WEBVTT 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:19.519 So he came to redeem you at the cross through the blood of Christ to set you free. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:32.240 And in today's world, most people want to come and get you to make you a product so that they can enslave you to something that makes them money. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:39.200 Christ comes in the opposite spirit, and he comes and he redeems you to actually set you free. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.920 Now, awesome, nothing quite like it in this world. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:54.399 If someone would come and give their heart and give their life and give their blood so that you, by believing that, could be set free to a new future. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.359 At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:03.600 For more information on the road, visit theroad.org. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.799 We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.599 So, you guys that were not here last Sunday, we started the book of Ephesians. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:24.640 We're in the book of Ephesians, and I'm calling it Born for War, a spiritual manual for living out the Christian life. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:32.959 And I shared last week that there's really two parts, almost like two outline parts to Ephesians. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:42.079 And the first three chapters are about our position in Christ, and the four through six chapters are about the power we have in Christ. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:44.480 So it's position and it's power. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.079 And so we're going to start going through verse by verse through the book. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.760 And here's the deal: that the Christian life is hard. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.079 Everybody say the Christian life is hard. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:01.920 And if you don't think so, then you're not living in reality. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:03.280 All right. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:13.919 So, you know, sometimes in the Christian life, because of the religious circles that some of you may have come in, there is a tendency to get over-religious about things that really are not helpful. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:21.680 So we get over-religious and we think that we're just going to go from victory to victory to victory, and the Christian life is just one victorious step after another. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:26.719 And my experience personally, my experience of being a pastor and a counselor, that's just not true. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:28.719 That you're you hit the wall a lot of times. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:29.919 You go through difficulties. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.000 We're living in a sinful world. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.719 We're living in a demonically infested world. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:40.080 And so the victory is to the man and the woman and the child that learns to fight. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:03:01.520 So what we're trying to do with our children's ministry, what we're trying to do in our youth ministry, what we're trying to do in our young adults' ministry, what we're trying to do with the men at aim on Tuesday morning is to train and equip you to fight, to battle, to see that you have to go after it with a focused life, a focused life. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:13.599 Well, Ephesians, you can't get any better than this book on how to focus our lives toward taking back territory that the darkness has taken in all of our lives. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.439 Everybody here has shame. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.120 And so God doesn't want us to walk in shame, he wants to walk in victory. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:24.719 And Ephesians begins to set up an understanding of the warfare like no other book in the Bible. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.560 So turn to Ephesians chapter 1. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.759 And I began a little bit last week, but we're going to dive a little further this week. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:42.560 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:43.919 Look at the two ends here. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.319 In Ephesus, in Christ Jesus. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.560 Men and women, you have two addresses. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:50.479 One address is you're in Christ. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.800 Second address, you're in Colorado Springs. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.360 Okay, so it's living out the in Christ in Colorado Springs. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:03:59.919 God puts you in a territory. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:04.319 God puts you in a locale and he expects you there to be used by him. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:15.599 In other words, you're uniquely built, uniquely set up by God for this city, this county, and this time in history. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.600 There's a reason you're here. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:21.199 Now, some of you may not be here next year, and so God may move you on. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.600 I've been here 28 years. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:24.160 Okay? 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:26.319 And I love this county. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:27.680 I love El Paso County. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:29.439 I love Colorado Springs. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:30.639 I love this church. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:31.759 I love building this church. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.240 I love building Mountain Springs Church before that. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.680 I believe in the destiny of Colorado Springs. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:44.560 But the destiny of Colorado Springs will not be realized without a whole lot of people in this city who are in Christ. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:53.040 Because let me tell you, if the in Christ people don't start living for being in Colorado Springs, the uninchrist people will take over. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:06.079 Okay, so God needs you and He uses you in a mighty way to bring His love, His passion, His power, His commitment, and His kingdom to this city. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:12.800 So you are in Christ, positionally, you're in Christ, experientially, you're in Christ, in Colorado Springs. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.600 You're a, most of you, I think, are U.S. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:16.639 citizens. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:18.240 So you're a part of this country. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:21.839 You're in America in the third millennium. