25-0928p Transcript

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

(0:36) Good evening, everyone.

(0:39) Hope everybody had a pleasant day today. Well, this evening we’re picking up where we left off (0:49) this morning, which was looking in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 1 through 14, (0:56) and what it is to be in Christ. In verses 5 and 6, it says, (1:23) So remember, from this morning, our discussion of election and predestination, (1:30) the preceding verse, verse 4, said, (1:41) So before creation, before anyone walked the earth and had a chance to sin, God, by His foreknowledge, (1:53) had the plan of salvation in place to solve the sin issue that mankind would be faced with.

(2:04) The plan was offered to all mankind that Jesus' Son would be the Lamb of God that would atone (2:13) for sin by dying on the cross in our place to remove our sins. When hearing the gospel, (2:23) those people whose hearts were not calloused over and was able to be touched by the gentle, (2:32) drawing power of God through His Word to believe in Jesus and accept this gift of salvation (2:41) that was offered to all mankind, we are adopted into His family. Those who accepted the terms (2:50) of this salvation were considered in Christ.

So verses 5 and 6 are a continuation of the thought (3:07) that was started in verse 4. It was because of God’s love, love for His Son. He confessed, (3:19) this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And because He loved mankind, or God, (3:27) so loved the world.

So because of love, God’s love, He predestined us before time began (3:37) to become His children through His glorious grace, which is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. (3:46) So He had all of this planned out before even one day passed ahead of time. (3:56) So God, Spirit, and Son were in heaven, or wherever they were before heaven, actually, (4:06) in whatever realm the Almighty Trinity lived in before creation.

It wasn’t heaven. It wasn’t this (4:18) physical realm or universe. But wherever they were, they decided amongst themselves, hey, (4:26) let’s do this.

Let’s create a couple of realms. We’ll have the spiritual realm. We’ll have a (4:34) physical realm.

And we’ll have a way for our awesome love to be displayed, to show how beautiful (4:45) and powerful it is, and let beings, intelligent beings, both spirit beings and physical beings, (4:57) play out in this scheme of redemption. We’ll give them a free choice of will to choose to do good (5:06) or bad. We’ll give them all the necessary tools to go through life.

We’ll give them laws and see how (5:19) this plays out. And God predestined each and every one of us in here that were written in (5:29) the Book of Life before creation. Our names are in there.

Because He had already in place (5:41) what was going to happen, He offers it to all mankind. All of mankind has the choice to believe (5:50) or reject. And so at any point, any one of us could suddenly, because of our behavior, (6:02) be blotted out of the Book of Life.

We’ll see that later. (6:15) So He predestined us before time began to become His children through His glorious grace, it says. (6:27) And this is freely given to all, all of humanity who will accept it.

It’s like He’s holding out (6:35) a gift of salvation, and all we have to do is take it. He’s not forcing it on us. We have to (6:45) take the gift.

And in Romans 6.23, Paul says, for the wages of sin is death. We earn death (6:58) the same way we earn wages. We work for it.

And we get paid. And we all have sinned. So we all have (7:12) earned death.

So we need this free gift that God offers. And that gift is eternal life through (7:24) Jesus our Lord. Verse 7 and 8, in Him, there it is again, in Him we have redemption through His (7:34) blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us (7:43) with all wisdom and understanding.

It is only when we are in Him that we can say, I am redeemed. (7:54) We had our sins washed away by His blood. This is mercy and grace in action on our behalf.

(8:04) In Peter’s first letter to the church, chapter 1, he reveals the role of the Godhead in the salvation (8:13) process. In verses 1 and 2, Peter says, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, (8:22) who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the (8:28) sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood. (8:37) That’s the salvation process.

And all three of the Godhead are involved in that. The elect (8:48) are chosen by God, who works on the hearts of all people through His word, the gospel, (8:58) calling out to people using His drawing power, His invisible force that we can’t hear other than (9:08) through the words of His gospel. But He works upon our hearts with the Spirit, (9:16) who convicts our hearts of sin.

But that drawing power, He’s choosing, He’s selecting people (9:25) to Himself. He already knows who’s going to accept it. And He tries to persuade that soul (9:38) to believe in Jesus.

And in John 6, it says that He calls people to Himself, creating faith in (9:52) their hearts. If their hearts are tender and right with God, they will hear and believe Him. (10:00) But if their hearts aren’t right and are calloused over from sin or are so consumed (10:08) with worldly cares, they won’t hear Him.

They’ll resist being drawn to God and miss out on (10:17) salvation. Jesus said in John 6, 44 and 65, and in John 8, 47, no one can come to me unless the (10:30) Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. He said, for this cause I (10:39) have sent to you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.

He who is of God (10:48) hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear because you are not from God. (10:56) So Jesus is explaining this process.

You know, those who hear the gospel, (11:05) if their heart is tender and sensitive, if they’re looking for answers, if they’re searching (11:12) for their Savior, they’re going to be—God’s going to see their heart and draw them to Himself. (11:21) And that’s offered to everyone, but some people are so sinful, they don’t want to change. They (11:31) hear those words, and they miss out on that drawing power that God has through His work, (11:39) working on people’s hearts.

And when we show our faithfulness and our obedience to the command (11:46) to be baptized and have died in like manner as Jesus through baptism, we receive the promised (11:55) Holy Spirit. Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually sprinkled (12:03) with the blood of Christ, having our sins removed, and are now fit to serve the Lord. (12:12) We can be holy because He’s holy.

Sanctification sets us apart for service to God. (12:25) We can’t serve Him when we’re in a sinful state. That’s the Trinity, the Godhead working (12:37) in the salvation process.

