Latest / Scripture Central / #41 Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Oct 2 - Oct 8) Ephesians

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#41 Scripture Central Come Follow Me Insights (Oct 2 - Oct 8) Ephesians · Scripture Central

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Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to Come
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Follow Me Insights with Taylor and Tyler presented by Scripture
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Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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videos, so if you want to see the visuals, we invite you to
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find us on YouTube. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
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I'm Taylor and I'm Tyler. This is Scripture.
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Central's come, follow me insights today.
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Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. So let's begin this this epistle
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with one word, and it's a word that just it's it's going to be
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a gift that keeps on giving with this epistle.
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And the word is 1. It's this idea of unity.
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President Henry B. Iring has spoken about this in
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general conference on a variety of occasions.
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The need for unity and how Christ becomes this great
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unifier, that's what his at One meant is centered in, is is
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helping us to become one with a variety of things, with God,
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with each other, with all of our relationships.
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So in chapter one, you're going to find that the oneness is
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between heaven and birth. In chapter 2, you're going to
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find that the Oneness is between Jews and Gentiles.
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In chapter 5, you're going to find that the Oneness is between
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husbands and wives or these family relationships.
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But the the fascinating thing to note as we get into the Epistle
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to the Ephesians is it's not just a random disembodied
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concept of unity. It's actually an embodied
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concept in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one
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who is here at the center. And it's only through him that
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in all of these, all of these areas, we can even hope to find
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oneness or unity. So here's Paul in Rome in
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prison. Just keep that in mind as you
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listen to this very powerful message that's centered on the
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oneness that we all can experience with Jesus Christ
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written by a man. Who's being divided and
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physically separated from people, from friends, and yet he
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knows what ultimately matters. And then I want to tie this into
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way back in Genesis. At creation, God pronounces good
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the creation after he separates all these opposites.
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And you might say these things might be opposites.
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It's interesting that God creates goodness out of dividing
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opposites but then bringing unity.
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Where there's appropriate boundaries, but these opposites
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have their place, their purpose and their function.
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And Paul will talk about this, that oneness in unity is not
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necessarily sameness. And just a quick example he'll
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talk about he gave apostles and prophets and teachers.
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So as you look at this message from Paul, you can ask yourself,
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where have I experienced God's oneness in my life?
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Where could I be more unified? And where can I embrace and
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appreciate differences in the unity of the whole of Christ's
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body? With the members of the
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community that I have joined in covenantal community with That's
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beautiful. Now on that foundation, let's
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jump in chapter one. He gives his typical opening,
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his his recognition of his calling as an apostle of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, and then his his typical signature nod to the
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Godhead in verse 2. Grace be to you and peace from
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God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
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blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
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Christ. You'll notice that phrase again
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and again and again as we go through effusions.
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Everything is in Christ. We have no hope.
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We have no grace. We have no peace only in Christ.
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That's where it is to be found. And he he acknowledges that.
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And by the way, as a side note, that very first word in verse 2,
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grace BTU, that comes from that Greek word Harris, which is the
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root for the English word charisma.
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It's this. It's this power to lead and to
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love. So for those who'd like to see
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how that might be written out, the caris is pronounced as a
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sound. That's beautiful.
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So now notice verse four, he says.
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According as he hath chosen us in him, God the Father chose us
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in Christ, not independent of the Lord before the foundation
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of the world. That is beautiful doctrine from
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a from a latter day St. perspective, that before the
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foundation of the world. If we read in the In the Pearl
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of Great Price over in the book of Abraham, chapter three, he
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talks about seeing many of the noble and the great ones who
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were there before the foundation of the world.
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And many of them were chosen before even the beginning of the
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creation, that that foundation of the world.
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Meaning we're setting things up for this creation.
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And he says, what were we chosen for?
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That we should be holy and without blame before him in
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love. He chose us for holiness to
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become one in Christ, one with him, and one with God through
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Christ. I'm still just so impressed that
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Paul, in the circumstances he finds himself he's been
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persecuted. He's been beaten.
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He's been left for dead. Here he is in prison, and his
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messages love. How many of us who have, in our
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moments of deepest suffering would say the message I want to
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share with the world right now is God's love.
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This is how God's love can transform even the most
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difficult, challenging suffering.
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That we can realize that ultimately everything is brought
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into oneness through His love and healed.
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You know, Taylor, that reminds me of of one of President
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Russell and Nelson's famous statement that that our our
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happiness, our joy, our peace in life is not determined by
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anything external by by these these external forces of life,
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but rather by our internal devotion, dedication,
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consecration, conversion to Christ.
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That's where our peace is felt. That's where our grace is felt.
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Because from a worldly perspective, like you're saying
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that there is no grace, there is no peace for Paul.
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But he's clearly not shaking his fist at heaven saying why are
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you letting these bad things happen to me when I've been so
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good and I've been trying so hard to be so good for so long
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and suffered so many things. It's it's beautiful how when we
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read scriptures they actually teach us how to suffer well as
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well as how to prosper and how to bless others in in in times
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of more peace. But this is a beautiful example.
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Now look at verse five. God having predestinated us unto
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the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself
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according to the good pleasure of his will.
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Now there's a Christian tradition it's been around for
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centuries called Calvinism. Calvinism is this idea of it
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doesn't matter what I do or what I don't do, God has either
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predestinated me to be saved or to be damned, and I can't change
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it. So I can.
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I can do things, but it's not going to change the outcome
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because it has been predetermined or I have been
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predestined to one or the other. So because of that doctrine that
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we in a latter day St. perspective would not agree with
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that that Calvinist conclusion. Because we would preach based on
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what we understand from scriptures of the restoration
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that there's an incredible amount of power wrapped up in
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this idea of agency and it's counterpart accountability that
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it's not predetermined whether I'm going to to go to heaven or
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go to hell. It's predetermined that I have
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lots of options and lots of choices.
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So what would happen if you took verse 5 and instead of saying
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ooh, I don't like that because it talks about predestination.
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What if we shifted away from speaking about verse five in the
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singular context? Instead of seeing it as God's
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talking about me or you as an individual, what if we looked at
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verse 5 from a whole group That has become one perspective which
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seems to be the thrust of the epistle to the Ephesians now all
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of a sudden. Would anybody disagree from a
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from a latter day state perspective to say no, no no, we
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don't believe that there's any group or family or sets of
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tribes of people who have been for ordained or predestinated
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for salvation. I think we would say, wait a
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minute, the House of Israel was the group that was
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predestinated. If you're going to be saved,
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that's the group you have to become a part of.
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You have to either be born in it or adopted into it.
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Now with that perspective of a of a unity among that diverse
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group across all parts of the world as we move forward, let's
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read verse 5 again, not thinking of an individual but of a
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collective group having predestinated us or all of us
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unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself
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according to the good pleasure of his will.
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Now all of a sudden you say, oh, that's a beautiful verse, and
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now you tie in what President Nelson said.
