Your Eternal Calling

Fred Coulter—February 19, 2011

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One of the things that we need to understand and you probably heard the question asked: Why are you here? And mostly in the past it was answered this way: You are here to pray and pay. But that's not why you're here.

God is doing something with His people that the world doesn't even understand and even many people attending Churches of God don't grasp it in the way that they ought to. We are here because what we see in the world we're going to change

• the rulers of this world have failed
• the bankers of this world have failed
• the educators of this world have failed
• the religionists of this world have failed

And God is going to do something that will seem like insanity to them. He's going to use us to correct it.

Let's come to 1-Corinthians 1, and it has to do with our calling. Now God has something fantastic and great for us, many different things for us. We just finished the series FromA Speck of Dust to a Son of God on Church at Home. I mentioned if you haven't seen them, by all means go online and see them. How many watch Church at Home online? Well, if not, you'll eventually get them, because we send out nine Church at Home sermons on DVDs every month.

But you've heard me ask you to do this, so let's do it again. Take your pen, put it on a piece of paper, make a little dot there. Now that's pretty small—isn't it? The truth is, that's how big we were when we were conceived. And everything that you are now was all contained in that little pinprick of life. Put another little dot there. That's what you still are compared to what we shall be. If you grasp the fact that being a spirit being is so vastly superior to a physical human being, though we're made in the image of God.

What do you think would happen if we took a group of God's people and we marched on Washington, D.C., and we got out there on the same place where Glenn Beck was with his 600-thousand, whatever, and we got out there and there's just a paltry few hundred people there. And we carried signs and we said, 'You are all fired, we are taking over.' You're nuts! Let's see that's what God is going to do. We would be talking to all of the educated elite:

• We'd go up to President Obama and say: You're demoted
• The tax-cheat Geithner: you're a liar
• 'Uncle' Ben Bernanke: your counterfeiting days are over
• All of those on Wall Street: it's over

1-Corinthians 1:19: "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand.... [all of the elite; all of the educated] ...Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?" (vs 19-20)—and everything that we just mentioned. What happens to every single religion and government and financial plan and everything? It all collapses in foolishness—does it not?

I just talked to Ben and he said that he had a 100-trillion Zairian dollar—100-trillion. It cost him $3.00. You were overcharged.

Here's the reason God is going to do this. "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its own wisdom did not know God... [They had a chance to know God.] (Since they didn't): ...it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching" (v 21).

• we believe God
• we believe His Word
• we believe His Bible
• we trust in salvation through Jesus Christ
• we have died for it in the watery grave

and we're willing, if you want to take our life, take it, because God's going to resurrect us. So there really isn't anything you can do to us.

"...through the foolishness of preaching. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we proclaim Christ crucified. To the Jews it is a cause of offense, and to the Greeks it is foolishness; but to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's power and God's wisdom" (vs 21-24).

What we will see is, God is doing something with us. He does not expect us to stay the way that we are, v 25: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." Wouldn't you think hiring us to run the world would be foolish in the eyes of people? 'Rod, what's your education for it?' Well, I believe God. 'How do you think you're going to run the world?' We need the love of God. 'Well, how do you think' that's going to work?' We're going to teach them. 'How you going to run the world on that?' Well, sit down and shut up and you wait and see. Likewise to all of us.] ...and the weakness of God... [if He has any] ...is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren..." (vs 25-26).

This is what I want to focus on: We have been called. We are not here because we're practicing a social club. We're not here because we've joined a religion. We are not here just so we can—how shall I say—help improve the world, though the world around us should be improved because we're to be lights of the world and salt of the earth, that is true. We are here to be educated by God.

"...that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh... [How many here have PhDs? Nobody here is a Nobel Prize winner. You wouldn't be here if you had it.] ...not many who are powerful... [any millionaires here among us? Not too many. Most of us would probably fall in $50-thousand category tops. That's just a little above poverty line. What is the poverty line? $37-thousand, a three-bedroom house, two baths, two cars, four televisions, fifteen cell phones. You're in poverty.

"...not many who are powerful, not many who are high-born among you… [Any princes? princesses? dukes? earls? No! We're all going to be kings and priests—are we not? Yes, indeed!] …Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world... [How many of us have done foolish things? Maybe even done some of them yesterday.] ...so that He might put to shame those who are wise..." (vs 26-27).

