(uplifting music)
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>>Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We are studying the book
of Ephesians this quarter,
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and this week it's
lesson number three,
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"The Power of
the Exalted Jesus."
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We're glad that you
could be with us again
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as we continue our journey
through this incredible book.
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Let's begin today with prayer.
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Father, we're grateful
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to be able to
gather together with You
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as Paul helps us to understand
You better and Your love
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for each and every one of us.
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We ask that You'll bless
our time together this week,
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and we thank You
in Jesus' name, amen.
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Well, we're blessed
once again this week
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to have the author of
the Sabbath school lesson,
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and that is Dr. John McVay.
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He is the president of
Walla Walla University.
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John, thanks for
coming back again.
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>>It is good to be back,
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and it's good to be
back together in Ephesians.
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>>That's right. And
this is setting itself up
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to be an incredible book.
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I mean, it's
always been incredible,
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but we're starting
to see some things here
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that maybe many people
have never seen before.
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>>This is theologically
rich, which is a way of saying
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it talks a lot about what
God does for us through Jesus.
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And it's important to read it,
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but it's also very,
very rewarding to realize
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just how much God loves us
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and how He has
expressed that through Jesus.
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>>A relatively short book
could be easily skipped through,
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but we're not doing that.
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We're taking 14 weeks to just
to pull it apart, bit by bit,
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and find those hidden gems.
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Now, as we've looked at
in the first couple of weeks,
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we've seen that
Paul writes this book
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to the Christians in Ephesus,
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and they're going
through some challenging times.
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Things have been good.
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Now they're kind of more
at an ebb than they were.
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>>Sure.
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>>And Paul is trying to
help us in lesson number three,
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help us or help them
understand the power of Jesus.
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>>Yes.
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>>Help us through this.
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>>Paul doesn't
say a lot in Ephesians
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about local
conditions and circumstances,
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so he doesn't talk about
them being persecuted and so on,
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but we do have that
hint that we have looked at,
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at the end of chapter three,
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that he's afraid
they're gonna lose heart
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and lose some of the
crispness of their grasp
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on the power and
grace of God and of Christ.
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And so he's reminding them of
their privileges as Christians
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and especially how
important and wondrous it is
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that they are part of
something called the church,
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and God's activity in
and through the church.
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>>This week we're
looking at chapter one,
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and specifically
verses 15 through 23.
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When the Christian
believers are going through
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these challenging
times, these difficult times,
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this--perhaps this,
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well, questioning,
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as it were-- >>Mm hmm.
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>>...what kind of
hope does he give 'em?
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What does he give
them as encouragement?
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>>Well, you know, Paul
isn't real subtle here, is he?
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He's just gonna
open the cosmos of grace,
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God's glorious universe,
universe of grace to them.
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He's gonna give them
the full load of everything.
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Time passed,
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his sense of all of this
marches down through time,
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buried in the eons of, before
the foundation of the world,
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and then the more recent times
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with the creation of the church
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made up of Jews and Gentiles
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through the grace of
God expressed in Jesus.
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So he is gonna move
them on through this.
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It's a wonderful passage.
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>>And we look at
this and it's kind of,
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we've got a little bit of a
prayer report going on in here.
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>>Yes. It's
another prayer report.
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He starts in verses 15 through--
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and the first part of
16 with a thanksgiving,
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"I thank God for you."
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That's a frequent element.
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But then he moves in
the last half of verse 16,
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on through the end of
the passage, verse 23,
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is a prayer report.
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He's telling them how
he's praying for them.
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>>And you mentioned
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that he is trying to
inspire and encourage them.
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What are some of the realities
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that he wants them to
grasp, to know, to understand?
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>>Well, living in
Ephesus, as they do,
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which was, as most places
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would've been in
the ancient world,
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most cities, certainly, a
place that's really interested
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in magic and in worship
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of a whole variety of deities.
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And the reason
their fellow citizens
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would've been interested in
worshiping the various deities
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is to try to
make some difference
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in the doomed existence
that was fated for them,
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because of the
conjunction of planets and stars
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at the time of their birth.
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So Paul is going
to react to that here
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in quite a natural way.
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If they're drawn toward
these powers, little "p,"
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he wants them to be
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drawn to the great
Power, capital "P," to God
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and the power of God expressed
in Jesus for us as believers.
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>>How does he help
them to see that reality,
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that grander scope of things?
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>>Well, he's gonna do
that through the prayer report.