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Anytime we do anything to help anyone make and keep covenants
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on either side of the veil, we are gathering Israel.
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We are bringing people into this predestinated family of Israel.
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That's the only place where salvation is offered.
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That is the predestinated group for heaven.
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But there's this agency factor that's attached that allows us
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to choose whether we enter into that family or not.
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When I look at this word, predestinated building on what
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Tyler has taught. You might also consider reading
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the word plan of salvation. God has a plan, you could say,
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having created a plan of salvation for us, which would
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include if we choose to receive the gifts of the plan of
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salvation, we are adopted as children of Jesus Christ.
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We are brought into this oneness, so we hope that those
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perspectives might help you make sense of this word predestinated
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that in the past have been seen in a different way, like there
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was just no choice, no matter what.
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God is going to make things happen and your agency doesn't
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matter. That we believe is not correct.
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Instead, our agency does matter, and the plan salvation invites
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us as a collective whole to be one with Jesus.
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Now look over 7 What's the very first word in?
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Again, everything is going to keep coming back to being in
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Christ, So it's in whom we have redemption through.
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So it's not just in, but it's also through Christ.
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Throughout this, this epistle, through His blood, the
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forgiveness of sins according to the richness of His grace,
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wherein He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
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And he's made known unto us the mystery of his will according to
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his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself.
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It's that idea that when we seek revelation, when we seek
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guidance, when we seek comfort, when we seek direction or
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answers to our prayers, trying to make major decisions, you're
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trying to overcome difficulties. Sometimes we don't get exactly
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what we asked for, when we asked for it, how we asked for it.
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I love the reality that Paul is painting this picture.
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For these Ephesians to say, can you just trust that God is more
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powerful and more knowledgeable and more loving and more grace
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filled then you can possibly imagine.
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So if you're doing the best you can, you're seeking for help and
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it's not coming, let it go. Don't, don't let go your faith,
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don't let go of your pleading, but let go of that frustration.
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Let go of that anxiety of why isn't he answering, and you
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simply move forward, trusting that God is doing His will
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according to his timing with us. And it's powerful when we can
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let go of that, that feeling of of deep frustration, when we're
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not getting exactly what we want, how we want it.
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Well, it's interesting you use this word trust Tyler, because
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that shows up in verse 12 and verse 13.
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Yeah, so. So even before we get to the
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trust in 12 and 13, look at the oneness in verse 10 which builds
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us into this trust verse 10 that in the dispensation of the
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fullness of times, Joseph Smith has interpreted the 7th
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dispensation, our dispensation, as the dispensation of the
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fullness of times. It may have been interpreted a
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little differently back by these Ephesian recipients of this
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letter because in their mind they feel like in that early day
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that they're living in the dispensation of the fullness of
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times and they're getting closer and closer to the coming of
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Christ. They many of them think it's
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going to be in their day. Notice he says he might gather
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together in one all things in Christ.
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What percentage of things? That's all things The Lord isn't
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trying to separate and divide and draw boundary lines.
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He's trying to bring together all things in one in Christ,
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both which are in heaven and which are on earth.
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Even in him, I love something that a New Testament scholar has
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shared and and he's pretty, pretty strong on this NT, right?
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He's he's a a great scholar of the New Testament and he has
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pointed out repeatedly this concept that for some reason our
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world feels this this inherent need to cut and divide asunder
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and separate things, including heaven and earth and NT.
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Wright's point is, he says, so often we talk about heaven as if
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it's far away, galaxies away, and this terrible earth that we
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live on. We've just got to kind of slog
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our way through it and hope that we'll be saved so we can leave
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this terrible place and go to heaven.
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And NT Wright says Jesus came from heaven to earth to bring
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the two of them together. The Kingdom of God is on the
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earth. He's trying to.
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He's not trying. He is establishing an outpost of
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heaven here on the earth. He came down and he squarely and
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firmly planted the flag of heaven here.
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And if you're going to be saved, this is great Latter day St.
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theology as our doctrine as well.
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If you're going to be saved in the celestial Kingdom of our
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God, you won't be somehow transported from this planet to
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some unknown, disclosed, undisclosed location out in out
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in the universe. Heaven will have planted its
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flag in your heart, in your soul right here.
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So instead of waiting for that day to to escape and go to
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heaven, perhaps we could plead with God to grant our eyes
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vision to see more of the heavenly and more of the unity
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that Christ brings and more of the Zion that Christ is
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establishing increasingly and at an accelerated pace.
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And it and based on what President Nelson has been
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teaching, some of the greatest miracles that he has ever
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performed are pending and we will see more and more and more
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as heaven takes over and makes the earth heavenly.
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So verse 10 is a is a beautiful principle for us to find more
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joy in our journey and see earth.
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Not quite the way social media. Or you turn on the news on TV
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and you see all the bad. Perhaps we could spend less time
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focusing there, a more time focusing on what our prophets,
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sears, and revelators are telling us about what Christ is
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doing here. Well, including the verse 11, it
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says in whom this is. Through Jesus Christ we have
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obtained an inheritance. What is that inheritance?
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We inherit the earth. We inherit heaven because of
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Jesus Christ. So there's not this division.
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So we have these promises, which you see again down in verse 12,
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that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted
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in Christ, in whom ye also trusted.
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After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
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salvation, in whom that means Jesus also after you believed
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you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
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So Paul is trying to bring this all together right here at the
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beginning of Ephesians. Oneness is in Jesus Christ.
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We can trust in Him. Our inheritance is in Him.
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We can find right now joy in building out the Kingdom of God.
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Wherever we stand, wherever we are, any act of goodness that we
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do helps push forward God's Kingdom and becomes a touch
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point for heaven in our own, in our own domain, we can we can
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bring that unity and oneness in your little worlds, where
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wherever whatever part of the vineyard our our little part of
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the world happens to be, we can make a difference there.
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We can make a heavenly difference there.
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And it's powerful. Notice verse 14 this what is the
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sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise in verse 13 he says,
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which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption
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of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory.
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Remember when we talked about this in a in a previous lesson?
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The word earnest here has financial underpinnings.
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In the Greek it's this earnest money or this small down payment
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because he's saying he's going to make a purchased possession
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of you. Christ came from heaven to
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purchase your soul, and he did. He paid for it.
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It's already paid. We're already redeemed.
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Now he just gives us these little earnest down payments of
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the Holy Ghost along the way to remind us that we're going to
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receive the praise of his glory. So then he he gives in.
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In this next column, verse 15 through 23, he's giving you this
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idea of how grateful he is because of some of the reports
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that he's gotten back from what's going on in Ephesus.
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And remember, during that third missionary journey, he spent two
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years among these Ephesian Saints.
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He knows them probably as well as any other group he's written
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to. He's at least spent at least as
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much time with them as anybody else, and possibly even more
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than any other group. He knows them very well, I
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noticed, he says. Wherefore I also, after I heard
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of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints, I
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cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
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prayers. What a beautiful, tender
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connection that this this apostle has with these people.
