Podcast appearances and mentions of Sinclair B Ferguson

Christian believers will be tempted to sin. How are we to understand what goes on in temptation? Where is God when we are tempted? How do we lay hold of the resources to resist and come through these times of agony? These and other crucial questions are considered in this week's episode.   Featured Resources: – 'Lead Us Not Into Temptation', Sinclair B. Ferguson, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 145 (October 1975). – Excerpt from William Bridge, A Lifting Up for the Downcast (1649; repr. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2024), Chapter 7, 'A Lifting Up in the Case of Temptation', p. 214–220.    Further Reading: Bridge, William, A Lifting Up for the Downcast Gurnall, William, The Christian in Complete Armour (single volume or abridged in three paperback volumes) Owen, John, Temptation Resisted and Repulsed (abridged and made easy to read by Richard Rushing) Owen, John, The Mortification of Sin (abridged and made easy to read by Richard Rushing) Owen, John, Works, Volume 6: Sin and Temptation (includes full text of On the Mortification of Sin in Believers, Of Temptation, Indwelling Sin, and A Practical Exposition of Psalm 130)     Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

Described as 'perhaps the greatest British theologian of all time', John Owen was far more than a theoretician. As a pastor-scholar, Owen showed that his great concern was to promote holiness in his hearers and readers, to the glory of God and their lasting joy. This week's episode constitutes an introduction to Owen and many of his chief works which, it is hoped, will be of help to those new to him, as well as to confirmed and seasoned appreciators of this humble, profound Christian teacher.   Featured Resources: – 'John Owen: A Defeated Puritan?', Ian Hamilton, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 711 (December 2022). – 'John Owen on Spiritual-Mindedness', J. I. Packer, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 620 (May 2015). – 'Some Thoughts on Reading the Works of John Owen', Sinclair B. Ferguson, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 152 (May 1976). – Three testimonies about reading John Owen, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 57 (June 1968).   From the Pen of Owen:  The Works of John Owen (Goold edition, 16 volumes). Please note each volume can be purchased separately. Owen's Exposition of Hebrews (Goold edition, 7 volumes). Please note each volume can be purchased separately. Apostasy from the Gospel: Nature and Causes (Puritan Paperback, 176 pages, abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law) Communion with God (Puritan Paperback, 224 pages, abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law) The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Large paperback, 440 pages, introduction and analysis by J. I. Packer) Duties of Christian Fellowship (Puritan Paperback, 96 pages, modernized) The Glory of Christ (Puritan Paperback, 184 pages, abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law) Gospel Life (Puritan Paperback, 256 pages, modernized) Gospel Ministry (Puritan Paperback, 208 pages, modernized) The Holy Spirit (Puritan Paperback, 216 pages, abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law) Indwelling Sin in Believers (Puritan Paperback, 176 pages, abridged and made easy to read) The Mortification of Sin (Puritan Paperback, 144 pages, abridged and made easy to read by Richard Rushing) Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times (Puritan Paperback, 160 pages, abridged and made easy to read) The Spirit and the Church (Puritan Paperback, 208 pages, abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law) Temptation Resisted and Repulsed (Puritan Paperback, 128 pages, abridged and made easy to read by Richard Rushing)   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

William Perkins, like Laurence Chaderton, was a Puritan of the Elizabethan age. As such, he lived before that golden generation of Puritans in which the likes of Flavel, Goodwin, Owen and Baxter ministered.  He was part of a pioneering generation that set to work applying the newly-recovered doctrines of the Reformation in the English context. Although he died at the age of 44, Perkins—a 'man of parts', as the Puritans might have said—would make contributions as a preacher, pastoral counsellor, theologian, and commentator that have stood the test of time.    Featured Resources: – 'Art of Prophesying: William Perkins' Famous Book Reprinted', Sinclair B. Ferguson, featured in the Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 389 (February 1996). – 'Perkins: Father of English Commentators', Edward J. Malcolm, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 462 (March 2002).   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

This week's episode is a little different, as we bring you a conversation with a great friend of the Banner, Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson, ahead of the release of his latest contribution to the Let's Study series: Let's Study Romans.  We asked him about his own history with the Letter to the Romans, advice for pastors and preachers seeking to teach and preach the book, and what his hopes are as this new volume goes out to readers.   Sign up to the Waitlist for 'Let's Study Romans'   Two hymns by James Montgomery Boice, inspired by Romans 8: Hallelujah! (What can separate my soul...) How Marvelous, How Wise, How Great   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

The incarnation is the central event of our faith, making possible the consummation of the New Covenant in the saving death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is utterly unique, and, as made clear in this week's first piece, utterly incongruous with anything else in history, or in our experience. It is, then, to be an object of our contemplation and a stimulus to our worship of the Triune God: Father, Spirit, and incarnate Son.   Featured Content: – 'An Incongruous Incarnation', Peter Sanlon, Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 675 (December 2019). – Excerpt from Sinclair B. Ferguson and Derek Thomas, 'Icthus: Jesus Christ, God's Son, the Saviour', (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2015).     About the Contributors: Peter Sanlon has served as a minister in Tunbridge Wells since 2013.  In previous years he has taught at Union School of Theology and Oak Hill Theological College. Today he trains presbyterian ministers via Westminster Seminary. His published books include 'Simply God' (IVP) and 'Augustine's Theology of Preaching' (Fortress). Sinclair Ferguson has authored several books published by the Trust, of which he is a trustee, and a former editor. He retains his position as Professor of Systematic Theology at Redeemer Seminary, Dallas, Texas, and serves as a Teaching Fellow with Ligonier Ministries. He continues to preach God's Word in churches and at conferences. Derek Thomas, a native of Wales, is the Chancellor's Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and also serves as Senior Minister at First Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Columbia, South Carolina.   Buy Ichthus: Jesus Christ, God's Son, the Saviour: https://banneroftruth.org/store/christian-living/ichthus/   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us a voice message: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

If you have a tendency to worry, fear, or deal with anxiety, this episode is for you. In this world, we know that we will face difficulties and trials, and there is a great temptation to focus on those cares. But there are times that our concerns can cross over into anxiety and worry, and we take our focus off of our God and onto the problem at hand. Join me as we take a look at a recent book released called Consider the Lilies that addresses the issue of worry and anxiety, and we remember God and His glorious attributes. Resources: Post NAR resource page: www.lovesickscribe.com/resources For the Gospel with Jonny Ardavanis: https://youtu.be/nxIPNt2kJLs?si=7VRHUOC--Xxgifwe https://youtu.be/wtU1afjqYXc?si=yIOpdm4lcFCEmaZG https://youtu.be/slbYAMTs0Hc?si=m5oBfGiCb415zfec https://youtu.be/ZFIH8vN-8ms?si=TBNQ2RleyDAY92f2https://youtu.be/yfNJp2mHu2Q?si=pS13g_iE8ejnfVxL Consider the Lilies: Finding Perfect Peace in the Character of God: Ardavanis, Jonny, Sinclair B. Ferguson: 9780310368243: Amazon.com: Books My info: Website: http://www.lovesickscribe.com Subscribe to my blog here: http://eepurl.com/dfZ-uH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovesickscribe/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovesickscribeblog If you found this video helpful, please share it with others and leave a good review. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dawn-hill2/support

That's a wrap!  For the last week of the fall season, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined again by special guest Julius James, Local Missions Director at Harvest. Together, they walk through the second part of our seventh and final chapter, "Jesus Christ, the Lamb on the Throne," exploring how we see this title on display in the book of Revelation. If you have enjoyed the study, we encourage you to consider reading the book for yourself!  Here is a link to Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined by special guest Julius James, Local Missions Director at Harvest. Together, they walk through the first part of our seventh and final chapter, "Jesus Christ, the Lamb on the Throne," exploring how we see this title on display in the book of Revelation. If you have enjoyed the study, we encourage you to consider reading the book for yourself!  Here is a link to Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined again by special guest Matt Moore, new lead pastor of Harvest Desoto. Together, they walk through the second part of chapter six, "Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant." If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined by special guest Matt Moore, new lead pastor of Harvest Desoto. Together, they walk through the first part of chapter six, "Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant," showing us how we see this facet of Jesus's identity foreshadowed in Isaiah and fulfilled in Gospel scenes like the Garden of Gethsemane. If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah walk through the second part of chapter five, "Jesus Christ, the Son of Man." If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

Jonathan Cruse talks about how Ruling Elders can foster and energize congregational singing.Further ReadingResources by JonathanJonathan Landry Cruse, What Happens When We Worship, Reformation Heritage Books, 2020.Jonathan Landry Cruse, “What Every Elder needs to Know About Congregational Singing” in Faithful and Fruitful, Essays for Elders and Deacons, Eds. William Boekestein and Steven Swets,  Reformed Fellowship Inc. 2019.Books mentioned in the podcastJonty Rhodes, Reformed Worship (Blessings of the Faith), P&R Publishing, 2023.Ligon Duncan, Does God Care How We Worship? P&R Publishing, 2020.Jonathan's three recommendations for every Ruling ElderThomas Watson, The Godly Man's Picture, Drawn with a Scripture Pencil, or, Some Characteristic Marks of a Man Who is Going to Heaven, Banner of Truth Trust.David Dickson, The Elder and His Work. The Westminster Directory for Public Worship (The Westminster Directory for Public Worship discussed by Sinclair B. Ferguson and Mark Dever is currently out of print.Two examples of John Wesley's Directions for Singing.IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah walk through the first part of chapter five, "Jesus Christ, the Son of Man," exploring the Old Testament origins and implications of this title. If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah tackle the second part of chapter four, "Jesus Christ, the Conquering King," considering how this facet of Jesus's identity factors into his saving work and has immense implications for our lives. If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah tackle the first part of chapter four, "Jesus Christ, the Conquering King," showing how Jesus fulfills the Old-Testament promise of an eternal, universal king. If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are again joined by Brooks Kimmey, Harvest's new pastor to young families, as they walk through the second part of chapter three, "Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest."  If you'd like to follow along in our study, check out this link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined by Brooks Kimmey, Harvest's new pastor to young families, as they walk through the first part of chapter three, "Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest."  If you'd like to follow along in our study, check out this link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined by Harvest associate pastor Ronnie Stevens as they walk through the second part of chapter two, "Jesus Christ, the True Prophet."  If you'd like to follow along in our study, check out this link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah are joined by Harvest associate pastor Ronnie Stevens as they walk through the first part of chapter two, "Jesus Christ, the True Prophet."  If you'd like to follow along in our study, check out this link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753Register for Women's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2429141Register for Men's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2399764

