God is Faithful to His Purpose 8/26/2020
by Darrell W. Johns
August 26, 2020 · Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Ephesians 3:8-12, Hebrews 4:16, Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 1:26-27, John 1:1, John 1:14, Galatians 4:4, 1 Peter 1:12, Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah 45:22-23, Psalm 121, Luke 12:6-7, Matthew 10:29-31, Philippians 2, Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 21:28, 1 Corinthians 15:24, Philippians 2:10-11, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 2:10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--god-is-faithful-to-his-purpose-8-26-2020
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
there's a simple majesty to that song and many others that help us focus our attention on the lord and remind us of how desperately we need the lord and trust me i think it's probably not a good thing if you're going to minister that you spend a lot of time apologizing and telling everybody how unworthy you are and all of that i think you should just get up in the name of jesus and say what he put in your heart but i assure you every time i minister god's word publicly or privately i'm acutely aware of how desperately i need the lord amen before i open my bible i want to just mention a few things about getting the most out of church when you're watching online so i just want to make some suggestions to you that you would get ready for church just like you would get ready to come to this sanctuary prepare your heart your mind and the room where you're going to have church and then pray for the service i need your prayers our worship team our technology teams we you know the devil is always in technology we we need your prayers and it makes a difference when you pray as you hear us say all the time share like comment spread the good news i went back and was doing some review of our services since march and thousands and thousands of people have heard the gospel her preaching and teaching and singing because you shared with other people and then give give yourself in worship and give online make offering worship just like it is when you're in the house engage in worship say amen get over that awkwardness that we may feel when we're just around our family and there's no corporate worship or gathering and try to keep your children connected now i know this is really difficult probably but review the services remind them you know i was told by one of the precious ladies in our church sister manly that her grandkids [name redacted] and [name redacted] have psalm 100 posted above their home school desk i mentioned why don't you post psalm 100 print it out and the manlies did and so [name redacted] and [name redacted] said brother john's wants us to look over this i think she said twice a day so let's apply what we hear to our hearts and in our homes we have to take more responsibility just as many as you all of you are you parents in homeschooling your children and it makes me thankful and really proud to know that our people are taking to heart what is preached and taught you see i know this that when you're invested you're interested and when you're interested you care about the success of a service or a church or whatever it is that you're involved in so let's get the most out of church online and in person turn in your bibles please to ephesians chapter 3 beginning at verse 8. ephesians 3 and 8 the final message and a series of messages on the faithfulness of god the apostle paul is writing unto me whom less than the least of all saints is this grace given that i should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of christ and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in god who created all things by jesus christ to the intent to the purpose that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of god according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in christ jesus our lord in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him tonight i'd like to speak to you on the subject god is faithful to his purpose god is faithful to his purpose [Music] years ago my pastoral mentor brother t.l craft was teaching on the natural tendency of people to be focused on themselves isn't that shocking he said that a headache to me is worse than a famine in china now back then a famine in china might have been a real possibility a possibility but but you get the point when when you have a headache that can be worse than a very tragic situation for someone else because you feel that ache or that pain we're pretty preoccupied on me myself and i paul taught that husbands should love their wives as they love their own selves he said nobody hates themselves we're pretty caught up with taking care of ourselves paul told the philippians that timothy was not like many other teachers that he would naturally care for their state for their interests but he said a lot of other people are just thinking about themselves philippians 2 he says that and then in the bible the essence of sin according to isaiah 53 6 is that all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to our own way we turn in on ourselves and think only about ourselves it is all too easy to become preoccupied with the small stuff how we're feeling how we're doing at any particular moment or season of life and and i want you to know tonight that god god cares about the small stuff of life it's no exaggeration to say that god is in the details the lord has the big view the macro view but he also has the micro view he sees the small things i i talked about this this past sunday in my message when i spoke about the meal barrel miracle when jesus taught in matthew 6 the importance of trusting god for daily necessities of life jesus spoke about food and clothes he told us to look at birds and lilies and to realize that our heavenly father takes care of them and he is much more interested in us because we are much more valuable to god than they are god cares about what might be considered the small stuff of life unbelievers are preoccupied their thoughts are dominated by getting by and we are not unbelievers we have a god who cares about the small things but then jesus you remember told us to seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these other things the things of life will be added to us jesus was teaching in luke chapter 12 and he said what's the price of