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So he must have figured,
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"Hey, listen, I need
these people to understand
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"ultimate reality.
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"I need them to understand
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"what's going on at
the heart of the cosmos,
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"at the throne of God.
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"I especially
need them to understand
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"the exaltation of Jesus.
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"And the best way to do that
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is tell them how I
pray for them every day."
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And so he gives
us a prayer report
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of what he prays for them,
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and he moves through
these grand blessings
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of Christian faith and life
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that he asks be present in
the lives of Christian believers
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there in Ephesus.
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>>And there're
really three areas
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that he wants them
to know and understand.
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What are those three areas?
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>>Well, he lists them
here starting in verse 18.
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And again, we're breaking into
one of these long sentences,
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these tapeworm sentences
that Paul writes in Ephesians,
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and some other places,
like Romans, chapter 8,
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"Having the eyes of
your hearts enlightened,
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that you may know"
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>> -first prayer request here--
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"that you may know
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what is the hope to
which He has called you."
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So, number one,
he wants the hope
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to which they have been called
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to be planted
deep in their hearts.
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Now, what do you think
he means by that, Eric?
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>>They've got something--God
has a plan for them,
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something that He wants them
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to know, to understand,
to experience, to live,
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that maybe they're not grasping.
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>>Yeah, I think this is
referring to the Christian hope
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that they came to understand
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at the moment
of their conversion
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that's at the heart of
their Christian experience.
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And Paul will
kind of tell and retell
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their conversion experience
as we move through Ephesians
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and this would be
probably an illusion to that.
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They accepted Christ as
Savior, and in that moment
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they received the
call of hope, right?
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They had the
promise of eternal life,
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and in accepting
Christ, they gained hope,
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real, genuine hope.
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And perhaps that
has been slipping a bit.
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And Paul is
praying that that hope
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would enliven their
Christian experience,
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would warm their hearts, would
be central to who they are.
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>>So that's the first.
>>That's the first one.
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>>That's the first
one. >>That's the first one.
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>>What's the next
one? >>The second one is,
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"The riches of [the
glory of God's] inheritance
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in the saints."
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Now, Paul can also
talk in this letter
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about the
inheritance that we receive,
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at the Second Coming,
of eternal life and so on.
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But in a couple of places,
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he talks about God's
inheritance in the saints.
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That's kind of
an interesting way
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to think about that
relationship, isn't it?
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We're valued by God, so much so,
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that Paul can refer
to us, to believers,
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as God's inheritance,
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the thing He is looking toward
owning fully and completely.
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He wants us, He's after us,
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and He loves us
and He values us.
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We are God's inheritance.
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And so Paul prays in that line.
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He wants them to understand
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the riches of the glory of
God's inheritance in the saints.
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Another way, I think,
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a fancy, kind of involve
of a flowery way of saying
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"I want you to
know God loves you."
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>>And he does it beautifully,
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he makes that very, very plain.
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So, what's the third one?
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>>The third one
is going to take up
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most of Paul's
attention here in this passage.
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So, he starts off
the third prayer request,
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"I want you to know,
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"I want the Spirit
to plant in your heart,
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"the exceeding
greatness of God's power
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"exercised on
behalf of believers.
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"I want you to
know just how much power
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"God is willing to
share with you in your life.
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I want you to know that."
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>>So there is
power for believers.
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And sometimes believers
today, I say believers,
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maybe with a
lower case "b"-- >>Sure.
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>>...because their belief
is this much, "Yes, I believe."
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>>Right.
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>>It's an assent
to, but not necessarily
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an all-encompassing,
all-enveloping belief.
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Paul's trying to
help us understand here
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that there's more,
there's a whole lot more
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if we're willing
to understand it.
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And Paul goes into some reasons
00:10:02.36\00:10:06.13
why we can believe these things,
00:10:06.13\00:10:09.50
salvation history events--
00:10:09.50\00:10:11.31
>>Yes. >>...if we might
00:10:11.31\00:10:12.31
call them that.
00:10:12.31\00:10:13.51
>>So, he's not
satisfied with simply saying,
00:10:13.51\00:10:15.78
"God's got a lot of power
00:10:15.78\00:10:17.05
and He's going to
share it with you."
00:10:17.05\00:10:18.91
He's going to now
give us some benchmarks
00:10:18.91\00:10:22.75
for the kind of power,
00:10:22.75\00:10:24.35
the scope of the power God
wishes to share with believers,
00:10:25.65\00:10:29.89
and I think also
rather importantly,
00:10:29.89\00:10:31.73
the source of that power.
