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Before the world was a going for it.
Ation.
On nothing else were they?
God forbid us for blood.
And chose us in his son.
To him to be gone from God.
When your course was wrong.
And breath of blast at the sun.
And then we came to die.
In the dark.
See him?
And thy right hand on eye.
In grace, which is unchanged.
We stand from day-to-day.
And prove the founders.
Mercy.
Which through our pilgrimage.
And when the hill falls?
Shall burst upon.
The sea that's spelling all the darkness.
Which evening still happen?
Happen. Oh, then you'll come in brightness.
Merry, I shall see.
Oh, raided power and glory.
And we shall let him be.
For he laughed his glory.
To die upon the dream.
Well, to complete the story.
And come again and we.
Are for me to visit.
I don't be brought, you know.
And with increasing.
Our ceaseless praise shall flow.
Thanks for help.
Blessed God and Father, we thank Thee once again for a time that we've had. We look to Thee for fresh grace for.
Not in our own strength and in our own mind, but according to the Spirit.
To thy word, and what is needed we.
Depend upon Thee, our Father, for help during this reading, meeting and direction guidance.
We ask it that we may learn more of Thy glory and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our present and future position.
We asked this and thy name, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
We kind of talked about some of this in a general way, but where should we start?
Brother Dave was mentioning the we of verse 12 and the ye of verse 13. I think maybe that would be a good place to start verse 12 on.
The Ephesians chapter one and verse 12.
That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom He also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed with that 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.
00:05:17
Cease 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 inheritance in the Saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, 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 light, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but.
Also in that which is to come, and has 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.
It's helpful what David was mentioning this morning at verse 12. You have the Jews and they first trusted her, Darby says pre trusted because.
The gospel went out to the Jews 1St and then to the Greeks or to the Gentiles, and then it says in verse 13 in whom ye the Ephesian people were Gentiles.
He also trusted after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
That's when we hear the gospel of our salvation. We believed it, and God puts his seal, his mark of ownership, his seal of security.
On those who believe.
And if we were to go over to the second chapter, we would see that that follows he's saying and you being dead in your offenses and sins. And then over to verse 11, Wherefore remember that he wants nations in the flesh who are called. And then he mentions a number of things about them.
Verse 13 But now in Christ Jesus, ye who once were afar off.
And then he talks about the middle wall of partition being broken down. These are the things that are characteristic of that one Newman in Christ. And that's where we have Christianity.
Through the work of God in the souls of children of Israel in the coming day, I believe, when we are gone.
They will trust in him in a future day. But those of the Jews that trusted in Christ then were trusting in advance, pre trusting and and so they are the ones referred to. It's not that we can look at the word we and say, oh that must be the Jews, but in the context of it, we know that the ones who pre trusted.
Were the Jews because?
As we noticed this morning, God is going to prepare the hearts of a willing people when He comes again. And for you and I, most of us from along the Gentiles, we also heard the word of truth in Acts chapter 10 when Peter was was summoned of the Lord to travel to the home of Cornelius.
The Cornelius and his close friends.
Were there present before God? And Cornelius was clearly a man who had been born again. He was a man of faith.
But when Peter spoke the words of this life, the Gospel particularly there in Acts 10, Peter says in a kind of a summary to him that is to Christ give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him should receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word.
And so those Gentiles having believed the gospel of their salvation.
The Holy Spirit fell upon them, and it was evident that they had been brought into present blessing.
00:10:11
Cheers. In chapter two of the book of Acts, we're told that they had to believe and be baptized because they were part of that guilty nation.
And it was in baptism that they disassociated themselves with that guilty nation and identified with Christ, and then they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. So when they see in Acts 10 where you mention that the Gentiles without baptism.
Received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They are shocked, aren't they? But that shows the importance of of the order that God has put it in His Word.
And so we have the.
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit spoken about in a number of different ways in Scripture, don't we? We have the anointing of the spirit, We have the earnest of the Spirit, we have the ceiling of the spirit. All different aspects of the same spirits.
Work in US and his abiding in every true believer today, and we don't need to go over that wonderful truth again. We know that the anointing, of course, speaks of power and perhaps intelligence in divine things.
The earnest, as Brother Bob already explained, that this morning is as if God made a down payment on you and me of such dimensions that there can be no possibility that He will not carry out what He says He will do.
Once in a while today, if a man or a woman makes a down payment to carry out a transaction such as buying a home or something like that.
