Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Unloading the Theological Truck Msg 226 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Unloading the Theological Truck Msg 226 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Paul's greeting in the first chapter of Ephesians reveals one
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of the most significant themes of his letters, and that
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: is grace. Grace. He taught that grace is not only
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the basis of our salvation, it is also the means
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: by which we live the Christian life. And so living
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: by grace means accepting ourselves and others failures and all.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Don't miss that. It means forgiving and going on. It
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: means refusing to incarcerate ourselves in a cage of guilt
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and shame, or to put others there. It's grace remember
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: that holds us close to our God. Our passage for
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: today's message is found in Ephesians chapter one, verses one
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: through fourteen, and it's in this section we learn how
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: God has lavished his grace upon us. Let me read
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: for you these fourteen verses out of Ephesians, IE Paul
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: faithful in Christ. Jesus, Grace to you and peace from God,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: God and Father of our Lord. Jesus Christ, who has
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the foundation of the world, that we would be holy
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: and blameless before Him in love, He predestined us to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the kind intention of his will, to the praise of
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: us in the beloved. In Him, we have redemption through
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: riches of his grace which he lavished on us. In
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: all wisdom and insight, he made known to us the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: mystery of his will according to his kind intention, which
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: he purposed in him, with a view to an administration
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: summing up of all things in Christ, things in the
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: who works all things after the counsel of his will,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: to the end that we, who were or the first
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: to hope in Christ, would be to the praise of
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: His glory in Him. You also after listening to the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, having also
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: believed you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: of Promise, who is given as a pledge of our
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: possession to the praise of His glory. I can't speak
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: for other professions or trades or whatever, but I can
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: speak for mine. It is not uncommon for me to
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: locate and read about preaching books on preaching. I don't
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: know if medical doctors do that in the field of medicine,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: or if contractors do that about building I wish they would,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: or if architecture read about architecture. But I can tell
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: you personally from experience through the years that I have
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: regularly found my way to books about preaching, and usually
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: they're written by people who do that. I find it's
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: helpful to stay fresh, to get better at what I
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: do and what I love to do, and when I
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: find a good one, I just devour it. Back in
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, I came across a fine book by
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: John Stott called Between Two Worlds, which is where a
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: preacher stands between the ancient world of the Biblical text
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: and the real world of today. There is the need
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: to bridge the gap, to span the time. And it
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: is easy, It is so easy in this world in
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: which I live, to grab the fads the times in
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: which we live, to give people what they want rather
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: than what they need, and to fall into the trap
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: of pleasing people rather than presenting God and his truth.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: So you can imagine my delight. And I have come
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: back to this book again and again. When I got
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: to chapter three and found his title, Theological Foundations for Preaching.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: This isn't this isn't entertaining writing, and it probably isn't
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: too easy to listen to. But I'm going to ask
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: you to do that for a few moments. In a
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: world which seems either unwilling or unable to listen, how
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: can we be persuaded to go on preaching and learn
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to do so effectively? The essential secret is not mastering
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: certain techniques, but being mastered by certain convictions. In other words,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: theology is more important than methodology. Technique can only make
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: us orators. If we want to be preachers, theology is
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: what we need. If our theology is right, then we
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: have all the basic ingredients, all the basic insights we
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: need into what we ought to be doing, and all
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the incentives we need to induce us to do it faithfully.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Behind the concept and the act of preaching, there lies
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: a doctrine of God, a conviction about his being, his action,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: and his purpose. The kind of God we believe in
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: determines the kind of sermons we preach. The chief reason
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: why people do not know God is not because He
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: hides from them, but because they hide from him. Every
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: preacher needs the strong encouragement which this assurance brings. Seated
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: before us in church are people in a wide variety
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: of states, some estranged from God, others perplexed even bewildered
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: by the mysteries of human existence, yet others enveloped in
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the dark night of doubt and disbelief. We need to
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: be sure as we speak to them that God is
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: light and that He wants to shine his light into
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: their darkness. I love great writing, and if you're like me,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: you love great books. And many of the great books
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: are old books. And if you like old books, there
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: are three things that are true about you. First, you
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: would rather think than be entertained. Old books aren't entertaining.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: They don't have pictures in them. There's not a lot
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of humor. There are very few illustrations and anecdotes. They
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: just they just drill into subjects down nice and deeply.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Second thing I can tell you about yourself. If you
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: like old books, you love tight texts, tighte text long sentences,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: sometime paragraphs that last for pages. You don't come up
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: for air very often in old books. There's not a
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: lot of margin. There's not a lot of breathing room.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: You have to think which brings into the third You
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: like going deeper rather than broader. It was Sir Francis
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Bacon who wrote, on one occasion, reading maketh the broad man,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: speaking a ready man, writing an exact man. In fact,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Bacon wrote this about reading. Read not to contradict or confute,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: are to be tested, others to be swallowed, and some
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: few to be chewed and digested. Can't you just hear it?