00:10:31.73\00:10:33.80
So he sees the power
00:10:33.80\00:10:35.70
that God is willing
to share in our lives.
00:10:35.70\00:10:39.00
He sees it mirrored and rooted
00:10:39.00\00:10:42.47
in four grand
salvation history events,
00:10:42.47\00:10:47.44
and it's important for
us to think about those.
00:10:48.64\00:10:50.25
>>So these four great
salvation history events,
00:10:50.25\00:10:54.08
we're gonna take a
break in just a moment,
00:10:54.08\00:10:55.92
we may not be able to
delve deeply into each of them,
00:10:55.92\00:10:58.52
but let's
highlight them very quickly.
00:10:58.52\00:11:00.92
>>Okay, let's hit each of them.
00:11:00.92\00:11:02.12
>>Let's hit each
one of them quickly
00:11:02.12\00:11:03.59
and then we're gonna
come back and unpack them.
00:11:03.59\00:11:04.79
>>So number one,
first part of verse 20,
00:11:04.79\00:11:07.86
God raised Jesus from the dead.
00:11:07.86\00:11:10.67
You want to know how much
power is available to you?
00:11:10.67\00:11:13.37
Look at the
resurrection of Jesus.
00:11:13.37\00:11:14.87
Number two, "He seated
Him at His right hand,"
00:11:14.87\00:11:18.67
verses 20 and 21.
00:11:18.67\00:11:20.21
"He [God] put all things under
His feet," the feet of Jesus,
00:11:20.21\00:11:25.11
verse 22a.
00:11:25.65\00:11:27.15
And finally, fourth
grand salvation history event,
00:11:27.15\00:11:30.79
"[God] gave Him as head
of all things to the church,"
00:11:30.79\00:11:35.86
verses 22 and 23.
00:11:37.16\00:11:39.49
>>So four things
that we can bank on
00:11:39.49\00:11:42.50
as it were-- >>Yes.
00:11:42.50\00:11:43.97
>>...that show us just
exactly how much power God has.
00:11:43.97\00:11:47.44
>>And a couple of
these we're kind of used to:
00:11:47.44\00:11:51.11
the resurrection of Jesus,
00:11:51.11\00:11:52.94
and the exaltation of Jesus
at the throne of God's seating,
00:11:52.94\00:11:56.41
sitting Him--seating
Him at His right hand.
00:11:56.41\00:11:59.51
The other two are a
little fresher to us,
00:11:59.51\00:12:01.92
a little newer to us
00:12:01.92\00:12:03.32
and we should look at those.
00:12:03.32\00:12:04.52
>>Yeah, we're
gonna dig into those.
00:12:04.52\00:12:06.29
But before we
take a quick break,
00:12:06.29\00:12:08.49
I want to
encourage you and remind you
00:12:08.49\00:12:11.63
that if you are enjoying
00:12:11.63\00:12:13.03
this study of the
book of Ephesians,
00:12:13.03\00:12:15.96
there's actually more that
you can be getting out of it.
00:12:15.96\00:12:19.43
We're glad that you're
enjoying the weekly study,
00:12:19.43\00:12:21.90
we're glad that
you're enjoying this program,
00:12:21.90\00:12:23.61
but if you
really want to dig into
00:12:23.61\00:12:25.71
the book of
Ephesians more deeply,
00:12:25.71\00:12:28.11
make sure that you
pick up the companion book
00:12:28.11\00:12:30.58
to this quarter's
Sabbath school lesson.
00:12:30.58\00:12:32.68
It is called
"Ephesians" by Dr. John McVay.
00:12:32.68\00:12:36.18
And you can find this
book at itiswritten.shop.
00:12:36.18\00:12:40.36
Again, that's at
itiswritten.shop.
00:12:40.36\00:12:43.36
Simply look for
the book "Ephesians."
00:12:43.36\00:12:45.09
It is the companion book
00:12:45.09\00:12:46.29
to this quarter's
Sabbath school lesson,
00:12:46.29\00:12:48.56
and it delves
into much deeper detail
00:12:48.56\00:12:51.77
on many of these
subjects, in fact,
00:12:51.77\00:12:54.20
more than what we are able
to cover in the weekly study.
