 Welcome back. Before the break, we were looking at this mystery of God's will that God had kept hidden through the ages. Now from the very beginning, the Israelites always saw themselves as God's special chosen people. So God told them, keep yourself distinct from the other nations because you are a special nation dedicated unto me. So do not be like all the other nations. So the Israelites always took pride in this, that they were God's chosen people. God did marvelous miracles on their behalf. They had special privileges which the other nations did not. When an enemy came and attacked, it was on their behalf that God acted, not on behalf of the enemy. So they always considered themselves as superior, as special, as chosen people. But all along, God had a secret plan and he reveals it just in short glimpses in the Old Testament. In passages where it says, if anyone wishes to come and become part of the Israelite community, they would have to undergo these rituals. And then they would undergo the circumcision. And then after having completed all the rituals, they can become part of the Israelite community. So all along, God did reveal that he would like even other nations also to come and become part of the Israelite community. But he never talked about how the entire world would one day become part of his kingdom. So these Israelites considered themselves as having special citizenship rights to God's kingdom. But now God reveals his will which he had kept a mystery throughout the ages. He openly reveals it and shows that this kingdom of God will not include just these chosen Jewish people. It will include all the Gentile communities as well. So now these special privileges which are being discussed in the Book of Ephesians in the letter to the Ephesians. These special privileges will not just apply to the Jewish people alone. It will apply to all of the believers. So therefore, he begins by making it very clear that this special status of adoption that is being given is being given as equally to the Gentiles as it was offered to the Jewish believers. He wants them to understand that because after this is going to start talking about the privileges which they have, the special inheritance which they have received. So for them to grasp all of that, he wants to first establish this foundational truth that the Gentiles and the Jewish believers both have equal status now because of Christ. And so he says in verse 7, Ephesians 1 verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. It says that according to the riches of God's grace, we all have been granted the good pleasure of being in him. So because now it says in verse 10, he says, because God wanted to bring all things into unity under Christ. So having talked about all of that, we will move into verses 11 to 14, I suppose would be enough. If we could just have someone read out for us, Ephesians 1 verses 11 to 14, please. In him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of this well that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted after you heard the gospel of your salvation in home also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to the praise of his glory. So he says, now those of us Jewish people who first placed our hope in Christ, yes we are for the praise of his glory. People will glorify God because of the faith that we have placed in Christ. But he says you also, in verse 13 he says, you also were included in Christ. So he says, now you too have been marked with the same seal which we were given. So the Jewish believers were given the seal of the Holy Spirit. The same seal has now been extended even to the Gentile believers. So the mystery of God's will is that all should be equally part of his kingdom and all will equally enjoy the spiritual blessings which are in Christ Jesus. There's a question here from Jeffina who asks, what about this term, the fullness of the times in verse 10? How would we understand that? So God has, right before the foundation of the world, God had already decided what would take place when. So he had decided that Christ would come at a certain point of time and he would fulfill all things. So God waited until that the fullness of the time had come when Christ would come and do his work. For instance, the things which God has planned for each of us in our lives. The day when you will probably get married, the day when you will establish maybe a church in a new place, the day when God will use you to mentor certain people. All of each one of these things will take place when the fullness of time comes for that particular event. So God waits, God allows all the circumstances that are going to lead up to it to start taking place one by one. He allows all these events to set things in a particular way. When that moment finally comes, when the fullness of time comes, what God has planned for you, what God has purposed for you for that particular thing which he wants it to accomplish, it will happen. So regarding Christ, when the fullness of time, the things which were meant to happen took place, even in our own lives, when the time comes, when the fullness of time comes, when everything that should happen to make that happen is all in place, it will take place in God's timing. So the term fullness of time is talking about how everything comes together. All the circumstances are now in the right place. All the people who are supposed to be part of that event are now placed in the right positions and then when all of it is ready, set what God has purposed for that particular life, it will happen. So over here, of course, it's specifically talking about the coming of Christ and what he would do on the earth for us in uniting the Jewish and Gentile communities into one. But then we can apply this term even in our own lives because sometimes we wonder and we ask ourselves, why has this not happened yet? I've been praying for it and nothing is happening. That is because the fullness of time has not yet come. God in his divine wisdom will orchestrate events and people and circumstances and everything in such a way that everything comes together and everything is set in its right place and then God will release what he has planned. So all we are supposed to do is stay