Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20030608.htm

EPHESIANS: GOD'S SURE PLAN FOR INSECURE TIMES
Part II: Hoping In God's Sure, Blessed Future For Us In Insecure Times
(Ephesians 1:3-14 with Revelation 21:1-22:5)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

If we look at events in this life, it is easy at times to become despondent, thinking there is little hope of FUTURE fulfillment:

(1) A believer called me this week expressing concern that she might achieve spiritual VICTORY in an area of life where a parent of hers had failed. She worried that she not end up embittered as that parent, and wanted to know if there was any hope for that goal to be realized!

(2) In the last two weeks, I have become aware of two young Christian women who have expressed great frustration at marital plans they had made! Instead of the happiness and hope of a bright future, thoughts and words focus on blocked goals that cloud the future.

(2) Then, last week, somebody in Connecticut noticed some white powder on their home mailbox, and, thankfully, called the police. It turned out to be a bomb with explosive liquid in a plastic bottle. According to the experts, only last week's cooler, rainy weather had kept the explosive from detonation, spreading concern among law officials of a possible serious terrorist plot for other state residences to be conducted possibly at random in the FUTURE!

(3) Then, a week ago I counseled an elderly believer who is worried about her future in view of her failing spouse's health. The economic pinch, her growing sense of increased inability to help herself and her own physical needs compound the problem, raising increased concerns about her future.

(4) Last week, I understand when Maureene Maron, a former member of Nepaug Church who has moved into the "Bible Belt" down South with her family was visiting us, and was asked about how she enjoyed the Biblical strength of the American South, she gave an answer that seemed surprising: Maureene reported many pastors and churches in that area are not taking clear stands for the truth! One wonders what the future holds for the Southern "Bible Belt" area!



In view of so MUCH in this life that can go WRONG, HOW and in WHAT are we to HOPE anymore, and WHY?!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "If we focus on all that can go WRONG in the future, especially in view of the troubles our world currently has, it can depress us! WHY HOPE, in WHAT can we hope, and HOW?!"
  1. When Paul wrote Ephesians, he had MISSED OUT in THIS life:
    1. Paul wrote as a prisoner for preaching of salvation in Christ, Eph. 3:1.
    2. This can seem tragic in view of his previous role in Israel's Sanhedrin and his education under the great Gamaliel, Acts 6:12; 7:58 and 22:3.
  2. Yet, Paul STILL wrote about God's great BLESSINGS, Eph. 1:3a.
  3. To comprehend HOW and WHY Paul could be so OPTIMISTIC in such circumstances, we note Paul hoped NOT in what THIS life offers, but in God's SURE, BLESSED ETERNITY in CHRIST:
    1. Paul hoped for the blessed heavenly destiny the Triune Godhead produced for those who trusted in Christ for salvation, Eph. 1:3-14:
      1. Paul hoped in what God the Father had done to PLAN for the believer to reach and abide forever in heaven, Ephesians 1:3-6:
        1. He noted that those who trust in Christ are blessed with every spiritual blessing in God in the heavens, Eph. 1:3b.
        2. This blessing comes from God the Father's eternal plan that all He knew would trust in Christ would enter heaven in the sphere of love, and be sinless and blameless, Eph. 1:4: (a) the word katenopion translated "before" in verse 4 carries only the literal meaning of one's presence, UBS Grk. N.T., p. 664; Moulton & Milligan, The Vocab. of the Grk. N.T., p. 335, 220. (b) Thus, Paul reveals in Eph. 1:4 God planned all He foreknew would believe in Christ would end UP like Christ in heaven!
        3. Then, to move Christians to heaven, God predestined them to "the adoption" (KJV), which, in this context, refers to the rapture of the Church, Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:23; 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
        4. This would all produce praise to the Father for His great grace in making believers accepted in His Beloved Son, Eph. 1:6.
      2. Paul hoped in what God the Son had done to SAVE the believer so he could head toward heaven in the first place, Ephesians 1:7-13a:
        1. First, he described Christ's work to provide redemption through the cross so men could be saved by grace, Ephesians 1:7b.
        2. Then, when people believe in Christ (Eph. 1:13a), God can forgive them their sins (Eph. 1:7c) all to the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Centerpiece of history (Eph. 1:8-10), giving them an eternal inheritance (Eph. 1:11) to the praise of His glory, 1:12.
      3. Paul hoped in what the Holy Spirit had done to SECURE the believer's salvation so he WOULD arrive in heaven, 1:13b-14:
        1. Shifting from the work of God the Son to the work of God the Holy Spirit, Paul revealed the moment one trusts in Christ, he is sealed by the Holy Spirit until the rapture, 1:13b-14; 4:30: (a) Instead of the KJV's "after," the Greek text has the aorist participle, "having believed;" thus, when one believes in Christ, he is THEN sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ibid., UBS Grk. N.T., p. 665). (b) Thus, to ensure a Christian WILL get to heaven, the instant he believes in Christ, GOD seals Him to that end!
        2. Then, as proof God intends to move him to heaven, the Holy Spirit's presence in the believer acts as God's "Earnest," or evidence God WILL INDEED take him to heaven, Eph. 1:14a!
    2. That destiny yields comprehensive fulfillment and happiness as we can tell from the description of God's heaven in Revelation 21:1-22:5:
      1. In heaven, God will comfort believers from all tears and remove death, sorrow, weeping and pain from their experience, Rev. 21:1ff
      2. In heaven, the believer will have a permanent home in a fabulously wealthy, incorruptible, beautiful city, Revelation 21:9-27.
      3. The believer will ever serve God and rule with Him, Rev. 22:1-5.
  4. When COMPARING Paul's hope with that of the PAGANS in EPHESUS, we see how vastly SUPERIOR was PAUL'S HOPE:
    1. The pagans believed that a meteorite that had fallen at Ephesus was the image of the goddess Diana descended from heaven, Acts 19:35.
    2. They then built a great temple to her at Ephesus that became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, framing the area's banking system around it (E. K. Simpson & F. F. Bruce, Eph. & Col., p. 15)
    3. Time has proved that hope to be a futile one: the temple of Diana lies in ruins and its banking system is gone, T.D.N.T., v. Two, p. 329.
    4. In contrast to the vain, pagan belief in one meteorite's FALL from the sky at today's Ephesian ruins, Paul wrote of the RISE of all believers in Christ TO God's heaven to the glory of God's grace, and millions of us believers worldwide now trust in that hope in Christ!
Application: If troubled at happy issues in THIS life, like Paul, (1) trust in Christ for salvation from sin and (2) hope and live for GOD'S SURE and BLESSED ETERNITY to come. (3) When THIS life is in RUINS, we will be greatly BLESSED!

