Skip to content Fatherhood of God | Ephesians Part 1 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Aug 9 · 45 min ...more
316K followers
Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
316K followers
0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. What a joy and a privilege for us to worship the Lord together and to study the word of God together. Praise God. You0:12 know, in this season, I'm really caught up with this 1 theme in my heart, the fatherhood of God. How God is0:23 our father. As a father, he has not only selected us, he sent his son to die for us and to save us, and he gave us the0:35 Holy Spirit to secure our salvation, to seal us unto salvation. What a glorious father we have. You know, I'm reminded of this song that we used to0:47 sing when we were young. I don't know whether you know this. If you do know, please sing it together with me.0:55 Abba Father, let me be yours and yours alone.1:08 May my will forever be, evermore your own.1:22 Never let my heart grow cold. Never let me go.1:36 Abba Father, let me be yours and yours alone.1:49 Would you make that your prayer this morning? Even as we listen to the word of God. Father, we come before your throne room of grace. The word of God says that we can come with boldness, we can2:01 come with confidence in our hearts to the throne room of God himself because he is not only our God, he is our father. And2:12 as a child that runs to the father, we come to you this morning knowing that you love us, knowing that you grant us your grace and your mercy in time of our need.2:25 Today, I pray that you open our eyes and give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to obey your word. Fill our hearts with your love, Lord. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. And the people of2:37 God said, amen and amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. This morning, I want to take you to Ephesians chapter 1, and we're going to2:49 look at the 2 introductory verses, verse 1 and verse 2. And I am titling this sermon God, our Father. Ephesians3:00 one:one-two Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints who3:12 are in Ephesus and are faithful in Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord3:23 Jesus Christ. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm so thankful to the Lord for this letter of Ephesians. You know, there are times in my life where I've3:35 gone through seasons of darkness. And in those seasons of darkness, as I turn to the scriptures, there are some books that have not only tutored my3:47 heart, but not only trained me in righteousness, but also brought great comfort and peace and joy into my heart. 1 such book is the book of3:59 Ephesians. During those dark times, God gave me the grace to not only read again and again this book, but to memorize chunks and chunks of4:10 scripture, in fact the entire book, so that it will continue to minister to my heart and bring me that great joy of knowing who I am, and more importantly, whose4:22 I am. Now, this morning, I'm not giving you an overview of Ephesians, but I want to give you the first 2 verses and4:33 which will already be like an overview and give you a glimpse of this letter. Usually when people read this letter, they discover that4:45 this letter is a circular letter. In other words, it's not just addressed to 1 particular church, it is a general letter that Paul wrote4:57 to churches so it can be read in different churches. That's why 1 of the distinction in this letter is you won't find any reference to any particular5:09 issue that a church is facing or you won't find any reference to any name. You know, Paul is very personal in many of his letters when he writes to people5:21 he knows personally, like Colossians the whole chapter 4, he lists a number of names. But here in this book of Ephesians you won't find any name mentioned, and5:33 the reason is because Paul wants to just give us a theological treatise and his concern and something that God has put in his heart5:44 to call the church back to her privileges and to her responsibilities. Now, as I read these 2 verses, usually the division of these verses is5:56 the author, the addressee, and the greeting. But I want to take you further and explore something about the man who wrote this letter. Because this6:08 letter actually gives us a glimpse into Apostle Paul. So there are 3 things I want you to pay attention to. 1, the calling of Paul. Number 2, the6:20 concern of Paul. And number 3, the conviction of Paul. From these 2 introductory verses, let's look at these 3 things. Number 1, the calling of6:32 Paul. The Bible says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. I want you to pay attention to a couple of things in this6:44 verse. First, there is a name change. We know that his name is Saul, but as soon as God called him, Saul is a Jewish name, because Paul is6:56 from the tribe of Benjamin, and Saul the king, the first king of Israel, was from the tribe of Benjamin, they must have named him Saul. Now Saul7:08 becomes Paul. Saul was a Pharisee. He was a strict observant of the Judaistic laws. But yet the Bible says he encountered Christ and there was7:19 a dramatic change. There was a complete turnaround, inside out change, upside