WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080
So when they put Hubble up, that was one of the

00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.459
first places that they looked. It's called the

00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:08.560
deep field. And the night sky, it's about, if

00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.859
you hold your arm out like this, your thumb out.

00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.000
It's a patch of night sky. It's about the size

00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.859
of your thumb. And so they turned the telescope

00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:23.420
in that area that they thought was empty, and

00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:29.339
they found, you can still see the pictures, countless

00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:34.009
points of light in that spot that they thought

00:00:34.009 --> 00:00:37.189
was just empty and dark. The points of light

00:00:37.189 --> 00:00:40.789
were not just stars, but whole galaxies, right?

00:00:41.829 --> 00:00:45.509
Massive, massive collections of millions of stars,

00:00:45.689 --> 00:00:49.679
each of them. All of them... ordered and structured

00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.719
and by the way the distances are far greater

00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.500
than and they're finding this even with the JWTS

00:00:55.500 --> 00:00:58.939
which can look even further the further the farthest

00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:02.990
they can look they see whole structures, mature

00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:05.310
structures that are not supposed to be there.

00:01:06.209 --> 00:01:09.030
Because they're billions and billions and billions

00:01:09.030 --> 00:01:11.489
of light years away and are supposed to be so

00:01:11.489 --> 00:01:14.530
early in the formation of the universe that they

00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:17.670
shouldn't be nearly as formed and as mature as

00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:20.069
they are. It's kind of interesting. I think I

00:01:20.069 --> 00:01:24.069
sent a video about that sometime out. Where they're

00:01:24.069 --> 00:01:26.349
trying to dance around this whole thing. So,

00:01:26.349 --> 00:01:30.920
anyway, the point is... Well, the patch of the

00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:32.780
night sky about the size of your thumbnail, from

00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.799
our perspective, turns out to be filled with,

00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.620
the estimates are something like 750 ,000 galaxies,

00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:42.019
each of which are filled with countless stars.

00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:46.560
There's no way that, and so these telescopes

00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:51.560
are just exploding all of the models that they've

00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:54.299
had for both the origin and structure of the

00:01:54.299 --> 00:01:57.579
universe. Just blowing it away. What a bang.

00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.859
Yeah, right. Right. It's in a way, this opening

00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:07.469
part of obedience particularly. I was trying

00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:09.469
to find an illustration, and that's the best

00:02:09.469 --> 00:02:11.050
one I can come up with. There's some really great

00:02:11.050 --> 00:02:13.129
videos out there, too, that show you the deep

00:02:13.129 --> 00:02:17.210
field. And you can zoom and zoom and zoom and

00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:19.150
zoom in, and it's like the more you zoom in,

00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:23.189
more things appear, you know, and it's just mind

00:02:23.189 --> 00:02:25.409
-blowing. Kind of like you might put man in perspective

00:02:25.409 --> 00:02:27.229
if you don't know everything he thinks he doesn't

00:02:27.229 --> 00:02:30.770
know. I mean, same thing with Scripture. I mean,

00:02:32.389 --> 00:02:33.830
it just seems like every time you turn around,

00:02:33.849 --> 00:02:37.669
he's opening up something else. Exactly. That's

00:02:37.669 --> 00:02:40.409
right, thank you. That's why you share this,

00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:43.449
Roshan, because that's the way this, particularly

00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:45.569
the opening of Ephesians, feels like to me. It

00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:49.250
feels like we're looking at the deep field. We're

00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:53.810
seeing the majesty of God. It's like Paul has

00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:57.090
taken us up into orbit, you know? So we don't

00:02:57.090 --> 00:02:58.770
have any more of the atmosphere of distortion.

00:02:58.949 --> 00:03:01.569
We don't just have our little perspective time.

00:03:02.069 --> 00:03:05.539
And we see, from an eternal point of view, what

00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:08.599
God has been doing. He's already passed what

00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:12.020
He's doing now. And then in chapter 2, verse

00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:15.979
7 says, in the ages to come, referring to the

00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:19.199
eternity future. So Paul's perspective here as

00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.960
we open this book is clearly an eternal perspective.

00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:24.960
It's like that. It's like being watched in a

00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:28.139
space where everything changes in terms of your

00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:33.300
perspective. I mentioned this last time, and

00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:34.719
I'll say it, but I'll say it again. because I

00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.759
was encouraged by this, that it's very difficult

00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:45.080
to outline adequately these first 14 or maybe

00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.360
really 12 verses. So the section that we've been

00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:53.180
in, those notes are God's eternally loving plan

00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:57.159
of restoration. That little outline in the back

00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:02.860
there, I... I really struggle to outline that

00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:08.259
isn't like really, really detailed because verses

00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:10.819
13 through 14, which is where we've been the

00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.120
last three sessions, I think we were together.

00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:22.180
That section... is like I said, it's got everything

00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:24.519
is in there. So it's like looking at that deep

00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.300
field, you know, you, you can see all this gassy

00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.439
there and gassy there. It's just like this massive

00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.620
view of stuff that's so encompassing. And so

00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:38.839
I've been listening to James Boyce, Dr. James

00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.420
Boyce. He died a few years ago. He was a really

00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:44.920
good Presbyterian minister up in the Pennsylvania

00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:49.879
area, I think. 10th Presbyterian. Just a great

00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.040
communicator. You get a chance to hear his messages.

00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:55.579
Anyway, he has a series on Ephesians and I've

00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:57.899
been listening to that. And he said about this

00:04:57.899 --> 00:05:01.620
section here that many of the commentators that

00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:05.259
he looked at were all over the map as to how

00:05:05.259 --> 00:05:09.220
to outline this. And some of them just gave up.

00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:14.040
Some of the best Bible expositors of generations

00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.910
past. I just said, can't outline this and then

00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:20.009
just go through and study each little section.

00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:24.790
The outline I have here though is really was

00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:30.449
kind of inspired by what he said that as I read

00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:33.470
this again for the umpteenth time from that perspective,

00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:36.730
I think that's the best way to understand this

00:05:36.730 --> 00:05:40.430
section. You'll notice that outline there on

00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:42.930
those notes on page two and I didn't, sorry I

00:05:42.930 --> 00:05:44.449
didn't bring any fresh copies. We have new notes

00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:50.949
today. but really this section here if you if

00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:57.089
you try to outline it based on ideas okay in

00:05:57.089 --> 00:05:59.709
other words you know like salvation moving from

00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:07.470
man's condition or man's fall to to man's guilt

00:06:07.470 --> 00:06:10.879
before God under the law and then and then the

00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.399
salvation of righteousness available in Christ

00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:17.079
like Romans. Romans is very outlineable, right?

00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.060
It's very easy to see, okay, we're at this milestone.

00:06:20.139 --> 00:06:21.939
It's kind of long, but you can outline that.

00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:24.980
If you try to do that here around the concepts,

00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:27.620
you'll struggle because there's so many concepts

00:06:27.620 --> 00:06:30.899
here, all right? The best way to outline this

00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:36.079
text, I think, is by centering around the persons

00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:39.779
of the Trinity. Okay? That God is really, God

00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:43.639
Himself is really the outline. Okay? And all

00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:46.240
of these other things are like ornaments hanging

00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.920
on the tree. The main point is God the Father,

00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:53.379
God the Son, and not the Holy Spirit. And then

00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:56.779
this thing that they are doing. Okay? So having

00:06:56.779 --> 00:07:01.980
said that though, last, a couple times, last

00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:04.740
time and the time before that. So the time before

00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:08.089
that, if you remember, We made our way through

00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:10.889
these verses, but we looked at it from the perspective

00:07:10.889 --> 00:07:14.310
of God's riches, right? So that's not to say

00:07:14.310 --> 00:07:17.509
that there aren't threads of ideas that run through

00:07:17.509 --> 00:07:20.860
this whole section. There are. Okay, so God's

00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:23.160
riches is what we looked at two times before

00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:28.259
two months ago The last time that we got together

00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.139
we read through this section again, but this

00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:35.759
time We you know, I worked with a challenged

00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.779
you as with each verse to find places that talk

00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:42.639
about his love and expressions of God's love.

00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.899
And you remember that each verse opens up showing

00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:50.199
the love of God and the riches of God. I want

00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.540
to make one more pass through this today. I don't

00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:56.379
want to spend a lot of time, but there are many

00:07:56.379 --> 00:07:58.920
ways you can read this and taking a different

00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:00.839
perspective. Another one would be the sovereignty

00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:04.699
of God. That is very much here. We're going to

00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:06.899
talk about the sovereignty of God, however, really

00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:10.600
comes in the focus of verse 19. We're going to

00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.920
kind of save that for our next study, which is

00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:18.040
verse 19, in which Paul gives four different

00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:22.139
Greek words. to talk about the power and the

00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:26.300
energy and the strength and might of God. What

00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:30.360
I want to do today as we get started is go back

00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:35.679
through verses 3 -14 with us. I do want to move

00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:38.159
a little quicker than the last two times, though.

00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:43.620
But this time, instead of looking at God's riches

00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.620
and God's love, we want to look at it from the

00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:52.370
perspective of God's of unity, particularly unity

00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:56.230
with Christ. Union with Christ, okay? As I've

00:08:56.230 --> 00:08:58.649
been thinking about and studying this, of course,

00:08:59.269 --> 00:09:04.470
like any topic that you start to take on personally

00:09:04.470 --> 00:09:07.190
in scripture, and you start to see it everywhere

00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:11.269
in scripture, right? This same thing here, since

00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:13.370
I've been thinking about this and drilling on

00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:22.570
it, just amazed at... Let me put it this way,

00:09:23.049 --> 00:09:29.870
what the implications are for us. In Christ Okay,

00:09:30.210 --> 00:09:33.149
so as we go through this again, and I'll just

00:09:33.149 --> 00:09:35.350
have us. We'll just read through verse by verse.