00:12:54.20\00:12:58.71
A fantastic addition,
00:12:58.71\00:13:00.28
if you enjoy
teaching Sabbath school,
00:13:00.28\00:13:02.38
if you want to contribute
00:13:02.38\00:13:04.91
some deeper, more profound,
as it were, thoughts, insights
00:13:04.91\00:13:09.85
in your Sabbath school class,
00:13:09.85\00:13:11.12
or if you simply
want to understand
00:13:11.12\00:13:12.85
the book of Ephesians better
00:13:12.85\00:13:14.62
so that Christ can sit
00:13:14.62\00:13:16.42
more powerfully on
the throne of your heart,
00:13:16.42\00:13:19.33
you want to pick up
this companion book,
00:13:19.33\00:13:21.36
again, called "Ephesians."
00:13:21.36\00:13:22.86
And it is found
at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:22.86\00:13:25.17
We're going to come
back in just a moment
00:13:25.17\00:13:26.97
as we continue
looking at these elements,
00:13:26.97\00:13:29.80
these events in
salvation history,
00:13:29.80\00:13:32.11
and why Paul spends so
much time talking about them.
00:13:32.11\00:13:36.04
We'll be right back.
00:13:36.04\00:13:37.28
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00:13:37.28\00:13:39.91
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00:14:41.98\00:14:44.58
>>Welcome back
to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:46.38\00:14:47.75
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:47.75\00:14:49.68
We're continuing our study
of lesson number three here.
00:14:49.68\00:14:53.62
And John, you made mention
just before we went to break
00:14:53.62\00:14:56.39
of these four events
in salvation history.
00:14:56.39\00:14:59.43
But we don't want to just
gloss over these and move on,
00:14:59.43\00:15:02.56
because Paul
certainly doesn't do that.
00:15:02.56\00:15:04.40
>>No, we don't.
00:15:04.40\00:15:05.87
We need to dwell
on these prayer lists.
00:15:05.87\00:15:09.00
We need to learn
about what it's like
00:15:09.00\00:15:10.74
to actually pray
in the way Paul does,
00:15:10.74\00:15:13.88
so let me pause
there for just a moment.
00:15:15.04\00:15:17.28
Let's talk about
prayer life à la Paul,
00:15:17.28\00:15:20.58
praying like Paul.
00:15:20.58\00:15:22.15
Notice, that he's thanking
God for the believers, right?
00:15:22.15\00:15:26.99
You know, some of the prayer
services that I've been part of
00:15:26.99\00:15:30.23
can get a little
down in the mouth,
00:15:30.23\00:15:33.50
"Dear Lord, You know
all the trouble and trauma
00:15:33.50\00:15:36.00
"that Sister
Smith is experiencing.
00:15:36.00\00:15:37.93
You know that she's lost
this and that and the other."
00:15:37.93\00:15:41.64
By the time you get through
00:15:41.64\00:15:43.20
with that long
litany of trouble and woe,
00:15:43.20\00:15:45.71
you kind of end the
prayer with something like,
00:15:45.71\00:15:47.38
"If there's any chance,
please bless her, amen."
00:15:47.38\00:15:50.18
Paul really sees thanksgiving
00:15:50.98\00:15:53.45
as the key to prayer life.
00:15:53.45\00:15:56.45
So instead of praying
for Sister Smith that way,
00:15:56.45\00:15:59.95
we pray in the key of
praise and thanksgiving.
00:15:59.95\00:16:04.63
"Dear Lord, thank
You for being, today,
00:16:04.63\00:16:09.36
"active in the
experience of Mrs. Smith.
00:16:09.36\00:16:13.13
"Thank You for blessing her
with power to meet every need,
00:16:13.13\00:16:18.14
and she has many, to
meet the needs of her life."
00:16:18.14\00:16:21.34
So instead of a down at
the mouth kind of prayer,
00:16:21.34\00:16:25.25
it's a prayer in the key
of thanksgiving and praise
00:16:25.25\00:16:28.45
where we're thanking God
00:16:28.45\00:16:31.02
for what He is
doing and what He will do
00:16:31.02\00:16:33.69
in the lives of the
people we're praying for.
00:16:33.69\00:16:35.92
So if we were to model
our prayer life on Paul,
00:16:35.92\00:16:38.29
that's maybe the
way we would pray,
00:16:38.29\00:16:39.83
and I've tried it.
