God's Plan, Our Inheritance | Pastor Paul McGee

The. Amen.

Praise the Lord, everybody. Amen.

Good to see each one of you, Asher.

He just had to take a lap. That's all there is to it.

He just had to take a lap. Amen.

Good to see each one of you today in the House of the Lord.

And as I was thinking about that song, he never gave up on me.

I started to sitting there thinking Bishop about other

people, Lord in this church, though that also haven't given

up on him in the sense that you had moments of time of of

struggle and maybe doubts, conflicts that you ward with.

But you know what you stay tethered to him to the church

with all of your doubt, with all of your uncertainty, wasn't

saying that you just was always at the apex of your game, but

you went through your struggles, but you stay connected to him,

right? And so you never gave up on him

either in that respect. And so that's commendable this

morning. Amen.

We're thankful the Lord for that.

And if I'm just give you a few thank yous today, I want to say

thank you to Tyler and Jen Crews.

He headed up the the game and also the door prizes for our

adult Christmas dinner. This, this, this on Friday in my

wife's absence. So we appreciate that

wholeheartedly them doing that. And thankful also thankful for

brother Alex Mason. The past two Fridays we've put

up a a TV each one here. And so thankful for his aid and

help in ordering the materials that was needed.

And then I'm just going to tell I'm thankful for brother Reese.

I was leaving for study and he's out here vacuuming the carpets

last night. And so always thankful for

those, all those that work and clean and just help grease the

wheels, if you will, so to speak from time to time.

We're thankful today for that. I'm going to be turning to the

book of Ephesians. I'm in teaching mode this

morning. Usually, if you see this on the

side of my face, I'm in teaching mode.

Amen. And that's what I'm going to do

today. Ephesians chapter #1 We're glad

to have Katie with us this morning, All right?

Glad to have her sister Cox's back on this, You know,

instilling her face in the eyes of that grandchild.

They say their vision isn't totally developed then, but

she's trying to get an image imprinted there on a retina or

something. I don't know.

She says whenever she's not there the baby cries.

So I don't know the the jury's still out upon the the validity

of that statement, but nonetheless we're going to

support her and that say yes, that's I do know that's right.

Absolutely Amen. Ephesians chapter #1 going to

read verses 12 through 14, just a few few verses of Scripture

here today. The Bible says, and you know,

almost with any time you jump into Scripture, like there's a

much bigger setting, right? So it says in verse 12 that we

should be to the praise of his glory.

Who first, who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also

trusted? After that you heard the word of

truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after

that you believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of

promise which is the earnest of our inheritance, and to the

redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise of

his glory. Amen.

For a little while today I want to talk to us about this God's

plan, our inheritance. All right, God's plan and our

inheritance. Let's pray this morning the Lord

would help us next little bit. Father, we need you today.

I pray, O Lord, you're able to touch every heart and every

mind. We're thankful, Lord, for the

songs that have been sung, the Lord, the lyrics.

God, how we have felt, Lord, your nearness and your presence.

Lord in this house, I pray open our hearts and our mind of our

understanding God to understand the scriptures.

You said that in them are life God and I pray Lord let that be

life God to the hearers today and will not Lord to forget to

praise you for what you accomplish and do in Jesus name

that I pray Amen and Amen the church say Amen Amen.

You may be see you today just from the start.

If after everything is done today, you're like, I would be

more interested in Ephesians, well, I have good news for you.

Over 10 years ago ago, we did a series here on the book of

Ephesians, about 14 parts, and that's still on our podcast.

So if you're interested more in Ephesians, I'd point you in that

direction and go there. All right.

And so really I feel a little guilty this morning because I'm

just presenting 3 verses out of a book that has a much larger

context and we can't consider all Ephesians in this one

setting. You would not be able to endure

that. I could probably do it, but you

would not be able to endure that.

And the thing about Scripture, anytime you hear or you set in a

church setting and there's a minister or teacher that teaches

from the Scripture, the, the, the difficulty or the complexity

of ministering, of teaching from Scripture.

Is this that reality? You, you need to take all of the

Bible import through those 3 verses.

That's really the complexity of it because this is attached to

something so much larger than just the book of Ephesians, the

New Testament, Old Testament, but the whole whole of

Scripture. And so no one get nervous today

because I'm not going to do that.

We'll do what we can with the allotted time this morning.

But there's this aspect here in Ephesians chapter #1 and the the

other difficulty is this. In our English Bibles, it's

presented in just a a couple of verses, but from Ephesians 3 to

Ephesians 14 in the Greek language from which this was

pulled from, is just one run on sentence.

From verse 13 to verse 14, it's just one sentence.

And so I'm really just taking a few phrases out of a Greek

sentence here. A man to be able to present to

you this morning the Epistle as it is with the epistles or what

we might also call letters, right, Several letters and

epistles in the New Testament Scripture, as with any letter

even that would be written today, although that's almost

something that's far gone in it. You just text or send Adm.

But back in the day when you wrote letters, and I did written

several letters in my lifetime. Ethan's back here like giving up

Exhibit A or something he has in his hand.

But nonetheless, you're going to identify typically who you're

who you're speaking to and who is the one speaking.

And the apostle Paul does this often for us in the epistles.