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: When you get to the Book of Ephesians, you start
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: chewing and you begin to digest. There are no pictures
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: in the Letter to the Ephesians. There's nothing light and
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: easy about Ephesians, though there is everything magnetic in it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: You drill into the subject, and when you think you've
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: gone as deep as you can go, you realize you've
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: not really gone as far as Paul is going to
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: take you. It is a letter that makes you think.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: It isn't entertaining. It isn't bedside reading. As some of
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: you found out this week when you thought I'll read
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: this before I go to sleep tonight. Before long you're
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: asleep and you haven't even gotten through the second chapter.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: It isn't easy reading. I didn't promise you easy reading.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I promised you deep thinking. It is a tight text.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Do you know that verses three through fourteen in the
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Greek text is all one uninterrupted sentence. There isn't even
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: a period between three to fourteen. You run out of
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: breath before you run out of words. If you read
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Ephesians one, three to fourteen orally, and it goes deep,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: it runs deep. A love letters like this the way
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: letters were written in the first century. They start with
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the name of the one who wrote it. Paul, isn't
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: that great? Ever gotten a long letter? I mean, you
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: start to read it especially if it's typed and you
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: don't know the handwriting. What do you do? You go
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: all the way to the end to see who wrote it,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: especially if they don't have a return address on the envelope,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: which usually means trouble. But that's another subject, Paul. That's
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the way I answer the phone, Chuck Swindle. When I
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: answer the phone, I give him my name. I don't
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: go huh. Never call people you go huh. You think
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: is that a man or a woman? That a boy
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: or a girl? Who is that? Is that a human being? Oh?
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: So I just give him my name so they know
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: right away. My kids think I'm a little weird, but
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: they've been thinking that all their lives. So do I care, Paul.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I like the way you start. Paul takes a man
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: whose life has been changed to write a life changing letter,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and Paul qualifies his life is transformed in midlife. Get this.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: With his career already set, with his name already a
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: household word among the Jews of his time, already known
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: as a member of the Supreme Court of Israel, the Sanhedrin.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Coming from a family of Pharisees, this man is on
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: his way to persecute Christians, and boom, he is struck
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: blind by a light from heaven. He is turned in
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: his direction, he is transformed in his soul, and he
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: moves in another direction virtually from that day on, Saul, Saul,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: why do you persecute me? Jesus introduced himself with those words,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and Saul, who are you? Lord? Who are you? He
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: introduces himself to him. He transforms Paul's life. Saul of Tarsus,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: he was known then, and the whole direction of his
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: life changed. Now we know about Paul from that time
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: I'm on, but we don't know about Saul from that
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: time back. You ever thought about that, he says Paul.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: And we suddenly think of the man who was converted
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: it on the way to Damascus, who wrote these letters
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: in the New Testament, who ultimately was beheaded, martyred for
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the cause of Christ, and died a tragic death after
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: living this illustrious end of his life. But what about
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the first part of his life, don't you wonder? John Pollock,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: in his excellent book The Man Who Shook the World,
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: introduces us to the previous Paul. Paul was born in
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a city between the mountains and the sea the year
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: was probably ad One, but all early details are shadow.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: We accept his clear claim. I am a Jew of Tarsus,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: a Hebrew born of Hebrews. Tarsus was the principal city
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: of the lush plain of Silicia in the southwest corner
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: of Asia Minor. Pause. When you don't have pictures, your
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: mind has to picture it. Picture Turkey. Go to the
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: southwest corner, there's Tarsus. Tarsus was a fusion of civilizations
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: at peace under the rule of Rome, Indigenous Silicians and Hittites,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: whose ancestors once ruled Asia Minor, light skinned Greeks, Assyrians
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: and Persians, and Macedonians who had come with Alexander the
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Great on his march to India. His father was most
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: likely a master tent maker, whose craftsmen worked in leather
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: and in silicium. The claw woven from the hair of
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: the large, long haired black goats, which grazed as they
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: still do on the slopes of the Tarus. The black
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: tents of Tarsus were used by caravans, nomads, and armies
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: all over Asia Minor and Syria. Of the mother nothing
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: is known. Paul never mentions her either, because she died
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: in his infancy, or because of some alienation, or because
