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Wonder if we might, uh, read Ephesians chapter one, brethren and.
The chapter that brings before us our present portion in Christ, but at the same time touches, uh, the future of God's purposes to this world as we're getting down to the end of this dispensation and.
Getting close to the dispensation of the fullness of times which it touches, I trust that it might be something that we would find encouraging. What am I brethren say?
Mm-hmm.
Book of Ephesians, chapter one.
Verse one.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the Saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself.
According to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one.
All things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus.
And love unto all the Saints, feast not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inherit of His inheritance in the Saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power?
To Oxford, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might.
And dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And have put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
The chapter brings before us the eternal, uh, the revelation of the eternal purpose of God.
For Christ in the Church, it takes us back into eternity past where we have.
God, our revelation.
Uh, for Christ in the church.
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I'd like to make this one statement in verse one as an early one. Janet.
Uh, I felt that the the verse one which says the Saints which are of Ephesus and to the faithful and I mistakenly divided those two the.
And Harry Hayhoe corrected me right away on that. They're both the same.
Even today we have that tendency, uh, some to divide that there's some faithful and there's just some Saints. But uh, that isn't what the word has gone before We're all born.
It really is those that have faith, isn't it? And that's all believers, all true believers have that faith and the characteristic of the faith of God.
Is that it overcomes the world. It may be more evident in some than others, but like you say, it's the same class. It's all those at Ephesus he was addressing.
Another thing I think that is helpful to in reading this chapter is to see that in this first chapter, God is the one who does everything.
And when you get to chapter 2 Then you have the will of man. The 1St 3 verses manifested. But in this first chapter it is the will of God that is so evident in verse one. Call an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.
And verse five, according to the good pleasure of His will. Verse 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will.
And uh.
Somewhere else here flips me right now somebody else see it verse 11. Thank you. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And so when it is God's purpose is it's all blessing. Brother, when you get the 1St 3 verses of next chapter, it's a pretty dark picture.
Because there it's the will of man involved. But isn't it wonderful to leave ourselves out of the fixture here and focus in on God's thoughts and God's purpose is a blessing from that past eternity.
Need to see how that the apostle or the Spirit of God leads the apostle to bring out this wonderful truth with regard to Christ in the church. And we often speak of it as the highest, uh, line of truth in the scriptures that he would bring it out in such a way as it's like prayer and, or praise and prayer. It's in, a, uh, priestly tone in which it is written for after the first 2 verses, which give you the, uh, the, uh, introductory salutations and so on, you get from verses 3 on to 14, the apostle.
Blessing God and we're privileged to listen in as he is just exalting in the, the, uh, these wonderful, uh, privileges and blessings that are ours in Christ. And so we learn from a perspective of him praising God. And then from verse 15 on to the end of the chapter, his, uh, his praise passes to prayer. And again we listen in and we hear him praying for us that we might have the right spiritual state to enter into.
And understand these things. And so we might say that the chapter divides in two parts after the introduction, the apostle blessing God and the apostle praying to God. And so as I say, the chapter really is an inscription of praise and prayer. And, uh, in it, God is able to, uh, we're, we're well, we're privileged to listen in to this and we're instructed us to the great and eternal purpose that God has for.
His son and our association with him.
It's beautiful, too, to see in connection with the purposes of God and in connection with His will that nothing ever frustrates it. You know, man is frustrated today. Man takes counsel. Man has purposes and plans, but often those purposes and plans are frustrated and in the end they don't turn out the way that they had hoped that they would. Whether it's in government or sometimes even in our personal lives. Sometimes I've sat down with my family and we've taken counsel and come up with some plans and some things we purpose to do.
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So when we look back, we realized that those things didn't come to pass. Sometimes we're thankful that they were because we see perhaps they weren't according to the mind of the Lord. And so we're thankful that he, uh, intervened and, uh, LED us in another direction. But isn't it wonderful? There's two things in connection with the purposes of God. They're never frustrated and He never has to change them. Sometimes we have to change our plans. Sometimes even halfway through something we see, perhaps this isn't the best for ourselves, for our families.
Or for whoever is involved, if we're in business or whatever. And so we have to come up with Plan B uh, as we, as they say, But God, I speak reverently, never has to come up with Plan B when he establishes something, those eternal councils and purposes, they're for the blessing of man and for the eggs, full exaltation of his son. And rather nothing is going to frustrate those purposes. All that man can do, all that the work of the enemy can do, it's all going to come to fruition.
