Grace Haven Church

0:00 Today we're going to look at Ephesians.

0:02 Ephesians.

0:04 It's one of the letters.

0:05 I think it's from Paul, but there is debates about it.

0:08 But let's look at it and let's pull from it today.

0:10 And again, what are we trying to achieve today?

0:12 We don't want to just get Bible knowledge, big fat heads.

0:15 I know everything about the Ephesians now.

0:18 No, it's what is this letter going to do for my life right now?

0:24 Can it help me?

0:25 Can it strengthen me?

0:26 Can it pull me up?

0:27 Can it help me to see beyond the waves?

0:29 Can it help me to not be sucked into the chaos?

0:31 Can it help me reassure me that Jesus is leading me every step of the way?

0:37 That's the right way to use this letter.

0:39 But you first have to acknowledge it was written to a specific audience at a specific time, OK?

0:46 You and I are the 21st century believers.

0:48 This was written to the first century believers.

0:50 So you have to have some context, but I do believe it does connect to us.

0:56 So he's writing a letter.

0:57 It's kind of like putting on your glasses.

1:02 That's what this letter does for us.

1:04 And this year, I'm 54, I have now succumbed to glasses,

1:19 getting ready for grandkids.

1:24 So when I, my wife has been going on for years, like get glasses, get checked out, get checked out.

1:30 And so this year it happened.

1:33 And I went down and I was like, oh, my goodness, like I can read.

1:38 On my iPhone, I've got the text so big, it's like embarrassing.

1:42 And Jules saw my phone one day and she started laughing.

1:44 I felt very offended by that.

1:47 I thought that was so unkind.

1:50 It's huge.

1:52 But that's OK, it happens.

1:54 And so this year I got glasses and I'm a reader.

1:56 So I love reading in the morning when I wake up, do my breathing

2:01 and then I read.

2:03 So anyway, you figure out what you want to do.

2:04 But that's what I do.

2:06 And I have loved, actually again, just seeing the print.

2:11 Oh, my goodness.

2:13 But that's what happens with this letter.

2:14 It's like when we put glasses on, and maybe for some of you are like, I still don't get that.

2:19 All right, you will, OK.

2:21 But it's like glasses.

2:22 It's like clear.

2:23 It's like, wow.

2:25 It's like, I never saw that.

2:27 That's amazing.

2:28 Oh, it's a bit fuzzy, but now it's crystal clear.

2:31 That's what's going on with this letter.

2:32 Amen.

2:33 Who would love it to be a bit more clearer?

2:36 All right, good.

2:38 So let's look at it.

2:39 And it's probably written around 6162 CE.

2:43 So it's going towards the back end of the first century.

2:48 It's written supposedly by Paul.

2:51 Paul was already in Rome.

2:52 He was a prisoner.

2:53 He was in house arrest.

2:55 He was confined.

2:56 And what's crazy about this is Paul's got big dreams to take the Gospel to the Gentile world, those who are non-Jewish.

3:02 And he wants to get to Spain, but he wants to go to the church in Rome.

3:06 And then from Rome, he's got plans to go to Spain.

3:09 Why would you not do that?

3:10 I would do that too.

3:11 But the point is he never makes Spain.

3:13 He gets arrested when he goes back with a gift, a love offering, a financial offering from the churches in Macedonia or from the churches that have benefited from the Gospel.

3:23 They wanted to send an offering back to Jerusalem, the church in Jerusalem.

3:27 He gets to Jerusalem.

3:28 He gets arrested.

3:29 He never leaves.

3:31 He never leaves the arrest.

3:33 He ends up some time in prison in Syria.

3:36 He ends up getting transferred on a boat over to Rome.

3:40 He appeals to Caesar somewhere in this process.

3:43 So he goes basically into a place of confinement.

3:46 His world, though he wants to live a big life, live and reach a big world, his world has been drastically shrunk.

3:54 What happened to you and I in the pandemic?

3:57 We faced confinement.

3:59 We want to travel, but we can't.

