Kevin Dibbley - April 28, 2024
"Kingdom Vigilance"
As Paul wraps up his letter to the church at Ephesus, he gives what some theologians call a “peroratio”. A peroration is a passionate conclusion to a speech or a letter which is meant to inspire passion and enthusiasm. Paul has been teaching us that King Jesus is on the throne and that his kingdom advances in the lives of everyday people like you and I who learn to live out the grace and forgiveness of the gospel in our marriages, in our families, in our workplaces and as His church. Paul calls us to be passionate for the kingdom characteristics that were first demonstrated in Christ Himself. Earlier in Ephesians 4:32-5:2, Paul writes “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” As Paul wraps up this epistle, he calls us as believers to be aware of Satan’s attempts to put in our hearts the old attitudes of the flesh rather than the new attitudes of the Spirit. He reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.” Satan wants to bend your heart away from Christ and one another. That’s always his goal. Our sermon, from Ephesians 6:10-20, is called Kingdom Vigilance. How do we watch over our hearts so that we live out the grace and truth of the gospel at those times when it is easier to become cynical and bitter? How do we keep the enemy from sending us down the road of temptation rather than to increase Christ-likeness? Have you been struggling in your heart towards a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a co-worker? This passage gives us this key to resisting Satan and growing in the grace of the King.
Scripture References: Ephesians 6:10-20
From Series: "Ephesians: One In Christ"
We are beginning a sermon series focusing upon the New Testament letter of Ephesians. Our series is called “One in Christ”. In Japan, there is a form of artwork called Kintsugi art. Kin means gold. Tsugi means to mend. In Kintsugi art, an artist will take, for example, a piece of ceramic teaware that has been broken during an earthquake or something like that. Instead of repairing it to make it look like the original plate or teacup, the artist will instead use Japanese lacquer and gold to actually highlight the fractures. Out of the broken vessel comes a brand new piece that is considered more beautiful and more valuable than the original. The apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians that God in Christ has chosen to take our lives broken and alienated from God and each other by sin and make one new community. John Stott writes “Through Christ and in Christ, we are nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which he is creating and includes Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. We are the family of God the Father, the body of Jesus Christ his Son, and the temple and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.” Our hope and prayer is that over the next several months, we would get a vision of the church as God’s new creation, His masterpiece, which is just the beginning of what God intends to do throughout all eternity and throughout the entire heavens and on earth. Out of his brokenness, we become one. Pray that together we would become in real relationships what we are in positionally through the gospel – One in Christ.
