EPHESIANS 4

Good morning Revolution Church! Are you guys ready to worship the Lord today? Come on, let us stand to our feet. Get our hearts ready. Lift up our voices. Let's sing. Come into the atmosphere. Spirit of God, you're here. You have all authority. I pray over my heart and mind. I am healed by your stripes, your blood. To prayers that I am free, in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. I travel over a permanent boundary line. The enemy has no right to come near my family. Oh no, no schemes could ever undo God's plans, no matter the circumstance. The cross has sealed my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know, every power of fear and darkness. It must go, every key to every victory. That I hold, in the mighty name of Jesus. So I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the door frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the door frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. He must reign, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh I know, all the power of fear and darkness. Must go, every key to every victory. All that I hold, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus.

In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh Jesus, we put our trust in you Lord. There is no one like you, you are. We make miracle work, promise keep, light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are. You say it, sing it out, say it. They make a lyrical worker, a promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are So I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ In the mighty name of Jesus I pray Calling on the power of heaven I proclaim every weapon formed against me Say it must break In the mighty name, in the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus I know all the power of fear and darkness Must go Every key to every victory From there we hope In the mighty name of Jesus

In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus Come on lift up a shout of praise in this place today You are worth it God Thank you Here and now I draw a boundary Against every weapon that's formed The thief and his plans will pass over When he sees the red on the door I plead the blood I plead the blood of Jesus I plead the blood I plead the blood of Jesus The enemy can't take my family This home belongs to the Lord I'm not afraid to remind him He has no claim to this sword I plead the blood I plead the blood of Jesus I plead the blood I plead the blood of Jesus Thank you for the blood Thank you for the blood Yes I thank you My future is glory My freedom's been purchased in full, For all of the weight of His suffering, The man will receive His reward. I plead the blood, I plead the blood of Jesus, It's more than enough. I plead the blood of Jesus, My shield and my shelter, It's my defense, I blame it over and over again. I plead the blood, I plead the blood of Jesus, It's more than enough. I plead the blood of Jesus.

There's nothing that can wash away our sins, Like the blood of Jesus. So let's sing a tune. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. Nothing can pour sin atone, Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. Nothing good that I have done, Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. Nothing can pour sin atone, Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. Nothing good that I have done, Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. For my future this I plead, Nothing but the blood, I plead the blood. I plead the blood of Jesus, It's more than enough. I plead the blood of Jesus, My shield and my shelter, it's my defense. I claim it over and over again, My shield and my shelter, it's my defense. I claim it over and over again, My shield and my shelter, it's my defense. I claim it over and over again, I plead the blood. I plead the blood of Jesus, It's more than enough. I plead the blood of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood of Jesus that washes us white as snow. Even though our sins may be like scarlet, under the flow of your blood we get washed white as snow. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Can we say thank you to Jesus? Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Amen. Well, welcome. You may have a seat. My name is Heidi Farner. I am the Connections coordinator here and we welcome you if you're visiting for the first time We hope that you feel right at home and that you feel the love of Jesus in this place And if you are seeking Christ today, I have a verse for you from Isaiah 4310 it says you have been chosen

To know me to believe in me and Understand that I alone am God. There is no other there never has been and there never will be I predicted your rescue and Proclaimed to the world you are mine From eternity to eternity. No one can snatch you out of his hand No one can undo what he has done Aren't we thankful that we are in the father's hands today and no one can snatch us out of his hand Hallelujah. Well, if you are seeking Christ and you do not have a Bible We would love to invite you back here to this table right here. We would love to give you a Bible There'll be congregational pastors back there Waiting to talk with you pray with you and give you a Bible if you are visiting for the first time Right over here. There's a table our connection team will be there and they want to give you a gift and I am So thankful that we have our mission statement this morning. Anybody know our mission statement? Preach the gospel make disciples and serve our community Well, we have a great opportunity to serve our community in July on July 18th And July 25th is our helping hands events and we have thousands. Can we all say thousands? Thousands of children walk through the doors and that's not even counting the families that come with them Thousands of people those two Saturdays come through the doors what an impact our community and we need your help We need about 500 people in those two weeks to help us And so I'm gonna make it real easy for you who has a phone Everybody have a phone you want to hold up your phone hold up your phone Okay, there we go And then you bring it down and you tap that tag right in front of you on that seat back and look what appears Oh, look at that. There it is. It's right there. You can sign up for helping hands there. You can also give there There's a tap tag on the back seats and you can also give we made it real easy for you Okay. Well, we're gonna pray for our offering We are so thankful for what Jesus has done and it is our privilege to bring and give back to him this morning So let's go ahead and pray Lord. I thank you that you have chosen each One in this room. You've called them by name and you say you are mine