4:01 We want to see the world, but we can't.

4:04 Maybe we just felt so pressured being confined again and we couldn't go anywhere, do what we want to do, love to do, mix with people, hang out, enjoy life.

4:14 We found ourselves.

4:15 Well, he also found that situation.

4:18 But what does he do?

4:19 He turns it into a God situation.

4:21 He writes letters to the churches that you and I are still reading from today.

4:27 God can use whatever season of life you're in.

4:32 Maybe you feel small right now.

4:34 You don't know, like, where's this study's gonna take me?

4:37 Why am I doing this thesis anyway?

4:39 Why am I doing this master's?

4:41 This dissertation doesn't really mean anything.

4:43 We could have lots of reasons and frustrations where we are right now, but you've got to invite Jesus into your small space.

4:52 Just because your space is small right now doesn't mean your future's not big.

4:56 It's small right now, but that doesn't mean you have to be small in the small space.

5:02 There is a person called Nelson Mandela who spent most a lot of his years in a small confined space called a prison cell.

5:10 And he was able to become bigger so that he was able to step into something that he was destined to do with his life.

5:20 He became big in a small place.

5:22 And you and I have got to learn how to become big, stay big in a small place.

5:27 This is true for all of us.

5:28 And that's what happens with Paul.

5:30 He's confined, but he uses this time to write letters to the new believers in Asia Minor.

5:35 So this is one of them, letters of Ephesians.

5:38 Again, he's saying something and he wants to help them.

5:41 A lot of people believe that Paul started the church in Ephesus, probably around his third missionary trip.

5:47 He went through what is modern day Turkey today.

5:50 This letter was probably written around maybe 10, 15, 10, 15 years after he started the church.

5:58 So he started the church and then he left it in the care of Priscilla and Aquila who were friends of his that helped him in the gospel and preaching the gospel in the mission trips.

6:07 But he left the church in good hands.

6:09 He writes the letter to the church at Ephesus.

6:11 But this church, this letter wasn't just for the church at Ephesus.

6:15 It was a circulation letter.

6:16 Most of these letters were, they were circulated.

6:19 They were kind of used for all the churches in this region.

6:24 So you could even say at the very first verse, it says Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who were in Ephesus.

6:33 You literally can change this to the saints in Sardegna, the saints in Philadelphia, the saints in Pergamon.

6:40 And you could even change it for the 21st century to the saints who were in Berlin and to the saints in Milan.

6:47 That's where I was last week.

6:49 God's moving in Milan.

6:51 With salvation, people coming to Jesus.

6:54 To the saints in Turino.

6:56 I was in Turin as well, another city in Italy.

7:00 I'm like, hallelujah.

7:03 I love the food and the people.

7:07 But what I'm trying to say to you is this letter was not just written to the saints in Ephesus, it's literally, you could apply it to the saints through all the generations.

7:17 Who are faithful to Jesus Christ.

7:19 So this letter was circulated and this is what I love about it.

7:22 The opening prayer in the very first chapter.

7:25 I know most of you've probably read this, but just to remember, just to go over it, refresh ourselves.

7:31 Maybe for some of us, this is the first time, but this is the power of the opening prayer.

7:36 Ephesians chapter one, verse 15 to 20.

7:40 That is why I always remember you in my prayers and thank God for you.

7:46 I have done this ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people.

7:51 I have always prayed to the God, the great and glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7:57 I pray that He will give you the Spirit who will let you know the truths about God and help you to understand them so that you will know Him better.

8:09 I pray that God will open your minds to see His truth.

8:14 Then you will know the hope that He has called us to have.

8:18 You will know that the blessings God has promised His holy people are rich and glorious.

8:25 And you will know that God's power is very great for us who believe.

8:30 It's the same as the mighty power He used to raise Christ from the dead and put Him at the right side in the heavenly places.

8:38 So here is Paul's prayer for you and I. This is his prayer for the believers in the first century and this is the prayer of Paul for us in Berlin today in the 21st century.

8:49 So let's think about it.

