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Standing Strong Through the Storms of Life (Ephesians 2:14-22)
58 Plays2 years ago
Standing Strong Through the Storms of Life (Ephesians 2:14-22)
Ephesians: Growing in Christ
Sunday Message recorded 15 January 2023
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Musical Talents and Welcome
00:00:06
Speaker
Thank you, Jana. What a blessing. I thank the Lord again so much for those in our congregation who are so gifted musically, and they want to share that gift with all of us, and we are blessed when they do. So glad you're here today. I want to welcome you again to First Baptist Church. If this is your first time, we're really glad you're here.
00:00:28
Speaker
And I hope you'll be blessed today. I hope you'll just put your focus on the Lord. You know, it's a new year still. We're still in January.
Introduction of Barry and Linda Barnett
00:00:35
Speaker
I don't know how those new year resolutions are going for you, but it's okay. I mean, we're going to look at the Lord and say He is the only perfect one. But I'm so glad today I enjoyed meeting some that are visiting with our service today.
00:00:49
Speaker
But also, I want to say that Barry and Linda Barnett, Barry Barnett is the executive director of our Colorado Baptist Association. He's here today with his wife, so welcome. I want to say glad to have you here with us. Let's welcome them. Would you join with me?
00:01:10
Speaker
And Barry, if you don't mind, when I read the scripture, after I finish, if you would ask God's blessing on the service today.
Storms as Life's Challenges
00:01:17
Speaker
Look forward to it. Do you know that on April the 12th, 1934, so we're reaching back, April the 12th, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire experienced a super hurricane. With wind gusts clocked, get this, at 231 miles an hour.
00:01:38
Speaker
Could you just stand there and take that if it was blowing 231 miles an hour? Well, I don't know about that speed of wind, but I do know that some of our friends over in California are really going through a difficult time. They've been hit by a series of what they call atmospheric rivers. I don't know if you've been tracking with this on the weather.
00:02:03
Speaker
But atmospheric rivers, it's like the weather gets in this pattern and it just pours more rain. Another system comes right in the same location, more rain.
00:02:13
Speaker
They've had at least nine different atmospheric rivers with two more to come. So just imagine what that would be like to have. Now they're experiencing floods and landslides and so forth. But I wish I could promise you that if you'll just trust Christ, you're not going to have a storm. You'll never have anything hard blow through your life. But you know what? That wouldn't be accurate. It wouldn't be true.
00:02:37
Speaker
So God wouldn't want me to say that because Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record a time that a terrible storm blew through, I mean strong winds, high waves, filling the boat when Jesus was crossing the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. And so it's so amazing that these men who were used to being out on that Sea of Galilee, used to going through storms, they began to panic.
00:03:04
Speaker
And what really amazed them was not the strength of the storm, but the strength of the Lord. Whenever he could stand up in the boat and say, peace be still, and the storm quiets right down.
Growing in Christ and Community
00:03:16
Speaker
I don't know if you've ever had the Lord do that.
00:03:19
Speaker
But there are definite winds that blow into all of our lives. We're in the book of Ephesians. We're going to be in chapter two, but I want to share a verse from chapter four with you that talks about growing up in Christ. This whole letter is written that we might grow in Christ. If you've received Christ, if you trusted Christ,
00:03:42
Speaker
If you said, Lord, I will follow you, then you are in Christ. And that's what this whole theme is about, is being in Christ. But the reason Paul was writing a church in Ephesus, a Gentile church, was so that they would grow.
00:03:57
Speaker
in Christ, and the Lord wants you to grow in Christ. He doesn't want you to stay static and stationary, and so sometimes we experience winds that blow against us as believers. In Ephesians 4 verses 13 and 14, like I said, it talks about growing up in Christ, but one of the things it says is, so that
00:04:20
Speaker
We may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes." So the Lord is saying, I want to solidify who you are in your personal walk with the Lord so that whenever you go through a strong storm, you're not blown off course.
00:04:47
Speaker
You know, speaking of storms and storms that are now hitting the West Coast, have you ever seen any of the redwood trees? Even the giant sequoia redwood trees. They're amazing. There's one tree out there called the General Sherman. It's 275 feet.