So whether it's in our purse, God working in our personal lives, whether it's in connection with this earth, earthly blessing, the heavenly scene, everything is going to come to fruition in His own time and again for His glory, in the full exaltation of His Son.
Who live in the West?
Have to be especially reminded.
Uh, we have the opportunity to collecting financially, you know.
But remember, as Christians, our real blessings are not money or houses and this kind of a thing, spiritual blessings, you know, we can lay hold of that only by faith and.
And so it's very important that we have spiritual blessings and they're not on earth.
You know, so our homes are set on brighter things above the Humira says. You know, so you better remember that in the land of plenty where we live, you know, there are a lot of people in the world that go hungry.
And when you tell them?
About heaven and spirit of blessing, they are not tied down so much by earthly things, but their care for earthly things many times are so prominent and they're worried about it so much that it hinders them to lay hold of these things. And I'm so thankful that we are in the West. We have liberty. We can come together in meetings.
It can come to conference and hopefully we come with the desire to learn, to get to know the Scriptures better and to get to know the Lord Jesus better and all we have in Him.
I'd like to ask a question. Uh, Bruce, you mentioned that, uh, the book of Ephesians is considered the highest truth. Understand what you mean, But perhaps there's people in here that the young people specifically, they don't understand what, what do you mean? Or when you say, well, in the book of Ephesians, it's pretty easy for us to say, well, you know, by the way, in the book of Ephesians, the highest truth, what are we talking about when we say that?
Well, uh, the uh.
We see the height of our blessings here in this epistle. Other epistles do mention some great Christian blessings, but in Ephesians we get the pinnacle of them. So we see our place in the big scheme that God has purpose for. Yeah, for His Son. And we have mentioned the purpose of God, the great eternal purpose of God. Well, what is that purpose? That purpose is to glorify His Son in two spheres, in heaven and earth, in the world, to come through a specially formed vessel for that purpose.
The church.
The body and bride of Christ. And if this epistle is the one that really discloses that, in fact, it is only one of two epistles that we have the truth of the mystery disclosed. The mystery is mentioned in four epistles, but there's only two epistles that really disclose the details of it, and that's Ephesians and its counterpart, Colossians. And these two epistles are, uh, give us the highest, uh, line of truth with regard to the Christians.
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Blessings in Christ and God's great purpose, uh, to glorify his Son. You also get our identification with Christ and our position in Christ is seated, whereas the other epistles don't go that high.
You see, you get with, uh, Romans, you see Christ crucified and dead, but uh, in Colossians you get him, uh, uh, dead and risen and our place identified with him in that. But Ephesians goes beyond that even, and it takes us from, uh, being identified with Christ Quicken, risen and seated at the right hand of God. That's chapter 2, verse 6.
Where you don't see that in the other pistols?
And it's important to see too that really in the very opening words when he says Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, that should be translated Christ Jesus. Paul was an apostle of Christ Jesus, Peter, James and John, they were apostles of Jesus Christ. There's a difference when it's Christ Jesus, it, it's, uh, well, first of all, when it's Jesus Christ, it's not by mistake that the Spirit of God puts this in the scriptures and it's referring to the man that's come down from heaven.
Uh, for the glory of God and God into death and accomplish redemption. But when it turns it around and puts the title before his name and says Christ Jesus is talking about the work being completed and he's risen from the dead and now seated at the right hand of God. And so that's the character and sets the tone of the epistle. He's an apostle of Christ Jesus, and we find that all our blessings are found in him as he is up there in heaven. And Paul styles himself in the various epistles that he writes as the apostle of not Jesus Christ, but of Christ Jesus.
As I say, uh, Peter, James and John and the others received their apostleship when the Lord Jesus was here in this world. And you'll turn to Peter, you'll see he calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ because that's where and when he met the Lord and received his apostleship, as you know, from the Gospels. But Paul got his call as an apostle after the Lord had risen, gone back to heaven. And so he styles himself in this way. And I believe that he puts it in here because it really sets the tone of the epistle. And again, it's mentioned with regard to the Saints and the faithfulness.
They're called in Christ, and that expression in Christ is something that's found, what is it, 21 Times in this epistle, and it really denotes the believers position of acceptance before God.
And, uh, it really means to be in Christ's place before God. That's our place and that's where our blessings are found.