Lesson: Though THIS life made Paul LOOK like he had LOST OUT, his hope in GOD'S ETERNAL FUTURE made him a BLESSED WINNER!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Last month, I drove onto a street that runs through a housing complex in a nearby town where immense homes grace rolling lawns and exquisitely manicured landscape mounds with costly ornamental trees. Beside me in the car was an aging believer who had given his life to serve the Lord and had recently been forced by a fellow Christian to leave his former home into which he had poured so much of his own labor and money. This displaced believer had been left moving into an older, smaller home. I wondered at the time if it was at all painful for him to view these lovely estates, the kind which he would probably never be able to own in this life.

Later, while driving along that same street with a party who has a business as a house cleaner, the party began to point to various ones that the party had cleaned in with inciteful commentaries, like, "That one is so huge, I could only clean it once," or, "You cannot begin to believe all the stuff that's in that one -- it is so tough to clean all around" and "Allergy medicine doesn't help that tenant this year -- it's been to rainy around here!"

I noticed some homes had several rooms stacked over garages, not to mention the several floors in the houses themselves. The cleaner has repeatedly expressed how grateful the party is that the party's own house is smaller and less work to keep up!

I then could see what I theologically knew all along -- how FUTILE it is to FOCUS on a DREAM home in THIS life as an all-encompassing goal. There is so much work and cost involved just to keep such a home that it's not worth it when COMPARED with the housing of HEAVEN!

Then I remembered that believer who had given his life to serve the Lord, the one who had before driven around with me in that housing area. The home HE will get in HEAVEN, and that for ETERNITY, will be a home where the UPKEEP, TAXES and CLEANING are NOT a problem! I can imagine ANGELS might clean his carpets and fix his roof gutters -- FREE!

I quit feeling sad for this servant of God -- he's a winner!



If we trust in Christ, if we live for the life to COME, we can afford to focus on ministry for the Lord like PAUL did from his PRISON cell, even though he'd been demoted from the Sanhedrin!