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He's invested so much into them and he's so grateful to find out
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that they've they've continued in the face.
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Compared to the challenges he faced with the Galatians who
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seemed to be drawn away by preachers who didn't really
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understand the gospel, or the Corinthians who had to receive
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multiple letters from him to try and encourage them to stay stay
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faithful. So this seems to be one of those
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letters. He is probably a bit happier to
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be right. Absolutely.
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Now you go to Ephesians chapter 2, and he he's he's making this
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contrast between who you used to be, you Ephesian Saints,
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compared to who you are. Look at verse 2, Wherein in
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times past you walked according to the course of this world,
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according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit
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that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
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You were walking. After that you were you were in
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that course. But then look at verse 4.
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But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he
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loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
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together with Christ. By grace you are saved, and I
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love that the King James translators put in a little
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winky face there at the end, that little semi colon, close
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parenthesis. There were no punctuation marks
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in the Greek manuscripts in the early editions of the Bible.
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So this is a King James translation edition, but I think
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it's well placed. So this this idea here, in fact
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he uses his contrast a lot is that you have the Gentiles who
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sometimes the way he talks about it is they represent death and
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sinfulness. You have the Jews who represent
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God's covenant and now God is basically bringing them into
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one. So those who had access to the
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covenant but always didn't always take advantage of it
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properly, and those who were not born into the covenant.
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And just essentially were born into a very fallen state and
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having no access to the gospel, they essentially live dead lives
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and now God's mercy has brought them into life.
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So Paul sometimes speaks in complicated ways, but this is
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what he's trying to use from a metaphor.
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Gentiles represent death, but now they're back in life, in
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Jesus. And every even the Jews are in
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that unity with with Jesus, and all of that coming to this
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center, coming into Christ, that oneness with Christ.
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Can there be any other label for that than grace and grace alone?
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They didn't. Neither group deserved this.
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Neither group earned this. But the Lord gave it to both
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groups. Now look what he what he
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continues to save verse 8. For by grace are ye saved
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through faith, and that not of yourselves.
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It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
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boast. And verse 10 For we are his
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workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
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hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
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He brings us into this oneness. Not so we can eat, drink, and be
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merry, and tomorrow be saved, but he brings us into this
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oneness, so that we can abound in good works through His grace.
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So he brings us in by His grace, and then he enables us through
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his grace to abound in good works, to become more like him,
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to be turned outward. Whether we're Jew or Gentile, it
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doesn't matter anymore, because we're no longer defined by those
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labels of the world. Because we've taken on a primary
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identity as taught in the that great talk.
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We've mentioned it many times and we'll keep mentioning it.
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Choices for eternity from President Nelson.
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Those three primary identities I am a child of God.
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I am a child of the covenant. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
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All of which is encapsulated in the goodness and the grace and
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the merits and the mercy of Christ and of of God to bring
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that to us, which becomes this beautiful foundation for what he
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says next. And as we get to that, let's
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just paint the context again. That when Paul was an Ephesus,
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this is one of the leading Grocco Roman cities.
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It was full of some of the greatest architectural marvels
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dedicated to all the different Greek and Roman gods.
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And in most of those religious sentiments, the way that those
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religions worked to worship the Greek or Roman gods is you had
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all sorts of works that you had to do.
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To appease the gods, or to convince the gods that you
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deserved something from them. So for the Ephesians, you're
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going to realize that Paul is being very fixated on teaching
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grace and faith against works, in part because these people who
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are Gentiles, not Jews, who'd grown up with the whole
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workspace thing, they had to keep the commandments.
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The Gentiles knew. If I want the grace of these
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gods in my society, I have to do all sorts of works, and Paul's
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trying to counteract that. And we have to just put
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ourselves in that context and realize really how earth
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shattering this doctrine is that no, the gods that you are
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serving have actually, they don't exist.
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There's one God who actually has served you.
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He has served you freely and all he asks is for you to receive
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that gift. Now there are some obligations
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of receiving the free gift and Paul does talk about that.
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But first and foremost, stop thinking you have to earn the
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love of any of these fake gods or the real God.
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That's that is the context that Paul is really trying to
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emphasize here when he's teaching this doctrine about the
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grace and the love of Jesus Christ.
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Now look at this next little comparison that comes up and and
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I believe it's probably more geared to those who have a
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Jewish understanding of the tab Tabernacle and the temple.
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But it could also have multiple implications for the the
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Gentiles understanding as well. But look at verse 12 that at
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that time you were without Christ being aliens from the
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Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of
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promise having no hope and without God in the world.
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You were you were not thinking about him.
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You were not praying to him. You were not following him at
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that time. But now, in Christ Jesus,
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there's that word again in everything is in the Savior.
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Ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of
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Christ. You used to be way out there, so
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far cut off from God and all of his goodness and his merits and
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his mercy and his grace. But now you've become nigh.
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You've been brought into this fold.
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Verse 14. For he is our piece who has made
28:22
both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between
28:30
us. What does that middle wall
28:31
partition even mean? That's a reference here.
28:33
That's why I say I think this is initially from Paul's
28:37
perspective, he he might be alluding to that fence or that
28:43
sworeg as it's called in the temple back in Jerusalem.
28:48
There's a a lattice work fence that's about 500 cubits square
28:53
and it has 13 openings around the perimeter and it separates
28:59
in the temple, as you can see here in this 3D rendition from
29:04
virtualscriptures.org. You can see that as you walk up
29:09
to any one of these openings, On the side here there was,
29:12
according to Josephus, on one side it was an inscription in
29:16
Greek, and on the other side it was written in Latin just to
29:18
make sure all the gentiles could read it.
29:21
And the inscription says basically Gentiles beware, if
29:24
you pass by this point you will be responsible for your own
29:28
death cuz basically we're going to kill you.
29:31
So as we now look at this this bird's eye view of the temple
29:34
looking down, you have this this 500 cubit square area that
29:39
Gentiles are not allowed to enter.
29:41
It is a middle wall of partition and they cannot get in.
29:45
So that is as close as they can come to.
29:48
The symbolic presence of God in the holy of holies is coming up
29:52
to to this sore egg. Now, if you're a a woman, at
29:57
that time, a Jewish woman, let's take this this verse one or two
30:02
steps further. You're welcome to come through
30:05
if you're a Jewish woman, and you can now come into this part,
30:09
which is the court of the women. But there's this huge, beautiful
30:14
Nikonore gate at the top of these semicircular steps.
30:18
And if you're a woman, you are not allowed to pass that point.
30:20
That gate becomes a middle wall of partition for you.