I don't know if that could be more to that, but he looked at us. That's a simple explanation. That's how closely I'll be associated with it.
Epistles in the New Testament can generally be correlated with examples in the Old Testament, and it's always been helpful to me to see some of that correlation there. Several times, of course, we have this illustrated in the Old Testament, but one of the most common illustrations and most helpful of course, is Israel's journey from Egypt to Canaan. And so our brother Bruce mentioned Romans, for instance, and that speaks. That correlates with the book of Exodus particularly, doesn't it?
Where they're taken out of the land of Egypt, the land of slavery, and they're delivered first by blood and then secondly by, by, that's under the Passover and then by power, uh, as they're delivered from, uh, the condition they were in, not only from their sins, but from sin as well. And we see that in the Red Sea. And then what happens there? Are they in Canaan right away? No, that was the promised land.
That was the proper hope for the Israelite to be in Canaan. But in fact, once they were delivered from Egypt, they were in the wilderness, weren't they? And so Romans, as I say, particularly is, uh, is the, uh, is correlated with Exodus in the Old Testament, uh, our deliverance by blood and by power in the Passover in the Red Sea. But then a number of the other epistles are wilderness epistles, aren't they? Philippians is a wilderness epistle. We're seen as walking here below, and we're looking to Christ, who's in heaven.
He keeps us going and, uh, we can have joy in the midst of very difficult circumstances because the Lord Jesus is, it's often been mentioned, there's four different chapters in Ephesians and Philippians and he's brought before us in different ways, but he's our object, our example, our life. And So what a wonderful privilege that is. So we're seeing as strangers and pilgrims as we have in the book of Peter as well, which is also a wilderness book where we're seeing as strangers and pilgrims. Not yet.
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Seated in heaven, we have it in Second Corinthians, which is also a wilderness book. Hebrews has often been spoken, somebody in their prayers spoke about the open heavens this morning. And so in the book of Hebrews, the riches of heaven are displayed, but still they're to a people that are seen as in this world. The Tabernacle was always mentioned in Hebrews, isn't it? The temple was not mentioned because they're seen as strangers and pilgrims in this world and, uh.
Not yet in Canaan, but when we get to Colossians, it's often been said that Colossians is an advance then on the wilderness. And it speaks really of the Jordan. And so they're passing from being strangers and pilgrims into this world to being dead and risen, uh, in that epistle. And so it's been said that it speaks particularly of the Jordan River, where they're passing now to their true, uh, their true, uh, hope, remember.
What kind of Israelite would a person be who didn't desire to be in Egypt and in Canaan? And so that's what the book of Ephesians brings before. It doesn't brings before us. It brings before us our proper Christian blessings and privileges. What God has done. It's often been mentioned, it's what the church is to Christ. And so these are blessings that are distinctly Christian. And as our brother Bruce was saying, the highest of all privileges if we don't understand the book of Ephesians.
We haven't really entered into our Christian portion. We may see ourselves as strangers and pilgrims struggling to get through the world day by day, but do we sit in heavenly places viewing things from God's perspective? That's Canaan, isn't it? We're there. That's the promised place. We just read not long ago, just as a brief illustration of this in the book of, uh, First Samuel. We're reading in our little meeting there in Spokane, and it was helpful for me to see the, the uh, names that are given.
You know, Saul had no faith, King Saul had no faith. When he speaks to the people of Israel, he calls him Hebrews. If you look there in, uh, First Samuel, I think it's, uh, 13 and 14 or maybe 14 and 15. I'd have to check. But it's interesting to see the interplay between the names Hebrews and Israelites, Those who did not appreciate the call, distinctive calling that Israel had called the people Hebrews, the Philistines, when they talk about them, they said, oh, the Hebrews are about to come out of their holes now.
They're just Hebrews to them. They were just people who had a place among the nations, No distinctive calling whatsoever. But what about Jonathan? When he spoke about the people of God, He calls them Israel. They're the people who had a special calling from God, and he recognized that. What is the Spirit of God? Call him? Well, if you look at those chapters, you see the Spirit of God uses both names. There were some people that were afraid of the Philistines, and so they fled the land of Israel.
What's the Spirit of God calling Hebrews?
