Citizen - Ephesians | Jennifer Toledo | Expression58

all right we're going to get into the word you guys ready you guys good yeah some of you no response are we ready are we good okay all right if your mouth is moving i can't see it so you better do something with your eyeballs or your head or something um all right well if you weren't here last week we are diving into a new series we're looking at the uh diving into ephesians the book of ephesians so um if you're unfamiliar with that book in the bible ephesians it was a handwritten letter from the apostle paul to the church in ephesus and um paul wrote this from prison um somewhere around 60 to 62 a.d and um he's writing this this word of encouragement uh to the church in ephesus and um this book is really about identity and empowerment and maturity um how to live victoriously it's a it's an incredible book and just for a little bit of context ephesus was just a very bustling urban center it was the hub of a lot of trade the church and ephesus was famous for just being really excellent they were movers and shakers they got stuff done everybody was doing something great for god everybody you know they were dreamers they were visionaries and they got stuff done and so i mentioned last week there's something about ephesus when you dig in it feels a little bit like l.a and and i love that this book and this word of encouragement was written to that church in ephesus and so we've got a lot a lot to learn um but we're gonna we're gonna begin today in ephesians chapter two um last week if you missed it go back and listen we talked um through ephesians chapter one which is all about um being chosen by god and just how much god has pursued you and loves you and how much you belong with him that you are chosen it's not by your works none of that but it's by because of his love and his grace towards us that we are chosen that we belong with him that we've been adopted into his family and so um today we're gonna we're gonna jump into ephesians chapter two all right so you can follow along on the screen if you have the eyes of a seven-year-old is it just me or am i getting old i don't know um all right we're gonna read we're gonna read the whole chapter y'all just in case some of y'all are a little you know low on bible reading this week we got you we got you all right ephesians chapter two and i'm going to read it out of the passion translation because i love it in this translation and his fullness fills you even though you were once like corpses dead in your sins and offenses it wasn't that long ago that you lived in religion customs and values of this world obeying the dark ruler of the earthly realm who fills the atmosphere with his authority and works diligently in the hearts of those who are disobedient to the truth of god the corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life we lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated living as rebellious children subject to god's wrath like everyone else but god still loved us with such great love he is so rich in compassion and mercy even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins he united us into the very life of christ and saved us by his wonderful grace he raised us up with christ the exalted one and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the heavenly realm for we are now co-seated as one with christ let that sink in throughout the coming ages we will be the visible display of the infinite riches of his grace and kindness which is which was showered upon us in jesus christ for by grace you have been saved by faith nothing you could do could ever earn this salvation for it was the love gift from god that brought us to christ so no one will ever be able to boast for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving i love this line verse 10 we have become his poetry a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us for we are joined to jesus the anointed one even before we were born god planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it so don't forget that you were not born as jews and were uncircumcised in for context he's speaking to a primary primarily gentile audience in ephesus um you were not born as jews and were uncircumcised circumcision itself is just a work of man's hands you had none of the jewish covenants and laws you were foreigners to israel's incredible heritage you were without the covenants and prophetic promises of the messiah the promised hope and you are without god yet look at you now everything is new although you were once distant and far away from god now you've been brought delightfully close to him through the sacred blood of jesus you've actually been united to christ our reconciling peace is jesus he is made jew and not jew one in christ by dying as our sacrifice he has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us and has now made us equal through our union with christ i love this verse 15 ethnic hatred has been dissolved by the crucifixion of his precious body on the cross the legal code that that stood condemning every one of us has now been repealed by his command his triune essence has made peace between us by starting over forming one new race of humanity jews and non-jews fused together in himself two have now become one and we live restored to god and reconciled in the body of christ through his crucifixion hatred died i got to read that again through his crucifixion hatred died for the messiah has come to preach this sweet message of peace to you the ones who were distant and to those who are near and now because we are united to christ we both have equal and direct access in the realm of the holy spirit to come before the father so you are not foreigners or guests but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones with all the rights as family members of the household of god you are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple and your lives have been built up together upon the foundation laid by the apostles and the prophets and best of all you are connected to the head cornerstone of the building