8:51 How many times have you gone for a drink and someone's like, oh, this is so healthy for you.

8:55 It has ginger, has mango, has pineapple.

8:58 Oh, if you like the beetroots, the beetroots is there, the berries are there, the raspberries are there.

9:03 I mean, how many of us are born into drinks like this is a health drink and you're like, no, thanks, Coke Zero will be fine.

9:10 Well, this is a health prayer.

9:12 You want a health prayer?

9:13 You want a health prayer?

9:15 This is a health prayer.

9:16 This is what he's saying.

9:17 Number one, that you would know the Spirit.

9:19 I mean, how good is that?

9:21 I wanna know the Spirit of God.

9:22 Do you wanna know the Spirit of God?

9:24 Do you wanna know confusion or do you wanna know liberty?

9:29 He's saying, I want you to know the Spirit of God.

9:31 Number two, He says, I want you to know God better.

9:33 I wanna know God better, amen.

9:37 I wanna know you better.

9:39 I wanna know us better.

9:40 I wanna know God better.

9:42 And you will never get to know God better without Jesus.

9:45 He's the one that makes it clear, amen.

9:48 You won't get confusion through Jesus.

9:51 You'll get clarity through Jesus.

9:53 He is the lens on how we interact with God, amen.

9:59 You get another lens, you're gonna be in a very interesting place, amen.

10:04 Amen.

10:06 So number two, he's saying, I want you to know God better.

10:08 He's praying for that.

10:09 That's what I'm praying for, for us.

10:12 Number three, that we would know the truth.

10:14 You need to know the truth.

10:15 We build our lives from something.

10:18 So what are you believing?

10:20 What are you building your life from?

10:22 What belief system are you building your life from?

10:25 If you build your life from a lie, then you're gonna be prone to insecurity consistently because wherever there is a lie, there will be insecurity.

10:35 I don't know who I am.

10:36 I don't know who I belong to.

10:38 I don't know where I came from.

10:39 I don't know where I'm going.

10:40 That does not make you secure.

10:43 We tell the young people, you came from nothing.

10:46 You're going to nothing.

10:47 You're just gonna have to figure out why you're here and you're like,

10:52 no, no, you're a child of God.

10:55 You came from Him.

10:56 You're going to Him.

10:57 And while you're here, you're no longer a slave to fear.

11:05 Yeah, but I had a bad start.

11:07 Yeah, but you're gonna have a great finish.

11:09 Yeah, but I don't know who my father was biologically.

11:11 Well, that's true for many, but you know who your heavenly father is.

11:16 Well, my father didn't love me, but your heavenly father will never stop loving you.

11:20 So it doesn't matter where we come from.

11:23 Everybody's got a story.

11:24 Everybody's got a past.

11:26 What Ephesians is doing for us is to get us focused on what God is doing, not what the world is doing.

11:34 We're so focused on the economy, politics, the disruption.

11:37 What is happening in this nation?

11:39 Who hates who?

11:40 Who's destroying who?

11:41 Who's firing over who?

11:42 Who's trying to take over who?

11:44 Where are we getting this from?

11:45 Where are we getting that from?

11:46 How are we gonna manage and steward our resources?

11:49 All of these are consuming our energy.

11:53 And I know that it's important to find solutions.

11:56 We've got to find new agreements, new alliances, new friends.

12:00 We've got to find new ways of helping our lives.

12:03 We've got to find new ways of managing our finances.

12:06 We've got to find new ways of managing our resources.

12:09 We all agree on that, but it's all consuming.

12:12 You've got to at least learn to look at the same time at what God is doing.

12:19 Why is Sunday so important for us?

12:20 Because it's our chance to make God bigger than the mess, make God bigger than the project, make God bigger than anything else that's going on in your life right now.

12:28 Who's screaming at you, God isn't.

12:32 What pressure are you under right now?

12:34 That's what's going on in this letter.

12:36 It's basically a call to remind yourself, can you see what God is doing?