There were those who stayed and fought. What does the Spirit of God call them? Israelites. It's a beautiful picture, isn't it? Well, May God grant that we realize that we are Christians and that our distinctive calling is what we have in this book of Ephesians, as we're going to see particularly. Not that not to downplay the others. They're beautiful and important in their place because the Christian is seen really in all three places at once in Egypt. That's where we live in this world, day by day, don't we?
So as to our personal presence, we're in Egypt. As to experience, that's been said. We're in the wilderness. We pass through this dreary land and we feel it. But as to faith, we're any seasons, we're in Canaan. The Lord help us to understand that as we go through these things. That's why in the end of the chapter, the Apostle Paul praise and in his prayer he does not ask that they would be more blessed.
What He asked is that the eyes of their understanding would be opened, that they might know it. And brethren, that's what we need today. Every single believer in the Lord Jesus is equally blessed. But there are those who may understand it more. And it's when we understand it, brother, not only understand it, but let it sink down into our souls and enjoyment. This is true.
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Right now, we don't have to wait until we get home to heaven to enjoy these things. It's supposed to be enjoyed, understood and enjoyed here and now. And I really think it's a challenge to us because we're living in days of materialism. We're living in days when man asserts his will like Jim was bringing out, and so much is occupied in our thinking of what people think.
President, it doesn't matter what they think so much. Yes, I have my thoughts too. And yes, my thoughts have been changed quite a bit too, but it's getting into God's thoughts about things And this is where we have them. And in verse three of our chapter, it, it gives that highest place that we've been brought into what a blessed, uh, verse that says blessed be the God and Father.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. In Christ, our blessings are not in earthly places. That was true of Israel in the Old Testament. Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 28 just to see that contrast, because there are a lot.
In Christian circles today that think that they are blessed when they have a greater portion of material things.
Brethren, material things are not necessarily a blessing. They can be a hindrance.
And often are, and I and I fear, are too much a hindrance to us in this country especially. But notice in Deuteronomy chapter 28 shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
To observe and to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, and the increase of thy time and the locks of thy sheep. Blessed shalt thou be shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. That is characteristic blessing for the people of Israel in the Old Testament.
But now we our place is completely different, our place is heavenly, is very clearly brought out in this epistle, and we are blessed.
Not conditionally, as Israel was blessed if they would obey. No, we are blessed if there is that faith in Christ Jesus as we were brought, as we had brought out earlier. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing. You can't ask for more blessing than you have right now. Sometimes we pray in our premise that we might be blessed, and I understand that to understand.
These blessings is a blessing in itself. In that sense, yes, but in the sense we have here.
You can't ask for more blessing. You have it all right now. What you need to ask is that the eyes of your understanding would be open to understand what is yours here and now. Wonderful brethren, Oh, it's a lot of sink into our souls. And brethren, I really feel that sometimes we understand these things in our mind, but we don't let it sink down into our souls. You and I are going to enjoy the fact that we have all blessing in Christ Jesus.
Our hearts are going to.
Be content to pass through this world without amassing a bunch of material things.
It will be characteristic of our life.
How is it, Bob, that, uh, we could be so blessed? I mean, it's very easy for people to understand, uh, conditional blessing. I mean, we were taught as young children, you know, you obey your mom and dad, you'll be given something, you'll, you'll be blessed with something, you'll be given a gift or something. So we were conditioned continuously all our life that, and that's why we can look at Israel and say, well, I understand that if I do right, I'll be blessed. If I do wrong, I won't be. And yet here.
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It's unconditional. It is. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings. How can a righteous, holy God do that?
Because of redemption, the Lord Jesus has fully met all the claims of God in connection with the whole sin question, so much so that he can come out and the fullness of his being and bless according to his heart and not be not according to our poor little capacities to understand and enjoy. And that's the seventh verse of our chapter, isn't it? I'd just like to maybe take a minute and we've spoken about.
In connection with the book of Joshua and what it typifies to us and Bob, read us in Deuteronomy, and it might be helpful just to take a minute and go back and notice just three portions in the book of Joshua that bear out both what our brother Eric and our brother Bob have brought before us. Sometimes it's helpful just to take a minute and to see how these types and foreshadows really fit into the picture and scheme of things because the pictures and the types help us.
To understand the truth and the doctrine, the teaching that we have in the New Testament, go first of all to the first chapter of the book of Joshua.
And verse 2 Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise and go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people under the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel, every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon.
