WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:01.380 of this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02.520 --> 00:04.400 Amen. So we're starting a new Bible study 00:04.400 --> 00:05.520 through the book of Ephesians. 00:07.540 --> 00:10.340 And, you know, when we go through this chapter one, 00:10.500 --> 00:12.380 I'm going to do a little bit more 00:12.380 --> 00:13.780 than just the chapter itself. 00:13.980 --> 00:16.480 So hopefully we kind of get a good idea 00:16.480 --> 00:19.420 of what's happening in this particular epistle. 00:19.660 --> 00:23.640 But what's interesting about chapter one to me 00:23.640 --> 00:25.840 is that while it's a lot of, 00:25.900 --> 00:27.020 it's, I mean, a decent number of verses, 00:27.020 --> 00:29.520 23 verses, it's four sentences. 00:30.360 --> 00:31.720 And so that's kind of interesting. 00:32.300 --> 00:35.840 So like the sentences in Ephesians are very long. 00:36.080 --> 00:38.560 And so it's very easy to kind of like get lost 00:39.060 --> 00:41.180 and just like what we're actually saying. 00:41.400 --> 00:43.560 So hopefully as we go through this, 00:43.640 --> 00:45.380 I'm going to try and just keep in mind 00:45.380 --> 00:47.580 like what the big pictures are of each sentence. 00:47.580 --> 00:49.260 So then we don't really necessarily get lost 00:49.260 --> 00:50.940 in the midst of them. 00:51.020 --> 00:54.060 But in verses one and two, the Bible says, 00:54.100 --> 00:56.100 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ 00:56.100 --> 00:57.880 by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus 00:57.880 --> 00:59.400 and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. 00:59.520 --> 01:01.800 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father 01:01.800 --> 01:02.840 and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:02.960 --> 01:06.160 So the attitude of the apostle Paul is grace. 01:06.920 --> 01:09.760 We notice a lot of things that we could take note of. 01:09.860 --> 01:11.440 Number one, that Paul is an apostle. 01:12.340 --> 01:15.400 Number two, that Paul has no qualms 01:15.400 --> 01:17.260 about calling himself an apostle. 01:19.100 --> 01:21.800 So I think sometimes you'll see this attitude 01:21.800 --> 01:24.100 and it's not very common, 01:24.480 --> 01:25.800 but some people have this attitude 01:25.800 --> 01:29.500 like we should never attribute any kind of a title 01:29.900 --> 01:31.560 to anybody in the New Testament. 01:32.060 --> 01:34.340 And so they'll get mad at calling someone 01:34.340 --> 01:37.460 like pastor Shelley or pastor so-and-so 01:37.460 --> 01:40.300 or using like a title of any way, shape or form. 01:40.540 --> 01:42.120 But then why is the apostle Paul 01:42.120 --> 01:43.300 when he's writing to this church 01:44.240 --> 01:46.840 say, hey Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. 01:46.940 --> 01:47.900 And in fact, you'll just notice 01:48.500 --> 01:50.540 in virtually every single one of his epistles 01:51.160 --> 01:52.560 kind of like excluding a Hebrew 01:52.560 --> 01:53.900 is just because it seems anonymous. 01:54.420 --> 01:55.780 He's always mentioning he's an apostle. 01:56.120 --> 01:57.880 So it doesn't seem like he has any problem 01:57.880 --> 01:58.720 mentioning he's an apostle. 01:58.920 --> 02:01.240 And specifically in other portions of scripture, 02:01.640 --> 02:03.480 he tells us that being an apostle 02:03.480 --> 02:07.120 is specifically like the highest authority. 02:07.400 --> 02:08.640 It's kind of like the apostles are first 02:08.640 --> 02:10.020 in the sense of authority structure. 02:10.520 --> 02:13.140 So he has no qualms about saying, 02:13.240 --> 02:15.620 hey the apostle's in charge and I'm an apostle. 02:16.140 --> 02:18.700 So we shouldn't necessarily get squeamish about 02:19.620 --> 02:22.420 attributing the correct titles to the correct people. 02:22.820 --> 02:24.300 There's nothing wrong with someone being an apostle. 02:24.480 --> 02:26.480 There's nothing wrong with someone saying they're an apostle 02:26.480 --> 02:28.000 or using that particular title. 02:28.740 --> 02:30.380 And a lot of times when we talk about people, 02:30.480 --> 02:31.740 we might say apostle Paul, 02:32.180 --> 02:33.660 that's just how we talk about him 02:33.660 --> 02:34.720 because he is an apostle. 02:34.900 --> 02:35.880 There's nothing wrong with that. 02:36.420 --> 02:38.000 And even myself included, 02:38.180 --> 02:40.900 whenever starting Periods Baptist Church, 02:41.480 --> 02:43.500 it felt awkward to say like, 02:43.580 --> 02:45.840 hey I'm pastor so-and-so or something like that. 02:45.900 --> 02:47.320 I don't really care to use titles. 02:47.320 --> 02:49.820 But by not taking the title, 02:50.240 --> 02:51.820 you're kind of just disrespecting the office. 02:52.220 --> 02:54.760 And so I don't want to disrespect the office of a pastor, 02:55.200 --> 02:56.140 even though me personally, 02:56.260 --> 02:59.160 I may not like love titles or something like that, 02:59.380 --> 03:00.040 but it's just, 03:00.200 --> 03:02.080 it's more about the respect for the office 03:02.080 --> 03:03.040 than it is for the person. 03:03.680 --> 03:07.960 And so we shouldn't feel bad about using titles 03:07.960 --> 03:10.420 in these particular roles as like we're trying 03:10.420 --> 03:12.000 to elevate men, we're not really trying 03:12.000 --> 03:13.760 to elevate men, we're trying to elevate the office. 03:14.200 --> 03:14.820 And we're trying to say, 03:14.820 --> 03:18.800 hey pastors and teachers and deacons and evangelists 03:18.800 --> 03:20.440 and these things are important roles. 03:20.740 --> 03:22.280 And so we want to take the role seriously. 03:22.900 --> 03:24.360 It's not so much about the person. 03:25.140 --> 03:26.760 And the apostle Paul has no qualms 03:26.760 --> 03:28.420 about being the apostle of Jesus Christ, 03:28.520 --> 03:30.400 but notice this by the will of God. 03:30.960 --> 03:33.620 He's not, it's not that he's appointing himself 03:33.620 --> 03:34.380 as an apostle. 03:35.060 --> 03:37.340 You know, he's not Greg Locke 03:37.340 --> 03:38.960 who's appointing himself an apostle. 03:39.180 --> 03:40.780 Now he's since taken it back. 03:40.900 --> 03:41.760 I don't even know how you do that. 03:41.920 --> 03:42.720 You know, like, 03:42.720 --> 03:44.540 I don't know how you like make yourself an apostle 03:44.540 --> 03:46.040 and then you take back your an apostle. 03:46.440 --> 03:47.740 It's like, are you an apostle or you're not? 03:47.860 --> 03:49.600 I don't know, but I mean, 03:49.980 --> 03:52.100 hey, at least he's right that he's not an apostle. 03:52.440 --> 03:54.560 It was just weird that he did it in the first place. 03:55.020 --> 03:56.540 But notice again, according to the Bible, 03:56.900 --> 03:57.580 it's by the will of God. 03:57.740 --> 03:59.940 And if you think about the positions 03:59.940 --> 04:01.720 in the New Testament, right? 04:01.960 --> 04:04.440 The disciples, they weren't going up to Jesus 04:04.440 --> 04:06.420 and saying, make me a disciple 04:06.820 --> 04:08.380 or I want to be a disciple. 04:08.740 --> 04:10.080 In fact, if you think about it, 04:10.080 --> 04:12.620 Jesus is showing up and then he's like saying, 04:12.700 --> 04:13.440 hey, follow me. 04:13.800 --> 04:15.420 He's making them follow him. 04:15.660 --> 04:17.200 He's the one that's basically giving them 04:17.200 --> 04:18.920 the position of the disciples. 04:19.240 --> 04:21.180 He's the one appointing them or daining them 04:21.180 --> 04:22.820 and since choosing them. 04:23.220 --> 04:23.840 And of course, 04:24.120 --> 04:25.440 he's choosing them to be apostles 04:25.440 --> 04:27.640 after the resurrection as well. 04:27.900 --> 04:30.220 He ordained 70 others also. 04:30.820 --> 04:34.140 So the disciples aren't seeking ordination. 04:34.320 --> 04:36.160 They're not seeking this office. 04:36.300 --> 04:37.540 They're not seeking this position. 04:37.760 --> 04:39.340 Jesus shows up and just says, 04:39.340 --> 04:41.340 hey, I want you to be this position. 04:41.860 --> 04:43.220 The apostle Paul is not going around 04:43.220 --> 04:44.760 seeking being an apostle. 04:45.440 --> 04:48.820 In fact, he's going out to try and take Christians 04:48.820 --> 04:49.940 and put them in prison. 04:50.260 --> 04:51.360 That was his goal. 04:51.780 --> 04:53.360 And then Jesus just shows up 04:53.820 --> 04:56.680 and just blinds him and then sends him off. 04:56.980 --> 04:58.380 And then eventually, of course, 04:58.760 --> 05:01.380 through Ananias being reconciled, 05:01.540 --> 05:03.440 he then becomes a chosen vessel, 05:03.660 --> 05:05.660 an apostle for the Lord Jesus Christ. 05:05.780 --> 05:07.300 And of course, by the will of God, 05:07.300 --> 05:09.420 the apostle Paul never at any point 05:09.420 --> 05:10.460 sought out to be an apostle 05:10.840 --> 05:13.720 or even really sought out to follow the Lord Jesus Christ 05:13.720 --> 05:17.200 but rather was called by God to do such a thing. 05:17.660 --> 05:21.160 And I'm not to say that there's anything wrong 05:21.160 --> 05:24.680 with desiring the office of some kind of ministry 05:24.680 --> 05:27.400 because the Bible says in first Timothy chapter number three 05:27.720 --> 05:29.340 that if you desire the office of a bishop, 05:29.500 --> 05:30.660 you desire it the good work. 05:30.980 --> 05:34.480 But I don't like totally getting away from 05:35.080 --> 05:37.440 also that it's kind of a chosen role. 05:37.640 --> 05:40.480 It should be something that someone else is looking at, 05:40.640 --> 05:42.220 hey, I think that you should be in this role 05:42.220 --> 05:43.440 and they're choosing you. 05:43.500 --> 05:45.660 And that's to me how the mystery of the will of God 05:45.660 --> 05:50.000 still is in play for our offices and positions today. 05:50.460 --> 05:51.360 So there's a balance, 05:51.480 --> 05:52.660 there's a healthy balance of people that, 05:53.180 --> 05:54.940 hey, you have a desire to be a pastor, great. 05:55.280 --> 05:57.280 But you need to then also have somebody 05:57.280 --> 05:59.040 that sees that same vision for your life 05:59.040 --> 06:01.260 and wants you to do that particular role 06:01.260 --> 06:03.180 and not just self-appointing. 06:03.180 --> 06:05.440 And of course the Orthodox and the Catholics, 06:05.740 --> 06:06.240 they get up and they say, 06:06.440 --> 06:08.580 well, how do you guys decide who's a church 06:08.580 --> 06:09.680 or pastor or whatever? 06:10.180 --> 06:12.300 Anybody could just randomly make their own church 06:12.300 --> 06:12.840 and be a pastor. 06:13.140 --> 06:14.220 Well, they can technically, 06:14.880 --> 06:16.720 but that isn't really the biblical model. 06:17.000 --> 06:19.140 And so of course we should have churches starting churches. 06:19.540 --> 06:21.320 We should have pastors ordaining pastors 06:21.940 --> 06:24.520 and you should be basically chosen in that sense. 06:24.760 --> 06:26.300 I don't believe in the diploma mill 06:26.300 --> 06:28.180 of Bible college going out there. 06:28.520 --> 06:30.360 And again, how does that fit in this model? 06:31.320 --> 06:34.860 Hey, I just, as long as I just have the tuition money 06:34.860 --> 06:38.560 to go to Bible college and just pass the required classes, 06:38.780 --> 06:40.300 I mean, they'll hand you an ordination certificate 06:40.300 --> 06:43.260 at the completion of your degree plan. 06:43.600 --> 06:45.420 And we don't really hear very often 06:45.420 --> 06:47.100 of them rejecting anybody. 06:47.540 --> 06:48.340 I mean, it's pretty much, 06:48.480 --> 06:51.340 you basically show up to class, you pass the test, 06:51.720 --> 06:52.780 you get the diploma mill. 06:53.380 --> 06:56.940 Like how is that really what the Bible model is? 06:57.140 --> 06:58.800 It doesn't really fit the same way. 06:59.220 --> 07:01.020 And so what I like about the apostle Paul, 07:01.540 --> 07:02.380 he says, Hey, he's an apostle, 07:02.520 --> 07:03.540 but it's by the will of God 07:03.980 --> 07:05.400 that God wants him to be in this role. 07:05.480 --> 07:07.320 And look, if you just say, Hey, 07:07.360 --> 07:08.960 I wanna serve God to the best of my ability 07:08.960 --> 07:10.420 and you're just knocking out of the park, 07:10.600 --> 07:12.840 I just don't think men of God are gonna hold you back. 07:13.060 --> 07:14.480 Like, I know that there's this idea, 07:14.560 --> 07:15.360 like I'm just afraid. 07:15.760 --> 07:17.680 But like to me, if you're awesome, 07:17.900 --> 07:20.980 we're gonna see it, you know, God's gonna use you. 07:21.160 --> 07:22.800 And if you're awesome, even if I don't see it, 07:22.860 --> 07:23.640 God'll see it, right? 07:24.220 --> 07:25.120 Like are you really afraid 07:25.120 --> 07:28.120 that God's not gonna use you as you're just so awesome? 07:28.120 --> 07:29.040 You're just gonna be on the bench. 07:29.620 --> 07:31.860 And it's like, if coach had put me in fourth quarter, 07:32.040 --> 07:32.740 you know, we'd won the game. 07:33.060 --> 07:35.140 And she's like, God's just over here like, man, 07:35.200 --> 07:37.220 we would have won if I'd put this guy in, 07:37.340 --> 07:39.100 I just can't figure out a way to put him in the game. 07:39.260 --> 07:40.640 You know, it's like, God will figure out 07:40.640 --> 07:41.920 how to put you in the game, you know. 07:42.320 --> 07:44.040 And what we often see, unfortunately, 07:44.500 --> 07:47.860 is so many self-appointed leaders, 07:48.440 --> 07:49.600 self-appointed pastors, 07:50.180 --> 07:52.360 people that are just trying to make a name for themselves 07:52.860 --> 07:54.140 and they're just a train wreck. 07:54.280 --> 07:56.140 They're not really doing anything for God 07:56.140 --> 07:57.700 because they're in it for themselves. 07:57.700 --> 07:58.840 And so we don't want that. 07:59.300 --> 08:00.600 You know, I like about the apostle Paul is, 08:00.680 --> 08:01.740 hey, I'm an apostle Jesus Christ, 08:01.860 --> 08:03.540 but it's by the will of God. 08:04.320 --> 08:05.320 To the saints, which are at Ephesus 08:05.320 --> 08:06.920 and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. 08:07.800 --> 08:10.120 Hey, this is a book written to the Ephesians. 08:10.180 --> 08:11.380 This is a letter written to the Ephesians, 08:11.600 --> 08:13.960 but not just to the Ephesians too. 08:14.600 --> 08:16.140 Anybody that's faithful in Christ Jesus. 08:16.680 --> 08:17.720 Hey, so that's for us too. 08:17.980 --> 08:19.040 So this book is for us. 08:19.240 --> 08:20.500 And what is his attitude? 08:20.900 --> 08:22.520 Grace be to you in peace from God our father 08:22.520 --> 08:23.940 and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 08:24.280 --> 08:26.680 Notice the distinction between the father and the son 08:26.680 --> 08:29.060 and that distinction gets more apparent 08:29.060 --> 08:30.120 as we go through the text. 08:30.600 --> 08:32.360 Verse three, bless and be the God and father 08:32.360 --> 08:33.440 of our Lord Jesus Christ, 08:33.880 --> 08:35.640 who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings 08:35.640 --> 08:36.860 in heavenly places in Christ. 08:37.260 --> 08:38.380 Now again, if you slow down, 08:39.200 --> 08:40.780 in verse three, bless and be the God, 08:40.980 --> 08:42.940 notice this, and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 08:43.280 --> 08:45.260 So the father is the God of Jesus Christ 08:45.260 --> 08:47.920 and he's also the father of the Lord Jesus Christ. 08:48.400 --> 08:50.220 And of course the Bible makes this apparent 08:50.220 --> 08:51.180 in Hebrews chapter one. 08:51.260 --> 08:51.880 Keep your finger here. 08:52.220 --> 08:53.220 Just flip over a few pages. 08:53.400 --> 08:54.420 Look at Hebrews chapter one. 08:55.140 --> 08:57.760 It'll say similar language here. 08:58.940 --> 09:00.340 Look at what it says in verse eight. 09:01.140 --> 09:02.540 But under the son he saith, 09:02.960 --> 09:05.780 Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever 09:05.780 --> 09:07.860 a scepter of righteousness as the scepter of thy kingdom. 