Ephesians | Session 3 | 1:14b-23

The speaker welcomes the audience to Directional Bible Ministries and introduces himself as Duane. He mentions that the ministry focuses on studying and understanding the Word of God. He provides information about accessing the teachings through his website and social media platforms. He then proceeds to discuss the book of Ephesians, specifically focusing on the distinction between the Jewish people and the Gentiles in the context of the text. He explains that certain pronouns refer to the Jewish people while others refer to the Gentiles. He emphasizes that the blessings, predestination, and redemption mentioned in the text are primarily applicable to the nation of Israel. He argues that although the body of Christ is not the direct recipient of these blessings, they can still benefit from God's promises of protection. He explains the concept of redemption and highlights that it pertains to the nation of Israel as the purchased possession. The speaker supports his claims by referencin Well, good morning. Welcome to Directional Bible Ministries. My name is Duane, and this is a teaching ministry that is rightly called to rightly divide the Word of God for the people of God. Today is March the 6th, and today will be Session 3 in our study through the Book of Ephesians. So, if you're following along with me, you know that on the website, you can just go to this duanespearman.org, or you can go directionalindustries.blogspot.com. But everything is pretty much here. After I finish each session, I go ahead and type it out. And, of course, the reason I'm doing that is because my eventual goal would be to actually publish it, just as I've already done with the Book of Acts and with the Book of Galatians. And you can get those on Amazon Kindle in either Kindle format or paperback. And then, too, I've linked my Facebook page here as well. And then I've divided everything out from the daily blog to our study through the Book of Acts. This goes back to the audio studies, but also each one of these will take you to the notes, as well as the links to Facebook, Rumble, wherever else it is posted. So, anyway, I've also separated out a topical section where I've covered things like Is the Church Israel? Water Baptism? The Word of God? The Acts Transition? The New Covenant? Dispensationalism? Rightly Dividing Romans 11? So, you just follow this link, and it'll, again, it'll take you to where the studies are. And if there's notes, they'll be down here. So, anyways, a lot of good information, some resources there that I've been putting together. So, we'll go ahead and get out of there. And today we find ourselves, last time we got down through verse number 14, Ephesians 1, verse number 14. So, today we're going to read for just a little bit of context and then pick up in verse number 14 and work our way down through the rest of the chapter, if possible. So, let's go ahead. And just for context, Ephesians chapter 1, in verse number 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. And as you know, I am taking the position through this study that the saints is referring to the bleeding Jews, and the faithful in Christ are referring to the bleeding Gentiles, which make up the body of Christ. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Another assumption that I am taking as I am working through this little epistle is that you have to pay attention to the pronouns, whether they be in first person or second person plural. Because if the saints is referring to the bleeding Jews, and the faithful in Christ is referring to the bleeding Gentiles, then the first person plural would be the saints, second person plural would be the bleeding Gentiles. So, we have already discussed as we work our way through verses 3 through 12, we see it's written in first person plural, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Now, I know I've taught this book many, many, many, many times. We just, you know, title the sermon, Spiritual Blessings in Christ, and we apply all of this automatically to the body of Christ. But I believe that we need to separate the first person plural from the second person plural. So, he's talking about our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us. I believe he's referring to the Jewish people. Now, that doesn't mean that there's not overlap. That doesn't mean that God hasn't blessed us. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love us. It just means that in the context, Paul is speaking of the Jews according to as he has chosen us in him before the world for the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him in love. And I've spent the last two sessions showing that that applies to the nation of Israel. That doesn't mean that God doesn't want the body of Christ to be the same, but he's not talking about the body of Christ there. Having predestinated us into the adoption, in verse five, of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, it is the nation of Israel that has been predestined to the adoption, not the body of Christ, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And we've talked about how it is the nation of Israel that was redeemed from the law, not us. Now, we could say we've been ransomed, we've been redeemed from sin, but the context of redemption and ransom here is the nation of Israel, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together one in one all things in Christ, both in heaven and on earth, even in him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works things after the counsel of his will. Again, I believe this is referring specifically to the nation of Israel, that they should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. The gospel of Christ was first offered to the Jew, the Bible says to the Jew first and then to the Greek. Christ came, presented the kingdom gospel to the nation of Israel. Peter offered the kingdom gospel to the nation of Israel, and many of them did trust in Christ. Many of them did baptize, repent and get baptized in whom also you trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and whom also after that you believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit promise. So right there in verse number 13, he takes a turn and he switches from first