That have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, just a couple of things that I think are helpful that set the stage for the book of Joshua and confirm what our brother brought before us. And first of all, he states, Moses, my servant is dead. You know, there was an inheritance apportion on the other side of Jordan that could not be enjoyed in the presence of Moses. You say why? Because Moses was the lawgiver.
Moses springs before us that.
Uh, God's earthly people under the law and the blessings, the conditional blessings that were connected with that. And not only were those blessings conditional, but they were temporal as Bob brought before us. And so for Israel, it was right and proper to look for earthly blessing when there was faithfulness. And there will still be earthly blessing for that nation in a coming day, Not not conditional, but on the grounds of the new covenant and so on, when Zion is addressed in the grace of God.
But Moses, my servant is dead. There was a setting aside of an old order of things. And now this man Joshua, whose name actually means Jesus, and he's a picture to us of the Lord Jesus as the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory and leading us into the good of our inheritance. And I want to just stress, because it's important has been already alluded to, that brethren Canaan in what it typifies.
Is something that we should have, can and should have an enjoyment of. Now not so much the hymns we sing, but some of the hymns that are sung in Christian circles bring before us Canaan, Azat, which comes after death, after the Jordan, and more in connection with heaven and what we're going to enjoy on the other side. Now brethren, it's true we only know in part and we prophecy in part. But brethren, Canaan, I say is something that you and I.
Can have an enjoyment of now we're seated there positionally, we're linked with our risen glorified head who's there. And because of that link, by the Spirit of God, we can enjoy heaven before we get there. But then there was a responsibility. Every place that the sole of your foot has, it treads upon that have I given you. It was given to them. It was laid out before them. Our vast panorama of heavenly blessings of which Canaan is a type, just a pale reflection and feeble foreshadow. It's all there, brethren. It's all been laid out before us. The mystery's been revealed. The secret's been revealed.
It's there now we need to take up our responsibility to lay hold of it, as Brother Bob said, to lay hold of it in our souls, to take possession of what is ours. But now bear with me and let's go to a couple more scriptures. First of all, in the 11Th chapter, I believe.
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Yes, the last verse of the 11Th chapter, just a beautiful comment in connection with Joshua, is a picture of the Lord Jesus, verse 23 of Chapter 11. So Joshua took the whole land. I think that's a tremendous statement, Brethren, who has secured the blessing for us? Our Joshua, the Lord Jesus has secured it all. Joshua took the whole land.
And as a result, brethren, we have everything that God could give, no more, no less than God could give to us in Christ and based on the work of the Lord Jesus. But now go over to the 13th chapter and we see something else.
First one of chapter 13. Now Joshua was old and stricken in years. And the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years. Now notice this. And there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. You say I thought Joshua took the whole land. He did. Christ has secured all the blessing for us. It's all there, brethren. There's no question about it. About it, But there remains. Don't we have to each one? At least I do.
I have to hang my head and say there remaineth in my own soul very much land to be possessed.
We haven't come into the good of all that we have secured for us by Christ and that God the Father has for us. Brethren, if we get a little greater possession and understanding and grasp of it in our souls as a result of this meeting, thank God for it. There remaineth very much land to be possessed. May you and I be more exercised to seek vice, grace, and in the energy of the Spirit of God.
To take possession of a little more of what we're going to enjoy fully in the coming day. Does that commend itself, Eric? Yeah, I'd just like to make the comment, umm, in connection with Ephesians, the distinction between standing and state, that's really what we're speaking about, isn't it? And I think perhaps, Dave, you'd agree that's part of the answer to your question, too. We have a position before God, which we call our standing, that cannot change. That's given by God. We might say that.
The, uh, the Prince of Wales is the rightful heir to the throne. But then I'm sure when he was growing up, his parents said you're not acting like a Prince. That's his state, isn't it? And so we actually have that very nicely brought out in the book of Ephesians in the first two prayers, don't we? The first prayers are brother Bruce mentioned from verse 15 to the end of chapter one is really the prayer that we might understand our standing before God, how important it is that we understand.
Our Christian blessings that we've been brought into and then over in the third chapter, of course.
Umm, from verse 14 to the end of the chapter we have that we might lay hold, that's our state that we might live up to our standing. And so there's this important distinction in the book of Ephesians, isn't there?
Back to, uh, the chapter, but just one more comment if you'd allow me to do this, to turn you to Deuteronomy 26 and verse one. We get in this one verse really a summary of the whole book of Joshua and how it links with the truth that we are, uh, about to consider and are considering in Ephesians Deuter, Deuteronomy 26 and verse one. And it shall be that when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and possessed it and dwelleth therein and so on.