five sparrows he said is it just you know the price of five sparrows just two copper coins yet god does not forget a single one of them and then a scripture that i know you'll enjoy me saying is that the very hairs on your head are all numbered according to jesus's own words in a parallel passage in matthew chapter 10 jesus said not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your father knowing it god sees the small things of life he cares about the death of a tiny burden jesus in matthew 10 says and the very hairs on your head are all numbered so he says don't be afraid that you're more valuable to god than an entire flock of sparrows so today as i focus my message on the bigger purposes of god i want you to remember that god gets the big picture and he also sees the smallest things down to sub atomic levels god sees the macro if i can use that word it's not a word but part of word and he sees the micro he sees all of that in the sunday messages in the month of august i've endeavored to show you that god's got the big stuff just like he's got the small stuff god's governance of the natural world is proven in his covenant with day and night that i preached about on august 2nd in the faithfulness of god god's control of world history is ensured that that nebuchadnezzar's image that he saw in his dream representing the gentile world kingdoms that god is in control of human history i preached about this on august 9th the unconquerable kingdom of god the balance of god's universal reign and his personal care and we are his people on sunday august 16th and then god's faithfulness to us personally those smaller things this past sunday the meal barrel miracle on sunday august 23rd and by the way in our sheaves for christ's sacrificial offering i've already had two people contact me with miracles that god has done in their lives in the last two days since sunday on monday and on tuesday god is already showing himself to be faithful to his word so this the wednesdays of this month i'm just doing a little review here has been focused on practical teachings that god is faithful to his principles to his promises last wednesday brother of jury taught an excellent message on god is faithful to his people and then tonight i'm talking about god's faithfulness to his purpose i want to slow down a minute to talk about the lord's prayer because really this idea that god sees the big picture and the small picture the macro and the micro is really wrapped up in the lord's prayer matthew 6 and 9 after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven now this is the big picture of god he's our father with a capital f a a almighty father a supernatural father and he inhabits heaven and we pray that his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven he's a great and mighty god he is a god who was above all through all and you all god sits on the circle of the earth so jesus starts his prayer reminding us that god is the governor of everything he's our father but he is in heaven he's greater than any earthly father of course but then jesus immediately goes to the micra to the small things in verse 11. give us this day our daily bread not our weekly trip to the supermarket but our daily bread for many people they were day workers or the average person they probably were concerned about food on a daily basis certainly in the wilderness wanderings they had to believe that god was going to allow manna to come out of heaven six days a week only lasting for two days once a week on the sixth day in honor of the sabbath forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors and then he he says he to pray lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil these are prayers that are prayed at a personal level so the lord's prayer begins with us seeing a great and mighty heavenly father and that he cares about our smallest needs and then the lord's prayer ends by lifting our gaze back up higher again for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen when you say those words you're not looking down for a crumb of bread for today you're looking up to the god who supplies it all who is bigger than at all god has got the small things of your life he cares about those details but he is also a god that is bigger than all of those details put together of every person in the world so god brings us back to a focus that it is his kingdom and his power it is for his glory not just for time but for forever knowing that god is in control of the big stuff gives me confidence gives me faith that he also has got the small stuff in the palm of his hands because he's our heavenly father with all power because he's a god that can do anything then i do not need to worry about the daily necessities the daily bread of life we can pray for forgiveness pray against temptation pray against evil knowing that god rules in his kingdom and he has the power and the glory forever the big stuff and the small stuff the macro and the micro so here's the point of all that if i have a god that is bigger and stronger than anyone or anything then i don't need to sweat the small stuff of my life i should not be anxious careful as the king james word worried sick to death about what's going to happen today or tomorrow and worrying about tomorrow only doubles the cares of today jesus taught when we are so focused on ourselves and our our problems it is really a lack of faith in god jesus often said well you know you lack faith oh ye of little faith we fail to focus on the faithfulness of god in all of life if if we're not vigilant we can think like those unbelievers who are always worried about just getting by and getting ahead we can fret over those necessities of life and forget that our heavenly father has promised to provide all of those things for his children if we're not careful our perception of god can shrink god down into an infinitesimally small god that he doesn't have the power to do anything so we worry we're stressed out we can hardly function because we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring to us but tonight i want to remind you and encourage you that god is faithful to his purpose that he's a big mighty great god and i want to pray tonight and preached and teach tonight that we would help our faith not shrivel back into fear and doubt if we become preoccupied with the small stuff we lose sight of what really matters the kingdom of