Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_02 14:25

It never shifts, never knocks our feet off from underneath us. Never change that. You are working our trust. Please are trusting up. Thank you. Never leave us and never forsake us, God. Thank you for your work. This is part of the foundation of praying you would open our eyes to your truth today. Expect to think of what you're gonna teach us today. Thank you for your work. Thank you for Jesus.

Barkef 15:25

Amen. Good morning. If you're a guest, delighted that you're here. I'm Mark Effosegan and I'm one of the pastors here. We're so happy that you're here. If you are, I guess perhaps you don't know that there were some 35 guys that just got back from Belize. We did a construction mission trip, service trip in Belize, and I was able to be part of that. And you know, um there the first three rules of all mission trips are this be flexible, be flexible, be flexible. So when we got there, it turns out that my luggage didn't show up. So for over 48 hours, I was in the same clothes. And I thought the guys are about to kick me out of cap. There was an aroma that was happening, you know what I'm saying? But but don't worry, it didn't show up, and I have bathed since then. Thank you very much. And these are not the clothes I was wearing for those 48 plus hours. Now, if you're I guess we want you to know that we're about to step in to some really meaty stuff in the book of Ephesians. And so, uh, if you've just kind of stumbled in, if you're not used to hearing teaching from the word of God, I don't want you to just hang in there with us. Uh, we're a Bible church for a reason. We do believe that the word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, above joint and marrow, and abilities of thoughts and the intentions of the heart. We believe that all scripture was inspired by God and proud for teaching for correction and righteousness, training in righteousness, that the man of God, the woman of God, would be adequate equipped for every good work. Now, when we come to the book of Ephesians, this is one of the most dense books in the New Testament. This letter to the church in Ephesus. And I got a chance, you know, to hear uh when Michael preached last Sunday, and he covered a lot of territory, didn't he? In fact, I saw him going from one end of the stage to the other of the stage, and he was talking about all that's gonna be covered, and he's right. That's why we're gonna take seven months to get through this, because it's worthy that it should be studied. Now we're gonna find that the first half of the book, and this is typical of the Apostle Paul, he's gonna talk about theology and help us understand the anchored and who we are in Christ. Because it's from that position that we'll be able to live out, practically speaking, what he's called us to be and representing him on this globe. And so as we step in, we're gonna step in some meaty stuff, and I I I venture to say, even if you are a long student of the word, I bet you're gonna be challenged today with a few things. And uh, I'll probably get a few emails. Uh if you know my number, I'll probably get a few texts, and that's okay. In fact, if you're new and you hear something that you just don't get it, uh my email is barkef at copellbobble.org. You email me and we'll go to lunch. And I'll say I'll even pay for lunch. Now that ought to get them in here. I'll even pay for lunch, and so we can talk through what's going on here. We've talked about this series, Life in Christ. And the reason is that we hear about being in Christ constantly in this particular letter, and we need to know what does it mean to be in Christ. Now, this this uh verses three through fourteen are one long sentence in the original. In the Koinine Greek, it's one long sentence. In fact, Greek scholars say this is the most difficult sentence to translate of all papri that have been found concerning Koinine Greek. And yet, in this, it's so important that we grasp what's going on. He's gonna talk to us about the Father, the will of the Father. He's he's gonna talk to us about the work of the Son, and he's gonna talk to us about the witness of the Holy Spirit and all those who place their faith, their trust in Christ alone as Savior. But he's gonna use this phraseology in Christ, in him, in the beloved, over and over and over again. And it's important that we understand what it means that a believer is in Christ. If we don't get that right, then forget living a life that represents him well. That's not gonna happen. Uh, but if we can grasp it, who will live in a whole different plane in the here and the now? When Scholar puts it this way, in fact, Paul's argument refers to what is true in Christ or in him, no fewer than 11 times in Ephesians. In Christ, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. In him, we are chosen before creation by Christ Jesus, predestined to adoption, in the beloved, made, accepted, in him, redeemed