Bible Basics Conference 2009: "Walk Worthy of the Calling!"

… And welcome to Bible Basics 2009. The subject is Walk Worthy of the Calling. The epistle we'd like to study, Epistle to the Ephesians, is a wonderful epistle. It touches on some very practical topics like family, marriage, work, and so on. But it shows how these instructions are founded on God's thoughts, on his counsels. In this first session, we'd like to say something about the first 14 verses of the epistle. But let me start with some background notes first. But perhaps as a motto for this first section and the whole epistle and the whole conference, we could choose this verse from chapter 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll come back to this a little later. Just by way of background, the city of Ephesus, as most of you will know, was situated in what today we know as Turkey. Paul visited this on his journeys. It was a city that was renowned for commerce, but also, sadly, for idolatry. As you can see from this picture here, showing the famous Temple of Artemis. Perhaps you remember what happened when Paul first arrived in Ephesus. As you can read, actually, first he arrived there on his second journey. But when this happened, as you find in Acts, it was, you might say, a very successful gospel crusade. People turned to Christ. But what happened is that people abandoned idolatry. And there was this man, Demetrius, the silver beater. And you know, his job was to make and trade in silver models of this Temple of Artemis. And he said, these words you find here, Our well-living arises from this work. And this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great crowd, saying that they are no gods which are made with hands. Apparently, he got very angry. And what happened is that a little later, the whole city was congregated in this theater. And they were shouting there, for hours, great is the Artemis of the Ephesians. Basically saying, our goddess and our temple, that is what counts. And later on, Paul referred to this event, and he says, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus. Now, that's just by way of background. That was the start of this meeting in Ephesus. Now, Paul actually went back there, as I mentioned initially, on his third missionary journey. And actually lived in Ephesus for three years. And when he had to say farewell to those from Ephesus, he had to warn them of dangers, of false teachers who would come, as indeed we know they did. Now, one thing we should bear in mind is that when this epistle was written, the believers in Ephesus were in a very good condition. You find that right in the way they are addressed. Paul was able to occupy them with God's purpose, with God's thoughts. But that's no guarantee that it will always stay this way. You remember from Revelation that the assembly in Ephesus features again. And it is rebuked for having lost its first love. So that's perhaps something to bear in mind for us on this conference as well. May the Lord really help us to enjoy and to stay in the enjoyment of the wonderful things that we can find in this epistle. Now, just quickly one word on the structure of the epistle to the Ephesians as a whole. If you want to build a good building, you need to have a good foundation. Now, good practice builds on the foundation of sound doctrine. And this is why the epistle is organized as it is, as in fact you find in other doctrinal epistles as well. You first have a presentation of the doctrine. And then you have a presentation of the conclusions from that for the practical life of Christians. The first part I should just mention covers the first three chapters. They are doctrinal. They deal with the subject of what is God's counsel? What is his purpose? What is his will? And what is the Christian calling? And then the last three chapters, they still present some doctrine, but they largely build on the first three and show, well, what does this mean for the Christian in the assembly, for the Christian in the world, in marriage, in family, and in spiritual warfare or combat? Now, in this first part, first three chapters, there's still a very nice structure. And I think once we have this structure in our minds, you will find it a lot easier to follow the presentations we'll hear. Chapter one tells us what is God's counsel. Chapter two tells us about the execution of God's counsel. What did he do to actually execute his great plan? And chapter three tells us about the communication of God's counsel. God chose Paul to execute this special task of communicating the mystery and of speaking about the unsearchable riches of Christ. So God's counsel, it's execution, it's communication. Now, with that in mind, let's look at the first few verses of this epistle. Starts off by saying, Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ. So you find that he writes here with all the authority of an apostle when he presents the truth to the Ephesians. And this is by God's will, not by any man's choice that he has received this office. But by the way, he writes not only as apostle, he also writes as prisoner. And he says in chapter three, for you, the Gentiles. And we can actually take this for us. Paul was a prisoner for us. He had this task of communicating this mystery, this counsel, this truth about Christ and the church. And he got in trouble for it. And a major part of his message had to do with the role of Gentiles. And he got into prison for it. And that's why he says, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you. But here he is presented as apostle. And he writes to the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. Now, that's another challenge for us. Can we be described in this way? Are we certainly, as far as our position goes, we are saints. But are we faithful? And are we, therefore, in a position to really enjoy this epistle? It was written around 61 or 62 from Rome to Ephesus. And perhaps as the main theme, we could summarize it as the mystery of Christ. Now, he wishes them in verse two. He says, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when he speaks about grace and peace, it's a wonderful Christian greeting. But what he has in mind is not the saving grace. And it's not peace with God. But what he means is the Ephesians would need grace. And they would need peace every day. And also, they would need grace to appreciate what he is going to present to them. It's an interesting title here. He speaks of God our Father. You find that really we are on Christian ground here. God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And the rest of our section, starting in verse three, is really a doxology. It's an outburst of praise where you don't even find a full stop. He just goes on and on and on from verse three to verse 14 in one sentence, setting out what God has done. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Now, just on the matter of blessings, if you remember in the Old Testament, God had given blessings to Israel. And it actually says in Deuteronomy 8, I think, thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of water brooks, of springs, and of deep waters that gush forth in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive trees, honey, and a land where thou shalt lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou will dig copper. All these riches God had in store for his people. Now, what has he given us? What he has given us is far better than all these wonderful things we just read about. What he's given us is firstly spiritual and not simply material. It's also on a higher plane. It is heavenly and not earthly. If I can dare to give just some examples, one subject here is adoption, the matter of sonship. Then the gift of a new nature that makes us fit before God to be in his presence. And then the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers. These are just some of the fruits of the land that we can enjoy. Now, one thing we need to realize is that this epistle here starts with God. It says, blessed be God. And it says, God has blessed us. Typically, we always start with ourselves. We start with our needs. We start with our sins. When we think about the relationship between man and God, first thought is the sins. And that's an important subject, and it needs to be dealt with. But that's Romans. Now, if you know that your sins are forgiven, and if you know that you've been saved, that's wonderful. But it means you've just come out of Egypt, and you've just crossed the Red Sea, and that's as far as you got. What we want to talk about today is a lot further. We want you to move on. We want you to have crossed the Jordan, and to see a beautiful land in front of you, and to go in, and to see the fruits, and to enjoy what's there. Now, when I said, in the heavenly places, or in the heavenlies, that's actually a key phrase in this epistle. Now, where exactly is this, and what is there? First of all, our blessings, 1 verse 3. Later in the chapter, you find Christ is there, seated at the right hand of God. Then you find in chapter 2 that we are there, seated in Christ. Then in chapter 3, that there are principalities and powers, angels. And then in chapter 6, and that's perhaps the big surprise, you find that in these heavenly places, there are spiritual powers of wickedness, and that's why there is a battle. Now, if we want to enjoy what God has for us in these heavenly places, there'll be conflict, there'll be opposition, but it's well worthwhile. Verse 4 says, according as he has chosen us in him. Now, we found in verse 3 that there were two names. There was the name of God, and the name of Father. Now, we come back to this now in verses 4 and 5. Verse 4 is about what God has done. God has chosen. This is a sovereign act of God, and he has chosen us as individuals. It's not the church that is chosen, but persons. Now, why has God chosen me? I can't tell. It will be something that will be a theme of worship for me and for all of us throughout eternity, that God should choose us. And when did he do it? Before the foundation of the world. That's before we were there. That's before any man had a say, before any man had a voice. God acted by choosing us. And for what? Well, first of all, if we were to be brought near to God in any sense, the first thing that has to happen is, well, we can't get there as we are. We must be holy and blameless. And that means God has given us a divine nature, a new nature that is suitable for his presence. But, you know, the next thing he wanted was, he wanted you and me to be near to him, proximity. He wanted us to be before him. But then he goes a step further, and he says, I don't only want you to be near. You could be in the queen's palace serving the dinners. You'd be very close to the queen, but there wouldn't be any relationship of love. And that's what God wanted, that we should be before him in love. And then verse five says, having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself. Now here we come back to the character of the father. God chooses the father one's sons. Adoption is a subject close to my heart. It's a wonderful thing. It means that somebody who isn't a son is placed into the position of a son. And that's exactly what God has done with us. We were far, as we learn later. He wanted us to be near, but not only near. You could be in someone's house. But that doesn't make you the son or the daughter. But he wanted to have that relationship. Now why the relationship of a son? Well, there's a very deep reason behind this. And that really should make us marvel about the mind of God. What he says, essentially, is what is most important to me in the universe, the most important thing overall, is my son. And here I have found a set of people, and I want to give them the highest blessing possible. Now what I'll do to them is, I'll make them as conformed as possible to my son. I'll make them sons. He has marked us out for adoption. Now, of course, in him, and that's another key phrase, through or in Jesus Christ. And again, you find here that all starts with God. It's to himself. And it's not about us getting saved. It's not about us not getting punished. But it's about the good pleasure of his will. He did not need to do this, but he pleased to. To the praise, verse six, of the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favor in the beloved. The ultimate aim of all is God's glory. And what happens is that we become, you might say, vessels of display. God says, I want the glory of my grace to be seen. Now, how can it be seen? Well, he has chosen you and me, and he has done something to us, that we become the vessels of display, if you like, to marvel at the glory of his grace. And so we have been taken into favor. It's not merely accepted. But it means that as God looks on his own son with favor, he now looks onto us with that favor. As someone said, he could not do more, and he will not do less. Now, just very quickly, a little story about this phrase, taken us into favor in the beloved. And apologies to any who have heard this before. But there was an auction of an important arts collection, a hotel room packed full of people who wanted to bid for these valuable pieces of art. And to everyone's disappointment, the auctioneer starts by saying, well, the first item on the auction is this little portrait here. And it was one that didn't look very nice. He says, you know, it's the son of the owner. I mean, it was drawn by a comrade on a battlefield somewhere. And who would like to bid for this? And nobody wanted to bid, and they were all waiting for the Rembrandt and the Picassos and all these valuable pieces. And then finally, the gardener said, I have $50. I take the portrait of the son. And he got this portrait, and then the auctioneer said, thank you very much. The auction is over. And everybody was so disappointed and said, how is that possible? We've come here to buy all these pieces of art. And the auctioneer said, well, it all goes to the gardener. It's part of the testament that the owner made. He or whoever buys the portrait of my son, he receives the whole collection of these valuable pieces of art. So the gardener was taken into favor because he had the son. And that's what God has done to us. However, although that's not the main theme and subject, God does not forget that actually we had offended and that we were sinners. And so it says about Christ, the beloved, in whom, verse seven, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of his grace. Now, we needed this redemption from our condition of bondage. Redemption means to be bought free. And we also needed forgiveness because of the actions that we had committed. But you see a slight difference here. It now speaks about the riches of his grace. You just cast your eye back to verse six. It spoke about the glory of his grace. Now, what's the difference? When it's a question of our needs, of our sins, of the forgiveness we need, what it shows is the riches of God's grace. It's sufficient for that need. But when you want to see the glory of God's grace, you need to go further. You need to see what God has actually done, how he has taken us into favor in the beloved. Verse eight says, this grace, which he has caused to abound towards us in all wisdom and intelligence. I was looking for a picture to convey the idea of abounding, and I found a picture of the Niagara Falls, where you have these masses of water falling down. And there just seems to be no limit. Of course, that's not infinite, but it's the best I could get as an illustration. There seems to be no limit to these abounding masses of water. And so God's grace is boundless, overflowing, and limitless towards us. And it has been manifested, as it says here, in all wisdom and intelligence. Actually, a wisdom that we can only marvel at, that God takes culprits, people who are guilty, and turns them into vessels that show his character, his grace, and display these beautiful things. But God does more. Verse nine says, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself. Now God really didn't need to do that. He could just do what we have been speaking about to us, but he didn't need to reveal to us the secrets of his heart about what he is going to do going forward. Now, what is he going to do? What is this will that he has made known? We'll see this perhaps very shortly in the next verse, but just as a first hint, the most important thing in God's heart is his son. And when he talks to us about his counsel, and about his will, his purpose, it is all about what he has in mind for his son. And that is verse ten, for the dispensation of the fullness of times to head up all things in Christ. The things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth in him. You know there have been successive dispensations. We spoke about this at the Bible Basics last year. Man has been tested in various ways, but there is a dispensation still to come, which is called the dispensation of the fullness of times. And that's the millennium. And the people in Copenhagen and elsewhere, they are worrying about where this world is heading. And what is going to happen to everything around us? Well, in a way, we are the only ones who know. God has told us. He has said, all things one day will be headed up by Christ his son, the whole universe. Christ will reign. Now, perhaps you say, well, why is that a mystery? We know that from the Old Testament that Messiah will reign. We know that the Son of Man will be in charge of the universe. So why is it a mystery that God has told us now? Well, the mystery is that Christ will not take this reign alone, but he will share it with his bride, with the church. As it actually says in the next verse, in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will. In verse five, we are marked out for sonship. In verse 11, we are marked out for inheritance. As it says, if children, then heirs. And so we will share this inheritance that is given to Christ. That we should be, verse 12, to the praise of his glory, we who have pre-trusted in the Christ. Again, you find that everything is according to God's will and to his praise, the praise of his glory. Now, when Paul says we here, strictly speaking, these are Christians who used to be Jews. And that's why he says they had pre-trusted, they had believed first. But then he speaks about the Gentiles as well. In verse 13, he says, in whom ye also have trusted. And that's part of this great mystery that Jews and Gentiles have both trusted and have been joined together. But here he says how this happened. You know, I mentioned earlier that Paul came to Ephesus, Acts 19. When he went there, he found disciples there who had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Now, Paul spoke to them, and he told them the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation. And here in this letter, he comes back to this, and he says, you know, when you heard the word of truth and the glad tidings of your salvation, then having believed, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Now, that's another wonderful blessing from this land, which God gives us, the blessing of having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us as a divine person. Now, just on this matter of the seal, this is one of several pictures of the Holy Spirit. And in particular, in closing, I'd just like to mention three by way of comparison. With the seal, well, let me first say this. The three pictures, the seal, and the earnest, and the anointing, or unction. All three speak of the same blessing, namely the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. But they are different pictures, and they show a different aspect of that blessing. When it's a matter of the seal, the point is ownership and authenticity. If a letter has the seal of the king, it is genuine, it is authentic. And here it says, God has sealed us. That means he has given us the stamp which says, you are mine forever. With the earnest, it's more like a down payment. If you make the down payment for a house, you're a serious buyer, you will also pay the rest. And this is mentioned here, the second picture in the last verse of this section, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of the glory. Now, this redemption here is future. We already own the inheritance, but it's not yet redeemed. We've not yet taken possession of it, but what we have is the earnest. We have the down payment. God has given us his spirit. And if he's given us his spirit, he'll also give us the inheritance. And then the third one, which is not mentioned here just for completeness, the anointing and unction we can connect with enlightenment and also with preparation for service. Now this takes us to the end of this introductory section. It's very difficult to do it justice in this time. But if we can just take away, it starts with God. It's about his purpose, how he has blessed us, how he has chosen us, marked out for sonship. He's made us fit to be in his presence. He wanted there to be the relationship of love between us. He has dealt with what would have disturbed the offenses. But also he has communicated his mind to us about what he's going to do in the future to head up everything in Christ. And as a guarantee, he has already given us the Holy Spirit. But now we need to enjoy this, and that's the subject of the second session. …

… I think, if nothing else, Michael has set a very good example by finishing bang on time. I have noted, other speakers please note. So we've learnt very much in the first section from these verses we've read concerning the blessings into which we're introduced. I'm sorry I'm having trouble with the sun in my eyes, so if I squint at you, it's not that I'm blind, it's because the sun is temporarily blinding me. The second section is concerned with the remainder of the first chapter of Ephesians. And so let us just read verses 15 to the end before we begin. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 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 ye 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 might and dominion. And every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things unto 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. Thus far the word of God. We've heard very much concerning the blessings that are laid out in this first chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians. And the question might arise in some minds, who is it who possesses these blessings? Is it some distinct class of believer, someone who has advanced in the things of God? Or is it every believer? Well the answer is, it is every believer. It is everyone who has redemption through his blood. It is everyone who is covered by these blessings of which we've been speaking. These blessings are possessed by each one. They are given us of God in Christ Jesus. We do not have to attain them, but we do have to enter into the enjoyment of them. And that's what Paul's prayer is concerned with. The apostle gave thanks for the saints, and he prayed for them. God chose the love that was in his heart for the saints in Ephesus. And we might just note that in passing. It's not the theme of the passage, but just to note the love that Paul had for these saints. And I wonder if I love the saints in my local assembly in that way. Just something in passing. But this caused Paul to pray for the saints. Our blessings are secured in Christ. And we don't have to pray for blessing. We have those blessings. But the apostle wants us to understand what it means to be blessed in Christ. If I have something that's particularly valuable, it's not much good unless I know I have it. And it's not much good unless I enjoy it. In other words, I look at it occasionally, make use of it. It might be a painting. It might be a recording of a superb piece of music. Well, if I never play it, it's nothing to me, is it? And so it is that it is sad, but it is true that there are many Christians, believers born again in Christ Jesus, who are unaware of the blessings that they possess in Christ Jesus, to whom, if you told them that they were blessed in the heavenlies, in Christ, they would say, what? And you would have to begin to explain verse by verse. We need to lay hold of the blessings that we have. Canaan has already been referred to today. And you remember what was said to Joshua in the third verse of the book of Joshua, every place where on the sole of your foot shall tread, have I given to you as I said unto Moses. There it was. Canaan was there. God was going to give it to them. God was going to give them the victory. That was his purpose. And it was carried out as God had purposed. But they actually had, in faith, to put their, each one had to put his foot upon that land to make it his own, to enter into the, not into the inheritance, but into the enjoyment of the inheritance. And Paul's prayer, therefore, is not that we might be blessed, but that we might enter into, that we might appreciate something of the union of Christ and his assembly. And secondly, the place that Christ takes in the assembly, and that Christ takes in the universe, and what that means for the assembly. The prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second prayer, of which we will be hearing later on today, is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And these distinctions, they're not just put in there for, to make variety from a literary point of view, but they are put in there for a reason. The names are not synonymous. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of a God in relation to Christ, not so much as Son, as man. And it is as man that Christ enters into this inheritance of which we're reading and speaking in this chapter. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who raised him from the dead. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we'll come to in chapter three, is the Father in relation to the Son. But here we see Christ as man. We see him raised, exalted, and glorified. But we see him as man. We see him in that place for which he prayed to the Father while he was still in this world, even before he went to the cross. Glorify me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was. In confidence that that work was finished, the Lord Jesus could pray to the Father that he as man might be glorified with that glory which was his and which he earned by going into the cross, by winning the victory over sin and death, Satan's power, and ascending on high, leading captivity captive. Again, that is the subject of a later session. As Son of God, he created the universe. But in this passage, as Son of Man, he has complete authority over it. This is part of the place that he has taken. And this passage is to help us to understand what that means, this one with whom we're associated, the place that is his by rights. We were once under the man of sin, the power of darkness, not a kingdom, but the power of darkness. We were once under the man of sin, but now we have to do with the second man, the Lord from heaven. And because of this wonderful victory, this wonderful place that Christ has taken, so we have to do with the Father of glory. And that is the reason for this second phrase of address, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The Father has glorified his own beloved Son. Now, what was it that Paul is praying for in particular? There are three things that he wants us to know. One is the hope of the calling. We've heard about that in verses three to five of this chapter, so I won't go through it again. But we need to put, as it were, if I may so, speak our foot upon those blessings set out in verses three to five. Blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, chosen in him, holy without blame before him in love, predestinated us unto the adoption of children. The hope of his calling, and it is his calling. The calling was from above, and God has called us. And secondly, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And for that, we might refer to verse 11. We, in whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. In verse 11, it is showing us that we have a part in that inheritance. It is our inheritance. But in the verse we're looking at here, it is his inheritance. Again, God takes up that inheritance through those who are his. For Israel of old, God would take possession of Canaan. But he did that in and through the Israel of old under Joshua. And just as they took that land of Canaan and obtained a part in it, so God, through us, takes an inheritance in the saints. The saints are closely involved in that inheritance, the inheritance which is his. And the exceeding greatness is the third thing of his power to usward who believe. Verse 19, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe? According to the working of his mighty power. The power that brings us into this wonderful position of blessing is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. And the same power that puts all things under him, which we will consider in verses 20 to 23, Christ's position in resurrection. That is the same power that works now in verse 19, the working of his mighty power. It is that same power which works to us or for us. That same power which raised Christ from the dead and which puts him now in the position of head of all things. Christ was raised from the dead, set down at God's own right hand in the heavenlies. And these verses describe to us how he is above every principality, every power, and every dominion, not only in this world, but also in that to come. There is nothing which is not put under the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that at the moment, we do not see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, as the writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews says. But he is the head over all things in the universe. That is his rightful place. And that same power links us with Christ in his resurrection life. And he is head over all things to the church. Now, in your notes, it says head of the church. That is not wrong, but it's not what we've got in this passage. If there is a fault there, the fault is mine. And I would be pleased if you would take your pens and strike out of and write to double O. It is, of course, perfectly true that Christ is head of the church. We get that in chapter 5, I think, verse 32. And we get it again in Colossians, where the thought is of a head in heaven and the body here upon earth. So it is perfectly true that Christ is head of the church. But what it actually says here in verse 22, and it's always best to stick with what scripture actually says, is head over all to the church. You see the difference? It's perhaps subjective rather than objective. But to the church, he is head. He is the one to whom we look. He is the one, the head in heaven, the body upon earth. And to us, he is our head. He is the one to whom we are answerable. He is the one to whom we gather. And he is the one whom we serve here in this world. He, the head, directs the body. And that is the way that he is head to the church in a close and intimate way that perhaps we don't see him as head over all things. Because the head and the body are closely linked. Indeed, they are one. We are blessed in Christ Jesus. The head and the body are one. So in a particular and intimate way, he is head to the church. And the body is the fullness of him that fills all in all. We go back to, this is a difficult concept to get hold of, isn't it? That we are the fullness of Christ. Our human minds struggle with this, do they not? I think it is a great help to turn back to Genesis 2, verse 18, where in relation to Adam, he was given a help meat for him. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make and help meat for him. And so in the same way, in these wonderful councils that we've been thinking of and hearing of, God has purposed that there should be a help meat for Christ. And when we get to a later session in chapter 5, we will see that the help meat for Christ is indeed referred to as his bride. But here is the thought that we dare not say that, I think the easiest way to say it is, it is not good for man to be alone. That was written for Adam. But in the same way, it is in God's purpose that Christ in all his glory and all his exaltation should not be alone. And at this moment, there is a company being fitted to be his companion, his help meat, his bride in that coming day. And that is what is here referred to as his body, the church, the assembly, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. The world has not acknowledged his dominion yet, but the day is coming when every knee will have to bow to him. Things on earth, things in heaven, and things under the earth, every knee shall bow. But we are not concerned with what the world thinks. He is our head. That is a fact. He is our head. We must give him that place. And the purpose of the conference, as has already been explained, is a twofold one. First, that we enter into the blessings that God has given us. But secondly, that we walk worthy of our calling. The body is his fullness linked with him as man. Linked with him as man. …