the anointed one jesus christ himself this entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the lord himself this means that god is transforming each one of you into the holy of holies his dwelling place through the power of the holy spirit living in you not good so good you know i feel like ephesians is just this message from god saying i love you i love you i love you you belong you belong you're mine you're in i love you i love you like it's just over and over in all these different ways it's it's god reminding us that it's all because of what he's done that we belong that we are loved that we are wanted that that you were dreamt of and destined from before you were born powerful i love that ephesians 2 here explains that we are saved by grace it's not by our actions it's not by your hustling it is by his grace alone right we're saved by grace and i love this picture that ephesians 2 offers us of us being united and getting equal standing before god no matter your background no matter what you come out of no matter if you come from 27 lines of spirit-filled you know praying grandmas or you come from 27 generations of witchcraft before jesus we all have equal standing it doesn't matter right it doesn't you don't have to somehow make up a deficit when you come to christ jesus makes up the deficit for everybody and we have equal access to god full access to everything in the kingdom every single one of us it's powerful you know and and paul is explaining here paul many times would come um confront this you know kind of anti-gentile mentality um and he you know frequently found himself having these similar conversations um and he's he's pouring out this message of grace and um i love this um all everything here i feel like you could we could just sit and chew on this um and i love how this chapter ends talking is about us being living stones being built together that you and i that's no longer going to a physical temple to find god but you and i become the dwelling place of god and it's not just you and i it's you and i together that becomes the dwelling place of god it's about us being fitted together no matter how frustrating people are no matter how much of an introvert you may be you are a part of a body we're not islands right it's it's us together it's us bringing who god is in us together that god fills and dwells in which is why you don't get to escape community you don't get to escape people we got to work through it right because he fills us right he fills us he's coming for a people he's coming for a family he's it's his bride it's his body and so there's something so powerful about our connectedness so powerful which is why the greatest command is to love because we're never going to do it until we can figure out how to love right but he comes and he feels fills our connectedness and and so this this whole chapter is so powerful and good but i really want to focus in on ephesians 2 19. i want to focus on one verse and i'm going to read it to you in two different translations um most of the translations sound like one of these here first out of the amplified it says uh so then you are no longer strangers and aliens outsiders without rights of citizenship but you are fellow citizens with the saints god's people and are members of god's household and in the new living translation it says so now you gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners you are citizens along along with all of god's holy people you are members of god's family today uh my sermon is titled citizen we're going to talk about what it means to be a citizen in god's family what does it mean to be a citizen in the kingdom what does it mean to be to be a citizen of heaven i love that paul is using this this language explaining to the church in ephesus that they are no longer strangers foreigners aliens outsiders but that they are citizens with the other saints the kids are excited about it i mean i hope you are i hope you are um the word citizen that's used here in the greek um for all of you most of you i'm sure are very fluent in greek right um sumpolite simply tastes mean citizen and um it means exactly what you think it means a fellow citizen possessing the same citizenship of the same place a people that are consecrated to god a person who is legally recognized as a member of a state with associated rights and obligations it means citizen so there's not a big difference between the greek original word and how we would use the word citizen but it's interesting that paul offers these two kind of negatives parallel to these two positives right you're not strangers and foreigners right strangers and aliens you're not strangers a stranger is somebody that doesn't belong a stranger is somebody you know that's unknown that's not who you are you do belong and you are known right and you're not an alien or an or a foreigner right an alien or a foreigner wouldn't have any kind of legal standing or legal rights or legal protection that's not you so he compares those two things with the two positives and he says but this is who you are you are now fellow citizens and members of god's family you're not those things you're these things you're a citizen with the saints and you're a member of god's family right and so he begins to outline this picture that we all have equal standing in the kingdom of god i don't know about you but i definitely have had seasons in my life where i have felt like an outsider looking in in the church in i don't know in the church in in community in god i've kind of felt like i don't know about you but i kind of felt like okay there's the like the ones that are on the inside and then all the rest of us like the super saints and then all the like the rest of us like you know the saved and then the like save saved you know and i've many times i have felt like that like man they just have some kind of direct line to god i don't have they are so much more holy they're so much more you know righteous they're more whatever it's easy and i i because the enemy's a liar and he's terrified of you standing in your authority