Skip to content The Antidote to Spiritual Amnesia - BlessED Strangers, Part 2 May 16 · 45 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 The antidote to spiritual amnesia. The antidote to spiritual amnesia. We are in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15 to 23.0:12 I'm gonna read that in the pass I'm gonna read that passage in just a moment. But I want to talk to you about forgetting. Forgetting. I'm in my 40s now. I'm0:23 approaching 45. I'm mid-40s. I I I want to tell you that I love I I hated turning 30. I don't know what it was, but I hated turning 30, but I loved turning 40.0:36 There's a saying out there, life begins at 40. I resonate with that. I like that. I don't know where you are in your age range but at 44 I feel like my life is finally0:48 where, you know, it's starting to roll in a positive direction and I kinda know what I'm doing. I don't I don't know if that's the case for everybody but but that was it for me. But I wanna say 1 of the0:59 things that I hate about my forties is forgetting. I think it's it's what the 4 in 40 stands for. You're gonna be forgetting in your forties. Come on somebody.1:11 I forget names all the time and if I've done that to you, I'm so sorry. I don't mean that, but there are people that I will run into in our churches and they'll say, Hey, pastor Tim, and I'll say, Oh, hi. Nice to1:23 meet you today. We met you like 3 times already. I am so sorry for that. It's the forties. It's not me. Okay? Blame the age. I I I remember when I was young, people would tell me, I I walk in1:35 the the worst thing about getting old is you walk into a room for something. By the time you get there, you forget what you went there for. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Yeah. I I do that all the time. I'll1:46 walk into a room and and lord help me if I have to go upstairs because then it's over. Like, I don't have any idea why I just climbed that flight of stairs. I have to go back down and try to pray, God show me the way and1:58 lead me back to my memory. I forget names. I forget my kids' names. So if I forgot your name, don't worry about it. I forget my kids' names. You know parents, you ever do this, like you wanna mention2:10 or talk to 1 of your family members and you just go through the list of names, you don't have their name on your tongue, just let me throw the whole list, vomit the list of names of my family up. I'll just be like2:21 Cheryl, Olivia Cottage, Zoe, Cheryl. Like, you know, that's what I'll do. I just like bullet list them until I hit the 1 and maybe I have to circle back and hit it again because I forget who I'm talking to and and it's2:32 by god's grace that I remember even when I'm preaching to you, I'm gonna preach about. That's why I got my notes here to help me. Sometimes forgetting can also be a good thing. Like I think about what Mark said last2:44 week about marriage. You know, the older that you get, the more you forget. And so in marriage, that's a good thing because you forget all the hurts, all the things that you caused each other, pain over and2:56 so, you know, sometimes, if you're going through a hard marriage season, just just remember that sometimes you'll someday you'll forget everything that they did to you and you'll live happily ever after. In fact, that's3:07 God's way of helping you get there. He helps you forget. But here's the thing, forgetting in life, forgetting names, forgetting, you know, what you want to say, forgetting what you want to get in life, that's 1 thing.3:19 But can I tell you that 1 of the worst things you can forget is who you are in Christ? That's 1 of the worst things that you can forget. Forgetting who you are in Christ. It's called spiritual amnesia.3:32 And that's what we're talking about today. Hey, last week, I gave you the outline for Ephesians. It's a 2 part outline. It's very simple. Ephesians 1 to 3 is who we are. Ephesians 43:44 to 6 is what we do. So so don't forget the outline. And that's why we're doing only Ephesians 1 to 3 in this series. Instead of3:55 talking about what we need to do, we're gonna talk about who we are. And who we are is more powerful than we realize. So we talked about this in week 1. What do we say? In week 1, we4:07 have a a past, a present, and a future given to us by god the father, god the son, god the holy spirit. So, we have a destiny in god the father from eternity past. He chose4:19 us when before the foundations of the world. Don't forget that. In the present, we have intimacy with god in the son that we are in Christ and He holds4:31 us and He's never gonna let us go. So we have this intimate personal relationship with God in Christ Jesus in the present. And then in the future, the spirit roots us in4:43 the fact that we have glory ahead of us. No matter how bad life is right now, you've got glory ahead of you if you are in Christ. You've got4:55 a glorious future awaiting for you. The Bible says that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man. What God has prepared for those who love him,5:07 but he has revealed this to us by the spirit. The spirit is like the the magnetic force drawing us further and