12:43 Not just what the emperor of Rome is doing.

12:46 And so he's saying, I pray that you will know the truth.

12:48 Please understand, we will build our lives from something, but better to build it from truth than a lie.

12:55 Because when you embrace one lie, you have to build a community of lies.

13:00 And a community of lies is not a good community because you can't trust anyone.

13:04 You're telling the truth, you're telling the truth, you're telling the truth, you're just saying what I want to hear, you're just saying what I want to hear.

13:08 You lied last time, you're going to lie again?

13:09 It's just lies, lies, lies.

13:11 You know the enemy is the father of lies.

13:14 Build your life on truth.

13:17 And what is truth and who is truth and how do I know Jesus is truth?

13:20 See, you will be more insecure by building your life from a lie than if you would build your life from truth.

13:28 But truth doesn't make you arrogant, rude, obnoxious, disrespectful to people.

13:34 No, if it's truth, it's humility.

13:38 So we find ourselves not being rude to others, but we find ourselves, because we've been lifted up with truth, we're able to lift others from that position of truth.

13:48 You find a nation, a people, a continent, anyone that is building their life on a lie ultimately will be prone and riddled with insecurity.

14:00 You will never dominate it because insecurity is the fruit of a lie.

14:05 So build your life from the truth in me.

14:07 So he's talking about that number four, that we would know the hope that we have.

14:10 We have a hope that's like an anchor.

14:12 It will pull us through.

14:14 It will keep us when the waves are crashing, when everything seems to be unstable, the hope we have is for eternity, in Jesus' Name.

14:21 Number five, that we will know that we are called by God.

14:24 You will go further when you know you're called by God.

14:29 Water baptism is acknowledging you're called by God.

14:32 It's a public declaration.

14:34 God already knows you're saved.

14:35 He just wants you to make it public to everyone who knows you on earth, amen.

14:39 You go under the water, spiritually death, come out of the water, I identify with Jesus, I'm called in Jesus' Name.

14:45 Roll your sleeves up and you get out there on mission in Jesus' Name.

14:49 I've never seen a child of God who avoids water baptism walk in victory and strength.

14:56 They're never quite sure, never quite sure, never quite sure.

14:59 Does Dad really love me?

15:01 Am I okay?

15:01 Am I secure?

15:02 Or am I scared?

15:03 And the relationship is not love, it's fear.

15:07 You wanna break the fear over your life?

15:09 Water baptism is where you just come out and you surrender.

15:13 You just acknowledge victory.

15:19 And it's not enforced on anyone.

15:21 It is a invitation to obey your Heavenly Father, amen.

15:25 It's beautiful and it's loving and it's so hopeful in every possible way.

15:30 And my joy, our joy should be to help each other with that.

15:34 Not to enforce that, but to help each other come to that realization, amen.

15:39 So I pray that we would all know the call of God because it's the call of God that will keep you.

15:42 Number six, that we will know the blessings that God has promised.

15:45 I mean, we have so many blessings.

15:47 It's like, wow, but I pray, and this is what he prays.

15:51 He says, I pray that you would know the blessings.

15:54 You got more for you than against you, amen.

15:56 And number seven, this is the health prayer that you would know God's power for your lives.

16:01 You've got to know the power of God, amen.

16:03 God is a God of power, amen.

16:06 And I really believe that's a good prayer to pray over your life.

16:09 And that's what happens in the very first chapter.

16:11 So 36 times the strength of this letter is mentioned 36 times, and that is in Christ.

16:20 In Christ, say it with me, in Christ.

16:22 Paul is trying to help the church at Ephesus and the region and all the new churches.

16:27 Let me remind you who you are in Christ, amen.

16:31 And so what we do know is that Paul has started the church.

16:36 We know that he comes back and spends two years plus, maybe two years and a half years there teaching the church.

16:45 But before we get into more of this letter, I just want to give some background because sometimes we don't fully realize sometimes the pressure that we're under.

16:53 You don't really know why someone's hearing something if you don't really know what they're going through.

