October 23, 2024 • 32 mins
Unlock the secrets of your spiritual inheritance as we begin the Book of Ephesians. Have you ever wondered what it truly means to be a saint in modern times? Our exploration begins with Paul's profound greeting to the saints in Ephesus, inviting us to reflect on the idea that all believers are saints and on the transformative power of recognizing Jesus as both Savior and Lord. Together, we'll unpack the concept of predestination and the spiritual blessings awaiting through Christ, shedding light on a divine legacy that transcends time.
Join me as we celebrate the profound grace and redemption offered through Jesus Christ. We'll illuminate the mystery of God's will, as revealed through the gospel, and discuss eschatological themes like the rapture and the second coming of Christ. Listen closely as we examine these events within God's divine plan, affirming the unbreakable promise of salvation through faith and the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Our conversation underscores how these truths reinforce the assurance of our inheritance as believers, promising hope and purpose intertwined with God's ultimate design.
Finally, let's talk about the rhythm of daily worship and the joy of weekly gatherings. In today's world, where distractions abound, immersing oneself in God's word daily is vital for spiritual growth. I highlight the power of community in strengthening faith and the importance of expressing love and devotion to God through prayer, song, and acts of kindness. These practices not only fortify our spirits but also keep us attuned to the divine, fostering a life enriched by gratitude and reverence for the Almighty.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
B.R.Maul (00:29):
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and you arelistening to the podcast Living
God's Way in an Ungodly World.
Here we read God's Word and wetalk about God's Word.
Here we read God's Word and wetalk about God's Word how it
applies to our life today.
Because God's Word is timeless,we don't have to worry about
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whether the information that Godhas provided us pertains to us
today, in modern times, becauseGod's words pertain to every
time and since God himselfsurpasses time, it's safe to say
that his word surpasses time.
We have much to read.
I have 14 verses that I'm goingto read and break down, and so
(01:18):
I'm going to jump right into it.
Again, thanks for joining me.
This is the book of Ephesians.
We're starting a new book,chapter 1, verse 1.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the
saints who are in Ephesus andfaithful in Christ Jesus, grace
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to you and peace from God, ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ
.
Blessed be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ, justas he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, thatwe should be holy and without
(02:01):
blame before him in love, havingpredestined us to adoption as
sons by Jesus Christ to himself,according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise ofthe glory of his grace by which
he made us accepted in theBeloved.
In him, we have redemptionthrough his blood, the
(02:22):
forgiveness of sins according tothe riches through his blood.
The forgiveness of sinsaccording to the riches of his
grace, which he made to aboundtowards us in all wisdom and
prudence, having made known tous the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure,which he purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of thefullness of the times he might
(02:44):
gather together in one allthings in Christ, both which are
in heaven and which are onearth in him.
In him also, we have obtainedan inheritance being predestined
according to the purpose of himwho works all things according
to the counsel of his will, thatwe who first trusted in Christ.
(03:17):
1 Peter 3, verses 1-10.
You are sealed with the HolySpirit of promise, who is the
guarantee of our inheritanceuntil the redemption of the
purchased possession to thepraise of his glory.
Here ends the reading.
There's a lot to unpack, isn'tthere?
So let's go ahead and back itup.
Paul starts out his epistlePaul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
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, by the will of God.
So he identifies who he isright away and also why he is
who he is by the will of God.
So an apostle of Jesus Christ,by the will of God, to the
saints who are in Ephesus andfaithful in Christ Jesus.
So the saints, the saints, areall believers in Jesus Christ.
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In our times today, there'sbeen hundreds of years where the
Catholic Church would like tolay claim to who they appoint to
be a saint.
But that's not the case.
That's nowhere in God's Word.
So that is a man-made tradition, because it is very clear in
the New Testament that saintsare all those who believe in
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Jesus Christ.
Verse 2, he says Grace to youand peace from God, our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So peace from God, our Father.
And isn't that nice, our Father, to be able to call God Father
is magnificent.
And the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I want to point out theemphasis of Lord Jesus Christ.
He didn't just say and JesusChrist.
That word is very importantbecause if Jesus is known to you
as only Jesus and not your Lord, well, then do ask yourself if
he is your Lord.
Because if he's your Lord, wellthen you have salvation,
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because that is you admittingthat he owns your life.
Why?
Because he's the one who paidfor it.
So he's not just our Savior, heis our Lord.
Verse 3, blessed be the God andFather of our Lord, jesus Christ
, who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
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heavenly places in Christ.
Now that's a lot and I couldspend a whole hour just
unpacking that.
Who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ?
You're going to hear in Christfrom Paul quite a bit.
It is a reminder of who we are,that we are in Christ, where
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our blessings come from inChrist, where our blessings come
from in Christ and why we haveeternity in Christ.
So that's a lot of blessings inthere.
Because he says, not some.
Who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ?
Verse 4, just as he chose us inhim, so that's he the Father.
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Just as God the Father chose usin him, that's Jesus before the
foundation of the world.
That we should be holy andwithout blame before him in love
.
Verse 5, having predestined usto adoption as sons by Jesus
Christ to himself, that'shimself, god, the Father
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according to the good pleasureof his will.
Now, there's a lot there.
I really do wish I could spendmore time and perhaps I will in
another teaching aboutpredestination.
It is very misunderstood.
I misunderstood it for thelongest time.
It was very hard for me tograsp it, even once it was
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explained to me and I finallythe light bulb went on in my
head.