00:09:35.830 --> 00:09:39.210
Okay, but we're looking particularly for those

00:09:39.210 --> 00:09:45.509
indications of our unity with God in Christ Okay,

00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.370
so things like enterprise in there's another

00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:52.490
phrase in here in love, okay? And the reason

00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:56.289
this is important is that you'll see that that

00:09:56.289 --> 00:10:01.070
thread runs through this whole thing as the means

00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:06.350
by which God is imparting to us this inheritance

00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:11.730
and this atonement that He gives here. All of

00:10:11.730 --> 00:10:16.049
these spiritual riches that God is giving us

00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:20.809
come to us only in Christ. They don't come any

00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:27.110
other way. Okay? Any thoughts before we dive

00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:33.490
in? Christ, it's all about Him. That's right.

00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:39.730
Alright, so let's start in verse 3. Blessed be

00:10:39.730 --> 00:10:42.129
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

00:10:42.809 --> 00:10:45.690
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing

00:10:45.690 --> 00:10:50.110
in the heavenly places in Christ. Okay, so where's

00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:56.720
the end here? Yeah, in Christ, right? It's not

00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.019
hard to get that. Look at the opening part of

00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:04.559
this, too. Blessed to be the God and Father of

00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:08.960
power. There's a possessive there, right? Our

00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:13.980
Lord Jesus Christ, okay? That's a very comprehensive

00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:16.940
term for Him too, right? Notice the word Lord

00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:21.679
there. And of course, Jesus is His earthly name

00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.059
referring to His earthly lineage and humanity.

00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:29.480
And then Christ is placed as God's anointed one,

00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:38.320
Messiah. Verse four, just as... He chose us in

00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:41.340
Him before the foundation of the world that we

00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:44.980
would be holy and blameless before Him in love.

00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:52.279
Where's the unity? When we were chosen. Who's

00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:55.700
choosing here? Father. Father, right. How is

00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:59.179
he choosing? He chooses through Christ. In Christ.

00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.500
Before the world. Whenever we talk about, now

00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:06.379
this is one of the popular... more popular verses

00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:12.220
to support. God's sovereignty and election in

00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:13.539
salvation. We talked about that this morning

00:12:13.539 --> 00:12:15.639
in Sunday School, right? In the high priestly

00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.820
prayer, I pointed out to you how four times in

00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:21.940
that one chapter, Jesus says, those whom you

00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:25.779
have given me, right? Okay, well here, this is

00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:27.879
another one of those texts that very clearly

00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:31.940
says that God is choosing some and electing some.

00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.200
And so when we talk about God's sovereignty and

00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.220
salvation, it's also important that we not, that

00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:41.470
we Remember two things related to God's sovereignty.

00:12:42.009 --> 00:12:45.629
Both are equally important, okay? The first thing

00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:50.509
is God is sovereign over the outcome. That the

00:12:50.509 --> 00:12:54.289
end that He intends to accomplish happens. Whatever

00:12:54.289 --> 00:12:58.350
that is, right? Most people, I think, have that

00:12:58.350 --> 00:13:01.240
in mind. when they talk about God's sovereignty.

00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.100
What we need to remember also is that God is

00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:08.440
not only in charge of the end, but he's in charge

00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:12.960
of the means, right? What theologians call the

00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.539
secondary means through which or by which he

00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:22.179
accomplishes his end goal. Okay? So, great example,

00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.620
and Dr. Boyce brought this out, I thought it

00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:27.000
was good. He says, you know, a lot of times people

00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.759
who accuse those of us who believe in God's election

00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:33.460
in sovereignty and salvation they say well you

00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:35.360
know God is sovereign why do we need to pray

00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:37.679
why don't need to evangelize then I don't need

00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.080
to do those things right well of course we do

00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.860
it because he commands but what they fail to

00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:44.639
realize is that God's sovereignty doesn't just

00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.379
mean that he's sovereign of the hands but he's

00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:48.419
sovereign also of the means right and he has

00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.960
in the case of prayer he has he has sovereignly

00:13:52.960 --> 00:14:00.580
chosen to use our prayers in His plan. How does

00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:04.419
He do that? I don't know. Deep field, right?

00:14:04.980 --> 00:14:08.679
How did God make all those stars out there? They're

00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:16.299
there! He can do it, right? So, as we see this

00:14:16.299 --> 00:14:22.070
verse here, the means by which... God accomplishes

00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:24.830
the end goal, which is coming up in chapter 2,

00:14:25.190 --> 00:14:28.610
verse 7. That in the ages to come we might live

00:14:28.610 --> 00:14:33.669
with Him, effectively, and be examples of the

00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:36.549
riches of His kindness to us. That's where it's

00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:40.769
all going. The means by which He accomplishes

00:14:40.769 --> 00:14:48.340
that is by putting us in Christ. so that your

00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:54.419
unity with Christ is vital. I mean, it's like,

00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:56.820
you know, the only way I'm going to get to Mars

00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:59.740
is in a spaceship or something. I don't know

00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:01.639
why I keep thinking of space illustrations, but

00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:04.139
this is a good one, right? I'm not going to get

00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:07.980
there on my own. I'm not going to fly to Mars,

00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:10.639
you know, just as I am here with my shorts on.

00:15:11.070 --> 00:15:17.309
Do you like my casual Friday shirt? I'm not going

00:15:17.309 --> 00:15:19.850
to get there like this. I have to have special

00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:21.870
equipment. I have to have a special environment

00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:25.490
in order to even get off the ground, let alone

00:15:25.490 --> 00:15:30.169
survive space and land safely there. So being

00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:33.309
in Christ is like that. It changes everything

00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:38.330
for us. And you'll see that in the book. Verse

00:15:38.330 --> 00:15:44.590
5 then. So, in love. Remember, let's say one

00:15:44.590 --> 00:15:46.690
other thing here. Remember that these verses

00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:49.750
3 through 14 are one continuous sentence in the

00:15:49.750 --> 00:15:53.769
Greek, okay? So even though there are, there's

00:15:53.769 --> 00:15:56.090
verse breaks in here and there are periods in

00:15:56.090 --> 00:15:58.610
here in the English to make it readable, in the

00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:01.330
Greek it's all one long, giant sentence, okay?

00:16:01.769 --> 00:16:05.250
So this continues from verse 4, that we're blameless

00:16:05.250 --> 00:16:18.669
before Him in love. By predestining us to adoption

00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:25.710
as sons out through Jesus Christ to himself.

00:16:26.609 --> 00:16:30.769
according to the good pleasure of His will. So

00:16:30.769 --> 00:16:35.950
where's the unity there? Well, what He's doing

00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:39.289
is according to His will. It's in conjunction

00:16:39.289 --> 00:16:43.570
with Christ. The means is through... Yeah, the

00:16:43.570 --> 00:16:45.590
adoption is through Christ according to His will.

00:16:46.990 --> 00:16:51.029
That's right. It's through Jesus Christ to Himself.

00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:54.190
So He's adopting us to Himself. But again, the

00:16:54.190 --> 00:17:03.590
means is through Christ. to the praise of his

00:17:03.590 --> 00:17:07.089
glory and grace which he graciously bestowed

00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:12.970
on us in the beloved okay initially I was confused

00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:17.380
by thinking the term Beloved here, and I think

00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:21.019
we had that discussion right here in this room.

00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.900
Somebody challenged me on that. Here in this

00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:28.420
Bible, this legacy standard is capitalized, Beloved.

00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.380
I was originally thinking it meant the collection

00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:37.259
of saints, Beloved, but in studying that further,

00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.240
I think it does refer to the Lord. It's an interesting

00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.660
way of referring to Him and His Beloved Son.

00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:48.119
So there's unity there in verse 7. Now, in Him,

00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.099
who is this now? In Jesus. That's the beloved

00:17:53.099 --> 00:17:54.759
He just talked about. Remember, there's no period

00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:59.380
there. It keeps going. So in the beloved, in

00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:02.119
Him, we have redemption through His blood, the

00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:05.299
forgiveness of our transgressions according to

00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:21.019
the riches of His grace. Right? Yes, I think

00:18:21.019 --> 00:18:24.960
so. I think definitely so. Yeah, and the NIV

00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.420
translators put that in there to emphasize that

00:18:27.420 --> 00:18:31.900
singleness there, right? But in him, okay, where's

00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:36.539
the unity with Christ there? In verse seven,

00:18:36.700 --> 00:18:40.769
right? How do you get redemption the forgiveness

00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:44.410
of trespasses through his sacrifice through his

00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:49.089
forgiveness? Yeah, so him it is grace Through

00:18:49.089 --> 00:18:54.309
Christ through Christ through Christ According

00:18:54.309 --> 00:18:57.289
to the riches and whose grace is that there?

00:18:59.349 --> 00:19:04.150
Yeah, it is I believe so it could be Christ It

00:19:04.150 --> 00:19:10.650
could refer to both. I've been listening to that

00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:12.430
John McArthur series, and I don't know the name

00:19:12.430 --> 00:19:15.410
of it, but it's the first part of 2 Peter, and

00:19:15.410 --> 00:19:16.809
it really stuck out to me, and I thought about

00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:21.650
this a lot, because it says to those who, in

00:19:21.650 --> 00:19:25.630
chapter 1 and verse 1 of 2 Peter, it says, to

00:19:25.630 --> 00:19:28.829
those who threw the righteousness of our God

00:19:28.829 --> 00:19:31.109
and Savior, it doesn't say our God the Father,

00:19:31.210 --> 00:19:34.680
it's Jesus or the Savior. But it classifies him

00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:36.880
right there as I understand God is with him.

00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:38.700
And so he, I don't know if you've listened to

00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:40.240
the series or not, but he has spoken about that

00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.859
a lot, times like that, really stuck out. He's

00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:47.559
not only our Savior, he's also our God. Same

00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:52.079
thing right here. So it was really, that really

00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.140
hit home when he got hurt. That's right. That's

00:19:56.140 --> 00:19:59.619
really cool. That's right. God our Savior. Yeah.