god and god's eternal purpose before i get to ephesians i was thinking about this today and praying and pondering you know in the bible the lord had to get us to to look up psalm 121 a song of degrees a song you would sing going to church i will lift up mine eyes into the hills from which cometh my help so i've got to look up into something big and strong that looks like it's been there a while that stands for the power and the strength of almighty god my help comes from that the lord will not let me be moved he will keep me protect me psalm 121 as a reminder that god will take care of you now i know that solomon told us to go look at an ant but you go look at an ant to remember that you need to plan for the future but you're probably not going to get the idea of bigness and strength and power while you're looking down at a little tiny ant crawling around on the ground you need to look to the hills and get your eyes off the ants and then in isaiah 45 22 the lord said look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is none else i have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth and righteousness and shall not return but unto me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear and jesus taught in luke 21 that when you see all of these things coming in the earth all of the bad things that will happen in the end of time and jesus said when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draw at night so my mission tonight is to help each of us lift up our heads to look up at the grandeur of god to believe that god has an eternal purpose and he has allowed us to be connected to his great eternal purpose so let's go to the book of ephesians in ephesians the apostle paul needed to say some practical things now the scriptures are written by the inspiration of god these holy men of god wrote as they were moved by the holy ghost but in chapters four through 6 paul is going to drill down into daily christian living but before he lays out these principles of daily christian living wisely under the inspiration of the spirit you have to say that or people think you have a low view of scripture inspired by the holy ghost he wrote about god's eternal purpose daily christian living does not make sense without seeing the big picture now don't miss what i'm trying to say right now if you're just stuck on what ends up being disciplines of the christian life and you forget where it leads and how it matters then you're going to get lost in life and you're going to miss god's eternal purpose now in chapters 4 through 6 paul is going to tell the ephesian church and us to avoid lustful living to be righteous and holy to quit lying to conquer your anger quit stealing quit cussing and telling off colored jokes he's going to tell us to be moral people not to get drunk or high he tells husbands to love their wives and wives to submit to their husbands he does all these things and he gives us some pretty challenging teaching points children obeying their parents and workers on the job slaves to masters back then that they should do the right thing not just when your master is watching and you see what i'm saying all these practical points of christianity are not easy to live out if all you do is get focused on the challenges the difficulty the disciplines that god calls us to practical christianity is a superior code of ethics and a superior way to live but in the context of time and not eternity maybe it's not worth it paul said if this if in this life only we have hope in christ we are of all men most miserable if we're just looking at the way we live now and forgetting that it pays off for eternity we can make ourselves miserable no wonder some people turn back backslide and walk away from god they forget where the lord brought them from and they forget where they're going they get lost in the nasty now and now and they forget about the sweet by and by if you're old enough to remember that song today i want to remind you that god is faithful to his purpose you are not headed down a dead-end street in life you're not living a godly life in vain you are heirs of the promises of god and you are part of god's eternal purpose so let's look into the book of ephesians and the apostle paul launches into this book with a lot of power i'm going to take a few moments chapter 1 chapter 2. you'll not see these verses on a screen just setting up ephesians 3 my text paul speaks about you know the being faithful in christ jesus that's who he's writing to that he's blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in christ do you see how he's pulling them up now he's going to write to them in chapters four through six about practical christianity but he's reminding them that god lifted us out of sin and he lifted us up into heavenly places in christ jesus he chose us in him before the foundation of the world he predestined the church and when we choose to be part of the church then we are part of the predestined church it was by the good pleasure of his will paul said he's made us accepted in the beloved he's given us redemption and paul speaks of this is a mystery of his will that he purposed in himself that in the fullness of time god would gather together everything in christ jesus christ he tells them that we've obtained an inheritance according to the purpose of him and he also tells us that after we trusted in jesus christ that we were sealed with the holy spirit of promise we believed we were saved and god has given us the holy ghost which is the down payment the earnest of our inheritance in ephesians 1 15 through 23 paul prays a prayer which is my pastoral prayer he asked the lord to give them wisdom and vision and anointing that they could see the exceeding greatness of his power that he wrought in christ when he raised him from the dead and set him in his own right hand in the heavenly places that jesus christ is exalted far above all principality and power might dominion every name that is named so he's showing them that jesus christ has raised them up and he tells them in ephesians 1 22 that everything is under the feet of jesus christ and everything is under the feet of the church we are his body that fills him that fills all in all in chapter 2 he speaks of our great salvation by grace are you safety faith and not of yourselves it is the gift of god he tells in ephesians 2 and 7 that in the ages to come he's pointing them