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: he simply had no particular occasion to do so. He
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: had at least one sister, and they were born to wealth.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: The family held the coveted title citizens of Rome. At
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: that period, the Civis Romanus was seldom granted, except for
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: services rendered or for a fat fee. Saul was the
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: name used at home and emphasized that the Jewish inheritance
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: meant the most. In early years, Gentiles were all around Paul.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: The columns of pagan temples dominated the marketplace Athens. In Rome,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Babylon and Nneveh had combined to create Tarsus, and Paul
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: was unconsciously the child of this Hellenic oriental world. Paul's
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: parents were Pharisees, members of the party, most fervent in
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Jewish nationalism and strict in obedience to the Law of Moses.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: They sought to guard their offspring against contamination. Friendships with
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: gentile children were discouraged, Greek ideas despised. Though Paul from
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: infancy could speak Greek, the Lingua franca, and had a
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: working knowledge of Latin, his family at home spoke Aramaic,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: the language of Judea, a derivative of Hebrew. They looked
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem as Islam looks to Mecca. The school attached
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: to the Tarus or the Tarsus Synagogue, taught nothing but
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: the Hebrew text. This is fascinating. Taught nothing but the
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Hebrew text of the Sacred Law. Each boy repeated its
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: phrases in chorus after the kazan or synagogue keeper, until
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: the vowels and accent and rhythm were precisely correct. Paul
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: learned to write the Hebrew characters accurately on papyrus, thus
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: gradually forming his own roles of the scriptures. By his
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: thirteenth birthday, Paul had mastered Jewish history, the poetry of
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: the Psalms, and the majestic literature of the prophets. His
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: ear had been trained to the very pitch of accuracy,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: and a swift brain like his could retain what he
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: heard as instantly and faithfully as a modern photographic mind
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: retains a printed page. He was ready for higher education.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: A strict Pharisee would not embroil his son in pagan
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: moral philosophy. So probably in the year Augustus died a d. Fourteen,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the adolescent Paul was sent by sea to Palestine and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: climbed the hills to Jerusalem. During the next five or
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: six years, he sat at the feet of Gamaliel, grandson
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: of hilale the Supreme Teacher, who a few years before
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: had died at the age of more than one hundred.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Under the fragile gentle Gamaleel, a contrast with the leaders
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: of the rival school of Chamai, Paul learned to dissect
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: a text until scores of possible meanings were disclosed according
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: to the considered opinion of generations of rabbis. Paul learned
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: to debate in the question answer style known to the
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: ancient world as the daya tribe, and to expound. For
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: a rabbi was part lawyer who prosecuted or defended those
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: who broke the sacred law, and part preacher, Paul outstripped
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: his contemporaries. He had a powerful mind which could lead
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: to a seat on the Sanhedrin in the Hall of
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: polished Stones and make him a ruler of the Jews.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Stay with me just a little more. Before Paul could
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: hope to be a master in Israel, he had to
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: master a trade, for every Jew was bred to a trade,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and in theory, no rabbi took fees but supported himself.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Paul therefore left Jerusalem in his early twenties. Had he
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: been there during the ministry of had he been there
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: during the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, he would surely
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: mention having argued against him. Like the other Pharisees, He
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: probably returned to Tarsus to work in the family tenting
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: business and res zum the old routine winter and sprang
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: and Tarsus until the plane grew steamy and malarial, then
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: the summer city in the Taurus foothills. Winter or summer.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: He would have taught in the synagogue. Soon after his
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: thirtieth birthday, Paul returned to Jerusalem with or without a wife.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: He almost certainly had been married. Jews rarely remained celibate,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: and parenthood was a qualification required of candidates for the Sanhedrin.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Yet his wife never crosses the story. More likely, his
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: wife and family returned with him in Jerusalem. They could
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: discharge the laws more complicated and praiseworthy obligations and display
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: zeal where it would be noticed. Paul could also combat
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: the movement launched by Jesus of Nazareth, fascinating background, brilliant
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: of mind, strong in character, solid and leadership. This man
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: is moving headlong against the followers of the way until
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: the road to Damascus, where he was stopped in his
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: tracks and met face to face the risen Christ who
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: transformed his life. Isn't it? Isn't it impressive that Paul,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: beginning a letter, doesn't begin the letter with words that
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: would impress you. Paul, the brilliant scholar who studied under Gamaliel,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Paul a leader among the Pharisees and Judaism, a member
