God-Honoring Ministry Part 8

more time, at least one more
time, and turn to Acts chapter 20. I didn’t mean to imply that
we’re anywhere near completing this study of Acts chapter 20. We find ourselves in the midst
of Paul’s discussion there where he is setting himself forth as
an example. He recalls many elements of that
example and we have already looked at six. We look at a seventh
this morning and then Lord willing on next Lord’s Day we will complete
this study looking at the eighth and final personal example that
Paul gave to us in this passage. You know the backdrop of it.
We have we’ve covered that a number of different times. So if we
could let’s just jump right into the passage by way of honoring
the text. Beginning in verse 17. Where
Paul wrote where Luke records of Paul. From Miletus he sent
to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church and
when they had come to him, he said to them, you yourselves
know from the first day that I set foot in Asia how I was
with you the whole time serving the Lord with all humility, with
tears, and with trials which came upon me through the plots
of the Jews. How I did not shrink from declaring
to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and
from house to house solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks
of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem not
knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit
solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions
await me. But I do not consider my life
of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course
and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify
solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold,
I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the
kingdom will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to
you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and
for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with
his own blood. I know that after my departure,
savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And
from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse
things to draw away the disciples after them. remembering that,
pardon me, therefore be on the alert, remembering that night
and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish
each one with tears. And now I commend you to God
and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up
and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one’s silver
or gold or clothes, You yourselves know that these hands have ministered
to my own needs and to the men who are with me. In everything
I showed you that by working hard in this manner, you must
help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that
he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. When
he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them
all and they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul and repeatedly
kissed him. grieving especially over the
word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.
They were accompanying him to the ship.” So we get the tone,
as we’ve talked about, this matter-of-fact tone that Paul has in that passage
where he’s speaking to some pretty stout-hearted folks, people that
had seized hold of Christianity and really were beginning to
live it out and flesh it out in every aspect and element of
their lives. And yet they were not without
need of instruction. They were not without need of
example and Paul gives them both. Paul stands before them and he
basically says, look at my life in its exemplary fashion before
you and I exhort you to do likewise. As I said, we’ve already reviewed
six marks of Paul’s faithfulness, the marks of a God-honoring ministry. We saw that, first of all, we
are called to undaunted service. We’re called to really roll up
our sleeves and really serve the body of Christ. Ultimately,
we’re serving the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and it’s to be
undaunted. It’s to be without end. We’re
not to quit. We’re not to give in and give
up. Secondly, we saw that there’s a commitment to proclaiming the
gospel. That’s what Paul talks about in verses 20 and 21, and
it isn’t immediately clear when you read that. But as you distill
down, as you filter through all of those elements, you see that
is the only thing that Paul could be talking about there in those
verses is the gospel. It’s the gospel that he preached
publicly. It’s the gospel that he took house to house. It’s
the gospel that was there for both Jews and Greeks. It’s the
gospel that calls us to repentance and faith. It was the third element
that we looked at, faith in God to proceed into the unknown.
And this touches all of us. Paul exemplified it. Paul was
willing to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen. Paul
was willing, but a lot of times we hold off until we really see
a clear picture, until we really have assurance, even from God
himself, that everything’s gonna be smooth and everything’s gonna
go well. We don’t like the unknown. We
don’t like uncertainties. We need to learn to like it.
We need to learn to embrace it. We need to learn to walk with
grace and walk with God and trust him even when it’s not clear.
There was a fourth mark God-honoring ministry, a selfless dedication
to the work of God. Paul, there in verse 24, essentially
tells them that he was literally willing to be spent for the cause
of God’s plan of redemption. There was a fifth point that
we considered, an absolute commitment to God’s word. As I said, a lot
of these points, they butt right up against one another. They
even interlocked with one another. verses 25 and through 27 tell
us about God’s or Paul’s absolute commitment to God’s word that
in essence he was he had been so faithful and so energetic
about preaching the gospel in preaching the whole counsel of
God and preaching God’s great plan of redemption as oriented
in the scriptures. Paul had been so committed to
that that I believe on God’s own testimony to Paul’s heart
he was innocent of the blood of all men. He had told them
what God told him to proclaim. Because of that he was innocent.
Last week we considered the sixth mark of a God-honoring ministry,
a compulsion to warn people of danger. This is almost all Paul
did. Went about from church to church
warning them about themselves, warning them about error, warning
them about sin, warning them about false teachers. Paul told the Ephesian elders
to be on guard for their own hearts, to be on guard for their
own doctrine, to be on guard for their flock. Because he knew
that no sooner did he get on that boat, trouble was coming. Trouble was coming within the
church. Trouble would come from without the church. Trouble was
coming. How have you done in forecasting
those elements, in forecasting the marks of a God-honoring ministry?
