Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] If you've got your Bibles, will you turn with me to Ephesians chapter one?
[00:00:11] Ephesians Chapter one. That'd be great. And we do. We're starting, as Ellie said, a new series called Spiritually Alive and what it means to be spiritually alive as the Church.
[00:00:26] My husband and Reuben and James are not with us this morning.
[00:00:30] Okay.
[00:00:31] They are at Wembley.
[00:00:36] Apparently, Leeds United are playing against Chelsea. And they came to me this week, all looking a bit sheepish and said, mom, can we get a pass for Sunday?
[00:00:47] And I just went, oh, go on then. So they are on their way down to Wembley right now.
[00:00:53] And, yeah, so they send their love.
[00:00:55] So there we go. So Ephesians 1, we're going to start reading this whole chapter. So if you've got your Bibles, it will come up on the screen as well. So if you've got your Bibles. Brilliant. Here we go.
[00:01:07] So, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God to God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus to the church in Newton Abbott, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:01:26] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us. Everyone say chose.
[00:01:38] He chose us in him, before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless, his sight in love. He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves in him. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on on us. Hard to believe this was written in prison.
[00:02:14] With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
[00:02:34] In him we were also chosen, having been predestined, according to the plan of him who works out everything, everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we who were first to put our hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory.
[00:02:55] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth. Just give me a wave if you've heard the message of truth, the gospel. Hang on. In the last 12 months.
[00:03:08] Come on. Wait, wait. Yeah. As in like you've received the message of Jesus for the first time in the last 12 months. Sorry. I'll rephrase that. Put your hand up. Hold it up high. Give me a wave. Come on. Up higher so I can see you. Come on. There's like five, four, five hands in this place. Come on. You can put them down. Okay. The message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed Harry Fix, you were marked in him with a seal. The promised Holy Spirit. I'm not going to get emotional.
[00:03:38] Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory. Finishing up for this reason. Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order to know that you may know the hope to which he has called you. The riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power.
[00:04:23] For us who believe that power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms. Everyone say heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in heaven every way.
[00:05:02] Wow. What a meaty passage of scripture this morning. Anyone blessed just by the reading of God's word?
[00:05:08] Incredible.
[00:05:10] So this morning we start this new series and it's called Spiritually Alive. And this series is possibly going to take us till summer. We'll have other people preaching this series as well, but we're going to look essentially at two key things.
[00:05:24] We're going to look at what is.
[00:05:26] I can see you now. What is the church?
[00:05:29] What is the church? I believe that we need to come back today to knowing what the church is all about.
[00:05:38] I think we have lost sight on what it means to be the church. And if I shout a bit this morning, it's passion. It's passion. Okay, so we're going to address two things. What it means to be the church and then the outworking of. Of that in Our daily lives and across this region that God has called us to. You know, I love the local church.
[00:06:04] I have been in the local church since I've been born. That's nearly 50 years.
[00:06:09] I love the local church.
[00:06:11] I love it because Jesus loves the local church or the church.
[00:06:18] And I want to love what he loves.
[00:06:20] I don't know about you. I want to love what Jesus loves. If Jesus loves the church, if Jesus gave His life for the church, okay. And if he died for her, then I want to love the church, too. If he loves the church, it's not always easy.
[00:06:41] It's often difficult.
[00:06:45] But as we're going to hear today, it's his divine plan is the church.
[00:06:52] It's his divine plan. All right? And of course, we're not talking about pretty structures and tiled carpets and a setup of a room. We're talking about a people gathered together in unity under our head.
[00:07:09] Who is Christ?
[00:07:11] That is the church in its simplest form. A people who. Who gather together in unity under Christ. And it's a people who center their lives around the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
[00:07:29] Every time we come together, Leu led us so beautifully in communion. All right? It is a people coming together.
[00:07:36] And we come together under one name, Jesus, and under his victory over his death and his resurrection. The church matters to God.
[00:07:49] The church matters to God.
