An Inheritance from God (Ephesians 1:11-12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.960 Let's turn to Aphesians chapter one. Knew and hear God's Word From this letter 2 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:13.070 the Apostle Paul. Phesians chapter one versus three through fourteen. Blessed be the 3 00:00:13.189 --> 00:00:17.629 God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in 4 00:00:17.710 --> 00:00:22.859 Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us 5 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:26.820 in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be wholly and 6 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:32.539 blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through 7 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:37.170 Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of 8 00:00:37.250 --> 00:00:43.049 his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In Him, 9 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:48.250 we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according 10 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:52.359 to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and 11 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:56.640 insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his 12 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:00.560 purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of 13 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:06.549 time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 14 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:11.629 In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to 15 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:15.950 the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 16 00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:19.620 so that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might 17 00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:23.819 be, to the praise of his glory, in him, you also, 18 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:27.420 when you heard the word of truth, the God Hospital of your salvation and 19 00:01:27.620 --> 00:01:33.890 believed in him. We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the 20 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:38.010 guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of 21 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:44.609 his glory. Amen, please be seated. One of the things that we 22 00:01:44.810 --> 00:01:49.400 come to understand, I don't see how we could come to any other understanding, 23 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:57.000 is that our salvation is one hundred percent completely found in Christ and in 24 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:02.150 Christ alone. This passage is so clear on this point. In Him, 25 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:06.230 in him, in him, in him, all the way through. Well, 26 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:09.270 blessed be the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who 27 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:15.030 has blessed us in Christ. And it just keeps falling out from there. 28 00:02:15.020 --> 00:02:20.979 This passage is all about setting before our eyes, before our minds, before 29 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:25.500 our hearts, the greatness of God in saving us. It's a way for 30 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:30.090 us to understand who we are as a people, as a church, as 31 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:38.250 individual Christians, and it's really important because it affects everything in our lives. 32 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:47.759 We don't always go to the most fundamental and foundational things of existence. Right 33 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:52.759 when you're going to the grocery store to grab some serial early in the morning 34 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:57.560 or when you are, I don't know, mowing that we don't have laws 35 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:05.270 here. Huh, watering the rocks, whatever it is you're doing, you're 36 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:09.069 you not often thinking about, or maybe some of you aren't thinking about, 37 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:15.939 the great metaphysical realities of the world, but the fact is we're nevertheless always 38 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:21.460 relying on them. They are the foundational things. Why are we here? 39 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:25.620 What is happening? What are we doing? How are all these things falling 40 00:03:25.699 --> 00:03:30.449 out? Even that language of falling out is a way that we're trying to 41 00:03:30.650 --> 00:03:38.289 express how things happen. Right, some things seem very orderly. Right you 42 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:42.199 can look up at the stars in the sky, you can study music or 43 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.240 how plants grow, and you can you can see how orderly they are, 44 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.280 in fact so orderly that you can predict certain things about them, anticipate things. 45 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:59.030 And then other things feel very, very random, very unpredictable. The 46 00:03:59.189 --> 00:04:02.229 wind is a good example of that. Why this leaf falls off the tree 47 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:06.229 and not that leaf, for this hair and not that hair? These kinds 48 00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:12.419 of things seemed by chance. Jesus even uses this language, I believe, 49 00:04:12.419 --> 00:04:15.620 in the parable the Good Samaritan, when he says by chance somebody was going 50 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:20.019 along the road. There's this way in which we perceive things as this, 51 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:27.810 kind of in a way that is unpredictable. Our lives are unpredictable and feel 52 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:33.129 a bit random, and indeed they are from our perspective. But what's going 53 00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:39.040 on behind the scenes? Right? This is the question that is fundamental to 54 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:44.600 who we are, of everything that we do, and especially is true when 55 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.360 we think about the most essential questions, not just why did that leaf fall 56 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:53.870 on or that one, but why am I saved? How is it that 57 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:58.509 I know God? How can I know him? How can I know of 58 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:04.509 these things? Well, what Paul does