I suggested at the outset there were eight. My list really hasn’t
changed or expanded at all since then. I still see eight. We come to .7. Marks of a God honoring ministry
is taken from Paul’s own personal testimony of his life and ministry.
Point number seven, a ministry that honors God is characterized
by the wisdom and the humility to point others to eternal or
divine resources. The wisdom and the humility to
point others to eternal or divine resources. A lot of times, and I think to
a degree it’s a male thing, we want to conquer, we want to protect,
we want to fix things. We love to fix things. My kids
have this idea, and partly because I’ve planted the idea in their
head, that I can fix anything. And that, for the most part,
has been true of toys. Electronics? Not so much. And that’s where I call my friend
so often. But we want to fix things. Especially
the guys, we want to fix things. We want to make them better.
We want to take charge. And when somebody comes to us
with a problem, I would almost encourage you to just sit and
listen the next time you’re in a large prayer group where people
are sharing their prayer requests. What usually transpires is this,
the prayer request is shared, somebody asks for a question
of clarification, and immediately it transitions to, oh, I know
a person that, you know, and immediately we set about to fixing
instead of praying. We wanna fix, we wanna take charge,
we wanna step in, and it’s not bad. I wanna maintain this thought
throughout this discussion that there is a balance here. And
James warns against this mindset that says be at peace, be warm,
be filled. Right? There is a balance between just
leaving it all to God and from taking God out of the equation
completely or at least attempting to. That’s the warning that I
want to give today. We don’t want to take God out
of the equation. It’s not bad to want to fix things. I think in the course of my little
repairs and work More than one person has acknowledged when
they heard me, after something went well, just expressing an
immediate sentiment of gratitude to God. Thank you, God, for helping
that bolt to come unstuck. We have to acknowledge God in
this process. We don’t want to minister alone. We have nothing to give outside
of God’s grace. It’s not bad to want to fix things.
It’s not bad to want to take charge insofar as that charge
goes. It’s not bad to want to solve
problems. But if we attempt to solve problems
outside of prayer and outside of invoking the help and the
grace of God, that is a problem all its own. We want to be the
solution sometimes. We not only want to help out,
we want to be the help. We want some people at the end
to see that we have been the very one that brought them relief. As I said, there’s nothing inherently
wrong with wanting to help. But such effort can never take
the place of God and His grace, never can take the place of God’s
help. It can never step in and supplant
God’s divine assistance. And I think we do people a disservice
when we do that. When we cut them off from the
grace of God and we offer them simply our own grace. Paul said this in verse 32. Look
at the passage. Paul knew, right? Paul knew he
was getting on a boat and in all likelihood he would never
see them again. And he begins these parting words when he says,
and now I commend you to God. and to the word of his grace
which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance
among all those who are sanctified. What an incredible verse. At the end of which I think you’ll
see why I’ve isolated this one verse to one point. Church of Ephesus we know was
unique. Paul’s relationship with them. Paul is very matter of fact with
them. The Church of Ephesus wasn’t
a church with a lot of problems and drama. But it wasn’t impervious
to struggles and difficulties. It wasn’t impervious to sin in
the lives of elders as Paul exhorted them to beware. It wasn’t impervious
to outside attacks. It wasn’t impervious to trouble
even emanating up from within. It was a friendly relationship
that Paul had, but here it takes a very practical tone, very matter
of fact. You see, Paul knew that in all
likelihood his ministry to Ephesus was over. There would be no more
journeys in Paul’s mind here to Ephesus, no hopes of having
any more of these impromptu pastors’ conferences. You know Paul would
go on to write a letter to the Ephesians from prison. He would
continue to serve them. He would continue to pray for
them. But he sensed here that his personal
face-to-face involvement with their growth as Christians, their
growth as a church, was coming to an end. He expected to be
at least arrested in Jerusalem, if not martyred. His worldwide
traveling days were coming to an end. And he simply calmly
explains to the Ephesians that they would no longer see his
face. Paul passionately wanted them to know that they would
be fine. And in a very real way, they would be better off without
him. This was their dear brother and friend, the greatest evangelist,
greatest pastor the world’s ever known, and one who had intimately
ministered with them for three years. One on whose shoulder
they would weep at the thought of his departure. And yet I believe
in Paul’s heart and mind he believed that they would be better off
if he were to get on that boat and leave and never return. Better
off. And he does so by essentially
this statement. What I would almost say is the
greatest commendation ever. When Paul says in verse 32, and
now I commend you to God, is there anywhere better? Is there
anyone in whose hands we could place our friends, our loved
ones, than into God’s hands? That’s essentially what we do
as parents. We raise them up and at a certain point, we essentially,
we have to let them walk with God. That’s what we do with even
our closest friends, don’t we? Several years ago, we were faced
with this. Challenges came. There was only so much I could
do. Challenges are going to come
into all of our lives. This is a particularly hard challenge
for men who want to fix things, to suddenly have to stand down
and to let God, and to let God do the unfinished work Paul was
leaving the Ephesians and they could no longer count on him.