If there were ever a sentence in the Bible to serve as a trigger for anger, resentment, and resistance towards the Bible it is most likely Ephesians 5:22, Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. The reason some women bristle at verses like Ephesians 5:22-24 is because they have not known the kind of love husbands are called to demonstrate in verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her... Before we can even begin to address these verses, I need you to hear something. Marriage is an institution created by God to be celebrated, enjoyed, protected, and fought for within the covenant relationship between God and one man and one woman for a lifetime. However, if marriage (as Gods good gift) is something that you have made into the ultimate thing for your life, then you have potentially done two things: You have set your bar way too low. You have made an idol out of the institution of marriage. When it comes to marriage, how can you set the bar way too low by making it the ultimate thing you aspire to? By making marriage the ultimate thing, you miss its ultimate purpose in that it serves as the only institution on earth designed to reflect Christs relationship with the Church and the Churchs relationship with Christ (v. 32). What is marriage? It is a great mystery because it is, an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one (v. 32; NLT). In fact, in reference to the mystery of marriage, the ESV, NIV, and CSB translate the Greek word megas (έ) as profound while the KJV, NASB, and NLT use the word great. The word can also be translated: large, surprising, or prominent. What is the point? Marriage is a big deal for reasons much more significant than two humans who want to spend a lifetime together. When you read what is written in Ephesians 5 concerning marriage, you must read and study these verses within the context of everything written in Ephesians 1:1 - 5:21. Let me help you understand Ephesians 5:22-33 in light of the overall context of the epistle: In Ephesians 1:1-19, the Christian was chosen before the foundation of the world to be redeemed and forgiven of all sin exclusively through the shed blood of Jesus upon a cross. If you are a Christian, at the moment you believed in Jesus, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of becoming holy and blameless as Gods treasured possession to the praise of His glory, so that Jesus, who is Lord over everything (vv. 19b-21), would be head over all things to the church (v. 22-23). In Christ, those who were dead in their sins are made alive according to Ephesians 2:1-10 because of the rich mercy, great love, and sufficient grace of God. The reason why you, Christian, were made alive... is to live out your calling as Gods, workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:1-10). Now that you are alive with Christ, you are a citizen with the saints, and are of Gods household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord... (2:19-21). Because you are in Jesus, you now have a new identity, and as His redeemed people, we all can, know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge as His Church (3:14-19). As those who were once far off but have been brought near as Jesus redeemed people, we are to be known for walking a better way as followers of Jesus, indeed, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called... (4:1). We do this, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (vv. 2-3). As the Church of Jesus Christ, we are His holy Bride and no longer characterized by the useless deeds of darkness (5:3-13) but are now children of light (5:8-9) who walk with wisdom while the days are evil (vv. 15-16). We do this as the holy temple of the Spirit of God and body of Christ, who will experience a marriage as His beloved Bride. Now, as those who belong to Christ, we are to diligently keep, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace since we belong to each other as, one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (4:4-6). If you are a Christian, then you are the Bride of Christ, and as the Bride of Christ, we come to what I consider to be the hermeneutical key for understanding what Paul states in the verses to follow regarding marriage, children, and work. Here it is: subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ (v. 21). Gods Intended Culture for Marriage It is important to point out that what proceeds what Paul says to wives and husbands is one long sentence in verses 18-21 that begins with an imperative: do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit... So, the culture of a healthy marriage begins by being filled with the Holy Spirit instead of filling yourself with something that leads to debauchery. The way to do that is provided in a list of four participles: 1) Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 2) singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord, 3) always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father, and 4) subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. If you are wondering what Ephesians 5:19-21 looks like in the home, the point is not the songs you sing to one another, but what it is that moves you and motivates you as a wife or as a husband. What Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:19-20 is not all that different than what he wrote to the Colossians: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (3:16-17). To subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ is to do all things, both in word and deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Greek word for subject is hypotassō (ὑά) and it literally means to put oneself under another; here we are to humble ourselves in this way out of a reverence for Jesus. In the case of Ephesians 5:21, we Christians are to mutually subject/submit to one another out of a humility that is empowered by the Holy Spirit which is best experienced as you are filled by the Holy Spirit. The best way I can help you understand what Paul is communicating here is to see it against the backdrop of Philippians 2:3-8, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. Jesus, while equal to the Father, when He took on flesh during His incarnation, humbled Himself by taking the form of a bondservant. What Jesus did, is that He subjected Himself under the authority of the Father to accomplish what was necessary for our redemption. We are told that we must have the same mindset of Jesus in the way we treat one another. Never was Jesus less than God, but He did willingly place Himself under the headship of the Father while He remained fully God and at the same time fully human. We are to humble ourselves in the same way as brothers and sisters in a world where individualism and power struggles are part of the dog-eat-dog culture of the world that we live in. So, against the backdrop of Philippians 2:3-8, consider again Ephesians 5:21, subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ (v. 21). Do you see it? Do you see why this verse serves as a type of linchpin that joins what we read in verses 15-20 and the section in Ephesians that addresses husbands, wives, children, and slaves? How are Wives to Subject Themselves to Their Husbands? So now we come to the word subject and the way it is used for how wives must respond to their husbands and how it is not used to instruct the way husbands are to respond to their wives. We will look more deeply at the husband-and-wife relationship as it is explained in these verses next week, but for now I want to set things up for next week in a way that still helps you today. Within the covenant of marriage, a wife is to, subject herself to her husband, as to the Lord (v. 22). The husband is not commanded to do the same regarding his wife. Instead, he is commanded to love his wife just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her (v. 25). Sinclair Ferguson states in light of Ephesians 5:21-22, there is, of course, an appropriate mutual submission in marriage. The exhortation of 5:21 is to be obeyed by all Christians within the context of their mutual fellowship! But that is not the only aspect to the Christian life. Mutual submission no more obliterates the command in 5:22 than it rescinds the command of Hebrews 13:7 Obey your leaders![1] When it comes to marriage, the God who invented marriage offers a better way than the perversion of marriage propagated by the world. Indeed, marriage was always intended to express, demonstrate, and point to a greater marriage that every Christian was chosen, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit to experience regardless of your marital status on planet earth (more on this in two weeks)! The better way for the Christian woman, who happens to be a wife, is to illustrate how Christians (the Church) respond to the great love of Christ that compelled Him to willingly go to the cross to redeem her; the response of Jesus wife is to be that of joyful submission. In a world that balks at any notion that a married woman must subject/submit to her husband; the Christian is called to a better way. Listen, just as our response to Jesus should be one of deep and joyful submission to Him because of the love we have experienced from Him, the wife is to joyfully place herself under the loving headship of her husband in response to his self-sacrificing love, care, and protection for his bride. The command for wives to subject themselves to their husbands has nothing to do with value or importance, but Gods design for marriage and the kind of thriving, joy, and companionship He intends His people to enjoy within the covenant of marriage that He instituted. What does it mean to subject yourself to your husband, as to the Lord? Well, it certainly does not mean that you become his doormat so that he can treat you however he wants. There is only One Lord, and that Lord is Jesus Christ. There is a chain of command, and your first obligation is to obey Jesus as your Lord. The reason why I believe the NASB offers a better translation of hypotassō (subject) is because the wife is not commanded to enter subjugation under her husband as an inferior person to a superior human. When a woman enters marriage, she does so as a different but equal counterpart to the man she loves. The wife willingly and humbly places herself under her husbands headship out of a deep trust and respect for him in response to the selfless love she has experienced and rightfully anticipates she will continue to enjoy throughout a lifetime of marriage when they come together as a one-flesh union. Again, Sinclair Fergusons perspective on Ephesians 5:22-24 is very much appreciated: Marriage is not a recipe for the subjugation of a woman, but a blueprint for her true freedom in a healthy, loving relationship with her husband.[2] Richard Coekin, in his little commentary on Ephesians, states: As he [God] committed himself sacrificially to us in covenanted and exclusive love, so the most precious aspect of all our human relationships, and especially marriage, is to love and be loved, not merely with sentimental affection or sensual desire, but with sustained sacrificial kindness in every season of lifean unconditional love based not upon the others glamorous looks, but upon a commitment to be exclusively devoted to their best interests. And what a stunningly wonderful blessing a happy Christian marriage is![3] However, for some of you, your marriage seems anything but a wonderful blessing. Others of you are afraid of entering into marriage because of what you witnessed growing up. The sad truth is that even in the Church, men and women have bought into the lie of a version of marriage that does not reflect what we read in the Bible. You need to hear that when it comes to marriage or any other relationship for that matter, God offers a better way. Nevertheless, to experience that better way, it takes two who desire to walk in a manner worthy of their calling as followers of Jesus for Gods design for marriage to be experienced on some level. In the weeks to come, I hope to offer you some level of help and encouragement for your marriage and your desire to follow Jesus well. Before I conclude, permit me to address the woman and then the men of this church. To the women in this church: You are created in the image of God and there is no man whose love is greater for you than the one your heavenly Father has for you. Any abuse you suffered growing up, the careless words spoken by any of the men in your life, or any treatment of you that has reduced you to an object is NOT a reflection of Gods love for you. You are valued because God has placed value upon you as His daughter! There is no marriage or situation where it is acceptable or okay for you to be abused or mistreated as a daughter of the God who loved you so much that He sent His only Son to die to redeem you. If you are in a marriage that seems more of a misery than the beautiful marvel it is intended to be, I want to encourage you to hang on and trust that the God who raises the dead can bring life to your marriage. If you are in what you believe to be a dead or failing marriage, I would like to give you an assignment this week: Pray for your husband, that the God who created out of nothing, can do something with the man in your marriage. To the men in this church: Everything I said to the women also applies to you. It is possible to be in a relationship where you are demeaned, demonized, and devalued by the women in your life (more on that next week). It is not okay for you to be treated poorly or talked down to or disrespected by your wife or children. I will say though, that we men tend to set the culture and spiritual climate of our homes; if you have not done a good job at doing that, it is not too late. Permit me to give you an assignment this week, read John 13:1 - 19:30 and take note on what Ephesians 5:25 really means for your marriage: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Especially take note of what you can do differently or better to obey what is commanded of you as the husband of your wife. Finally, the God who raised Jesus from the grave cares more about your marriage than you ever could, so trust and believe that He can make something beautiful out of your mess. It is on this point that I leave you with Ephesians 3:20-21, Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. [1] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), 149. [2] Ibid., 151. [3] Richard Coekin, Ephesians for You (The Good Book Company; 2019), 164-65.