00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.559
And we often, and rightly so, we think of Jesus

00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:07.259
as our Savior, and He should. But God the Father

00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:09.720
is our Savior too. But I think here, He's talking

00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:11.779
about it. And He's doing that through Jesus.

00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:15.779
See right here, what John mentioned was, it says...

00:20:15.789 --> 00:20:19.750
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. So He has

00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:24.650
actually called Jesus God. He classified Him

00:20:24.650 --> 00:20:27.329
there and He has classified Him as God as well

00:20:27.329 --> 00:20:30.930
as Jesus. So I mean, we normally hear God the

00:20:30.930 --> 00:20:34.029
Father and or Jesus Christ. We hear like two

00:20:34.029 --> 00:20:36.529
separate entities. But we also a lot of times

00:20:36.529 --> 00:20:38.970
forget that there are one. There are one and

00:20:38.970 --> 00:20:41.069
the same. We hear it, but we don't. But like

00:20:41.069 --> 00:20:42.470
I said, the other one I heard that I was like,

00:20:42.869 --> 00:20:46.309
that doesn't make sense. It kind of relates back

00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:50.029
to what we're hearing here. Yeah, that's good.

00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:54.950
I don't know that you can get too picky about

00:20:54.950 --> 00:21:09.609
whose grace this is. Well, it was Christ's blood,

00:21:10.349 --> 00:21:13.829
but it's the Father's... Chosen means by which,

00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.890
so you could say indirectly it's the Father's

00:21:16.890 --> 00:21:20.069
blood in the sense that he is the Lamb of God,

00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:23.589
right? He's the one God put him forward to be

00:21:23.589 --> 00:21:25.990
the propitiation. Interesting word, bitches.

00:21:27.690 --> 00:21:32.029
Yes, yes. Riches of his race. Yeah, we talked

00:21:32.029 --> 00:21:35.170
about that, like I said a few times back. Remember,

00:21:35.730 --> 00:21:40.619
it's there too. Paul is using grace. The illustration

00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:43.740
he's using, and we'll see that continue on even

00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.200
in chapter two, the illustration of grace that

00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:48.259
Paul is using is that of money. It's the closest

00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:51.640
thing we can come to understanding. And so that

00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:55.839
alludes to it here that God's grace is like money

00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.480
in the sense that it is a legitimate transaction

00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:05.519
when Christ... pays for our sin, it's not benevolence.

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:10.200
Put it this way, when the Father receives us

00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:16.029
as forgiven, It's not benevolence. It's not like

00:22:16.029 --> 00:22:18.210
Santa Claus, where I know you're on the naughty

00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:19.990
list, but I'm going to give you the gift anyway,

00:22:20.109 --> 00:22:23.029
right? We'll just pretend you didn't sin. That's

00:22:23.029 --> 00:22:25.869
not what's happening here. Their grace is legitimate.

00:22:25.930 --> 00:22:29.329
It's a legitimate payment. In a sense, it functions

00:22:29.329 --> 00:22:34.730
like money that way. So verse 8, then. Which

00:22:34.730 --> 00:22:38.150
He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight.

00:22:40.740 --> 00:22:47.880
That would be the father. Then verse 9 making

00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.519
known to us the mystery of his will according

00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:54.680
to his good pleasure Which he purposed out in

00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:59.460
Christ in him in Christ See their unity again

00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:02.099
verse 10 for an administration of the fullness

00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:06.559
of the times. That's another purpose in him Being

00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.400
the father agrees with the riches of his grace

00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:14.920
being about race Right, right. No, that's good

00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:18.799
You're right. The grace he caused to abound.

00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:22.079
Paul uses the term in Romans, it's super abound.

00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:26.660
Grace that is greater than our sin. That's a

00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:32.359
Biblical concept. Making none of us a mystery.

00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.380
Just that alone, remember we were talking about

00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:38.640
God's love last time. Just that alone is an expression.

00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.640
I was talking to Dori at lunch today and she

00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.880
was like, I don't know what made her say that.

00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:50.400
but we have so much more to be thankful for than

00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:53.099
Elon Musk. We're richer than all we know. I was

00:23:53.099 --> 00:23:56.799
like, you're absolutely right, because think

00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:01.200
of who we know. Think of what we know. The things

00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:04.180
we're talking about today are here. The vast

00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:06.339
majority of people out there are mumbling around,

00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:13.920
no idea about this. And here he says here, making

00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:17.819
known to us the mystery of his will. Things that

00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:20.359
were hidden in the past, he's revealing to us.

00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.819
It's amazing. And Jesus, with his disciples,

00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:29.720
he said, I no longer call you slaves, but friends.

00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.420
Slaves do not know his master's business. That's

00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:39.779
a privileged place to be. That's personal. That's

00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:42.019
personal. That's personal. That's what he said.

00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:49.140
Verse 10, for an administration and that is also...

00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:54.740
A financial term. That's a financial slash managerial

00:24:54.740 --> 00:24:59.180
term. For an administration, the fullness of

00:24:59.180 --> 00:25:01.359
the times. And that's an important phrase because

00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:05.059
it lets us know, again, in God's sovereign plan,

00:25:05.299 --> 00:25:07.779
He's not random. He's not just waiting for events

00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:11.460
to happen and reacting as it goes along. But

00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.539
He has deliberately and purposefully planned

00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:21.049
and orchestrated these things. real intent behind

00:25:21.049 --> 00:25:24.650
what He's doing and expressing His love in salvation.

00:25:26.329 --> 00:25:29.309
So, for an administration of the fullness of

00:25:29.309 --> 00:25:32.630
the times, that is the summing up of all things

00:25:32.630 --> 00:25:37.329
how? In Christ. Things in the heavens and things

00:25:37.329 --> 00:25:42.990
on the earth. In Him. And then the same phrase

00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:48.619
again starts verse 11. In Him. We also have been

00:25:48.619 --> 00:25:51.779
made an inheritance, having been predestined

00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:54.259
according to the purpose of Him who works all

00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:55.480
things according to the counsel of His will,

00:25:55.539 --> 00:26:01.460
who's that? The Father, right? That's God's sovereignty

00:26:01.460 --> 00:26:03.640
expressed very clearly right there. The counsel

00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.599
of His will is a great way to express God's sovereignty.

00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.359
If you're looking for a biblical definition,

00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.200
that would be it. That would be my choice. The

00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:17.420
counsel of His will, okay? in terms of what he

00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:21.160
determines to happen, you know, and then how

00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:25.480
it's to unfold in time, in his time. But notice

00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:27.920
again, the in him's in there, right? In him,

00:26:28.099 --> 00:26:34.000
in Christ, in him. Verse 13, in him, you also,

00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:38.160
after listening... Oh, I'm sorry, I skipped verse

00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:43.119
12. tail end of verse 11 there, according to

00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:45.960
the counsel of His will, verse 12, to the end

00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:54.279
that we who were first have hoped in Christ would

00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:59.319
be to the praise of His glory. To the praise,

00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:01.319
I think, of the Father's glory. That's what Paul

00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:05.200
has in mind here. But again, how is He bringing

00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:11.640
glory? How do we have our hope in Christ? Then

00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:15.940
verse 13, in Him, that is in Christ again, you

00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:18.039
also, after listening to the Word of Truth, the

00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:21.079
Gospel of your salvation, having also believed,

00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:26.460
you were sealed in Him, in Christ. How? With

00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:31.099
the Holy Spirit. All three persons here involved.

00:27:33.210 --> 00:27:35.089
You're going to outline this to outline around

00:27:35.089 --> 00:27:37.269
the persons of the Trinity. That's the only way

00:27:37.269 --> 00:27:39.869
to really make sense of this. And then verse

00:27:39.869 --> 00:27:43.650
14, who is, that's the Spirit now, given as a

00:27:43.650 --> 00:27:46.910
pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption

00:27:46.910 --> 00:27:50.289
of God's own possession to the praise of His

00:27:50.289 --> 00:27:52.829
glory. Here again, we see just like we saw in

00:27:52.829 --> 00:27:56.230
John 17 this morning, those whom the Father is

00:27:56.230 --> 00:27:59.769
giving me write four times. That's God's possession.

00:28:00.089 --> 00:28:04.609
He possessed us. He chose us and selected us.

00:28:04.650 --> 00:28:06.150
We're going to see that again here in just a

00:28:06.150 --> 00:28:09.130
minute in the word saints. That's what the word

00:28:09.130 --> 00:28:15.369
saints really infers, is that truth. So God's

00:28:15.369 --> 00:28:17.970
possession is given as a pledge of inheritance.

00:28:18.210 --> 00:28:22.609
So the Holy Spirit now, who comes to those who

00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:26.029
are in Christ, is a pledge of that coming inheritance,

00:28:26.349 --> 00:28:28.779
is a down payment. he's a nail -painting artist.

00:28:31.590 --> 00:28:40.549
All right. Any thoughts about that? We are called

00:28:40.549 --> 00:28:44.809
to do the work of Christ. It is called as an

00:28:44.809 --> 00:28:48.769
inheritance unto the redemption of God's possession.

00:28:48.970 --> 00:28:52.170
Does that possession refer to the saints that

00:28:52.170 --> 00:28:56.430
he has saved? Is that what he's referring to?

00:28:58.130 --> 00:29:02.650
That's verse 14. the pledge of our inheritance

00:29:02.650 --> 00:29:06.009
unto the redemption of God's possession in the

00:29:06.009 --> 00:29:07.609
praise of his glory. I'm just thinking about

00:29:07.609 --> 00:29:12.210
what we're talking about, those today that were

00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:15.170
given to the Son by the Father. There are those

00:29:15.170 --> 00:29:17.750
that he has chosen that are his, and he gives

00:29:17.750 --> 00:29:20.470
them as he desires, according to his purpose,

00:29:20.589 --> 00:29:22.789
according to his pledge, or by the way, purpose,

00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:27.009
that appears next to it. That's right. So what's

00:29:27.009 --> 00:29:32.289
your question? to see if that makes sense there

00:29:32.289 --> 00:29:39.529
that that phrase possession refers to the saints

00:29:39.529 --> 00:29:43.470
in relation to the Bible there is where his possession

00:29:43.470 --> 00:29:47.390
that's right that's right that's what I think

00:29:47.390 --> 00:29:49.950
it is because I mean otherwise redemption that

00:29:49.950 --> 00:29:52.210
word redemption there doesn't make sense and

00:29:52.210 --> 00:29:54.269
it's still in context of what he said starting

00:29:54.269 --> 00:29:57.849
verse 7 the forgiveness of sins you know and

00:29:57.849 --> 00:30:02.660
then In verse, by the way, just in passing, Paul

00:30:02.660 --> 00:30:09.799
here is just hinting. Let's see, where is that?