You are mine and we thank you Lord for the precious blood that washes us white as snow and we come with Thanksgiving and Cheerfully give back to you this morning. We ask that you would bless it and multiply it in Jesus name and everyone said amen Amen Good morning revolution family. We are so excited to be in the house of the Lord today We are excited about what the Lord has in store for our service today. I'm Charlie and this is my wife Lisa We're so glad to have you if you are a first-time visitor. We definitely want to connect with you stop by the table We have a t-shirt and we just want to chat and if they make the best decision of their life Charlie And you ask Jesus into your heart. We want to know that too We want to start this journey with you We have a Bible that we want to give you and we want to help you get started in your walk That's right If you're a new new visitor today go to the connection table gift for you there Like you said if you decide to make Jesus Lord of your life the new believers table There's gonna be back there as well for you. So check that out and Lisa We're also excited about the new ministry for men sons and brothers It's gonna be this Saturday in the pavilion and that's gonna be from 830 to 1030 That's an awesome ministry where you get to lift each other up as godly men and we need that we need that mentorship a lot of people need that as well, so Don't miss that check it out again this Saturday in the pavilion Absolutely. Something else that is really cool. Do you want to add to your calendar is our volunteer appreciation Party, we're gonna have that on July the 29th. It's gonna be at Springbrook pool a lot of fun That's gonna be from 730 to 9. There's gonna be food Games fun. It's just a time to relax chill fellowship and just have a great time with the people that you've been serving alongside Yeah, we're excited about that. We're excited about today's service. So just enjoy the service. The Lord is moving and we are very excited How's everybody doing today you got to be a guy's house, come on Let's give the Lord a bigger hand clap. We can do better than that. Come on Father, thank you so much for being with us today. If you're visiting today, you are an honored guest.

We're thankful, grateful for all of you. Also, help me welcome the 888 correctional facilities right now joining us online. Grateful for all of you. Everybody here at the broadcast campus and those that may be traveling, streaming, thankful for each one of you. As you guys know, Connie and I have been on vacation, so we were off a couple weeks and couldn't wait to get back, but man, we just love our house. We love the church, love you guys, and things are changing around here. As a matter of fact, grass like immediately came up out front since we've been gone. I think it may be sod, but it looks awesome. It looks great. The building's looking incredible, and we'll be opening up the doors here real soon and be able to have more space to minister. Love the sunshades out there, the little areas where people can gather and meet and drink coffee or whatever out on the sides of the building, but it's coming together, and grateful for that. I do want to appreciate Pastor Markwell and Pastor David, because they did an amazing job with the messages while we were gone, and we're grateful for you guys. Thank you so much. Next week, anybody know what next week is? Somebody help me. VBS, it is VBS, but that wasn't really

what the answer I was looking for. Next Sunday. Father's Day. Next Sunday's Father's Day, and so what I would like for you to do is encourage all the fathers, all the future fathers, the men in the church, because I'm gonna jump into Ephesians chapter five. Paul had some great things to say to us men in Ephesians five, so we'll be doing that next weekend, but we need to get all the men here next week. Also, I want to welcome our youth back. Come on, let's give it back. They're back from the mission trip. Disaster relief in North Carolina. So proud of you guys. They worked on six houses, did street ministry, and just changing the world for Jesus, and we appreciate Pastor Grant and Tiffany and everything they do. Come on, let's give it up again for them. Thank you. We also had a team in Southeast Asia, and they were over there making a huge impact. We had another team in Romania that's setting up a discipleship conference, so we have a lot going on, and here just, oh, is it next week or weekend? Next week, the youth are gonna be back in Cincinnati doing street ministry and evangelism, so a lot going on there, and we're excited

about what's happening. Before I jump into the message, I want to recognize someone. It's Janice, would you come up to the stage right here? You guys know Ms. Janice, Janice Postel. Come up here if you would, thank you so much. Janice has served for eight years as an officer out in the parking lot and directing us and keeping us from accidents and getting everyone parked, and today I just wanted to take a minute and recognize her and say thank you and appreciate everything that you've done. Can we give it up for her? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So the sermon series we are in is the Book of Ephesians, and I've shared this from the beginning, but Ephesians is divided into six chapters. You guys realize that the Ephesus was a thriving place. It was a seaport town, very influential, a lot going on there. They had the Temple of Diana, and people traveled from all over the world to visit that area, but really Ephesians is divided into six chapters. The first three is all about doctrine. It's about theology, and then the last three, chapters four, five, and six,

