Energetically Expecting Christ

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. We're in verse 10 and 11 and 12 today. I'd like to preach to you a message entitled "Energetically Expecting Christ." Now if you are not saved, then you're not sealed by the Holy Spirit, and you are not secure in your future standing with Christ. To those who are saved today: if you are saved, then you are therefore sealed by the Holy Spirit and you have a future security — you're secure in Christ — and so you can energetically expect Christ in His return.

Before we get going, as you're turning to Ephesians chapter 1, I want you to know that our new baby room is available for use. Please give a round of applause to those who have worked hard to see that baby room now built in. That is so cool for our family discipleship church to now have a baby room. And we tested it, by the way — I had one of our guys go in there and cry like a baby to see if we could hear him, so with the soundproof windows and all the soundproof everything going into that room, it is really, really neat. Thank you for that and all of your work there.

And so Ephesians chapter 1, verses 10, 11, and 12. Ephesians 1:10–12: "For an administration of the fullness of the times — that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him. In Him we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."

Let's pause for prayer. Father, thank you for these verses. Thank you for Ephesians as a letter. Thank you for even chapter 1 and all of its contents. I pray, God, You help us to understand Your word according to how You have intended for us to receive it, and then know it and apply it to our life. In Christ's name, amen.

As we get going today, I'm sure some of you are looking at not a tie but this St. Patrick's bow tie around my neck. I am so thankful to have been given this. I'm wearing this bow tie with clovers on it because Elizabeth gave it to me in honor of her baptism today, and so it's a gift for me on her baptism day. She said now it's a tradition, and I would only wear a bow tie because of a little beautiful girl who gave it to me. And so I'm really looking forward to her and her brother's baptism after the service today.

And at St. Patrick's Day, she really got me good. I did not know that today was going to be St. Patrick's Day, and as I realized that, I thought to myself I don't have any time to prepare to wear this. But nevertheless I thought, okay, well, St. Patrick was a fifth-century missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland. The national flower of Ireland is a shamrock, and he used the shamrock to help teach the Trinity. So it was just a natural tie-in. I thought, okay, well, this first sentence in Ephesians chapter 1 displays the Trinity, and so let's pause for just a moment.

I want you to see the Trinity in this long Greek sentence in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 all the way to 14. Verses 3 to 6 is God, verse 7 to 13b is Jesus, and then verses 13b to 14 displays the Holy Spirit. And so you see God the Father, redemption through the Son's blood, and then how we're sealed in the Holy Spirit. I'll read these verses and I'd like for you to listen for the Trinity in this one long Greek sentence.

Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father" — you see that — "of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed upon us in the Beloved." And now in verse 7, it transitions to focusing upon the Son: "In Him" — that being Jesus — "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace, which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Him, for an administration of the fullness of the times — that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him. In Him we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, to the end that we who first have hoped in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed." Now here's where it transitions to focusing upon the Holy Spirit: "Sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was given as a pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory."

And so you see the Trinity mentioned here in this passage, and that is awesome. Paul is definitely a Trinitarian, and so are we as Bible-believing Christians.

Now right in the middle of this great passage, verse 10, we start: "for an administration of the fullness of times." So point number one, if you like to take notes, is this: we have an expectancy in Christ. As Christians we have an expectancy within us. We long to see our Savior, and we know that Christ is coming again. And so Christ will unite all things back to Himself. God's will is to bring all things together, and everything that is broken now will be fixed, and everything that is wrong now will be made right, and we look forward to that.

We have an inner expectancy of Christ uniting all things. Look in verse 10: "for an administration of the fullness of times — that is, the summing up of all things in Christ" — not just here, but also the things that are in heaven. And so in verse 10, this word "administration" refers to God's plan and that He is administrating it — He is managing it. This actually has the context of His own household affairs. This world belongs to the Lord and everything in it. Psalm 24 says — Psalm 24:1 — this whole world and everything in it belongs to God. We are His household, and He is administering everything in and through us to the fulfillment of His will. And so God's oversight of His own home is what this is talking about. It's according to His good pleasure, verse 5 says, and it's according to His wisdom and insight, verse 8 says.