00:05:05
Speaker
tall, 275 feet tall. And the base, you won't believe it, the base of that one tree there is 36 feet in diameter. And I'm thinking that is a big tree. But you might assume, okay, if it's 270, what did I say, 5 feet tall, then it must have roots that go way down. But that's not right.
00:05:28
Speaker
Do you know that those redwood trees only put down their roots six feet, 12 feet, something in that neighborhood, but that's about as far as they go down. So how do they keep standing when they're so tall? When the winds blow, how do they keep standing? You know what they do?
00:05:46
Speaker
They interlock their roots. They intertwine their roots with one another so that they're connected to other believers. Not to other believers, other trees. I'm jumping ahead of myself, but they're connected. If you've got a root on you today, we'll help you get that off. But anyway.
00:06:06
Speaker
But they intertwine their roots with other redwood trees, and they stand together.
Unity and Peace through Christ
00:06:12
Speaker
They're literally holding one another up. And so if you're looking for a church home, if you're looking for a way that you can stand with others so that you're not blown off course in your life, maybe your family, I just want you to know we'd be happy to stand alongside of you through whatever storms are coming your way.
00:06:33
Speaker
What is the secret to the stability of a Christian family during a storm that blows through their life? I think it's the same source of stability that the disciples discovered that day in that boat. It's Christ, it's Christ. A little bit later, when I read through this passage, you're gonna hear verse 20, where it talks about Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, the cornerstone. He is the supporting base, the foundation,
00:07:03
Speaker
And that's how we all line up with Him. And He gives us strength through His Spirit and through one another. And we are not blown away when the storms come. The growth and the strength and the stamina, it all comes from Him. And it comes through others that are standing around us.
00:07:23
Speaker
So I want to invite you to follow with me. We're now in Ephesians 2. We'll start at verse 14, and we'll read through the end of chapter 2. And so I'll read verse 14 through 22. So follow with me as we read about this network of support that's available to everyone who is in Christ. Would you stand in honor of God's word? Chapter 2 and verse 14. For he himself
00:07:53
Speaker
is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body
00:08:19
Speaker
through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father.
00:08:35
Speaker
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in him
00:09:01
Speaker
You also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. I want to ask the man who zigzags all across our association, four different counties, visiting churches, encouraging pastors, I want to ask Dr. Barry Barnett, would you please ask God to bless our service? Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Well, I want us to follow the biblical blueprint
00:09:27
Speaker
of the solid foundation that we have in Christ. I believe the Holy Spirit gave Paul four metaphors in this passage to help us understand his support system for enduring the hard times. Is this a hard time in your life personally, in your family's life?
00:09:45
Speaker
I want you to listen closely today to what—not what I will say, what God will say through His word. The first metaphor has to do with the family of God, the household of God, the body of Christ. You know, verse 16
Belonging in God's Kingdom
00:10:01
Speaker
actually talks about the body. It's not the first time. Back in chapter 1, verses 22 and 23, already
00:10:10
Speaker
The Holy Spirit had inspired the Apostle Paul to write down, and Jesus put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who feels all in all.
00:10:25
Speaker
So we are the body of Christ. You know chapter 4 verse 4 says that there's only one body. Chapter 4 verse 12 talks about again the body of Christ. Chapter 4 and verse 16 says that the body is supposed to grow.
00:10:43
Speaker
Chapter five, verse 23 makes it clear that it's the church that is Christ's body. And we are members of his body in chapter five, verse 30. So it's all through here. But what does he mean when he compares us with the metaphor of a body? What's he trying to say? You know what I think he's trying to say? I think what he's trying to say is what he says in verse 19. Did you hear it? Members of the household of God.
00:11:11
Speaker
We are members of the family. That's why sometimes when I write you an email asking you to pray for this family, for that family, for this person, for that person, what I'm really saying is church family, we're connected to one another in Christ. So let's pray for each other because there's a family member that's having a difficult time. You see, that's the membership in the family of God.