00:16:39.83\00:16:41.23
I've put it into
practice and I find it to be
00:16:41.23\00:16:43.53
a very enriching, hope-filled,
00:16:43.53\00:16:47.34
hope-generating way of praying.
00:16:47.34\00:16:50.37
>>Yeah, as we look at
Paul's example and others,
00:16:50.37\00:16:52.74
there is a great
deal of thanksgiving
00:16:52.74\00:16:54.68
that they-- >>Exactly.
00:16:54.68\00:16:55.98
>>...incorporate into prayers.
00:16:55.98\00:16:58.41
And you're right,
00:16:58.41\00:16:59.61
sometimes not
every prayer meeting
00:16:59.61\00:17:04.59
that we attend
00:17:04.59\00:17:06.05
dwells on that-- >>Yes.
00:17:06.05\00:17:07.36
>>...very long.
00:17:07.36\00:17:08.69
I think we missed
something. >>So let's dwell
00:17:08.69\00:17:09.62
a little less on the problems.
00:17:09.62\00:17:10.83
Let's dwell more
on the power of God
00:17:10.83\00:17:12.59
that can be, and
will be, by His grace
00:17:12.59\00:17:15.16
expressed in the
lives of His saints.
00:17:15.16\00:17:17.77
But moving back
now to the prayer list,
00:17:17.77\00:17:20.67
and we will see this
again in chapter three,
00:17:20.67\00:17:23.37
another prayer report,
00:17:23.37\00:17:25.11
I find it wonderful
to kind of listen in.
00:17:25.11\00:17:28.41
There's a certain
intimacy about listening
00:17:28.41\00:17:31.28
as Paul prays for these people
00:17:31.28\00:17:33.11
that he loves and
that he has heard about.
00:17:33.11\00:17:36.22
Sometimes, he doesn't
necessarily know all of them,
00:17:36.22\00:17:38.75
but he's praying for them.
00:17:38.75\00:17:41.09
And his big prayer
request is for the presence--
00:17:41.09\00:17:43.79
the fresh presence of the
Spirit in their lives, right?
00:17:43.79\00:17:46.66
That's the biggie.
00:17:46.66\00:17:48.06
And then he's hoping that the--
00:17:48.06\00:17:49.86
and he's praying that the Spirit
00:17:49.86\00:17:52.07
will reinforce their hope,
00:17:52.07\00:17:55.27
reinforce God's love
for them, and especially
00:17:55.27\00:18:00.28
that the Spirit will give
them a fresh understanding
00:18:00.28\00:18:02.84
of how much power
and what kind of power
00:18:02.84\00:18:06.18
is available to them,
00:18:06.18\00:18:08.08
and where that power
comes from, where it's rooted.
00:18:08.08\00:18:10.79
And it's rooted
00:18:10.79\00:18:12.22
in these four grand
salvation history events:
00:18:12.22\00:18:15.46
the resurrection of
Jesus, the exaltation of Jesus,
00:18:15.46\00:18:20.13
putting all things
under the feet of Jesus,
00:18:20.13\00:18:22.86
and the giving of
Jesus as head of all things
00:18:22.86\00:18:27.94
to His church.
00:18:28.47\00:18:29.74
So those four events
and understanding those four
00:18:29.74\00:18:32.37
become important to Paul.
00:18:32.37\00:18:34.41
>>And in these last
verses in chapter one,
00:18:34.41\00:18:37.85
verses 20 through 23,
00:18:37.85\00:18:39.91
you see in these
four salvation events,
00:18:39.91\00:18:43.65
resurrection, exaltation,
00:18:43.65\00:18:45.52
you also see the
coronation of Jesus here.
00:18:45.52\00:18:48.36
How does that all fit in?
00:18:48.36\00:18:50.33
>>Well, it's
kind of interesting,
00:18:50.33\00:18:51.89
not so long ago we watched
00:18:51.89\00:18:54.86
the coronation of Charles III
of the United Kingdom, right?
00:18:54.86\00:18:59.93
In watching that,
00:19:00.67\00:19:02.20
there's a real sequence
to a coronation, isn't there?
00:19:02.20\00:19:04.17
I mean, talk about the
pageantry, and every little
00:19:04.17\00:19:08.28
thing has to happen
at just the right moment.
00:19:08.28\00:19:10.68
And there's a kind of
sequence going on here
00:19:10.68\00:19:13.35
in Paul's portrait of
the exaltation of Jesus
00:19:13.35\00:19:17.62
in chapter one, verses,
oh, 20 through 23, right?