A lot of people can't understand why the world elite really hate Sarah Palin. They hate here because she ain't one of them in their club. And she believes in some common sense things. And since she's against the elite, look at the hatred that they put on her. Now, if they really knew that we're going to take over the world, just think what would happen to us. That's why God does it below the surface. Even Janet Napolitano would look at our group and say, 'Well, they're just a harmless group of people.'

"Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world, so that He might put to shame those who are wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things" (v 27). Anybody here that does not have a bodily weakness of any kind? No hands raised!

Let's summarize that:

• we're not wise according to the flesh
• we're not powerful
• we're not high-born
• we're foolish
• we're weak

And He's chosen all of this to put shame and confound the rulers of this world. So that means with God's Spirit and God's Word, we've got a lot of educating to do through His Word and through His Spirit, and God will help us with it. We'll see that as we go along.

Verse 28: "And the low-born of the world, and the despised has God chosen... [How many here have never been despised? You all fit. I'm reading your—what would you call this—your m.o., modus operandi?] ...even the things that are counted as nothing—in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are; so that no flesh might glory in His presence…. [We give all the glory to God.] …But you are of Him in Christ Jesus, Who was made to us wisdom from God—even righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.... [So that you as this second little speck compared to eternal life, would be born into the Kingdom of God and rule with Christ.] ...So that, as it is written, 'The one who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (vs 28-31).

Now let's come to Ephesians 3, just a few pages over, because what we are covering here is something that had to be revealed from God. And it's only contained in the Scriptures and in the Scriptures, until the New Testament it, was hidden. But now it is revealed, but it is only revealed to those whom God calls. God has the greatest secret plan going of any in the history of the world.

Let's read it here Ephesians 3:1: "For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, If indeed you have heard of the ministry of the grace of God that was given to me for you; How He made known to me by revelation the mystery... [Now mystery means secret. God has revealed to us His secret plan. If you want to put it in political terms, we'll do it. God's secret plan to overthrow the world.] ...(even as I wrote briefly before, So that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ); which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men..." (vs 1-5).

Brethren, I want you to grasp what that says. I want you to understand that regardless of the circumstances that you see going on in the world, God's plan is on time! Christ's return is on time.=!

• we need to be preparing
• we need to be working
• we need to be educating ourselves through the Word of God and the Spirit of God

That's why there's the second resurrection. Think how fantastic it's going to be being in the first resurrection.

Verse 5: "Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His Holy apostles... [all the apostles got the same revelation] ...and prophets by the Spirit. That the Gentiles might be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel" (vs 5-6). Now let's stop and think about being heirs. What does it mean to be an heir? Not an e-r-r-o-r, error, that's what we are now. But an heir—h-e-i-r, means you're going to inherit something—correct? When you inherit it, you own it—do you not?

God has called us to a great and fantastic calling, and this has to do with being His sons and daughters. In this God has made a distinct dividing line in the world, absolute dividing line. And that is whether you have the Spirit of God or not. That is the dividing line. God says He doesn't give His Spirit to those who do not obey Him.

• you must obey Him
• you must love Him
• you must serve Him
• you must believe Him

Some Sunday-keepers may have one of the seven spirits of God, which God sends out to those who are seeking God. If they're seeking God and trying to go by the Bible, God will recognize that, but they're not converted. I don't care how nice a Sunday-keeper may be. I don't care what kind of works they may do. If they're a Sunday-keeper are they disobeying God and denying the Sabbath? Yes!They are not converted! It's that simple! You want to find out their conversion? Nail them on the Sabbath! You'll find out how quick that is.

Romans 8:8: "But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you.... [That's the result of baptism and laying on of hands. No one in the world can tell that you have the Spirit of God, but God knows.] ...if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (vs 8-9). There is that dividing line. Absolutely clear!

"But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (v 10).

• We love God!
• We keep His commandments in the Spirit!
• We serve God!
• We believe God!

That's the righteousness that God wants.

That's why as one man I was talking to recently said, when he was recuperating from a broken leg—and that was quite a situation. He is a paraplegic in a wheel chair, he can move his arms and things, but he can't walk because of an accident. And he fell and broke his leg. The doctor said he couldn't put a pin in it to hold it so it would heal because of his condition. So it went on week after week with the bones like this separated but not lined up to be healed. And after all the brethren praying for him and being anointed, then all of a sudden one day the bones came together and grew back. That was indeed a miracle.