00:11:37
Speaker
If you were to go to chapter three, we're in chapter two, but if you were to go to chapter three and look at verses 14 and 15, you would learn something about the Lord's family. Do you know that part of His family is in heaven and part of His family is here on earth? So right now, we're not all together.
00:11:57
Speaker
But guess what? Someday we will all be together. But we are brought together by the Atonement of Christ. Do you know when He died on the cross, He made a way for us to be accepted in His family. Have you ever felt like that someone does not accept you?
00:12:15
Speaker
It's not a good feeling whenever you feel rejection. You feel like, I don't feel like they accept me. Do you know that we are accepted into God's family rather than being out there on our own, isolated, and so forth? Do you know that only Jesus can reconcile mankind? Only He can reconcile us to Himself?
00:12:38
Speaker
But only He can reconcile us to one another. Because as He forgives our sins, we begin to realize, you know what? I can forgive others of their offenses toward me. So He brings a peace and an acceptance. He eliminates isolation. You ever feel like I'm doing life all by myself? I'm all alone. It doesn't have to be that way.
00:13:01
Speaker
You see, that's why Jesus died on the cross. That's why the Father raised him from the dead, so that you can be a part of a living family that's both here on this earth and in heaven, and so you could be a part of it. I wanted to make sure you understood the horizontal peace that the Lord brings with man. It's in verses 14 and 15.
00:13:24
Speaker
You see, back then, probably the biggest racial divide back then was between the Jew and the Gentile. The Jew and the Gentile. But look what he says happened whenever they both bowed their knee before the Lord and they both asked the Lord to forgive them. Guess what happens? It's incredible.
00:13:44
Speaker
He's making them one. They were two, Jew and Gentile. They never had anything to do with one another. But through Christ, when they both come to Him, guess what happens? Suddenly, something powerful takes place. That's what only can happen through Christ. So I think that's amazing that we find that kind of peace and that kind of acceptance, you know, when we come together at the foot of the cross. But verses 16 and 17 talks about the vertical peace.
00:14:14
Speaker
The vertical piece that we have with God, when He talks about we are reconciled with the Father through the perfect sinless sacrifice of Christ on the cross. How can God just forgive you? How can He just forgive me? Because the debt, the punishment for your sins and my sins, it's already been taken care of.
00:14:37
Speaker
Jesus never sinned. He didn't deserve to die, but he died on the cross. And that's what these two verses, verses 16 and 17, are trying to talk about, that he might reconcile us both to one another. Well, yes, but in verse 16, am I reconciling us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
00:15:08
Speaker
talking about the Gentiles, talking about the Jews, both needed forgiveness, both needed reconciliation to God and to one another. But how can that happen? It's not through some kind of social engineering. No, it only comes whenever we both come through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:15:29
Speaker
You know, I think that's why it's valuable that we, as a church family, we have people of different generations. We have people with different ethnic backgrounds. We have people in our church who make different amounts of money in the work that they do. We have some that are married and some that are single. It's amazing all the different people that the Lord brings together into one family of God.
00:15:55
Speaker
So through Christ, we have acceptance in the family of God, but that's not all that helps us make it through the storms of life. There's something else. I believe that we also—he reaches across a fragmented world. Some of you know that I've been going to Ethiopia several years in a row.
00:16:12
Speaker
I think this summer we're going to go to Japan, and then hopefully in the fall we'll go to Nicaragua. But what is it that could take a fragmented world, so broken, so rebellious, and so forth? What is it that could bring nations together?
00:16:28
Speaker
Only one place we can come in one accord, the kingdom of God. Only in the kingdom of God can we all come together.
Unity and Diversity in Faith
00:16:36
Speaker
So the second metaphor is found in verse 19. He says, you are fellow citizens, citizenship in the kingdom of God. Keep in mind, Paul is writing not to Jews, he's writing to Gentiles. The church in Ephesus was a Gentile church.
00:16:54
Speaker
So at that time, what they really prized was citizenship in Rome. Oh, if you could just be a citizen of Rome, you had it made.