00:19:17.62\00:19:22.69
So it begins, as we've
noted, with a resurrection.
00:19:23.99\00:19:26.86
Now that's a strange
coronation, isn't it?
00:19:26.86\00:19:29.60
It starts not with
the birth of a king,
00:19:29.60\00:19:32.13
but in a sense with
the death of a king,
00:19:32.13\00:19:34.10
and the resurrection of
this King Jesus from His death.
00:19:34.10\00:19:39.07
So Jesus, who's now about to
be crowned king of the cosmos,
00:19:39.07\00:19:43.24
has died, and the
sequence of His exaltation
00:19:43.24\00:19:46.92
begins with His resurrection
from death. Hallelujah.
00:19:46.92\00:19:51.89
Then comes the
enthronement, let's call it,
00:19:51.89\00:19:55.36
because He is now--He's
exalted, He ascends to heaven,
00:19:55.36\00:20:00.26
and He is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
00:20:00.26\00:20:04.13
"The Father...seated
Him at His right hand
00:20:04.13\00:20:07.47
in the heavenly places."
00:20:07.47\00:20:09.47
And this new position
of the enthroned Jesus
00:20:09.47\00:20:13.38
places Him not just above,
00:20:13.38\00:20:16.61
but far above every power,
00:20:16.61\00:20:20.05
real or imagined, in
time and eternity, correct?
00:20:20.05\00:20:24.49
>>Yes.
00:20:24.49\00:20:25.49
>>Wonderful description.
00:20:25.49\00:20:27.09
So Christ is placed
00:20:27.09\00:20:28.79
"Far above all rule
and authority and power and
00:20:28.79\00:20:33.66
dominion, "and above
every name that is named,
00:20:34.83\00:20:36.33
not only in this age but
also in the one to come."
00:20:36.33\00:20:39.10
Remember, Ephesus is a place
where a lot of names get named.
00:20:39.10\00:20:43.97
Remember back when in week one
00:20:43.97\00:20:46.34
we were studying the
backstory of Ephesians
00:20:46.34\00:20:48.98
and we were studying those--
00:20:48.98\00:20:50.38
about those seven
itinerant Jewish exorcists,
00:20:50.38\00:20:53.68
who put their
abracadabra together,
00:20:53.68\00:20:57.45
they write in the
names of Jesus and Paul.
00:20:57.45\00:20:59.59
This is a place that
knows about naming names.
00:20:59.59\00:21:03.06
And Paul wants to make
sure that believers know
00:21:03.06\00:21:08.10
that every name that is named,
00:21:08.90\00:21:10.97
not only in this age,
but in the one to come,
00:21:10.97\00:21:13.60
all of those
powers, real and imagined,
00:21:13.60\00:21:16.77
are put under the
lordship of Jesus.
00:21:16.77\00:21:19.71
He is far above
them all. Hallelujah.
00:21:19.71\00:21:23.91
>>So a beautiful
picture of this rising to power,
00:21:23.91\00:21:28.98
at least in our
minds, of who Christ is.
00:21:30.05\00:21:31.72
And it's interesting,
in verse 22, it says,
00:21:31.72\00:21:33.09
"And He put all
things under His feet,
00:21:33.09\00:21:35.99
and gave Him to be the head
over all things to the church."
00:21:35.99\00:21:39.79
So it just exalts
Him higher and higher--
00:21:39.79\00:21:42.70
>>Exactly. >>...above anything
00:21:42.70\00:21:44.17
and everything that there is.
00:21:44.17\00:21:46.94
>>But then we come back
to those next two events,
00:21:46.94\00:21:48.90
which are a
little less-- >>Right.
00:21:48.90\00:21:50.84
>>...familiar to us.
00:21:50.84\00:21:52.24
And I think it helps
to kind of parallel them
00:21:52.24\00:21:54.54
with what we saw going on
in the Charles III coronation
00:21:54.54\00:21:59.15
because as I
watched those events,
00:21:59.15\00:22:01.55
I'm a bit of an
Anglophile, so I probably spent
00:22:01.55\00:22:03.49
a little more time watching
it than I maybe should have,
00:22:03.49\00:22:06.76
but you might remember that
in the case of King Charles,
00:22:06.76\00:22:11.69
his domain is
subjugated to him, if you will,
00:22:11.69\00:22:15.80
by a variety of elements
of the coronation ceremony.