… It's probably appropriate to begin our session by reading the verses that we have before us, which are the first ten verses of Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Michael has already alluded to the difficulty that we as speakers face in having a lot to cover in a short period of time and perhaps finding it difficult to know what to focus on in the verses that are before us in each session. But I think the organisers of the conference have given at least this session a helpful title in summarising the first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2 with this title here, God's masterpiece, the material. Now there are perhaps some people in the audience who aren't familiar with the verses that we've just read. Perhaps you've heard them for the first time. And the subject or the title is a helpful summary of what's presented in these verses. But perhaps there are a lot here who are familiar with the verses that we've just read and there are a lot of expressions there that we do refer to a lot and feature in ministry and in gospel preaching. But perhaps if you're in that situation, the title that's been given to this talk will help present these verses in a new perspective. That is the perspective of outlining God's masterpiece and the material that is the working material for that masterpiece. So with that in view, the verses can perhaps be broken up in this way or perhaps be summarised by answering these questions. What is the material that makes up God's masterpiece? And that's the first three verses. Next, the question, who is capable of working with that material? That's answered in verse 4. What has been done with that material? We'll see that in verses 5 and 6. Why has all of this been done? We have an answer to that in verse 7. And then how has this been achieved? We see in verses 8, 9 and 10. And also at the very end in verse 10, we have an indication of what our response to all of this ought to be. So it may be helpful to start with the question, what is the material? Or perhaps to put it another way, out of all of the things, not only in this world but in this entire universe, out of all of those things which God could have chosen to be the subject of the wonderful work that we're going to read about and the subject of his wonderful mercy, love and grace. Out of all of the things in the universe, what has he chosen? He's chosen us. And in particular, he's chosen us in the state that is very clearly described in the first three verses of our chapter. He has chosen us even though we were dead. In the bottom left-hand corner of the slide in the little blue square, there's some hints of what this expression, dead, towards God might mean. And it really does cover a range of things. But perhaps the key is that there was nothing in us that wanted to have anything to do with God and nothing in us that was capable of having anything to do with God and nothing in us that was capable of making any change to our condition. But the first three verses of the chapter also tell us that dead doesn't mean that we had no life or that we had no thought or no autonomy. And there's a verse that's referred to on the slide in brackets and it's perhaps just a helpful way of explaining this distinction that I'm trying to draw here. It's a verse that comes from the story of the prodigal son. The son's father describes his son once the son has returned as follows. He says, Luke 15, 24, For this my son was dead and is alive. Now obviously his son wasn't literally dead, but he was dead to his father because he had spurned his father and more than that adopted a course of life which was entirely foreign to his father's desire. And there was nothing in the son that had any inclination towards his father. So that's why his father could say that he was dead. Similarly for us, when we were dead towards God, we were, however, engaged in a course of conduct of our own choice. We walked in trespasses and sins, walked according to the conversation of this world, chose to live our lives and have all of our thoughts and conduct and association with the children of disobedience. And in addition to all of that, we fulfilled our hearts and minds, lusts and desires. We could perhaps adopt the words of Colossians 3, verse 7 and say that we lived in those things while we were dead to God. There's perhaps not time to go through what each of these things that are mentioned on the right-hand side of the slide cover. But perhaps I can just make this point that they cover a very wide range of things. To take the first one, trespasses and sins, it's perhaps difficult to know precisely this distinction that the Holy Spirit is seeking to draw there. But one that I've read that I think is helpful is a contrast in referring separately to trespasses and to sins between contraventions of specific commands from God on the one hand and on the other hand, falling short of God's standard. I think that's a helpful distinction because even if we were foolish enough to think that we'd never contravened any of God's commands, I don't think any of us, honestly, no matter how naive we were, could say that we've never fallen short of God's standards. And perhaps another point, just to illustrate the breadth of things that are covered here, it reveals to us not only that our conduct was wrong, but also our thoughts were as well. Just before going on to the next slide, there's just one practical comment which it might be helpful to make, and it just concerns the course of the world. Because if you read verses 1 and 2 together, you see that the course of this world is walking in trespasses and sins. And just one of the practical lessons that I think we can draw from that is to ask ourselves, is my conduct similar to that of the world? Or perhaps to put that another and perhaps more helpful way, if my conduct is no different from the conduct of the world, then there's something wrong, or I need to look at my conduct. Because the conduct of the world is trespasses and sins, and that ought to be entirely foreign to me now. The verses go on to also emphasise what we were by nature, and as a result, what we were destined for. It says in verse 3 that by nature we were the children of wrath, deserving of wrath, and that was something inherent in us. That was by nature what we deserved. And the verse also says that we were like that as others. There was nothing to set any of us apart from anyone else in the world. Nothing to set any of us here apart from any of those who have gone to spend eternity in hell. And just a few final points on these verses. The things that are described, I've perhaps emphasised this already, in verses 1 to 3 are true of all of us, and that's clear when we again look at the precise language that's used in these verses. This has been alluded to already, that there's reference to you, the Apostle Paul, there speaking to the people to whom he was writing, Gentiles. But Paul also in verse 3 refers to we, the converted Jews. So Jews and Gentiles and, of course, the whole world alike were in this situation. And it may just be helpful to read the verse that's referred to there in brackets just to emphasise this. 2 Corinthians 5.14. Just the expression right at the end of that verse, all were dead. That's describing what is proved to be true as a result of the work of Christ, that all were dead. The corollary of these verses speaking to all of us is that they speak to each of us individually or describe each of us personally. And that's made clear in Mr. Darby's translation of verse 1, which refers to your trespasses and sins. Lastly and importantly, verses 1 to 3 describe our past state. None of the things that are said there are true of us presently. But having said that, it's still possible for us to walk in a manner that's perhaps similar to what's described in the first three verses. Or to put that in a different way, it's still possible for us to walk in a fleshly way. And so that's something for us to be careful about. Having described all of that, we might then ask the question, who can use such material? Who can use people who were dead and who had no power in them to change themselves? The answer quite clearly comes in in verse 4. And it's wonderful the way that God is presented in this verse and also in the following verses. It's also wonderful to see something that's not presented, not mentioned at all in the verses that we have before us. The Bible makes it clear that men are judged according to their works. Matthew chapter 13 is an example of that. There's also a verse in the Old Testament which uses language similar to that which we had before us. In Joshua 24, at the end of verse 19, it's referring to God. It says there, he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. Now that's God and that's God's standard. But there's no mention of punishment or of judgment in these verses that we have before us. What is presented is the other side of God's character, which we have, I think, very well described in Psalm 103 verse 10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. And that's the character that's emphasised here. Verse 4 presents a God who is rich in mercy. If we want to know the extent of, or want to have illustrated the extent of God's mercy, we could perhaps turn to the well-known verse, John 3, 16, which tells us that God loved the world. That's the riches of God's mercy, that it covers everyone in the world. And we also have explained to us in verse 4 that God is a loving God and has a great love for us. And in Proverbs chapter 10, we have the statement that love covers all sins. And perhaps the most remarkable thing about God's nature is that this is the nature that he had. These are the feelings that he had towards us, even when we were in our hopeless and dead state. There's some verses in Isaiah that were perhaps alluded to in one of our prayers this morning. And if my memory serves me correct, they were mentioned a few times at last year's conference. They're Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9, where it says, or God speaks and says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, and so on. I just mention that because I think, well, even though those verses, the truth of those verses has a general application, I think what those verses are really directed towards is God's mercy, because that's what's referred to in the preceding verse, verse 7 of Isaiah chapter 55. So God's mercy is not our mercy, and his ways of mercy are far above our ways of mercy. And that's the wonderful God who has chosen to work with us even when we were dead towards him. This theme is continued in verses 5 and 6, where we see what God has done with us, what God has done with the material. And again, it's wonderful perhaps to see some of the things that aren't mentioned in these verses. And again, these verses don't say that God has dealt with us as we deserved. They also don't say that God has merely set things right, but rather he's introduced something far more wonderful, something entirely new. There's a statement that was made by the late John Guilford Bellet, which might just be helpful for me to read out because it encapsulates this quite well. He said, God never merely repairs a breach, he brings a better thing out of the ruin. I just think that's a wonderful way of summarising what we have here and of summarising what God has done. And the particular things that God has done that are emphasised in verses 5 and 6 of our chapter are that he has quickened us, that is, he has given a new life to us, and he has done this with the Lord Jesus. God has raised us up, and more than that, he has raised us up and seated us in the heavenlies, and this is in Christ. In contrast to our previous dead state, this is our present state, a new life, a new position where we're lifted out of this world and at rest or at home in a new place. And this last point, that we are seated in the heavenlies, I think is unique to Ephesians. Some of the other things are alluded to elsewhere in the Bible, but this last one, that we are already seated in heavenly places, is unique to Ephesians. Sometimes one reads, just in connection with that thought, the statements or statements to the effect that we are in the heavenlies in Christ as our representative. And that's true, but I think that expression is perhaps liable to misinterpretation. Obviously we're not literally in the heavenlies in one sense, in that our bodies are still here on this earth, but the verse does say that in Christ we are in the heavenlies, and more than that, that we are seated there. So we're not dealing with something that's merely theoretical, if you like, but something that is true of us now, that that is our proper position. And in addition to that, there ought to be no hindrance to us enjoying that position now, and we should enjoy it, and we should also walk according to that, and according to all of the things that we've learned about in the verses that we've got up to so far. The verse from Romans that's referred to there is the one that instructs us to reckon ourselves as dead to sin, but alive to God. Now there's something again that's been alluded to already that I just want to mention again, because it might be something that's useful for further study, and that is the allusions that can be drawn to Israel crossing the Red Sea, then being in the wilderness, and then entering into the land. Similarities with what are presented there in a typical way, and what we have here in Ephesians, and what we've just been talking about. Crossing the Red Sea, we might summarise in a very simple and quick way, picturing salvation, deliverance from bondage, being in the wilderness, speaking of being in this world and not being at home, and finally crossing the Jordan and entering into the land, speaking of being seated in the heavenly places, enjoying what God has promised to us. Having looked at that in your further study, you might also want to look at the different truths that are presented in Romans and Colossians, in addition to the letter that we're looking at today. Romans would correspond to crossing the Red Sea, Colossians being in the wilderness, and Ephesians entering into and enjoying the blessings in the land. Now, in all that we've been looking at thus far in this session, we might think that we are the subject of these verses, but really I don't think we are, and we're not. Although we might be the subject of God's work in that we're what he has chosen to work with, we're not the object of it, or at least not the sole object of it, because God has chosen to work with us in this wonderful way to display the riches of his grace, and he wants to do this throughout the ages to come. Now, we've had one coming age referred to already, and that is what we often refer to as the millennium, but there's another age coming after that, which is the eternal state, and God wants to display the riches of his grace towards us throughout those coming ages. We can't go past the last few verses of this passage, which inform us that we are saved by God's grace through the means or the agency of faith, but also with the emphasis that this is entirely God's gift. Verse 8 tells us that we're not saved by ourselves and not saved by anything that we have done, and again I just want to read part of the verse that's cited on the slide, Titus chapter 3 verses 4 and 5, because it says there that the kindness and love of God appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, which we have done, but according to his mercy, backing up and emphasising and reinforcing the truth that we have presented in these verses here. Verse 10 tells us that the new state that we have received is something altogether new. It's something that has been created out of nothing. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, we have the statement that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. That's the new state which God has created in us. And the word that's used for workmanship in Ephesians chapter 2 is the same word in the Greek from which we derive our English word poem, which perhaps just reveals to us the craftsmanship, if you like, to what God has done. The new state that he has created in us is something beautiful, something wondrous to behold. And again, the new state that we enjoy was created by God and God alone. I just want to say a few more words about these verses and particularly what we have in the statement that we are saved as a result of God's gift. Because it's important for us to remember that we didn't have any part in this at all. And when we reflect on verses 1, 2 and 3, that should be obvious to us. Being dead, having no inkling towards God, having nothing in us that would respond to God, how could we have any part in our salvation? Everything had to come from God. If there had been anything in us that had brought about our salvation, our salvation would not be by God's grace. We would have been saved by a work and by at least one thing that we had done. And as a result of that, on the basis of scripture, we'd be entitled to boast about that. But that's not what we have presented here. If there had been a single thing in us that had brought about our salvation, again, it would not have been by grace. In Romans 11, verse 6, we have it stated there that if a single work were involved, this is my paraphrase of the verse, obviously, but if there were a single work involved, then grace would not be grace, but rather it would be a debt. And following on from this, if we had a single thing to do with our salvation, Ephesians 2 couldn't describe us as God's workmanship. We'd be our own workmanship, at least in part. Now, having discovered that we had no part in the new state that we've received, it's important to realise that we do have something to do going forward because verse 10 of our chapter tells us that we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So the injunction to us is to walk in good works. Now, the expression good works isn't defined in these verses, and I think that's probably because there's no limit to the good works that we can walk in for God. Note that the verse says that God has prepared these good works. Perhaps to put that another way, they're part of his eternal counsel. And so if we are walking in good works, then we are fulfilling God's will and fulfilling part of his eternal counsel. Having said all of that, it's important to emphasise, particularly in the teachings that continue in parts of Christendom today, that works are not required to maintain our salvation. The present state that's described in our verses is ours forever. It is that we are saved. But works are the appropriate response to all that God has done for us. I just want to finish by reference to another verse in Titus chapter 3. But perhaps before reading that verse out, I just want to mention one other verse. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, we have the verse which I'm sure we all love. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now, there's another faithful saying in the New Testament, and that's found in Titus chapter 3, verse 8. And it's perhaps a fitting note to finish on. Remembering what has been presented to us in these verses, what we were and what God has done to bring us out of that state and to give us this wonderful new state to enjoy even now. Let's read the verse together, Titus chapter 3, verse 8. This is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. …

… Perhaps we could just read the scriptures together. Ephesians chapter 2, beginning at verse 11. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus ye who were some time afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandment contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. In what Mark brought before us in the previous verses, we have what we were morally before God, we were dead, and God's grace through Christ quickened us. And here in this passage we have what we were, what we might say positionally as Gentiles, we were afar off, and God in Christ has brought us near. The apostle begins by speaking of the separation between Jew and Gentile. He says, remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. Circumcision was given to the Jew as a sign of the covenant that God had made with Israel, given to Abraham initially. Genesis chapter 17 verse 11, God tells Abraham, you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. Genesis 17 verse 11. And so circumcision as it were was an outward sign that God had brought this nation into covenant with himself. And also it was a sign of the fact that they had been separated from everything that was not of God. In order that they might walk with him and that he might be their God and they might be his people. Now the Gentiles, we the Gentiles had no such position before God. And Paul speaks of us here as being without Christ. Christ had been promised as the deliverer to the Jew. The Gentiles had no such promise from God. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, in other words those who did not belong to that administration under God, having none of the blessings and the privileges that a citizen of Israel had, because they were Israelites and they had a claim to those things which had been promised to Abraham. The Gentile nations had no such claim upon God. They were at a distance. Strangers from the covenants of promise. Those promises were Israel's only. There were some promises to Israel which referred to the nations. As God said to Abraham, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. But they were not promises made to the nations, they were promises made to Israel. And that through Israel's seed the nations also were coming to blessing. But those covenants of promise were not given to the nations, they were given to Israel. We as Gentiles had no such promises. Having no hope. That doesn't mean hopeless, but it means that Israel had a hope. They had been promised a deliverer who would bring them into their blessing, bring them into their inheritance. That was their hope. The Gentiles had no such hope. Without God in the world. This means that they had no knowledge of God. I think the word actually means atheist. Not only having no knowledge of God, but no belief in God. They were marked by idolatry. Worshipping the gods of their own invention. And so when the Lord Jesus spoke to the Gentile woman, the Samaritan woman in Samaria by the well, he would say to her in John chapter 4 verse 22, he says, Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. This was the distinction between the Gentile and the Jew. The Jew knew the God that he worshipped because the God whom he worshipped had revealed himself to him. But the Gentile had no such revelation from God concerning himself. Salvation is of the Jew. Deliverance was theirs, not the Gentile. And so we had no claim upon God. And so the fact that he has brought us near in the Lord Jesus is all of his grace. Just as Mark has brought before us the fact that we have been brought into life and made to sit with the Lord Jesus in heavenly places, this is all of grace. And this position we have of nearness now is all of his grace because we had no claim upon him. So verse 13. We now in Christ Jesus, who sometime were far off, are made near by the blood of Christ. This is his death upon the cross. This is his redemptive work upon the cross. God has brought us near on this righteous ground that the Lord Jesus has died for us. And through his death there is the ground that God now can forgive us of all our sins. His blood, that which sanctifies, that which cleanses, that which removes guilt. And he has brought us near. And so we read in verse 14, he is our peace. The Lord Jesus himself is our peace. This is a wonderful thing to take hold of. It's not here a matter of peacefulness. Peacefulness, that's a state that we should have because he is our peace. In other words, our peace is something settled. It is our standing before God. God now contemplates us as being near to him. There's no enmity anymore between us and God. We are reconciled to him because the Lord Jesus himself is our peace. And so the Lord Jesus cannot fail. He cannot be, as it were, dislodged from that place that he now has at the right hand of God. And so our peace is fixed. Nothing can change it. Nothing can affect it because he himself is our peace. And so by faith receiving that, believing simply what the scriptures say, this will give us peace in our hearts as to our standing before God. And we will not have fears or doubts about the security of our salvation because how can it be affected if the Lord himself is our peace? How can it change? Press the button. And so the Lord Jesus has broken down that middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile. That which once separated us has been removed by the Lord. And how has that been done? Well, verse 15, it's been abolished in his flesh. The enmity between Jew and Gentile, that which separated them, has been abolished in his flesh, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. And why? What was the object in doing it that in himself of the two, Jew and Gentile, he might make one new man? The Lord Jesus, we read that he was born of a woman, that he was come of a woman, come under the law. And it's in his flesh that he has abolished the law contained in ordinances. The Lord Jesus was born of a woman, he became a man. We read in Hebrews that he took not of angels by the hand, but the seed of Abraham. He became a Jew. He took a place in the nation of Israel. He took a place under the law. And in his death, he did away with that order of things completely. He abolished it in his flesh. And he brought in a new order of things, a wonderful new order. And in himself, he made Jew and Gentile, having removed the enmity between them, he brought them both into one body, making a new man. Now that word new, it means that it's of a different order to that which went before. Completely new. A different order entirely. We get this word, or these words, a new man, later on in the epistle. And there it's applied individually. Having put off the old man, having put on the new. There it's individually, but here it's corporately. We, both Jew and Gentile, have been brought in Christ into one new man. And that order of things is after himself. It's that new creation order. And so, the church, this new man, is marked now by that wonderful moral order which is of God. And which is seen in Christ and in his church, that new man. So, making peace. That's, I think, peace, not peace with God here, but peace between those who are Jews, those who are Gentiles. The enmity is removed. They've been brought into one new man, thus making peace. Those who previously were forbidden by God to walk together, the Jew, could have no dealings with the Gentiles. Now, they have been brought into the same body, that new man in Christ. And the enmity between them has been dissolved. The wall of partition has been broken down. Now they are together in Christ on that new ground. That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And it's the same glad tidings of peace now, which go out to the Jew and to the Gentile. He came and preached peace to you, which were far off, that's the Gentile, and to them that were positionally as a nation near to him. And to them that were positionally as a nation near to him, but sadly in heart, far from him. They too needed that gospel of peace, the gospel of the glad tidings of peace, preached to them in Christ. So both the Jew and the Gentile now, brought into one body on that same ground, the death of Christ, the wonderful gospel of the glad tidings of peace. The Jew, previously, he had access to Jehovah through the law given in ordinances. And it was through his own efforts that he would keep the law, and therefore he could draw near to Jehovah. But of course he could not, because the law only manifested the state of his human heart. But now in Christ, it's not a question of drawing near to Jehovah, it's a question of drawing near to the Father. Because in Christ, God has been revealed to us as his Father and our Father. How near we are in that place of intimacy with him, that relationship of children, of sons that we've had, sons by adoption. We have access into the very presence of the Father as a child has access into the presence of his Father. Because of our relationship that we've been brought into, both Jew and Gentile, in Christ, by the Spirit. He is the power, as it were, through which we draw near to God. In Christ, that's the ground, it's in him, we're accepted in him. By the Spirit, we have access into the very presence of our God and Father. And so, in Christianity we have a new ground completely, we've been brought into a new position completely. That which is spiritual, that which is heavenly. And we've been brought into a relationship with God, not as Jehovah. We have not been made fellow citizens of the Israelites, we have not been brought into Israel. No, we've been brought, we've been made fellow citizens with the saints, the sanctified ones. Those who have been cleansed by the precious blood of Christ and brought near to God. And so, we read, we are the household of God, we've been brought into the very family of God. We're no longer foreigners and strangers. Fellow citizens with the saints, we have all the rights and the privileges now that belong to the children of God. Those whom he has set apart for himself because of the Lord Jesus Christ through his death upon that cross. And we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Now, we know who the apostles are, but who are the prophets? Are they, would that include Old Testament prophets? Well, I think, not wishing to intrude on another brother's portion of scripture. But if we go into the next chapter, we get these apostles and prophets spoken of again. And it's quite clear who the prophets are. Verse 4, whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. So, these prophets are not Old Testament prophets, but they are New Testament prophets. And God has revealed to his apostles and prophets the revelation which was hidden before, which was not known in previous ages of the mystery, Christ and the church, Jew and Gentile brought into one body. And this is the foundation of the apostles and prophets. It's not the apostles and prophets personally, they are not the foundation. But rather, it's their revelatory ministry, which they were given by God, concerning his purpose in Christ. And that he would, as we've had before, not be alone, but would have for himself, himself alone, his assembly, his bride. So the foundation was laid by the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. If we read in Isaiah, chapter 28, verse 16, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. I think that could mean, shall not be ashamed, shall not be confounded. But it's also true, of course, that he who believeth shall not make haste, because we trust in the Lord. But the point is, the Lord himself is the foundational stone. He is the foundation that God lay in Zion. And he is the cornerstone of the assembly. And that is the stone that was laid, and the building goes up in reference to the cornerstone. Every stone that is placed in that building is, as it were, lined up with the cornerstone. The cornerstone governs the whole building, how it goes up. Everything is brought into reference to that. It's a foundational stone. And so it is with the Lord Jesus. It is his house. It is his church. He is building it. He is the foundation. He is the rock that Peter confessed. Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. He said, Thou art Peter. You are Peter, which is Petros, a stone. You are a stone upon this rock. Another word, Petra, upon this rock. That is himself, as the son of the living God. He would build his church. Peter was part of the material that would make that building. He was a stone. But the foundation was Christ himself. And so we are built upon that foundation. And the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. There's a scripture in 1 Kings, which speaks of how the temple was built and how the stones were prepared. And it says, 1 Kings 6-7, And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer nor axe, neither any tool of iron heard in the house while it was building. So each stone was made ready for the place appointed for it. And then it was brought and put into the place that was for that stone in connection with all the other stones of the building. So it was fitly framed together. And every believer in Christ has his place within that building. He's prepared before he is brought into the church. He is saved. He is quickened. He is converted. He believes upon the Lord Jesus. That's how he's prepared, as it were. And then, having believed, he's brought into the assembly. He's added to the assembly. He has his own place, but in connection with all the other believers. Not independent, but God's, wonderful as we have it here, his master work, the building of the temple, which is for his eternal glory and praise. Because this is the object of a temple. We have here what's in view. It groweth unto a holy temple unto the Lord. It's what God has in view with this building. It is for his glory. And there's a scripture found, I think it's in the Psalms, it's a marginal rendering, but it speaks of the temple, it says, Every wit of it uttereth glory. And this is the object of the temple. It's for the glory of God. But, we read, it's a habitation of God. In verse 22, In whom ye also are builded together, for an habitation of God. And this really is the fundamental purpose, we might say, of this building. This is what gives it all its character. This is what makes it glorious. This is what makes it holy. Because it's the place in which God dwells. And the very first reference we have to the house of God in the scriptures emphasizes that very point. In Genesis 28, verse 16, we read of Jacob. He'd had a vision. It says, Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. But why was it, what was it that made Jacob realize this was the house of God? He said, Because the Lord is in this place. And that is what is fundamental to the truth of the house. It is the dwelling place of God, the habitation of God by the Spirit. And just to finally close on the last verse. There's a practical aspect to this. Because Paul says, In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. He's now saying to the Ephesian believers, Ye also are builded together as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Now, Paul isn't saying that you at Ephesus are in yourselves, in your assembly at Ephesus, a house of God. He's not saying that at all. But he's saying that in you, the truth of the universal truth of this dwelling place of God should be worked out where you are locally. It should be seen by the world in you where you are there. The world can't take account of the church. Only God can do that, particularly in its present state of division. But locally, believers can give expression to this truth of the house of God. Not in independence, but knowing that they belong to the whole, that they are members of the body of Christ, owning the lordship of Christ, owning his authority, that he is the son over his own house, and to show forth this truth in all that they do, in how they serve him, in the order that they follow, the scriptural order. They can show forth that they are in this building, the house of God, locally, so that Paul could say of the believers in Corinth, when they would come together, when they were ministering unto the Lord, ministering unto one another in the power of the Holy Spirit, and one comes in who's uninstructed, who doesn't know these things, knows nothing of them, and yet he will see how they are going on, and he will say, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 25, and thus are the secrets of his heart manifest, and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. And so locally, the truth that God dwells in his habitation, is given expression to, not in independence, but as part of that one body of Christ. Thank you. …