And so now, looking forward for a moment here in this great passage, the fullness of time in verse 10 — which is the summing up of all things — is referring to God's oversight of the church in Christ at the completion of this age. And so now all of this we can look forward to coming together in Christ. We have inside of us an expectation, and we can energetically expect Christ to come, and you'll see this word "energetically" come here in just a moment.

Essentially, God's infinite wisdom is bringing all things together. Paul is demonstrating in his language here confidence in the future because God is in control. Paul is demonstrating here that he knows that everything is being administrated by God. There's nothing that's not in control. There's not anything that's happening in the world affairs past, present, or future that is not within the administration of God. And so world history is His history, and it's being summed up to His will.

Again, verse 10: "for an administration of the fullness of times — that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in heaven and things that are on earth in Him. In Him we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will." He's working everything according to the counsel of His will. Everything that He desires is going to happen. And so we look forward expectantly to Christ coming again.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 6, and I want you to see very clearly that this is not new news. Jesus demonstrates how we should pray expectantly in regards to the kingdom coming and all of this summation of history coming together in Christ. And so we should always be happy in Christ no matter what is happening, because God is working all things. You say, well, man, I've got some pretty bad things going on in my life.

Let me just tell you that God does not waste a single tear. There's purpose behind the pain. Sometimes we don't understand it this side of glory, but that's okay, because you're not God, right?

God is orchestrating things, and we have an expectancy of Christ coming again, to the point to where we pray, "Thy kingdom come." Look in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 10 with me: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done." Do you pray that? Do you actually believe that? Do you believe that God is working all things together for His glory and our good?

Again, in verse 9, here in Matthew chapter 6: "Pray then in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.'" This word "hallowed" means to esteem Him as He is — set apart from us. It's the very opposite of being common. God is not common. He's not normal. He's amazing. And so hallowed be His name: "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name." And when you pray in the name of Jesus, you're glorifying it, bestowing honor on Him, praising Him and elevating Him and admiring Him, and you're worshiping His name. "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come." And as He is establishing Himself inside of you and you are conforming to Him, and you are being united to Christ, and He is uniting all things together as a summation of all things — not just your conformity to Him, but the world affairs — have faith in God. He's in control.

Do not get your theology from television. Don't submit your heart to the news. Don't have that garbage playing over and over and over in your house. You need to be underneath the Word of God more than the television. I'm telling you, we are impressionable.

And if you submit yourself to gaslighting — which is the repetition of philosophy over and over and over — you'll be warped by it. But if you continue in Christ, if you continue in the Word, you will have an unrelenting confidence like Paul did in the face of all of the Christian persecution that was going on in his life and in all the Christians around him.

I'm telling you, I don't think that we grasp the energetic confidence in Christ that is available to Christians. A New Testament worldview makes it to where anything that happens to us is for God's glory and our good. I believe it, and we grab on to these things and we hold on, because God is real. He is good. He's true. I believe in Him, and I'm not going to doubt. I'm not going to project worry as if God's no longer on the throne, as if Satan has taken over.

Nothing is out of place. Nothing is late, and nothing is missing.

By way of application of this wonderful concept, we can confidently and completely trust in God and lean not on your own understanding. Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 to 34, talk about not worrying. And in verse 25: "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life." By way of implication, to not believe that God is bringing everything into Himself — summing up all things into Himself according to His will, according to His pleasure, for His glory — to not believe that is to worry and to doubt Him.

It's actually an indictment if you say to God in your inner being, "I don't believe You've got this in control, so I need to worry about it." And so, folks, project confidence in God. Project the fact that He is in control, and He utilizes evil for good. We know this because in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 20 it's stated — most of the time you just see it in story form in the Old Testament, but it's actually explicitly stated in Genesis 50:20 — "What you meant for evil in my life, God meant for good." Can you say that? I mean, can you be imprisoned like Joseph for seven years, be thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, experience half of your life being dedicated to a foreign entity, and you think to yourself you've lost all of these years?