He could no longer count on seeing them. He could no longer render
them that day-to-day assistance, that pastoral guidance that he
had given so faithfully. And what he does here is just,
it is so godly. He commends them to God. He literally
hands them over, commits them to God and to his grace. There
is no better place. Paul was not unlike myself. I call myself a sanctified thief,
because if I see something that works, boy, man, I grab it. A
baseball drill, if it looks good, I like it, man, I grab it. If
I like a commentary, and this largely was due to my professors
who said, before you ever buy a book, before you ever marry
a book, date it. Go on a date. Even if you’re
standing in the aisle, flip through it. Make sure it’s a book that
you’re really going to utilize because when you say, I do, when
you marry the book, you’re stuck with it for life. You’re committed
to it. So date the book. Well, this
word, this idea of commending and committing someone over to
God and to his grace was one of those things that Paul, Paul
had seen and experienced on the other side. He had been committed,
commended to God’s grace alone. And he said, you know what? There’s
something to this. This is an entirely biblical
concept. There’s nothing wrong with having
a partnership, what Paul would later call a privileged partnership,
where you have others in ministry that come alongside and they
work with you for a season. But I want to take you, turn
back, if you would, six chapters to Acts 14. I want to take you
to a section where Paul, I believe, learned this very lesson. In Acts 14, we pick up in verse
20, while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered
the city. The next day, he went with Barnabas to Derbe. After
they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening
the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith,
saying, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of
God. He puts all of his trials and all of his persecution and
perspective for them. Watch what happens. When they
had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed
with fasting, they commended him to the Lord in whom they
had believed. Paul saw that this was an entirely
biblical thing. To go as far as you could humanly
go and then entrust Entrust those who are departing or entrust
those in whom you are leaving behind, entrust them to the Lord. It’s a biblical concept. In the
Ephesians, indeed all Christians, we have this tendency to take
that for granted. Oh yes, prayer. Oh yes, God. Oh yes, the grace of God. We
tend to be really forgetful of God and His grace. We tend to
put a whole lot of stock in our efforts, in what we’re able to
do. And heaven forbid that we ever
break down and get stuck, but we’ve got visa in case anything
bad really comes upon us. We have what I called elsewhere
a hyperactive confidence in self. We think that we can fix anything. We think that we can step in
and be a remedy to anybody’s trouble. We depend too much on
ourselves. We depend far too much on our
abilities and when our abilities cease, we think that’s the extent
of things. We depend too much on our reputation
We depend too much on our own influence and ability to influence
our political or whatever influence we have, power. We depend too
much on our own wisdom, homespun wisdom, not biblically grounded
wisdom. We depend too much on the counsel
that we receive from others. I’ve seen people that are almost
addicted, they almost can’t move. until they get a group of three
or five or ten that all concur on the direction they should
move. We depend too much on degrees. We depend too much on credit.
We depend too much on our financial net worth, whatever that is.
We depend too much on our connections, political and otherwise. We depend
too much on our family name from time to time. We depend too much
on our networking and ability to do that. We depend too much
on leveraging whatever opportunities have been granted us. We depend
too much on self and all of those things derived from it. And I’m
not saying it’s wrong to use any of those things as God enables. There’s nothing wrong with any
of them. The problem is that we depend
too much on them. And we depend too much on too
little on God. We depend too little on Almighty
God and on the power of his grace, but Paul, for his part, knew
that there were he knew that there were divine limitations.