[00:07:52] You matter to God. Your life is so important to Him. And you need to be reminded this morning you and your family are here for such a time as this because he has ordained it for such a time.
[00:08:08] And you are important enough that he has included you and I in this glorious divine plan.
[00:08:15] I don't think we will fully understand the divine plan until we see him face to face, but we can get a glimpse through his word, through his presence.
[00:08:25] So we're gonna look at what it means to be the church and what it means as a church to outwork God's divine plan in our lives over the next couple of weeks. So the first thing this morning, let's look at God's divine plan. This sermon, really this morning is just setting the scene for the next couple of weeks and months as we run into summer. But let's look at God's divine plan. And it's in verses 3 to 10. If we could have that back up, I'm going to kind of work a little bit backwards from verse 10 up.
[00:08:54] But his divine plan, as I've mentioned already, is that he wants to bring all things in heaven and earth to together under one head.
[00:09:06] That is the Perfect picture.
[00:09:09] That is the perfect picture.
[00:09:12] And it reflects unity.
[00:09:14] It's almost going back to the Garden of Eden before sin came into the world.
[00:09:19] All right, before there was any evil, before there was any destruction and tearing down and sin, it was the world as it should be.
[00:09:30] Paradise.
[00:09:32] And God's divine plan is that through the church, he is going to bring all things together, heaven and earth together, under Christ. And that's unity.
[00:09:45] We've made a mess of things, haven't we, mankind?
[00:09:51] We've made a mess of the world.
[00:09:55] But God has not forgotten his plan.
[00:09:58] He has not forgotten his covenant with his people through Christ that He is going to join all things and work all things together for the good of those who love Him. This morning, can we get a picture of the church and God's heart for you and me?
[00:10:17] So how is this. How is this going to be achieved?
[00:10:20] If God's divine plan is to bring all things together, heaven and earth together, under Christ, how is this achieved?
[00:10:29] It's achieved through the precious blood of Jesus.
[00:10:33] It's what the Bible calls this reconciliation, having a right relationship with God.
[00:10:43] It is called redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins adopted as sons. It's there on screen. By his glorious grace, freely given to us. Jesus freely gave up his life for us. We're chosen in him to be holy and blameless in his sight. It's through his blood. This is how he achieves unity on the face of the earth, through his church. And it's through the blood of Jesus.
[00:11:19] Blameless in his sight doesn't mean to say, church, that we are going to be perfect, but it does mean this.
[00:11:27] Blameless doesn't mean to say that we're completely sinless and perfect.
[00:11:31] It means that we have a heart that is running after God. Because let me tell you, the church will mess up, we will mess up.
[00:11:43] But it's not about being perfect. Do you not look at each other and go, oh, you're so perfect. Don't put everybody on these big pedestals of perfection.
[00:11:51] But we're blameless because he calls us blameless. I may do things wrong, but I know when I put things right with Christ, with God, we don't carry shame anymore. We don't carry guilt. We walk in the forgiveness of Christ. And it's the same with you. You see, Christ has united us through his death and resurrection. So to be united under Christ means the church. That's what it means. It's through the church on the face of the earth that we make known this glorious gospel as we Go out into the world. Do we make known to the world that we're a forgiven people?
[00:12:34] What does a forgiven people look like?
[00:12:37] Do we go out into the world and know that we are a saved people?
[00:12:43] Do we go out in the world and know that we are loved despite our failings?
[00:12:52] What does that look like for the church to go out every day into the workplace, into your colleges and universities and go, I am forgiven, I am loved?
[00:13:03] Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is unifying us, The church on the face of the earth, we should make known this gospel of grace, the love and the power and the goodness of Jesus Christ, the church across the earth. We have got to come back to making his goodness glorious, to making his plan good upon the face of the earth. And unity is crucial.
[00:13:42] We will not have unity with each other unless we center our lives around the finished work of Christ, around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, unless we proclaim him to the world unified under a perfect head.
