9:30 AM - "Walking in the Light" - 5:15-21 - 8-29-21

you i've got lots of good ideas well good morning everyone how are we doing this morning would you stand as we prepare to worship i like that we need that energy especially after first service because you know we're all still trying to wake up so we're glad to see you all don't tell first service i said that we are here to worship the lord and i know in this room there's many different battles that have been waged this week but as we prepare to sing this first song let's be reminded that our battle belongs to the lord amen let's pray and then they'll sing god we come before you whatever our week held whatever the week coming before us holds we know that the battle ultimately belongs to you and we can trust you to be faithful in that so god we lay it down at your feet as we worship you this morning be blessed as we sing to you we pray this in your name jesus amen let's sing [Music] [Music] you see my victory [Music] when all i see is [Music] your love surrounds me [Music] there's nothing to fear [Music] [Applause] with my hands lifted [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] for jesus [Music] [Music] cross god you see an empty show [Music] so when i fight i fight on my knees i see [Music] you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win every battle nothing can stand against the power of our god an almighty fortress you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god [Music] nothing can stand against you win everybody [Music] god [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] through the night oh the battle belongs to you oh belongs to you [Music] [Applause] [Music] see him now the king of heaven son of god upon his shoulders carried for us he's carried for us see him now our king surrendered [Music] spoken for us when he said it is [Music] the stone is gone [Music] jesus came hated [Music] oh [Music] arise the stone is gone [Music] jesus came hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] then here [Music] [Applause] [Music] let the king of my heart be the mountain where i run the fountain i drink from oh he is my song let the king of my heart be the shadow where i hide the ransom for my life oh he is [Music] good [Music] [Music] let the king of my heart be the fire inside my face oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] you're never gonna let never gonna let me down [Music] and you're never gonna never gonna let me down you're never [Music] he's never gonna let me down [Music] you're never gonna [Music] good you are good [Music] [Applause] [Music] when the night is holding on to me god is [Music] god is [Music] you are good good [Music] good [Music] [Music] there is a hill i cherish where [Music] the emblem of salvation the gift of calvary how is it i should profit while he is crucified [Music] yet as his life was taken so i was granted mine my wealth is in the cross there's nothing more i want than just to know his love my heart is set on christ and i will count all else as lost the greatest of my crowns means nothing to me now for i counted up the cost and all my wealth [Music] i have no pride in gold [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] and when i stand in glory my crowns before the lord let this be my confession my wealth is in the cross [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] the greatest [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] there's a grace when the heart is under fire another way when the walls are closing [Music] and in i look at the space between where i used to be have this reckoning i know i will never be alone there was another in the fire standing next to me there was another in the waters holding back the sea and should i ever need reminding of how i've been set free there is a cross that bears the burden where another died for me there is another [Music] i'm no longer a slave to my sin anymore [Music] [Music] yes [Music] standing next to me there is [Music] set me free there is [Music] there is and [Music] between [Music] between [Music] raise your hands with us as we sing there is no other name but the name of jesus there is no other name but the name that is jesus he who was and still is and will be through it all so come with me in the space between all the things i've seen and this reckoning i know i will never be alone [Music] yet i know [Music] holding [Music] cause i know [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i count the [Music] cause i know that's where you'll be [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh lord help us to remember what it felt like the day we were freed from our bondage and our sin lord remind us what it felt like when we received healing and peace that we had been waiting for for a long time help us never forget god that it doesn't matter what the world may say following you is worth the cost because you are always good because your promises are true and your faithfulness is real and so lord help us to be a people a generation that would speak of your truth to generations to come lord that it is worthy to trust you and to place all of our hope in the jesus basket god you will never fail us and when the world fails us when people we love fail us lord you can heal and you can redeem and so god i pray this morning that if there's anybody here who is feeling let down by maybe someone or something that they were really counting on lord i pray that they would find you meeting them here [Music] whether they're at home or here in this space with us lord i pray that they would feel your presence that they would hear your voice that their soul would cry out to your spirit god we love you so much lord thank you for your gift of jesus thank you that we can be right with god and i pray lord that we would be right with you if we are not already god we pray for those who have yet to know you lord that today would be the day of salvation in your name we pray lord amen amen well good morning church welcome let's take a moment and greet one another give each other a big smile a big wave welcome it's good to be here with you hello cco family we worship our lord with our