and forgiven, in himself, God's purpose and will were manifested. In Christ, in him, everything was gathered together, in him obtained, we obtained an inheritance. In him, we're predestined, in Christ, the Christian has trusted, in Christ, heard and believed, in him are sealed with the Spirit, with Christ made alive in Christ Jesus. We sit in the heavenly places. That's a lot to unpack. Did y'all bring a lunch? You're gonna need it. Well, really, what we're gonna unpack to begin with is we're gonna unpack verses three through six. Beginning in verse three of chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. There's a famous uh philosopher, Epotitus, who lived during the time of Christ, by the way. And here's what he says Know first who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly. Well, that's exactly what the book of Ephesians, the letter of Ephesians, is all about. Know who you are first, first three chapters, and then adorn yourself accordingly. The last three chapters. But do you know who you are? It is well known in scientific circles that birds, especially ducks, experience imprinting soon after birth. There's a story that perhaps many of you know about. Are you my mother? Anyone know of this book? We read it to our children as they were growing up, and now we'll begin reading it to our grandchildren. Thank you very much. Sweet story. There's a little bird that's uh about to come out of the egg, and the mother flies off to go get food, knowing it's about to hatch. And then the bird comes out of its egg and falls out of the nest. No one to imprint on. So he starts walking around trying to find his mother, and he comes to a little kitten. Are you my mother? Well, no, I'm not your mother, I'm a kitten. Finds a dog. Are you my mother? Well, no, I'm a dog. He comes to a cow. Are you my mother? No, I'm a cow. How it goes on and on, and I know some of you are concerned. He does find his mother at the end. Just want you to know that. He finds his mother. But this brings up the whole idea of feral children. Max Anders writes, Feral children, wild children. Over the last 500 years, there have been 53 documented accounts of children who have been found who were adopted by different kinds of animals and raised in the wild by wolves, bears, antelopes, monkeys, and pigs. And Max Andrews happens. He said this is his hobby is to look all this up and read all these stories. And he tells a particular story in Sierra magazine. He found a late 80s Sierra magazine entitled Uganda's Wild Child. He wasn't swinging from the trees like the boy in Kipling's The Jungle Book, but like Mowgli, the young boy found in a Ugandan jungle is believed to have been nurtured by wild animals for as long as four to five years. The two and a half foot child, 22-pound boy, was living with a tribe of monkeys when he was discovered by a Ugandan military unit. Having captured the boy, it's estimated that he's five to six years old. The soldiers turned him over to an orphanage. The orphan has been called the monkey child because he grunts and squeals, jumps around with his hands clenched, and prefers to eat grass. He seems to be afraid of people and tries to scratch anyone who approaches him. When we don't know who we are in Christ, when we don't know who our Father is, we're like feral children. We're still living according to what we have been printed upon in the world system. But God's desire is that we would know our Heavenly Father. That we would know who we are. John Phillips, a theologian, writes, The Supreme Revelation, the supreme revelation of God in the Bible is that He is the Father and that He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, the concept of God as Father scarcely appears in the Old Testament, only 15 times. Rather, God is revealed in the Old Testament as the creator, as the covenant keeper, as the Lord. He is El the Almighty, El Shaddai the gracious giver, Jehovah Jirah, the Lord who provides, Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of all peace, Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. Not until Jesus came was God fully revealed as the Father. Jesus' first recorded words are enshrined in Luke 2.49 when he's lost and seemingly lost, and his parents come and find him in the temple. And he says, Would you not expect me to be about my father's business? He teaches the disciples to pray. Our Father. He cries from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. In the New Testament, God is referred to as Father approximately two hundred and fifty times. Jesus refers to God as Father over a hundred and fifty times. A hundred times in the Gospel of John alone. Jesus had as his mission not only our salvation, but that we would know God our Father. So as we study this morning these few verses, we want to get to know God, our Father. We want to know our Father's provision. Look what it says here in Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Now, this idea about