And here he’s about to face one of those divine limitations that
he can’t be in two places at once. So he says, I commend you
to God and to his grace. And that particular context when
he says, I commend you to the word of his grace here. He’s
talking about the power of the word that the, that when that
word is employed, there is spiritual stability that comes from it
and security. It points ultimately to the grace
of God. Paul says, look, I’m going to
leave you, but I’m going to leave you in care of the one that is
going to be far more helpful to you than me. It’s to God and it’s to God’s
word, God’s grace. It’s the vine and the branches
as we’ve seen in the past. First and foremost, Paul knew
that this grace was a means of their salvation. How foolish
it would be, and this is essentially the problem that’s addressed
in Galatians, right? So we began our walk of faith
by grace, but then all of a sudden we’re going to take over and
we’re going to begin to put our works into effect. Grace, that undeserved favor,
is of a most amazing kind. It’s forgiveness for sin, it’s
peace with God, it leads to eternal salvation, and it’s all by that
undeserved favor of God’s grace. At least 35 times in the New
Testament, we’re told that if we are saved, it is only by the
grace of God. I’m not gonna have you look at
all 35, but consider just a few. Romans 3.24, justified as a gift
by His grace. For every person who places their
faith in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, God takes their
sin, And he puts it on to Christ who has already paid for it.
And in place of that, he puts his righteousness on them. He justifies them, enables them
to stand before a holy God. And there is no other remedy
than that. It’s by grace and by grace alone. It’s not by works. It’s not by
deeds. Second Corinthians echoes this.
Second Corinthians 4.15. The grace which is spreading
to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound
to the glory of God. Every time the grace of God touches
a new person, it is a grand advertisement for God’s plan of redemption.
That’s essentially what Paul says. Ephesians 2, Ephesians
2 verse 7, God blessed us. So that in the ages to come,
he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness
towards us in Christ. We’re all going to get to heaven.
We’re going to be looking around going, what are you doing here? What
are you doing here? Well, that’s all going to be a grand testimony
to the grace of God. None of us deserved to be there. Not a one. Paul gives this great
argument as he closes that statement, for by grace you have been saved
through faith. And that, not of yourself, it
is a gift of God. Titus 2.11, the grace of God
has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. It is only by God’s
grace that any are saved. So first and foremost, this grace
that Paul points to speaks and reminds them, it must, of their
salvation, that we’re saved by grace. But beyond that, it refers
more generally to God’s kindness, his goodwill, his favor towards
us. Everything that comes from God
that benefits us is a hand of His grace. God gives us the opportunity
and the capability, the spiritual energy for service to God. All of that is a result of God’s
grace. Paul speaks of grace on many
occasions to refer to the many opportunities, ministry opportunities
that God had granted him, just a few. 1 Corinthians 3 10 according
to the grace of God that was given me. Paul ministered and
he did only he did all that he did and he did only what he did
according to the grace of God. He wouldn’t have been there in
other words. He wouldn’t have done anything on behalf of the
Lord or for the Lord had it not been for the grace of God. Paul would go on to say that
as far as God’s grace went, it was everything to him. 1 Corinthians
15.10, by the grace of God, I am what I am. You take the grace
of God away and I collapse in a heap. I’m nothing, nothing. Paul would go on to say in the
second letter to the Corinthians that he had been sustained by
God and his grace and by that alone. My grace is sufficient
for you, Paul said. God’s grace, God’s grace is always
more than enough. No matter what the circumstance,
as long as we live, God is able to take our weaknesses and failings
and triumph over those because of His grace. Paul would go on
to point others to that source of strength. Be strong in the
grace of God, 2 Timothy 2.1. Paul would remind every Christian
that is ever given a gift to serve in God’s kingdom, each
one of us was given this grace. Regarding these gifts, we’re
urged to be good stewards, good stewards of God’s grace. God
and his grace are the great means of pleasing God. The only time
we ever make God happy, it’s only because the grace of God
was coursing through our lives. We pray for you, Paul said to
the Thessalonians 1.12, so that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
will be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace
of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when Paul says, I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace, he basically directs
them to the greatest source of power that any human has ever
experienced. It’s not a pill. It’s not a formula. It’s not some magic mantra. It is the living God in whom
they tap into. They literally commune with the
living God who empowers them to do whatever God has assigned
to them. Look at how far this can go.