But it's important that weunderstand that because it's
easily misunderstood.
But just going through it,verse 4, just as he chose us in
him, so as God, the Father,chose us in him.
What we're hearing here isn'tthat you were chosen because you
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were special, or that I waschosen because I was special.
Nowhere in predestination doesit point to the fact that God
went ahead and picked somepeople that he would choose
throughout time and other peoplethat he didn't choose.
What we're being told here isthe decision that God is
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choosing us through his son,jesus.
So all who would believe onJesus, by Jesus in Jesus, is how
we get to our heavenly father.
That is how we get to spendeternity in heaven.
That is how we become hischildren, god's children.
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He made that decision beforetime itself, before the
foundation of the world was evenlaid.
Now, this brings me great,great comfort, because this is
yet another verse that points tothe very fact that our God is
sovereign, which means nothinggets past him.
All of this is planned out andbeloved.
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I get it.
I completely understand thatit's so easy to look around us
in this world today and get thefeeling that it is utter chaos,
that there are many randomthings going on around us
Because, after all, we're onlyviewing things in the linear
formation of time, so from pointA to point B, that's all we can
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see.
We cannot see things as Godsees it outside of time, so a
lot of the choices does seem tobe just sporadic.
The choices that we make verywell are sporadic because we
don't have the knowledge thatGod has, but he takes all of
that in consideration andeverything goes according to his
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plan.
I know this is confusing,because this also doesn't mean
that we're just mere puppets,that every decision that you
make has already been made byGod.
That's not at all what's goingon here, and hopefully you can
see why.
This is the reason I would loveto be able to spend more time on
predestination, because it isvery complex in trying to wrap
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our minds around it, but ourdecisions haven't been already
made for us?
Now that's impossible.
Why?
Because God made free will.
Now it doesn't say free will inthe Bible.
It's not worded that way.
Some argue that that'sredundant to say free will
because to have our own will, itwould be free to make our own
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decisions.
But either way, I use free willbecause it seems more people
understand that as that it'ssomething that we have control
over, although that is what willis our will.
That is one of the parts that ismade in the image of our God
that he gave us that ability toaccept him or reject him.
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This is so important becauseGod understands that true love
must be a decision and loveneeds more than one.
Now, god doesn't need usbecause God is a triune God
Father, son, holy Spirit so heisn't one single stand-alone God
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.
He is three in one.
Again, something we can't wrapour minds around.
But bear with me because, withthat said, creating us in his
image, he gives us thisbeautiful gift to love.
But that's something that weneed to decide.
Are we going to keep that loveand we just want to love ourself
, or are we going to give thatlove to God and love him.
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So when Paul writes, just as he, god the Father, chose us in
him, jesus, before thefoundation of the world, that we
should be holy and withoutblame before him in love, so it
is through Jesus that, once weaccept Jesus Christ as our
Savior, that we should be holyand without blame before God the
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Father in love.
That's what he decided.
He didn't choose each of usseparately yes, you, no, not you
.
You over here to the yes group,you over here to the no group.
No.
The decision that he made herewas the very fact that it was
through his son that we wouldbecome holy and without blame in
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the eyes of God the Father.
Verse 5,.
Having predestined us toadoption as sons by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to thegood pleasure of his will, so it
is God's will that hepredestined us to become adopted
, adopted as sons by JesusChrist to God the Father.
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Do you understand that?
That predestination is thedecision God made that I am
going to make these people whobelieve on my son, jesus Christ
adopted children.
Now it says adopted sons Just aquick side note, because I have
much to cover here.
Yes, but adopted sons.
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The reason he uses adopted sonsand not children is because in
ancient times, when it comes tobeing a son, especially the
firstborn son would receive moreof the inheritance, and sons in
ancient time received more thanthe daughters.
That's just the way it was andI won't expand on any more than
just that.
That's just the way it was andI won't expand on any more than
just that.
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But that's why, in reference tothat, so whether you're a male
or a female, you have the statusof an adopted son.
So again, I understand some ofthis is confusing, but let's
move along.
Verse 6, to the praise of theglory of his grace, oh, his
beautiful grace.
That's God, the Father's graceby which he made us accepted in
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the beloved, and that's capitalB, so beloved, that would be
Jesus Christ.
He made us accepted in JesusChrist.
I told you we'd have a lot ofin Jesus Christ, because it is
in him that we have thesebestowed blessings upon us and
it is only through Jesus that wehave eternal life, that our
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sins are forgiven.
Verse 7, in him we haveredemption through his blood.
So that's Jesus.
In Jesus we have redemptionthrough his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, so that weare redeemed through the blood
of Jesus and that redemptionforgives us of sins, according
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to the riches of his grace whichhe made to abound towards us in
all wisdom and prudence Verse9,.
Verse 9, having made known to usthe mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasurewhich he purposed in himself.
Having made known to us themystery of his will, this
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mystery is the gospel of JesusChrist.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, godthe Father, going through the
blood of his son, jesus Christ,to save all those who would, in
time, believe unto his son.
That's the mystery of his will.
Again, his sovereignty shouldbring us great comfort because
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he reveals this mystery to us.
Because he reveals this mysteryto us, this message, when he
sent his son Jesus Christ, jesuswalked the earth.
He had three and a half yearsof ministry and he revealed that
to us.
And his life, his death, hisburial and resurrection is that
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great and wonderful, beautifulmystery that not only did Jesus
teach about, but he lived it andshowed us.
