2/18/24 The Courage to Stand in the Power of My Salvation

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17
Elder: Bro. Randy Jackson, Sr.

1. ​​The text is a summation of the letter Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus
2. ​​He explains all the things that God provided the believers in order to live a life worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ
3. ​​There are 3 imperatives that Paul states: 1. Be strong 2. Put on the whole armor of God 3 Stand
4. God has provided all we need as Christians to be victorious in our life
5. ​​In the summation what is not to be lost is that God provided all we need as Christians to be victorious in our life
6. ​​But there comes a point in time where each one of us must take personal responsibility in appropriating by faith all that He has provided.
7. The helmet of salvation represents where the real spiritual warfare takes place which is in the minds and hearts of men and women
8. ​​You and I must stand against the devil and his forces on the ground that God has already one in Christ Jesus. To do this, we must live in the truth of what God has already done
9. ​​We must be willing to actually (once becoming aware of all that comes along with our salvation) take a stand
10. ​​We must take a firm stand on the power God has given us in our salvation. But the problem is that many of us have limited that salvation to a degree that God never intended
11. ​​The helmet of salvation is a state of mind
12. ​​Those who are in a state of salvation has their minds covered by salvation. Past, present, and future that has been made possible by Christ Jesus
13. The emphasis of salvation is not necessary about final salvation but the emphasis is on the present experience of salvation helping Christians to understand the power and deliverance on the present salvation
14. ​​Part of the deception of the enemy is to have us as believers to focus more on our final salvation to the extend of experiencing what God has provided in terms of our present salvation
15. ​​There is a salvation to be experienced 24/7 in Christ Jesus
16. ​​Which is why Paul wrote this in the first few chapters of Ephesians for Christians to become like Christ
17. Ephesians 6: the principalities and powers are designed to keep us in the dark about who we are in Christ right now
18. ​​The issue with focusing on final salvation and not the present, we find ourselves still waiting on God to fix us when he has deposited in us all of our full potential
19. ​​Question: What’s wrong with you?
20. We are created in the image and likeness of God
21. If I’m created in the image and likeness of God then what’s wrong with God? Nothing. So there’s nothing wrong with us
22. ​​Part of the salvation is when we obey the gospel of Christ, in that moment what God did in our obedience to Him, He redeemed us and we became the children and offspring of God
23. ​​There is nothing wrong with you because you are in Christ
24. ​​2 Peter 1:3
25. ​​He has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness
26. What’s left after all? Nothing!
27. ​​God is in us and there is power that allows us to have all things to live out the godliness in our lives
28. 2 Peter 1:5
29. ​​Lack of knowledge-a person can be deliberately ignorant in the knowledge of God
30. ​​So we need to consider pursuing to become knowledgeable that pertains to the knowledge we find in Christ Jesus
31. The virtues in v. 5 are already in you. It is apart of your present salvation. But now, you have to take a position to put on the helmet of salvation. Salvation is a state of being, position of mind
32. You have to take a stand and once you do you experience the power of the divine nature that’s already in you
33. ​​Ephesians 4-put off our old self and put on our new self
34. It was easier for God to destroy the powers of Egypt from Pharaoh than to deliver his people to His promises for them.
35. ​​Because of the conditions of their mind (it took 40 years) that crystallized their thinking in disbelief or unbelief.
36. ​​They didn’t come into the promises that God had for them
37. If you don’t take a stand, you will miss our on what God has for you
38. ​​We have been waiting on God to do things in reality he has already done. He put the kingdom in us but we don’t realize what He’s done already in us.
39. ​​When he placed the kingdom, it’s all that he as accomplished.
40. ​​He takes the kingdom out of the invisible to the visible in us. He brings the unseen to the seen to accomplish what He’s already done. God has completed us and views us from that perspective
41. ​​Many of us are waiting to be free when we’re already free.
42. Romans 6:1
43. ​​Present reality of our salvation-no longer be slaves to sin
44. ​​Romans 6:1-7, when Christ died I also died. When He rose, I rose with Him. When he died, he didn’t die for me, but died as me.
45. When God ever called a person, He always called them with what He always knew about them
46. ​​It becomes our task to hold a position of faith in believing what He had to say that we are
47. 2 Corinthians 3:18
48. I’m going to stand on what I believe is right when it comes to my salvation
49. ​​The things which used to intimidate, master, enslave us…with a new mindset, you will be able to behold who you really are and those things will now serve you