voices with our actions and with our giving we want to make you aware of how you can give by leaving your tithe in one of the boxes in the back of the sanctuary or go to the church center app to easily give there within church center you can use your phone number to set up a way to effortlessly give from your cell phone via text and now here are this week's announcements has god bless you with a home that you think would be great for a small group bible study to meet in our groups ministry is looking to match small group ministry leaders with host homes for the fall months if you would like more information please check out our group's ministry page at calvaryoxnard.org groups are you a new believer in jesus christ but have never gone public with your faith by being water baptized this announcement is for you we have our next baptism coming up on sunday september 12 at 2 pm this will be held at waimea beach park directly out from the alaska airlines memorial sundial to register go to our website at calvaryoxnard.org and anyone is welcome to attend if you have any questions or need assistance email pastor rob rob calvaryoxnard.org skilled electricians drywallers and painters are needed to help with the remodel of the hallways of the family building during the month of september especially saturdays serve the lord with your heart and your hands see more specifics and sign up on our website or the church center app ventura county needs blood there is now a critical shortage of all types of blood and cco wants to help on thursday september 16th to join in this effort you can give blood safely by scheduling your appointment minimizing contact with others to register go to our website calvaryoxnard.org for a list of available times stop by the welcome center if you would like to speak to someone in person hello ladies we are excited that the lord holds us and guides us in every situation whether it's still or turbulent it's that time of year again where we put our busy schedules on hold and set a date with our lord and our fellow sisters on october 2nd at 8 30 a.m we will be having our annual women's retreat day we have been led this year to do a women's retreat day rather than our annual women's retreat weekend but for those who are eager for the retreat weekend like me we'll resume our annual women's retreat weekend in the future this year we'll be receiving direction on our calling to stand firm and press forward in our god-given mission we will be looking at the valiant esther who rose to the occasion which she was called to do in a difficult time we too are called to rise up press on and be valiant for such a time as this we have invited vicki bentley as our speaker this year also this year we'll be able to include breakfast and lunch in order to cover costs for the event there is a 30 charge if you need help to cover the cost there is a fundraising option available if you are interested in the fundraiser you can contact the church office or sign up on the church app join us this year as the lord has a message for us all philippians 3 12 says but i press on that i may lay hold of that which christ jesus has also laid hold of me so make sure you bring your heart your mind and of course your bible we'll see you soon that's just some of the opportunities available for you to get connected serve others and grow in your faith go to our website to see all the opportunities available and ministries including junior high ministry looking for volunteers take care be blessed [Applause] good morning turn your bibles to ephesians chapter 5. we have a special treat this morning so it turns out calvary chapel of oxnard began the last sunday of 1982 so today is our 39th birthday as a church and the way the church began was david guzik had a thursday night bible study up in ventura we had one here in oxnard on wednesday nights and we combined our bible studies and started calvary chapel of oxnard dave and i have a lot of history with calvary chapel prior to that uh but we we had moved to the area him and ventura here in oxnard and so we combined those two bible studies and started the church 39 years ago so today we start on our 40th year very excited about that and i thought it would be a lot of fun to have pastor david come and to share with us this morning so he's going to do that but i want to introduce david to you david and i co-pastored for the first six years he would teach through a book of the bible then i would teach through a book of the bible and we would just went back and forth that way then david and his wife ingelo went out and started calvary chaplis simi valley from there they went to zigan germany and started a bible college with the there's a wonderful calvary chapel in zigan germany it's an amazing work that god is doing there they started a bible college associated with that and then moved to santa barbara and dave angelo pastored calvary chaplain santa barbara for seven years but david's ministry has now moved internationally and the reason why is many years ago david put his notes his commentary on the bible up online and it turns out it was a resource that a lot of people used and then more people used and then more people used and he eventually ended up with a commentary on every verse of the bible online old testament new testament that is the number one used commentary on the internet today people all over the world use it a lot of bible teachers pastors use it you can imagine in some areas of the world they don't have a bible library but they have access to the internet and so they get a bible library in in using david guzik's commentary so his commentary is being used by pastors and bible teachers to teach others around the world but before david got involved in ministry he tried his hand at a few other things uh he was really trying to find you know what he wanted to do with his life and so he thought maybe it would be fun uh to be a firefighter and so he joined the hot shots and so you'll see there's a picture of david in the center there he was a a member of the hot shots and went around would parachute into places and help put out fires he decided he didn't really like doing