09:08.020 --> 09:12.080 So the son of God, when described by the father, 09:12.640 --> 09:13.900 he calls him God, doesn't he? 09:14.600 --> 09:16.780 Then verse nine, thou hast loved righteousness 09:16.780 --> 09:18.240 and hated iniquity, therefore God, 09:18.360 --> 09:21.640 notice this, even thy God hath anointed thee 09:21.640 --> 09:23.760 with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 09:24.060 --> 09:27.240 But then when the son is looking to the father, 09:27.840 --> 09:28.520 it's his God. 09:29.020 --> 09:31.340 So you have God and God. 09:31.880 --> 09:32.700 How does that work? 09:32.880 --> 09:35.380 Well, only when we understand the concept of the trinity 09:35.760 --> 09:38.060 that there is three persons in one God 09:38.540 --> 09:40.440 and we can call Jesus God, 09:41.200 --> 09:43.160 we can call the father God 09:43.560 --> 09:45.040 and the father's not the son 09:45.040 --> 09:46.080 and the son's not the father 09:46.080 --> 09:47.320 and yet there's still one God. 09:47.880 --> 09:49.360 So how does that make sense? 09:49.520 --> 09:51.300 Well, it's the trinity. 09:51.440 --> 09:52.180 There's nothing like it. 09:52.180 --> 09:53.760 And so, of course, we have to believe 09:53.760 --> 09:54.800 all of these things are true. 09:55.060 --> 09:57.520 The son is the God, the father is God, 09:57.940 --> 09:58.980 there's only one God. 09:59.480 --> 10:03.020 And so, hey, that's, how do you explain that, the trinity? 10:03.200 --> 10:05.020 Go back if you would to Ephesians chapter one, 10:06.560 --> 10:07.680 Ephesians chapter one, 10:07.940 --> 10:09.820 but it wouldn't be wrong to use this language. 10:09.940 --> 10:11.100 Now, of course, Unitarians, 10:11.200 --> 10:12.920 they hear, oh, Jesus has a God, 10:13.200 --> 10:14.640 so therefore he can't be God. 10:15.120 --> 10:16.680 That's false, okay? 10:17.120 --> 10:18.720 Or they'll say, oh, if Jesus is God 10:18.720 --> 10:19.660 and the father is God, then that means 10:19.660 --> 10:20.300 that the same person. 10:20.460 --> 10:21.200 Well, that's also false. 10:21.200 --> 10:21.960 So we don't want to, 10:22.020 --> 10:24.420 we don't want to like become modalist in oneness 10:24.420 --> 10:25.720 and we don't want to become Unitarian. 10:26.280 --> 10:27.560 You know, we want to have the trinity. 10:27.880 --> 10:29.480 Trinity view is, hey, the son. 10:30.000 --> 10:31.360 And again, I always use time. 10:31.840 --> 10:33.120 Time is kind of my analogy 10:33.120 --> 10:35.720 to help rationalize this concept, right? 10:36.220 --> 10:37.160 If we think about time, 10:37.340 --> 10:38.380 there's only one time. 10:38.760 --> 10:40.100 There's not like multiple times, 10:40.180 --> 10:42.460 but within the concept of time, 10:42.580 --> 10:44.440 we have past, present and future. 10:45.000 --> 10:46.380 And when we talk about the past, 10:46.500 --> 10:47.140 past is time. 10:47.700 --> 10:48.440 The future is time. 10:48.560 --> 10:49.940 They're both time, but there's still only one time. 10:50.480 --> 10:54.420 So in some way, time itself has a trinitarian concept, 10:55.040 --> 10:55.680 you know, packaged in. 10:55.780 --> 10:57.620 Now this is a perfect analogy for God? 10:58.020 --> 11:00.840 No, but at least helps us to understand how 11:00.840 --> 11:02.560 you can have two things being time 11:02.560 --> 11:04.640 and yet there's still only one time in a sense. 11:04.980 --> 11:09.660 So there's only one God, yet the father is God. 11:10.100 --> 11:13.120 The son is God, yet there's still only one God 11:13.120 --> 11:14.400 and there's two distinct persons. 11:15.020 --> 11:16.280 And you say, how does that make sense? 11:16.340 --> 11:18.280 Well, when I get to heaven, I'll show you, okay? 11:18.400 --> 11:18.760 How about that? 11:19.940 --> 11:21.960 But blessed to be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ 11:21.960 --> 11:23.480 with blesses with all spiritual blessings 11:23.480 --> 11:25.540 and heavenly places in Christ. 11:25.720 --> 11:27.620 So we've established several things here 11:27.620 --> 11:28.980 in the first three verses. 11:29.420 --> 11:33.060 Number one, we've established the author of the epistle 11:33.060 --> 11:34.700 is Paul, who is an apostle. 11:35.160 --> 11:38.180 We've established the attitude, which is grace and peace. 11:38.600 --> 11:40.060 We've established the authority, 11:40.340 --> 11:41.700 which is God the father. 11:42.160 --> 11:44.160 We've established the source of our blessings 11:44.480 --> 11:46.080 are from the father and Jesus Christ. 11:46.340 --> 11:49.180 And we've established our destination, 11:49.680 --> 11:52.460 our destination, which is heavenly places. 11:52.960 --> 11:57.160 So God has bounded toward us a special blessing 11:57.720 --> 11:59.520 that there's gonna be heavenly places 11:59.520 --> 12:02.520 where we are going to eventually go towards. 12:02.860 --> 12:04.660 You know, we're eventually going to dwell in heaven 12:04.660 --> 12:07.080 in heavenly places in Christ. 12:07.700 --> 12:09.760 In verse four, according as he had chosen us 12:09.760 --> 12:11.320 in him before the foundation of the world 12:11.320 --> 12:13.660 that we should be holy and without blame before him 12:13.660 --> 12:15.880 in love, having predestinated us 12:15.880 --> 12:17.640 under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ 12:17.640 --> 12:19.580 to himself according to the good pleasure of his will 12:20.020 --> 12:21.660 to the praise of the glory of his grace 12:21.660 --> 12:23.380 where he made us accepted in the beloved. 12:23.580 --> 12:25.600 So this is our first sentence. 12:26.080 --> 12:29.140 Our first sentence in this epistle is verses one through six. 12:29.560 --> 12:32.180 And we have a couple of things that are being mentioned 12:32.180 --> 12:33.880 in verse four that were chosen 12:34.640 --> 12:38.460 and that were chosen to what be holy and without blame. 12:39.660 --> 12:42.560 This decision was made before the foundation of the world. 12:42.800 --> 12:44.940 Verse five, having predestinated us. 12:45.020 --> 12:47.160 That's a decision before the foundation of the world 12:47.160 --> 12:50.680 to what to be adopted into God's family. 12:51.100 --> 12:55.480 And then in verse six, notice this to the praise 12:56.300 --> 12:59.620 of the glory of his grace 13:00.500 --> 13:02.320 where any have made us accepted in the beloved. 13:02.520 --> 13:05.960 So what is sentence one saying? 13:06.440 --> 13:07.680 What is the first sentence saying? 13:07.800 --> 13:10.220 This first sentence is saying that all the glory, 13:10.500 --> 13:12.080 everything that's happening 13:12.080 --> 13:14.280 and everything that the Bible's talking about 13:14.280 --> 13:16.160 is all giving glory to something. 13:16.160 --> 13:17.780 The glory is going to his grace. 13:18.320 --> 13:21.040 Okay, so the fact that we are gonna be holy 13:21.440 --> 13:22.380 is because of his grace. 13:22.520 --> 13:23.760 The fact that we're gonna be without blame 13:23.760 --> 13:24.720 is because of his grace. 13:25.040 --> 13:26.280 The fact that we're gonna be adopted 13:26.280 --> 13:27.820 is because of his grace. 13:28.120 --> 13:31.100 So then all the praise, all the glory 13:31.100 --> 13:33.180 is gonna go to grace. 13:33.500 --> 13:34.780 Grace is what's getting the glory. 13:35.500 --> 13:36.940 Grace is what's getting the praise. 13:37.440 --> 13:41.560 Grace is what's actually made us accepted in the beloved. 13:42.380 --> 13:47.140 So Paul's an apostle and he of course 13:47.580 --> 13:50.400 wants to remind us of the fact that, 13:50.420 --> 13:54.200 hey, we have been given a spiritual blessing, 13:54.420 --> 13:55.680 a blessing in heavenly places. 13:55.800 --> 13:57.100 So I'm gonna go to heaven. 13:57.860 --> 13:59.540 I'm gonna be perfectly holy 13:59.540 --> 14:01.780 and without blame before God 14:01.780 --> 14:04.140 and I'm gonna be adopted into God's family 14:04.140 --> 14:07.820 and I'm gonna be accepted in God's family 14:07.820 --> 14:10.480 because of one thing, grace. 14:11.560 --> 14:12.840 So why do I get to go to heaven? 14:13.320 --> 14:14.060 Because of God's grace. 14:14.600 --> 14:16.540 Why am I gonna be holy because of God's grace? 14:16.880 --> 14:18.920 Why am I gonna be adopted because of God's grace? 14:19.400 --> 14:20.740 Now this is an important concept 14:20.740 --> 14:23.000 because what is the grace mean? 14:23.120 --> 14:24.720 Grace is something I did not deserve. 14:25.100 --> 14:26.560 It's something I did not earn. 14:27.100 --> 14:28.900 So how did I get this then? 14:29.200 --> 14:30.840 It's through the work of Jesus Christ. 14:31.180 --> 14:32.780 Jesus Christ died on the cross. 14:33.240 --> 14:35.200 Jesus Christ paid for all of my sins. 14:35.560 --> 14:37.440 Jesus Christ rose again from the dead 14:37.440 --> 14:39.460 and then he extends that grace 14:39.460 --> 14:41.260 toward me to then be holy. 14:41.640 --> 14:43.320 So I'm not gonna be holy before God 14:43.320 --> 14:44.900 because I was holy. 14:45.420 --> 14:47.420 I'm not gonna be without blame before God 14:47.420 --> 14:48.840 because I never sinned. 14:49.340 --> 14:51.520 I'm not gonna be adopted into God's family 14:51.520 --> 14:52.960 because I'm special. 14:53.360 --> 14:55.720 I'm not gonna be accepted in the beloved 14:55.720 --> 14:57.380 because of something that I did. 14:57.840 --> 14:59.760 All of those things are because of God's grace. 15:00.400 --> 15:03.700 It's only by the grace of God that I'm gonna be holy. 15:03.820 --> 15:05.020 It's only by the grace of God, 15:05.120 --> 15:05.840 I'm gonna be without blame. 15:06.080 --> 15:07.560 It's only by the grace of God 15:07.560 --> 15:09.340 that I'm gonna be adopted into his family 15:09.340 --> 15:10.600 and it's only by the grace of God 15:10.600 --> 15:11.780 I'm accepted in the beloved. 15:12.180 --> 15:15.060 So then all the praise, all the glory 15:15.640 --> 15:18.000 goes to the grace of God, not to me, 15:18.440 --> 15:20.400 not to my works, not to my efforts, 15:20.700 --> 15:23.340 not to my achievements, nothing I have done, 15:23.640 --> 15:25.800 but simply what he did for us. 15:26.360 --> 15:28.500 And then of course, it's gonna explain that. 15:28.560 --> 15:30.560 It's gonna elaborate on this verse seven. 15:30.740 --> 15:33.540 In whom we have redemption through his blood, 15:34.000 --> 15:36.180 the forgiveness of sins according to the riches 15:36.800 --> 15:37.880 of his grace. 15:38.080 --> 15:39.780 So now we're tying this concept together 15:39.780 --> 15:40.460 of what he's saying. 15:40.840 --> 15:43.240 He's saying, hey, why am I redeemed? 15:43.800 --> 15:44.700 What redeemed me? 15:45.140 --> 15:46.180 Well, it was his blood. 15:46.820 --> 15:47.960 It was his blood. 15:48.240 --> 15:49.820 That's what gave me the forgiveness of sins. 15:50.200 --> 15:54.060 And notice it was according to the riches of his grace, 15:54.240 --> 15:56.560 meaning his grace is so rich. 15:57.200 --> 15:59.340 There's so much wealth to it 15:59.340 --> 16:03.160 that it could truly pay for all of my sins. 16:03.160 --> 16:06.480 If his grace wasn't rich, well, then, 16:06.560 --> 16:08.440 well, you sin too much. 16:08.940 --> 16:10.280 I can't cover that. 16:10.680 --> 16:12.500 I don't have enough to pay for that, right? 16:12.840 --> 16:15.480 It's like, oh, well, which sins are gonna be forgiven? 16:16.020 --> 16:18.960 All of them, because his grace is so rich. 16:19.140 --> 16:21.640 There's so much wealth to his grace 16:21.640 --> 16:23.480 that it's gonna truly abound 16:23.480 --> 16:25.400 and it's gonna cover all of our transgressions. 16:25.500 --> 16:26.920 It's gonna cover all of our sins. 16:27.260 --> 16:28.700 And so I get to go to heaven 16:28.700 --> 16:31.140 because of the riches of his grace. 16:31.660 --> 16:35.400 And so we can see this concept of the payment 16:35.400 --> 16:39.600 and how expensive, how rich, how much wealth, 16:39.960 --> 16:41.360 how much abounds his grace 16:41.360 --> 16:43.880 that it can truly cover all sin. 16:44.660 --> 16:46.040 Wherein he hath abounded toward us 16:46.040 --> 16:47.440 in all wisdom and prudence, 16:47.900 --> 16:50.020 having made known unto us the mystery of his will, 16:50.480 --> 16:51.680 according to his good pleasure, 16:51.780 --> 16:54.040 which he hath purchased and purposed in himself, 16:55.220 --> 16:57.260 that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, 16:57.340 --> 16:59.680 he might gather together in one all things in Christ, 17:00.240 --> 17:04.140 both which are in heaven and which are on earth, 17:04.480 --> 17:08.800 even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance 17:08.800 --> 17:11.120 being predestinated according to the purpose of him 17:11.120 --> 17:13.620 who work of all things after the counsel of his own will 17:14.080 --> 17:16.280 that we should be to the praise of his glory 17:16.280 --> 17:17.400 who first trusted in Christ. 17:17.540 --> 17:18.580 So this is our second sentence. 17:19.300 --> 17:21.680 So our second sentence is what? 17:22.160 --> 17:27.040 That our redemption is the praise to his glory. 17:27.500 --> 17:30.700 So this is kind of difficult language in verse 12. 17:31.500 --> 17:37.100 He says that we should be to the praise of his glory. 17:37.600 --> 17:41.860 So what gives God glory is that we were redeemed. 17:42.320 --> 17:45.040 Our redemption is then what is gonna give 17:45.040 --> 17:46.380 the praise to his glory. 17:46.660 --> 17:51.040 If we weren't redeemed, well then his grace isn't shown. 17:51.800 --> 17:55.100 We don't get to see how great his grace is 17:55.500 --> 17:56.620 if no one is redeemed. 17:56.980 --> 17:58.600 We get to see how great his grace is 17:58.600 --> 18:01.100 because of the fact that we were redeemed 18:01.100 --> 18:03.860 and how much we needed that redemption. 18:04.140 --> 18:06.100 Like think about how many sins were covered. 18:06.360 --> 18:09.780 Think about how much grace had to be extended toward us. 18:10.080 --> 18:13.180 And so then that gives the praise of his glory. 18:13.820 --> 18:16.260 Now, going through some of these verses 18:16.260 --> 18:18.820 in this context that we've been describing here, 18:20.700 --> 18:21.600 it says in verse nine, 18:21.600 --> 18:25.140 having made known unto us the mystery of his will. 18:26.120 --> 18:30.120 So there's a mystery and he's the one that decided it, 18:30.220 --> 18:31.620 that's crystal clear, verse 10, 18:32.340 --> 18:34.120 that in the dispensation to dispense 18:34.120 --> 18:35.720 is to give something out. 18:36.060 --> 18:39.180 So something was given out of the fullness of times 18:39.180 --> 18:42.720 he might gather together in one all things in Christ, 18:43.280 --> 18:45.560 both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even him. 18:45.700 --> 18:48.800 So he's saying, hey, there was a mystery 18:50.020 --> 18:53.180 that's no longer gonna be a mystery once it's been dispensed. 18:53.440 --> 18:55.540 Once the wisdom and once the knowledge, 18:55.620 --> 18:57.280 once the information has been dispensed, 18:57.620 --> 18:59.200 it'll no longer be a mystery. 19:00.000 --> 19:02.880 So I think for the teen summer, 19:03.460 --> 19:05.880 the first night we had like a murder mystery. 19:06.300 --> 19:08.080 And so we're like trying to figure out 19:08.080 --> 19:10.580 like who's killed's who or something. 19:11.840 --> 19:14.540 And I was clueless, I had no idea. 19:14.720 --> 19:15.500 And then the game just ended. 19:15.720 --> 19:17.020 I'm just like, I have no idea. 19:17.020 --> 19:19.500 But like at some point after the game was ended, 19:19.780 --> 19:23.860 then what was dispensed was all the information. 19:24.200 --> 19:26.720 And then we ended up finding out who the killer was 19:26.720 --> 19:27.620 and all the information. 19:28.100 --> 19:29.660 And now it's no longer a mystery, 19:30.200 --> 19:31.660 we know who the killer is. 19:32.120 --> 19:35.520 It's like right now the Epstein files is a mystery, okay? 19:36.120 --> 19:37.460 We have some educated guesses, 19:38.020 --> 19:40.420 we have some pieces of the puzzle, okay? 19:41.040 --> 19:43.100 We have a nose, but we don't have the whole face, 19:43.500 --> 19:43.820 all right? 19:46.320 --> 19:48.960 But at some point it could be revealed. 19:49.800 --> 19:51.360 It's just like, hey, 9-11, 19:51.580 --> 19:53.240 there's a lot of pieces of the puzzle there. 19:54.160 --> 19:55.660 And some people wanna be like, okay, 19:55.740 --> 19:56.580 well, how does it all work? 19:56.680 --> 19:58.020 Well, we don't know everything about it. 19:58.060 --> 19:59.560 There's still some mystery to it, 19:59.920 --> 20:02.360 but not enough to just deny reality, okay? 20:03.220 --> 20:05.360 And so in the same context, 20:05.540 --> 20:06.780 it's like, hey, in the Old Testament, 20:07.440 --> 20:09.760 yeah, they knew some things were gonna happen 20:09.760 --> 20:11.300 and they had some pieces of the puzzle. 