… We can just start with the afternoon meetings with prayer, and then come to the questions. Our God and Father, we give thanks again for the time we have spent together already. We give thanks for this marvellous Gischwister, that is the subject of this conference, and that our hearts have been inviting a good matter this morning, considering by purpose and the way in which it was brought into effect. We would also trust that there will be a rich blessing this afternoon. We again pray for help in the presentation of the Scriptures, and also in answering any questions. And we do pray that all those who have questions, that they might find a good answer. And we might all be encouraged as we go from here to seek these things out further, for the glory of the Lord Jesus. Amen. A good use has been made of the question box. There are quite a number. The first one is for Ronty. Israel was near, and the Gentiles were far off. Now we are near. Does that mean we are Israel now? Scripture makes a clear distinction between Israel and the Church of God. So the first Corinthians in chapter 10, verse 32, the Apostle writes, Give none thanks, neither to the Jews, that is Israel, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God. So they are the three groups which are back in the Scripture. The Jews, the Gentiles, and then distinguishing the both is the Church of God. And whenever Israel is spoken of in the New Testament, it always refers to Israel, the nation. I'll give you an example in Romans, which is a very clear example. Romans chapter 10, the Apostle says, Brethren, he's speaking of his brethren, those who are in the Church of God, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. So Israel as a nation is unregenerate. It is still Israel, as distinct from the Church of God. So the Church of God has not become Israel. Maybe there is a thought in the question of a verse at the end of Galatians, which speaks of the Israel of God, where Paul in Galatians has been showing the believers that they are to walk according to the spirit of grace. They are not under the law, neither as a means of salvation, nor as a means of pleasing or being accepted by God. That it is all of grace. The law has been set aside. And he says, as many as walk according to this rule or this principle, peace be on them and mercy and, he says in addition, and upon the Israel of God. So there I would suggest the Israel of God are those Jews who have believed in the truth. They have turned away from the law as a means of salvation. And they put their trust in the Lord Jesus and they are trusting in him for salvation. They walk according to that rule and they are a faithful remnant, a faithful Israelite remnant, even at this time. Because we know that as Paul teaches in Romans, there is always a remnant for God in Israel. But that remnant, they are in the church, they are Christians, even though they are still Israelites. So in that sense they would be the Israel of God. But they are in the church, they are Christians and the church is not Israel. Thank you very much. Now the next question is for Paul Dronsfield. Please explain briefly the prophets in the New Testament and some names or give some names. If we turn to Ephesians in chapter 4. I am not going to say too much on this because this will be spoken of anyway later on. I am sure a much clearer expression will be given. But we read of the Lord Jesus. When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And then verse 11. And these are the gifts that he gave. He gave some apostles, that means he gave a number of apostles. And some prophets, a number of prophets. Some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. So these prophets were given after the Lord had ascended up on high. After the church had been established upon earth by his spirit. These apostles were given and prophets were given. In order that the church might be edified and built up in their most holy faith. And that they might come into the knowledge of the truth. Because a prophet primarily is one who simply communicates the mind of God. And these New Testament prophets that were given these gifts. They communicated truth which had not been revealed previously from God. Truth which was not known in Old Testament times. Now that the Lord has ascended in heaven. They would teach the truth concerning him. All the things concerning himself. And of God's purpose in Christ. And of the mystery. These things we brought out by the prophets and the apostles. And we can name some. We have in Acts. Acts 13. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch. Certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon. That was called Niger. And Lucius of Cyrene and Menaion. Which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. There is no distinction between whether they are teachers or prophets there. But nevertheless there must have been some there who were prophets. We also get Agabus in Acts. Who prophesied to Paul. In regard to the fact that he would be made a prisoner if he went to Rome. These prophets have given verbal prophecies. But we also have written revelation. Which we have in the word of God. And I would suggest that Luke was a prophet. Mark was a prophet. James was a prophet. Jude was a prophet. And we have their prophetic written ministry. Because they communicated the mind of God. They were inspired by God to do so. Thank you. Would you like a break or just stay here? We then had a question also on chapter 2, verse 8. Where it says, made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ. Another question on this. We feel very much on earth. So what does this mean? And as Mark has rightly guessed, it's for him. In answering this question, it may just be helpful to make one or two remarks about reading and understanding the Bible. Sometimes in the Bible we have the same thing presented in different ways. To take one example, Romans refers to us in our past state as being without strength. Whereas in Ephesians it was something that's a little bit different. It says that we're dead. So sometimes we have the same thing presented in different ways. Sometimes we also have two things presented, two different things that are both true at the same time. And that's perhaps the best approach to take to answering this question and understanding verse 8. The short answer is that we are both on earth and in heavenly places. Just to again go back to the Old Testament and the history of Israel, which may help us with this. Israel was in the wilderness after they'd been taken through the Red Sea. They were in the wilderness. Then they moved into the land where they began to enjoy God's blessings. For us, we are seated in the heavenly places. That's what Ephesians teaches us. So we are able, and in fact we do, enjoy the spiritual blessings which God has promised to us. Obviously, we are still here on the earth. And so unlike Israel, who moved from the wilderness to the land, if you like, we are in both at the same time. We are still here on earth in the wilderness at the same time as being seated in heavenly places and being able to enjoy all that God has promised to us. The question used the phrase, we feel very much on earth. Perhaps the answer to that statement about feeling is Colossians 3, verse 1, which instructs us to seek the things which are above. We then had a question which says, why is there a prayer in the middle of the teaching? And I thought that's for Brother Hugh, but he thought it's for me. But perhaps trying to give an answer to this, we might just look at the central request in that prayer, which I would suggest is in verse 18. I start in 17 for context. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Now, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. For what purpose? That you may know what is the hope of His calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and the exceeding greatness of His power. So, central point is, he prays that the eyes of the hearts of the Ephesians might be opened. And why did they need to be opened? Well, the reason was that they might know these three things, the calling, the inheritance, and the power. Now, why does that prayer come there? Well, first he has presented the calling and the inheritance. And now he says, well, that's a wonderful subject, but now I need to get on my knees and pray that everyone will take it in. That our eyes are opened and we actually start enjoying these things. That's also a picture from the Old Testament. You know, the land was given to everyone, but you had two and a half tribes who said, actually, thanks, but no thanks. We're quite comfortable on the other side of Jordan. They didn't enjoy practically what they actually possessed. And so, Paul kind of interrupts his teaching and says, now I need to pray that everybody enjoyed it. Now, then there was a question which says, it's about something that Mark said. Do you want to read that or summarize it? It's a longer question on Chapter 2, verse 8. Yes, the question concerns Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. And in particular, the gift of God, grace, and faith. Whether, in particular, that faith is a gift of God. The question refers to, which I won't read out in full, but it does refer to the original Greek and suggests that it's not possible for faith to be the gift of God. Because in the original Greek, faith and gift, I think the question says, are of different genders. The person asking the question states that they believe that salvation is the gift of God. And then asks, if faith is the gift of God, why doesn't God give it to everybody? Isn't it God's will that none should perish? Perhaps starting with the last part of the question first, it is absolutely true that the Bible states that God is not willing that any should perish. That's 2 Peter. One thing that the Bible doesn't say, however, is that God is willing that any should perish or that God has destined any to perish. And perhaps in answering these sorts of difficult questions, it is good to restrict ourselves to what the Word of God says. The Bible describes God as one who loves the world. We have that in John chapter 3. The message that Paul preached and the message that we preach is be ye reconciled to God. That's 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And that's a message that goes out to everybody and that God offers to everybody. When we come to chapter 2 of Ephesians, I'm afraid I can't assist on what the Greek might have said. Perhaps others can. But I think that for all of us, if we're in the same position as me, not knowing the Greek, we can still be helped by the context, by looking at everything that's presented in the verses that we read. And when you have the opportunity to go back to the slides in, I think it was the second last or perhaps the last slide of my presentation, I just tried to lead us in the direction of what I think the context teaches us, which is that I was dead. There was nothing in me, no life in me, nothing at all that would respond to God. That's the beginning. The end is that I am God's workmanship. If there was nothing in me that would respond to God, then everything had to be of God. Perhaps then to answer the question expressly, I do believe that what is presented here is that the two things that are mentioned in these verses, salvation and faith, are the gift of God. And again, if that were not the case, then we wouldn't be able to have some of the other expressions that we have in these verses. In verse 9, for example, we wouldn't be able to have the expression, not of works. We wouldn't be able to have the expression, lest any man should boast. Everything that brought about my salvation, I believe, had to come from God as a result of that. Perhaps in answering this question, I can go back to something that I said earlier, that sometimes we have different truths presented about the same thing and we can't always reconcile them in our minds. And perhaps this is one of those things where we do have different truths presented, that God is not willing that any should perish, and we have the truth that we have here in Ephesians chapter 2, which to our minds are difficult to reconcile. But perhaps I can finish just by reference to one other verse that might encourage us, even if we can't reconcile these things. And the verse is 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 9. It says there, God's way has always been, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. This verse perhaps reminds us of that, where it says that we are saved according to God's own purpose. God has a purpose in the way that he is acting. Perhaps we don't appreciate it, or sorry, we can't, aren't capable of appreciating it. But fortunately we can have the confidence that he does have a purpose to the way that he acts. Thank you very much. There is, well there are two more questions. The first one of these is relating to the question, why did the Lord choose us? The answer given was, we do not know. Surely God chose us because we believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is this not so? Brother Hugh was going to speak to us on that one. As ever, we need to go back to the scripture that we've read to see what it actually says. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4. According as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. Having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us, wherein he has taken us into favor in the beloved. Stop there for a moment. So this is according to the riches of his grace. It is, if we say we don't know why we have been chosen in Christ, it is because we don't know. It is according to the riches of God's grace. That is quite clear, quite distinct in this epistle that we're reading. And I will go on from where we got to. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of his grace, which he has caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence. This is all looking at the question from God's point of view. God is acting, God is choosing, God is adopting sons to himself. And this is God's side of the truths that we're looking at. And we read nothing in these verses about believing. Believing is a separate question altogether. And I'm going to turn now to a verse in Acts. Acts 16, verse 30 and 31. Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. That's man's side of it. That's nothing to do with what we're reading here in Ephesians. Our responsibility is to believe. And these are the words of the apostle Paul himself. Believe and thou shalt be saved. So don't look at the truth that we're reading here about selection by God himself as being in any way a denial of the truth that our responsibility is not to decide whether or not or why God chose us, but it is to believe that we might be saved. About 11 or 12 years ago, for those of you who can remember back that far and who were in the London area, our brother Ernie Brown did a series at the London Fellowship meetings on the subject of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. And he likened those two things to a pair of railway lines that go on to infinity but never, ever touch one another. And if we try to make the points of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, if we try to make them meet or cross or converge or adapt to one another, we'll never do it. We'll get hopelessly lost. We just have to believe that on the one hand, God did choose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. But my response, I wasn't there, I don't know. But I know and I can say that I have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and that is the reason I'm saved. But that is not the scripture that we read this morning in chapter one. Thank you very much. We have one more question and about three and a half more minutes. And this question is for Paul Brunsfield. The question is, when are we in the house of God? Well the short answer I think is that we are always in the house of God. The house of God is an aspect of truth. The assembly is likened unto the house of God. And we see it in different scriptures, even the house of God in different aspects. The scripture we read today, it is a holy temple. It is a future thing which God is building. In Peter, it is seen more as the place in which spiritual sacrifices are offered up to God by a holy priesthood who have been ordained to show forth his praise. So that is another aspect of the house of God. And that function goes on when we are together in assembly, but also when we are at home. We can praise God, worship God. When we are with other Christians, in social settings, we can praise the Lord and worship him together. So that is one aspect of it. There is another aspect we find in Timothy. I will read it out to you if I can. It is 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So there, the house of God is seen as a place in which the truth is worked out in practice. If the world views Christians walking in a godly way according to scripture, they are seeing an order, a divine order which should be true of God's household. And in Hebrews, we get the same thought that Moses, he was a servant in God's house, but how much greater is the Lord? He is the son over his own house. Whose house are we if we are true believers, if we do not turn away from the truth as some would do, some Jewish professing Christians would do. They would prove they were not Christians at all and they would go back to Judaism. They would turn away from it. They would not continue faithful to the end. But those who do, they are the house of God. And there is another illustration there of the household. Those who carry out that order which is divine and which is of the Lord. And if we read Timothy, he says that thou mightest know how to behave thyself in the house of God. If we read Timothy, it covers every aspect of the Christian life. In assembly, administration of the widows, practical matters, servants and masters, even to the extent that he tells Timothy to have a little wine for his stomach's sake. It all touches upon how we behave ourselves in the house of God. So I would say that the answer to that question is that we are always in the house of God. Thank you very much. …

… The unsearchable riches of Christ. The portion of scripture which we should turn to is Ephesians chapter 3 and for our first consideration the verses 1 to 13. So it would be good if we had our Bibles, our New Testaments open at the Scriptures. Can I just say that this word unsearchable does not mean that we are not to search into it. It's not something that's prohibited to us. It is something that we definitely should seek to do and we are doing so in these meetings. But the thought is that the subject is entirely beyond us. We cannot fathom it. No matter how deeply we are taught, no matter what entrance we have into the truth, there's more resources in God. There's more in Christ. There's more on before. The bucket is in the ocean but the ocean is in the bucket. Now David took five stones from the brook and Andrew took five words from the book. And you have your pieces of paper and you have your pens and it would be a very interesting exercise if time permitted to give you two minutes on intelligence, two minutes on revelation, two minutes on mystery, two minutes on administration, and two minutes in testimony and see what you would write about this subject. And it would be interesting to collect the pieces of paper and to go through them in the interval but alas we're not going to have time for that. But just think of those things for a little moment while I turn to what we have in the section 5 on the program. It says this chapter is a parenthesis. Now a parenthesis that highlights the mystery of Christ and the church. What does that mean this parenthesis? Well if we turn to verse 1 of chapter 3 it's saying for this cause I Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. And then when we go on to chapter 4 verse 1 it commences I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you and so on. That is to say from chapter 4 verse 1 he carries on from where he had left off at chapter 3 verse 1. And if you have the new translation of JND right at the end of chapter 3 it says the whole of chapter 3 except verse 1 is a parenthesis. It's something additional, it's something which comes in by the by. We could read chapter 1 and 2 and then we could skip over and follow out from chapter 4 through to chapter 6. The calling of God and then our walk consistently with it. The doctrine and then our practice. The manner the counsels and plans of God for the glory of Christ and the assembly in eternity. And then in chapter 2 the way in which these things are worked out in time. And then our response how we ought to live our lives in accordance with that. But in between we have this section and actually it's a section where Paul once again turns to prayer as he did in chapter 1. And we see that when we come down to verse 14. He says for this cause I bow my knees and he'd started the chapter for this cause I Paul I'm going to do something. He was going to pray. Then he tells us about himself. He doesn't talk a lot about himself in his epistles Paul. But if you read here in these first 13 verses you find I and my and he says quite a deal quite a good deal about himself because he has and had a pivotal role in connection with the aspect of truth that we are considering in these meetings. He was a chosen vessel. He had truth committed to him and he has committed that truth to writing in order that we might enjoy it. And so in a sense this is a digression preparatory to the prayer and the whole thing then it comes in between in a parenthesis. And that's exactly what the assembly is. It's a parenthesis in God's ways. God chose Israel chose Abraham dealt with his purpose for an earthly people. And then with Nebuchadnezzar we come to the times of the Gentiles. That was another interruption. That was another parenthesis. And then we come to the calling out of the church. Another parenthesis. And after that so to speak the Jewish train is going to come out of the siding after the church express has run through. And God is going to take up his dealings with Israel and the earth again. So they assume there is a parenthesis within a parenthesis. And if you read Mr. Darby's introduction to the French Bible he says that time is a parenthesis in eternity. So we might even say a parenthesis within a parenthesis within a parenthesis. But during this time during this period that we are privileged to belong to God is bringing out heavenly wisdom and he's bringing out truths of eternal value. So to go back to what we have on the screen. Paul speaks about his intelligence. It's knowledge in the King James in verse 4 but the significance is in reading it. What Paul has said you can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ. Paul had an understanding of these things. He was intelligent in the truth. And sometimes we say about a brother oh that's an intelligent brother or a sister yes she's intelligent in the scriptures. But I have to say such are a diminishing breed and in danger of becoming an extinct species. And if you young people here are not prepared to take time with the Lord and to take time with the scriptures well then you're not going to arrive at this divine intelligence. We need also like Paul to be intelligent in the scriptures and intelligent in the truth and to have a knowledge of Christ. And that comes by effort. And we have to study to show ourselves approved unto God. And bodily exercise profit is little but godliness for the time that is now present. So we come to the thought of revelation. He says by revelation I made known unto you the mystery. So this is a very important factor in what we are considering. This special revelation that was given to the Apostle Paul it says that it was revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in verse 5 by the Spirit. And that is true. Others had the revelation. It was revealed to them. But we know from this and other scriptures that it was revealed to Paul. It was revealed to Paul for others. And in fact when we look at his conversion we find even there certain aspects of his conversion which throw a light on this revelation. In the first account in Acts 9 it says there shined round about him Saul a light from heaven. So we're dealing today with heavenly truth which centers in the risen and exalted Christ at God's right hand. Heavenly light makes all things bright seen in his blessed face. That's what we are considering. We had it this morning. We're blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. In heavenly places in Christ. It's a light from heaven. Marvel not that Christ in glory all my inward soul hath won. Has heavenly light entered your soul? And then in the second account of Paul's conversion in Acts 22 in verse 6 he says suddenly there shone from heaven a great light. Things in Christianity are great. Moses saw the burning bush and he said I'll turn aside and see this great sight. No doubt that was a great sight but there are greater things in Christianity. The greatness of the glory and we've had it on searchable this riches the riches of his grace grace the glory of his grace the love of Christ which passes knowledge the manifold wisdom of God. It seems as if Paul was ransacking the Greek language to find terminology to find words that he could put that he could use to put these things into expression. Let's be clear in Christianity in Christ in God's purposes in Christ and the assembly we're dealing with the greatest thing in this universe. We're dealing with God's great purpose so it's a light from heaven and it's a great light and then in chapter 26 verse 13 it says it was about above the brightness of the Sun. What we're occupied with in Christianity is greater than anything that's possible on earth. You young people get hold of that because the world's your oyster so to speak you know there's so many things at your fingertips now with the internet and everything else you know there's so many avenues open to you but here's something which eclipses anything and everything of earth it's beyond earthly things it's above the brightness of the Sun and then lastly in this presentation in Acts 26 verse 13 it says shining around about me and then which journeyed with me. It was available! It was available for Paul and it was and is available for those who journeyed with him. Literally there were those who were with him on that journey but I want to give it a figurative present-day application. Are you journeying with Paul? Are you keeping company with Paul dear Christian believer in your spiritual life? Do you value his truth, his teaching, his ministry, his epistles? Book of the Acts, historical account. Most part after dealing with Peter in the earlier chapters is taken up with Paul and in the book of the Acts we read of those who are were sailing with Paul. Are you sailing with Paul today? Are you in the boat with Paul? Because it's been said if you lose Paul you lose all and I'll say it again it's not original to me but I'll say it and you can take it away with you if you lose Paul you lose all. So we have Paul's intelligence and we've the fact that Paul had received a revelation and listen let's not delude ourselves that we can come together in the Catford Hall and have a nice PowerPoint presentation and that we can take some notes and we can go home with our handout or whatever and we've reached the truth. It's not like that. We were speaking earlier about the eyes of our heart being enlightened that involves our affections centering in a person, centering in Christ and it says here that these things are revealed on to apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Very important that we've been sealed with the Holy Spirit in order that the Holy Spirit might lead us into these things and there needs to be prayer. Paul bowed the knee and we need also to reach these things by prayer. I wonder do we think of it those of us who speak do we pray about the truths we minister before we speak do we pray about them afterwards that the audience that the hearers might enter into them because Paul did because the great danger and it's a particular danger for us today is just to have an intellectual grasp of the truth just of head knowledge and not heart knowledge. It's what's been referred to by a previous generation of trafficking in unfelt truth. We don't want to traffic in unfelt truth. We want to have the reality of it live in reality expressed in our lives something that comes from the heart and not from the head. There's this matter of intelligence and there's this matter of revelation and then we come to the ministry which was the keystone of Paul's teaching and I think today it's a great mystery to people the mystery you talk to people about the mystery and it's something mysterious and they don't know what it is it's like some of these other terms they've never heard of it before but on our program it says it's the mystery of Christ and the assembly and that's exactly what the mystery is all about the glory and exaltation of Christ God's purpose to put all things under his hands and the association of the assembly the church of believers taking out of their Jewish standing their outward their external nearness they were in dispensationally and Gentiles who were far off and they've both not just been planted down in Jewish ground oh no no no they're in Christ it's a new standing before God believers are in Christ before God and we are associated with Christ in all of this glory that's the mystery it's not something mysterious that's not the sense of mystery in the Bible mystery as used in the Bible is something that was not previously revealed which is now made known you've grasped that something which was hidden that's it hid from ages and from generations something that had not been divulged something that God had not revealed something that was never previously known or spoken about and now now at this present time now in the Catford Hall it's made manifest to the Saints Paul Paul was the instrument that God used but it says that he wrote about it we don't have Paul personally but with Paul's writings and this truth was committed to inspired writings his intelligence was given in words of revelation by inspiration and we can profit from this so the mystery is something that was hid from ages and generations but now is revealed and there are great riches and glory associated with it that's the truth in Colossians chapter 1 and there's an interesting verse in Romans 16 it's the second text I have up on the screen where it talks about the need of the believer to be established we want to establish Christians today we don't want wishy-washy Christians we don't want to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine we want to get our feet firmly on the foundation of the Word of God Paul here in Romans 16 tells us what will establish us and he distinguishes his gospel from the revelation of the mystery I have something in front of me here from brief reports a missionary missionary bulletin that some may glance at and in the editorial the lead article by Mark Packer in the October number it says everything in the New Testament is part of the gospel is it says the truth is that the gospel is God's entire revealed plan and the word entire is highlighted in bold letters of salvation no no no not so these scriptures are telling us that there's something in addition to what Paul refers to as my gospel he says in Romans according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ that's his person according to the revelation of the mystery I think in those three things we've got the truth of Romans salvation my gospel the preaching of Jesus Christ that's Colossians that's the glory of Christ as the head the various headships and the revelation of the mystery and that's what we've come to hear in Ephesians so don't let anyone tell you that the gospel is everything we need the gospel we need to be established we need the truths of salvation but this forms a foundation to build on and from which we can go on and enter into the full truth of Christ and the church as taught as revealed and as divulged in the writings of Paul and in Ephesians 3 the mystery as I wrote afore in few words where did he write before it must surely be the first two chapters it must be in the preceding part of the letter and he says I wrote in few words actually he says more about it here than he says anywhere else but it is few words but it's sufficient sufficient because this is what God has caused to be recorded in the Holy Scriptures in our New Testaments it may be few words but if we take them up and study them and get on our knees and enter into the truth we're going to be greatly blessed in our souls they're going to come to some feeble perhaps understanding of the mystery and of what was not previously known on to the sons of men but is now revealed it would have upset the apple cart if this truth had been revealed previously God calling out Abraham separating from his country and kindred father's house making him separate and then fencing Israel off from the nations and keeping them completely apart those soul testament saints could never have conceived of such a purpose of this as this that the believers that the saints would be associated with the Lord Jesus Christ as the heavenly man at God's right hand and there are three things the mystery the others have been speaking about it essentially this is the subject the calling and the inheritance and the power it speaks of three things I think in verse 6 just look at verse 6 we're joint heirs we're a joint body and we're joint partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus of the same fellow heirs joint heirs that's collective we share the inheritance together we're blessed in everything every spiritual blessing in Christ these things are true in him we are joint heirs for the inheritance we look down we look down in a day to come that God's going to gather all things together the things in heaven and things on earth they're going to be placed under Christ and he's given him to be head over all things to the church that was emphasized we share in that glory that's collective we're joint heirs but a joint body that's corporate because the church is a living organism we're vitally linked by the Holy Spirit we're linked to one another and we're linked to a risen head in heaven that's essentially the truth of the church we're not talking about a building that we meet in we're talking about a living organism something which is corporate something which is a head in heaven so it's collective and it's corporate and then it says the joint promise and I take it there that the promise is life eternal life which God had promised before the foundation of the world we're quickened together with Christ we were dead we've been made to live so it's vital it's real it's living and if our Christianity is not living it's not after all worth very much so this mystery involves things that we share in jointly one with another and in association with Christ well this subject would need further development but then we come to the thought of administration and he speaks in this passage also about the administration of the mystery in verse 9 in our King James Version it says the fellowship of the mystery but the thought is really administration of the mystery there's the administration of the fullness of times that's future but there's a present-day ministration of the mystery that means of the way in which the truth of Christ and the assembly is worked out practically it's to be worked out in our lives our brother Paul has told us it's worked out in localities we have some scriptures about how it's worked out from chapter 4 onwards but a lot of teaching about it is given in 1st Corinthians and in the epistles of Timothy and we have examples in the book of Acts for instance at Ephesus Paul separated the disciples if we want to go on with the truth of God it requires our separation unto God for holy purposes and Paul said he was a wise architect and he laid the foundation now we have to build on it what are we building and it's because of the administration of these truths that we don't have a clergyman we don't make a distinction between laity and clergy we don't have a pastor and a flock we're all together as members of the body of Christ each has something to do we'd recognize the truth of headship which involves the place of the sister and the brother of the male and the female there many much teaching of Paul about the way in which these things are worked out in practice but that would be a subject for another Bible Basics week and the last point I just say about the unsearchable riches of Christ that about the administration of these things that we haven't time to look at these you can glance briefly at what's up on the screen we're not left to our own devices we've not to adopt our own devices we've not to ignore the divine administration some don't know it some are abandoning it and face favor of fresh devices let us see that we do not act lust we cannot maintain the truth of the church by doing and practice that which contradicts it thus far mr. FB Hall and mr. Alfred Trench whose lament was that the younger generation were far more occupied with good men popular personalities than with the truth of God what is going to have weight with our souls is it the truth of God or is it just to be following good men and Alfred that was mr. J Alfred Trench and then a name which will be known to some mr. William Kelly he says innovation is another resource of unbelief suited to a different order of mind but no less a dishonor to God and a danger for man so there is this danger of innovation in what we do and the way we do it and we need to follow out the administration the blueprint the pattern what Paul is a wise master builder is given and follow out the truth for the administration of the mystery in order that we might enjoy these on searchable riches in a practical way last of all there's the testimony the other words are found in the chapter but testimony would cover preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ it would cover making all men know what is the administration of the mystery and it would cover even that the principalities and powers and might know through the assembly the variegated the manifold wisdom of God according to the purposes of the ages eternal purposes which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord that's a sobering truth for us that God is working out his eternal purposes at this time in our lives and in the way we do things and in the way we come together in assembly how are we are we set for the testimony are we answering to the truth of God I liken it to this think of the children of Israel journeying through the wilderness and it was the tabernacle of the testimony it was the ark of the testimony there was to be a testimony to others through what was being done and times came when they took down the curtains and they covered the furniture and they carried it through the wilderness now they were carrying material things they were carrying external articles but we as Christians have something infinitely more precious to carry we carry Christ with us we carry the unsearchable riches of Christ but we carry them in our hearts and the truth is to be worked out in our lives are we giving a testimony to others and do even the principalities and powers in the heavenly places do they see the truth of the assembly being exemplified and practiced do they see something of this mystery in our lives may it be so for his name's sake …