further ahead5:18 to heaven so that we don't get caught up in our problems and our challenges and our setbacks right now. We know that every setback is really a set up for the glories that are to be5:30 ours in Christ Jesus. Amen. So we talked about that in week 1. But here's the problem. We forget. Here's the problem about our identity in Christ. We forget5:42 who we are. We do. So I want you to write this down. And you know if you've taken notes, write it down. If you're not taking notes, write it down. We can hear who we can hear about who we are, but5:53 life can cause us to forget. So right now you're in Waters Church, you're at Waters Church location, or you're watching online on our YouTube channel. By the way, if you are watching on YouTube, click that subscribe6:05 button. Make sure that you get subscribed to this channel so that we can lead you forward in Christ. But nonetheless, you're sitting in Waters Church right now. You're in the locations. You're hearing the word of God.6:16 But let me tell you what's waiting for you outside those doors today. What's waiting for you outside those doors is the system of this world, and I like to have this picture in your head, and it's this gigantic straw6:28 that the devil just wants to stick inside your heart and just suck suck everything out of you that God wants to put in you today.6:40 It's the system of this world. Sucks. Okay? It sucks the life out of you. And while we can come to a church like this and rejoice and celebrate and worship,6:52 The world is set up to suck the life out of you, and there has to be a game plan in your life for how to remember who you are in Christ.7:05 And we're in the book of Ephesians, and I think about this, even the first century church in Ephesus, saw signs, miracles, and wonders, Acts chapter 19, if you want to see what happened. Signs, miracles, and7:16 wonders. Paul the apostle brings the gospel there. Many people get saved. The Bible says, they burn their sorcery books. They they burn their idols. It's it's a it's a massive amount of money that they just7:28 torch because they found Christ and that's what happens when when you find Christ, everything that you loved, you no longer love because the love of Christ compels you and grabs you and holds you and this church is born7:39 in the first century in the middle of midst of a pagan culture and then years go by, Paul has to write this letter to the Ephesians telling them, listen, this is who you are. This is what God has done for you. This is7:50 what God has for you in the future. And then I think about this. There are 7 churches in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. There are 7 churches mentioned. Jesus writes a letter8:02 to 7 churches. The first church on the list is the church of Ephesus, and Jesus writes a letter to them. You know what he says in Revelation 2? He says, I8:13 know, verse 3, you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But then he says, but I have this against you. You have abandoned the love that you had at the first.8:26 Some people some translations say, you abandoned your first love. In other words, Ephesians, you got a great church, you got great programs, you got great works, and you're standing strong, but you forgot what this faith8:37 is all about. And this faith this faith is not about having nice buildings, having a nice life, having a nice program called Christianity. This faith is about loving8:49 Jesus Christ, knowing Jesus Christ. And if we forget that, we will lose our spiritual power. So to that end, we go to Ephesians chapter9:01 1 verse 15. Hey, at all of our locations, stand with me. We do this every week. We stand for the reading of god's word, at least every week. I'm preaching. And we read God's word because this is not the9:13 writing of men, this is the writing of almighty God. Amen. So stand with me. Verse 15, Ephesians chapter 1, here's what Paul says. For this reason what reason? For the reason of all the things that we9:25 talked about in week 1, all the things that God has done to make you who you are. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love toward all the saints that you have, I do not cease9:37 to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Somebody say prayers. Yeah. That God, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,9:50 the father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of10:01 his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and10:11 seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is to be named, not only in this age but in the age to come. And10:23 he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. And this is the reading of God's10:35 word. Let's pray together at all of our locations. Heavenly Father, thank you that we have this moment to remember and10:48 to receive the tools to remember beyond this moment who we are in Christ Jesus. Father, there's people who are listening right now.11:00 They're overwhelmed by their circumstances. They're confused about the age. They wonder if they're even saved. I pray that today, you'll speak into their hearts. Through your word11:12 to give them assurance, to