You've lost all these years. You've been away from your family, away from your kindred — and then what's going on? No. God works all things according to His glory and our good. And only through the life of Joseph and how God providentially worked all things, to where He took care of His own wonderful people — do you feel like God has not taken care of you? Get in the Word of God. Do you feel like God's not in control? Get in the Word of God. Get this energetic, thriving side of your life.

I'm telling you, if you listen to the world, if you listen to the news, if you listen to the negative naysayers, that will dominate inside of your heart and you'll get down and depressed and worried. But if you are investing yourself into the Word of God, this is going to be the result: energetic expectancy of Christ. You're not going to be worried; you're going to be praising Him.

And so not only do we have an expectancy in Christ, but we also have surety in Christ. We have surety. Now, this word "surety" is in one sense money for a debt, as a guarantee. But it's also the state of being confident in something. Look with me in verse 11, back to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11: "In Him we also have been made an inheritance." This inheritance — this surety, whom we've been made — the word "inheritance" has a meaning: to be chosen by law. You've been made into an inheritance. You have been selected and chosen and made. We have within us an inheritance, a guarantee — the Holy Spirit. We have been made into this.

So not only does our faith in Christ produce an expectancy of Christ, but we also have surety — this deposit inside of us, this wonderful guarantee. It is amazing how this all works its way out.

Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 20. I want you to see this — this is just an amazing reference to this concept. And in Deuteronomy 4:20, you'll see not only has Israel been taken out of Egypt and brought into the light of God, but also it is symbolic for how He treats us and how He handles us. This is amazing. And Deuteronomy 4:20 says, "But Yahweh" — I have the Legacy Translation; it gives the original name for God — your version may say "Lord," but "Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own inheritance." You see that word "inheritance" there? These people were made an inheritance of God.

But it's very interesting, if you like to do original word work — the word "taken" here means to be laid hold of. God laid hold of them. He seized them. He acquired them. It also means to snatch, take out of, and even marry. It means to select. God selected them. He grabbed on to them when they were in Egypt, when they were in darkness. When you were lost, He grabbed on to you. Now He's taken hold of you. But He just doesn't take hold of you where you are in slavery. The verse says here in verse 20, "But Yahweh has taken you and brought you." He's brought you out of the iron furnace. And this word "brought" means to be brought out, to come out, to exit — hence, the exit is to go forth. Even richer, it means to be caused to go out. And so essentially this verse is displaying that God captures us and He has caused us to come out of sin and into Him.

He has caused us to come out of sin and into Him. Isn't that beautiful? Deuteronomy 4:20 demonstrates the sovereignty of God in salvation.

And so here's some facts for you: Christ is the source of our inheritance. He puts that in you, captures you, brings you out of sin. And so we have an extreme expectancy of seeing Him, because He is summing up all things in Christ, and this is an absolute certainty because of the work that He did. You're not maintaining your own salvation. You didn't come out of Egypt — or out of sin — on your own, in your own strength. He gave you the strength. He gave you the energy, and He brought you from darkness and into the light. And because of the work that He did in you, that causes you to have confidence in what He has done, and the fact that He's coming back gives you an expectancy of seeing Him again. This is wonderful.

He did it. Back to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11. You see that we have been made an inheritance — He did it. And then in verse 11b, He predestined these purposes. And then in verse 11c, He's working all things. Verse 11 again: "In Him we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will." These wonderful things — they're already done.

Past, present, and future, God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is omnipresent and all-powerful. He's in control. History — world history — is His story. It's unraveling to His glory. This gives you confidence, because God's in control — not just "in the end we win." How many times have you heard, "Oh, read the last book, we win — woo-hoo"? But now I'm suffering for Jesus, right? No. He's in control now. Now He's working all things according to His glory. And so these things we have already received. And so you can have this same expectancy for Christ coming again that Paul demonstrates.