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:23.759 Here in the third millennium, we're in America. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.199 And it's it's kind of a mess right now, okay, in many ways. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.480 But that's why you're here. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:31.759 Okay? 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:40.240 We can sit on the sidelines and just watch it all go by and say, Sarah, Sarah, whatever will be, will be, and that is not biblical. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:42.079 That's called lazy. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:43.040 Okay? 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:45.839 So God wants to use you in a mighty way. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:47.360 He wants you to vote in elections. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.560 Some of you need to run for office, like Jay Inman's doing. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.560 He's running for office in District 2. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:54.399 Some of you may run for mayor. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:07.600 Some of our little kids downstairs may be pastoring churches, or they may be leading these fantastic businesses in the years to come because they learned about how to be in Christ at the road. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:09.759 That's what we're here to do. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:22.160 We're here to be in Christ at the road, in Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, in the United States of America, in the Rockies for a kingdom of God revolution. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:23.759 That's what it's all about. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:34.319 So he says here, your saints in Christ, in Ephesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.040 Now notice the chronological order here: Grace to you and peace from God. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.800 You can't have peace from God until you get grace to you. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:57.680 So there's a lot of people out there that want peace, and they're trying to find peace through drugs, they're trying to find peace through sex, they're trying to find peace through jumping from job to job and trying to find peace without God. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.759 But you can't have peace from God until you receive the grace of God. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:10.079 So when we receive the grace of God, we now have a fighting chance to have peace from God because now we can be in Christ. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:11.360 Isn't that exciting? 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.439 Because you can't be in Christ without his grace because he reaches out to you. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.800 We love him because he first loved us. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:26.560 So his grace is caras, comes to us, his love comes to us, but it's not like Smokey the Bear. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:42.800 So, kind of modern-day evangelistic crusades are that, you know, stand up or raise your hand or say the prayer or come forward or whatever different crusades do, sign the little thing saying you've received Christ, and now you're in. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.160 It's kind of like we got you out of the hell fire. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:47.920 We got you out of the fires of hell. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:49.680 Smoky bear came. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.000 Jesus the smoky bear. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:54.240 I'm telling you this. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:00.879 The Christian life, as I read about it in here, is not about getting you out of the fire, it's about getting you in the fire. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:03.040 You need your heart fired up. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.199 You need to be whole-hearted disciples. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:09.120 We're not running from hell, we're running to heaven, and we're running into hell. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:16.480 Okay, so the reality is when we become a whole-hearted disciple, is it's you receiving the grace of God. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.120 It's about a heart transformation. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.920 It's about getting this heart fired up. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:31.839 Because listen, men and women, I'm gonna talk about this at AIM on Tuesday morning to the men, and that is that God's heart burns for you. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:38.960 Men, God's heart burns for you, and what he is, is he is a fire starter. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.360 He's not Smokey the Bear. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.000 He's a fire starter. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:56.480 And so what God wants to do is he wants to light fires in our hearts by us understanding I'm accepted, I'm loved, I'm beloved, I'm cared for, I'm adopted, I'm predestined, I'm elected to be in Christ. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:59.279 That's what the rest of the first chapter is all about. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.159 So that I have peace from God. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.799 Not peace from problems, peace from God. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:14.159 So you can't have so I'm not gonna ask for a show of hands, but if I were to ask for a show of hands, half of you that are honest would raise your hand and say, you don't have any peace right now. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:18.399 Well, the reason you don't have any peace right now is because you're not walking in Christ. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:21.600 You may know Christ, but you're not experiencing him on a regular basis. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.159 I didn't have peace from God half this week. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.159 And I'm a pastor. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:28.639 I get paid to get peace from God. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:29.200 Okay? 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:30.159 All right? 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:31.519 I didn't have it, you know. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:32.879 I mean, because you got things going on. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.559 I know what this is, I know what it's like. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:42.159 But every time I don't have peace from God, I have to go back into being in Christ because when I'm in Steve, it doesn't go very well. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:46.159 And I just like to go with Steve, because that's my habit pattern. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:46.559 Hello? 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:47.759 Anybody know what I'm talking about? 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:48.960 So you go into you. