Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 6/27/10:
1. Whereas Paul looked at the benefits of salvation from an individual point-of-view in Ephesians 2:1-10, in 2:11-22 he looks at the benefits of salvation from a corporate viewpoint.
2. Paul’s main points are that God, through the death of Jesus, provides:
-peace that overcomes division and alienation, vv. 11-13
-peace that makes reconciliation possible, vv. 14-18
-peace that makes possible a new living organism, the church, vv. 19-22
3. Author Ralph Martin writes concerning this: “The world we know is fallen divided and suspicious, Paul holds out the prospect of a reconciled, unified, amicable society, whose microcosm is seen in the church of God’s worldwide, transnational, and reconciling family.”
4. Before the cross of Christ, Gentiles were without hope of a redeemer, were not accepted as full members into God’s people, were without covenantal promises from God, without hope because they were without God. As Harold Hoehner writes: “The Gentiles were in a desperate situation. They had no meaning, hope, purpose, direction in life.” This is the situation of anyone today who is without Christ as Savior.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The Road To Hope
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 6/20/10:
1. In God’s sight all humanity can be divided between those who “are dead in trespasses and sins” (unbelievers) and those who have been “made alive with, raised up with, and seated with Christ (believers).
2. Unbelievers are spiritually dead. Death in the Bible sense means separation. Physical death is the separation of the material from the immaterial part of man. Spiritual death is separation from God. Eternal death is separation from God for all eternity as a result of a person physically dying without ever coming to Christ; that is their spiritual death becomes permanent. Dead also has the sense of no communication with God or with the life of God.
3. The condition of “dead” has come about because of sin, described here as “transgressions” (doing the wrong things) and “sins” (missing the mark or failing to do the right things).
4. Unbelievers are kept in subjection to sin by the world (the world system which is anti-god and opposes all God stands for), Satan (who controls through lies, deceit, schemes), and the sinful nature (the corrupt nature all humans inherited from Adam, Romans 5:12).
5. God provided a way for individuals to be made alive through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. This salvation is of God alone, not by human effort or work. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Recap of 6/20/10:
1. In God’s sight all humanity can be divided between those who “are dead in trespasses and sins” (unbelievers) and those who have been “made alive with, raised up with, and seated with Christ (believers).
2. Unbelievers are spiritually dead. Death in the Bible sense means separation. Physical death is the separation of the material from the immaterial part of man. Spiritual death is separation from God. Eternal death is separation from God for all eternity as a result of a person physically dying without ever coming to Christ; that is their spiritual death becomes permanent. Dead also has the sense of no communication with God or with the life of God.
3. The condition of “dead” has come about because of sin, described here as “transgressions” (doing the wrong things) and “sins” (missing the mark or failing to do the right things).
4. Unbelievers are kept in subjection to sin by the world (the world system which is anti-god and opposes all God stands for), Satan (who controls through lies, deceit, schemes), and the sinful nature (the corrupt nature all humans inherited from Adam, Romans 5:12).
5. God provided a way for individuals to be made alive through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. This salvation is of God alone, not by human effort or work. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Way to Live; The Way to Pray
No Audio File This Week
Recap of 6/13/10:
1. Paul commends the Ephesians for their response to God’s calling to salvation evidenced in their life of faith and love. Faith and love were often linked in Paul’s thinking (Ephesians 6:23; Galatians 5:6). “Here there is set before us in a perfect summary the characteristics of a true church…. The two things which must characterize any true church are loyalty to Christ and love to men.” (William Barclay)
2. Paul, in a model prayer for us, prays for the Ephesians. His central request is that they might know God fully (Greek epignosis), completely, intimately, personally, and practically. His prayer is devoid of material requests or self-centered petitions, but filled with praise and adoration.
3. His prayer for them is that they might know the great hope that is theirs as a result of God’s call to salvation; that they might comprehend that believers are God’s heritage purchased at great price; and that they might understand the access they have to divine power to live the Christian life.
4. This power is vital because of our enemies (the world system, the sinful nature, and Satan); because of our spiritual needs; and because with it we have the resources to live and love sacrificially, unselfishly.
Recap of 6/13/10:
1. Paul commends the Ephesians for their response to God’s calling to salvation evidenced in their life of faith and love. Faith and love were often linked in Paul’s thinking (Ephesians 6:23; Galatians 5:6). “Here there is set before us in a perfect summary the characteristics of a true church…. The two things which must characterize any true church are loyalty to Christ and love to men.” (William Barclay)
2. Paul, in a model prayer for us, prays for the Ephesians. His central request is that they might know God fully (Greek epignosis), completely, intimately, personally, and practically. His prayer is devoid of material requests or self-centered petitions, but filled with praise and adoration.
3. His prayer for them is that they might know the great hope that is theirs as a result of God’s call to salvation; that they might comprehend that believers are God’s heritage purchased at great price; and that they might understand the access they have to divine power to live the Christian life.