And he told me. He said, 'You know, when I was recuperating from this'—because he wasn't able to do anything for about six months altogether—when I read the book, Judaism: Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men?, and listened to the series, Scripturalism vs Judaism, that opened my mind to understand the Scriptures even more.'

Likewise here, God has given His Spirit to you. "Now if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you" (v 11).

We're all going to a place of safety and that place of safety is spelled g-r-a-v-e, the grave. And indeed, we will be that little speck again—right? Sometimes I think about this. What's going to happen at the resurrection? That is going to be astonishing to the world. And I really think we're going to see it. I'll just let you think on that for a little bit.

"...will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you. So then, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live" (vs 11-13). Showing the process of overcoming! As long as we're in the flesh, we need

• to overcome
• draw close to God
• cry out to Him
• seek for His Spirit
• yearn for His Truth

I just finished the third one that I gave on the Washing of the Water By the Word and how our minds are to be converted through that process.

Verse 14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship..." (vs 14-15). I want you to understand, this is from God the Father. It doesn't come through a church that is a corporate organization. It comes from God the Father

• through faith
• through repentance
• through baptism
• receiving the laying on of hands

That's how it comes, no other way. That is a spiritual operation. Notice what it gives to us. You have something that no one else in the world has. Only those who have the Spirit of God have this access. I want you to think about it. I want you to think how even though we are weak, despised, foolish, whatever, that

• God loves us
• God has called us
• God is going to use us
• God wants us to yield to Him
• to grow in grace and knowledge, and all of those things

Verse 15: "...whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.'" God the Father Himself

• has called you
• given you His Spirit
• has provided His Word for us
• working within you so that you may grow and overcome.
• working within you so that you can put to death the deeds of the flesh
• working in you to give you wisdom and faith and understanding of the Word of God

You have direct access to God the Father. Now, that's something. You know there are a lot of people at work who would like to have the inside ear, the inside track to the boss, and have the ear of the boss—wouldn't they? Yes! God has given you, through His Spirit, the inside track to the Father, through Jesus Christ. Think of that!

So don't ever get so discouraged that things are so bad that you wonder, 'Oh, what's going to happen. Things are so bad.' The only thing that can happen, it may get a little worse, but God still loves you. That hasn't changed God. That doesn't change your calling. It just means that you're going through a trial from which, when you overcome it and come out the other side of it, that you're going to understand that God has been with you all the way.

You read in the book of Psalms. It says that 'I'm with you in trouble.' If you have the Spirit of Christ in you, when you're going through trouble, is Christ going through it with you? Yes, He is! If we can understand the greatness of the calling that God has given to us, and the way that God is working it, and the ultimate goal of ruling the world, I mean, you won't ever, ever have to get discouraged at the television or shoot it.

Now let me tell you a spiritual truth. You've heard me say it before, but I'll say it again. You cannot solve spiritual problems by political means! Here are all these Republicans were sent back there to Congress to control spending—right? What do they want to do? They want to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. Everybody thinks, 'Oh, that's a good idea. That's a good idea,' except those who don't want it to be cut off. God has a better idea. Stop adultery and fornication and perversion!You won't need the funding—right? That's a perfect example. You cannot solve spiritual problems by political or physical means!

With the Spirit of God we need to train ourselves to see the real cause. And the real cause is the sin of the world. And the only way the world is going to understand what sin is, is that we all succeed to the resurrection and we rule the world and teach them. Think of that!

Verse 16: "The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit... [this is directly to God. ...testifying that we are the children of God." God is doing a great work on this earth through this process of calling us so that we can rule the world.

• He's got to change us
• He has to mold us
• He has to convert us
• He has to give us of His Spirit, of His love, of His faith

—and all of these things that He's there to give of. But we have to seek after it.

Verse 17: "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—… [What is Christ going to inherit? The vastness of the kingdom in heaven and earth—right?] ...if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him. " You want to know how Christ looks? Read Rev. 1—face shines like the sun in its full strength, glorified body; feet are so Holy that they just are like melted brass in a furnace in appearance.

Now Chad was telling me that he does some kind of soldering, I think it is with silver solder, and you have to use the hotter flame and it makes the copper joints that you are soldering together transparent in the flame and you can see the solder when it melts, go right in, and then lock right into that joint. Same way: joint heirs, jointly suffering.