[00:14:00] This is the ultimate divine plan.
[00:14:04] You know, later on in the series we're going to look at what keeps unity in the church and we're going to look at what destroys unity in the church.
[00:14:19] It's going to get a bit hairy, but it's going to be straight from the mouth of God, straight from the word of God.
[00:14:27] We want this church in Newton Abbot, just this three year old church, to point people to Christ.
[00:14:33] You know, we are an earthly expression of a heavenly gathering. I love that we should reflect here not just on Sunday mornings, but on Monday mornings and Monday afternoons and Fridays.
[00:14:51] A heavenly gathering. What is happening in the heavenlies? We should be reflecting here upon the earth. And I'm going to talk about this in a minute because we are in heavenly places.
[00:15:03] I'm going to talk about that and come back in a minute. So the church should point people to Christ because we reflect on earth what is happening in the heavenlies.
[00:15:18] Don't you think there's going to be loud drums in heaven?
[00:15:26] I know.
[00:15:27] Don't you think there's going to be dancing and rejoicing?
[00:15:34] Somebody said to me once, oh, Esther, you're so over the top when you dance and rejoice. And I'm like, I just know what he's done for me.
[00:15:43] I know how he took me from being such a sinner and I've been saved by grace and it's nothing I've done. It's all because he loved me. That is something to sing about, that is something to rejoice about. That is something to get happy about the church.
[00:16:02] There's going to be perfect generosity in heaven.
[00:16:06] Such a lavish of love on one another.
[00:16:09] We're not going to moan about giving our lives up.
[00:16:13] We're not going to moan about, well, I don't feel like it today.
[00:16:19] We'll all be going the extra mile.
[00:16:21] The love in eternity will be so perfect because we'll be united under Christ forever. And there'll be great coffee.
[00:16:33] Sorry, Day O Gloria. Heavenly coffee will be a lot better than Deo Gloria. And Deo Gloria is good coffee. But let me tell. Let me just talk to those who serve Deo Gloria. And it's wonderful to see people here this morning who have come through Deo Gloria. We are just at the start of seeing a glorious revival happening from Deo Gloria, our marketplace during the week. We believe we're going to see, don't we, Matt, beautiful revival of hearts awakening in that place.
[00:17:01] But you know, every time you serve, every time our staff serve that coffee, they go the extra mile with a smile. They listen to somebody, they pray with somebody, they give their time up. They are proclaiming the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[00:17:21] You better believe it because they are.
[00:17:23] Every time you go in your workplace and you have to put up with your boss who keeps slandering you, who sends you rubbish emails, or your work colleagues that are not kind to you and you reply with kindness and generosity and you turn up with flowers even though last week they pulled you down, you are reflecting and proclaiming the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the face of the earth. That's what you're doing.
[00:17:51] The church is to demonstrate the triumphant wisdom of, of the cross. You see, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
[00:18:03] They don't get it.
[00:18:08] You know, this is the other second part of God's divine plan. And this is what I really want us to understand, particularly if you're new here this morning or a new disciple.
[00:18:22] We're not just proclaiming the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the world.
[00:18:29] There is another sphere that we are proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus to.
[00:18:36] Okay, the second part to this divine plan.
[00:18:42] He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing Christ.
[00:18:51] Now we should be getting really excited by now.
[00:18:54] If Paul can write this from a prison cell, if he can get excited about the divine plan of God while under house arrest in prison, surely we can.
[00:19:10] Surely we can. Can we capture God's marvelous plan this morning for his church? So we have blessings and privileges in. In heavenly realms. Verse 3 says this. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ, said Paul whilst in prison.
[00:19:35] That was my bit. I added on.
[00:19:38] Paul knew in prison in the most awful of circumstances upon him. He'd been beaten from, thrashed, thrown out of cities for preaching the gospel. And he's here now in house arrest.
[00:19:53] He knows where he's seated.
[00:19:57] He knows how to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ whilst in a prison cell. And this is how he does it, okay?
