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This morning for our Bible study together, we come again to the first chapter of Ephesians. And I'd invite you to take your Bible, if you don't have one with you there's probably one in the pew rack there that you can look along. It might make your time more meaningful if you follow along as we share. For those of you who may be visiting with us, we're committed, really, to teaching the Word of' God. I believe that what I have to say is; at best, very insignificant, what God has to say is absolutely necessary. So, we spend our time dealing with the Word of God and what a treasure it, is and how grateful we are that He's given it to us.
One of the most wonderful parts of the Bible is the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus. It's called the letter to the Ephesians. This wonderful letter expresses some tremendous life-transforming truths. And for us, this morning, I think God is going to really speak about something that is exceedingly wonderful as we anticipate the things God has prepared for us.
I remember years ago when I used to travel in the South and do assemblies and we used to do a lot of ministries in the black high schools, that we would meet with a lot of people who looked at life rather bleakly. And I can remember many, many conversations with young people down in Mississippi and other parts of the South. And they would say to me - John - they would say - Do you think... do you think we'll ever be able to...to amount to what we want to amount to? Do you think we'll ever be able to fulfill our dreams for our life?
We'd have conversation after conversation through those years in those kinds of ways. And, you know, I see that in all parts of life. I see that with young people today and with old people as well who...who really face life with a sense of foreboding, who wonder whether or not there ever will be a fulfillment in life. Who wonder whether life will really turn out to be what it could be. Who wonder whether there is really potential for something wonderful and fulfilling and exciting in life.
That brings me to share with you the thoughts in Ephesians 1: 11 to 14 because they are really about the promise of God in Jesus Christ to everyone who believes. There are some things that can make life meaningful. There are some fantastic things that God has planned for those that are in Christ. Some promises that God will keep.
Now when you use the word promise, you know, maybe some people would be cynical about it because, let's face it, we've all known people who made promises and didn't keep them. And, frankly, we've all made promises ourselves and didn't keep them. Right? And in our society today it's promises, promises, promises, promises.
Governments make promises and break them. Nations make promises and break -them. Advertisers make promises and break them. Politicians make promises and break them. Preachers make promises and break them...husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, uncles, aunts, friends, enemies, everybody.
But there is One who makes promises, guess what? Never breaks them. Never. That's Jesus Christ. And the promise that He makes here in Ephesians 1:11 to 14 is above all things, wonderful, incredible, and exciting. And I want to share with you this morning what Paul has to say about it.
Peter said this; II Peter 3; "The Lord is not slack concerning... what? ... His promises." Isn't that great? The Lord is not slack concerning His promises. In fact, the Apostle Paul said; "He is God who cannot lie.
In Hebrews 10:23 the Bible says; "He is faithful that promised."
In Romans 4:21 the Bible says; "What He has promised He is able also to perform."
There somebody who keeps His promises. That's God. God who cannot lie, keeps His promises.
Now listen, Paul is telling us in Ephesians 1 verses 3 to 14, this whole...this whole passage is one sentence. The longest sentence in the Bible. He just goes on and on. And his heart is so full of praise he can't find a period anywhere. It's just a matter of... and then there was ... and then there was this ... and so forth. He's just pouring out praise and what he is praising God for is this wonderful promise that God has made in Jesus Christ. That's what's on his heart.
He says in verse 3; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ." And then he goes on to recite that ... "He's chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, He's predestinated 'us to be to the praise of His glory," verse 7 as we saw last week. He's given us redemption through His blood, He's forgiven our sins according to the riches of His grace, verse 8, He's abounded to us all wisdom and prudence. He's even made known the secrets of His will. And all of these things in verse 10; ultimately He's going to bring us into one great harmonious union with Himself forever. No wonder he's full of praise. Huh? No wonder.
Now basically verses 3 to 14 from a technical viewpoint are divided into three parts. Paul in chapter 2 kind of explains.... begins to explain how the church operates in the world. We're going to get into that, we're going to see how the church is to work in the world, how we are to live in the world, how we are to touch the lives of other people. That's all a part of it. But in the first chapter he's not in time, he's in eternity. He takes us all the way back as verse 4 says; "Before the foundation of the world." And he lets us watch God master planning history.
And as God is master planning history the basic key to the whole thing is the building of the church. And Paul says - Here is God before the foundation of the world, putting together the church. And three key words separate the three parts to this passage.
First, the pattern that He used or the plan that He used was based on election. Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. That's what gives us our value, people. That's what gives us our sense of worth. Do you realize that you - that's right - you who love Jesus Christ are in His church, have received Him as your Savior, you were master planned by God into the church before the world began?
And the second word that he uses is redemption. First that its election, that's the past part of it, God's choosing. Then redemption in verse 7; "We've been redeemed." Now that simply says that those whom He elected He redeemed. And the word means to buy back, we were lost in sin He bought us back.
The third word is inheritance. The reason He chose us was to redeem us. The reason He redeemed us was to give us...what? ... an inheritance. To give us great and precious promises. That's fulfilling.
I remember one time I was up in the mountains at Big Bear and there was a young man there who had a withered arm and a withered leg, severely so. And we were trying to work with a group of young people at a camp up there and this young man was way in a corner and he wouldn't come out of the corner. So on the second day I finally thought - I'm going to go talk with him. So I went over and he would just kind of hide in the corner and I went over and I said to him, I said - "What's your name?" He expressed his name to me and I said, "I'm John." And I said, "I notice that you never enter in." And he looked at me, boy, and he just had a kind of bitter scowl on his face and he pulled his sleeve, he had a jacket kind of over his head and he pulled his sleeve up and he said, "Look what God did to me."
Well, that was kind of hard for me to handle, you know. And I said, "All right, Lord, You've got to help me get a good answer, help him to understand." And I said, "You want to know something?" I said, "That's not you."