Now here's how to look at the events around, v 18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God" (vs 18-19). What do you think of that? What would that be like at the United Nations? 'We're here to tell you, you're all waiting for us.'
Let's see what God has to do with us and for us and to us so we can reach this point. I tell you this: You want to really, really, really be inspired. If you're down low, you're really feeling bad, you've gone through whatever you're going through, you get your Bible, open it up, get on your knees and start reading through chapter one, two, and three of the book of Ephesians. Use that as your prayer. Read a verse and pray about it. Read a verse and pray about it. Read a verse and pray about it. If you're really in trouble, then take a day of fasting where you do this:

• you get on your knees
• you read the Bible
• you pray about it
• you pray about your problem
• you ask God to intervene
• you keep beseeching Him
• you keep asking Him

Then you get up and you take a break. Maybe take a little rest; come back and do it again. And do that three or four times in a day. That'll help you draw close to God. But those three chapters are my favorite of the entire Bible.

Ephesians 1:1: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." That's a prophecy out to us. Here is what God the Father gives you.

I need to stop here and tell you what's happening in the Churches of God, because they're all responding carnally. And they're all being tested. You've probably heard me mention this before, but if they really grasp the meaning of their calling and their service and their eldership and how to serve the brethren without exalting themselves over the brethren, but to help them be in contact with God the Father and Jesus Christ, there wouldn't be any of this nonsense going on!

Let's come back here to 2-Chronicles 32. This is right after the defeat of the army of the Assyrians. Never have we been confronted with a problem like this, being in the little city of Jerusalem and surrounded by 180,000 of the strongest, toughest, meanest Assyrians who just got done conquering Egypt. Came back with all the loot with them. They were loaded down and the last place they were coming was to Jerusalem to take all the loot away from the Jews and out of the temple and boy, there was plenty of it there.

So what happened? Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed to God! God answered, He sent an angel and killed the whole army except Sennacherib. He woke up in the morning, didn't hear a sound, looked out, they were all dead—all dead. Boy, either you don't need nightly news for that to get around.
So here's what happened, 2-Chronicles 32:23: "And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem... ['Let's send a gift to the Lord in Jerusalem lest that happens to our army.'] ...and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from that time forward…. [But he got a big head.] …In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death and prayed to the LORD. And He spoke to him, and He gave him a sign... [God healed him, but he didn't respond the way that he should have.] ...But Hezekiah responded not again according to the good done to him, for his heart was lifted up.…" (vs 23-25). That's what's wrong with the Church of God today. The hearts of the ministers and people are lifted up, mostly the ministers, and the people are silly enough to follow them. So you follow Christ.

"...Therefore, there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the people of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah" (vs 25-26).

Verse 31—this describes exactly what is happening: "Nevertheless, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to ask about the wonder that was done in the land... [the destroying of the armies] ...God left him... [I've spoken about that several times recently, but I want you to underline that.] ...God left him in order to try him, to know all that was in his heart."

And that's the answer as to what has happened to the church of God every time God has to scatter it. What we do, brethren, is not because of who we are, what we are, or what we do because we have great ability, it is who God is and who Christ is and how we yield to Him and how we serve the brethren.

Just like the army of Gideon. God says, 'Okay, raise up an army. I want you to go against the enemy.' So he sent out the word to all of Ephraim. They were ready to fight, just like Peter we covered earlier in the morning. 'I'm ready to fight with You and go to prison with You and everything.' And He said, 'Get from behind me, Satan.'

So here came 32,000 people down there to Gideon, had all their armor and everything, ready to go and God said, 'That's too many.' So He says, 'We're going to separate them out and I want you to go down to the creek. I want you to have everyone take a drink and only those who lap water like a dog we're going to use.' Now that's a stupidest thing you ever saw—right? Have you ever drunk water like a dog? I mean, you watch it in slow motion, their tongue goes backward and they scoop it up like a little cup. Can you do that with your tongue? How's that for qualification?
Then he had to tell all the rest of them, 'Go home, the Lord doesn't need you.' And they were mad as could be at him; same way with the Church of God. The question is not how many do you have in attendance. The question is: Who is converted? And here's another good example of you can't accomplish spiritual things by physical or carnal means. If you do, God will leave you. I feel sorry for the brethren and I feel sorry for the ministers going through it.

God is merciful. God is kind. But the day is at hand and they better get real serious with God, because God's going to get real serious with them. It's like He did with Hezekiah. He was merciful. He was merciful to Hezekiah. But after he died, guess who came on the scene? Manasseh, his son, for 55 years!