faithful and continue praying that will happen and that if there are any obstacles in the way, we would cancel those in Jesus' name and we would wait for his timing, for his purposes to take place in our lives. So the term, it's just an old term, biblical term, fullness of times which talks about that. So it talks about the second coming of Christ. Here in verse 10, does this term talk about the second coming of Christ is what Jeffina is asking? No, because everything was brought into unity under Christ at the time of his completed atonement, work of atonement. And yes, at the end of times, then he will be established as a king over everything but that is a future event. At this point, all things have been placed under his feet, under his authority but he has not taken up complete kingship because he has allowed the prince of the air to still have his control for a little longer. So that fullness of time has not happened yet. So here verse 10 is not talking about the fulfillment of the end time messianic rule and all of that. So we were looking at how now Christ has brought even the Gentiles into his kingdom and we have all been marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. What is the term that is being used over here? That is just basically a mark that was placed on cattle in those days to show which particular cow belongs to whom, which particular bull is the property of which man. So they would all have their own markings, maybe a kind of icon which they have designed and that would be branded onto the cattle. So that your sheep and your goats and your cattle will not be stolen by somebody else because they will be bearing your brand of ownership. So here when it says that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit it's just basically talking about that. The principalities and parts when they look at us, they can see the Holy Spirit inside us. So he is basically the mark of ownership. So the word seal, all kinds of wrong doctrines are brought out of this term seal. It just basically means mark of ownership. If you see a cow going down the road and you want to know whose cow it is you would look at the mark which has been branded onto its skin and then you would say oh okay this cow belongs to so and so. In the same way when we are going down the road, when we pass a temple when we pass these different places of worship the spirits which are there will look at us and ask who does this person belong to and they will see the Holy Spirit in us and they will realize oh this person is property of the Holy Spirit. Not one of us doesn't belong to our kingdom. This person belongs to God's kingdom. So it's just a mark of ownership. So he's saying look this is the status which has been given to us believers. We literally bear the mark of God's ownership through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us serves as, you know, it establishes the Holy Spirit establishes to all the principles and paths that we belong to him, that we belong to God. So that is the highest status that has been given to us and not only is he this mark of ownership he is also a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. So because people may think how is it possible for us to really have all of these spiritual blessings? Really I mean is it true? Is God bluffing? I mean we see really going to release all of the spiritual blessings to us. Can we actually access all of it and enjoy all of it? So because people may be having such doubts, God says the Holy Spirit has been given to you as a deposit to guarantee that yes, you will receive all of the blessings. It's like a very rich billionaire making a promise to someone and say, you know, I'm going to be giving you, let us say 10 million, you know, I'm going to give you 10 million euros if the promise that he makes. 10 million euros is a very large amount. So that person may think, oh, will this man really keep his word? Will he really give me 10 million euros? So the man would, the rich man will probably say, look, I will give you one million right now as a guarantee that the other nine also will come to you in the right time. So that one million becomes like a deposit guaranteeing the rest of the amount as well. So the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee that all of the rest of the spiritual blessings, which are meant to be ours, will come to us. So how do we stand on this truth in a time of sickness that we are facing in a time of financial need that we have in a time when ministry is, you know, we are struggling in the ministry and we do not know how to make progress. At such times, we come to the Lord and say, Lord, when the principalities and powers look at me, they immediately see that I am owned by you. I literally have your Holy Spirit living in me. And you also have been given to me. The Holy Spirit has been given to me as a deposit guaranteeing all the spiritual blessings we talked about in verse, I think it was in verse three. Where we talked about all the spiritual blessings in Christ. So this Holy Spirit has been given to us to guarantee that all of the spiritual blessings will be ours, as and when we claim them. So we can go to the Lord and say, because the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that I will have all of these blessings released to me what I need for my ministry so that I can make progress. I can bring people into your kingdom, release the healing which I require in my body so that I can serve you further and honour you in the way that I live. You know, so that this sickness will not distract me away from the things which I am meant to accomplish. So when you go to the Lord with the right motives and place your request before them, before him, whether it is for healing or whether it is for financial needs or whether it's regarding ministry matters, the Lord will answer because the Holy Spirit who is living in us is the guarantee that we will be given everything else as well. The other things will not be denied to us. All the other spiritual blessings will also be given to us. So these are scriptures that we can claim if we have understood what they are talking about about what is what privilege is being given to us through these promises. So it's important to understand these things. Then verses 15 to 20, he talks about how we need to understand the status which has been given to us. So this is pointless. I mean, a man who has been given 10 million euros, if he doesn't understand the privilege that has been given to him, he will continue to live like a pauper. He will not make use of those 10 million euros to advance himself and to make his position better in life because he has not even understood the value of those 10 million euros. So here in verses 15 to 20, this is what Paul says so that these believers will understand what is granted to them. If you could have someone read out for us, verses 15 to 20 please. Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand, even the heavenly places. Yes. So here, after having talked a little bit about the status which we believers now possess, after having talked a little bit about all the treasures which can be ours, he says, you need to understand this, you need to grasp what I have said, because if you don't grasp what has been said, you'll continue living the same way you have always lived. You will not access these blessings and this inheritance which has been given to you. Therefore, he says, this is the prayer that I have been praying for you guys. I have been praying that the Lord would give you his spirit of wisdom and revelation. So when the Holy Spirit grants us wisdom and revelation, what will happen? It will light up the eyes of our heart. Our heart will suddenly finally start seeing these spiritual truths. So when the Holy Spirit gives us his wisdom and revelation, it will light up the eyes of our heart and we will begin to see four things. First, we will get to start knowing this Jesus better. So knowing him better will be the first thing that we will start growing in. The second thing is we will start knowing the hope to which we have been called that that will start increasing. Third, all the riches of the glorious inheritance our understanding of that will start increasing and fourthly, the power which is available to us to be able to accomplish all that God wants us to do that we will be able to grasp more and more. So through the work of the Holy Spirit through the wisdom and revelation which he will give to us, our eyes will be enlightened to start accessing these four aspects of what we have in Christ. It all begins with knowing him better. As long as somebody is a stranger, as long as you don't really know them too well, you can never completely totally trust them. It's only when that relationship starts growing closer and closer and the bond deepens, then you are in a position to trust that person completely. That person will say write all your entire bank accounts, all the money in your bank account, write it into my name and turn it over to me because you trust me. You will be willing to do that because now you trust that person so much. You know that person will not cheat you. You know that person will not betray you. It's like that in our relationship with the Lord. We have to grow in our knowledge of him. By that I do not mean head knowledge. It has to be a very intimate, personal experiential knowledge where we start getting to know the Lord more and more and the more we know him, whatever he asks us, however ridiculous it may sound, we will be willing to just give it to him because now we trust him that much. We know that he will not betray our interests. So getting to know him is the first thing that we need to access. The second that is important for us to gain all our treasures is to understand the hope to which he has called us. We have been called to a very high hope. We have been called to live as children of the king of kings. So we are not just second class humans, rather we are children of royalty. That is the eternal hope to which we have been called. On this earth, we will face persecutions but in all of those persecutions, we literally have the king of kings with us protecting us, enabling us, equipping us helping us to accomplish great things in spite of the opposition against us. There is a great hope to which we have been called and that we will start realizing the status and the position we have when we start growing in this wisdom and revelation which the spirit will impart to us. The third thing that is very, very important for us to grasp is the riches of his glorious inheritance. So in our time of sickness, in our time of need, in our time of struggle, whether it is personal struggles, ministry struggles or relationship struggles, in all of this if we do not understand the riches which are available to us through his glorious inheritance, we will not be able to access them. So we need to start understanding how rich we are, not just at head knowledge level but we know it so deeply where we will be able to stand boldly before the throne and claim it and say, Lord I know this is mine the Holy Spirit has said to me that this is mine, now I have come to I will take it and the Lord will give it because you know you have now believed to that extent. So we need to know the riches of his glorious inheritance the fourth thing mentioned in verse 19 the incomparably great power that is now available, it's that same power which raised Jesus from the dead that same divine power has now been granted to us to live the kind of life that God has planned for us. Now people take these four things and they apply them only to material things which is a rather sad way to approach this passage because over here maybe we should look at this passage more in the light of you know Matthew 6 33 where it says if your focus is on advancing the kingdom of God and living in righteousness if that is your focus all these things will be added to you, all the material things which you require will in any way be added to you. So rather than reducing these four great things which are being offered over here in this passage reducing them and saying, oh I want to know him better so that I can have a car. The hope to which he has called me is that I will be a very successful influential businessman rather than just simply reducing all of this to mere material things they rather say Lord you are you you have given us your wisdom and revelation to understand these four things better