that he wanted to do something a little bit more in front of people and so he became the bass player for collective soul if if you click off of that there we go so you see there's dave he's the bass player for collective soul uh but then he realized that he really he was really wanting to teach the bible and so he began teaching the bible and bible studies and had the the study up in ventura but david wanted a little bit more excitement in his life he decided he really liked that adrenaline rush from from uh being a firefighter in the hot shots and from being on stage in front of a crowd you know rocking it up and so he decided to take on uh skydiving so here is david picture of him skydiving but then he wanted to mix and join his skydiving thrill with ministry and so he he started this ministry of performing weddings while skydiving and so i just made all of that up none of that's true but to give you a little bit of background on on david's ministry uh there are 6.5 million page views a month to the enduring word website and through the blue letter bible interface so 6.5 million page views a month the mobile app that's available it's free mobile app for enduring word at 250 000 downloads he has 46 000 youtube channel subscribers and because people are using his commentary all over the world it's being translated now into many different languages the whole translation into spanish old testament and new testament again every verse of the bible it's being translated into arabic because the church is really growing in among the muslims believe it or not chinese which of course we know that the huge chinese population in the secret underground church in china and then many other uh iran the church in iran is just exploding again the underground secret church and so it's being translated into farsi and all these other languages as well so we have the privilege of being taught by david guzik this morning let's welcome him as he comes and shares the word with us [Applause] thank you pastor lance and good morning calvary chapel oxnard it's a real treat for me to be here not just me but my wife angelo inglo i want you to stand up greet everybody you already know her she's the one who was laughing the loudest during those slides that lance was showing those photoshop slides and when we started calvary chapel of oxnard 39 years ago we were not yet married we got married about three or four months after that and so the church predates that just by a little bit which always is helpful for me to remember i got an anniversary coming up that i got to think about i stand before you with uh mixed feelings here this morning because part of me would love to spend all the time i have to speak to you here at second service just talking about the amazing things that god did 39 years ago talking about the amazing friendship and relationship i have with my respected brother and friend lance there's really no nobody closer to me or a longer relationship in ministry than lance i'd love to talk about all that for a long time but i feel that it's even more important for me to bring you something from god's word so like pastor lance said if with your bible open to ephesians 5 i'm going to pick it up here at verse 15 and we're going to walk through to the end of verse 21. now the majestic book of ephesians is given to us in a certain pattern as you've been studying here on sunday mornings and it's really important to understand especially as we approach a section like this which is super practical it tells us in very practical ways how we should live our christian life and can i tell you we need to hear that however we need to understand something about ephesians chapter 5 is it comes after ephesians chapters one two and three well in four for that matter but what i'm trying to explain to you is this in the first three chapters of ephesians paul lays out by the inspiration of the holy spirit a brilliant overview and summary of all that god has done for us in jesus christ then starting with chapter four he starts to speak to us about how we should live in response to that now because we're beginning here in chapter five i can imagine that somebody might listen to this message walk out of this room and have the idea that the core of the christian life is what we do for god because that's what we're going to talk about this morning but that's forgetting the first three chapters of ephesians friends i want you to know about this the core of the christian life is what god has done for us in jesus christ now it is important very important how we respond to that and how we're supposed to live but we never want to put the cart in front of the horse we want the cart to be behind the horse what we do for god is in response to the wonderful things that he has done for us in christ jesus so keeping that in mind let's take a look at how practically the apostle paul by the inspiration the holy spirit speaks to us here in ephesians chapter five really this section we're going to look at today flows from verse 8. i'm going to go back take a look there verse 8 where he says this for you were once darkness but now you are light in the lord walk as children of light we have a walk to carry out as believers and we're to walk not as the world walks not as we walked before we came to christ as children of darkness but we are to walk in the new life that jesus christ has given to us now i don't know if you've ever thought about it but this whole illustration of our life being a walk is something that the bible uses a lot and i think one of the reasons that happens is because there are so many different ways that we can walk you thought about the rich vocabulary that we have just to communicate that idea of walking one day i dug out my thesaurus and here are words for walking ready stroll saunter amble trudge applaud dwaddle hike trump slog stomp march stride sashay glide troop patrol wander ramble tread prowl promenade rome traipse mosey and one of my favorites per ambulate now you could say that every one of those words has its own kind of flavor or intonation it means something a little bit different a person is walking a certain way well listen