A Desire to be Realized

A Desire to be Realized

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  

1. INTRODUCTION
   1. CONTEXT
      1. Acts Is the record of the early church
      2. Chapter 20 is the record of Paul’s last meeting with the Ephesian church
   2. TEXT – The purchase of the Church  We see in the purchase of the church that there is:
2. A DESIRE to be REALIZED
   1. God’s PLEASURE Ephesians 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. The purpose of the whole creation is to give glory to God. The purpose of man is to give glory to God.  The purpose of the church is to give glory to God. God and God alone is worthy of being glorified. When the church meets the focus should be on the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is God in the flesh Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. We must constantly guard against pride creeping in and leading us astray in seeking the glory that belongs to God alone. The desire of every pastor is to see the congregation grow. If it does the flesh will begin to insist that the growth is the result of the effort and talent of the pastor. If a believer is blessed to lead someone to Christ, the flesh will want to crow about it.  We all must remember what the Saviour saidJohn 15:1-8I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and everybranchthat beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, yearethe branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and casttheminto the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. All that is accomplished is by the grace and power of God. We are merely His chosen instruments therefore we cannot claim glory but must glorify and worship our Lord and Saviour. God is pleased when we render glory and honor to His name. 
   2. God’s PURPOSE Ephesians 1:9-10 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: God is going restore what Adam surrendered to Satan in the Garden of Eden.  We see the plan and purpose of God in: Philippians 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  God created man with the purpose of enjoying the worship of and fellowship with them.  The first requirement of fellowship is obedience.  Fellowship and true worship requires free will.  He could have created us without the ability to disobey, but fellowship would be impossible. Worship would be mere form and meaningless. 
   3. God’s PROBLEM Ephesians 2:11-22 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.  19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
      1. The ‘Racial’ (human race) enmity – man is separated from God by sin. Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. When we are born we inherit many things from our parents, among these is sin and death Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: When Adam chose to reject the will of God in the Garden he plunged us all into the sin and enmity with God.  We then received his twisted sin nature and only the new birth by faith in Jesus Christ can change the nature and remove the enmity between God and His wayward creatures. The problem is that the penalty of sin is death Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God’s holiness demands that He be just, justice is the penalty be exacted. But His mercy and grace seek to justify the sinner.  We will see in a moment how God resolves this dilemma. 
      2. The ‘national’ enmity – Jew and Gentile separated from each other by sin. The hatred that existed and still exists between different peoples is the result of sin. Satan uses the sin nature to breed suspicion and hatred in the human heart. Our sin nature tells us that we are superior to others because of race, religion, tribe, nation or many other pretexts. The Jews were chosen to be God’s messenger nation to the world but their pride precluded them from fulfilling this mission, instead it generated animosity and division. God wanted to remove this division and we see the plan He has to accomplish this. 
   4. God’s PLAN – the church to be purchased by the blood of Jesus to be:
      1. Separated from the world Revelation 5:9-10 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. By means of the sacrifice of His Son God brought in being the new institution of the church.  We see that God purchased our salvation and that the church is made up of people who have been saved, their sin debt paid by the shed blood of the precious Saviour. The price of the church was the blood and death of the the Son of God. He came to Earth in the form of the Lord Jesus  Christ.  He was Emmanuel, ie “God with us”, that is God robed in human flesh. The great mystery of the incarnation is that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.  This truth is something that one must be convinced of by the work of the Holy Ghost as it is truly spiritual and cannot be comprehended by the natural man. 
      2. Sanctified unto God Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. One purpose God has in our salvation is to separate us from the world, the flesh and the Devil.  He seeks our sanctification, that is our separation from these things and our separation unto God.  Sanctification is the dedication of a person or thing unto the service of God. We as believers should be sanctified 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, When you consider this verse with Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. We can see God’s purpose is to transform us from the willful, rebellious, sinners to obedient sons of God who live to give honor, worship and glory to our Saviour and Lord.  The natural man, unregenerate man or the carnal man cannot receive or even understand the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. By the work and power of the Holy Spirit we can be sanctified, transformed, sanctified to the glory of God.