00:30:11.500 --> 00:30:16.859
Verse 12. Verses 12 and 13. He may be a little

00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:19.460
puzzled by what he says here. To the end that

00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:23.589
we who were first... have hope in Christ. And

00:30:23.589 --> 00:30:25.990
then in verse 13 he says, in him you also, after

00:30:25.990 --> 00:30:27.349
listening to the word of truth, pass through

00:30:27.349 --> 00:30:30.470
salvation, believe. Okay, so who's he talking

00:30:30.470 --> 00:30:33.589
about here? Versus 12. Who believes in him in

00:30:33.589 --> 00:30:44.440
Christ first? The Jews. The Jews are what he

00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:47.039
has in mind here, okay? So verse 12 is what he's

00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:51.700
doing. Notice the pronouns here. To the end that

00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:56.299
we, including himself, who first have hoped in

00:30:56.299 --> 00:31:00.700
Christ, and then verse 13, in him, you also.

00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:05.000
Okay? Now you may say well I want proof of that

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:12.720
okay so just real quick in chapter two starting

00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:15.779
at verse 11, Paul's gonna come back to this idea

00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:17.720
again, but he's gonna expand on it more fully.

00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.119
Okay, and in chapter two, verse 11, to the end

00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:24.519
of the chapter, really, he has, and you'll hear

00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:26.700
that in the introduction that we're gonna read

00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:29.440
here in a minute to our new notes today, but

00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:35.019
Paul is tenderly... leading all the believers

00:31:35.019 --> 00:31:38.579
into a fuller understanding of what this is that

00:31:38.579 --> 00:31:42.039
God is doing, this inheritance that awaits us,

00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:50.859
okay? But he's particularly sensitive to the

00:31:50.859 --> 00:31:54.720
Gentile believers. And I want to show that to

00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.779
you here in a second with the notes here where

00:31:56.779 --> 00:32:00.359
he's talking about saints. And you really see

00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:03.940
that again picking up about half of chapter 2

00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:06.099
is dealing with that one subject where Paul is

00:32:06.099 --> 00:32:09.480
effectively saying that God has torn down that

00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:12.180
dividing wall between Jew and Gentile. And you

00:32:12.180 --> 00:32:14.759
Gentiles who once were foreigners and aliens

00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:17.279
and strangers away from the covenants and not

00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:22.440
any part of, from a human perspective... of the

00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:25.119
promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to

00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:27.680
their descendants, God has brought you near.

00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:30.019
He's torn that dividing wall down, and now there's

00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:33.880
one body, one Savior, one Christ, one flock,

00:32:34.180 --> 00:32:38.460
one shepherd, okay, is the essence of it. And

00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:40.200
that's important because that's a set up for

00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:44.039
what he's gonna say in chapter four about the

00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.259
unity and how that unity works itself out in

00:32:47.259 --> 00:32:51.529
the body so that all of us together, As we're

00:32:51.529 --> 00:32:53.589
seeing here, we just saw in this text and we're

00:32:53.589 --> 00:32:56.990
going to continue to see how our unity in Christ

00:32:56.990 --> 00:33:00.569
brings, among other things, unity with each other.

00:33:01.379 --> 00:33:04.460
Okay, so that now in the church, there's no longer.

00:33:04.460 --> 00:33:07.559
Okay. Well, you're a Gentile Christian and that's

00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:11.740
a second double place behind it below a Jewish

00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:16.339
Christian say no God has destroyed that dividing

00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:19.960
wall that's chapter 2 verse 14 completely gotten

00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:27.400
away with it and So in chapter 4 he's gonna say

00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:31.039
preserve the unity of the bond of peace and spirit,

00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:34.339
right? So that's verse 13, being diligent to

00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:36.319
keep the unity of the spirit and bond of peace.

00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:40.279
So in 12, it says, in order that wheat, that's

00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:42.740
called to the Jews, that's referred to the Jews.

00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:47.400
And then in 12 or 13, it says, when you also,

00:33:47.420 --> 00:33:50.599
that's considered the Gentiles. Yeah, it refers

00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:54.579
to all the saints. Down to verse 15. That's right.

00:33:58.190 --> 00:34:01.589
cool is that he when you were mentioning in chapter

00:34:01.589 --> 00:34:08.190
two there in the number 15 by abolishing the

00:34:08.190 --> 00:34:10.610
law of the commandments expressed in the ordinances

00:34:10.610 --> 00:34:13.489
that he might create in himself one new man in

00:34:13.489 --> 00:34:17.590
place of the two so making peace that he might

00:34:17.590 --> 00:34:22.230
reconcile us both to God in one body thereby

00:34:22.230 --> 00:34:28.400
killing the hostility. If a person believes that

00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:35.679
the church is now, takes over the, like, the

00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:38.239
preeminence, preeminence or whatever, of Israel,

00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:40.760
you know, and takes their place, okay, they're

00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:43.119
not important anymore, you know, now the church

00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:50.389
is everything. Because that's not what it says

00:34:50.389 --> 00:34:55.170
at all. And if it says killing the hostility,

00:34:55.369 --> 00:34:58.530
well, that would definitely be causing hostility

00:34:58.530 --> 00:35:02.230
and it would not be making for peace. That's

00:35:02.230 --> 00:35:04.389
right. That's right. I mean, when you say that,

00:35:05.289 --> 00:35:06.969
that, you know, I have heard people say that,

00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:09.590
you know, we'll forget Israel, you know, the

00:35:09.590 --> 00:35:12.829
church is everything else. And we are, you know,

00:35:12.949 --> 00:35:16.869
we are, call it all the specific words, we're

00:35:16.869 --> 00:35:18.969
the same. The bride of Christ. You know, yeah,

00:35:19.170 --> 00:35:21.949
we're the same. Now we receive everything. Well,

00:35:21.989 --> 00:35:26.010
we do receive a lot, but we, but Israel is still

00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:28.550
his special people. They will always be his special

00:35:28.550 --> 00:35:31.550
people. That's just the way they are. As part

00:35:31.550 --> 00:35:35.190
of his sovereignty also. So I appreciate those

00:35:35.190 --> 00:35:37.130
verses right there, because that does clear up

00:35:37.130 --> 00:35:42.420
a little bit. Let's say it this way. When you

00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:46.519
say Israel is His special people, Scripture is

00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:51.280
clear, Paul is clear in Romans 2 particularly,

00:35:52.199 --> 00:35:56.639
to draw distinctions between Jews who are Jews

00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:04.380
by genetics, descendancy, versus Jews who have

00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:07.099
been born again. In fact, I think that's what

00:36:07.099 --> 00:36:09.059
Jesus really is trying to get to with Nicodemus

00:36:09.059 --> 00:36:10.960
when he talks about being born again in chapter

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:14.090
2. John 3, is that Nicodemus, you're trusting

00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:18.070
in your lineage. They kept very careful in temple

00:36:18.070 --> 00:36:21.110
records because their salvation was tied up in

00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:27.969
that. And yes, you could be brought in as a proselytite,

00:36:27.989 --> 00:36:30.010
a Gentile, into the Jewish faith, but you had

00:36:30.010 --> 00:36:32.590
to renounce your family and be born again as

00:36:32.590 --> 00:36:35.449
a Jew. That's what baptism pictured, all of that.

00:36:35.670 --> 00:36:38.570
But he's saying to Nicodemus, you need a new

00:36:38.570 --> 00:36:42.119
lineage. You can't be saved that way. And then

00:36:42.119 --> 00:36:45.079
in John 15 where he says, I am the true vine,

00:36:46.539 --> 00:36:51.039
Christ replaces Israel. When we showed that and

00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:55.460
when we studied in Isaiah 5, 1 -7, it's very

00:36:55.460 --> 00:36:57.500
clear that that picture of the vine in the Old

00:36:57.500 --> 00:37:00.440
Testament was the picture of the nation Israel.

00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:03.219
But Christ comes in and says, no, I'm the true

00:37:03.219 --> 00:37:07.059
vine. And every branch of me bears fruit. In

00:37:07.059 --> 00:37:10.880
other words, the kind of fruit that God was looking

00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:14.719
for from His people in the Old Testament cannot

00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:17.719
be found anywhere other than in Christ, right?

00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:19.880
So whether you're Jew or Gentile, you're not

00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:23.019
going to have that kind of godly character, that

00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:27.739
righteous character that God requires and demands,

00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:30.559
and that is really preparation for living with

00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:32.780
Him. Because He's not going to live with unrighteous

00:37:32.780 --> 00:37:36.360
people in eternity, right? The only way you can

00:37:36.360 --> 00:37:39.260
have that is in Christ. However, Christ is the

00:37:39.260 --> 00:37:42.980
true Israel. But he's not done with the nation.

00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:46.500
He's not done. He will redeem them. That's pretty

00:37:46.500 --> 00:37:48.739
clear. Yeah, you're right. So that replacement

00:37:48.739 --> 00:37:56.460
theology has a number of problems. And you're

00:37:56.460 --> 00:38:00.820
right. It does tend to strain at least the peace

00:38:00.820 --> 00:38:05.639
that we have among Jew and Gentile. Let me introduce

00:38:05.639 --> 00:38:07.739
them. I'm going to circulate these notes and

00:38:07.739 --> 00:38:11.280
keep these handy if you would. because we will

00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:16.760
take one and pass it around. And we'll introduce

00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:19.460
this. I want to read through this today because

00:38:19.460 --> 00:38:26.639
this idea of unity carries over into Paul's word

00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:28.800
for believers here. And I think we have enough

00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:33.420
for you. Yeah, perfect. Okay. I think we have

00:38:33.420 --> 00:38:40.309
just enough for one prayer as well. And so...