person plural to second and he says, in whom ye also trusted. I mean, the very fact that he says ye also means he's talking, why would he transition to ye also? You know, if I was grading a paper for a student or if I submitted a paper to my professor and he or she saw that I just transitioned from first to second with no obvious reason, they would start circling that in a red pen and saying, why are you transitioning here? He's transitioning because now he's talking to the faithful in Christ Jesus in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and whom after that ye believe ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit promise. I mean, that's a lot of second person plural there, which is the earnest of our inheritance. And that's where we stopped out last time, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise of his glory. So if you see in verse number 13, it ends with a comma, which is the earnest of our. Why didn't he say which is the earnest of your? Inheritance, that's what he's doing here with ye, but he transitions back to first person, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. So. I believe that he's talking about the Yahweh there is referring to the nation of Israel. So if you follow this in verse 13, that ended with a comma, both read together, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance. In other words, we were sealed or promised to be preserved in the same way that Israel was. And again, notice our inheritance is not your inheritance, just as God sealed them. He's promised to seal us. So the primary point of the verse is not necessarily the inheritance. He's already established that back in verse number 11, the inheritance. He clearly says belongs to them. But he's saying here that he's going to promise to preserve us as well. He's promising to seal, to protect us as well, because realistically, the church does not have an inheritance because we are not the heirs. And we've already talked about that. We are not the heirs. The nation of Israel is the heirs. They are the ones that are predestinated to come into their full legal rights, which is called the adoption one day. But we, like them, do have the promise that God will protect us just as he promised to protect them. And then notice, this is new territory, that it says until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now, what I find interesting is that the word translated redemption here is apulotrosis, and it is only used 10 times in the King James Bible, three of them right here in the book of Ephesians. It's a compound word, and it means the act of ransom. Now, who pays the ransom? I find it significant because the one that pays the ransom is the one to whom it belongs or the one from whom it was taken. I don't pay a ransom for your kids. I pay a ransom for my kids. The nation of Israel is the purchased possession. The nation of Israel is what was ransomed. Israel is the purchased possession. In Exodus 15, 16, fear and dread shall fall upon them by the greatness of thine arm. They shall be as still as stone till thy people pass over, O Lord, till thy people pass over which thou hast purchased. Deuteronomy 32, 6, Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? The nation of Israel is the direct object there. In 2 Samuel 7, 23, And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself? And he goes on and says, For thy land, for thy people, which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt. So when did God purchase the nation of Israel? When they came out of Egypt is when he purchased them. In Psalm 72, 74, 2, Remember thy congregation, which thou has purchased of old. The rod of thine inheritance, which thou has redeemed this Mount Zion. So Israel is the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Now, of course, I believe by direct interpretation of the verse, it's definitely referring to the nation of Israel, but it also has application to us in the body of Christ as well, because we too have been bought, purchased, not necessarily ransomed per se. You know, 1 Corinthians 6, 24, you're bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 7, 23, you're bought with a price. So, I mean, we could say that we've been ransomed from sin, we've been bought with the price, but that still doesn't make these verses by interpretation be talking about us. Again, someone asked me today, Well, so you only teach Pauline epistles? No, I teach the whole Bible. But you have to give an accurate interpretation before you can make an application. The problem today is so much of the teaching and preaching that's going on is applicational. It's not interpretational. You got to interpret to apply it. That's why the body of Christ today is so ignorant, because all they hear is applicational preaching. They open up their Bibles to Matthew and immediately they start reading the church into Matthew. There is no body of Christ in Matthew. There is no gospel of grace in Matthew. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John was all Christ ministering exclusively to the nation of Israel. You know, Paul went on to say, We don't know that man according to the flesh. He didn't minister to the body of Christ through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He ministered to the nation of Israel with the gospel of the kingdom, repent and be baptized with a promise of a kingdom that would come if they would do that. And of course, they didn't do that. So, I mean, we can teach the whole Bible, but for the love of God, don't force the church into everything. You know, don't force the church in the Song of Solomon. No one knew about the church until the apostle Paul came along. No one knew that there would be this body of over which Christ would be the head until Paul came along. No one knew that. The Old Testament writers didn't write about it. Now, there may be indirect allusions to it, you know, but you just can't read it into the text. Now, notice verse number 15, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, so Paul is pleased by their faith and their love for their Jewish brethren. So, what he's saying there, after I heard of your faith and your love for your Jewish brethren, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. So, as a result, he's thankful