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: of the Supreme Court. Paul one deserving your attention and esteem. Nope,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: it's just Paulus Apostolos christu issue Paul apostle of Christ
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus that to him put him on a plane that
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: was rare and blessed of God. Apostle. Apostle comes actually
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: from the Greek word apostelos, one sent forth. In fact, apostello,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the verb from which apollos comes or apostolos comes, means
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: to send one off on a commission to do something.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: As one's representative, Kenneth Weist adds, the word is used
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: in in an official capacity to refer to an ambassador
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: or envoy. Now we're back home. Ambassador, we understand Paul
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: an ambassador, Paul sent forth by Christ Jesus as an
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: ambassador to you who are in the city of Ephesus
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: and beyond, Paul an Apostle. I can just see some
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: of you thinking, are we going to go through this
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: word for word for word? We're going to be here
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to Jesus comes back. If we do that, well, that
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be bad either, would it. No, we won't. But
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I wanted you to get a little bit of a foundation,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: because you can't appreciate a letter if you don't know
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: who wrote it. And the better you know who wrote it,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: the more you will appreciate why he says what he does,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and certainly the more you will understand why he mentions
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Christ no less than three times in the very first sentence,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus to the saints who
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: are in Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: to you and peace from God, our Father and the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. One time after another. It is Christ.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: It is Christ. It is Christ. For me to live
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: is Christ. It is no longer about getting my way.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: It is no longer about seeking promotions. It is no
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: longer about impressing my fellow Jews. It is no longer
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: about putting the people of the way out of the way.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: It is now about Christ. When He comes into your life,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: he transforms your life. Your whole fewture is changed, your
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: whole occupation is transformed, Your whole reason for existence is altered,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Your whole attitude is reshaped. It's Christ. Christ for me
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: to live is Christ for me to die means I
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: just get more of Him. Paul, an ambassador once sent
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: forth on behalf of Christ, Jesus by the will of God.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: He makes it clear it wasn't his own will. Look
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: at the recipients of the letter. You may smile when
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: you read the word. The letter is addressed to the Saints.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: We are raised at a time when the word saints
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: is not understood at all. We think of all plasters,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: statues or marble statues standing in the corner of great cathedrals.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: We think of buildings name for saints, or even streets
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: name I once went to a church named Saint Andrew's Church.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: That's not uncommon. But what is a saint if he
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: writes to the saints at Ephesus. They couldn't be plasters.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Plaster saints resists what I was gonna say. They are
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: at Ephesus, they are what are? They're set apart unto God.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: That's what it means, individuals set apart to God, or
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: sometime it's an article of furniture. It is called holy
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: in that it is set apart for God. You want
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: a weird thought on this. I chose this tie this morning.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: It matched my suit, I thought, and I like it.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: I can't read it. It's in Latin. Kind of scared
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: to think of what it may say, but I imagine
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: it's okay. But it's a tie that was set apart
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: for this suit to go to church with me today,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: for the purpose of doing God's work. If you will,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: my tie is holy, it is. It is okay, Relax.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: It is set apart for the purpose of being a
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: part of my my stuff that I'm wearing. The time
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: we spent is we spend together is holy. It's set
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: apart to God. Now we can say that about things
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: and about elements, but now we can say it about people.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Do you know that if you are in Christ Jesus,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: you're a saint. If you don't think that sounds funny.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Put your name after the word saint and try not
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: to smile. See saint, Chuck, I can't say that without smiling.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Just doesn't seem fitted. But it is. Paul is a saint.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Tichicus is a saint. Where did I get that name?
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you asked look over chapter six. I'm gonna
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: show you why I mentioned Tikkus chapter six of Ephesians.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: If you've been reading through Ephesians, you know who Ticiccus is.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: But I won't ask you about that. You know I've
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: asked you to read it through at least once a
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: week while we're in our study of Ephesians. And I'm
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: not gonna have a show of hands. I remember a
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: pastor who did that one time. He said, I want
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: all of you before next Sunday to read Luke chapter
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: twenty five. When you come back, we're going to study
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: that chapter together. So they came back and that Sunday morning,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: he said, how many of you read Luke twenty five?