In the opening verses almost of any epistle, we learn about who

the author is and who it's being addressed to.

For instance, in Ephesians 1 and verse #1 it says Paul, an

apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the Saints which

are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

Paul, of course, is the author. He's addressing this letter or

he is addressing this epistle to the Saints at Ephesus.

And this is important for us because as we read the old King

James of we and ye, you know, type stuff in Scripture of our

versus, it's important to know who he's talking to or who is

talking. And so Paul calls his readers

Saints, right? He calls them Saints.

As a matter of fact, 9 different times in the book of Ephesians,

he's calling the readers Saints. But what is a St.?

Someone's sitting here. Someone.

Professionally, I'm saying bless God.

You know, but what is a St. Not not what is a St. as it is

defined today, right? But what was a St. as it was

defined then? It comes from a Greek word which

means holy or holy. One, it's used for things with

that have particular distinction.

Things that were holy or things that were Saints were things

that had distinction because they had some type of connection

with God. And so they were distinguishing

that way. And that was a holy or holy

wonder, if you will, a St. But Paul, what's interesting

about this particular word is that Paul is using a Greek word.

From the culture of that day of the Greeks that they were

familiar with, that they could identify with.

So he took one of their words and he basically introduced it

into Christianity. It was a word.

The word Saints of the Greek word that it comes from is a

word that they would have known for them.

Among the Greeks, a St. was someone devoted to the gods,

little GODS. Someone devoted to the gods.

We read in the book of Acts that we understand they had a

devotion to gods. One of their primary ones was

Diana. We read in Scripture how there's

Demetrius the, the, the, the man that was the blacksmith, so to

speak. And that there was a time there

was a uproar in the city of Ephesus.

And for two hours they would cry out greatest Diana, greatest

Diana, greatest Diana. And so to the Greeks, a St. was

someone that was devoted or devout to the gods.

And it it meant holy for them too, but not in the sense

Brother Fred being holy as being pure all right or untainted as

we think of it today, but holy in the sense, and this is their

the Greeks reasoning, not mine in the sense of being non

secular or not worldly set apart.

Why would they think that? Because they're devoted to the

gods. Worship is very spiritual

regardless of your object of worship.

Worship is very spiritual and so a St. that was devoted to the

gods and that devotion off time expressing itself in worship.

Mike drought. That was something very

spiritual. It was non secular.

All right. And so Paul specifies though, as

he's writing to the Church of Ephesus, he specifies the Saints

because he is using a word that's common.

Amen to them that he doesn't just call them Saints which are

Ephesus because that could include all these Greek people

that are devoted to God's little GODSS he goes on and says, and

to the faithful in Christ Jesus, right to the faithful that were

in Christ Jesus. So he makes a distinguishment

about what Saints he's talking about or what Saints he is

speaking to in Ephesus. You you had devoted Pagan

Saints, and you had devoted Christian.

Saints. All right, so it was all about

whoever you were devoted to and whenever you start to think

about it, it's a little bit mind blowing that a St. is holy or

non secular because think with me here for a moment.

You can be devoted to a secular item to the degree of

worshipping that item. It be an idol to you.

All right. And be a St. regarding how you

reverence that thing. What I'm saying is this.

You can have something non secular and if it becomes your

object of worship that you give special devotion to, you're

doing something to something that's non secular.

You're doing something. Spiritual.

To something that is non secular because you've given your

attention, perhaps more attention to it than what you've

given to other things. And that might seem a little

weird for you to wrap your mind about.

So how in the world can this be? But you, you, you, they were,

some of them were involved in in a secular thing in a spiritual

way because they worship and devoted themselves to it.

And let me just say this morning, that's a dangerous

place to be in whenever you spiritualize the secular, huh.

It doesn't change the Sturmaya, We think, well, that was their

little GODSS of Woodstone and so on and so forth.

We can still fall into that trap today.

People have taken their careers something secular, but they've

made it their means of what they give their full attention and

devotion to of greater importance than God.

There's a lot of things you can set on that pedestal of idultery

in your life that may be secular, but you spiritualize it

when you begin to worship it. Amen, Amen.

And so they were spiritualized and very secular things.

And so whenever Paul dresses though then this letter, he then

for sure says this to the Saints that are Ephesus and to the

faithful in Christ Jesus and that word.

And there is not, it's not, we're not talking about two

different groups of people, the Saints of Ephesus and the

faithful to Christ Jesus the word.

And there can absolutely be translated even even to the

faithful in Christ Jesus, which is just given more flavor and

more additional information about the same Saints at

Ephesus. And so Paul is addressing a

group of people that's that's faithful or that are trusting in

the Lord. This word faithful is not the

faithful that we use in the sense that oh, Reese, he's so

faithful to cleaning like he's true to it, but that he there,

it's a trust. It's a trust that we put in the

Lord. And so in chapter 1, Paul shares

God's plan important today, God is sharing Paul sharing God's

plan for the Ephesian Saints. These are the Saints that you

read all throughout about Ephesians.

They are the Saints. They are the ones that the Bible

describes as in Christ. They are the in Christ group.

You see that phraseology over and over again.

Those that are in Christ. He was notably underscoring,

Sister Cox, those that were the church all right, those that

were a part of the body of believers.

And so God had planned to redeem.