give them peace, and most importantly, power to overcome everything that's coming against them.11:24 Help us to hear you and may we see Jesus, him and him only. In his mighty name we pray. And everybody said, amen. God bless you. Have a seat at all of our11:36 locations. What we just read in Ephesians chapter 1 15 to 23 is a prayer by the apostle Paul for the11:48 believers of the first century church at Ephesus. And I think you have to understand something that Paul the apostle was committed to 2 things as all apostles were supposed to be, the preaching of the word and11:59 prayer. See, that's my primary responsibility. Preach the word and pray. Yeah. Acts chapter 6, the apostles say, it's not right for us to wait on tables. We need to give ourselves to the preaching of the word and prayer.12:11 You need leaders who are committed to those 2 things. 1 of the things that I see in Paul here is a radical in his life, is a radical commitment to praying for believers. I mean, he's praying constantly.12:24 Look what he says in verse 16, I do not cease. Ephesians 1 16, I do not cease to give thanks to you, remembering you in my prayers. 2 chapters later in12:36 Ephesians 3 14, he's going to say, I bow on my knees to the father and I pray that you might know and we're going to get to that prayer later but think about it. In the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, Paul prays 212:48 long prayers for the believers because it's that important that he pray over those who believe. In Ephesians chapter 6, he tells them to pray. You know, put on the12:59 armor of god. We love the armor of god. Helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, sword of spirit. But then he says, pray in all this pray in the spirit on all occasions with all prayers and13:09 supplications. And then he says, pray for me that words may be given to me. Let me just tell you, 1 of the best things you can do for me is pray that I can preach the word, and the word gets into your heart and13:20 strengthens your faith and builds you up in Christ so that you can conquer and live mightily and victoriously in this world. Here's what I want you to write down if you're taking notes. Prayer is the13:31 key to truly living in the reality of Christ. Do you pray over your salvation? Like think about this. If Paul prays13:43 twice in 3 chapters, I mean, doesn't just load them up with theology, he gives them theology but then he's and I'm praying that you understand this. I'm praying that this is a13:54 reality in your life and if Paul the apostle needed to pray that much in 3 chapters of writing the scriptures, how much more do we need to be active in praying14:06 that we will understand who we are and what we are and what we have in Christ Jesus? Oh, man, I'm telling you, I'm fired up about this because prayer is14:18 the key. Prayer is the key. Years ago, my wife and I, we actually went on our first vacation without kids. And you know when you have kids, those are few and14:30 far between. I remember we traveled up to the beautiful green mountains of Vermont and we got this resort location. It was through a timeshare, through a friend, so we got a great14:42 price And the listing said resort accommodations for your stay, and it was a long weekend, and I remember we traveled up, beautiful scenery, and we made it to the resort. We14:54 got there, we checked in, he handed me the key, handed me a piece of paper. I didn't look at the piece of paper, I just took the key, and he said, okay, here's your room key, and I just looked quickly, and I went up, we15:03 went upstairs to get into the room, we got into the room, and I walked in the room, I was disappointed. I looked in the room, it's basically a hotel room. There's a bed, there's a TV, no mini fridge, and15:15 then like a window to the outside. I'm like, you know, this is not what I thought I was signing up for. And Cheryl, she's much better sport than I am. She's like, don't worry about it, just enjoy it. You know, just gotta15:27 relax. I'm not gonna spend time here anyway. I said, I know, but it's resort accommodation. This is not a resort accommodation. This is Holiday Inn Express. I mean, let's be honest, right? So so I just kinda miffed.15:38 Anyway, we went to lunch. We went around town. Spent about 5 hours, came back right before dinner, we were going to get dressed and ready for dinner, and I just was so miffed, I decided I'm just going to talk about this15:49 with the front desk. So I went up to the front desk and I said, Listen, no offense, but I purchased resort accommodations, that's what I signed up for. I went up to the room and the key, I went in, it's a hotel room,16:01 it's a bed, a TV, I can get that anywhere. And I'll never forget what the guy said. He said, Mr. Hatch, I understand, but you are aware that your key opens the door to the room next16:13 door as well. And I'm like, no. He's like, it's on the paper I gave you. I whip out the paper, and there it is. 5 0 1 c, 516:25 0 1 d. I said, thank you very much. Yeah. So I walked over to the hotel lobby, into the elevator, went up to the fifth floor with Cheryl in16:37 tow. I opened the door to our original room, saw it, and then I went right over to 5 0 1 d, and I slid the key. I slid the key into the door. I opened it.16:49 Boom. Like, I was blown, blown away at this room. Living room, dining room, chandelier. There's an outdoor patio with seats and a17:01 view of this amazing golf course, and it just blew me away. Walked in minibar. Oh, man. Look at this place. We were like in heaven, and then I saw that there was a door that opened to17:12 connect our original room to the suite, and I didn't even realize. This is what I'm trying to tell you. I didn't even realize that I had the key to so much more than I17:24 was experiencing. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me today, believers in Christ. You got a key, but you got to understand it's not going to17:36 happen just automatically. You got to know. You got to read the paper God's given you, and then you got to apply it through prayer to understand what is yours in Christ17:48 Jesus. I wonder who here today, you're sleeping in a in a bed with a television and knows no real view to the real world that god has given you, and you got the key in your pocket, and god's assigned so much more to you.18:01 That's what today is about. That's what this prayer is about. Look what Paul says in verse 17. What does he pray for? He says, I pray that the god of our lord Jesus Christ, the18:13 father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Somebody say knowledge of him. Having18:25 the eyes of your hearts enlightened. And by the way, the Greek understanding for heart is not the emotional seat of your being, but the intellectual understanding of your being. I want you to18:36 know. In other words, I want God, and I'm praying for God to open your mind to perceive receive and understand everything God gives you in Christ18:48 Jesus. And what I love about this prayer in Ephesians 1 is it's a prayer we can pray over ourselves. Like some of you say, I don't know what to pray for. Okay, here's what you pray19:00 for. Go to the Bible and when you see in the New Testament especially, when you see someone say, I pray, you pray. You pray that prayer. So a great prayer for you every day19:12 to recover from spiritual amnesia is to say, Father, I ask that you give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Sometimes you just gotta open the Bible, just do it. If you can't remember the words, just go to Ephesians19:24 1. I pray that you give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of you that my heart might be enlightened, that my mind might be enlightened, that I might know that I might know. The primary19:36 aim want you to write this down. The primary aim in Paul's prayer. Here's what it is. That believers might know Christ and his resources available to them. I19:48 I want you to pull out the key. I want you to understand what is yours in Christ Jesus. Can I tell you first? He says, I pray that you might do the spirit20:00 of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Knowing Christ. Listen, knowing Christ is the greatest blessing of your life.20:12 It is the greatest thing you can know. The greatest person that you can know. We we know this from Paul's own testimony. Philippians chapter 3 8, he says, everything that I thought was gained, I consider rubbish20:24 compared to the surpassing knowledge of knowing of greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my lord, for whom sake I have lost all things and he says, I give everything up that I might know20:36 Christ. There's nothing better in life than to know Christ. Why? Because He's the 1 who gave you your life. He's the 1 who's holding your life, and He's the 1 who redeems your life, and protects your life, and20:48 guides your life. There's nothing better than knowing the author and the finisher of your salvation. Or Colossians chapter 1, when Paul unpacks the spiritual riches of Christ21:00 for us, the preeminence of Christ. Colossians 1 15, He's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. By him, all things were created in heaven on earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers,21:12 authorities. All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. Oh, there's nothing better. Oh, water strips, listen to me. There's nothing21:24 better than knowing Christ. Or Colossians 2 verse 3, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.21:36 In Christ are hidden all, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which means everything apart from Christ is living in ignorance and21:48 foolishness. In Christ, wisdom and knowledge. Outside of Christ, ignorance and foolishness. When you see unbelievers acting ignorantly and foolishly, they are living according to what22:00 they know. But believers, you have been given in Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That's our blessing. And sometimes we forget.22:12 And we start forgetting when we start acting like this world. We start forgetting when we start fearing what this world fears. When we start behaving like this world behaves. When we start trying to get the world to22:24 like us. We aren't here to be liked. We're here to know the love of God and