And then, to this day, we passthat gospel message on to the
rest of the world, so they toocan know the mystery of God's
will.
Verse 10,.
In the dispensation of thefullness of the times, he might
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gather together in one allthings in Christ, both which are
in heaven and which are onearth, in him.
This is something that has notbeen completely revealed to us.
The dispensation of thefullness of the times refers to
the time when God's plan will befully revealed, at the second
coming of Jesus Christ.
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It is at that point thateveryone will recognize that
Jesus Christ is Lord, lord ofall.
Every knee will bend, everyhead will bow and, whether the
soul of each person wants to ornot, it will be confessed that
Jesus Christ is Lord.
(16:35):
That is the dispensation of thefullness of the times.
The fullness of the times,that's a reminder that time in
and of itself is limited.
The fullness of the times Forsomething to be full, it needs
to have a limit, otherwisethere's no way of being full.
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God created time and he did itfor his goodwill.
He did it for his master planand this is all part of that
plan.
And where we live in the churchage, we are at this point in
time waiting for the rapture.
Jesus will appear in the sky.
He will not come down fully toearth.
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Then the church, so all of hissaints that are alive, will be
raptured up in heaven and wewill be gone and there will be
no one left on earth that isborn again at that time.
Anyways, now, from that time,it seems to be that the
tribulation period will begin,where there will be seven years
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of the tribulation.
During that time there will bepeople who are born again, or I
should say will become bornagain.
I have no doubt that therapture itself will cause some
people, that very hour, to beborn again, but unfortunately
for those souls, they will stillhave to live through the
tribulation period or untiltheir death, because it won't be
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over until the tribulationperiod is done.
Then the second coming of JesusChrist.
He will reign for 1,000 yearsuntil the tribulation period is
done.
Then the second coming of JesusChrist.
He will reign for 1,000 years.
At that point in time, thefullness of time, time itself
will end.
Verse 11,.
In him also, we have obtained aninheritance.
Isn't that something Going onbeing predestined?
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According to the purpose of him, who works all things according
to the counsel of his will,that he who first trusted in
Christ should be to the praiseof his glory?
Indeed, we need to be thankfulfor all that that he predestined
.
He came up with this plan longago according to his purpose,
who works all things accordingto the counsel of his will.
(18:50):
This is all God's will that wewho first trusted in Christ
should be to the praise of hisglory.
Brothers and sisters, such ablessing this is to have this
inheritance bestowed upon us.
Such a blessing this is to havethis inheritance bestowed upon
us for nothing that we have done, but for the very sake that God
himself chose each of us, thathe loved us and so he came and
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got us.
We didn't run and try to findhim.
In fact, just the opposite.
By our very sinful nature werun from God, but it is through
his grace, through hispredestined purpose, that he
came and obtained us.
Verse 12, that we who firsttrusted in Christ should be to
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the praise of his glory.
That brings such great glory toGod.
To love his Son brings him suchgreat glory.
Verse 13, in him you alsotrusted.
That's Jesus, after you heardthe word of truth, the gospel of
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your salvation, in whom, also,having believed, you were sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Who is the guarantee this isverse 14, who is the guarantee
of our inheritance until theredemption of the purchased
possession, to the praise of hisglory.
Amen and amen.
I love these verses Because inhim you also trusted.
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So the very fact beloved thatyou trusted in Jesus Christ and
you did that.
It says, after you heard theword of truth Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the wordof God.
We don't just wake up onemorning and decide, yeah, you
know what I'm going to trust God, nope, but it's after you heard
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the word of truth.
Remember that, because as aChristian, you need to continue
to be in his word, because it isin his word that he continues
to sanctify.
You.
Think about this for a moment.
It is through the fact that youheard the word of truth that
you heard the word of God, thatyou trusted in Jesus Christ.
And by hearing the word of Godyou were justified.
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So when you were born again,instantly you were justified.
So when you were born again,instantly, you were justified.
So for that very reason, youshould never stop hearing God's
word.
And in today's time, since inancient times there were many
more who didn't read, becauseeither they didn't know how to
read or there wasn't enough ofGod's word for everybody to have
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their own copy, like there istoday, so they had to hear God's
word.
Today you have the privilege ofalso reading God's word anytime
you want.
You don't have to wait and goto the synagogue and hear
whichever part they're reading,like they did in ancient times.
It is through that process thatyou are sanctified.
How much beloved do you want tobe like Jesus?
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Hopefully, you want to beexactly like him, and although
we cannot obtain that, at leaston this side of eternity,
because then we will be in hisimage as we are glorified in
eternity.
But that isn't now.
We are in the process of beingsanctified.
So the more you want to besanctified, the more you read
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God's word, the more you listento God's word, and that is the
gospel of your salvation.
He goes on to say in whom, alsohaving believed?
So once you believed in Jesus,you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise.
And that is one of my favoriteverses the very fact that we are
sealed with the Holy Spirit.
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This here goes to show that youcannot lose your salvation.
It is impossible.
If indeed you have trusted inJesus and you believe in your
heart that he is who he said, heis the Son of God, then you are
sealed with the Holy Spirit.
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And it says you were sealedwith the Holy Spirit of promise.
Isn't that something?
It's not.
You will be sealed.
You were sealed.
It's a done deal.
You may have days you don't feelclose to God.
You may have days that youyourself truly doubt your
salvation.
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Sin will have that effect on us.
We will feel horrible and likewe failed our Heavenly Father.
