerful businessman, a powerful teacher, a powerful fill in the blank.Lord, whatever you want me to do, I'm your workmanship.
The message closes with an appeal to unbelievers to surrender to Christ and to believers to live in gratitude and holiness. He ends in prayer and a call for praise from those who are saved.
Paint on me as you see fit.
Hallelujah.
I will do whatever you want me to do with the life you purchased.
And for the unbeliever,
how do you respond to the message with fear and with trembling and with awareness that maybe right now the Lord is tapping you in your heart saying, "Surrender.You've been running long enough.
You might not hear an invitation again.This might be the last time I knock your heart.
The Lord says to the unbeliever, "Surrender.Confess your sins.
Apologize.
Ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and surrender your life to him."You can do that now in your seat now across the camera.You can do that in your car in the parking lot.
You can do that at the altar when the gathering is over.We got prayer teams that'll pray with you.For the unbeliever, yours is stop running.Surrender.
Never again after this day DO YOU TAKE SALVATION FOR GRANTED.NEVER AGAIN AFTER THIS DAY do you TREAT SALVATION LIKE IT'S COMMON OR LIKE IT'S ORDINARY OR LIKE IT'S LIGHT WORK.NEVER AGAIN AFTER THIS DAY DO YOU ACT LIKE GOD OWES YOU ANYTHING.NEVER AGAIN AFTER THIS DAY DOES HE HAVE TO FORCE YOU TO PRAISE,
to worship, TO GIVE, TO BE GENEROUS, TO BE FAITHFUL, TO BE HOLY, TO BE PURE.
YOU OWE THAT to him.
So father in the name of the one in whom you have saved us.I have done my part.And I pray the EYES OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING WILL be enlightened
to see the MAGNITUDE OF THEIR FORMER DEPRAVITY AND THE MAGNITUDE OF THE LENGTHS YOU WENT THROUGH TO RESCUE them from wrath.I pray FOR THE BELIEVER THAT THEY WILL ALWAYS BE IN AWE AND WONDER OF THEIR SALVATION.and that they will live out the rest of their days in glad submission to your will knowing that eternity is coming.And for the unbeliever, terrify them right now.
Love on them right now and draw them into the kingdom right now.Snatch them from the fires of hell
right now.I pray this over the believer Jesus Christ
and over the unbeliever in the mighty
and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lordand our Savior
Jesus
Christ.Now if you are saved,
hallelujah,
give him praise and adoration in this way.