ahead to god's eternal purpose that god is going to show as exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in jesus christ in chapter three here's the setting of our text paul tells them that you've heard of the dispensation of the grace of god you've seen this mystery that until now unto the coming of jesus christ throughout all the ages god had veiled his plan no one knew what god was going to do even the jewish people who had the scriptures just somehow read right past isaiah 53 they could not comprehend a suffering savior they could not see psalm 22. the bible said in the book of first peter that even the angels desire to look into this salvation plan that god had but but it was a mystery it was veiled it was hidden in the past and paul said that in the ages to come this mystery of jesus christ that it was not known but now it has been known in the church the apostles the prophets wanted to understand this and he said one of this one of the aspects of this great mystery is god was in christ reconciling the world to himself that's not in this passage and that he would save his people but but then he said there was this mysterious element of the church that god would not just save jews but but he would save gentiles that he would mold into one church jew and gentile those that had been separated by a middle wall of partition they were racially different they were they were animos there was animosity between them but he broke down that middle wall of partition that gentiles would be fellow heirs they've come into this body of christ this is part of god's eternal purpose and paul said i was made a minister of this he wasn't worthy of that he said but god made him the apostle to the gentiles a minister to this in colossians he speaks of the same thing that it is a mystery that had been hid from ages and from generations but now it is made known it is made manifest in the saints of god to whom god would make known what is the riches of his glory of his mystery among the gentiles which is christ in you the hope of glory i want to remind you again the purpose of my message tonight is to pick us up out of the now away from the things that god does care about in your life but that we can get lost in the details and to remind you that god has an eternal purpose and that he is faithful to his purpose so with all of that in verse 8 this is getting to our text now paul said that he is humbled unto me him less than the least of all saints is this grace given that i should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of christ verse 9 and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in god who created all things by jesus christ you may remember the bible said in revelation that jesus christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god john 1 1 but then in john 1 14 the word became flesh the concept the idea that god had from the beginning in the fullness of time paul would write in galatians that god sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law so paul said this was hid in the past no one knew this great plan of god verse 10 to the intent that now under the principalities and heavenly powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of god principalities and powers here can refer to all angelic beings good and bad i mentioned earlier what the bible said in first peter 1 and 12 that angels desire to look into this in in the tabernacle and in the temple you had those cherubim they had their wings spread out and they were looking down into the into that mercy seat the place where the blood was shed they did not understand that one day jesus christ would become the mercy seat he would be the place where god was the satisfaction for the sins of the world they were bending down literally those angelic forms were and and peter uses this as a metaphor of angelic beings desiring to look into this mystery that god has hid from the beginning of the world god has manifold wisdom paul said he is wise in every way no one saw calvary coming no one in heaven and earth could have comprehended that god would become a man and would be the lamb of god to take away the sins of the world but paul said now this mystery is being revealed by the church it is a church that is declaring to everyone god's eternal purpose it is this mystery of christ in you the hope of glory verse 11 ephesians chapter 3 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in christ jesus our lord now i want to just pause here to say that everything that i just referred to about time and creation and god's plan unfolding and the mystery all of this culminated in the birth life death burial resurrection ascension of jesus christ pouring out the holy ghost the spreading of the gospel in the book of acts jews samaritans gentiles the gospel being preached to the entire world in that day that was god's plan no one would have given it a chance a prayer of working but almighty god in his infinite wisdom came humbly in the back door of our world to become a conquering savior this paul said was part of god's eternal purpose that he purposed in christ jesus our lord and then verse 12. paul said in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him in other words paul said we don't need to be sheepish timid the writer of hebrews said we can come boldly right to find help when we pray in the time of need so paul is saying here that we have boldness and access that we don't have to live in fear we do not need to live in question marks about god's faithfulness to his his purpose that god had a purpose from the beginning of the world and he has proven his faithfulness in his authority over nature it is authority over human history in his authority over kings and nations and empires in his authority in every dimension of life and when we pray we can come with boldness and we can have access with confidence by our faith in jesus christ the book of revelation is the unveiling of jesus christ as the king of kings and the lord of lords his ultimate purpose will not end in time but it will endure for eternity in first corinthians 15 when the apostle paul is teaching on the resurrection first corinthians 15 24 he said then comes the end when everything is delivered back to god you may remember in philippians every knee is bowing every tongue is confessing of things in heaven things in earth things under the earth we're coming down to the close of human history