30:27
And if you're a man, you can go through that gate and you can
30:31
maybe ascend some of these these little steps here up to this one
30:35
cubit high separating wall. But if you're not a priest, if
30:39
you're not in the tribe of Levi and appointed to be on on shift
30:43
so to speak, in the court of the priest, that little partition
30:49
becomes a wall for you. That's as close as you can get
30:52
to the presence of God. And if you're a priest that
30:54
wasn't assigned to go into the Holy Place to burn the incense,
30:57
or to refill the olive oil in the menorah, then this outer
31:03
veil and outer door into the Holy Place becomes a middle wall
31:06
of partition for you. And if you're not the high
31:10
priest, then the veil here that we're looking at becomes a
31:14
middle wall of partition for you, because only the high
31:18
priest gets to go into the Holy of Holies one time a year on Yom
31:22
Kippur or the Day of Atonement. Multiple middle walls of
31:27
partition for everybody except for the high priest.
31:31
And where does this come from? Many cultures and religions have
31:35
this idea of gradations of holiness, but we could probably
31:38
tie this right back to the experience that Moses had.
31:41
Remember, Moses helps save the people out of Egypt under the
31:44
power of God, and God wants to bring them all into his presence
31:48
at the Sinai Temple mountain. And what the people say, oh,
31:53
actually we're too afraid to encounter God, Moses, you go on
31:56
our behalf. And so God established a series
31:59
of gradations of holiness begins right back there about, well, if
32:04
you guys don't want to enter my presence, I'm going to create
32:07
stepping stones. But when to to have access to my
32:11
presence. But when Christ comes, all
32:14
that's broken down, Christ is now allowing everybody.
32:18
If they are willing to receive His freely offered gift of
32:22
salvation, they have full access to the presence of God.
32:25
That's so beautiful. It's so empowering.
32:28
We no longer have to feel like victims of circumstances and end
32:33
of the world. We can embrace the Lord Jesus
32:37
Christ and the grace that He offers us and move forward with
32:40
confidence in Him. Notice verse 15.
32:43
Christ abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of
32:50
commandments contained in ordinances for making himself of
32:53
Twain one new man, so making peace.
32:58
So he becomes this embodiment, this unity of heaven and earth,
33:04
He takes upon him flesh. And Hebrews chapter 10 that
33:08
we'll get to later is is this beautiful theme that President
33:13
Nelson has taught now so powerfully that the the flesh of
33:20
Christ is symbolized by that veil.
33:23
And you'll remember when he was crucified on the cross and died.
33:28
The first thing that Matthew mentions after some some
33:33
resurrection stuff he he mentions the veil of the temple
33:38
was rent in twain from top to bottom.
33:42
Brothers and sisters, I would suggest to you that the tearing
33:45
down of the middle wall of partition occurred on the on the
33:49
cross and in the trials and in Gethsemane.
33:52
That's the process whereby all of these barriers, all of these
33:57
separating and dividing lines and gradations are torn down and
34:04
heaven opened wide the gate to say all are welcome to come in.
34:10
Whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you're man or woman,
34:15
whether you're common from one of the other tribes or from the
34:21
tribe of Levi, one of the priests, whether you're a priest
34:24
or a high priest, it doesn't matter anymore.
34:27
All are welcome to come in because Christ has broken down
34:31
every wall of partition that separates me from the presence
34:36
of God, and he is the way. I don't have to.
34:40
I don't have to find some hidden path, I just need to be a true
34:45
disciple of Jesus Christ. And it's based in love.
34:48
There's this word here that we're probably all familiar with
34:51
in English called enmity. And the word enmity is based on
35:00
the Latin word like on me, which means love.
35:04
And we know that God's covenants are all about love.
35:07
When you put the N in front of a me, it means.
35:11
Not love or not in a loving relationship.
35:14
So our word enmity also is where we get the word enemy okay,
35:19
which is a variant of saying somebody, an enemy is somebody I
35:23
don't love. What do we hear in the Sermon of
35:26
the Mount? Love your enemies and pray for
35:30
them, which means? They have to be your ami.
35:34
In fact, you might know the word amigo in Spanish comes from
35:39
this. An amigo is a friend.
35:41
It's the word or somebody that you are love and not like I'm in
35:46
this romantic relationship, but you care about them and you have
35:49
mutual obligations to one another.
35:52
And Christ is saying I'm breaking all this down and it
35:55
comes back to this oneness. You can even put the word on me
35:58
in here. It's all about love, by the way.
36:02
Any woman out there with the name Amy?
36:05
That's the word. Now let's hunker down for just a
36:10
moment in these next verses because they're beautiful.
36:13
Verse 17. Christ came and he preached
36:16
peace to you, which were a far off, and to them which were
36:21
nigh. There's Gentile and Jew who were
36:26
already close to this, this recognition of God and his
36:30
covenant connections that He's offering now.
36:33
Therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
36:39
fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God in
36:45
in Christ there is no foreigner, there is no outcast stranger.
36:50
We are all one in Him. Look at verse 20.
36:54
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
36:57
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in
37:03
whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an
37:07
holy temple in the Lord. I love this concept of being
37:12
fitly framed together and you've got apostles and prophets, but
37:18
Christ is the chief cornerstone. It's just the imagery is so
37:23
beautifully secure, especially when you consider the talk given
37:27
by President Russell Nelson when he talked about the Salt Lake
37:31
Temple and having the temple become our shore foundation for
37:37
our life of faith and devotion and dedication to Christ.
37:41
Moving forward. And you look at the effort put
37:43
into strengthening the temple in Salt Lake.
37:47
And that is just a placeholder, beautiful symbol for what the
37:52
Lord through His prophets and apostles, is doing with us, how
37:57
firm a foundation is laid for our faith.
38:04
Which brings us now to chapter 3.
38:06
Notice he says in verse 3 how that by revelation he made known
38:11
unto me the mystery as I wrote a A4 in a few words whereby when
38:17
you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
38:20
Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of
38:24
men as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
38:27
by the Spirit. I love those 3 verses because
38:30
what they're showing is Paul is acknowledging this fact that
38:33
it's not as if everybody's born into a complete understanding
38:37
and a knowledge, either individually or collectively,
38:40
that sometimes the power of having prophets and apostles on
38:45
the earth is to trust that God is actually using them the way
38:49
that he's always used apostles and prophets through the history
38:52
of time, which is to reveal great and important things
38:55
pertaining to the Kingdom of God for our time, our day, and our
38:59
situation. I love that.
39:01
I also love that Paul's being a little bit personal here.
39:04
It's not super obvious, but he's kind of expressing joy and
39:09
wonder that he would been so persecuting the church.
39:12
Was called by God to deliver this message of grace to the
39:16
Gentiles. So he sees himself in the large
39:20
planet, salvation in God's work, that he was given the privilege
39:24
to play this important role, to help more people know these
39:27
truths that he's sharing. And I think a little bit like we
39:30
have in the Book of Mormon, where Ammon and his brothers,
39:33
after they've had so much success on the Lamanites, they,
39:37
some of them faint out of joy. I can almost see Paul here in
39:40
prison just feeling this enormous.