00:17:05
Speaker
But many of these were not citizens of Rome, but they, on a deeper level, they were not citizens of the Lord's kingdom. And so he says, so then you're no longer strangers and aliens. At one time they were when they were rejecting Christ. They were strangers, they were aliens. But he says, now you are fellow citizens with the saints. I think that's amazing what Christ can do.
00:17:31
Speaker
You know, if you ever go to Genesis, the very first book in the Bible, look in chapter 11. Something happened. I mean, mankind began to work together like never before, but mankind was misguided in their coming together. What they said was, we're going to build a great tower, and we're going to go up there to heaven, and we're going to show God who we are. We're going to build this tower for ourselves.
00:17:55
Speaker
And so the Trinity, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, saw what mankind was doing and said, this is not a good kind of oneness. This is not a good kind of coming together. So He caused those nations to be fragmented in Genesis 11, 1 through 9, the fragmentation of the nation. So when did the nations ever come back?
00:18:19
Speaker
together. Read Acts chapter two. After Jesus died on the cross, after he was placed in the tomb for three days and rose again from the grave, then ascended back to the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit to come. And whenever the Spirit of God descended on the body of Christ, you won't believe what happened. There were people there from the then known world, every nation it says in Acts chapter two. You can read about it in verses five through 12.
00:18:49
Speaker
They couldn't believe it because they were hearing these Christians talk about God in their own language. And they were saying, these guys don't speak our language yet. We're hearing it in our language. You know what God was doing? He was bringing the whole world together under His lordship, under His kingdom. And I thought, thank you, God, for that unity that is possible whenever people turn to the Lord.
00:19:14
Speaker
So we know that now we're waiting, right? We're waiting on the coronation that will come from the nations. Because right now, the whole world, all the nations across the world, they're not all honoring Christ, but one day they will.
00:19:30
Speaker
Zechariah talks about it in Zechariah 14 and verse 9. There'll be troubled times before it ever gets to that point, but I just want you to know that there's great hope. There's great hope because Christ, He really is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He really is coming back, and He really is going to take over. I wanted to make sure that you understood something from Philippians chapter 3, because perhaps you know in your heart of hearts
00:19:57
Speaker
I'm not a part of God's kingdom right now. I know it because I'm rejecting His authority. Well, you're not the only one to ever have done that. In Philippians, not Ephesians, Philippians chapter 3, verse 12 says, not that I've already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own.
00:20:20
Speaker
Now listen for the word citizenship. It won't come for a couple more verses, but it's coming. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting, wait a minute, I'm not at the right place. Philippians seven, I'm sorry, Philippians three verse seven. See, I've been celebrating with my daughter in Dallas this weekend. I'm all confused about. Okay, going up to seven. Man, that ain't it either.
00:20:52
Speaker
317, okay, well, let me just read it from there, because I'll put it right on there. Anyway, brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us, for many of whom I have often told you, and now tell you, even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly,
00:21:19
Speaker
and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things, but our citizenship, so he's contrasting who they are, our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
00:21:49
Speaker
Isn't that amazing? But you have to understand that not everyone is in God's kingdom. Not everyone is a citizen of the Lord's kingdom. And that's why he's contrasting. It says, some people have a different vision. Some people have a different lifestyle. Some people have a different attitude. Some people have different loyalties and values. Some people have different beliefs and a different destination because of those beliefs. But what he's trying to say to these people now in Philippi
00:22:16
Speaker
He's saying to them, listen, Christ's kingdom offers mentors, mentors worth imitating. Christ's kingdom offers a Savior,
00:22:27
Speaker
worth anticipating. Just like that song we sang earlier about the Lord coming back, the same verse that Marcia read about Christ coming, that is our hope. And so that's why we're so excited to say, you know what? I'm anticipating a better day when His kingdom will be fulfilled, but also His kingdom offers a cause worth participating in. You see, we've already seen the acceptance in the family of God,
00:22:56
Speaker
how we are brought together, no matter what our ethnic background, what country we come from, we are brought together in one accord within the kingdom of God, whenever we say yes to Christ, but there's something else.