Paul talks about application. So today we start where the rubber meets the road, amen? We've heard all of these things, who we are in Christ, and now we're gonna learn the application, but leading up to chapter four, Paul talked a lot about who you are in Christ. As a matter of fact, 27 times Paul used that term, or a similar term, in Christ, in Christ, and so one thing that we discovered in the last three chapters is that we were all chosen. Say chosen. Chosen. We were chosen in Christ. Another thing is that we were adopted in Christ, into the family of God. The Jews and Gentiles are now part of the same family. We're all part of the same family, and then we talked about being redeemed in Christ. Redeemed was that. Greek word of someone purchasing the freedom of an individual and you and I have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. How many of you glad for that? Purchased by the blood of Jesus we've been redeemed and then we also understand that in Christ we have received grace. Say grace. Grace is unmerited favor. It's God's favor in your life and because of us being in Christ all of these things we have received. So today I want to go ahead and dive straight into chapter 4. If you have your Bibles you can open it up. Chapter 4 we're going to look at verse 1. If not it'll be on the screen here. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1. Paul starts it with this. He says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Now the word therefore is used to reference what has previously been

written. He said okay here's your your the last three chapters. We've talked about doctrine. We've talked about all of these things. So therefore based on what has been written he continues on and and we also understand again that we have been told we're heirs in Christ. That we're seated in heavenly places. That the divider wall, the barrier between us and God has now been removed. Therefore he said to walk worthy of the calling in our life. But I also want you to notice something else that he says here in verse 1. Paul refers to himself as a prisoner of the Lord. And so I want you to understand that Paul was in Rome. He's a prisoner of Rome but he doesn't view himself as a prisoner of Rome. He views himself as a prisoner of the Lord Jesus. Chapter 3 he said the Lord Jesus. This chapter he refers to as the Lord. So essentially what he's saying right here is that he's a prisoner on behalf of the Lord Jesus. You see Paul was trusting in the sovereignty of God. He understood that God knows all things and God's in control of all things including his life. And so instead of saying a prisoner of Rome he said I'm here on behalf of the Lord Jesus. Amen? And so I think it's important that you and I look at this because I believe that if we took Paul's perspective of potential negative situations in our life and we looked at it as as possibly something that God is working in our life we would maybe view it differently. We may start viewing it in a positive way. What if you got you know some of you maybe you're you're facing difficulties in your work, in your job. Instead of focusing on the negative in your job what if we started focusing on God you've got me in this place. You've got me here for a reason. It's like it's really it's according to your will because you know all things. You're sovereign and I'm going to make the best of it. As a matter of fact I'm going to flourish starting Monday morning in this difficult job. Instead of complaining getting up oh I dread going to work today. I'm struggling. See Paul wasn't dreading being in prison because he understood that he's in prison on behalf of the Lord Jesus. What about the the bad diagnosis maybe that you receive from the doctor? Instead of looking in that viewing that in the negative what if you said okay God this is an opportunity for you to have to for you

to do a great work because you're sovereign and you knew the diagnosis was coming so we're going to trust and believe that you're going to work it all out. Amen? Maybe it's a family issue. Maybe you got something going on in your family and you just don't know how to fix it and instead of being negative it's like God I trust that you're sovereign and you're going to work all this out for the good. Amen? And so there's a you know financially maybe you're struggling financially and it's like I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills. How many of you heard that verse that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Have you heard that? David said I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. What if we instead of getting negative because our finances are lacking we started speaking life into them. Speaking positive into them because God's going to turn this thing around. Amen? I remember several years ago I shared this in the first service. My mother worked at Vanderbilt Mortgage and she was in collections and she said there was a there was a conversation happening in a cubicle next to her and somebody was calling to collect a bill and and mom overheard the conversation and and mom just she she knew that that something was being said there related to a Bible verse and after the the the lady was talking Next to her my mother asked her said what what was that all about and she said you won't believe this She said I'm collecting this bill and the person on the other phone on the other line said that my father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and The representative for Vanderbilt said well tell him to sell some of the cattle and pay your bills She didn't know the verse she didn't understand the passage so I thought that was hilarious I've never forgotten that Yeah, you know I love the fact that we can stand on Romans 828 David quoted that last week I want you to look at I won't put it on on the screen for you to see this verse, and we know that what? No, we know that what come on all things work together for good now listen to those who first of all love God and And Second those who are called

