1. As we come to the close of Ephesians we reviewed the teaching of Chapters 1 to 3.--2. This is a very instructive teaching for those who did not have the chance to listen to all the messages that we shared from this chapter.--3. We dealt with the indicatives again, as these could not be never be taken for granted, for in them, God reveals to us the matter of our standing before Him and how got that standing.--4. This is again a gospel testimony of Christ, God's gospel of free and sovereign grace and it is free.

Text- Gen 24- Genesis 24-1-4 -NKJV-, 1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age- and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. -2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, -Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell- -4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.- -1. The same gospel that is in the New Testament, God preached it in the Old using types and shadows.--2. In the story of Abraham, Isaac, Eliezer and Rebekah we find one such excellent telling of the matter of salvation.--3. Without an appreciation of the Triune God, many puzzle pieces of salvation will not be understood. --4. There are many gospel nuggets to glean and it is wonderful to behold- It is good and it free

Today's gospel instalment- 10-30-2021--Text- Ephesians 6 vs 10-20--Sermon Title -s-- 1. -Spiritual warfare - the gospel- 2. -Put on the full armor of God-. --1. Ephesians 6-11 -NKJV-, 11 -Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.---2. After Apostle Paul had labored about God's eternal purpose in Christ, he then taught on the imperatives for those who are the redeemed of God, after that he then went into life of the believer -their struggle-.--3. He spoke of the battle that each believer has to deal with and what they need to prepare or arm themselves to deal with such spiritual realities.--4. He said, the believer is in a spiritual battle -at war-. And the battle is against evil forces of darkness and there is a particular way to war.. And one cannot use carnal weapons for this warfare.--5. Yes, Charismatics and Pentecostals do talk more about spiritual warfare than they do about the gospel. Thus, their weapons are carnal because there is no effective weapon against the fiery darts of the Devil and his minions that is not based on the gospel truth. Binding Satan and rebuking Satan everyday is not the way to war in this battle. --6. As usual there are many gospel nuggets to glean. We had a David and Goliath gospel connection- -7. How you war also reveals your gospel, whether it is true or false. And this is all free-

1. Unless God teaches the sinner about the pre-eminence of Christ in all things, especially in salvation they will keep exalting their own resume and abilities and this to their detriment.--2. But that is not the gospel of God. The teaching of God presents to us the highest view of Christ and the lowest view of men and women.--3. All things are the way they are because of the pre-eminence of Christ. In other words, it is all about Him. He has to be FIRST BEFORE AND IN ALL THINGS.--4. Salvation is NOT dependent on human choice, because it was never about the people who are being saved, but about Christ being the pre-eminent One in ALL THINGS by whom reconciliation was accomplished by the blood of His cross.--5. Do not just go to church to have your name marked in the register. God is not a high school teacher who marks registers. He is concerned most about the SUPREMACY OF HIS SON BEING DECLARED AND BELIEVED.--6. If any part of salvation is dependent on your doing, your progress, then CHRIST and His work are made of none effect. Be careful of you hear---7. This is a great gospel message-because it is all about CHRIST- and there are many gospel nuggets to glean- and IT IS FREE.

Today's Gospel instalment- 10-17-2021--Message Title- -Children Obey your parents---Text- EPH 6 vs 1-9-Ephesians 6-1-3 -NASB- -1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. -2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER -which is the first commandment with a promise-, -3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. -1. Children are to obey the parents IN THE LORD.-2. Do not think this is a message to bash children- There is a bucketload of gospel testimony even in that commandment.-3. We preach Christ- you will have to listen to discover the gospel nuggets in this portion of Ephesians 6.

Sermon Title -s-- 1. -For this reason a man shall leave his parents- 2. -This is a great mystery-- 3. The two shall become one.. --Eph 5- 31-32 -For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.- 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church---1. Imperatives-exhortations should not be taught if one does not understand the gospel. WHY- Because they find their basis, authority, application from what Christ has done and the standing that the believer ALREADY possesses.--2. Using imperatives to beat up the redeemed to extract righteousness from them is not the proper way to use them- --3. Paul in EPH 5 has worked imperatives directed to 3 groups of people- a- The body of Christ-and he said-you are light and should walk as children of light and ought to love one another as Christ loved and redeemed us, b- He took it a step further and said-wives are to submit to their husbands as is fitting in the Lord, c- Husbands ought to love their wives as Christ loved the church and died for her and in EPH 6, we shall speak to the obedience of children in the context of having redeemed parents, also slaves and masters. --4. But in all the commands of submission or obedience Christ is the reference point-to say He is the example and basis for everything for the true believer. It is not the Law that now directs the spiritual understanding, but Christ Himself through His Spirit.--5. But the matter of wives and husbands is not the end of things and so one should not establish righteousness by them before God. Marriage is only a picture or shadow of the true m