20:11.640 --> 20:13.220 But kind of what the New Testament does 20:13.220 --> 20:15.580 is it reveals the mystery completely. 20:16.380 --> 20:18.300 There's a mystery that had been revealed. 20:19.100 --> 20:23.620 And the mystery being revealed is that the Gentiles 20:23.620 --> 20:27.140 are gonna be fellow heirs with the Jews 20:27.140 --> 20:29.100 and that there's no longer gonna be this distinction. 20:29.320 --> 20:31.140 Now, I'm getting ahead of myself, 20:31.400 --> 20:33.840 but I wanna prove this, look at chapter three for a moment 20:34.440 --> 20:35.720 and look at verse three. 20:36.060 --> 20:39.920 How that by revelation, he made known unto me the mystery 20:40.540 --> 20:42.060 as I wrote a four in few words, 20:42.060 --> 20:43.540 whereby when ye read, 20:43.940 --> 20:46.100 you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, 20:46.760 --> 20:48.760 which in other ages was not made known 20:48.760 --> 20:49.640 unto the sons of men, 20:50.060 --> 20:52.180 as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles 20:52.180 --> 20:53.960 and prophets by the spirit, 20:54.540 --> 20:56.660 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs 20:56.660 --> 20:59.800 and of the same body and partakers of his promise 20:59.800 --> 21:01.320 in Christ by the gospel. 21:01.900 --> 21:04.160 Now, this is important because he's saying, 21:04.300 --> 21:08.060 hey, this mystery was made known unto me. 21:09.120 --> 21:11.740 Well, that's important because what he's trying to say 21:11.740 --> 21:15.320 is the Jews did not believe that Gentiles would get saved, 21:15.780 --> 21:19.540 that Gentiles would ever be a part of the body of Christ 21:19.540 --> 21:22.640 or the children of God or be grafted in 21:22.640 --> 21:23.640 or any of these type of things. 21:24.520 --> 21:28.280 And so it's like Paul has to see that in the Old Testament. 21:28.580 --> 21:30.440 The spirit reveals it to him in the Old Testament 21:30.440 --> 21:33.640 and he's like, oh, wow, this is what's gonna happen. 21:33.800 --> 21:35.320 So then he can go out and actually preach 21:35.320 --> 21:37.780 to these Gentiles and then get them saved. 21:38.260 --> 21:38.980 And if you think about it, 21:39.080 --> 21:40.960 Paul's kind of the apostle to the Gentiles. 21:40.960 --> 21:42.360 He describes himself in this manner. 21:42.920 --> 21:45.500 So now he's writing an epistle to the Ephesians, 21:45.560 --> 21:47.120 which is a Gentile audience primarily, 21:47.920 --> 21:50.900 and he's trying to, he's trying to get them caught up. 21:51.240 --> 21:54.180 Like God had to explain to me how, 21:54.520 --> 21:56.200 hey, you guys are gonna be grafted in 21:56.200 --> 21:58.700 and how you guys are gonna forsake your idols 21:58.700 --> 22:00.660 and you're gonna become part of the children of God 22:00.660 --> 22:02.060 and you're gonna be the true Israel 22:02.060 --> 22:03.860 and you're gonna be the true Jews 22:04.240 --> 22:05.800 and God revealed this mystery to me 22:05.800 --> 22:07.200 so that I'd go out and preach to the gospel. 22:07.640 --> 22:09.080 And now that I've gotten you saved 22:09.080 --> 22:11.020 and now that we are on the same page, 22:11.240 --> 22:13.160 now I'm trying to explain this mystery to you. 22:13.220 --> 22:14.820 I'm trying to explain what has been revealed 22:15.400 --> 22:17.560 and how it's no longer a mystery 22:17.560 --> 22:19.240 because you guys are the evidence 22:19.760 --> 22:21.320 of the fulfillment of this scripture. 22:21.500 --> 22:23.020 You are the Gentiles that got saved. 22:23.140 --> 22:24.560 You are the ones that are being grafted in. 22:25.040 --> 22:26.320 And so this has been revealed. 22:26.740 --> 22:28.320 So the dispensation of the fullness of times 22:28.320 --> 22:30.800 is the first century with the New Testament 22:31.320 --> 22:33.660 and the apostles going out and getting Gentiles saved. 22:34.840 --> 22:37.420 That he might gather in one all things in Christ, 22:37.940 --> 22:40.240 both which are in heaven and which are on earth, 22:40.340 --> 22:40.880 even in him. 22:41.400 --> 22:45.980 So in verse 10, I think it has in view a little bit 22:45.980 --> 22:48.960 of chapter three Gentiles and Jews being brought in. 22:49.080 --> 22:52.340 Chapter two also brings this concept in 22:52.340 --> 22:54.280 of the Jews and Gentiles being brought in one. 22:54.520 --> 22:58.380 But he's also saying those things which are in heaven. 22:58.500 --> 22:59.480 Now what is in heaven? 22:59.920 --> 23:03.820 Well this is saints that have already died 23:03.820 --> 23:04.580 and gone to heaven. 23:05.160 --> 23:06.780 And what you have to understand 23:06.780 --> 23:09.300 is that we're still talking about Jews and Gentiles. 23:09.840 --> 23:12.000 But why would he bring up heaven 23:12.700 --> 23:14.640 and why would he bring up on earth? 23:15.560 --> 23:17.340 Because if you think about it, 23:17.880 --> 23:20.540 the audience in heaven is really Jewish, 23:21.240 --> 23:23.660 is really the Hebrews, it's really the Israel. 23:23.960 --> 23:25.140 It's the Old Testament Israel. 23:26.040 --> 23:28.500 There's not a bunch of heathen in heaven 23:29.020 --> 23:30.160 at this point in time. 23:30.820 --> 23:32.080 So if you think about it, 23:32.100 --> 23:34.040 the heaven kind of represents the old Israel, 23:34.760 --> 23:36.660 the physical Israel, the Hebrews, 23:37.300 --> 23:39.480 and on earth, well by and large, 23:40.000 --> 23:41.620 the Hebrews on earth aren't saved 23:42.120 --> 23:43.440 and they're not gonna get saved 23:43.440 --> 23:44.920 and they're not interested in being saved. 23:45.320 --> 23:47.380 The ones on earth are primarily the Gentiles. 23:48.000 --> 23:50.060 So even though it's mixing heaven and earth, 23:50.380 --> 23:52.820 it's also kind of, if you think about the context, 23:52.980 --> 23:55.120 it's kind of mixing Jew and Gentile heavily 23:55.120 --> 23:58.320 because the vast majority of people being saved 23:58.320 --> 24:00.160 in the first century are Gentiles 24:00.160 --> 24:02.400 and the vast majority of people saved in heaven 24:02.930 --> 24:04.480 are the Israel of God, 24:04.620 --> 24:07.580 are the Old Testament physical Israel nation 24:08.030 --> 24:10.480 because the Gentiles by and large were not getting saved, 24:10.720 --> 24:11.860 not interested in things of God. 24:12.180 --> 24:15.540 So it's like a primarily physical Israel audience in heaven 24:15.540 --> 24:18.760 and it's like a primarily Gentile audience on earth. 24:19.160 --> 24:21.220 And so this mixture of heaven and earth, 24:21.860 --> 24:23.760 hey, Christ is gathering them all together 24:24.190 --> 24:25.580 and of course at the resurrection, 24:25.860 --> 24:28.260 we're gonna all be gathered together in Christ 24:28.260 --> 24:30.820 and there's not gonna be Jew or Gentile, 24:31.260 --> 24:33.040 there's not gonna be all these distinctions anymore. 24:33.660 --> 24:35.580 And this is important because in the Old Testament, 24:35.840 --> 24:37.800 it was just nation of Israel, nation of Israel, 24:37.900 --> 24:39.080 nation of Israel, nation of Israel. 24:39.360 --> 24:40.820 Now we've made a clean divide 24:41.420 --> 24:42.920 and now it's a spiritual nation. 24:43.600 --> 24:46.500 It's not a physical nation, but they are still Israel 24:46.500 --> 24:47.780 and we're all grafted in one 24:47.780 --> 24:50.360 and we're all in Christ and we're all Abraham's seed. 24:50.820 --> 24:52.640 And you know, those that are the children of promise, 24:52.820 --> 24:54.100 they're counted as the seed. 24:54.440 --> 24:57.580 It's not about physical boundaries. 24:57.940 --> 24:59.720 It's not about physical ancestry. 25:00.200 --> 25:01.960 It's just in the Old Testament, 25:02.180 --> 25:03.240 that was a major component, 25:03.880 --> 25:07.520 but it was not, it wasn't necessarily a hard lined edge. 25:07.660 --> 25:09.060 Obviously some Gentiles got saved. 25:09.440 --> 25:11.780 Obviously some people that were not physically 25:11.780 --> 25:13.900 descendant were saved, but it was like pretty much 25:13.900 --> 25:15.220 the most of the people that were getting saved. 25:15.760 --> 25:17.680 And in the New Testament, now it's all nations, 25:18.120 --> 25:20.000 it's all tongues, it's all the Gentiles. 25:20.540 --> 25:22.840 Everybody's kind of being brought in and we're all one. 25:23.280 --> 25:26.440 And it doesn't matter whether you're dead in Christ 25:26.440 --> 25:28.740 and in heaven or if you're on earth, 25:28.740 --> 25:30.140 hey, we're all gathered together in Christ. 25:30.620 --> 25:31.540 You know what I love about verse 10? 25:31.580 --> 25:33.740 It also is proving there's people in heaven. 25:35.000 --> 25:36.660 What would be the point of this verse? 25:38.060 --> 25:41.800 Again, I guess the Dispies and all these weirdos 25:41.800 --> 25:43.680 would say like, oh, this is because he already went 25:43.680 --> 25:45.900 to Abraham's bosom and brought him up or something, 25:46.080 --> 25:47.960 but there's other verses that debunk that. 25:48.100 --> 25:49.820 But it's just like, hey, when you die, you went to heaven. 25:50.560 --> 25:52.320 Whether it was Old Testament, New Testament. 25:53.820 --> 25:57.880 When Jesus is talking about the rich man and Lazarus, 25:57.880 --> 25:59.900 Lazarus is up with Abraham in heaven. 26:00.360 --> 26:05.280 Okay, he's not in this compartment 26:05.280 --> 26:06.400 in hell they call paradise. 26:06.800 --> 26:07.520 He wasn't paradise. 26:07.700 --> 26:09.640 He just wasn't in what they call paradise, okay? 26:10.080 --> 26:12.400 Or Abraham's bosom, he wasn't in his chest, okay? 26:12.500 --> 26:13.500 He was hugging him, all right? 26:14.940 --> 26:17.340 It says in verse 11, in whom also we have obtained 26:18.020 --> 26:21.320 an inheritance being predestinated according 26:21.320 --> 26:22.900 to the purpose of him who worked with all things 26:22.900 --> 26:23.980 after the counsel of his own will. 26:24.080 --> 26:27.620 So we have an inheritance and we are gonna be 26:27.620 --> 26:29.860 the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. 26:30.180 --> 26:33.580 So why do I get an inheritance? 26:34.160 --> 26:35.820 Well, because of his grace again. 26:36.760 --> 26:38.760 Why did I get the forgiveness of sins? 26:38.960 --> 26:39.700 Because of his grace. 26:40.280 --> 26:42.180 Why am I redeemed because of his grace? 26:42.760 --> 26:45.180 Why am I getting an inheritance because of his grace? 26:46.400 --> 26:49.980 And you say, okay, well, if it's just all God 26:49.980 --> 26:53.720 and all God's will and it was all predestined 26:54.980 --> 26:56.960 and it's not about your works, 26:56.960 --> 27:00.000 it's not about your ancestry, you know? 27:00.140 --> 27:03.260 Because no, there's no dividing line between Jew and Gentile. 27:03.540 --> 27:06.600 Then it's just like, so God's just picking random people. 27:07.260 --> 27:09.880 God just picked some people to be saved 27:09.880 --> 27:12.100 and some people to experience all these blessings 27:12.100 --> 27:13.020 and others to not. 27:13.460 --> 27:16.980 Well, no, it says in verse 12, who first trusted in Christ. 27:18.080 --> 27:19.900 So hey, it's all grace. 27:20.680 --> 27:22.300 You know, by grace I'm gonna be holy 27:22.300 --> 27:23.980 and by grace I'm gonna be without blame 27:23.980 --> 27:25.400 and by grace I'm gonna be adopted 27:25.400 --> 27:27.480 and by grace I get the forgiveness of sins 27:27.480 --> 27:28.980 and by grace I'm gonna get the inheritance. 27:29.420 --> 27:31.020 But there's one thing I had to do. 27:31.600 --> 27:32.900 I had to trust in Jesus Christ. 27:33.060 --> 27:33.900 That's what I had to do. 27:34.660 --> 27:37.940 And notice it says who first trusted in Christ. 27:38.040 --> 27:39.260 What is the first step? 27:39.720 --> 27:40.840 It's first trusting. 27:41.520 --> 27:42.180 That's the gospel. 27:42.880 --> 27:44.700 And of course he says in verse number 13 27:44.700 --> 27:45.940 in whom he also trusted, 27:46.800 --> 27:48.240 after that he heard the word of truth, 27:48.360 --> 27:49.680 the gospel of your salvation 27:49.680 --> 27:51.640 and whom also after that you believed 27:51.640 --> 27:53.980 you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. 27:53.980 --> 27:59.000 Now this verse gives us the steps 27:59.000 --> 28:00.700 of how someone gets saved. 28:01.720 --> 28:05.380 It gives us a clear chronology of how to get saved. 28:05.520 --> 28:06.660 What is the first thing? 28:07.400 --> 28:10.300 And it's not necessarily the first thing in the sentence, 28:10.840 --> 28:13.840 but the first thing based on the context 28:14.410 --> 28:15.420 is hearing the gospel. 28:15.900 --> 28:16.860 Because notice what it says. 28:17.360 --> 28:20.020 In whom he also trusted, notice this after. 28:20.900 --> 28:22.760 So the trusting is not the first thing. 28:23.240 --> 28:24.260 It was after something. 28:24.440 --> 28:26.400 What was after ye heard the word of truth, 28:26.520 --> 28:27.180 the gospel of your salvation? 28:27.700 --> 28:30.640 So someone hears, what did they hear? 28:30.740 --> 28:33.820 They hear the word of truth, they hear the gospel 28:34.380 --> 28:36.580 and then after that they what? 28:37.160 --> 28:37.600 They trust. 28:38.560 --> 28:40.140 So what is the plan of salvation? 28:40.600 --> 28:43.100 You hear the gospel and then you trust. 28:43.420 --> 28:45.120 And that's how you get saved. 28:45.480 --> 28:48.920 Notice he says in whom also after that you believed 28:49.360 --> 28:50.960 you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. 28:50.960 --> 28:53.400 Notice how in the first part it's trust 28:53.400 --> 28:54.700 and then the second part is believe. 28:54.980 --> 28:56.340 Because they're the same thing. 28:57.360 --> 28:58.700 To believe means to trust. 28:59.280 --> 29:01.180 So you hear the gospel, you trusted, 29:01.660 --> 29:02.740 you were sealed with the Holy Ghost. 29:03.240 --> 29:04.880 You heard the gospel, you believed, 29:05.320 --> 29:06.400 you were sealed with the Holy Ghost. 29:06.720 --> 29:08.420 Why? Because the trust and the believe 29:08.980 --> 29:09.880 are the same thing. 29:10.100 --> 29:11.340 It's just using different words 29:11.340 --> 29:13.280 to explain the exact same concept. 29:13.740 --> 29:15.520 And this should really help you dial in 29:15.520 --> 29:16.440 what does it mean to believe? 29:17.040 --> 29:19.620 It doesn't mean do works, it means to trust. 29:20.200 --> 29:23.220 So this is just, this is a really great verse. 29:23.520 --> 29:26.100 If someone wants to like really get nitpicky 29:26.100 --> 29:27.160 on what does believe mean? 29:27.960 --> 29:30.360 And of course this falls in perfectly 29:31.140 --> 29:33.820 with when we think about Romans chapter 10, right? 29:34.420 --> 29:35.860 Keep your finger, go to Romans chapter 10. 29:36.100 --> 29:40.400 Romans 10 gives us a basically the steps 29:40.400 --> 29:41.560 of someone getting saved. 29:41.680 --> 29:43.180 What does it look like to someone getting saved? 29:43.640 --> 29:45.440 And it's similar to Ephesians one 29:46.040 --> 29:48.940 in that it's not actually giving you the order 29:48.940 --> 29:51.940 by the sentence, but if you follow the sentence 29:51.940 --> 29:52.780 you can get the order. 29:53.200 --> 29:54.760 So we kind of had to go backwards 29:55.320 --> 29:57.200 to get the correct order in Ephesians, right? 29:57.740 --> 30:00.960 It said, hey, you trusted after you heard the word of truth. 30:01.240 --> 30:02.660 So we had to inverse the order. 30:02.800 --> 30:04.320 We had to, oh, so we heard first 30:04.940 --> 30:05.940 and then we believe. 30:06.140 --> 30:08.000 It's the same in Romans chapter number 10 30:08.000 --> 30:09.140 that it gives the order, 30:09.220 --> 30:10.300 but you just have to go in reverse 30:10.660 --> 30:12.760 to realize the steps that are being laid out. 30:13.300 --> 30:15.360 It says in verse number 14, 30:16.160 --> 30:17.920 how then shall they call on him 30:18.500 --> 30:19.920 and whom they have not believed? 30:20.520 --> 30:22.120 And how shall they believe in him 30:22.120 --> 30:23.000 and whom they have not heard? 30:23.380 --> 30:25.720 So it's just giving steps of logical progression. 30:26.440 --> 30:29.100 How the heck are you gonna call in someone 30:29.100 --> 30:30.720 that you don't believe in? 30:31.320 --> 30:32.900 How are you gonna ask for something 30:32.900 --> 30:33.920 from someone you don't believe in? 30:34.180 --> 30:35.580 And he's like, how are you gonna believe in someone 30:35.580 --> 30:37.480 that you've never even heard of? 30:38.360 --> 30:40.060 Like it doesn't even make any sense, right? 