According to his purpose love God and are called So here Paul begins this this chapter with that we are to walk worthy of the calling That we have and I'm gonna be talking more about that today, but all things work together for good so walk worthy of the calling Paul's not saying here that that we as Christians should strut around like we're God's gift to man Okay, but but we are to walk in a certain way And he defines how we should walk and I want you to look closely in verse 2 he goes it goes like this He said number one with all lowliness and gentleness with long-suffering Bearing with one another in love so the first thing that I see here is our walk is not to be done alone We're to walk with other believers We and that's one of the reasons that we push and we emphasize life groups Discipleship things such as that because it's important that we are together But when we walk with other believers, it's also important that we walk in humility Okay, that we that we live our life in in a humble way and so Paul used the word Lowliness say lowliness if you would because this is a word that I want you to understand the meaning This word is found only in the New Testament in a positive manner as a matter of fact that the Greeks didn't esteem lowliness and the way they viewed this word was as having an intellectual disability or Being a low-minded person So it was never positive, but yet Paul here speaking to the church in Ephesus uses it as a positive He's saying this is the way you should walk. You should walk in lowliness and and so Paul explains it and I want to I want you to look at at this if you're gonna have a worthy walk Listen closely. You must have a what I Want to say that again if you're gonna have a worthy walk with the Lord, you must have a lowly walk walking in Humility, you know, you've heard me say this over the years that Jesus not only flipped the tables upside down but he also Flipped the flowchart upside down

Okay, and and when I'm talking about flowcharts, I'm talking about, you know corporate flowcharts the way structure happens in the corporate world and A lot of you I know work out there and and typically when you look at your flowchart if you're working for a corporation at the top of it, you're going to have the board of directors and Then right under the board of directors will be the CEO and then it drops right on down and you'll have everyone else in the organization but I've often said this because I believe that that Jesus turned that whole thing upside down and He said if you want to be great in the kingdom You're going to first be a servant Okay, you're going to serve and so basically what he's saying is you're not you're not climbing to success in the kingdom of God But you're descending into greatness So with this church, we put a lot of emphasis on that on serving From the top to the bottom all the way across the board We want to put a lot of emphasis on serving as a matter of fact I got with admin this week and I asked him if they would Put the flowchart together so I could show you guys what our flowchart looks like at Revolution Church. You want to see it? Okay, here's what it looks like Who's on the top of our flowchart? I? Know some of you can't see it get your bifocals on you you can read it. I see some squinting Brian Church members in the congregation They're on the top because this is the model that Jesus had and then you can see on the flip side of that the board of elders the elders in this church are at the very bottom supporting everything else so it's not like it we're trying to climb to the top but it's not the lower you go the more supportive role you have and that was the model that that Jesus put into place and so this is the model that we follow here at this church and sometimes if you want to look at that in more detail you feel free to but I believe honestly that this is a model that will cause the kingdom of God to expand okay are you guys with me and a lot of churches that's not the model it's like you become the pastor and you become a little God you know you've got all the answers you're in control you're calling and and that's not the

way Jesus did as a matter of fact one of his last examples that he did before he was betrayed was he washed the disciples feet he bowed down put a servant's towel around his waist and he and he served and he's showing the disciples guys listen this position is not all about glamour if you're going to follow me you're going to become a servant and even told some of them you're going to die to your life when God called me out of the business world I understood that I'm probably not going to make a lot of money anymore I'm probably my life's getting ready to change I'm gonna be the servant of a lot of people but God you're calling me to this and I'm up for it because I understand that you've called me to be a servant and that's all of us every single one of us are called to serve others can I hear an amen to that and so he said the greatest would be a servant now lowliness and gentleness the King James Version uses the word meekness there for gentleness okay meekness meekness means power under control okay meekness is not weak weakness being meek does not be mean being weak are you guys with me as a matter of fact I believe it should mean even being stronger but it's power under control it's power under God's control everybody with me now okay and so the next word that he uses right here is long-suffering and I want you to look closely at this this word as well because long-suffering is a word describing slow listen closely slow to anger I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand but I'm just curious how many people in here have anger issues temper issues oh we're getting the hands coming up you temper issues anger issues short fuses hot tempered goes on and on well this is just the opposite of the application that Paul's giving the church in Ephesus he's saying that there to be long-suffering now this word is made up of two words a compound word the first part of it is macro macro means long or it means large the second part is thummus and thummus means heat or boiling heat or boiling so when you put those together this word actually means it takes a long time to heat you up it takes a long time for you to boil or it takes a long time to rile you up that person that cuts you off in traffic come on somebody long-suffering is not telling them that they're number one