right and so it's easy to sometimes wonder am i kind of maybe a second class christian like am i you know am i really on the inside or am i always kind of just trying to pretend like i am it's like what is that called um thank you who just got in my head was that layla who said that thank you i heard it from over here some the holy spirit was like sucked my thought and put in her head okay imposter syndrome how many times in the body of christ we we wrestle with this and we you know am i real is this authentic am i just am i just hoping it is hoping i make it and we wrestle with this and the reality is i love that paul is addressing this and he's just silencing that lie and he's like there's you are if you are following jesus if you have invited jesus in your life if you are under the blood of jesus you have equal standing there are no classes in the kingdom of god there is no hierarchy there is no level we are one we are children of god and you belong here you don't have to tiptoe in hope i'm okay that i'm here lord you know no take your seat at the table because you are a loved child of god who belongs here right we have equal legal standing before god i love this i love this we belong and the dignity that we have that we're given um as a member of god's household is not something we deserve or earn it's god's gift to us so you can't lose it because you had a bad day he's like oh no you just got moved you're no longer in the child adopted category now you're in the servant like step child way down here category try to work your way back up that's not how that works you are loved and adopted and brought near okay philippians 3 20 but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there the lord jesus christ can we all just say hallelujah that we're waiting first of all that we're seated in heaven that we're our citizenship is there and that we don't have to look to man or politics or the world or the economy or anybody else to save us because our savior comes from there right that's good news have you ever really stopped to chew on this and think about this i am a citizen of heaven i'm a citizen of heaven right so it really doesn't matter the color of your passport right if you're a christian our nationality no longer defines us jesus does now don't don't misunderstand me i mean nationality is important and we should thank god for where he's called us to live and and that's a beautiful thing but but we've been through adoption brought into the family of god and our primary allegiance isn't to a flag our primary allegiance isn't to a nation it's not to a state it is to jesus christ above every other thing because i'm a citizen of heaven before i'm a citizen of anything else that's what defines me you know i remember when when hona um became a u.s citizen i don't remember what year it was but i'm glad you did it's great um after many years many many many years long after we'd gotten married at least a decade after we'd gotten married he finally became a u.s citizen and um it was interesting you know because i think there was probably a little bit of i don't put words in his mouth but probably a little bit of a wrestle too of like i love this country but guatemala is my home and and part of what he had to to go through in becoming a u.s citizen he actually had to renounce profess and renounce loyalty to guatemala to become a u.s citizen he had to make a public statement and and say i you know my loyalty and devotion is to the united states of america not this other country that's a strong statement to make right you can still love your but it was like it's it's serious and i wonder if we've done that yet not that we don't of course you love and serve your country and we you know our this community last time we did a census we were like 60 different ethnicities and i don't remember how many different countries you know people that are here that aren't even that are still citizens of whatever country they're from and they're just working in la or whatever but we're a very global community but i wonder if we have with great honor towards our nationality yet i wonder if we've really thought about that that my primary allegiance is to the kingdom of god that is where i am a citizen and that overrides everything in my life right um and there are benefits of certain types of citizenship i remember when we were um for the first several years we got married we were back and forth to africa a lot and working in a lot of different countries and just moving around a ton and um surprisingly because i'm quite detail oriented um kind of it's just slipped my mind that we were popping into uganda for a few days we were in kenya popping into uganda uganda for a few days and then popping to another country i can't really remember all the details but i do remember this part that we get to the airport and we're like stamp stamp stamp it's like so easy in some of these countries you know and and going through it they're like no to hona and i was like wait what you know and they're like we don't have an agreement with guatemala he can't come in we're like uh i'm gonna need him to come in and um all the americans are just getting stamped through with no problem and i forgot to look up and didn't think about the dynamics that guatemalans had to go through a whole separate process and i was like dang it totally forgot so we actually had to leave hona in the airport for several hours while we went and found like a lawyer i can't remember all the details it was crazy we had to like get legal people involved and then it was like we had to go eventually get a letter from somebody officially inviting him process it finally lots of money whatever honey gets to come in right and the only difference because we're married right we're like moving as one unit but the only difference is we were citizens of different countries and that makes a difference because each country had different rights and benefits to it right i don't know if you've ever you know done a lot of traveling but if you've been in a lot of the countries i tend to go to it's always like i just