17:00 You know, if you hear something being said to someone, somehow it doesn't make sense until you put it in context.

17:08 You know what I'm trying to say?

17:09 So you heard someone being told this, but it doesn't make sense until you suddenly get the context.

17:17 You're like, oh, now I know why she said that, why he said that.

17:21 And that's what's going on here.

17:22 So let's give some of the context because I want to land on really just breaking Ephesians into three parts, okay?

17:29 So there's a lot in here and it's hard to get out of the first chapter.

17:32 It's like, oh my goodness.

17:34 And I don't want us to go week by week, verse by verse, because we'll take forever.

17:39 Amen.

17:40 I just want us to get a taste of it today that will stir our hearts for the Word of God again.

17:45 That we would leave this place going, you know what, I'm gonna pick that book again.

17:49 I'm gonna read that letter again.

17:50 I'm gonna get a hold of this again for my life.

17:52 I'm gonna refresh myself with this in Jesus' Name.

17:54 If we can do that right now, then we can revisit later on in the months and the years ahead, amen.

18:00 So what's going on?

18:02 First century, it's a Roman city.

18:04 Rome is dominating.

18:07 It's the most, it's the civilization.

18:09 It's the Roman Empire that is flourishing at this time.

18:12 The Greek Empire is in demise.

18:15 Rome is building on the ashes of the Greek Empire.

18:19 And Greek Empire were building on the ashes of the previous Empire.

18:23 So every Empire is coming and going, rising and falling.

18:28 Well, right now, this letter is in the context of the growing influence of the Roman Empire.

18:34 The main worship was towards a goddess called Artemis.

18:38 Or to the Romans, it was the goddess Diana.

18:41 It was a deity, an idol.

18:45 And this deity, this goddess, was where all the worship was directed.

18:50 The god of fertility, the god of farming, the goddess of hunting, the god of, so everyone was looking to God, the goddess, to really conduct their lives.

19:01 But it's also a time where we have something quite interesting.

19:04 It's also the time when the imperial cult is introduced.

19:09 The imperial cult, what's that?

19:11 That's basically where the Caesar at the time, the emperor at the time, would declare to all of the citizens of the Roman Empire that he is to be worshiped as God.

19:22 And so they would set up temples and they would build shrines.

19:27 And whatever citizen, wherever you were conducting business and trade and services, Ephesus was a major trade hub.

19:34 Goods from the east went to the west.

19:36 Goods from the west went to the east.

19:38 You could make a lot of money in Ephesus.

19:40 It was a port, a significant port, trading port.

19:43 So it attracted influential people.

19:45 It attracted money hungry people.

19:47 It attracted traders, merchants.

19:48 It attracted people from all over the empire.

19:51 It was like a going and coming.

19:53 It's kind of like Berlin.

19:54 How did you ever end up in Berlin?

19:56 Amen?

19:57 We've all come from somewhere all around the globe when we find ourselves in an innovative city that is re-emerging out of its own ashes, its own darkness and finding a way into the future.

20:08 But we're here by the grace of God.

20:10 Well, they were in Ephesus and the worship was towards deity, predominantly Artemis and the goddess of Diana.

20:19 So what's happening is there's a lot of worship going on, but the worship was expressed in perversion.

20:24 It was expressed sexually.

20:26 It was an environment where they would have worship in these temples, but it would digress into orgies, absolute weeks upon ends.

20:35 People from all walks of life would come to worship at the temple of Artemis, and it would turn into an absolute frenzy of sexual and perversion.

20:44 And so this is going on.

20:46 Temple prostitution was normal.

20:48 And this is the reality.

20:49 Now we're not really facing that right now, but if we were to ask ourselves, what kind of city is Berlin?

20:55 We just had a walk for freedom last week, and I thank you for all of you who were there.

20:59 But less than 200 people walking for freedom doesn't really make a big statement.

21:04 We need to get more people engaged with that because human trafficking is going up, not down.

21:09 But the point I'm making is we don't live maybe in Ephesus, but we do live in Berlin.