today okay that's not long-suffering long-suffering is bless them Lord can I tell you a funny one real quick okay I'm gonna throw my wife under the bus I do that occasionally driving down the road probably ten years ago I'm on Washington Avenue she's in the driver's seat I'm in the passenger seat we're cruising down the road and I'm talking to a potential member of our church do you hear me say potential I'm over here on the phone I'm telling them about our church and just out of nowhere out of nowhere I I guess somebody pulled in front of Connie can I tell him she said no can I tell him okay she said you idiot and and I'm on the phone It's like, they think you're talking to me. So she said, well, the Bible don't say anything about that. I said, it says, call no man a fool, but I'll tell you what I did do. I started doing some research and you know, now there's a hundred, hundreds of different translations. I found one that said, call no man an idiot. And I gave her the verse, amen. So now she says, bless him, Lord, bless him, Lord. That's where I got that. But it's, this is a application, how we should live as Christians. We have, we need to control, it's power under control. It's not just doing whatever you want to do, saying whatever you want to say, but it's, and honestly, long suffering is an attribute of God. How many of you realize that God is long suffering? He's slow to anger. How many of you are glad he's slow to anger? Come on, double hands praising. I am so thankful because how many times we made mistakes

and he gave us time to correct. He gave us an opportunity to fix it. He always does, that's God. This is an attribute of God. But Paul's saying that we should carry this attribute on in our own life. And then he sums this up here in this verse with this, bearing with one another in love. What exactly does that mean? Bearing with one another in love. How many of you realize that some people slash Christians are just hard to get along with? I put slash Christians in there. They're just hard, and sometimes we probably say, well, it's a personality conflict. We just have a personality conflict. Well, it might be a little deeper than that. But, you know, negative, draining, you know, needy. Anybody know somebody like that? Well, for all of you that don't, you're probably that person. Think about it for a second. Here's what Paul is essentially saying. He's saying that you and I are to put up with them. I mean, this is the word. Put up with them in love. Don't care for their ways, put up with them. That's what the scripture says. And then verse three, look here. He said, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

This word endeavoring is to make haste, to be diligent, to try hard. What am I doing? I'm trying hard to walk humbly. I'm trying hard to have long suffering. I'm doing all this. And as a result of me trying hard, endeavoring, it's gonna naturally bring the unity of peace around me. How many of you realize that we could use peace in our families, in our churches, in our nation, in our businesses, everything? We could use peace, and we could apply these things. And Paul understood that Ephesus could operate with peace if they would apply these. And so this is the application that you and I are getting today. Now, let's move to verse four through six. He says, there's one body and one spirit, just as you were all called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. Seven times, seven times here, you're gonna see the word one used. Three of the seven, it refers to God, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And so we see the beauty of the Trinity. And we understand that within the role of God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, there's no competition. They all understand the role, and there's harmony.

There's great unity. And as a result of that being in the Godhead, that has been imparted to the church. We have that passed down to us. And that's what God wants in the church. He wants to see harmony. He wants to see, and this is what Paul was telling the church in Ephesus, that this is the way you should operate. Because when you operate this way, you look different from the world, and the world is interested in what you've got. And they want to be part of that. Because it's good. It's refreshing. And so these are some things that we can apply to our life. Now, when we get to heaven, how many of you realize If there's not going to be sections in heaven Come on, there's there's there's not going to be Jews in one corner Gentiles in another There's not going to be the Presbyterian on this side and the Methodist over here the Assembly of God the Church of God the apostolic Not even the non-denomination. We're all going to be together one place United in the presence of the Lord Worshiping Jesus. Amen, and that's exciting. That's that that is what's next That's what heaven is going to look like. So if that's what it's going to look like why don't start now? Why do we build all these walls and we put our tag out on the front and these in that tag? represents division or a barrier You understand what I'm saying? We we should start now and that's why I'm such a fan of a wake 21 and