00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:44.380
I want to take a look at this concept or the

00:38:44.380 --> 00:38:47.599
term of saints. What is saints? What does it

00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:50.380
mean? Connected with that is concept of holiness.

00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:53.179
We'll talk about that. So we'll introduce this.

00:38:53.300 --> 00:38:55.000
We'll read this, okay? We'll go through this

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:57.599
briefly and then we'll finish up for tonight.

00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:00.019
And we won't actually get into the next half

00:39:00.019 --> 00:39:05.679
of chapter one until next time, okay? So for

00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:07.739
chapter one, we're dividing it up into these

00:39:07.739 --> 00:39:10.940
two sections. So these notes probably... versus

00:39:10.940 --> 00:39:13.599
15 through 23 which is the end but we won't really

00:39:13.599 --> 00:39:17.400
get into that today. because I want to do this

00:39:17.400 --> 00:39:21.699
as a background. A couple of verses at the top

00:39:21.699 --> 00:39:25.380
here that are very pertinent to, not in Ephesians,

00:39:25.420 --> 00:39:29.219
but are very pertinent to this topic. So I'm

00:39:29.219 --> 00:39:31.739
titling this, God's Hope, Inheritance, and Power.

00:39:32.460 --> 00:39:37.940
The next section in chapter 1 centers the center

00:39:37.940 --> 00:39:41.280
of gravity of chapter 1, verses 15 to the end

00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:44.760
of chapter there, 23. The center of gravity of

00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:49.289
that is verse 19. All the action really focuses

00:39:49.289 --> 00:39:53.449
on verse 19 in this next section of chapter 1.

00:39:56.929 --> 00:39:59.110
Well, I should really say verse 18, but particularly

00:39:59.110 --> 00:40:03.010
verse 19. The reason I say that is verse 19 then

00:40:03.010 --> 00:40:06.650
launches God's power and God's sovereign. Like

00:40:06.650 --> 00:40:07.929
I said, we're not going to touch on this this

00:40:07.929 --> 00:40:11.219
time. Next time, Lord willing. Survive our trip

00:40:11.219 --> 00:40:16.679
to Europe And now we'll do that, but we'll look

00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:21.059
at those there's four words in that Verse that

00:40:21.059 --> 00:40:24.199
talk about God's power and energy and ability

00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:28.579
and might and strength, okay? And then that becomes

00:40:28.579 --> 00:40:31.800
sort of like a fountainhead You know how you

00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:34.659
have like us like a river or something years

00:40:34.659 --> 00:40:37.900
ago. We went to the headwaters of the Mississippi

00:40:39.380 --> 00:40:42.900
Minnesota. That was kind of cool. And it's amazing

00:40:42.900 --> 00:40:44.940
to stand there. It's fairly big. It's a little

00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:46.940
creek. But it starts as a creek, really. It just

00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:50.860
kind of comes out of this lake right there. And

00:40:50.860 --> 00:40:54.440
of course, the Mississippi becomes massive. But

00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:56.000
you trace the Mississippi all the way back to

00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:59.400
the headwater. And so the rest of Ephesians is

00:40:59.400 --> 00:41:02.500
kind of like that massive river. And it all starts

00:41:02.500 --> 00:41:05.760
kind of in verse 19 with the power of God unfolding

00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:08.179
in everything that happens with that one. So

00:41:08.179 --> 00:41:11.860
that's just a brief outline of this section.

00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:16.219
So that's why we get the title here, God's Hope,

00:41:16.239 --> 00:41:19.039
Inheritance, and Power. Those three things, particularly

00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:22.780
His power, is what's coming. Does that make sense?

00:41:24.420 --> 00:41:26.360
Let's read these notes and then we'll finish.

00:41:27.820 --> 00:41:30.699
At the top there, Colossians 1 .12, giving thanks

00:41:30.699 --> 00:41:34.639
to the Father who has, I love this, qualified

00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:38.340
you to share in the inheritance of the saints

00:41:38.340 --> 00:41:42.619
in life. God the Father is qualifying us. We

00:41:42.619 --> 00:41:45.900
don't qualify ourselves. like God the Father

00:41:45.900 --> 00:41:51.380
does. Notice this, the inheritance in who? Of

00:41:51.380 --> 00:41:56.260
the saints in life. Next verse, 2 Timothy 1,

00:41:56.500 --> 00:41:59.480
8 -9. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony

00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:02.300
about our Lord, nor be His prisoner, but share

00:42:02.300 --> 00:42:06.199
in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:10.440
who saved us and called us to a holy calling.

00:42:11.759 --> 00:42:15.500
not because of our works, but because of His

00:42:15.500 --> 00:42:18.739
own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ

00:42:18.739 --> 00:42:22.840
Jesus before the ages began." Kind of saying

00:42:22.840 --> 00:42:24.780
the same thing with what we've just been seeing,

00:42:24.980 --> 00:42:27.320
right? Just in a more condensed form. But the

00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:29.920
emphasis here is holy calling, because it's interesting.

00:42:30.480 --> 00:42:31.880
Oftentimes we talk about the calling of God,

00:42:32.019 --> 00:42:34.800
but here, oh, it's qualified with the word holy.

00:42:36.059 --> 00:42:40.840
Alright, so when the saints go marching in. The

00:42:40.840 --> 00:42:43.920
Apostle Paul, when addressing the believers in

00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:46.840
emphasis, and surrounding areas in his letter

00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:49.920
to them, which we call Ephesians, refers to the

00:42:49.920 --> 00:42:52.599
term saints, okay? And you have those references

00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:54.460
there. That's where he uses the term saints.

00:42:54.820 --> 00:42:59.139
Notice that every chapter in Ephesians mentions

00:42:59.139 --> 00:43:02.940
that word. Chapter one, chapter two, three, four,

00:43:02.940 --> 00:43:07.019
five, and six. So this is an important term for

00:43:07.019 --> 00:43:09.480
our study in Ephesians, okay? We better understand

00:43:09.480 --> 00:43:14.199
what it means. So he uses, prefers the term saints.

00:43:14.059 --> 00:43:17.719
for them overwhelmingly as opposed to brothers

00:43:17.719 --> 00:43:21.019
only at the very very end after talking about

00:43:21.019 --> 00:43:24.139
the spiritual warfare and armor of God praying

00:43:24.139 --> 00:43:27.219
in all kinds of occasions for all the saints

00:43:27.219 --> 00:43:29.920
only at the very end as he's closing the letter

00:43:29.920 --> 00:43:36.360
does he refer to them as brothers. As opposed

00:43:36.360 --> 00:43:40.090
to brothers his most favorite term in his other

00:43:40.090 --> 00:43:42.409
letters to address believers. I've been doing

00:43:42.409 --> 00:43:45.429
some research on the Bible software. You can

00:43:45.429 --> 00:43:47.309
count how many times it's used and it's broken

00:43:47.309 --> 00:43:51.289
down by Paul's letters and then it went in within

00:43:51.289 --> 00:43:53.750
each letter and this kind of thing. The term

00:43:53.750 --> 00:43:56.230
saints as opposed to brothers is kind of interesting.

00:43:56.800 --> 00:43:59.199
I've never really done that before. How does,

00:43:59.320 --> 00:44:02.239
how our believers refer to, you know, particularly

00:44:02.239 --> 00:44:04.679
for Paul, generally in the New Testament, okay,

00:44:04.699 --> 00:44:08.119
but particularly in Paul's writings, and overwhelmingly,

00:44:08.679 --> 00:44:11.179
if you do a survey of all of Paul's writings,

00:44:11.559 --> 00:44:14.739
he uses the term brothers, or brother in the

00:44:14.739 --> 00:44:18.139
older translations, right, to refer to believers,

00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:21.940
overwhelmingly. Saints is sort of second place,

00:44:21.940 --> 00:44:25.699
he uses that a lot. In a few places, like maybe

00:44:25.699 --> 00:44:28.289
three places, I think I found believers. And

00:44:28.289 --> 00:44:30.769
I didn't find the term Christians anywhere in

00:44:30.769 --> 00:44:32.909
Paul's writings, which is interesting. He doesn't

00:44:32.909 --> 00:44:35.230
refer to them as Christians, although in Acts

00:44:35.230 --> 00:44:38.289
it does say that if you actually take your software

00:44:38.289 --> 00:44:39.809
and look up the term Christian or Christians,

00:44:40.289 --> 00:44:42.730
you'll see it shows up a handful of times, but

00:44:42.730 --> 00:44:45.409
never Paul's writings. Peter actually uses it

00:44:45.409 --> 00:44:48.030
one time. It shows up in Acts, too. It says that

00:44:48.030 --> 00:44:50.570
they first started calling them Christians. So

00:44:50.570 --> 00:44:53.530
Paul overwhelmingly used the term brothers, but

00:44:53.530 --> 00:44:57.420
in Ephesians, Ephesians just a little. Ah, it

00:44:57.420 --> 00:44:59.280
just stands out maybe from the rest of them in

00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:02.019
that, especially for as small as it is compared

00:45:02.019 --> 00:45:04.719
to books like First Corinthians and Romans, you

00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:08.800
know, which are really long books, okay? Ephesians

00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:11.179
is pretty, well, fairly small. It's the smallest,

00:45:11.440 --> 00:45:15.059
but it's a smaller epistle of his, but it overwhelmingly

00:45:15.059 --> 00:45:17.719
prefers this term saints as opposed to brothers,

00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:21.679
okay? And then I just put a parenthetical note

00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:24.519
there. In his other letters, he uses believers

00:45:24.519 --> 00:45:25.840
a handful of times when they were Christians.