But there is no sin that youcan commit that overpowers God,
that will suddenly break thatseal of promise.
Do you realize that that wouldmean that you can sin so bad
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that you can make God break hispromise?
It's ludicrous to think that.
And yet we have doctrines today.
We have churches, we haveentire denominations that teach
that that you can be baptizedwhen you're a little tiny baby
but at the same time you canlose your salvation, and those
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that also teach that, even ifyou're not baptized as a little
baby and you're baptized laterin life, that you can still lose
your salvation.
Please understand this, beloved.
That is false doctrine.
It's evil, false doctrine.
The reason it is so evil isbecause it is the main way, and
probably really the only way,that churches can guarantee that
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you will come back week afterweek, afraid of losing your
salvation, and that's not thereason we go to church, not at
all.
And verse 14, who is theguarantee of our inheritance?
That's the Holy Spirit, theguarantee of our inheritance.
Until the redemption of thepurchased possession, to the
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praise of his glory, god's glory.
This also solidifies the factthat there's no reversing what
God has done, because the HolySpirit is the guarantee of our
inheritance.
So, until the redemption, inother words, until Jesus comes
back for his church, okay, theredemption of the purchased
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possession, redemption of thepurchase possession.
Okay, who made the purchase?
Jesus made the purchase.
What possession?
You, if you're born again, youare the possession.
Does that make sense?
Because let me read that partagain you were sealed with the
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Holy Spirit of promise.
So that is the promise.
Who is the guarantee of ourinheritance?
Until the redemption, whenJesus comes, of the purchased
possession.
So, when Jesus comes for thepossession that he purchased he
used his blood to purchase allwho believe on him.
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He comes back for us.
So, until Jesus comes back forus, the Holy Spirit seals us.
We're his children, no matterwhat happens.
And amen, amen, amen to that.
I am so thankful for that andthat is the reason.
Verse 13 and verse 14, thosetwo verses are two of my
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favorite verses in God's Word.
It completely highlights God'ssovereignty, it highlights his
love for us, it highlights hisgrace for us.
Now, before I close, there'ssomething a little more I want
to say about predestination,because being chosen seems to
imply that, well, we were chosenfor a reason and we want to put
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that reason upon ourself-beloved.
But that's not true.
It's not like being chosen byother people for something, like
being chosen by other peoplefor something.
I remember in elementary school, either on the playground or
during physical education timeor gym class, that sometimes the
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teacher would choose twostudents to make teams and then
they would start choosing whothey wanted on their team.
And of course, you know we allget excited and choose me,
choose me.
And we're waving our hands,jumping up and down and come on,
come on me, me, me.
And once your name was said, orthey pointed the finger at you,
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wow, that feeling of I'maccepted, I'm chosen.
And during those times, yes,without a doubt, humanly, we
were chosen for reasons thatserved the purpose of either
that game, depending on who waschoosing, or you were just
chosen because one of yourfriends really liked you and
even though they thought well,not very good at sports, but I
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want my friend to be on my teamfor just the fact that maybe you
were one of the cute kids thatthey just love to have next to
you.
I don't know, but there are manyreasons why people choose.
That isn't the reason, and thatis certainly not at all what
God used.
God used his son as themeasuring stick, how to measure
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who would be chosen, and not howwell we can be like Jesus, but
the very fact that we love him,that we accept him and that we
believe on him, that he is ourtruth.
That's the measurement rightthere.
And once a person is born again, once a person says those words
that Jesus Christ is my Savior,and in their heart they believe
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it, well, that's when God, byyour name, calls you to his team
, to his family.
So nothing that we ourself did,but who we believe in, who we
put our trust in.
There are many Christians orpeople who believe they are
Christian I'm not saying one wayor the other that do buy into
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the fact that predestinationmeans that everyone was
predestined ahead of time toeither go to heaven or go to
hell.
That's not God in the Bible.
If you do believe that?
Well, please get a hold of me.
I have a website, brmaulcom.
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Go to contact and fill out thatinformation and let me know,
tell me, say this is what Ibelieve and tell me why, and
I'll be happy to send youinformation in God's word that
explains that, so you can lookstraight into God's eyes and ask
him.
It's not what BR Maul is saying.
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No, it's what God is saying.
It's whatever the Bible says.
Beloved is what I teach.
It's not at all my teaching.
I want to do whatever God saysto do.
I don't have to agree with it,I don't even have to like it,
but I do need to believe it andobey it.
Now, as God's words go.
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I love God's word.
It brings me such security andguidance in what I need to do
day to day.
But to get upset or mad at Godthinking that he has chosen
people to go to hell and othersto go to heaven, whether those
who he predestined to hell don'twant to, they want to go to
heaven or those he predestinedto go to heaven, they don't want
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to, they don't want to live inhis presence how ridiculous
would that be.
But with that said, I know Icovered quite a bit of ground
today, 14 verses.
But we are in the book ofEphesians now we're still in
chapter 1, and in the nextteaching we'll continue in
chapter 1, starting with verse15.
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You're welcome to get a hold ofme, ask me questions about God's
Word.
Something you disagree about?
Well, let me know, let's talkabout that, let's see what God
says so we can grow together onthat.
I'd be happy to assist in anyway I can Remember to stay in
His Word beloved each and everyday.
The world is constantly sendingyou messages, whether it's TV,
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radio, books, video games,advertisements, music.
The world is very loud and hasits own message or messages, its
own agenda, its own narrative.
