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Believers’ Benefits III

Posted on 17 Mar 2019, Pastor: Tolu Makinde

tolu.makinde@yahoo.com <tolu.makinde@yahoo.com>

To:John Adegbuji

Mar 17 at 6:44 AM

Title: Believers’ Benefits – III

Text: Eph. 1:3-14

[Eph 1:3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlyplaces in Christ,

[Eph 1:4] just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

[Eph 1:5] having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

[Eph 1:6] to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

[Eph 1:7] In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

[Eph 1:8] which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

[Eph 1:9] having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

[Eph 1:10] that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

[Eph 1:11] In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

[Eph 1:12] that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

[Eph 1:13] In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

[Eph 1:14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Introduction

Brethren, when we came to Jesus, we came as dirty sinners.
Out of grace and mercy, Jesus forgave us and accepted us as one of His own
We were saved through grace, not by any ounce of work that we did
However, as if being saved by grace is not enough, the Lord also provided additional benefits for us
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a start. The benefits demonstrate just how much we are loved by the Lord
In Christ Jesus, we have:
- Spiritual Blessings
- Righteousness and Holiness
- Became sons of God
- Redemption through His blood
- The gathering of the saints
- Sealed with the Holy Spirit
We are going to be addressing each of these benefits so we have a better understanding of what we have in Christ Jesus

Main Topic

1.0 Spiritual Blessings

1.1 We have the assurance of our salvation – Eph. 2:8-10

1.2 We have access to the Fruit of the Spirit – Gal. 5: 16-26

1.3 Unity and Oneness

2.0 Righteousness and Holiness

[Eph 1:4] just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
Jesus chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
Jesus chose me before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy – say it to yourself three times.
Holiness – the requirement that a person must be clean before approaching God
- In the OT, the priests had to wash themselves, their hands, their feet, their heads in water. Then they wash their sins by the sprinkling of the blood of bulls and goats before they could approach God.
- Thank God we don’t have to do that anymore.
- We now wash with the Word
Righteousness – holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard, which is His Word.
- In the OT, those that obeyed the Word of God were in right standing with God
- Adam and Eve would have acted righteously if they obeyed God’s Word
- The children of Israel would have acted righteously if they obeyed the 10 commandments
- Abraham obeyed
  - [Gen 15:6] And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
  - [Heb 11:8] By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
  - But Abraham was also a liar. He lied that Sarah, his wife, was his sister to Pharaoh. – Gen 12:10-20
- Noah obeyed God
  - [Gen 6:22] Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
  - [Heb 11:7] By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
  - But Noah was a drunk. – Gen 9:18-29
- Elijah was called righteous (1 Kings 17-19)
  - [Jas 5:16] Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
  - [Jas 5:17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
  - Elijah declared there would be no rain, and there was no rain
  - Elijah prophesied to the widow of Zarephath and the flour and the oil did not run out
  - Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead
  - Elijah called down fire on the sacrifice he made and killed all the prophets of Baal
  - Then, Elijah ran away from Jezebel
  - He hid himself in a cave, and the Word of God located him there
  - Elijah told the Lord he’s the only one left doing the will of God. God told him, I have reserved 7000 that have not bowed to Baal
  - Then he was replaced by Elisha.
  - The point is, Elijah was not stable. Yet the Bible called him righteous
  - The fact is, all human beings are not stable, yet, we are expected to be righteous
- If an unstable Elijah can be called righteous, then you and I stand a chance.
- It is not impossible

2.1 You ought to be righteous

[Gen 17:1] When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Holy and upright living according to God’s Word is the minimum standard that heaven expects from us
[1Pe 1:15] but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
[1Pe 1:16] because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
So, you must be holy
Our goal is to make heaven – that is the reason you are in church
However, without holiness, no one will see the Lord
- [Heb 12:14] Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
The fact is, it is impossible to be righteous on our own
- [Isa 64:6] But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

2.2 Jesus Christ made us righteous

In the OT, water was used to wash the body in order to present the body as holy. Blood of animals was used to cleanse their sin.
In the NT, water and blood is still being used.
[Eph 5:26] that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
- This Scripture is referring to the church. You are the church.
- You are cleansed by the washing of water by the Word
- The water there is symbolic of the Holy Spirit
- The word there is the living Word, which is Jesus Christ Himself
[2Co 5:21] For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
- Jesus Christ, who never sinned in His life, became your sin and my sin
- So that you and I might become the righteousness of God
- Notice the word “might” – there is a possibility that we might not become the righteousness of God
- So, it is conditional. The condition is based on 1 John 1:9
[1Jn 1:9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- The God who made you, knows that you are unstable
- You are moved by emotions to do things you are not supposed to do
- However, He has also made a way – which is to confess our sins
- Once we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness to remain in right standing with God
- However, if we are carrying unconfessed sins around, we remain unrighteous because 2 Cor. 5:21 is conditional.
Benefits of our righteousness
- We will see the Lord
- Your prayers will come before God – [Pro 15:8] The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Boldness and assurance of making heaven
- Boldness to deal with the devil

To be continued…..

Conclusion

According to Eph. 1, there are many benefits that the Lord has blessed us with.
In Christ Jesus, we have:
- Spiritual Blessings
- Righteousness and Holiness
- Became sons of God
- Redemption through His blood
- The gathering of the saints
- Sealed with the Holy Spirit
We will continue next week by God’s grace on righteousness and holiness.

Sermon

Believers’ Benefits III