Now we think eight years of a president is really an endurance process—don't we? Try 55 years of Obama and every evil under the sun. When men give themselves over to their abilities and things that they do, God leaves them. We want God close to us! We want God in us! That's what the whole story is of why we are called.

Track 2: or Download

Now, let's come back to Ephesians 1, because I want you, and all of us, to grasp what God is doing with us. Don't look to the physical circumstances as a sign whether God is with you or not. You look to the spiritual circumstances in your relationship with God. And remember this: It doesn't matter if you get old and gray and wrinkled and withered, because God says He will not forsake you in your old age. Remember that.

Now I recently on Church at Home I did one where I was telling them, 'God still loves you even when you look your worst.' Like you wake up in the morning and your hair is all messed up. And you look in the mirror and you don't have your glasses on yet and you don't have your teeth in yet and you don't have your hearing aid in yet, and you look in the mirror and you say, 'Ohhhhh.'

God still loves you, because He knows the beauty that He's going to give you. So don't worry about it. Just remember the speck. God can change it. Now here's what comes from God. This is what God wants us to have.

Ephesians 1:2: "Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.... [That's the whole umbrella of our relationship with God.] ...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things with Christ" (vs 2-3). We haven't received them all yet, but we will in the ages to come.

• Do you have God's Spirit? Yes!
• Is that a heavenly spiritual blessing? Yes!
• Do you have God's Word?
• Is that a spiritual heavenly blessing? Yes!
• Do you have understanding of the Word of God?
• Is that a spiritual blessing? Yes, it is!

Don't believe it! try someone out in the world that knows nothing.

If that doesn't convince you, go down to a disco tech, like someone did on a Friday night, and walk in and see all of these men and women around there. I think they showed a clip of it and the woman called all the women, 'You whores.' And the guy called all the men, 'You whoremongers.' And boy, they almost got beat up and kicked out of the bar. But what do you think they were there for on Friday night? Yes! They don't know any spiritual blessing. They don't understand God. We can be thankful we understand about the second resurrection for those people. But nevertheless we're talking about us.

Verse 4 is really a tremendous verse here. "According as He has personally chosen us..." The reason I translated it 'personally chosen,' because it comes from the form of the verb that is called a middle-voice verb, which is you are the subject and you are the object. God is the subject, but He is not the object directly, He has chosen us personally for Himself, to receive us to Himself. So I translated it 'personally.'

Did God the Father give you of His Spirit to be His son or daughter? Yes! Physically? Spiritually? Yes! "...before the foundation of the world... [That's when He set up His plan so that those who would answer the call because 'many are called, but few are chosen,' because few choose to answer the call. He set this plan up:] ...before the foundation of the world in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love" (v 4). Is that not a perfect relationship? Yes, it is! Compare that to being carnal and sinful and obstinate and workers of the flesh. See the conversion? But the conversion is not complete until the resurrection!

"Having predestinated us for sonship to Himself..." (v 5). Listen, all of those who come into the Kingdom of God through the second resurrection are not going to be in the family of God. They are called nations that are saved (Rev. 21). Only those in the first resurrection are going to be in the family of God. So not only have we been chosen to rule the world, we have been chosen to be in the Family of God and God the Father is directly working with us.

When you read the prophecy about Christ where He is called

• the Wonderful
• the Counselor
• the Everlasting Father

He won't become the Father until He marries the Church. And through the Millennium then the spiritual children that are produced into the Kingdom of God become our children. That make sense? You might have to think on that a time or two.

Verse 5: "...for sonship to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will… [See what God has called us to? What a fantastic relationship that is!] …to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son" (vs 5-6).

• Did He love Jesus Christ?
• Was He pleased with Jesus Christ?
• Yes!

We are the objects, the recipients

• of God's grace
• of His Spirit
• of His knowledge
• of His Word
• of His plan
• of our destiny
• of the calling that He has called us

He knows what He has called us from. Because Paul declared it there in the first chapter of 1-Corinthians—correct? But look what He's doing with us.

Verse 7: "In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace." You start reading this and you really begin to think and know and understand, 'if God be for us'—if God is for us, which He is—'who can be against us?' What can be against us? Nothing!

That's why Jesus said, 'Don't fear the one who's able to kill the body, but is not able to take the life.' Because He's going to give it back in ten-fold measure and spirit being at the resurrection. All right, let's go forward here. To me this is some of the most inspiring part of the Bible that there is. This is our personal relationship with God.