This is the plan of Ephesians chapter #1 God had a plan from

the foundation of the world. God had a plan.

God shared His plans being shared by Paul.

God had a plan to redeem his church.

God had a plan to forgive his church through his blood and by

his grace. Please note this morning God

didn't come up with this plan. Just actor Adam and need failed.

All right. It's not like there was the fall

in creation in the gardens. God like well, I guess I need to

come up with a plan, you know, to no redeem people.

No, God always had a plan. God always had a plan.

Before the 1st failure in the first sin and Eden, God had a

plan. He's not scratching his head.

He's not at the drawing board trying to figure out what he's

going to do. He already knew what he was

going to do. God has always listen for you

this morning. That's good news because

wherever you find yourself in life, God always had a plan

already for you. What God already has it together

and so he has a plan to redeem. He has a plan to forgive all by

his blood, all by his grace. Revelation, the last book of the

Bible tells us about the first part of of the beginning, that

he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, right?

What is that God having a plan? And though it happens in the

Gospels, I know we see Calvary there, but that's referring to

that God already had a plan. He had a plan.

That plan is for me. That plan is for you.

It's not that this whole sacrificial system, the Old

Testament of offering up lambs and bulls and all these things

occurred. And then God's like, you know

what, that's really never going to take care of what they need

taken care of. I'm I'm going to have to do.

No, he already had a plan. If anything the sacrificial

system was just came along just to show how insufficient every

other plan would be. God had the ultimate plan, but

he needed to prove to humanity, to you and I that all these

other things that we would try to grab for to be our answer as

we're sinking in the sea called life that Nope that don't work

as humanity had to come to terms with themselves.

Nope that didn't work. So that when Calvary happened,

hopefully after after generations and generations of

plan that went bad, that they would finally seek.

This is it. This is the.

One, this is the ultimate thing that can somehow bring

restoration, put people back in good standing with God.

This is the plan, Amen. So he had a plan from the very

beginning. He had an inheritance even from

the beginning that was planned for us, that was planned for

them even in Ephesus. And He anticipated something

there in verse #12 that I read in your hearing this morning,

that we should be to the praise of his glory.

The apostle Paul is speaking. He's speaking largely for

himself and the other Jewish people that they would be, that

they would be to the praise of God.

'S glory, right? Isaiah 4321 even backs this up a

little bit more. The prophet says this people,

and he's speaking for God. He says this people have I

formed God? Says for myself, they shall shew

forth my praise. I've made them for myself, they

shall shew forth my praise. The question is, the question

that we got to ask ourselves is. Are we?

Falling into the plan of God in the instance and in the mode

that we are then the praise of God's glory, right because.

Little little. Maybe you understand that you

are meant to bring magnification and glorification to God that

your life. Let's let's go there.

Your life. God's plan was that your life

would magnify and shine and bring glory to His.

Work. And so we got to ask ourselves,

is my life serving the plan of God?

Is my life serving to play showing his praise and notice,

notice that they're the prophet in Isaiah.

He says that it shall shoot forth my praise.

Whenever we talk about showing forth, I mean, that's something

observable. That's something that is seen

that that's more than that's more than a proclamation, right?

You, you don't see words unless words are written down, right?

Or unless someone's deaf and their sign.

I guess you can see those type of words, but you don't see

words unless they're given some type of, you know, character, if

you will to them. So to choose to shoe forth that

they might shoe forth my praise or that these things might be

something that we can identify and look at and observe then

what that praise and what we show in our life is more than

just a proclamation. It's more than just I believe

God, I love God and all of that. It is a demonstration.

It is some it is, it is a demonstration.

It is something that's practice out in our lives.

In other words, it takes us from the place of just being able to

arbitrarily just say I love the Lord and then have a life that

backs up that love. God says that was my plan for

you. My plan for you was not just a a

verbal proclamation, but a demonstration that would be

observable, that would in turn magnify and glorify me.

Amen. And so there was a group here

Paul says in verse 12, he said we should be the praise of his

glory who first trusted in Christ.

Again, he's referring to the Jews, right?

The very. Oracles and the writings that we

have even today, that was passed down from generation to

generation in the Jewish people. Right.

And they were the ones we read of of Isaiah and we read of

Jeremiah and we read of all the prophets and they were the even

ones that were hoping for the coming of the Messiah.

They. Prophesied about it.

They talked about it before. Before Jesus's birth was ever

debuted in Bethlehem, there were some people already trusting.

Trusting in the Messiah that had not yet had his first cry in

Bethlehem. They trusted at first.

And so even before His ministry began, imagine this, before the

1st blind eye that Jesus error opened to raise the first person

from the dead in his earthly ministry, there was a group of

people that were already trusting.

The Jewish people were already trusting before He began His

ministry. They declared it from ages ago

into the present. Amen.

That, that wasn't the Gentiles, it was the Jews.

All right, We, we are among those of the race, if you will,

or, or, or grouped into that group of Gentile people, that

would be notably in the beginning, you know, the

unbelieving people, He said those that first trusted were

the Jews. That wasn't Gentiles.

Because here's the fact of the matter, we don't until we get to

the New Testament, the Gentiles had no idea whether upon who or

what to put their hope or their trust in.

Huh. They're they're kind of

separated from this whole thing. They, they don't know about

putting their hope or their trust in Jesus until later.