down change in the life of Saul, and God commissions him to be7:31 an apostle to the Gentiles. As a result, the Bible says he becomes Paul. He takes for himself the name Paul. I believe it was he had7:43 both the names because he was also a Roman citizen and he grew up in Tassus, in today's Turkey. And he was trained under Gamaliel, in the Jewish way of life7:56 and and in the strict observance of the law. So he was highly educated man, but there is a change in his life. That's what you see in verse 1. But I wanna pay attention to the8:07 word an apostle of Christ Jesus. Paul describes himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. There are 3 things that I think that I read into this when I see this word,8:19 an apostle of Christ Jesus. Number 1, that Christ Jesus is his master. In other words, that Paul is committed to Christ. In other words, Paul recognizes8:31 that he belongs to Christ. Here is a Jewish man, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, someone who had been the persecutor of the church, someone8:43 who had been the enemy of Christ, is now calls himself, I belong to Christ. Isn't that a wonderful testimony? Galatians 2 20. Think it's 1 of our favorite8:55 verses, isn't it? Paul says, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself9:06 for me. Hallelujah. In other words, Paul recognizes he has a master. Not only that Christ Jesus is his master, he has a mission. The mission is that he has9:18 been commissioned by Christ. In other words, the word apostle means someone who is sent. An ambassador has been sent on behalf of the king to9:30 represent the kingdom, to proclaim something about the king. Now here Paul says his mission is that he is commissioned by Christ. He's an apostle. Thirdly, he9:42 also talks about his mandate. In other words, he he comes with a delegated authority from Christ. In other words, he goes into the world, into the Gentile world for which9:54 he is called. He proclaims the gospel, he teaches them the word of God, he points them to Christ, but he does all this because he has been not only commissioned10:06 by Christ, but he has been given the authority of Christ. So authority that comes from God. So that's why when I see this, it reminds me that10:18 Paul has a master, Paul has a mission, and Paul has a mandate. Not only that, in the second part of the first verse, he says, Paul, an apostle of Christ10:30 Jesus, by the will of God. I want you to think about this, by the will of God. In other words, there are 2 things I observe from this. Number 1, that Paul would not will10:41 it. Number 2, Paul could not will it. In other words, Paul would not will it. Why? Because Paul was the enemy of Christ.10:53 He thought that Christ was a deceiver. You know, when he was raised in the Judaistic way of life, in the strict observant of the law, Christ Jesus came to11:05 fulfill that law and to be the end of the law. But Paul could not accept it. So what Paul did is that anyone who preached the gospel, anyone who proclaimed11:17 Jesus, he hated them and he wanted to persecute them. But Paul wouldn't have chosen to be an apostle, to be identified with Christ until there was11:28 a radical life change. Hallelujah! In other words, this gives me hope that the persecutor of the church has now become the proclaimer. Hallelujah! I want you to listen to me.11:40 Here is a life change and Paul would not have willed it unless there was a deep life change that took place. Number 2, Paul could not have wielded it. You know11:52 why? Because he can't just assume the role of an apostle. The apostle is a calling. In other words, unless and until God calls12:04 him and gives him that office, he could not have become an apostle. Now while I'm thinking about the word, the will of God, I wanna briefly point12:15 out there are 2 wills of God that people of God we need to understand. 1, the will of decree and the second 1 is the will of command. What is the will of decree?12:28 The will of decree is the sovereign decree of God. In other words, what God says it, that settles it. In other words, the Bible says his purposes will come to pass. His12:39 purposes will prevail. His purposes will stand. In other words, what God had decreed will come to pass. Is this how Paul became an apostle? There12:51 is a second 1. The will of command. What is the will of command? He commands. There are scriptural declarations about the mind of God. So there are things like where God says, in13:03 every situation give thanks. It is it is it is the will of God that we flee sexual immorality. In other words, the will of command are13:15 God's revelation about the moral way, the way that we need to live our life. These are scriptural declarations of the will of God, the mind of God for our lives. But13:26 sometimes we can choose not to obey them or to follow them. But the will of decree is not like that. Whatever God has decreed, it cannot be13:37 resisted. It cannot be rejected. It will surely come to pass. So in this case Paul says, I'm an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Which will is that?13:49 By the will of decree. In other words, it is God who laid hold of Paul. You know in Acts chapter 9 when you read the testimony of apostle Paul, he was on the way to14:01 Damascus. He was going to persecute the church but on the way, the Bible says, there was a lightning that came. A light that came from heaven. He had an encounter with Jesus14:14 and a prophet came and told him that this is the calling of God upon your life, Paul, that you will now proclaim this Jesus everywhere. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me14:25 carefully. God laid hold of Paul. Praise God. That's the calling of Paul. So the moment I understand that this is a man who has been radically14:37 changed by the power of God. Once he was a persecutor but now he is the proclaimer. The reason why he could do this is because there was a radical life change. Not only that, the Lord poured His14:49 grace and laid hold of him sovereignly. Hallelujah. Secondly, the concern of Paul. Ephesians chapter 1 and the second part of the first verse it15:01 says, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus. I want you to pay attention to this, to the saints. Now people may question, am I15:12 a saint? There is a the Roman Catholic church usually confers the title of saint to somebody who has already died and then they look at their life and15:24 if they had performed a miracle or if they have done something significant, they confer the title saint. Is that how it is for you and me? No. The Bible says that whoever15:36 believes in Jesus, we are now moved from being a sinner to becoming a saint. So Paul is addressing to the saints, to the whole church. You know in the15:48 in the original language, the the the bible only says in this verse, to the saints, but then the translators have included who are in Ephesus. I want you listen to16:00 me carefully this letter was not written just to the church in Ephesus. This letter was written to everyone it was a circular letter but in this case the writers the16:11 translators thought it will be important for us to know that this is written to saints who are in Ephesus. Can I humbly say this? We can actually substitute that word Ephesus to16:23 a church in Castle Hill or a church in Sydney, a church in Australia, a church in India, a church in Philippines. Why? Because it's written to every church.16:35 And the Bible says there are 2 things in particular that the Bible highlights here. 1, to the saints and then to those who are faithful in Christ Jesus. I want you to listen to me carefully.16:48 There are 2 things that Paul wants to address. That's the concern that he has in his heart. To the saints, he wants to remind the saints of who they are, more16:59 importantly whose they are as a result the privileges they have in the kingdom. Number 2, he also wants to highlight to the faithful in Christ Jesus that in Christ Jesus17:11 God is calling us to a life of faithfulness. In other words, there are responsibilities that he has for us. So can I give you a diagram? It will be up here in your screen. There are17:22 2 major points of Ephesians. 1, chapter 1 to chapter 3 and then chapter 4 to chapter 6. There are 2 main divisions. Chapter 1 to chapter 317:34 and chapter 4 to chapter 6. Chapter 1 to chapter 3 is the calling of the church. Chapter 4 to chapter 6 is the conduct of the church. In other words, he's reminding the church17:46 of their position in the first 3 chapters, and he's reminding the church of the practice they need to have in the church. In the first 3 chapters, he deals with doctrine.17:58 In the last 3 chapters, he deals with duty. In the first 3 chapters, he deals with a belief. In the last 3 chapters, it's about behavior. In the first 3 chapters, it's about the privileges of a believer.18:10 In the last 3 chapters, it is about the responsibilities of the believer. The first 3 chapters deals with our spiritual wealth and the last 3 chapters18:22 deals with our spiritual walk. When we deal with chapter 6 I'll talk in especially the spiritual warfare. Why? Because part of our walk, we also need to know18:34 how to engage in warfare. So I want you to listen to me. What is Ephesians all about? Ephesians can be summarized like this, God calling his church to their18:45 privileges and responsibilities. Hallelujah. That's the concern that Paul had as he wrote the Ephesians. But I want you to consider the third 1, the conviction of18:57 Paul. I want you to go to verse 2. Verse 2 says, grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this because there are 219:09 words that Paul keeps repeating in his letters. That means this is something that Paul is deeply convicted about. I want you to capture these 2 words and these 219:21 words will be explained in detail as we study this book together. But in the general understanding of these 2 words are this, grace. What is grace? You19:32 know grace in the New Testament has a connotation of an unmerited favor. It's an unearned favor of God. In in other words, that you and I19:44 are now moved from the wrath of God to be under the favor of God. Hallelujah. We will no longer be under the judgment of God but rather we come under the19:56 mercy, the grace, the favor of God. And the reason why we do that is because of what God does through Christ on the cross. So listen carefully. The20:08 father shows us his favor. You know, I have this phrase that I say this over and over again, not only to myself, but to