… Turn please to the latter part of Ephesians chapter 3, and we'll read the verses from 14 to 21. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. We are come to a particularly important part of the epistle to the Ephesians. Verses 14 to 21 of chapter 3, Paul's second prayer, are the bridge between the teaching part of the letter and the practical part of the letter. It is the part of the letter that converts right Christian teaching into right Christian living, and we must all of us pass this way. God does not want us to be like people that come together, and we take down a locked chest, and we unlock it, and we take out the precious gems and the precious things that are within, and we hand them round, we admire them, we talk about them, perhaps we even thank God for them, and then at the end of our being together, we put them all back into the chest again. We lock it up, and we put it back into the cupboard. What the devil wants to do is to bring in a disconnect at this point. If he cannot prevent us from knowing the truth, he will do everything within his power to prevent us from living out that truth. And it is self-evident that this being so shows how important prayer is. In chapter one, Paul had written thirteen verses before he felt the need to put his pen down and to get down on his knees and pray. Of course, he tells us in the latter part of chapter one what his prayer was. And here in chapter three, he only writes thirteen verses before again he feels the need to get down on his knees and pray. Because it is not in us, not in any one of us, by our own intelligence, by our own application, by our own strength, to enter in to the truths that are being brought before us in this letter. We need the help of God. And one of the things that I would like to emphasise is the importance of the quiet time. One of the first pieces of Christian literature I was ever given after I was converted was about the importance of the quiet time. Paul isn't here to pray for us anymore. Perhaps there are others that do pray for you if you've been brought up in a Christian home. I'm sure there are. If you are known to other Christians, I'm sure they're praying for you too. But it is of vital importance that every one of us here maintains a quiet time. That means that we have a set period of time, a set time every day when we read God's word and we pray. And we don't allow this time to be crowded out. If we follow the example of the Lord Jesus, we know that he had his quiet times in the morning. And if we are going to follow his example as we ought to, if we are going to follow in his steps, that's when most of us should have quiet time. And the time that we get up in the morning is largely determined by the time that we go to bed at night. It's simply a matter of self-discipline. Something that we are exercised about because we don't want to be hypocrites. After all this high teaching, after all this high talk, and Paul's teaching never reaches higher than it does in the epistle to the Ephesians, we do not want our answer to these things to be a low and inconsistent walk, but a walk that is altogether consistent with the truth that we have been hearing about. We can see in the wider context of Paul's prayer why prayer should be necessary. We've seen that Paul speaks of himself as the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, as the prisoner of the Lord because he was faithful to the Lord in the ministry that the Lord Jesus committed to him. And right at the beginning, the Lord Jesus said to Ananias who went to Paul with some hesitation, go thy way for I will show unto him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Paul lived a life that was wholly consistent with the truth that he brought to the saints. As a consequence, he was a sufferer in this world. We thought of him already today as persecuted by those at Ephesus, when the hopes of their gains were fast disappearing because people were turning from their idolatry to the Lord Jesus, and he suffered too continually at the hands of the Jews. Because Paul's gospel was, well there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the Jews realised that Paul was saying in effect, at least for the time, certainly on the basis of the keeping of the law, their special place had gone. Is this our experience? Suffering, persecution. The way in which we suffer, the way in which we are persecuted may be more subtle than it was in the days in which Paul was living, but this is sure because scripture asserts it that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And that's why Paul suffered persecution. You remember he says in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 to Timothy, that has fully known my teaching manner of life. Teaching manner of life. Persecution. It is to be expected if we live consistently, one of the remarkable things about this subject is that the Lord Jesus himself referred to the fact that in the world we should have tribulation. And all the major writers of the New Testament also emphasised the fact that if we are really following the Lord we can expect sorrow and suffering. And the persecution that we will experience, the attacks that are made upon us will be particularly severe if we are living out the truth of Ephesians. We've been reminded already of that spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. There are spiritual forces that are arraigned against us. So that for all these reasons, we have need to bow our knees. To pray that we, the faithful in Christ Jesus, that we, the faithful in Christ Jesus, may be given all we need to put the truth into practice. And again, I want to challenge you as I find my own heart challenged by the fact that right at the beginning of the epistle, this is how it is addressed to the faithful in Christ Jesus. So that if we are going to benefit from the truth set out before us, then this is what needs to characterise us, faithfulness to God. We then come to the prayer, looking at it in more detail, not merely in its immediate context. And the first thing I want to emphasise is that we can pray with confidence. Because if you read verse 20 it says, unto him that is able to do, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. We are praying to the Father who loves us. We are praying to the Father who is omnipotent, in whose hands all power is to be found. And this power has its exercise towards us. You know it is, I think most will know, that the word power is the word from which we get our word dynamite. But the power of God towards us isn't quite like dynamite because dynamite goes off with a bang and the power is gone. And the power of dynamite is a destructive power. Well the power of God is neither of these things. The power of God has its exercise towards us, continually. We read about this in 2 Peter chapter 1. We are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. And this is the power of God on which we can count. And as we go around the verses, and we're going to look at them quickly first of all, in the way of an overview, I'll come back to explain the basis of the statement that I'm putting up on the slide. But the first thing is that we, there is the prayer that we may understand the progressive self-revelation of God and the special place of the assembly. If it doesn't stick as I go through, don't worry because we'll come back to this if there's time. In verse 16, this power is exercised in order that our spiritual condition may be consistent with the truth that has been brought before us. If our spiritual condition is consistent with the truth that has been brought before us, then that condition will solicit persecution and we need power to face opposition and stand firm in our hearts. God wants us as Christians to enjoy our own special portion, his wonderful love, to be rooted and grounded in love and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. He wants us to understand the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ to everything that God has purposed, to everything that God is doing. That's absolutely key to understanding the Word of God, to understand first of all that the Lord Jesus is at the heart of everything that God is about because he is God's well-beloved Son. He wants us to enter into God's counsels and purposes and that's what those words which don't actually describe what they are describing, that we may know, be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. And what Paul wants us to comprehend is the breadth and depth and length and height of the counsels and purposes of God. And all this has in view that there may be a response to God, there is going to be a response to God, thank God, from all of those who are believers, that's what verse 21 tells us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end. That response to God, that eternal response to God has been secured by the work of the Lord Jesus. But if we would bring glory to God now while we are left here on earth, this is the way that we do it. We come back now and go quickly down the prayer again verse by verse. And verse 15 speaks about the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole or every, as it should be really, family in heaven and in earth is named. Because as I think was made clear by Paul's answer to one of the questions posed in the question and answer session, God has different families. He has more than one family. He has the assembly at the present time, the Christian company. But after we've gone to be with Christ, God will begin again to work with those who are upon the earth, with the Jews and through them with the Gentiles. And each of these families stands in relation to God according to the particular way in which God has been pleased to reveal himself to that family. To the Jews, God has revealed himself as Jehovah. Amos chapter 3 verse 2 says that you only have I known of all the peoples of the earth. We can turn to other scriptures which I think show that the name by which the Gentiles will know God is the name Most High God. And I might mention at this point that there's a typing error, my error, in that reference to Genesis under Most High God. It's not Genesis 32 verse 8 at all. It's Genesis 14 verse 18 where the reference is to Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God who comes forward after the battle that is described in that chapter to bless Abraham. And that first battle in scripture is a picture of the last battle of scripture. And after that last battle of scripture there will be those of the nations, those who are Gentiles blessed, those who have the testimony of the everlasting gospel during the course of the tribulation. But when we look at the Christian family, and now we're looking at the father revealed in the son, what we have is not a name of God that is connected with his partial revelation, but what we have in the father revealed in the son is the full and final revelation of God. Everything that we may know about God has now been revealed in the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. It is God's desire in view of these things that we might be strengthened according to the riches of his glory with might by his spirit in the inner man. And we come back again to the question of our actual condition, our practical state. And God desires that our practical state might be a spiritual state. And those of you who are acquainted with the early chapters of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians will remember that toward the end of chapter 2 at the beginning of chapter 3 he presents three possible states. He talks in those verses about natural men, he talks about the Corinthians as being carnal, and he goes on to speak about the spiritual. The natural man is the unconverted man. The carnal man or person is a Christian who has not finished with the flesh. They are still in their practice characterized by that fallen nature, that sinful fallen nature that each of us still has. But the spiritual person, on the contrary, is characterized by the indwelling Holy Spirit. And that's what God our Father desires for us. And the spirit who dwells in us occupies us with the riches of the Father's glory made known to us by the Son. Glory is not something difficult to understand because it simply means manifested excellence. And whenever God reveals himself he is glorified because he is showing something of his intrinsic excellence. And the Lord Jesus, who has made the Father known, who has revealed the Father to us, is the one in whom all these excellences of God have been brought into display. They were seen in his pathway, they were seen too in his work upon the cross. When we come to being rooted and grounded in love, and I'm going to go over the remaining verses quite quickly, I think, to obey the exhortations that several times have been given. Rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in love. What does that mean in practice? It means that we are in touch with God. We are in fellowship with him, in communion with him. We don't just know about him because we have read certain things in the Word of God, praise God for that, but we know them in our hearts because we have fellowship with him. We're walking with him. We are rooted and grounded in love. And a Christian who is rooted in love is a growing Christian. And that's what we all want to be from day to day. We'll go to the Word because we're rooted in the love of God. We'll go to the Word of God. We'll read about God. We'll read about the Lord Jesus. We'll read about the truth of God. And if we set out, asked all, determined to make these things our own, I assure you they will be made your own. If you are determined that these things should be taken possession of by you, really entered into, and your life is bent to that goal, you will achieve that goal. God will help you to achieve it. Rooted in love is a growing Christian. Grounded in love is a stable Christian. Brother Andrew was talking about, you know, we don't want to be wishy-washy Christians who are blown about by every wind of doctrine, who are troubled when we hear this or we're troubled when we hear that. No, neither in our experience are we to be on the crest of the wave one day and in the trough of it the next. God wants us to be stable Christians because we are in touch with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is achieved by Christ dwelling in our hearts. He's not merely a passing visitor. He is the one that we are occupied with continually. He's the object of our love just as he is the object of the love of God his father. But the heart in scripture is not just about the affections. And this is a most important point because the heart is actually the seat of the conscience. And I've given the references where the scripture shows this to be the case. The heart is the seat of the conscience. It is the center of our moral being. And if the Lord Jesus dwells there, if he reigns without a rival there, then we shall as a matter of course live out the truth because we are in touch with him. And because Christ is dwelling in our hearts and we have the Lord Jesus as our object, we realize, we come to realize that he is at the center that everything, he is at the center of everything that God is doing. And having Christ in our hearts places us at that center. And so we are able to look out on the height, the depth, the length, the breadth of the purposes and counsels of God and to enter into them. You know the scripture says, shall I hide from Abraham my friend the thing that I am doing? And the Lord Jesus counts us his friends and desires to show to us everything that God is going to do for the glory of the Lord Jesus and for God's own glory. So the counsels and purposes of the Father are vast but we are brought back again to the love of Christ. This is a wonderful thing. Sometimes you know your head gets full to bursting and you think I can't take anymore, you know, I'm getting a headache or whatever it may be. But here is something that where we are always at home, where we are always comfortable. And this is so sweet and as we know this love of Christ and we learn more and more about the revelation of God in him, we learn it practically, then our fellowship with God is developed. We are filled with all the fullness of God and Andrew has already stolen my thunder by talking about the bucket in the sea and the bucket full and then we return to praise and worship God the Father and the Son by the Spirit. Well my apologies for going slightly over time but may the Lord help us to put the precious truth that we have been learning about today and are to learn about tomorrow into practice and to live Christian lives that are consistent with that truth. Thank you. …

… Good. We'll begin by reading our scripture then, it's from Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 to 16. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slate of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speak in the truth in love, may go up unto him in all things, which is the head, in Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. We've heard that the structure of Paul's letter to the Ephesians involves first of all chapters of teaching and then chapters of putting that teaching into practice, exhortations about how we live out what we've been taught in the first chapters. And we've just heard from Robert about the importance of this prayer, the end of the third chapter. So we're well set up now for some practical exhortations. And I've been asked to speak about the verses that relate, the verses we've just read that relate to the Christian in the body. Now this seems a strange picture doesn't it? But it's not really because we've already been told that we manifest what we are as the body of Christ where we are in our localities. And here are some of the believers in Imphal, which is a city in Manipur in North East India. Just as they have a responsibility to work out the truth of Ephesians, where they are in North East India, so we have a responsibility to respond to the exhortations of the Apostle Paul where we are in Catford or Ipswich, Belfast. Well there are people here from all over the world. We've got a responsibility to work these things out where we are. That's why we've come to the practical part of the letter. Let's just recap. Remember we're speaking about our calling and we've seen that in the first part of chapter one, God's purpose, the good pleasure and mystery of his will. Then we saw there was a first prayer which we've had explained to us. He prays for his readers to know these things, to know what's available to them because of God's desire to bless them for his own glory. We've seen how God has brought his purpose, his counsel to fruition. We thought about his masterpiece, the material he's worked with and the result. In the first part of chapter two we saw the moral side of things, in the second part the positional side of things. Then we've had in the last couple of sessions the unsearchable riches of Christ, God's counsels concerning Christ and the church revealed and they should be displayed in us. Then we've had, as we've already just mentioned, Paul's prayer for his readers to be strengthened to take these things in. So we get this word therefore and we've often been told when we come across the word therefore we should ask ourselves what's it there for? Well it's therefore in order that we should put into practice the wonderful teaching that we've received so far. It's already been mentioned that in many ways all but one verse of chapter three is a parenthesis, it's in brackets. And right at the beginning of that chapter three we get a reference to Paul as the prisoner of the Christ Jesus for you nations. It was the will of the Lord Jesus that he should be a prisoner and as a prisoner it was given to him to be able to write these things down in this letter and other letters which really set before us and particularly Gentile Christians the wonderful truth of God. We've already had it brought before us, yes there's the gospel but there's also the mystery. And so in that sense he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles. What a remarkable thing that the apostle was a prisoner in order that God should use him to bring these things out. But at the beginning of the chapter that we've read he says if it's translated absolutely accurately if it's translated absolutely accurately I the prisoner in the Lord. And that's a remarkable thing too because it shows us that the apostle was accepting his situation. As a prisoner he was accepting that his situation was in the Lord, he was submitting to the Lord's will for him and in many ways that sets the scene for the rest of the letter. Are we submitting to the will of the Lord for us in our lives? When we think of the blessing that has come out, the spiritual blessings that we've been thinking about in the first part of this letter, are we getting into the mind of the Lord for what we should be in our lives? To express these things in a practical way the apostle Paul it was not just that he was a prisoner of the Christ Jesus but he was a prisoner in the Lord. And later on in this letter in chapter 6 verse 20 he says he's an ambassador in Bonn. And normally ambassadors they're free, they've got liberty to represent their governments to the government to which they've been accredited. Here was one who represented the Lord Jesus Christ and yet he was in Bonn. He submitted entirely to the will of the Lord for him so that he might be a vessel for the glory of the Lord Jesus and for the blessing of his people. But to the extent he was in Bonn, to the extent he was a prisoner, he was limited, he was restricted. But his letter is really telling us, we who are free to live our lives, how we should walk, how we should carry out our lives day by day. If you like the apostle was a prisoner so that we might work out in our freedom what it is to be Christians who answer for the truth of God in this letter. Walk worthy of your calling. The authorised version used the word vocation but it means calling. Lead your life up to the mark of the calling. That immediately tells us, doesn't it, that this calling is something very special. It's the calling which God has given us. This is a calling card at the top of this screen. People used to leave calling cards when they visited each other in more civilised days than our day. But what about our lives? Are they a calling card for God? When people come across us, do they see something of the truth of God come out in our lives? Do we leave a calling card for God by the way we live our lives? We should because this verse says here. Walk worthy of the calling. The calling. That calling God has given that we've been talking about. Wherewith ye have been called. We have been called to answer to this calling. So we get here what God has done. It's his calling, vocation. But we as believers on the Lord Jesus, we are responsible to answer to it according to which you have been called. Now as far as we ourselves are concerned, we are to be marked by two things. Loneliness. We're also to be marked by meekness. Loneliness and meekness. These are things which are looked down upon in our world today, but they should characterise Christians. Sadly, they don't always characterise Christians as they should. But we should be lowly in regard to God and we should and we should be meek in regard to others, particularly one another. Lowliness means that I realise that God is my God. He's my father. He is my creator. I am the creature. But of course here in Ephesians, we particularly think of God as our father, but we must never let that breed a sense of familiarity in our hearts. We should be marked by loneliness when we think of the greatness of our God and father and of the many blessings he's bestowed upon us. But in regard to others, we should be marked by meekness, not elevating ourselves, not putting ourselves before others. This is particularly what our thought life should be like. We should be lowly and meek in our thought life. And then in regard to what comes out in the way we act, we get these two things. Long-suffering and forbearing one another in love. Long-suffering means going on with one another when sometimes it's testing to do so. We find things in each other which sometimes cause us difficulty. Are we marked by long-suffering? God has been marked by long-suffering with us and that long-suffering should come out in forbearing one another in love. This is an expression which comes out in Ephesians quite a few times, in love, in love. Very often we think, oh I can't put up with that anymore. I'm going to tell that brother just what I think of him. But you know, is that really what God is like with us? No, he's a God who's marked by long-suffering and we should be marked by forbearing one another in love. And really what's coming out in these verses is that God desires to see a unity among the people of God. We've already had the thought, haven't we, of Jew and Gentile becoming one, one new man. Well, that unity should be expressed among God's people and we should work carefully, endeavouring, the apostle says, to keep the unity of the spirit. There's a beautiful expression of unity, isn't there, in Psalm 133. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, in the bond of peace. I was in a bible reading once and a brother said, this is like a bonding agent. Another brother said, what's a bonding agent? The other brother said, it's glue. And here we've got a bonding agent here in this container, in the bond of peace. There's nothing like peace between brethren which enables them to enjoy the things of God together and to grow together in the things of the Lord Jesus. And Paul really sets before us three contexts in which that unity should be worked out. He says, there is one body, one spirit, one hope of your calling. And that really is covered by the verses that we're going to look at until verse 16. It's what's true of us as those who are believers on the Lord Jesus, those who have been born again and who've trusted the Lord Jesus as our savior. Yes, we're one body. We've heard about that already. There's one spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit. Well, on the day of Pentecost, he came down and baptized all the believers there in Jerusalem into one body. He entwelt each one and that's been true of every believer on the Lord Jesus since then. They've enjoyed what it is to become part of that one body and to be entwelt by the Holy Spirit. And they have one hope of their calling which we've had brought before us already in our studies today. But there's another context as well. And that's the matter of one Lord, one faith, one baptism. What we testify to, what we profess, what we say we hold, we believe the Lord Jesus is the Lord of our lives. We say that we believe what God has set forth in his word, the one faith. And we acknowledge all this by submitting to baptism. This isn't baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is baptism by water. And then we have the context of one God and father. That's God as the one who is over all, over the whole of his creation. We already have mentioned of the many families that God has. And it's in these three contexts that there should be worked out what it is to be true to God, to own God in each of those three contexts. As I said, the first one really is in verses 7 to 16 of this chapter, the immediate one of those who believe on the Lord Jesus. Then from verse 17 of this chapter to chapter 5 verse 21, we get really the second one. And that really relates to our position as those who acknowledge the Lord, who say that we belong to the Lord, who say we follow the Lord. How do we work that out in our lives day by day? That's a subject that's going to be taken up later on. And then in verses from chapter 5 verse 22 to chapter 6 verse 9, we get the thought of showing these things in creation. And that's where the thought of the husbands and wives and the children and the bond servants come in. So really, in some ways, the apostle Paul is dividing up the rest of the letter for us by referring to these three things. So we're going to concentrate on the first of these now. So there's one body and Paul's emphasizing to us the importance of working carefully to maintain the unity of the spirit. The spirit wants to, the spirit has a unity and he wants us to work it out as those who believe on the Lord Jesus. But there's also a variety. That's what comes out in these verses too. Each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We already had this before. This is why we don't believe in one man ministry. It's because of this verse and other verses. When the Lord Jesus ascended up on high, having done the wonderful work of Calvary, having been raised out from among the dead by the glory of the Father, he let captivity captive. He was triumphant. What did he do? He gave gifts to men. What are these gifts? They were the very ones who were once the subjects of Satan. Once those who could be said to be dead in trespasses and sins, but they've been translated now from being those who were once far off from God, once marked by that disobedience that we read about in chapter 2. Now they're translated into being those that the Lord Jesus can give for the blessing of his people. And so we see the thought of variety because the Lord Jesus has given gifts to men. And we've already had stressed, haven't we, the power that we see in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, which is now made available to God's people to enjoy these things. Well, that comes out in verses 9 and 10. Who has done this? Yes, the one who once descended into the lower parts of the earth, but the one who descended into the lower parts of the earth has also ascended above all the heavens to fill all things. Often we look at our weakness, but we forget the greatness of our savior who has given gifts to us. Let's value his gifts. Here they're presented not so much as abilities, as persons. Persons who have been changed through the wonderful, gracious work of God. And in these verses, the apostle speaks of these gifts. We all love gifts, don't we? But do we love these gifts? Do we treasure these gifts? We've already heard about the apostles and prophets. I don't have to say too much about that. Plenty has been said about the apostles and prophets. They're foundational. We don't have apostles and prophets in the sense that is meant in these verses now. They're foundational. We saw that from the end of chapter 2. But there are gifts that are still given, that are ongoing or continuing, as this slide says. Evangelists. Those who have the gift of appealing to those who are lost and preaching in such a way that men and women, boys and girls, feel convicted they must believe on the Lord Jesus as their savior. We're not talking about everyday witnessing here. We're talking about the gift of evangelism. Challenging men in a particular way. In such a way that they respond by trusting on the Lord Jesus as their savior. But there we also get shepherds and teachers. And in this catalog, these two are really twinned. It's as if they should be gifts that go together. Shepherds and teachers. Those who look after the flock of God and those who teach them the word of God. And what's the purpose? It's for the perfection of the saints. Am I speaking about sinless perfection here? Am I saying that the idea is that we'll all be sinlessly perfect at some stage in our lives as a result of the work of these gifts? No, I'm not saying that. This is the thought of maturing and completing the believer. We'll always have that sinful nature in us until we get to glory. But God is looking for a perfecting, for a maturing, for a completing of the believer through the work of these gifts. And these gifts are given for the work of the ministry. The ministry of his word, the ministry of his truth is what he uses to perfect the saints and he wants to build up the body of Christ. We're the body of Christ. Each one of us are members of the body of Christ. Those two references at the bottom, the work of the ministry and the building up of the body of Christ from verse 12 of this chapter are really subsidiary thoughts to the idea of perfecting the saints. Anybody here think that saints are only those made so by the Pope? Of course he doesn't make saints, he only thinks he does. No, those who believe on the Lord Jesus, we're saints. You say I don't feel much like a saint but God says you are a saint. The ones that Paul was writing to in Ephesus, they were saints and we're saints by God's marvellous grace. But are we living saintly lives? That's what we've got to ask ourselves. This is what God wants to work out in our lives day by day and particularly together as believers on the Lord Jesus. Remember that's the particular context of our verses. What's God aiming at? Well, if you see trains in India, you see a lot of people on them and they're all trying to get to one place and they hang on any way they can to arrive at the station. This is a pretty good example. But God doesn't want it to be like that with us, just about hanging on. He wants us to grow. And how do we grow? Well, he wants us to all, not just some, not special ones, but all, young and old, sisters and brothers. These truths aren't just for brothers. It's a complete misconception to think that these truths are only for brothers because they're the only ones who take part audibly in the meetings. That's a complete distortion of the teaching of this letter. These things are to be gone in for by sisters as much as brothers so that we all arrive at the unity of the faith. There's that one faith we read about and it should result in us having that same understanding, grasp of that one faith and working it out in practice. But not just the faith, but the knowledge of the Son of God, the person of whom we've been speaking about in our meetings, the one who we heard just in our last address, is the centre of all that God is doing. The Lord Jesus Christ himself, the knowledge to know, to know the Son of God, a perfect man. It says in the authorised version, Mr Darby's translation says, full grown man. It's that idea of maturing and completing. And then the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ. Somebody talked about the Apostle Paul raiding the Greek language to try and express, well, try is probably the wrong word because the Holy Spirit was leading him to use these words. The fullness of the language is wonderful. Yes, these are the things that we're being told God wants us to arrive at. Now, it's probably true that the perfection of these things will never be accomplished until we get to heaven, but it seems to me in these verses that the standard is being put before us as something we should be seeking to accomplish with God's help, even down here, so that we're no longer babes. We've already had reference to this thought. We don't want to be babes in the sense of those who are constantly helpless. We certainly don't want to be like children in the sense of those who hear one thing, hear another, and go off after this, and they go off after that. Trust to and fro like this boat carried about by every wind of teaching that men get up to. I must just say this. I saw recently Sir David Attenborough in the paper. I think it was saying that this Lemur, which was meant to be one of the clearest evidences of evolution three or four years ago by him, who's, as you all know, a very respected man in these things, has now turned out to be a completely, well, do you mind me saying red herring? And yet, how much was said about this? Very little indeed. It was quickly forgotten about that this thing that three or four years ago we were told showed definitely the reality of evolution has now been quickly swept away. Now they've seen after all the things it's meant to represent are not really true at all. You see, you can be impressed by what man says. The scientists say one moment. The next moment, they've jumped it. We do have to keep clear in our hearts that what God says in his word can be dependent upon. We don't want to be tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of teaching that men get up to. Hold, but holding the truth in love. In love, remember that phrase again, in love, grow up into the Lord Jesus in all things. And here's a little boy. I hope he's going to get taller than I am. He's standing, he's hoping he's going to get up to the level of these other people who stood on this door and have gradually got higher and higher. Yes, we're growing up into the Lord Jesus, the head. Our body has a glorious head, the Lord Jesus in heaven. And the more we focus on him, the more we're occupied with him, the more we see ourselves growing up into him, the more we will enjoy what it is, the whole body fitly joined together, connected by every joint of supply. We often talk about ourselves as members of his body, but do we realize we're joints of supply? To each one, we are a joint of supply. We can bring something of Christ to each other. And as we do that, according to the working in its measure of each one part of the body, the body increases to itself, building up in love. Somebody who already said the body is an organic living thing. It's Christ. In fact, often in the scriptures, well, I say often, but there are many, there are a number of references to the Christ. And that word means the Lord Jesus and his body, the head and the body together. Do we realize that the Lord Jesus is desiring that we should grow up into him? Because as we grow up to him, we shall manifest him in this world, in this world for God, the Father's pleasure and for the blessing of others who see us, particularly in our localities. That's where we have a responsibility of representing the Lord Jesus. This is just a summary. I've overstepped my time, so I'm not going to speak about what it says here, but I'm going to pass the baton on to the next brother who's going to deal with the next verses of this wonderful chapter. Thank you very much. …