The book of Ephesians even tells us as Gentiles, Ephesians 2 and

verse 12. He says that at that time, ye

the ye there he's he's talking to the Gentiles were without

Christ. That's that's where their

dilemma is. They're without Christ.

They're being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.

They're they're not a Jew. They don't have this history or

anything. They don't have the those were

Jewish prophets. They didn't have Gentile

prophets talking about a Messiah coming all right.

They were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no

hope. I mean, for sure, how in the

world you know what to hope it when you don't have no hope to

hope. I have no hope without God in

the world. But when we get in the New

Testament Scripture, there's a door that swings wide open.

There's the mentality of earth. Everybody thinks salvation is of

the Jews. That only belongs to Jews.

It's for the Jews. But a door swings open even

through the Apostle Paul and some of the other apostles, the

Bible speaks of how they were to be apostles or disciples unto

the Gentile nation. And so there's a whole door that

opens up understanding that God's plan, God's plan from the

very beginning, just wasn't for the Jew.

God's plan from the beginning was for humanity.

Jew, Gentile, Samaritan, it matters not.

It was for humanity. It's like I said a few weeks

ago, it might, it was last week. I don't know.

They all kind of blend together in the month of December.

You know, the Samaritan woman knew him as Sir to begin with.

Before it was over, though, it was, this is the Savior of the

world, this is Christ the Lord. What happened door opened up

that the Gentiles and even the Jews and even us today, if we

can put our trust in Him and follow the plan.

Hey ma'am, follow the plan. What is following the plan?

Notice, notice in verse 13 he says in whom ye also he's

speaking now to the Gentiles. He already talked about who

first trusted, that's the Jews, but now he's talking to the

Ephesians. This mixed bag here he said in

whom ye also trusted. Note after that ye heard the

word of truth. You trusted after you heard

because before you're alienated. From all this.

You have no hope. You're without Christ.

But once you heard, once you heard God's plan, he said, then

you trusted, you trusted in the word of truth after hearing note

now he goes on to describe what that truth is, the gospel of

your salvation. Not before.

After they heard the gospel they trusted, they put their

dependence upon him. Let's just pause for a moment.

And say this is one of the reasons why it's so vitally

important that we do what we do in this particular segment of

the service. Or what we do on Wednesdays at

that particular, because there is a proclamation of the gospel

message that is going forth that may open up somebody's mindset

in the Pew that the gospel plan or God's plan is for them.

And so doesn't happen before, but it happened after they

heard. That's the reason why we are, we

are stationed in a place today as a church and hopefully as a

Christian Church that we're have the names that we do.

We pray for the evangelist because they're going into all

the world. And we're praying for the

missionary because they're going to those tribes and 3rd world

countries where, you know, not many people get to.

And we're praying for the home missionary that's going to a

city that doesn't have the church.

What are we doing? We want to make sure people

know. We want to make sure people

here, because otherwise they might not know where to put

their hope. Otherwise they might be without

Christ. Otherwise they might feel as

strange from the Commonwealth of what's provided for them.

But God's plan is for all humanity, as they used to say to

the uttermost to the guttermost His plan.

It's for all humanity. But they got to hear.

They got to hear. And so it's important.

And that's the reason why we do some of the things that we do.

They must, must hear. Gentile need to know.

The Samaritan need to know. By and large, over the years,

perhaps the world has become increasingly more religious.

But we've become more religious without becoming increasingly

Christian. Amen.

And so their experience begin by hearing the word of truth.

And so we got to be heralded, right?

We are commissioned even as witnesses, we've got to be

heralders of the truth. And there are various ways, more

ways to do that than we ever had before.

You know, Paul had his quill and parchment, you know, writing on

a scroll. And now people can type faster

with their two thumbs on the phone, you know.

So there are ways and venues. My thumbs are too thick.

I get like 3 letters and words I didn't mean to spell.

Just glad I didn't send it before I edited it.

And sometimes that's happened too.

So we continue to preach the gospel because many don't know

where to put their trust. We live in a world with a

largely misplaced hope, and so our works cut out for us.

The apostle Paul said in another place is the letter to the

Corinthians of Second Corinthians 3-4 and verse #3 he

says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

And this is how this works. Verse 4 tells us how this works.

In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them

which believe not. The God of this world has

blinded the minds of the laws. They believe not lest.

Why? Because the God of this world

says. Lest the light of the glorious

gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into

them. Why, why, why would that be?

Think with me for a moment, sister dogs, if the God of this

world is so bent on blinding a lost person's life to the light

of Christ. Lest that happens, he says, then

that should give you an indication of how powerful and

important that light of the Gospel is.

If the adversary of the church, the adversary doesn't want them

to get that one thing, If I can just if I can blind, if I can

blind their minds right, that they can't obtain it in their

mind or they can't wrap their mind around or they can't ascend

to believe it. If I can do that, then then that

gospel, that plan of God that's been ordained from the beginning

of the world, if I can keep that in such a way that it's elusive

to them, I can keep them in a in a treading pattern of having no

hope, in a treading pattern of having misplaced hope, but less

that less that should ever happen.

If they ever grabbed a hold of the light, he's like, I'm

tapping out because I know it's over.