and to access them to a deeper extent so that I can become all that I'm meant to be in you so that I can really fulfill all the purposes you have for my life and even as you're doing all of that whatever you require at the material level will be given to you anyway because those are not those are very easy for the Lord to give it hardly takes any effort for him to give rather he would have us growing into the person that he wants us to be and while we are focused on that on honoring him pleasing him fulfilling his purposes whatever we require at the material level will anyway be given to us so this is a prayer which a lot of people pray over themselves you know this particular passage so maybe we can also do that you know baby would actually go down kneel down in God's presence and we would say Lord through your Holy Spirit grant me wisdom and revelation because I want to know you better I want to start knowing you to an extent where I can just trust you completely and do whatever you're asking me to do Lord grant me your wisdom and revelation so that I can start knowing you in this intimate way second help me to really understand the great hope to which I have been called I have not been called to just be a businessman or to be a successful teacher or to run a large church there's a greater hope to which you have called me I am meant to accomplish so much you know influence so many lives and I want to start understanding all this hope to which you have called me I want to start understanding what I am meant for what you have placed me for on this earth so grant me your wisdom and revelation so that I may know this third you would ask in the same way that he would help you to become aware of how rich you are so that we will not have a poor person mentality but rather we would think you know like children of royalty also and the fourth we would all that we would have an awareness of the great power that is available to us if we are willing to use it for God's purposes you know for to bring down the dark forces which are trying to stop our ministry if we use this power to release the funds which we need to make advances for this kingdom if we want to use this power to release healing into the bodies of sick people so that they can rise up and glorify God and build his kingdom so as long as our focus is on his priorities all that we require will be made available to us because this Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee to guarantee the fact that all the rest of the spiritual blessings are ours they will be given to us if we will go and submit our check and at the counter and say Lord have come to claim what is mine and the Lord will bring what is yours so this prayer would help us to grow deeper into this wisdom and revelation that God is offering so that we can have an awareness of these things and be able to access them more and more so in verses 21 22 23 it talks about the position of Lord which has been now given to Jesus Christ because he has conquered the principalities and powers defeated them on the cross become our representative and lifted us to be with him seated with him so because he has done all these things he is right now in this particular position of authority where he is above all rule and authority above all powers and dominions above every name that is invoked it says in verse 21 that is what it says so people call upon all kinds of names they call upon all kinds of spirits and they invoke the power of those spirits but we who just simply stand on the name of Jesus and say Jesus help me in my situation we are invoking a much greater name than the names of all these other powers so that is the position in which Christ has been placed and the remarkable thing is in verse 22 where it says God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church I mean because God always was in a position of authority and dominion you always was sovereign you always was ruler he came down to the lowest level so that he can become our representative become one of us live with us die for us and then lift us up to his level so all these things which have been placed under the feet of Jesus it's not like us if he didn't have these things already at his bid and call he already had been sovereign ruler through the infinite ages Christ came down to our level became nothing emptied himself and became one of us and now he has risen back to his position and things have been placed under his feet why for us or on our behalf so that we can go to him and claim things in Jesus name and it will be done for us so it is basically for us that he has done all of this so therefore it goes on to say in verse 23 for the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills everything in every way so we the church are literally the body of Christ all that Christ has now one for us we are we get to enjoy it we get to partake in it so after having done this letter to the Ephesians and after we have completed it it should lead to a greater more victorious walk in the Lord if that does not happen at the end of sessions on the letter to the Ephesians it means that we have not grasped what was revealed to us in this letter on the other hand it may be that we have not believed all that we have read because it seems so extravagant it seems too big to believe which is why the Holy Spirit was a guarantee as a depositor so that we will believe the 1 million euros has been given to you so that you will believe that the other 9 million is also coming to you so let this letter to the Ephesians change our mindset about the status that we have whether we are Gentile believers or Jewish believers we have now been given this new status and Jesus Christ did all of this so that everything can be placed under his feet for ourselves, for us, for the church which is his body, the fullness of him is what it says over here so Ephesians should have should lead to a change in our lifestyle and of course in chapter 5, chapter 6 it talks about how we should be living so that we can access it if we continue living like you know slaves to sin and we will not enjoy these privileges so the later portion of Ephesians talks about the lifestyle that we should be living so that we can actually enjoy these spiritual