So expectancy and certainty — now, are you ready for your third point? Energy.

Your expectancy in Christ and your certainty of His coming again brings energy. You're like, "Prove it, preacher." Yeah, so glad you think apologetically. Look with me in verse 11: "In Him we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will." This word "works" — oh, so good — "He who works all things." God put it in you, right? And He's doing this work in your heart. This work — this word "work" in the Greek, "energeo," means to work. That's complicated. All right, but He is working in us. God's work is in us. It is energizing — tonight, your energy — it's God's energy.

It is God who places these motives and these desires and these energies in you to do what you do. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's not you in you, the hope of glory. When you say, "I'm so glad I did that," be careful, because anything good is of God, right? And so if anything good happens in your life, give God praise. Because He gives you the desires of your heart when you delight yourself in the Lord, the Bible says. And so if you're delighting yourself in the Word of God, He gives you the motives, He gives you the energy, and you are simply obedient. God — He's the one who provides the sufficient energy, the working, to accomplish everything according to His will, according to His purposes.

Now turn to Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. What an amazing verse when it comes to seeing God working these things in you. Philippians 1:6: "For I am confident" — here we are again, Paul is confident in Christ because of what He is doing in him — "for I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you." Paul is testifying to the work that God did in the Philippians' hearts. The work — God began it. God began a good work in you. And the reason why they have confidence and an energetic expectancy of Christ is because this verse also displays that He will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus — until we see Him face to face, until we see Him again, until we are united to Christ and married with Him, like actually see Him.

And until then, be confident that He is working in you. You might think to yourself — I mean, I have thought this before — "I wish I knew then, like twenty years ago, what I know now." Have you ever thought that way before?

Let me bring a little spiritual insight to that: trust in the Lord. He is the one who is illuminating your mind. He is the light, right? John chapter 1. He's the light. Christ illuminates. He enables you to know what you know. And He's working all things. Where you are in your spiritual walk is according to God's plan unfolding in your life. I don't understand it, to be honest with you. I can't detail the whys behind all of the whats.

But I trust Him. In my heart of hearts, I would say, "Man, I really, really wish that I would have known twenty and thirty years ago what I know now. I would have made different decisions, done things differently, yada yada yada." Okay, should have, could have, would have. But at the end of the day, I believe in God's sovereignty, and I'm able to go to sleep with that. I'm able to not worry about that. God's in control.

So the regret right now — the soul-rottenness of regret, that's like, "I wish I would have" — listen to me, God is unfolding His plan according to His will. You just keep abiding in the vine — John chapter 15. You just keep submitting to Him. You just keep seeking Him. You just allow Him to work it out in your life. You give Him the praise, you give Him the glory, you keep an attitude of gratitude, and I guarantee you you will see wonderful things happen.

I want to prove it to you again, not just through the book of Philippians, but turn to Colossians chapter 1. I want you to see this energizing concept that I'm talking about, and I ask you this question: are you demotivated? Are you sad? Do you lack energy in your life at all? Do you lack motivation? Well, check this out.

Colossians chapter 1, verses 28 and 29, help us to understand that Christ energizes us to be able to sacrificially labor for His glory. It's amazing. And in Colossians 1:28: "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ." If you're a disciple-maker, circle "complete in Christ." You're not done making disciples until your disciple is complete in Christ, and that's a maturing process that takes time. Jesus invested a lot of hours every single day into twelve dull guys, and they still didn't get it until the resurrection. Discipleship is tough. And as you are patient with your disciple and discipling them and completing them in Christ, have faith in God's timing. If they slip away for a little while, or if they're drawn closer, give God glory either way and trust Him. If your children do the same thing, if there's an ebb and flow in life, pray for them but trust God.

As you're discipling, Paul labored. Look in verse 29: "For this purpose I labor, striving according to" — is it his own power? Paul's power? No. This is God's power. Look at this verse.