Look back at the passage, chapter 20, verse 32, where Paul says,
and now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace,
what? Which is able to build you up
and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. This word, build you up, it’s
a very common one for Paul. It’s a very common one in the
New Testament. it literally refers to the building of a house. Starting
with a foundation, the foundation’s done, and then the sticks go
up, and then the walls go on, and ultimately the roof, and
the house, it is a building process, and likewise in the Christian
life. Not a one of us was complete
the day that we placed our faith in Christ, not a one of us. And
the older saints, when you talk to them, They will tell you that
the longer they walk, the more incomplete they feel, right? You see a lot of flaws yet to
be buffed out in this building process. But this building is
often used in the New Testament to speak of the biblical instruction
and encouragement that goes into strengthening and encouraging
a fellow believer. We call it edification. We’ll
talk a little bit more about this as God would have it today
in our second part of our annual meeting that essentially the
purpose of this church is threefold. It really is simple. Glorify,
edify, testify. We glorify God. We glorify God
in our lives as we live out godly lives in the community. We glorify
God when we gather together in worship. Edify. We build up one another. That’s
our one main job with regards to the saints. We build them
up. We pray for them. We teach them. We admonish them. We encourage
them. We testify. We tell other believers
what we believe. We tell other believers what
we learn. We encourage them by way of example. And whenever God opens that door
and there’s an unbeliever in our midst, we take every opportunity
we have to tell them that it’s Christ. Christ is the Savior. Christ will forgive them. Christ
has already paid for forgiveness. This building, it doesn’t just
happen in the church. Just coming to church, it doesn’t
just happen. This building process is spoken
of as a mutual thing. We are called to build up one
another. And that’s why I never look at
the discipleship thing as a top-down. It’s a both-and. We’re both essentially
being disciples. You’re teaching me and I’m teaching
you. I’ve explained it before this
way in the book of Titus 2, that essentially there’s this image
of each person is at the same time reaching down to disciple
someone else and reaching up to be encouraged by someone.
It’s both. It’s not only mutual, but it’s
discriminating. Not all things edify, Paul said.
There are things that we need to carve out of our life because
they’re not building us up and they won’t build others up. It’s
selfless. This process of edification,
of building up others, it needs to be other-oriented or you’re
never going to edify anyone. Paul said it in Romans 15 too,
let each of us please his neighbor, for his good, to his edification. That’s what we’re all about.
We’re all about the other person. We should be. It’s motivated
by love. Love edifies 1 Corinthians 8.
It’s intensely practical. I shared with the young people
at Olive Tree the other day, the 7th and 8th graders, there’s
only two kinds of words that can come out of our mouth. If
we’re a Christian, there’s only two kinds of words that’ll come
flowing out of your mouth, garbage or grace. What is that? Ephesians 4.29, let no unwholesome
word proceed from your mouth. And that word there is so putrid,
not only would you not want to step in it, you certainly would
never want to eat it. It’s that scum that grows in
the gutter. That’s essentially what that
word describes. And yet, that’s what some people
spew out of their mouths. Garbage. Let no unwholesome word
proceed from your mouth. Lies, slander, foolishness, boastfulness,
all of those kinds of speech. But only such a word is as good
for edification. We want to build others up. We
don’t want to tear them down. We don’t want to heap them under
a pile of garbage. Only such a word is as good for
edification according to the need of the moment. Why? So that
it will give grace to those who hear. We want to be a conduit
of God, not of foolishness, not of sinfulness, not of garbage. It’s mutual, it’s discriminating,
it’s selfless, it’s intensely practical. It’s produced by God’s
word. You have nothing to offer. Did
you hear that? You have nothing to offer. When
it talks about, when you think about edification, when you talk
about building somebody up, you in and of yourself have nothing
to contribute. Here’s the hope. It’s all of
God. Just like Paul says here, I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace. When you dip into
the scriptures, things come to life and then you really can
be part of the great building plan of God in encouraging your
fellow believers. But you start with your homespun
wisdom, you rest in your own knowledge and your own experience,
your own story. It’s empty. Paul speaks so much. about edification. Edification was just what Paul,
that’s what Paul wanted to do. Once they were saved, he just
wanted to build them up. Ephesians 4, he said that’s why
the gifts are given, right? Apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, teachers, for the equipping of saints to the building up
of the body of Christ. That’s what we’re all supposed
to be about. Paul says, I commend you to God
and to the word of His grace. That’s the only thing that will
work in ultimately building you, in equipping you, in enabling you.