And so if you're not in God'sword daily, well then you're
only letting the world influenceyou and you're not allowing
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your heavenly father to sanctifyyou and strengthen you and
build you up against this world.
Come together with yourbrothers and sisters as often as
possible.
At least once a week would bethe best.
That's how you grow.
Everything we do weekly is apart of who we are.
Pray to your Heavenly Fatherdaily and, of course, worship
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Him, love Him, Lift your handsto Him, sing to Him, pray to Him
, worship Him by being kind toothers, by singing to him,
whatever it might be, butworship him.
He is so deserving of ourworship and our love.
And until next time, god bless.
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and you arelistening to the podcast Living
God's Way in an Ungodly World.
Here we read God's Word and wetalk about God's Word.
Here we read God's Word and wetalk about God's Word how it
applies to our life today.
Because God's Word is timeless,we don't have to worry about
(00:57):
whether the information that Godhas provided us pertains to us
today, in modern times, becauseGod's words pertain to every
time and since God himselfsurpasses time, it's safe to say
that his word surpasses time.
We have much to read.
I have 14 verses that I'm goingto read and break down, and so
(01:18):
I'm going to jump right into it.
Again, thanks for joining me.
This is the book of Ephesians.
We're starting a new book,chapter 1, verse 1.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the
saints who are in Ephesus andfaithful in Christ Jesus, grace
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to you and peace from God, ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ
.
Blessed be the God and Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ, justas he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, thatwe should be holy and without
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blame before him in love, havingpredestined us to adoption as
sons by Jesus Christ to himself,according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise ofthe glory of his grace by which
he made us accepted in theBeloved.
In him, we have redemptionthrough his blood, the
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forgiveness of sins according tothe riches through his blood.
The forgiveness of sinsaccording to the riches of his
grace, which he made to aboundtowards us in all wisdom and
prudence, having made known tous the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure,which he purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of thefullness of the times he might
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gather together in one allthings in Christ, both which are
in heaven and which are onearth in him.
In him also, we have obtainedan inheritance being predestined
according to the purpose of himwho works all things according
to the counsel of his will, thatwe who first trusted in Christ.
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1 Peter 3, verses 1-10.
You are sealed with the HolySpirit of promise, who is the
guarantee of our inheritanceuntil the redemption of the
purchased possession to thepraise of his glory.
Here ends the reading.
There's a lot to unpack, isn'tthere?
So let's go ahead and back itup.
Paul starts out his epistlePaul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
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, by the will of God.
So he identifies who he isright away and also why he is
who he is by the will of God.
So an apostle of Jesus Christ,by the will of God, to the
saints who are in Ephesus andfaithful in Christ Jesus.
So the saints, the saints, areall believers in Jesus Christ.
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In our times today, there'sbeen hundreds of years where the
Catholic Church would like tolay claim to who they appoint to
be a saint.
But that's not the case.
That's nowhere in God's Word.
So that is a man-made tradition, because it is very clear in
the New Testament that saintsare all those who believe in
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Jesus Christ.
Verse 2, he says Grace to youand peace from God, our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So peace from God, our Father.
And isn't that nice, our Father, to be able to call God Father
is magnificent.
And the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I want to point out theemphasis of Lord Jesus Christ.
He didn't just say and JesusChrist.
That word is very importantbecause if Jesus is known to you
as only Jesus and not your Lord, well, then do ask yourself if
he is your Lord.
Because if he's your Lord, wellthen you have salvation,
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because that is you admittingthat he owns your life.
Why?
Because he's the one who paidfor it.
So he's not just our Savior, heis our Lord.
Verse 3, blessed be the God andFather of our Lord, jesus Christ
, who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
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heavenly places in Christ.
Now that's a lot and I couldspend a whole hour just
unpacking that.
Who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ?
You're going to hear in Christfrom Paul quite a bit.
It is a reminder of who we are,that we are in Christ, where
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our blessings come from inChrist, where our blessings come
from in Christ and why we haveeternity in Christ.
So that's a lot of blessings inthere.
Because he says, not some.
Who has blessed us with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ?
Verse 4, just as he chose us inhim, so that's he the Father.
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Just as God the Father chose usin him, that's Jesus before the
foundation of the world.
That we should be holy andwithout blame before him in love
.
Verse 5, having predestined usto adoption as sons by Jesus
Christ to himself, that'shimself, god, the Father
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according to the good pleasureof his will.
Now, there's a lot there.
I really do wish I could spendmore time and perhaps I will in
another teaching aboutpredestination.
It is very misunderstood.
I misunderstood it for thelongest time.
It was very hard for me tograsp it, even once it was
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explained to me and I finallythe light bulb went on in my
head.
But it's important that weunderstand that because it's
easily misunderstood.
But just going through it,verse 4, just as he chose us in
him, so as God, the Father,chose us in him.
What we're hearing here isn'tthat you were chosen because you
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were special, or that I waschosen because I was special.
Nowhere in predestination doesit point to the fact that God
went ahead and picked somepeople that he would choose
throughout time and other peoplethat he didn't choose.
What we're being told here isthe decision that God is
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choosing us through his son,jesus.
So all who would believe onJesus, by Jesus in Jesus, is how
we get to our heavenly father.
That is how we get to spendeternity in heaven.
That is how we become hischildren, god's children.
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He made that decision beforetime itself, before the
foundation of the world was evenlaid.
Now, this brings me great,great comfort, because this is
yet another verse that points tothe very fact that our God is
sovereign, which means nothinggets past him.