heavenly places, we hear it five times in the book of Ephesians and nowhere else. Dr. Evans says this in heavenly places, five times in Ephesians and nowhere else in Scripture, in heavenly places, everything visible and physical is a result of something invisible and spiritual. Therefore, only by addressing the invisible spiritual can we fix what is wrong with our visible physical lives. Story was told of a boxer who was just losing badly, just being pummeled. And the bell rings, and he goes to sit down in his corner for a minute before he has to get back up for the next session. And his manager's trying to encourage him. He says, Man, you're doing great. You're doing great. He hadn't laid a glove on you. To which he said, Well, then watch the referee because somebody's beat me to death. You ever feel that way, spiritually speaking? I mean, we're told that we're victors in Christ, and yet this world tends to beat us up. We tend to have turmoil and anxiety and frustrations. How can this be? It's because we're not acknowledging that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the spiritual realm. And everything that happens to us is an effect of something that's going on in the spiritual realm. And until we address our lives in the spiritual realm, we'll never be able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, no matter how hard we try. We need to address what's going on in our lives in the spiritual realm. Live in a whole different plane. One scholar says this, every spiritual blessing, this can be translated as all blessings of the Spirit, referring to the Holy Spirit. This is similar to a family member sharing in the medical insurance benefits of the head of the household. So the moment we place our faith, our trust in Christ, all that is Christ has now been given to us that we would know victory in this life, in representing him well. Who's the primary on your insurance? The nurse asks. Well, he is. Okay. And are you his son? Yes, I am. Well, then come on in. Who's the primary on this insurance? Well, it's my mom. There she is. And are you her daughter? Well, yes, I am. Well, then come on in. Similarly, when we're in Christ, we're covered. Now, I witnessed this idea on our mission trip this past week about living in the spiritual realm. We were there to do construction, to bless others less fortunate than ourselves. But every evening, 35 men from four different states, most of them from this church, but not all, were meeting together in the evening in a big circle, and we were singing praises, and someone would do a devotional, and then we would stop and we would share times of prayer. Now, we have this saying in Belize, it's kind of like Las Vegas. What happens in Belize stays in Belize. So I could share, but I won't. Some very intimate prayer requests that 35 men prayed about together. We also had some reports about prayers that were answered from a year ago. Some quite miraculously. And this year, they started a prayer journal for the first time, although they were already doing it kind of on the phone already. But now they had a book that everybody write a prayer that you want all of us to be praying over for the next year. Anybody wanted to could take a picture of that list and be on that list and pray. Listen, that right there, that's understanding that we have every spiritual blessing we need in heavenly places. In the spiritual realm, we have all that we need. Jesus put it this way: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may be with you forever. Zechariah says this, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. The Apostle Paul says this, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. What all things? Can I become Michael Jordan in Christ? I don't think so. Do you? No, but anything that God has called me to do in the spiritual realm, I can do. I can pray for you. I can be there for you. I can encourage you. I can receive encouragement from you. I can witness of the truth of the testimony that I have concerning what God's done in my life. I can share your testimony if you give me permission. I can be an encourager in supernatural ways. Why? Because I can do all things that I've been called to do through Christ who strengthens me. Same is true for you. Do you know who you are? Do you know who your heavenly Father is? Do you know that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus? At one point, Paul's health is failing him, his eyes are failing him. As best we can understand, he's got a thorn in his side, he says, from Satan himself. Three times he offers to God, would this be removed? Would this be removed? Would this be removed? The same man who through his apostolic authority has healed men who were crippled from birth. And yet he himself is having a physical ailment, and he's asking God. God tells him, No. In fact, he responds, Here's what my heavenly father told me. To which Paul responds, Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

