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The Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity
Our Calling to the One Christian Church
September 14, 2008
TEXT: NKJ Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all
lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is
one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all.
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—and welcome to the
Church of God on earth—and I remind you that the Church is not a building or a
place—but instead it is a collection of every one on this earth that believes
Jesus Christ is their Savior—and if you are a member of that Church—THANK
GOD!—for it is by God that you are called to that Church
Our Christian Calling
God chose us to be His children—and He placed us in our situation to bring glory
to Him—He has called us to our place in the heavenly kingdom—listen as we
consider this beautiful presentation of Paul concerning our call
NKJ Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption
as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in
the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us
in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the
dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him. 11
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the
purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12
that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In
Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
You were chosen from the beginning of time—to be here at this time—in this
place—to bring glory to God—your salvation is a gift of God—and that gift is
presented to you by our gracious God of mercy and grace
NKJ Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not
of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Knowing and loving God is of itself a gift—our knowledge of God comes through
the Holy Spirit—without the Holy Spirit dwelling within us—we could not know
Jesus our Savior is the Son of God
What is Our Christian Calling?
NKJ 1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except
by the Holy Spirit.
Now what is our Christian calling?—and how is it that we can be of service to
God?—God made the heavens and the earth—God said let there be light and there
was light—what can we the created—do to bring glory to God the Creator?—we seem
so insignificant before our awesome God—what could He possibly need from us?—To
answer these questions we will go to the Word and consider the teaching of Jesus
to His disciples
NKJ Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hidden. 15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on
a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
in heaven.
Not only are we the light of the world—but we are lifted up to be seen by those
who do not have the Light—it is us Christians that light the way for the
unbeliever to see heaven—and we light the way with the Word of God—just as the
Word lighted the path for us to see Jesus as our Savior
NKJ Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
God’s Word has power—and therefore the Word has the power to lead men to
heaven—consider the Word of God given to the prophet Isaiah
NKJ Isaiah 55:10 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do
not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it
may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that
goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall
accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 "For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and
the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands.
Man cannot lead man to heaven by his reason or intellect—but God’s children can
lead others to heaven by their example and by their actions—that is by living
their lives as an example—which will cause unbelievers to ask why is that person
different?—and that is what this life is all about—we are born again to be God’s
children—heaven becomes our home—and we lead others to heaven by showing them
the light of the truth—and that light is the Word of God
When we become Christians we change—we are not the same as we were before we
became Christians—Jesus says we must be reborn of the Spirit—the person we were
no longer exists—we are a new creation
NKJ John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to
Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his
mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. 7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell
where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the
Spirit."
NKJ Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Therefore the new us—the Christian us—we the new creation—the believer—we no
longer live for ourselves but we live for God—to glorify God through our lives
The Unity of the Spirit
TEXT: NKJ Ephesians 4:3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
This is one of the devil’s favorite tricks—he tries to convince us that there is
more than one spirit—more than one god we could worship—and more than one
doctrine of the true God—which makes the weak doubt—and which causes the weak to
fall
We coexist with the devil’s people on this earth—and that too is part of God’s
plan—Jesus told us it would be that way—remember the parable of the wheat and
tares?—God’s people will grow up in this world right beside the people of this
world
NKJ Matthew 13:37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is
the Son of Man. 38 "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the
kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 "The enemy who sowed
them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the
angels.
The devil plants right next to God’s people—and he hopes that God’s people are
harvested at the end of the age along with the evil tares—so we have to be on
constant lookout for the evil things of this world—Our Lord Jesus also warns us
that there will be some who receive the Word of God—but never achieve spiritual
maturity because the devil confuses them—and snatches them away from the Gospel
message of salvation and drag them down into the lake of fire with him in the
end—Jesus taught this in His parable of the sower
NKJ Matthew 13:18 " Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 "When anyone
hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one
comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed
by the wayside. 20 "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who
hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 "yet he has no root in
himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 "Now he who received
seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and
the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 "But
he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands
it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty."
The devil never rests—he constantly prods at anyone hearing the Word—therefore
we Christians have to make the message understandable—we must preach the truth
of ONE GOD—ONE SPIRIT—ONE MESSAGE OF SALVATION—ONE BAPTISM—ONE WAY TO ACHIEVE
SALVATION—Let’s not give the devil any room for confusion of the message—keep
the message simple—make the message clear—and repeat the message often—we must
speak with one voice—and that voice is the voice of Christ—the Word—through His
Gospel
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!