The revival with a wake 21 because we have all the pastors that come together Unified and and then we've been preaching in our different churches, and I love that But I will say this and I want you to listen Unity in the Spirit Isn't achieved by accepting unbiblical teaching You got to let that set in to are you guys with me? There are non-negotiables There are as a matter of fact to be in a wake 21 We have a commitment that we sign that we're gonna we're gonna preach on these subjects and it's things that we all agree on It's the virgin birth. It's on the Trinity. It's on Jesus being the way the truth and the life. It's all those non-negotiables But there are some things out there guys that we fight over that don't really mean a whole lot Can I hear an amen to that And that we stand yeah that don't it's not going to make a big difference in whether you go to heaven or hell It's just something that divides us And this is important some things that are not worth fighting over now. There's these others. You know, there's one thing that I will not Come in unity with someone who denies the deity of Jesus Christ Okay, you guys with me I can't It's it's it's He is the Son of God or We're not going to be able to jive together Are you guys with me? That's that's a non-debatable Topic issue, but there's other things that you know, the whether you eat pork or you don't You know, that's you if you don't want to eat pork don't eat it save it for me I'm gonna tell you so several years ago had a member members of our church Connie and I we went out to eat with him in Knoxville and Our worship team member was was doing a He's doing a show over nozzle playing some music and we were there to listen and it was a pizza place so they come around to take our order the four of us are sitting at a booth and

I Started ordering toppings for the pizza, you know And and I knew what Connie liked and I'm just I'm ordering toppings and and about the thing We're getting a large pizza or an extra-large and we're all going to share it So I went through and I said, yeah, we'll take double cheese You know green onions Mushrooms pepperoni when I said pepperoni the guy's face lit up over there and I realized that He wasn't happy and he let me know he wasn't happy he said, oh we don't eat pork now instead of me going and taking him to the Bible, which I wanted to do and Explain to him how that what God has cleansed. Let no man call unclean and what came down from heaven in the sheet included pork You can't eat it. I would pray over it for sure and I wouldn't eat too much of it. But instead of doing that My response was just leave the pepperoni off It wasn't a battle worth fighting Are you guys with me? That's that's what I'm talking about some of the things That we fuss and fight about Maybe it's maybe it's your Sabbath for our Sabbath. We it's Sunday. Sunday's the Lord's Day That's when we come together and we worship for other people. It may be Monday or Tuesday or Saturday the original Sabbath But I'm not going to fight with somebody Because they say well Sabbath the original Sabbath was Saturday and you're going you're worshiping on the wrong day I'm not gonna fight with him. But Paul told us foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing they do gender strife. We also understand Understand that the word of God tells us not to argue over what day people worship on. So we wouldn't make a big deal over that. But those non-negotiables are the virgin birth, the resurrection, Jesus is the way, the truth and life. Those are those things that we wouldn't negotiate. You guys with me?

So Paul here, he wasn't suggesting to the church in Ephesus that they should intermingle with the worship of Diana. Are you guys with me? Because that's what people were doing in that time. He wasn't suggesting in no way that you guys need to get along with the people that's worshiping over here and you need to intermingle. No, he wasn't saying that. He's talking about the people of faith. To have the common things that they believe and that they agree on. So let's look at verse 7 through 12. He said, but to each one of us grace was given, there's grace again, according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive. And gave, check this out, and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above the heavens that he might fill all things. And then he goes on and he said, and he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So what's all this ascending and descending? Actually what Paul was doing right here in this letter is he was quoting Psalm 68, 18. David had shared this in the book of Psalms. And he was quoting that particular verse when he said it. So Christ descending to the lower parts of the earth, ascending far above the heavens, the scripture said right here, and he gave gifts to men. Let me tell you this, one of the most exciting things in your life is when you discover your spiritual gift. What God has given you.