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: And the whole large number of people raise their hand.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: He said, I'm going to speak on honesty, because there
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: is no Luke twenty five. They are only twenty four chapters,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: so I'm not going to do that. I am not
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: going to ask if you read the chapter. If you didn't,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: you're the loser. If you did, you're the winner. You're
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: better prepared for the study of the letter if you've
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: read it. I look at verse twenty one, chapter six,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: but that you also may know about my circumstances. Oh,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: look at verse twenty I am an ambassador in chains
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly as I
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: ought to speak, but that you also may know about
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: my circumstances. How I am doing. Tikkus, the beloved brother
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: to you. I have sent him to you for this
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: very purpose, that you may know about us, and that
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: we may comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: so on. I think Tichicus was the one who took
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the letter in scroll form after Paul wrote it on papyrus.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: He gave it to Tikeacus because Paul couldn't leave. He
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: was under arrest in Rome. He couldn't get out of
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: the house. So we handed it to Tikeicus, and he said,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: take it to Ephesus and make sure the letter makes
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: its round so Tichicus, one of Paul's fellow ministers, is
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a saint. Saint Tichicas, Saint Paul, other saints we could
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: name in the city of Ephesus. To the saints who
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: are at Ephesus, he also says of these people, they
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: are faithful in Christ Jesus. They are people who live
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: by faith. They walk by faith, and please observe. The
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: key expression in the letter to the Ephesians is in
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. Did you know when you came to faith
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: in Christ? Did you realize that at the moment you
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: said yes to the Lord Jesus Christ, the moment you
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: received him as your own personal God, your own Savior.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Did you know that you were placed into Christ? You
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: were placed into not only the body of other believers
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: who are in the family of God. You were made
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: a part of the Church universal. You were placed into Christ.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: You say, wait a minute, I'm still who I am.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: I'm still I'm still living, and I'm still working where
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I work on this earth. I'm still doing what we're
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: talking about. Your position. We're talking about theory. Remember I said,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: this isn't easy reading think theoretically in God's eyes, When
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: you said yes to the Lord Jesus Christ. He took
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: you into his own, and he into his beloved son,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: so that the very things he sees about his son
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: he sees about you. This is called your position in Christ.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: You are in Christ. The founder of Dallas Seminary, Lewis Ferrychaeffer,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: used to love to preach on this subject, and he
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: used to take the task certain hymns that said not
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: quite enough. There is a hymn called a Nearer to
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: God Nearer, and he took that him on and wrote
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: these words, Nearer to God Nearer, I cannot be, for
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: in the person of his Son, I am as near
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: as he Isn't that great? You could not be nearer
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: to God. You are in his son, and in his
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: son you are as close to God's heart as the
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Son is. Great. You're just sitting there looking at me
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: like it's just something else. Oh, what's going on here?
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: This changes you completely in God's eyes. Before you were lost,
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: you were awash. You were out of the family, you
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: were out of the blessing. You had no inheritance, you
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: had no future but hell. But in Christ you have
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: been raised, you have been seated. You have a secure
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: ultimate eternity that will be rewarded and blessed forever and ever,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: because that's the future of the sun. What is true
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: of the Sun is true of you. He has power
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: over the enemy. You have power over the enemy. He
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: dominates the times in which he lived, and you are
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: able to dominate the sin that once ruled you. It's
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: called positional truth, and will walk through it over and
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: over and over. In the Letter to the Athesians, then
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: this great Pauline salutation two words that I want you
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: to become ultimately familiar with Verse two Grace and peace.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Grace and peace. Grace is God's free, undeserved mercy and favor.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: He showers it on us because of his great love
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: for us. God in grace reached down, saw us in
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: our need and in our coming to Christ. He poured
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: out his favor upon us and continues to do that
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: until we die. You don't earn it, you can't deserve it,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: nor ever will you be able to repay him for it.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: It's favor that keeps coming and keeps coming. That is
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: why Paul uses the word lavished by his grace later
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: on in this chapter, we are lavish. Like one wave
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: of the sea after another comes upon us because of
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: his favor which he shows to us, and peace is
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: the result of that. Peace is what God does for
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: us when he reconciles sinners to himself, when he puts
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: us right with himself, peace comes as a benefit. The
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: theologian Kramer offered this excellent definition. Peace is a state