… Well, we're continuing chapter 4 of Ephesians, and if we just take it a couple of verses at a time, the next section are these two verses, three verses, 17, 18 and 19. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them to the blindness of their heart, who, being past fit, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. It's always a little worrying when one of the speakers that's preceded you has made one or two comments that you intended to say, but I take heart because, you know, if something's worth saying, it's worth repeating, and our brother Simon, he mentioned what I was going to make my opening remarks, and that's when we see this little word, therefore, we must ask ourselves what it's there for, and I noticed, actually, in previous chapters, we have a similar expression, and it's this. In chapter 3, verse 1, Paul says, for this cause, and, or for this reason, and, again, in verse 14 of chapter 3, for this cause, or for this reason, and, in verse 13, wherefore, again, the opening verse of chapter 4, I, therefore, and then in this verse, which starts my section, this I say, therefore, and it's very important for us to realise this, that the scriptures work on the basis of setting before us truth and principles, and the desire is, the intention is that we should fully grasp, that we should fully understand these things first, and having done so, we then go on and we put them into practice. So I want to emphasise this, that what we've had, particularly this morning, in the earlier sessions, was establishing the truth, the principles that God would have us grasp, and now, in these afternoon sessions, we're taking up what is our response, what do we do practically in consequence of what the Apostle has established. Well, the Apostle was writing to these Ephesian believers, and as we saw in the first session, Michael showed us that Ephesus, that place in Turkey, geographically, socially, the Ephesians were Gentiles, primarily, and they were of the nations, and so Paul was able to say to them, now, I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles, as the other Gentiles. These Ephesian believers were well aware of what it was to be a Gentile, they were well aware, by their own experience, what it meant to be a Gentile, and to be associated with all those characteristics which were given, and he said, one of the things that characterizes these Gentiles is that they walk in futility or vanity of their mind, their understanding is darkened, and they're alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. Now, if we go back to chapter two, our brother Mark covered this, and it's a very, it makes very sorry reading, doesn't it, when we read this, particularly acknowledging that this described what we once were. You, the Apostle writes, being dead in your offenses and sins, in which ye once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts will to do, and were children by nature of wrath, even as the rest. So we have a very dark and sad picture painted for us, and you know, today we're surrounded by this mindset, these characteristics of the nations. Brother Simon has already mentioned this great lie which deceives so many today, this so-called theory of evolution, and you know, there's this fellow Dawkins, he knows so much about it, it seems that he has this mission, he's desperate to disprove the existence of God, he's absolutely desperate to show the futility of believing in creation, and you know what? One has to ask oneself what is the point? If he's right, if everything is a big accident, if there's no author of life, if there's no purpose to life, if there's no reason for our being here, does it really matter if we believe in a God? Does it matter? Does it make any difference at the end of the day? The answer is of course it doesn't. So why is it that he's so intense on pushing home this thought that there's no such thing as God, there's no such thing as creation, and evolution is a decided fact? You know, it's because he and everyone who follows him is deluded, it's this futility of mind, and it's the mindset that affects so many in this world, and what's the source of it? We read about it in our verses, in chapter 2, it's according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. It's that old serpent, the devil, that one of whom we read in the opening chapters of our Bible, that old serpent that deceived Eve, and what did he say? He lied. He said, has God said? And you know, this is the source of this futility of mind. It's a satanic darkening, it's ignorance, it's blindness, and such were these Ephesians. And so it's a very, very sorry situation that's painted. And you know, if one has such a mindset, if one is given to delusion, and it's not just in regard to evolution, it's in regard to every facet of our lives, it's regard to morality, it's in regard to what motivates us, it's in regard to what enjoyment and pleasure we get out of life. If we listen to the lie of Satan, then our whole course of life is one delusion. We're diverted from the true course of God, and this is that which characterizes those of the Gentiles. Understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God, and what does this lead to in practice? So, I don't really need to say it, we all know it of ourselves, but practicing sin results in a hardening of our hearts. It results in a searing of our conscience. The first time we commit a sin, you know, there's perhaps a hesitation. We give in to temptation, or perhaps we follow the goading of our peers. And afterwards, there's that pricking of our conscience, there's regret. But if we persist, you know, time and time again, those effects diminish over time. There's less hesitation, there's less regret, and people in this world, as they go on through life, because they practice sin, the consequence is a hardening of their hearts. And as time goes on, they're affected less and less by the consequences of their wrongdoing. This is the logical and natural consequences of the outworking of the natural heart. And these verses says that they're past feeling. And we see this all around us, carelessness, a lack of compassion, greed, where if we want to get on in society, we get on by treading on the toes of everyone else. It's all wrapped up in this terrible attitude of heart. And so these are some features which are listed for us in these verses from 17, 18, and 19. But I've made a little list, I don't know how well you can see it on the slides, but this is a summary of what characterizes the rest of the nation. It's really a description of what relates to the world. Those that do not believe in the Lord Jesus, the world, are characterized by these things. But, the apostle says to the Ephesians, and he says to us, but you have not so learned Christ. If you have heard him, verses 20 to 24, and have been taught by him according as the truth is in Jesus. Namely, you're having put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and being renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you're having put on the new man, which after or according to God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So now the apostle is able to take up something of a positive tone. And he says, but you have not so learned Christ, if you have heard him. Now I want to say at the outset that I'm sure this if is not an if of doubt, it's an if of consequence. He's saying that you have heard him, you have been taught him, now what's the consequence of that? Well the consequence is you're having put off concerning the former conversation, the old man. Now in the notes under session eight, there's a second bullet point asks this question. Putting off the old and putting on the new, how and when did this happen? Well I should say that our otherwise excellent authorized version is perhaps a little bit unhelpful in this section where it says in verse 22 that ye put off. In Mr Darby's translation it's clearer and it says having put off. Now go back to chapter two, those verses we looked at which gave us a very dark picture of what the Ephesian saints once were. And now we take up verse four, but God being rich in mercy because of his great love wherewith he loved us, we too being dead in offences, has quickened us with the Christ, ye are saved by grace, and has raised us up together and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. So I suggest that this is the answer to that question, how and when did this happen? How did it happen? It was a work of God. God rich in mercy and because of his great love has quickened us. So the answer to the question is when did we put off the old man, when did we put on the new? It's a work of Christ and it happened at the beginning of our Christian pathway. Without going into controversial areas, let us say that it's a work that God does when we're born again. Now we would say well that's what's true of us positionally. We were once characterised by the old man, that's what we were naturally as children descendants of Adam. But the old man has been crucified and when God did that work in us he gave us, he made us a new creation. So it's what we are positionally and I go back to what I said at the beginning that God wants us to understand what is true in principle. He wants us to grasp it and then to go on in practice. And we must get a hold of this that we have put off. It was what God has done in us. It's a truth that we must grasp. Now having grasped that we can go on in a practical way and make it a reality and go on in the good of it. But unless we grasp this, the danger is that we think it's something that we have done or that we must do and we go on in trying in the power of our own strength. And we have to say by way of warning that if we are trying to do it in our own strength we will utterly fail. We will be disappointed. We will come crashing down. And this is where many dear Christians go amiss because they haven't grasped this wonderful truth that in Christ we have put off the old man, we are a new creation and we don't need to try and do it in our own strength and it'll end in tears if we do. It'll end in failure. So I hope we've grasped this. You have not so learned Christ, your having put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts, all those things that we spoke of were true of the other nations, they were true of us, they were true of you and me before we were converted to the Lord Jesus. Having put on the new man which according to God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And then verses 25 to 28, wherefore, there it is again, having put away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour for we are members one of another. Now this goes back really to what our brother Simon has brought before us, this wonderful truth of the unity of the one body. And we might ask ourselves why is it important, why when we're considering our testimony in the world, why is it that the spirit connects our testimony to the world without being members one of another? Well I suggest it's because of consistency. If and I'm not saying this by any way of doubt but as a consequence, if we are members one of another, if there is one body of which every true believer is part, how would it look if on the one hand we had believers acting as we think believers should and then on the other hand we have some believers carrying on with those characteristics of the old man, lying and so on. It would be inconsistent, wouldn't it? It would bring the testimony of the work of the Lord into disrepute and so I believe the spirit here introduces this thought that having been made one, having been brought into unity, being members one of another, there's this testimony to the world and it's important that outwardly we show these characteristics which are consistent with the new nature. Can we get this verse, be angry but sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Perhaps some of us have had difficulty with this little verse, be angry, it doesn't sound like a Christian characteristic but you know there are occasions in the scripture where God is angry and with God it's a righteous wrath, it's a righteous anger and I don't think it's inconsistent for the believer to be angry if it's a righteous anger. The trouble is we get angry about other things and we let it, it seethes and we let it stew and we go to bed and we're still angry and we wake up and we're still angry with that person that's offended us or whatever and so the scripture's very clear that there's a distinction between what is appropriate, righteous anger and probably the anger with which we're more familiar. So there's this injunction, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath, matters should be nipped in the bud and dealt with. These are very practical exhortations, aren't they? Neither give place to the devil, well you know if we go to bed angry you can be sure the devil is being given a place because when we wake up he's got, it's grist to the mill and there's work for him to do. And then it goes on to say let him that stole, steal no more but rather let him labour, working with his hands things which are good and honest that he may have to give to him that has need. As unbelievers we're characterised by certain things, we're in bondage to sin and we practise on a regular basis those things which are contrary to God's word. Now when we're converted to Christ we're forgiven, we're given a new nature and it's no longer true of us that we're bound to live in the same way, we're not, we don't practise as a habitual thing these things, that's not to say that we don't sin, that's not to say that we don't fail, we do, we know that practically. But for the believer it's not, it's not a matter of course, you know some people they go about their lives and they're inveterate liars, they're deceivers, it's just the way they are. A Christian isn't like that, sure we slip, we may say things that aren't true but there's a great deal of difference between going out and living with the intention to deceive because everyone else does it, because we have a motivation to get, this is the great distinction. If somebody was a thief and he's converted to Christ then theft is no longer his occupation and so the exhortation is let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour and the principle here is twofold, that we work honestly not only to supply what our own needs are, if we don't work we don't eat but that we may have to give to him that has need. Now how different this is in contrast to the things of the world, what is it the spirit of this age, we work, we work, we work because we want more money, because we need these things that everyone else has, it's what we desire for pleasure, it's the only thing that satisfies us, this is the whole mindset of this world especially at this time of the year is all these things that you must have, everyone at school's got them, everyone in your workplace has them, your neighbour has them, you need them, you need to work hard to earn more money so you can buy all these things because without them you won't be happy and it's selfish, it puts us at the centre but the believer isn't like that, the believer is content with what he has, he works to provide for his needs and so that he may fulfil the needs of others and this isn't something that the world thinks of, the world isn't concerned with the needs of others, it's only this renewed mind that can give us such a motivation. Verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good, so the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers. So Paul is now bringing out a contrast with all those dark features, lying, deceit, lack of feeling and he's showing that for the believer these things are completely the other way round. Now instead of lying and deceit there's good words but more than this that it is for the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now as a result of knowing that the Lord has given gifts for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of believers, what we say is for the benefit of others. And then there's this exhortation, this warning, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. This is as we've said the stamp or mark of ownership. It's a sign that we have a new nature, that the work of God in us is demonstrated by our being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But now here's a practical point, the Holy Spirit can be grieved, he's a person, only a person can be grieved, a power, an influence can't be grieved but the Holy Spirit can be grieved or quenched. How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? By giving in to those features of the flesh. By giving in to what we should reckon dead and it's a very solemn matter that I take to myself as well as speaking a word of exhortation. This Holy Spirit who's in us to work, that there might be an outworking of what is true of us positionally can be grieved, can be quenched and bear in mind it says whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. And it's already been brought out that yes we're still in this world, we're still marked by failure but there's coming a day when those things will no longer be true. When the Lord comes we'll be taken out of this scene, out of this world, all that is true of us in weakness and failure will be passed. A day of redemption and we have that before us, it's a wonderful prospect. So the scriptures say let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all manners and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another. All these things are in contrast to that long dark list that we saw and the last question on the sheet says what is the model and measure? Well very briefly because my time's gone, it's Christ. We have that at the end of chapter four. Be ye kind one to another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. He is the model and he is the measure. We think of all the love of God shown out in the work of Christ, unmeasurable, wonderful love and that's the measure with which we should be kind to one another and so on. So I don't know whether you can see it, perhaps you'll get copies of this later on but here is a contrasting list of what characterises the world, the old man but you and by consequence you and me, we have these new features which are the result of the work of God and the work of the spirit in our hearts. Now for homework I'm going to point you to a parallel passage in Thessalonians 4 and verses 1 to 12. If you read that and you'll see there there's a similar thought mentioning of what was true once of the nations and what's true now of us in Christ. For this is the will of God even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication and so on, not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God. Well Thessalonians 4, 1 to 12, a little bit of homework for you and I trust with the Lord's help we might appreciate something of our testimony to the world, the end of Ephesians chapter 4. …

… I'll read out each question and then I'll ask whoever presented the session to come and answer it. And the first one is one for our brother Robert Wall. Every family, that is chapter 3 verse 15, it mentions every family. How many families are there and are angels a family? The question arises from Ephesians 3 verse 15, of whom the whole family, or as it might better be translated and as JND translates it, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named. And in the course of the session for which I had responsibility, we noticed the three main, though not only, families, which are the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church of God. But there are most certainly other families. And one that comes to mind, for example, are all the children, the babies and children who die before they reach the age of responsibility and haven't trusted Christ. The work of the Lord Jesus covers every one of them. They don't form a part of the church, but they do form one of the families that we're reading about in Ephesians 3 verse 15. Angels certainly form a family and I'm not sure whether this is altogether accurate. There may be, within the category of angels, subcategories. So we can see that there are many families in heaven and on earth that range themselves under the name of the Father. And I just want to make some further comments about that, of whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, to explain this just a little bit more than I attempted to do when I was speaking earlier. And that is, in the revelation of the Father by the Son, we are come to the full and final revelation of God. And because it is the full and final revelation of God, it includes within its compass every revelation of God that has preceded it. And so God our Father stands in relation to these different families, but not every family knows him or enjoys him as we Christians know and enjoy him. Only we Christians enjoy him as he is fully revealed in the Son. And the Jews that will be converted after we've gone to heaven will enjoy him as Jehovah. And the Gentiles who also are brought into blessing will enjoy him as the Most High God. But all of these families range themselves under this God who is now fully revealed in the Son. There are two questions that I am going to ask our brother Simon Atwood to answer. The first one is, what is the unity of the Spirit and what can you do to endeavor to keep it? Is it local only? The first thing I'm going to say is that I'd be quite happy to have some help from any brothers to answer these questions if they don't think I've covered the subject completely. The first question was to do with the unity of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12 In verse 12 it says, For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body being many are one body, so also is the Christ. For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or free, and have all been given to drink of one Spirit. So I take it that the unity of the Spirit is that which has been formed as a result of the Holy Spirit coming down on the day of Pentecost. And as such that unity is something which is there and cannot be broken. It's a fact that's been produced by God himself, by the Holy Spirit in particular. And our responsibility is to put it into practice, to express it in the way in which we live together as believers on the Lord Jesus. Although it's true to say that these things are manifested locally, there's no way in which we could limit the unity of the Spirit to just a local thing. It's a universal matter. So it's important to realize that we have a responsibility to put it into practice. The word we looked at when we considered the scriptures earlier today was endeavoring. It's a matter of exercise. It's a matter of work, diligent work to achieve it. Because one thing I did want to say and didn't say is that the devil, he is anxious to destroy what he can of the work of the Lord Jesus today in this world. And he can't destroy it, of course, but he will try to undermine it. And one of the ways in which he's doing that today is to drive wedges between believers. He's been very successful over all the centuries of the church's existence in this world. We only have to go out into the streets of London to see how many different churches there are, how many denominations there are. This itself is an indication of the way in which through man's carelessness and unbelief, the devil has been able to do a work which has, in effect, in a practical way, has spoiled the unity that should be seen among believers. But he will try and do it within a gathering of God's people. He will try and use personal difficulties that we have with one another. He will attempt to convince us that those difficulties are of such a fundamental nature that we should have done with each other. Because he wants to wreck any display of the unity of the Spirit in this world. And we must be watchful. And one of the ways in which we can use Scripture to help us is to look at those verses we looked at. The beginning of chapter 4, the matter of loneliness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing with one another in love. That is how the Apostle Paul says we work out, we express, we display, we maintain, we keep that unity which is there but needs to be shown out in a practical way among us. It's done locally, but the unity of the Spirit is a universal matter. Second question for you, Simon. Chapter 4 verse 13 refers to all arriving at the knowledge of the Son of God. Matthew 11, 27 says, No man knoweth the Son but the Father. Please explain. Yes, okay. First of all, one thing that we must say, and this is no criticism of the person who's asked this question. Believe me, it's not. But one thing we do have to say when we look at things like this, it's a good thing to always keep in mind is that because Scripture is the Word of God, it doesn't contradict itself. So the fact that in one Scripture we're told one thing which appears to contradict another doesn't mean it does contradict the other. Obviously it doesn't. We need to study it to try and understand it more clearly. When we looked at that verse which talked about arriving at the knowledge of the Son of God, that's something that Paul is saying we should all be seeking to do with the help of the Holy Spirit. And the Apostle Paul himself was a wonderful exponent of this. He says in Philippians chapter 3, doesn't he? It's very difficult to break into this chapter, but just to quickly break in at verse 9, that I may be found in him, not having my righteousness, which would be on the principle of law, but that which is by faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith, to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if in any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead. It's that desire to know this one who is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus. And also, incidentally, the Lord Jesus says in his prayer in John 17, just refer to this, he says, and this is the eternal life, the verse 3 of chapter 17, that they should know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. So clearly, it should be our desire to know the Lord Jesus more and more in our lives. It seems when the Lord Jesus himself was speaking in Matthew chapter 11, that he was showing clearly that the only way in which we know things or know persons is as God enables us to, as he reveals them to us. And in those verses, it says, all things have been delivered to me by my father, and no one knows the son. This is the problem, perhaps, behind the verse. Well, it is obviously behind the question, I mean. And no one knows the son but the father, nor does anyone know the father but the son, and he to whom the son may be pleased to reveal him. And of course, the Lord Jesus has revealed the father to us. I think our general view of this verse in relation to the Lord Jesus is that it's knowing the Lord Jesus in the sense that he is both God and man in one person. That is something which is beyond us. We were talking earlier on, weren't we, today, about the fact that there are certain things we cannot bring together in our minds. They are beyond our minds to take in. And this is one thing that is beyond us to take in. It's akin to what happened in the Old Testament when the people of Israel looked within the ark. They looked into that which was beyond them to take in. And one aspect of truth is the person of Christ in the sense that he is both God and man in one person. That is beyond our knowledge to take in. We believe it. We know he is man. We know he is God. But to try and understand how that can be, that is beyond us. But we can still know the Lord Jesus as the one who is our Saviour, the one who is the Son of God, the one who loved us and gave himself for us. Chapter 4 verse 30 says, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Grieve not the Spirit. The question is, is that the same as quenching the Spirit referred to in 1 Thessalonians 5.19? If not, please explain the difference. I'm going to ask Brother Nick Fleet to address that one. Well, firstly I should apologize if what I said caused any confusion because of course I did, in referring to Ephesians 4 verse 30, grieve not the Holy Spirit, I did also use the expression quench. And I used it really by way of expanding the thought. But I would say quite expressly, no, they're not the same thing. I think it's helpful really to say as a matter of principle that where the scriptures use a different word, we're entitled to understand that a different thought is intended. Now of course sometimes the same word in Hebrew or Greek may be translated differently by various versions, in particular the authorized version in seeking to give a very full and rounded idea of what's meant may use different English words to express the same word in the original. But particularly if in the original there are different words used, then I think as a matter of principle it's a good thing if we can do some homework, if we dig and the truth is revealed to us in a wonderful way. But clearly here in Ephesians 4 verse 30 we have grieve not, and in Thessalonians it's quench not. And I suppose the answer lies in really the use that scripture makes of various pictures of the Holy Spirit. You'll be familiar of course with the picture of the Holy Spirit as a dove, and typically the use of the picture of oil and sometimes of fire. These are all symbolic uses that the scripture employs to convey something of the truth of the Spirit of God. And grieving is, I think it's something we're familiar with, it's not a difficult concept, it's when we cause sorrow. And if we imagine what would grieve us, well if someone close to us, if someone of our family causes us hurt, then we're grieved, it's a very personal feeling. And it brings out the true personality of the Holy Spirit. He is a divine person and he can be grieved. I suggest in the context of Ephesians, it's if we sin, it's a matter of personal grief to the Holy Spirit. He indwells us and we are causing him to be present when we go into sin. Maybe we go somewhere we shouldn't, maybe we think something we shouldn't, or we say something we shouldn't. And that has a personal effect on the Holy Spirit. And for that reason we're exhorted not to grieve the Holy Spirit. In Thessalonians, it's the thought of quenching. And I suppose we think here really of the picture of fire. And we're familiar, I suppose, if we had a fire and we wanted to put out the fire, we'd pour water on it and the fire goes out. And so insofar as the scriptures give us this picture of the Holy Spirit, the source of power and energy, we can suppress him. We can refuse to be prompted by him. And acting in this way, it's not sinning in the same way, it's not grieving him. There's a similar thought, but it's not the same. And by way of illustration, I would mention, if you've ever read an account of how the Lord used the evangelist Charles Stanley in a book which covers some of the Lord's work. He mentions, as a young believer, he went to a place where Christians were met together to remember the Lord. And he had, during the meeting, a distinct impression to stand up and read some verses, I think, from Corinthians. And he was strongly convicted of it, but through fear, whatever, he remained seated. And shortly afterwards, the brother in the book referred to as Captain W. I suppose it must be Captain Wellesley, the father of the hymn writer, a few of our hymns. He stood up and he read the very same passage and gave a wonderful explanation, expounded these verses to the benefit of the assembled company. And Charles Stanley took this as a gentle rebuke, that having been prompted by the Holy Spirit, he didn't act on it. And I suppose we can say that was an example of where he quenched the Holy Spirit. It didn't have an ongoing effect in his life for the moment. And the Spirit, being who he is, was able to use another for the benefit of all present. So they're not the same thing. I think they're very closely linked. But they're certainly things to distinguish and there's a difference. We have here two questions in remarkably similar handwriting which are important. I don't think we've actually yet come to them in our progress through the Epistle to the Ephesians. But on the basis that this is the last open question and answer session, and we don't want anyone to go away feeling that their legitimate concerns have not been fairly addressed, I think we should deal with them now. And I've asked our brother, Rusty Warnes, to give the answers. I'll read them out one by one and let him answer one at a time because they are quite long. The Christian in a job. No, let's start with this one. The Christian in marriage. There may be slimmer reasons for women to get married in this day and age. A career reaps material benefits. Companionship is amongst brothers and sisters in Christ. If one gets broody, one may borrow one's way into looking after a child. But also know the relief of returning this to their rightful owners. How may I be convinced marriage is for me? Rusty. The quick answer is it isn't. Basically, I know as I stand here that I'm going to say things that you might think I'm trying to offend some of you here. But I can assure you that I have no intention of upsetting or offending anybody here. I would just quote the verse that we will look at tomorrow. And that is in Genesis 2, where the words are, For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they twain shall be one flesh. As far as I can see, it is normal, as far as God's order is given, that there should be a husband and wives together. That doesn't mean to say that it is abnormal for people to be single. But I think that we can see that in God's order, it is that men and women should marry and be together. Now, if there is those here that are not married, I believe that there are, amongst others, and I'm going to just mention two reasons why people decide that they are not going to get married. You may have many other ones you can tell me afterwards. The first one is, as we had this afternoon, according to the course of this world. And in the world in which we live, it is quite popular for young people to think, I don't want to get married. I don't want to have a husband. I don't want children. I want to spend my time and my money for me. And if that is the attitude, I'm going to suggest that that is wrong. We as Christians are here for the Lord. There may be others, and for this I'm going to quote a verse from 1 Corinthians 7, 32. But I would have you without carefulness that he that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. And in Matthew 19, in verse 11. But he said unto them, well, we read verse 10. His disciples say unto him, if the case of the man be so with the wife, is it not good? It is not good to marry. And he said unto them, all men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. So putting these two verses together, it seems to me that if there are those that are single, those that haven't married, you have to have a special gift from the Lord. And in here, this verse says that there are those that have a special gift of the Lord to remain single. And in 1 Corinthians, it seems to indicate that those that have that gift and remain single do it for the Lord, that they can serve the Lord much better as a single person than as a married couple. And I think that we all have heard of Mr. Darby, that after much prayer, he came to the conclusion that it was far better for him in his service for the Lord to remain single. We could add, those of us, or those of you here that are anticipating marriage and are still single, what you have to do is to make it a real matter of prayer that the Lord would guide you. And perhaps the Lord has a job for you that requires you not to be married. And if so, I'm sure that the Lord will give you the gift, give you the ability to remain unmarried. The second question, I read it before, but I can't read it now. It's a question of having employment. There can be a great deal of pressure to proceed. Titus 2 verse 4, shall we read that one? There can be a great deal of pressure to progress into or step into posts that may not complement or be conducive to continuing the calling stated in Titus 2 verse 4. How does one balance the two? Well, Titus 2 verse 4 says that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. I think that the whole question of employment and getting on in this world is again what we had this afternoon. This is a worldly idea that you have to succeed. You have to work. We have to work, but we don't have to work as hard as this world will want us to work. Because your employee will never say you've done enough. He'll always want a little bit extra. And sometimes in our lives we've got to be prepared to say enough is enough. And only last week I was thinking of Jacob. Remember Jacob when he left and went to work for his two wives with Laban. For 20 years he laboured for his two wives. And at the end of those 20 years, 20 years in which there is a dearth as far as his spiritual growth is concerned, we read nothing of him speaking to God. We find that God speaks to him and he says, Jacob, I'm the God of Bethel. And you know, in the world today there is this idea, get on as much as you can. Get the next point. Get the next position. You'll get the next salary rise. And it's always a rat race, as we say. And at the end of the day, God will speak to us and say, there are things that are real. There are things that God could say, I'm the God of Bethel. I'm the God of the house of God. And if we had our thoughts more centred on the things of God, these other things I think would fall into their right perspective. I missed a point which I think is important to say. Remember we were talking about unity of the spirit and whether it's just local. I want to emphasise that in a practical way it is more than local and we can practice the unity of the spirit beyond our localities. The Apostle Paul sent a letter of commendation for Phoebe to the saints at Rome. We can pray for others in other countries. We can send them gifts. These are ways in which we practice unity of the spirit beyond our locality. I don't think I emphasised that enough in my first answer. That's all I wanted to say. I just wanted to back up what Rusty was saying from my own recent experience in employment. It is an increase in pressure to go on and you will find young believer, if you trust the Lord and you seek to serve him, your employer will especially trust you because they know they can trust you. They see that from the way you do your work and it becomes sometimes something which lures you into taking on more and more duties at work. And then you can't serve the Lord in your local meeting or in some other way. So we do have to strike that important balance if we want to serve the Lord. It's very difficult today because the pressure is on more and more in the world of work. …