people that I walk with. That we are favorites.20:20 You know in the bible, in the old testament, find in the land of Canaan, there were Canaanites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Amorites, all these ites. It could be parasites,20:32 mosquito bites. Listen, but can I humbly say this, there is a group of people in the new covenant, they are the favorites? In other words, we now stand in God's favor,20:44 that we stand under His favor. Hallelujah. Praise God. I want you to listen to me carefully. That is grace and it is seen more clearly in the redemption that we have in Christ. The reconciliation20:56 that we have with God through Christ and the forgiveness of sin that we enjoy in Christ. I want you to listen to me as we study this book. This will be unpacked more and more. The second word is21:08 the word peace. You know in the Greek it's the word Irene but in the in the in what when Paul was writing this, I believe he was thinking about the Hebrew word Shalom.21:20 Shalom is a beautiful word, nothing missing, nothing broken. It's almost like that birthday cake before it is cut, before a slice is taken out, that round well rounded21:32 cake. It's in other words, it's whole. That's what shalom is all about. See sometimes when we think of peace, we think of peace as absence of trouble. When we think of peace is the21:43 absence of any disturbance, absence of any kind of noise. But can I humbly say this, it is not the absence of trouble but the true Shalom, the peace is a wholesome21:55 living? In other words, that in the midst of chaos, in the midst of circumstance show uncertainties that your heart is still stable before God, that you know who you are and more importantly22:07 whose you are, you are still standing under his favor and you enjoy His incredible Shalom in your life. Listen, Paul had a conviction22:19 about these 2 things and in this letter as we study this we will examine how we enter and live in that place of grace and22:30 peace. Hallelujah! He says this grace and peace comes to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There are 2 things that he deals with as22:42 a subject that I want you to capture. Number 1, it's the lordship of Jesus Christ. What do I mean by the lordship of Jesus Christ? See, in this book, in the book of Ephesians, Paul uses only22:54 1 time the name Jesus. Every other time, it comes with Christ Jesus. And then many many times, he repeats, Lord Jesus23:06 Christ. I want you to think about this. Paul's favorite description of Jesus. Jesus means, it's the Hebrew equivalent is Joshua, which means savior. He died23:18 for our sins. The word Christ is the word for Messiah, meaning that he's the anointed 1. He's the 1 who came to live the life that we could never live but died the death that we deserve. He took23:29 God's wrath upon himself. The substitutionary death. It represents Messiah who comes for us to redeem us. Hallelujah. But Lord means he's the master.23:41 He's the Lord. He's the master of this universe. And Paul, he talks about Jesus, he thinks about Jesus as Jesus is my Lord.23:53 I want you to think about this. Objectively, Jesus is the master of the universe because all authority has been given to him. Everything has been given to him.24:05 Now subjectively, is he your Lord? I want you to ask yourself this key question this morning. Is Jesus my Lord? Is Jesus your Lord? Why? Because if you do24:17 not have Jesus as your Lord, many of the things that Paul talks about in the book of Ephesians do not belong to you because it is all tied up in Christ.24:30 So the moment you come and acknowledge that Jesus who came to this world 2000 years ago as a baby born in Bethlehem, He is the sinless 1, fully24:41 God, fully man. He came to live the life that I could never live, but die the death that I deserved. And the moment you place your faith in him and acknowledge that he died on the cross for your24:53 sin, that he shed his blood and that blood is the payment for your sin. And as a result that God forgives you, cleanses you from all your sin and receives you. The moment you25:05 receive Christ as Jesus as Lord and Savior in your life, you now have you can acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord. Hallelujah. You take your rightful25:16 place in Christ. The second subject he deals with here is the fatherhood of God. He talks about the fatherhood of God. Now as we go25:28 through this letter, we will be talking again and again about the centrality of Christ in our lives. In Christ Jesus is a favorite term of Paul.25:40 In Christ Jesus. We'll be talking about it over and over again. But the reason why Paul addresses and begins this, he actually begins with the fatherhood of God. In25:52 other words, the whole plan of salvation was in the mind of God. God the father. It was father who planned it. It was son who purchased it and the26:03 spirit who preserves it. I want you to listen to me. It is father who selected us. It is son who saved us and it's the spirit who secures it and seals it for26:15 us. You read that in the book of Ephesians but it always begins with God the father and I want you to more in particular in this sermon get this point that the fatherhood of God. In other words, God26:27 is not only the creator of all, God is actually your father. But there is 1 distinction I want you to make. I want you to understand this distinction. God is the creator26:39 of all but God is not necessarily the father of all. God is the creator of all but God is not necessarily the father of all. What does that mean?26:50 Jesus himself said this in John chapter 8 and verse 42. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me for I came from27:02 God and I'm here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Listen carefully. Jesus said that if you belong to the father, if God is your27:14 father, then you would have received Jesus, his son. The moment you receive Jesus as your Lord and savior and acknowledge him that he came from God,27:26 the moment you receive him, that's the time God becomes your father. But if you reject Jesus, then God cannot be your father. Then27:38 Jesus continues to say in verse 44, You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand27:49 in the truth. I want you to listen to me. These are people who say, Abraham is my father. These are the Jewish people who came to Jesus and said, Abraham is my father. But28:02 he said to them if God is your father then you would have received me. Abraham obeyed God, he followed28:14 God, he loved God, he served God, he worshiped God. But if you really want to love God and worship God then you would receive Jesus. See you and I need to28:26 understand the key question is, is God your father today? But if you reject Jesus, you have not received his pardon, you have not acknowledged him as your savior, you have not acknowledged28:38 him as your Lord, then God cannot be your father. But if truly, if you embrace Jesus as your savior, the Bible says in John chapter 1 and verse28:49 12, for all those who have received him, you know, love that verse. For all those who have received him, he gave them the power to become29:01 children of God. Hallelujah. He gave them the right. He gave them the power, the ability to become the children of God. In other words, the moment you receive Jesus Christ into your life, the moment29:13 you have received him as your Lord and your savior, the Bible acknowledges that God becomes your father because you are now born again into his family. Hallelujah.29:25 What a glorious gospel we have. Now, as I bring this message to a close, I want to highlight a little bit more about the fatherhood of God. If God is truly my29:37 father and this father loves me, he has shown his love in a lavish manner. How? How do I know that God has shown his love for me? You know, God29:49 our father not only loves us, just like any father, He's responsible for our well-being. You know, when I think of30:00 God the Father as someone who loves me, when I'm enthralled in His love, I become someone who is secure.30:12 I become someone who is filled with that satisfaction. Why? Because God as a father is responsible for our well-being. Look at this in30:24 Romans chapter 8 and verse 32. The Bible says, He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, will he not also with him30:35 graciously give us all things. 1 of my favorite scriptures that Paul wrote. Listen. If God did not spare his only son but delivered him even unto death, how30:47 much more he will give us freely, graciously give us all things. I want you to listen to me carefully. If God is your father and you acknowledge how much he loves you, that love is seen30:59 in how he has sent his son Jesus. He gave his son. That is heaven's best. He gave it for you. And if he gave the heaven's best, will he not give you anything else?31:11 You you and I, we need to understand this. Whatever is good for us, he will give it to us. The Bible says in the old testament, no good thing will he withhold.31:23 Hallelujah. Our God is a God who generously, lavishly shown us his love by sending his son. Hallelujah. And why did he send his son? He sent His Son for our well-being so that31:35 we can continue to enjoy His goodness, grace in our lives. So always listen to this, always remember this that our God as our Father, He has the best interest31:47 in his heart. Hallelujah. The second thing is God our father is responsible for our discipline. In other words, not only he has concern for you that for your well-being, he31:59 also brings correction when it's needed. The writer to Hebrews says it like this, that if God does not correct us, then we are32:11 illegitimate children. Read that with me in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 8. If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.32:23 In other words, if I say this crudely, if you're not a child of God, then you are a bastard. In other words, you become illegitimate. If you're not a child of God. But if you're a32:35 child of God, then God says, if your behavior needs correction, I will bring correction. I will bring discipline. In other words, God is responsible not only for our well-being, but he's also32:46 such a loving God. He pursues us when we walk away from him, when we are not aligned, when we are misaligned from him. He comes after us. Hallelujah.32:59 He's not an absentee father that kind of just neglects his children. He's not an abusive father that kind of exploits his children. He is actually a loving33:10 