Because they're going to understand that is not just a

plan for just this segment or that segment.

It is a plan for them, the praises of God's glory, then

that they would be the praise of my glory in our lives.

It's got to be exemplified in our lives.

Yes, also proclaimed with our lips.

The gospel needs a voice. The gospel needs a voice, and

the gospel needs an illustration.

Yeah, I love those teachers that always gave illustrations to

what they were talking about for all those visual learners that

just couldn't get it from hearing it right, or the Bishop

and the props and stuff. Right.

Visual learners, sometimes you just don't get it to well, the

gospel sometimes need an illustration.

And won't you know that your life sometimes is that

illustration? Because people that know you

knew you before the gospel, they knew you BC before Christ,

right? They knew you before that and

then they know your life after that.

It's the story even with with Saul, if you'll remember him,

and he got among the prophets and he prophesied and he was

acting in such a way that was a little untypical.

For him and. People that were observing that

that knew him before time said, is not this Saul the son of

Kish? What are they saying?

This guy doesn't seem to be the same guy.

Why? Because he's had an experience.

With the Spirit. And the spirit now has caused

him not to act like he used to act, huh.

There was a, there was a before and after Christ moment, if you

will, that took place that they were recognizing it was being

exemplified a man in his life. And so the God of this world,

folks, he understands. I think that's important.

The God of this world understands the impact of the

light. And if that's the case, we need

as a church to understand the force that is behind the light

as well, right? And understanding what it can do

for an individual's life. We need to shine the the the

writer of the gospel said, let your light so shine before men

that they may see your good works and glorify what, what?

There goes that magnification. Glorify, magnify your Father

which is in heaven, right? Listen, the gospel can change

your life. Let me put it this way, the

gospel will change your life. Romans 10 and verse 14 talking

about this whole thing, after they heard, after they heard,

they trusted in Him as well, or also trusted in Him.

Romans 10/14 asked us the question then though, but how

shall they call on Him and whom they have not believed?

But how should they believe in Him and whom they have not.

We need we need somebody that has a voice, a witness, a

preacher, a teacher, a conversation.

Somebody's got to say something because they don't even know who

to call. The Gentiles for sure was in

that they didn't even know who to call on, huh.

You want me to put my trust in who and what They have no

connection with that. And we might think it's silly,

but folks, there is probably a a greater number today, some that

don't even know about the Lord never heard about Christ Jesus,

never heard about the cross or the blood or never heard about a

resurrection just totally separated and removed from that.

They need a voice. So yeah, we we have the gospel.

We told it all the time that Jesus Christ died for our sins

and that that and through his burial and our burial with him

that we identify right, We identify with him for as many

are baptized into Christ have put.

On. Right, We have identified

ourself with him and, and that also then completes our, our

remission, our removal of sins, because we repent and are

baptized for the remission of sins, right?

That's what Acts 238 tells us. We repent and, and, and, and,

and, and all, right. And so together with that, it

brings the removal of our sins. And then we have the

resurrection of Christ, which makes way for our newness of

life, right? The apostle Paul spoke in

Scripture. He talked about the old man and

the new man, the old man and the new man.

The old man dies, the old man is buried, but there's a new,

there's a new creature. Behold, old things are passed

away and all everybody say all big three letter word, all

things become new and we become a new creation.

The Bible says that a new creation in Christ Jesus, that's

the gospel. His death, his burial, his

resurrection, that's the gospel, but that's God's plan for me.

The gospel is God's plan for me. Look at it again.

Looking at what the gospel is, in First Corinthians 15 verses

one through 4, Paul says to the Church of Corinth, Moreover,

brethren, I declare unto you the gospel.

So let's see what he has to say about it.

Which I preached unto you, which also you received, wherein you

stand. And this gospel thing sounds

pretty important. By which ye are saved.

Wow. If you keep in memory what I

preach unto you, unless you have believed in vain.

He said for I verse 3. For I delivered unto you first

of all that which also I received.

How He's about ready to break down the gospel for us.

How Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and

that he was buried and that he rose again the third day

according to Scriptures, He died, he was buried and he rose

again. The gospel all right.

But when we look at verse 13 in our text, the verse 13 of our

text, they said, look now in whom he also trusted after he

heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in

whom also after ye believed, everybody say believed ye were

sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

After they trusted, after they believed in Christ, they were.

Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

So there is a belief that must accompany our hearing.

Not just that. After they heard yes, and

they're after they heard they trusted.

But there is also must be a belief that accompanies that

right? Hebrews 4 two.

Is it up there with Mace? I can't remember if I I

submitted that one. The word preached did not profit

them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it right.

The word just being heard is great, but hearing and believing

upon what you've heard changes the profitability of that word

for your life. You can obtain knowledge from

hearing, but you can obtain an experience from believing.

Let let's break this down just a little bit.

Believe though, it's just not some mental ascent of yeah, I

believe in this or I believe in that.

The Greek word for belief can be traced back to a primary verb,

and I did it. It's like 2 branches back to a

primary verb in the Greek, which among other things is defined

even as obeyed. Because you see that a lot

through the New Testament Scripture.

Belief is not just belief as in a, a, a mental ascent or, or

just a, you know, a faith upon or a belief upon.

Belief has coupled with that, intermingled if you will, in the

recipe of belief is a obedience, and that changes everything.