what is ours in Christ Jesus. We are strangers who have been blessed by God. So22:36 I wanna unpack 3 points about the prayer from Paul that I want you to pray. I want you to consider this is your spiritual key right here. This is your key, 3 things, and then we're done. Pray22:48 and to know pray to know and understand, number 1, the hope of my calling. Write it down. Pray to know and understand the hope of my calling. What does Paul23:00 say? Having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know, these are the resources now, the hope to which he has called you. Now we Christians love to talk about our Oh, got a calling to be a mom. I got a23:12 calling to be a business leader. I got a calling to be a teacher. I got a call. I got a calling to be whatever. Look, those are material callings, and they don't last forever. They23:24 are temporal, and there's nothing wrong with them. Paul himself knew that he was called to be an apostle. I know I knew at a very young age. I was called to be a pastor, but your temporal calling is not what's in23:36 view here because he mentions the hope of your calling. And in 4 and in chapter 4, he's gonna talk about the the the calling to which he has called you. Walk according to that call. Here's23:48 what the calm is. The call is that God has taken you out of the world, set you apart for His purposes eternally. In fact, want you to write it down.24:00 God's call on your life is eternal and purposeful. It's an eternal calling. Here's what I mean by that. Here's what Paul means. Here's what the scripture means. Life is filled with great24:12 unknowns. I don't know what tomorrow holds. You don't, I don't. But I know who holds me and who holds tomorrow. In Christ Jesus, I know that I am in his hand24:23 and no 1 will ever snatch me out of his hand. And this is an eternal calling, that God knows me and has a plan for me for eternity,24:36 which means that my temporary problems and troubles are not the end of me and they don't define me, which means that my weaknesses and my shortcomings are not the ultimate definition of who24:48 I am. It is what God has called me to. I I think there's no better place to go for this, to unpack this idea. Scripture interprets Scripture. I want to bring you to Psalm 1 39. Look at some of these verses. Psalm 1 3925:00 verse 1. 0 Lord, you search me and you know me. You know when I sit, you know when I rise, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and you are acquainted with25:11 all my ways. Verse 7, he says, where shall I go from your spirit? In other words, you're always with me. Where shall I go from your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I25:23 go into the bed of Sheol, you are there. Let's skip down to verse 13, Psalm 1 39. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I25:35 am fearfully and wonderfully made. In other words, God put me together before anybody ever saw me. That's my eternal calling in God. And then verse 16 from the New Living25:47 Translation. Oh, love this verse. I love this. Some of you gotta circle it, underline. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment25:59 was laid out before a single day had passed. Man, I love that. Because it means that God knows what He's up to.26:11 And He knows what He's up to in every moment of my life. I wonder who's come to a moment in your life and you're just freaking out. You're just confused. You're scared. You're wondering what's26:23 gonna happen. Can I tell you God knows what's gonna happen? And God's not been caught off guard by what's going on in your life right now. And God is going to lay out the moments26:35 ahead of you according to his calling on you. I want you to write it down. It's the truth that I'm trying to get to. My life is God's idea, in God's hand, and will be worked out for26:47 God's plan. That's what he's talking about. And here's what Paul says, I'm praying for this for you. You know, Christians, sometimes we're guilty of having a26:59 victim complex that some people in the world don't even have. Some Christians, sometimes we like to say, oh, you know, I'm just a Christian. Oh, you know, I'm just. No, wrong. You are god's chosen. You are27:10 god's elect. You are god's people. And I think you gotta get an attitude. You gotta get an attitude because if you don't, you will drive yourself nuts. That whatever is happening now,27:22 god is working it out for what's going to happen later for my good. That's the eternal call. That's the hope of our calling in Christ. If we don't have27:34 hope, we lose everything. The Bible says hope deferred makes makes our heart sick. That we have a hope that makes us healthy in our heart to know whatever's happening now, it's gonna be used. It's27:46 gonna be used, and God knows the end from the beginning. He's the author of the finisher, and I don't have to freak out right now. I think about a young man in South Africa. You know, weird name, kind of lanky, kind of27:56 kind of strange kid. And in his own testimony, he was beat up every day in school. He says it was perpetually horrible. He got28:08 beat up so bad several times his mom had to take him to the hospital. This is back in the seventies when they didn't have bullying rules in schools. And he was ostracized. He felt like a total loser. 