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.240 That's bad, that's not good. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:10:02.000 And so one of the things about maturing in Christ is to realize I've got to quit going into me because I'm selfish, I'm up to no good, and I and I get myself in trouble, and there's no peace there. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:03.759 There's no peace from Steve. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.279 There's no peace from Bill, there's no peace from Mary. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:12.480 It's peace from God through the grace of God. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.519 Receiving that grace, that caris in our life. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:26.720 Then he says, 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. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.679 So now we're we're kind of living above it all. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:35.120 And what I mean by that is the old covenant was about material blessings. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:38.000 It was about a fruitful womb. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:42.799 It was about money, it was about land, it was about camels, it was about donkeys. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.519 You know, you see it in Abraham and Moses and others. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:46.960 That was the old covenant. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:51.120 The new covenant is you have spiritual blessings in Christ. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:11:03.120 So the spiritual blessings are way better than the old covenant material blessings, because you and I know you can have a lot of stuff, and if you've got no peace in your heart, you're a messed up dude. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:09.759 You look at the movie stars and the rock stars and uh and the athletes that have everything for them. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:26.320 And they go from wife to wife and they're in drugs, and because then because they thought that the old covenant, the material blessings, were gonna make them happy, but we have a new covenant, which is spiritual blessings, and that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentlemen. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.559 That's the work of the new covenant in our lives, and that's what this is about. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.360 That we've been predestined, we've been redeemed, we're adopted into a new family. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:43.360 You have all of those spiritual blessings the moment you take on grace. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:49.600 And if you're not experiencing it, it's still true. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:58.000 In other words, if you call yourself a Jesus follower and you're not experiencing what I'm talking about, then that's job security for me. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.480 Because that's why I'm here. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.720 That's why we meet. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.399 And if you just keep coming, you'll get a little bit more. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.399 And a little bit more, and a little bit more. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.559 I'm feeling a little more peace this week. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:14.080 I'm learning how to walk in joy a little bit better because I'm starting to read the word. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:15.440 I didn't read the word before. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.000 If you're not reading this book, I'll guarantee you you're not walking in the peace of God. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.200 I'm not real smart, but I figured it out. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:32.320 CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and whatever blogger you listen to don't give you peace. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.399 They build their company on making you unpeaceful. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.240 This is where the peace comes from. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.200 It's from Jesus, Spirit of God, in this book. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.240 Spend more time in this book than you do with the news. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:53.039 Spend more time in this book than you do with bloggers, and I promise you, you'll start to feel the peace come. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:54.159 It'll come. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:57.120 You'll be in Christ. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:03.519 You see, we're in Christ positionally, but we're not in Christ experientially a lot of times. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:11.440 So probably the biggest challenge of the Christian life is how to take what we are and bring it down to how we live. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:13.519 So, okay, it's up here, we know that. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.360 All right, great, Steve, that's fantastic. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.960 But how do I bring it down here? 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:17.919 That's how we grow. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.200 That's called maturity. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.919 That's called the working out of our salvation with fear and trembling. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.799 And so we work that out two steps forward, one step back sometimes. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.519 So, so this heavenly places in Christ. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.759 Now, here's what he's talking about as we move on. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.559 These are the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:39.519 Verse 4. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:54.080 He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in Christ. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:03.600 Now, this word in Christ or in him is mentioned 10 times in the first 13 verses and some 26 times in the rest of the book. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:09.600 This is a really important part of the message of the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.600 It's about being in him. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:13.919 Our position in Christ is in him. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.559 Now, here's what's interesting it's a it's a partnership. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:20.480 It's a partnership. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:25.440 That before the foundations of the world, he knew you. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:26.559 Isn't that weird? 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:27.600 That's a little weird. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:28.879 He knew you. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.720 He was planning for you to be here this day. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:38.159 He was calling you forth before the foundations of the world because he loves you. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.559 He was adopting you before you knew about you. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.799 Before your parents knew about you. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.080 He was calling you into that. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.480 Now, that's called predestination or election. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:15:02.320 But he also says that we're adopted into a family, we're we're called forth into him with a responsibility to walk that out. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.320 You say, well, how does that work? 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:12.000 Well, the only way I can think of it is if we took a piece of paper here and we turned that piece of paper around and made a cone. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.759 We made a cone and then we taped it so it wouldn't fly open when we put it out. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:27.039 And you laid it down right here on the stage, and if I'm looking at the cone from here, I would say that is a you know three-dimensional triangle. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:33.840 But if I walk up to it and then I look down straight on it, it's a circle. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.080 Both are true. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:41.360 Both, it's a triangle, it's a circle, it's all according to what? 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:42.399 Perspective. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:43.840 It's all about perspective. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.320 So listen, so let me read this verse again, and I want you to see it from two perspectives. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.279 Verse 4. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:54.799 He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:16:07.840 That's God's responsibility, that's God's sovereignty, comma, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.159 That's your responsibility. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:11.679 To walk that out. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:22.000 So, in one sense, God's sovereignty is calling you from the perspective of the fact that he loves you, he cares about you, and has grace for you. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:27.519 But on the other hand, because of his work, we have a responsibility to walk that out in love. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:34.799 And so we look at it, you know, from this side, God looks at it from this side, both are true. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:46.320 So, men and women, the only way we can experience God's love and his power in our life is our responsibility being that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:17:05.359 Now, nobody's holy perfectly, no one's without blame perfectly, but what he's saying here is look, I chose you to be holy, I chose you to be blameless, and if you'll keep walking that out, I will literally do the work in you supernaturally. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.319 But I've got to have you take that step. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:10.640 I have to have you trusting me. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:21.039 So there's no contradiction, because you, you know, in one sense, some people, if you don't know these theological terms, don't worry about it, but there's kind of a Calvinist side. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:27.039 And the Calvinist side would be heavy on what we call predestination, which is right here in Scripture. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:33.039 I mean, it's definitely a biblical concept that God has chosen us and predestined us. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.799 We're going to look at that in just a second. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:41.599 But then there's an Armenian perspective, much more Wesleyan, which would be more emphasizing our responsibility. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:42.319 Guess what? 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.519 They're both true. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.559 They're looking at it from different perspectives. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.920 So God is sovereign and we have a responsibility. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:18:01.680 Verse 5, having predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters by Jesus Christ Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:03.359 And I love this word. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:04.960 I love the word. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:10.960 I mean, I don't know how many times I've heard people just argue over predestination. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.880 We don't argue about predestination at the road because I know what it means. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.960 It means pro-horizo. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:18.160 That's what it is in Greek. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.920 Pro-horizo. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:24.400 It means to see ahead the horizons of your life. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:25.759 That's what he's saying. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.160 He's saying, I know the boundaries of your life. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:29.839 I have a destiny for your life. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:36.079 I can see the horizons of your life, and as you follow me, you've got a destiny. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.079 Every one of you in this room has a destiny in Christ. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.599 That's what it means. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.640 Who would worship a God who doesn't know the future? 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.039 Are you kidding me? 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.119 I want to worship a God who's smarter than me. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:52.880 Alright? 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.960 So He knows the future. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.039 He's, and if we'll follow Him and we'll trust Him, you'll come into your full destiny. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.960 Does everybody come into their full destiny? 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:01.759 Absolutely not. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:03.599 As a matter of fact, most don't. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:14.240 But if you'll follow Christ, if you'll continue to grow in Christ, you're going to be predestined, pro-horizo, into the boundaries and the horizons of what God's got for you. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:15.279 And that's awesome. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:16.160 Tremendous. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:17.279 It's exciting. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:18.960 To go after that in Christ. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:20.079 That's your destiny. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.319 Your destiny in Christ. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:27.519 So he says, predestined as adoption as sons and daughters. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:30.720 Now, some of you come from really messed up families. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:33.279 By the way, all families are messed up. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.480 Okay, but some of some are more messed up than others. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:51.440 But we all come out of families, we've all had brokenness, we've all experienced difficulties in our life, but you've been adopted into a family of love and grace, and you can come out of the abuse and the pain. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.519 And come into his family. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.039 Now, is his family perfect? 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.119 No, there's mean people at church. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:19:59.680 There are. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:00.559 I know. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.079 Take it from me. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.440 There's mean people in church. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.200 There's probably some mean people in this church. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.480 But we're gonna we're gonna change that over time, aren't we? 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:16.880 Because you're gonna keep growing and we're gonna hurt your feelings and you're gonna hurt our feelings. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.640 That's part of family life. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:26.160 Family life is that we we hurt each other, but then we have a covenant of harmony around here and we ask for forgiveness and we work it out. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:33.359 I'll take this family over my old family any day. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.079 So come into the family. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.480 You're already in the family, but why don't you start experiencing the family? 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:50.000 So people who tell you, well, I'm a Christian, but I don't go to church, I'm not involved in any church family, I'll just tell you, you're not a wholehearted disciple. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:57.200 Because a wholehearted disciple reads the whole Bible, obeys wholly, and comes into the family. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:00.000 And this is the best thing we've got, and I didn't invent it. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:01.680 He did. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:06.160 He made this thing up in Acts chapter 1 and 2. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.200 It was his idea. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:14.319 And so we come into a family, we've been adopted into his family, and his family is the local church. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:23.200 And here's what's exciting is that when you get into the local church, you start realizing, wow, these people over here, they're smarter than me. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:26.079 Wow, these people over here are further ahead than me. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:28.000 And it moves you forward. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:35.680 It causes kind of a part of our heart that wants more, and then we're kind of sharpened by each other. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:36.960 That's what we do at AIM. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:41.839 That's what AIM's about on Tuesday morning for us men is that we sharpen each other. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.240 Okay, because you're in a table. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.359 You get fed first, because we figured out what the priorities are in a man's life. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:51.759 The way to a man's heart is his stomach. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:56.319 And so we go to Ricky Bobby's Roadkill Cafe. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:58.400 That's what we start with. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.559 And and You got four different meats to pick from. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:09.279 You got hash browns, eggs, two gravies, and some other sweet stuff for five bucks. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:11.200 You show me where you can get anything better than that. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.400 It's pretty good. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:15.039 So we need each other. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.480 That's what those tables are about. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:22.400 Is it that we we're adopted into a family and we need brothers and sisters in Christ that helps us grow. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:30.000 To the praise of his glory, of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.119 So this idea is that it's grace upon grace. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:33.920 That's what that means. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:39.920 He's saying it's a praise, grace upon grace, grace just stacked on top of grace. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.920 And you can't get out of it. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.000 So give up trying to get away. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:45.519 Give up trying to run. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.119 Come, join the family. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.319 Grace upon grace. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:53.119 I tell my kids, all my kids as they've grown up, you know, you're a holt. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:55.279 I'm your dad. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.799 Your mom's your mom. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:03.599 And if you get married, if you move away, if you get a job, or we go years without seeing you, you're still in our family. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:06.000 You're still our son and our daughter. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:07.279 And you always will be. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:12.720 No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you're still my son, you're still my daughter. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.079 And you've got grace upon grace, you guys. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:17.599 You can't run away from God. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:18.559 He still loves you. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:23.680 You can't out-sin and you can't outrebel the love of God. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.920 So give up. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:29.599 Give up today. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:35.119 If you're running from God, if you're trying to do it on your own, it's time to quit doing that. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.720 And find the real life, the life you've been longing for. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:40.640 You're predestined for it. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.079 It's your horizon, it's your destiny to know Him. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:47.119 And it's to the praise of His glory because His grace did it. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:50.960 So, in other words, I'm saying it, but it's the grace of God that does it. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:57.920 And so when you act on it, He gets the glory because you already know you couldn't do it by yourself because you're up to no good by yourself. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.480 And so in Christ, we start to find that position. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:07.920 We start to find that place of His love and grace in our hearts. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:17.599 In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:19.759 That word here has an article in it in Greek. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.559 It actually could be read the redemption. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:32.960 And it was a marketplace word at the time of this writing of a master who would redeem a slave in order to set them free. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:40.400 So he came to redeem you at the cross through the blood of Christ to set you free. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:53.119 And in today's world, most people want to come and get you to make you a product so that they can enslave you to something that makes them money. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:00.000 Christ comes in the opposite spirit, and he comes and he redeems you to actually set you free. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.119 Isn't that awesome? 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:02.799 Nothing quite like it in this world. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:14.880 That someone would come and give their heart and give their life and give their blood so that you, by believing that, could be set free to a new future. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:16.240 That's predestination. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:17.920 That's the pro-horizo. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:26.240 That's the destiny of our lives is to walk in freedom and break the power of enslavement from the devil. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:37.680 In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:46.319 Having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:53.759 Circle this phrase, the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:59.279 Now, this is interesting because not everybody here has been to college. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.000 Not everybody here has been to graduate school. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:05.359 Probably a few of you have PhDs, but not a lot. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.000 Some are doctors, some are not. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.559 Some of you have never graduated from high school. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:15.039 Guess what? 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.920 You know the mystery of his will. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:20.079 Did you know? 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:22.640 You know so much you can't even believe it. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:31.279 Because you open this book and you read it, it's in Genesis, and he made them male and female. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:34.559 That's the mystery of his will. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.559 They're not 38 genders. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:37.680 Everybody go like this. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:39.200 There's not 38 genders. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:42.000 That's what the doctors in the PhD say. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:43.920 They don't know the mystery of his will. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:45.359 They are confused. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:47.759 They're very, very confused. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:49.200 And they live their life. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:56.079 Can you imagine that if you have to push this much to get everybody to agree with you, it just might be a lie? 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:05.759 If you have to push this much and hammer it and make it law on every front, it just might be not true. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.359 So you shall know the truth, the truth shall set you free. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.599 That's true. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:15.519 If you believe it. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:20.000 Truth does not set you free until you believe it. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.319 But when you believe it, it sets you free. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.160 And we know the mystery of his will. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.279 And the mystery of his will is he made them male and female. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.720 I'm not saying that people don't struggle with same-sex attraction. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:33.440 They do. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:34.319 Always have. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.279 It's been true, it's been true in all cultures. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:38.640 It's been true. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:48.319 And in that struggle that we all have, there's people in our society that have multiple partners heterosexually. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.200 That's true. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:50.480 It's been true in all the time. 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:58.559 They say that the oldest ambitious profession in the world is prostitution. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:04.559 So immorality in whatever form it comes has always been there. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:08.720 The reality is that's why the church is here. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:10.880 That's why the kingdom has come. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:12.799 Because he comes to set us free. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:16.799 And everyone in this room has bondages in our life that we're working through, right? 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:19.200 And so God can set us free. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.880 And so I don't want to be defined by my sex. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:26.240 I don't want to be defined by who I have sex with. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:35.519 I want to be fine by being in Christ and by being in Christ to set other captives free because somebody was used by God to set me free. 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:44.640 And so I'm obligated to tell others about the love of Christ because when others get set free, they join the family and we get a bigger family and a more fun family. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.640 And when we do that, we get to revel in the praise of his glory. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:50.000 Isn't that right? 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:51.519 Okay. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:54.000