here is he glorifies God, and 59 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:10.019 it's a great model for us to follow, for us to glorify him in 60 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:14.540 the same ways and for the same reasons indeed, because it's not just Paul 61 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:20.139 Glorifying God, but God using his servant to glorify himself. This is wonderful 62 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:26.170 to meditate on. I'm thinking in particular verses eleven and twelve. This evening 63 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:30.410 I'll read them to you again in him, that is, in Christ, 64 00:05:30.569 --> 00:05:35.839 we have obtained an inheritance, or it could be translated we have been appointed 65 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:45.720 for a something, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works 66 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:50.829 all things, things according to the counsel of his will, so that we, 67 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:55.230 who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise 68 00:05:55.269 --> 00:06:00.509 of his glory. Now Paul is talking about a very particular select group of 69 00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:06.060 people, namely we who were first to hope in Christ. He's talking about 70 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:14.459 he's time out Jews like him, people that have heard the message about the 71 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:18.610 Messiah, a promised and now delivered and is now and they are now believing 72 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:24.209 on him, trusting in him. Now that message that has come to this 73 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:29.769 small group of of Jews will go out into the world and even came to 74 00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:38.079 the Ephesians, as he will go on to say. He says in him, 75 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.839 verse thirteen, in Him, you also, when you heard the word 76 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.519 of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed 77 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:47.990 with the promised Holy Spirit. So there's a distinction, right, he says 78 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:53.149 there's a distinction between the Gospel that first came to US Jews and the Gospel 79 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:57.310 that went out to you gentiles. However, there's a unity there. It's 80 00:06:57.389 --> 00:07:00.230 the same salvation, the same faith, the same Holy Spirit. We, 81 00:07:00.389 --> 00:07:04.860 who first heard in him, who were first to hope in Christ, were 82 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:09.420 so not for our own pride but to the praise of his glory. And 83 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:12.620 the same thing for you, as he uses that same phrase at the end 84 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:16.209 of verse fourteen, in you to to the praise of his glory. God 85 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:20.410 does these things in us. But again, going back to the beginning, 86 00:07:20.449 --> 00:07:27.730 why? What is the reason for all of this? Now, when people 87 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:33.319 think about the reason behind things, they give various answers. Right, fate 88 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:43.600 is one, luck is another, a chance, a random chance or some 89 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.949 kind of mechanical imagery, is another. Sometimes, if it's not a blind 90 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:55.430 faith or a power or luck or something like that, the the things of 91 00:07:55.550 --> 00:08:00.740 this world are ascribed to a person, a God. And if it's a 92 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.019 God, well then you have to answer this questionable. Which God is it? 93 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:09.180 The God of the Bible, Father, son and Holy Spirit, all 94 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:13.009 who are mentioned here in this passage? Blessed be the God of our father 95 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:18.209 and our Lord, Jesus Christ. In Him we were saved and we were 96 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:22.930 received the promised Holy Spirit. Is it this God that is in control of 97 00:08:22.970 --> 00:08:28.639 everything, as Paul says, or is it Zeus or artemis or or goddess 98 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:35.360 named to k? To K can be translated luck or fortune. There are 99 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.240 a lot of Greek ascript inscriptions that we read in Ephesus, more various business 100 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.509 transactions and things happen in these these relationships and these things that were done, 101 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:52.669 we're often dedicated to to K in dedication to the goddess luck. We call 102 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:58.019 her lady luck. Right in the dedication to luck, we are doing such 103 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:00.980 and such a thing, or such and such a person is honored, that 104 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:05.940 kind of thing. It was important part of their society, just as it 105 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:09.129 is ours. It's in our language, this language of luck, of chance, 106 00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:13.330 of fate. In fact, at the end of Ephesians we read about 107 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:18.370 a man named Tikkus, tic Acus, the beloved brother. This is in 108 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:24.009 six twenty one, the beloved brother and Faithful Minister in the Lord will tell 109 00:09:24.049 --> 00:09:30.039 you everything, tick a kisses lucky. That's his name. Lucky will tell 110 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:33.799 you, or fortunate will tell you. That's that's what tikkus means. It 111 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:39.789 means lucky. He's named after this Goddess Eutachus in Acts Chapter Twenty, who 112 00:09:39.830 --> 00:09:46.549 falls out of the window. He's named good luck, like the good news, 113 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:52.669 the the AU on Gillion, right, the Gospel. Here it's you, 114 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:56.580 Tickius, right, you to K good luck. He's named good luck. 115 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.659 You name your children after her? Right, you name your children after 116 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:03.820 