[00:20:07] He writes this book.
[00:20:12] He declares the good news of Jesus in a letter that ends up going to the ends of the earth.
[00:20:20] He knows that he is seated not in that prison cell, but he is seated in heavenly places with the King of Kings, even while he's in a prison cell. Are you getting it this morning, Church? He knows he's seated with Christ.
[00:20:38] He knows he's physically here, but he knows that he's spiritually somewhere else.
[00:20:46] I don't know if you've ever been places and the places have felt so dark and you can sense the darkness in that area or that room that you've just walked into. And I don't know about you, but when I face those situations, I start speaking in tongues. I use my heavenly language, and suddenly I just feel like I'm seated with Christ. I'm in another sphere.
[00:21:09] And to understand these spiritual blessings in heavenly realms, we need to understand the spiritual world. And I'm going to talk a little bit. This is important if we're going to understand the rest of this series about being spiritually alive. I tell my kids I love my children. I'm so proud of them.
[00:21:28] Not perfect kids, but I love them. And, you know, I'll find the boys working out in front of a mirror, flexing their muscles, you know, and they have these competition with each other, see who's got the biggest muscles this week and all that kind of stuff. And Reuben will come down, going to think, I look great, Mum, and all this kind of stuff. And I always say to my children, I say, it's great. You want to look great.
[00:21:51] Yep, you all look great. And I said, but remember this, kids, the real you is not this that we see. The real you is your spirit man inside you, okay? We have a body, but we are spirit, okay? And the heavenly realms, I want us to get this this morning. Some of you, this will be new to you. But the heavenly realms are a spiritual dimension, a specific area of Activity and influence. And this is really important.
[00:22:25] We often think of heaven and earth. Yeah, there's heaven and there's earth, but there is more to it than that. There's a spiritual realm, right. It is invisible to our eye, but it is a very real, eternal realm, and it exists alongside our physical reality world. I think of the astronauts that went up recently. Artemis 2. Is it. Is that something like that? Okay. And the stories that have come back. I know one of the. Was the captain a saved man? You know, but the stories have come back, and they've gone up into the realms above the heavens, and they've come back with these incredible stories of surely there is more to life. There's got to be more out there.
[00:23:11] And Heidi and I, we were just listening the Kayesi to that song, the billion, you know, billions, you know, the billion galaxies and all that. And God flung the stars into space. And I was just telling Heidi, I said, God has named all the stars.
[00:23:30] There's realms out there that we have yet to really fully grasp and understand.
[00:23:34] But what we can understand is what scripture has told us. And so there is a very real spiritual realm. Now, the spiritual realm is a structured realm, okay? And it's occupied by God. Angelic beings, but also demonic activity. All right, But God and demonic activity don't. They're not at the same place. All right, and we'll look at that. Okay? But there is more than one heaven.
[00:24:00] The Bible says that God created the heavens floral and the earth, okay? In 2 Corinthians. So there is more than one heaven. 2 Corinthians 12. I love this. We've not got time to go into it this morning, so I've got quite a bit to get through.
[00:24:15] But Paul again talks about knowing a man who, for about 14 years. He talks about 14 years ago, had an incredible encounter. This is time of writing. Sorry, not 14 years ago with us. He had an incredible encounter and experience with God in the third, third heaven. All right, so if you clock that, if you're learning 2 Corinthians 12. 2. Paul talks about a third heaven. All right? This man had this experience, and it. He. He said they were unspeakable. Unspeakable words. I cannot utter what I heard and what I saw about God in the third heaven. All right? And because of this, scripture tells us that there is a third third heaven, a third dimension, if you like, in the heavenly realms.
[00:25:03] Now, the first heaven is what we see here. We look up today and we think, wow, the sky is great.
[00:25:11] You know, everything up there we can see Psalm 19. The Psalmist said, the heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
[00:25:22] So in other words, the psalmist is looking up directly above him.