21:15 What darkness is in this city?

21:18 The freaks come out at night.

21:19 I don't know what that means, but what happens when darkness prevails?

21:23 There's all sorts of things going on in our city that we would not like, that we do not think is healthy for the wellbeing of people or in any shape or form.

21:31 But we're not here to be our own little world and just keep us away from the big, bad, evil world.

21:38 No, no, we're here to be a bright, shining light.

21:40 One of the things that happened in Ephesus when Paul turns up for two and a half years, he's preaching the gospel.

21:47 He's helping build the church.

21:50 The economy that the silversmiths were generating from idol worship was going down because the population was turning to Christ.

22:00 I don't believe it.

22:01 It doesn't say that everyone in Ephesians, Ephesus became a Christian.

22:05 It doesn't say that.

22:05 Are you believing that everybody in Berlin is gonna come to Jesus?

22:08 I don't think that's something that's on the table here.

22:11 There was a large amount of people who were responding to the good news.

22:16 They were moving from worshipping Diana to worshipping Jesus.

22:21 They could see the temple to the Emperor of Rome, but now Paul in this letter is saying, can you see the temple the God is building?

22:30 You have to worship the Caesar as Lord, but I want you to worship Jesus as Lord.

22:35 He is the Lord above all Lords.

22:38 He's the big God and all the little Gods.

22:40 And that's what's going on with this letter.

22:42 So imagine living in first century Ephesus.

22:44 And by the way, half of the house in a few weeks, we filmed from the amphitheater, the stadium that still exists in Ephesus today, 24, 25 ,000 people could sit in this stadium.

22:58 And they say it was designed one person on the platform could whisper and every one of them could hear it.

23:05 It's an engineering masterpiece.

23:07 So we were there a few weeks ago.

23:09 I was sitting there, we're gonna see it.

23:11 Heart for the House Sunday, I've got an introduction to it.

23:13 You can see I'm there, not shouting, whispering.

23:17 But what I'm trying to say to you is profound.

23:19 Well, this is what happened.

23:20 The economy of all of these people were affected because no one was buying all of the trinkets.

23:26 And they were into magic.

23:28 They were into demon worship.

23:29 They were into all of these things.

23:31 And it sounds terrible, but the truth is it was normal in that day.

23:35 What do you believe?

23:37 What do you give your life to?

23:39 So the Gospel came in and majorly made a big impact.

23:43 So what happened is there's a certain gold silversmith that is seeing his economy go down.

23:48 And he's like, I'm not happy about this.

23:50 And so they used to complain and he starts a riot.

23:52 Now we have never started a riot in our church.

23:56 Not in our church, but our church has never started a riot in Berlin.

24:00 I'm not asking for us to start a riot in Berlin.

24:03 All right, we are peacemakers, not troublemakers.

24:06 However, listen to me, if you choose to live for Jesus, He's my Lord and Saviour.

24:12 And that is gonna affect the way I conduct my life.

24:16 No, I won't sleep around.

24:18 I don't care if everyone does it.

24:19 I am keeping myself for the King and the Kingdom.

24:23 I won't just do this.

24:24 I won't just do that.

24:25 I won't just do that because everyone else is doing it.

24:28 I don't care if people are cheating.

24:29 I don't care if people are sleeping around.

24:31 I don't care.

24:31 I am given to Jesus.

24:34 It was so strong that it affected the atmosphere and the population.

24:41 There was a new community in town and this community is different.

24:46 They talk differently, sound differently.

24:49 They get involved and they help the broken up to stand again.

24:53 They give food to the hungry and needy.

24:56 They live differently.

24:58 And that is still the call for you and I in the 21st century.

25:01 How do we conduct our lives?

25:03 Do we talk differently?

25:04 Do we sound differently?

25:05 I know we look physically from a fashion perspective or a clothing perspective, similar.

25:10 However, our attitude, the way we look, the way we think, the way we speak is so much more redeeming, helpful.

25:18 We don't talk baton each other's back.