her. Are you write documents in her name? You, she's a part 117 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:09.169 of our society, right, because she's important. At least she was to 118 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:13.210 the Ephesians and I think still still today. Now, a lot of times 119 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:16.210 we use good luck and phrases like that merely as a way to say I 120 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:22.879 wish good things for you or I desire good things for you. But it's 121 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:28.200 not always as innocuous as that, is it? Sometimes we really truly are 122 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:37.669 relying on something other than God to provide things for us. That the ways 123 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:43.269 in which we think about these things are also helpfully seen in even when we 124 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:50.379 think of something beyond just a luck or fate. Zeus, for example. 125 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:56.259 You can see the contrast between God of the Bible here Zeus, and I 126 00:10:56.299 --> 00:11:00.019 believe it's in the Iliad, when hector of Troy is killed by Achilles, 127 00:11:00.299 --> 00:11:05.090 Zeus, who is called the father of all Gods and men, ends up 128 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:09.450 saying, after Hector is of destroyed by Achilles. He says it was sealed 129 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:13.450 by the faiths. He's sort of sorrowful, like what could I do right? 130 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:16.929 I want you to have that in your mind. I'm telling you that 131 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:22.080 because notice the contrast between Zeus, who's supposedly the father of all gods and 132 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.639 men, who's supposedly all powerful, and yet is mourning at sort of something 133 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:31.159 that happened, feeling frustrated, as though there's nothing he can do. Compare 134 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:37.830 that to the the god of the Ephesian Christians. In Him we have obtained 135 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:43.950 an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of the fates, know, 136 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:50.419 according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council 137 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:54.419 of his will. There's actually lots of different words here used for will. 138 00:11:54.899 --> 00:12:00.139 It's emphasizing, Paul's emphasizing again and again and again, that God does what 139 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:03.809 he wants to do. It's according to his purpose, according to the Council 140 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:09.330 of his will. If you want to get something done in your life, 141 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:13.450 it's probably not that easy. Right, if you want to have a business 142 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:16.919 that sells widget x, right, you need to come up with a get 143 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.759 the right people on your team and you need to come up with a business 144 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:28.159 proposal and various manufacturing process season. You might have the greatest plan, but 145 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.990 does that mean it will be executed by your employees, by your manufacturers, 146 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:37.789 by your delivers? Now there's all kinds of things that can frustrate that process 147 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:41.710 and and make it difficult. Now compare that, on that human way in 148 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:46.340 which we desire to have our plans accomplished, to the sovereign power of God, 149 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:54.179 who predestines us according to his purpose, who works all things according to 150 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:58.409 the counsel of his will. There's no problem for God, there's no obstacle. 151 00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:01.769 That's why Jesu this can say, as we read earlier, the gates 152 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:07.769 of hell will not prevail against the church. Nothing can stop it, nothing 153 00:13:07.850 --> 00:13:18.960 can stop him. This is an important question. Who controls the world, 154 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:24.879 the events in our lives? Is it random? Do Things Happen by chance? 155 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.509 Are they predetermined? And if they're predetermined, are they predetermined by a 156 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:33.750 Godlike Zeus, who rings his hands when he gets stuck by the faiths? 157 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:39.789 Or is it pretty predetermined by God? Who Does the determining, does the 158 00:13:39.909 --> 00:13:48.539 planning and does the acting? Want to take you to a important example of 159 00:13:48.620 --> 00:14:09.450 this in the book of Daniel this is Daniel. Chapter Four. I want 160 00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:13.879 you to see how this plays out in the life of people, of this 161 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.840 king, in particular, Nobuchadnezzar, this great King of Babylon, has Daniel 162 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:26.750 in his power. He's his servant. He has this terrible dream, which 163 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:31.830 does disturbs him. He calls a magicians and people can't interpret. Eventually Daniel 164 00:14:31.870 --> 00:14:35.389 comes and Dany says, you don't want me to interpret this, and Nebuchad 165 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:39.340 as it says he yes, I do, and then Daniel says okay, 166 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:46.820 and then he interprets the dream. Then the this thing that he dreams not 167 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.980 by accident, right, a vision that's given to him by God and interpretation 168 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:56.450 that's given him by God. All things about things in the future then fall 169 00:14:56.490 --> 00:15:00.450 out, of course, according to God's plan. So in Verse Twenty Eight 170 00:15:00.529 --> 00:15:05.970 of Chapter Four we read this. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the 171 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:09.759 end of twelve months. He was walking on the roof of the Royal Palace 172 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:16.919 of Babylon, and the king answered and said, is not this great Babylon, 173 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:24.230 which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for 174 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:31.190 the glory of My Majesty right. I like I'm always struck by that. 175 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:37.179 Him on the roof right. He's not sort of sitting somewhere in the palace, 176 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:39.139 he's out on the roof right, looking at it all. He's got 177 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:45.460 some perspective on this. He thinks and he looks out on this great kingdom 178 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:48.980 and he says, man, I've done a good job, I am so 179 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:54.409 proud of myself. And it's more than that. It's more than priding himself, 180 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:58.009 he says, which I have built with my mighty power as a royal 181 00:15:58.210 --> 00:16:03.649 residence and for the glory of My Majesty. He's almost and maybe not even 182 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:06.200 almost. I'd have to look into this more, but it seems to me 183 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:11.559 anyway that he's using temple language here, the kind of language that would typically 184 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.840 belong to a God where his glory is housed in this space. This is 185 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:21.429 the way that Nebuchadnezzar's talking. Well then, verse thirty one, while the 186 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:26.389 words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from Heaven, 187 00:16:27.549 --> 00:16:33.059 Oh King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The Kingdom has departed from 188 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:37.980 you and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with 189 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:42.299 the beasts of the field. God's going to humble him, and you shall 190 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:47.769 be made to eat like a eat grass like an ox, and seven periods 191 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:52.289 of time shall pass over you until you know the most high, or, 192 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:56.649 sorry, you until you know that the most high rules the Kingdom of men 193 00:16:56.730 --> 00:17:03.359 and gives it to whom he will. Immediately. The word was fulfilled against 194 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:08.680 Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, 195 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:14.319 and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as 196 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:19.589 long as eagles feathers and his nails were like birds clause. At the end 197 00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:25.950 of the days, I nebuchadnezzar. He's reporting this here now. Lifted my 198 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:30.859 eyes to heaven and my reason return to me, and I blessed the most 199 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:37.140 high and praised and honored him, who lives forever, for his dominion is 200 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:45.049 from is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All 201 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:48.609 the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to 202 00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:52.930 his will among the host of Heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, 203 00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:57.599 and no one can stay his hand or say to him, what have you 204 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:04.599 done then, verse thirty seven. Now I nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and 205 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:10.200 honor the King of Heaven, for all his works are right and his ways 206 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:15.549 are just, and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. 207 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:23.269 Nebuchadnezzar gets it now. He can't stand on his roof and say, look 208 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:27.180 at all I have done, I've created for a house, for the my 209 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:33.859 majesty to think of himself as a God, as in control of everything, 210 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:37.819 is powerful over everything. And you know, you could think, well, 211 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:40.859 of course he thought this way, he was a king. All kings things 212 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:45.529 think this way, and indeed that if you read proverbs, they often remind 213 00:18:45.609 --> 00:18:52.130 us that with power and authority and wealth often comes this danger of pride. 214 00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:56.000 I'm yet, at the same time, I think it's fair to say that 215 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:00.680 each of us have our own little domains and, no matter how small they 216 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:07.640 are, no matter how tiny and insignificant they may be, we also stand 217 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.269 on our rooftop, so to speak, and and and proclaim the glory of 218 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:19.829 Our Name. So when we're thinking about to whom does praise belong, we 219 00:19:19.990 --> 00:19:26.539 have to think about this. What's controlling things. Who is controlling things? 220 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:30.660 Why are things the way that we are? And one of the ways we 221 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:33.259 struggle is we think that they are because of us. And a passage like 222 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:37.859 Daniel, for a passage like Jonah that we looked at this morning, a 223 00:19:37.259 --> 00:19:41.730 passage like this, in effusions all of them, and throughout the Scriptures, 224 00:19:41.089 --> 00:19:45.289 God humbles us, as I like to say, pulls the rug out on 225 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:51.049 our self righteousness and leaves us a little wobbly for a little bit, sometimes 226 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:55.319 more than a little bit, until we learn this lesson, that we cannot 227 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:00.920 pride ourselves in our salvation, but in him and in him alone. It's 228 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:07.869 his kingdom that's being built, not ours. There's another application