your walk with jesus christ can be described in some way or another can it not and don't we all want to have a better walk before the lord so now we need to pay attention to what the holy spirit tells us here in verses 15 16 and 17 let's start with this he says see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is can i tell you as a preacher i know i share this in common with my beloved friend pastor lance there's something we love about words and isn't that a great word in verse 15 see then that you walk circumspect that's a word we just don't use in everyday language i can't imagine a mom saying to her child as the child's leaving for school hey make sure you walk circumspectly today but what does the word mean it's simply a great translation just carefully with care with concern with awareness with understanding your surroundings you're not blind everything you're not one of those people just walking through life without a care in the world you don't think of anything around you but you have situational awareness you can see what's going on around you friends we need to walk circumspectly we need to wake up look at the world around us and walk in that way notice what he says here in verse 15 not as fools but as wise i need to be straightforward with you there are believers today walking as fools there are believers today who are not walking in the wisdom and maybe that's you my purpose here is not to heap any condemnation upon you but to just say let's look at the word of god together and ask for god to work these things in our lives no longer walk without a care without situational awareness but live in wisdom notice what he says here redeeming the time because the days are evil now i love how he says that redeeming the time because it gives us another reason why we should walk worthy look i can think of many reasons why it's important for us to walk worthy before the lord to be serious about the way we live our christian life folks there are more than a few christians who think that it works like this all right i i don't want to go to hell i want to go to heaven so i'll pray a prayer and in that prayer i'll tell jesus that i give him my life and that kind of settles the heaven thing for me and then i'll just kind of live wherever i want and occasionally ask god to bless what i'm doing and then at the end of it all everything's be okay i'll go to heaven but i'll just ask jesus to help me live my best life along the way that's a foolish way to live and in addition that way of unwise foolish living that way of not living for god it it's wrong in so many ways we need to be careful about the way we walk the way we live number one for god for his sake doesn't he have a say in this wouldn't be enough for us just to say god says this is how i want you to live okay god we're going to live that way but here's a second reason why we should walk wisely it's for the sake of the church let me be straightforward i'll give you the gift of being direct to you your bad conduct puts a bad light on the church hey i don't know who all those hypocrites are in the church but they're us they're me sometimes we need to pay attention so that we don't give the church a bad reputation with our lives a third reason to walk wisely is for the sake of your family why has something bad reflect on your family because of your unwise living here's a fourth reason to walk wisely because of a watching world the world looks at how we live and evaluates our christian life because of it look all day long we want to tell people hey read the bible you want to find out who jesus is you want to find out what the christian life is read the bible and we should say that to people i'm not saying we stop saying to him but let me tell you what the reality is the reality is they're going to read your life before they read the bible so we need to walk worthy wisely because of that let me give you another reason to walk wisely it's for yourself i carefully put that number five but but it is true isn't it won't your life be better if you live the way god tells you to live for your own sake even if you only did it out of selfish motives it would be wiser to walk the way god wants you to so added to all those five reasons let me add a sixth reason right here from these verses you know another reason why you should walk wisely in your christian life it's because of the critical moment of the time look at it right here he says it redeeming the time because the days are evil friends we look around today and we see that the moment demands it the moment demands that if we don't press into jesus christ harder than ever now who knows how many of us might be laid on the wayside so no there are many reasons for say yes we're going to walk wisely we're going to do exactly what it says right here in verses 16 and 17 especially where it says therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is yes lord i want to understand your will what is your will for me now beginning in the next verse paul's going to begin telling us some of the things that are god's will for your life when i meet and talk with people i find that one of the most common things people want to know is what's god's will for my life well here you gonna learn some of it right here verse 18 god's will for your life and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation but be filled with the spirit i can imagine no that's not what i wanted to know about god's will for my life i want to know who he wants me to marry i want to know what college i should go to which job i should get whoa whoa whoa before you get any of that stuff let's talk about what god's will is for every one of us and it begins here in verse 18 at least in this section do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation another great word but be filled with the spirit first of all can we just talk about this very simply command don't get drunk don't get drunk don't get drunk am i being clear enough if paul lived in the modern age i don't have any doubt that he would broaden this to any intoxicating substance including marijuana or anything else like that don't intentionally intoxicate yourself