blessings so that we can be very very rich in the Lord so that we will not have to be poor and we will not be begging always for things you know God will be there giving us all we require because we are focused on our status and we are walking in that status so kind of having introduced this subject now he moves into chapter 2 where he talks about how we should you know start behaving so he starts off by telling what our new character is earlier we were simple people now we are a different kind of people and because now we are a different kind of people we can access all of these riches which are available to us in Christ so he starts off by impressing on his readers the new status that they have in regard to spiritual matters they should not be living as slaves anymore rather they should start living in a different way so to bring out that he starts you know talking about certain things in chapter 2 so yes if we could have someone read out for us chapter okay we have success was raised to stand success you can unmute and go ahead good morning yeah please I want to I'm having a problem to log in things I went through my email I thought the link but the link wasn't connected and my WhatsApp is having issues just now I don't know if they can send it the link to email so that we can be because the one we send to email cannot be it's not connected it's not working so I don't know if there's any way they can also adjust so I can link through our Google class because I'd be working since I to try to join I could not be able to join because the link on email is different from the link on WhatsApp okay maybe I can deal with this issue after the class so that next class onwards you will not have a problem yeah so and see what I can do after the class so next time onwards hopefully you will not have any problem alright thank you so much so yes if we could have someone read out for us chapter 2 maybe versus 1 to 5 efficient chapter 2 versus 1 to 5 please and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of a disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and where by nature children of wrath just as the others but God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved yes so he talks about the high status which we have we were people who were dead in our transgressions and sins is what it says in chapter 2 verse 1 we were spiritually dead and we were slaves to sin we were slaves to the powers of the air because in verse 2 it talks about the ruler of the kingdom of the air it's basically talking about Satan and his evil spirits who are now at work among those who are disobedient so we also were under the subjugation of these spirits that was our status but now look at the new status that has been given to us it says that because of his great love and because he's rich in mercy we have been made alive with Christ verse 5 it says that we have been made alive with Christ and not just that verse 6 goes on to say God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus so once upon a time we were dead spiritually we were slaves we were under the rulers of the air but now we have been made alive we are no longer dead we have been made alive and now whereas earlier we were under the spirits of the air we are now above the spirits of the air because we have been raised up with Christ and are now seated with him in the heavenly realms so people who were slaves are now ruling over their slave masters that's basically the point that is being brought out over here we were helpless just like the rest of the world we could not resist the evil forces you know people with addictions could not come out of their addictions because the spirits were controlling them people who were worldly minded could not focus on spiritual matters because their minds were bogged down by material things now we have been brought out of all of that we are no longer slaves to any of that now we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms and so now we can think differently we can act differently these things which used to control us and crush us we can now crush them we can now in the name of Jesus tell them what they should be doing to back off to not interfere in the purposes of God in our lives so we who were slaves are now ruling over our slave masters we have gained authority over our old slave masters what is the privilege that has been given to us so the contrast he draws between what we were and what we are today he and then he says in verse 8 and 9 for it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast all these privileges have now become ours this high status you know of ours where we are even controlling those our old slave masters where we can now crush our old slave masters all of these privileges have been given simply because we placed our faith in this Jesus Christ and he says even this faith which you have placed in Jesus Christ that also is a gift it's not something that you were able to create on your own you didn't come up with that faith on your own the Holy Spirit gave you that faith so that you will be able to trust this Jesus so even the faith which you have been given as a result of which you know all these privileges have come to you even the basic first step of faith that also is a gift which the Holy Spirit granted so in other words all is saying you know everything that we require for a successful life everything that we require for a victorious life has been granted to us in Christ Jesus so these are all very high promises that are being made very high status which has been talked about here in this book in this letter to the Ephesians now let us look at verses 10 to 13 so Ephesians chapter 2 verses 10 to 13 if someone could read out we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them therefore remember that you once Gentiles in flesh who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands that at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world but now in Christ but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ now we specifically speaking to the Gentiles and he says your status was you know if you were to say that the Jewish people were in a stage of a state of slavery under the spirits of the air if you were to say that that was