30:40.640 --> 30:41.240 And then he's saying, 30:41.320 --> 30:42.600 and how so they hear without a preacher 30:43.020 --> 30:44.980 and how so they preach except they be sent 30:45.580 --> 30:46.460 as it is written, 30:46.460 --> 30:47.720 how beautiful are the feet of them 30:47.720 --> 30:49.460 that preach the gospel of peace 30:49.460 --> 30:53.060 and bring glad tidings of good things. 30:53.360 --> 30:55.160 So when someone goes out to preach the gospel, 30:55.340 --> 30:56.160 what does that look like? 30:56.560 --> 30:58.140 Well, according to the Bible in verse 15, 30:58.540 --> 30:59.020 they're sent. 31:00.320 --> 31:02.400 You know, why does your church emphasize soul winning? 31:02.820 --> 31:04.460 Because we're trying to do what the Bible says 31:04.460 --> 31:06.480 and we're trying to send people out to preach the gospel. 31:07.640 --> 31:09.620 We don't, oh, well, where's your altar call? 31:09.960 --> 31:11.960 Well, the Bible says that people get saved by being sent. 31:13.000 --> 31:15.000 Now again, I'm not against altar calls. 31:15.000 --> 31:16.180 I'm not gonna throw stones. 31:16.600 --> 31:17.800 Hey, maybe you get someone saved. 31:18.080 --> 31:18.980 But at the end of the day, 31:19.120 --> 31:20.580 it's just not in the Bible really. 31:21.500 --> 31:22.760 The altar call is not really in the Bible, 31:22.860 --> 31:23.620 but you know, it is in the Bible 31:23.620 --> 31:24.940 sending people out to go preach the gospel. 31:25.960 --> 31:27.020 And again, hey, 31:27.140 --> 31:29.160 if you get someone saved from an altar call, praise God. 31:29.340 --> 31:31.560 I'm sure lots of people have gotten saved from altar calls. 31:31.800 --> 31:32.900 There's probably people in this room 31:32.900 --> 31:34.160 that got saved from an altar call. 31:34.360 --> 31:35.760 But you know, at the end of the day, 31:36.180 --> 31:36.580 you know what? 31:36.620 --> 31:38.200 We're probably gonna see more people saved 31:38.200 --> 31:39.360 by doing the biblical model, 31:39.440 --> 31:40.420 which is sending people out. 31:41.580 --> 31:42.900 And so we send them out 31:43.320 --> 31:44.420 and then what do they do? 31:44.420 --> 31:46.100 The Bible says that they preach. 31:46.680 --> 31:47.780 It says in house where they preach. 31:47.940 --> 31:48.900 So first they're sent, 31:49.160 --> 31:50.080 second they preach, 31:50.720 --> 31:52.660 then what do they do? 31:52.840 --> 31:53.160 They hear. 31:53.820 --> 31:55.580 Isn't that, now we're picking up the same steps 31:55.580 --> 31:57.480 that we had in Ephesians chapter number one. 31:57.560 --> 31:59.680 Now we've caught up to the steps 31:59.680 --> 32:01.040 that were in Ephesians chapter one, 32:01.060 --> 32:02.780 which said, if you hear, then you what? 32:03.180 --> 32:03.960 Then you trust 32:03.960 --> 32:05.760 and then you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. 32:06.080 --> 32:09.340 Okay, you believe or trust, same thing. 32:09.720 --> 32:10.940 So here in the same passage, 32:11.080 --> 32:13.140 it's saying, hey, they're sent, they preach, 32:13.140 --> 32:15.500 then they hear, then they believe. 32:16.240 --> 32:18.880 And of course, what does that then lead into? 32:19.340 --> 32:19.660 Calling. 32:19.980 --> 32:20.940 And it says in verse 13, 32:21.020 --> 32:22.620 for you servers who call upon the name of the Lord 32:22.620 --> 32:23.900 shall be saved. 32:24.360 --> 32:26.200 So it's like, well, what is that? 32:26.880 --> 32:27.760 That's called trusting. 32:28.720 --> 32:29.940 That's what trusting looks like. 32:30.460 --> 32:31.520 It's like, how does someone believe? 32:31.700 --> 32:32.340 How does someone trust? 32:32.500 --> 32:33.280 What does that look like? 32:33.560 --> 32:35.740 They call on the name of the Lord and they're saved. 32:36.120 --> 32:38.100 And then in that moment, the Bible says what? 32:38.440 --> 32:40.440 They're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. 32:40.960 --> 32:42.500 So again, it couldn't be any clearer 32:42.840 --> 32:45.120 the Bible just explains itself very clearly 32:45.600 --> 32:48.120 that we send people out, they preach the gospel, 32:48.440 --> 32:51.080 people hear the gospel, people trust the gospel 32:51.080 --> 32:51.940 or believe in the gospel, 32:52.140 --> 32:53.700 by calling on the name of the Lord and faith 32:53.700 --> 32:56.060 and then they're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 32:56.620 --> 32:57.240 That's how it works. 32:57.320 --> 32:57.960 That's what we do. 32:58.360 --> 33:00.260 And yet many people are confused on these steps. 33:00.640 --> 33:02.400 Well, that's not how people get saved. 33:03.020 --> 33:04.480 God saves people. 33:05.800 --> 33:06.280 Okay. 33:06.780 --> 33:08.360 Well, how does God save people then? 33:08.940 --> 33:12.340 You know, God saves people by sending us out 33:12.660 --> 33:17.300 and us preaching and them hearing and them believing 33:17.820 --> 33:20.600 and them calling and then God saves them. 33:20.680 --> 33:22.040 Yeah, God saves them. 33:22.140 --> 33:23.260 But let me tell you something. 33:23.440 --> 33:26.140 God doesn't say someone that doesn't call 33:26.140 --> 33:28.460 and God doesn't say someone that doesn't believe 33:28.460 --> 33:30.760 and God doesn't say someone that doesn't hear 33:30.760 --> 33:33.880 and God doesn't say someone without any preaching. 33:35.480 --> 33:37.580 Someone's got to go out there and preach the gospel 33:37.580 --> 33:39.340 so that someone can hear the gospel. 33:39.480 --> 33:40.840 So then someone can believe the gospel 33:40.840 --> 33:42.980 so someone can call on the name of the Lord and faith 33:42.980 --> 33:44.460 and trust in Jesus Christ 33:44.460 --> 33:46.360 and receive the Holy Spirit of promise. 33:46.480 --> 33:47.100 That's how it works. 33:48.220 --> 33:50.780 Why is the Bible then so much emphasizing going 33:50.780 --> 33:52.940 and preaching, going into all the world 33:52.940 --> 33:54.280 and preach the gospel to every creature? 33:54.500 --> 33:56.340 Why is that the last thing Jesus is saying? 33:56.560 --> 33:57.880 Because that's how people get saved. 33:58.280 --> 33:58.700 Isn't it interesting? 33:58.800 --> 34:01.060 Jesus is sending and telling them to do what? 34:01.600 --> 34:03.240 Preach and they're preaching the gospel 34:03.240 --> 34:03.980 so people will what? 34:04.220 --> 34:06.420 Hear and faith coming by hearing and hearing 34:06.420 --> 34:07.100 by the word of God. 34:07.820 --> 34:10.960 So we don't want to disrupt what the Bible plainly states 34:10.960 --> 34:13.200 and the Bible plainly instructs 34:13.200 --> 34:15.340 and plainly teaches on how people get saved. 34:15.940 --> 34:17.940 Oh, Romans 10 is about a different context. 34:18.100 --> 34:18.540 You're stupid. 34:18.840 --> 34:19.980 I don't even care what you think. 34:20.760 --> 34:22.820 You're stupid and against soul winning. 34:23.400 --> 34:23.940 And you know what? 34:24.100 --> 34:25.560 I don't have time for stupid people. 34:25.940 --> 34:28.100 There's way too many stupid people in this world, okay? 34:29.120 --> 34:30.680 Why do I care about that anymore? 34:31.020 --> 34:32.420 It's just like there's too many stupid people 34:32.420 --> 34:35.180 to waste time on and if someone has a stupid idea 34:35.180 --> 34:37.220 like that, you know, I just don't want anything to do with them. 34:38.660 --> 34:41.480 Now he says in verse 13 again, as you finish, 34:41.820 --> 34:44.680 he has one more verse for the third sentence. 34:45.340 --> 34:47.540 He says that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise 34:47.540 --> 34:49.040 which is the earnest of our inheritance 34:49.040 --> 34:50.820 until the redemption of the purchase of possession 34:51.240 --> 34:52.420 under the praise of his glory. 34:52.820 --> 34:54.260 You know what I like about this so far? 34:54.460 --> 34:55.520 We haven't established anything 34:55.520 --> 34:57.220 about our works at all, have we? 34:57.560 --> 34:59.020 We haven't established anything about ourselves. 34:59.260 --> 35:00.280 The whole reason we're holy, 35:00.500 --> 35:01.680 the whole reason we're without blame, 35:01.960 --> 35:02.780 the whole reason we're adopted, 35:03.060 --> 35:04.180 the whole reason we're redeemed, 35:04.180 --> 35:05.680 the whole reason we have inheritance, 35:05.940 --> 35:07.320 the whole reason we're sealed with the Holy Spirit. 35:07.680 --> 35:11.940 It's all about what Jesus and what he did and his gospel 35:11.940 --> 35:14.240 and us simply trusting in his grace 35:14.240 --> 35:16.600 and receiving his grace through trusting 35:16.600 --> 35:17.980 and believing in Jesus Christ. 35:18.740 --> 35:20.700 And of course here in verse number 14, 35:20.780 --> 35:23.860 it says that there's an earnest of our inheritance. 35:24.060 --> 35:27.720 So we don't have the inheritance yet in a sense. 35:28.680 --> 35:31.120 We're not like experiencing the inheritance, 35:31.720 --> 35:33.720 we're not partaking in the inheritance 35:33.720 --> 35:36.860 in a physical way yet, but it's a future thing. 35:37.240 --> 35:38.860 And that's what I would relate to 35:38.860 --> 35:40.640 in the first part of this chapter 35:41.040 --> 35:42.960 when it said in notice in verse three again, 35:43.700 --> 35:45.180 that he's blessed us with all spiritual blessings 35:45.180 --> 35:46.480 in heavenly places in Christ. 35:46.960 --> 35:49.740 I'm not currently experiencing those heavenly places, 35:50.180 --> 35:53.000 but I have a place for me in heaven. 35:53.140 --> 35:55.000 There is a place being prepared for me 35:55.000 --> 35:56.660 by Jesus Christ in heaven. 35:56.940 --> 35:58.100 That is my inheritance. 35:58.480 --> 36:00.960 So you can connect these ideas of the heavenly places 36:00.960 --> 36:03.620 is the inheritance that I'm going to receive. 36:04.080 --> 36:07.220 And the reason I know I'm gonna receive this inheritance 36:07.570 --> 36:09.600 is because I have the Holy Spirit. 36:10.000 --> 36:13.720 The Holy Spirit is that earnest payment in a sense 36:14.230 --> 36:16.860 that's letting me realize I'm going to receive 36:16.860 --> 36:18.120 this inheritance. 36:18.280 --> 36:20.620 And again, in a real estate context, 36:20.740 --> 36:22.140 if you're someone that's a realtor 36:22.470 --> 36:24.680 or if you're someone that deals in properties 36:24.680 --> 36:27.080 or property management or purchasing, 36:27.520 --> 36:29.320 earnest is a really important word. 36:30.280 --> 36:32.520 Because when you intend on buying something, 36:33.840 --> 36:35.920 sometimes these contracts take a long time 36:35.920 --> 36:37.860 in a residential sense. 36:38.460 --> 36:41.420 A lot of contracts are 30 days, maybe 45 days. 36:41.660 --> 36:45.020 In a commercial context, they can be 90 days, 120 days. 36:45.500 --> 36:47.880 Well, no one wants to go through the hassle 36:47.880 --> 36:51.280 and all the effort and energy of negotiating 36:51.280 --> 36:53.080 and getting the contracts drawn up 36:53.080 --> 36:55.480 and visiting the property and inspecting the property 36:55.480 --> 36:56.780 and doing all these things for someone 36:56.780 --> 36:58.420 to just back out at the last minute 36:58.980 --> 37:00.540 and just nothing happens. 37:01.380 --> 37:03.900 So they don't want just some yahoo, 37:04.260 --> 37:06.820 just yanking their chain or going through all these processes 37:06.820 --> 37:08.860 or just wasting their time. 37:09.280 --> 37:10.440 They want someone that's serious 37:10.440 --> 37:11.640 and is gonna buy the property. 37:11.860 --> 37:13.880 So they make them put an earnest payment down. 37:14.620 --> 37:16.960 And earnest payment, it depends on, again, 37:17.140 --> 37:18.500 states and contracts and all this stuff. 37:18.660 --> 37:21.040 Could be 1%, 2%, just different amounts. 37:21.520 --> 37:23.500 But let's say you're gonna buy $100,000 property. 37:23.920 --> 37:25.800 They may ask you to put $1,000 down, 37:25.880 --> 37:26.780 which would be 1%. 37:26.780 --> 37:29.060 2% would be $2,000. 37:29.560 --> 37:31.160 And that money is saying, hey, 37:31.220 --> 37:33.660 if I back out of the contract, you get this earnest. 37:34.260 --> 37:35.360 You get this earnest money. 37:35.700 --> 37:38.520 And the earnest is to try and show the buyer's intent. 37:38.860 --> 37:40.700 The buyer's like, hey, I am gonna do this. 37:40.900 --> 37:42.180 Like I am serious about it. 37:42.220 --> 37:43.400 That's why I'm putting the money down 37:43.400 --> 37:45.020 because you'd kind of be silly 37:45.020 --> 37:46.920 to put earnest money down and just walk away. 37:47.680 --> 37:50.320 Okay, so God in a sense is trying to give us 37:50.320 --> 37:52.140 like some kind of a comfort, 37:52.340 --> 37:53.640 some kind of an idea of like, 37:53.640 --> 37:56.220 hey, I'm not backing out of this contract. 37:56.740 --> 37:58.160 I'm gonna honor my word. 37:58.360 --> 38:00.260 I'm gonna end up purchasing this, 38:00.560 --> 38:01.640 even though it's not today. 38:02.060 --> 38:03.660 I'm gonna purchase it in the future. 38:03.940 --> 38:06.900 And the Holy Ghost is our earnest payment. 38:07.280 --> 38:09.340 He is what is securing the contract. 38:09.920 --> 38:11.940 And again, once you have the earnest money down, 38:12.380 --> 38:13.820 no one else can buy the house out 38:13.820 --> 38:15.840 from underneath you either, legally and all that. 38:16.020 --> 38:16.780 I mean, it can happen. 38:17.020 --> 38:19.200 But I remember my parents were under contract 38:19.200 --> 38:21.940 on the house one time and someone snuck in there 38:21.940 --> 38:24.020 and weaseled the contract out 38:24.020 --> 38:24.960 and they got the house, whatever. 38:25.240 --> 38:26.200 I'm still sore about it. 38:26.300 --> 38:28.920 All right, but it's, you know, 38:29.120 --> 38:31.500 obviously legally you're not supposed to be able to do that. 38:31.860 --> 38:34.900 Okay, and so you're designated for this. 38:35.020 --> 38:36.340 And again, with God's contracts, 38:36.540 --> 38:37.640 they're not like man's contracts. 38:37.820 --> 38:39.860 He doesn't repent, so he doesn't change his mind. 38:40.260 --> 38:41.080 He's gonna honor his word. 38:41.180 --> 38:42.040 He cannot lie. 38:42.480 --> 38:44.560 And so that since we have the earnest payment, 38:44.880 --> 38:45.960 we have that contract. 38:46.300 --> 38:48.080 No one can pluck us out of his hand. 38:48.480 --> 38:50.360 He's gonna make that purchase. 38:50.360 --> 38:52.580 And so that's why we can know that we're saved. 38:53.040 --> 38:54.660 And again, that's another doctrine 38:54.660 --> 38:56.120 that a lot of people get frustrated with, 38:56.240 --> 38:57.600 is they, oh, how can you know you're saved? 38:57.800 --> 38:59.140 Because I have the Holy Spirit. 39:00.040 --> 39:01.720 And once you have the Holy Spirit, you're saved. 39:02.160 --> 39:04.060 Once you're sealed, you're always sealed. 39:04.300 --> 39:05.260 And you can't lose it. 39:05.300 --> 39:06.720 Look at chapter four, verse 30. 39:07.440 --> 39:09.020 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 39:09.460 --> 39:12.480 whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption. 39:13.020 --> 39:14.180 So look, you are sealed 39:14.180 --> 39:15.520 unto the day of redemption, period. 39:16.140 --> 39:18.040 Even if you do grieve the Holy Spirit, 39:18.040 --> 39:19.880 even if you do make mistakes, 39:20.300 --> 39:22.320 even if you are a crummy Christian, 39:22.660 --> 39:24.920 even if you are the worst of the children of God, 39:25.360 --> 39:27.600 you cannot become unsealed. 39:28.000 --> 39:29.680 And this is an important doctrine 39:29.680 --> 39:32.540 because it's not based on our works at all. 39:32.740 --> 39:34.460 It's not based on our works in the past, 39:34.600 --> 39:36.800 in the present, or the future that get us to heaven. 39:37.080 --> 39:38.300 It's all of his grace. 39:38.740 --> 39:40.320 It's always been by grace. 39:40.380 --> 39:41.620 It always will be by grace. 39:41.840 --> 39:43.560 It was grace before we got saved. 39:43.740 --> 39:44.780 It's grace while we're saved. 39:44.960 --> 39:45.660 It's grace in the future. 39:45.660 --> 39:47.680 We're gonna go to heaven by grace. 39:48.220 --> 39:49.940 I'm not gonna stand holy before God 39:49.940 --> 39:51.360 because I cleaned up my life. 39:51.560 --> 39:54.060 I'm gonna stand holy before God because of his grace. 