00:22:15.80\00:22:19.70
In his case, the
domain is fairly constrained.
00:22:19.70\00:22:23.17
The UK and the
Commonwealth countries, right,
00:22:23.17\00:22:25.94
are put beneath his
power and authority.
00:22:25.94\00:22:29.21
In the case of King
Jesus, the scope of His domain,
00:22:29.21\00:22:34.28
the scope of His
authority, is boundless.
00:22:35.28\00:22:37.42
It encompasses all things.
00:22:37.42\00:22:39.85
"And He"--God the Father--
00:22:39.85\00:22:42.06
"put all things under His feet,"
00:22:42.06\00:22:45.19
under the feet of Jesus,
00:22:45.19\00:22:47.03
boundless scope of His dominion.
00:22:47.03\00:22:49.36
So we would call that--
00:22:49.36\00:22:50.67
I would call that
the "act of subjugation."
00:22:50.67\00:22:53.94
So that's the third
element we've talked about,
00:22:53.94\00:22:55.94
"He put all
things under His feet."
00:22:55.94\00:22:57.94
There's nothing
outside of His authority,
00:22:57.94\00:23:01.11
it's all in,
everything owes its allegiance
00:23:01.11\00:23:04.71
and its worship and
honor to King Jesus.
00:23:04.71\00:23:08.78
>>And we've got one
more left, a fourth one.
00:23:08.78\00:23:10.52
>>One more. The fourth
one would be the presentation.
00:23:10.52\00:23:13.72
So again, harking back to
Charles and Buckingham Palace
00:23:13.72\00:23:18.66
and all of that,
00:23:18.66\00:23:20.10
you'll remember that
after Charles was crowned,
00:23:20.10\00:23:22.73
he was driven back
to Buckingham Palace
00:23:22.73\00:23:25.47
in a gold-encrusted carriage.
00:23:25.47\00:23:29.00
What a vehicle that is, right?
00:23:29.00\00:23:32.37
And he appeared on the
palace balcony to great acclaim.
00:23:32.37\00:23:37.45
And he and his family
members and his entourage
00:23:38.78\00:23:40.72
appear on the balcony
and received the acclaim
00:23:40.72\00:23:43.75
of huge throng of
citizens gathered out there.
00:23:43.75\00:23:48.09
And we might call
that "the presentation."
00:23:48.09\00:23:51.03
So the subjugation,
in the case of Christ,
00:23:51.03\00:23:54.73
would be all things
being put under His authority.
00:23:54.73\00:23:58.30
And the presentation
00:23:58.30\00:23:59.53
would be that He is
now given to the church.
00:23:59.53\00:24:03.00
There's a little nuance
here that we should notice.
00:24:03.00\00:24:05.81
It's not that He is--
00:24:05.81\00:24:09.64
let's see, how does it put it?
00:24:09.64\00:24:11.48
Let me make sure I get it right.
00:24:11.48\00:24:13.38
"He put all
things under His feet
00:24:13.38\00:24:15.05
and gave Him as head over
all things to the church."
00:24:15.05\00:24:18.69
So He first becomes
the head of all things,
00:24:18.69\00:24:21.92
and then as head of all things,
He is given to the church.
00:24:21.92\00:24:26.36
So we see these four
wonderful, amazing things:
00:24:26.36\00:24:29.83
the resurrection of
Jesus, His enthronement,
00:24:29.83\00:24:32.50
seated at His right hand,
00:24:32.50\00:24:34.50
the subjugation with all
things put under His feet,
00:24:34.50\00:24:38.01
and finally, we
see this presentation
00:24:38.01\00:24:42.04
where He is now
given, as head of everything,
00:24:42.04\00:24:44.75
He's given, presented
to, if you will, the church.
00:24:44.75\00:24:48.22
>>So Paul walks us
00:24:48.22\00:24:49.88
through all these
different steps, as it were.
00:24:49.88\00:24:53.89
He's also kind
of referencing back
00:24:53.89\00:24:57.16
to Psalms a little bit in this.
00:24:57.16\00:25:00.56
How do we see Psalms working
into what we're seeing here?
00:25:00.56\00:25:04.60
>>Yeah, so Paul
00:25:04.60\00:25:05.83
is not inventing these
four scenes in his mind,
00:25:05.83\00:25:09.34
he's just doing Bible study,
00:25:09.34\00:25:10.77
he's just reflecting
Christian convictions
00:25:10.77\00:25:14.14
about what the Old Test--
00:25:14.14\00:25:15.44
what we call the
Old Testament says,
00:25:15.44\00:25:17.91
and particularly the Psalms.