Because he says after they believed in intermingling of

that an obedience to what they heard and then they were sealed

with the Spirit or with the Holy Spirit of promise, Amen.

So in here in Ephesians, to believe in Christ is to obey

Christ. To believe in God's plan is to

obey God's plan, Amen. Particularly the gospel and then

be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

What is what is this Holy Spirit of promise that's only have so

many days left in the year I got to declare it?

What is this Holy Spirit of promise?

It was the Holy Spirit or they're.

Said in Scripture, you know, it's called the Holy Spirit,

it's called the Holy Ghost, it's called the Spirit of God, all

these different things. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost

that Jesus told them to wait for in Jerusalem before Jesus ever

ascended, right? He's had his death, his burial,

his resurrection, before he ever ascended and departed from them.

The Bible says after he resurrection, he was with them

forty days after his passion. He shewed them many things and

explain many things to them. And before he ever ascended, the

Bible says he spoke to them and told them about waiting in

Jerusalem for this, for this promise.

Now let's let's go somewhere here, just for a moment.

First John chapter #3 and verse 24 First John 324 And he that

keepeth his commandments, this first John that Saint John, he

that keepeth his commandments, dwell in him beginning in the

Lord, and he in him all right. So we have this this he and us

us in him scenario and hereby or by say hereby and hereby we.

Know that he abideth in. US by the Spirit which he hath

given us. John says there is one way that

I know unequivocally that he abides in me and that's by the

Spirit which he has given me. We'll go step further here.

I'll tell you there's a way for you to know that before the

gifts of the the the fruits of the Spirit become to manifest in

your life like in Galatians 5 that speak about love and joy

and peace and goodness and gentleness and meekness and

temperance right. Yeah.

We understand those are fruits of the spirit.

They belong to the spirit. Them being truly exemplified in

the life is because that person must be operating with the

spirit. But I'll tell you there's even

something more instantaneous then.

That. Maturing and taking place in

your life hereby you know that He abideth in you because the

spirit which he has given it abides in you.

It's basically what he told them or what occurred in the book of

Acts, which what we, what many would call would be the birth of

the church in Acts 2. The Bible tells us, and I don't

have this up there Brother Mason, but in Acts chapter 2 in

Acts 2 · chapter mention

the 1st 4 verses and maybe I should even go, let's go to Luke

24 first. That is up there, Brother Mason.

Luke 24 and verse 49. Again, before Jesus's ascension,

he tells his disciples, he says, and behold, I send the promise

of my father. Paul Speaking of Ephesians about

the promise of the Holy Spirit. These are one and the same.

He said, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye

in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on

high. That was some of his final words

before he ascended that this is important, right?

His his fleshly ministry and and fleshly self is going to be with

them no more. And this is, you know, like the

last words, you know, grab a hold of those.

He says, go to Jerusalem. The promise of the Father.

It's going to come upon you, Terry, and Jerusalem till you be

endued with that power from on high.

Well, we see this play out in Acts chapter #2 they're in

Jerusalem. It's the feast of Pentecost.

There's all kinds of nations and peoples that is gathered

together for this feast. That was typical, all right.

And there's 120 of them, all right, that are gathered in the

upper room. The disciples there, the, the,

the mother of Jesus, Mary, she's there.

They've been praying for several days, right?

They're tarrying, if you will, for this promise of the Father.

And the Bible tells us in Acts chapter #2 and verse one.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, what is

happening right here in in chapter #2 is God's plan for

humanity coming to fruition. And when the day of Pentecost

was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty

wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared in them clothing tongues like as fire,

and it sat up on each of them, and they were all filled with

the Holy Ghost. This is the Holy Ghost the the

Holy Spirit of promise, the promise of the Father all right

and begin to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them.

Look at this as the spirit gave them utterance or gave them the

ability to articulate. Now this is a marvel because you

take that and you put that back with first John says hereby I

know that the spirit abides in me by the spirit that abides in

me. Well, these folks who knew the

spirit of voting them. Because the Spirit was a witness

to it. The Spirit of God was a witness

to it, allowed utterance, right of a, what the Scripture calls

a, another tongue, right, other tongues, Amen.

That took place in their life. And you'll read further down

that there were people from these different nations and

groupings of people that said we hear some speak in our language,

but they knew some of those people were all Galileans.

They didn't know their language. How is this so?

I tell you how the Spirit that they received where is given

testimony that it was there. You'll have the Lovejoy peace,

but the instantaneous, the instantaneous sign that the

Spirit, the promise of the Father, God's plan has come to

fruition and culmination in your life is that you will speak in

of their tongues. Amen.

This isn't a one time time occurrence in Acts chapter #2 We

see this happen in Acts chapter 8 with the Samaritans.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

We see it happen in Acts chapter #10 Cornelius of the Italian

band, a Gentile. We see it happen in Acts chapter

#19 whenever, by the way, Paul went to a group of men that were

from Ephesus and said, have you received the Holy Ghost since

you believed and said, well, we didn't know.

Look, look, evidently they had some belief, but what they were

believing that they hadn't heard whether there was any Holy

Ghost, what happened? They couldn't put their trust in

something that they hadn't heard.

He says, well, let me tell you about it.