You have three things in this verse.
You have coming into the land, you have possessing the land and you have dwelling in the land. Now, as I say, this is really a summary of the whole book of Joshua. The coming into the land is taken up in Joshua one through 4. Then the possessing of the land is from Joshua 5 uh, through 12, where they fought against the enemies and subdued it until the summary that Jim read to us at the end of Chapter 11 is, uh, he took the whole end. And then lastly, you get in chapters 13 on to the end of the book, the dwelling in the land.
Where each tribe was to go in and settle down and enjoy that portion that was given to them. But these three things have a typical significance in regards to us as Christians to come into the land. First of all, that is what we all have done. We have all entered the land in our association with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are now seated in heavenly places in Christ. We are all in the land. But the next thing is, uh, to possess it. Now this belongs to those who are willing to fight for it.
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This requires spiritual energy as we're gonna get in chapter 6IN Ephesians and those who are willing to spend some energy to learn these truths and to, uh, to dig them out and to, as Eric said, to pre to understand them. And then finally we have the dwelling in them. And that there, of course, is the thought of enjoying what we've learned. And the second prayer really takes up more to do with that, that the not only would we understand our blessings, the first prayer, but the second prayer is that we would live in the enjoyment of it. Because when our souls are filled with the enjoyment of these, one of you think wonderful things, we're prepared to walk and act in it, which leads into Chapter 4.
Five and six where you get the practical side of these things being worked out in the believer. So I, I realize we should get back to our chapter, but we're talking about the connections of Joshua with Ephesians and I just thought that would be a good summary to add to what has already been given.
I'd like to just spell a little.
Sorry, that helped me. Maybe it helped young people to understand what it means to possess these things in your soul. Because, uh, it is a practical thing, brother. And it's not just doctrinal, it's practical. And some years ago I was in the Dominican Republic and one evening the Lord gave us this chapter to enjoy in the little assembly in Rio San Juan. And, uh, there seemed to be a real liberty.
In the enjoyment of it.
And I happen to stay with a brother who was single at the time and I was still single too. And during the night, about 4:00 in the morning, somebody pounds on his door just a one room house he had and said, Jago, somebody's robbed your store coming quick. And I watched as he got up out of his bed and before he he didn't hurry getting on his clothes.
He knelt down beside his bed and prayed before he went out the door and he was several hours gone. Came back about maybe 6:30 or seven. And I said, Chicago, that's terrible. That's too bad that they robbed you last night. He says, Brother, when I think of what we have in the Lord Jesus that we were enjoying last night, that's nothing, brother, that's nothing. He had set his feet down.
He had possessed some of that precious truth. And that's what it means when we read these things. They are true of you. Whether it seems like it or not. It's true of you right now. And I think it's we need to be challenged not only to understand these things, but to let it sink down into our souls and enjoy it. It's true, brother. It's the truth of God.
Uh, this is what for the young people to understand.
That election is individual.
You know, and that he has picked us out before the world was. He knew that I would come into the world and he said I want him to be my son that election, you know, and then he has predestinated me. What that predestination means, the blessing.
That I am supposed to enjoy, you know, predestinated us to possess the blessings.
Wonderful.
Uh, to those that got through us before the world was and he picked us out and then as we came into this world, he and his grace brought us in contact with the gospel.
That made us to see our needs and what God has done to meet us in our needs so. But then how wonderful when we lay hold of that too, that it was already settled in God's mind in the eternity past.
You know, chosen, I think Christ before the world was, before the foundation of the world was laid. You know how wonderful these truthful scriptures are, and to lay hold of it, there is no room for glorying in it ourselves.
It's all the grace of God.
The election has to do with our persons, isn't it? He chose us. Predestination has to do with a place he chose us for. I think that helps us put it in that context. But it is wonderful to think that.
00:45:17
Remember India and down where brother Eric Smith began his work amongst the.
Uh, Indians and Bolivia, he put it this way. Election before God ever dropped a stone in place, he was thinking about this poor Indian. That's the way he put it. I thought it was a very nice way to put it.
That wonderful brother, how could he know us before the world ever existed? There's a word that is used in Romans 8 that I think is helpful.
And it's because God is who he is that.
It is true.
Verse.
29 says of Romans 8, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son.
