A. “Together” / “Common” / “With one accord” (Acts 2:44-47)
B. Not “unity in diversity” but unity in the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 1:10; John 17:20-21)
C. Striving for peace (Acts 6:1, 7; Romans 14:19; Ephesians 4:1-3)
II. Their steadfast nature
A. Steadfast in doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 16:13)
B. Danger of not being steadfast (Galatians 1:6-9)
C. Self-discipline (Romans 12:1-2)
III. Their belief in the message
A. “Into all the world” (Mark 16:15 Colossians 1:23)
B. Unafraid when opposed (Acts 4:18-20; Galatians 1:10)
C. Despite persecutions, they believed (Acts 8:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:24-27; Acts 12:1-2; Acts 8:4)
A. Not born lost, but because of sin we are lost, resulting in death (Ezekiel 18:19-22; Romans 6:23; James 1:14-15)
B. We must change who we are because of who He is (1 Peter 4:1-3; Ezekiel 18:23)
II. God’s involvement in our salvation (Ephesians 2:4-9)
A. Mercy (2 Corinthians 1:3; Micah 7:18; Psalm 51:1)
B. Love (1 John 4:8; Ephesians 2:4; Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 8:38-39)
C. Grace (2 Timothy 1:9; Romans 11:5; 1 Timothy 1:14; 1 Peter 5:12)
D. Kindness (Titus 3:4-5)
III. We are created in Christ for good works (Ephesians 2:10)
A. Not meritorious, boast-worthy works (Ephesians 2:8-9)
B. Works of service (Matthew 25:31-46; James 2:14-26; Galatians 6:10)
C. Works of love (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3)
A. The establishment of the church (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 3:8-11)
B. The mystery revealed (Ephesians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 2:8; Genesis 3:15; Psalm 24:7; 110:1; Isaiah 2:2-4; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Daniel 2:44)
II. In the present
A. God uses us as a part of His plan to exalt Christ (Hebrews 13:15; Matthew 5:16; John 13:34-35; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Romans 10:14-17; Philippians 2:13)
B. God receives glory in the church – the one body (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23; 4:4; 1:10)
III. In the future
A. He has the power over death (Hebrews 2:14-15; Revelation 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:24-26)
B. When He puts an end to death, Christ will be exalted in the church for all eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
A. Paul’s thankfulness for the church in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:15-16)
B. How important is a knowledge of God? (Jeremiah 9:23-24; John 17:3; Hosea 4:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
C. “When you read, you may understand my knowledge” (Ephesians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 14:33)
II. To know the hope of God’s calling (Ephesians 1:18a)
A. How does God call us? (2 Thessalonians 2:14)
B. Out of what does He call us? (1 Peter 2:9)
C. Into what does He call us? (1 Thessalonians 2:12)
D. There is “one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Titus 1:2)
III. To know the riches of God’s inheritance (Ephesians 1:18b)
A. Predestined to adoption (Ephesians 1:5)
B. Obtained an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11)
C. Sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14)
D. An inheritance now available to all (Ephesians 2:7, 12-13; 3:6; Galatians 3:27-29; Ephesians 1:6)
IV. To know the power of God (Ephesians 1:19-20)
A. Power on display throughout the gospel accounts, culminating in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead
B. That power is still just as powerful today (Romans 8:11; Galatians 5:22-23, 25; Colossians 2:11-13)
A. The mystery (Ephesians 1:10; 2:16; 3:6)
B. Man’s trust in His gospel (Ephesians 1:12-13; Romans 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:1; Acts 19:4-5)
II. The result of trust: “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13)
A. “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19)
B. The seal is evident through the way we live and the fruit we bear (Galatians 5:22-25)
III. “The guarantee (earnest—KJV) of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14)
A. An earnest is a pledge that the remainder of the promise will be forthcoming
B. When will the fullness of our inheritance be realized? (Ephesians 1:14; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:7; 4:30)
C. “To the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14)
I. Peter’s faith was fixed on Christ (Matthew 14:28-29)
A. Peter could do the impossible because of his absolute faith in Christ
B. Peter not only believed that he could do it, he did do it!
II. Doubts and distractions (Matthew 14:30-31)
A. Panic set in
B. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
C. “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38)
D. Faith purifies us (Acts 15:9), allows us to receive remission of sins (Acts 10:43), justifies us (Romans 3:28), sanctifies us (Acts 26:18), gives us peace with God (Romans 5:1), saves us (1 Peter 1:9), gives us the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4)
E. “Without faith, it is impossible…” (Hebrews 11:6)
III. The power of a godly, Biblically-based faith
A. Faith is powerful, not because we are great believers, but because we believe in a great God
B. Don’t be robbed of all risk and adventure (Hebrews 11:8)
C. Faith is absolute surrender to Christ (Philippians 1:21; 4:13; Galatians 2:20)
D. The Christian life is an exchanged life (1 Peter 1:5; 2 Tim 1:7; Mark 9:24)
A. Deliverance from sin
B. “Through His blood” (1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; Rev 1:5; Rom 5:8)
C. One comes into contact with His blood at baptism (Romans 6:3-4)
II. Knowledge of the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:9-10)
A. What is the mystery? (Ephesians 3:6; 2:16)
B. The revelation of the mystery destroys denominational division (Ephesians 2:16; 4:4)
C. “The dispensation of the fullness of the times” (Eph 1:10; 3:2; Gal 4:4-5)
D. Gathering together in one all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10)
III. An inheritance as the heritage of God (Ephesians 1:11-12)
A. We belong to Him; we are His (Psalm 4:3)
B. Conditional upon obedience (Matthew 7:21)
C. “To the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12, 6, 14; Luke 2:17, 20)
A. The people had not behaved as God desired (1:2-3; Jeremiah 8:7)
B. The description of Judah (1:4)
C. The punishment (1:5-9)
II. God’s disdain for sacrifice without submission (Isaiah 1:10-15)
A. Going through the motions but not living right (1:10-11; Matt. 5:23-24)
B. Their worship was not accepted (1:12-15; Proverbs 15:8; 1 Timothy 2:8; James 5:16)
III. Restoration is called for (Isaiah 1:16-17)
A. The devastating reality of sin must be recognized (1:16; 2 Cor. 7:10)
B. “Wash yourselves” (1:16; Psalm 51:2; Jeremiah 4:14; Zechariah 13:1; Ezekiel 36:25)
C. The cessation of sin must be followed by the commencement of right (1:17; Ephesians 4:25-32)
IV. Is it reasonable to be righteous? (1:18-20)
A. Paul thought so (Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4; 26:25; Romans 12:1)
B. God has the power to remove the scarlet stains of sin (1:18)
C. The people of Judah had a decision to make; today, people face the same decision (1:19-20; Romans 11:22)
A. Beware of Calvinistic error
B. God set the standard (Eph. 1:3-5; Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3; 2 Thess. 2:13-14)
C. “Holy and without blame” (Ephesians 1:4; 5:25-27)
III. The purpose of our adoption
A. By adoption, we are afforded all privileges of family membership
B. Because of that, we should manifest praise to God
C. “He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6; Isaiah 59:1-2; Revelation 17:14)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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