A Right Faith, Sermon notes 5-22-11

A Right Faith

Text: Ephesians 1:18-22

The church at Ephesus is west of Galatia, referred to as Asia Minor; near where Greece meets Turkey.

As the second largest city in the Empire, it was a thriving metropolis, populated with a lot of intellectuals. At least a portion of Its importance lay in the fact that it was the intellectual capital of the known world.

This is a good place for Paul to be.

Our faith is based on a "solid rock." There are "espitalogical" principles that we can stand on that will stand the test of time.

We don't have to resort to hocus-pocus, scare tactics or mischief to bring people into the church or into the Kingdom of God.

"I'm not crazy, my faith is based on a solid foundation!" Christianity is not a fringe religion.

We hold on to our faith, not because of Doomsday, but because it is right.

In verse 18, our understanding is illuminated".

In Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation..."

Faith is rich, right, required and robust!

Illustration: Summer day, cold root beer poured over cold ice fizzed up and runs over, making it appear that you have more than you started with. Faith is like that.

Faith fills you up, helps you out and keeps you when the days are dark.

Life loses its meaning without the illumination of the transcendent God, who is fully aware of the ugliness of existence and the right-now-ness of need.

God who sits in eternity, knows where we are going, but gives us enough of what we need right now.

Jesus is coming back for the redeemed. Be ready when He comes!

Who are the redeemed? People who have come through the blood of Christ and believe in His name. But, we must be invited.

Illustration: During Prom season, you can't just show up to the dance. You must be invited and have a paid ticket to gain access.

Those of us who are going to the "Big Dance" can invite others to witness and make it in. We should send out as many invitations as we can. We should invite everyone we know to get to know Jesus.

In verse 18, it says, "part of your inheritance is the gospel message and the gospel promise that is to be promoted." You should not be ashamed to chime in when others are talking about Jesus. He is our rock in a weary land, the rock of our salvation; He is a mighty God.

We don't have to resort to scare tactics to get people into the Kingdom.

There are people out there waiting for the right invitation.

In Matthew 22,  we have the tale of the wedding feast. We need to go out into the highways, byways, streets, alleys.

Even though Ephesus was intellectually esteemed, they were soulfully -deprived. They had low spiritual esteem.

In comparing the two churches, Corinth and Ephesus-

1. The Corinthian church was spiritually gifted, and moving in grace according to the Spirit.

2. The church at Ephesus was not particularly spiritually gifted and don't feel that they could stand in the promises that God have given them.

Many of the people in the church find themselves in this same condition- low spiritual esteem. But we must remember in the words of that old song, "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so."

You (we) are qualified to serve God if we have been redeemed. Paul is trying to lift them up so that they can labor for the Lord.

Ephesus is one of the seven churches that John addresses in The Book of Revelation [link}. He encourages them to continue to lift the Lord, and not buy into feeling less than qualified because that haven't been in "long enough."

Our salvation is rich, not bound to us, but bound to the life of Jesus.

He qualifies us to serve, edifies us, and sanctifies us- by the power that is in HIM!

Verse 19, says that the power is "us-ward". There is a sense direction here, inward, toward us.

Verse 19-20 talks about operation, using the power. Jesus was taken up by the power at resurrection. And, that same power can be sent back down by the Holy Spirit.

We see evidence of this in the Upper Room with the disciples and the birth of the New Testament church in the Book of Acts, as well as other places in the Bible.

Do you want the power that is available to you in God?

Right faith is from the Righteous One, right on time, right on point and right on the money. It is the right way, the bright way to the highway to heaven.

Sermon Notes 5-8-11

Text: 2 Corinthians 6:14


Paul is trying to right the “ship,” get the church at Corinth back on course.

He wants them to reclaim what they previously had.

The Corinthian church had fallen from grace.

This same church had flourished while Paul was their presence, but faded when he was away.

The church which had been growing and vibrant, was falling into disrepair during Paul’s absence.

They had been a wealthy and warn church, moving in the Spirit in the midst of a bustling hub of commerce.

Plutarch says that Corinth was one of three economic centers in the Hellenic world.

The congregation was made up of well-off people.

So, in the midst of a thriving community, we see a hurting church; a church that is failing.

Several weeks ago, we spoke about favor,

Favor falls on the folk that God wants to partner with.

Favor means you have the focused attention of God in your life because He wants to use you.

Favor is focused on a few.

The church in Rome had been walking in favor because they became willing workers for God.

The Corinthians, we are told in the text have yoked themselves to unbelievers. This is the reason they had fallen from favor.

Church work is not hard work, it is right work.

The church should be a place of joy, happiness, moving in one accord; but too often the work is hard, stressful and frustrating.

It should be a place of faith, not frustration.

Paul is trying to help them get back to right work ethic- ethos.

Yoking with unbelievers will cause favor to leave your life.

Paul's metaphor is usually attributed to marriage, but that is not what he is talking about.

Paul is referring to church relationship, community relations.

The Corinthian church had allowed their worldly workers to mix with the holy workers.

They had yoked with people of affluence and influence; people who had agendas other than to glorify God. They worked for other things.

Be careful who you align yourself with.

The Corinthian church had become a faith-sick church.

Paul was explaining to the church, and us, that we must allow Jesus to be yoked with us. He is the one person who must be yoked with us, so that He can lead us "all the way."

Stop trying to worship and work with the weight of the world on us.

A yoke is a harness which is attached to a plow for the purpose of doing work.

When you're trying to get your work done, you need to be hooked up with someone who is moving forward.

Plow the good ground that God has laid before you in your life.

Get out of those rocking chairs and loungers and do something for the Lord.

A yoke is not built for one person, but for two.

Who have you yoked yourself up with today?

Separate from those who are dragging you down.

Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Yoke with someone who will walk with you, work with you.

Jesus will be in the yoke with you, so you can work, walk and move together.

When you fall, He will lift you up.

He will lead you along the path.

"Yoke of life is not made for one, it is made for Jesus and you."

We, as the church in Corinth need to get back to faith of trusting in Jesus.

Many of us have too many rocks in our wagon. We drag these rocks with us as we try to do the work of the Lord. Jesus (yoked to you) came to lift and lead.

Personal commentary: Unlike the church at Corinth, we don't have the Apostle Paul to come rushing in to help us right our ship, the church. We need to take a step back and see who and what we have yoked ourselves to. We must continually remind ourselves about Who our ship truly belongs to, and get back to the work we have been sent to do. Ultimately what happens is in God's hands, but we need to be serious about doing our part to get back on the path.

The fact that we are to be yoked to the Lord does not mean that He is going to drag us along.

So...stand up, speak up, take your responsibility, and help right the ship!

[This week's lesson starts tomorrow]