00:23:09
Speaker
You know, the Bible says, Revelation 7, 9, that there's a great multitude no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the land. So we know that the Lord is going to bring us together, some of us that will trust Christ,
00:23:27
Speaker
But what about the third metaphor? I think there's something else that can bring a great storm into a life. Have you ever been between jobs? Have you ever finished and you said, I don't know what God wants me to do next? You see, some storms
00:23:43
Speaker
blow against one's sense of purpose and meaning. What's my life about now that I'm retired? What's my life about now that I've finished my schooling? What's my life about now that I don't have this job anymore?
00:24:00
Speaker
You know what I think? I think the Lord can help you with that aimlessness. You know what? There's craftsmanship that adds us into what God is building. And that's what I see in this verses 20 through 22. The third metaphor is it's a building, it's a structure in verse 21. And somebody is putting something together on this earth. And God's saying to you, don't you want to be a part of what I'm doing?
00:24:27
Speaker
You see, the work that is coming together here is His work. It says, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being fitted together, someone else is fitting us together. It grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in Him you also are being built together.
Building Life on Christ's Foundation
00:24:57
Speaker
So the question is, who's at work here? Is it man? Is it just man? Is that all that church? Is that all it's about? Is that all that associations are about of churches? Is it just about something man is doing? Or is it something very different? Here's the thing. It's something different. It's something God is doing. The work is God's work. He's the one working. You know, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16, 18, he said, look upon this rock.
00:25:26
Speaker
will build my church. Wasn't Peter building the church? It wasn't all the others building. Jesus said, I'm going to build my church. So you know what he's doing? He's working in our world, fitting us together.
00:25:38
Speaker
making us fit together so that it's all for His glory. That's what verse 21 uses one word for join together. And verse 22 uses a whole other Greek word, meaning you take a whole bunch of parts, a whole lot of building supplies, and then you bring them all together and you build something that is all out of all of these different parts. But then I saw verse 20 and I thought, what is the tool that God will use?
00:26:07
Speaker
It's the Word. The tool is the Word of God. This is what He uses when He's starting His building, when He's building in your life and building in my life, building in this church, building in a brand new church start. He always uses the Word of God. That's why He's saying, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.
00:26:31
Speaker
You know, these apostles and prophets are the ones that we have the New Testament. You've got Old Testament prophets that we even have the Old Testament. But God has inspired His word. It's exactly like we need it to be in order to live, in order to thrive, in order to experience joy. Tonight we're going to look at a delightful family or a dysfunctional family.
00:26:55
Speaker
And I'm going to say tonight during the service, look, it's our choice. Do you want to have joy in your family? Or do you want to be miserable in your family? We're miserable when we walk away from what God has revealed to us in His Word. That's why 2 Peter 1, 20 and 21, says that God's Word was men moved by the Holy Spirit. It wasn't just the thoughts of a man, no way. These are the thoughts of God, and He's telling men exactly what to write.
00:27:23
Speaker
That's what it means by the Bible is inspired in 2 Timothy 3.16. It's God's tool for how he's going to lead your family, how he's going to lead this church family. He's building something. He's building your life. And he wants to use his word. So what is his way?
00:27:42
Speaker
Well, I see the way whenever it says that Jesus is this cornerstone. You know, if you were to visit with stone cutters from that era, if we could go back and say, when you're going to build a building, when you're going to build a wall or something like that with stones, how do you do it?
00:28:00
Speaker
They would say, well, first, you've got to get the chief cornerstone. You've got to get that stone. And so you want to cut everything to where it matches that one. It's going to be the same level. It's going to have the same. You can set something beside it, on top of it, the other side, any side. But you match all the other stones.
00:28:21
Speaker
to that one stone, to that cornerstone. And that's how everything stays the same. As a matter of fact, the stones that were used when the temple was built, you don't believe how big they were. They were 29 feet in length. I mean, think in terms of a train, like a boxcar. Think how big that is. That's about the size of some of those huge stones that were there when the temple was built.
00:28:47
Speaker
But see, that's important for you to know, right? Because Romans 8, 28, we love to quote, because we love to say, God's going to take all the things in my life and work together for good. If I love Him, if I'm called according to His purpose, He's going to work everything for my good. But we don't go forward into verse 29. Verse 29 defines good.