I'll never forget what he said. "Who is it?" I said - "It's not you." "Well, what do you mean it's not me?" I said, "It's just the house you live in, that's all." It's just the house you live in. "You see, and that's very temporary, you are a forever person." And I said, "Not only that, God's got a forever plan for you and He's also got a new body for you in the future."
He said, "You're kidding?" I said, "No."
And I shared Jesus Christ with him around a little table there and he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He'd never come out of this little corner.
And then he said to me after that, he said.... he said, "John, would you play ping-pong with me?" I said, "Sure, I'll play ping-pong with you." And he walked out in front of the whole group and played ping-pong.
You see, he realized that God had some things for him that far surpassed some of the iniquities of life. But that's the way God is, see. And that's because God loves us and has master planned us into an incredible promise that He'll fulfill. And that's the essence of Ephesians 1:11 to 14.
Let's look at verse 11. "In whom," now watch this, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance." Now stop right there.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance. This is the word of God to us. He's saying we have obtained an inheritance. Now what tense is that verb? Past tense, I remember that even. Past tense. That means it already happened.
You say - Well, wait a minute, we've already received this inheritance. That's right. The moment you invited Jesus Christ into your life the inheritance is yours.
I'll tell you an interesting thing about the Greek language. And the New Testament was written in Greek, but whenever the Greeks wanted to say something in the future that was so sure it couldn't be changed, they said it in the past tense. In other words, there is what is known as a past-future in the Greek. When they wanted to say something so secure for the future about what God was going to do they said it as if it had already happened. For example do you know that the Bible says - You're already seated in t e heavenlies? You say - No I'm not; I'm seated in Grace Community Church. Yeah, right, but someday you're going to be seated fully in the heavenlies and it's so true and it's so irrevocable that God says it as if it already happened and that's exactly what it means here. If you're a Christian you have already received an inheritance.
You say - Is it like a human inheritance, you don't get it until you're 21? Well, part of it you don't get until you get to heaven but some of it is yours now. We'll see that in a minute.
Now let me talk about this phrase for just a second, verse 11. Stay with me because we're going to move fast now. In verse 11 it says; "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance." Now the form of the Greek words here is in a passive form. The verb is passive. Now that means, in this case, it can be translated two ways. Okay? The passive verb can be translated two ways.
Let me give you the first possibility. It can be translated this way; in whom we were made an inheritance." Have you got that? In whom we were made an inheritance. Now if we take that meaning for the phrase then it means we are Christ's inheritance. In other words, Christ inherited us. You're saying--That's no bargain. Well, it's true though. Christ inherited us. Could it be saying that? It could be, linguistically, grammatically, it could be saying that. And you know something? That is true.
Listen to Jesus' own words; "All that the Father ... what? ... gives Me shall come to Me." You see, we are the gift from the Father to the Son. You see, when I received Jesus Christ God was saying here, I present to You John MacArthur. That's the sense in which we are His inheritance. And you see, God has granted to the Son the inheritance of the church, He's given Him the church as a reward for His faithfulness. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again the Bible says in Philippians 2 that God exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. You know that? God not only exalted Jesus because of His wonderful work on the cross and coming out of the grave, God not only exalted Him but God gave Him the spoils of the victory at the cross. And you and I are the soils. He won us at Calvary. And we are His heritage. We are His inheritance. We are the gift of the Father to the Son. And that's why Malachi says; "And they shall be Mine in the day that I make up my jewels." See?
Now if you're struggling around with a sense of a lack of self-worth, just realize that you are important enough to God for God to take you, to win you and to give you back to Jesus as an inheritance. You're a gift from the Father to the Son, a love gift.
You say I don't understand why the Father would want to give me to the Son and I don't know why the Son would want to take me from the Father. But that's the way God's grace and love works.
So, He bought us at the cross. In fact, Paul says to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 6; "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Spirit of God which you have of God and you are not ... what? ... your own but you are bought with a price?"
And --- that wonderful text that I love so much ... in talking to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28 he says; "The church which Christ purchased with ... what? ... His own blood.- He's bought US. We're His inheritance. We belong to Him. We're His personal possessions.
So that's one thing this phrase could mean. But it could mean something else too because of the form of the verb. It could also mean the way it's translated in the Authorized, "In whom we have obtained an inheritance. It can also mean that. It can also mean that we have received Christ as an inheritance. So in one sense we're His inheritance, and in another sense He is ours. He inherits us and we inherit Him. And, frankly, folks, we got the better deal. We inherit Christ. When you become a Christian He becomes yours.
You know, I love that hymn; "I am His and He is mine." That's ... that's ... that one and "The Church is One Foundation," those are my two favorites. I am His and He is mine. That's it. And both things are true.
When I became a Christian I inherited Him. He became mine. And... and I say both are true because that's what the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians chapter 3 verse 21, he says, now watch; "For all things are yours whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours." In other words, he says - You inherit everything. It's all yours. You have obtained an inheritance in Christ. And then in the very next verse he says this; "And you are Christ's."
You inherit everything and He inherits you. It's that beautiful union. You see? Now listen, when you become a Christian according to I Corinthians 6:17 it says; "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirits." One spirit, you become one with Jesus Christ and you know what happens? He becomes yours and you become His so that you lose your identity. You really do. A Christian has no identity apart from Christ.
For example, the Apostle Paul says; "For to me to live is Paul," No, what did he say? "For me to live is Christ." You see, he loses himself. You know, and ... when you go through the world living as a Christian, you know the whole idea is to be Christ in the world, isn't it? It's to love like He loved; it's to help like He helped. It's to care like He cared. It's to share like He shared. That's what it's all about. We're not in the world to take advantage; we're in the world to lose our lives like Jesus lost His for the good of others.
And you know what happens? When a true Christian lives the way he ought to live you can't find out where he leaves off and Christ begins. Do you understand that? You can't. You can't see the line. You lose yourself.
