GYC West 2014: I Am The Conflict Continues

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GYC West

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Winston Green

Content With Christ

Patrick Dillon

Redemption and Conflict

Confidence through the Conflict

Redemption and the Church

I really, really like that song because it captures the essence and, I believe, the uniqueness of the message that God has given to us as a people, and that we've gathered here together to understand better so that we can become better equipped to share it with others.

And I'm excited about this morning as well, because over the last couple of years I have been seeking to understand more and more how I can more thoroughly explain and present our message from the Bible And especially from the writings of Paul, I have a personal and particular affinity for Paul's writings.

And Paul is usually perceived as being the complicated New Testament writer.

And so 1 of my joys has been seeking to understand Paul in such a way that I can explain him and that others can understand his message in as simple a way as possible.

So that's what I'm going to attempt to do this morning.

And because that can be a difficult task, even Peter says that, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us in our understanding.

So I'm going to invite you to bow your heads with me as I kneel for prayer.

Father in Heaven, we thank you so much for this great privilege of being the people of the 1 true God.

And it is our prayer that as we put our minds to your word that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit.

God, we pray that you will please exalt our minds so that we can catch a glimpse of the reality that has been introduced through Christ Jesus.

I pray, Lord, for any soul that is struggling and is being defeated, that this message would nourish their minds and hearts and give them the strength they need to overcome.

I pray, Lord, for any soul that is burdened with guilt and who feels as though they cannot approach you because of their error, that you would please show them the mercy and forgiveness that you offer, and the reconciliation, the unity that you want between yourself and us.

And Father, I pray for clarity and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

And I ask all these things in the name of Jesus.

1 of my favorite New Testament books, period, not just in Paul, is the book of Ephesians.

And 1 of the things that I love about the book of Ephesians is its broad scope.

If you sit down, and I encourage you to do this, perhaps this weekend, maybe sometime on Sabbath, if you sit down and you read through the book of Ephesians in 1 sitting, you'll quickly see that the doctrines and principles that have been so essential to Christianity are presented here but in a magnified light.

The gospel and the mission of the church are Paul's major burdens in the epistle of Ephesians.

But as you read it, you'll begin to see that he sets both of these principles and concepts within the framework of the Great Controversy.

And so as I began to read and understand the Gospel message and the Gospel mission, my perspective on the Church's message and mission have been greatly enhanced through the reading of the book of Ephesians.

Now, with Paul's letters, and this will be important for understanding how we approach the book, because there's only so much that we can actually go into and explain here.

He usually begins the first half or the first major section of his book with a theological explanation of what God has done in Christ.

And then after he establishes that, he moves into the practical component of what that means for us today.

And so there is always this transition between theology and practice.

And I know that the word theology and the idea of theology and trying to understand Paul's theology can oftentimes turn people away and turn people off.

So instead of thinking of it as theology, I want to encourage you to think of it as reality.

Because It is our understanding of reality that affects the way we live and what we do.

So when someone starts talking about theology, don't just think of it as theology.

Think, this person is talking about reality.

Hopefully, if their theology is coming from the Bible.

And our hope is that during this conference, that is where our theology will be coming from.

So what we're going to be dealing with this morning is a crucial passage in Paul's explanation of reality and what God has accomplished for us.

Before he gets to the argument that he lays out in chapter 2 that we'll be dealing with this morning, He first begins the first 14 verses of the book with a bird's eye view of redemption.

From eternity past to what God has done for us in the present and what we are longing for God to complete in the future.

And after that, he goes in to talk about how he's become personally acquainted with the church in Ephesus.

And how now that he's learned that they've been introduced to the gospel, he wants to deepen and further their understanding.

And in his prayer he says there's 2 major things that I am longing for you to understand.

And as we study this morning I ask that you will keep these 2 major things in your prayer and long for an understanding yourselves.

The first is that he wants the church to grasp the glory of the inheritance that he has prepared for them.

Because there's something about knowing what God is going to bring about for all of creation that inspires us with a sense of awe, adoration, worship, and service.

But the second thing that he wants the church to understand is the power that he has made available for each and every 1 of us.

And in fact, he goes to the most powerful event in all of world history to give us an example of what that power looks like.

And he says that God wants to give you the same kind of power that he worked out in Jesus when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand.

Above and beyond all principality and power.