00:45:26.660 --> 00:45:30.380
What's so special about this term for his audience?

00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:33.639
There's a reason why he's using this term overwhelmingly

00:45:33.639 --> 00:45:37.039
here for believers as opposed to the term brothers.

00:45:38.199 --> 00:45:42.380
Could his reference for this in Ephesians over

00:45:42.380 --> 00:45:44.460
his usual term brothers be emphasizing something

00:45:44.460 --> 00:45:48.320
to them? Before we answer that, we need to know

00:45:48.320 --> 00:45:51.920
what saints means. It comes from the Greek word

00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:57.059
hegeos, which means holy or set upon. It's an

00:45:57.059 --> 00:46:03.639
adjective, not a noun, meaning that the object...

00:46:04.460 --> 00:46:07.119
The object is inferred when not mentioned directly.

00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:09.840
What I'm trying to say there simply is that,

00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:14.900
do you remember your grammar? A noun is a person,

00:46:15.059 --> 00:46:17.679
place, or thing, or idea, right? It's, you know,

00:46:17.679 --> 00:46:21.980
okay. What's a concrete noun? Yeah, the abstract

00:46:21.980 --> 00:46:24.820
and concrete. Yeah, that has a funny story about

00:46:24.820 --> 00:46:28.320
it. He can tell you later. Okay. There's always

00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:33.119
one in every class. Oh, yeah. But the noun is

00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:34.760
the thing that's received receiving the action

00:46:34.760 --> 00:46:40.639
or doing the action, right? An adjective adds...

00:46:40.639 --> 00:46:44.079
Describes it? Describes it, right? Adds qualifiers

00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:48.139
to it, right? This word, hagios, is one of those

00:46:48.139 --> 00:46:52.110
words. It's not a noun in itself. It's an adjective.

00:46:52.809 --> 00:46:56.429
So in the verse we just read, right at the top

00:46:56.429 --> 00:46:58.710
of your notes there, that's got that holy calling

00:46:58.710 --> 00:47:01.750
underlined, that's the word hagios in front of

00:47:01.750 --> 00:47:05.349
calling. Okay? So it's a, what kind of calling

00:47:05.349 --> 00:47:09.230
is it? It's a holy calling. Okay, that's, you

00:47:09.230 --> 00:47:12.090
may remember your, dust off your grammar days,

00:47:12.269 --> 00:47:17.210
right? So this term, haggios, is an adjective,

00:47:17.489 --> 00:47:21.650
so what? What's interesting is, that's, when

00:47:21.650 --> 00:47:23.969
you read the term saints, that's what it is,

00:47:24.010 --> 00:47:27.469
it's an adjective. It reads like a noun in English,

00:47:29.050 --> 00:47:31.650
but it's really just an adjective, and the noun

00:47:31.650 --> 00:47:36.019
is implied. It's there, but it's implied. So

00:47:36.019 --> 00:47:41.219
you could translate that, holy ones. But it's

00:47:41.219 --> 00:47:45.199
interesting, because it's, you know, that he's...

00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:47.119
That's what he's actually saying, and it really

00:47:47.119 --> 00:47:50.699
says that holy ones. Yeah, but it doesn't say

00:47:50.699 --> 00:47:56.369
holy ones. Yeah, I know. Yeah, well it is I mean

00:47:56.369 --> 00:47:58.670
that you have to because it's an adjective you

00:47:58.670 --> 00:48:00.730
have to infer what then what it's referring to

00:48:00.730 --> 00:48:03.789
right? What's it qualifying? Holy what? Right,

00:48:04.190 --> 00:48:07.630
holy ones holy people. Okay, but it's never explicit.

00:48:07.650 --> 00:48:09.590
It's not explicitly stated. I thought that was

00:48:09.590 --> 00:48:11.829
interesting Letters have been addressed to the

00:48:11.829 --> 00:48:17.070
saints Yeah, this letter I'm writing to the holy

00:48:17.070 --> 00:48:22.750
is what he said Does it have to refer to believers?

00:48:26.289 --> 00:48:33.590
If there's no noun after that, then it's referring

00:48:33.590 --> 00:48:39.610
to believers. We'll see. Just hang on. So it's

00:48:39.610 --> 00:48:44.730
an adjective, not a noun. And the object is inferred.

00:48:45.690 --> 00:48:48.929
So it is used over 200 times in the New Testament.

00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:53.079
most frequently as part of spirit. Right? So

00:48:53.079 --> 00:48:55.420
spirit is the noun and holy is the adjective.

00:48:55.699 --> 00:49:02.460
Who is that? Holy Spirit. Okay? Do you understand?

00:49:02.940 --> 00:49:05.199
Okay. So it's part of the spirit to refer to

00:49:05.199 --> 00:49:10.820
the Holy Spirit. Sometimes so. I've found it

00:49:10.820 --> 00:49:12.900
most often, what I'm saying is I've found this

00:49:12.900 --> 00:49:16.539
word Haggaios paired most often with spirit referred

00:49:16.539 --> 00:49:21.539
to the Holy Spirit. Alright. Sometimes it's used

00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:24.000
in front of inanimate objects such as Holy City,

00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:27.500
Holy Place, Holy Ground, Holy Kiss. How many

00:49:27.500 --> 00:49:33.739
times does Holy Kiss appear? At the end of three

00:49:33.739 --> 00:49:41.349
of Paul's letters. and first Thessalonians. Paul

00:49:41.349 --> 00:49:46.650
was big on the hole to kiss apparently. Where's

00:49:46.650 --> 00:49:57.599
Larry? You got a homie hug? Holy covenant and

00:49:57.599 --> 00:49:59.760
holy scriptures, right? And there are other pairings,

00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:01.900
but those stood out, and I'll give you some of

00:50:01.900 --> 00:50:04.420
the references there. I just ran out of space.

00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:07.119
I kept finding them again and again, and I was

00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:09.480
like, okay, you know, so that et cetera means

00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:11.500
you can do your own study, okay, if you want

00:50:11.500 --> 00:50:14.460
to find all those inanimate objects or inanimate

00:50:14.460 --> 00:50:17.960
nouns that are paired with this holy, okay? But

00:50:17.960 --> 00:50:21.199
most often, it is used in connection with God,

00:50:21.500 --> 00:50:23.840
such as Holy Father, right? We're going to see

00:50:23.840 --> 00:50:26.679
that in John 17, a little bit later on, John

00:50:26.679 --> 00:50:31.139
17, 11, where Jesus calls him Holy Father. This

00:50:31.139 --> 00:50:34.880
was interesting. Holy One and Holy Child refer

00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:38.019
to Jesus, okay? And there's several references

00:50:38.019 --> 00:50:42.880
there that show that, okay? and then of course

00:50:42.880 --> 00:50:45.619
Holy Spirit for the counselor slash helper that's

00:50:45.619 --> 00:50:49.360
used 89 times in direct connection to Him. So

00:50:49.360 --> 00:50:54.380
this term Haggios or Holy is associated with

00:50:54.380 --> 00:50:56.179
with inanimate objects like Holy ground, Holy

00:50:56.179 --> 00:51:00.039
covenant, Holy kiss, but most often it's attached

00:51:00.039 --> 00:51:04.219
to one or more of the members of the Trinity,

00:51:05.579 --> 00:51:11.179
particularly the Holy Spirit. It's also used

00:51:11.179 --> 00:51:14.639
in connection with angels and prophets and apostles.

00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:18.780
Okay, so holy angels, holy prophets, holy apostles.

00:51:19.639 --> 00:51:22.619
Does that make sense? Okay, so you've got, what

00:51:22.619 --> 00:51:26.460
I'm trying to point out here is that the term

00:51:26.460 --> 00:51:30.179
haggios or holy doesn't really just kind of stand

00:51:30.179 --> 00:51:34.900
on its own. It's intended to point to something,

00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:38.159
right? It's intended to direct our attention

00:51:38.159 --> 00:51:42.699
towards something that is holy. Okay? And we

00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:46.460
often, rightly, think of God first when we think

00:51:46.460 --> 00:51:50.340
of the term holy. But Scripture is not exclusive

00:51:50.340 --> 00:51:53.519
when it comes to that, and it even attaches this

00:51:53.639 --> 00:51:57.099
word to inanimate objects. I'll show why that's

00:51:57.099 --> 00:52:00.400
important here in just a minute. Okay, so the

00:52:00.400 --> 00:52:03.480
next paragraph there. What we gather from this

00:52:03.480 --> 00:52:05.860
overwhelmingly popular term pertaining to the

00:52:05.860 --> 00:52:09.920
things and people of God is that holiness has

00:52:09.920 --> 00:52:13.380
less to do with moral cleanness or righteousness

00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:17.400
and more to do with the state of its object as

00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:21.099
set apart by God from other objects as something

00:52:21.469 --> 00:52:24.349
that is used specifically and directed directly

00:52:24.349 --> 00:52:31.250
by him to accomplish his purposes. What I'm trying

00:52:31.250 --> 00:52:38.190
to say there is as you study this and you look

00:52:38.190 --> 00:52:42.190
at the evidence of it the emphasis again is not

00:52:42.190 --> 00:52:46.519
on the moral purity of the thing that's holy.

00:52:46.860 --> 00:52:49.780
We often confuse that. You'll hear that very

00:52:49.780 --> 00:52:53.079
frequently. People will talk about holiness as

00:52:53.079 --> 00:52:58.039
if it's like moral purity before God. Moral purity

00:52:58.039 --> 00:53:01.039
may be part of that, but that's not really the

00:53:01.039 --> 00:53:04.340
emphasis of holiness. The emphasis of holiness

00:53:04.340 --> 00:53:10.130
is the utility, the special setting aside of

00:53:10.130 --> 00:53:12.710
that object, whatever it is, for the purpose

00:53:12.710 --> 00:53:17.090
of God. Okay? That's the emphasis of it, that

00:53:17.090 --> 00:53:20.090
God has a special purpose for that, and He is

00:53:20.090 --> 00:53:25.489
setting it aside for His use directly as part

00:53:25.489 --> 00:53:28.329
of His plan. Like we said earlier, He's not only

00:53:28.329 --> 00:53:31.440
sovereign of the... the end, but also the means.