And so it's true, He is our inheritance, and we are His inheritance. And that's because we are one anyway. Now I kind of lean to the fact that in this context, even though both of those points are true, in this context the second one is the one Paul is emphasizing. Because he's talking about the fact that we have obtained a promise, he's talking about the things that God has for US. So although both of those interpretations are possible, both of them are true, theologically, the one that I think he is using here is the one that is translated; "In whom we have obtained an inheritance.'' I think he's talking about what we receive in Christ.
And the New Testament talks so much about that. In I Peter chapter 1 verse 3 it says that because we have been begotten in Christ, verse 4 says; "We receive an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." This inheritance is ours, reserved for us, it's incorruptible, undefiled and doesn't fade away.
Now it's not just pie in the sky. When you become a Christian part of that inheritance is yours right now, though the fulfillment of it is yet future. We have a limitless inheritance.
You say, - Well, what is it? I mean, what is it? What do I get? I'm thinking about being a Christian, what do I get? What is this inheritance?
Well, are you ready for this? Every promise God ever made. Period. Are you ready for that? Now if you want me to delineate them, we'll be here a while. Every promise God ever made.
You say - Well, every promise God ever made? That's right. Every promise.
In II Peter chapter I verse 4 it says; "By which are given to us exceedingly great and precious promises." Great and precious promises.
In II Corinthians 1:20, listen to this, it says this; "For all," are you ready for this? "All the promises of God in Christ are yes. Did you get that? Isn't that great? "And in Him are amen." Isn't that good? All the promises of God in Christ are yes. If He made it you can say - Is it for me? And the answer will be - yes. Isn't that good? And you can say - Amen. Which means - so let it be.
Hey, God is in the business of giving, isn't He? Great precious promises.
What are you looking for? Peace? That's in there. Love? Grace? Wisdom? Eternal life? Joy? Victory? Strength? Guidance? All your needs met? Power? Mercy? Forgiveness? Righteousness? Gifts of the Spirit? Trouble? That's in there. Pain? Suffering? Fellowship with the Trinity? Instruction from the Word? Truth? Spiritual discernment? Heaven? A room in the Father's house? Eternal riches? You name it. You see, because - this is a great thought - because when you became a Christian you are one with Jesus Chris and when you are one with Jesus Christ you receive everything he Father gives Him because Paul says - You are heirs with Christ and joint-heirs. You're the inheritors of all the promise.
Oh, what a deal. You know, you present Jesus Christ to somebody and you're really offering him everything. Everything.
Now let's look at the text. That was the introduction, now I'm going to preach the sermon.
There are three things I want you to see, three things; the ground of our inheritance, the guarantee of our inheritance, and the goal of our inheritance.
Why? You say, - I don't understand how we get this. I don't understand how we can be sure we keep it. And I don't understand why God's doing this.
That's what I want to share with you.
First of all, what is the ground of our inheritance? What is the basis for this? Why does God do this? And how? And what is it that makes it real?
Verse 11, let's look. First two words, "In whom," now this modifies Christ in verse 10. Christ, "In whom we have obtained an inheritance." Now we'll stop there for a second. The ground of our inheritance is Christ, beloved. Christ. You see, there's no way to get anything that God has to offer apart from Christ. There's nothing outside of Christ. "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." I didn't say that, that's what the Bible says. And I believe the Bible to be the authoritative word of God. And God says it's in Christ. It's in Christ.
In whom Look at it in verse 11; "In whom we have received an inheritance'' In whom, it's being in Christ, it's being one with Christ. It's that indivisible union, verse 3 says; "We are blessed because we are in Christ." That's really the Christian's spiritual biography.
Let me show you that, go back to Romans 6 for just a minute. The book of Romans, chapter 6 and I'll show you something interesting there, verse 3 and following. One of my favorite chapters. I remember one summer I spent three months studying the first eleven verses of this chapter and just a tremendous experience.. But I want to just ... I'm not going to tell you everything I learned that three months, but I'll just tell you a couple of things. In Romans 3:6 or 6:3 rather, it says; "Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death."' Now it's not talking about water baptism, it's talking about union with Christ, talking about being placed into Christ. "As many of us as believed in Christ and were then brought into a spiritual union with Christ, as many of us as did that, we're baptized into His death." Now watch. We were baptized into His death. Now the next verse. "We were buried with Him by baptism into death that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection."
Now, notice that. Listen, here's a fabulous thought. When you became a Christian somehow by some marvelous miracle that only God could do, y u as if it was done as if this happened, were taken right from here and transported two thousand years back, nailed to the cross, buried with Christ, you rose with Christ, you're one with Christ forever. That's the way it works. God performed an incredible miracle. God put you in union with Jesus Christ. You died with Him so your sin was paid for. You rose with Him, you walk in newness of life, you are now one with Him to receive all the inheritance that God could ever give His beloved Son. That's union with Christ. That's being in Christ.
That's different than following the teachings of Jesus. It's different. It's dying with Him. It's rising with Him. Not just listening to Him. It's putting your faith and trust and confidence, it's a real union.
And, ultimately, the wonder of all wonders is the Bible says; That someday when you see Jesus Christ, you will be...what? ... like Him, I John 3:2. Did you know that Romans 8 says He wants us to conform us to the image of His Son? Do you know that God doesn't just love enough to bring us into His family, He loves us enough to make us I exactly like His Son. Incredible.
But, you see, that's what happens when you are saved. You are one with
Christ, you died to the old, you live to the new, you inherit everything He has, you are in Christ to obtain an inheritance that is His inheritance. And as I say, as you begin to live for Jesus Christ you find out you can't tell where you cut off and He begins.
Now you say - But, how did this happen? How? Okay, look back with me, Ephesians chapter 1, let's see how. Let's look at God's side for a minute.