Folks, if you get anything today, get this. Paul strives and he works according to God's power — "His working, which He works in me." So in the Greek, Strong's G1753, "energeia" is the word. You asked me to prove it to you — those of you who are sitting back with your arms crossed, "I'm not gonna believe it till you prove it." Well, good. Have a discerning element about you. Think apologetically and accurately when you're listening to preachers and your mom and your daddy and even yourself.

Here, as you do word work, you see this word from which we get the word "energy," and this is not your energy. It is the power of God. It's the power of God — not only is it the power of God to energize you to do what His will is, but it's the power of God also according to Romans 1:16, unto salvation. You see how this works together? It's the power of God to capture and ascertain and to own you, and then to move you from darkness and into light. God does it. And so this is an energy that is, according to this verse, an effectualness. It works all things in Christ. It avails much. And it brings all things into the will of God. This energy, this working of God in you, brings all things into God's will.

On the flip side of this subject, if you're not energized with Christ, if you're not in the Word of God and thriving — I'm talking about so motivated that you could take a missile to the forehead and get back up and say, "Try again, Satan" — I mean, you are just confident in God.

You know who demonstrated this? John Thompson — ninety-two years old. A few months ago he walks in after a hip surgery. He smiles and he says, "It's just a hip. God is good." A few months before that, he's got an eye patch on. He walks in to men's prayer Sunday morning and we say, "John, what's going on?" He goes, "It's just an eye. God is good." One of his relatives dropped him off and he walks in. I said, "John, you can't drive anymore." He says, "It's just a car. God is good."

Man, the energizing aspect that was inside of John Thompson at ninety-two years old is so impressive. Months ago, we said we're going to go on a mission trip to Brazil. John Thompson grabs my elbow after service and looks at me so intently. He says, "Take me with you." I announced that I'm going to Washington to preach, and that it was great and I want to go back. There's an Indian tribe above where I was preaching — went and did some evangelism, I could see myself going back there again. At the end of the service, he grabbed on to my elbow and he says, "I've got Indian in my blood. Take me with you."

Ninety-two years old, so energized to serve Christ. And the same with Bud, right over here — still coming to help serve and motivate and love on the young kids yesterday. And it's just impressive to see the energizing aspect inside of the hearts and souls of those who truly are saved. They're not working according to their own labor. They would gladly suffer for Jesus. They're not going to go to heaven without any scars.

Who wants to stand beside the martyrs in heaven without any wounds? Who wants to stand beside the Apostle Paul, who was beaten, battered and bruised, and shipwrecked and tortured and stoned, and Paul looks over at your clean body? Who wants to go and stand beside of Jesus and worship Him, and you look at the nail-scarred hands and the scars on His back — who wants to be beside of Him without having any skin in the game? Christ will energize you to be able to do His will, and even through the sufferings you'll be singing His praises more. More Christ, more energy. Less Christ, you're drained.

And so we who have been chosen have also been commissioned to work and to worship until He comes again.

Verse 13 in chapter 1, as we start to close, gives us now certainty. We have certainty in Christ. Not only surety, but certainty. That which God has done inside of you is a permanent thing that's been done — it's permanency. The word "sealed" in verse 13: "In Him you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed." This word "sealed" comes with the idea of ownership. You've got a seal in your heart, on you, and you are owned now and operated by God. You have a gift of the Holy Spirit in you.

You have actually been, in some sort of formal ratification, seized and brought out and into His will — out of sin and into the light. And this is the authentication of the believer. You are now authenticated with the seal of the Holy Spirit, and this is a source of your certainty, your confidence. If you set your gaze on Christ, you'll be confident. If you look at the things of this world, you simply spiral in a downward direction and be depressed. But if you invest yourself in knowing Jesus, these realities become an energized, motivated way of life, and you work as unto God and not unto men, and you serve Christ in everything that you say and do. Nothing is meaningless. Whatever you're washing or cleaning and wherever you're at — nothing is meaningless. Whatever you're repairing or working or building, whoever you're talking to — not one conversation, not one act, not one deed, not one thing is meaningless.