39:42
Joy and even just wonderment that God would have chosen him a
39:48
total outcast in terms of his actions, to call him out to help
39:54
save other people. He he he gives a nod to that
39:56
inverse 8 right? That's basically what he's
39:58
saying here unto me. God, God's working effectually
40:03
by his power in me, who am less than the least of All Saints in
40:08
this is this grace given. That I should preach among the
40:12
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
40:15
The great mystery is God's goodness and his grace that
40:20
comes to us in and through and of Jesus Christ and he's saying,
40:25
and and I'm less than the least and I'm I'm a walking object
40:30
Lesson of God's grace is basically what Paul's telling
40:33
these Saints now he he brings us down into chapter 4 and he says,
40:39
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord.
40:43
I think that's fascinating because he he could have very
40:45
easily said a prisoner of the Romans or a prisoner of Caesar.
40:50
But he's choosing to see the hand of God in his circumstance.
40:56
A prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the
41:00
vocation wherewith you're called, with all lowliness and
41:04
meekness, with long-suffering and forbearing one another in
41:10
love. So he gives you the what in
41:12
verse One walk worthy, and he gives you the the more
41:16
mechanical the how. How do I do this?
41:20
In verse one, there's this really powerful word.
41:23
Therefore now often when we read, we just kind of read
41:26
quickly and we sometimes miss important words.
41:29
Paul has spent three chapters laying out what we might call
41:33
God's story of salvation and. Then in chapter 4, it's OK
41:40
therefore because of this fact of what God has done to offer
41:45
salvation. Therefore your story is to do
41:49
these things, to be folded into God's story.
41:53
So that therefore is a turning point in the 6th chapter Epistle
41:58
to the Ephesians. And obviously he was speaking
42:00
directly to his Ephesians a long time ago, but we can now say to
42:03
ourselves, OK, this is therefore.
42:06
Is something I need to be paying attention to.
42:08
Yes, I can look back at the 1st 3 chapters and see all that God
42:12
has done so gracefully for me. Therefore, how do I respond?
42:17
What should I be doing to help participate in God's work of
42:22
creating oneness? And the next three chapters are
42:25
a series of extended discussions for how oneness can be achieved.
42:30
That's a powerful reminder that that those first three chapters
42:36
keep us focused on what God's done now. 4-5 and six are what
42:41
God is willing to help us do in in that building.
42:45
That is a powerful reminder. Thank you for bringing that up.
42:48
Now if you if you look at chapter 4 starting in verse
42:51
four, remember this keyword, this, this look for concept and
42:56
principle in the official to the the Ephesians, the word one.
43:00
Notice this. There is one body and one
43:04
spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling, 1
43:08
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all who
43:13
is above all and through all and in you all.
43:18
Fascinating wording here coming from Paul, that the Father is in
43:22
you all. Joseph Smith taught very clearly
43:25
that this is an old sectarian notion that that God the Father
43:30
or Jesus Christ could come and dwell inside of us.
43:32
That is the role of the Holy Ghost.
43:33
Why, he's a spirit. But it's this idea of the
43:37
influence and the power of God dwelling in us where 4 verse
43:42
eight he saith when he ascended up on high, he led captivity
43:47
captive. Don't you love that little play
43:51
on words? He He led captivity, that which
43:54
used to bind you and separate you and isolate you.
43:57
Christ came down and He led that captivity captive.
44:01
It can no longer hold on to you because you have embraced the
44:06
Savior. Verse 9.
44:08
Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first
44:14
into the lower parts of the earth?
44:17
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
44:21
all heavens, that He might fill all things.
44:25
So here you get the doctrine of Christ's condescension and
44:29
exaltation that he descended below all so that he could
44:33
ascend us up to become like him, become heavenly, which now leads
44:38
us to verse 11. Which is an interesting verse
44:40
because we're talking about oneness, and again, oneness does
44:44
not mean sameness. I think Tyler and I are pretty
44:47
unified and wanting to help people feel God's love in the
44:51
scriptures. But we're pretty much not the
44:54
same. This guy's got really nice hair,
44:57
and I wish I had nice hair. And even our suit jackets are
45:00
different. So the point here is we don't
45:03
have to be the same, but we do have to be 1 and unified.
45:08
And notice how Paul uses an example of how you can be
45:12
unified even though you might be called to very different
45:15
specific responsibilities. Now this order here is is
45:18
powerful verse 11. And he gave some apostles and
45:24
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and
45:30
teachers. So he just listed off five
45:34
officers beginning with apostles.
45:38
And if you look at what the definition of an apostle is,
45:41
it's a it's a prophesir and revelator.
45:45
It's and we'll get to that when we cover the Epistle to the
45:48
Hebrews more in depth. But that's what he gave 1st
45:52
called apostles and prophets and then the evangelists.
45:56
Joseph Smith translated that to be patriarchs.
46:00
Others in in more in other Christian traditions see
46:05
evangelists as missionaries. People who go out and evangelize
46:09
spread the word. And some pastors, those would be
46:13
like bishops, state presence, relief Society presidents, a
46:17
young woman's presence, primary presence, people who oversee A
46:21
flock out, in, out, in the pasture, these little lambs.
46:26
And we protect them and we guide them to the still waters into
46:30
the green grass. And then teachers, I think it's
46:35
beautiful that he's listing out all of these different roles or
46:41
officers, and it's not a competition.
46:44
The problem comes when a teacher, for instance, places
46:49
themselves first in that list above a Bishop or a state
46:54
president, above God's prophets, sears and revelators, or when
46:59
anybody puts themselves in a different inverted set of those
47:04
offices that that Christ has established.
47:08
And. Distracts from the purpose,
47:11
which is revealed in verse 12 for why these offices exist.
47:14
That's right. So we don't just call you to an
47:16
office so you can be a title bearer, so you can occupy a seat
47:21
and get the glory of the world. You actually with every office
47:25
listed there or each role or assignment given there.
47:29
In verse 11, there are some associated duties there.
47:34
There's tasks, missions for you to accomplish.
47:38
And verse 12. Why do you get that assignment?
47:41
For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the
47:45
ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.
47:48
And how long do we do this? What is the time frame?
47:52
What is the the the reference point for this verse 13 Till we
47:57
all come in the unity, oneness of the faith and of the
48:02
knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, and to the
48:05
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, do we still
48:10
have our work cut out for us regarding the timing.
48:14
And then we get to 14 which is the purpose for why this is all
48:19
happening in the 1st place that so did you notice the first word
48:24
of each of those verses? 11 is the the list of the the
48:28
roles. Verse 12 started with four,
48:31
which gives us kind of the intent of the duties.
48:33
Verse 13 starts with till, so we're going to do this until
48:36
what point? And then verse 14 is that so
48:40
this is the purpose that we henceforth be no more children,
48:43
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
48:46
doctrine by the slight of men and the cunning craftiness
48:49
whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
48:53
That's our purpose, is to help anchor people in Christ, and
48:59
through his infinite atoning grace and mercy and merits, it
49:04
makes it so that people aren't just being tossed every
49:07
direction by the winds of doctrine that are blowing.