All of this is planned out andbeloved.
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I get it.
I completely understand thatit's so easy to look around us
in this world today and get thefeeling that it is utter chaos,
that there are many randomthings going on around us
Because, after all, we're onlyviewing things in the linear
formation of time, so from pointA to point B, that's all we can
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see.
We cannot see things as Godsees it outside of time, so a
lot of the choices does seem tobe just sporadic.
The choices that we make verywell are sporadic because we
don't have the knowledge thatGod has, but he takes all of
that in consideration andeverything goes according to his
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plan.
I know this is confusing,because this also doesn't mean
that we're just mere puppets,that every decision that you
make has already been made byGod.
That's not at all what's goingon here, and hopefully you can
see why.
This is the reason I would loveto be able to spend more time on
predestination, because it isvery complex in trying to wrap
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our minds around it, but ourdecisions haven't been already
made for us?
Now that's impossible.
Why?
Because God made free will.
Now it doesn't say free will inthe Bible.
It's not worded that way.
Some argue that that'sredundant to say free will
because to have our own will, itwould be free to make our own
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decisions.
But either way, I use free willbecause it seems more people
understand that as that it'ssomething that we have control
over, although that is what willis our will.
That is one of the parts that ismade in the image of our God
that he gave us that ability toaccept him or reject him.
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This is so important becauseGod understands that true love
must be a decision and loveneeds more than one.
Now, god doesn't need usbecause God is a triune God
Father, son, holy Spirit so heisn't one single stand-alone God
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.
He is three in one.
Again, something we can't wrapour minds around.
But bear with me because, withthat said, creating us in his
image, he gives us thisbeautiful gift to love.
But that's something that weneed to decide.
Are we going to keep that loveand we just want to love ourself
, or are we going to give thatlove to God and love him.
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So when Paul writes, just as he, god the Father, chose us in
him, jesus, before thefoundation of the world, that we
should be holy and withoutblame before him in love, so it
is through Jesus that, once weaccept Jesus Christ as our
Savior, that we should be holyand without blame before God the
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Father in love.
That's what he decided.
He didn't choose each of usseparately yes, you, no, not you
.
You over here to the yes group,you over here to the no group.
No.
The decision that he made herewas the very fact that it was
through his son that we wouldbecome holy and without blame in
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the eyes of God the Father.
Verse 5,.
Having predestined us toadoption as sons by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to thegood pleasure of his will, so it
is God's will that hepredestined us to become adopted
, adopted as sons by JesusChrist to God the Father.
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Do you understand that?
That predestination is thedecision God made that I am
going to make these people whobelieve on my son, jesus Christ
adopted children.
Now it says adopted sons Just aquick side note, because I have
much to cover here.
Yes, but adopted sons.
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The reason he uses adopted sonsand not children is because in
ancient times, when it comes tobeing a son, especially the
firstborn son would receive moreof the inheritance, and sons in
ancient time received more thanthe daughters.
That's just the way it was andI won't expand on any more than
just that.
That's just the way it was andI won't expand on any more than
just that.
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But that's why, in reference tothat, so whether you're a male
or a female, you have the statusof an adopted son.
So again, I understand some ofthis is confusing, but let's
move along.
Verse 6, to the praise of theglory of his grace, oh, his
beautiful grace.
That's God, the Father's graceby which he made us accepted in
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the beloved, and that's capitalB, so beloved, that would be
Jesus Christ.
He made us accepted in JesusChrist.
I told you we'd have a lot ofin Jesus Christ, because it is
in him that we have thesebestowed blessings upon us and
it is only through Jesus that wehave eternal life, that our
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sins are forgiven.
Verse 7, in him we haveredemption through his blood.
So that's Jesus.
In Jesus we have redemptionthrough his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, so that weare redeemed through the blood
of Jesus and that redemptionforgives us of sins, according
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to the riches of his grace whichhe made to abound towards us in
all wisdom and prudence Verse9,.
Verse 9, having made known to usthe mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasurewhich he purposed in himself.
Having made known to us themystery of his will, this
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mystery is the gospel of JesusChrist.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, godthe Father, going through the
blood of his son, jesus Christ,to save all those who would, in
time, believe unto his son.
That's the mystery of his will.
Again, his sovereignty shouldbring us great comfort because
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he reveals this mystery to us.
Because he reveals this mysteryto us, this message, when he
sent his son Jesus Christ, jesuswalked the earth.
He had three and a half yearsof ministry and he revealed that
to us.
And his life, his death, hisburial and resurrection is that
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great and wonderful, beautifulmystery that not only did Jesus
teach about, but he lived it andshowed us.
And then, to this day, we passthat gospel message on to the
rest of the world, so they toocan know the mystery of God's
will.
Verse 10,.
In the dispensation of thefullness of the times, he might
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gather together in one allthings in Christ, both which are
in heaven and which are onearth, in him.
This is something that has notbeen completely revealed to us.
The dispensation of thefullness of the times refers to
the time when God's plan will befully revealed, at the second
coming of Jesus Christ.
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It is at that point thateveryone will recognize that
Jesus Christ is Lord, lord ofall.
Every knee will bend, everyhead will bow and, whether the
soul of each person wants to ornot, it will be confessed that
Jesus Christ is Lord.
(16:35):
That is the dispensation of thefullness of the times.
The fullness of the times,that's a reminder that time in
and of itself is limited.