How did it happen? Verse 11; it happened from God's side because we were predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Now stop right there.
It happened, first of all, from God's side because God predetermined it. Now this is a wonderful thing. Go back to verse 4; "He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." See? It happened from God's side because He chose, He predestinated. Now I don't know if you've been with us the last few weeks but if you have you know how I've emphasized the fact that the wonderful thing about us is that we are what we are because of what God has chosen to make us, long before we were ever born. Boy, I ... that just boggles I my mind. I don't suppose I'll ever understand that. Why would God choose me? A sinner, inadequate, useless, why would He set His affection on me? That's in the counsel of His own mind. And that's ... that's part of being in Christ, you see, from God's side He predestinated according to the purpose of Him. It was His plan. And that's a mystery.
In fact, the word predestinated is proorizo in the Greek; it means to mark out the boundaries. God planned it out. He marked out the limitations.
But I want you to notice a second phrase in verse 11. It says; "Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.- This is a fabulous statement.
The word worketh in the Greek is energeo from which we get energetic or energize or energy. Listen to this now, whatever God plans - God energizes. You got that? God doesn't come out on the edge of whatever one day and say - I think I'll create Me a world. Now let me see, how do you do that? Got to figure that out, got a great plan here, just got to figure out how to make it work. No. All God had to do was say - I want to create a world and zap - because God's plan is loaded with energy to accomplish it. It's intrinsic to it.
God doesn't plan something and figure out how to make it happen God always energizes whatever He thinks. Listen, a thought on God's mind is energized into reality. That's because He's all powerful.
So, He not only predestinated us but He is energizing the accomplishment of that. Listen to me, beloved. If God in His wondrous grace chose us to be a part of His plan for eternity then, believe me, He will bring it to pass. Do you believe that? I am confident of this one thing, Paul says, if I don't know anything else, I know this, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ that I know. What God starts, God finishes.
And you 11 notice over in verse 19 the same word, energeo, is used again. In verse 19 it talks about at the end of the verse; "The working of His mighty power." The energizing of His mighty power; "Which He energized," it's there again in verse 20, "In Christ when He raised Him from the dead."
If you want an illustration of how powerful He is, that's the one. He raised Christ from the dead. That's the kind of energy that's working out His plan. God works out what God plans. Nothing can change it. If God makes a plan, He'll energize it. If God says I determine to set My love upon you, Paul says, "Who," Romans 8, "Who shall separate us from that love?" Anybody? No.
If God says - I don't condemn you, Paul says, "Who is he that condemns?" If God says - I hold no charge against you, Romans 8, Paul says, "Who shall lay any charge to God's elect? Nobody. In other words, when God decides something in the plan, He energizes its accomplishment, it's irrevocable. What a secure hope.
Well, from God's side, you see, the ground of our inheritance is being in Christ. From God's side, it's predestination. You say - What about our side? What about our side?
Well, verse 12 it says; the reason God does it from His side is that "We should be to the praise of ... what?...His glory." You see, salvation is always presented from God's side so that God gets the credit. You see?
People say - Well, God is ... I mean, does God just want a lot of credit? Yeah, Yeah, God wants all the glory. I mean, let's face it, who's the competition? Right? I mean, He's worthy.
You see, the reason we ... we kind of, you know, - Why does God want all this glory and praise for Himself? The reason we have trouble with that is because we can't understand the pure and holy right to glory because we're sinful and we seek it for the wrong reasons so we know that when others seek it they also seek it for the wrong reasons, but don't project that on God. God seeks it for the right reasons, He deserves it.
And God wants to be praised and glorified. And the way that He can be glorified and praised in salvation is to say - It's all of Me, and none of thee. I did it. And that gives Him the glory.
You say - Well, what do we do, just sit around and say ... o~, boy, I hope I'm predestinated? You know, I'm waiting for some zap. Are you waiting for the old Groucho Marx' duck to come out and say - predestinated, you're in. I hope it happens to me.
Like Spurgeon said; -Run up and pull up people's shirt tails to see if they have elect stamped on their back."
No, because you see, you're looking at one side of it. God's side is predestination. But what about the human side? Look at verse 12, 1 love this; "That we should be to the praise of His glory who first," and the Greek word is "Hoped in the Christ." You see, the human part of it is that we had to place our hope in Jesus Christ, you see? That's the balance, that's the tension. It's of God and yet we're a part of it too.
In fact, verse 13 says; "In whom you also trusted after you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also afterward y: ... what? ... believed." You see, there's the human part. You believe. Sure, from God's side it's predestination, from our side it's faith.
You say - But how could God choose and we believe and they both exist at the same time? I don't know. But as I've told you before, the things that I don't understand in the Bible are the best parts. Because they remind me that God wrote this book. If a man wrote it held resolve all those. I know, I've written some books. And if something doesn't match up, the editor always writes back and says; this doesn't make sense, this is contradictory, please straighten this out. You can't do that with the Bible, there's so much stuff in here you can't straighten out that you just throw your hands up and you say God must have written this. And the answer's in His own mind.
You know somebody once said; "You look up to heaven, it says, Whosoever will may come. As soon as you get into heaven on the back side of the sign says, Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world."
Don't worry about how you resolve it, just know this; God gets all the credit, but you must respond in faith. Let God harmonize it, it's too big a problem for me. As I told you before, you try to figure it out; you'll be under the bed saying the Greek alphabet. But I just know this, He says; "You hoped," verse 12, he says, "You hoped in the Christ," it's a definite article - the Christ, "You put your hope in the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior, and you believed and you trusted when you heard the word and you heard the gospel." You see, it isn't just predestination; there must be the preaching of the gospel. There must be the hearing of the gospel. There must be the believing of the gospel. There must be the hoping in the Christ of the gospel. Gospel means good news.