If there were ever a sentence in the Bible to serve as a trigger for anger, resentment, and resistance towards the Bible it is most likely Ephesians 5:22, Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. The reason some women bristle at verses like Ephesians 5:22-24 is because they have not known the kind of love husbands are called to demonstrate in verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her... Before we can even begin to address these verses, I need you to hear something. Marriage is an institution created by God to be celebrated, enjoyed, protected, and fought for within the covenant relationship between God and one man and one woman for a lifetime. However, if marriage (as Gods good gift) is something that you have made into the ultimate thing for your life, then you have potentially done two things: You have set your bar way too low. You have made an idol out of the institution of marriage. When it comes to marriage, how can you set the bar way too low by making it the ultimate thing you aspire to? By making marriage the ultimate thing, you miss its ultimate purpose in that it serves as the only institution on earth designed to reflect Christs relationship with the Church and the Churchs relationship with Christ (v. 32). What is marriage? It is a great mystery because it is, an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one (v. 32; NLT). In fact, in reference to the mystery of marriage, the ESV, NIV, and CSB translate the Greek word megas (έ) as profound while the KJV, NASB, and NLT use the word great. The word can also be translated: large, surprising, or prominent. What is the point? Marriage is a big deal for reasons much more significant than two humans who want to spend a lifetime together. When you read what is written in Ephesians 5 concerning marriage, you must read and study these verses within the context of everything written in Ephesians 1:1 - 5:21. Let me help you understand Ephesians 5:22-33 in light of the overall context of the epistle: In Ephesians 1:1-19, the Christian was chosen before the foundation of the world to be redeemed and forgiven of all sin exclusively through the shed blood of Jesus upon a cross. If you are a Christian, at the moment you believed in Jesus, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of becoming holy and blameless as Gods treasured possession to the praise of His glory, so that Jesus, who is Lord over everything (vv. 19b-21), would be head over all things to the church (v. 22-23). In Christ, those who were dead in their sins are made alive according to Ephesians 2:1-10 because of the rich mercy, great love, and sufficient grace of God. The reason why you, Christian, were made alive... is to live out your calling as Gods, workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:1-10). Now that you are alive with Christ, you are a citizen with the saints, and are of Gods household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord... (2:19-21). Because you are in Jesus, you now have a new identity, and as His redeemed people, we all can, know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge as His Church (3:14-19). As those who were once far off but have been brought near as Jesus redeemed people, we are to be known for walking a better way as followers of Jesus, indeed, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called... (4:1). We do this, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (vv. 2-3). As the Church of Jesus Christ, we are His holy Bride and no longer characterized by the useless deeds of darkness (5:3-13) but are now children of light (5:8-9) who walk with wisdom while the days are evil (vv. 15-16). We do this as the holy temple of the Spirit of God and body of Christ, who will experience a marriage as His beloved Bride. Now, as those who belong to Christ, we are to diligently keep, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace since we belong to each other as, one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (4:4-6). If you are a Christian, then you are the Bride of Christ, and as the Bride of Christ, we come to what I consider to be the hermeneutical key for understanding what Paul states in the verses to follow regarding marriage, children, and work. Here it is: subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ (v. 21). Gods Intended Culture for Marriage It is important to point out that what proceeds what Paul says to wives and husbands is one long sentence in verses 18-21 that begins with an imperative: do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit... So, the culture of a healthy marriage begins by being filled with the Holy Spirit instead of filling yourself with something that leads to debauchery. The way to do that is provided in a list of four participles: 1) Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 2) singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord, 3) always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father, and 4) subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. If you are wondering what Ephesians 5:19-21 looks like in the home, the point is not the songs you sing to one another, but what it is that moves you and motivates you as a wife or as a husband. What Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:19-20 is not all that different than what he wrote to the Colossians: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (3:16-17). To subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ is to do all things, both in word and deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Greek word for subject is hypotassō (ὑά) and it literally means to put oneself under another; here we are to humble ourselves in this way out of a reverence for Jesus. In the case of Ephesians 5:21, we Christians are to mutually subject/submit to one another out of a humility that is empowered by the Holy Spirit which is best experienced as you are filled by the Holy Spirit. The best way I can help you understand what Paul is communicating here is to see it against the backdrop of Philippians 2:3-8, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. Jesus, while equal to the Father, when He took on flesh during His incarnation, humbled Himself by taking the form of a bondservant. What Jesus did, is that He subjected Himself under the authority of the Father to accomplish what was necessary for our redemption. We are told that we must have the same mindset of Jesus in the way we treat one another. Never was Jesus less than God, but He did willingly place Himself under the headship of the Father while He remained fully God and at the same time fully human. We are to humble ourselves in the same way as brothers and sisters in a world where individualism and power struggles are part of the dog-eat-dog culture of the world that we live in. So, against the backdrop of Philippians 2:3-8, consider again Ephesians 5:21, subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ (v. 21). Do you see it? Do you see why this verse serves as a type of linchpin that joins what we read in verses 15-20 and the section in Ephesians that addresses husbands, wives, children, and slaves? How are Wives to Subject Themselves to Their Husbands? So now we come to the word subject and the way it is used for how wives must respond to their husbands and how it is not used to instruct the way husbands are to respond to their wives. We will look more deeply at the husband-and-wife relationship as it is explained in these verses next week, but for now I want to set things up for next week in a way that still helps you today. Within the covenant of marriage, a wife is to, subject herself to her husband, as to the Lord (v. 22). The husband is not commanded to do the same regarding his wife. Instead, he is commanded to love his wife just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her (v. 25). Sinclair Ferguson states in light of Ephesians 5:21-22, there is, of course, an appropriate mutual submission in marriage. The exhortation of 5:21 is to be obeyed by all Christians within the context of their mutual fellowship! But that is not the only aspect to the Christian life. Mutual submission no more obliterates the command in 5:22 than it rescinds the command of Hebrews 13:7 Obey your leaders![1] When it comes to marriage, the God who invented marriage offers a better way than the perversion of marriage propagated by the world. Indeed, marriage was always intended to express, demonstrate, and point to a greater marriage that every Christian was chosen, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit to experience regardless of your marital status on planet earth (more on this in two weeks)! The better way for the Christian woman, who happens to be a wife, is to illustrate how Christians (the Church) respond to the great love of Christ that compelled Him to willingly go to the cross to redeem her; the response of Jesus wife is to be that of joyful submission. In a world that balks at any notion that a married woman must subject/submit to her husband; the Christian is called to a better way. Listen, just as our response to Jesus should be one of deep and joyful submission to Him because of the love we have experienced from Him, the wife is to joyfully place herself under the loving headship of her husband in response to his self-sacrificing love, care, and protection for his bride. The command for wives to subject themselves to their husbands has nothing to do with value or importance, but Gods design for marriage and the kind of thriving, joy, and companionship He intends His people to enjoy within the covenant of marriage that He instituted. What does it mean to subject yourself to your husband, as to the Lord? Well, it certainly does not mean that you become his doormat so that he can treat you however he wants. There is only One Lord, and that Lord is Jesus Christ. There is a chain of command, and your first obligation is to obey Jesus as your Lord. The reason why I believe the NASB offers a better translation of hypotassō (subject) is because the wife is not commanded to enter subjugation under her husband as an inferior person to a superior human. When a woman enters marriage, she does so as a different but equal counterpart to the man she loves. The wife willingly and humbly places herself under her husbands headship out of a deep trust and respect for him in response to the selfless love she has experienced and rightfully anticipates she will continue to enjoy throughout a lifetime of marriage when they come together as a one-flesh union. Again, Sinclair Fergusons perspective on Ephesians 5:22-24 is very much appreciated: Marriage is not a recipe for the subjugation of a woman, but a blueprint for her true freedom in a healthy, loving relationship with her husband.[2] Richard Coekin, in his little commentary on Ephesians, states: As he [God] committed himself sacrificially to us in covenanted and exclusive love, so the most precious aspect of all our human relationships, and especially marriage, is to love and be loved, not merely with sentimental affection or sensual desire, but with sustained sacrificial kindness in every season of lifean unconditional love based not upon the others glamorous looks, but upon a commitment to be exclusively devoted to their best interests. And what a stunningly wonderful blessing a happy Christian marriage is![3] However, for some of you, your marriage seems anything but a wonderful blessing. Others of you are afraid of entering into marriage because of what you witnessed growing up. The sad truth is that even in the Church, men and women have bought into the lie of a version of marriage that does not reflect what we read in the Bible. You need to hear that when it comes to marriage or any other relationship for that matter, God offers a better way. Nevertheless, to experience that better way, it takes two who desire to walk in a manner worthy of their calling as followers of Jesus for Gods design for marriage to be experienced on some level. In the weeks to come, I hope to offer you some level of help and encouragement for your marriage and your desire to follow Jesus well. Before I conclude, permit me to address the woman and then the men of this church. To the women in this church: You are created in the image of God and there is no man whose love is greater for you than the one your heavenly Father has for you. Any abuse you suffered growing up, the careless words spoken by any of the men in your life, or any treatment of you that has reduced you to an object is NOT a reflection of Gods love for you. You are valued because God has placed value upon you as His daughter! There is no marriage or situation where it is acceptable or okay for you to be abused or mistreated as a daughter of the God who loved you so much that He sent His only Son to die to redeem you. If you are in a marriage that seems more of a misery than the beautiful marvel it is intended to be, I want to encourage you to hang on and trust that the God who raises the dead can bring life to your marriage. If you are in what you believe to be a dead or failing marriage, I would like to give you an assignment this week: Pray for your husband, that the God who created out of nothing, can do something with the man in your marriage. To the men in this church: Everything I said to the women also applies to you. It is possible to be in a relationship where you are demeaned, demonized, and devalued by the women in your life (more on that next week). It is not okay for you to be treated poorly or talked down to or disrespected by your wife or children. I will say though, that we men tend to set the culture and spiritual climate of our homes; if you have not done a good job at doing that, it is not too late. Permit me to give you an assignment this week, read John 13:1 - 19:30 and take note on what Ephesians 5:25 really means for your marriage: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Especially take note of what you can do differently or better to obey what is commanded of you as the husband of your wife. Finally, the God who raised Jesus from the grave cares more about your marriage than you ever could, so trust and believe that He can make something beautiful out of your mess. It is on this point that I leave you with Ephesians 3:20-21, Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. [1] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), 149. [2] Ibid., 151. [3] Richard Coekin, Ephesians for You (The Good Book Company; 2019), 164-65.

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah tackle the second part of chapter one, "Jesus Christ, the Seed of the Woman," tracing the significance of this title from Genesis to Revelation.  If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753Register for Women's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2429141Register for Men's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2399764

This week, Wes, Sonia, and Noah tackle the first part of chapter one, "Jesus Christ, the Seed of the Woman," tracing the significance of this title from Genesis to Revelation.  If you'd like to follow along in our study, here's a link to purchase a copy of the book, Name Above All Names, by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.com/Name-above-Names-Alistair-Begg/dp/1433537753Register for Women's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2429141Register for Men's Bible Study here: https://harvestmemphis.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2399764

In 2012, D.A. Carson published his book, The Intolerance of Tolerance. Around the time his book released, he spoke on the subject at a conference I attended; I remember thinking that his book was timely and potentially prophetic, but none of us could have fully appreciated the gravity of what was coming. The following quote from Carsons book illustrates exactly what I mean: Neither the old tolerance nor the new is an intellectual position; rather, each is a social response. The old tolerance is the willingness to put up with, allow, or endure people and ideas with whom we disagree; in its purest form, the new tolerance is the social commitment to treat all ideas and people as equally right, save for those people who disagree with this view of tolerance. Advocates of the new tolerance sacrifice wisdom and principle in support of just one supreme good: upholding their view of tolerance. So those who uphold and practice the older tolerance, enmeshed as they inevitably are in some value system, are written off as intolerant. Thus banished, they no longer deserve a place at the table.[1] I would suggest that the older tolerance allowed space to disagree charitably with those who did not share your point of view. Not only are those of the older tolerance banished from a place at the table. Today, we find ourselves in a very interesting state of affairs in that if your ideology does not line up with that of the loudest and most vocal of ideological voices regarding sex, identity, what it means to be human, and what must be tolerated, you will be diagnosed with a certain phobia and placed into the category of mental illness. So, before we get into Ephesians this morning, I thought it would be fun it first define the word Phobia and then consider some phobias that do actually exist to better appreciate Ephesians 5:11-14. So, what is a phobia? According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), a phobia is a intense, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Furthermore, NIH affirms that, Although adults with phobias may realize that these fears are irrational, even thinking about facing the feared object or situation brings on severe anxiety symptoms. According to Wikipedia, a phobia is, an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. The definition that Merriam-Webster still provides for phobia is, an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. So, permit me to list a few common phobias and then share with you some other phobias that are not as common. Acrophobia: An intense fear of heights. Claustrophobia: An intense fear of confined spaces. Arachnophobia: An intense fear of spiders. Entomophobia: An intense fear of insects. Here is a list of phobias that you may not have heard of before: Arachibutyrophobia: An intense fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Nomophobia: An intense fear of being without your mobile phone. Plutophobia: An intense fear of money. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (a 36-letter word): An intense fear of long words. Taking a stance against something is not necessarily due to a phobia but possibly a moral conviction. A legitimate question that must be answered is from what standard does your moral conviction come? Does it come from culture, or does it come from something that transcends culture? For the Christian, our moral standard is not culture but the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. Here is how the apostle Paul explained what standard we use to judge what is good or evil, it is Ephesians 2:19-22, So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of Gods household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Jesus, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords and serves as the cornerstone of His Church, gave those who make up His Church this command, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20). The prophets and the apostles are the foundation of Jesus Church, and it is the prophets and the apostles whose teachings make up the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible is, ...inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). If we are going follow Jesus and live as though the Bible is the Word of God, we will be labeled by those still in darkness as phobic and intolerant. As a people who, were once darkness, but now... light in the Lord we live for what God loves and we stand against what God hates. Listen, if we are going to try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord (v. 10), we will be compelled to live counter-cultural in a world that calls evil good, and good evil. As children of light we belong to the God who condemns any culture that calls evil good, and good evil: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight (Isa. 5:20)! We Expose the Darkness by Not Participating in It Now we come to Ephesians 5:11 where we are commanded to avoid all participation in the useless deeds of darkness. What does that mean? The NIV translates verse 11 this way: Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. The NKJV gets closer to the heart of what Paul is communicating: And have no fellowshipwith the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. The word used for participate (synkoinōneō) does not mean fellowship in the Greek, but it does mean share. It is a Greek word that is also used in Philippians 4:14, Nevertheless, you have done well to share [synkoinōneō] with me in my difficulty. To share in something is to have fellowship with it. What are the useless deeds of darkness? Well, they include but are not limited to sexual immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, foolish talk, and vulgar joking. The useless deeds of darkness is what we were once slaves to before we were made alive with Christ when we, lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The useless deeds of darkness is what the apostle John described in 1 John 2:16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. You may recall how the holiness of God is used to the third degree unlike any other attribute of God mentioned in the Bible. Day and night the seraphim do not cease to call out to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come (Rev. 4:8). I pointed out how this is a literary devise used in the ancient languages to emphasis a very important point. There is another literary devise I told you about when we began this series in Ephesians, which comes in the form of repeated words or phrases; one such phrase that is repeated over and over again in Ephesians are the phrases in Christ, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus, and in Him; collectively they are used about 33 times. If you are a Christian, your identity and life is in Christ. Pauls description of the Christian as being in Christ is a phrase that is equivalent to remaining in Jesus; here is what Jesus said about remaining in Him: I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me (John 15:1-4). Sinclair Ferguson said this about what it means to be in the Lord: To be in the Lord is to belong to a new world, to inhabit a new kingdom in which we become new men and women. In this new kingdom, new powers are at work in us the powers of the Spirit of the crucified, risen, ascended, reigning and returning Christ. Once we were in the darkness. Worse, the darkness was in us we were darkness. Now we have been drawn into the light, illuminated by Christ the Light of the world. More, we have been invaded and transformed by Christ the Light. In the Lord we are light![2] So, if we are now children of light because of our redemption and union with Jesus, why in the world would we want to have fellowship with or share in the useless deeds of darkness? Not only are we not to participate in the useless deeds of darkness but we are to expose them. What does Paul mean that we are to expose the useless deeds of darkness? Well, it is clear Paul is not telling us to avoid the world, for that would go against the way he lived his life and much of what is written in the both the Old Testament and New Testament. The design and plan for Gods people was always to be on mission by entering into the darkness as His instrument to light up the darkness. Israel was saved from Egypt to be Gods kingdom of priests to be His light in a dark world: Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:5-6). Israels great failure was that they repeatedly and continually and habitually as a nation, participated in the fruitless deeds of darkness when by their mere existence should have exposed the emptiness and uselessness of sin. Israels problem was a heart problem only Jesus is able to fix. Jesus is Gods Yes to the promise of Deuteronomy 30:6, The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live. Jesus is Gods answer to Ezekiel 36:26, Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. You, Christian, are the recipient of such promises through and in Jesus, so why would you even want to have fellowship, share, and remain in the fruitless deeds of darkness that rob you of the kind of life you were designed to have in God? Not only are the deeds of darkness fruitless, but the wrath of a holy God is set against such deeds! This is why Paul wrote concerning those who continue to practice sexual immorality, impurity, and greed (5:3), for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret (v. 12). Our Life in Christ Exposes the Uselessness of the Deeds of Darkness The only hope for lost humanity is Jesus! He is the only solution for our sin problem. Only through the life of Jesus and the death that He died for sinners can the spiritually dead be raised to new life. Sinclair Ferguson is spot on in his description of what happened when the Christian was saved from the wrath of God: We have been invaded and transformed by Christ the Light. Now as those who are alive with Christ, we carry the light of Jesus into the darkness of the world, this is why Jesus said, You are the light of the world.... Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14, 16). So what happens when light invades a dark room? It exposes what is in the room. One of two things will happen when light exposes what is in the darkness, it will anger those who love the darkness, or it will reveal a better way to those tired and wearied by the darkness. To expose the darkness in the context of Ephesians is to contrast the living against the dead. It is not picket signs on the corner, bumper stickers, or hats that protest the darkness. It is what happens when light pierces the darkness of sins domain. The light of Christ displayed in and through His people reveals to those in the darkness that there is a better way because Jesus is the only way to experience the kind of redemption of our souls and the forgiveness of all our sins that will grant us true salvation and freedom (1:7).Many will reject Christ as the only remedy for our salvation as intolerant and they will run to the darkness, but there will be some whose sin will be exposed by the light of Christ, and they will run to Him for the life only He can give. This is the point Paul makes in verse 13, But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. I think the New Living Translation translates this verse in less confusing way: But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. Legislation and laws are good only in that it helps to suppress the evil we humans are capable of, but it can never fix the evil we are capable of. If you are darkness, you will yield the useless fruits of darkness to one degree or another. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can remedy the dark heart of humanity! The gospel of Jesus Christ alone, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). Christian, you are living proof that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is still possible today! You serve as a reminder everywhere you go that either the wrath of God can be avoided through Jesus, or the wrath of God is coming upon those who reject Him (see 2 Cor. 2:14-16). We who were asleep and dead in our sins, are only alive because the light of Christ has shown upon us. It is here in verse 14 that Paul quotes what was most likely an early church hymn composed on the basis of Isaiah 60:1-2 and Christ as the fulfillment of its promise: Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you. Here is what Isaiah 60:1-2 promises: Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Here is another one for those who reject Jesus as God! Only Yahweh has the power to redeem and raise the dead, yet Jesus has done in your life what only God is capable of doing. We who were once dead, heard the voice of Christ, and we arose to follow Him and now we live! We who once enjoyed the darkness, delight in walking in light as those who now belong to the One who said, I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8:12). Pursing Jesus is the only way to fight against our own sin and the temptation to participate in the useless deeds of darkness. Amen. [1] D.A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 2012), 98. [2] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (East Peoria, IL: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), 132.