… Good afternoon. Shall we read together the verses that are before us first of all? Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no hoolmonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done in secret, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the times, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. As we have read down those first 21 verses of chapter 5, there's obviously a lot of detail in those verses. But I think especially with a conference like this over two days, we've seen that 30 minutes hasn't been enough for each of the speakers to really get into perhaps all the detail that is in each of these sections. And so, I would like to bring before you, right at the start, the few words that are really on my mind. And it's that verse that we read towards the end there, that well-known refrain, which I think in a large measure sums up how this chapter is encouraging us to be as Christians in this world. It's those phrases, but be filled with the Spirit. I'm sure we've heard them before, be filled with the Spirit. And as we go through these verses together, then I would like us to remember and have clearly before us that injunction, that exhortation, be filled with the Spirit. Because I'm sure it will help us in our daily lives. In fact, there's two challenges that I would like to bring before you. We've seen, particularly yesterday, that this book of Ephesians, like a number of New Testament books, has these twin focus on. That there's the doctrine that we're told of first, and there's the practice. Doctrine and practice. And that as Christians living in this century for the Lord Jesus, we need to understand the doctrine, how important that is, and we need to be helped by being filled with the Spirit to live practical lives here for the Lord Jesus. Both are important. And so the two challenges, again, I'd like you to try and focus on the doctrinal part. At the end of this weekend, can you go away and remember, and can you in your mind give a summary of those six chapters? Can you go through chapter one, perhaps picking a few phrases, key phrases from chapter one, and so on, all the way through chapter six? I'm sure there's many here who can do that already. Perhaps you'd like to go through the detail. Can you go through the argument throughout the whole book? A challenge for you, so that you fully understand what the Word of God is saying. But surely the practical challenge is to be filled with the Spirit. Now, we get many challenges and targets today. Many. One of my challenges in my daily work is to get a particular young man a grade C in his GCSE. This young man has already caused me a few headaches. The way he faces the challenge was, I remember on Thursday lunchtime, he hadn't done his work. Went and found him. Went and got him. Bringing him back yet again to do his work at lunch. When I went through the door and he saw me, his face dropped. But faced with that challenge, that awful thing of having to do some work, he picked up his bag and he threw it at the door. He stormed out of the door. He went out into the playground. He went to the canoe shed in the school ground and he banged his head on the canoe shed. He put his fist into there and five minutes later, thankfully, he'd calmed down. Faced with a challenge. I hope you're not going to be like that when faced with a challenge. Because being filled with the Spirit is a real challenge for all of us. A real challenge. How can we live a life which is pleasing to the Lord Jesus? How can we live that life? Many of us here have spent a large proportion of our lives listening to people speak. Many of us have read the Scriptures regularly. We've listened to tapes. We've read books. We've had those that have gone before us. Those that we've known. Good practical Christians. Good examples for us that we can follow and that we can watch. We heard yesterday that one of the things that Ephesians tells us is that we should put on that new man. And in this chapter we have be filled with the Spirit. Increasingly, the world won't won't listen when we try to speak of the Lord Jesus. Again, just this week, I heard on the radio a news item and it was really about some clothing that was duplicated in some way and they were going to give it to teenagers that were down and out in Edinburgh. Just a news item. And they had on this lady and she just got going telling them what they were going to do and she spoke about people being made in the image of God. And the interviewer just cut her off. Didn't want anything to do with that. And that's what's like today, isn't it? It's difficult to speak to people about the Lord Jesus. So we need in this day and age, we need people who are practical Christians, who are filled with the Spirit, whose lives mirror the life of the Lord Jesus. Whose lives speak to people in how they act, in what they do, in what they say that reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. And our scriptures here help us. It says, walk in love, live a life of love. That's certainly difficult for us to do. But we have an example, our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved us and gave himself up for us. What an example for us to follow. We're here in this world to live for the Lord Jesus and to love our fellow man. To live for them, not ourselves. The Lord Jesus, we're told, gave his life as that fragrant offering. How God the Father would love to see lives in this world today that are a fragrant offering to him, that are a sacrifice to God. We're told, aren't we, that as we read through verses three and four, we're given these practical instructions. We might ask ourselves a question, why does the New Testament give us many practical instructions? I'm very thankful that they do. But we couldn't keep the law, that's why the Lord Jesus had to come. Why do we therefore get these practical instructions? We can use these practical instructions as we read them. We know that as we read the Word of God, and we encouraged to read daily yesterday, that as we read the Word of God, it cleanses us. It brings us up short. It can be a test for us. We can be reading down here in these verses, and it can arrest us and stop us and prevent us doing more damage or doing wrong things. The Christian life, as we see here, is a practical life. And in verses three and four, we get a list of things that we're told not to do. But then at the end of verse four, it says, but giving of thanks. There is instructions we're told not to do, but then we're told what to do. We have in verse nine, where it says the fruit of the Spirit, which I believe the commentaries tell us that that really should ring the fruit of the light. We're told that it consists in all goodness, doing good, righteous things, righteousness, and in truth. We need to find out practically what pleases the Lord. We're told, aren't we, in these verses, that the Kingdom of Christ is characterized by holiness, and how we need holiness, how the world needs to see practical holiness in the lives of those who claim to be Christians. Because we've probably met people who say, yes, I go to church on Sunday. Yes, I believe. But we start speaking to them. We perhaps might start trying to engage in spiritual conversations with them. And we've got doubts. We're concerned. We're worried about some of the things they say or don't say. And here we say that a true believer might commit these sins, but no believer is characterized by them. No believer is characterized by these characteristics that we have in these first few verses in our chapter. If people profess to be Christians, but are characterized by these sins, we can have no part with them. We're not only to avoid their sins, but also them. Verse 7 tells us, be not ye therefore partakers with them. We have to avoid people who are characterized by these wicked, wrong things. So we are to walk as children of light. Practically, somebody suggested a summary where the believer's life is the bringing forth the fruits of light because he is a child of light while maintaining complete separation from the unfruitful works of darkness. Verse 10 tells us to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord. Verse 11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. The light manifests all things that come under its rays. It makes them clear. We can see them. God in his character is light. God is light. But we as believers are only light in the Lord. So I'm sure we've heard the idea of the moon reflecting the light of the sun. That we must abide in the light of Christ himself in order to shed light. If we are outside the Lord's will, if we are not in communion with the Lord, then we're not reflecting, we won't reflect that light that God is himself. So we have this contrast. We were once darkness, terrible situation that we were in. But that contrast, now you are light in the Lord. We're only light in the Lord. We're told to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, nothing to do with them. But we are told positively to expose them. And that everything exposed by the light becomes visible. We're told to live carefully and wisely. Now there's another challenge for us here. In our lives, where this verse tells us to make the most of every opportunity, let us think about our own individual circumstances. We're hopefully in an assembly with those that we love, those who rejoice in the truth of the Lord Jesus. That we have relationships with them. We all have our families, maybe close to us, maybe scattered far and wide. Many have responsibilities in work. And we have the community, the area, the people that we do live amongst. Now, as we live our lives, as we are being filled with the Spirit and being led by the Spirit, then those, and I'm sure there are other areas, but we need to think of our situation, our relationships, our actions, and how we live with regards at least to these four areas. That we might be the only person who's a Christian that we meet five days a week or even more these days at work. That we might be the only person that those people see. We clearly have responsibilities to our family and to the assembly, but we have responsibilities amongst those whom we live, those that we rub shoulders with during the day, to live practical Christian lives. And as we said, it might be difficult to speak to these people. We need almost, I think, to be waiting, hoping for an opportunity. Often people live busy lives, and at work especially, it's not appropriate at times. But we need to be looking for those opportunities. We need to be praying and asking the Lord to give us those opportunities. So we might speak to people. So we might be aware often when people go through difficult times, times when they might be more receptive to hearing what the Lord Jesus has done for them. We need to have this before us. So the scriptures say, don't live unwisely, but positively. To live wisely. We need to be wise. We need to have the wisdom of God. We need to know how to react and act in every situation we find ourselves. Don't be foolish. We need to understand what the Lord's will is. The Lord's will for us as individuals might and probably is different for each one of us. The Lord has a plan for us. And he has a plan for what we do and how we act and what we say and how we live. He has a plan for us. And we need to understand what the Lord's will is for us. So we come to this injunction where it says, be filled with the Spirit. Now there are men and women that we're told about in the scriptures who were filled with the Spirit. We can go right back into the Old Testament and have a look at Bezalel. He, we're told, was wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all manner of workmanship. Doctrinally secure, but practically in the objects that he made for the tabernacle, he was skilled. Both combined. We're told that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. We read of the early disciples, we know Acts chapter 2, that it says that all were filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. We further read of Peter who, when he speaks to the rulers and the elders of Israel, was filled with the Holy Spirit. Later on in the chapter, the early disciples, it says of them that they were all filled. There are others, aren't there? Paul and Stephen, and others that we're told of that were filled with the Spirit. So from that brief resume, we see and we know, don't we, that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. It can be repeated many times. In that chapter 4, Peter was filled at the beginning of the chapter, and then later on it speaks of him being filled again. But it's something that we obviously should desire. That it's being filled with the Spirit didn't just happen to Christians in New Testament days, but it's happened throughout church history. And we can be filled with the Spirit today. The tense of the verb, I believe, it says be filled. It's a present continuous tense. It's saying now be filled with the Spirit and go on being filled with the Spirit. It's something that we're encouraged to be filled with the Spirit. We should be filled with the Spirit continually. Have you ever been filled with the Spirit? Do you know of people who've been filled with the Spirit? I think that's quite, again, a challenging question. But being filled with the Spirit is something that we can control. That we have some say in. So how can we be filled with the Spirit? Something that we can control. We know the Holy Spirit is a person of the Godhead. We're talking about a holy person of the Godhead. God himself. And we told, we read yesterday, that we're not to grieve the Spirit. How can we grieve the Spirit? Well, grieving the Spirit is something that we do when we're doing things that are wrong. If we are acting wrongly, we're clearly grieving the Spirit. The Spirit cannot work. The Holy Spirit is a person. I'm sure many of us really don't like upsetting the people that we live close to, our partners, our children. We don't like upsetting people. Here we're told, aren't we, not to grieve the Spirit. We cannot be filled with the Spirit if we're grieving the Spirit. And the Spirit is a person. And if we can perhaps say reverently, he is gentle and sensitive. He gets upset when we're doing things wrong, saying things wrong, being in the wrong places. We obviously know that we must resist the devil. And we're also told, in Thessalonians, not to quench the Spirit. The Spirit, living inside all of us who've trusted the Saviour, we're sealed with the Spirit. The Spirit will be prompting us, encouraging us to do this or do that. But if we quench the Spirit, then we obviously are preventing the Spirit working. The Spirit can't fill us if we're saying, no, I don't want to do that, if we're deliberately, or sometimes we do it unconsciously, if we're doing that and quenching the Spirit. We're told, aren't we, that we're the temple of the Holy Ghost. We need to remember that in our daily lives, in what we do, who we associate with. And as we obey the Holy Spirit, as we follow him, increasingly he will show his desires to us. He will make more known of the Lord Jesus, and we'll appreciate more of him. And the Holy Spirit will lead us into what he wants us to do. But, what struck me, there are no shortcuts. It doesn't come ready-made. We're so used in modern society for things being done quickly, for a quick fix, for something to happen immediately. And being filled with the Spirit is something that we need to work at, we need to ask for help with, and we need certainly help from above. But we're filled with the Spirit. As I was coming along Bromley Road, stuck in a little bit of traffic, made me think again of the sat-navs we now have got in our cars. I don't particularly like sat-navs, but have got to admit they're useful at times. I like to plot a route, I like to know where I'm going, I like to know where the detour I can make if you run into problems. But with a sat-nav, maybe that aerial on the roof, and the instructions come down step by step. It might say, in a mile, turn left at the roundabout. It might say, ten yards, turn right. And it strikes me, I think that's a little bit like a Spirit-filled life. Thankfully as Christians we know where we're heading, we know our destiny, we know we're going to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus. But step by step, we need to be waiting upon the Holy Spirit, we need to be turning to him for guidance. And do you agree with me how difficult that is? How difficult it is to wait on the Lord. How we need that filling of the Spirit. If we think of the life of the Lord Jesus, that he went to Sycos well to see that woman, just at the right time. If he'd gone, I'm speaking reverently, a few moments earlier, or at the wrong time, it would have been a good thing to go and see that woman and speak to her. But it had to be at the right time. We think of when the Lord Jesus heard that Lazarus was dead and we told that he waited two days. There's a perfect time that even when we feel to do the right things, it's a step further than that. We have to wait on the Spirit so that we do the right things at the right time and be led by him. How crucial that is today, that we follow the promptings, the leadings of the Holy Spirit, so that he can use us, so that somebody in our family can be saved, so that we can be a witness to him at work, so that we can encourage those in the assemblies round about us, doing the right thing at the right time, saying the right thing at the right time, being led and prompted by the Spirit. And we're told that being filled in the Spirit, I believe the participle continues and tells us about speaking, being filled with the Spirit, goes on speaking to yourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making music in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus. They're showing us what a Spirit-filled person is like. We have in Galatians, don't we, the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, etc., when we're filled with the Spirit. And we're toldings to submit, submit to one another out of reverence to Christ, not to be thoughtless, impetuous, selfish. We're all members of one body, part of a whole, and it is the whole body that matters. I think it's just worth saying that here we're not told to submit to everybody and everything. If the Pope came along and told us to do this and do that and worship the Virgin Mary, we're not told to submit to what he says. But clearly these verses are written to the Ephesians, are written to those who have imbibed the doctrine, followed and agreed the doctrine. It's those who we're walking with and those that love the Lord Jesus Christ. We're asked to submit to and take that lowly place as the Lord Jesus did. So, challenges. Learn the epistle to the Ephesians. Be filled with the Spirit and look at those four areas and challenge ourselves. Are we being filled with the Spirit in those aspects of our life? Are we ready to be used because we haven't grieved the Spirit? We haven't quenched the Spirit? The Spirit is able to work through us because we're in a right state and situation to serve the Lord Jesus. …

… Okay, if we can read these verses that are before us in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22 to 33. Verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man has ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you, in particularly, so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. I would like to begin by going to the end of the last section. It doesn't mean I'm Irish, but I would like to begin with verse 32, because in this verse we are told that what we are going to speak about this afternoon is a great mystery. Those of you who read through the New Testament will know only too well that there are a number of mysteries. I've counted about 18, and of those mysteries only two are designated as a great mystery. The other one is 1st Timothy 3, where it speaks of great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in flesh. And here we find another great mystery, because what we are speaking about is Christ and the assembly. So we can see that this mystery is very important, because there are no greater thing in this world than the assembly, and there is no greater person in heaven than Christ. We sing the hymn 225, the Father's full delight is centered in the Son. We also read in Colossians, in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And so we would all agree that Christ is supreme in heaven. And on this earth there is a vessel which is God's interest, and that is his assembly, that is beloved friends you and me. And because what we have in this marriage bond is a wonderful picture of Christ and the assembly, we know that as we learnt yesterday that the Church of God, although it was formed on the day of Pentecost, as we record in Acts 2, really the Church of God, in the thoughts of God, began before the time was. We read in chapter 1, is it verse 3, that before the foundations of the world, the church was there. And it has ever been God's intention that there should be a company of people suitable to his beloved Son, to be with his beloved Son through all eternity. And every time there was a marriage in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, it pointed to that glorious day when the Lord Jesus Christ will be married, united to his wife the bride. And therefore I believe that this is the one thing in which Satan, throughout the centuries, has attacked. He's attacked the idea that one man and one woman should live together, that one man and one woman should be married together. And in order to illustrate this, I picked up four points that will show some of the ways in which Satan is attacking marriage today. Right back in the very beginning, it didn't take Satan long to introduce that which was an attack on the very foundation that God had instituted. God made Adam and God made Eve. But when Lamech came along in the fourth chapter of Genesis, it says he took for himself two wives. Now we might think that one wife is good, so two wives is a double blessing, but according to what we read in Genesis 1 and 2, God gave Adam a wife and man's ideas is we'll have more. And so we see that Lamech, on the line of Cain, takes for himself two wives. We're thankful that we live in a country which has outlawed the idea of having more than one wife. The second attack has come and we read of it in Genesis 19 and also in Romans chapter 1. And here is a subject which, to mention it, would be politically incorrect. In the world in which we live in, particularly this country, we are thankful there are some countries in which you would be elected if you preach this, that what happened in Genesis 19, homosexuality is wrong. It is not something that should be named amongst the people of God. It is not something that should be named amongst the creation of God. It is an outlaw. It is something which Satan has introduced. And particularly if we want any information on this, if we look at the question of Sodom and Gomorrah, we read that they were sinners before the Lord. And again in Romans chapter 1, we read there, men with men work in that which is unseemly. Why did they do it? Because they did not like to contain God in their thoughts. And so we find that here is an attack of Satan on the marriage bond. Malachi 2 verse 16. The other attack that men have brought in, very popular, is yes, we'll get married. But if things go wrong, we can always divorce. How often have we heard that said? If we make a mistake, sometimes along the line, we can make a divorce. Malachi 2 verse 16 says, God hates putting away. God hates divorce. And divorce is not an option for Christian marriages. Divorce should not be an option for marriage full stop. Because when God created man and woman, and when he brought them together, it was for life. The idea that you could change is against the Word of God. And then we come to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3. We've already mentioned this afternoon the question of fornication. Those verses in 1 Thessalonians 4 says, this is the will of God that ye abstain from fornication. Not as the Gentiles which know not God. And we've had it already in this weekend, that there is a system of things in this world which is going on happily without God. We read about those that knew not God. And here there are some that are acting in their lives in a way which is not according to the will of God. And I want to make this statement. That all sexual intercourse between those that are unmarried is fornication. And is against the Word of God. And if we go in for things like that, we're doing something which will come under the judgment of God. And I quote one verse. Hebrews 13. I'm going to read it. Hebrews 13.4. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. And one thing that impressed me on reading the Old Testament, whenever there is a sin of fornication, it is not only a sin as we read in the New Testament against the body, but it's a sin against God. I quote to you the creation of Joseph when he was in Potiphar's house. And Potiphar's wife said, come lie with me. And Joseph said, how can I do this thing and sin against, not Potiphar, but against God? David, in Psalm 51, speaking about the sin which he had committed with Bathsheba, he could utter these words. Against thee, against thee only have I sinned. And I believe that Satan has introduced these ideas in order that he may ruin the thought that God had in the beginning of marriage. So the next point that I would like to bring out, going back a couple of verses, is in chapter, is in verse 31. Verse 31, we have a quotation. And this is a rather remarkable quotation. Because it is recorded three times, or if we like, four times in the Scriptures. The first time it is recorded, it is the words of God himself, as recorded in Genesis chapter 2. The second time it is recorded, it is recorded by the Lord himself, and that would be in Matthew 19, and the corresponding verses in Mark chapter 10. And here we get those same Scriptures recorded by the Apostle Paul, led by the Holy Spirit. So I think that we can see, as it says, is it in Ecclesiastes, a threefold cord is not easily broken. And here we have this verse, with the stamp of authority of God, the stamp of authority of the Lord. And here, the stamp of authority of the Holy Spirit. And we have this little verse, should we say, which many years ago a Jewish rabbi wrote. The woman was made from Adam's side, not from his head to rule over him, nor his feet to be trodden on by him, but from his side to be loved by him. And how true it is that this verse is applicable to Adam. And it's a good starting point to realize that our wives are not to be our heads, and we all see that as we come down these verses, and they're not to be trampled on. We will also pick up that, but they are to be at our sides, to be loved. Now another thing that is important, I feel, with this verse in, as it is recorded in Genesis chapter 2, here we have what I call the basis of all marriage. And you will notice, and even the youngest here will know, that chapter 2 comes before chapter 3. Elementary, but in chapter 3 we have the fall of man, and in chapter 2 we have God's institution of marriage. And so you can see that marriage is not as a result of sin. Marriage is not something which God gave because man fell. Marriage is the divine order that God has instituted in creation. When we come down to this little verse here, we find there are three things in this verse, and I believe they are very important. I'm quoting from verse 31, and it says, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother. I think it pre-supposed that we are talking about a man, we are not talking about a boy, we're not talking about someone who is immature, we're talking about someone who is mature and has the thinking of an adult, and also he has the ability to leave his parents and to be with his wife. And you know when you leave your parents home, when you're living in your parents home, you are under the headship of your parents, you're under the headship of your father. We can see that even in our portion that is before us. And this person that leaves his father and his mother, he has to be of a mature age in order that he can maintain and support his wife. And so the scripture says we need to leave our father and mother and be joined unto his wife, or as the verse in Genesis says, and to cleave to his wife. What does it mean to cleave to one's wife? Well in 1 Corinthians 7 we read the verse as answer to a question yesterday. It says he that has a wife cares for her. He seeks how he might care for her. He seeks how he might please her. And if we are going to fulfill these scriptures, as husbands we have to care for our wives. That is what is brought out in these verses. Not only do we have to care for them, but in verse 29 it says that we have to, no man has ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. And that's what we have to do to our wives, nourish them and cherish them. And this is what this verse says. And finally of course they too shall be one flesh. And there we get the question of sexual intercourse which is allowed but only in that order. And we do find that there is this order given in these verses that the men of the world want to turn over and turn around. But it is very very clear that we first of all we leave our father and our mother. We set up a home, we cleave to our wife, and then it is quite legitimate to be joined together and to be one flesh. And I'm going to go back to the beginning. Verse 22. When I come to this junction I think it would be a good thing if all the husbands and all those here which anticipate that one day you will or would like to be husbands, that you leave the room. Because I have experienced that the husbands know very well verse 22 of Ephesians chapter 5. And I also know that the same thing applies when we come to verse 25 that perhaps the wives should leave the room. Because here the Spirit of God is speaking to the wives. Before we come to that I'm just going to go back and tread into Jeff's portion. I believe there is something that will help us husbands to have wives that will submit to us. If you come back into verse 19 it says speaking to yourselves. In verse 20 it says giving thanks. And in verse 21 submitting yourselves. I think one of the great problems that we have as husbands is that we come home from work and we go in and the first thing that we want to do is to sit down. The first thing that we want to do is to open the post or to check the emails. And our wife has probably been in the room in the house all day looking after the children and the first thing that she wants to do is to talk. What a good thing it is if we can sit down together and speak one to another. Here it is speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. I'm not suggesting that we go in and we we sing a psalm to our wives but the Psalms are Christian. The Psalms are experience. And we can sit down and we can speak about our experiences throughout that day. And we can speak about how the Lord has been with us and we can communicate one with another. And we can also give thanks. What a wonderful thing it is that as husband and wives you can give thanks for what the Lord has done for that day. And then we can submit to one another. And this is the husbands as well as the wives as well as all of us has to have this spirit of being under being submitting to one another. And then you know it does actually say and here I speak direct to those that are wise or those that would would like to be or will be in the Lord's will. The actual word submit this is not what I've made up. This is what Strong's Concordance says. It means to obey. To be under obedience and to subdue. That's what the scripture says. And the challenge to you tonight, you this afternoon, is are you prepared to accept the teaching of scripture? It's not me. It's not the brethren. It's what the Word of God says. Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 both gives us this text that we that the wives should submit to their husbands. The second reason and this is a reason that I find to be very touching I'm sure it will touch each one of us is the example of our Lord Jesus. In Luke's Gospel chapter 2 verse 51 we read their words similar to this that the Lord Jesus having returned from Jerusalem he was subject unto his parents. What a tremendous statement. What a tremendous thing that the Lord of glory the creator of the universe was subject to his parents. Being subjective or being in subject does not in any way mean that you are inferior. We know that the Lord was far greater. He was the Son of God. He was God himself and yet he was prepared to submit to his parents because he entered into that order. He entered into this world as a babe in Bethlehem and he grew up in that family and as such he was to submit to his parents. The same thing applies to us here. Having entered into marriage relationship with your husband it is duty bound upon you to obey these verses here and to submit to your husband. And the third reason and perhaps the most obvious reason why a wife should submit is because your husband loves you. And I was once speaking to a well-known brother and he said to me the trouble is with my wife she doesn't submit. And I thought I doesn't tell him the trouble is with you is that you don't love. And if we are finding that our wives are not submitting perhaps we should try to love them even more. Now when we think of the the wife and the husband I'm sure there is aspects and there are spheres of work in which the wife is far better at doing than the husband. I'm sure there are things about the husband that he can do which are far better than the wife. But doesn't mean to say and I want to emphasize this that because the wife is submitting is that she is any inferior to the husband. It's remarkable to me that when we read of the birth of Moses in the second chapter of Exodus we read there of his birth and the emphasis is upon Jochebed Moses's mother. And there it says she saw, she hid, she took, and she laid. And according to Exodus chapter 2 you would only think that Moses had a mother. There is no mention made of Amram. But when you come into Acts chapter 7 where the Spirit of God is using Stephen to speak to the high priests he speaks of that same occasion and there he says Moses was nourished up in his father's house. As far as the public testimony is concerned the man is the head of the house and so Stephen mentions that it was his father's house. But I'll add something to these things which is even more beautiful and that is in Hebrews 11 that grand chapter of faith we read there by faith Moses was hid three months of his parents. What a wonderful thing that both mother has their sphere of service the husband the father has his sphere of service and also faith both of them together in the bringing up of their children can exercise their faith. And we come to husband. It was always suggested that I would have ran out of time the time I got to the question of husbands so I will just just touch this as we go down first of all scripture says and it's very clear that it says it you are the head the husband is the head of the wife not that you might like to be or that you should be but you are the head and you cannot dodge your responsibility I speak to every husband here and to myself included I and you are the head we know that we are the head of the home and therefore just as Christ and in this little portion we read this expression both in relation to headship and in relation to love that we are the ones that have to be head and we have to love as Christ and as Christ is head of the church and as head of the church he directs the movement of the body and so we as husbands should direct we should steer as it were that the family and the what husband and the wife and any children that the Lord should give in a way which is pleasing to him but also I believe in the question of headship we should take the lead and you know here is a practical thing how often as husbands and wives do we wait for the wife to take the lead especially if it's in a in the question of simply saying sorry and perhaps if we were to be more taking the lead what how better it would be and then of course husbands love your wives and here again we have such a very high thing to follow love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it we remember that the Lord Jesus in order that he might secure his church the proof of the Lord's love was that he died upon Calvary's cross and you know each one of us if we're really going to love our wives as he did we've got to be prepared to give for our wives one of the problems I think with a lot of us men is that we know more about our cars than we do our wives because our wives have different emotions and different feelings and different times they will be acting in a different way and we need to understand it and if we really love our wives we will take these things into consideration we will love them even though they might be in a mood we've still got to love them even though they might be doing things that we wouldn't want them to do at 12 o'clock at night we've still got to love them we've got to care for them and we've also got to support them and it is even as Christ did for the church and I'm going to finish but in verse 2 to just to sum it up husbands are told to love their wives even as Christ gave himself and he gave himself for us what a wonderful thing that we love our wives but we only love our wives because Christ has given himself for us and here we've listed this as a sacrifice of love and this took place in the past but now that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word this is what is taking place at the present that as we are here today is it not as the Word of God comes into our lives and applies us and cleanses that verse in the psalm wherewith shall a young man cleanse his ways but by taking heed thereto according to thy word not only is there a service of love which is taking place today but there is a sacrifice of love which took place in the past and there is a satisfaction of love which we read in that he might present it to himself which is going to take place in the future what a wonderful day is to come when the Lord Jesus will have his bride at his side we can read about it in Revelation 21 we can also read about it in the very pages that we've been looking at today at the end of chapter 3 of our Gospels unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end amen and so this church this bride although it began at Pentecost we've already said in the thoughts of God it was being to be I gone eternity and that has been brought into a fruition in time in time through the death of Christ there has been drawing out of this world the Lord is a people for himself and in the future day there is to be that marriage of the Lamb with his bride with his church and that will last into eternity …

