Outline:

The Salvific Work of the Father: Decreeing Redemption – Part II

• Election is  part of God’s sovereign decree (Eph. 1:11 |Is. 46:9-11 | Matt. 10:29 | Prov. 16:33 | Ps. 139:16 | Dan. 4:34-35)
• We were predestined to be God’s own children [adoption] (Eph. 1:5)
• What is this adoption that we are predestined to?
• Israel was adopted as a nation as God’s first-born son (Ex. 4:22 | Hos. 11:1 | Rom. 9:4)
• We are all individually God’s children (2 Cor. 6:18)
• This wasn’t always our condition, we were born a child of wrath (Eph. 2:2-3)
• The privileges of adoption:
• We can call God our father (Rom. 8:15 | Matt. 6:9 | Mark 14:36)
• God, our father, will take care of our needs (Matt. 6:32-33)
• Gives us assurance of salvation (Rom. 8:15-16)
• We have an inheritance from our Father (Rom. 8:17)
• Responsibilities of adoption:
• Personal holiness (Phil. 2:15 | Eph. 5:8 | 2 Cor. 6:18-7:1)
• The mean of our adoption is through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5)
• Our election was according to the pleasure of God (Eph. 1:5 | Matt 11:25-27 | Luke 12:32)
• Election magnifies the grace of God (Eph. 1:6 | Luke 1:28)
• Dealing with objections to election (1 Tim. 2:4)

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Outline:

The Salvific Work of the Father: Decreeing Redemption

• The Sovereign Divine Election of God:
• God has always worked like this:
• God choose Noah, Abram, Issac over Ismael, Jacob over Esau, Israel over any other nation (Deut. 7:7-8)
• 6 Elements of Divine Election (first 3 this week)
• 1) We are Chosen in Christ (Eph. 1:4 | 2 Thes. 2:14)
• “Choose“: to select out of a mass of people
• Covenant of Redemption (John 6:37-39)
• 2) Chosen in Eternity Past (Eph. 1:4 | John 17:24)
• God’s Salvation cannot be Thwarted (Rom. 8:28-30)
• “Foreknew“: God setting His love on His people in eternity past (Jer. 1:5 | Amos 3:2 | Matt. 7:22-23)
• It is not based on anything in us (faith, good works, etc.) (Rom. 9:11-16 | Titus 3:5 | 2 Tim. 1:9)
• 3) Chosen to be Holy and Without Blameless Before Him in Love (Eph. 1:4)
• The ethical implications that election should lead us to (1 Thes. 1:3-4 | Col. 3:12-13)

… continued next week.

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Outline:

• Because we are in Christ, we have… (Eph. 1:3)
• A renewed ability to please and serve God (Eze. 36:26-27)
• A love and a hope in God (Rom. 8:18-20 | 2 Cor. 4:17-18)
• Forgiveness of all our sins (Rom. 5:1 | Ps. 130:3-4, 32:1-2)
• Been adopted into God’s family ( 1 John 3:1)
• The Holy Spirit and communion with God (1 John 1:3-4 | Eph. 4:30 | 1 Cor. 6:19, 3:16-17)
• Preservation by God (Phil. 1:6 | John 10:27-29 | 1 Peter 1:5)

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Related Sermons:

3 Aspects of Resurrection Life

Union with Christ & Future Resurrection

Outline:

• 3 Elements of the Salutation
• The Writer (Eph. 1:1)
• The Readers (Eph. 1:1)
• The Greating (Eph. 1:2)

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Related Sermons:

The Multifaceted Grace of God

Here is a collection of the sermons and an article by Pastor Jay on the fourth commandment that he mentioned yesterday [April 29, 2012]:

• The Abiding of the 10 Commandments:
• The Law of God & the Believer [A Reformed Perspective] article from Dec. 30, 2011
• Out With the Old, In With the New (Mark 2:18-22) sermon from Jan. 13,2012
• The 4th Commandment, Sabbath, Lord’s Day:
• The Sabbath Question – Part 1 (Mark 2:23-28) sermon from Jan. 20, 2012
• The Sabbath Question – Part 2 (Mark 3:1-6) sermon from Jan. 27, 2012
• (If you only have time to listen to one sermon then this is a comprehensive overview):
  The First Day of the Week (1 Cor. 16:1-2) sermon from Feb. 5, 2012 

Outline:

• Authenticity (1 Cor. 16:21)
• Malediction & Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22)
• Grace & Love (1 Cor. 16:23-24)

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Related Sermons:

The Multifaceted Grace of God

The Nature of Love – Part 1

He started off by sharing about the pastor’s conference he attended this past week (2 minute audio clip):
Download audio file (41612820599.mp3)

Outline:

• Evangelism (1 Cor. 16:15a)
• Ministry (1 Cor. 16:15b)
• Submission to Authority (1 Cor. 16:16) 
• Fellowship (1 Cor. 16:17-18)
• Love (1 Cor. 16:19-20)

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Related sermons:

4 Aspects of the Body of Christ [Church]

The Great Commission: Make Disciples!