Or knowledge.
Because God inhabits eternity, He dwells in the sphere where there is no time. We dwell in the sphere of time, so it's hard for us to understand these things. But with God there is no past, present and future. For us who live in the realm of time, there is that because of that, God foreknew every one of us.
And he chose those of us who believe.
Before the foundation of the world. And notice the end of verse one, brethren.
Seatingly precious that we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love, in His eternal purpose.
That is the position you and I occupy, one of holiness and one where there is no blame. And if we enjoy that, brethren, I see so many souls seemingly under *******.
They want to attain a holiness by their own efforts that they never seem to attain.
Brethren, we do not yet holiness by our own efforts.
It is something that he has brought us into.
Perfect holiness, and if you and I walk in the enjoyment of it, it will give us the power.
To walk in holiness of life, to make it practical. And there is such a thing as perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Scripture speaks about that. But why should we do that? Because we already have a holiness in Him that is complete. There is no lack to it. And sometimes say if a girl gets on a wedding dress, beautiful white dress and she goes outside.
I think she's gonna be pretty careful how she walks around not to brush up against some dirty car. Why is she so careful? Because she has a beautiful white dress, and you and I have that, brethren. Now we need to walk in accordance with that truth in a practical way as well.
Just another simple illustration in connection with election and predestination that helped me when I was younger. When they have an election in the United States, we the, uh, man that runs is elected. That's, that's person that, that it's a person he's elected. And of course we don't foreknow who the president of the United States or any elected official is going to be, but whether we know it or not, whether we know who it's going to be or not, whoever is elected.
Is then predestined to go and live in the White House. That's already established. And so that's the place the man is elected. President Obama was elected. He was predestined then to go and live in the White House. And so I think it just helps us understand the difference. But I'd like to just make this comment too, in connection with being chosen in him that it is, as it says here, not from the foundation of the world, but before the foundation of the world.
00:50:10
We were speaking about the contrast with Israel and the church and so on, and how Israel's blessings are connected with this earth. And the Spirit of God is very careful in Christianity to detach the church from this world in every way. The only thing that attaches us to this world is the fact that we're still here physically. We're still here in this world physically. We're not home yet, but as far as our position.
Our standing, Our Calling, our blessings, our hopes, they are all heavenly. And it's interesting that in the 25th chapter of Matthew, I think it's the 35th verse, Speaking of the future blessing for Israel, it's there's an invitation. Come and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you. Notice this from the foundation of the world, because their blessings are connected with this earth and they will be established in a coming day.
In a way that they never were even in the Old Testament. And they'll be the shout of a king amongst them and so on. And so it's from the foundation of the world. But how careful the Spirit of God here is in our chapter to show that we were chosen not from the foundation. Brethren, our blessings are not connected with the foundations or establishments of this world. That is the physical planet on which we live. But be long before that.
He chose us. And to think, brethren, when He chose us, He knew all about us. Isn't that remarkable? You know, I was adopted by the only parents I ever knew, and they chose me. They went to an orphanage and they chose me when I was two years of age. I had nothing to do with my choosing. It was all on their part. Just as with God the Father, I had nothing to do with it, and thank God I didn't. It was all on His part. But brethren, when they choked, when my earthly parents chose me.
They didn't have foreknowledge. They might have had a very brief record of my history up until that point and some family traits and characteristics that were on file that they knew about, but they had no idea what the future held. They had no idea what this boy was going to turn out to be like. But brethren, wonder of wonders, we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And when we were chosen, God the Father knew all about me.
He knew all about you, knew my failures, knew my down sittings and my uprisings.
But He chose me, and He'll never be disappointed that He did. He's grieved with me sometimes, but He'll never be disappointed with me. He's gonna present me in that day. I'm gonna be presented in that day in all the perfection of Christ, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing as we get later on in this epistle. What a truth to get down into our souls to close out that verse five in the more critical accurate rendering.
Has the word sons, not children. Why is the difference? Why is there to be important? Because sun speaks of maturity, you know, that's the position that Christian is in, you know, and so the more accurate rendering gives it a sun and how wonderful that we are in that position of sun. Yes, we are children by birth, but as to our position, we're in the position of Suns. A child cannot.
Manage whatever he inherits, you know, but a son can, you know. So we are in a position of sons so wonderful to have that more accurate rendering and we can always compare. My wife always has that translation and I cannot. And at home we always read it, you know, read the Darby translation and it is actually the more accurate, the most accurate critical rendering that even rather Christian bookstore where we were looking for.