We have this certainty inside of us that produces not only confidence, but it affects our life and how we live it out every single day.

And so now I'd like to give you just four take-home truths — and I'm sure there's a whole lot more.

Number one: think and be amazed at how God works all things to His will. If you would take time to slow your life down and find some rocking chair time, or some back porch time, or some front porch time, or some "drift across the lake" time — go and be amazed at how God works all things according to His will, according to this passage. And that will keep you from a victimhood mentality. By the way, if you're listening to the world, the world wants you to claim some type of victim. I was listening to a testimony the other day — I was so sick to see a strong young person claiming a victimhood stance because she was supposedly a victim of adoption. I'm like, "Do what? I don't get it." But the world believes it.

You can find any way to be a victim, to have been victimized. You know, the opposite of a woke mentality is a mentality that is saturated with Christ. And so don't listen to the world, right — listen to Christ. Fill your home with hymns, with sermons. Fill your ears and your mind with Christ. Listen to Scripture with your iPod or whatever media device you can find. Put on Scripture, listen to the Word. All right, fill yourself up. And this will make you amazed at how God is working out. You will actually start to think theologically instead of worldly. You'll actually start to think from God's perspective, looking down and orchestrating all things, rather than being a victim of a "what is this day going to do to me today" type thing. No — now you're on the flip side. You're energized for Christ. You have an eager expectation of seeing Him come again. All things are being worked according to His will and our good, and so you're part of the process and you're motivated. You're not demotivated — you're motivated.

Number two: true Christianity is to live in expectancy. We observe the Lord's Supper here pretty soon. Christ gave us a sense of expectancy when He said to observe this until He comes, right? Now we are observing the Lord's table until He comes. He is truly administrating all things toward a wonderful consummation.

Now, number three: true Christianity is energizing. True Christianity is energizing. If you're serving in a way that is just draining you, perhaps you're not working in accordance with the gift that God has given you. Because I promise you, when you pour yourself out for Christ, He fills you back up to overflowing. You want to do it again and again and again. It's almost like my son when he was like, you know, eight years old — I could playfully beat the tar out of him and he'd be laughing. I'd kick him and he would roll, and he would come back for more. He loved it. All right. And in us, in Christ, with our Father, we can work and work and work and take a beating throughout the day.

And come back for more, because He heals us up and energizes us and gives us a biblical worldview towards things. If you have an old "poor me" attitude, then you're like, you don't want to do it again. You're like, "That hurt — I don't want to do it again." But for those who can take a beating and keep on ticking, then you're like the Apostle Paul. You're like Peter, who gets stoned and run off out of town and goes into another town and turns it upside down. You keep preaching the gospel, you keep discipling, you keep seeking Christ, you keep coming to church, you keep studying His Word, because this is the source of your nutrients. This is what you're tapped into. It's energizing.

So: think and be amazed, Christian — number one. Number two, true Christianity is to live in expectancy. And then number three, true Christianity is energizing — we saw this through the word work. And then number four, true Christianity is comforting.

It is truly comforting to know that you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. This is not some temporal seal by a Roman Caesar who takes hot wax, puts it on a letter, and then puts his emblem and seals it, right? Well, that's temporary — it's an illustration of the seal. But the seal that has been inside of your soul is a permanent thing.

