Harvest Raleigh Church

Ephesians 2:17-22

¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 

¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 

²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

 ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

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Galatians 1:10

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

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Job 37:22-24

²² Out of the north comes golden splendor;
    God is clothed with awesome majesty.
²³ The Almighty—we cannot find him;
    he is great in power;
    justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
²⁴ Therefore men fear him;
    he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

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1 Corinthians 15:50-57

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 

⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 

⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

 ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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1 Corinthians 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 

²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 

²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 

²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

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1 Corinthians 1:21-25

²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 

²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 

²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 

²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Follow Christ

Before this passage, Paul is addressing the fact that the Corinthians who were claiming that they followed one of the disciples. But, Paul in these verses making it clear who they follow. They follow Christ. Jesus isn’t the sign the Jews were looking for and God’s wisdom is not the wisdom the Gentiles were looking for.

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Romans 11:33-36

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Faith Over Uncertainty

In the chapter preceding these verses, Paul is talking about the mystery of salvation and the relationship between Jews and Gentiles. It can be confusing and I don’t think I ever truly understand what is going to happen. But, Paul doesn’t leave pondering his explanation. Instead, he gives us a God honoring way to approach these topics. We don’t know the minutiae of how everything is going to happen but, we have faith that things will happen according to God’s plan.

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Romans 4:13-15

¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Through Faith

We are saved by grace through faith. Even though we have the law, it is pointing us to putting out faith in Christ. We will never completely uphold the law or even completely know the law. Paul later talks about Abraham’s faith being counted to him as righteousness. Abraham didn’t have the law. The law didn’t come until the time of Moses. It is by faith that we trust in God and His grace and His mercy.

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Acts 26:6-8

⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 

⁷ to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 

⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

Hope through Tribulation

As we come off last week where Jesus talked about the tribulation that we will face, we see an example of Paul facing tribulation. He’s on trial for having hope in God that should be shared by is kinsmen. But, he’s on trial for possibly his life and he uses it as an opportunity to point people to God and Jesus.

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Nehemiah 8:6

⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

A Response of Worship

After Ezra read the law, the people’s response was to bow their heads and worship. The Israelites are coming out of a time of exile and in this passage and seem to be returning to the Lord. This mirrors what we do on a Sunday’s. We come and we respond to the truth of God’s word with worship and prayer. Some people might be coming from metaphorical exile. Others might be knowledgable about the law but, how often are you responding with worship. Let us aim for our response to God’s promises and works to be worship.

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