of this which 229 00:20:07.910 --> 00:20:14.150 all close with. It's not just when we're strong that we need to remember 230 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:18.269 who God is and that all things happen according to the counsel of his will 231 00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:23.700 and the power of his decisions and his plan, but it's when we're weak 232 00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:29.259 too, when we're weak too, it's often tempting to say, well, 233 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.819 this is just my lat in life, this is just how things are going 234 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:37.569 to be. I guess this is how things are to be discouraged, to 235 00:20:37.690 --> 00:20:41.170 lose hope and forget that God has said you are my child, if we 236 00:20:41.410 --> 00:20:47.809 are born of him, James says you, you don't receive because you don't 237 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:52.640 ask. In our weakness, we forget to go to the one who is 238 00:20:52.759 --> 00:21:00.440 supreme in all things and instead we we think about luck or faith or chance 239 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:04.670 or some power or ourselves. If only I could get myself out of this. 240 00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:07.309 I can't get myself out of this, but if only I could, 241 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:12.789 but I can't, and on and on, weak circle. Meanwhile, the 242 00:21:12.829 --> 00:21:19.420 scriptures declare to us that in God we have salvation, that he is truly 243 00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:26.539 powerful. There's so many ways in which the scriptures prove this to us, 244 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:30.619 and I hope it's not even something that needs to be proved. But if 245 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:36.730 you think about the comparisons between let's say Zeus or Artemis or to K or 246 00:21:37.049 --> 00:21:45.369 faith or luck and God, even the descriptions that the people who serve those 247 00:21:45.529 --> 00:21:51.240 gods give don't compare to this descriptions that we have of God in the Bible. 248 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:59.559 Even homer himself admits that Zeus has his struggles. Right, the Bible 249 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:07.150 never speaks this way of God. Instead, it records his deeds throughout history, 250 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.390 of false God after false God being put up as a challenge to him 251 00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:18.220 and failing of army after army, depending on their strength and their power, 252 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:25.579 of great kings like Nebuchadnezzar standing up and declaring their majesty and over and over 253 00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:32.170 and again, humbled, humbled, humbled, destroyed humbled. God proves this 254 00:22:32.490 --> 00:22:41.730 again and again and again. Now the world is particularly inclined to disbelieve this 255 00:22:41.609 --> 00:22:48.400 when they see Jesus hanging on the Cross and they say, where is your 256 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.519 power now? Oh, call down if you're a great king, they said 257 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:56.200 to Jesus, why don't you call down the angels and Save you? Where 258 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.950 is your power? Where is your strength? No, we have you now. 259 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:08.990 But of course they didn't have him. Jesus rose from the dead exactly 260 00:23:10.109 --> 00:23:15.619 as he had planned to do, from all eternity. He didn't react to 261 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:22.619 a bad situation. He went to the cross willingly, silently, the scriptures 262 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:26.059 say. Jesus wasn't rushing around and trying to figure out, what can I 263 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:29.609 do to get out of this situation? Maybe you should go talk to the 264 00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.809 scribes and Pharisees. I'll talk to this guy or not. None of that. 265 00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:37.609 There's no political maneuvering. That's what they were doing. They're sort of 266 00:23:37.890 --> 00:23:41.640 pulling together false witnesses and trying to find the best way to pay off Judas 267 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:47.839 and this and that. Instead, Jesus, through the whole thing, is 268 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:53.119 obviously in control and he goes to the Cross and control and when he rises 269 00:23:53.240 --> 00:24:00.470 from the dead, he rises in control, with power and authority and with 270 00:24:00.670 --> 00:24:11.220 my declaring literal victory over death. That's our king, and that's why the 271 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:15.339 scriptures say that we who die in him also live in him and that we 272 00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:22.700 are blessed when we are blessed in Christ, because we are blessed in the 273 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:30.769 God of the universe who controls the stars and the seas and kings and us 274 00:24:33.250 --> 00:24:38.119 in him. Not In fate, not in chance, not in luck, 275 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:44.920 not in our ideas or our wishes or some God here or some here, 276 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:51.400 but in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the son of the Living God. 277 00:24:52.950 --> 00:25:00.950 In Him we have obtained something special, and so we aren't prideful people. 278 00:25:02.029 --> 00:25:06.269 We are a humble people, a servant people, but at the same 279 00:25:06.309 --> 00:25:14.059 time a glorious people. We experiencing a lot of heat this time of year. 280 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:21.099 Just like the sun beats down on the walls and warms them up and 281 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:23.690 then causes them to radiate this heat. At the end of the day, 282 00:25:25.769 --> 00:25:30.089 God does the same thing in us. He shines his glory on us, 283 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:33.529 he brings the radiance of the light of the glory of God into our lives 284 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:40.599 in Christ and he warms us up and then we radiate that glory now and 285 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:47.000 for all eternity. And that's why is a happy, warm wall. We 286 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:53.470 can be happy and pleased and praise God, but ultimately it's not our glory, 287 00:25:55.269 --> 00:26:00.230 but it's his. Praise be to God. Let's pray