Now, we need to understand here that talents and gifts are different. Talents you're born with. Some people are born athletic. Some are born highly intellectual. Some are born with different talents. But spiritual gifts are given when you're born again. You guys with me? When you confess Christ, when the Lord comes into your life and transforms your heart, the Bible teaches us that Christ gives us gifts. That's spiritual gifts. And again, I don't know of a more exciting thing than to discover what our spiritual gift is. Now, something I'm really excited about. Some of you may be here today and you may say, well, I have no clue. And that's okay. I have no clue what my spiritual gift is. How can I find out? How can I know? How can I discover that? I bet today if I ask all of you anonymously to write down on a piece of paper your spiritual gift and drop it off in the bucket in the back, I bet there would be a lot of people who just wouldn't put anything down because they don't know. But here's something that I'm fired up about and I'm excited about, Miss Heidi, is that starting in August, we're going to be adding a spiritual survey to the Connect process here at the church, along with a disc survey. The spiritual survey is we're going to help you discover your spiritual gift. Because when you discover it, then you can start growing it, developing it. And we're also going to do the disc survey because that defines personalities. And so together, we believe that will help you. If you've not been through our Connect class, you definitely should in August.

And if it's been a while, you might want to start back because we're implementing that. Am I right? In August, we'll be doing that. So it's important that we understand our spiritual gift. So keep that in mind. Now, Christ descending and ascending is probably a reference to Christ being in heaven and descending to this earth. That's probably the correct interpretation of that verse. But he talks about him... Going down to the earth and first peter. I want you to look at first peter 3 18 and 19 It says for christ also suffered once for sins The just for the unjust that he might bring us to god Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the spirit now check this out by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in where Okay, so so here we're reading in peter and then also in ephesians that christ descended And we know that was to the earth, but it it appears to me like that. He descended Even to another place. So when did Jesus preach to the spirits in prison I believe that it happened between the crucifixion And the resurrection how many days was that? three days during those three days when christ Was laid in the tomb now most of you are familiar with luke 16

Luke 16 tells us about the rich man and lazareth the beggar Okay, christ tells us this jesus says that That there was this rich man and there was a beggar lazareth that lived with him He was treated poorly. He ate the crumbs from the table of the rich man. The dogs would lick the sores From the beggar at the door, so he was just treated bad. But jesus goes on and he said both of these individuals died And jesus said that lazareth Was carried by angels To the bosom of abraham. Could you imagine being carried by angels at at your death? It's pretty powerful on the other side of that The scripture jesus says that the rich man Was buried he wasn't carried by angels he was buried and he opened his eyes in a place called hades Being tormented are you guys with me? so Both of them are in this holding place The rich man Being tormented looks over and can see lazareth In the bosom of abraham and as he looks and he sees him over there he begs abraham To send lazareth to just bring one drop of water to place on his tongue to cool the flames It's that hot Okay, so he he begs him. Would you send lazareth over to my side? And abraham comments and he says that can't happen There's a great gulf There's a divider. There's a division between There and here you can't cross over and we can't come there And so the rich man has another request Listen to what he asks for next He said well if that's not possible, would you please? Send lazareth back to my family I have five brothers

And they're probably living the same lifestyle as the rich man he said would you send lazareth back to this earth To warn my brothers not to come here Abraham Comments this If they won't believe abraham If they won't believe moses If they won't believe the prophets Even though one was raised from the dead Your brothers won't believe that as well See jesus was referring to himself Because he was going to die And he was going to be resurrected and jesus knew that there would be people that denied him and still wouldn't serve him Do you understand the resurrection Is a historical event that's well documented It's as it's as it's documented as as well as anything that i've ever read here Non-christians christians Eyewitnesses Books the resurrection happened But many people still don't believe in this jesus So during these three days while jesus's body was laid in the tomb He descends into the depths of the earth into this holding place And he tells everyone the good news That he had came from heaven to this earth Sinless was born of this young virgin lady named mary Had lived about 30 years on earth and preached the gospel, did good, served people, worked miracles, was crucified. Can you imagine him standing down here telling Abraham and Lazarus and also the people over in Hades can hear it because we know there's interactions, there's conversations. So they could hear him, I believe, preaching the gospel from this side.