[00:25:26] That's a heaven. The earthly, the earth, and the heavens above. So we now have a third heaven, which is the highest heaven where God dwells. And then we have the heavens that we can see, the skies, the clouds. That's what we can see.
[00:25:47] But it indicates to us that there is an in between.
[00:25:51] There's the third heaven, that highest heaven where God is his throne. The heavens that we can see here are immediate heavens. But there is an in between realm. Now, the Bible does not ever mention there's a second heaven. Okay, it doesn't mention that. Okay? But we can conclude from Scripture that in between the highest heaven, the third heaven, and what we see, there is a second heaven.
[00:26:19] The sun, the moon, the stars, the space that surrounds the earth. Verse 20, Paul writes, He said, when Christ was raised from the dead, this is really important. Christ seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.
[00:26:39] Okay? Far above. Everyone say, far above.
[00:26:43] Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion.
[00:26:51] God placed all things under the feet of Jesus. There is this lovely passage in Isaiah 66. It says, Heaven is my throne. It's talking about the highest heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. That's Isaiah 66. So God has placed Christ at his right hand in. In the heavenly realms, far above all rule, authority, power and dominion. So this space. Just stay with me at the moment, all right? So this space between Earth and the highest heaven is occupied by Satan and demonic forces.
[00:27:30] Okay, in the next chapter, chapter two, we won't go into it, but Satan is called the prince of the power of the.
[00:27:39] You know, the Greek word for air refers to the atmosphere immediately around the earth.
[00:27:48] It is the area. So it's not the highest heavens. It is the area immediately around the earth, that is that in between space. So we see these heavens, then there is a dominion, a realm that is occupied by demonic forces. And then you have the highest heaven of the throne of God.
[00:28:07] Ephesians 6. Those of you know your word. It says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. In other words, there's a domain, a realm in the heavens that influences human affairs.
[00:28:25] If you look in the Book of Daniel, you'll know you'll have a little glimpse into this and some of you'll know what I'm about to Say, but Daniel, it describes how there was a heavenly messenger from the highest heavens that came down, all right? And this messenger was coming to the rescue on the earth to come and assist on the earth, all right? But he was delayed by 21 days because of demonic resistance.
[00:28:51] And this is a whole sermon series in itself. But we won't go there, all right? And the Archangel Michael had to then come eventually and escape to win the battle.
[00:29:03] Oftentimes you'll hear people say, we just need to press in in our prayers. Do you know why? Because there's resistance in the heavenly realms of powers and principalities that are working against who?
[00:29:18] The Church.
[00:29:21] The church. So there's a lot going on in the heavenly realms.
[00:29:28] Can you see why, as a church, we've got to get back to thinking spiritually, not carnally, not in the flesh.
[00:29:37] We are spiritual people. It says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:29:45] You know, this is why it's so crucial for us as a church, because we are part of this present spiritual reality.
[00:29:53] It doesn't start when you die. So many of us think, well, I'll start my spiritual life when I go to heaven.
[00:30:00] It starts the minute you say yes to Christ.
[00:30:04] Unfortunately, you have a target on you. The minute you say yes to Christ, you've entered into a spiritual realm that is eternal, that's lasting. You see, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Our mortal, perishable, human bodies in their current state will decay.
[00:30:23] They're not suitable for eternity.
[00:30:25] They're not suitable. They must be changed, transformed.
[00:30:32] God wants a church so transformed and changed into a spiritual house.
[00:30:39] It's the only way.
[00:30:41] The only way it happens is that we must be born again. As we've seen, people have put their hands up and the rest of you included in that were born again. When the Holy Spirit comes and makes his home in us, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit.
[00:30:58] We're guaranteed because of the Holy Spirit. It's God's Spirit moves on our spirit and our rest of our earthly lives. Then, as we're going to see in the rest of this series, is a process of learning to let the Spirit rule over the flesh.
[00:31:16] It has to.
[00:31:18] We need to go out this week. The spiritual has got to rule over the flesh.