And Romans says in chapter 10, 1 think it's verse 14; "Faith comes," and the Greek says, "Faith comes by hearing a message about Jesus Christ." Faith comes by hearing a message about Jesus Christ. You see, and faith is our response to God's elective purpose. The ground of your inheritance, let me tell you this, my friend, God has so many wonderful things for you and from God's part He's done His part, He's chosen you before the foundation of the world, master planned this inheritance, all He says to you is will you believe? Will you open up the pages of this precious book and will you read about the Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, who died for you and rose again, the Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for your sin? And if you'll simply believe you will confirm God's elective purpose and enter instantly into the promise that He's given. And God always keeps His promises.
You see, believing is our part. It's a simple thing. You don't have to do spiritual gymnastics, you don't have to go through rituals, you just believe. For with the heart man believeth unto salvation, righteousness, Paul says. "As many as received Him to them gave ye the right to be the sons of God even to them that ... what? ... believe on His name." Isn't that great? You see, that's why God hates, more than anything else, God hates a system of religion that says you can earn your way to heaven. Cause that isn't true. It isn't true.
I think there are many people who claim the moniker born-again. Who claim to be Christians who are not Christians by biblical definition. And consequently while they're calling themselves Christians they manifest characteristics that are not Christian and they confuse the issue. A true Christian is one simply who isn't trying to earn his way to heaven cause he can't; "By the deeds of the flesh shall nobody ever be justified," Paul said. There's only one way and that's through faith in Christ. The true Christian simply believes.
You say, - Well, doesn't he do good works? -Yes, they are the response to his faith not the effort of his human merit. Big difference.
So, it has two elements this ground of our inheritance. It means being in Christ; from God's standpoint predestination, from ours --personal faith.
Let me go a step further. Leaving the thought of the ground of our inheritance let's go on to the goal, or rather to the guarantee of our inheritance, the guarantee.
You say - This sounds so good, John, how do we know it's true? How do we really know that this is ours? How do we know that we... you know, I'm going to say, - Well, maybe I'll be a Christian, maybe I'll believe, I'm going to jump in with both feet, what's the guarantee that this thing is going to work? How do I know that I'm going to jump into this thing, reorient my life, start living in this kind of a way, in love with Jesus Christ, and serving God, and I'm going to wake up some day and it's all going to be empty and... or else I'm going to die and I'm going to hit the wall on this deal? How do I know?
Well God knows that you wanted to know, we're really guarantee oriented, you know. You buy a car, you buy an appliance, or something, you want that guarantee, a little bit of security. Well God has a guarantee for you because He knows that you need to have that confidence. So look at the end of verse 13, just wonderful, it says this; "You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." Stop right there.
Now look, we have not yet totally been redeemed, we've been redeemed spiritually but we haven't had our physical body redeemed, a la Romans 8, you know the redemption of the body, we haven't yet gone to heaven, is what he is saying. We haven't had the full possession of all of our inheritance. We haven't got the full schmeer yet. You know, we're not in the Father's house in heaven, having received everything. That hasn't happened yet.
You say - Then how do I know it's going to happen? What's the guarantee? And he says; "You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." He's called the Spirit of promise because it is this promise that He is there to seal. You see? "And He is the earnest of the inheritance." He is the guarantee-or that the redemption of the full purchase possession will happen. In other words,' when you became a Christian God did a wonderful thing, and Me and everybody, He gave you the Holy Spirit. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, Romans 8:9 says, he is not a Christian. So if you are a Christian you possess the Holy Spirit. Paul says your body is the temple of the Spirit of God. When you became a Christian God took up residence in your life. That's why the change has taken place. That's why there's something new in your life. The Spirit of God is there. And He is there not only to empower you, and not only to fill you for service, not only to equip you for ministry, not only to function through the gifts that God has given you but He's there to guarantee your inheritance. He's there to give you confidence. Like Romans 8 says; "As we have the possession of the Holy Spirit, and are led by the Spirit we know we are the sons of God." You see, He has a confirming work. The Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God. He is a securing force. He is a guarantee.
Let me show you what I mean by that. Now look at the word sealed. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Now what does it mean to be sealed? Well, that's very interesting. It doesn't mean like the Good Housekeeping Seal, it doesn't mean like a big long piece of wet tape that you stick on it to seal it. That isn't the idea. It is the seal of authority and we'll talk about that in a minute. In those days, any official document, if you had an official paper like this or something, you'd pour the wax on that thing, and the king or whoever would stick his ring in that and it would seal it. To be unbroken.
Now the Spirit of God is the seal. Now what does that mean? Let me show you four things that the seal of the Spirit signifies. By the way, the sealing work of the Spirit is mentioned two other places in the Scripture, II Corinthians 1:20 and Ephesians 4:30, so we'll see it later on in Ephesians again.
Number one, the seal used by princes and kings and nobles in the time of the Bible was a sign of security. All right, it was a sign of security. Let me show you an illustration of that, very quickly.
Daniel chapter 6, now you remember good ole Daniel. Daniel was told not to pray to God or he'd get in a lot of trouble. And so he prayed to God anyway and he got into a lot of trouble. And they threw him in the lion's den. And then in verse 16 we read this; then the king,...Daniel 6:16, just listen now, "Then the king commanded and they brought Daniel." Daniel's brought in, "And they threw him in the den of lions." Okay? "Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, Thy God whom thou serveth continually." The king didn't want to put him in there but he got conned into it by little political games that were going on, but anyway, he threw him in - he said,
Boy, your God better get you out of this. I'm believing He will.
Now watch, verse 17; "A stone was brought," they rolled a stone across the front of the lion's den, or the lid of it, whatever. "And laid upon the mouth of the den the stone and the king sealed it with his signet, the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel." In other words, when you walked up to that stone and you saw the king's seal in the wax or whatever he used on that stone, nobody but nobody opened that den. Why? Because the king, the highest authority in the land, had sealed it. It was secure; it was not to be opened. The signet and the seal was the mark of the king.