… Shall we just begin with a word of prayer before we start our next sessions. Our God and Father we continue to ask thy help as we open thy word and as we seek to lay ourselves open before thyself that the spirit may take thy word and show it to us that we may have listening ears open hearts to receive thy word and we pray that as we go through these practical questions that our hearts may be open to thee and that we may be subject to thy word and subject to thee and so we just ask for help and guidance upon all what we do for the rest of this afternoon as we have had thy blessing to now we commit ourselves into thy hand for the guiding of the Holy Spirit in everything we do as we ask it in Jesus precious name amen perhaps we could read our verses in Ephesians chapter six chapter six and verse one children obey your parents in the lord for this is right honor thy father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the lord servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto christ not with eye service as men pleases but as the servants of christ doing the will of god from the heart with goodwill doing service as to the lord and not to men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the lord whether he be bond or free ye masters do the same things unto them forbearing threatening knowing that your master also is in heaven neither is there respect of persons with him so we continue in our practical part of this epistle and i've entitled this living the calling we've already spoke about our life in this world and our life as husbands and wives and here we come to a practical matter of families and work something which is every day which we're involved and we come to the meeting like this we come to conferences for a few hours a few days maybe in a few days maybe in the year but for the rest of the while we're engaged in our normal business we can be at home with our family we can be at work earning our living and there the question is whether we are living out these real um principles these wondrous truths that we have in this beginning of of ephesians and before i go any further in case i forget i'd just like to say you know we have we are talking about serious things we have looked at some very amazing truths at the beginning of the book and if these things are going to be really mean something to us we have to individually on our own before the lord face up to them go over them meditate upon them ask the lord to show them to us and you look at those things in chapter one and going on into chapter two and chapter three those wondrous blessings that god has given and before the lord ask him to show them to us that we may work them out in our lives in prayer and meditation before him just face up to what he really has done for us and the real marvel of these blessings and when we think of those things then we think of what our response should be and how this should work out so taking up this chapter six we come to some very very practical things we've spoken about husbands and wives and in some ways i was just wondering how much rusty was going to venture into into chapter six talking about parents but i don't think he took too much of my ground but here we have in our everyday lives we're living under new authority we have this children obey your parents in the lord and simon spoke about paul who was a prisoner in the lord and so we have to come to this decision that christ is our lord and we can only do that as we think of who he is and what he has done for us and then we in practical realization that we are dead that we the old us is finished with now the only christ should be living in us then we can live out these good works for which we have created in christ jesus we spoke in chapter two of what we were then with our conversation in the lust of the flesh doing what the flesh and the thoughts will to do but then later on we are his workmanship curated in christ jesus unto good works and so here we have how these good works work out in our practical everyday lives and the family is a very we have four subjects here and perhaps i'll just go on to the next slide um talking about the lordship of christ we have four subjects we only have half an hour but we have four subjects but thankfully we don't have too many verses to look at and i want to especially go through these first two children and parents because we are all we're all been children many of us here are parents some would aspire to be parents and these are things that we know about every day we live in families god has given us this wonderful blessing of living in families and this is where we work these things out now i had i would like to read something in the calendar oh lord is near calendar which um you can get on your computer every day if you haven't got a printed copy um rk campbell wrote an article on the 14th of november and perhaps you'd like to check it out for yourself uh talking about when israel had light in their dwellings in the family i'd like to read the last part of this of this portion where he spoke speaks about the practical working out of family life and he says this talking about the dark world in which we live and the and what the family is like in this situation and he says thus in the mutual care of the family members one for another and in the daily exercise of practical self-denial the natural heart's detestable selfishness may be checked and frustrated and then the family relationships of obedience and love and the daily practice of submitting one to another which these relationships necessity necessitate wholesomely counter counterbalance that root sin of all mankind's evil self-will and disobedience so there rk campbell speaks about some of those things were necessary for family life to be realized as it should be under god that exercise of self-denial and we've roughly mentioned about being submissive one to another which is something which we have to put into practice in the husband and wife relationship but also is for our exercise in the family and also in other spheres also so we start off with children and we ask two questions obedience why this chapter starts off not with any therefores we've had before or for this or it just starts off children so we've got to the end of the epistle nearly and here we have children and then it says and ye fathers and then it says servants and then masters by the time we've got to this passage at the end we should understand that these are instructions from the lord to us and if we have grasped something of the blessings that god has given us in christ then we should be ready to listen to hear his word when paul was on the damascus road and he saw that light from heaven and we've thought about heavenly blessings that paul had that realization of he saw the lord on the damascus road that tremendous light and he said those words lord what will thou have me to do he was ready to listen he was ready to abide and so when we grasp something of what god is and what the lord jesus is and what he has done for us then we come to these scriptures we are ready to listen children obey your parents and it goes on to say honor thy father and mother now we know that when we look at family life today the the media or that we see all around us and we we need to be careful that we're not too exposed to the world around us because it is pumping images at us that are not helpful for christian living but when the media wants to sell something to us it shows a beautiful family usually one husband and a wife and two children a boy and a girl all looking happy and sweet and nice and daughter looking up into mum's eyes and and a beautiful background and this is how it portrays family life but in its stories in its plays and soup operas and things it gives a completely different image of everybody trying to get their own better over everybody else where we have the the cross look and we have the slam door and we have kids going out the door and grabbing their coat and shaping something back at their parents and we have families in disarray everybody trying to get their own advantage over the other and this is the world in which we live and therefore we need to be sure that we're not exposed to that kind of image because god wants something better for us the blessing of a christian family or the blessing of us living as a christian in a family whether that be a christian family or not now we have many scriptures which tell us of the that god wants us to honor our father and mother the scripture here records that god gave a promise with this when he gave the law that they would live long in the earth it was the first commandment that had a promise it was important to god and we have the parallel passage in colossians children obey your parents children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the lord we have the the evidence of the breakdown of this world where we see disobedient to parents coming in all around us and there were some very serious things said in deuteronomy about those that rebelled against their parents god has made it clear what his will is and we need to take god seriously at his word i seem to have a blockage right okay obedient to parents so there we have in this one father and mother brought in children obey your parents in the lord so we have father and mother and we are as children to obey our parents not to work one against another not to try to listen to whichever is the easiest path and we'll try and get round one and get round the other no we are to buy our parents as one it's god given authority right it's not something to get one over it's god given authority it's god's order in creation and that is what god has laid out and what a wonderful thing it is when it's put right we've spoken about heard about husbands and wives what a blessing is when it's in god's order and here is god's given authority so we do well to be very careful when we say no to god's authority adam and eve in the garden they were given one commandment and they disobey children you are given one commandment in the scriptures to obey your parents it's god's authority we know the world cannot buy this but as christians we have the holy spirit as jeff was talking about us talking to us about and we can carry this out with his help god's order is for a reason children are children and so god has placed these things there for a reason is a simple principle they know where they stand they're still immature they know where they stand so therefore god gives us a clear framework it's also a solid foundation you know we do children are still learning parents have had some more experience and so god has put it the parents take the responsibility and children can get on with living and growing up all they have to do is obey what their parents say there is a it's it's a it's god's goodness to us it's god's order and it's a blessing we see children around us who have no order to their lives they don't know where they stand they don't know what mum wants them to do what dad wants them to do they don't know what they can get away with they try as far as they can and they don't have any framework we need a framework god has brought that in and it's very healthy we can have love one another if our children obey we can love them how rich it is when god's order is in place love can flourish we must press on and it's a training environment the reason that children to obey their parents is because the parents are given responsibility to bring children up for him they're given a responsibility under god the god who gives us children he gives us that us with our responsibility to bring them up for him in the nurture and admonition of the lord we are told here especially to fathers later later on but it's a training environment a framework for growing up so that children will eventually become mature mature and only in natural things but mature in the things of god to value those things so they can grow up to become independent to take their own decisions and to be here for god and to live their lives in a mature way and that's why why children are in this situation and of course we know that there is a there is a progression and as our children grow older so they get more responsibility until they're able to take their own decisions and come to value things that are of true value and be able to have children of their own to impart those things on these are these are responsibilities of life life is not a picnic you know we're here for a reason and if we have children we might want want to get married and the wonderful thing we carried away with all the tremendous feelings and everything but but family life is a big thing rusty was talking about we we leave our father and mother we take on the responsibility of a wife we take on responsibility of children it's a responsibility but it's a responsibility which is really worthwhile it really pays dividends you know my daughter told me last night not to say anything embarrassing i'm not going to say anything embarrassing but one of my sons and i know all my children he said to me last night dad i'll be praying for you and that really means something when you know your kids are praying for you you know that that they've grown up they're not children anymore they're able to value things that are of value so children get on your knees before the lord and see how it works out this is what the lord wants us to do to practically realize christianity and we must pass on because i have a lot of slides and i'm gonna have to go through quickly but now it comes down to me and well fathers rusty did mention that fathers are not really thought much of in the world today but god has placed fathers in this position of responsibility and authority in the family because god's order and framework is the best and that's where it works and god has placed us in that position and we have to take it seriously and we have the qualification for an elder in first timothy is one who can get to conduct his own house well having his children's objection with all gravity where the household is in order and that is a very big challenge to any of us who would desire to have responsibility in the things of god it's a despised role in the world as i said often the wife just takes over and the father's too busy with his work and just get on with everything and the husband just comes home and sits down and wants to take it easy but you know the bible gives us the father's role is very important the wife certainly has a role a very important role and perhaps because that role is sort of automatically understood that we we have the instructions to fathers here a wife has the quantity and she sees the children and there's a natural instinct to look after the children and maybe there's more quality too indeed i'm sure of that but there is a position and a place for a father and so the scripture tells us here fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the lord so we're not doing this for ourselves we're doing it for the lord hebrews talks about fathers who punish their children for their pleasure and it's not for our pleasure that we just get one over our children we should do these things seriously and for the lord we have some examples god loves us as a father we have in hebrews 12 where god is a father who chases those he loves we have paul who was as a mother cherished his children he cared for them in that way so we have that caring thought that god has for us what an example we had that christ loved the christ loved the church god is father to us how much he loves us and cares for us every day and gives us all those things that we need and he gives us that which is best all things work together the good them that love god we have to lead by example we have many examples in the scriptures of fathers many of them are not good examples we have the we have eli who never told his sons off for what they did we have david who didn't say yes or no to what his sons had to say and we find that there are sons that followed an example of bad example of their of their fathers kings bad kings carried on our children know all about us when we're at home we're in the meeting we can pretend when we're at home we can try to pretend but our children pretty much know most of most there is about us instead of our wives it's a real challenge to us as to what our daily life is like we have to lead by example so we're to instill subjection coming back to children being obedient to our parents we have to teach children to obey to be in order there's nothing worse than a child that's out of order that doesn't know to about the right time you know when the child's about to run across the road and you have to grab his hand because it doesn't know to say when you say stop well they have to learn that they have to learn that we have to teach children so they may grow up to be responsible and sometimes we have to carry out correction you know being a father it's not an easy job but it's a well worthwhile one when you see your kids grow up to love you and to respect you it is something tremendous whatever you give to them in terms of time and energy in terms of difficult decisions in terms of saying things to them that sometimes are not pleasant easy it is well worthwhile energy we give we submit christianity is about giving our time and energy to each other and it pays dividends not only do we have to show what's wrong but we have to show what's right and to train only in ordinary manners of life but in those things which are really valuable in the lord we also are responsible to guard from evil influences there are many influences that would come into our home especially through the media perhaps through friends and we are responsible as fathers perhaps through friends and we are responsible as fathers to set the rules as what happens in our household and that is a very big responsibility that we must take before the lord and as fathers we are to teach the things of the lord just these verses in deuteronomy uh words were given to the children of israel they were commanded to teach diligently to the children the fathers to talk about when the citizen nine house when they'll walk us by the way when they'll lie us down when they rise us up you know the scripture well we don't have to go through all those those points but as fathers we are responsible to lay out the ground rules for how we how the word of god is taught in our homes to make the time to sit together around the word and in prayer these things are the father's responsibility maybe sometimes the wife has to carry these things out because the father's perhaps not there but together and that's my next subject we can under the father's direction we can carry these things out and and there are father's responsibilities to make sure that those things are put in place and that the scriptures are taught and understood but of course parents work together and this is where in a christian family we should have husbands and wives working together it's most important that children understand that mom and dad both agree and that we both want their good and that we both want them to grow up in the things of the lord we are together in what we do in the world and sadly we see lots of arguments and arguments in front of the children about things that should never be discussed in front of our children must be together and as i mentioned before discipline must be consistent we don't go to mom and ask for one and when she says no we go to dad sometimes mom says we'll ask dad because dad has the ultimate responsibility but we don't play one off against another and in order that might be might be so we as moms and dads we have to have good communication and we have to talk together and pray together and decide together how these practical things are going to be carried out how discipline is going to be carried out and when where there's a difficult situation comes up something concerns us we can communicate before the lord and know how we can go on and that is the father's responsibility to make sure those things happen even though the mother may often have to carry them out but you know we also need to do things together as a family we don't just show to our children and tell you do this you do that and never have time for them and never do things with them and never show them what you really love them and that needs time and energy and we do it together as a family and that means that we need to be aware of what our children are doing or dangers that they may be in and i think it's important as families to have time together usually perhaps mealtimes where we sit together and we can discuss what the children have done to at school or wherever they've been for the day well we can talk about different things that they what would like or would like to do and so that we can communicate together and share together what the issues are that that we have to deal with the questions that we have to go into and share the load together as husbands and wives sometimes there are some really difficult situations especially when children are very young you know children are nice and sweet when they're all cuddly and lovely but sometimes they can really take out of you and you can get to the very bottom of your energy level and you can do that together that's why we have man and wife together and most of all perhaps we can pray together for wisdom and help in all these things and also we can teach the truth together perhaps the wife has more time with the children but we need to do it together we need to share questions that they may have answer questions that they have give answers to our children from the word of god for questions they may they may have together and what a blessing it is to know a christian family living under these principles well we know i don't pretend to be the perfect father because my children know me there's three of them are here today and they know all my faults and everything about me and i don't pretend to be perfect but they are the best kids in the world and the lord must have known that's why he gave me good kids so so much for kids the world of work we haven't got much time left that week but that was most that was dearest on my heart we also have to go to work some of us would love to be at home with our kids all day and shortly will be a holiday and we'll be able to do that but we we have to go to work and it's god's order that we work and this is another sphere in which god gives us the opportunity to live out the truth of ephesians in our work and the way we live in timothy uh six first timothy six we have some instructions there about our living godly lives in this world and the way we react as servants and masters that um that has an effect on our testimony and can cause the name of god to be blasphemed if we don't live up to the truth that we profess unto christ which our example we know that he was the one who submitted to everything that his father told him to do he lived here that perfect life he also submitted himself to his parents he was subject unto them it tells us in luke chapter 2 and so we have before god to live in this world not as that which man sees but before god sees he sees everything and there we had before we had unto unto the lord here we have unto christ who is our example unto christ and especially would like just to bring this thought out unto christ who is our hope we have um unto christ in verse 5 where we have servants you know christ he is the one that's god's man everything is under his control god has decreed that he is the one who will he's going to rectify everything and if we live in our job and we have to suffer as christians maybe we lose some pay rise maybe we lose some position maybe life is quite difficult for us but we know that when christ comes he knows all about that he'll reward us for every step we've taken in his name everything we've lost for him will be rewarded and how we can trust in him one day we're going to be by his side the fullness of him that fills all in all first chapter tells us so we can trust him for our daily lives at work when things sometimes are difficult we can go through these things with him just briefly masters very similar thing god is watching what we do i've never been an employee really i've always been in the family firm but i have known what it is to have employees and to seek to deal with them as a christian should and the world of work is very difficult simon was telling us about the world expects us to want more and more to want to work longer hours to want to to get more income to want to get to progress in things in this world to be promoted but here we have as work in our work life to live out the fact that christ is everything to us and he has a claim in our lives and to seek to put him his rights first just a couple of scriptures that came to me to finish off with we have two very interesting scriptures i read this one in malachi 4 at the end of the old testament it says he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers that is what god is about that's what god wants he doesn't want this disorder and this anger and this selfishness that the world is full of he wants hearts in families to be at one and what a wonderful thing god is a god of harmony what love he has shown to us and we need to show that love in order that we may have hearts united together and that's for the family then we find for the uh for the work relationship we have an example in in philemon where he says to paul says to philemon about anesimus not now a servant but above a servant a brother beloved especially to me how much more to thee both in the flesh and in the law so there we have a master and a servant working together in harmony this is god how god would have it but we have to work these things out in a world that doesn't appreciate the things of god doesn't love him but we can show that example of how christ worked how he lived how he demonstrated the love of god in the situation where he was and we can do this for his namesake …