Very occasionally, depending on the circumstances, they will decide to forfeit that down payment and not carry through with the transaction. As I say again, it doesn't happen that often, but it does happen.
But God has made such a down payment on you and me that there's no way that he will not carry it out. And the sealing means, as you've just mentioned, Bob, that God has put his seal on us by the Holy Spirit that we belong to Him. Can anyone break God's seal? Absolutely not.
And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of each believer is.
Peculiar to this dispensation of grace, isn't it? It was not true in the Old Testament before the day of Pentecost.
It will not be true after you and I are called home. It is peculiar to this time of God's grace.
I think I may be a good idea, brother Bill and John.
14 to see how the Lord, of course he's speaking beforehand, but I found that very helpful to for young believers especially to get a hold of.
The truth of the Spirit of God dwelling in US. Notice in chapter 14 of John's Gospel.
Verse 16.
Says I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you.
Notice.
Forever.
Even the spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, He said to the disciples then, for he dwelleth with you. The Spirit of God wasn't in them yet, but he was with them in the person of the Lord Jesus.
And it says and shall be future in you. So from the day of Pentecost on.
The Holy Spirit dwells in us, but just that point, that He shall abide with you.
Forever.
Not beautiful to know that the Spirit of God once he takes residence.
In the body of a believer never goes. It may be that we.
Grieve the Spirit of God, it says in Ephesians 4 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of promise whereby you are called, but and then it says in First Thessalonians 5 to don't quench the spirits. Sometimes we grieve the spirit and quench the spirit, and sometimes people even question it. Maybe I.
00:15:18
I've lost the Spirit of God. That's that's not possible for a true believer. But sometimes we grieve and we quench. And so it's so important to carry out self judgment on a constant basis so that the Spirit of God has liberty. I really enjoyed thinking about the way it speaks of the Spirit of God dwelling in believers and in the book of the Acts. It's so common to see it says.
He they were filled with the Spirit of God. I'd like to hear somebody speak about what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Does that mean?
I like what one brother once said to me.
He was having a bit of a discussion, not at that time, but he had done in the past and someone was.
I guess you would say arguing with him about losing the Spirit of God.
For having more of the Spirit of God in the sense that.
Some groups in Christendom believe that, well, yes, you get the Spirit of God when you're saved, but then there's sort of a second blessing that comes along. And he made a comment that I thought was very good. He said I cannot have more of the Spirit of God than I already have when I am saved.
Because it says in John chapter 3.
He giveth not the Spirit by measure, and the final words in that verse should not be there. They're not in the Darby translation unto Him.
He giveth not the Spirit by measure. So when we are in dwelt with the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God is there, and we can't have more than we already have. But then the brother went on to say.
But I hope as I grow in my Christian life and know the Lord better and most important as you mentioned, exercise self judgment, he said. I hope that the Spirit of God has more of me.
And I thought that was a good way of putting it if I had a glass here, an empty glass.
And I said to someone, I'd like you to fill that glass with water.
I could fill it if they had a jug full of water.
But supposing I put.
A bunch of small gravel and I don't know, whatever size you want to you want to call it gravel in that glass. You could fill the glass in one sense, but it wouldn't be filled because there'd be gravel in it and. And sometimes I must confess that when I'm on a plane and.
They offer me a drink, They say do you want ice in it?
And I know by experience that if you say I want ice in it, you get about 3/4 of a glass of ice and then the rest is whatever drink you want. So I always say no, I don't want any ice because I want more drink. well-being filled with the spirit.
Would mean eliminating those things which do not allow the Spirit to fill me with all that he has.
To teach me of Christ. Is that the way to look at it? Thank you.
Bill, if you.
Listen to some people, and I think people in this room probably do listen to other people. They'll say to become a Christian you have to be born again, but you can be born again and not be a Christian. Could you explain that?
I think that's, I think that's necessary for some people to understand that you can be born again and you have life, divine life, but you're not a Christian.
Maybe I shouldn't do this, but I think that's Don Ruhl's question. Some of us have talked quite a bit. So Don, maybe you could give us something on that. Would that be OK?
00:20:09
Find out.
God begins the work. He completes it.
And consequently, if a work of God and the soul produces life.
Person has life, they're quickened. But if God begins that work by giving light, He will complete that work.
It may not be completed that day or that hour. When the work is complete, that person will have the Holy Spirit of God forever dwelling in them.