4. This power is vital because of our enemies (the world system, the sinful nature, and Satan); because of our spiritual needs; and because with it we have the resources to live and love sacrificially, unselfishly.
Monday, June 07, 2010
How Is A Sinner Turned Into A Saint?
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 6/13/10:
Paul launches into what Charles Erdman calls a “Hymn of Grace” in Ephesians 1:4-14.
1. Our salvation was planned by the Father (vv. 4-6), we were chosen and adopted into His family.
-God chose or “called-out” a people for Himself, to be His unique precious possession. God does the choosing, we are the object of His choice.
-God chose before the universe was created, before time
-God’s purpose was that we might be holy (set apart to God) and blameless (used of proper sacrificial animals in the Old Testament. This is true of us already positionally, and should be the goal of our lives experientially (we are to be different, we are to live sacrificially)
-In adoption we were released from the bondage of sin and death of our former lives, we are given a new status as God’s own in which we have access to the Father, communion with the Father, and an inheritance from God the Father.
2. Our salvation was provided by the Son (vv. 7-12), we were redeemed and forgiven.
-the six words used for redemption in the New Testament all have the idea of being in bondage, the payment of a ransom, and release from that bondage. Jesus came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45).
-as a result of our redemption, our sins are forgiven (that is “carried away” from us)
3. Our salvation was applied by the Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14). The Holy Spirit has been given to us both as a Seal over our lives (we are thus secure in our salvation) and as a down-payment guaranteeing that God will complete in us that which He has begun.
Recap of 6/13/10:
Paul launches into what Charles Erdman calls a “Hymn of Grace” in Ephesians 1:4-14.
1. Our salvation was planned by the Father (vv. 4-6), we were chosen and adopted into His family.
-God chose or “called-out” a people for Himself, to be His unique precious possession. God does the choosing, we are the object of His choice.
-God chose before the universe was created, before time
-God’s purpose was that we might be holy (set apart to God) and blameless (used of proper sacrificial animals in the Old Testament. This is true of us already positionally, and should be the goal of our lives experientially (we are to be different, we are to live sacrificially)
-In adoption we were released from the bondage of sin and death of our former lives, we are given a new status as God’s own in which we have access to the Father, communion with the Father, and an inheritance from God the Father.
2. Our salvation was provided by the Son (vv. 7-12), we were redeemed and forgiven.
-the six words used for redemption in the New Testament all have the idea of being in bondage, the payment of a ransom, and release from that bondage. Jesus came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45).
-as a result of our redemption, our sins are forgiven (that is “carried away” from us)
3. Our salvation was applied by the Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14). The Holy Spirit has been given to us both as a Seal over our lives (we are thus secure in our salvation) and as a down-payment guaranteeing that God will complete in us that which He has begun.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Benefits That Are Out Of This World
Click here to download the sermon file.
Recap of 5/30/10:
1. Paul addresses the believers at Ephesus as “saints.” The usage of the word “saint” in the New Testament is quite different from the contemporary religious usage of the word. Contrary to popular usage, in Biblical usage a saint is: not an especially pious believer; nor is a saint an eminent dead Christian responsible for at least two miracles; rather a saint is a believer (both living and dead)). “Saint” is the usual name for believers in the New Testament. The Greek word is hagios which means to be set apart, to be different.
2. The believers are said to be “in Christ Jesus.” This is an important phrase in Paul’s thinking.
-“No matter what the geographical location of the saints, their real position in God’s sight is in Christ Jesus. They have been put into a vital union with Him so that they are identified with Him.” Dr. Alfred Martin.
-“Christians live in two realities at the same time: their physical world and in the heavenlies in Christ.” Klyne Snodgrass.
-even as our values, the way we talk, the way we dress, the way we think is influenced by our physical address, so should they be influenced by our divine address.
Recap of 5/30/10:
1. Paul addresses the believers at Ephesus as “saints.” The usage of the word “saint” in the New Testament is quite different from the contemporary religious usage of the word. Contrary to popular usage, in Biblical usage a saint is: not an especially pious believer; nor is a saint an eminent dead Christian responsible for at least two miracles; rather a saint is a believer (both living and dead)). “Saint” is the usual name for believers in the New Testament. The Greek word is hagios which means to be set apart, to be different.
2. The believers are said to be “in Christ Jesus.” This is an important phrase in Paul’s thinking.
-“No matter what the geographical location of the saints, their real position in God’s sight is in Christ Jesus. They have been put into a vital union with Him so that they are identified with Him.” Dr. Alfred Martin.
-“Christians live in two realities at the same time: their physical world and in the heavenlies in Christ.” Klyne Snodgrass.
-even as our values, the way we talk, the way we dress, the way we think is influenced by our physical address, so should they be influenced by our divine address.
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