In 2012, D.A. Carson published his book, The Intolerance of Tolerance. Around the time his book released, he spoke on the subject at a conference I attended; I remember thinking that his book was timely and potentially prophetic, but none of us could have fully appreciated the gravity of what was coming. The following quote from Carsons book illustrates exactly what I mean: Neither the old tolerance nor the new is an intellectual position; rather, each is a social response. The old tolerance is the willingness to put up with, allow, or endure people and ideas with whom we disagree; in its purest form, the new tolerance is the social commitment to treat all ideas and people as equally right, save for those people who disagree with this view of tolerance. Advocates of the new tolerance sacrifice wisdom and principle in support of just one supreme good: upholding their view of tolerance. So those who uphold and practice the older tolerance, enmeshed as they inevitably are in some value system, are written off as intolerant. Thus banished, they no longer deserve a place at the table.[1] I would suggest that the older tolerance allowed space to disagree charitably with those who did not share your point of view. Not only are those of the older tolerance banished from a place at the table. Today, we find ourselves in a very interesting state of affairs in that if your ideology does not line up with that of the loudest and most vocal of ideological voices regarding sex, identity, what it means to be human, and what must be tolerated, you will be diagnosed with a certain phobia and placed into the category of mental illness. So, before we get into Ephesians this morning, I thought it would be fun it first define the word Phobia and then consider some phobias that do actually exist to better appreciate Ephesians 5:11-14. So, what is a phobia? According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), a phobia is a intense, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Furthermore, NIH affirms that, Although adults with phobias may realize that these fears are irrational, even thinking about facing the feared object or situation brings on severe anxiety symptoms. According to Wikipedia, a phobia is, an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. The definition that Merriam-Webster still provides for phobia is, an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. So, permit me to list a few common phobias and then share with you some other phobias that are not as common. Acrophobia: An intense fear of heights. Claustrophobia: An intense fear of confined spaces. Arachnophobia: An intense fear of spiders. Entomophobia: An intense fear of insects. Here is a list of phobias that you may not have heard of before: Arachibutyrophobia: An intense fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Nomophobia: An intense fear of being without your mobile phone. Plutophobia: An intense fear of money. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (a 36-letter word): An intense fear of long words. Taking a stance against something is not necessarily due to a phobia but possibly a moral conviction. A legitimate question that must be answered is from what standard does your moral conviction come? Does it come from culture, or does it come from something that transcends culture? For the Christian, our moral standard is not culture but the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. Here is how the apostle Paul explained what standard we use to judge what is good or evil, it is Ephesians 2:19-22, So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of Gods household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Jesus, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords and serves as the cornerstone of His Church, gave those who make up His Church this command, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20). The prophets and the apostles are the foundation of Jesus Church, and it is the prophets and the apostles whose teachings make up the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible is, ...inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). If we are going follow Jesus and live as though the Bible is the Word of God, we will be labeled by those still in darkness as phobic and intolerant. As a people who, were once darkness, but now... light in the Lord we live for what God loves and we stand against what God hates. Listen, if we are going to try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord (v. 10), we will be compelled to live counter-cultural in a world that calls evil good, and good evil. As children of light we belong to the God who condemns any culture that calls evil good, and good evil: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight (Isa. 5:20)! We Expose the Darkness by Not Participating in It Now we come to Ephesians 5:11 where we are commanded to avoid all participation in the useless deeds of darkness. What does that mean? The NIV translates verse 11 this way: Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. The NKJV gets closer to the heart of what Paul is communicating: And have no fellowshipwith the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. The word used for participate (synkoinōneō) does not mean fellowship in the Greek, but it does mean share. It is a Greek word that is also used in Philippians 4:14, Nevertheless, you have done well to share [synkoinōneō] with me in my difficulty. To share in something is to have fellowship with it. What are the useless deeds of darkness? Well, they include but are not limited to sexual immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness, foolish talk, and vulgar joking. The useless deeds of darkness is what we were once slaves to before we were made alive with Christ when we, lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The useless deeds of darkness is what the apostle John described in 1 John 2:16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. You may recall how the holiness of God is used to the third degree unlike any other attribute of God mentioned in the Bible. Day and night the seraphim do not cease to call out to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come (Rev. 4:8). I pointed out how this is a literary devise used in the ancient languages to emphasis a very important point. There is another literary devise I told you about when we began this series in Ephesians, which comes in the form of repeated words or phrases; one such phrase that is repeated over and over again in Ephesians are the phrases in Christ, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus, and in Him; collectively they are used about 33 times. If you are a Christian, your identity and life is in Christ. Pauls description of the Christian as being in Christ is a phrase that is equivalent to remaining in Jesus; here is what Jesus said about remaining in Him: I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me (John 15:1-4). Sinclair Ferguson said this about what it means to be in the Lord: To be in the Lord is to belong to a new world, to inhabit a new kingdom in which we become new men and women. In this new kingdom, new powers are at work in us the powers of the Spirit of the crucified, risen, ascended, reigning and returning Christ. Once we were in the darkness. Worse, the darkness was in us we were darkness. Now we have been drawn into the light, illuminated by Christ the Light of the world. More, we have been invaded and transformed by Christ the Light. In the Lord we are light![2] So, if we are now children of light because of our redemption and union with Jesus, why in the world would we want to have fellowship with or share in the useless deeds of darkness? Not only are we not to participate in the useless deeds of darkness but we are to expose them. What does Paul mean that we are to expose the useless deeds of darkness? Well, it is clear Paul is not telling us to avoid the world, for that would go against the way he lived his life and much of what is written in the both the Old Testament and New Testament. The design and plan for Gods people was always to be on mission by entering into the darkness as His instrument to light up the darkness. Israel was saved from Egypt to be Gods kingdom of priests to be His light in a dark world: Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:5-6). Israels great failure was that they repeatedly and continually and habitually as a nation, participated in the fruitless deeds of darkness when by their mere existence should have exposed the emptiness and uselessness of sin. Israels problem was a heart problem only Jesus is able to fix. Jesus is Gods Yes to the promise of Deuteronomy 30:6, The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live. Jesus is Gods answer to Ezekiel 36:26, Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. You, Christian, are the recipient of such promises through and in Jesus, so why would you even want to have fellowship, share, and remain in the fruitless deeds of darkness that rob you of the kind of life you were designed to have in God? Not only are the deeds of darkness fruitless, but the wrath of a holy God is set against such deeds! This is why Paul wrote concerning those who continue to practice sexual immorality, impurity, and greed (5:3), for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret (v. 12). Our Life in Christ Exposes the Uselessness of the Deeds of Darkness The only hope for lost humanity is Jesus! He is the only solution for our sin problem. Only through the life of Jesus and the death that He died for sinners can the spiritually dead be raised to new life. Sinclair Ferguson is spot on in his description of what happened when the Christian was saved from the wrath of God: We have been invaded and transformed by Christ the Light. Now as those who are alive with Christ, we carry the light of Jesus into the darkness of the world, this is why Jesus said, You are the light of the world.... Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14, 16). So what happens when light invades a dark room? It exposes what is in the room. One of two things will happen when light exposes what is in the darkness, it will anger those who love the darkness, or it will reveal a better way to those tired and wearied by the darkness. To expose the darkness in the context of Ephesians is to contrast the living against the dead. It is not picket signs on the corner, bumper stickers, or hats that protest the darkness. It is what happens when light pierces the darkness of sins domain. The light of Christ displayed in and through His people reveals to those in the darkness that there is a better way because Jesus is the only way to experience the kind of redemption of our souls and the forgiveness of all our sins that will grant us true salvation and freedom (1:7).Many will reject Christ as the only remedy for our salvation as intolerant and they will run to the darkness, but there will be some whose sin will be exposed by the light of Christ, and they will run to Him for the life only He can give. This is the point Paul makes in verse 13, But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. I think the New Living Translation translates this verse in less confusing way: But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. Legislation and laws are good only in that it helps to suppress the evil we humans are capable of, but it can never fix the evil we are capable of. If you are darkness, you will yield the useless fruits of darkness to one degree or another. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can remedy the dark heart of humanity! The gospel of Jesus Christ alone, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). Christian, you are living proof that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is still possible today! You serve as a reminder everywhere you go that either the wrath of God can be avoided through Jesus, or the wrath of God is coming upon those who reject Him (see 2 Cor. 2:14-16). We who were asleep and dead in our sins, are only alive because the light of Christ has shown upon us. It is here in verse 14 that Paul quotes what was most likely an early church hymn composed on the basis of Isaiah 60:1-2 and Christ as the fulfillment of its promise: Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you. Here is what Isaiah 60:1-2 promises: Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Here is another one for those who reject Jesus as God! Only Yahweh has the power to redeem and raise the dead, yet Jesus has done in your life what only God is capable of doing. We who were once dead, heard the voice of Christ, and we arose to follow Him and now we live! We who once enjoyed the darkness, delight in walking in light as those who now belong to the One who said, I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8:12). Pursing Jesus is the only way to fight against our own sin and the temptation to participate in the useless deeds of darkness. Amen. [1] D.A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 2012), 98. [2] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (East Peoria, IL: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), 132.