1 day, he's walking28:19 by a store, and he sees in the window a Commodore computer, and he asks his mom, can I get that? She buys it for him. He goes home, opens it up, spends an inordinate amount of time alone learning the language28:31 basic programming. That moment launched his career. He eventually would move to the United States. He founded a company called PayPal, made28:41 180000000 dollars when he sold it to eBay, took that money, invested it in a car company called Tesla. His name is Elon Musk, and right now he's trying to take people to Mars.28:54 I'm a big fan of Elon. I am a big fan because I think here's a guy who could let what people were doing to him and how his life started become a disaster and and the kinda like the29:05 definition of the rest of his life, but he doesn't. He lets what he could not be accepted and popular in his school become a vehicle through which God would put him on a course to change the29:17 world, and he is. Gas shortage, anybody? Get yourself an electric car. Somebody was way ahead of the curve on that 1. And my point is this, and I any I don't think Elon's a Christian. I I'm pretty sure he's not.29:29 In fact, I know he's But but I think about here's an unbeliever who is not letting what happened to him hurt him and hold him back. How much more so believers should we say, I'm not gonna29:41 let what's hurting me and holding me cause me to have this perpetual mindset that it will never work out for me when I know that I've got a calling that's eternal in the hand of God, and it will be worked out29:53 according to God's plan? How much more? Come on somebody, that's good preaching. I don't care what anybody says. That's good preaching. Here's number 2, pray to know and understand30:06 my belonging to God and His belonging to me. So Paul says, I want you to pray, I want you to understand, and I'm praying that you understand, what did he say? Verse 18, What are the riches of His30:18 glorious inheritance in the saints? Now, there's a debate in this text about what the inherit what the what the words glorious inheritance in the saints means. Now some theologians,30:30 and I read this in some commentary, some theologians mean that God takes possession of His saints. And then there's a whole another side that says, no, no, no, means that that30:42 the saints take possession of God. So is it God takes possession of his saints, or is it the saints take possession of God? Here's how you solve dilemmas like that when there's equal arguments for both30:54 sides. It's both. It's both. I belong to God, and he belongs to me. Now there are some precious promises to that from scripture. I hope you're ready to write these down. I'm gonna go through them quickly. A,31:06 b, c, and d in your notes. Letter a, I belong to God, therefore, he never loses me. Yeah. Yeah. He never forgets. I I forget where my car keys are. I forget where my sunglasses are. I forget where my coat is. I forget31:18 where my phone is. Ask my wife. She's always trying to find my stuff because I forget it all the time. God never forgets. He never loses you. Here's some promises. You gotta get these in your spirit. John 10 27. Jesus31:29 said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them, and I give them eternal life, and they never perish, and listen to this, and no 1 will snatch them out of my hand. Then just31:41 in case you're unsure, verse 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no 1 is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. You are in Christ's hand, and you are in the father's hand. Not31:53 once, but twice. Jesus wants you to know, no 1 is taking you from god. John 6 37, he says this, all that the father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never cast32:04 out. I belong to god. Therefore, he never loses me. Letter b. I belong to god. Therefore, he invests in me. This is a precious promise. So, let me read some scriptures32:16 for you. Colossians 2 10, and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. Now, this is not on the screen but let me give you a couple other passages. First Peter 4 10,32:28 each of us has received a gift from god. Second Corinthians 9 9 says, He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor. What I'm trying to tell you is God has given you gifts.32:40 He's deposited gifts inside of you, Christian. Second Timothy 1 14 says this, by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, guard the good deposit32:51 entrusted to you. In other words, that to become a Christian is not just to have your sins forgiven so that you don't go to hell, but to become a Christian is to have God pour into your life gifts and deposits to birth33:03 in your life the things that God wants to do through you and in you. Okay, now let's flip the script. I belong to God, therefore He never loses me and He invests in me.33:14 Letter c, God belongs to me. Somebody needs to say that right now. You need to say it because it sounds weird, you need to say it. Ready? On the count of 3, let us