EPHESIANS SERIES
THE CHOSEN ONES
EPHESIANS 1:11-14
INTRODUCTION
1. Dearly Beloved of Jesus, thank you for coming here today. I pray that you will see Jesus today, and find out the call He has on your life. I also pray that you will allow The Holy Spirit to influence you to become more like Jesus.
2. Before I begin, I wish to state a disclaimer, and make it clear that I am not talking about any person in particular, and that I am not concerned with any minor or major problems, or malcontents in this church.
3. I want to share with you a truth today. There are some who are not happy in this world, and they are constantly miserable. If one says, “it is a wonderful day“, then they are going to disagree because they cannot help it. They wander through life finding fault in everything. In a church, they will scour the bulletin hoping against hope that there is an error that they may pounce on, and so discredit others. Or they will watch other people hoping to find sin, which they can bring to light or talk about.
4. I wish to share with you a truth. If you look hard enough, you are going to find errors in all Christians, as we are not perfect, we are forgiven, and we are also being perfected and becoming like the Perfect One, Jesus Christ.
5. Please let me share with you why we are here today. We are here to share with you the truth that you will only find life in Jesus Christ, and not in your own perfection. It has very little to do with us, as to whether we attain righteousness or secure our salvation. Our whole walk is based upon our receiving what Christ is offering to us.
6. To those who sit in the high seat of scoffers, and wish to point out the errors of others, let me first apologize to them for our sinful, error filled lives, and yet we do not have to defend ourselves to anyone, as we are special, and we have a Daddy that is quite willing and able to defend us.
7. It is TRUTH that we are going to discover and explore today. It matters very little to anyone, what philosophies man wants to come up with about every subject including God, as only what is in the Bible is that which is TRUTH. Do you want to know the TRUTH? GOOD!
8. Let us now open our Bibles to Ephesians, and see what God has to share with us today. EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of his glory.
I. WE ARE PLANNED BY GOD.
A. God Knows You.
1. Last week we mentioned that God is all powerful, all knowing and all in control of everything. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and most of all He is to me just beautiful, wonderful, magnificent and I have a hard time believing that He chose me to be His anointed one to preach His Word.
2. Is there anyone here that believes that they may have been a mistake. You may hear parents say that you were a mistake, but that is not true. You are not a mistake to God. You were planned from the beginning. You were on the drawing board, with a name, DNA planned, life mapped out. God tells Jeremiah JER 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." and the same for David, PS 119:73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. and the same for Gary, for Rick, for Dorothy and for each and everyone of you.
3. You are not a mistake. Never did God say, oops, we have one being born, better find a name, or figure out what we are going to do with this one. GOD KNOWS YOU, AS HE DESIGNED AND LOVINGLY MOLDED YOU, AND LAID OUT A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.
B. God Displays His Love To You
1. Now with this said, I want you to know, that God is a loving Gentleman, who will never force anything upon you, but will lovingly remind you of the consequences of disobedience.
2. You have heard it said, “if you love something, let it go, and if it returns it is yours to keep, but if it does not return, then it was not yours to begin with.” The truth behind this statement, is that love cannot be forced , or bought, or threatened, from someone. Love can only be given and received as a gift. God loves us, and asks us to love Him, but will never force you, as then it would not be love.
3. God planned and created you for Him to Love with all His heart soul and mind. Even when we were whipping Him in our lives. Even when we were driving the nails through His hands and feet, even when we were rejecting Him in favor of our own selfish desires, He still loves us. RO 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
II. WE ARE CHOSEN BY GOD
A. God Also Chose Us For Himself.
1. Even after man chose to live with and serve Satan, God still loved us, and chose us to be His own. We are chosen by God. Ephesians tells it very plainly. EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
2. This is not the only Scripture that shares with us that we are chosen.
I. COL 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Ii. 1PE 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Iii. 1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Iv. 1TH 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction
V. 1PE 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
3. The idea of being chosen is a wonderful one. It implies a sense of having no personal power over the process. When you are chosen to play on a sports team, it is because you have the ability to benefit the team. At the end of the day, no matter how much you beg, plead and scream, you cannot normally sway the process.
It is out of your control, all you can do is wait for the list to come out and hope that you are good enough to make the team.
4. There is one difference, when it comes to being God’s child. You are chosen by God, not on your merit. You are not good enough to make God’s family, but Jesus Christ is, and you are chosen because Jesus took your rejection and gave you His place in the family of God.
5. You see, when God looks at you, He sees Jesus Christ, and it is Christ that He accepts and blesses, not you. Without Humility in Christ, you cannot please God or even think that you can approach Him. It is the Holy Spirit of Christ that lives in us that can come before God, not you, so stop approaching God in your flesh. It is vile to Him.
B. We Are Chosen To Be On A Team.
1. When one is chosen to play on a team, they need to enter into training, and working together to make the team successful. They have one goal ahead of them, and they all put in the effort to make it happen. Any one on the team who does not pull his weight is no longer chosen, and their place is given to another, who will benefit the team.
2. Beloved, we are chosen and now that we are on the “team,” we need to understand that we cannot coast, proudly telling everyone that we are on the team. There are many who believe that the once they are chosen, that is the end. This is basically a lie from the devil.