There have been men in my life whose influence had such a profound effect upon my life that had they not been a part of it, I would not be the man that I am today. These men include men whose lives continue to shape my life, men like Ralph Robinson and Ed HardestyRalph is home with Jesus and Ed is still faithfully teaching the Bible at a Bible college and faithfully preaches and shepherds at the church he planted years ago. There are others who I will leave unnamed who started out in ministry so well, but were derailed from ministry due to sexual immorality, some are out of the pastorate due to their own arrogance, and others have walked away from the faith all together. There are multiple examples of the way men and women of faith made a mess of their lives throughout the Bible, of all that have done so, none are more notable than King Solomon who turned his heart from God by chasing after the idols of his heart. As an old man, Solomon reflected upon his sins and his reflections are recorded for us in Ecclesiastes, a book that begins with these words: And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted (Eccl. 1:1315). Here is how Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes: Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Eccl. 12:6-7, 1314) You, dear Christian, have something that Solomon did not have. You have Christ! You have been chosen before the foundation of the world by God the Father for Jesus the Son to be holy and blameless (1:4-6). You have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins (1:7-12). You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit through Christ as a child of God (1:13-14). You who were once dead in your sins, are now alive with Jesus and have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places all because of Christ! You are, His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:10). Therefore, you are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (4:1). How do you walk in a manner worthy of your calling? You do it within community as a member of the body of Christ who has been gifted to, encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Heb. 10:24-25). By doing this, we are better prepared to engage Gods mission to redeem the nations with the Gospel as His Church. We Live Rightly Under the Guiding Light of the Word of God How do we guard against the kinds of dangers we are warned about in the Bible such as apostatizing, which is a turning away from the one faith that unifies us that is the one faith in Jesus the Christ. In Christians circles the word apostasy has been sanitized and rebranded with a new word known as deconstructing. This is the very thing the apostle John warned about in his epistle: They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19).[1] So, how do we guard against falling away? How do we protect ourselves from the dangers of apostasy? The answer is before us in Ephesians 4:11-16. We already looked at verses 11-13 but let me briefly remind you why these verses are so helpful. Last week, I pointed out to you that the list in verse 11 is a list of five offices that Christ gifts to His Church, these offices are filled by those who are spiritually gifted persons, whose sole purpose has to do with the administration and distribution of the Word of God to the people of God. I explained why I believe the offices of Apostle and Prophet are offices no longer being filled today for they ceased with the death of the apostles. I showed you that based on what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:19-22, the offices of apostles and prophets are gifts we still benefit from through the foundation of the Word of God in the Old Testament (prophets) and New Testament (apostles and prophets). The offices of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are still being filled by Jesus with spiritually gifted people, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ (v. 12). For how long are those called to administer the Word of God to the People of God? The answer is in verse 13: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. The goal is that the people of God would become full of the true and incomparable Jesus, and it is done through the faithful teaching and preaching of the Word of God! On this point, Sinclair Ferguson said of the ministry of the Word of God: Its goal is not merely educational but transformational; it informs the mind in order to touch the conscience, mold the will, cleanse the affections and sanctify the whole life. The Word is thus allowed to do its own sanctifying work, as our Lord himself prayed: Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth (John 17:17). This requires intensive treatment.[2] We Live Rightly When We Grow into Maturity in Christ I believe what I am going to say next may be the most important thing you will hear today regarding your life as a Christian. The reason why Jesus has gifted His Church with Apostles (New Testament), prophets (Old Testament), evangelists, pastors, and teachers is so that you will not remain, children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (v. 14). The apostle Paul warns of the great danger we all face related to your growth and maturity as a Christian. The Greek word that Paul uses for children is nēpios, which is used to describe a nursing infant. When you become a Christian, you are what Jesus described as born again (see John 3:1-21). In Hebrews 5:13, the same Greek word Paul used in Ephesians 4:14 is used, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant (nēpios). But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. (Heb. 5:1214) When you were made alive with Christ (2:5), you were born again. Like any newborn child, the only food that can be digested at first is milk, but if you never mature and move on to other types of food you will become sick and weak.According to Hebrews 5, the elementary principles of the actual words of God are the fundamentals of the Christian faith, necessary for a person to receive the good news of the gospel such as: The belief in Jesus Christ, as Gods only Son as our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.[3] However, if you do not grow up as a Christian and you continue to remain an infant that cannot handle anything other than spiritual milk you will be at severe risk of: 1) being carried about by every wind of doctrine, 2) the trickery of people, and 3) the craftiness in deceitful scheming. Infant Christians are gullible and unstable on their own feet. They can be easily knocked over, easily distracted, and are easily deceived because they lack discernment. Cults and false teachers will prey on the immature and will waste little time on the Christian who understands and knows the word of God. The Christian who remains an infant in his/her faith is usually unable to see through the deception of false teachers who pride themselves on things they claim have never been seen before or things in the Bible that have been long covered due to some crazy conspiracy. Behind every false teaching is the great deceiver of whom Jesus said, was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). To the Corinthian church, Paul warned the immature Christians: But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3). Now listen to 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 in the New Living Translation, it does not comparatively do the best job with translating these verses, but it does really help us understand the danger that faces Christians who never grow beyond infancy: But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed (2 Cor. 11:34, NLT). Later in Ephesians Paul tells the Ephesian Christians to put on the full armor of God to stand against the same scheming that threatens Christians still in their infancy: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:1012). The focus of the enemy is deceive you into believing in a different Jesus and to isolate you from those within Jesus Church who can help you grow in the hope of your calling, which is, one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (4:4-6). The only way you will be able to stand on your own two spiritual feet is through a maturity that can only come by understanding the truth of Gods word within the community of Gods people. The goal in verse 13 is that we all attain the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. This is why Jesus gifts through the Holy Spirit apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to the body of Christ so that we will grow as His body: The unity of the faith: That you, Christian will continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding that Jesus is both redeemer and Lord of His Church. The knowledge of the Son of God: That you, Christian will continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding that Jesus is all that He is as the Son of God, and any other Jesus presented outside of the scriptures is a Jesus who cannot save. Maturity as a follower of Jesus: That you, Christian will grow into a mature follower of the King of kings and Lord of lords and see Him for who He really is: The Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13). The head of the Church has declared: I am the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades (Rev. 1:18). To become full of Christ: That you, Christian, will grow in such a way that you will become full of Christ, so that you are able to say with John the Baptist: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). So how do we grow up in one faith? You do it by truthing in love together. Let me explain what I mean. Notice what Paul writes in verses 15-16: but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from who the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. If we are going to grow up as Christians, we must be people of the truth of Gods word! You will not grow as a Christian apart from the truth of His word as it is read, studied, and received from the foundation of the apostles and prophets (the Bible) and administered through the faithful preaching and teaching of Gods word by evangelists, pastors, and teachers (4:11). However, the goal is not to fill your head with knowledge, but for the knowledge of Gods word to shape the way you live your life! There is one Greek word used for speaking the truth (alētheuō), and it literally means, be truthful. A better way to translate is, but truthing in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head. What is the point? The point is that the goal of understanding the Word of God is not only to grow in your understanding of the Bible but to live out that truth through your life as a follower of Jesus within the community of the body of Christ. According to verse 16, this is the ONLY way to grow as a Christian! Every person in the body of Christ has been called by God, redeemed by Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of living within the community of those God has called, those whom Christ has redeemed, and those whom God has sealed with His Holy Spirit, and we live within the community of the redeemed while truthing in love. Listen, there is coming a day when the Church will be gathered in glory when every tribe and every tongue who experienced redemption through the precious blood of Jesus as the Lamb of God will celebrate Him not only as the Head of the Church, but the triumphant Lion of Judah, and we will celebrate His song that all of heaven will sing: And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying, To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever. (Rev. 5:9-13) What other way is there to live in light of the reality of that truth but to do it by truthing in love together as His people and as the body of Christ? [1] See also 1 Tim. 1:18-20; Hebrews 6:1-8; 10:26-31; Matt. 7:21-23. [2] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), p. 110-11. [3] Adapted from The Apostles Creed.

There have been men in my life whose influence had such a profound effect upon my life that had they not been a part of it, I would not be the man that I am today. These men include men whose lives continue to shape my life, men like Ralph Robinson and Ed HardestyRalph is home with Jesus and Ed is still faithfully teaching the Bible at a Bible college and faithfully preaches and shepherds at the church he planted years ago. There are others who I will leave unnamed who started out in ministry so well, but were derailed from ministry due to sexual immorality, some are out of the pastorate due to their own arrogance, and others have walked away from the faith all together. There are multiple examples of the way men and women of faith made a mess of their lives throughout the Bible, of all that have done so, none are more notable than King Solomon who turned his heart from God by chasing after the idols of his heart. As an old man, Solomon reflected upon his sins and his reflections are recorded for us in Ecclesiastes, a book that begins with these words: And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted (Eccl. 1:1315). Here is how Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes: Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Eccl. 12:6-7, 1314) You, dear Christian, have something that Solomon did not have. You have Christ! You have been chosen before the foundation of the world by God the Father for Jesus the Son to be holy and blameless (1:4-6). You have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins (1:7-12). You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit through Christ as a child of God (1:13-14). You who were once dead in your sins, are now alive with Jesus and have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places all because of Christ! You are, His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:10). Therefore, you are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (4:1). How do you walk in a manner worthy of your calling? You do it within community as a member of the body of Christ who has been gifted to, encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Heb. 10:24-25). By doing this, we are better prepared to engage Gods mission to redeem the nations with the Gospel as His Church. We Live Rightly Under the Guiding Light of the Word of God How do we guard against the kinds of dangers we are warned about in the Bible such as apostatizing, which is a turning away from the one faith that unifies us that is the one faith in Jesus the Christ. In Christians circles the word apostasy has been sanitized and rebranded with a new word known as deconstructing. This is the very thing the apostle John warned about in his epistle: They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19).[1] So, how do we guard against falling away? How do we protect ourselves from the dangers of apostasy? The answer is before us in Ephesians 4:11-16. We already looked at verses 11-13 but let me briefly remind you why these verses are so helpful. Last week, I pointed out to you that the list in verse 11 is a list of five offices that Christ gifts to His Church, these offices are filled by those who are spiritually gifted persons, whose sole purpose has to do with the administration and distribution of the Word of God to the people of God. I explained why I believe the offices of Apostle and Prophet are offices no longer being filled today for they ceased with the death of the apostles. I showed you that based on what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:19-22, the offices of apostles and prophets are gifts we still benefit from through the foundation of the Word of God in the Old Testament (prophets) and New Testament (apostles and prophets). The offices of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are still being filled by Jesus with spiritually gifted people, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ (v. 12). For how long are those called to administer the Word of God to the People of God? The answer is in verse 13: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. The goal is that the people of God would become full of the true and incomparable Jesus, and it is done through the faithful teaching and preaching of the Word of God! On this point, Sinclair Ferguson said of the ministry of the Word of God: Its goal is not merely educational but transformational; it informs the mind in order to touch the conscience, mold the will, cleanse the affections and sanctify the whole life. The Word is thus allowed to do its own sanctifying work, as our Lord himself prayed: Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth (John 17:17). This requires intensive treatment.[2] We Live Rightly When We Grow into Maturity in Christ I believe what I am going to say next may be the most important thing you will hear today regarding your life as a Christian. The reason why Jesus has gifted His Church with Apostles (New Testament), prophets (Old Testament), evangelists, pastors, and teachers is so that you will not remain, children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (v. 14). The apostle Paul warns of the great danger we all face related to your growth and maturity as a Christian. The Greek word that Paul uses for children is nēpios, which is used to describe a nursing infant. When you become a Christian, you are what Jesus described as born again (see John 3:1-21). In Hebrews 5:13, the same Greek word Paul used in Ephesians 4:14 is used, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant (nēpios). But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. (Heb. 5:1214) When you were made alive with Christ (2:5), you were born again. Like any newborn child, the only food that can be digested at first is milk, but if you never mature and move on to other types of food you will become sick and weak.According to Hebrews 5, the elementary principles of the actual words of God are the fundamentals of the Christian faith, necessary for a person to receive the good news of the gospel such as: The belief in Jesus Christ, as Gods only Son as our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.[3] However, if you do not grow up as a Christian and you continue to remain an infant that cannot handle anything other than spiritual milk you will be at severe risk of: 1) being carried about by every wind of doctrine, 2) the trickery of people, and 3) the craftiness in deceitful scheming. Infant Christians are gullible and unstable on their own feet. They can be easily knocked over, easily distracted, and are easily deceived because they lack discernment. Cults and false teachers will prey on the immature and will waste little time on the Christian who understands and knows the word of God. The Christian who remains an infant in his/her faith is usually unable to see through the deception of false teachers who pride themselves on things they claim have never been seen before or things in the Bible that have been long covered due to some crazy conspiracy. Behind every false teaching is the great deceiver of whom Jesus said, was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). To the Corinthian church, Paul warned the immature Christians: But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3). Now listen to 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 in the New Living Translation, it does not comparatively do the best job with translating these verses, but it does really help us understand the danger that faces Christians who never grow beyond infancy: But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed (2 Cor. 11:34, NLT). Later in Ephesians Paul tells the Ephesian Christians to put on the full armor of God to stand against the same scheming that threatens Christians still in their infancy: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:1012). The focus of the enemy is deceive you into believing in a different Jesus and to isolate you from those within Jesus Church who can help you grow in the hope of your calling, which is, one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (4:4-6). The only way you will be able to stand on your own two spiritual feet is through a maturity that can only come by understanding the truth of Gods word within the community of Gods people. The goal in verse 13 is that we all attain the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. This is why Jesus gifts through the Holy Spirit apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to the body of Christ so that we will grow as His body: The unity of the faith: That you, Christian will continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding that Jesus is both redeemer and Lord of His Church. The knowledge of the Son of God: That you, Christian will continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding that Jesus is all that He is as the Son of God, and any other Jesus presented outside of the scriptures is a Jesus who cannot save. Maturity as a follower of Jesus: That you, Christian will grow into a mature follower of the King of kings and Lord of lords and see Him for who He really is: The Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13). The head of the Church has declared: I am the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades (Rev. 1:18). To become full of Christ: That you, Christian, will grow in such a way that you will become full of Christ, so that you are able to say with John the Baptist: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). So how do we grow up in one faith? You do it by truthing in love together. Let me explain what I mean. Notice what Paul writes in verses 15-16: but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from who the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. If we are going to grow up as Christians, we must be people of the truth of Gods word! You will not grow as a Christian apart from the truth of His word as it is read, studied, and received from the foundation of the apostles and prophets (the Bible) and administered through the faithful preaching and teaching of Gods word by evangelists, pastors, and teachers (4:11). However, the goal is not to fill your head with knowledge, but for the knowledge of Gods word to shape the way you live your life! There is one Greek word used for speaking the truth (alētheuō), and it literally means, be truthful. A better way to translate is, but truthing in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head. What is the point? The point is that the goal of understanding the Word of God is not only to grow in your understanding of the Bible but to live out that truth through your life as a follower of Jesus within the community of the body of Christ. According to verse 16, this is the ONLY way to grow as a Christian! Every person in the body of Christ has been called by God, redeemed by Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of living within the community of those God has called, those whom Christ has redeemed, and those whom God has sealed with His Holy Spirit, and we live within the community of the redeemed while truthing in love. Listen, there is coming a day when the Church will be gathered in glory when every tribe and every tongue who experienced redemption through the precious blood of Jesus as the Lamb of God will celebrate Him not only as the Head of the Church, but the triumphant Lion of Judah, and we will celebrate His song that all of heaven will sing: And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying, To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever. (Rev. 5:9-13) What other way is there to live in light of the reality of that truth but to do it by truthing in love together as His people and as the body of Christ? [1] See also 1 Tim. 1:18-20; Hebrews 6:1-8; 10:26-31; Matt. 7:21-23. [2] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study: Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), p. 110-11. [3] Adapted from The Apostles Creed.