39:55.440 --> 39:59.000 Even if I do grieve the Holy Spirit, all the way there. 40:00.000 --> 40:01.640 You know, somebody could grieve the Holy Spirit 40:01.640 --> 40:03.200 all the way there and it says not to. 40:03.920 --> 40:05.920 Notice, I mean, think about the logic of the sentence 40:07.260 --> 40:09.920 if it's possible to lose your salvation 40:09.920 --> 40:12.540 or if you can't grieve the Holy Ghost. 40:12.920 --> 40:14.880 It's like, hey, don't grieve the Holy Ghost. 40:14.880 --> 40:16.280 It's like, well, you can't even do that. 40:17.120 --> 40:18.260 No, you can do that. 40:18.620 --> 40:20.080 How do you do that by making bad decisions? 40:20.660 --> 40:22.780 When we make bad decisions, we grieve the Holy Ghost, okay? 40:23.220 --> 40:25.920 So we don't wanna do that, but here's the good news. 40:26.460 --> 40:28.960 You're sealed under the Day of Redemption, okay? 40:29.380 --> 40:30.620 So that's an important concept 40:30.620 --> 40:31.840 that's here in our third sentence. 40:32.440 --> 40:34.480 So if we think about our sentences so far. 40:35.980 --> 40:37.620 All the glory is to God's grace. 40:38.900 --> 40:41.340 And our redemption is what's gonna be 40:41.340 --> 40:42.360 the praise of his glory 40:43.030 --> 40:46.040 and we are sealed unto the redemption of his praise. 40:46.380 --> 40:51.260 So, hey, we're gonna basically be purchased. 40:51.700 --> 40:54.720 Notice again, which is the earnest of our inheritance 40:54.720 --> 40:56.440 until the redemption of the purchase possession 40:57.010 --> 40:59.320 unto the praise of his glory. 40:59.980 --> 41:03.920 So God is getting glory because of how great his grace is. 41:04.580 --> 41:08.200 God is gonna get glory for the fact that, 41:08.460 --> 41:10.520 hey, we were redeemed by his grace 41:10.940 --> 41:13.960 and then God's gonna get glory for the fact 41:13.960 --> 41:15.100 that since we were sealed, 41:15.460 --> 41:17.400 he's gonna deliver on all of that 41:17.400 --> 41:19.240 and it's gonna happen exactly like he says 41:19.240 --> 41:20.160 to give him that glory. 41:20.760 --> 41:22.900 So he gets the glory that we have the opportunity 41:22.900 --> 41:25.960 to be saved, that we got saved and that we will be saved. 41:26.120 --> 41:29.240 It's just like, hey, glory to God for his grace 41:29.240 --> 41:31.040 and all the praise is going to God for this. 41:31.740 --> 41:33.640 Let's finish our last sentence here, verse 15. 41:34.420 --> 41:36.160 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith 41:36.160 --> 41:36.900 in the Lord Jesus, 41:36.900 --> 41:40.160 and love unto all the saints, 41:40.260 --> 41:41.540 cease not to give thanks for you, 41:41.920 --> 41:43.380 making mention of you in my prayers, 41:43.900 --> 41:45.340 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 41:45.520 --> 41:48.300 the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom 41:48.300 --> 41:50.040 and revelation and the knowledge of him. 41:52.040 --> 41:53.960 So, I'm not gonna do the whole sentence yet, 41:54.100 --> 41:55.640 but notice a few things. 41:56.140 --> 41:58.220 Notice the language again, verse 17, 41:58.320 --> 42:00.620 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. 42:00.820 --> 42:03.820 So, I mean, you can't preach heresy 42:03.820 --> 42:06.660 or teach heresy by just quoting the Bible, okay? 42:06.660 --> 42:07.820 So, I wanna make that clear. 42:08.860 --> 42:10.060 So, you could say that, hey, 42:10.620 --> 42:12.300 the Lord Jesus Christ has a God, 42:12.880 --> 42:15.340 because I mean, we read it in Hebrews chapter number one. 42:15.740 --> 42:17.500 We've seen it in the first part of Hebrews, 42:18.100 --> 42:19.640 I'm sorry, in Ephesians one, 42:20.020 --> 42:21.320 where it talks about the God and Father 42:21.320 --> 42:22.120 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 42:22.440 --> 42:24.860 Here again, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 42:24.980 --> 42:27.360 and then it specifies the Father of glory. 42:27.560 --> 42:29.180 So, again, the Father is considered 42:29.600 --> 42:31.120 the Father of the Son, 42:31.380 --> 42:33.360 and he's considered the God of the Son, 42:33.700 --> 42:35.840 but then it's like, oh, so that means the Son's not God. 42:35.840 --> 42:37.960 No, no, no, because when the Father talks to the Son, 42:38.080 --> 42:40.980 he says, thy throne, oh God, okay? 42:41.200 --> 42:42.600 So, he refers to him as God, 42:43.040 --> 42:45.680 and of course, John one explicitly tells us, 42:46.040 --> 42:46.960 in the beginning was the word, 42:46.980 --> 42:49.260 and the word was with God, and the word was God. 42:49.780 --> 42:52.160 So, Jesus Christ, of course, is God, he is deity. 42:52.980 --> 42:53.720 Is he the Father? 42:54.060 --> 42:54.160 No. 42:54.780 --> 42:55.440 Is he deity? 42:55.720 --> 42:56.000 Yes. 42:56.760 --> 42:57.660 Is the Father deity? 42:58.020 --> 42:58.240 Yes. 42:58.860 --> 42:59.880 Is the Father of the Son? 43:00.180 --> 43:00.400 No. 43:00.800 --> 43:02.540 So, we have these distinctions of roles, 43:02.740 --> 43:03.700 distinction of persons, 43:04.220 --> 43:05.420 yet we have one God 43:06.240 --> 43:08.140 expressed in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 43:08.780 --> 43:10.180 and so, again, we wanna make sure 43:10.180 --> 43:11.560 we understand all of these concepts. 43:12.300 --> 43:14.880 And who is giving us this spirit? 43:15.040 --> 43:16.700 Notice that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, 43:17.320 --> 43:18.620 the Father of glory may give 43:19.300 --> 43:20.900 undue the spirit of wisdom and revelation 43:20.900 --> 43:21.820 and the knowledge of him. 43:22.960 --> 43:26.780 So, the Father gives us the spirit of wisdom 43:26.780 --> 43:31.800 and revelation, but it's in the knowledge of him. 43:32.320 --> 43:34.740 Okay, so we're getting the knowledge 43:34.740 --> 43:36.020 through Jesus Christ. 43:36.680 --> 43:39.380 Okay, what is another name, 43:39.600 --> 43:41.740 or what's another thing we express Jesus Christ by? 43:42.540 --> 43:43.180 The Word of God. 43:43.920 --> 43:46.780 I mean, he has the name, the Word of God. 43:47.380 --> 43:48.380 And so, if you think about it, 43:48.720 --> 43:51.800 how does God the Father communicate to us wisdom? 43:52.300 --> 43:53.820 How does he communicate to us knowledge? 43:54.360 --> 43:55.640 It's called the Word of God. 43:55.940 --> 43:55.960 Yes. 43:56.620 --> 43:59.460 Okay, we get this knowledge in Jesus Christ 43:59.460 --> 44:01.420 through Jesus Christ, which is the Word of God. 44:02.020 --> 44:04.120 Now, some people wanna make a complete separation 44:04.120 --> 44:05.900 between scripture and Jesus Christ, 44:06.020 --> 44:06.620 and that is a mistake, 44:07.120 --> 44:09.040 because the Bible has strong parallel 44:09.040 --> 44:11.960 between the written scripture, the Word of God, 44:12.060 --> 44:14.140 and Jesus Christ, the person, okay? 44:14.560 --> 44:16.240 In fact, it's virtually impossible 44:16.240 --> 44:18.020 to even figure out what the distinction is, 44:18.120 --> 44:20.400 apart from manifestation itself, okay? 44:20.820 --> 44:23.380 And so, we have to understand that we're experiencing 44:23.380 --> 44:25.000 and understanding our knowledge and wisdom 44:25.000 --> 44:27.540 through the scripture, through Jesus Christ, 44:28.340 --> 44:30.220 it's in the knowledge of him in Jesus. 44:30.760 --> 44:31.360 Verse 18, 44:31.540 --> 44:33.280 and the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, 44:34.580 --> 44:36.300 that you may know what is the hope of his calling 44:36.860 --> 44:38.360 and what the riches of the glory 44:38.360 --> 44:39.580 of his inheritance in the saints, 44:40.100 --> 44:41.860 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power 44:41.860 --> 44:42.840 to us were to believe, 44:43.240 --> 44:44.800 according to the working of his mighty power, 44:45.280 --> 44:46.800 which he wrought in Christ when he raised him 44:46.800 --> 44:49.460 from the dead and set him at his own right hand 44:49.460 --> 44:50.340 in the heavenly places, 44:50.760 --> 44:52.940 far above all principality and power and might 44:52.940 --> 44:54.920 and dominion, and every name that is named 44:54.920 --> 44:56.400 not only in this world, but also in that 44:56.400 --> 44:56.980 which is to come. 44:56.980 --> 44:58.500 And it put all things under his feet 44:58.500 --> 45:01.580 and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 45:01.860 --> 45:03.620 which is his body, the fullness of him 45:03.620 --> 45:04.520 that are filled with all in all. 45:04.820 --> 45:08.900 So, we have a lot here, 45:09.180 --> 45:11.440 but just to unpack a few things from these verses, 45:11.940 --> 45:14.960 God wants to give us wisdom and revelation in verse 17. 45:15.460 --> 45:17.600 We're gonna be enlightened in verse 18. 45:18.200 --> 45:19.980 And what are we being enlightened about? 45:20.500 --> 45:22.200 We're being enlightened about our inheritance. 45:22.440 --> 45:25.200 We're understanding we are receiving inheritance. 45:25.200 --> 45:28.840 As Gentiles, we too will receive inheritance. 45:29.500 --> 45:30.980 Verse 19 through 20, 45:31.700 --> 45:34.420 that what the power of God has to us 45:34.420 --> 45:36.080 is through the resurrection, okay? 45:36.480 --> 45:38.700 He wrought, I mean, he worked in Christ 45:38.700 --> 45:40.360 when he raised him from the dead. 45:40.840 --> 45:44.020 That is what is giving us this inheritance, 45:44.320 --> 45:46.000 is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 45:46.840 --> 45:48.200 And of course, then specifically, 45:49.040 --> 45:53.800 it says that Jesus Christ is set at his own right hand. 45:54.420 --> 45:57.140 That sounds like the father has his own right hand. 45:58.240 --> 46:00.220 Again, I mean like, well, this is a metaphor. 46:00.660 --> 46:02.180 What does the word own mean? 46:04.740 --> 46:07.180 Like maybe he just has his own right hand. 46:08.180 --> 46:09.380 That's pretty simple, right? 46:10.700 --> 46:13.460 And where is the father in the heavenly places? 46:13.560 --> 46:16.440 So there's a place in heaven where the father dwells 46:16.440 --> 46:17.920 and he has his own right hand. 46:19.080 --> 46:20.960 Why would you say that? 46:21.640 --> 46:22.840 Think about this for a moment, okay? 46:22.840 --> 46:25.600 And I know you love me destroying divine simplicity 46:25.600 --> 46:27.040 in all these Catholic, Trinity views, 46:27.220 --> 46:30.260 but everyone believes Jesus has a right hand. 46:30.980 --> 46:34.780 It doesn't matter who and what version of Christianity 46:35.540 --> 46:37.440 out there, Jesus has a right hand. 46:37.840 --> 46:40.380 They all are like, he was incarnated and has a right hand. 46:40.980 --> 46:45.220 If the father has no form, nobody, nothing, 46:45.580 --> 46:46.860 and never has and never will, 46:47.520 --> 46:49.880 why would we ever say his own right hand? 46:51.860 --> 46:53.600 Like what are we talking about? 46:53.940 --> 46:55.780 Sounds like he has his own form too, huh? 46:56.920 --> 46:58.920 And again, there's so much new Testament 46:58.920 --> 47:01.140 where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of the father. 47:01.540 --> 47:03.860 Okay, it's like a constant theme in the Bible, 47:04.380 --> 47:07.160 just sitting, it's just like, how do you explain that? 47:07.360 --> 47:09.040 It's really simple, he has his own right hand. 47:10.580 --> 47:12.820 And if it's not that and it's a metaphor, 47:13.000 --> 47:14.260 what is the metaphor standing for? 47:15.380 --> 47:16.780 You know, metaphors are there for a reason. 47:17.300 --> 47:19.420 They're explaining some kind of deeper meaning. 47:19.420 --> 47:20.440 We'll be the deeper meaning. 47:20.820 --> 47:21.760 And look, obviously you could say, 47:21.820 --> 47:24.920 oh, right hand signifies power, signifies strength. 47:25.080 --> 47:27.040 And so Jesus signifies the power of God 47:27.040 --> 47:27.680 or the strength of God. 47:27.960 --> 47:31.000 Sure, it does, but like, it's just silly 47:31.000 --> 47:32.840 to just try to make everything a metaphor 47:33.320 --> 47:35.560 and nothing is literal because, okay, 47:35.620 --> 47:37.760 so then that means that having places are not literal, 47:37.780 --> 47:38.940 so we're not gonna actually go to heaven. 47:39.940 --> 47:41.860 Are we gonna go to a metaphorical heaven? 47:42.840 --> 47:44.440 Is there a metaphorical inheritance? 47:44.860 --> 47:46.400 Is there a metaphorical heavenly place 47:46.400 --> 47:47.200 I'm gonna dwell in? 47:47.680 --> 47:51.200 You know, like, then what does that signify? 47:52.360 --> 47:53.940 I think it's just, hey, there's really a heaven 47:54.380 --> 47:55.640 and there's really heavenly places. 47:56.380 --> 47:58.260 Like, what does the word places mean 47:58.260 --> 48:00.060 with coupled with heaven if it's a metaphor? 48:02.700 --> 48:05.540 It's not like a euphoria, like mindset. 48:05.680 --> 48:07.080 It's not like you're taking drugs or something. 48:07.400 --> 48:08.620 I'm in heaven, man. 48:09.560 --> 48:12.080 Oh, it's heaven, this is a heavenly place, man. 48:13.320 --> 48:15.820 It's just like, no, there's a real place 48:15.820 --> 48:17.440 called the third heaven Paul went up to. 48:17.540 --> 48:21.640 We were talking about it in second Corinthians chapter, 48:22.080 --> 48:23.320 like, what is it, 12? 48:24.780 --> 48:25.740 But think about this. 48:25.980 --> 48:28.260 When the apostle Paul talked about that experience, 48:28.520 --> 48:30.540 he said he didn't know if the person went there 48:30.540 --> 48:31.540 in the body or out of the body. 48:32.340 --> 48:33.620 Well, how does it make sense that he went there 48:33.620 --> 48:34.940 in the body if that's not even possible? 48:36.560 --> 48:39.400 He would have just said, it was just a metaphor, man. 48:40.220 --> 48:42.920 He went, it was an out of body experience or something. 48:42.920 --> 48:47.680 No, he can't say that his body could have possibly gone there 48:47.680 --> 48:49.400 if you can't actually be there. 48:50.020 --> 48:51.680 There really is a third heaven. 48:52.480 --> 48:54.460 It really is a place that people could be. 48:55.080 --> 48:56.460 And of course, the father really is there 48:56.460 --> 48:58.700 with his own right hand in a heavenly place. 48:58.780 --> 49:00.880 Notice this far above all principality and power 49:00.880 --> 49:03.060 and might and dominion and every name that is named 49:03.060 --> 49:06.120 not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. 49:06.440 --> 49:07.940 And I put all things under his feet 49:07.940 --> 49:10.260 and gave him to be the head over all things. 49:10.700 --> 49:12.240 And what is that to the church? 49:12.640 --> 49:14.760 Which is his body that flows of him that filled all. 49:14.800 --> 49:16.300 So Christ is the head of the church. 49:16.440 --> 49:20.440 Now again, practically speaking, what does that mean? 49:20.660 --> 49:22.600 Well, practically we don't have Jesus Christ here 49:22.600 --> 49:23.620 with us in person. 49:23.840 --> 49:25.480 Like he's not physically with us. 49:25.740 --> 49:27.600 Now he's here with us spiritually. 49:28.480 --> 49:32.360 He's here with us because he's in some kind of a spiritual 49:32.360 --> 49:34.520 and a metaphorical sense, of course we get that. 49:34.880 --> 49:36.420 The Bible says we're two or three are gathered together 49:36.420 --> 49:37.620 and my name there, am I in the midst? 49:37.980 --> 49:40.120 So in a sense his presence is with us, 49:40.120 --> 49:43.260 but he's not tangibly, physically here. 49:43.380 --> 49:44.920 We can't handle him. 49:45.240 --> 49:47.560 He's not gonna audibly speak to us in this room. 49:48.200 --> 49:49.400 So then practically speaking, 49:49.580 --> 49:50.720 how could he be the head of this church? 49:51.420 --> 49:52.600 Well, you know how he's the head of the church? 49:52.740 --> 49:54.340 It's called the King James Bible. 49:55.560 --> 49:57.860 This is how he's the head of the church, practically speaking. 49:58.380 --> 50:01.040 This is what's in charge of the church, okay? 50:01.600 --> 50:03.840 And yet, many people will downplay that 50:03.840 --> 50:05.540 and they'll say, no, no, the pope is the head of the church. 50:06.160 --> 50:08.620 He's the vicar of Christ and he's the one representing 50:08.620 --> 50:11.260 and he's the one in charge, practically speaking. 