… Let's read the verses from Ephesians 6, we'll start reading at verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take in the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Pray always with all prayer, and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. We'll speak about the last verses of the chapter later on. The Christian warfare. Generally we've understood that the subject of Ephesians affects every aspect of our lives. Ephesian truth is not just for the Christian conference or the Bible reading. It's something which affects every aspect of our lives. We've been looking at that particularly this afternoon. We saw the practical part of the epistle starts with believers together. True believers on the Lord Jesus, I'm talking about, but it also affects the profession we make in this world, of the fact that we're Christians. That should affect our lives, our lives together, our lives with our neighbours, our lives before the world should affect our lives as husbands and wives, as parents, as employers, and as employees. And really we can't enjoy our spiritual blessings. Those blessings we read about in chapter one, if we don't have this practical Christianity in our lives that we've been considering. Really God isn't honoured if we say, well, I fully understand Ephesian truth, yes, I've read all the books, and I can tell you everything exactly as it should be according to what Paul teaches in the letter to the Ephesians, if in practice it's not coming out in our lives, in our thoughts, and in our words, and in our actions. The two things go completely together. So if we know and understand this Ephesian truth, and obviously we've seen already, we're never going to fully grasp it. It's really something that's so immense. But as we go in for it more and more, there should be a practical effect in you and me. But you know, there's someone who wants to stop that happening. There's someone who says, no, I don't want that to be worked out in your life. And just as when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, when they went over the River Jordan, what did they find there? Was it peaceful circumstances, villages to just move into, crops to start reaping and enjoying, all those wonderful things we read about when we started our conference from Deuteronomy? No, what they found was, yes, indeed, there were wonderful things in that land. It was the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, but there were enemies there. There were people that wanted to stop them working these things out, stop them inheriting that land and possessing it for God's glory. And we're finding the same here. And it's called the Christian warfare. The evil one, the one we read about at the start of Ephesians 2, he wants to stop us putting these things into practice. Now we're not going to possess our spiritual blessings by building castles like this. This is a crusader castle built in the Promised Land, when men thought that the great aim of Christianity was to invade and possess militarily the Promised Land. That was what they were going to do. But that's complete misunderstanding of the scripture, as we're going to find in the verses we're looking at now. Now that's just a quick recap. You'll have a chance to look at that slide when it's up on the website, but I haven't got enough time to go through it now, but it's just a little reminder of the things that we've been looking at. Now the last part of Paul's teaching is what I've just been referring to, and it's for all of us as brethren together. One thing we learnt at the start of our study was that we come into God's blessings individually, but once we've individually trusted in the Lord Jesus as our saviour, we're brought together and we're members together of his body. One of the things that we're going to find in these last few verses is that Paul appeals to us not just as individuals, but as believers together, when he says, be strong in the Lord, because he says you're going to face opposition, you're going to face conflict. There are going to be things that try to stop you putting these things into practice and enjoying them. And who are you going to be strong in? You're going to be strong in the one who's given you these things in the first place. We've already mentioned, Brian's already mentioned, in the Lord. And this is something that comes out in these closing verses of the letter. In the Lord. Submitting to the Lord. He's the source of our spiritual strength and in the might of his strength. And that is make full use of the strength that he gives in all its effectiveness. At Plumstone, we were looking at the story of the people of Israel crossing the River Jordan and particularly in the first chapter of the book of Joshua, the promises that God gives to Joshua to move on into the land and to possess it for God's glory. And Timothy's another example. Timothy, as he came across the difficulties of the Christian life, you can read about it in the first chapter of Paul's second letter to him, he started to get discouraged. And the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy to be strong in the Lord. I'll just mention the verses so that we have them clearly in our minds. Verse 6 of chapter 1 of 2 Timothy, wherefore, I put the remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands, for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind and soul. So we're going to face opposition, but the Apostle Paul says, finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. He's not going to forsake us, he's going to give us the strength to be able to possess our blessings. Yes, there's conflict in the heaven. I think that may even be a picture of Israel, I'm not quite sure, but there it is, the land laid out for the people of Israel to enjoy the spiritual blessings that we've been reading about in the first part of this letter are there for us to enjoy. We're only going to be able to enjoy them as we put the practical exhortations that we've been considering into practice. Then we'll realise in our lives the calling that we've been given by God and we will walk worthy of it day by day until the Lord Jesus comes to take us to be with him in the Father's house. So yes, there is a conflict in the heavens as there were battles for Israel to fight to possess the promised land. When we're told in these verses to be strong in the Lord, we're actually also told that the Lord has given us equipment with which to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. The apostle says, put on the whole armour of God, panoply is one word that's often used for this. It's the full extent of the armour of God. There are seven parts to this armour and we're told not just to put on our favourite part, but we're told to put on all the parts of the armour. Here is the armour, it's there ready to be taken and put on by the soldier. It's God's fighting equipment for the believer who wants to possess his spiritual possessions and to put the practical exhortations we've been hearing about into practice. Then we can stand firm. We want believers who will stand firm because we face an enemy who's very cunning. He started off being very cunning. In the Garden of Eden, he said to Eve, hath God said? Oh, very cunning, very cunning, very clever way of getting beneath Eve's gun, creating a sense of doubt in what God had said. The devil, he hasn't changed. He's still working in the same way today. And if we want to possess our blessings, we must make use of God's resources to be able to stand for God in the current day and possess those possessions. Because the Apostle says our struggle is not against blood and flesh. Now this is a strange picture, actually. It's a picture of the security police of Peru, I think. And they look pretty formidable, don't they? They look as if they would be impossible to defeat. But you know, we can be pretty sure, too, that our enemy is a very strong enemy, too. We mustn't underestimate his power, but at the same time, we mustn't overestimate his power either. We're told greater is he that is in you than he that is within the world. So we're not talking about fighting against blood and flesh here. I made a reference to the Crusader armies of past centuries who thought they were fighting for God when they actually took armies into the Middle East. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about fighting blood and flesh. We're talking about dealing with the spiritual forces which are lined up against the Christian. And the Apostle speaks of them as principalities, and he speaks about authorities. Principalities are a kind of order, a high order of spiritual power, and authorities speak about those that have actual power and exercise it. And I've given some references there in Ephesians and in Daniel to examples of how there are spiritual powers at work in our world today. We can't see them necessarily, but they're there. In Ephesians 2, verse 2, we read about the prince of the power of the air. That's the evil one himself, spoken of in such a way to convey to us that there's one who is active in a way that we can't see with our eyes, but he's there, and he's very active. And if you were to read Daniel 10, you would see that Daniel had communications with one who was an angelic power that had to do with a particular country, and had to deal with spirits that were responsible for dealing with other countries. For instance, the prince of Persia. These are things we don't really know about, but perhaps they're added reasons for not getting involved in politics. There are powers at work in our world that are beyond our ken and thought, and yet if we keep close to the Lord Jesus and follow the instructions of his word, we will be enabled to defeat them. The rulers of the darkness of this world brings before us, doesn't it, the fact that this world is in moral darkness. The whole world lies in the wicked one. Do we really believe that? Often it's said to young people, the whole world is your oyster. Go out and enjoy yourself. Make a name for yourself. Get as much as you can. What? Of the world that lies in the wicked one. Is that where you want to be and where you want to make your name? No, that's not where the Lord wants you to be and where he wants you to make your name. The world is marked by darkness, moral darkness, and if there's ever a day when we see moral darkness, it's today. But it's interesting to know that when the Lord was crucified, it speaks of that hour as one being the power of darkness, physical darkness, moral darkness, and the world hasn't really changed, but we see more and more, particularly in our own country, which used to enjoy the light of Christianity. We see darkness invading every aspect of life in our country, spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenlies. Yes, you see the evil one. He knows that living out the word of God involves reading the word of God, studying it, letting it fill our minds, and then us working it out in our lives, and what will he do? He will try to put everything into our thoughts, but we'll work against that. That's why we have to be very careful, particularly as young people today, when we're exposed to a media which is full of moral darkness. When I was brought up, not that my parents had a television, but I remember I used to go round to my grandfather and he had a television, but you know, there were certain times of the day when you couldn't watch anything, there was just a test card, and it was so boring. But today, you've got hundreds of channels to watch. For this reason we should have equipped ourselves, I put it here, we should have equipped ourselves. This should be something we've done, and we've done it for good, for the rest of our lives, with the whole armour of God. Now, I said there were seven pieces, there are five defensive pieces, and two for attack as well. And if we've got these pieces of armour, we're wearing them, we'll be able to withstand in the evil day, and the evil day is the day that we're in today. Not just the year 2009, this would have applied in the year 1950, or even in the 19th century. To all intents and purposes, the Christian day has been an evil day because the devil has always been trying to defeat the Christian. We just see it in a more obvious way in our country today. And having overcome all things to stand, the successful soldier is the one who is still standing at the end of the battle. So be able to withstand in the evil day, and having overcome all things, stand. God wants those who stand. So I'm going to emphasise that with this slide. Stand, therefore! That's what the apostle says. And I feel he wasn't shouting it necessarily, but I feel that if he could have done, he would have written it like this. Now the first piece of armour is the girdle of truth. These are practical things. We should gird our loins with truth. I'm very thankful to those who re-enact Roman battles in Germany, because they put all their slides on a photo-sharing site, and they just are wonderful illustrations of this truth. We should gird our loins with truth. This soldier's got a very strong belt on, which keeps all his armour in the place it should be. There's not going to be anything that's going to impede his movement. As he stands, and we're talking about defensive movement, standing for what God has put in our trust, we need to be able to deal with the enemy as he comes at us, from whichever angle. We need freedom of movement. And applying this spiritually in our lives, our thoughts, our intents, our desires must be governed by what is right before the Lord. This is a moral thought. It's not the truth of God understood so much as active and applied in our lives in a practical way. It's governing our thoughts, our intents, and our desires, and as a result, we can move in whichever way God wants us to in order to withstand the enemy. He will have truth in the inward parts is one example of this. In my verses here, I won't be able to refer to them all because we haven't got enough time. There's a verse from the Old Testament generally, a verse which applies to the Lord Jesus himself. He was altogether what he said he was, and although we shall never match him in that, he wants us to be like that more and more. He wants us to be what we say we are in our thoughts and words and actions. And how will we be like that if we give ourselves to those things which are good? In Philippians chapter four, verse eight, it says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, there'd be any virtue and if there'd be any praise, think on these things. When you read books, whatever you do, because I don't want to pick on particular things, I don't want to be seen to be picking on particular things that might be seen to be criticisms of younger brethren or whatever, but what do you do? Are you occupied with things which come up to that catalog or are you occupied with things which are really quite impure or violent or horrible? If those things are what you're taking in and occupied in your life, then how will you be able to respond to the directions of the Lord? Because he will always direct in those ways that we've just read about in this verse. Breastplate of righteousness. We should put on the breastplate of righteousness, the apostle says. The breastplate protected the soldier's vital organs. Here's a Roman soldier's breastplate. Our words and actions must be just and good if we're to keep our testimony intact. It's righteousness in a practical sense, not our righteousness in Christ, of course that's most important and foundational, but are we marked by practical righteousness in our lives? Are our words and our actions righteous? If they're not, how can we possibly withstand the attacks of the evil one? He's going to be able to get in a knife for us, just in that gap in your armour where you did something wrong or you said something wrong, you acted in a way that wasn't right. He will use that against you and you won't be able to withstand him. We need to have practical righteousness in our lives. Job was a righteous man. The Lord Jesus was marked by practical righteousness. There was no guile in his mouth. He's one example of that. We're told to be marked by practical righteousness by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 7. Sandals, the gospel of peace, you need good footwear if you're going to be a soldier. You need to be able to march. It's no use not having shoes and then trying to march for 50 miles, you'll never make it. And when you fight, you need to be able to stand firmly on the ground. And here we're not talking about preaching the gospel, we're talking about the effect of the gospel practically on you and me. Is that peace that we read about in chapter 2 having its practical effect in our lives? Are we at peace in our lives? Is the gospel of peace having its practical effect in us? It's almost like the peace of God. We have peace with God, but is the peace of God something we're enjoying? We're at peace, we're leaving everything in God's hands. We're committing everything to him. If we are, then we shall be able to go where he wants us to go and we shall be able to stand where he wants us to stand. We won't always be worrying about things and as a result not able to be occupied with serving him, for standing for what's according to his will and for practicing those spiritual truths in our lives. The Lord Jesus, he left his peace with his disciples. Are we enjoying that peace in our lives? The shield of faith, in addition we should have the shield of faith at the ready. This shield here isn't a little shield, it's a big shield. It's the big Roman shield that you could protect almost, what really, all your body with and it would stop those barbarian darts, fiery darts from hitting you, your armour and setting you on fire. The devil wants to do that, he wants to set us on fire so that we no longer are witnesses for the Lord Jesus. You know I'm talking about being set on fire in a negative way. The large Roman shield gave the soldier plenty of protection. The greater our faith, this is faith in a practical sense, faith, yes, for salvation is the most important thing, but what about faith practically in our lives? The greater our faith in the Lord, the more we shall be able to stand for him, whatever the difficulties we face in our lives. In Psalm 22 verse, in Psalm 23 verse 4, the Psalmist was showing some evidence of the shield of faith. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 13, we read, the Lord Jesus himself says, I will put my trust in him. The Lord Jesus himself was marked by faith, do you realise that? As a man in this world, he was marked by trust. And in Romans chapter 5 verses 1 to 11, we see the outcome of one who puts his faith in God. It's not just a positional thing, it's a practical thing. This is a fine helmet, isn't it? This is the helmet of salvation. I wish I had a helmet, well I have, I have got a helmet like this, but metaphorically of course, wear also the helmet of salvation. The helmet enabled the soldier to fight effectively and boldly. If he didn't have a helmet on, why? Someone would aim for his head. If you hit someone's head and injure it, then you really do make it difficult for him to fight intelligently and to fight confidently. The more we know of our great salvation, the deeper our confidence and joy will be in our lives. You know, it's not a question of simply being saved for eternity. It's a wonderful thing to be saved for eternity, but you realize, young one, perhaps you don't realize that salvation in the scriptures goes beyond that. It means salvation from the power of sin and it means one day knowing the salvation of God from the presence of sin. But today we need to know what it is to enjoy God's salvation from the power of sin. Very often we're only thinking in terms of the fact that I'm saved from hell, but salvation goes beyond that. It's an extensive thing and some of the verses that I've put here convey that to us. Do we know that God's saving power affects every aspect of our lives? If we do, then we shall be able to withstand in an evil day, despite the many attempts the devil will make to try and disable us in our stand for the Lord. And here we have some, the first offensive weapon, the sword of the spirit. Handle the sword of the spirit, which is God's word. People used to say, have you got your sword? That's a good thing to say. I'm not going to criticize it too much. We all used to do that, yes. But really, of course, it's not our sword. It's the sword of the spirit. We have to remember that we can only use the word of God effectively as guided by the Holy Spirit. The two matters go together. And the sword that the Apostle Paul is speaking about here is the short sword, very effective for close combat. Sometimes the devil comes very close to us. Have we got the word of God in our heart so that we can use it to withstand him when he attempts to defeat us and make us weak? We can defeat God's enemies with his word if we use it in the power of the Holy Spirit. And then there's a secret weapon, praying at all times. Of course, we're the brethren, we love seven. We can't deal with six, so we've got to have a seventh weapon. I'm pleased to say that we've got a secret weapon that makes up our seven. And we're praying at all times. Are we praying at all times? I'm not praying at all times, as I should. But we're told so many times to pray, with all prayer and supplications, in the spirit, watching unto this very thing. With all perseverance and supplication, and for all the saints. Notice how many times we get the word all. All. The Lord Jesus was marked by prayer and supplication. Strong crying and tears marked the Lord Jesus when he prayed. And Daniel, he prayed three times a day. And the Apostle Paul says, pray unceasingly. And I can't resist sharing with you this sandwich that a brother spoke about from this very platform. He once told the story of how a brother said to him, have you had your sandwich today? And the brother said, what do you mean? He said, well, have you had your spiritual sandwich? And the spiritual sandwich is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And it is, rejoice evermore. And then the filling is, pray without ceasing. And then the rest of the sandwich is, in everything give thanks. We need to eat our spiritual sandwich more often than we do. That will help us to stand in an evil day. Really these things are spiritual common sense. But the Apostle Paul lays them before us here. He says, unless you are wearing, you're using these seven pieces, these seven pieces of spiritual fighting equipment that God has used, you won't be able to stand and possess your spiritual blessings or put into practice the exhortations which I've given you, which should be part of your life, if you're going to stand for the things that I've written about in my letter, if you're going to really enjoy putting to practice those spiritual blessings. And remember it's for God's glory that we enjoy these spiritual blessings. Yes, we get so much out of them. But God gets his glory from them. And we need to remember this. But you know, these are the last few verses of the chapter. I've nearly finished. I'm sorry I've overrun. But Paul asked the Ephesians in these closing verses to pray that utterance might be given to him in opening his mouth. Doesn't this show us the Apostle Paul didn't say these things from the sense of, I've done it all. You know, really, it's something for you to put into practice. I'm the perfect example. He never took that position. He said to these Ephesian saints, remember me. Utterance might be given to me in opening my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. We've already mentioned he was an ambassador bound with a chain. He wanted to be bold to speak the gospel as he should. But wonderful thing, even though he was in this situation of being in this prison cell, and I'm sure it wasn't as good as this prison cell that we've got here. He sent Tychicus, a beloved brother, a faithful minister of the Lord, in the Lord. He sent him away to Ephesus. You know, we were talking about the unity of the spirit. Something we practice locally or should do. But something we should practice with believers everywhere. And how the apostle Paul put this into practice. He sent Tychicus, his beloved brother. Beloved brother to Paul. He could have said, I can't do without you. You must stay with me. But no, he sent him. Faithful minister in the Lord to tell the Ephesians how he was getting on. They enjoyed, he knew that they would benefit from knowing how he was getting on. And he wanted to encourage their hearts. And we need to encourage one another's hearts in this day. Because we need to know the remaining verses of this beautiful letter. We need to know these in our lives. Peace and love with faith. From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace and love. Grace with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ without corruption. We live in a corrupt world. But we shouldn't be marked by corruption. So let's be strong in the Lord. Let's withstand and stand. Let's put on the whole armour of God and keep it on. Not take it off. We've been talking about getting home. And sitting down. Because in the Christian life there should never be a time when we take our armour off. We've got to keep it on. And we should be marked by prayer as that secret piece of armour. And we should encourage one another in the things of the Lord. Then together we shall enjoy the truth of Ephesians. We shall not only enjoy the spiritual blessings. But our lives will be practically commensurate with them. For the glory of God and for the blessing of his people. May it be so. …

… Perhaps we can start with a verse from Ephesians 4, verse 1, which actually is the verse that was chosen as a motto for this conference. Ephesians 4, verse 1, I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you therefore to walk worthy of the calling wherewith you have been called. Now what I'd like to attempt to do in a few minutes is just two things. First one is to try and recap on the train of thought in chapters 1 to 3. And the second thing I'd like to do is give some examples where you see the connection between the practice that we heard about this afternoon in chapters 4, 5 and 6, between these practical things and the doctrine. And as a little hint, watch out for the red font. On this verse here you have in red the calling, that's to do with the doctrine, chapters 1 to 3. And then you have also in red the walk, and that's to do with the practice. And that will give you a little hint about those examples where I'll try to show the connection between the two. Now just very quickly then about the first three chapters. In chapter 1, and you remember, I hope you remember a little bit of what we had in the first two sessions. We said the subject is God's purpose, and we've tried to see what this meant. Now if we had to summarize this in one sentence, what actually was God's purpose? The thought that impressed me was the following. God looked at his Son, at Christ who had accomplished the work on the cross and who was risen from the dead, and said, I cannot and I do not want to withhold any blessing for him. And he said, and whatever I give to my Son as risen man, I want to give to those whom I have chosen. Can you imagine that? I think it's something that would never have come into any human mind, that everything that God can give to Christ after being fully satisfied with him, that he wants all of those things to be shared by us. Just for example, Christ as risen man is still the Son of God. Now that's why God said, I want you to be my sons. Now that is perhaps as a very brief summary God's purpose. He said, I cannot withhold any blessings with regard to those who are taken into favour because I see them in my Son. You remember the phrase, accepted or taken into favour in the Beloved. That's the purpose we looked at or the calling in chapter 1. And this was followed, you will remember that Brother Hugh spoke about this prayer where Paul actually said, what we need is eyes of our hearts which are enlightened, which can actually see these things and which can enjoy these things. Now these things being mainly to the calling and the inheritance. Really Christ is the heir. But again, God says, you know, if my Son, risen man, if he is heir, I want you to be heirs as well. So the inheritance is shared as well. And the third thing that Paul prayed for was that we might know the power. Now that almost takes us to chapter 2 because this is the power which God actually used in the execution of this purpose. Now again, we had two sessions on this chapter and you will remember that Brother Mark spoke about the material that God used. We called it, the chapter title we chose was God's masterpiece. And part 1 was about the material and what we saw was that the material God had and God chose to use was absolutely dreadful. He didn't choose angels. What he chose was people who are described as dead and as remote, far, and dead to make it worse in trespasses and sin. Completely unsuitable, you might think, building material. And that's what God takes to bring about his purpose, which by the way, just in case that wasn't clear in what I said a minute ago, is his purpose that he has always had from before the foundation of the world. Now part 2 of that chapter was then the outcome. What has God made now of this building material, of these people who were dead in trespasses and sins? Well, he's made two things of them. One is one new man. We thought a little bit about this point already, this new man. Before this, there was the people of Israel and there was a middle wall of partition and then there were the Gentiles and those were separated. But now God has joined them together and made them into one new man. But it is a peculiar description, isn't it? A new man. And it makes you think again about the fact that for God, there is one person who is at the center of his heart and all his thoughts, and that's his son. Now you know, when God's son was on this earth, God could look at him and say, actually with him, I am well pleased. Now God's son is no longer here as man. But there is a moral continuation. There is still a new man here. And this new man is the assembly of which Christ is the head, and it is, you might say, the moral continuation of Christ in this world. Secondly, actually Brother Paul spoke about this. We have been formed into a holy temple. Again, God has done the unthinkable, taking this useless material and making it into a temple so that he could dwell there. In other words, that there would be immediate proximity that God would actually choose this church as his dwelling place. Now then, chapter three. Now that we've seen the content of the purpose and the execution of the purpose, you come to the communication of the purpose. When you have an important life event, perhaps for a while you'll just keep very quiet. And then a little later you will tell your best friends, and only they will know. And then there will be a moment when you may make it public, and then everybody can know about this thing or plan. Now with God, we were reminded by Brother Andrew that he always had this plan, but it was a top secret. It was not communicated. It was a mystery. Moses didn't know about it, and David didn't know about it, but Paul says, now it has been revealed to these two classes, the apostles and the prophets. And this could only be done after the work of redemption had been accomplished, and the church had been formed, and then God communicated this great plan. And it was Paul's task, in particular, to actually then go and preach this, which had been revealed to him and to other apostles and prophets. And then we came to the bridge, and Brother Robert had this beautiful picture of a bridge, and spoke about the bridge between the doctrine on the one hand, and the practical walk on the other hand. And he pointed out that the key to all this was really this phrase in that prayer that Christ would dwell in their hearts. He said, it's a matter of affection. And I think it's a matter of affection for two things. It's a matter of affection to learn the truth, and it is a matter of affection to then go and practice the truth. Now that's, as briefly as I can, the train of thought in the first three chapters, which the various speakers have presented to us. And then you come to the walk. In the world, they say we shouldn't only talk the talk, we should also walk the walk. Brother Brian chose a phrase that I liked even more. He said, we should be living the calling. Now, if you studied the invitation to this conference, you will have found that on there, there were actually seven verses quoted, seven references from Ephesians that all talk about the Christian walk. I just mention this because sometimes you hear, actually, I'm not interested in Ephesians, that's high truth. It's far too complicated for me. Well, actually, it's about our steps. It's very much about our walk. Just look at these references here very quickly. In chapter two, verse two, Paul reminds the Ephesians that they had a different past. In time past, ye walked according to the course of this world. Then later on, in verse ten, still chapter two, he says, actually, God has prepared good works for you. So really, even if we do good works now, it's still God's work because he has prepared them beforehand for us. But then most of the references are in the second part. Four verse one, our key verse, walk worthy of the calling, and we'll come back to this. Four verse seventeen, and this is again something which might strike you as surprising. In an epistle where you have learned about things like election, adoption, the calling, the mystery, God's will, suddenly you get exhortations which are so down to earth, and you might have thought, well, actually, do the Ephesians need that? And evidently, they did. And evidently, we do. It says, walk not as other Gentiles walk. It can happen for a Christian that he lives and behaves in a way that it becomes very hard to distinguish him from somebody who is not a Christian, and that's always a bad sign. Five verse two, walk in love. Five verse eight, walk as children of light. And five fifteen, walk circumspectly. I just want to make this point. The walk is a central thought in Ephesians. Now, let's look at some examples which show that you can't actually separate those two parts. Perhaps you say, look, I listen to the MP3 files, but I'll only download the second half. First half, too difficult. I'll skip that. If I just get the practice, I'll do fine. Well, I'm glad if you listen to those MP3s. They were very good. But I don't think you can separate the practice from the walk. And I'll give you some examples now. Number one, Ephesians four verse three, it says, using diligence to keep the unity of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. There is one body. Now, we actually had a question about this during the conference. What does it mean to keep the unity of the spirit? And it was explained that the spirit made the unity of the body, but now the spirit wants to bring about a practical unity amongst us. And this is something that happens locally, and it happens beyond that. And we would like to walk together because this is in harmony with the principle of the one body. So for example, this morning in Plumstead, we received a brother who was only, I don't know, 15 or 16 years old, and he broke bread with us. And he wasn't from Plumstead. Now, how could we do this? Well, this brother is from a group of believers, a meeting that we know in Lowestoft. And they confirmed to us, actually, this brother is in fellowship. Now, if we did not receive him, surely it would not be in line with an endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit. Actually, the Lord himself said, what you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what you lose on earth is loosed in heaven. Now, what is the reason given for this? There is one body. And here you have this first sort of flashback to the doctrinal part, chapter one, where we learn about the church, that actually she is the body of Christ, and referred to as the one who is the fullness of him that fills all in all. So again, we can't separate the two. Now, here's another example, which I find actually very striking. Ephesians 4.25, wherefore, having put our falsehood, speak truth everyone with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. Very down-to-earth example. My brother asked me a question. I'm not keen to give a straight answer. I know I shouldn't lie, but I could say something that kind of leads him to believe what isn't quite right. And I could say, well, actually, I haven't said a lie. Now, look at what Paul says. Speak the truth everyone with his neighbor. That's not the man living in the house next to you, but it's just the brother or sister you have to do with, because it says, because we are members one of another. You find that suddenly Paul brings in truth again from the doctrinal part. He says, actually, we are one body, and if we are members of one another, we work together. My eye sees the glass, my hand takes the glass, and I can drink, and my members work together. Now, if we are members one of another, how could one member try to actually mislead another? Example number three. Ephesians 4, verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you have been sealed for the day of redemption. Now, actually, I should have marked two things red here. There is the expression of sealing, and there is the expression of the day of redemption, and both of these take us back to Ephesians 1, verse 14. Paul had been speaking about the inheritance, and he says, actually, you've got the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the seal. You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and then he said the Holy Spirit is also the earnest. It's the guarantee that on this day of redemption, when you redeem your check, so to speak, you will get the inheritance. Now, Paul becomes very practical here. He says, you know, you've been sealed with this Holy Spirit. You study chapter one, you find it's a wonderful blessing, and you enjoy it. Now he becomes practical. He says, if you go to the disco, and you are a child of God, then because you are sealed with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in you and has no choice but to go with you into the disco, and that means the Holy Spirit will be grieved. Wherever we go, the Holy Spirit goes with us, and Paul says, remember this, you have been sealed. It is an immense privilege. It is eternal security, but do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Example number four, and be kind one to another, compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God in Christ has forgiven you. Now, again, a flashback to chapter one, verse seven, where it says that actually we have the redemption, we have the forgiveness. God has forgiven us, and this should be the character of our forgiveness, not grudging forgiveness. He said, sorry, I've got to forgive him. Now, God had the disposition. It was his greatest desire was to be able to forgive us, and this should be our attitude in relation to a Christian forgiveness. I thought I would only need 20 minutes, but I hope to finish in about two. Example number five, be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love. Now, you might say, this is a bit of a tough call here, imitators of God. Perhaps I could try and be an imitator of my parents or an imitator of some brother, but an imitator of God. How am I going to go about that? Well, you go about that exactly as a little child imitates its parents. Now, how can you do this? Flashback to chapter one. God has given us a new nature. We are holy and blameless before him, and because he has given us the new nature, we now can be imitators of God. Example, actually two examples, numbers six and seven and one. Ephesians 5, 22 to 25. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord, for a husband is the head of the wife, as also the Christ is head of the assembly. Husbands, love your own wives, even as Christ also has loved the assembly. Don't need to say much about this because Brother Rusty has explained this this afternoon. It's connected with what we had in chapter one, in the doctrinal part, where it said Christ is given as head to the church. And then we learned in chapter five, and by the way, the last three chapters also contain some doctrine. And they teach us, for example, that Christ loved the church. And again, a matter which is extremely practical, day-to-day living in a Christian marriage is founded on really God's counsel presented earlier in the epistle. And my final example is from chapter six, verse 12, because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal laws of darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies. Now, let me just ask you this. If you skipped chapters one to three, and you came to this verse here, what would you make of this battle in the heavenlies? I dare to suggest that you wouldn't have a clue if you had never read chapters one to three. And it just shows that, you know, if you want to engage in Christian battle, as we should, we need to have an understanding of what these places are. We need to have an understanding of chapters one to three, and we know that actually that's where our blessings are. That's the first clue. It's where Christ is, second hint. It's where we are seated. It's where the angels are. And now you have an idea, ah, if I want to enjoy my spiritual blessings, actually, I need to fight this fight, which Brother Simon has been speaking about. Now, perhaps that might suffice. I'm sure there are many more examples that you can search out, but it was just to demonstrate the point. We can't take apart these two sides of this epistle. And just as a final comment for those who might be tempted to think the doctrine is too difficult. I've heard it said doctrine is too difficult for the young people. And I think we might do our young people some injustice if we say that, because they are quite capable. They can tell you about MP3s and MP4s and Bluetooth and iPods and iPhones and apps and killer apps and all those things. If you don't know any of these things, don't worry. It's not important. I'm just saying the young people can pick up new information almost at the speed of light. Now, therefore, it's really, and that was brought out as well, to a large extent a matter of our will. Are we willing to sacrifice half an hour or an hour a day with good energy to exploring these wonderful things? So the Christian walk is founded on God's truth. And perhaps we can close with this final verse from chapter 6. Grace with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in corruption. And perhaps a brother has a hymn or a prayer. …