What does it look like to exalt Christ in both life and death? Paul both models it, and encourages the Philippians to that end in our next section of our Philippians Bible study.Who can you get Philippians open with? We'd love people to be reading it with friends,with other women in their church, family, or maybe over a WhatsApp text group. For some questions to help you think it through more, head here.Our recommended book by Sinclair B. Ferguson can be found here.If you'd like to partner with us by donating to the podcast, head to the partnering page on our website now. Or, if you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter you can do that here too!

Last year the Banner of Truth Trust republished Alexander Moody Stuart: A Memoir, with the encouragement of Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson. Banner editor Sam Cunnington, who worked on the project, sat down with Dr. Ferguson to discuss why it is worth reading about this remarkable Scottish pastor today.   Buy the book: https://banneroftruth.org/store/history-biography/alexander-moody-stuart/ Buy The Three Marys By Alexander Moody Stuart: https://banneroftruth.org/store/christian-living/the-three-marys/   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (Print/Digital/Both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Tell us your thoughts on this episode: https://www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

Have you noticed that the number three seems to be a big deal for the apostle Paul in Ephesians? For example, in the first fourteen verses we read of the three-fold role our Triune God has in our salvation: God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world (1:3-6), Jesus the Son made our redemption possible (vv. 7-12), and the Holy Spirit sealed us for the Day of redemption (vv. 12-13). We see it in the way Paul prays for the Ephesian Church: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe (vv. 18-19a). I thought one way to help you see this was to reimagine Pauls series of threes as his answer to a series of questions by Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, a character from John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress, a book first published in 1678 and is currently listed as the fifth most translated book in the world. If you are not aware of who John Bunyan was, all you know for now is that he wrote Pilgrims Progress while in prison for twelve years for preaching the gospel, his book is an allegory on the Christian life. In Bunyans book, the protagonist, Christian Pilgrim leaves his home, The City of Destruction, to embark on a pilgrimage for the salvation of his soul and to find the Celestial City where he can live for all eternity in the company of God. While on his journey he is helped and guided by other characters such as Evangelist, who is known as a preacher of the Holy Word and is eager to help those who are seriously concerned about the state of their souls. Christian also meets Interpreter who shows Christian many wonders and shows Christian many exhortations on the way he should go. There are others who join Christian on his journey such as Pliant who quits the pilgrimage after facing his first obstacle, and Hopeful, a refugee from Vanity Fair, who proves to be a faithful companion to Christian all the way to the Celestial City. There are others who Christian encounters that try to turn him away from the narrow way to the Celestial City who go by the names of Giant Despair, Apollyon, Flatterer, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman. Bunyan described Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, in this way: not an ancient relic of the past. He is everywhere today, disguising his heresy and error by proclaiming the gospel of contentment and peace achieved by self-satisfaction and works. If he mentions Christ, it is not as the Savior who took our place, but as a good example of an exemplary life. Do we need a good example to rescue us, or do we need a Savior? Imagine what a conversation might look like if Mr. Worldly Wiseman visited the Apostle Paul in prison during the same time the epistle to the Ephesians was written: Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Paul, tell me how you can be sure that you are Christian since you are now in prison? Paul: Regardless of my circumstance, I am a Christian for these three reasons: I was chosen by God before the foundation of the world (1:4-6), I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ for sins I am guilty of (vv. 7-12), and I am sealed by the Holy Spirit for a full and future redemption (vv. 13-14). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Why spend your years in prison and suffer when you can be free so long as you dont keep blabbing about Jesus in places people dont want to hear it? You know, you can be a Christian and be compliant too! Paul: How can I be quiet about something so important? Jesus commands me not to be quite about my relationship with Him and how he saved me even though I was, Dead to God (2:1), A slave to sin (vv. 2-3a), and A child of the wrath of God because of the sins I committed against Him (v. 3). What this means, Mr. Worldly Wiseman, is that I was once like you: A friend of the world (2:2a), A child of the devil (v. 2b), and A slave to my own flesh (v. 3). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Im not sure if I should feel insulted or pity for you because you believe such rubbish. So, tell me, what is so different between you and me? Paul: Jesus is the difference between you and me! Jesus lived a perfect sinless life that I could never live; He died a death I deserved on a cross for sins I committed, and He validated all of that by rising from death on the third day. What is true of me is true of every real Christian, and this is why I have chosen to follow Him: I was dead in my sins, but now I am alive in Christ (1:7; 2:4) My nature was bound by my sins, but now I have been raised with Christ (v. 6a) I stood condemned by a holy God, but now I am seated with Christ and am covered by His righteousness (v. 6b). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Come on Paul! I am a religious person and I admire Jesus as a great example to aspire to. We need to do our best and let God do the rest, but you have taken your Christianity too seriously! Paul: No one can do enough for the kind of salvation you and I need! The only thing God required of me was a faith that was only possible because of His grace. It is a grace that I could not, nor ever will earn, by anything I could ever do! I am the recipient of, A rich mercy we did deserve (v. 4a). A great love God was not obligated to give (v. 4b). An all-sufficient grace no one could earn (v. 5) All of which is only possible in and through Jesus Christ alone! So, now we come to Ephesians 2:8-10 and are immediately faced with another set of three words and why it is that God saved us in the first place. If you were asked the same questions or interrogated in the way I had Mr. Worldly-Wiseman interrogate Paul, how would you answer? My two points are in the form of two questions that this passage answers for us in a way that should be deeply discouraging or encouraging to you. How Does God Save? Now, considering all that we have studied together, we find ourselves at the threshold of Ephesians 2:8-9. What I want to do with you this morning is to walk you through these verses in light of the context of Ephesians 1:3-2:7. I want us to look at these verses together against the backdrop of my warning at the beginning of this sermon series which was this: Beware of imposing your view and thoughts of what God should be like, upon the text of His holy Word. You must allow the authority of Gods Word to impose its teaching upon your heart for the purpose of shaping it in a way that the eyes of your heart are able to see God more clearly. Now, before I go any further, let me say first and foremost that I want you to make your own conclusion with these verses based on the evidence of what you see in Ephesians and the rest of the Bible. I am not concerned if you end up seeing things differently than the way I see them so long as you do not impose what you think the Bible should say upon what it actually says. My only concern before you this morning is that I preach and teach the Bible in such a manner that I am faithful to the Word of God so when I stand before Him, I will do so knowing that I was faithful with what He has entrusted to me. So, here we go! Buckle up because it is going to be a fun ride. Lets start with verses 8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. The three words I want you to see in this verse are grace, saved (i.e. salvation), and faith. To answer the question, How does God save? we need figure out what is the gift that He gives so that no one may boast. Is grace the gift given by God, or is salvation the gift given by God, or is a persons faith the gift given by God? Whatever the gift is, it eliminates any notion on our part that we did something to get it, otherwise Paul would never have felt the need to include verse 9, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. If I am right about what I see in Ephesians 2:8-9, it will open up verse 10 in a way that will encourage you and blow your mind at the same time. So, what have we seen in Ephesians so far leading up to these verses? Permit me to put what Paul lists concerning our salvation in sequential order from spiritual death to life: We were spiritually dead in our offenses and sins (2:1) We know we were spiritually dead because we were slaves to our sin (2:2a) Because we were slaves to our sin against God, we were by nature children of His wrath (2:3). But God, whose mercy is rich, love is great, and grace is sufficient, did three things (vv. 2:4-5): He made us alive with Christ (2:5b). He raised us up with Christ (2:6a). He seated us with Christ (2:6b). As a Christian, you can know that your salvation involved three acts of God Before the foundation of the earth, God chose to adopt you as His child through Jesus (1:4-6). In order to adopt you as His child, God redeemed you through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of all your wrongdoings (1:7-12). Because God will not lose any who He has redeemed, He has sealed you with His Holy Spirit until your redemption and salvation is complete (1:13-14). So, in light of all that Paul wrote concerning what God has done for the Christian, what does he mean by Ephesians 2:8-9? Let me offer up some fair and legitimate questions: If I am spiritually dead, how can a spiritually dead person respond to God in faith? If I am able to respond to God in faith in order to receive salvation through Jesus, then is my faith exempt from the kinds of works Paul is talking about in verse 9? If faith is a gift God imparts on me on some level, then how is my trust in Jesus for the salvation of my soul legitimate? Does your brain hurt from trying to process these sorts of questions? I have wrestled over these verses for nearly 30 years and have understood them in three different ways that I think may help give you some perspective. In my early years, I was convinced that the gift of God was a salvation that could only be received by faith. Sometime after I started reading guys like Jonathan Edwards and St. Augustine, I leaned towards thinking that it was faith that was the gift of God. To be honest, what makes all of this even more confusing is the Greek allows the person interpreting these verses to make either one of these conclusions. Here is where I sit now, and I believe that how I see it fits best with everything Paul has written leading up to these verses, and it fits with the rest of the Bible. So, what is the gift of God? It is His Grace, our faith, and our salvation in that order! The this is Gods grace, our faith, and our salvation. Think about what grace is for a moment. Biblical grace is Gods unmerited favor; it is favor given to someone who does not deserve it. Do you remember what I said in the second sermon I preached in this series on Ephesians 1:4-6? I told you that at the very least, when it comes to God, what we read in these verses leads to the conclusion that God moved first. We see the very same thing here in Ephesians 2:8! At the very least, it is the sheer grace of almighty God that I had reached a point in my life on July 18, 1991, when all that I heard about Jesus made sense and I surrendered my life to Jesus and was genuinely and categorically saved from the wrath of God and forgiven all my sins! Every step and experience leading up to that moment was also the demonstration of a God who pursued me, found me, and overcame my sin because His mercy was rich, His love was great, and His grace sufficient to do what a 16-year-old teenage boy could not do. God made me alive with Christ, God raised me up with Christ, and God seated me with Christ on that summers day on July 18, 1991, but He did not believe for me; I had to believe to be saved. He did the same thing with you Christian, but He did not believe for you! But my believing in Christ for the salvation of my soul, and your believing in Him for the salvation of your soul is not only a testament of Gods grace, but the proof that miracles happen. For What Purpose Does God Save? So, why did He do it? Why did he save you? Why did He choose you, redeem you, seal you, and made you, who were once dead, the recipient of the, boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (2:7)? After all, what Jonathan Edwards said concerning what we bring to our salvation is the resounding testimony of all of Scripture: You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary. God didnt have to do it! God was not morally obligated to do it! But God did it; He saved you and redeemed you for the forgiveness of all your sin according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon you (1:7). But why? The answer is found in Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. The first word in verse 10 is the word For, which is telling us something. What it is telling us is that considering Ephesians 2:1-9, the following is true! You who were dead in your sins, walked according to the course of this world, lived in the lusts of your flesh, indulged the desires of the flesh and of the mind as a child of the wrath of God (vv. 1-3), God made you alive in Christ, for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that you would walk in those good works. This is exactly why God choose you, Christian, before the foundation of the world; listen to Ephesians 1:4 again: He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. What this means, and this is so important to see with the eyes of your heart: We were not saved to coast until we enter into the presence of God in heaven but were saved so that God could reveal His presence through us because of His resurrection power to change us! It is absolute nonsense to think and believe that you can encounter Jesus on the level Paul describes in Ephesians and remain unchanged! It is like saying that you can remain the same after you walk in front of a bus traveling 65 MPH; the force of the bus will change you permanently. Listen carefully, the God who spoke 300 billion suns into existence is the same God who makes alive the spiritually dead through the power of the Gospel of a resurrected Christ! How is it that a person can remain unchanged by a power greater than 300 billion suns? I will tell you; it is because that person has never truly encountered Christ, whose mercy is richer, love is greater, and grace more sufficient than all of our sins and the sins of 8.1 billion people combined! What we read in Ephesians 2:8-10 is that in light of the resurrection power of God through the redeeming work of Jesus the Son, and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit who seals us, it is the grace of God that leads to faith in God, for our salvation by God, for the purpose of a life of good works that glorifies God. The work that God is doing in your life is ongoing. I feel that it is fitting to close with something Sinclair Ferguson wrote concerning these verses: Heaven may be the final showroom; but here on earth God is already showing what he can do.. The church triumphant is an art gallery where God displays reflections of his glory. It is a portrait gallery in which the family likeness is seen in countless different individuals who together display his infinite glory. The church visible, here, and now, is a workshop. The Divine Artist is still painting his likeness on the canvas of our lives, the Divine Potter still has the clay in his hands. The time for final exhibition has not yet come. But one day it will. Then all that God has done in us in secret, invisible to the naked eye, will become visible for all to see. What a day that will be![1] [1] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), p. 53.