Verse 7: "...remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence" (vs 7-8). The education we are getting is a greater education than the elite of this world, because we are being educated

• through God's Word
• by the Spirit of God
• in a personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ

Now that's the best deal possible—right? And I'll tell you one thing, you can't go online and sign up for this education.

Not only that, here's what He's done: "Having made known to us the mystery of His own will... [The secret of God's will, held secret from generations past, held secret since the foundation of the world.] ...according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself" (v 9).

God is love! He proposed this! "That in the divine plan for the fulfillment of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; Yes, in Him, in Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to His purpose, Who is working out all things according to the counsel of His own will" (vs 10-11).

Now you understand why prayer and Bible study is so important?

• you come to God
• you yield to God
• He grants you of His Spirit
• He opens your mind
• He gives you understanding according to His own will

"That we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the Christ" (v 12). Isn't that something? The world is going to praise God because of us after we are resurrected and in the Kingdom of God. That's staggering, brethren.

It makes me think of these military men who have gone out and they have sacrificed things and they have given their lives, given their limbs. Some survive, some die, and the ones who survive all line up at attention, stand at attention and the Commander-in-Chief—the President—and then the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff come down in special salute to all of these men who really dedicated their lives and given it to them and they give them the Medal of Honor, put that Medal of Honor around them. And we think, oh, that's quite a ceremony—isn't it? Think what it's going to be like on the Sea of Glass. We're all there before God the Father and Jesus Christ.

• We're all going to get a new name.
• We're all going to get a crown of righteousness.
• We're all going to learn how we're going to take over the world.
• We're going to invade from the Sea of Glass.

And we sing a song. We sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. And all the resurrected saints from Abel clear on down to the last two witnesses—the first and the last. And we get done singing that song and we all shout, 'Hallelujah! Lord God Almighty!' Isn't that something? That's going to be what's going to happen, brethren.

That's our inheritance. He is, v 11: "...working out all things according to the counsel of His own will; that we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the Christ; in Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise… [That's what you were made to receive. Every human being on earth without the Spirit of God is incomplete.] …which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (vs 11-14).

And that day is coming. That day is coming. Let the world be in chaos. Let them fight and scream and yell and have all of their political things that they're going do and whatever they're going to do. Don't worry about them. We're going to end up solving the problem for them.

Brethren, let me tell you something else that is true, too. What the Church does as a collective group is the work of the ministry. We all have part in it. I do my part, you do your part; we all do our part. The work of God, on the other hand, is what God is doing in each one of us. That is the work of God.

We are His workmanship. He is the Potter and we are the clay. And He's going to mould us and He's going to fashion us and He's going to make us with tender loving care. It's going to be at the resurrection, is going to be beyond anything we can comprehend now because our minds cannot grasp the greatness of what it's going to be. Like Paul says, we look through a glass darkly.

But that doesn't mean we can't be inspired. That doesn't mean we can't be uplifted to look forward to that. And in this time of trouble that we see all around us,

• keep our focus
• keep our purpose
• keep our minds on it
• keep pointing toward that goal

—everyday! everyday! That's how it's going to be.

Ephesians 3:7, Paul says: "Of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of God, which was given to me through the inner working of His power." Let me tell you something, brethren: No minister can do anything to teach and help the brethren without the Spirit of God! Has to be, because it is a spiritual work.

Notice how Paul felt about this, notice how much different that this is from King Hezekiah. Receiving this great knowledge and great information never before revealed until God revealed it to His apostles and prophets; the greatest thing that can be.

"To me, who am less than the least of all the saints... [How's that for a papal attitude!] ...was this grace given... [to me. To receive and understand this knowledge is grace.] ...that I might preach the Gospel among the Gentiles—even the unsearchable riches of Christ" (v 8). You can't measure how great it is. You can't comprehend what it's going to be, but we can get a glimmer of it, we can get a preview of it, we can get an understanding of it.

"And that I might enlighten all as to what is the fellowship of the mystery... [The fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ.] ...that has been hidden from the ages in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ; So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places" (vs 9-10).

God has given us understanding through His Word that even the angels do not have and even the angels cannot attain. Right now we're lower than angels, but at the resurrection we're going to be greater than the angels.