don't do it be not drunk with wine don't get drunk it's a sin against god it's a sin against yourself it's a sin against god's work in and through the church now when paul gives this it's not just because he's saying well i just don't think christians should do that he gives one of the reasons why he says in which is dissipation do you know what dissipation is it means wastefulness and what a waste drunkenness is what a waste it is of money what a waste it is of time what a waste it is of a life it's a waste of brain cells as well friends it's a waste to give your life to intoxication god has given you so much more to live for such a higher plane to live on than that now there are more than a few christians who genuinely feel that they have the liberty before god to drink that they don't have a hesitation with having a nice glass of wine at a meal anything and i'm not here to debate your liberty in jesus christ to do that that's between you and the holy spirit and maybe your pastors as well as they see your life and speak into it but let me say this if you are a christian and you believe you have the liberty to drink alcohol don't get drunk and make your moderation conspicuous anybody who sees you drink should be able to see wow look how moderately they drink i think that is a responsible way to handle such liberty if god allows you such liberty don't get drunk it's wastelands but what does he say there again in verse 18 but what's the contrast there be filled with the holy spirit i'm not an expert in the grammar of the ancient greek language but i just know how to read the guys who are they explain it like this that that verb form be filled with the holy spirit it's put in the continual sense in other words you could translate be constantly being filled with the holy spirit that's what we need to do instead of being drunk with wine be constantly being filled with the holy spirit when's the last time you asked god to fill you with his holy spirit i'm here to tell you even if you ask him to do it this morning you can ask him to do it again it's something that can be constant it should be ever present in the christian life be constantly being filled with the holy spirit let me tell you something else about the grammar of that phrase in the original language not only is it in a continual form but it's also in a passive form when it says be continually being filled with the holy spirit it means this is something that god does for you it's not something you create i get weary of people who do all kinds of shenanigans and blame it on the holy spirit they're trying to create something of themselves that they pass off on being holy spirit no this is a passive work it's a continual work it's a passive work but there's one other aspect about the grammar here that they say here when you look it up it's also in the imperative form in other words it's a command god says to you you need to be continually filled with the holy spirit you can ask him for that and should ask him for that today now there's one other thing i need to mention before going to verse 19. because paul puts these two ideas together don't be drunk with wine but be filled with the holy spirit there are some people who have mistakenly and i would even say dangerously taught that there is a similarity between being drunk and being filled with the holy spirit in other words if you're really filled with the holy spirit you might act like you're a little tipsy friends i want to tell you that is exactly the opposite of what paul's saying here paul does not put these things together as being similar he puts them together in a contrast and this is exactly true do you know what the physiological effect of alcohol is upon a person who drinks it's not a stimulant alcohol is a depressant do you know why people act a little crazy when they get some booze into them it's because their inhibitions and self-control are depressed and they do things they wouldn't normally do because their smart wise thinking and self-control is lowered let me tell you something the holy spirit of god when it fills the life of a man or a woman of god the holy spirit of god is not a depressant he is a stimulant he gives us more self-control he gives us more wisdom he gives us more wise living and so don't ever think that being filled with the holy spirit is like being drunk it's exactly the opposite all right enough with that let's move on now to verse 19 where it says speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the lord giving thanks always for all things to god the father in the name of the lord jesus christ oh okay so i say i want to walk wisely i want to see the critical moment of the day how do i do it well paul says well let me give you one suggestion first stop getting drunk second get filled with the holy spirit third let worship fill your life is that a beautiful phrase speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your hearts to the lord i feel that there's very little that i have to tell this congregation about this verse i was just with you in worship you guys know about singing and making melody in your hearts to the lord here's the one encouragement that i would give you on this yes sing yes make melody in your heart before the lord by the way i like that the emphasis there is on the heart because some of us okay me we don't sing so good our voice isn't so melodic we have trouble staying on key or in tune but you know what this tells me that the most important melody i make is in my heart now look i'm not trying to sing bad it just kind of comes out that way but even when it does god hears the melody of my heart and it's honorable before him here's the other thing i want to say in that i don't have to tell you guys how to worship you have that down here in this wonderful congregation but let me tell you i hope i pray that this room is not the only place where you worship god i pray that your life is filled with worship that worship fills your car when you're driving around and singing songs unto the lord that worship fills your home as you're just in daily life singing songs to the lord i pray that worship fills your life and i'll tell