But note this, and it’s almost just
utterly astounding what Paul says. I
commend you to God and to the word of His grace. which is able
to build you up and to give you the inheritance. As I just talked
about when we prayed, we come and we’re just astounded
that if all we have, if the only blessing we ever receive in this
life is the fact that we’ve received salvation, we’ve got to somehow
tough it out and reach eternity. No blessings, no enjoyment here
on Earth at all, nothing but heartache and difficulty. We
have a blessing that is beyond all others. And that’s essentially
what Paul says here. This commendation that he says
is able to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. See what he speaks of here is
that when you place your faith in Christ, it’s not like you’re
brought in as a second class citizen, you know. You’re made
to sit at the, you know, where you have the adults table and
then you have the kids table in the other room. Or maybe you
have the guest quarters. No, that’s not it at all. It’s
the picture of the son, the prodigal son, where he’s brought back
in and he’s given a ring. He’s given a ring that allows
him to go anywhere in the market and make a purchase with that
signet ring. He’s made a son. He’s not just adopted in as a
second class citizen, he’s made a very real part of the family. And because of that, he has full
rights and privileges up to and including an inheritance. It’s
astounding. that we would be given salvation,
that we would be able to enjoy all of God’s blessings, and then
at the end of it all there’s some kind of inheritance? Just astounding. What is it? That’s the first question that
goes in our mind, isn’t it? Wow, what’s in it for me? You know,
I’ve heard about the streets of gold and the crown, you know,
I’ve got to have lots of, what is it? Paul speaks of it also
in Ephesians. Let me just briefly take you
to that passage in your mind’s eye. In Ephesians 1, remember
where he’s enumerating all of those blessings that we have
in Christ? As he’s winding down in verse 10, he says, in him
we have obtained an inheritance. There it is again. What is it? In fact, he even speaks about
it again at the end of verse 13. He says that the Holy Spirit
is given to us as a down payment. He is the Holy Spirit of promise
who is given to us as a pledge of our inheritance. If you’ve
ever sensed the conviction, if you’ve ever sensed the comfort
of the Holy Spirit, if you’ve ever sensed the encouragement,
the affirmation of the Holy Spirit, that is a down payment that one
day you are going to receive from the Lord an inheritance.
What is it? I’ll tell you in a second. First Peter, Peter speaks of
it as well. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance
which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith,
for a salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. What
is it? Well, it’s not only for you,
it’s for all those who are sanctified. It’s the saints. It’s the body
of believers. That’s what he points to. What
is it? You know what I believe the inheritance
is? It’s Jesus Christ himself. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ. The
one day we will stand face to face and He is mine and I am
His. Could there be anything better? So Paul commends them to God
and to His grace. Jesus gave that same admonition
by way of the illustration of the vine and the branches. That
if we want to thrive, if we really want to live and thrive, then
we need to tap into God and to His grace. It’s not that we’re
absolved from helping one another. It’s not that it’s wrong for
us to look to help a fellow brother. But we always need to point them
to God’s grace. God’s grace, think about it.
God’s grace will give us and bless us with abilities and gifts
and opportunities beyond all that we ever could even imagine.
That’s the story of my life right there. Never ever dreamed that
all this would come true. God will enable you by his grace
to overcome incredible difficulties. or to endure them with such grace
and dignity that that becomes a testimony all its own. God
will empower you by his grace to meet those challenges. God
will sustain you when there is a real leanness in your soul,
when things are difficult and hard and bitter. God in his grace
will equip you to maximize your usefulness. He will help you
to conquer your weaknesses, your failings, your shortcomings,
He will prepare you for usefulness to God. The grace of God will
give you help and encouragement and strength. It’ll give you
a testimony. It will allow you to accomplish
great things for God. It will comfort you in seasons
of trouble. It’ll fill your needs with a
generous supply. It’ll communicate to you forgiveness.
It’ll be your constant provision. It’ll be a lifeline to God himself. So Paul, in his inimitable way, takes
them to look at his life. And he just says to these Ephesian
believers, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. And Paul, by doing that, reminds
them that this was a pattern of his life. That was the only
source of real power and strength and encouragement. He said to
the Corinthians at the close of that little book in a very
similar way. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the love of God and the fellowship
of the Spirit be with you all. Let’s pray. O merciful God. We come before
you and Lord, our hearts. Our hearts are heavy at the thought
of lost opportunities. When instead of directing others
to God’s grace or certainly. In calling out to you for grace
to be of assistance, instead we rendered our own. Lord, we’ve
all done that. You know that. Your word tells. That just by the fact that Paul
addresses this as an issue. We have this tendency to want
to fix. And Lord, that may even be a gift. But we can’t ever
get sidelined by leaning only on our own resources. And neglecting
the resources, the great resources of God and his grace. Father,
help us, we pray. Help us to be those that look
to You instantly and naturally, that call out to You for help
in any and every situation. And then use us how You will
for Your glory. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask.
Amen.