The spirit and the many things that it brings into our lives, sometimes when God first works with them, we don't have it those things because the spirit of God has not finished working in us those things that bring us into.
The consciousness of what He has done and is doing for us. And so you see it in examples in Scripture where there were people that heard something and what they heard they believed, but they didn't perhaps have a complete message at that point given to them.
And so we need sometimes a person will hear only an impartial.
Or incomplete or not even completely correctly described gospel message and they will accept it as far as they understand it, because God has worked in them to quicken them. But the work will go on until it is sealed in that this As for example. It's not exactly the point, but it shows the fact that.
Can be time passed where the disciples at the time the Lord Jesus died quickened.
Yes, they were.
Were they sealed? No, they were not.
Because the sealing of the Spirit.
Required before God would seal anyone with the Spirit. There's nobody in the New Testament gospels that during the Lord's life actually were sealed with the Spirit due to the fact that as the Lord Jesus died.
Involved after he rose again, the message was given that they were to be brought into the relationship, as was emphasized this morning, of being children in the family and they had sonship.
But they couldn't have it until they could be given what's called eternal life. And sealing is always connected with sealing, a work that Scripture can call eternal life. Why didn't they have what God calls eternal life at that point?
'Cause Christ.
As was not risen until after he was risen, then his.
Life in resurrection could be communicated. That's necessary because it's that life, resurrection life, that Scripture calls eternal life. But Even so, at that point they didn't have the spirit.
And they don't have the Spirit until in Acts the Lord Jesus goes to heaven.
And is glorified.
And the Spirit is given to dwell in the soul of one who is identified in resurrection life with a glorified Christ.
And.
This you and I live in a very different period of time where all those things have now taken place. And so we're not waiting for Christ to rise from the dead. We're not waiting for him to go back to glory with risen, resurrected life in which death hasn't, can never come.
And we're not waiting for him to be glorified either. So we may very quickly or even instantaneously, if a clear gospel is presented to us, be brought by God to be sealed with the Spirit of God. And so we don't say, you can't say it wouldn't happen in the very hour in which a person puts their faith in the Lord Jesus. But that's not the way God works with everybody.
00:25:24
And God is sovereign and can do his work.
In whatever sway he chooses and our place is to accept that, appreciate that. And if a person you present a message to a person and they I I remember many, many years ago.
A person that came and heard the gospel, I heard it from a fellow student at school and it they said they heard this person present the gospel to another student in the school and they were over hearing it and they said.
I want to be saved. I want that. And so the gospel was presented to them.
And they said.
I believe, but I have questions.
It's not all clear to me.
In my judgment, they were quickened.
But they were not yet sealed. And over the next several weeks they brought their wife and they started coming and hearing gospel meeting preached and and then they became clear. And God doesn't seal. I'm speaking beyond just the Spirit. God, the Spirit does not confirm in us anything that's not true.
And sometimes the Spirit of God has to work within us.
To clear up our understanding of something before He can give us the consciousness that this is truth.
And he will seal his work in US of truth. But it doesn't always happen instantly.
Could I say that?
You're sealed when you believe that Christ plus nothing saves you, then that's a perfect work. Christ, God, the Spirit of God seals them and from then on your shield. It's not a different kind of life, it's just a life with more.
Relationships.
So the Lord said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
If he isn't born again, he's a natural man.
You won't see the Kingdom of God.
Would we say that those who were believers in the Old Testament were born again?
Well, we can go and we can look at the transition. We have a man, Cornelius.
The word of God tells us that he was a pious God fearing man.
And the Lord sent Peter to him to hear words, and after he heard those words, the gospel.
The Spirit of God came upon him and those that were there, there was the complete work. So as Don said, there was a work that was begun in him and God completed that work based on the day in which Cornelius lived and and and the Lord's choice to send Peter to minister the gospel to him and those in his house and the subsequent work.
Of the Spirit of God coming and sealing them was done.
Person that has life is by the Spirit by water, and the Spirit, the water is the word of God.
And the Spirit of God uses the word of God to create new life, but it's only when they come to rest on the work of Christ where God rests, then they are sealed. God says OK.
That's complete and he puts his sea alive. So that's why I see in Acts 10 there that.
Peter preaches Christ and gives the testimony to all that believe on him.
Shall receive remission of sins for His name's sake, and immediately the Spirit of God. Those people were believing as they heard it, and the Spirit of God seals them.