The fullness of the times Forsomething to be full, it needs
to have a limit, otherwisethere's no way of being full.
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God created time and he did itfor his goodwill.
He did it for his master planand this is all part of that
plan.
And where we live in the churchage, we are at this point in
time waiting for the rapture.
Jesus will appear in the sky.
He will not come down fully toearth.
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Then the church, so all of hissaints that are alive, will be
raptured up in heaven and wewill be gone and there will be
no one left on earth that isborn again at that time.
Anyways, now, from that time,it seems to be that the
tribulation period will begin,where there will be seven years
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of the tribulation.
During that time there will bepeople who are born again, or I
should say will become bornagain.
I have no doubt that therapture itself will cause some
people, that very hour, to beborn again, but unfortunately
for those souls, they will stillhave to live through the
tribulation period or untiltheir death, because it won't be
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over until the tribulationperiod is done.
Then the second coming of JesusChrist.
He will reign for 1,000 yearsuntil the tribulation period is
done.
Then the second coming of JesusChrist.
He will reign for 1,000 years.
At that point in time, thefullness of time, time itself
will end.
Verse 11,.
In him also, we have obtained aninheritance.
Isn't that something Going onbeing predestined?
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According to the purpose of him, who works all things according
to the counsel of his will,that he who first trusted in
Christ should be to the praiseof his glory?
Indeed, we need to be thankfulfor all that that he predestined
.
He came up with this plan longago according to his purpose,
who works all things accordingto the counsel of his will.
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This is all God's will that wewho first trusted in Christ
should be to the praise of hisglory.
Brothers and sisters, such ablessing this is to have this
inheritance bestowed upon us.
Such a blessing this is to havethis inheritance bestowed upon
us for nothing that we have done, but for the very sake that God
himself chose each of us, thathe loved us and so he came and
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got us.
We didn't run and try to findhim.
In fact, just the opposite.
By our very sinful nature werun from God, but it is through
his grace, through hispredestined purpose, that he
came and obtained us.
Verse 12, that we who firsttrusted in Christ should be to
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the praise of his glory.
That brings such great glory toGod.
To love his Son brings him suchgreat glory.
Verse 13, in him you alsotrusted.
That's Jesus, after you heardthe word of truth, the gospel of
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your salvation, in whom, also,having believed, you were sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Who is the guarantee this isverse 14, who is the guarantee
of our inheritance until theredemption of the purchased
possession, to the praise of hisglory.
Amen and amen.
I love these verses Because inhim you also trusted.
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So the very fact beloved thatyou trusted in Jesus Christ and
you did that.
It says, after you heard theword of truth Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the wordof God.
We don't just wake up onemorning and decide, yeah, you
know what I'm going to trust God, nope, but it's after you heard
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the word of truth.
Remember that, because as aChristian, you need to continue
to be in his word, because it isin his word that he continues
to sanctify.
You.
Think about this for a moment.
It is through the fact that youheard the word of truth that
you heard the word of God, thatyou trusted in Jesus Christ.
And by hearing the word of Godyou were justified.
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So when you were born again,instantly you were justified.
So when you were born again,instantly, you were justified.
So for that very reason, youshould never stop hearing God's
word.
And in today's time, since inancient times there were many
more who didn't read, becauseeither they didn't know how to
read or there wasn't enough ofGod's word for everybody to have
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their own copy, like there istoday, so they had to hear God's
word.
Today you have the privilege ofalso reading God's word anytime
you want.
You don't have to wait and goto the synagogue and hear
whichever part they're reading,like they did in ancient times.
It is through that process thatyou are sanctified.
How much beloved do you want tobe like Jesus?
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Hopefully, you want to beexactly like him, and although
we cannot obtain that, at leaston this side of eternity,
because then we will be in hisimage as we are glorified in
eternity.
But that isn't now.
We are in the process of beingsanctified.
So the more you want to besanctified, the more you read
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God's word, the more you listento God's word, and that is the
gospel of your salvation.
He goes on to say in whom, alsohaving believed?
So once you believed in Jesus,you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise.
And that is one of my favoriteverses the very fact that we are
sealed with the Holy Spirit.
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This here goes to show that youcannot lose your salvation.
It is impossible.
If indeed you have trusted inJesus and you believe in your
heart that he is who he said, heis the Son of God, then you are
sealed with the Holy Spirit.
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And it says you were sealedwith the Holy Spirit of promise.
Isn't that something?
It's not.
You will be sealed.
You were sealed.
It's a done deal.
You may have days you don't feelclose to God.
You may have days that youyourself truly doubt your
salvation.
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Sin will have that effect on us.
We will feel horrible and likewe failed our Heavenly Father.
But there is no sin that youcan commit that overpowers God,
that will suddenly break thatseal of promise.
Do you realize that that wouldmean that you can sin so bad
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that you can make God break hispromise?
It's ludicrous to think that.
And yet we have doctrines today.
We have churches, we haveentire denominations that teach
that that you can be baptizedwhen you're a little tiny baby
but at the same time you canlose your salvation, and those
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that also teach that, even ifyou're not baptized as a little
baby and you're baptized laterin life, that you can still lose
your salvation.
Please understand this, beloved.
That is false doctrine.
It's evil, false doctrine.
The reason it is so evil isbecause it is the main way, and
probably really the only way,that churches can guarantee that
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you will come back week afterweek, afraid of losing your
salvation, and that's not thereason we go to church, not at
all.
And verse 14, who is theguarantee of our inheritance?
