Today before I get into our lesson I want to advise all who maybe reading this to please find the books written by St. John of the Cross and download them. They are "Ascent of Mt. Carmel" and "Dark Night of the Soul" and should be read in that order slowly and with prayer for clarity of understanding because they reveal the way through which we all must travel in order to acquire God's intended results of restored union with Him through Christ.
Paul tells us in Philippians -
Philippians 3:20a
"For our conversation (or citizenship) is in heaven;..."
For all eternity our position of citizenship is in the heavenlies. Its this citizenship that Christ came to restore to us and indeed all of humanity. And as long as we willfully remain of the earthy, materiality of this world we'll miss our greatest of all blessings. Now as we begin with just a little review let's come in at verse 11.
Ephesians 1:11
"In whom also we have (already) obtained an inheritance, being predestinated (God's sovereign way of doing things by His predetermined councel) according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"
And of course we digressed on that quite a bit. Now verse 12. All of this has been done on our behalf -
Ephesians 1:12a
"That we should be to the praise of his glory,..."
In other words none of this is for our benefit is it? None of this has been done to glorify us. This has all been done that we in turn might glorify Him. We always like to go back, and we're not much of a catechism expert, but remember one of the questions of one of the old Heidelberg catechism which started out with this question. "What is the chief end of man?" And the answer to that question was what? "To glorify God, and enjoy Him forever!" Now we like that answer, because absolutely that's the whole purpose of man being on the scene. Man's sole purpose is to Glorify God by reflecting or returning to Him that which He so freely bestows upon us, His Grace (divine spiritual blessing in all richness and overflowing abundance) and Love. And so Paul puts it in verse 12 then -
Ephesians 1:12
"That we should be to the praise of his glory, (we) who first trusted in Christ."
Not a ritual, not a denomination, but rather "In Christ." And King David like Job who had received this blessing acknowledges that he had to pass through the darkness of nights in order to be receptive of His Spirit. For this is the teaching of Psalms and Job. Now in verse 13 we'll start with some new ground.
Ephesians 1:13
"In whom (Christ) ye also trusted,..."
Now in the newer translations the word trusted is italicized, which means it's been added. We checked with the original, and sure enough the original does not have that word in there. Neither does it have the two words after 'trusted'. So from the original let's just read it like it says, and then we'll come back and look at the KJV again.
Ephesians 1:13
"In whom having heard the word the truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom having believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise."
Now that's the way the original was written. Now in the King James Version they're not destroying the concept by any means, but when they say then, "In whom ye also trusted," or as it was implied in the original, having heard. Having heard this Gospel of Truth we believed, or received THIS Gospel, or as Jesus said have 'received Him' and then the holy Spirit seals us. This word “holy” means to be cleansed, set apart by the Spirit, the LORD is the Spirit or Christ the Spirit of promise. The Spirit which Israel's forefathers saw as in the distance or at the end of their time also called the end of days, or the end of time, which simply meant the end of Israel's Age or dispensation of God's dealings with only them. When their sinfulness, unbelief had reached its full capacity. Then Christ would become revealed as the Finishing Force or completion of their Age. Here's what is missed when studying the Old Testament, throughout Israel's history of God's dealings with them, He through His Prophets, wanted them to be weened from the breast of sweetness but they were so accustomed to it by way of dependency they refused to stand up as a child of age. So when it came time for them to accept their child likeness by way of faith they refused to do so and therefore are still looking for His breast and its sweetness to sustain them. Just as those of the first beginning of redemption, those who look for the things that Jesus did as a way of teaching spiritual principles. They want to have the power to do as Jesus has done, those being His signs, wonders and miracles to the extent that they are blinded by the sweetness of the material, health, wealth and abundance of life in the material realm.
Ephesians 1:13a
"In whom ye also trusted,..."
Always remember these words that are synonymous in Scripture. Trust is usually used in the Old Testament, but it's the same thing as receiving and believing. Then we also have the word faith which is believing whole heartedly. So we always make the point that trust, faith, and receive, believe all basically mean the same thing, so we can use them synonymously. Verse 13 again.
Ephesians 1:13a
"In whom (Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,..."
Now see we're living in a day and age where truth is being stomped into the ground as irrelevant, and that there are no absolutes. We're living in a society of instant gratification, in secular humanism and the whole concept that as long as we don't kill someone in the process then go ahead and enjoy it. But that's not what truth declares. Truth of course is manifest in the Word of God, Who is Christ and Christ alone and it's to that Word we always have to fly to when we see these things coming upon us. So having HEARD -
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