00:30:06
Two more comments about the spirit. They're not on the specifically on ceiling, but they're important in connection with it, and that is.
The reception of life.
Gives me the nature and the life itself.
But it's the Spirit of God, and the Word of God is used to produce that life in US, Thy word. It's a living word, and it produces or creates life in a soul when it's received. But the Spirit of God is the power of the life. You can have life.
And.
Be in hospital bed with no strength. That's maybe not a good analogy, but the importance of another aspect is that the Spirit of God gives the power to live the life. And further than that, and this is important, we were reading a little while ago the word comforter in John 14.
What for? I don't know how many years comforter to me means somebody that when you're sad.
Gives you some better feeling. That's what the word comforter tends to be.
You when somebody's at a Funeral Home, somebody else may come along beside him and put their arm around him and give him some comfort.
That's not what it means in the context of John 14. What it means is the Spirit of God comes to live literally, to live within us, you. That's the word dwell. And from that point, for eternity, He manages our affairs.
He becomes the manager of the affairs of our life and if we're submissive to the Word of God.
He doesn't occupy us with himself, we don't pray to the Spirit, and so on.
But nonetheless, the Spirit of God in US manages us and that life forever.
And that's a wonderful thing, we.
The way of another comment, the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. That means that a human being in himself is not sufficient.
To find a proper path through life and make the decisions that are necessary in life.
But the believer he has the life which gives him the perfect rights and desires of the life.
But he's still not in himself smart enough to be able to manage himself.
And therefore the Spirit of God works in this Newman.
To direct the thoughts, to give power, to give understanding.
To give that sense in the soul that the Lord is saying do this and don't do that and so on.
And without hindrance when we're in glory, where there's no hindrance of the flesh in US.
There will be a complete, perfect Restful management of the comforter in us for eternity.
Think of 1 little minor example, maybe of it in the sense that.
Several people had some conversation in the last today and yesterday and so on of some questions about how to interpret a verse.
If you go to the Word of God looking for an answer to something and you don't know it, but you've already made-up your mind, you're going to find something in Scripture that supports it to your mind.
Maybe absolutely wrong, but if the Spirit of God is working in you with liberty.
The thoughts you go to scripture and say Lord teach me.
And then the Lord directs you to the Scripture you need to know and gives you the realization in your heart of what that verse means. Because you didn't go with an agenda of explaining that this I'm going to do or that I'm going to do is the will of the Lord. A good way to miss the will of the Lord is to go to Scripture with the thought that you know what it is, and now you're going to find that it is.
00:35:16
It's rather that you go and say, Lord, what is your will?
And the Lord will show if there's not a hindrance in you to be shown.
That's part of the work of the Spirit after you're sealed.
That the 16th chapter and the of John's Gospel.
On the 13th and 14th verse.
Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, and whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.
What a tremendous blessing. And I just.
Have to say for myself brother and I don't think.
We are conscious enough of the presence and power of the Spirit of God that dwells in US. Think of it. God the Holy Spirit has taken residence in my body.
It is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord give us to be more sensitive and conscious.
Of his presence when sin comes along to be careful not to give it any place, and if we do sin way to be.
Ready to admit it and to confess it to the Lord. But the fact that God the Holy Spirit dwells here, incredible, tremendous.
Fact of the Christian life today we're getting back to our chapter because we want to get through this brethren verse.
14 We have talked about the seal of the Spirit in verse 13, but verse 14 the earnest.
This Holy Spirit is the earnest, the down payment God wants us to enjoy, the inherent and the fact that we are going to inherit all things even here and now. I must say you are Speaking of rather Hejo the other day.
I enjoyed the story about him riding on the train there in Ontario. You remember that story, Bill?
I think so, but refresh my memory a bit. While he was going along and there's a young man sitting beside him on the train and he said they were towards the time of harvest there and wherever they were going in Ontario, says beautiful harvest that are ready to be.
Harvested. Yes, said the young man. This all belongs to my father.
Interesting, interesting. They keep going hour after hour and it's repeated.
This is all my father's too. Your father must be pretty rich. Yes, he is quite rich.
And I'm in the inheritor of it all.
Remember.
Brother Hey, Paul. He he lived it.
Remember him that and a wall of all the conference and they were just bringing in the microphones. Then he went up to the front and there had a microphone there for him to use. He picks up the microphone, sets it to one side. He had a good booming voice. He didn't need it, but he you listen to him because he lived in the enjoyment of it. Brother, why don't we live in the enjoyment? And that's what's going to give us real testimony. That's why I say let's.