[00:31:24] I'm going to try and really finish up now, a couple of minutes. Thank you for your patience. I know a lot to go through for this first one, but the church has got to get back to walk in spiritual, not carnal.
[00:31:37] See, being alive, being spiritual is knowing that we May be here, physical, physically, here on the earth, but spiritually, we are seated in Christ. Amen.
[00:31:49] All right. And being spiritually seated in Christ, like Paul when he was in his prison, affects absolutely everything that we do. You see, we now have these spiritual blessings.
[00:32:01] We now have authority that we didn't have before.
[00:32:04] Because of Christ.
[00:32:06] We now have victory over every demonic force. Because if we're seated in the heavenly places, yeah, our feet, what's under our feet, the enemy church. We're victorious because of the cross. You can be in a prison here today. You can be going through such heartache and hardship.
[00:32:33] But if you know that you are seated in Christ, you walk out of this place today going, I might not feel like it. There's the flesh.
[00:32:42] Because if you're going by your feelings, you're letting the flesh dominate. But you go, flesh, you're not going to dominate this. Because I am seated in heavenly places, I have the victory I walk in, the victory of the cross, of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It can look miserable for you physically, but spiritually, you can be alive because of Christ. It changes everything.
[00:33:12] And just like there are three dimensions, and we're not going to go into this too much today, we're just sowing the seeds. Ready? Just as there are three dimensions in the heavens, we are made up of three parts, spirit, soul, and body.
[00:33:28] The spiritual, it stays dead.
[00:33:32] And you guys will testify to that. We were dead until we accepted Christ. And suddenly our spirit, man comes alive. God's spirit touches man's spirit and he goes, you've been brought to life through the blood of Jesus. All right? We become his sons and daughters. We become alive spiritually.
[00:33:55] We have a soul.
[00:33:56] It's where our mind, our will, our emotions.
[00:34:00] And let me tell you, until we see him face to get face to face, we will have this wrestle going on between the flesh and the spiritual.
[00:34:08] Things that you know you shouldn't do. You do.
[00:34:11] Because we're human.
[00:34:14] And we will have this constant wrestle.
[00:34:16] But if we let our feelings, our emotions and negative thinking dominate our spirit, no wonder we walk around defeated as the church.
[00:34:32] Because somebody's in charge that shouldn't be in charge.
[00:34:38] And then we have our body, the flesh, the earthly bit.
[00:34:46] We're called to be spiritually alive Church.
[00:34:50] We can't trust our feelings.
[00:34:52] We can't even trust our own wisdom.
[00:34:55] Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
[00:34:58] Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he's going to show you the right way. We can't trust in our wisdom. We can't even trust in man.
[00:35:09] Look up.
[00:35:11] That's where you trust.
[00:35:13] Look up. Look up to the highest heavens. Because our lives are now hidden in the heavenlies with Christ.
[00:35:21] So take away this week really quickly.
[00:35:25] Jill, I'm putting you on the spot. Will you come and play? I just really felt to call you up this morning. Will you just. In the background, just play.
[00:35:33] Is that all right?
[00:35:37] Yeah, if you. Yeah, yeah. Dream team.
[00:35:40] Come on.
[00:35:46] Take away for this week.
[00:35:49] You're chosen by God.
[00:35:53] Do you believe that?
[00:35:55] Really believe that? My prayer this week is, as this message went out, that you would leave this place better than when you came in.
[00:36:05] You would know this morning if you have accepted Christ, you are chosen by God.
[00:36:12] And we're going to find out over the weeks to come that he has a great plan and purpose for your life.
[00:36:18] You've already heard about the apest. I believe the Holy Spirit is going to come knocking on some hearts to bring gifting alive again. Because he wants you special, spiritually alive. You're chosen by God.
[00:36:32] You're chosen for adoption. You're his sons, you're his daughters.
[00:36:39] Sinners coming home, receiving the incredible generous love of God.
[00:36:45] You see, when we become Christians, we're committed. He is committed, sorry. To taking care of us, to providing all our needs.