And so if these truths are foreign to you today, listen to me: they are not foreign to true believers. If what I'm saying to you doesn't resonate with your soul, if you're not saying inside of your heart, "Amen," if you're not saying, "That's what the Word of God says, yes, amen," listen to me — perhaps you are not in complete alignment with the Word of God. Perhaps your soul has not been regenerated. How does that happen? How does God seize you and bring you from darkness and into light? He says, "Repent and believe the gospel," in Mark chapter 1 and verse 15. He says you repent — you're a sinner in need of a Savior. Repent of your sin, turn from your sin, be willing inwardly to cast it all aside. Whatever the cost, whatever sin you're engaged in is not worth the sentence that you will be sentenced to for eternity. Shut it off, turn from your wicked ways, and turn towards Christ. Repent, head to Jesus, come to Jesus. He will save you if you turn. He will save you. Repent and believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

His death was not in vain. He died for those who would repent of their sin. He died and was buried and was resurrected so that He gives you an illustration of how He can resurrect your dead soul. "The soul that sins shall die" — this is a reality for eternity. And so if you are dead in your sins, you have an eternity to pay for your sins. But if you have been saved and sealed, then you have said to this message from the text, "This is a truth that I love, and I want more of Jesus," because it comforts you, it energizes you, and it gives you an expectancy for when He comes again.

Folks, if you are resonating with that, if you like that, good — because you understand it. But if you don't understand it, I'm pleading with you today. If this is a foreign concept, all you have to do is repent and believe in the death and burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm asking you today: would you place your faith and trust in this work?

The opposite of saving faith is disobedience. This is a sobering verse, and with it I close. John 3:36 is a sobering verse: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life." I'm asking you to repent and believe the gospel. If you believe the gospel and you've been saved, you have eternal life, which is life in heaven.

John 3:36 — now this is going to switch on us, and the gavel is going to come down, that heavy hammer is going to hit the heart. Listen to what the Bible says in John 3:36: "If you're not saved — 'He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son'" — does that surprise you? — "'he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.'"

Salvation is equated to obedience. Disobedience is equated to having the wrath of God abiding on you. It's resting on you. It's not released yet. You're not in eternity yet. You're not in hell yet. When Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment — at the point of death, you're not promised tomorrow. That decision that you have made is already done. It's signed, sealed, and delivered.

And so now I pray that you would see that if your life is obediently being conformed to Christ, that is evidence of your salvation. But if you are not living in obedience to Christ, then the wrath of God abides upon you. You're not saved yet. If you are not growing in your faith, if you are not continuing in the Word of God, Jesus said in John 8:31, "If you continue in My word, then" — so prove — "that you are disciples of Mine." This subject of obedience is not earning your salvation. It is proving that you are saved. When you're obedient, you are showing the world that you desire Christ over and above sin, over and above all that the world has to offer. You desire Christ.

And so I pray now that if anyone is not saved, that they would embrace the sorrowfulness that this verse brings to your heart. Let it produce repentance inside of you, and you actually confess Christ as Lord.

Let's pray. Father, we do love You. We thank You for Ephesians chapter 1 and the theme of it being Your grace unto salvation. I pray, Father, that if there's anybody here who does not have this expectancy of Your return, if they don't — if they're not energized by Your Word and by serving You, Lord, and if they're not looking unto You, dear Jesus — I pray that You would show them the error of their way. Show them that their sin will cost them more than they would ever be willing to pay. Help them to see that their sin is against You and You alone, and to repent of it and to turn to You and believe that You died on the cross and have risen again for our sin. God, it is the power of God unto salvation. There's nothing we could do — we would just ask You, dear Jesus, obediently to save souls, and to see that they would not only be saved, but they would continue in Your Word here at Beulah Baptist Church, and to be biblically baptized, and to join the church and belong to a good strong local church, to learn how to study their Bibles and make disciples.

I pray that You would continue this in this local church, add Your blessings to it, dear Jesus. For we are simply doing our best to be obedient to You every step of the way. Thank You for helping to conform us to Your image, to be good image bearers. Help us, dear Jesus, not to shrink back from the truth in our daily lives, but to remain strong, steadfast, and unmovable, and always abounding in Your work, as 1 Corinthians 15:58 says. Thank You for our time today, dear Jesus, and I pray that You would have Your will and Your way in every soul's life that's here today. Thank You, dear Jesus, for Your many blessings. It's in Christ's name that we pray, amen.