00:29:11
Speaker
What is good? What is God after in your life? You know what it is? That we would be conformed to the image of his son. That's what he calls good. So that's why sometimes he's got to use something that is unpleasant.
00:29:26
Speaker
Because as long as he keeps pouring on the blessings and the good times, we're forgetting about him. We're not growing in Christ. And so the Lord says, you know what? I think you need this in order for me to make you more like my son. But that's his way. His word is his tool. And he's the one working. Don't you want to be a part of something like that? If you do, there's a great word. Maybe you're feeling discouragers thinking, well, I know he started to work,
00:29:55
Speaker
but I don't think it's very good right now. Well, I wish I want to encourage you with Philippians 1.6. It says, and I'm sure this, this is in the Word of God, this is in the Bible, Philippians 1.6, and I'm sure this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
00:30:15
Speaker
Hey, I like that. So God's not gonna give up on you. God's not gonna finish. If you've given your life and your heart to Jesus Christ, he's gonna keep on. And he's gonna make sure you line up with what he designs for you to do.
00:30:30
Speaker
Well, we've seen the acceptance that we have in the family of God. I think together, like those redwoods, we hook our arms together. We care about each other. We encourage each other. We pray for one another. And that helps us withstand the storms of life.
Personal Relationship with God
00:30:44
Speaker
Sometimes storms happen on an international scale, and we can't do anything about it. But can we do something about it? I think we can. We're supposed to make disciples of all the nations for a reason.
00:30:56
Speaker
You see, that's the place where we are all coming together in one accord whenever we say, you know what? The kingdom of God is bigger than my local congregation. The kingdom of God is global. But also, there's that accomplishment where the Lord's working. He's using His tool, the Word of God. He's making us more like Christ. That's His way.
00:31:19
Speaker
But that is the accomplishment within the building of God. But I want you to see the access, the access that we have in Christ through the Spirit into a personal relationship with the Father. You see, maybe you would say to someone today, look, I'm not into religion. I'm not into tradition.
00:31:39
Speaker
neither is Jesus. He's not into that either. He's into bringing us into a personal relationship with His Father. That's what Jesus wants. He wants to go with us through life. And so this fourth metaphor refers to the strength and the stability that we find in our relationship with the Father through
00:32:01
Speaker
the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God comes to live within us. And what is it that that makes a difference with? How does that all work? Well, I want you to look with me at a couple of verses here, verse 18 and verse 22.
00:32:19
Speaker
You know, verse 18 says, for through Him—this is through Christ—we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Can you see the Trinity all working together? It's like, no wonder, I mean, this blows my mind, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They're so one.
00:32:41
Speaker
It would just blow us away to know how it all works. But whenever he says this word, access, I got to thinking, what do you mean by access? And it goes all the way back to ancient kingdoms and kings. You see, back then, you didn't just waltz into a palace and say, I want to, I demand to talk to the king.
00:33:02
Speaker
No, you would probably be put to death out there, jailed out there, told to go home, whatever, but you would never get in there into the throne room where he was. But there was one exception. If they knew he saw that you were there at that door and the guards stop you, you know what he could do? He could extend his scepter, you know, and he could say, let him through. I give him permission to come to me. Do you know?
00:33:29
Speaker
that when Jesus died on the cross, something powerful happened in the temple. The veil that separated the Holy of Holies was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now, what would start tearing a big old thick curtain from the top down to the bottom? Only God. But you see, Jesus had just died on the cross. And so you know what the Father is saying to you? Through His Son, by His Spirit,
00:33:55
Speaker
The Father is saying, I give you permission now. Come to my throne room. You come and lay any burden down you need to lay down. And so I thought, the Holy Spirit helps us to know that we have permission through Christ. And I thought, that is so good because Jesus said in John,
00:34:15
Speaker
He said that the role of the Holy Spirit is to take the things of Christ and to help the disciples understand. If you're a disciple, the Holy Spirit wants to help you understand you've got permission to go in and talk to the Father anytime you want. But there's also the power of God. When he talks about you also are being built together. You know, I was talking about that work. I believe that the power of the Holy Spirit
00:34:44
Speaker
It's beyond any power we could ever conceive of in our world. God's Spirit is so powerful to bring men and women, boys and girls, students together.