Sensitive to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living in US.
Remember that, don't you, Bill? Yes, I do. Yes.
Wasn't sure for a moment which incident you were referring to.
00:40:01
So one thing we might pardon me notice here is you'd mentioned earlier.
About.
These things are individual.
Each believer the earnest.
The sealing of the Spirit and then we talked about the anointing. You have that in Second Corinthians chapter one, verse 21.
These are operations of the Spirit of God.
That every believer possesses these. These are part and parcel of you would say, the gift of the Spirit of God. But these are not the gifts of the Spirit of God. When we go to chapter 4 and the risen Christ gives gifts for the purpose of edifying the body and building it up in love. Romans 12, First Corinthians chapter 12.
Where he talks about the gifts of the Spirit, that's a different subject. That might be, that's something where you have one gift and he has another and she has a different gift. But these operations of the Spirit of God here are something possessed by every Christian. Every Christian has the earnest of the inheritance.
Every Christian has the anointing. Every Christian.
Is sealed with the Spirit of God.
Umm.
Does every Christian enjoy it?
In as much as they are yielded.
To the Spirit of God and to the Word of God.
That's the challenge, isn't it? Yes, and that's where the capacity that we've been given.
Needs to be exercised on a daily basis, each one of us first thing in the morning.
Into the word.
And yielded to the word.
We all know what it's like to have to go through that process.
Some days are good and some days aren't.
But we keep at it.
I have I have a question.
Is it true that?
Some of the Earth and others JMD and Mr. Kelly believe that a person wasn't really sealed until they had entered into the truth of Romans 8IN other words, the spirit of life in Christ, setting them free from the sin of death or the law of sin of death.
Am I mistaken or did they hold that belief that the term saved does not mean just free from guilt?
But free from the power of sin. And a Christian doesn't really enter into freedom from sin until he's entered into the 8th chapter of Romans. From my understanding, that's where the law of the Spirit of life and Christ sets me free from the law of sin and death. And I believe, look it's correct me. I'm sure there's brothers that know those writings better than I do, but I believe they looked at ceiling.
When you're sealed, you then can cry ABBA father.
The Spirit of God takes you to a place where you see yourself in Christ. Not just forgiveness of sins, but but a knowledge of being in Christ. Correct me on this if I'm if I'm off on that.
I had that question about Romans 816 as well. If that was the ceiling. The spirit of self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Is that?
We're certainly sealed by then.
That's talking about a saved soul, isn't it?
I could just share a quote. I'll be up here to the microphone.
I wrote it down and it's a quote I think is helpful by FG Patterson. I'll just read it really quick, he wrote. A saved man is one who has no doubts. Scripture never speaks of a man being saved who has any.
Who has what? What was that last note? Say it again. OK, I'll read it over again.
A saved man is one who has no doubts. Scripture never speaks of a man being saved who has any any doubts.
00:45:03
I would say sometimes there are people that I believe are truly saved, but because of a lack of proper teaching, they may have doubts. But I like the verse in John three when it's speaking about those that are born in God. And again it says the Lord says.
The wind blows where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound of it, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit, and so how God works in individual souls.
We don't know exactly. We see a movement just like you see the wind moving the the trees and the wind moving the trees and the leaves and but you don't know where that came from. You don't know where it's going. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. So the Spirit of God works brother. And then we have to allow him to show it in his time.
I would just say this, that it's clear that the account of Cornelius in Acts 10, that before Peter showed up, he was a born again person. He had life from God, evidenced by his pious character and his faith. But when Peter came and spoke the words of this life, the gospel of his salvation.
Cornelius laid hold of it, and he was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
In the next chapter when Peter is called on the carpet for what are you doing? You're going rogue on us doing this with the Gentiles. Then in Chapter 11.
Peter in recounting it says.
Who should?
Call for Simon, whose surname is Peter. Verse 13, Acts 11 Who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved? And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. So a person who has believed the gospel of their salvation is an individual. You can use that word saved before Peter showed up. If you ask Cornelius he was saved, he wouldn't probably have.
Known what you were talking about and I'm not sure how much he knew after Peter left.