That's the Holy Spirit, theguarantee of our inheritance.
Until the redemption of thepurchased possession, to the
(24:36):
praise of his glory, god's glory.
This also solidifies the factthat there's no reversing what
God has done, because the HolySpirit is the guarantee of our
inheritance.
So, until the redemption, inother words, until Jesus comes
back for his church, okay, theredemption of the purchased
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possession, redemption of thepurchase possession.
Okay, who made the purchase?
Jesus made the purchase.
What possession?
You, if you're born again, youare the possession.
Does that make sense?
Because let me read that partagain you were sealed with the
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Holy Spirit of promise.
So that is the promise.
Who is the guarantee of ourinheritance?
Until the redemption, whenJesus comes, of the purchased
possession.
So, when Jesus comes for thepossession that he purchased he
used his blood to purchase allwho believe on him.
(25:45):
He comes back for us.
So, until Jesus comes back forus, the Holy Spirit seals us.
We're his children, no matterwhat happens.
And amen, amen, amen to that.
I am so thankful for that andthat is the reason.
Verse 13 and verse 14, thosetwo verses are two of my
(26:08):
favorite verses in God's Word.
It completely highlights God'ssovereignty, it highlights his
love for us, it highlights hisgrace for us.
Now, before I close, there'ssomething a little more I want
to say about predestination,because being chosen seems to
imply that, well, we were chosenfor a reason and we want to put
(26:32):
that reason upon ourself-beloved.
But that's not true.
It's not like being chosen byother people for something, like
being chosen by other peoplefor something.
I remember in elementary school, either on the playground or
during physical education timeor gym class, that sometimes the
(26:52):
teacher would choose twostudents to make teams and then
they would start choosing whothey wanted on their team.
And of course, you know we allget excited and choose me,
choose me.
And we're waving our hands,jumping up and down and come on,
come on me, me, me.
And once your name was said, orthey pointed the finger at you,
(27:13):
wow, that feeling of I'maccepted, I'm chosen.
And during those times, yes,without a doubt, humanly, we
were chosen for reasons thatserved the purpose of either
that game, depending on who waschoosing, or you were just
chosen because one of yourfriends really liked you and
even though they thought well,not very good at sports, but I
(27:34):
want my friend to be on my teamfor just the fact that maybe you
were one of the cute kids thatthey just love to have next to
you.
I don't know, but there are manyreasons why people choose.
That isn't the reason, and thatis certainly not at all what
God used.
God used his son as themeasuring stick, how to measure
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who would be chosen, and not howwell we can be like Jesus, but
the very fact that we love him,that we accept him and that we
believe on him, that he is ourtruth.
That's the measurement rightthere.
And once a person is born again, once a person says those words
that Jesus Christ is my Savior,and in their heart they believe
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it, well, that's when God, byyour name, calls you to his team
, to his family.
So nothing that we ourself did,but who we believe in, who we
put our trust in.
There are many Christians orpeople who believe they are
Christian I'm not saying one wayor the other that do buy into
(28:40):
the fact that predestinationmeans that everyone was
predestined ahead of time toeither go to heaven or go to
hell.
That's not God in the Bible.
If you do believe that?
Well, please get a hold of me.
I have a website, brmaulcom.
(29:01):
Go to contact and fill out thatinformation and let me know,
tell me, say this is what Ibelieve and tell me why, and
I'll be happy to send youinformation in God's word that
explains that, so you can lookstraight into God's eyes and ask
him.
It's not what BR Maul is saying.
(29:21):
No, it's what God is saying.
It's whatever the Bible says.
Beloved is what I teach.
It's not at all my teaching.
I want to do whatever God saysto do.
I don't have to agree with it,I don't even have to like it,
but I do need to believe it andobey it.
Now, as God's words go.
(29:43):
I love God's word.
It brings me such security andguidance in what I need to do
day to day.
But to get upset or mad at Godthinking that he has chosen
people to go to hell and othersto go to heaven, whether those
who he predestined to hell don'twant to, they want to go to
heaven or those he predestinedto go to heaven, they don't want
(30:06):
to, they don't want to live inhis presence how ridiculous
would that be.
But with that said, I know Icovered quite a bit of ground
today, 14 verses.
But we are in the book ofEphesians now we're still in
chapter 1, and in the nextteaching we'll continue in
chapter 1, starting with verse15.
(30:27):
You're welcome to get a hold ofme, ask me questions about God's
Word.
Something you disagree about?
Well, let me know, let's talkabout that, let's see what God
says so we can grow together onthat.
I'd be happy to assist in anyway I can Remember to stay in
His Word beloved each and everyday.
The world is constantly sendingyou messages, whether it's TV,
(30:50):
radio, books, video games,advertisements, music.
The world is very loud and hasits own message or messages, its
own agenda, its own narrative.
And so if you're not in God'sword daily, well then you're
only letting the world influenceyou and you're not allowing
(31:12):
your heavenly father to sanctifyyou and strengthen you and
build you up against this world.
Come together with yourbrothers and sisters as often as
possible.
At least once a week would bethe best.
That's how you grow.
Everything we do weekly is apart of who we are.
Pray to your Heavenly Fatherdaily and, of course, worship
(31:34):
Him, love Him, Lift your handsto Him, sing to Him, pray to Him
, worship Him by being kind toothers, by singing to him,
whatever it might be, butworship him.
He is so deserving of ourworship and our love.
And until next time, god bless.
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