00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:35.639
So these are special means by which he is accomplishing

00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:40.079
his end. Through him, right? Through him, right.

00:53:40.480 --> 00:53:41.860
That's the whole point. Through the Holy One,

00:53:42.059 --> 00:53:45.840
right? Right. Nothing would matter without it

00:53:45.840 --> 00:53:56.940
being through him. That's right. The opposite

00:53:56.940 --> 00:54:02.760
of holy is profane. Meaning that which is common

00:54:02.760 --> 00:54:04.659
and ordinary and not used by God for a higher

00:54:04.659 --> 00:54:07.539
purpose. When we talk about profanity, that's

00:54:07.539 --> 00:54:10.059
what we mean. It's coarse, common, ordinary language,

00:54:10.139 --> 00:54:14.039
right? How many people use profanity, right?

00:54:14.460 --> 00:54:17.739
It really means you, but what they're doing is...

00:54:17.880 --> 00:54:20.139
You're effectively lowering your communication

00:54:20.139 --> 00:54:25.320
down to the ordinary and common, right? Anyway,

00:54:25.719 --> 00:54:29.280
that's an interesting thought. Parentheses there.

00:54:29.480 --> 00:54:32.760
This isn't to say profane objects aren't used

00:54:32.760 --> 00:54:35.400
by God, but they are more like the background,

00:54:35.599 --> 00:54:39.360
part of the stage on which God's plan unfolds.

00:54:40.480 --> 00:54:43.920
Over time, these terms have evolved to refer

00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:46.900
That is, I'm talking about holiness, what is

00:54:46.900 --> 00:54:49.559
holy and what is profane. These terms have evolved

00:54:49.559 --> 00:54:52.619
to refer to what is unpolluted versus polluted

00:54:52.619 --> 00:54:55.760
and dirty. What is better to see that as the

00:54:55.760 --> 00:54:59.960
effect or fruit of holiness or profanity and

00:54:59.960 --> 00:55:02.800
complementary to them, okay, or the consequence

00:55:02.800 --> 00:55:08.380
of them, rather than as the state itself. This

00:55:08.380 --> 00:55:11.239
is most clearly seen in places where the Bible

00:55:11.239 --> 00:55:14.389
points to inanimate objects such as a city. or

00:55:14.389 --> 00:55:17.610
a temple building, or certain plots of ground

00:55:17.610 --> 00:55:21.050
as holy. Remember, I didn't put this here to

00:55:21.050 --> 00:55:26.269
notice, but Moses is ordered to take off his

00:55:26.269 --> 00:55:27.989
sandals because the ground on which you stand

00:55:27.989 --> 00:55:33.110
is holy ground, right? That's an inanimate object.

00:55:33.389 --> 00:55:37.110
What made that ground special? It's not because

00:55:37.110 --> 00:55:39.070
it was more morally pure than the other ground

00:55:39.070 --> 00:55:42.679
around it, right? It's because God chose that

00:55:42.679 --> 00:55:45.139
particular ground, that area right there, for

00:55:45.139 --> 00:55:47.579
a very special and specific purpose, right? And

00:55:47.579 --> 00:55:51.059
He's directly working with Moses in His commissioning

00:55:51.059 --> 00:55:53.500
right there. So that ground is very special as

00:55:53.500 --> 00:55:55.820
opposed to just the profane ground around it.

00:55:55.920 --> 00:55:58.639
Does that make sense? There's nothing that ground

00:55:58.639 --> 00:56:02.679
could have done to make itself holy. Right. His

00:56:02.679 --> 00:56:06.800
holiness is not inherent to it, but inherent

00:56:06.800 --> 00:56:10.119
to the choice that God makes for it. No matter

00:56:10.119 --> 00:56:13.860
its moral position. That's right. It meant nothing.

00:56:14.360 --> 00:56:18.900
That's right. Okay, so these animal objects are

00:56:18.900 --> 00:56:21.780
morally neutral and therefore neither righteous

00:56:21.780 --> 00:56:26.000
nor unrighteous inherently. So why does Paul

00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:29.619
use this term, saints, most exclusively for his

00:56:29.619 --> 00:56:32.380
audience in Ephesians, unlike the popular meaning

00:56:32.380 --> 00:56:35.320
of saints in many circles today, notably the

00:56:35.320 --> 00:56:37.199
Catholic Church, right? You probably think the

00:56:37.199 --> 00:56:40.670
other term, saints. Many people think of Roman

00:56:40.670 --> 00:56:44.570
Catholicism and the saints. Right. All these

00:56:44.570 --> 00:56:46.889
different saints. St. Patrick's Day and all of

00:56:46.889 --> 00:56:50.670
these days they have St. Christopher, you know,

00:56:50.949 --> 00:56:53.550
from travel and all that. He is not referring

00:56:53.550 --> 00:56:57.909
to a... Paul uses this term. He is not referring

00:56:57.909 --> 00:57:03.190
to a subset of specially accomplished Christians

00:57:03.190 --> 00:57:06.369
who have distinguished themselves. but rather

00:57:06.369 --> 00:57:09.510
to all those who have been chosen, adopted, and

00:57:09.510 --> 00:57:12.030
called by God the Father to an inheritance which

00:57:12.030 --> 00:57:15.929
he purposed in Christ to give to them to show

00:57:15.929 --> 00:57:19.309
off his amazingly generous heart of love and

00:57:19.309 --> 00:57:23.210
the immeasurable abundance of the riches of his

00:57:23.210 --> 00:57:26.750
grace and mercy. It is very important that Paul

00:57:26.750 --> 00:57:30.829
reminds these saints that it is God's sovereignty

00:57:30.829 --> 00:57:35.039
and not their... worthiness that has put them

00:57:35.039 --> 00:57:41.199
in this state. Will you catch that? Let me read

00:57:41.199 --> 00:57:43.639
that again. It's very important that Paul reminds

00:57:43.639 --> 00:57:46.699
these saints that it is God's sovereignty that

00:57:46.699 --> 00:57:52.320
is His choice and His work, and not their worthiness

00:57:52.320 --> 00:57:54.699
that has put them in this state of being a saint.

00:57:55.530 --> 00:57:59.650
We see Him use this term of holy ones again and

00:57:59.650 --> 00:58:03.210
again to drive home the fact that God has done

00:58:03.210 --> 00:58:06.349
the work of making His people set apart and not

00:58:06.349 --> 00:58:10.550
a function of their self -improvement. Morals

00:58:10.550 --> 00:58:15.730
or good works done to please Him. Hear how different

00:58:15.730 --> 00:58:17.750
that is from the Catholic conception of Satan?

00:58:17.989 --> 00:58:20.190
So it doesn't matter how long your robe is or

00:58:20.190 --> 00:58:25.670
how many candles you have. or how many little,

00:58:25.670 --> 00:58:28.530
you know, ding -dongs you got hanging in the

00:58:28.530 --> 00:58:31.349
front of you. Right. Right. Or how big your hat

00:58:31.349 --> 00:58:35.170
is. Or how many poor Indian children you helped,

00:58:35.210 --> 00:58:36.949
you know, as in the case of Mother Teresa. Right.

00:58:40.369 --> 00:58:44.570
Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah. She's a saint of God's

00:58:44.570 --> 00:58:46.969
makes her one. But she's not a saint otherwise.

00:58:48.309 --> 00:58:51.329
Okay. So many verses in Ephesians point this

00:58:51.329 --> 00:58:54.949
way. Okay. And you're probably one of the ones

00:58:54.949 --> 00:58:56.789
I was thinking of here is Ephesians 2, 8, and

00:58:56.789 --> 00:58:58.969
9, and 10, right? Very clearly point to the fact

00:58:58.969 --> 00:59:02.590
that it's God's work, not ours, okay? But many

00:59:02.590 --> 00:59:04.989
voices in Ephesians point this way, but several

00:59:04.989 --> 00:59:07.530
are particularly clear because they directly

00:59:07.530 --> 00:59:12.550
mention His purpose of making for Himself a holy

00:59:12.550 --> 00:59:15.130
people, okay? So here we go, here's one we just

00:59:15.130 --> 00:59:18.309
read a minute ago. Even as He chose us in Him

00:59:18.309 --> 00:59:22.409
before the foundation of the world, why? and

00:59:22.409 --> 00:59:25.949
we should be holy and blameless before Him in

00:59:25.949 --> 00:59:30.070
love. Well, why the redundancy? If holiness means

00:59:30.070 --> 00:59:33.010
inherently, morally pure, why say blameless,

00:59:33.010 --> 00:59:36.590
too, on top of that? Well, it's both. We're set

00:59:36.590 --> 00:59:40.190
aside for His special purpose, and oh, by way,

00:59:40.210 --> 00:59:42.429
He's also making us blameless. You see that?

00:59:42.530 --> 00:59:44.969
They're connected, but they're not to be confused.