want to make sure i know where the u.s embassy is just in case been to a lot of conflict zones and spaces where it's just like good to know but you you rely and you know if you've never really traveled maybe you haven't experienced that as much um how dependent you are on those rights and benefits that your citizenship offers you you know i remember for me uh the week of 9 11. lord it was crazy i was in canada on heading to i was one of the very first flights out right after 9 11 happened i don't know if anybody traveled around that time but let me remind you ak-47 all over everywhere in your face i mean i fully watched these i mean it was so crazy it was so high alert you couldn't have anything on your body i mean it was intense i fully watched these um soldiers in the vancouver airport body slam a mother in front of her children and put a gun to her head because somebody said oh i thought she said the word bump i mean it was crazy right and i'm just in the madness of it all i'm getting on this flight guys once again you're not going to believe me that i actually do think about details because this is another story to prove i don't but i was 21 i don't know what had happened and um so i i you know i'm trying to get on this flight it's total mayhem i'm trying i'm heading to london and then kenya and i'm boarding the flight and the stewardess looks at my thing and says your passport's expired i'm sorry what 9 11 right they're so crazy this week and i'm just like what and i'm in canada as an american trying to get to other countries and they're like you have to find a u.s embassy and i'm like okay well they're like we're not letting you on this flight okay well can you get my bag off the flight your bag's on the flight ah that it was like full-on crazy i don't remember any of this but then they were so paranoid that my bag was on the flight and they couldn't get it off that they bring out the like militia to tell me that they are going to force me on the flight i have to fly all the way to london with my suitcase and then they have people you know security details waiting for me there to um you know basically force me to come back on the next flight to be kicked out to fly back with my suitcase which i'm like this is the stupidest thing i've ever heard you know and um all on my own dime so i'm now going to have to just accompany my suitcase to london and back and um and be you know legally kicked out of london it was a mess and so deported and i'm like cool so i get on this flight to london i'm just praying the whole time and i'm like jesus i do not have time for this like i am so sorry i didn't know it was inspired can you help me and strike up a conversation with this other lady on the flight she was very kind and she was like well if somehow you make it in like let me know i could try to help you i do have a daughter in london and i'm like okay great and um so i get there and you know i think with all the madness it's like okay well they're not there was nobody waiting for me at the gate so i'm like oh it's when i go through immigration they're gonna like shackle me you know and um and so i'm like okay okay okay so i'm looking at this immigration line and you know you do as you do and i'm like who is the youngest male i could find processing people today i mean listen i am resourceful in the name of jesus okay and uh i find the youngest male processing people and uh i mean i was just cute i couldn't help it and i was just real talkative and real cute i just literally was like keep him talking like don't look and he's just like you know he stamps my thing it's good right well i got a little i got a little overly confident and i was like i'm in i'm in so uh i thought okay i'm gonna try to get on my next flight that didn't work yeah and that did not work thankfully uh they didn't want to deal with me at that point so they were like you need to go find your people figure this out and um so i thankfully the the lady and from that i met in the plane i saw her in the airport and she was like let me call my daughter it is like 10 o'clock at night 11 o'clock at night at this point and she's like let me call my daughter and she said she's on vacation but she lives she has a studio inside of a church maybe you could stay there and uh i mean 21 years old i didn't have a cell phone because we didn't back then really and not one you would take with you anywhere and uh and so long story short i hop on hop in a taxi get dropped off at like one in the morning at a pitch black church some random person opens the door for me takes me into a room and didn't even have a bathroom got to get real creative and and left me in a pitch black church that i didn't know where i was but there was a bed and i had to get up the next morning and go find my embassy and you know walked right in and was given a new passport and was on another flight and it was in those moments where you realize you know how important it is to know who you belong to how important it is to know who can get you out of a bind how important it is to know that you have certain protections and and culture and and rules and that you belong right because i would have been completely out of luck in that moment and so i want you to think about the fact that you are a citizen of heaven um and truly this is the home in the community that we most belong to anywhere um jewel the horse in uh the last battle by c.s lewis i have been my only goal this summer which didn't happen was to watch all the narnia movies and um i'm still i'm still going to make it happen i've been thinking a lot about narnia lately but jewel the horse describes his homecoming like this says i have come home at last this is my real country i belong here this is the land i've been looking for all my life though i never knew it till now come further up come further in um charles spurgeon and morning and evening says it this way what is meant by our being citizens in heaven it means that we are under heaven's government christ the king of heaven reigns in our hearts our daily prayer is thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven