Seven Spiritual Blessings
Part 6
Revelation
Foundational Text: Eph. 1:3-14
Text: Eph. 1:9-10
Intro: We have been looking for the past couple of weeks at spiritual blessings
- These are blessings that we overlook many times
- The reason it is so important for us to recognize and apply these spiritual blessings to our lives is because we are spiritual beings
We looked at our first spiritual blessing Holy and Blameless
- The only way the devil can lay claim to us again is to tempt us or entice us away from God
- He can not come in and get us he has to draw us out
Our second spiritual blessing we looked at was predestined adoption
- We were not an after thought in the mind of God
Then we looked at redemption
- We were ransomed
- Bought with a price
- We were hopelessly lost with no way out then Jesus came and purchased us
- We were also redeemed for a purpose, to help others see that same light
- We now have purpose in life a reason for living
Last week we looked at wisdom and understanding
- He cave us these tools because He does not just expect us to make right decisions but He has blessed us with the understanding and wisdom to make right decisions
- We are able to make spiritual decisions based on spiritual truths
- He has also given us understanding or spiritual common sense
- This is the ability to be more than just a hearer of the Word
- It is the ability to put the knowledge of God to use in our lives to fulfill His will and purpose for our lives
Read foundational text:
Ephesians 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Our focus tonight is going to be on Vs 9-10
Let’s look at it again
Ephesians 1:9-10 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
I. The Mystery
God has revealed the mystery of His will to us
- This is our fifth spiritual blessing
- This ties in with the last two blessings but this one even goes a little further
A mystery in the Word of God is not something that is difficult to understand or something mysterious
When Gods word speaks of a mystery it is speaking of a truth that has been locked away in Gods word or Gods plan until He chose to reveal it.
- When the right time comes
- God reveals His plan
A mystery is a truth of God that had never been revealed before
- A truth that had never been known
This is were we get the word revelation
- This is what we are speaking of
- A revelation of Gods will
- A revelation of Gods word
Ex. Did you ever read the word of God before salvation?
- It was the most boring book on the planet
- It was like reading a dictionary
- Or an encyclopedia
The moment we got saved all that began to change
- There was an opening of our eyes
- We began to see things the rest of the world has no clue about
- He gave us an understanding and wisdom
- But not just an understanding and wisdom of eternal and earthly issues but He gave us an understanding of His word
It was amazing to me how the Word of God came to life after I had given my heart to Jesus
- Before it was a dead book
- It was what I read if I wanted to go to sleep
- But now after salvation it has come to life
- I read it and the stories have meaning
What is also amazing is the freshness of the Word of God
- There is always a new revelation
- You can read the same passage time and again yet you continually get something new out of it
- This is what God has done for us
- He has opened His Word and the truth of His Word to us
What a tremendous spiritual blessing this is
Do you see what this means to us
- This means you don’t have to go to bible collage to read and understand the Word
- You don’t have to be a Greek theologian to receive from Gods Word
- The moment you are saved you can pick up the Word of God read it and begin to receive spiritual blessing and food from it
- You don’t have to wait for someone else to read it to you, you can read it yourself
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
II. Unity in the Church
Don’t misinterpret what I am saying here
- I am not saying that you don’t need to attend church
- Or that you don’t need to be taught the Word of God
- Or that you don’t need a preacher or pastor
- I am not saying Bible School is evil
In fact all of these things can be a blessing
- They give us the opportunity to learn from someone else’s revelation
- This is why being a part of a fellowship is such a blessing especially as a pastor
- This is why conferences are such a blessing
- We are able to glean from each other
- New light can be shed on the Word of God
- We can learn from past mistakes
- We can learn from the mistakes of others
This is what preaching does
- It sheds new light on scripture
- It opens up new revelation
- It also helps us stay on track
How many know sometimes we can misread or interpret a scripture wrong or use it in a way that was not intended
- This is one of the blessings of preaching
- It helps us to stay on the right track
- This is what our conferences do for us pastors
We are part of a fellowship that tries to stay on the cutting edge of evangelism
- We try to stay on the front lines of the battle
- As a result of this we do things that have never been tried before
- Some of these things work some don’t
- But by working together we are able to stay the course
- We are able to bring a balance and an edge to our lives and ministry
Ill. It is like sharpening a knife
- As the blade gets sharp the edge gets thin
- And the danger in sharpening is that you will bend the edge over
- So to keep this from happening and to retain your edge you turn the knife over and sharpen the other side
This is what fellowship does
- As a man or women if you are left to yourself you can get bent and end up going in the wrong direction
- But by remaining in fellowship with your brothers and sisters in the Lord you can be straightened out from time to time
This is the same way our fellowship works
- One pastor may get bent in the wrong direction but by attending conference and staying in fellowship with his pastor he is able to get straightened out and headed in the right direction again
This is were the scripture comes into play “iron sharpens iron”
In vs. 10 of our text it says, “Gather together in one all things in Christ”
There is a double revelation in this text
First there is as I have pointed out
- A personal revelation
- We can understand the Word of God
- And to remain on the right course we need to remain in fellowship with one another
- There needs to be a unity within our church
- We need to work together
There is also the larger picture here of the church as a whole
- Before Jesus came there was a division between Jew and gentile
- But after Jesus came there was a unifying of the church
- Jews and Gentiles were able to worship together
- For the first time they were united as brothers and sisters
How many know that Jesus is not prejudice?
- There is not going to be a white and black section in heaven
- There is not going to be a Jew and gentile section
- There is not going to be a Potters House and Baptist, or Methodist and Pentecostal section
The only distinction made on the day of judgment will be saved and unsaved
- Our churches need to be multi racial
- We need to reach out to every individual regardless of there race or color
I am not saying we need to lay aside our beliefs and join hands with every other church in town
God intended for there to be one church and in a perfect situation there would be
- As it is we are not perfect so we must serve God with the revelation and convictions He has given us
- I can not join in with a church that does not believe in the Holy Spirit
- Or participate with a church that allows fornicators to remain in their congregation
Someday when we are all with Jesus it will be perfect until then we do the best we can with the revelation He gives us
III. The Blessing
God has given us a tremendous spiritual blessing here
- The ability to read and understand His word
- The ability to receive spiritual revelation
- The ability to work together as a church and fellowship
Just as with all of our spiritual blessings He has given us this blessing to enable us to stand against the forces of hell
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. NKJV
Many times when the battle rages the fiercest we are not in a place to ask a friend or the pastor is not there standing over our shoulder
- Pastor can’t make all your decisions
- Your brother and sisters can’t be there all the time to help you make right decisions
- You will have to learn to stand on your own
- This is spiritual maturity
This is what God has blessed us with
- The ability to grow and mature
- The ability to develop some of our own convictions
A new convert is a babe in Christ they need lots of help
- They need lots of support
But God has given us as Christians the ability to grow and mature
- He has given us the ability to develop
- The ability to develop some of our own convictions
You can live off of someone else’s convictions and revelations for a while but for them to be lasting you will have to embrace them as your own.
God has opened the very windows of heaven to us. His mysteries and revelation are there for each of us.
He has made it possible for us to grow and flourish in the house of God but it is up to us to open our bibles and to open our hearts to His revelation.
He has given us every spiritual tool we need to serve Him.