49:10
It's interesting he uses this word children of verse 14, which
49:13
is in contrast to the generic word for an adult.
49:17
We're going to use the word man here, as Paul does.
49:21
And in the Latin, the word for man is this word veer.
49:29
So a real man is a veer, Or a real adult who is mature is a
49:34
veer. You've probably seen in other
49:36
words in English like the word virtue.
49:41
And virtue really means about being a real adult, somebody
49:45
who's mature, who's wise, and who is the real veer.
49:50
The real man, It's Jesus Christ. He is the one who is 1 and
49:54
invites us all to be one with him.
49:58
So virtue is a quality men and women should be aspiring to
50:03
have. So now look at the the
50:06
conclusion of this little sequence here in verse 15.
50:10
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all
50:17
things, which is the head, even Christ.
50:20
Notice this, this couplet that comes together.
50:24
We need to speak the truth in love.
50:28
It's not enough just to tell the truth and to correct people and
50:32
to give commandments and give law.
50:34
You have to give love and it's not enough just to extend the
50:38
love and withhold the truth. You have to do both.
50:42
One of my favorite all time examples of this is a talk that
50:48
was given at Enzyme College back in 2022 by uniquely this
50:54
setting. It was President Dallin A Chokes
50:56
standing at the podium together with Elder Clark Gilbert, the
51:01
Commissioner of Education for the church.
51:03
And the two of them spoke back and forth, not terribly unlike
51:07
what we're doing here. Except for their talk was
51:09
prepared and prophetic and the name of their talk was Stand
51:15
Fast in Love in proclaiming the truth and it it's that beautiful
51:23
interplay and that they the entire talk.
51:25
If you've not heard this or read this highly recommend you look
51:28
it up. Because what they do is they
51:30
walk you through some pretty sensitive pretty difficult
51:34
social issues of our day and they model examples of how you
51:40
can stand fast in speaking the truth in love.
51:46
So if you want to watch how how President Oaks and Elder Gilbert
51:50
interact with some of these difficult concepts like like
51:53
questions regarding race today or LGBTQ issues or some of the
51:59
the difficult issues in our history, they they model this
52:04
this concept as well as any I've ever seen.
52:07
Which unfortunately is rare out in the world of social media.
52:13
There are many people who claim to be speaking the truth.
52:16
But if you just pause and say. Aren't they really speaking the
52:19
truth? Or are they simply pontificating
52:22
their opinion? And more importantly, are they
52:25
speaking in love? And if we use that little
52:29
framework when we happen to hear from other people, are they
52:33
really speaking the truth? And deeply important, are they
52:37
also speaking out of love? Then those are probably people
52:41
to listen to. It's my personal thought that if
52:44
somebody is not speaking the truth and if they're not
52:47
speaking in love. They probably aren't worth
52:50
listening to at that moment. They are a child of God, but
52:53
probably not worth it. God himself is only a being of
52:59
truth and love. That's it.
53:02
He doesn't embrace anything that is lacking in love or is lacking
53:05
in truth. So if we spend any of our time
53:08
embracing or listening to or supporting people who say
53:12
anything that isn't true or isn't also based in love.
53:16
It's keeping us from progressing to be like God, so why not?
53:20
We just set those people aside. We can look for people like
53:24
church leaders who do speak with truth and love.
53:28
And there are many other people around the world who do speak
53:32
with truth and love. But it takes a little bit of
53:34
work to find them. It does and and the reality is
53:36
is we live in a world that would say no.
53:40
The right thing to do is say Taylor, you you are loved.
53:45
I love you, God loves you. Go do whatever you want to do.
53:49
And that's that's the world's message.
53:51
Go live your truth, which is not really love.
53:55
It's worldly tolerance. Because if you really love
53:59
someone, you're going to encourage them to do things that
54:03
will bring lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace,
54:07
lasting connection with God. Not what the world offers you,
54:13
which is temporary pleasure, temporary enjoyment.
54:17
But it's not lasting and it's it's not built on how can I help
54:22
you to become better? It's what can I get from you for
54:26
me to feel good or or to be rewarded in some way.
54:30
So let's let's bring this back here.
54:32
Paul is asking us to be unified in Jesus Christ.
54:35
That message is alive and well today in the restored gospel.
54:39
We encourage you to look around at the voices in the world
54:42
today. How many of them are inviting
54:44
you to be one? Or are they trying to create
54:47
division? And if they're trying to create
54:49
division, you might ask yourself, is this really a voice
54:52
that I should have in my life? Which if you look at verse 19
54:57
now, the wording here is beautiful because it gives us
55:01
this concept of who, being past feeling, have given themselves
55:06
over unto lasciviousness to work, all cleanness with
55:12
greediness. I'm no longer seeking for
55:15
oneness in all of these different groups.
55:18
I'm seeking for one for me. That's it.
55:23
Just me. What can I get out of it?
55:25
Which when I'm past feeling, then I'm going to turn inward on
55:31
myself, which is a reflection of what the devil did in heaven in
55:36
the Premortal Council, and it's what he's encouraging all of us
55:39
to do now. So Paul then finishes verse or
55:44
chapter four with a long list of how to get along with others in
55:49
the church who aren't the same as you, who don't think exactly
55:53
the same as you do, who don't have the same perspective and
55:57
experience as you do. So verse 24 through 32 would be
56:01
something if you're in a presidency or in an
56:04
organization, a group, and you're struggling in those
56:08
relationships, just read verse 24 through 32 and look at the
56:12
imperatives or the command, the the the active verbs that Paul
56:17
is telling you to engage in and we'll finish with verse 32.
56:21
And by the way, these work for families or friendships or any
56:24
kind of relationship. Any relationship, be ye kind one
56:28
to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as
56:32
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
56:37
What a beautiful finishing part. There.
56:40
Now chapter five He opens with verse one and two.
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Be there for followers of God as dear children and walk in love
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as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us.
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An offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.
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A sweet smelling savor. This is beautiful when in the
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temple. And by the way, whether you're a
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Jew or a Gentile, they would have known what he was talking
57:10
about with the sweet smelling savor because they would
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sacrifice animals and burn them whether they were Jew or Gentile
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was just offered. Different parts were offered to
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different gods. In the temple in Jerusalem, it's
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offered to the God of of the Old Testament, Jehovah.
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And if you didn't salt the meat before putting it on the altar,
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it wouldn't smell good. But when you salt it, oh, it's a
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sweet smelling savour. You are the salt of the earth
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and he's asking us to, to Paul's bringing these two examples
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together here beautifully. And then you get the opposite
57:51
example. If you're not the salt, and if
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that offering is not sweet smelling saver, what is it?
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Verse 3, the fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness.
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Let it be or let it not be, once named among you as become a
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Saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting,
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which you're not convenient. And he just keeps going with
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this long list. All these ways that people can
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be disunified and and he finishes with verse 8.