for them and he purposely prays for them. And then he's going to go on and say what he prays for them. Verse 17, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. And it's still going. There's not a period there. So, there's more to this prayer. So, his prayer initially is that the Ephesian believers would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. So, how are they going to have this spirit and this wisdom and revelation? Through their knowledge of him. Through their knowledge of him, knowledge being a condition or being aware of something, it is the gathering of information that they would receive a spirit of wisdom, which is simply good sense and revelation, which means enlightenment. That their eyes would be open, but it would only happen as they came to a knowledge of him. So, his prayer is that we would have a spirit of good sense and enlightenment that comes only through a knowledge of God. That explains a lot going on in our wicked world in which we live. They have no wisdom today. They have no revelation today because they do not know God. You know, one of the verses that we used to use in education is Proverbs 1 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That right there pretty much puts the overwhelming majority of secular education on the chopping block. They have no fear of God. So, they have no knowledge, let alone wisdom and revelation. Proverbs 9 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Again, there's no fear of God today. So, you know, people say, it seems like we're going backward. I mean, kids are eating iPods and, you know, we're turning into morons. Is it any wonder? Why? You know, our children are like so far behind compared to the rest of the world when it comes to education. And yet we pump so much money into it. Again, there's no fear of God before their eyes. They're exercising a vain thing because they're trying to educate without God. You know, Psalm 111 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord. Proverbs 2 1 to 5, my son, if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, knowing that's written to the nation, but so that thou incline thy ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding, and if you seek her as silver and search for her as hid treasure, then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. So again, without the knowledge of God, you'll never have wisdom, which is good sense, which I used to say, knowledge is information, wisdom is how to use that information, but we don't. I read something the other day, we're the most documented generation in world history. Unfortunately, it's all of ourselves. You know, I mean, we've become a vain, narcissistic culture that walks around taking pictures of themselves all day. And again, I believe that's the devil. We are into self-worship, will worship, as is mentioned in the Bible. We're no longer worshiping God. So we're falling into ignorance and you can see that, you can see that. This generation is nowhere near as knowledgeable as the one before it. And that one as the one before that. I remember one time I saw, you know, back in the colonies, they used to use the primer and the test that the students had to take to move from one grade to the next. I mean, literally the questions that were being asked of elementary students back then, our seniors couldn't pass those tests today, you know, but we know all about Beyonce and Jay-Z, you know, we know about the Super Bowl halftime show, but we have no knowledge and therefore we have no wisdom and we have no revelation. That's that. You're better off homeschooling your kids or putting them in a private school. Verse 18, also having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that ye may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? So Paul's prayer that he's prayed is for the ones who had faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. Verse 15, was that through the knowledge of God, that they would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, verse 17, and that their eyes now in verse 18 would be open to the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. So what is the hope of his calling? He goes on to mention this calling two more times in Ephesians 4.1, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech thee that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called. And Ephesians 4.4, there is one body, one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. So I would submit to you that his prayer is that both Jew and Gentile would have their eyes enlightened to know what is the hope of his calling. God wants us to know what is the hope of his calling. Paul talks about this in second, in 1 Corinthians 7.18, is any man called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any man called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. We all have a call. Romans 11.29, for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. So we have a calling, but remember that election and calling are not the same thing. Election applies to the nation only, not to us. Of course, the ESV goes out of its way to make calling and election the same thing. Because again, that's the lens through which they approach the scripture, but they're not the same thing. Jim Phillips wrote that those who do not understand the hope of his calling will wander around thinking they are spiritual Israel because they're not going to separate the two. And they will be confused doctrinally and be divided as is the body of Christ today. His calling for us today in the dispensation of grace is to be part of Christ's body. We're not replacing Israel. We don't embrace that. I don't. I think the vast majority of the church does, even though they won't admit it. And then notice also, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? To me, this just means that Paul's prayer is that the Gentile believers would be able to see just what a rich inheritance God has in Israel. That's what his prayer is, what a rich inheritance God has in Israel. Now, I think, again, the vast majority of the church today has absolutely lost this because the vast majority of the church today sees themselves as Israel. They don't recognize the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Instead, they usurp