"According to His eternal purpose... [This is going to go on into the ages of eternity. This is not going to stop. How's it going to be? The older you get, the younger you become. That's a new one—isn't it?] ...His eternal purpose which He has wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Whom we have boldness and direct access with confidence through His very own faith" (vs 11-12). That's what God wants to give us. Yes, we have faith and belief when we come to Christ. But when we come to Him, He gives us

• of His faith
• of His grace
• of His Truth

That's why He told the disciples, He said, 'Have faith from God.' And it really means in the Greek, 'Have the faith of God.' Is there any doubt in God? No! There it is right there.

"So then, I beseech you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which are working for your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.... [That's what we need to do, brethren.] ...Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" (vs 13-15). And how great that is going to be. How many people down through the ages have been called since the New Testament Church and then on back to the patriarchs? What is that going to be like at the resurrection on the Sea of Glass? We're all going to be resurrected, we'll all have the same language. It won't be a tower of Babel up there. We won't need any interpreters. Who do you want to talk to? I know there's one man I want to talk to, or two, in addition to Christ, and that's William Tyndale and the Apostle Paul.

Look how much God did with one man through William Tyndale and we have the results of what he has done here. And this is the only Bible in the world that has a picture of his statue in the Bible to give him the original credit for translating the Bible from the original Greek and original Hebrew into English now nearly 500 years ago. Chased, hunted, hounded, betrayed, arrested, imprisoned, burned at the stake. And his last words were, 'Oh, God, open the eyes of the king of England.' And that prayer was answered almost immediately.

As ole' Henry VIII said to the pope, 'Bye bye sayonara, I don't need you.' Turned around and ordered Bibles put into every church in England, newly translated—from whom? William Tyndale! And if someone didn't know how to read, he ordered that there be a reader provided for them. And what we have today is a result of what he has done and now we have the fullness of the knowledge of it as never before, brethren. It's going out into the world in the hundreds of millions of Bibles, every conceivable language. God is going to give a witness to this world that it is not even going to comprehend or understand. And one day He's going to say, 'Well, did you have a Bible?' Yeah, but I never read it. 'Is that My fault or yours?'

We look back and see what God has done down through history and then we look and see what we have to look forward to, where we can really comprehend it, to where we have the whole Word of God.

• we have the peace
• we have the time
• we have the ability

That window may be closing down on us, so we need to have the zeal and the drive and the desire and the love and the Spirit of God to do so.

That's why he says, v 14: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.... [Notice what's going to happen. This is his prayer. It's written in the Word of God.] ...That He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man" (vs 14-16). That's the whole purpose of Sabbath services. That's the whole purpose of the Word of God, the Spirit of God, where we're going in our calling. We are being prepared for the greatest job in the whole history of the earth—to rule the world under Christ!

But now it is: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that being rooted and grounded in love... [That's the whole thing, brethren. It's not numbers, it's not money, it is the love of God.] ...rooted and grounded in love... [That's what it takes to understand the Word of God and the plan of God.] ...you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints... [I want you to listen to this. I want you to think about this.] ...what is the breadth and length and depth and height" (vs 17-18).

Now we'll receive all of that at the resurrection. But now we can comprehend it to the point that we become inspired and uplifted and moved. "And to know the love of Christ... [Who willingly gave Himself.] ...which surpasses human knowledge; so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (v 19). That's God's plan. That's God's calling. That's why we're here, brethren. So whatever is in your life, bring everything that you have in focus to this.

• Let nothing deter you from it!
• Let no trial overwhelm you!
• Let no disappointment discourage you!
• Always look to God the Father and Jesus Christ!

They love you and have called you and you're going to be in the family of God!

So, brethren, that's our calling! Now there are two more verses here we need to read: "Now, to Him Who is able... [And that means has the power.] ...to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us. To Him be glory in the Church by Jesus Christ throughout all generations, even into the ages of eternity. Amen." (vs 20-21).

Scriptural References:

• 1-Corinthians 1:19-31
• Ephesians 3:1-6
• Romans 8:8-19
• Ephesians 1:1
• 2-Chronicles 32:23-26, 31
• Ephesians 1:2-14
• Ephesians 3:7-15, 14-21

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 1; 21

Also referenced:
Book: Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal

Sermon Series:

• From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God(churchathome.org)
• Scripturalism vs Judaism
• The Washing of the Water By the Word

FRC:lp   Transcribed: 3-2-11   Formatted: bo—3-2-11