50:11.900 --> 50:13.640 Well, you know, now there you're supering authority 50:14.080 --> 50:16.420 and of course the pope then gives all these decrees 50:16.420 --> 50:17.440 that are not in the Bible. 50:17.680 --> 50:19.200 And then you get a Catholic church 50:19.200 --> 50:20.580 that's not subject to Christ, 50:20.680 --> 50:22.180 that's not allowing him to be the head, 50:22.980 --> 50:24.000 being the mind, what is the head? 50:24.180 --> 50:25.540 It's the mind, it's the decision maker. 50:26.440 --> 50:28.120 It's the logic, okay? 50:28.460 --> 50:30.820 It's what's in charge. 50:31.820 --> 50:33.060 You know, we're talking about the head of household. 50:33.460 --> 50:34.740 It's the one making decisions. 50:34.960 --> 50:36.120 It's the one that's in charge. 50:36.620 --> 50:39.940 And of course, we believe that men should be in charge 50:39.940 --> 50:41.380 just like Christ is in charge, 50:41.520 --> 50:43.040 just like God the Father is in charge 50:43.500 --> 50:45.600 because the Bible says even God is the head of Christ. 50:46.140 --> 50:47.380 Christ is the head of the church 50:47.980 --> 50:51.360 and hey, we should have men that are pastors 50:51.360 --> 50:52.520 that are the head of the church 50:52.520 --> 50:54.460 but still subject to Christ 50:54.460 --> 50:56.180 which is the true head of the church. 50:57.900 --> 51:00.500 And of course, we have the body 51:01.380 --> 51:02.780 which is a picture of us. 51:03.300 --> 51:07.220 We as a collective represent the body. 51:07.980 --> 51:11.040 Now, again, we don't believe in what's called 51:11.040 --> 51:15.080 a universal church where every single saved believer 51:15.840 --> 51:18.020 is just gathered together in one body. 51:18.900 --> 51:21.800 Every saved believer is a partaker in Christ 51:21.800 --> 51:24.200 and you could say at one day 51:24.200 --> 51:26.560 we'll all be dwelling in heaven together 51:26.560 --> 51:28.120 and so we're gonna be a body together 51:28.720 --> 51:31.320 but the word church means to congregate 51:31.800 --> 51:34.660 and so we believe in multiple churches 51:35.240 --> 51:38.640 so there'd be multiple bodies of Christ on this earth 51:38.640 --> 51:40.980 in a physical, visible manner, okay? 51:41.460 --> 51:44.560 And so we don't, oh, we're the one true church. 51:44.740 --> 51:45.580 Well, I don't believe in that 51:45.580 --> 51:47.620 because I believe there's churches plural on this earth. 51:48.160 --> 51:50.340 I believe there's bodies on this earth 51:50.820 --> 51:53.340 and of course Christ should be the head of all of them. 51:54.560 --> 51:56.880 And so this body, this church, 51:57.140 --> 51:59.220 this congregation, Christ is the head. 51:59.620 --> 52:00.900 Now it says which is his body, 52:01.000 --> 52:04.380 the fullness of him that filleth all in all. 52:04.480 --> 52:05.540 What is all in all? 52:06.780 --> 52:08.900 I think it's a difficult phrase 52:08.900 --> 52:11.740 and so I tried to meditate on this 52:11.740 --> 52:14.160 and the way I would explain it 52:14.160 --> 52:18.900 is that the first all is describing the believers. 52:20.460 --> 52:22.120 So if you think about this, 52:22.620 --> 52:28.280 Christ is the one that fills the believers, okay? 52:28.940 --> 52:32.000 There's no one else that fills the believers, okay? 52:32.100 --> 52:35.740 So every believer you're only gonna get filled 52:35.740 --> 52:39.040 by Jesus Christ, anything else is not of God. 52:39.480 --> 52:41.840 So there's not something else you need besides Christ. 52:42.220 --> 52:44.200 Christ is the one that fills all the believers 52:44.200 --> 52:48.300 and then in all, so in every spiritual gift 52:49.040 --> 52:53.000 and every spiritual way he's going to give it, 52:53.140 --> 52:54.480 it's only given by Christ. 52:54.980 --> 52:56.040 So if you think about it, 52:56.040 --> 52:59.500 it's like everybody that is going to 53:00.160 --> 53:02.680 be receiving anything that's saved 53:02.680 --> 53:04.020 is only gonna get it from Christ 53:04.620 --> 53:09.280 and then everything we receive is gonna be from Christ, okay? 53:09.400 --> 53:11.760 So all believers or every believer 53:12.380 --> 53:14.220 is filled by only Christ 53:14.220 --> 53:18.600 and every spiritual gift is only given by Christ. 53:19.060 --> 53:21.160 So he's the one, the fullness of him 53:21.160 --> 53:23.060 that filleth all, all the believers 53:23.060 --> 53:24.760 in all spiritual gifts. 53:25.540 --> 53:26.900 So you're not gonna get a spiritual gift 53:26.900 --> 53:27.840 from anybody but Christ 53:28.740 --> 53:30.940 and everyone that's ever gotten anything 53:30.940 --> 53:33.240 is only getting it from Christ, okay? 53:33.380 --> 53:35.340 So all the believers got everything from Christ 53:35.340 --> 53:38.540 and all the things they got from God were from Christ. 53:38.780 --> 53:40.500 So that's kind of what it's trying to say 53:40.500 --> 53:41.520 and this is important, why? 53:42.120 --> 53:45.200 Because we realize that everything in there, 53:45.460 --> 53:48.840 everything in Christianity, you only need this 53:50.380 --> 53:53.440 because this is what fills every single believer. 53:53.800 --> 53:55.200 This is the only thing you're gonna get, 53:55.520 --> 53:57.700 the only benefit you're gonna get 53:57.700 --> 53:59.700 from a knowledge, wisdom, or revelation perspective 53:59.700 --> 54:00.560 is from this book 54:01.540 --> 54:03.480 and again, everything you're gonna learn 54:03.480 --> 54:04.800 is again from this book, okay? 54:05.160 --> 54:07.720 So every believer, you're only getting from this book 54:08.160 --> 54:09.620 and everything you're gonna get is from this book. 54:10.140 --> 54:11.320 The book of Enoch is trash. 54:13.100 --> 54:14.500 The Talmud is trash. 54:15.200 --> 54:16.520 The Koran is trash. 54:16.820 --> 54:18.280 So you're not gonna get it from any of those sources 54:18.280 --> 54:20.900 and anything you could possibly know about God 54:20.900 --> 54:22.560 is contained in this too as well. 54:22.990 --> 54:24.500 So it's just like, hey, this is our source 54:24.960 --> 54:26.480 and it's gonna give us all the information 54:26.480 --> 54:27.920 we could possibly want, okay? 54:28.000 --> 54:31.400 So every saved person, he's filling all and all, okay? 54:32.080 --> 54:34.740 So that's what I believe the verse is trying to say 54:34.740 --> 54:36.460 and it's an important concept 54:36.460 --> 54:38.360 because then we realize when Christ is the word of God. 54:38.840 --> 54:41.140 So therefore the word is the head. 54:41.700 --> 54:44.060 Therefore the word is the one that gives us wisdom. 54:44.420 --> 54:46.160 Therefore the word is the one 54:46.160 --> 54:47.180 that gives us the revelation 54:47.180 --> 54:50.480 and therefore this is enabled by the spirit 54:50.840 --> 54:51.800 by which we are sealed. 54:53.140 --> 54:56.600 So we say practically speaking in chapter one, 54:57.180 --> 54:59.860 this is our head and this is what gives us wisdom 55:00.420 --> 55:01.780 and this is the revelation 55:02.360 --> 55:05.100 and it's empowered by the Holy Spirit. 55:05.600 --> 55:08.040 So we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit 55:08.620 --> 55:11.780 and we wanna place him as the proper authority 55:12.560 --> 55:14.680 so that he can give us all the wisdom 55:14.680 --> 55:16.460 because this is the revelation. 55:16.900 --> 55:18.860 There is no revelation outside of this. 55:19.380 --> 55:22.120 So then when we think about these verses here more deeply, 55:22.760 --> 55:25.160 he's saying in verse number 17 55:25.160 --> 55:27.240 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 55:27.380 --> 55:31.540 may give undue the spirit of wisdom and revelation 55:32.100 --> 55:33.340 and the knowledge of him. 55:33.640 --> 55:35.400 So how are we gonna get that wisdom? 55:35.860 --> 55:36.780 How are we gonna get that revelation 55:36.780 --> 55:38.580 through the scripture, through the word of God, 55:38.720 --> 55:41.220 through Jesus Christ, which is in this book, okay? 55:41.680 --> 55:42.680 That's how we get it. 55:43.020 --> 55:46.240 And of course, pagans and other religions, 55:46.240 --> 55:49.180 they're trying to get it through worshiping statues. 55:49.540 --> 55:50.960 They're trying to get it through other books, 55:51.220 --> 55:53.820 through philosophy, through all these other means, 55:54.340 --> 55:56.440 through healing crystals, okay? 55:56.500 --> 55:58.220 He's just like, that's not gonna give you anything. 55:58.980 --> 56:00.260 None of that is beneficial. 56:00.960 --> 56:02.600 We get it all from this book 56:03.100 --> 56:04.960 and you need not that any man teach you. 56:05.640 --> 56:08.160 You have the Holy Ghost, you have the word of God. 56:08.600 --> 56:09.960 We wanna put him in his proper place. 56:12.080 --> 56:14.000 So let's think big picture for a moment 56:14.000 --> 56:16.420 and I wanna spend a few more minutes on this epistle. 56:17.280 --> 56:18.900 Chapter two then is gonna tell us 56:18.900 --> 56:21.200 that he's reconciled Gentiles and Jews in Christ. 56:22.720 --> 56:25.620 So everything's been leading up to that conclusion. 56:25.960 --> 56:28.340 Chapter three, the mystery has been revealed 56:28.920 --> 56:31.360 that the Gentiles can realize 56:31.360 --> 56:33.020 they're gonna have the fullness of Christ, 56:33.400 --> 56:35.140 that there's nothing kept back from them 56:35.140 --> 56:36.500 even though they're Gentiles. 56:36.760 --> 56:38.160 They weren't born Hebrews, 56:38.640 --> 56:39.880 they weren't raised Hebrews, 56:40.280 --> 56:42.300 they weren't Jews by nature, 56:42.700 --> 56:44.240 they were Gentiles by nature, 56:44.580 --> 56:46.760 yet nothing is stopping them 56:46.760 --> 56:48.680 from being fully reconciled to Jesus, 56:49.240 --> 56:52.340 being fully grafted in, fully a part of the family, 56:52.660 --> 56:55.260 fully adopted and fully on board. 56:55.520 --> 56:56.540 Now why is that important? 56:57.780 --> 57:00.080 It's important so that then, 57:00.200 --> 57:01.660 chapters four, five and six, 57:01.880 --> 57:04.120 which give all of the practical application 57:04.560 --> 57:06.000 of how to be a good Christian 57:06.000 --> 57:08.140 and how to be a good child of God, 57:08.900 --> 57:10.320 you're gonna feel like you should do 57:10.320 --> 57:11.960 because you really are a child of God. 57:12.780 --> 57:13.680 I mean, if you think about it, 57:13.860 --> 57:15.240 adoption is a great thing. 57:16.000 --> 57:19.020 I love adoption and especially true adoption. 57:19.560 --> 57:20.840 You take someone that's not really your kid 57:20.840 --> 57:21.860 and you make them part of your family. 57:22.480 --> 57:24.360 But think about how a kid would feel 57:25.420 --> 57:28.120 if they were truly adopted in the family 57:28.600 --> 57:29.380 and then they're like, 57:29.800 --> 57:34.660 well, only the blood kids get to go with us 57:34.660 --> 57:37.940 on this trip or only the blood kids, 57:37.940 --> 57:41.780 this part of the table is only for the blood kids. 57:42.380 --> 57:44.560 The adopted kids don't get to sit at this table, 57:45.080 --> 57:45.960 they don't get to have this. 57:46.380 --> 57:47.860 If that was the case, 57:48.120 --> 57:51.820 then they may not wanna follow all the rules either, right? 57:52.340 --> 57:53.860 They may not wanna participate in everything 57:53.860 --> 57:56.320 because they feel like, well, I'm kinda like a half breed 57:56.320 --> 57:59.020 or I'm kinda half in, half out or something. 57:59.320 --> 58:00.560 They're not treated that way. 58:00.740 --> 58:01.600 But it's like, hey, no, no, 58:01.680 --> 58:02.740 you're fully in the family. 58:03.460 --> 58:05.600 Well, it's okay, then I'm gonna take on everything. 58:06.100 --> 58:08.960 You could also even, think about it this way, 58:09.400 --> 58:12.960 you get adopted and you look to your dad, 58:13.200 --> 58:14.780 you're now your dad's dad, 58:15.240 --> 58:17.220 and you'd be like, that's my grandfather. 58:17.840 --> 58:19.400 That's my grandfather, okay? 58:19.920 --> 58:22.160 But if it's like, you don't feel like 58:22.160 --> 58:24.300 you've actually been grafted in or adopted or pregnant, 58:24.660 --> 58:26.940 you may not really associate with grandpa. 58:27.440 --> 58:29.680 But it's like, hey, you as Gentiles, you're coming in, 58:30.120 --> 58:32.600 now we have father Abraham, our father Abraham. 58:33.060 --> 58:36.000 You know what, it's like, is he really your father? 58:36.360 --> 58:37.920 Are you really a physical Jew? 58:38.280 --> 58:40.640 Maybe not, but you know what, you are spiritually 58:40.640 --> 58:42.600 and so therefore he's your grandpa. 58:43.100 --> 58:45.400 Now he is your father and so you don't, 58:45.700 --> 58:47.360 you're not like looking down on the Old Testament. 58:47.780 --> 58:51.160 So hey, you Ephesians and all you that are faithful 58:51.160 --> 58:53.940 in Christ Jesus realize, hey, the Old Testament, 58:54.380 --> 58:55.960 hey, it's written for our admonition. 58:56.440 --> 58:57.880 Hey, it's written for us. 58:58.400 --> 59:00.540 Hey, all these promises are about us. 59:00.540 --> 59:03.440 And it's my father Abraham and my father Jacob 59:03.440 --> 59:04.600 and my father Isaac. 59:05.160 --> 59:07.840 And hey, all these people are my relatives now 59:07.840 --> 59:08.940 and I'm part of the family. 59:09.120 --> 59:10.980 And so you're not like, well, I don't need the Old Testament. 59:11.160 --> 59:12.280 No, no, the Old Testament is mine. 59:13.060 --> 59:15.420 And the laws are mine and everything's mine. 59:15.520 --> 59:17.940 I'm fully brought in and this is a mystery 59:17.940 --> 59:19.260 but now we're brought in. 59:19.560 --> 59:23.140 So it's not like we're creating some new hybrid religion, 59:23.980 --> 59:27.540 some new Gentile version of God's people or Gentiles. 59:27.780 --> 59:29.640 No, no, we've just been brought into his family 59:29.640 --> 59:31.640 and we're gonna fully embrace all of it. 59:31.660 --> 59:34.520 We're embracing Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus 59:34.520 --> 59:35.320 and Numbers and Jordan. 59:35.580 --> 59:36.520 We're embracing all of it. 59:37.120 --> 59:38.700 And if you look at just the first few verses 59:38.700 --> 59:40.620 of each one of these chapters, verse four, 59:41.320 --> 59:43.160 that we walk worthy of the vocation 59:43.160 --> 59:44.560 we're with year called. 59:45.060 --> 59:46.180 So here's the thing, you're gonna be holding 59:46.180 --> 59:48.340 without blame before him because of what he did. 59:48.780 --> 59:51.100 But that doesn't mean you shouldn't still then walk worthy. 59:51.900 --> 59:53.460 And of course, God is gonna tell us 59:53.460 --> 59:54.480 to do certain things. 59:54.940 --> 59:57.160 We should walk worthy of the vocation. 59:57.800 --> 59:58.820 Chapter five, verse one, 59:59.160 --> 01:00:01.900 be therefore followers of God as dear children. 01:00:02.340 --> 01:00:05.480 So he's telling you, hey, walk worthy of the job 01:00:05.480 --> 01:00:07.520 that you've been signed up for being a Christian, 01:00:07.740 --> 01:00:08.600 being God's child. 01:00:09.240 --> 01:00:11.860 Be a follower of God because he's your now your father 01:00:11.860 --> 01:00:13.040 and you're a child of God. 01:00:13.500 --> 01:00:14.800 And then in chapter number six, 01:00:14.880 --> 01:00:16.860 he's gonna tell you to put on the whole armor of God 01:00:17.440 --> 01:00:22.520 so that you can accomplish the right works. 01:00:22.640 --> 01:00:26.020 Because again, obviously we're saved to go to heaven 01:00:26.020 --> 01:00:29.040 and be in heavenly places and our redemption. 01:00:30.220 --> 01:00:33.400 But he doesn't want us to just act however we want. 01:00:34.040 --> 01:00:35.840 It's like, hey, your mom birthed you, 01:00:36.620 --> 01:00:39.460 but she's not raising you to just live however you want. 01:00:40.020 --> 01:00:41.460 She wants you to be a good child. 01:00:42.060 --> 01:00:43.320 She wants you to be a good kid. 01:00:43.420 --> 01:00:45.400 She wants you to be a good representation of the family. 01:00:46.380 --> 01:00:48.160 People often use their last name 01:00:48.160 --> 01:00:49.380 and let's say that's not how we act. 01:00:49.680 --> 01:00:50.960 That's not how Shelleys act. 01:00:51.620 --> 01:00:52.880 Shelleys don't behave that way. 01:00:53.380 --> 01:00:54.360 Shelleys have manners. 01:00:55.080 --> 01:00:55.980 Shelleys are polite. 01:00:56.500 --> 01:00:57.500 Shelleys work hard. 01:00:57.980 --> 01:00:59.680 You have these principles and you say, 01:00:59.760 --> 01:01:01.020 act like a Shelley. 