But he was a saved soul, He was a member of the body of Christ, and he had the Holy Spirit indwelling. Did he understand the doctrine of it? I doubt it. Did he, did he understand what you understand of deliverance from the power of sin? From Romans 6I tend to doubt it. Had he gone through the experience in Romans 7? Probably no.
And all of those wonderful privileges that were his.
And ours he wasn't probably instructed in yet. But I think we have to make a difference between our understanding what happened to us and having been brought into the possession of those of the spiritual inheritance. The present possession is something different and it's a wonderful privilege. And I experienced the privilege myself by others.
After I was saved and I knew I was, and a brother took me into his home, and at his kitchen table he unfolded unto me.
Had happened to me and unfolded to me over a period of actually years. The blessings that I had. I didn't get them when he explained them to me. I got them and I was saved when the Holy Spirit sealed me when I believed the gospel of my salvation. And so I just think we need to hold these things distinct and not hold a a, a bar.
Of spiritual understanding as if that is connected.
With the simplicity of what we have in Ephesians, one after that she believed the gospel of your salvation. In whom also in whom? Another point in whom we believe on a person.
In whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. I love the thought that a new convert.
In the scripture 9095 times in the New Testament it says.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There are only a few places where it speaks of believing on His work.
And the beautiful thing is that when we believe on Him all that he has done and accomplished for God's glory and our blessing.
Is made good to us even though over a period of years it takes me to understand it. So I think it's beautiful that the babe and Christ in here that the six year old the 8 year old sitting in this room that has believed the gospel of their salvation. They have the Holy Spirit indwelling but Quizzum on Romans 6 Romans 8 you're you're you're not going to get very far.
00:50:18
That that'll be as their understanding development.
Yeah, I agree with that. I think, Mark, what you were saying and what Luke read, I think doctrinally we can say that that is true. And and I I think that that follows the scheme of things that we have here relative to salvation and hearing the gospel and believing and so forth. But then when we move to states of soul, we have to be very careful about painting with too broad of a brush.
You know, you maybe hear somebody say something so well, I don't even think he's saved well. Have all of us been absolutely correct in everything that we've ever saved said since we were a believer?
It'd be all over for me and.
A passage of scripture that really helps, I think in this case is in.
Philippians 3 where the apostle Paul.
In Philippians chapter 3.
Just for context, verse 13, brethren, I do not count to have got possession myself.
But one thing forgetting the things behind.
And stretching out to the things before I pursue.
Looking towards the goal. That's what the Christian does. He's looking towards the goal for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus. We've been reading in these meetings about the calling on high of Christ Jesus, the revelation of the mystery. As many as therefore are perfect.
That's a statement regarding spiritual maturity.
Let us be thus minded, and if you are any otherwise minded.
This also God shall reveal to you. That's a process that the Spirit of God takes us through.
But where two we have attained, let us walk in the same steps.
And that verse has been an encouragement to me not to let what you don't know.
Bring you into a wrong state of soul. Let not what you don't know bring you into a wrong state of soul about what you do know. Hold on to what you know. I know that on the cross the Lord Jesus finished the work and God accepted that work. Don't ever let any questions about anything else rob me of that truth.
Hold on to what you know.
And then God will reveal the other things to you. And I think the key to that is how it's been brought out. Don't get your mind made-up that something is a certain way. Always be ready to yield to the word of God. And that's isn't that why we that that's part of the basic principle of education, right? Be willing to be corrected.
I don't know if this is a help but.
Saved or salvation?
Seems to have three tenses. I think about the verse that says baptism does doth now already save us. But we know that's not justification and we know that's not glorification. We know that sanctification. So it seems like the kind of for the believer the present tense have saved should be sanctification. The past tense should be justified justification.
The future should be glorification. Is that yes, context is everything.
To understand the context of each passage of scripture so that you see how the word is being used. That's why word studies can kind of be dangerous sometimes, because you can't just assume that a word is used in the same way in in each passage of scripture. You have to understand the overall context.
Want to go back to verse 14, brethren. And as the the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory, the redemption of the purchased possession. Lord. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price of redemption in full.
He paid the price to not only.
Uh, buy it back, but to set it free. And so the purchased possession is.
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The whole of creation, he paid the price to buy it back for God and to set it free. And so when it says the redemption of the purchased possession, it's talking about that millennial day. If you look at Romans chapter 8.
And verse.
21 it says because the creature.
Itself also shall be delivered from the ******* of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For they know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And so then he speaks in verse 23, at the end of the redemption of our body.