Now listen, only someone higher than the king could break that seal. That was the sign of security. This is locked by the king, don't open it.
I'll give you another illustration. When they buried Jesus Christ in the tomb, they rolled the stone across and what did they do? They sealed it with a seal of Rome which was to say - No power can dare to open the seal unless it is a power greater than Rome. You know what happened? A power greater than Rome broke the seal. But it was the sign of security.
Listen, when you became a Christian God put His Holy Spirit in you, stamped His signet which is the Holy Spirit and said, This is secure. And no one can ever touch this life unless he be a higher authority than Almighty God. And there is none. The seal is the sign of security.
People say - Do you believe that we're secure in Christ? Yes, that's what it is saying. The Spirit is that seal.
Second, the second use of the word seal is as a sign of authenticity, authenticity. And I'm just going to tell you this story. Back in I Kings 21, you remember there was a lady named Jezebel, she was a bad lady, Jezebel. And she had a dodo for a husband by the name of Ahab. And Ahab was kind of a mealy-mouthed character, when he wanted anything done he got Jezebel to do it. So Ahab was up there and he was...he was really coveting a beautiful vineyard owned by a guy named Naboth. He wanted Naboth's vineyard. So he says - Jezebel, could you get me Naboth's vineyard? Sure, honey. So Jezebel sets out to get this vineyard. It's easy if you're the king, you know what you do? She wrote an official letter; This vineyard now belongs to the king. Period - paragraph - sealed, I Kings 21. That was it. And once she signed that letter and stamped it with the king's seal, the letter was a mark of authenticity. This was a legitimate letter from the king. The seal was the royal signature.
And what she was really saying was this is authentic. This is a for-re 1 letter from the king.
Now you know something beautiful about that? When God gives us His Holy Spirit it's as if He says this; Don't mess with this person, this is an authentic child of the King. Isn't that great? The only authentic Christian is the one who possesses the Holy Spirit, who's sealed with a mark of authenticity.
So, the seal speaks of security never to be broken; authenticity, genuine child of God. Thirdly, it's also used in the Bible as a sign of completed transaction. And I'll tell you this little story without looking it up but you can read it yourself, Jeremiah 32. Dear old Jeremiah, what a heartbreaking guy. The Lord says to Jeremiah in the first chapter, Jeremiah, you're going to be My man, Jeremiah. You're going to go out and you're going to preach all your life and you're going to pour out your heart and you're going to announce the things that I want you to say. And by the way, Jeremiah, nobody, no time is ever going to listen to anything you say. But go to it, brother. You know, you've got to be kidding.
And dear old Jeremiah went out there and he wept and he cried and he laid around the city in funny positions. And he stood up and he preached and he did all this stuff. He was quite a guy. Oh, he was such a faithful guy. And he set about to buy a field. To buy a piece of property, God told him to buy a piece of property. He says, Don't worry about the fact that Jerusalem is going to be a rubble pretty soon, Jerusalem is going to be wiped out, you buy that piece of property cause when everybody comes back from the captivity, see, all your descendants will inherit this lovely piece of property. Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah buys it. And you know when he got all done, you know what he did? The Bible says he sealed the transaction.
You know what the seal means? It is a sign of a finished transaction. Isn't that great? It's a sign of a finished transaction. Beloved, we are not in the process of getting saved, see. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ God gave you the Holy Spirit and said - That is a finished transaction.
So, it's a mark of security, it's a mark of authenticity, it's a mark of a finished transaction. Lastly, it's a mark of authority. It's a sign of authority. And you find this in the book of Esther. Read the third chapter of Esther, the eighth chapter of Esther and you'll find that beautiful little story there that Esther wanted the king to settle a certain issue. So she said, Okay, you make the edict, king, and you sign it with your seal and we'll carry it out. And so they're walking around with this letter from the king. See. And it's a sign of authority.
In other words, when I come to you on Sunday morning and Sunday evening and I say to you; This is what I want you to do, this is the way you are to live, this is the way you are to behave, this isn't whimsically John MacArthur. I'm not here just thinking up wonderful little things to say. I'm here, holding in my hand, this authoritative book. Right? And I'm speaking to you from God's authority, I trust. And there's a sense in which, listen, when God gave you the Holy Spirit, He said - Look, world, see this guy? See this lady? They speak with My authority. Isn't that great?
So the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of promise guarantees the inheritance, it secures us. It authenticates us as genuine. It delegates to us divine authority. And it symbolizes a finished transaction. Beloved, when God gave you the Holy Spirit, He gave you the guarantee and all the guarantee you'll ever need that every promise in Him is yes. Amen.
And lastly, we've seen the ground of inheritance in Him. We've seen the guarantee of inheritance - the Spirit of promise. Now the goal of inheritance. Why does He do it? Why does God do this?
The end of verse 14; "Unto the praise of ... what? ... His glory." God wants to be glorified through you.
Hey, we're not Christians for our own glory., Listen, the day you start to seek to be somebody, the day you start to push yourself up, the day you start to set yourself up as some authority or to make somebody famous out of yourself, or be some kind of a hot-dog is the day you enter competition with the eternal God. And you know what? You lose. That's right. We're servants. We're servants.
I don't know' about you, but I'm humbled by God's grace. Aren't you? What He has done for us to the praise of His glory. All I want to do in this world is lift up Jesus Christ, just lift up Jesus Christ. Just lift Him up.
And so God has done these things for us. Let me just add one closing thought. Look at verse 14, the beginning of the verse. It says; "The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until the time of the purchased possession," being redeemed. What is the earnest? This is beautiful. The Greek word is arrabon, arrabon. It means two things; one it means down payment, okay, down payment. Now listen to this, God says - MacArthur, I'm going to give you all My promises and just so you'll know I'm not wolfing you, here's the down payment, the Holy Spirit. Isn't that great? He gave me the down payment already. He's in too deep now to renege on the rest. It's a big down payment.