that riches in glory and take it upon themselves. But that's not prayer. That's totally against what Paul is praying here, in my opinion. God wants us to recognize the inheritance of the Jewish people, that they are the elect, they are the ones that he has purchased. They are the ones that the kingdom will be given to. But no, we take all that and say, no, it's us. We're the elect, we're the chosen, we're the ones that are going to get the kingdom, you know, we're usurpers in doing that, in my opinion. And then notice verse number 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. So, Paul further prays that the Gentile believers might know the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe. And notice there's a change there. The us is back to first person. Just like he went our inheritance, now he's saying to usward who believe. Based on the way Paul is addressing the two groups thus far, Jew and Gentile, the usward must be a reference to the Jews, just like the our was a reference to the Jews. Notice verse 18 says that you may know, and now verse number 19 says his power to us, from ye to us, from again, you're going from that second person back to that first person. And then notice verse 20, which you wrought in Christ when you raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Now, Paul writes that God's power was wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Now, that word wrought there has fallen out of use today, but it's just the past tense of the word work. I mean, we still use words like brought, bought, taught, but we don't use the word wrought anymore. But it's just the past tense of the word work. So, Paul writes that God's power was worked, wrought in Christ, how? When he raised him from the dead. Notice, and then he set him at his own right hand. The right hand is the position of honor. In 1 Peter 3.22, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God. Angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. So, it's speaking of Christ and his place of honor after God raised him from the dead. Now, interestingly, Ephesians is the only book that uses the term heavenly places. And Paul uses it four times in this epistle. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. In Ephesians 1.20, where we're at now, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him on his right hand in the heavenly places. Ephesians 2.6, and raised us up together and made us set together in heavenly places. And Ephesians 3.10, to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places. So, the word, that word is, those two words together, at least, are used four times in the book of Ephesians. But, if you look at the word in the King James, in verse number 20, notice that places is italicized. And what that means is that places is not there. It literally just says the right hand in the heavenlies. So, which you brought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set at his right hand in the heavenlies. It's in the heavenlies is where our Lord is setting. And that's very important as we work our way through this epistle. So, he's in the heavenlies, if you will. Now, verse number 21, far above, so while he's seated in the heavenlies, he's far above all principality and power, might, dominion, and every name that is named. Not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. So, here we see where he is seated and what he is seated above. So, he's at the right hand and he's seated above all principality, all power, all might, all dominion. Okay. This verse also looks to the future in which Christ will reign over all. So, this is where he is. It's just like today. We don't do it anymore. We've lost all formality in our society. And I really think that that is what is contributing to the downfall of our society. We've lost formality. We've lost respect. You know, and I think that's an American principle of individualism. And unfortunately, we've elevated the individual over everyone else. We've become a very selfish, narcissistic society as a result. I believe it was Alexis de Tocqueville in his writing that said that would be one of the downfalls of America. You know, in his mind, thinking back in Europe where you had deference to people who were, quote, over you, lords and, you know, whatever, you know, feudal systems that they came out of, where there was great deference given between people groups, he noticed that in America everyone was, quote, the same. But he also pointed out that that was a weakness. And I think we're seeing that today where the individual right has been elevated over the majority right. That's why we have really become a minority driven country. We cater to the minority. We cater to the little guy. So if the minority is offended by the prayer at the football game, then you punish the majority and tell them they can't pray. And that's where we are. You know, if a minority doesn't like, you know, this, then the majority are told to stop it. There's no longer deference, we've elevated the individual over the group. And I think that's leading, you know, social media is definitely catering to that. We have become literal jerks on social media. We say things on social media to each other that we would never say to the face of the other person without getting punched. We hide behind social media now. We've become very narcissistic in our culture. We think everybody wants to know everything about us. So again, I think this is where we've lost it in our society. And I think it's leading to a downward spiral where the individual is being placed over the group. Now, you know, we have elite whites, I guess that's a word, they get offended for everybody else, you know, the whole red skin thing. Everything I read, everything I saw, the Indians were proud of that. They weren't offended by that. Who was offended by that? Liberals, mostly white, was offended for them. So now we've reached the point where we're going to be offended for that other person, but still we're lifting up ourselves over the group, and that's what we're doing, you know, we're offended for them, you know, and I could just go on and on with that comparison there. Aunt Jemima Syrup, you know, we got to take her off the bottle without even realizing who she was and what she contributed to