you there's something a little bit wrong with your christian life if this is the only room in which you worship the lord i deputize you as believers to worship god outside of this room i'll go on top of this you can also read your bible outside of the room did you know that go forth and do it god forbid that this room as wonderful as it is should be the only place where you really live out the practices of your christian life oh no we do it here and there's something wonderful and special about how we do it together but we do it here and we leave this room to impact a world and to live this christian life outside and then notice what he says here in verse 20 as well giving thanks always for all things to god the one who's filled with the spirit will also be filled with thanksgiving listen i don't think this has ever been properly said in the history of the world i'm so filled with the holy spirit that i just can't stop complaining i don't think those two things go together at all isn't it funny when we're filled with the spirit gratitude flows out of our life it's not like we're blind to the problems around us no we see them we just see them in a different light we see them in light of the innumerable ways that god has blessed us and poured out his spirit upon us and brought his love to us in jesus christ so no we're not blind to the problems around us we see them but we see the greater reality of all that god has done for us in the past all he's doing for us right now in the moment and all that he's promised to do in the future and what does it do it fills our life with gratitude do you know how wonderful it is to meet somebody and spend time with them when their life is filled with gratitude it's very pleasant to be around those people isn't it it's very unpleasant to be around people whose lives are filled with complaining now did you know that you can be the person whose life is filled with gratitude you can be that person who is so pleasant to be around because you have thankfulness and gratitude just flowing forth from your life just as paul says this is part of a worthy walk do you want to walk wise all right if you want to walk wise if you want to see the necessary moment don't get drunk be filled with the spirit let your life be filled with praise and worship to god have a grateful heart and then let's look at the last aspect right here in verse 21. submitting to one another in the fear of god friends when we are filled with the spirit when we walk in the light it will be shown by our mutual submission to each other and that submission will be done in the fear of god not in the fear of man we won't submit because we're afraid of what man can do to us but it'll be done in honor and the fear of the lord now what does it mean for us to be submitting to one another in the fear of the lord i need to do a little bit of explaining on this because this begins a section that's going to carry on all the way into ephesians chapter 6 where paul is going to lay out certain areas where we need to give special attention to submission he's going to talk about the christian marriage then he's going to talk about the christian home that is the relationship between the parents and the children and then he's going to talk about the christian workplace the relationship between the employer and the employee at least to bring it into a modern terminology those are all areas where special attention needs to be given to this idea of submission but he starts it all off just by throwing this out to us as part of our life walking in the spirit we need to be submitting to one another in the fear of the lord now that ancient word that paul wrote that says submitting its most literal meaning comes from the world of the military of the ancient world and it means to be in rank or to be under rank now i've never served in our nation's armed forces god bless you men and women who have we thank you for your service but if i could speak as someone just with some outside observational knowledge the idea of rank is pretty important in the military you need to know who is at what rank and how you relate to them because you need to respect and honor and submit to people of a higher rank even if they're jerks even if they've got big problems why because they have a rank that you need to respect that's just sort of the way that the military is structured now when paul talks about this later on talking about the christian home the christian parenting relationship the christian workplace environment he's talking about arenas where god has established an order of authority god has said look there's an order of authority in a community there's an order of authority at the workplace there's already authority between the parent and the child there's an order of authority between the husband and wife there's an order of authority in a congregation god has established these things and those things need to be respected and how they're respected is what we would call submitting now if we understand all that and it will be detailed as you guys continue on in the book of ephesians this does give us a little bit of a head scratcher when we come to verse 21 because again what does he say submitting to one another in the fear of the lord now if we're all to submit to one another then how does that relate to the idea of rank because if we all submit to one another there are some people who have taken this i think in a way that's very wrong it's erroneous they've said see there is no rank there is no order of authority in the home in the community in the workplace in the church that god has no order of authority and i would say no that's wrong it's wrong because the bible clearly says differently in other places for example in 1st corinthians chapter 5 paul clearly tells the corinthian christians to submit to his authority and to do something that's what he tells him first corinthians 5. now can you imagine the corinthian christians answering back to the apostle paul oh no paul you wrote that we should submit to one another so we think you should submit to us on this one i can't imagine that happening if i would say no god's established a proper