Christ has received an authoritative position that is above any spiritual or secular force.

And that should provide us with encouragement and strength during our times of struggle, be it with spiritual or secular forces.

But then he goes further to say that God has granted Christ as head over all things to the church, which is His body.

So as this cosmic authority, as this cosmic head, you have been gifted with Him.

So that by union with Christ, you actually become an extension of the heavenly kingdom here on earth.

And so in chapter 2, he goes on to explain the essence of what that means.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2 verse 1, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the children of disobedience." So Paul begins his setting for his gospel proclamation with the stark reality that all of humanity, Jews and Gentiles, have been captured by a spiritual foe.

Indeed, the world has been hijacked by Satan.

And this is important for us to understand for 2 reasons.

Number 1 is that Any gospel that does not contain this spiritual component of God rescuing us from some spiritual cosmic foe is not the New Testament gospel.

Whatever gospel we believe in must be rooted and grounded in this larger setting that there is a controversy taking place that goes beyond and outside of ourselves.

The second reason is that we have to understand that the world in which we live, the direction of the world, its customs, its pride, its fashion, its general direction, is not simply motivated by the psychology of man, is not simply motivated by how man thinks within himself, but is being directed by a force of opposition.

And so humans who are disconnected from God have actually been brought into a satanic confederacy.

And Paul wants them to understand the reality because if we can get our minds wrapped around the true situation that exists, we'll be much better prepared to grasp and understand the glory of the salvation that God is working out for us.

And in verse 3, he goes in now to focus in on how Satan leads us about, how Satan leads us astray.

Among them too, we all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

Now the key principle here to understand, and this has been monumental for me in terms of my own spiritual experience and what it means to be victorious and how we can be victorious is that Satan leads us into sin by pulling on our own passions and desires.

And so now immediately there is an internal conflict.

And his desire is that by pulling on our passions and appetites, He can bring our will down into subjection.

And so Satan leads us about through ourselves.

And this is why so many people are enslaved in the world, but actually believe they're free.

Because when you seek to point out to them the nature of the slavery, they can't see it because in their mind they're doing exactly what they want to.

Because he's using their own desires to lead them astray.

But when we understand that, We can then approach God and seek for the power to pull our own appetite and passion into subjection.

And this process is really essential to the renewal that God wants to work out in us.

And because the world is filled with woe and rape and crime and destruction, there's only 1 solution that is suitable.

Because in the judgment, God is going to set this crooked world straight.

The problem, though, for many of us is that we are headed towards that final destruction rather than the final renewal.

And so God looks down on a broken and captive humanity.

And solely motivated, solely motivated by His love, He sends Jesus to rescue us.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions.

Now the thing that you have to notice about the passage is that every phrase is calculated to demonstrate to the people of God that the only thing that moves God to rescue us is his own love, rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins.

And when we think of death, obviously we have a passive state in mind.

Paul is talking about people who have been actively engaged in rebellion against God.

Yet, God looks past the rebellion and sees the jewels that you and I could become through redemption.

And sends his son to rescue us from the gripping power of the enemy.

Verse 5, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He brought us to life with the Messiah.

Verse 6, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

So notice that He's not only forgiven us, He's not only redeemed us, but He's also exalted us.

Now, 1 of the things that causes, for example, young women to enter into human trafficking or prostitution is a low view that they have of themselves.

And so part of the solution to bringing that salvation to them, if you will, is helping them to redevelop a positive concept about themselves.

Not above what God would have us to think about ourselves, but surely not below it.

Series

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Redemption and Conflict

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Holiness and Purity

45m

Plenary

A Prophetic Call to Faithfulness

40m

WYC 2009 Plenary Sessions

As You Think

40m

The Lord’s Vineyard

39m

There’s No Thief Like Fear

59m

3rd Quarter Sabbath School 2023: Ephesians

02 God’s Grand, Christ-Centered Plan

21m

Do This to Grow Your Church Fast

23m

Keeping Focus

Keeping Focus Part 3

48m

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Confidence through the Conflict

35m

GYC SE 2012 Seminar: Lessons in Warfare

Special Forces

51m

Who Am I - A Crisis in Identity

04 Love... But Lead

1h 3m

Lovely Lord of the Lord's Day

3 - Our Gracious Harmonizer

28m

Sound Doctrine