the proclamations issued from the throne of glory are freely received by us the decrees of the great king we cheerfully obey then as citizens of the new jerusalem we share heaven's honors the glory which belongs to beautified saints belongs to us for we are already sons of god already princes of the blood imperial already we wear the spotless robe of jesus's righteousness already we have angels for our servitures saints for our companions christ for our brother god for our father and a crown of immorality for our reward we share the honors of citizenship for we have come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven as citizens we have common rights to all the property of heaven ours are its gates of pearl and walls of crystal light ours the as your light of the city that needs no candle nor light of the sun ours the river of the water of life and the twelve manner of fruits which grow on the trees planted on the banks thereof there is not in heaven that belongeth not to us things present or things to come all our ours also as citizens of heaven we enjoy its delights do their do they there rejoice over sinners that reprint that repent prodigals that have turned so do we do they chant the glories of triumphant grace we do the same do they cast their crowns at jesus feet such honors as we have we cast here to are they charmed with his smile it is not less sweet to us who dwell below do they look forward waiting for his second advent we also look and long for his appearing if then we are the citizens of heaven let our walk and actions be consistent with this high dignity isn't that good you see understanding our identity and our position and our citizenship really really shapes our behavior because it's not the fact that we're mere citizens that makes us interesting it's the fact that we are citizens of the kingdom of god that's what separates us right and i want to just take a little time this morning to remind us where i want to remind you where you belong i want to remind you of your home i want to remind you of the kingdom you belong to colossians 1 13 he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son there are two real kingdoms at play there is a spirit realm darkness and light death and life and it is real you can live in an american western bubble and pretend like it's not but it's there there are real forces at work that are that are impacting and shaping the things that happen in your day to day and scripture tells us that we have been rescued from the darkness and brought into the kingdom of the of god you have been brought into the kingdom of god in that kingdom of light it's full of healing and hope and miracles and peace hearing caleb's story today that is the fruit of the kingdom of god the kingdom of god looks like something matthew 16 19 jesus said i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven you see not only are you brought into the kingdom but you are made powerful in that kingdom you have been given authority if you were here last week you heard me share an encounter i had with the lord where he he showed had given me this vision of me being adopted as a little girl into his kingdom into his palace there was all these hallways and full of doors and behind each door was just everything you could ever need because god is not lacking things in heaven there's there's all the creativity you could ever need there's all the wisdom you could ever need the provision the peace it's all there in his kingdom and in this experience jesus told me to put out my hand and he put a key in my hand and i knew it was the key of faith he said with this key you can open up every door in my kingdom it all belongs to you that's exactly what this verse is telling us jesus is saying i've given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven not only have i rescued you and brought you into my kingdom but you are powerful you lack nothing if you're willing to exercise your faith you can access things you you cannot access on your own you can do things nobody else can do you can experience things the rest you know the rest of the world can't experience i'm giving it all to you i don't sit here hoarding it i want to share it with you because you're my children because you're citizens because you belong i love that um moment in narnia i'm thinking about it and narnia where lucy first goes through the wardrobe do you remember that and she's just taking it all in it's so magical and snowy and my heart and prayer is that we would regain our wonder and start stepping through the wardrobe right start stepping through and actually engaging with and experiencing the beauty and the power that is in the kingdom of god may we be more familiar with that side of the wardrobe than what we're experiencing on this side may that become truly alive in us first corinthians 4 20 for the kingdom of god is not a matter of talk but of power that's good news i don't know about you but i'm tired of talk everybody's got something to say just a lot of talk right i want to see i want to experience love you know like anna was talking about this morning she experienced the power of god it wasn't just god loves you she experienced it and it changed her right the kingdom of god we belong to you guys isn't just a bunch of theory and religion and things written down in an old dusty book it is real it is powerful it is alive it is active it changes eternities it changes realities you know it shifts diagnosis it changes situations it heals marriages it restores relationships the kingdom of god is powerful powerful and we belong to it we've experienced it in this room we've experienced lives healed we've experienced addiction taken out of our lives we've experienced the impossible happening this is who our god is we don't sit here you know just not having these experiences we are a people who have experienced the power of god we've seen him do the impossible we've seen him move the mountains you know people said couldn't be moved we've witnessed our god do it psalms 103 19 yahweh has established his throne in heaven his