(12:41) Verses 9 and 10, and He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, (12:49) which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their (12:57) fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (13:08) So having the whole plan of salvation in His mind from the beginning, before creation, (13:15) God, over the course of human time, from the beginning in the garden up to the resurrection (13:23) of Christ, through His divine providence of guarding His people, guarding the bloodline (13:32) which the Savior would come through, and bringing about all of the characters (13:38) who had a role in this great passion play, it brought Him pleasure to finally reveal (13:48) these hidden mysteries He revealed to His people in the Gospels and in the New Testament writings. (13:57) Paul said that he revealed the mysteries previously unknown to people in the Old Testament (14:06) times, and the crowning achievement is realized in making Christ Jesus the sovereign King of Kings (14:18) and Lord of Lords.

God gave Him all authority in the universe, and every knee is going to bow to Him. (14:30) So God revealed to us as much as He could for the time being, because the story is not yet over, (14:40) because He’s coming back. Verse 11, in Him we were also chosen, having been predestined (14:50) according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose (14:56) of His will.

Again, the idea of God choosing a special people who believe and become His children, (15:07) even from before time began, and all according to His will. Everything was done according to (15:17) His plan that He had thought out when the Trinity was in their place before creation. (15:29) Everything was done according to plan, and nothing was done as a reaction to something (15:36) unforeseen.

They never had to counter Satan when he tried thwarting their plans. (15:47) Verse 12, in order that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His (15:55) glory. So the chosen in Christ are the benefactors of God’s perfectly executed (16:04) plan of salvation, and we still have the hope in Christ that He’ll come back for His church (16:10) and take us to be with Him in eternity in heaven when the time is right.

(16:18) No one knows that time. Only God the Father knows that. (16:25) So we still have that hope in Christ that we’ll have our place in heaven.

(16:32) In verses 13 and 14, and you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, (16:43) the gospel of your salvation, having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised (16:53) Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those (17:03) who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory. So we who are in Christ, (17:12) because we believe this glorious gospel, and we’re marked with the Holy Spirit, and that’s (17:20) a seal of authenticity indicating that we are children of God. And so when God comes back, (17:31) Christ comes back, and He sends His angels to collect His church, they’re going to be able to (17:39) identify us by having Holy Spirit.

Maybe on that day our heads will glow like a marquee. (17:48) I belong to Christ. I have the Holy Spirit.

Who knows? But they’re going to be able to identify (17:56) us and take us up to be with them in heaven. So we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, (18:03) and we all belong to Him. So we’ll be able to be identified on the great day (18:09) of Christ’s second coming.

So how exactly do we get into this in crowd who are in Christ? (18:21) How do you get in Christ? In Romans 6, 3 and 4, it says, Paul asks the question, (18:32) sort of a rhetorical one, or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ (18:40) were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death (18:48) in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too (18:56) may live a new life. And Paul tells us in the third chapter of the Galatian letter, (19:03) for you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized (19:12) into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free (19:21) man. There is neither male nor female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Another way of (19:31) expressing this is found in Romans 13, 14, which says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no (19:40) provision for the flesh, or for its lusts. When you put on Christ, where are you in relation to (19:49) Him? You are in Him.

You put Him on like a cloak. He’s on the outside of you. You’re on the inside (19:57) of Him.

You’re in Christ. That’s the idea there. And from these two examples, it’s clear to see (20:06) that baptism is the way to get into Christ.

The word into is the noting of a passing of a thing (20:16) from one form or state to another. The easiest example of this, and I saw David Coates do this, (20:27) and it’s where he took his hand and he says, my hand is outside of my pocket. (20:34) Now I’m moving my hand into my pocket.

The hand is now in my pocket. You can’t get much more simpler than that. (20:47) When you are outside of Christ and haven’t been baptized by Him yet, you’re outside of Christ.

(20:54) There’s no blessings outside of Christ. But when you get baptized, you get baptized into Christ. (21:04) When you raise up out of the water a new creation, you are in Christ.

You now can reserve, (21:14) receive all the spiritual blessings that are in Christ Jesus. It’s that simple. Likewise, (21:24) when we’re in Christ, at the same time we go from one kingdom into another.

(21:34) For all the world, everybody is in Satan’s kingdom, whether you know it or not. (21:43) It’s not until you’re saved by the blood of the Lamb that you are in Christ and God takes you (21:51) out of the kingdom of Satan and puts you into the kingdom of Christ. And this is illustrated (22:00) in Colossians 1, 13.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness at Satan’s kingdom and (22:08) brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We go from Satan’s kingdom into Christ’s kingdom. (22:16) We are now in Christ’s kingdom, which is the church.

And when we are baptized, God adds us (22:24) to the Lord’s church. But Christ’s church is not brick and mortar. Jesus tells us in Luke 17, (22:35) 20 and 21, once having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, (22:43) Jesus replied, the kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, (22:50) here it is or there it is, because the kingdom of God is within you.

Christ is the Prince of Peace, (23:00) and He rules in His temple our bodies in our hearts. We are the church. Wherever we gather (23:14) together, there Christ is with us.

So if you want to be in Christ and be a part of God’s in-crowd, (23:25) you have an opportunity to do it now. And you will be a part of that throng in heaven (23:33) where John read, Revelation 19, 6. Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, (23:40) like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting, (23:46) hallelujah for our Lord God almighty reigns. That’s the in-crowd, those who are in Christ (23:54) and those who are in heaven.

So if you need, come and we’ll take care of whatever your needs may be.