00:25:17.91\00:25:19.41
So in Psalm 110, the
first three verses there,
00:25:19.41\00:25:22.75
"The Lord says to my
Lord: 'Sit at my right hand,
00:25:22.75\00:25:26.62
until I make your
enemies your footstool.'"
00:25:26.62\00:25:30.03
Well, clearly Paul is
reading that passage here
00:25:30.03\00:25:32.46
to say this is
about what's happened
00:25:32.46\00:25:35.13
at the throne of
God that we cannot see,
00:25:35.13\00:25:38.00
but it is revealed
to us in Scripture,
00:25:38.00\00:25:40.47
that God the Father,
00:25:40.47\00:25:42.34
enthrones Jesus in heaven.
00:25:42.34\00:25:46.31
So he sees a prediction
00:25:46.31\00:25:48.48
of the
exaltation/coronation of Jesus.
00:25:48.48\00:25:52.25
"Rule in the
midst of your enemies,"
00:25:52.25\00:25:55.35
continuing on with that passage.
00:25:55.35\00:25:57.09
And then Psalm 8, verses 3 to 8,
00:25:57.09\00:26:00.32
"When I look at Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
00:26:00.32\00:26:02.92
"...and the stars,
which You...set in place,
00:26:02.92\00:26:04.96
"what is man that
You are mindful of him,
00:26:04.96\00:26:07.66
"and the son of man
that You care for him?
00:26:07.66\00:26:09.63
"...You have made him a
little lower than [the angels]
00:26:09.63\00:26:12.47
"[and] the heavenly beings...
00:26:12.47\00:26:13.74
"[You've] crowned
him with glory and honor.
00:26:13.74\00:26:16.27
"You have given him dominion
over the works of Your hands;
00:26:16.27\00:26:19.27
You have put all
things under his feet."
00:26:19.27\00:26:21.84
Now you notice, we
often read that passage
00:26:21.84\00:26:23.85
about human beings,
00:26:23.85\00:26:25.45
but it mentions
the son of man, right?
00:26:25.45\00:26:27.75
Which is a title for Jesus.
00:26:27.75\00:26:30.19
So Paul clearly
reads that passage to say,
00:26:30.19\00:26:32.65
"See, in Psalm 8, it is a
prophecy, that God the Father,
00:26:32.65\00:26:37.09
would put all things
under the feet of Jesus."
00:26:37.09\00:26:40.70
>>So Paul walks us through,
00:26:40.70\00:26:42.50
in a relatively
speaking few verses,
00:26:42.50\00:26:46.74
just an opportunity for us
to see how powerful God is--
00:26:46.74\00:26:51.81
>>Amen.
>>...and how he wants God
00:26:52.91\00:26:54.58
to have that--
00:26:54.58\00:26:55.51
his desire, God's desire also,
00:26:55.51\00:26:56.95
is to have that kind
of power in our lives,
00:26:56.95\00:26:59.48
so that we can do--we can
be who Christ wants us to be.
00:26:59.48\00:27:03.72
We can do the things
that Christ desires us to do,
00:27:03.72\00:27:07.22
and that includes you, as well.
00:27:07.22\00:27:09.59
God wants you to
understand that He has power,
00:27:09.59\00:27:13.50
power to give you hope,
power to give you a future,
00:27:13.50\00:27:17.00
power to use you to
share His love with others.
00:27:17.00\00:27:22.07
And as we continue
00:27:22.74\00:27:23.97
looking at the book of
Ephesians week by week,
00:27:23.97\00:27:26.61
our hope and prayer
00:27:26.61\00:27:27.84
is that you're
going to see that power,
00:27:27.84\00:27:30.01
not just see it, but
experience it in your own life,
00:27:30.01\00:27:34.68
so that you can be
an epistle, as it were,
00:27:34.68\00:27:39.55
from God to others.
00:27:39.55\00:27:41.59
God bless you.
Have a wonderful week.
00:27:41.59\00:27:43.56
We look forward to
seeing you again next week
00:27:43.56\00:27:45.79
as we continue our study
in the book of Ephesians,
00:27:45.79\00:27:48.83
here on "Sabbath School,"
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:48.83\00:27:52.27
(uplifting music)
00:27:52.27\00:27:55.17
(music ends)
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