1. We have been working the imperatives -exhortations-instructions- of the book of Ephesians and we have established several important theological points that are important to the proper application of commands. --2. We have determined that one cannot teach imperatives without having soaked God's people in the indicatives -the actual gospel and basis of their standing before God-. --3. They must understand how salvation works, otherwise imperatives can easily be turned into another treadmill of works righteousness as often happens in a lot of churches. - -4. The most urgent matter of the gospel is not to teach imperatives of scripture, but to teach who Christ is and what He has done, because that is the gospel message and this is what is lacking in the testimony of many who call themselves Christians.--5. A lot of preachers and professing Christians push the imperatives so hard -until the BURDEN IS NO LONGER LIGHT.- And that is contrary to the good news of the gospel, which is a message of setting the captives free.--6. We talked about submission of the wives who are redeemed in the Lord and the husband's obligation to the wife in the context of the gospel. This matter will be carried over into the next message also---7. But wives are exhorted to submit to their husbands as it is fitting to the Lord and that means in the confines or boundaries of the gospel. And similarly, husbands are exhorted to love their wives as Christ loved the church and that is a very purposeful gospel distinction, that we expounded. This is a great gospel message- --8

1. We continued with the indicative and imperatives teaching, making the distinctions-as this affects how we view the truth of the gospel-in regards to what actually causes what before God.--2. The Holy Spirit exhorts all the redeemed to redeem the time, to buy back the time, from things that do not profit to those things that are profitable in Christ. --3. The days are evil. Evil because dissipation continues unabated, but most importantly, because people do not want to hear the truth about God and His salvation. False gospels abound..--4. We talked about sanctification and possessing one's vessel in honor.. Distinctions were made about Paul's usage of the term sanctification. One is in the imperative and the other indicative. And sanctification as in self-control is in the imperative and thus is not the sanctification that actually caused-causes our sanctification, but that which is wholly in the blood of Christ. --5. We also worked on the matter of submission to one another-what it means and what it does not mean and from whence it cometh from- and I do recommend all my messages, because I will still leave the redeemed with the Christ who redeemed them, which is what the gospel is all about after all. -6. Ephesians 5-15-17 -NASB- -15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, -16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. -17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

1. The believer is light in the world and thus is exhorted to walk as the child of light.--2. And as always, I do not teach imperatives and exhortations without also talking about the Indicatives -the things that actually cause salvation-.--3. So, we defined some things-especially around what it means to be light and darkness- --4. Many of course come and falsely accuse our steadfastness to preach the sufficiency of Christ alone as the only just grounds of righteousness, goodness, sanctification -holiness- in salvation.--5. But their accusations are misplaced, because the URGENT Matter of the gospel is not how people ought to live, but what Christ accomplished when He came in the flesh.--6. In much of the so-called gospel messages of today-Christ is somewhere in the background -always assumed-, but is never at the forefront and we do not accept such teaching, even if people are using bible verses.--7. But by the command of the Lord, we do teach the imperatives-commands of scripture-as we find them- because they are necessary to the functioning of the body of Christ. But commands divorced from the gospel become just another backdoor for works salvation. --8. Ephesians 5-7-13 -NASB- -7 Therefore do not be partakers with them- -8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord- walk as children of Light -9 -for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth-, -10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. -11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them- -12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in

1. The imperatives continue and that also means the indicatives also come together with them, because no imperative in the context of salvation is given -naked-. And that means an imperative or command always flows from an indicative. And indicative indicating one's status before God which is wholly by grace alone through Christ alone.--2. But the imperatives are there. The Lord gave them because they are important to the conduct of His body, the church. And these imperatives flow from Him. He is the standard from which commands are given to the redeemed.--3. And so, the redeemed are called to be imitators of God, because they are beloved children. See that commands are given to those who hold the title of children already. Thus, commands are not given to cause one to be a child of God, but because they are one -by election and redemption and free imputation of righteousness-.--4. To be an imitator of God does not mean we are able in this sinful state to be like Him. That is impossible. It means to have God as our example, but to emulate Him at our level. So, Christ and His sacrifice for our salvation becomes the definition of what God means by love and believers ought to understand love that way. They are to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, especially believers and that principle is what pleases God. God is pleased not by our perfection, which we have none, but in our appreciation of the principle. That and more and it is free-