They heard about it. They trusted in it, and then

they believed, which is mingled in with that obedience and acted

upon it. And in Acts 19, guess what

they're doing? They're speaking in other

tongues. The spirit that they received

hereby was acknowledging in them.

They had received the promise of the Father, God's plan, from the

very beginning. Amen, there was.

Amen. Look at this in Acts.

Two verse 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,

having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,

he hath I love this, he hath shed forth this.

The reference that that that Paul's Speaking of there or

Peter rather is Speaking of there in Acts.

Luke is the writer, but this is around the whole concept of

Peter standing up with them and saying they're not drunk as ye

suppose. He says they've received the

promise of the Father right. The Holy Ghost, he said having

being that they have being that they have received that he hath

shed forth this. He's referring to what has just

happened. This thing of people speaking in

other tongues in the upper room, which the Bible says was noised

abroad. He says, being that they have

received it, this is what happened.

He hath shed forth this, and ye now see, huh, what I say

earlier, He said, in order to be to the praise of his glory, to

shew that it's not just a proclamation, huh?

It's a demonstration. He said Ye do see and hear UDC

and here and at that moment what what does the book of Ephesians

say? Paul said that they would be

sealed after they believed ye were sealed.

With that Holy Spirit of promise, everybody say sealed,

sealed. That's a good a word for the

Ephesians. They were in a hub of, of

commerce. There was a lot of import export

that happened in Ephesians. They were kind of a city that

was a hub of commerce. So they understood that.

And culturally in the ancient world, when a sack or a crate or

a package was dispatched or received it many times in the

ancient world had some type of seal on it.

And that seal did a few different things #1 the seal

guaranteed that it came from such and such cinder.

All right. And that everything was intact.

The seal also denoted again not just where it came from or whom

it came from, but to whom it belonged.

It denoted ownership. And so for Paul to use that word

in particular, that you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of

promise is really conveying that what you have received is

guaranteed. It's intact.

It it, it, it is a complete thing.

Not only that, it. You're sealed with that.

Now there is. Ownership that has happened.

My life is not my own. My life is not my own.

I've, I'm not, I've, I've switched scripture speaks of it.

We might start out these lives sometimes being a slave unto the

Lord. So it would seem.

But somewhere along the line, the Bible says he's placed the

spirit of adoption on us, right? I, I, I wasn't born in a Jewish

family, but God placed his spirit of adoption on me and he

adopted me into his family. And so I'm no longer a slave.

He said, but you're a, a son. And if a son then an heir and

that means what the father has is yours.

You've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of that has been God's

plan for us from the beginning, said Paul said the Holy Spirit

of the Holy Ghost of promise. Look at it now, verse 14, I'm

hurrying. I know we got to go, he says.

Is that what we have received? That seal of the Holy Spirit of

promise, he said, is the earnest of our inheritance.

Anybody ever paid any earnest money around here?

You ever had to do that? Go buy a house.

I've put down some earnest money.

Maybe they use different terminology now, and maybe

because that's just too archaic. So earnest money.

I know a guy named Earnest. Yeah, but but what is the whole

point earnest, then, that that terminology isn't much different

than the way that we'd still view it today.

It's just a down payment to guarantee the final purchase of

something. It's a down payment to guarantee

the final purchase of something, a commodity, a piece of

property, whatever it may be, He said.

I've given you, I've sued with the Holy Spirit of promise,

which is verse 14, the earnest of your inheritance.

When I whenever you receive the gift that the Holy Ghost and

that gift comes to you, that's the down payment for something

that is still yet coming. No, no, no, watch with me

because see, salvation, salvation is one of the most

elastic words in all the scripture.

All right, because whenever you go through your salvation

experience in that moment, instantaneously, you are saved

from the penalty of sin. You're saved from the penalty of

sin. But as you walk through this

life now with your salvation, there's a process fancy Bible

word. It's called sanctification.

It's about being separated unto God.

The process between you receive the only goes to the day you

leave this earth or rapture comes is a process

sanctification. And in that moment you're still

being saved. You are being saved all right

from all these these problems and issues and power.

You're being saved from the power of sin, but there's still

salvation yet to come. Paul wrote about the redemption

of his body. And so from the standpoint of

now, I will be saved badly, my body will be redeemed, right?

This corruptible will put on incorruption.

This mortal, he said, will put on immortality.

So we are in a mode of having been saved, being saved, and

will be saved. Amen, Amen.

And so that's the reason why he says I've given you right now at

this point, I'm giving you just the down payment of even

something that's that's going to come you you're saved right now

from the penalty of sin. But if you stay with this thing,

your body will be redeemed someday you will walk on streets

of gold, go through gates of Pearl, a city that has 12

foundations, huh. He says there's there's there's

something else that that word earnest in the Greek sister cops

can also mean engagement ring. The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit

of promise, is your engagement. You're sealed.

It's your engagement ring. It's the earnestness.

It's the earnest of your. The earnest of your.

Inheritance. It's the engagement ring.

What's that mean? That means today's fiance could

be tomorrow's bride. You hear what I'm talking about?

Today's fiance could be tomorrow's bride.

Stand with me. I'll try to shut up here.

So everything that God has postured then for that's been

his plan for us really comes full circle to them becoming our

inheritance, right? Our inheritance.