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For you were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord
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walk as children of light. So we've got both salt and light
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both contained in that that incredible sermon on the Mount
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back in Matthew chapter 5. You get some illusions here for
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the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
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and truth. Now skipping down, he gives a
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long list, again starting in verse 14, with a lot of command
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verbs, a lot of imperatives. The these actions 14 all the way
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down to 25 things that you should do in a a covenant
59:04
connection or a marriage in their time.
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Now remember, we've talked about this back in First Corinthians,
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and it's really important here as well that he's writing to
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those people at that time with their cultural constraints.
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So rather than reading this and saying, okay, now, without any
59:23
help from our current prophets and apostles, we're going to
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completely apply this to our own marriages.
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If you do that, you'll probably end up, if you're a man sleeping
59:35
in the doghouse. Watch what happens when you
59:38
combine scriptures with words of living prophets and apostles who
59:43
are guided by the Lord for our day.
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To help us know what these means or what these principles mean.
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In October 2022, Elder Ulysses Suarez gave that incredible talk
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in partnership with the Lord. Listen to these concepts.
1:00:00
Let us consider 2 fundamental principles that strengthen the
1:00:03
partnership between man and woman.
1:00:06
The first principle is we are all alike unto God.
1:00:09
So skipping down a little bit, he says Therefore in this
1:00:12
context we are all considered equal before him.
1:00:17
And then he says, when spouses understand and incorporate this
1:00:20
principle, they do not position themselves as president or vice
1:00:23
president of their family. There is no superiority or
1:00:26
inferiority in the marriage relationship, and neither walks
1:00:30
ahead of or behind the other. They walk side by side.
1:00:37
That feels a lot like unity and oneness to me.
1:00:42
Sounds like what God would say about covenants.
1:00:45
When he would say walk before me, it literally means to walk
1:00:49
face to face. And if I'm standing behind you,
1:00:51
I can't see your face, or if I'm standing in front of you, I
1:00:53
can't see your face. The only way to be face to face
1:00:56
with somebody in a loving relationship is side by side.
1:01:00
So listen to this They walk side by side as equals the divine
1:01:05
offspring of God. They become one in thought,
1:01:08
desire and purpose with our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ
1:01:11
leading and guiding the family unit together.
1:01:16
So again, I I think you probably noticed, I really like this
1:01:20
talk, and it's one of those that if you haven't read it recently,
1:01:24
it's worth rereading. Listen to this part, he says.
1:01:29
Because some people have taken the Proclamation on the family
1:01:34
to the world, and again they've tried to divide out the men from
1:01:39
the women and make it a competition of my roles better
1:01:43
than your role or my roles not as good.
1:01:45
Or is it important as your role, which is not the point of the
1:01:48
Proclamation. It's to bring God's daughters
1:01:53
and sons together in unity and oneness.
1:01:57
We do have different capacities, different propensities,
1:02:00
different roles, but they aren't intended to be divisive or or
1:02:07
even dividing lines. Listen to this.
1:02:10
To nurture means to nourish, teach and support family
1:02:13
members, which is done by helping them to learn gospel
1:02:15
truths and develop faith and Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ
1:02:19
in an environment of love. Now, is that something only
1:02:25
women are supposed to do, or is that your role in your home as
1:02:29
well as mine? To to be one with our spouse in
1:02:33
making sure that this happens? What about presiding?
1:02:36
Because in the world's definition preside, just it it,
1:02:41
it feels like president. It it feels like you're over
1:02:45
everything else. And and some people think
1:02:49
preside means I'm a dictator. The word dictator comes to
1:02:52
dictation. I'm the one who speaks.
1:02:54
And everyone just has to act. And as we said in a past
1:02:59
episode, preside means to sit with like to sit in counsel.
1:03:04
So now listen to Elder Suarez define that word for us in a
1:03:10
home gospel context. This is beautiful.
1:03:14
To preside means to help lead family members back, to dwell in
1:03:20
God's presence. This is done by serving and
1:03:24
teaching with gentleness, meekness and pure love.
1:03:29
There's nothing that we would associate with, with a dictator
1:03:32
or a supreme power of the world's definition of presiding
1:03:37
contained in that. It's this helping bring people
1:03:41
into this unity of oneness with God.
1:03:45
So let's jump to towards the end here.
1:03:47
Chapter 5 in verse 2070 says that he might present it to
1:03:52
himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
1:03:56
such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
1:03:59
That's what the Lord's doing with this unified group that's
1:04:03
coming together is getting rid of all the wrinkles, getting rid
1:04:07
of all the blemishes, all the spots.
1:04:09
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
1:04:15
He that love with his wife, love with himself.
1:04:17
And we happen to live in an environment, in a culture, in a
1:04:21
society that is constantly feeding the appetites and
1:04:26
desires and passions of the flesh, to try to encourage men
1:04:31
and women to break those covenants with their spouse.
1:04:36
And to look for other relationships, as opposed to
1:04:41
binding themselves to the Lord with the spouse, in oneness,
1:04:46
with that complete covenantal loyalty.
1:04:50
That it's it's like God when I make a covenant with him, he
1:04:53
will never break it. And I want to be more like him,
1:04:57
which means when I make a covenant, I will never break it
1:05:01
with with him as well as with a spouse.
1:05:05
Verse 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of
1:05:09
his bones. And for this cause shall a man
1:05:12
leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife,
1:05:16
and they too shall be 1 flesh. There's.
1:05:18
The theme of 1 There's the one again.
1:05:20
What a beautiful principle for for young couples to seek this
1:05:25
unity and oneness. Which now brings us to Chapter
1:05:28
6. And here again, he's speaking to
1:05:30
his audience, who are in a very particular context.
1:05:32
We're going to see more themes about how people can be unified
1:05:36
to children, to parents, even slaves within a slave society,
1:05:41
which in Roman times they had. So culture matters for context,
1:05:47
but doesn't mean we apply the culture that we find in the
1:05:50
context. Which now brings us to the one
1:05:53
of the most famous passages of all of the Pauline epistles,
1:05:57
chapter 6, starting in verse 11, when he says put on the whole
1:06:02
armor of God. That so you could put in front
1:06:06
of the word that the word so it's to the end That or so that
1:06:13
ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the devil.
1:06:17
Now remember, the words put on come from enduo.
1:06:20
It's this is a temple text. This is a passage of being
1:06:26
endowed with power from on high. And how does that endowment play
1:06:31
out? It plays out symbolically with
1:06:33
clothing. The endowment is to put on or to
1:06:37
sink into the Sacred garment. So what is it?
1:06:40
And he's telling you got to put on all parts of the armor.
1:06:42
You don't send, you don't send a soldier into battle with only
1:06:46
half of his armor on, or they're going to aim at the part that
1:06:49
isn't covered and he's going to die.
1:06:52
So we're armoring ourselves so that we can stand against the
1:06:56
Wiles of the devil, and then he clarifies.
1:06:59
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
1:07:01
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
1:07:03
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickness in high
1:07:06
places. So there's nothing wrong with
1:07:09
doing object lessons with the medieval armor.