00:34:55
Speaker
Man, talking about a place where there doesn't have to be drama, where he can say, thank you, God, that your spirit is putting us side by side, shoulder to shoulder, that we could serve you. But then there's also a dwelling place for God, is what it says in verse 22. It says, in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit.
00:35:22
Speaker
You see, that's the neat thing is God wants to walk with you and me through life. And so He gives us this incredible gift of His Holy Spirit whenever we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior. We say, Lord, I'm tired of doing things my way.
00:35:37
Speaker
I'm ready to do them your way. I want to follow you. I believe Jesus died on the cross for me. Please forgive me and cleanse me. And right at that moment, whenever we become a Christian, the Holy Spirit begins to travel with us. He comes to dwell with us and to dwell in us. You know, storms are going to blow through your life. They may be blowing right now. If they're not blowing right now, if it's really sunny and great, delightful in your life, wonderful.
00:36:06
Speaker
But I'm just telling you that this is a fallen world and sometimes storms blow. And so what we have to realize is I have what I need to endure a storm, to have strength through the storm whenever I trusted Christ. Jesus taught a parable contrasting two men that were building a home. They each picked a different kind of location. One man chose a rock. The other man, unfortunately, chose sand.
00:36:35
Speaker
And the man that built his house on the rock, well, the storm came, and rain fell, wind came, beat against the house, and that house, it stood because it was on a rock. But you know what happened to the man that built his house on sand? Because he picked the wrong kind of foundation, rather than a strong kind of foundation, it all fell. And what's amazing is the storm is described identically.
00:37:03
Speaker
The same storm that hit the man's house on the rock hit the man's house on the sand. And yet one man's house stood and the other man's house went down.
Invitation to Trust in Christ
00:37:14
Speaker
What is the secret to withstanding when the storms of life blow? And they will for Christian and non-Christian.
00:37:23
Speaker
Through repentance and faith and surrender to Jesus Christ, we stand strong through the storms of life. We stand strong for many reasons. I've only introduced you to four of them today, but we stand strong because
00:37:36
Speaker
He places us as a member within the family of God, and we have peace. We have acceptance. We have acceptance being in his family. But also, he gives us hope that someday, right now, he's making a better man. He's not making a better world. Don't get misguided.
00:37:55
Speaker
Now he's making better men and women, boys and girls, students. He's making us better right now. But someday he will come back. And that is the hope that we have, that he will return to make this a better world. And there's craftsmanship in the building of God, meaning my life has purpose. My life is meaning. Your life is very valuable and important. God put you here for a reason.
00:38:22
Speaker
But also, we have great power through our personal relationship with the Father because He places the powerful Holy Spirit within us so that He can empower us when we're going through storms. I want to invite you to stand with me. I want to ask you, have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? Have you ever said, Lord, I'm going the wrong direction? I want to turn from that, and I want to walk in the direction of Christ.
00:38:50
Speaker
That's what I want to invite you to do today, to say, Lord, I am tired of living for myself. I realize I've gone off track. I want to come back and follow Jesus. I know that he died for me on the cross. I want to trust what he did. His work was perfect, sinless, sinless sacrifice. So let's ask the Lord to guide us during this time. If there's a decision you need to make about trusting Christ, I'd be happy to talk with you.
00:39:18
Speaker
Lord, thank You that we have this time at the end of our service where we can just extend not our invitation, but Your invitation. You're inviting people to be a part of Your family. You're inviting people to come and come underneath Your kingdom. You're inviting people to realize that You have a place for them
00:39:39
Speaker
in the great work, the great structure and building that you're building, you're inviting people, best of all, into a personal relationship with the Father through Christ by your Spirit. Wow. So Lord, if there's anyone here that still has not done that, I pray that during this time of invitation, you give them the courage, give them the freedom, give them the peace to do that, that they could trust Christ this day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:40:11
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.