We now want to go into a little more depth about how the Lord has been preparing for the coming of His kingdom throughout this church age. It is important to see this to understand the events that will be coming upon the world at the end of this age and our purpose in preparing the way for the coming kingdom.

As we continue our study on the fruit of the kingdom, we will begin this week with the most important text in the Bible about bearing fruit, which is the statement of the Lord Himself on this matter, as recorded in John 15:1-8:
 

As we have studied, racism is one of the ultimate enemies of mankind, and is of the character that is most basically opposed to the heart and ways of God. Racial conflict was also the first thing the Lord mentioned when He was asked about the signs of the end of the age. Therefore, those who are truly aligned with God and His purposes at the end must be free of this most basic enemy of the purposes of God.

This week we will continue the prophetic theme that we began last week concerning the way that major turning points have been reached, as well as some of the ways we are going to see Luke 17:20-21 fulfilled:
 

Our text for this week is Ephesians 2:1-7:

We are now entering one of the greatest watershed periods in human history. Creation itself is charged with the electricity of these times and is beginning to groan and travail for what is about to come. Never has there been a more exciting time to be alive. The kingdom of God is coming.

This week we begin our study of one of the most concise chapters in the Scriptures for revealing the calling and purpose of the church, Ephesians 4.

There is a pattern in Paul’s letters that is also followed in this one. The first part is usually a reminder of many general principles of the faith. Then he boldly declares the main purpose for the letter concisely and powerfully. He then finishes with encouragement.

Ephesians 4 is one of the most bold and powerful of all of his messages to the churches. We will begin with looking at verses 1-3:

         This week, we will go a bit further in seeking to understand and keep our “first love” (see Revelation 2:4) of the Lord. This is so important that the Lord told the Ephesian church that if they did not recover and keep this, their candlestick would be removed—meaning they would no longer be His church. So, we should be sure to get this right before anything else. In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul exhorts believers to:    

          Last week we discussed how the church is still so far from what it is called to be, and yet this also gives us an ultimate opportunity—could we begin a momentum that would actually hasten the coming of the day of the Lord?