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: of untroubled undisturbed well being. Untroubled undisturbed well being, we
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Man,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: he writes. The Lord Jesus Christ dominates Paul's mind and
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: fills his vision. It seems almost as if he feels
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: compelled to bring Christ into every sentence he writes, at
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: least at the beginning of this letter, the better you
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: come to know Ephesians, the better you will come to
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: know your Savior, because it is full of Christ. Now
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: we're ready for the letter itself. After meeting the one
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: who wrote it and reading about the recipients and the
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: salutation he gave them, he launches into an incredible series
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: of thoughts that are mind boggling. I'm just going to
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: hit the high points today and we're going to come
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: back and do a little bit of deciphering next time.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: But let me tell you a story to start with.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: My younger son, Chuck, and I were writing this past
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: week and we came to a railroad crossing and there
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: was a train going by. Why is it when we
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: come to a crossing it is always an eternal train.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: When others come, it's three cars and able to go on.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: But with us, it was car after car after car
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: after car of gravel gravel. Every car was just stacked
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: with it. And Chuck made the comment, well, I wonder
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: how much of those things you start talking about anything
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: when you watch a train that long. So he says, boy,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: you just wonder how much those things. Wait, look at
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: that is that is just gravel. I mean we got
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: we got graveled. You say a lot of things when
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: you sit there together, and you you got you got
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: gravel up the wazoo. I mean, we got gravel gravel.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: It's a wonder a budget ways, And I thought when
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: I was sitting there, didn't tell him. I thought, Uh,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: that's that's like the theology of the Letter to the Ephesians.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, Paul when he gets a chapter one, verse three,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the truck shows up, dump and the gravel, you know,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: and you just just you know, struggling to get to
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: the top so you can breathe. That's chapter one, verses
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: three to fourteen. It is theology all over the place.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: I started to say it another way, but I didn't.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: It's this theology at its best, thorough going theology. Let
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: me give you kind of an outline for the first chapter.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: It's simple. Three to fourteen, Paul praises his God. Fifteen
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: to twenty three he prays for his readers. Three to
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: fourteen Paul is standing with his arms lifted up, exalting
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: his God and explaining to the recipient who this God
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: is and what he has done for us. When he
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: gets to verse fifteen to the end of the chapter,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: turn over there and look, he begins to pray. For
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your and
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: your love for all the saints the other other believers,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: of you in my prayers. Here is his prayer. You
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: wonder how to how to supplement and how to freshen
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: your prayer life. Learn the prayers of the Bible. Fact
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: is this is a great one to start with, that
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Glory,
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: in the knowledge of Him. I pray the eyes of
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: your heart may be enlightened. Look at that. You ever
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: thought of the heart having eyes? You understand it. When
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: you dig into it, the whole inner being gets eyesight,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: and you get a glimpse of the living God like
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: you've never had before, so that he floods your entire existence.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: He's full of praise and prayer. Have you forgotten where
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: he was sitting? He is sitting under arrest. Leave a
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: man under arrest would be so preoccupied with Christ and
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: God and his fellow saints. Have you ever been under arrest?
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Don't answer out loud. I mean, if you have been,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: you probably weren't preoccupied with Christ, and you probably weren't
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: concerned about prayer for others. You were hoping to get out.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: You were hoping that the record would be set clear.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: You were hoping that your attorney would have the clout
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: necessary to clear your name. That whatever Paul mentions, none
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: of that, He's got. This Roman soldier sitting by him
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: probably had bad breath sitting there chained to him and
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: he's continually having to deal with that. He's writing this
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: letter and he's preoccupied with God. How could it be
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: I got great news for you. You could do that.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: You couldn't live like that. Get away from the idea
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: that these people are somehow supernatural folks. He had to
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: put his breeches on one leg at a time, just
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: like you do. He had stuff that disturbed him. In fact,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I just heard the seminary this past week. One of
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: the guys we had Louis Palau speak for us, and
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: he was in Two Corinthians one where he talks about
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Paul said, I was so depressed. I despaired even of life.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: That sound like a supernatural creature to you. He was
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: so low and discouraged that he couldn't even go on. Well,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: how could he live like this? How could he write