Have you noticed that the number three seems to be a big deal for the apostle Paul in Ephesians? For example, in the first fourteen verses we read of the three-fold role our Triune God has in our salvation: God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world (1:3-6), Jesus the Son made our redemption possible (vv. 7-12), and the Holy Spirit sealed us for the Day of redemption (vv. 12-13). We see it in the way Paul prays for the Ephesian Church: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe (vv. 18-19a). I thought one way to help you see this was to reimagine Pauls series of threes as his answer to a series of questions by Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, a character from John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress, a book first published in 1678 and is currently listed as the fifth most translated book in the world. If you are not aware of who John Bunyan was, all you know for now is that he wrote Pilgrims Progress while in prison for twelve years for preaching the gospel, his book is an allegory on the Christian life. In Bunyans book, the protagonist, Christian Pilgrim leaves his home, The City of Destruction, to embark on a pilgrimage for the salvation of his soul and to find the Celestial City where he can live for all eternity in the company of God. While on his journey he is helped and guided by other characters such as Evangelist, who is known as a preacher of the Holy Word and is eager to help those who are seriously concerned about the state of their souls. Christian also meets Interpreter who shows Christian many wonders and shows Christian many exhortations on the way he should go. There are others who join Christian on his journey such as Pliant who quits the pilgrimage after facing his first obstacle, and Hopeful, a refugee from Vanity Fair, who proves to be a faithful companion to Christian all the way to the Celestial City. There are others who Christian encounters that try to turn him away from the narrow way to the Celestial City who go by the names of Giant Despair, Apollyon, Flatterer, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman. Bunyan described Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, in this way: not an ancient relic of the past. He is everywhere today, disguising his heresy and error by proclaiming the gospel of contentment and peace achieved by self-satisfaction and works. If he mentions Christ, it is not as the Savior who took our place, but as a good example of an exemplary life. Do we need a good example to rescue us, or do we need a Savior? Imagine what a conversation might look like if Mr. Worldly Wiseman visited the Apostle Paul in prison during the same time the epistle to the Ephesians was written: Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Paul, tell me how you can be sure that you are Christian since you are now in prison? Paul: Regardless of my circumstance, I am a Christian for these three reasons: I was chosen by God before the foundation of the world (1:4-6), I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ for sins I am guilty of (vv. 7-12), and I am sealed by the Holy Spirit for a full and future redemption (vv. 13-14). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Why spend your years in prison and suffer when you can be free so long as you dont keep blabbing about Jesus in places people dont want to hear it? You know, you can be a Christian and be compliant too! Paul: How can I be quiet about something so important? Jesus commands me not to be quite about my relationship with Him and how he saved me even though I was, Dead to God (2:1), A slave to sin (vv. 2-3a), and A child of the wrath of God because of the sins I committed against Him (v. 3). What this means, Mr. Worldly Wiseman, is that I was once like you: A friend of the world (2:2a), A child of the devil (v. 2b), and A slave to my own flesh (v. 3). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Im not sure if I should feel insulted or pity for you because you believe such rubbish. So, tell me, what is so different between you and me? Paul: Jesus is the difference between you and me! Jesus lived a perfect sinless life that I could never live; He died a death I deserved on a cross for sins I committed, and He validated all of that by rising from death on the third day. What is true of me is true of every real Christian, and this is why I have chosen to follow Him: I was dead in my sins, but now I am alive in Christ (1:7; 2:4) My nature was bound by my sins, but now I have been raised with Christ (v. 6a) I stood condemned by a holy God, but now I am seated with Christ and am covered by His righteousness (v. 6b). Mr. Worldly-Wiseman: Come on Paul! I am a religious person and I admire Jesus as a great example to aspire to. We need to do our best and let God do the rest, but you have taken your Christianity too seriously! Paul: No one can do enough for the kind of salvation you and I need! The only thing God required of me was a faith that was only possible because of His grace. It is a grace that I could not, nor ever will earn, by anything I could ever do! I am the recipient of, A rich mercy we did deserve (v. 4a). A great love God was not obligated to give (v. 4b). An all-sufficient grace no one could earn (v. 5) All of which is only possible in and through Jesus Christ alone! So, now we come to Ephesians 2:8-10 and are immediately faced with another set of three words and why it is that God saved us in the first place. If you were asked the same questions or interrogated in the way I had Mr. Worldly-Wiseman interrogate Paul, how would you answer? My two points are in the form of two questions that this passage answers for us in a way that should be deeply discouraging or encouraging to you. How Does God Save? Now, considering all that we have studied together, we find ourselves at the threshold of Ephesians 2:8-9. What I want to do with you this morning is to walk you through these verses in light of the context of Ephesians 1:3-2:7. I want us to look at these verses together against the backdrop of my warning at the beginning of this sermon series which was this: Beware of imposing your view and thoughts of what God should be like, upon the text of His holy Word. You must allow the authority of Gods Word to impose its teaching upon your heart for the purpose of shaping it in a way that the eyes of your heart are able to see God more clearly. Now, before I go any further, let me say first and foremost that I want you to make your own conclusion with these verses based on the evidence of what you see in Ephesians and the rest of the Bible. I am not concerned if you end up seeing things differently than the way I see them so long as you do not impose what you think the Bible should say upon what it actually says. My only concern before you this morning is that I preach and teach the Bible in such a manner that I am faithful to the Word of God so when I stand before Him, I will do so knowing that I was faithful with what He has entrusted to me. So, here we go! Buckle up because it is going to be a fun ride. Lets start with verses 8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. The three words I want you to see in this verse are grace, saved (i.e. salvation), and faith. To answer the question, How does God save? we need figure out what is the gift that He gives so that no one may boast. Is grace the gift given by God, or is salvation the gift given by God, or is a persons faith the gift given by God? Whatever the gift is, it eliminates any notion on our part that we did something to get it, otherwise Paul would never have felt the need to include verse 9, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. If I am right about what I see in Ephesians 2:8-9, it will open up verse 10 in a way that will encourage you and blow your mind at the same time. So, what have we seen in Ephesians so far leading up to these verses? Permit me to put what Paul lists concerning our salvation in sequential order from spiritual death to life: We were spiritually dead in our offenses and sins (2:1) We know we were spiritually dead because we were slaves to our sin (2:2a) Because we were slaves to our sin against God, we were by nature children of His wrath (2:3). But God, whose mercy is rich, love is great, and grace is sufficient, did three things (vv. 2:4-5): He made us alive with Christ (2:5b). He raised us up with Christ (2:6a). He seated us with Christ (2:6b). As a Christian, you can know that your salvation involved three acts of God Before the foundation of the earth, God chose to adopt you as His child through Jesus (1:4-6). In order to adopt you as His child, God redeemed you through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of all your wrongdoings (1:7-12). Because God will not lose any who He has redeemed, He has sealed you with His Holy Spirit until your redemption and salvation is complete (1:13-14). So, in light of all that Paul wrote concerning what God has done for the Christian, what does he mean by Ephesians 2:8-9? Let me offer up some fair and legitimate questions: If I am spiritually dead, how can a spiritually dead person respond to God in faith? If I am able to respond to God in faith in order to receive salvation through Jesus, then is my faith exempt from the kinds of works Paul is talking about in verse 9? If faith is a gift God imparts on me on some level, then how is my trust in Jesus for the salvation of my soul legitimate? Does your brain hurt from trying to process these sorts of questions? I have wrestled over these verses for nearly 30 years and have understood them in three different ways that I think may help give you some perspective. In my early years, I was convinced that the gift of God was a salvation that could only be received by faith. Sometime after I started reading guys like Jonathan Edwards and St. Augustine, I leaned towards thinking that it was faith that was the gift of God. To be honest, what makes all of this even more confusing is the Greek allows the person interpreting these verses to make either one of these conclusions. Here is where I sit now, and I believe that how I see it fits best with everything Paul has written leading up to these verses, and it fits with the rest of the Bible. So, what is the gift of God? It is His Grace, our faith, and our salvation in that order! The this is Gods grace, our faith, and our salvation. Think about what grace is for a moment. Biblical grace is Gods unmerited favor; it is favor given to someone who does not deserve it. Do you remember what I said in the second sermon I preached in this series on Ephesians 1:4-6? I told you that at the very least, when it comes to God, what we read in these verses leads to the conclusion that God moved first. We see the very same thing here in Ephesians 2:8! At the very least, it is the sheer grace of almighty God that I had reached a point in my life on July 18, 1991, when all that I heard about Jesus made sense and I surrendered my life to Jesus and was genuinely and categorically saved from the wrath of God and forgiven all my sins! Every step and experience leading up to that moment was also the demonstration of a God who pursued me, found me, and overcame my sin because His mercy was rich, His love was great, and His grace sufficient to do what a 16-year-old teenage boy could not do. God made me alive with Christ, God raised me up with Christ, and God seated me with Christ on that summers day on July 18, 1991, but He did not believe for me; I had to believe to be saved. He did the same thing with you Christian, but He did not believe for you! But my believing in Christ for the salvation of my soul, and your believing in Him for the salvation of your soul is not only a testament of Gods grace, but the proof that miracles happen. For What Purpose Does God Save? So, why did He do it? Why did he save you? Why did He choose you, redeem you, seal you, and made you, who were once dead, the recipient of the, boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (2:7)? After all, what Jonathan Edwards said concerning what we bring to our salvation is the resounding testimony of all of Scripture: You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary. God didnt have to do it! God was not morally obligated to do it! But God did it; He saved you and redeemed you for the forgiveness of all your sin according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon you (1:7). But why? The answer is found in Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. The first word in verse 10 is the word For, which is telling us something. What it is telling us is that considering Ephesians 2:1-9, the following is true! You who were dead in your sins, walked according to the course of this world, lived in the lusts of your flesh, indulged the desires of the flesh and of the mind as a child of the wrath of God (vv. 1-3), God made you alive in Christ, for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that you would walk in those good works. This is exactly why God choose you, Christian, before the foundation of the world; listen to Ephesians 1:4 again: He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. What this means, and this is so important to see with the eyes of your heart: We were not saved to coast until we enter into the presence of God in heaven but were saved so that God could reveal His presence through us because of His resurrection power to change us! It is absolute nonsense to think and believe that you can encounter Jesus on the level Paul describes in Ephesians and remain unchanged! It is like saying that you can remain the same after you walk in front of a bus traveling 65 MPH; the force of the bus will change you permanently. Listen carefully, the God who spoke 300 billion suns into existence is the same God who makes alive the spiritually dead through the power of the Gospel of a resurrected Christ! How is it that a person can remain unchanged by a power greater than 300 billion suns? I will tell you; it is because that person has never truly encountered Christ, whose mercy is richer, love is greater, and grace more sufficient than all of our sins and the sins of 8.1 billion people combined! What we read in Ephesians 2:8-10 is that in light of the resurrection power of God through the redeeming work of Jesus the Son, and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit who seals us, it is the grace of God that leads to faith in God, for our salvation by God, for the purpose of a life of good works that glorifies God. The work that God is doing in your life is ongoing. I feel that it is fitting to close with something Sinclair Ferguson wrote concerning these verses: Heaven may be the final showroom; but here on earth God is already showing what he can do.. The church triumphant is an art gallery where God displays reflections of his glory. It is a portrait gallery in which the family likeness is seen in countless different individuals who together display his infinite glory. The church visible, here, and now, is a workshop. The Divine Artist is still painting his likeness on the canvas of our lives, the Divine Potter still has the clay in his hands. The time for final exhibition has not yet come. But one day it will. Then all that God has done in us in secret, invisible to the naked eye, will become visible for all to see. What a day that will be![1] [1] Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study Ephesians (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust; 2021), p. 53.