What's your weakness? You can boast in it that God would use you in spite of it.

Barkef 36:22

Because you received everything you need to be spiritually successful by the power of the Holy Spirit in heavenly places. Peter puts it this way In 1 Peter 4 11, whoever serves to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies. Look, I don't want to do this in my own strength. I don't want to preach, I don't want to teach, I don't want to help, I don't want to serve in my own strength. But in the strength that God supplies. I don't want to be a good spouse, a good husband in my own strength. I don't want to be a good father in my own strength. I don't want to be a good grandfather in my own strength, but rather in the strength that God supplies. I will fail every time if I'm trying to do it in my own strength. And so will you. God's desire is that we would understand all that we have in Christ Jesus through Heavenly Father. In Matthew, Jesus says this: Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and it will be found. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives. Everyone who knocks, it will be open. God's desire is that you and I would be those who find the goodness of God by going to him. He says, Or what man is there among you who his son asks for a loaf of bread, we'll give him a stone. Or what man among you, if your son asks for a fish, you're not going to give him a stake, a snake, are you? And you, you, being relatively evil, certainly by comparison to God, look how good you're being to your children anyway. How much more will your heavenly father give to him who asks, seeks, knocks? God's desire is that we would understand our Heavenly Father's provision, what we have, this life we have in Christ. Next one we're going to look at, know what our Father's plan is. We see this in the next few verses. Verse 4. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Now, this is really important. We're talking about predestination. This is a word made up of two different words, before to determine, to determine, to decide beforehand. He decided something beforehand. What did he decide? That's the question we have to ask ourselves. Now, those who believe that God decided from eternity past every individual who would trust Christ. He pointed out and picked them out. I'll take you and I'll take you and I'll take you. Well, if that's true, then it also means he decided who wasn't going to trust Christ. I'm not taking you, I'm not taking you, I'm not taking you. Now that's a real problem, don't you think? I'm going to tell you something that's a phenomenon taking place right now in the church world. The young people who have been raised in church between their teens and their 30s, there's a phenomenon, a large portion of them are doing what's called deconstructing. What they mean by that is I was raised in this church stuff. No thank you. And the reason they're saying no thank you is because some are thinking that God decided in eternity past, I pick you and I pick you and I pick you. But I don't pick you and I don't pick you and I don't pick you. And they have these sweet friends of theirs that they grew up with in the neighborhood. And many of them, because of the media, because of online uh confusion, are dealing with gender dysphoria. And they're confused. Some of them, males, think they're females, some females think they're males. Some of them think they're cats and dogs, by the way. Look it up. But here you have this good Christian girl, and she has a girl, a friend who's struggling with this, and she's thinking, well, if God officially decided in eternity past to not pick her, I don't want to worship that God. And they're confused. About uh 12 years ago now, some of you will remember this story, but some of you are new. I feel compelled to share it. There was a young man who came to our church and was with us for about a month. Went to another number of small group meetings. He he went to lunch with two of the associate pastors and he was filling out his membership. He wanted to join. So he called and said, Look, I want to turn in my membership stuff, but I'd like to meet with the pastor first. Is there a time that I can meet with him? And I said, Absolutely. Let's get together. And he he came into my office and he sat down with his membership papers in his hand. I said, How can I help you? He said, Well, I've never, I was not raised in church. This is the first church I've ever stepped into. And it's the most loving community I've ever experienced. And I want to join. But I feel like I owe it to you to tell you something and to ask you a question. Sure, go ahead. You need to know that I was born a woman. And I want to know if I'll be accepted here. This person had a full beard talking to me right across. I said, that's an excellent question. And I'd like to get to that question. But do you mind if I talk about something else with you before that? Sure. And I began to share the gospel with