society, and that that was a great honor that was given to her. You know, but no, some little lefty white was offended by it. Anyway, I believe Alexis de Tocqueville was right when he said that individualism will be what tears them apart, and that's a paraphrase, but I believe he was correct when he said that. Notice verse 22, and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. So as such, as Christ is seated in the heavenlies, and as Christ is seated in the heavenlies, far above all principality and power, dominion, and might, all things have been put under his feet, and he is the head over all things to the church. So all things are under his feet. This means that all things are in subjection to Christ. Now, of course, one day all will be subdued completely when he rules with a rod of iron. But for the moment, all things are subject to him. You know, Psalm 2, 9, and thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. You know, one day during the millennial reign of Christ, he will rule with a rod of iron. In other words, it won't just be a suggestion. You will do it his way. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. There's verses all throughout the Bible that speaks of this subduing that's going to take place. And we also mention that in the Greek, and hath put all things under his feet, the Greek doesn't have a future tense. So, you know, it sounds like it's here and now, which it is in the sense that things are subject to him, but he still hasn't subdued them. The nation of Israel has been redeemed, but one day it will be complete. You know, I mean, it's, there's no future tense in the Greek. So when we read that, we need to keep that in mind. And then notice that there are a lot of italics in this verse. Notice he says, and hath put all things under his feet to give to be and think. See, all that is italicized. See that? Now, I mentioned this earlier, only the King James was faithful in doing this. The other translations, number one, they would be, it would be, they would have to put the entire thing in italics because what the King James translators did is they took the text and whenever they inserted something into the text to make it a little more clear, they would italicize it to show the reader that this was not in the original text. To me, that is a great amount of respect for the text. And of course the King James did the same thing. So the verse actually reads, and hath put under his feet and gave him the head over all to the church, to gave him the head over all to the church is how the verse should read. But the King James translators, and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all. See, so those words aren't originally there, but they put it so that it would make sense. And like I said, most of the translations today are thought for thought translations, which means, you know, the entire thing would have to be italicized because they're not word for word translations like the KJV and the New American Standards are, even though they come off two different manuscripts. And I believe the far superior manuscripts is the ones that the KJV came off of, and that's a different study for a different day. But anyway, we looked at the italics, and it clearly states that he is the head of the church. So who is the head of the church? Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church. And Paul, the church is the mystery that was revealed to the apostle Paul. In Ephesians 5.32, this is the great mystery, which I speak concerning Christ and the church, the body of Christ. So it says that Christ is made the head of the church. And again, we get, he is the head of the church. We are the body. He is the head. That's very important for us to remember. He is the king of the Jews. He is the head of the church and we are his body. And then he says in verse 23, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. So the church is his body, the fullness of him. What does that mean? David Gusick says that the fullness of him is how Christ fills his church in his presence and blessings, or with his presence and blessings. In other words, Christ is fully manifested today through his body. It was the apostle Paul that said, know ye not that your epistles written and read by all men. What that means is all this world will see of Christ is us. We are a reflection of him to the world. And what does the world see when they look at us? And that's what the apostle Paul was saying when he said that. Christ is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. The body of which you and I are. So anyway, there's verses, that's session three in our study. We looked at verse 14, the latter part, the purchase possession. And we came down to verse number 23, which closes out chapter number one of the book of Ephesians. Now in chapter number two, and I'm not going to go there today. And you hath he quickened who were dead in your trespasses and sins. Now, again, the you there, again, is second person plural. So he's talking to the faithful in Christ Jesus here, the body of Christ. And we're going to talk about over this next week during our little study times, our study sessions, 10, 15 minutes a piece, hopefully, usually go longer. What this quicken means and we'll start working our way through chapter number two. All right. Well, it's been a pleasure being with you this morning. I hope you've enjoyed the study and I hope you're growing in your walk with the Lord. Your walk with Christ and your knowledge of him. Because what did we say? It's only through a knowledge of him that you will have wisdom and revelation. It's through a knowledge of him. And I firmly believe that the knowledge of him is the way to go. And I firmly believe that we need to study the Bible. We all too often tell people, you just need to read your Bible. Just read your Bible. No, you need to study your Bible. You need to know what your Bible says. You need to learn how to rightly divide your Bible. You need to know who they're speaking to and what they're speaking about. Thus, you know, the purpose of this ministry is to rightly divide the word of God for the people of God. So, God bless you guys. Have a great Lord's Day. Remember that he loves you, wants the best for you, and he's working all things out for our good.