Welchen Vers aus dem Johannesevangelium hört man wohl am häufigsten? Schnell kommt einem da Johannes 3,16 in den Sinn: »Denn so [sehr] hat Gott die Welt geliebt, dass Er Seinen eingeborenen Sohn gab …« Oder können Worte aus dem Prolog dieses Evangeliums (Kap. 1,1-18) Anspruch auf diese Auszeichnung erheben, am häufigsten gehört zu werden? Schließlich werden sie Jahr für Jahr zur Weihnachtszeit gelesen. Aber vielleicht ist die wahrscheinlichste Antwort Johannes 14,1: »Euer Herz erschrecke nicht! …« In den USA werden diese Worte bei fast jedem christlichen Trauergottesdienst gelesen. https://voh-missionswerk.de/blog/euer-herz-erschrecke-nicht/

In this episode, we explore the significance of repentance in the Gospel message and its transformative power in your life. Gain a deeper understanding of biblical repentance and its role in salvation. Discover how to equip yourself with the complete message of the Gospel and develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Listen now and explore the profound impact of this teaching on your spiritual journey, and learn how to share it with others effectively.Welcome to The Relentlessly Biblical™ Podcast. Every first Sunday of the month, we bring you a show dedicated to establishing and reinforcing a high view of the scriptures and Jesus Christ, of whom the scriptures speak. So tell all your podcasting friends and family that this show is free to Listen and Follow on the podcast platform of their choice. Join our Mailing List to receive the latest show news and updates, and visit our Join the Conversation page to ask questions, provide feedback, or submit an idea for future episodes.If you encounter issues accessing our episode notes on your preferred podcast platform, please visit The Relentlessly Biblical™ Podcast website to access the complete set of notes. Scriptures links and references:Acts 2 (38)Acts 17 (30)Psalm 51 - CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD2 Samuel (11) - DAVID AND BATHSHEBAEphesians 2 (8)Romans 2 (4-5)2 Peter 3 (9)Sinclair B. Ferguson quote: Repentance is a characteristic of the whole life, not the...2 Corinthians 7 (10)Isaiah 402 Corinthians 7 (10)Matthew 27 (1-10)Luke 24 (45-47)Acts 26 (12-20) - PAUL TELLS OF HIS CONVERSIONActs 3 (18-19)Mark 1 (15)Matthew 3 (1-12) - THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTISTEzekiel 18 (30-32)2 Chronicles 7 (13-14)Consider Partnering with Us:When you support this show through your prayers and gifts, you enable us to provide sound biblical teaching that helps others open up their understanding of the scriptures across the globe. Please Donate Now to make a one-time gift, or use PayPal to make it a recurring monthly donation. Thank you for your gracious, thoughtful support. Please visit our

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you to care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   Host Sandra Flach continues her annual Advent Series for December.   December can be a challenging month for our children as well as for us parents. In all the hustle, bustle and big feelings & behaviors I've often struggled in the past to actually enjoy Christmas - to experience the Christ of Christmas.   Listen in as Sandra shares about the peace that passes understanding which comes from Jesus—our Prince of Peace.   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media. Links mentioned in this episode: sandraflach.com justicefororphansny.org The Dawn of Redeeming Grace—Daily Devotions for Advent, by Sinclair B. Ferguson

“And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” Matthew 2:9-10   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you to care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   Host Sandra Flach continues her annual Advent Series for December.   December can be a challenging month for our children as well as for us parents. In all the hustle, bustle and big feelings & behaviors I've often struggled in the past to actually enjoy Christmas - to experience the Christ of Christmas.   Listen in as Sandra shares about the Light of Christ which guides us each day. Even when things around us seem dark and hopeless - we have the Light of the World to shine the way for us! Let's rejoice in the Light!   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media. Links mentioned in this episode: sandraflach.com justicefororphansny.org The Dawn of Redeeming Grace—Daily Devotions for Advent, by Sinclair B. Ferguson

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you to care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   Host Sandra Flach continues her annual Advent Series for December.   December can be a challenging month for our children as well as for us parents. In all the hustle, bustle and big feelings & behaviors I've often struggled in the past to actually enjoy Christmas - to experience the Christ of Christmas.   Listen in as Sandra shares about God's greatest gift of love to us—Jesus our Redeemer!   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media. Links mentioned in this episode: sandraflach.com justicefororphansny.org The Dawn of Redeeming Grace—Daily Devotions for Advent, by Sinclair B. Ferguson

"So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ—14 generations." Matthew 1:17   Welcome to The Adoption & Foster Care Journey—a podcast to encourage, educate and equip you to care for children in crisis through adoption, foster care and kinship care.   Host Sandra Flach kicks off our annual Advent Series for December.   Kids with trauma histories and prenatal exposure tend to struggle even more this time of year. The reminders of loss & grief mingled with changes in routine and over stimulating environments can trigger big emotions & big behaviors. All of which can leave parents feeling spent and experiencing anything but the spirit of the season.    Listen in as Sandra shares the good news— Mary delivered a baby and God delivered Hope.    Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media. Links mentioned in this episode: sandraflach.com justicefororphansny.org The Dawn of Redeeming Grace—Daily Devotions for Advent, by Sinclair B. Ferguson

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“Sadly, many of the things that undermine our joy and happiness, we create ourselves. Often it comes from the negative tendencies of the mind or emotional reactivity…”~Desmond Tutu & Dalai Lama “Unbelief doesn't see God as the ultimate good. So it can't see sin as the ultimate evil. It instead sees sin as a good thing and thus God's commands as a stumbling block to joy. In believing the devil, I didn't need a pentagram pendant to wear, neither did I need to memorize a hex or two. All I had to do was trust myself more than God's Word. I had to believe that my thoughts, my affections, my rights, my wishes, were worthy of absolute obedience and that in laying prostrate before the flimsy throne I'd made for myself, that I'd be doing a good thing.”~Jackie Hill Perry “I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.”~C.S. Lewis “As the early church fathers delighted in saying, Christ took what was ours so that we might receive what was His.”~Sinclair B. Ferguson “The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”~Tim Keller “There is a marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. This blessed joy is very contagious. One dolorous spirit brings a kind of plague into the house; one person who is wretched seems to stop all the birds from singing wherever he goes . . . [But] the grace of joy is contagious. Holy joy will oil the wheels of your life's machinery. Holy joy will strengthen you for your daily labor. Holy joy will beautify you and give you an influence over the lives of others.”~Charles SpurgeonSERMON PASSAGEPhilippians 2:1-11 (ESV)1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Today we dive into a quote by the Scottish Theologian Sinclair B. Ferguson, "Love is not maximum emotion. Love is maximum commitment" If you are listening on Spotify please share add your thoughts there. If not on Spotify email me your thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠penpositive@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect on Social Media YouTube Channels ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@penpositive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@VinodNarayan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@scrumpositive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@penpositive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@scrumpositive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ My Personal Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://vinodnarayan.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://penpositive.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinodn/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penpositive/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/penpositive/support

What does the B stand for in Sinclair B Ferguson and other big questions?! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Sinclair Ferguson explains what it means to live out Paul's directive in Philippians 1:27 to "live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ". Sinclair B. Ferguson is Chancellor's Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and the former senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. Sinclair and his wife, Dorothy, have four grown children. He is the author of several books, including 'Worthy: Living in Light of the Gospel'. Read the full transcript of this episode. If you enjoyed this episode be sure to leave us a review, which helps us spread the word about the show! Complete this survey for a free audiobook by Kevin DeYoung!

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Reformation Mini Conference - Session 2 Subtitle: Reformation Mini Conference 22 Speaker: Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson Broadcaster: Grace Baptist Church Event: Conference Date: 10/12/2022 Bible: John 17:20-26 Length: 38 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Reformation Mini Conference - Session 2 Subtitle: Reformation Mini Conference 22 Speaker: Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson Broadcaster: Grace Baptist Church Event: Conference Date: 10/12/2022 Bible: John 17:20-26 Length: 38 min.

Judges 4:6-5:2 // Insecure faith is still faith! “True faith takes its character and quality from its object. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!” ~ Sinclair B. Ferguson

Sinclair B. Ferguson, en su libro titulado: “El Espíritu Santo” dijo: “La oración es una expresión de adoración así como una necesidad personal.” Es por esto que esta pregunta, aunque pueda parecer sencilla, es de suma importancia poder contestarla, para asegurarnos que cuando oramos, sólo lo hacemos a quién corresponde. Para enviarnos tus preguntas, escríbenos a: preguntas@verdadyfe.com Para nuestra tienda de mercancía: https://verdadyfestore.com Para nuestra página de YouTube ve a: http://youtube.com/verdadyfevideos --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Defending the Reformed Faith in the 21st Century - Ferguson Subtitle: 225+2 Celebration Speaker: Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Special Meeting Date: 4/1/2022 Length: 35 min.

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: FPC Then and FPC Now Speaker: Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday - AM Date: 4/3/2022 Bible: Philippians 1:11; Philippians 4:1 Length: 35 min.

Our special guest this week Liz, gives us a deeper look into winning the battles that we are faced with in our own mind. When we win the war within, with Gods grace and strength we win on the outside. Thank you for watching! Working on making the Zoom calls more clear but thank you for your understanding and support. Me: https://www.instagram.com/shazchege/?hl=en Podcast: https://msha.ke/sharonchege/ https://www.instagram.com/heyletscatchuppodcast/?hl=en Liz Caldwell: Web: https://linktr.ee/lizbethann Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizann1999/ Blog: https://lizbethann.wixsite.com/bindingtheword/post/beholyasheis Books: Pastor Craig Groeschel: https://www.amazon.ca/Winning-War-Your-Mind-Thinking/dp/0310363543/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1609R62TV1KK0&dchild=1&keywords=craig+groeschel&qid=1623301349&sprefix=crig+%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1 Sinclair B. Ferguson: https://www.amazon.ca/Devoted-God-Sanctification-Sinclair-Ferguson/dp/1848716907/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=devoted+to+god&qid=1623301648&sr=8-1

We have all heard that Christianity is just a list of "Do's and Don'ts," right? But is that true? This week's episode will talk about Christian Liberty and if it's okay for a Christian to enjoy a fine cigar, sip of bourbon, some new ink, or that new album that's topping the charts. It's not just a yes or no situation; in fact, it's a lot more than you think. Join us while we get a bit uncomfortable talking about things you've most likely been told were sin. Discussion Questions: Think of something you do that might fall into the category of Christian Liberty. Now ask yourself the following questions: Is this something that's at odds with scripture? What does my Pastor or Church Elder say about it? Do the Historic Confessions speak to it? Is this something I can do to the glory of God? Is this something that will make a brother or sister in Christ "stumble"? Is this hindering my witness to an unbeliever? Is this becoming an addiction, or is it replacing my joy found in God? Has it become an idol that is now taken Lordship of heart and mind over God himself? Links: London Baptist Confession of Faith - https://founders.org/library/1689-confession/chapter-21-christian-liberty-and-liberty-of-conscience/ Matt Slick (Legalism) - https://carm.org/about-the-church/what-is-legalism/ Michael Horton (Antinomianism) - https://www.monergism.com/holiness-wars-what-antinomianism Ra McLaughlin (Leviticus Context) - http://reformedanswers.org/answer.asp/file/40113 Books on Christian Liberty: Law and Liberty: A Biblical Look at Legalism - The Northampton Press On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther Quotes: "Thus the essence of legalism is rooted not merely in our view of law as such but in a distorted view of God as the giver of his law." - Sinclair B. Ferguson

On a Sunday afternoon in 1935, J. Gresham Machen stepped into a broadcast booth at WIP Radio in Philadelphia and began something no one had tried before: teaching Reformed theology over the radio. In the vein of C.S. Lewis's landmark “Mere Christianity” talks, Machen's addresses are a crystal-clear articulation of the basics of the Christian faith, unfolding into an exceptional and persuasive explanation of Reformed theology. Things Unseen is both an accessible systematic theology, and a masterclass in evangelistic apologetics. Introduced by Timothy J. Keller, Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Historical Preface by Stephen J. Nichols, Afterword by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. Join us as we sit down with Dr. Nichols and get a glimpse into the life, context, and work of J. Gresham Machen.