order of authority and you need to respect them what does it mean that we are to submit to one another because obviously it's important obviously it's in the word of god for us i think the emphasis here is on us recognizing that we together are a body a team common together and that we should work together as a team think about it again to use the military analogy what's one of the first things that happens to a person when they join the military where they go to boot camp and they in some way strip away the person's individuality now that person's individuality may be allowed to flourish later on when they get some kind of specialty when they're trained for a certain thing and then that flowers on but what happens first well they give everybody the same haircut pretty much bald they give everybody the same uniform everybody gets the same food everybody sleeps in the same place why because you all as army you are a team you are a family you are a body and nobody is more important than anybody else we exist together as a team before god you see paul means that we should come together as a true body and recognize that we are collectively part of a team and that we should not live for ourselves but we think of the welfare of everybody friends isn't this important for the body of christ to think about today it would be a strange and misguided soldier who basically answered every command from his senior officers by saying well that's not what i want to do just wouldn't work in the military because they know we're part of a team we need to do things together god has established rank and we understand the rank but even those who are of a higher rank are all part of the same team so practically what does this mean well it means that the christian must not be thoughtless but the christian must think of other people the christian must not be individualistic but the christian must be uh someone filled with a team attitude and a care for the body as a whole the christian also in keeping with this idea of being a team player submitting to one another the christian must be happy when other people succeed because their success is your success if you're on the same team this is a wonderful thing for us to think about not only within any particular church congregation but the body of christ as a whole we all belong to the same team when another church is doing great and if they're a church that honors the lord jesus christ we are thrilled that they're doing great why because they're putting up points on our same scoreboard and we are the same team in the lord this is all part of what's bound up in this idea of being uh that place of submitting to one another we bear with one another and we regard ourselves as on the same team so christian let me conclude with this god has put you on an amazing team you belong to the body of christ you belong to this congregation and thank the lord for it but i'll tell you the big picture team that he's put you on extends in the past innumerable generations it extends into the future of all those who are part of god's people it extends around the globe to every tribe and tongue where there are people who name the name of jesus christ you are part of a glorious team let me just say as an aside if you're not part of team jesus yet today can be your day today can be the day where you come to the captain of the team jesus christ and you genuinely repent and submit your life to him but your part an amazing team you're part of the team of peter and paul and aquila and priscilla you're part of the team of john and phoebe you're part of the team of polycarp and perpetua and felicita and athanasius you're part of the team of luther and simmons and ridley and wesley and spurgeon you're on team jesus and it's a glorious team to be a part of however it has some responsibility being part of that team doesn't it so god helping us let's walk worthy of being on such a glorious team let's stand and pray and we'll conclude this morning with a song of worship father in heaven we are we're so amazed at the privilege of being on this team lord we know that we're not on this team because we're so wonderful but it's because you're so wonderful and so we give you honor and praise and we just simply ask that you would help us to walk in a worthy way and lord i i know that this morning we haven't looked at every aspect of a worthy walk but what we've seen is enough to challenge us so let us take it to heart live in a way that gives you honor and glory would you please now fill us with your spirit so that we can walk worthy in an evil age we pray this in jesus name amen [Music] how deep the father's love for us [Music] how vast beyond a measure that he should give his only son [Music] to make a wretched treasure how great the pain of searing was the father turns his face away as wounded the chosen one bring many sons to glory [Music] behold the man upon the cross my sin upon his shoulders [Music] my shamed i hear my mocking voice call out among the scarfers it was my sin that held him in [Music] his dying breath has brought me i know that it is [Music] i will not boast in anything no gifts no power no issue but i will post in jesus christ [Music] i cannot give an answer but this [Music] i [Music] [Music] god we are here we are your people because of what you've done for us jesus and god we know that that doesn't mean we just wait until the moment you call us home but you have things for us to do now you want us to be filled with your spirit and to walk into yours in your spirit this very day this very moment so god i pray that we would do that that we'd be the kind of people that don't just show up on sundays to worship you but worship you every day with our lives fill us with your spirit we pray this in your name jesus amen amen thank you so much for joining us if you need prayer for any reason we'd love to pray with you up front please come and join us we'll see you next sunday go in christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Oxnard

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Id: 2iIpsNIudaI

Length: 84min 46sec (5086 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021