kingdom rules the entire universe this is what you belong to you belong to the kingdom and the king that rules the entire universe there is no limitation there is nothing outside of his reach and you know what i love about this too not only is the kingdom of god wildly powerful but it has a very distinct culture it has a very distinct culture just like americans well maybe more stereotypes than a distinct culture have you ever traveled and somebody unfortunately said to you oh you must be american i'm sorry was i so loud i'm sorry is my suitcase so extra and big right or whatever the stereotypes are you know um there's there's cultural attributes that we assign to different groups right whether they're stereotypes of course they're stereotypes but like there's a culture there is a culture in the kingdom of god a very distinct culture jesus modeled it heaven has a culture the culture that you are the kingdom you belong to has a distinct culture and i wonder if we're if we are in tune with our culture you know what i love about i love about korean culture well there's a lot of things i love about korean culture lots um but one thing and maybe it's not so loved by koreans i don't know because i've heard many koreans complain about it but i think it's awesome i love that it's common in korean culture in some circles to send kids to korean school on saturday all the koreans are like seriously that's amazing i love that there is things woven into that culture to make sure that kids maybe that's just an american thing i don't i don't know if that's you guys can all tell me how that works but i love that there's something woven into the culture to make sure rhythms and practices to make sure that their kids carry the culture while they're growing and learning because so many of us are third culture right so many of us are third culture people and so while they're living in a different culture that they can really maintain their korean culture what would it look like to to weave into our lives and around our dinner table and in our conversations and in our daily routines things that continually remind us and link us to our our kingdom culture so that we don't lose it so that we don't become too fill in the blank to american to western to worldly to whatever but that we would truly know how to move in this world while being more kingdom than anything else right and jesus modeled that so so beautifully romans 14 17 for the kingdom of god is not a matter of rules about food and drink but it's the realm of the holy spirit filled with righteousness peace and joy so the kingdom has a culture and it looks like something that looks like righteousness it looks like being right with god and right with people it looks like peace it feels like something it sounds like something it smells like something it smells like joy that's our culture it feels like peace it's not all about being right and wrong and rules and that's what this passage is taken out of isn't that interesting i wonder if that's the message we've given the world that the kingdom of god is not about all these fighting over rules and right and wrong it's about peace and joy and righteousness and life and love and the holy spirit i love that you see our kingdom we belong to has a powerful culture it's generosity and humility and i wonder if we are if we well if we just remember who we are and if we're more loyal to that kingdom than any other kingdom if we're more like the place we're citizens of than anywhere else you know when we truly understand that we've been brought in as citizens of heaven like the story of hona we have to align our loyalties right and really take in that culture am i more kingdom than american then nigerian and korean then fill in the blank am i more kingdom than churchy am i more kingdom than republican or democrat where are my real loyalties and we better be clear because i'll tell you what we haven't been clear and it's not working there's bodies everywhere and they're not in the church they left the big c church right people are hurting we got to get really clear on this or am i more kingdom than angelino first peter 2 out of the message 11-13 says friends this world is not your home so don't make yourselves cozy in it don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul live an exemplary life in your neighborhood so that your actions will refute their prejudices then they'll be won over to god's side and be there to join the celebration when he arrives make the master proud of you by being good citizens not good the world's not your home this culture is not your culture so don't try to fit into it don't get so comfortable in it that means you're never truly going to fit in or belong here the the sooner we can recognize that the sooner you're going to have a whole lot more peace in your life right um or as another translation same verse puts it it says dear friends you are foreigners and strangers on this earth so i beg you not to surrender to those desires that fight against you interesting the exact same words we just read in ephesians first peter 2 says you are foreigners and strangers on this earth accept it ephesians 2 but you're not foreigners and strangers in heaven accept it right step into it you are known there that is where you belong you know the earth will always feel a little awkward it's always going to feel a little bit and if it doesn't you might be doing it wrong you know like it's always going to feel a little awkward it's like living in another country you can know the language you can do all of it but it's not really your home and is our affection in our home really rooted in the fact that we are citizens of heaven we have this glorious powerful kingdom that we are rightful heirs to that's incredible why would we ever forfeit that right charles spurgeon said if our citizenship be in heaven then we are aliens here we are strangers and foreigners pilgrims and sojourners in this earth as were all of our fathers interesting when you think about hebrews 11 you know the chapter that talks about all the these like men and women of faith