Books. They were not previous, but they had the Derby translation and they had an explanation.
The most accurate critical rendering available. What's the explanation? I'm thankful that we have that translation in English.
I enjoy the fact, Brother Heinz, that when the prodigal son came home, in his little prayer that he made-up, he said make me as one of thy hired servants. But when he got home, that part didn't get saddened. Why not?
00:55:03
The father wasn't interested in having more servants.
He wanted a son that could sit down at his table, that could enjoy fellowship with him, that could share his thoughts. And that's what sonship really is, isn't it? Being brought into the full intelligence of God's thoughts about his Son and about his eternal purposes. That's what it's referring to here, having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
Himself, sons of God, wonderful position that you and I now occupy, dear brother. I'd like to suggest that it is a wonderful position, no doubt. Bob, we went over 4 words at the close of verse four that explains why the father ran to meet his son is because we already mentioned that we are predestinated, chosen before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame. We know that. We've accepted that. We can take that into our heart.
For these words before him in love, it is the love of the Father and the love of the Son that is bestowed upon us. And I was reading the other day in in John the close of John 17 in the words of our Lord to the Father. He's thanking his father. He says before, because thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world. Well, here we're chosen in him in before the foundation of the world. So it is the very same love that the Father had to the Son he has towards us.
That.
Is what's powerful. We can talk about all the positions and standings and States and stuff, but to very to grasp the fact that God the Father loves me loves you with the same love He loves his son and that the Son loves us with the same love. So that's also in the in the Gospel of John, but the same love he loves the Father. That is just absolutely overwhelming. If you really meditate on that, it's absolutely overwhelming. That is what's gonna draw my heart.
Nothing else. This love begets love.
ABBA ABBA father.
To explain that is that a child would say to the father that speaks of intimacy, ABBA.
Berevrentially say we might say daddy, you know, in English, you know, but it speaks of closeness and intimacy. ABBA father, so we can address him. You know, he mentioned a child from the child to say the father. Let us never grow up in that aspect because that's who we are before him. He's our father in close intimate relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The weakest child of God. Absolutely. Let's play a hold of it.
Uh, just make a few comments about perspective or vision here before we see we're running out of time. Uh, we want God's thoughts, we want his perspective, we want his vision of things. As Einstein says, everything else is detailed.
And we have God's thoughts in the Scriptures.
And in Isaiah chapter one, verse five, we have what has been said, the key verse to the Old Testament.
Five and six. Why should you be stricken anymore? You revolt more and more. The whole head is thick, the whole heart faint. What we have here is a description of the first man, the first Adam, from the sole of the foot. Even under the head there is no soundness in us. This is a picture of man and responsibility. Now we want God's thoughts. Here we have them. We don't want to make up the rules as we go along and have a better opinion of ourselves than God has.
But wounds, bruises, putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with appointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire. This is the condition of the world today, and it's in a hopeless case.
The key verse of the New Testament is in our chapter, verse 9 of 10. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather in Christ, the last Adam, the 2nd man, God's man. Not the first, as we've just seen the description of an Isaiah, but this One in whom He is well pleased, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.
That's our only hope. If we're going to place any hope in this world and in its politics and in its education and in its inventions and in its scientific discoveries, we're gonna be disappointed. We have to have God's thoughts. What is going on here?
01:00:08
Who in first John chapter 5?
Verse four. But whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. We have a world to overcome. We want God's thoughts about it. What is it coming to? Where is it going? What is its methods? What is its strength and power? It's all in man who overcomes the world. Whatsoever is born of God, and this is the victory that overcometh the world. Even our faith, the faith in Jude is to be intended for its objective. It's whether we believe it or not. It's the faith.
This is the faith.
It's given to us, He has spoken, but in when it's our faith, it's active, it has energy to keep and direct our steps in faithfulness to Him who loved us. And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. This is God's man and He puts us in Him and where He vouchsafes to us that security and destiny.
That is in blessing for time and for eternity if we take matters into our own hands and misconstrue the vision by our own thoughts and rude opinions. Life is hard.
Oh, young people, 12 years old, can you get this? What I've said God has a man.
God has a man that He can trust for the fruition of all His purposes and counsels, and they are inevitable in him and in Him alone.