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: a letter like this? Christ has control of his mind,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: his attitude, his heart, his desires, his motivation, his perspective.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: And the reason that was true is because of the
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: theology set forth in verses three through fourteen. Now let
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: me give you what I believe are the things God
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: does for us according to verses three through fourteenth. Okay,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: understand this is what God does for us. This is
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: what God does for us. We're living in a day
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: when so much emphasis falls on what we do for
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: God and the achievement and the earning of God's favor
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and the pleasing of God so that somehow his anger
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: will be assuaged. Nonsense. God has come to our rescue.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: We're not coming to his He has done for us
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: these magnanimous things that we don't deserve because of His graines.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: What are they? Well, get your pencil, handy or pen
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: I want you to put numbers in the margin of
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: your Bible, if you don't mind marking. I want to
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: have you notice they're all right here in the text.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: And I want to give you the subjects one, two, three, four,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: five down through ten. Number one, verse three. God has
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: blessed us with every spiritual blessing. That's number one. Put
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: a number one in the margin of your Bible. Good
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: for you, Thank you. He has blessed us with every
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: spiritual blessing. Every One can't even fathom that number two.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: You think that's deep. Number two. Verse four. He's chosen
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: us in him before the foundation of the world, before
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: there was ever a world. Okay, before he said let
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: there be matter before let there be light, before there
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: was ever anything created, God chose you number three Verse five.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: He predestined us to Oh no, Chuck, don't go there,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: don't go there. I'm a Baptist, Chuck. I mean, as
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: I've had churches split over this predestination thing. Well, you
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: know what, I'm sorry they split over it. That truth
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: was never given to split churches. That truth was given
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: to bring enormous comfort and hope. The difficulty is we
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: can't fully grasp it and keep it in balance. That's
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: the problem. We're the problem. But the verse says, and
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: you need to put number three beside it. He predestined
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: to himself. You know, I just got a thought. Verses
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: three through six take us to eternity past. That's before
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: there was ever anything about earth in existence. Verses seven
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: to fourteen takes us to historical past since creation. Boy,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: it's a great thought. Three to six. Should a head
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: of v. Eight look at look at vert and he
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: did it all to the praise of the glory of
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: His grace. Isn't that grace, to the praise of his glory?
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Not ours? I want to make you feel good. No,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: he's not concerned with how you feel. This is not
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: about us. Let's get this straight. This is about God,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: in the vastness and profound nature of his character, He
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: in grace put a plan in motion that included us,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: blessed us with all spiritual blessings, chose us, predestined us. Now,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: when you get into history, look at verse seven. Put
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: number four by this one. He redeemed us in him.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: There's our word again. In him. We have redemption through
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: his blood. You can't appreciate it because we don't have
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: slaves today. We don't even have green stamps today. If
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: we did, it would help. Remember when you used to
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: save stamps. Yea leco leg and you finally get the
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: book and you redeem the book. You can redeem the
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: book the green stamps here some of you are going,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: was that in about nineteen twenty? When was that you'd
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: not long ago you you'd redeem the book. You'd you'd
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: you would have paid the price and you get something
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: in return. In the case of slavery, when a slave
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: owner walked up to the slave block and looked at
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: a slave and sized him up, he bought the slave
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: and the slave became his property. The owner could do
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: with the slave whatever he wished. In some cases he
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: set him free rarely, but in some cases. This word
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: for redeem means that he took us from the slave
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: block of sin, and we became his bond servants, and
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: he set us free that marvelous love, that thought, free
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: to obey, free to serve him, free to honor him,
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: free to live, free to be. He redeemed us through
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: his blood. That's the payment. Well, we'll get to that
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: next time. Number five, he's forgiven us. Look at verse seven.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: trespasses according to the riches of his grace. See the
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: word forgiveness. That's number five. He has forgiven us all
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: our trespasses. John one nine. He takes away the sin
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: of the world Psalm one three, verse eleven, verse twelve.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: As high as the heavens are above the earth, so
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: far has he removed our transgressions from us? As far
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: as east is from west. How's that for analogy. As
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: far as heaven is above earth, as far as east
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: is from west, he's removed our transgressions. That's forgiveness. That's
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: number five. Here's number six. The end of verse seven,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: on us. That's number six. He lavished his grace on us.