father. And his love for us, in his love for us, he wants us to grow up. He wants us to mature. He wants us to be well, all rounded. Hallelujah. Not33:22 only that, God our father has given us access to himself. You know, when I talk about the word fatherhood of God, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter33:34 4 and verse 16, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This is you gotta understand. This is the33:46 creator of the world. This is the lord of the universe. He's the 1 all nations bow to. He's the king of all kings. He's the lord of all lords.33:58 He's the king of all lords. He's the lord of all kings. But he gives you access to his presence. In other words, he says, you can come boldly anytime. You know, a story was told34:10 of how in the Oval Office when JFK, John F. Kennedy, was the president, they were having Cuban crisis. There were some intense34:21 conversation that they were dealing with. Intense conversations of the crisis that they were dealing with. But during the time, 1 of34:31 JFK's child just opened the Oval Office, came in, went straight to the president's lap, and started to sit there and talk to the father. I want you to listen to me34:43 carefully. That's a picture I want you to carry, that you and I have been granted access into the throne room of grace. That throne room of judgment has become a throne room of grace because of what Christ34:55 did. And as a result, you and I can come boldly. We can come because of who we are in Christ. And the word of God says, you have this access. Now my question to you today35:07 is, how many of you actually utilize this access regularly? When was the last time you went into God's presence and lingered there? When was the last time you ran into the father's arms35:19 and said, father, I just want you. I pray this this year that you will grow and renew your relationship with the father, that you will learn to35:31 understand who your father is and your father's heart. And the father's heart is revealed for us in this book of Ephesians. So the key question is, is God35:42 your father? If God is your father, then you would receive Jesus. You would receive him because father sent Jesus to be your35:54 savior. And as soon as you receive him, Jesus not only becomes your lord, he's also your elder brother. That means whatever God has given36:06 Jesus, that inheritance that he has, you now become a partaker of that inheritance. Whatever God has blessed Jesus as he is,36:18 so are you in this world, the Bible says. In other words, you become that. You receive that. You inherit that. You become co heirs, joint heirs with Christ. Hallelujah. That's why this book of36:30 Ephesians is a beautiful book that as you understand the heart of God, as you understand the fatherhood of God, you are enveloped in that love. That36:41 this love of God knows no bounds, that he did not withhold heaven's best, but he sent him. You know this Jesus that we talk about, when he was walking on earth36:54 on the day of his baptism and he came out, the heavens opened and the father declared for everyone to hear, and it's recorded for us in Matthew chapter 3 and verse 17. This is my37:05 beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Now if your life is hidden in Christ, if you are someone who37:17 has placed your faith in Christ, your sins are forgiven, you have now inherited his righteousness. His righteousness is now imputed to you. My prayer is that37:29 this is what you will hear as a testimony from God the Father about you. You know, maybe you're going through a dark period right now. Maybe you're going through a difficult season right now, and you37:41 say, Lord, I may have failed you here. I may have failed you there. I do not know where I stand. Can I humbly say this? The Father may discipline you, but the Father37:53 always desires for your well-being. He's working all things together for your good, and this is why we call this a necessary journey. But can I humbly say this, as you come to38:05 him, give yourself completely to him, I want you to hear in your spirit this morning the father speaking this over you, that this is my beloved son? This is my beloved38:16 daughter in whom I'm well pleased. Hallelujah. We are not accepted because of what we do. We are accepted because of what he has done. Hallelujah. We're not accepted because of38:28 our behavior. We are accepted because of our belief in Jesus who took our place so that we can take his place. Oh, hallelujah. What a glorious gospel we believe in.38:40 So church, I want you to listen to me carefully. The father is cheering you on. You know, I I heard about a story of a man who's a brilliant38:51 preacher. He shared his own experience once. During his college days, he was playing football and it was a was a tournament that was a championship39:03 match. And finally, the ball came to him and he needs to run and and get the home run. As he received this ball, there was so much39:15 pressure. The clock was ticking. It was the last few seconds left in the clock. It was so much pressure, and he was fumbling. In that moment, he says he turnedShow more
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Paul Jeyachandran
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.