01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:03.660 You're a Shelley now, you're in our family, 01:01:03.940 --> 01:01:05.100 so you ought to act right. 01:01:05.320 --> 01:01:07.060 And it's like, hey, we're God's children 01:01:07.060 --> 01:01:09.440 and God's children ought to act a certain way 01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:10.780 and not behave a certain way. 01:01:11.100 --> 01:01:14.100 And so God's trying to say, hey, act like a child. 01:01:14.580 --> 01:01:17.700 Put on the armor of God and go out there and fight. 01:01:18.020 --> 01:01:19.940 Hey, I like that God's children, they fight. 01:01:20.420 --> 01:01:21.920 They go to battle, they go to war. 01:01:22.380 --> 01:01:24.340 They walk worthy, they act like children. 01:01:24.760 --> 01:01:26.280 They don't act like the world anymore. 01:01:26.420 --> 01:01:27.300 They're gonna act different. 01:01:27.620 --> 01:01:29.480 They're gonna be a different type of people. 01:01:29.820 --> 01:01:31.200 So again, these are really important concepts. 01:01:31.480 --> 01:01:33.000 Why give all these instructions? 01:01:33.160 --> 01:01:34.120 Because it's not automatic. 01:01:35.480 --> 01:01:37.200 There's many people that will get saved 01:01:37.660 --> 01:01:39.580 and they're not gonna end up walking worthy. 01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:41.800 They're not gonna act like children. 01:01:42.260 --> 01:01:44.240 They're not gonna appreciate the adoption 01:01:44.240 --> 01:01:45.260 that was given to them. 01:01:45.980 --> 01:01:48.740 And of course, because of their bad attitude, 01:01:48.740 --> 01:01:52.600 they're gonna end up causing shame, embarrassment, 01:01:53.340 --> 01:01:54.440 all kinds of issues. 01:01:55.140 --> 01:01:58.600 We should be appreciative of the adoption 01:01:58.600 --> 01:02:00.320 that has been grafted unto us 01:02:00.320 --> 01:02:02.680 and we should walk worthy as children. 01:02:02.760 --> 01:02:05.020 We should be good children unto God. 01:02:06.520 --> 01:02:09.500 So I do wanna spend just a few more minutes 01:02:09.500 --> 01:02:11.500 and I just wanna deal with Calvinism for a moment 01:02:11.500 --> 01:02:13.000 because this is one of their favorite chapters 01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:13.960 in the world, all right? 01:02:14.420 --> 01:02:16.240 They have three chapters in the Bible they like. 01:02:16.380 --> 01:02:16.900 Okay, that's it. 01:02:18.080 --> 01:02:22.060 It's like Romans nine, Ephesians one 01:02:22.060 --> 01:02:23.600 and like First Peter one or something. 01:02:24.120 --> 01:02:25.840 They maybe they'll throw in Romans 11 occasionally, 01:02:26.140 --> 01:02:27.820 but it's just like these are the only chapters they like. 01:02:28.540 --> 01:02:30.040 Let's go to First Peter for a moment. 01:02:30.460 --> 01:02:31.500 But if you think about it, 01:02:31.720 --> 01:02:37.500 Romans nine is really leading into the fact 01:02:37.500 --> 01:02:39.260 that Gentiles are gonna get saved. 01:02:40.540 --> 01:02:42.740 If you think about Ephesians one, 01:02:42.980 --> 01:02:44.340 it's really leading into Ephesians two, 01:02:44.340 --> 01:02:46.840 which is really about Gentiles being saved. 01:02:47.600 --> 01:02:50.180 Okay, First Peter is written to the strangers, 01:02:50.660 --> 01:02:54.180 which is really a lot about Gentiles being saved. 01:02:54.740 --> 01:02:56.140 Okay, so if you think about it, 01:02:56.460 --> 01:02:59.860 like all these verses about predestined 01:03:00.360 --> 01:03:03.200 and election and foreknowledge 01:03:03.200 --> 01:03:04.540 and all these different terminologies 01:03:04.540 --> 01:03:06.720 that the Calvinists just love to use, 01:03:07.640 --> 01:03:08.940 why is it being brought up? 01:03:09.140 --> 01:03:09.900 That's a good question 01:03:09.900 --> 01:03:11.340 because it's not like it's being brought up 01:03:11.340 --> 01:03:12.860 for no reason, it's being brought up for a reason. 01:03:13.320 --> 01:03:15.000 But what it's not being brought up to say 01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:19.340 is that, well, we're all robots and we have no free will. 01:03:20.380 --> 01:03:22.040 What's the point in that message anyways? 01:03:23.700 --> 01:03:24.840 What we, you know, like, 01:03:24.920 --> 01:03:27.060 do I need to explain to AI that it's a robot? 01:03:28.480 --> 01:03:30.420 Like what would be the point of me going onto a prompt 01:03:30.420 --> 01:03:33.100 and saying, hey, grok, do you know that you're a robot 01:03:33.520 --> 01:03:35.600 and you just do what you're programmed to do? 01:03:36.820 --> 01:03:38.360 It doesn't even have consciousness. 01:03:38.660 --> 01:03:40.700 Like why would be the point of doing that? 01:03:41.100 --> 01:03:42.000 That's not the point. 01:03:42.440 --> 01:03:43.240 What's the point? 01:03:43.460 --> 01:03:45.560 What's the point of talking about predestined? 01:03:45.700 --> 01:03:46.820 What's the point of foreknowledge? 01:03:46.880 --> 01:03:47.800 What's the point of election? 01:03:48.500 --> 01:03:50.300 It's to try and tell these people like, 01:03:50.520 --> 01:03:53.440 hey, you are not a second class citizen. 01:03:54.160 --> 01:03:56.020 You are not someone that God, it was like, 01:03:56.060 --> 01:03:56.940 hey, you're an afterthought. 01:03:57.340 --> 01:03:59.200 You're not someone that God doesn't care about. 01:03:59.620 --> 01:04:03.400 No, God already knew that you were special 01:04:03.400 --> 01:04:05.440 before the world even began. 01:04:06.340 --> 01:04:09.080 God already predestined to bring you into his family. 01:04:09.080 --> 01:04:12.580 God already chose to bring you in as adopted sons. 01:04:12.880 --> 01:04:17.000 God already loved you and foreknew you and predestined you 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:19.740 and predetermined you way before any of this 01:04:19.740 --> 01:04:22.620 so that you realize, hey, I am a child of God 01:04:22.620 --> 01:04:25.460 just as much as someone that was physically a child of God. 01:04:25.920 --> 01:04:29.200 Like I am not a second class citizen. 01:04:29.780 --> 01:04:31.280 I'm not a second rate son. 01:04:31.660 --> 01:04:33.080 I'm not an afterthought. 01:04:33.480 --> 01:04:36.420 I was a forethought and you are a forethought 01:04:36.420 --> 01:04:37.900 and we're all forethoughts. 01:04:38.400 --> 01:04:39.860 And again, if you think about the progression, 01:04:40.060 --> 01:04:41.180 it's like, hey, there was a mystery. 01:04:41.720 --> 01:04:43.260 Y'all are gonna be brought in, but guess what? 01:04:43.380 --> 01:04:44.720 God already knew that he was gonna bring you in. 01:04:45.100 --> 01:04:46.900 You're not second rate. 01:04:47.300 --> 01:04:50.840 You are a legit first rate class citizen. 01:04:52.000 --> 01:04:53.420 Therefore behave like one. 01:04:53.900 --> 01:04:55.260 Okay, and again, that's what Ephesians is 01:04:55.260 --> 01:04:56.220 is a hammer behave like one. 01:04:56.480 --> 01:04:59.400 First Peter really hammers behaving like a good Christian 01:04:59.900 --> 01:05:00.980 and doing what's right. 01:05:01.580 --> 01:05:03.200 So again, that's the whole point 01:05:03.200 --> 01:05:04.720 of this predestination language. 01:05:05.620 --> 01:05:09.440 In First Peter chapter one, I like using verse two 01:05:09.440 --> 01:05:12.160 to help dispel some of their beliefs 01:05:12.160 --> 01:05:14.140 because it uses the word for knowledge. 01:05:14.240 --> 01:05:14.920 Look what it says in verse two. 01:05:15.320 --> 01:05:19.280 Elect according to the fore knowledge of God, the Father. 01:05:19.500 --> 01:05:22.160 So I'm not chosen because of nothing. 01:05:23.640 --> 01:05:25.640 Notice election is not unconditional. 01:05:26.520 --> 01:05:30.260 This is one of the tenets of Calvinism 01:05:30.260 --> 01:05:31.820 because Calvinism has a little tulip. 01:05:32.360 --> 01:05:32.720 It's cute. 01:05:33.780 --> 01:05:35.400 Flowery language that they have. 01:05:36.280 --> 01:05:39.200 And if you think of it, the tulip is an acronym. 01:05:39.580 --> 01:05:41.400 So it's basically like total depravity. 01:05:42.180 --> 01:05:44.660 The second one's unconditional election. 01:05:45.180 --> 01:05:46.800 Limited atonement, which is dumb as rocks. 01:05:47.180 --> 01:05:49.040 Okay, that's almost like 9-11 official story. 01:05:50.120 --> 01:05:50.980 Irresistible grace, 01:05:51.220 --> 01:05:52.640 and then the perseverance of the saints. 01:05:53.360 --> 01:05:55.900 Well, unconditional election is false 01:05:55.900 --> 01:05:58.740 because the Bible says elect according. 01:06:00.040 --> 01:06:01.380 Elect according to. 01:06:01.980 --> 01:06:04.340 That sounds like there's something that it's based on. 01:06:05.040 --> 01:06:06.340 Yeah, it is based on something. 01:06:06.620 --> 01:06:08.860 According to the fore knowledge of God, the Father. 01:06:09.220 --> 01:06:09.640 Now here's the thing. 01:06:09.900 --> 01:06:11.660 Fore knowledge is you know about something 01:06:11.660 --> 01:06:12.840 that's gonna happen in the future. 01:06:13.000 --> 01:06:14.380 You know before it happens. 01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:16.120 You know what's gonna happen. 01:06:17.180 --> 01:06:20.660 If God is planning everything out 01:06:21.240 --> 01:06:23.960 based on absolutely nothing about us, 01:06:24.420 --> 01:06:26.020 he doesn't need to know what's gonna happen. 01:06:27.380 --> 01:06:29.380 The whole point of fore knowledge proves 01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:33.020 that there's something outside of what he's doing. 01:06:33.640 --> 01:06:34.920 It's our decisions. 01:06:35.800 --> 01:06:37.800 It's if we're gonna trust in Christ or not. 01:06:38.140 --> 01:06:40.820 It's what our response is gonna be to the gospel. 01:06:41.200 --> 01:06:43.220 But his fore knowledge of that response, 01:06:43.620 --> 01:06:45.400 his fore knowledge of our choices 01:06:45.990 --> 01:06:47.340 is what is electing us. 01:06:47.480 --> 01:06:49.880 God decided to choose those who would believe in him, 01:06:50.160 --> 01:06:52.820 believe in Jesus Christ to be the children of God. 01:06:53.080 --> 01:06:54.720 Whether they be Jew or Gentile, 01:06:55.020 --> 01:06:56.500 he already predetermined that. 01:06:56.860 --> 01:06:59.360 He already foreknew that. 01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:01.540 Whom he did fore know. 01:07:02.300 --> 01:07:05.420 So according to the Bible, he knew everything about us. 01:07:05.480 --> 01:07:06.760 He knew all the decisions we were gonna make. 01:07:07.220 --> 01:07:09.060 How could the Bible even make sense if he doesn't? 01:07:09.440 --> 01:07:11.320 I mean the Bible is telling us what people are gonna say, 01:07:11.640 --> 01:07:12.480 what people are gonna do, 01:07:12.640 --> 01:07:14.580 thousands of years before they ever do it. 01:07:14.980 --> 01:07:16.060 Obviously God knows. 01:07:16.900 --> 01:07:19.680 But did they not have free will in those moments? 01:07:20.060 --> 01:07:20.900 Of course they did. 01:07:21.360 --> 01:07:22.440 Everyone has free will. 01:07:22.800 --> 01:07:24.400 Everybody's making their own decisions here. 01:07:25.100 --> 01:07:28.240 And to get away from free will is a disaster. 01:07:29.360 --> 01:07:31.280 It's gonna cause your church to become a disaster, 01:07:31.540 --> 01:07:34.500 unfruitful, you know, unevangelistic. 01:07:34.740 --> 01:07:39.880 Just a prideful den of just weirdos, okay? 01:07:40.360 --> 01:07:42.620 And again, I'm not gonna say that all Calvinists 01:07:42.620 --> 01:07:44.360 are unsaved, because I don't believe that. 01:07:44.760 --> 01:07:46.760 But I do believe that Calvinism, 01:07:46.840 --> 01:07:49.380 when you start getting into just this hyper view 01:07:49.380 --> 01:07:52.240 and these extreme versions of Calvinism, 01:07:52.560 --> 01:07:53.760 it starts getting to a point where like, 01:07:53.860 --> 01:07:54.540 what's the difference between you 01:07:54.540 --> 01:07:55.960 and a hardcore work salvationist? 01:07:55.960 --> 01:07:57.740 You know, and again, 01:07:58.600 --> 01:08:00.540 we should take accountability for actions. 01:08:00.780 --> 01:08:01.860 And that's a big thing. 01:08:02.680 --> 01:08:04.480 I wanna go to a couple of verses here. 01:08:05.180 --> 01:08:08.200 Go to Proverbs 21, I guess. 01:08:08.360 --> 01:08:09.120 Go to Proverbs 21. 01:08:10.540 --> 01:08:12.320 In Amos the Bible says, 01:08:13.480 --> 01:08:15.060 shall there be evil in a city 01:08:15.060 --> 01:08:16.000 and the Lord have not done it? 01:08:17.000 --> 01:08:21.200 The Bible says about the Pilate and Herod, 01:08:21.460 --> 01:08:23.760 it says that they were gonna do 01:08:23.760 --> 01:08:24.600 what's over thy hand, 01:08:24.600 --> 01:08:26.300 and thy counsel determined for it to be done. 01:08:26.780 --> 01:08:28.820 Acts 2, 23 says they were delivered 01:08:28.820 --> 01:08:30.560 by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. 01:08:30.680 --> 01:08:31.920 You have taken and by wicked hands, 01:08:32.280 --> 01:08:33.340 have crucified and slain. 01:08:34.800 --> 01:08:37.440 So sometimes the Bible uses language that sounds like, 01:08:37.540 --> 01:08:39.340 oh wow, well it sounds like God just took over. 01:08:40.160 --> 01:08:42.120 God is just like completely in control of a situation. 01:08:42.800 --> 01:08:44.200 You know, how could there be evil in the city 01:08:44.200 --> 01:08:45.080 and God didn't do it? 01:08:45.360 --> 01:08:48.160 Or the Pilate and them, 01:08:48.260 --> 01:08:50.420 they're just doing what was the determinate counsel 01:08:50.420 --> 01:08:53.740 of God, whatever he had to determine. 01:08:54.340 --> 01:08:55.480 Proverbs 21, look at verse one, 01:08:55.580 --> 01:08:56.860 the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord 01:08:56.860 --> 01:08:57.880 as the rivers of water, 01:08:58.000 --> 01:08:59.280 he turneth it with his every will. 01:09:00.600 --> 01:09:03.420 Romans nine talks about Pharaoh famously 01:09:03.980 --> 01:09:07.020 and how he's just basically has his heart hardened 01:09:07.020 --> 01:09:08.800 and is doing God's will, okay? 01:09:09.780 --> 01:09:11.360 Well, let's look at another proverb. 01:09:12.160 --> 01:09:14.500 And I'm gonna look this up as off memory. 01:09:14.920 --> 01:09:16.980 I think it's like five or six or something. 01:09:21.440 --> 01:09:23.020 It's seven, 721. 01:09:23.020 --> 01:09:24.940 All right, Proverbs seven verse 21. 01:09:25.460 --> 01:09:26.540 Look what the Bible says here. 01:09:27.240 --> 01:09:28.740 It says with their much fair speech, 01:09:28.960 --> 01:09:31.460 she caused him to yield with a flattering of her lips, 01:09:31.880 --> 01:09:34.240 she forced him, okay? 01:09:35.220 --> 01:09:37.740 Now, does that mean that this guy has no free will? 01:09:38.900 --> 01:09:40.420 Absolutely not, this is not talking about 01:09:40.420 --> 01:09:41.420 whether you have free will or not. 01:09:41.820 --> 01:09:44.080 What it's talking about is she was able 01:09:44.080 --> 01:09:46.220 to affect his desire so much so 01:09:46.640 --> 01:09:48.880 that he was gonna do what she was basically 01:09:48.880 --> 01:09:50.900 talking him in to do it, okay? 01:09:51.380 --> 01:09:53.860 So you can force someone to do something 01:09:53.860 --> 01:09:55.280 even though they have free will. 01:09:55.740 --> 01:09:57.060 You know, if you play chess, 01:09:57.500 --> 01:09:59.480 you'll learn towards the end of the game, 01:09:59.920 --> 01:10:01.840 sometimes they force you to make moves 01:10:02.320 --> 01:10:03.940 just because that's how the game works. 01:10:04.460 --> 01:10:05.900 It's not that you didn't have free will, 01:10:06.260 --> 01:10:08.060 it's that you've made a lot of bad decisions 01:10:08.060 --> 01:10:09.420 to get you to a point 01:10:09.420 --> 01:10:11.780 where now you're forced to make certain decisions. 01:10:12.300 --> 01:10:13.780 Okay, and in the same way, 01:10:13.900 --> 01:10:16.780 this guy made some bad decisions to follow this harlot 01:10:17.240 --> 01:10:20.220 down a bad path to where he got to a road 01:10:20.220 --> 01:10:21.660 where now she's forcing him. 01:10:22.320 --> 01:10:25.120 Now, hey, you're being influenced. 