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: He didn't give us just a little bit. He didn't
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: put us on probation and said, let's see how you
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: act the first three years of your conversion. He lavished.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: He lavished his grace. It means to super abound. It
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: always means more than enough. He overwhelmingly gave us more
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: than enough. Number seven. Verse nine. He made known to
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: us the mystery of his will. He made known to
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: us the mystery of his will. That's nine and ten.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Verse eleven he provided an inheritance. You say, man, this
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: list gets better and better. Look at verse eleven. We
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: have obtained an inheritance, an inheritance. God had us in
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: mind when he put the inheritance together. I read the
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: other day about an old crotch, the guy that had
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: written his will, and he called all his had a
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: family call together after he died, and the will read.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: I spent it all, and that was the end of
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: the will. They get a blessed thing. God gave all
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: of his inheritance to Christ. And if you are in Christ.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: You get all of the inheritance that Christ gets. You
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: talk about giving reassurance for life. That's number eight as inheritance,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: as inheritors were able to claim everything in Christ's future
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: that includes us. Number nine. Look at verse thirteen. In Him,
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: there it is again thirteen. You also, after listening to
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: believed you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: of promise. That's number nine. He has sealed us in
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: those days. Sealed meant completion. It was a It was
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: a soft piece of wax that sealed a document. It
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: spoke of finishing something, yield and delivered. We have that expression.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: It meant ownership, security, protection. All of that is ours
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: in our being sealed in Christ. And finally number ten,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: verse fourteen, he has given us his pledge. The word
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: means earnest or down payment. The Holy Spirit is the
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: first installment of more to come. He's the guarantee that
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: the inheritance is good. Right about now, you're probably thinking,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: I've got the truck dumped on me, And that's exactly
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: what the plan was, so that you would realize that
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: this train is never ending. The load is more than
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: you'll ever be able to count. It is yours forever,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: as a child of God, as one without Christ. None
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: of it is yours. What a shocking thought, none of it.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Can't you see now why Christen's in time get very
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: zealous about your soul? Did you see what you're missing
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: out on? Now? This is your position. Has nothing to
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: do with materialism. This is not about getting your pockets lined.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: Therefore you come to Christ to get rich. That's nonsense teaching.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: This is about spiritual inheritance, spiritual riches. This is about
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: the inner person, the changed attitude, the ultimate eternity, when
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: you breathe your last and you step onto the shores
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: and realize all of the best was saved till now
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: you know who gets the glory in it. Three times
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: he tells us I close with this verse six, to
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: the praise of the glory of His grace, Verse twelve,
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: to the end that we who were the first to
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: hope in Christ, would be to the praise of His glory.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: Verse fourteen, to the praise of His glory. You like
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: marking your Bible underline those three You won't read about
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: that in today's media. The praise of his grace, the
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: praise of his glory, the praise of his glory. I
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: don't want to break your back with this. I don't
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: want to be overbearing, but I sure want to get
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: deeper than just a superficial feel good talk. Ephvisions won't
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: let me do that. Thankfully, if you keep returning with
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: me to this book, it won't be long before you
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: will begin to say, oh, that's the kind of depth
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: to which I want to go. I've had enough of
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: the other I now want to dig in and get
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: ultra serious, because every day I'm not getting any younger.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: Every day I'm needing this kind of truth more. I
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: need to know how I stand before God, because I
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: need to care less what other people think. And Ephesians
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: will help that to happen. Most importantly, you will ultimately
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: find yourself asking does this glorify God? Is that what
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: this will result in? Let's buy our heads, let's just
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: close our eyes. Isaiah said he saw the Lord high
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: and lifted up, and immediately he searched his own soul
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: and said, woe is me. I'm I'm ruined. I can't
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: make it. I have habits that I can't break, and
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: I have a conscience that won't leave me alone. And
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: I have sins that are too numerous to mention, and
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: I I don't qualify, I don't deserve your goodness. And
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to his rescue. In this high and
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: holy section of scripture, where God is lifted up above
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: the opinions of men and the concerns of our culture,
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: and you get a glimpse of eternity, you realize what
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: life will be like when either last, you'll either stand
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: before your God with great joy and relief and delight
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: because you're in Christ are you're bound for an endless,
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: eternal hell where the fire is not quenched, and you
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: have no choice after death to change your destiny. It
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: takes place in time, in life like now. That's why
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: at the close of every message we give you an
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: opportunity to receive the gift of Jesus Christ, his death
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: on your behalf, his resurrection, which proved that he had
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: paid the penalty for sin, and God raised him from
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: the dead. And you can be deca cleared righteous positionally
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: before God right where you're sitting by believing in Christ. Lord,
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: we sit before you today in silence, which is appropriate
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: in a world of noise and busy work, commercialism and
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: human plans and cultural agendas. We sit quietly before the
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: God of Glory, to whom we will one day give
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: account of our lives, and we worship you. We worship you,
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: and we thank you. Our hearts reach to those who've
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: never come to know You, and we realize the stuff
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: that they're living with, and we long for their souls
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: to be transformed like Paul's was even in midlife. We
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: pray for their salvation. We ask you to intensify their
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: misery and their lost estate until they come humbly to
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: the cross to know the Savior as the God and
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: master of their lives, so they, with us can worship you. Amen. Amen.
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Unloading the Theological track was copyrighted in
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: two thousand and one and two thousand and nine, and
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: the sound recording was copyrighted in two thousand and nine
• 57:10
  Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.