[00:36:57] Why are these spiritual blessings in heavenly places? It's a good question, isn't it?
[00:37:04] Because Christ needs us to be seated with him while on the earth.
[00:37:14] Our new life is with him.
[00:37:16] It's with him.
[00:37:25] And we live every day from this position seated with him.
[00:37:30] You know, Stephen, when he was being stoned to death, he is another guy who was seated in heavenly places in his everyday life.
[00:37:41] Because as he was being stoned, okay, he looked up and these are kind of my words. But he's like, there's my home.
[00:37:49] He saw the heavens part and he was being stoned to death for preaching the gospel. But he lived in the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He was full of the Holy Spirit and he looked up. Can we just imagine that this morning he's been stoned to death.
[00:38:12] He understood what he had in Christ.
[00:38:16] He understood what he had in Christ.
[00:38:19] He understood that he was forgiven. He understood that heaven was his home. He understood that he was seated in heavenly places and nothing on the earth could destroy him.
[00:38:29] Nothing could take him away from the love of God.
[00:38:32] He understood that while he was there, physically, he knew exactly where he was.
[00:38:37] Heaven was my home. And he saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
[00:38:44] Who's included in this great divine plan of God.
[00:38:50] Who's included? Well, verse 13.
[00:38:54] You.
[00:38:56] You. You are also included in Christ.
[00:38:59] When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Will you just stand with me this morning having believed you were marked in him with a seal.
[00:39:11] The promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
[00:39:19] How are we going to proclaim Christ and Christ crucified this week? Church?
[00:39:24] How are we? Just have a think this morning in your area, in your zone, in your street, in your workplace, in your school, in your college, in your family.
[00:39:37] Maybe you live with family that do not know Christ.
[00:39:41] How will we proclaim Christ and Christ crucified this week?
[00:39:52] Lord, we thank you for your church.
[00:39:55] We thank you for your divine plan.
[00:39:57] That includes us.
[00:40:02] We thank you, Lord, that we are chosen, that we are adopted, that we are forgiven, that we now have this great grace upon our lives to be called sons and daughters of God, Lord. It doesn't matter what we are facing and what we are going through, Lord, because we are now hidden in you, Lord. You promised that we would have the victory because of Christ.
[00:40:28] Lord, we thank you for the great gospel message of salvation. And I pray, Lord, as a church, over these next coming weeks, Lord, we would really understand what it is to be your church, to live out being your church on the face of this earth.
[00:40:46] We love your church, Lord.
[00:40:48] We love what you're doing across the earth.
[00:40:52] Thank you, Lord Jesus. You promised, Lord, that you will come for your church one day. You're coming back for your church.
[00:40:59] Help us to be ready.
[00:41:02] Help us to be waiting. Help us to be watching.
[00:41:06] Help us to be living as you want us to live.
[00:41:10] Increase our love, Lord. Let us, Lord, be a church that is so unified under Christ as our head.
[00:41:17] Unify us more and more, Lord, as we truly start to understand your great plan for the church and for this earth, for your glory.
[00:41:40] Thank you, Lord.
[00:41:43] You are worthy, Lord.
[00:41:46] We love you, Lord.
[00:41:50] We love you, Lord.
[00:41:54] Thank you for giving your life for me.
[00:41:57] Thank you for emptying your life for me.
[00:42:02] We may walk in new life, Lord.
[00:42:07] Yeah, Matt, I wonder if we could finish this morning just with that. Our God is an awesome God.
[00:42:14] And we're going to declare this morning that he reigns.
[00:42:18] He reigns because all things are under his feet. That's why. It's the highest heaven.
[00:42:24] It's the highest realm.
[00:42:27] And he's there seated, and we're there with him.
[00:42:33] We bless you, Lord. Bless you, Lord.
[00:42:36] We love you, Lord.
[00:42:42] Yeah. Thank you for your church. Amen. Thank you.