when that statue is toppled by a stone that strikes it in its feet and god begins to fill the entire earth and the kingdom of god prevails god is faithful to his purpose paul wrote in first corinthians 15 the same passage he will put every enemy under his feet and the last enemy to be destroyed will be death and when he's put everything under his feet then the kingdom will be delivered up the purpose of the sonship will have ceased that redemptive role will be over and god will be all in all in revelation 17 14 the writer john said that he saw this war being made with the land and he saw people coming with him and they are called and chosen and they are faithful there are people like you and me who endured temptation and trial who didn't deserve it but the lord saved us and there are times we could have given up but we got back up and we kept going jesus said in revelation 2 and 10 to one of the seven churches be faithful unto death and i will give you a crown of life so where do you see yourself in the eternal purpose of god if you feel like you're insignificant if you feel like you're just some little teeny part of the body of christ like the the fingernail and the little finger i want you to understand today that you are precious to jesus christ and that you are connected to god's eternal purpose you are part of god's eternal purpose so don't feel lost in the great cosmos don't feel like you're living life alone trying to get by and make it happen by yourself me let me remind you today that how you see your role in life enroll in god's kingdom affects your boldness in your confidence in your faith in god how you think affects how you act i read a story about a man who walked to a construction site and he saw three men working there and he asked the first man the first worker what are you doing he said well i am chiseling stone so the man passing by asked the second worker there he said what are you doing and he said well i'm earning a living he was providing for his family he asked the third man sir what what are you doing he dropped his sledgehammer he stood at attention and with a gleam in his eye he exclaimed to that passerby who inquired what are you doing he said i am building a great cathedral each of these three men were doing the very same thing but how they saw their role affected their attitude that one man saw himself connected to a purpose that was grand and great and i want to say to you on this wednesday night bible study that how you see yourself in god's eternal purpose will determine how you act it will affect your behavior if you see yourself as unimportant just trying to get by live from day to day then somehow you're going to get lost in this nasty now and now of life but if you can understand that god had a plan from before the foundation of the world because he is god he calls those things that are not as though they already are and we need to see that our lives fit perfectly into god's glorious eternal purpose for our church and when we see this when we know this it will help us in a very practical way deal with difficult trials in life god's eternal purpose his manifold wisdom is made known by the church you and i are part of that great eternal purpose successfully enduring the labors of life depends on how you see yourself as part of god's great kingdom if you allow life to make you be dumbed down and dulled by drudgery and and you get lost and just trying to make a living and get by and hold everything together but i want to encourage you to do what the psalmist said to lift up your eyes to look to the lord to make sure that you don't get just stuck down stop look stuck looking down don't get stuck looking down i look up and believe that god has something great and mighty for you for we all have a tremendous purpose in jesus christ it's fascinating to me that while god made the sun the moon the stars and everything that is and all the universes that exist god's eternal purpose is not focused on the sun the moon the stars and the planets god's eternal purpose is focused on people when paul said that that eternal purpose was a mystery unto jesus came and he said that you gentiles who were considered outsiders you are part of god's eternal purpose and i want you to know that god has made you the centerpiece of his eternal purpose not just people he loves people but a people he came to take out a people for his name's sake what is man that god is mindful of him or the son of man that he would visit him he he made us a little lower than the angels but then he crowned us with glory and honor so to my precious church family and our friends who are joining us tonight online the next time you're tempted to focus on the do's and don'ts the disciplines of grace of the bible can you please look up and remember not just ephesians four through six but remember ephesians one through three that god has got a great eternal purpose the craziness of our culture in this last day causes you to question whether or not god is checked out remember that he is comfortably in control it is an almighty god and he has your future in mind do not ever be ashamed god has a great plan and purpose for your life and god is faithful to his purpose would you pray with me right now and then we're going to take time to focus on the faithfulness of god and we're going to ask the lord to give us strength lord i honor you tonight i honor you tonight as a great and mighty god and lord we feel our frailty we feel our need of you that's why i wanted us to sing that tonight before i even preached tonight though i ask you lord to help us lift up our heads for lord we know that whatever you said you will do that you have spoken and you will make good on it i'm comforted knowing that you're aware and you care about the smallest details of my life but i'm also god encouraged to know that you have the power to do something about them and do something about anything god that would come against your people i pray o lord tonight that you would help us lift up our heads that you would help us connect ourselves to your great eternal purpose for we know lord that you are faithful you are faithful to your purpose i pray that in the name of the lord jesus christ he would strengthen and encourage your people amen now if you can would you just engage as we respond to the lord in prayer and i wanted to play again this wonderful old hymn great is thy faithfulness