We know that's going to happen at the Rapture, when our our bodies will be.
Transformed into the likeness of the body of the Lord Jesus. But I think this is.
Beautiful to think that the.
The in earnest of the inheritance is until the redemption of the purchased possession. Not wonderful to think that the whole creation is going to be liberated from the ******* of corruption. The animals, the plants, they all suffer because of mankind's sin. It's going to be liberated.
And so the earnest of the Spirit is, until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory.
MMM.
So what about this prayer then, that we have here? We don't have too much longer.
Some beautiful details in it aren't there.
Because in order to enjoy something, we were talking about that.
And it's what we enjoy and what we walk in that is really ours.
But we have to know it first, don't we? We have to understand it. And so Paul prays.
Praise for these dear Corinthian, St. or Ephesian Saints. He heard of their faith.
He says he heard of it. He'd been there probably longer than any other single place, at least as it's recorded.
In the book of the Acts, and there had been a tremendous amount of blessing in Ephesus.
Says all Asia heard the word of God.
And no doubt he had communicated much to them during the time that he spent there.
There was big trouble there. We know there was a riot over the goddess Diana and the silversmiths that were there. And we know from Paul's comments later on that he really feared that he would lose his life at that time. It was that bad, that strenuous a time for him. But now he's in prison, as we had before when he wrote this epistle.
And he had heard that they were going on well.
And their love. And he prays for them. In what way?
Well, we've already been through it. Brother Bob has given us a bit of an outline.
Of the aspects of this prayer, but it has to do with our understanding, our getting an understanding and knowledge of these things that are mentioned here, to understand those blessings that are mentioned in verse three of our chapter. They are all ours.
We don't like to keep quoting Brother HE Hayhoe, but he used to say.
Every believer is equally blessed. God does not have any favorites in His family.
And that is true. Every believer is equally blessed. Don't look at some other believer and say he or she has a lot more than I have. They may enjoy more than you have. Oh yes, that's entirely possible. But they don't have more than you do.
You have the opportunity to enjoy it, but just as Israel had to conquer the land.
Little by little. They weren't to do it too quickly, it says, lest the beasts of the field multiply.
What happens if we do that? It means we get more truth up here.
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Than we've got down here.
And then the flesh gets into the picture and says, my, you know an awful lot. You're quite somebody, aren't you? And pretty soon we get thinking about ourselves and how much we know. And that is one of the worst sins that there can be to be proud about how much we know in spiritual things. Because the more we really know in the right way, the more it humbles us, doesn't it?
And so Paul wants them to know these things.
But to know them in the right way so that they will be able to live and walk in the enjoyment of them.
It's interesting in verse 18, it's in the Darby it says the eyes of your hearts. And I think that is really understand interesting because understanding is important, isn't it? But.
The home for the truth of God is the heart, brethren. To value it, to enjoy it. It's real, it's true, but I love this.
The eyes of your hearts being enlightened, or your understanding being enlightened. And it makes me think of that story about Elisha in the second King's when?
The king of Syria had sent an air is surrounded with the armies of the.
King and the young man goes out in the morning, the servant of Elisha.
And he is scared.
Says What shall we do?
And.
Elisha has no seeming worry and he prays. He says, Lord, open the young man's eyes. And he opened the young man's eyes and he saw the horses and Chariots of fire. Doesn't say roundabout the city, but around about Elisha. Oh brother, what?
A what a message for us today. We're living in a culture that is going downhill.
So rapidly it gets scary sometimes.
Let's let the eyes of our hearts be open to know.
What we have already spoken of briefly, first of all, the hope of His calling, secondly, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the Saints. And thirdly, what is the exceeding greatness of His power? To us word who believe according to the working of His mighty power, just seems like the Apostle Paul runs out of adjectives.
To describe the greatness of the power that is liberated to bring us home to glory. Prayer.
Lord help us to have our eyes enlightened, to know it Alberthan to enjoy in our souls, and then what's going on in the world around us. There's not going to trouble us like it might if we don't have that our eyes open.
One of the things that such a safeguard. It was mentioned in verse 15 after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints. I remember when we were first gathered 25 years ago or whatever I I saw all these older brothers that I considered incredibly wise and they went off the path and I was like, man, maybe I don't want to really.
Read the Bible. You know, maybe I'd be better off to to be intentionally dumb.
And then I came to realize that you can learn as much as you want to learn, as long as you walk.