And you know the second thing the word arrabon means? It means, in the Greek, engagement ring. Isn't that great? People say - Well, These Christians are always talking about pie in the sky and going to heaven and meeting with Jesus. You know, the Bible does talk about that. And it says there's going to be a marriage supper, Christ is the bride groom, the church is the bride. And you say - How do you know that wedding's going to come off? And I always say -Because He gave me an engagement ring. See.
Listen, girls, when a guy comes up to you and he says - Boy, I really like you a lot, honey. I really love you; I'd like to marry you. Take it with a grain of salt. If he comes up to you and he says - I'd like to marry you and hands you a $600 diamond, you can believe it. -Take it to a jeweler and make sure it's a diamond and then you can believe him.
But you see, there's a commitment there. There's an investment. And that's exactly what God is saying - Hey, I've got a promise for you; I've got an inheritance for you. I've got something laid up for you that's so incredible and just so you'll know that I'm not kidding, here's My down payment, here's My engagement ring, here's My Spirit of promise. And, beloved, the Spirit lives within us to constantly confirm to us that we're the sons of God who are...who are in the process of seeing the fulfillment of all the promises of God.
Well, my heart is filled with praise for One who would be so gracious to such a sinner. And it all comes to the praise of His glory. Let' pray together.
Thank You, Father, for unloading on us all the riches of Your grace. Thank You for the fact that so many people come here to feed on Your word and to share their love with one another. Thank You that we had to build these walls to surround this church. Thank You that You've brought us close together, around Your Son. We pray that as we have so wonderfully inherited Him that we would realize also that He inherited us for His own purposes and His own use. May the world be unable to see where we end and Jesus begins as we walk through the world. We pray in His wonderful name, and everyone said amen.
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text: While my project thread (check it out!)- "Coming soon; Steinbacker fretless" is awaiting a pro finish, I will be starting this new and exciting build/project. I really love the mid 80's Fender Performer bass, and for many reasons. It was a moment in time when Fender actually attempted to do something new and different before they locked into retro-rehashing. It was designed by John Page to be top of the line above the venerable Jazz bass, a mighty task indeed. In that respect, it seems a bit much to think that it could be considered above the J, but on the other hand it was a fearless idea. A 24 fret / 34" scale neck (and a very narrow, un-Fender like one at that!), relatively new for the time active electronics, and a super-hip Jetson's-like design. Cueing the back of a Stratocaster, it has a "Jazz bass in space" moderna look that was fresh and new, yet distinctively Fender. Colour options included classic sunburst, black, pearl white, a dark teal-ish blue, a dark magenta red, and a bright gremlin green metallic. It also sported a pointy headstock - another very un-Fender-like design choice. I personally think the pointy headstock was less a specific design choice for the Performer than it was a cost-cutting move dictated by the Fender money watchers. At the same time the Performer was released, they also released the very pointy Katana. Thought process probably was "two different headstock designs? - no way! use the pointy one on both". Check it out- the pointy headstock works well with the Katana's body - much better than w/the Performer. Regardless, give Fender credit for that bass also, as it was attempting to align w/the pointy guitar trend that was all around them. So where was I.., I never have even had a Performer in my hands, and considered trying to buy one - but stopped short due the going cost of one and feeling hesitant for a couple of reasons. The thin neck, and from what I've heard an equally thin sound and that clash of design integrity (pointy headstock vs curvaceous body) left me with only one alternative... pick up the design task of a super J starting w/the Performer and finish it properly. In the spirit of the Stratocaster, I will be naming this bass the Supersonic. (I also like Supernova... opinions?) I decided to use a 1 piece alder blank for the body (ordered), and keep it pretty much the same because Page nailed it there. (if it ain't broke...) I also wanted a 34", 24 fret neck, but not as narrow as the Performers. And I wanted to re-design the headstock to flow w/the sexy space-curves of the body. Aside from that, I will use standard J style pu's and individual string bridges (ordered) and will also make it string-thru. I have yet to determine which J-style pu's to install or which active electronics I will end up using, but that's a ways off and your recommendations on those choices will be welcomed. I have an alder J w/Fraylin split-pole J pu's and an Audere preamp and love the tone I get from that combo - but will consider other options. So here we go - I enlarged the (blurry) Performer technical drawing found in "The Fender Bass" by Klaus Blasquiz as close to scale as I could w/o having an actual Performer to measure. (anyone who has one that can send me basic length/width/depth numbers will help very much here) Shown is the enlargement with my redesigned headstock and a ruler to visually gauge the design balance overall. {} I'm considering installing a Stratocaster-type chrome jack-port (faintly seen) and want to finish it in Firemist Gold, one of my all-time favorite Fender colours. Pickguard colour yet to be determined, but I'm initially leaning toward aged white/mint green. Then there's the control knobs... later, later grasshopper. {} Here's where the rubber meets the road design-wise. I scaled the headstock after a stock Jazz/P-bass and modified from there. The lower bout is identical to a J/P and the upper section design relates to the body horns. I ordered Gotoh open-gear clover-leaf tuners specifically for their size and design compatibility. (pics will be shot once they get here) The neck is being made by local SF luthier Dan Ransome. It will be maple w/an ebony board devoid of face markers (side only), and the headstock will be a 2 piece tilt-back (Gibson-style). I decided not to reproduce the string-tree burdened flat Fender-style, which was a manufacturing over best function design choice. As I initially stated, I want to make an improved J-style bass here. It will have a 9.0 fingerboard radius, 24 med jumbo frets, 1.5" nut - 2 3/8" butt, .80-.925 jazz feel 34" scale neck, and a MM spoke-wheel trust-rod adjuster (at the butt). The overall length of the bass will be approximately 46", consistent w/most Fender Jazz basses. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for the Supersonic/Supernova (cast you vote now!) to evolve! {}

subset: commoncrawl


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Quest Theatre Ensemble Presents THE PEOPLE'S PASSION PLAY, Opening 2/22
Quest Theatre Ensemble presents the world premiere musical, The People's Passion Play, which chronicles the creation of the universe and key Biblical events through the Passion and Resurrection. The musical is written by award-winning, Chicago-based Playwright/Director/Puppeteer Andrew Park with original music by Scott Lamps. Performances run Feb. 22 through March 31st at the Blue Theater located at 1609 West Gregory (one block south of Bryn Mawr and Ashland). The production is suitable for all audiences of all ages and is free to the public. Donations are encouraged. For reservations and more information visit www.questensemble.com, email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 312-458-0895.