And he's telling them that it's done, it's finished. You're no longer going to be in a holding place. But if you accept that I am the Son of God, you're going to live and you're going to leave here and you're going to be with me for eternity. So this is the verse. Jesus went down and shared the good news of what had just happened. And he empties out that section, this holding place. I think everyone would have left. How many of you would have left? We would have all believed at that point. As a matter of fact, the scripture tells us that even in Jerusalem after the resurrection that people were seeing men and women of old walking the streets of Jerusalem. So he emptied that place. Could you imagine walking through Jerusalem and you see Abraham, Moses, Elisha? Come on. You see them walking the streets. So what about the other side? Yeah, we understand that he went down and he preached and he brought them out and he gave gifts. But what about the other side? What about Hades, the place of torment? It still exists. It's still there. There's still torment. There's still flames. And I'm not big, you guys know that I've been here for the last 19 years that I'm not one that preaches on hell because I believe personally that you can't scare anybody into salvation. People have to be drawn, but you need to hear the facts. You need to know the truth that Hades still exists. And there's a myth out there, and I hear it on a regular occasion. When people die, they go to a better place. I hear that constantly.

It doesn't matter the condition of their life, the choices they had made, who they're living for, they went to a better place. Well, I've got news for you. If they died in Christ, they went to a much better place. But if not, according to the rich man, it's a terrible place. And Isaiah prophesied and he said that hell, that Hades, will actually enlarge her boundaries because it's so well populated. Straight as the gate, narrows the way, and few there be that find it, the Scripture tells us. But yet in society today, everybody's going. I don't know. Here's what I do know. If I wasn't sure, I'd get it fixed. I'm smart enough to know that. I don't want to go there, and I have an opportunity. And I am so grateful that God allows me to preach the gospel, not only to the people in here, but the 10,000-plus people that are watching online in prison, in a physical prison today. I'm so grateful for that. Because today, I believe that many people are going to be saved. I think there's going to be some people that's on the fence today that's going to get off the fence. Paul's saying represent Christ. Walk worthy of the calling. Holy, gentleness, long-suffering, putting up with each other. That's what he said. Let's stand. Lord, would you come? Can we pray for just one second? Father, I just thank you so much for your word.

I thank you for the gospel. You said that your gospel would never return void, that it would accomplish what you desired for it to accomplish. And so today, God, you know my heart. My desire is to see the lost saved. saved. To see those, Father, that are lukewarm, back on fire for you, serving you, leading their families, leading into schools, doing what you've called us to do, Lord. I pray right now, Father, that you would touch people's hearts with the Holy Spirit, draw people to the cross, whether here in person or online, I'm asking you to do it in Jesus' name. If you would look at me for just one second, we're going to close. We have one more song we're going to sing, and as we sing this song, I would just like for you to consider where you're at today. If there's a move that you need to make, make it. Don't hesitate. You know, I'm at the point in my life, maybe it's just because I'm so old, but I'm over what people think about me. You ever get there? The older crowd understands what I'm talking about. It's just like, I've got a right to say this. I don't care. I'll dance before the Lord. If it looks foolish in people's eyes, then let it look foolish. I'm way beyond that, amen? I'm here to worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He's so good in our life, amen? Can we just lift up our hands and honor Him? Father, we just love you and appreciate you today, God. Thank you so much, Lord, that you sent Jesus. Thank you so much, God, that you're our provider, and I pray you bless our church, that you bless our members. You make us stronger. You help us to grow. You help us to mature in Jesus' name. So we sing this last song. If anybody would like prayer for any reason, maybe you have something in your life you'd just like someone to agree with you on, please come to these altars. We have some incredible prayer team members that would love to pray with you. God bless you guys. I'm caught up in your presence I just want to sit here at your feet And I'm caught up in this holy moment I never want to leave Oh, I'm not here for blessings

Jesus, you don't owe me anything And more than anything that you can do I just want you Well, I'm sorry When I've just gone through the motions I'm sorry Whether to sing another song Or take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you Jesus, I'm sorry When I've come with my own agenda I'm sorry When I forgot that you're enough Or take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you I'm caught up in your presence I just want to sit here at your feet And I'm caught up in this holy moment I never want to leave Oh, I'm not here for blessings You've done enough Cause Jesus You don't owe me anything And more than anything that you can give I just want you I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you

Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else, Jesus Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, baby Nothing else Nothing else will do It's you, Lord It's only you, Lord Nothing else will do Cause all we need is you, Lord All we need is you, Lord And nothing else will do, Lord And nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do

I just want you Nothing else Nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else And nothing else Nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, Jesus Nothing else you'll ever do Nothing else will do We thank you, Lord We thank you for your presence, Jesus Please be with us, God, in our hearts Come and change everything, God Make us aware of your presence, Jesus We love you, in Jesus' name we pray Amen