see. 1, 2, 3. God belongs to me. Okay. Now,33:26 therefore, you can write this down, I'm provided for in every situation. That that sounds strange. I know some of you are having a hard time with it, but let me just show you a passage of scripture to back me up.33:38 Philippians 4 19. Look what Paul says. And my god love it. Love that. My god will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory.33:50 I love that. He's he's my god. Let letter d. God belongs to me. Therefore, I'm not anxious for anything.34:02 Oh, love this 1. God belongs to me. So the glorious inheritance in the saints is that God takes possession of you and He never loses you, and that doesn't34:14 mean you won't wander, that doesn't mean you won't get tempted, that doesn't mean you won't stray, but if you are in Christ, if you are His sheep, He goes after the 1, He leaves the 99, He goes after the 1, and He goes34:25 back and He gets you, and He pulls you back, and He brings you back into the fold because He's the good shepherd who loses none of what the Father gives Him. But but then the second part of that is, he's my shepherd.34:36 Yeah. Yeah. I'm his sheep but he's my shepherd. Psalm 23 verse 1, the lord is my shepherd. I shall34:48 not want. See, some of you got to take possession of God. You got to take possession of Him. You've got to say, Lord, you're mine, which which means none of the gods of this world are mine. The the Lord of heaven and34:59 earth, He belongs to me. These are precious promises, and you need to pray this over your life. Father, help me to remember that I am yours35:11 and you are mine. I'm telling you it's going to change your life. It's the it's opening the door to the luxury suite that has been prepared for you by your father in heaven.35:24 Now, number 3 and finally, pray to know and understand. The great power of god available to me. I make this point personal because it is35:35 personal. God wants you to know his power. He wants you to know he's got all the power that you need in your life. In Ephesians chapter 135:47 verse 19, here's what Paul says. And remember, in the context of I'm praying that the god of father of our lord Jesus Christ, the god of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom, revelation, and your knowledge of him that35:58 you might know. Third thing, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power, and I love these 2 words, toward us who36:09 believe according to the working of his great might. Okay. First off, Paul is a huge fan of stringing together adjectives and36:21 adverbs. He does this constantly. There are synonymous adjectives in this passage. The immeasurable greatness, you know, of his power toward us who believe. According to36:33 his great might and later on, he gets into even more synonyms to kind of sell it. I mean, he is he is pouring out the synonyms here to push the point, to pound the36:45 point in us. You got more power available than you realize. You have more power available, Christian, than you realize. And here's the36:57 thought that I had come to my head. Just listen to this for a second. If Paul tells us, and it's been inspired by the Holy Spirit to put it in the scriptures, I'm37:08 praying that you understand the power that is at work toward you, it inherently means that there is something at work in us right now that we aren't even aware37:20 of. Here here here's the point. Let me I'll be writing down so that you remember it. Here's the truth. God's power is working in my life in ways that I may not presently realize.37:32 That's the truth that he's trying to unpack here. Because the word is toward us. I I want you to understand the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us. There's there's37:44 a power coming from heaven toward you, Christian. Yes, toward you. This is why scriptures will say, we are more than conquerors through37:55 Christ who loved us. This is why the scripture says, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. This is why Jesus said to the disciples in Acts chapter 1, you38:07 will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you. Christians, you've got power. You've got to take out the key. You've got to pray. Oh god, help me38:19 to know the power that I have available to me. In Jesus name. So he goes on. Let's understand the power that he's talking about. Verse 20, that he worked in38:31 Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. It's resurrection power. The same power that the scripture says in another passage, the same power that raised38:43 Christ from the dead. It dwells in us and it quickens our mortal bodies, Romans chapter 8. We've got the resurrection power of Christ available to us. And notice38:54 the power of Christ, verse 21, is far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, every name that is named, not only in this age but in the ones to come.39:07 In other words, the power of Christ is above the powers of this age, is above the governors, is above the senators, is above the presidents, It's above the dictators. It's above the fascists. It's above every person inShow more
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