Follow a folk trio on an entertaining, humorous and ultimately moving journey through time as they belt old hymns, spirituals and folk tunes in the great American tradition. The People's Passion Play is sure to delight the entire family with its memorable music. Audiences will be captivated by Quest's signature use of large-scale puppetry.
Quest Ensemble member and playwright Andrew Park sees the production as both timely and accessible. Park said, "The People's Passion Play can only matter if is relevant to our current lives. In the past, Passion plays have connected people to a shared, spiritual past, and they've invited folks to consider their present political circumstances. The People's Passion Play is a celebration of how we have come together historically and suggests how we could come together today. "
The People's Passion Play cast includes Quest Theatre Ensemble Members Aimee Bass, David Esposito and David Issac Leef, guest artists include Amy Leigh Abelson, Andrew Coil, Rachel Copel, Erin Daly, Billy Dawson, Ashley Echevarria, Ryan Gaffney, Sarah Jordan, Mike Mazzocca, Pete Navis, Amber Lee Olivier, Kirk Osgood, Rayme Silverberg, Lindsey Spencer and Meredith Reynolds.
The People's Passion Play is directed by Quest Theatre Ensemble Member James T. Scott III with scenic design by Quest Ensemble Member Nick Rupard, puppetry design by Quest Ensemble Members Nick Rupard and Luke Verkamp, musical direction by Tobi Mattingly, scenic art by Quest Ensemble Member Julie Taylor, lighting design by Tommy Nolan, costume design by Staci Weigum, sound design by Travis Karpak, production management by Jason Bowen and stage management by Mark Abrahamson.
Quest Theatre Ensemble's musical, The People's Passion Play runs Feb. 22 through March 31st at the Blue Theater located at 1609 West Gregory (one block south of Bryn Mawr and Ashland). Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Admission is free, and donations are encouraged. For reservations and more information visit www.questensemble.org, email firstname.lastname@example.com, or call 312-458-0895.


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ST. LOUIS, MO (03/06/2015)(readMedia)– Jacob James Maddox of Wichita, KS (67235) was named to the Dean's List for the fall 2014 semester at Washington University in St. Louis. Maddox is enrolled in the university's College of Arts & Sciences.
To qualify for the Dean's List in the College of Arts & Sciences, students must earn a semester grade point average of 3.6 or above and be enrolled in at least 14 graded units.
Washington University is counted among the world's leaders in teaching and research, and it draws students and faculty to St. Louis from all 50 states and more than 120 nations. The total student body is more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
The approximately 3,400 faculty teach in seven schools: Arts & Sciences, Brown School, Olin Business School, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, School of Engineering & Applied Science, School of Law and School of Medicine. Twenty-four Nobel laureates have been associated with Washington University, with nine doing the major portion of their pioneering research there.
The university offers more than 90 programs and almost 1,500 courses leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary fields, with additional opportunities for minor concentrations and individualized programs.


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Enjoy free mini-bar when booking on www.ecclestonsquarehotel.com. Your free mini-bar is replenished daily and represents a value of £20 per day. Free mini-bar includes soft drinks, beer snacks and Nespresso coffee.
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Mirror Travel asked global accommodation finder hotelscombined for the planet's six hottest hi-tech properties...Eccleston Square is one of those. Read more here.


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International Justice Mission. (IJM is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.) It was because of our church's involvement in this organization, that I first heard about the dark side of chocolate. I discovered that so many of my favorite brands of very popular chocolate were created at the expense of children, like my own...
not much, if anything is being done to change this. If it says "Fair Trade" on the packaging, you can be assured that you're eating slave-free chocolate but that's about your best guarantee. You'll also need to expect to pay double for it, as the bag of chocolate chips I just bought cost me a whopping $5.99 compared to the well known brand that was on sale for $2.99. But isn't it worth paying a little more to send a message? Make no mistake, it's up to us because we're the ones consuming it. I recently watched these videos. And read countless articles.
hacking away at cocoa plants so that big chocolate companies can process enough to feed our insatiable appetites?
The most loving thing you might do this Valentine's Day, is reach for some overpriced, but untainted chocolate.
It's up to us to send a message girls. We can pretend we don't know and push away the reasons to care... or we can do something. We might not be able to end every single injustice in the world, but a great man once said, "All that is needed for evil to triumph, is for good men (and women) to do nothing."
So.... What are we going to do?


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I don't have the Update! The Play Store doesn't show an Update to The Sims Freeplay but my Husband's Device shows the Update and he's updated! We both use his Google Play Store Account for Apps, we just login separately to Facebook on our own Devices. the account's so we keep all App Purchases together. So we're aren't buying the same App, aka buying it twice.
I've got a separate Device with my Google Play Store account just for an additional Cloud Save and that doesn't show the Update either.
You'd think that being his Google Play Store Account and he's already Updated, it'd show up on both Devices, except it doesn't!
Any Ideas?
No Downtown High School Update
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