Outline:

• The Premise (Rom. 6:1-2)
• How God Accomplished Our Death To Sin (Rom. 6:3-5)
• Our Old Man Crucified (Rom. 6:6-7)

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Past Resurrection Sunday Sermons:

3 Aspects of Resurrection Life [Colossians 3:1-4]

4 Implications of the Empty Tomb

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:8–9).

RAISING THE STAKES FURTHER

What’s left after putting everything on the table in exchange for knowing Christ? Maybe not what you’d expect. Up until this point, Paul has treated the things he’s willing to trade for knowing Christ as though they were something worth keeping. By any human standard, they’re priceless! So how can he raise the stakes further? By saying that in his view, these priceless things aren’t worth crap—literally. That’s the literal translation of σκυβαλα (“rubbish” in the above scripture) and that’s the analogy he uses. All the things that we hold dear should be considered just as valuable as a bag of dung. In comparison to the value of knowing Christ, Paul’s most prized possessions aren’t worth squat.

RUBBISH

When we have something of value in our culture, say a house or a car, we typically insure it against loss from fire, theft, or various kinds of destruction. We do this because we want protection against loss. When Paul says that he counts all things loss, he is still treating them as valuable. He is simply making the decision not to hang onto these valuable things, but to exchange them for Christ.

Instead of Paul considering all his stuff as “valuable, but worth the trade” for knowing Christ, Paul goes one step further. Knowing Christ is so valuable to him that in comparison, he considers his stuff to be about as desirable as feces. He shifts from saying it is worth giving up everything to saying he considers everything but Christ valueless. It isn’t even worth insuring or filing a claim for. It’s no longer a “loss,” it’s “good riddance!”

WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE FOR US?

Instead of finding his identity in these things, he casts them all on the dung heap. If that’s really  what all our stuff is worth compared to knowing Christ, who wouldn’t want to make this exchange?

Paul masterfully works his way through this illustration one stage at a time to move us through the process with him. As he lists his most prized possessions, it makes us wonder about what it would look like for us. He isn’t so much devaluing them as he is increasing the value of knowing Christ. In the final analysis, they are less than worthless compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.

Hear Pastor Emilio’s sermon on verses 7-8 “Conversion & the Supremacy of Christ” and verse 9 “Counted Righteous in Jesus Christ”.

This concludes the series of highlights through Philippians from the  Steven E. Runge’s High-Definition Commentary: Philippians

“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:18–20)

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Paul offers contrasting portraits of the enemies of the cross in comparison with what believers may expect. In rapid succession, Paul introduces a topic and makes a comment about the enemies. After four such comments, he moves on to contrast them with what believers do or expect. The close parallels in the topics sharpen the contrast between us and them.

The contrast begins with the enemies, citing a topic and then making a comment about it. The outcome of their behavior is destruction, which stands in contrast to our heavenly citizenship (3:20). Paul made the same comparison in Phil. 1:28, contrasting salvation with destruction. Next, he tackles who or what they serve. In the case of the enemies, they serve their belly—something that can never be fully satisfied. In contrast, Paul references the heavenly origins of our citizenship by saying that we await the arrival of our Savior Jesus Christ from the same place. He is the one we serve—not our belly. In fact, Jesus tells us that if we seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, all the other things that we need will be added (Matt 6:33).

What is it that these folks take pride in? What is their glory? It’s in their shame. This is not unlike those in Romans 1:32 who not only did things worthy of death, but approved of others who did the same. Here in Philippians, the enemies of the cross have their values just as mixed up. Paul contrasts this ill-placed glory with what we aspire to: having our humble bodies transformed and conformed to the glorious image of Christ. They glory in the behavior that will end in judgment and destruction, instead of salvation and glorification.

THE FOCUS

The final thing that Paul compares is focus. The enemies have their sights set on earthly things, which is to be expected of someone whose god is their stomach. The reference to heaven stands in contrast with the stuff of earth. Paul closes the reference to the believer’s outlook with how things turn out. At the end of the day, Christ’s glorious power enables Him to subject all things to Himself. This not only means earthly things, but everything else as well (see Phil. 2:10–11).

No matter how appealing it might look to follow these folks, the contrasting picture that Paul paints moves beyond the surface to the final outcome. Whoever they are, the Philippians want no part of what they are offering. We are repeatedly warned to watch out for those who will try and draw us away from the truth of the gospel (see Rom 16:17 | 2 Cor 11:4 | Gal 1:6 | 1 Tim 1:3; 6:3). In the end, their ways lead to death and destruction, not the freedom and blessing that is promised. No matter what gain they may offer in the short run, following such people is a losing proposition in the end.

Hear Pastor Emilio’s sermon on verses 17-20 “Committed Christian Churches”.

Part 8…