00:59:47.190 --> 00:59:50.010
All right? Next verse is there. Chapter 2 says

00:59:50.010 --> 00:59:52.789
this. So then you are no longer strangers and

00:59:52.789 --> 00:59:55.250
aliens, but you are fellow citizens. He's talking

00:59:55.250 --> 00:59:57.849
about the Gentile believers are fellow citizens

00:59:57.849 --> 01:00:01.409
with the saints, the holy really literally with

01:00:01.409 --> 01:00:04.889
the holy and members of the household of God

01:00:04.889 --> 01:00:07.349
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

01:00:07.610 --> 01:00:11.230
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in

01:00:11.230 --> 01:00:14.329
whom the whole structure being joined together

01:00:14.329 --> 01:00:21.000
grows into a holy temple in the Lord. God is

01:00:21.000 --> 01:00:27.400
taking each of us and growing us together into

01:00:27.400 --> 01:00:31.139
this, not only individual, but corporate temple,

01:00:31.340 --> 01:00:33.440
right? We know our bodies are the temple of the

01:00:33.440 --> 01:00:36.360
Holy Spirit, but corporately together. He says

01:00:36.360 --> 01:00:38.699
we're a holy temple. And the last verse there

01:00:38.699 --> 01:00:41.860
in chapter five. Husbands, love your wives as

01:00:41.860 --> 01:00:43.900
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for

01:00:43.900 --> 01:00:47.380
her that he might sanctify her. That's the process

01:00:47.380 --> 01:00:50.639
of making holy, okay? Having cleansed her by

01:00:50.639 --> 01:00:52.579
the washing of water by the words so that he

01:00:52.579 --> 01:00:55.639
might present the church to himself in splendor

01:00:55.639 --> 01:00:58.500
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that

01:00:58.500 --> 01:01:02.559
she might be, same two words again, effectively

01:01:02.559 --> 01:01:09.119
be holy and without letters. Paul's encouraging,

01:01:09.460 --> 01:01:11.800
mind -blowing letter we call Ephesians is written

01:01:11.800 --> 01:01:14.739
to believers who are marginalized by the Greco

01:01:14.739 --> 01:01:17.420
-Roman culture around them. They weren't especially

01:01:17.420 --> 01:01:21.250
noteworthy people. And even among the believers

01:01:21.250 --> 01:01:24.030
themselves, the Gentile Christians could easily

01:01:24.030 --> 01:01:26.269
feel second rate because they didn't have the

01:01:26.269 --> 01:01:29.289
advantages of a Jewish pedigree. We'll see Paul

01:01:29.289 --> 01:01:31.929
tenderly reach out to them, especially as he

01:01:31.929 --> 01:01:35.269
reminds all believers that none of us have earned

01:01:35.269 --> 01:01:38.989
God's grace and salvation. That's 2, 8, 9, right?

01:01:39.730 --> 01:01:43.170
And that he has gone out of his way to tear down

01:01:43.170 --> 01:01:45.510
the dividing wall we talked about earlier of

01:01:45.510 --> 01:01:48.030
hostility between Jewish and Gentile believers.

01:01:48.680 --> 01:01:51.880
God is in the business. Here's the punchline.

01:01:52.239 --> 01:01:55.599
God is in the business of taking ordinary, profane

01:01:55.599 --> 01:01:58.539
people and completely changing their station

01:01:58.539 --> 01:02:00.940
in Christ, called sanctification, meaning the

01:02:00.940 --> 01:02:04.860
process of making them holy, to a place of direct

01:02:04.860 --> 01:02:08.639
and specific use by Him. For what purpose? Paul

01:02:08.639 --> 01:02:12.500
answers it this way. But God, being rich in mercy,

01:02:12.670 --> 01:02:14.670
because of the great love with which he loved

01:02:14.670 --> 01:02:18.090
us even when we were dead in our trespasses made

01:02:18.090 --> 01:02:21.210
us alive together with Christ by grace you have

01:02:21.210 --> 01:02:24.110
been saved and raised us up with him and seated

01:02:24.110 --> 01:02:26.469
us with him in the heavenly places in Christ

01:02:26.469 --> 01:02:30.190
Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show

01:02:30.190 --> 01:02:34.090
the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness

01:02:34.090 --> 01:02:39.389
toward us in Christ Jesus. In other words, God

01:02:39.389 --> 01:02:43.539
has called each of us If we're in Christ, right,

01:02:44.880 --> 01:02:49.440
out of the masses, so to speak, just the profane,

01:02:49.639 --> 01:02:51.619
common, ordinary centers, the run -of -the -mill

01:02:51.619 --> 01:02:55.840
centers, not because we've done all these great,

01:02:55.980 --> 01:02:58.599
wonderful works, like the Catholic system says,

01:02:58.639 --> 01:03:01.940
right, or other systems. I think the Orthodox

01:03:01.940 --> 01:03:04.920
system has its own set of saints, right? These

01:03:04.920 --> 01:03:08.380
are special, you know, top -tier Christians,

01:03:08.659 --> 01:03:12.159
right? It has nothing to do. with those people.

01:03:12.300 --> 01:03:14.920
It has everything to do with God's choice to

01:03:14.920 --> 01:03:19.079
call and sanctify them and to set them apart

01:03:19.079 --> 01:03:23.760
and set aside for His specific purposes. Okay?

01:03:24.739 --> 01:03:28.809
Alright? So next time... Like I said, next month,

01:03:29.730 --> 01:03:32.289
October, Lord willing, we'll, not next month,

01:03:32.489 --> 01:03:35.550
but October, we'll look at this, we'll start

01:03:35.550 --> 01:03:38.130
this out. This is worshiped around the Lord.

01:03:38.409 --> 01:03:47.670
Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. I was, as I was putting

01:03:47.670 --> 01:03:50.889
these notes together, I was like, at one time,

01:03:51.050 --> 01:03:53.190
I was just like, tears started coming. I was,

01:03:53.590 --> 01:04:00.219
I was just like, man. How do you thank God enough?

01:04:01.360 --> 01:04:05.420
Calling us out of the ordinary and the vain and

01:04:05.420 --> 01:04:08.179
where we were to be exalted in the heavens with

01:04:08.179 --> 01:04:14.920
Christ? It's amazing. Amazing. Simply obey Him,

01:04:15.260 --> 01:04:25.409
right? That's how you love Him enough. Yes. You

01:04:25.409 --> 01:04:30.409
gave me a pretty simple answer to that. If you

01:04:30.409 --> 01:04:32.130
love him, you obey me, right? That's exactly

01:04:32.130 --> 01:04:35.050
what he said. Or else we'd be searching for exactly

01:04:35.050 --> 01:04:36.769
the question you just said. Well, how in the

01:04:36.769 --> 01:04:40.309
world out of all this massive expanse am I supposed

01:04:40.309 --> 01:04:44.010
to tell him I love him? That's right. How can

01:04:44.010 --> 01:04:50.269
I reciprocate this at all? And so he said specifically,

01:04:51.710 --> 01:04:55.840
obey me. And that's it. That's all he said. If

01:04:55.840 --> 01:04:59.599
you love me, you obey me. Wow. Okay, well I can

01:04:59.599 --> 01:05:03.239
try to manage that. But try to reciprocate, you

01:05:03.239 --> 01:05:06.119
know, all this, like you said, the expanse of

01:05:06.119 --> 01:05:10.260
deep spray. You can't wrap your mind around it.

01:05:11.860 --> 01:05:13.739
And in his knowledge, he knew that, so he just

01:05:13.739 --> 01:05:41.599
said, uh, obey me. We all failed at that. Thank

01:05:41.599 --> 01:05:45.239
goodness that we have Him that knows our hearts.

01:05:50.309 --> 01:05:52.889
And hopefully, if we stumble again, we'll be

01:05:52.889 --> 01:05:56.909
as bad. Well, Paul is going to take the second

01:05:56.909 --> 01:06:00.070
half of Ephesians to explore that, how he starts

01:06:00.070 --> 01:06:03.010
chapter four by saying, in light of God's calling,

01:06:03.989 --> 01:06:06.449
live a life worthy. Yeah. Literally, what he

01:06:06.449 --> 01:06:08.489
says is live up to the calling you received.

01:06:11.190 --> 01:06:13.610
And then he unpacks all that, what that means.

01:06:14.289 --> 01:06:16.769
That's right. I think Diana took a special slight

01:06:16.769 --> 01:06:18.650
from you. Out of all the saints you could have

01:06:18.650 --> 01:06:28.159
chose, chose St. Patty. You know what's cool

01:06:28.159 --> 01:06:31.260
about that? In the Catholic system, or in man

01:06:31.260 --> 01:06:33.340
-made religious systems like that, you have to

01:06:33.340 --> 01:06:36.179
earn that status of saint, right? In Christ,

01:06:36.360 --> 01:06:38.940
you're given that status. And then Paul says,

01:06:39.159 --> 01:06:42.480
now live up to that. That's what we're called

01:06:42.480 --> 01:06:52.179
to. You're a saint. Act like it. They're watching

01:06:52.179 --> 01:06:54.780
you more than money. Even more than that is an

01:06:54.780 --> 01:06:56.960
insult to the Lord. If He's saving us from sin,

01:06:57.000 --> 01:06:59.800
why would we go back to that? Why would you offend

01:06:59.800 --> 01:07:05.679
Him again? All right, we're a little late, but

01:07:05.679 --> 01:07:09.079
that's close. Good discussion. Father, thank

01:07:09.079 --> 01:07:12.380
you. What do we say to these things? If God be

01:07:12.380 --> 01:07:15.440
for us, who is against us? I feel like we've

01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:18.579
been looking at the deep field of the New Testament

01:07:18.579 --> 01:07:25.440
here. just sparkling wealth of yourself really

01:07:25.440 --> 01:07:29.400
expressed through this kindness and grace and

01:07:29.400 --> 01:07:32.920
love and riches of mercy that we see poured out

01:07:32.920 --> 01:07:38.639
of Christ. And to call us saints is such an amazing,

01:07:38.639 --> 01:07:43.679
amazing thing. We know, if we're even a little

01:07:43.679 --> 01:07:46.800
bit honest, how unworthy we are of that title.

01:07:47.360 --> 01:07:52.849
And yet, it is not... not at all baked into the

01:07:52.849 --> 01:07:56.070
term to think about our worthiness but of your

01:07:56.070 --> 01:07:59.690
calling. And so we thank you for that. I pray

01:07:59.690 --> 01:08:01.590
you'll help us to grab a hold of these things,

01:08:01.889 --> 01:08:04.710
to live in them and live up to them by the Holy

01:08:04.710 --> 01:08:08.210
Spirit and scriptures and mutual fellowship and

01:08:08.210 --> 01:08:11.530
encouragement of one another that we may all

01:08:11.530 --> 01:08:12.070
grow to.