3. I manage a little league team, The Red Sox. On my team are 12 young men, and at the beginning of the season, I went to a selection meeting, where I got to choose the young men that I wanted on my team. They are not on my team by accident, they were chosen by me to play for me. Now as the manager, I expect each of them to pull their weight, and to practice with the team, and to improve their game. As the season has progressed, I find some who believed that they do not have to pull their weight and follow the team rules of practice. They do not make the rules for the team, or the practice times, or the game strategy. I, with my coaches, make it, and the team does what is expected of them. For those who do not follow my direction, they are finding that they are not keeping up with the progress of the rest of the team, and they are finding that they will be sitting on the bench more and more. In fact some of them are almost not a part of the team, and it is interesting to note that the rest of the team don’t have as good a relationship with these few.
4. There are many in the church, who are chosen to be in the church, and now that they are here, they don’t want to put in the time and effort for the team. These, just like my players, will whine and complain and find fault, and the more and more that they act like this, not following the team rules set by the coach, Jesus Christ, the more the rest of the team, who are doing their best in the team, will not associate with them. As the season progresses, those who sit on the bench, will eventually be dropped from the team. They may go and look for another team, and unless their attitude changes about working for the good of the team, they will also be dropped from that team, until finally they will be unable to find a team that will take them.
C. We Are Chosen For A Purpose.
EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love We are chosen by God to be:
1. To Be Holy v4 We are not chosen to be worthless beggars, dirty, foul, unclean and full of sin. We are chosen to be holy, set apart for Him. Pure and undefiled. Precious and sanctified. This means that we are to repent, (stop and turn away) from our sins. We cannot continue to live as the world lives, we are chosen to be different. If you are a liar, stop lying. If you are having sex outside of marriage, stop doing it. If you are a trouble maker, stop your sinful mouth. If you are stealing, stop stealing. Whatever your sin, you must confess, repent and let God and His Team help you to stop sinning.
EPH 1:5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- his glory.
2. To Be His Children v5. We are chosen to be His children adopted with a purpose to be His own. It would be wonderful to be able to rule the house, like some children do today, sitting on the sofa playing video games and ordering the parents around. NO! children have chores and work to do in the home for the family. We as God’s children need to do the laundry, run the vacuum, wash the dishes, clean the windows, mow the grass, and take care of the chores that need to be done. If we do not, this reflects badly upon the Father of the House, our God. If you are a Christian, then know that you were created and adopted into the family of God.
a. Beloved, this also means the finances of the family. I know that the family supports the family, and makes sure that the bills of the family get paid. It is great that the Father gives us an allowance each month, but some of that, as directed by the Father, is to be used for the running of the house. In fact God states in His Word that it all belongs to Him, as He gives it to you, but He requires 10% of the gross be used to support the house. Now, I want to share with you, if you have ignored that, then you need to repent, and start following what Father tells you to do, as He may cut off the allowance.
EPH 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
3. To Be Blessed v7-9. I don’t know how else to describe it. We are chosen by God to have His love lavished on us. The Greek word is perisseuo it means to overflow or have an abundance that is in excess. We are also blessed to know the truth.
a) Musterion mystery He has disclosed to us the wonder of that which all men can know but only few choose to know.
EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
4. To Bring Him Glory v 11-12 We were chosen, not to bring us glory, or for us to decide what is going to happen, but so that we might be the praise of His glory. Our very lives are to bring Him glory. When people see us and interact with us, what do they say about God. Do they glorify God or do they curse Him? Unfortunately, many will curse God because of some of the actions of His so called elect. They are meaner, more bigoted, louder, more obnoxious and generally more controlling than those who are in the world. Review your life, and answer the question, “does my life bring glory to God?”
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of
5. To Be Temples Of God. v13 We have been chosen to serve as the temples of the Holy Spirit. The Holy of Holies set up in our hearts. The Old Testament believer would long for what we have been given. The Spirits guidance through every day. We need to be careful that we do not clutter and defile the Holy of Holies with the things of the world.
CONCLUSION
1. We are chosen by God, a royal priesthood, to do the work that God has set before us to do in His family and on His team. Beloved, you are chosen, now what are you going to do with that.
2. In this church, there are many who are slothful, wanting to be spoon fed, without doing their chores. Wake up, or perhaps you will find yourself not on the team any longer.
3. Our salvation is a gift, but there are certain responsibilities that are expected of us, and if we don’t do them, we can read what the scriptures say about them. I know there are many who prefer the “you are in no matter what” philosophy, but I cannot with clear conscience ignore other scriptures like, Matthew 22:13, which, because of REV 19:8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.), I believe deals with the work of the saints in the kingdom.
4. With this read, we also read, MT 22:11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 `Friend,’ he asked, `how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. 13 "Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
5. The scriptures are full of passages that deal with our chosen walk, and the consequence of not fulfilling our family responsibilities. One more Scripture: The servant who was given only one talent to be used, comes before the master. Here is the Lord’s reply. MT 25:26 "His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 " `Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
6. Beloved of Jesus, it is not too late, you can repent now, and make the commitment to start living a chosen life, or you can continue in your life of slothfulness, and receive the reward. Come to the front now, and commit your life to the family.