In what you learned.
And this verse right here, he talks about the faith.
In the Lord Jesus Christ and faith produces love. And if we don't love, we're kidding ourselves.
Because Paul says in First Corinthians 13, if I know everything and I don't have love.
Nothing. If I have all faith and I don't have love, I am nothing.
And we can look at that and we can say.
Turn with me to the book of John.
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John 15.
Verse five, it says I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in Him the same bringeth forth much fruit. It's not a possibility. If we're in His presence and He's in us, we're going to produce fruit.
So the point isn't.
To umm.
Try to figure something out. It's to be in His presence and He'll guide us what to do and where to go and.
And we've talked about the wisdom and understanding and it's all in Him. If we seek Him, if we want to be in His presence and walk in His steps just like He walked and loved just like He loved it, it does set us free.
Power that it speaks of here in our verses in Ephesians one in this prayer is not the power of God in creation.
It's the power of God in resurrection beyond.
The power of death, resurrection. Wonderful to realize it 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, in every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come and have put all things.
Under his feet, and gave him to be. Notice this, brethren, the head not of the Church. Here we have him as head of the Church in chapter 4, but head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
So that every situation that arises that affects us.
As believers in the Lord Jesus, remember his head over that situation.
And that is a tremendous comfort too, to realize some sickness, you get some accident you may have remember there's one who's head over all things to the church, which is his body.
To remember when I went through a particularly trying time and I almost thought I was going to lose my reason. And I was really.
Struggling and her brother walks up to me and says remember brother, everything that happens in the life of a believer comes directly from that man in the glory like a sledgehammer that hit me, but it was when I bowed at his feet and accepted the situation from his hand. Don't blame your brother and don't go looking at other sources of that may have brought you this problem. Look to him, he's the head over.
All things to the Church.
Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all. How wonderful.
How can we be that the fullness of him that Philoth all announced? How can that be?
Is God not sufficient unto himself? Is Christ not sufficient as God to himself? How do we understand that?
Lord Jesus. In that sense, Adam was not sufficient in himself until he had even.
The number of Jesus in those eternal counsels as a man is going to have a bride at his side. What a wonderful thing.
There is that.
In his purpose to have a bride, which is his body.
Says in verse 23, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
There are glories of Christ that could never be displayed.
That weren't for the fact that in the riches of his grace, he's pulled up you and me and so many others and displayed the glory of that grace. And he will do so in the coming day and I believe throughout all eternity. And so it's it's almost seems too much to say.
And too far to think, but I believe that's what the scriptures teach.
That without the existence of the church and the display of His glory in the bride, there would be glories that could never ever be displayed. So in First Second Thessalonians, chapter one we read, He'll come to be admired His glory. He will be admired in all them that believe.
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It's.
Worshipful.
Truths to lay hold of.
Briefing #327.
327.
And.
When?
They know such word.
May we also sing the last two verses of #300 and 33130 versus 5:00 and 6:00?
2 verses. Thank you. The last two verses.
Oh God, with breaking light.
Oh right, oh right. Shall I leave?
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I'd like just to read.
Just a couple of verses and what we've had before is in these last few days.
Psalms 23.
Very familiar versus verse one. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, and he leadeth me beside.
Distilled waters and one other verse in the 107th Psalm.
107th Psalm verse 9. For he satisfies that is God.
He satisfies the longing soul, and He filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Let's commend ourselves, my gracious, loving God and Father.
We thank you for this time we've had over Thy precious word.
And we read in thy Old Testament where?
The Lord Jesus.
He shall see the fruit of the tribal of his soul.
And be satisfied, oh blessed Lord, that we might be satisfied as well now.
That what we have in Christ, the portion, the position, the prospect that awaits us.
Help us, Lord, do.
To take these things to our hearts, that we might apply into our feet to produce that which would glorify and honor the.
The little time that that remains, we know time is short, but we thank you, Lord, that thou has.
Brought us to these still waters and we have this precious wonderful Oasis here in this midst of the darkness that is ever increasing.
We, we have seated in the green pastures and Lord, we have fed on thee. Help us Lord, just to make it more real to our hearts. Until we hear that shout and we know that moment is drawing so close, maybe real, maybe you expect it at any moment. Lord make it real to our hearts. We just blessing and thank you Lord for this.
Portion we had that has fed us with food convenient, which is thank you and thy precious name, Lord Jesus, Amen.