her. And when I got through, I said, Do you believe this? Do you trust that Jesus Christ, at his own testimony, is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes with the Father except by him? Do you place your faith, your trust in Christ alone as Savior and no other way? She said, Yes. Said, that's awesome. I'd like to pray with you. Would you mind praying? I mean, when I became a believer, I was so excited. I wanted to thank God. And my friend said, Well, let's do it. We'll just pray. And prayer is just talking to God, telling him, Thank you. Would you like to do that with me? And she said, Yes. And she prayed with me. And I believe she belongs to God forever through simple faith in Jesus Christ. And so now let's get to your other question. So I want to ask you do you have to take prescription medications now for the rest of your life? Yes, I do. Well, let me ask you what if you stop taking those prescriptions? Said, well, my beard would fall out, the hair on my arms would fall out, my hips would spread. Said exactly. You know why? Because you were born a woman, and your chromosomes have not been changed. Of course we will accept you here. Of course we'll embrace you here, but we will also provide you the counseling you need to fully acknowledge who you have been created to be in Christ Jesus. And if you need us to help you to afford it, we'll pay for the counseling. She said, Thank you. I said, Well, I gave her a Bible, I gave her a tract that shared the same gospel we'd already been through, and said, I sure hope I get to see you again. She said, Thank you. And she walked out those doors. I've never seen her again. I still believe that she belongs to Jesus Christ forevermore. Is it possible to be a believer, a true believer, and be totally confused in any different area of your life? Of course it is. Now, if she would stay and continue to get teaching and some counseling, all that could clear up. It could. Do you know that there is a young woman this past week who won a $3 million settlement who is retransitioned back to the female that she is? Have you seen that in the news, anybody? These young people are waking up, some of them, too late. They've been maimed. And yet, there are many who are waking up. But unfortunately, too much of the media refuses to cover it. You need to understand, God has not predestined anyone to be permanently lost. No one. Here's what John 6.44 says. No one can come to me, Jesus says, unless the Father who sent me draws him. John 6.65, no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him from the Father. These two verses have been often twisted to say, well, that means that God has made a choice from eternity past, and that means he made a choice on both sides of that aisle. But if we keep reading, we read in John 12, 32, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will, will, will draw all men to myself. God is drawing everybody, but he gives you the free will of turning the other way. Here's what it says in 2 Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish. God's patient toward all. We can reject the evidence. We can choose not to really look seriously at the evidence. But if we will choose to look at the evidence, we can become convinced that can happen. For my young people, if you've heard through osmosis the wrong teaching, do yourself a favor. Investigate it for yourself, and you will see. This idea of being predestined is the idea of corporate predestination. God decided in eternity past that he would bless the church. But he didn't go out and nilly-willy pick who would be in the church. He gave everyone the opportunity to trust Christ and ergo be under the covering of Jesus Christ. What did he predestine? That the church would be holy and blameless. What did he betray predestine that all those who trust Christ would be adopted as his children? This is a wonderful book called Chosen to Serve by Sean Lazar, and I really recommend it very highly to you. It's about 20 bucks on Amazon. I get none of it. I know Sean. Uh he's an acquaintance of mine, but it's one of the best books I've found so far on this subject. If you're still confused, you're still obviously in this short period of time, I'm not gonna be able to cover every verse that could possibly be misconstrued to think that God predestined anyone or passed over anyone from eternity past. But he does. It's a wonderful book. He covers every single verse that could possibly be confused. And there's an index in the back. So let's say it's Ephesians 1, 4, and 5. And you think, well, that doesn't make sense to me. That looks like God is deciding such and so. You look it up, it's oh, page 202. I can look this up and I can see all the evidence for why that can't possibly be what the scripture is saying. Now he quotes a number of scholars, by the way, even though he's a scholar himself. And here's a section I think it's worth reading this morning. I told you we're gonna dig deep. Did you bring your lunch?