1:07:11
That's fine. But that's not what Paul's
1:07:13
specifically talking about. He's talking about being clothed
1:07:18
for a spiritual battle. Look at verse 13.
1:07:22
What do we start with in the the clothing?
1:07:26
This endowment motif, the very first item of clothing he
1:07:30
mentions is verse 14. Stand there for having your
1:07:35
loins gird about with truth. So if you picture the the
1:07:42
symbolic beauty of having the powers of procreation covered
1:07:49
with power from God, and what are they closed with?
1:07:54
Truth. Not the world's deceptions.
1:07:57
Not the world's lies. We start there.
1:08:00
And then what's next? And having on the breastplate of
1:08:05
righteousness. So you picture the the
1:08:10
breastplate or your heart, your lungs, your your vital organs
1:08:16
being covered with righteousness.
1:08:19
Some some element that symbolizes righteousness.
1:08:24
And then verse 15, your feet are going to be shod with the
1:08:29
preparation of the gospel of peace.
1:08:31
We have something on our feet, which is a symbol of the path of
1:08:36
life, this covenant path that we're on, this journey that
1:08:41
President Nelson always talks about.
1:08:43
The word peace is also interesting because we're
1:08:45
talking about armor, and armor is not something you typically
1:08:48
use. In peaceful environments.
1:08:51
So the peace here is that even though the Gospel's about peace,
1:08:56
there are forces at war with us, and we have to be protected in
1:09:01
the Gospel, not with the intention to go out and hurt
1:09:04
others or to be offensive in in a negative way, but instead to
1:09:11
be able to proclaim and distribute peace.
1:09:16
By the way, before we before we go any further into this armor,
1:09:21
you'll notice that if you peel back all of the layers of the
1:09:25
symbolism here, you'll find the Lord Jesus Christ at the heart
1:09:29
and core of every single element in this endowment.
1:09:34
Passage loins Gird about with truth.
1:09:38
Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, the
1:09:43
breastplate of righteousness. He is the embodiment of
1:09:46
righteousness, the feet shot with preparation of the gospel
1:09:48
of peace. He is peace.
1:09:50
He's the embodied. He's the Prince of peace on the
1:09:53
mountains. Verse 16.
1:09:55
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be
1:10:00
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
1:10:03
I I love looking at the temple garment as a shield of faith,
1:10:09
covering everything to to quench the fiery darts of the wicked
1:10:15
and take the helmet of salvation.
1:10:18
There's going to be something in that endowment, sacred clothing
1:10:22
to cover our heads or to be placed on our heads and it's
1:10:26
salvation. Think about so the heart
1:10:29
righteousness, the head thoughts of salvation, thoughts focused
1:10:34
on God, on the Savior. And you'll notice that
1:10:38
everything up to this point has been defensive in nature.
1:10:42
It's been protective in nature, verse 17 the second-half says.
1:10:48
And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
1:10:54
So there's something that's going to be hanging at our side
1:10:57
in this sacred clothing symbolism that Paul is laying
1:11:02
out for the Ephesian Saints, that's going to look a lot like
1:11:05
a sword. It's the sword of the spirit is
1:11:07
sharp, and it can divide us under the Wiles of the devil and
1:11:11
the powers of darkness and that chain of darkness that the devil
1:11:14
holds in his hand that is described back in the book of
1:11:17
Moses from Enoch's vision. So we can now use that sword of
1:11:22
the spirit. And what is the sword?
1:11:25
It is the word. Isn't that fascinating?
1:11:27
If you take the word sword, what is it?
1:11:31
Well, it's embedded in the actual word, sword.
1:11:35
It is the word of God. And what do we hold in our hand?
1:11:41
It's the power of God from the words of prophets, both past and
1:11:47
present, as we move forward. That's how we We fight in a
1:11:53
Christlike peaceful way, without bashing Bible, bashing with
1:11:57
people, without contending because he who contendeth with
1:12:00
another is not of the Lord. That's the spirit of the devil,
1:12:04
the spirit of contention. And by the way, sometimes just
1:12:06
showing a sword might be enough to convince people that they
1:12:09
shouldn't be attacking you. So we don't have to throw the
1:12:12
scriptures at people or beat them with the word of God, we
1:12:15
can simply just show it to them and hopefully they say man.
1:12:19
I would also like to have access to those powerful protective
1:12:23
elements that God is freely offering.
1:12:27
So next time you get the opportunity to go to the temple,
1:12:32
don't just see it as a ritual that is just filled with certain
1:12:37
clothing elements and certain covenants that are being made.
1:12:41
Look at everything in that temple as a connecting point to
1:12:46
Christ and being connected with Christ.
1:12:50
Then He connects us with God the Father and with heaven.
1:12:55
Everything in that whole experience is meant to bring us
1:12:59
together in unity, in love, in oneness, and in Christ's grace,
1:13:05
to be able to access the power that he has to give to us in in
1:13:11
the the endowment and ceiling and the initiatory and in the
1:13:17
baptisms and confirmations that take place in the temple.
1:13:22
Now look at verse 18, praying always with all prayer and
1:13:27
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
1:13:30
perseverance and supplication for All Saints.
1:13:35
Notice who we're supposed to be praying for, and persevering
1:13:37
with and supplicating for. It's for All Saints, not just
1:13:42
the ones we like, or not just the ones that think the way we
1:13:45
think, or have the same likes or dislikes as we have.
1:13:50
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may
1:13:53
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel
1:13:58
for which I am an ambassador in bonds that they're in.
1:14:02
I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
1:14:06
That's a powerful conclusion. Again, Taylor started us here
1:14:10
with the context of Paul in bonds in prison.
1:14:13
Now he finishes. But he's not looking at those
1:14:17
bonds as having just earthly power.
1:14:21
He's looking way beyond the bonds to what they symbolize and
1:14:26
an eternal sense for him, which is the invitation that he's
1:14:29
giving us in in any kind of a temple symbolism or church
1:14:32
symbolism to see beyond the actual elements to how they're
1:14:38
connecting us with Christ. This is a beautiful conclusion,
1:14:42
peace be to the brethren. And that is the generic term for
1:14:45
everybody, brothers and sisters, in Paul's day.
1:14:48
In love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
1:14:53
Christ. Grace be with all them that love
1:14:56
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
1:14:59
Amen. That's a powerful closure.
1:15:02
So to to finish off, may the Lord bless all of us to come
1:15:07
together in unity and love that there won't be any more
1:15:11
foreigners, no more strangers, no more middle walls of
1:15:13
partitions. The Lord broke those all down,
1:15:16
so let's not keep rebuilding them.
1:15:18
Let's not keep separating things out.
1:15:20
Let's not fight, whether it be in the family, whether it be in
1:15:24
the church, or whether it be in our other relationships.
1:15:27
But let's find a way in Christ to come together to become one.
1:15:34
That's our prayer, and I think that's the message of Paul for
1:15:37
all of us. Know that you're loved.
1:15:41
And spread light and goodness.