who who did incredible things you know what else it says about them in verses 13 and 16 it says all these people were still living by faith when they died they did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth instead they were longing for a better country a heavenly one therefore god is not ashamed to be called their god for he has prepared a city for them wow i wonder if these incredible men and women of god that we look up to and we read these stories in the bible and we're like wow how do they have so much faith i think this is a clue for us they didn't they were foreigners and strangers on this earth now hear me i'm be real clear this is not do not go be weird just to be weird do not just try to be all i'm a christian weirdo i live in a bubble i'm a hermit stop it we don't got time for that you need to be salt and light okay you need to be real you need to you know think about joseph and daniel's examples right real they spoke the language they they were up in it all but it didn't change them this doesn't mean you have to just you know whatever y'all i'm a product of the 80s where that was the mentality i wasn't even allowed to watch care bears we had to burn my care bears i had to burn the my little ponies smurfs were evil anybody else okay see we're not doing that we're not doing that again but there's there's a healthy balance right you're not gonna let culture change you being more kingdom than anything else the priorities of an earthly citizen are earthly concerned with what everybody else is concerned with but the priorities of a heavenly citizen are heavenly we're looking to eternal things right things with eternal value which is why paul says right since then you've been raised with christ set your hearts on things above where christ is seated set your heart on things above and last but not least matthew 6 33 seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you we're told to seek first the kingdom as a citizen of the kingdom we're to seek first the kingdom of god and everything else comes into place in our life what does it look like to seek first the kingdom because jesus also taught us right to pray that the kingdom would come what does that look like how do you seek first the kingdom a couple things i think about is one get to know the culture and the values of the kingdom you belong to so seeking first the kingdom means i'm going to go on a journey actually not just i'm not talking about knowing the stories of the bible if you went to sunday school you already do right i'm talking about knowing the culture and the heart of what drives our kingdom we belong to diving into that what does it mean to seek first prioritize the kingdom in your life which means actually making time investing energy right aligning your schedule and your finances and your life around eternal things kingdom things what god's doing what god cares about because god cares about people and relationships and the poor and the lost and god cares about you know setting things right relationships and things in society god cares deeply about a lot of things and so seeking first the kingdom means i make those things he cares about things i care about and i actually not just know about it here i create space in my life to pursue those things understand that you're a powerful agent in the kingdom right that means i'm going to address to seek first the kingdom i have to understand i'm powerful i'm going to address those little lies that sneak in that tell me what can i do i can't do anything about it i'm powerless one oh god answers your mind you know when that crap starts stirring up in your head you silence it silence it i'm a citizen of heaven i am seated with jesus christ right now so those lies need to shut up and go away i have keys to the kingdom i have access to everything in the kingdom i am loved i belong i'm in let's go right powerful living but it the the practical of that is you have to actually address the little thoughts that say well i don't know about you you know address it come into the agreement with the truth of who god says you are right so breaking up with those lies and making god your delight is god truly your delight and it's okay to be honest if you're like not really maybe for you you're in a season where the things the world has to offer you feel more delightful and i want to encourage you which you will see they will leave you empty they will always let you down make god your delight spending time with him pursuing him right if you're like man i'm not really feeling it right now well how would you feel if you never spent time with your spouse probably wouldn't really be feeling it right you have to invest you have to do the work you have to you know if you never dated somebody how would you ever fall more in love with them right it's it's as we take those steps that you'll as you begin to make him your delight all of a sudden you go oh my gosh you are you are so much more worth all these things i've been chasing after seeking first the kingdom all right i want you to repeat after me i am chosen by god and i am a citizen of heaven i want you to stand with me do we have that jeremy possibly all right y'all you know what we're going to do together we are going to pray the lord's prayer as we close i love at the end of the lord's prayer thy kingdom come thy will be this is a declaration of the kingdom we belong to this is like our pledge of allegiance right this is our like this is our we are rallied united under the kingdom we are powerful in the kingdom and his kingdom rules and reigns over all amen so let's let's pray the lord's prayer together would you our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen amen [Applause] you

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 199

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: shawn bolz, bolz, cherie bolz, expression 58, expression58, e58, church, los angeles church, revival, jen toledo, jennifer toledo, jona toledo, bolz ministries

Id: MjqRpLqcW_c

Length: 52min 58sec (3178 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 17 2021