Holy Ghost is the earnest It's sometimes it's just a little

piece of heaven. It's just a little piece of

heaven. And so when we talk about being

St. being Saints more than more than a title, it's more than

just being called to believe. It's being called to obey the

gospel, right. This is the.

Eternal plan of redemption. The eternal plan of salvation.

And we respond to the gospel by aligning our lives with Christ,

death and his burial and his resurrection.

Talking about being planted or buried with him in baptism,

right? A talking about dying, if you

will, up on the cross with him. He was crucified, but we die out

to these old selves in our flesh.

And then that Holy Ghost, that rising up, that regeneration,

that promise of the Spirit of the Father of promise, Amen.

It's all there. It's all there.

Obeying God's command then becomes nothing more given and

receiving a down payment for our inheritance and all.

Of that you. Know what it does?

It testifies to God's greatness. It magnifies God's goodness.

It causes us to reflect upon His grace and upon His glory.

And so I want to walk then worthy to the calling that He is

called unto me for. Why?

So He can be glorified in everything.

So God isn't, God is not trying to put together a plan for you

today. God already has a plan for you

today. And if you respond, I'm trying

to vocalize it today. But if you'll trust in it,

believe in it, with your obedience to it, you'll become

your inheritance. You'll become your inheritance.

And I don't know about you, but I think one that created the

universe, he probably has plenty he could share.

Bible talks about his infathomable riches, and he's

the almighty God. So we're talking about no cap in

power. Yeah.

I would like to be adopted into that family.

And we can be today. It's possible today if we could

just bow our heads aiming across this place this morning Amen.

God has a plan for you today. God has a plan it's been it's

been written in time before time even began already the will and

the purpose of God Lamb slain from the foundation of the

world. If you've never repented of your

sins this morning. I implore you today to repent.

I implore you to to make a conscious mind shift choice that

the the way that I have lived before and the way that I've

done before, things that made be totally, totally appalling to

God. I'm I'm going to make a

conscious shift of mine and a conscious shift of action and

behavior of turning this around. And you're, you're going to seek

and confess your faults to the Lord and he's going to be a just

God and he's going to begin to cleanse you and begin to help

you. And if you've never been

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, if you've never taken

His name on in baptism, listen. Baptism is so much more than

just a sign to. The.

The believers of the Church of so and so forth know there's

something that happens, there's a remission, a removal of sins

that you are, you are identifying yourself with the

Lord in doing that. Amen.

And if you've never received the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is

for you. It is just that.

It is a gift. And it's not just for the Jew or

the Gentile or the Samaritan. It is for all.

It is God's plan for you, God's plan for you.

Why are you doing this teaching here in the month of December?

I tell you why because I just have a few more days before

another year turns around and I want to herald it.

I want to be a witness about it in the hopes that if someone

didn't know where to put their own, they had no connection.

If they if they were without Christ, without God, that maybe

up on hearing, they would trust and maybe they would mix along

with that trust in that hearing a belief in the obedience to

God's plan because it is again the ploy of the God of this

world. Blind their minds.

I just blind their minds. They won't understand if I'm

just blind their minds. If they won't pick up on the

concept or the reality of the truth of the promise, I just

blind their minds. We'll just leave them in the

state that they were born into, which was the state of being the

center of the Adamic nature, He said Less.

The glorious light shines. And if it does, it's so

powerful, it's so powerful, it's so pertinent.

It's so, it's so free and so liberating that it will

absolutely impact and change and alter their lives.

That's what's available here today.

Something that can alter your life, something that a power

that can change, a power that can come to bear when you feel

weak and when you feel exasperated.

That power, that endowment of power from on high is available

here today. It's God's plan for you, Sir.

It's God plan for you, ma'am. It doesn't matter what your age

is, what your background has been, what your race or

ethnicity it is. It doesn't matter what you've

done in life up to this moment. It's God's plan for you, and He

wants it to become your very inheritance.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Brother Mason, if

you take us a man by song today these altars are open.

If you already know the Lord this morning, perhaps you're a

St. today, right? Perhaps you're devoted to the

Lord today. You're you're not not not

secular, so to speak. If you're a St. today, but

you're like, but McGee, I'm in a mode right now.

There's there's some problems, traumatic areas of really

showcasing forth the praise to his glory in my life for me to

be one that could be a a an example to be looked to as not

just what's proclaimed to what's demonstrated for others.

Then maybe we need to have a little time of prayer with the

Lord again. He's never gave up on you and

maybe you're in a battle of doubting and disbelief and

that's OK. If you're going to have doubts

and disbelief, the best place to be is right here in God's house

to struggle and move through that.

Just don't step out on him and then just trusting, Amen.

Walk alongside him, Amen, along that journey of confusion and

conflicting thoughts and feelings, Amen.

That's OK. He'll love you through it.

He'll love you through it. And He'll, he'll come, Amen, to

bear to give reasoning and understanding and helping

guidance. He's here today for us.

If you don't know him, Amen, like the Emesian Church knew

him, or like Paul spoke of it, man, He wants you, Amen, to

experience His plan and allow that to become something that

you inherit today. He's wanting to give you just a

little bit today, but he's going to make good on it in eternity.

Hallelujah, Jesus. Brother Mason.