unknown 50:42

Dr.

Barkef 50:42

Rodmacher says, when we follow Paul's use of the expression, we discover that to be in Christ, that expression, means that in a real sense, the Christian has been placed, located within Christ. In Christ signifies that whatever Jesus Christ is before God the Father, the believer shares his identity because he or she is within the Savior. It is the Father giving the believer the exalted status that Christ in all his glory now holds. It is in Christians' full identification with Jesus Christ in his eyes that the Father sees this. This is exactly what we can see in our examination of the individual corporate pattern and divine election. Priests were chosen to serve as priests because they were in Aaron and shared his identity. Likewise, believers are predestined in so far as they are in Christ and so share his identity. That is how predestination relates to the in Christo in Christ. You are not individually elected from all eternity, the group is. The body of Christ is, and you are put in Christ when you believe in him. Now, if you know some young people who are confused, I recommend you get a hold of this book and you study it and you be prepared to handle that argument to help them see with great clarity that God has destined no one purposefully from eternity past to condemnation. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting lies. For the Father did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him. Digging deep. Life in Christ. Know your father's provision. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Know your Father's plan. He chose us in choosing the church, all those who are now in Christ. He predestined beforehand that the church would be holy and blameless. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Anytime that pool is used, the first person pool, us, it's reference to the church. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Know your Father's purpose. Verse 4. He chose us in him, Jesus Christ, that we would be holy and blameless before him. All those have placed their faith, their trust in Christ, now part of God's church, God's every intent is that you would understand yourself positionally to be holy and blameless, because you have taken on the identification of Jesus Christ. At the same time, he also wants us to be holy and blameless practically. But until we understand we are that positionally, we can't possibly anticipate being that practically. So we're called and understood that, hey, we're now adopted as sons. We are positionally his children. He came to his own, but his own did not accept him. But all those who trust him, who believe in him, are his children forever more. So this whole idea of adoption, William Barclay describes this, a famous theologian concerning how this could be communicated. Barclay writes, concerning the first century Roman concept of adoption as a son, when the adoption was complete, it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in the new family and completely lost all rights in the old family. In the eyes of the law, he was a new person. So new was he that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed. That's why positionally we're already holy and blameless. But he wants us to represent Christ well. How can we be holy and blameless on a practical level? Well, here's what Peter says: like the holy one who has called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. Now, when we break down this meaning of the word holy, it means to be separated. We're going to be separated for the way the world thinks, and we're going to think God's thoughts after Him. How are we going to be holy? By renewing our minds, by the study of the Word, but we'd be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we would know what the will of God is, both good and pleasing will of our Heavenly Father. And in so doing, we're, we separate ourselves. We no longer want to think the world's thoughts after them. We want to think God's thoughts after him, which is why we are a Bible church. We can study the word and inculcate it into our lives. We want to represent him, be at his disposal. That wouldn't mean to be separate. You know, my bride has some uh sanctified, holy uh China. Did you know that? It's in a China cabinet. It's holy, it's separate. It is. Every now and then I might even get to touch it. It only gets pulled out for special occasion, for special use. That's what he's talking about. God's desire is that we would be like that piece of China that is set apart for special use. What use? To represent Christ in our daily lives. He says we should be blameless. Practically speaking, we are holy. I mean, positionally speaking, we are holy. Now, practically speaking, we have an opportunity to live that out. But what about blameless? Blame us. Blamelessness does not mean sinless. We can be sinful but blameless. How? By handling our sin properly. By confessing and seeking forgiveness and providing restitution when possible. On a practical level, positionally, we're already considered blameless, but practically speaking, we can admit when we're wrong. 1 John 1 9, written to believers, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To confess is made up of two words in the Greek. Again, to say, to say again. The Holy Spirit touches your heart and said, That was rude, that was mean. And you say, God, you're right. That was rude. And that was mean. I need to go apologize. I need to go make it right. By your grace and your strength, I'm going to do that very thing. At that point, you're not sinless, but you are blameless because you have dealt well with your sin. Until we know who we are in Christ Jesus, who our Heavenly Father is, we don't live out practically speaking what we are positionally already. But we can. When 35 guys went to Belize, what were they saying? I'm setting aside this week to be used of God of what He would want me to do. I'm giving up all of my own rights here in the U.S. I'm giving up all of my privileges of driving my own car, doing all no, I want God, what would you have me to do? I'm going to serve others who are less off well than I am.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

I'm the china or the hammer being taken out of the closet and put to use.

Barkef 59:33

And when I mess up, I admit it. You know, I was using a drill, and uh I was trying to put in some uh sheetrock and I put a trying to put a drill in, and I messed up. Now, David Patterson was real quick to explain that to me and point it out to everybody else in the room, hey y'all, come on over here. I want you to see what Barkheav just did. This is the craziest thing ever. And you know what I had to do? I had to back that screw out and put a right one in the right way. God's desire is that when we mess up, we admit it. We make amends. We own it, and we do what's right. We make it right. And in so doing, we're not sinless, but we are blameless. In Christ, we want to know who we are, who our Father is. Know your Father's provision, know your Father's plan, know your Father's purpose. He chose us in Christ Jesus that we would be holy and blameless before him. And finally, know your father's motivation. Verses five and six. In love, he predestined us, all those who are part of the church, to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

God is good all the time. God is good.

Barkef 1:01:14

He's kind, he's gracious, he's merciful. To the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. Now, I don't know if you're reading your passage there, but that last word, beloved, is capitalized, beloved, he's referring to Jesus Christ. In the beloved, we are holy and blameless. In the beloved, we are adopted as sons. The old us has passed away. All things are becoming new. Jesus baptism, Heavenly Father said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. At the transfiguration, Heavenly Father said, This is my beloved Son.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:08

Listen to him. He's the primary on the insurance.

Barkef 1:02:19

And all his children are covered. Just stand and pray with me. Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for your love. All glory and honor be yours. Hosanna in the highest. Heavenly Father, we've uh we've studied your word some deep stuff today. I pray, Father, I pray that all who are in the sound of my voice would even as I continue to dig in and fully embrace the truth that you have given us in your word. That we know who we are in Christ, that we might live out in such a way that we would represent Him well. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father, let it begin with us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

unknown 1:03:25

Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:28

Thank you, for your word, thank you, for your word. Thank you, Jesus, so.