25:20 We don't stick knives in each other's backs.

25:22 We bless each other.

25:23 We help each other.

25:25 We serve each other.

25:26 We lift each other.

25:28 There's a new community in Berlin and they are from every tongue, every colour, every tribe because it's the work of the Spirit.

25:42 And that's what's going on here.

25:43 So people were stopping to worship the deity and they were starting, stopping to participate in temple prostitution and all sexual activity.

25:51 And they started conducting their lives differently to the point where literally it was impacting the society.

25:59 So a riot started.

26:02 Paul wants to go into the stadium to talk to everybody.

26:05 Hello, I'm not happy, Paul.

26:09 I don't recommend you going in to talk to 25 ,000 people who are affecting their economy as they've been affected because of you.

26:18 And you want to go, hello, my name's Paul and I want to preach the gospel.

26:21 Kill him.

26:31 So his friends said, no, Paul, not a good idea.

26:34 Have you got any friends in your life who says, no, a good idea?

26:38 So he goes on and continues the mission elsewhere.

26:41 But the point is, this is what's going on.

26:44 They're obsessed with magic, spiritual powers.

26:48 The reason I'm saying that to you because if you read this letter,

26:52 you won't fully understand what he's saying unless you've got context.

26:57 Why were they under pressure?

26:59 Because they were surrounded by demon worshipers.

27:03 They were surrounded by sexual orgies.

27:05 They were surrounded by all sorts of profanity, things that literally were a part of the fabric of society.

27:12 And they were supposed to hold on to Jesus, keep a clear eye, not live in confusion, but to live with a sense of clarity.

27:20 And that's what this letter does.

27:21 So again, reading the letter with context will help us to go, oh my goodness.

27:28 It's not exactly the same as Berlin, but it's similar.

27:32 So in Ephesians chapter one, he really talks about the blessings.

27:37 And there's a lot of them.

27:38 I haven't got time right now to give you the breakdown chapter by chapter.

27:42 However, if I give you just quickly, quickly, you can get the notes, download them, so you can go over it yourself.

27:49 But chapter one, like I said, it's all about God's purpose to put us in Christ.

27:53 Christ is the head of the church and that we are His body.

27:56 Chapter two is we're all now members of God's family.

27:58 The church is the house of God and the temple He is building.

28:01 Again, because they could see what the emperor was building, but they needed to see what God is building.

28:07 Chapter three, it's God's wisdom and love and how it's revealed through the church.

28:11 So again, he's talking about why the church is the way God is bringing His wisdom and His love into Ephesus.

28:17 He's bringing His love and His wisdom into the marketplace.

28:20 He's bringing His love and His wisdom into the fabric of Berlin.

28:23 And He's bringing His new community into the perverted community of our world.

28:29 That's what He's doing.

28:30 Chapter four, we're all given special abilities to build up and contribute and strengthen His church.

28:37 Everybody's needed in Jesus' Name.

28:39 Chapter five, live your life as a good example because you now belong to Christ's church.

28:47 So you can't do whatever you want.

28:49 You can, but you're not helping.

28:51 You've got to commit to the example that is Christ-like in every way.

28:56 And that's where we need to help each other with that.

28:58 And then chapter six, the church will be under attack because there is an enemy.

29:03 So put on God's armour and fight with the weapons that God has provided, amen?

29:08 So as we come to an end, Ephesians, just so you can remember it, is broken into three parts.

29:15 The first part is know your position.

29:18 You are seated in victory, speaking of our blessings.

29:24 Number two, you know your calling.

29:28 Know your calling.

29:30 You are called to walk in victory.

29:33 Speaks of our conduct, our behaviour.

29:35 And number three, breaking Ephesians into three parts, know your armour.

29:41 You will stand in victory.

29:43 Speaks of our fight.

29:47 So he introduces us to the blessings.

29:54 And then he finishes with, you better fight for all that you've been given.

30:00 Because there's an enemy and he doesn't like you and he's going to steal, kill and destroy.