01:10:25.660 --> 01:10:27.160 If you take drugs and alcohol, 01:10:27.920 --> 01:10:31.020 you can allow yourself to be forced 01:10:31.500 --> 01:10:34.460 or under the influence of these devices 01:10:34.460 --> 01:10:36.680 to where you aren't really even in the driver's seat. 01:10:37.880 --> 01:10:40.680 Judas Iscariot, by making all the horrible decisions 01:10:40.680 --> 01:10:42.340 he made, he got to a point 01:10:42.340 --> 01:10:45.020 where the devil literally possessed him, 01:10:45.420 --> 01:10:46.860 and yeah, in some ways, 01:10:47.020 --> 01:10:49.220 he's being forced and drugged by the devil's will. 01:10:49.880 --> 01:10:52.400 Okay, did any of these people lose free will? 01:10:52.640 --> 01:10:55.740 Not really, but you can with your free will 01:10:55.740 --> 01:10:58.500 put yourself in a situation where 01:10:58.980 --> 01:11:01.100 you're gonna be forced to do things you didn't wanna do, 01:11:01.280 --> 01:11:05.440 where you aren't liking how you're being drugged along. 01:11:06.160 --> 01:11:09.020 So it's like Pharaoh keeps hardening his heart against God 01:11:09.020 --> 01:11:12.500 to a point where God just helps him a little bit 01:11:12.500 --> 01:11:15.420 and just basically turns his heart so cold 01:11:15.420 --> 01:11:16.540 to the things of God 01:11:16.540 --> 01:11:18.260 that he's never gonna believe in him, 01:11:18.260 --> 01:11:19.820 that he's not really wanting to believe in him. 01:11:19.980 --> 01:11:21.900 The Jews in John chapter number 12, 01:11:22.100 --> 01:11:23.880 it says that they could not believe. 01:11:24.320 --> 01:11:26.100 So they got to a point where the desire 01:11:26.100 --> 01:11:29.420 had just been turned so off from that circumstance. 01:11:29.800 --> 01:11:31.480 Romans chapter number one, 01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:33.540 there are people that are given over 01:11:33.980 --> 01:11:35.720 to the desires of their own heart 01:11:36.160 --> 01:11:38.860 and they become reprobate, completely rejected, 01:11:39.480 --> 01:11:42.260 and God has just hardened them to wear it up, 01:11:42.340 --> 01:11:45.220 but they're doing what they wanted in a sense. 01:11:45.760 --> 01:11:47.980 Then the guy that went after the harlot, 01:11:48.700 --> 01:11:50.160 he's kind of going where he wanted. 01:11:51.160 --> 01:11:53.760 Isn't Pharaoh wanting to believe in God? 01:11:54.080 --> 01:11:55.240 He's going where he wanted. 01:11:56.020 --> 01:11:57.880 And it's not like they're not going where they wanted, 01:11:58.020 --> 01:12:01.120 it's just that now they're just so locked in. 01:12:01.840 --> 01:12:02.580 They're gonna make that decision. 01:12:02.880 --> 01:12:04.840 So sometimes the Bible brings up a scenario 01:12:04.840 --> 01:12:06.560 where someone's basically forced to do something 01:12:06.560 --> 01:12:09.220 or gonna just end up doing something inevitable. 01:12:09.960 --> 01:12:11.360 They didn't lose free will though necessarily. 01:12:12.240 --> 01:12:15.840 We don't want to then turn God into this Calvinistic God, okay? 01:12:16.660 --> 01:12:20.040 It's like Pilate was always going to deliver Jesus 01:12:20.040 --> 01:12:22.980 to be crucified because of the amount of pressure 01:12:23.540 --> 01:12:25.700 and because of all the influence of the Jews 01:12:25.700 --> 01:12:28.560 and because of the circumstances, he was gonna do it. 01:12:28.600 --> 01:12:29.940 But here's the thing, it was his decision 01:12:30.360 --> 01:12:31.400 and it was still a sin. 01:12:32.140 --> 01:12:35.400 And look, you get in the car drunk and you drive, 01:12:35.860 --> 01:12:37.400 you may have thought, I was just going home, 01:12:37.700 --> 01:12:39.580 but you kill someone, you're gonna be held responsible 01:12:39.580 --> 01:12:40.440 for that drunk driving. 01:12:40.860 --> 01:12:42.460 You go to the bar and you're like, 01:12:42.500 --> 01:12:43.720 well, I was just gonna have a good time, 01:12:43.860 --> 01:12:45.160 but you end up going home with someone 01:12:45.160 --> 01:12:45.880 and committing adultery. 01:12:46.120 --> 01:12:47.660 Well, you're still guilty of that adultery, 01:12:47.760 --> 01:12:50.920 even though she put so much desire in your heart, 01:12:50.980 --> 01:12:52.260 there was no way you were gonna walk away. 01:12:52.760 --> 01:12:54.820 Hey, you still had free will, 01:12:55.060 --> 01:12:57.120 but sometimes you can give so much of your free will 01:12:57.120 --> 01:13:00.080 to another person that they're gonna take advantage of you 01:13:00.080 --> 01:13:01.640 and you're gonna be drug further 01:13:01.640 --> 01:13:02.760 than you really wanted to go. 01:13:03.200 --> 01:13:05.420 And so we shouldn't look at those examples 01:13:05.420 --> 01:13:07.180 and say, oh, free will doesn't matter, 01:13:07.320 --> 01:13:08.300 or free will isn't part of it. 01:13:08.300 --> 01:13:10.820 No, you should realize I should use my free will 01:13:10.820 --> 01:13:13.280 to stay away from forces that are so strong, 01:13:13.720 --> 01:13:15.200 magnets that are so strong, 01:13:15.540 --> 01:13:17.540 that they'll make me do things I never wanted to do. 01:13:18.400 --> 01:13:19.580 You can take drugs and alcohol 01:13:19.580 --> 01:13:20.980 and do things you never wanted to do. 01:13:21.420 --> 01:13:23.320 You can go to the bar and hang around women 01:13:23.320 --> 01:13:24.940 and do things you never wanted to do. 01:13:25.640 --> 01:13:27.060 That's why you just stay away from it. 01:13:28.200 --> 01:13:31.180 You could be like someone that isn't saved yet 01:13:31.180 --> 01:13:33.960 and not liking God and deciding I don't wanna be around God 01:13:33.960 --> 01:13:35.520 and then he'll drag you to places 01:13:35.520 --> 01:13:36.800 that you never wanted to be 01:13:36.800 --> 01:13:39.120 and a hatred towards God you never wanted to have. 01:13:39.780 --> 01:13:42.760 Okay, so don't take these verses 01:13:43.340 --> 01:13:45.640 and then try to turn God into this Calvinistic God. 01:13:46.500 --> 01:13:47.500 God gave us free will. 01:13:47.580 --> 01:13:48.820 We don't know what our decisions are gonna be. 01:13:49.020 --> 01:13:50.360 We don't know what our choices are gonna be. 01:13:51.220 --> 01:13:53.220 And so we need to be careful with the decisions 01:13:53.220 --> 01:13:56.200 that we make and the future that lays out before us. 01:13:56.620 --> 01:13:57.880 In many cases, there's two paths. 01:13:58.040 --> 01:13:59.180 There's the path that God's laid out 01:13:59.180 --> 01:14:01.540 and there's one the world and the devil's laid out for you. 01:14:02.080 --> 01:14:03.820 The problem is sometimes you get on that path 01:14:03.820 --> 01:14:06.120 of the devil and it turns into such a narrow space. 01:14:06.120 --> 01:14:08.180 There's nowhere to go but the one path 01:14:08.180 --> 01:14:09.120 he's dragging you through 01:14:09.620 --> 01:14:11.320 and you don't wanna go down that path 01:14:11.880 --> 01:14:13.140 but you don't have a choice anymore. 01:14:14.840 --> 01:14:16.640 It's four moves until checkmate. 01:14:17.520 --> 01:14:18.600 Yeah, you got free will 01:14:18.600 --> 01:14:20.040 but you don't have anywhere to go 01:14:20.600 --> 01:14:21.880 and you just don't wanna do that. 01:14:22.080 --> 01:14:23.060 It's called no good option. 01:14:23.180 --> 01:14:24.240 I appreciate all sermon on this, all right? 01:14:24.760 --> 01:14:26.940 It's like you've drug yourself into a position 01:14:26.940 --> 01:14:28.100 where you have no good option 01:14:28.620 --> 01:14:30.080 and you're gonna be forced to do things 01:14:30.080 --> 01:14:30.940 you don't even wanna do. 01:14:31.260 --> 01:14:32.240 You're gonna be forced to do things 01:14:32.240 --> 01:14:32.940 you don't even like. 01:14:33.360 --> 01:14:34.040 But you know what? 01:14:34.540 --> 01:14:37.240 Let's not get mad at God for you 01:14:37.240 --> 01:14:38.860 putting yourself in stupid situations. 01:14:39.360 --> 01:14:41.560 It's not God's fault that Pharaoh hardened his heart. 01:14:41.900 --> 01:14:43.520 It's not God's fault that this guy went 01:14:43.520 --> 01:14:44.600 and chased after the harlot. 01:14:45.080 --> 01:14:47.000 It's not God's fault that a city turned away 01:14:47.000 --> 01:14:47.800 from the things of God 01:14:47.800 --> 01:14:49.160 and rebelled against God so much 01:14:49.160 --> 01:14:51.480 that he drug evil in there and destroyed the city. 01:14:52.180 --> 01:14:53.460 You know, they're just receiving 01:14:53.460 --> 01:14:54.680 the recompense of their actions. 01:14:54.880 --> 01:14:56.140 It's not God's fault that you got drunk 01:14:56.140 --> 01:14:57.120 and went out and killed someone 01:14:57.120 --> 01:14:58.280 in a drunk driving accident. 01:14:59.480 --> 01:15:00.060 And you know what? 01:15:00.120 --> 01:15:01.360 It's not God's fault that people 01:15:01.360 --> 01:15:02.840 reject the gospel and go to hell. 01:15:04.620 --> 01:15:05.360 And you know what? 01:15:05.560 --> 01:15:07.620 The Calvinist God is an evil God 01:15:07.620 --> 01:15:09.220 because he just sends people to hell 01:15:09.220 --> 01:15:12.060 and they had no chance of receiving him. 01:15:12.220 --> 01:15:13.400 But that's not what the Bible says. 01:15:13.720 --> 01:15:15.380 The Bible says he set before you life 01:15:15.380 --> 01:15:16.820 and death, choose life. 01:15:17.800 --> 01:15:19.640 He says, whosoever will may come. 01:15:20.720 --> 01:15:24.020 Hey, take the free gift that's being offered to you. 01:15:24.300 --> 01:15:25.680 But boy, you don't take the free gift? 01:15:26.060 --> 01:15:27.480 Well, then you might get drug around 01:15:27.480 --> 01:15:28.540 somewhere you didn't even wanna go. 01:15:29.280 --> 01:15:30.640 And you might be forced to do things 01:15:30.640 --> 01:15:31.360 that you didn't wanna do. 01:15:31.860 --> 01:15:34.200 But you know, the predestination in Ephesians one 01:15:34.200 --> 01:15:35.520 is not to get up and tell us, 01:15:35.740 --> 01:15:36.960 hey, you're going to heaven or hell 01:15:36.960 --> 01:15:40.300 and you have no influence, no impact on that decision. 01:15:40.880 --> 01:15:42.220 It's saying, no, you gotta first trust in Christ. 01:15:43.200 --> 01:15:44.820 It's saying, hey, you need to believe in the gospel. 01:15:45.300 --> 01:15:47.160 And I'm glad that you guys did, okay? 01:15:47.520 --> 01:15:48.560 It's not saying that when we go out 01:15:48.560 --> 01:15:49.800 and preach the gospel, it doesn't have an impact. 01:15:49.920 --> 01:15:50.460 It does have an impact. 01:15:50.620 --> 01:15:51.620 That's why we go out and preach the gospel. 01:15:52.260 --> 01:15:54.420 Let us not ever get this cold water 01:15:54.820 --> 01:15:56.380 on our hot fire of soul winning 01:15:56.380 --> 01:15:57.540 that's called Calvinism 01:15:58.180 --> 01:16:01.100 and try to just extinguish the fire that we have. 01:16:01.840 --> 01:16:05.660 The decisions you make matter in soul winning 01:16:05.660 --> 01:16:06.880 and in your personal life. 01:16:07.040 --> 01:16:08.560 Every decision you make matters. 01:16:09.680 --> 01:16:13.300 And sometimes you can forfeit your free will 01:16:14.540 --> 01:16:16.080 by making good or bad decisions. 01:16:16.240 --> 01:16:17.900 You don't wanna forfeit your free will 01:16:17.900 --> 01:16:18.580 to the bad decisions. 01:16:19.180 --> 01:16:21.840 You wanna make sure that you are in the driver's seat 01:16:21.840 --> 01:16:22.300 as much as possible. 01:16:22.420 --> 01:16:24.000 That's why the Bible says to be sober. 01:16:24.520 --> 01:16:26.260 We need to be sober, we need to be vigilant. 01:16:26.680 --> 01:16:28.660 We need to be careful, we need to be good children. 01:16:29.380 --> 01:16:31.440 Don't let these Calvinists warp your mind. 01:16:31.720 --> 01:16:33.220 And of course they're just so lazy 01:16:33.220 --> 01:16:34.540 and apathetic and prideful. 01:16:34.600 --> 01:16:35.760 They just wanna believe something like, 01:16:36.140 --> 01:16:37.380 oh God wants me to be this lazy. 01:16:38.540 --> 01:16:41.120 And look, I've met Calvinists where they sin, 01:16:41.840 --> 01:16:43.520 they do something clearly wrong. 01:16:43.980 --> 01:16:46.260 And instead of taking accountability for their actions, 01:16:46.580 --> 01:16:48.760 they say, well, I guess God really wanted me 01:16:48.760 --> 01:16:49.480 to make this decision. 01:16:50.240 --> 01:16:50.880 And you know what? 01:16:50.980 --> 01:16:51.500 It's stupid. 01:16:52.160 --> 01:16:52.960 It's stupid. 01:16:53.540 --> 01:16:54.980 No, you should learn from your mistakes 01:16:55.500 --> 01:16:57.600 and realize sometimes you're not even on 01:16:58.060 --> 01:16:59.760 the perfect plan for your life. 01:17:00.200 --> 01:17:00.840 But you know what? 01:17:00.860 --> 01:17:02.560 You're probably still on the best plan for your life 01:17:02.560 --> 01:17:03.420 so don't screw it up more. 01:17:04.700 --> 01:17:07.060 Don't keep being lazy and don't keep being apathetic. 01:17:07.500 --> 01:17:08.860 Oh God, the people that are gonna get saved 01:17:08.860 --> 01:17:10.200 are gonna get saved whether I help or not. 01:17:10.460 --> 01:17:10.740 False. 01:17:11.780 --> 01:17:12.700 You need to go out there. 01:17:12.760 --> 01:17:14.640 If our gospel be hid, it's hidden them that are lost. 01:17:15.280 --> 01:17:17.120 We need to go out there and preach the gospel. 01:17:17.360 --> 01:17:18.440 We need to get the people saved. 01:17:18.700 --> 01:17:19.680 We need to do the work. 01:17:20.040 --> 01:17:21.940 We need to give God more glory and praise. 01:17:22.360 --> 01:17:24.140 We need to not be lazy and apathetic. 01:17:24.140 --> 01:17:25.760 And we need not be these Calvinists 01:17:25.760 --> 01:17:27.300 that think we're smarter than everybody else 01:17:27.300 --> 01:17:28.460 and better than everybody else. 01:17:28.900 --> 01:17:30.780 Look, they're gonna look like fools in Judgment Day. 01:17:32.120 --> 01:17:33.240 Oh, what did you accomplish? 01:17:33.480 --> 01:17:34.500 Well, whatever you told me to do. 01:17:34.800 --> 01:17:35.840 Well, I told you you got there and work. 01:17:36.640 --> 01:17:37.380 Lazy jerk. 01:17:39.000 --> 01:17:39.740 Don't be lazy. 01:17:40.480 --> 01:17:42.520 Be someone that's going out there and doing the work 01:17:42.520 --> 01:17:44.460 and actually doing the real will of God. 01:17:45.280 --> 01:17:48.420 Don't be the crusty, the frozen chosen 01:17:48.420 --> 01:17:49.360 is what I always heard them. 01:17:50.260 --> 01:17:51.280 They don't really do much. 01:17:51.940 --> 01:17:53.240 That doesn't mean some of them aren't saved. 01:17:53.240 --> 01:17:54.360 I'm sure some of them are. 01:17:54.940 --> 01:17:57.760 But boy, these Calvinists are just doing nothing. 01:17:59.000 --> 01:18:00.520 And you notice people leave our movement 01:18:00.520 --> 01:18:01.820 and then they become Calvinists. 01:18:02.220 --> 01:18:03.640 And then they're soul winning diminishes. 01:18:04.160 --> 01:18:05.340 Oh, is that a coincidence? 01:18:06.220 --> 01:18:08.240 Or is that just what happens? 01:18:09.060 --> 01:18:10.180 Let us hate Calvinism. 01:18:11.920 --> 01:18:13.500 You're just so mean to Calvinists. 01:18:13.600 --> 01:18:13.740 Good. 01:18:14.460 --> 01:18:16.420 I'd rather be mean to Calvinists and get people saved 01:18:16.420 --> 01:18:18.460 than be nice to Calvinists and get no one saved. 01:18:20.360 --> 01:18:22.700 Okay, so I hate false doctrine. 01:18:22.700 --> 01:18:23.640 And you should hate false doctrine. 01:18:23.740 --> 01:18:25.160 Ephesians one's not teaching Calvinism. 01:18:25.280 --> 01:18:25.760 All right, let's go somewhere. 01:18:26.220 --> 01:18:27.420 Thank you, Father, so much for your word. 01:18:27.540 --> 01:18:28.520 Thank you for this great chapter, 01:18:28.740 --> 01:18:31.860 for these great promises you've given us. 01:18:32.000 --> 01:18:33.520 Thank you so much for your grace. 01:18:34.480 --> 01:18:35.640 We don't deserve any of it. 01:18:36.240 --> 01:18:37.060 We never will. 01:18:38.040 --> 01:18:39.800 I thank you so much that we get to be holy 01:18:39.800 --> 01:18:41.540 and without blame and we get to be adopted 01:18:41.540 --> 01:18:42.780 and we get to the inheritance 01:18:42.780 --> 01:18:44.060 and we get the forgiveness of sins 01:18:44.060 --> 01:18:47.080 and we get all these things from the grace 01:18:47.580 --> 01:18:50.440 that you shed towards us for the finished work 01:18:50.980 --> 01:18:52.800 of your son Jesus Christ on the cross 01:18:52.800 --> 01:18:53.900 and his blood being shed. 01:18:54.360 --> 01:18:56.620 I pray that we would give all the glory and honor to him, 01:18:57.080 --> 01:18:58.700 all the glory and honor to the work that he's done 01:18:59.300 --> 01:19:01.280 and that we would truly appreciate 01:19:01.280 --> 01:19:02.720 the gift that's been given to us 01:19:03.200 --> 01:19:04.580 and that we would be good children 01:19:04.580 --> 01:19:05.540 in Jesus' name we pray amen.