30:04 Put on the armour of God so you can stand in victory.

30:10 You have victory.

30:12 Keep walking in victory.

30:15 Make sure you stand in victory.

30:18 In Jesus' Name, can anybody say Amen?

30:20 That's Ephesians.

30:22 That's Ephesians.

30:24 And why did he write the letter?

30:25 Because they're living in a very dominant society.

30:29 The Roman Empire is taking over everything and he's trying to help those who love Jesus to keep loving Jesus, helping them to not get into the fear and not getting into the confusion.

30:40 He's helping them to see clearly.

30:42 Can you put your glasses on?

30:44 Can you actually see what Jesus is doing?

30:46 They're worshipping the temple, they're worshipping the devil, they're worshipping anything that isn't going to help them.

30:52 It's destroying them.

30:54 But you're called to worship the King.

30:56 You're worshipping Jesus.

30:57 You're worshipping the Lord of Lords.

31:00 That's who you're worshipping and you're not going to do it on your own.

31:03 You're doing it as a community.

31:05 You're doing it together.

31:06 You're holding each other up in psalms, in melodies, in prayers and in worship.

31:14 Keep your Jesus glasses on.

31:18 Because you won't survive.

31:20 That's what he's saying.

31:21 The only way we are going to handle this warfare is the armour of God.

31:31 And when Paul is writing this, where is he?

31:35 In prison.

31:36 Who's he surrounded by?

31:38 Praetorian guards, the elite soldiers of the Roman Empire and he leads every one of them to the Lord.

31:47 The hardest trained killers.

31:49 These guys weren't just trained killers.

31:51 They were highly intelligent.

31:53 They often became senators, governors.

31:55 They ended up becoming rulers in the land.

31:58 They weren't just strong fighters and warriors.

32:02 They were intelligent people.

32:04 The Praetorian guards were often the security and the bodyguards for the Caesar and for the Emperor of Rome.

32:10 And so Paul is surrounded by them.

32:12 I mean, what did they think about Paul?

32:15 He must have been such a heavy white guy that they need to surrender.

32:18 Surrounded by heavy, heavy guys.

32:22 He won every one of them to the Lord.

32:23 In other words, what I'm trying to say to you here, it doesn't matter where you are right now.

32:27 It doesn't matter what you're going through right now.

32:29 If you will just bring God into your story, keep God in your story.

32:33 Live from victory.

32:35 What will God do through you?

32:37 What can God do through you towards others?

32:40 That's what you've been brought into.

32:42 You've been bought with a price not to squander it, but to honour it, to value it, to cherish it.

32:48 Because you are positioned in victory.

32:52 You're not getting victory, you've already got it.

32:55 So live from victory, not from fear.

33:01 Walk in victory.

33:02 No matter what the enemy is trying to do, he cannot defeat that which God has always declared victorious.

33:09 The only way the enemy can steal from you if you believe him, don't give him a second.

33:15 Don't give him a stronghold.

33:16 Don't give him a foothold.

33:18 You open the door slightly, he'll be in, trust me.

33:21 Don't give into temptations because you're only hurting yourself.

33:25 Well, yeah, yeah, I just wanted to have a fun night.

33:29 I know you wanted to have a fun night, but you open the door and I'm telling you, he'll bring all of his community and they're not a nice community.

33:37 Because they won't give to you, they'll take from you.

33:40 Be smarter than that.

33:42 Well, we're just having a little bit of fun.

33:44 We'll have some fun, but get the right friends around you to have some fun with.

33:49 But don't live in the corridors of the enemy.

33:52 Live in the temple of the King.

33:56 Amen.

34:02 Know your position.

34:02 Say it with me.

34:03 Know your position.

34:05 Know your calling.

34:07 Know your armour.

34:08 I wish we didn't have to fight, but we do.

34:12 The good thing is the victory is already ours.

2022-10-25 - Jesus Is The Key That Unlocks The Bible Pt. 4 (Ephesians) - Mark Wilkinson.

Find your way.

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