their status Gentiles status was even worse they had been separated from Christ they were excluded from citizenship in Israel it says that they were without hope without God at least the Israelites could claim that you know they were God special people even though they were living in sin and they were not using the privileges which were theirs at least the Jewish people maybe they could claim that they had that the Gentiles didn't even have that they had it says they were without hope without God in the world that was the condition they were in so now all of these people have been brought near by the blood of Christ for the Jewish people and the Gentiles have been brought close to God those who were strangers those who were separated from God those who had no hope of citizenship in the kingdom of God now they all have been brought near by the blood of Christ he goes on to talk about how Jesus tries to know has broken down the barrier that is there between the Jewish Jewish people and the Gentile people he talks about that but just to focus a little bit on this verse 10 because we talked about all the privileges which we have now why has all that been given to us verse 10 puts things in perspective because sometimes we forget verse 10 and we only think about the privileges which we have verse 10 explains that we are God's handy work created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do so all of this which has been granted to us this spiritual blessings which are freely being given to us it's so that we can do the good works for which God first of all created us the purpose with which he placed us on this earth that word over there that is used the Greek word for handy work it really talks about somebody who is designing something with his hands so it's like God took each individual person and designed an exclusive specific specific special life for them they will be doing certain things which nobody else will be doing they will be fulfilling certain calling and purposes which have not been given to someone else so that person has been specifically designed that's the word handy work over there with his hands he has designed a for each person each believer in a particular way so that they will do the good works for which he has placed them on the earth it says God prepared in advance for us to do so even before you were born God planned these things for you and he designed you so that you will be able to fulfill those things and now his riches his incomparable power his very presence that you will know him and grow people in a relationship with him all of this has been released to you so that you can fulfill those good works so nothing actually standing between you and your calling yes of course a position will come from the earth from the spirits of the air all of that yes and then the latter part of Ephesians will also teach us how to overcome those things but basically you know speaking bottom line what God has planned for you the purposes for your life which he has planned he has also now imparted the riches and the power which you require to be able to achieve those good works so now from your side what you need to do is go and stand before the throne with confidence and claim what is yours on a daily basis because that's basically what Hebrews 4 is talking about where it says in your time of the need for the things that you require the grace that you require for that day all those things are granted to you before that throne so we have to go there and claim what's required on a daily basis and every day we will be able to accomplish the purposes for which God has placed us here because the power for that the riches for that has now been released to us it is now made available to us we can go up to this to that bank and claim what is ours on a daily basis by faith so in verse 14 onwards he talks about how the Gentiles and the Jews have now been made one the dividing wall of hostility that existed between the two communities has been broken down and now we all enjoy the same status so over here you know it's actually referring to that wall of hostility that actually physically you know existed between the Jewish and Gentile communities in Jerusalem because we were in the temple the holy place the most holy place the inner courts all of these were reserved for the Jewish community only they could go inside the inner courts and all of that now so around the basic main temple structure and the inner courts a wall of hostility was built a boundary wall was built so that Gentiles will not go inside so the Gentiles could only stay in the outer court so this was a four and a half foot high barrier that was built around the inner courts and it says that you know we basically know this from the from Josephus you know the historical records which he had written at that time all along this boundary wall 13 stones labs were placed on which the warning was written saying that Gentiles should not dare to cross this point because if they do so a death sentence can be given against them so that was the seriousness of this boundary wall the Gentiles could not even hope to enter in and now that dividing wall of hostility has been broken down by Jesus Christ so he has brought together both the communities and now both the communities enjoy the rich privileges and riches which are which have been made available in Christ so this is the status that we have so he says in verse 17 and verse 18 he came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near so both communities now have peace with God the Father they can have equal access to the Father through the spirit it says by one spirit both have access to the Father by one spirit consequently you are no longer foreigners and strangers but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household and so the letter ends by talking about Jesus Christ as being the chief corner stone so when you are laying the foundation you have dug into the ground and now you are laying the foundation for the building the building has not yet come up you are still laying the foundation so when you start building the foundation you first put down one important one main stone that becomes the chief corner stone the rest of the foundation you will build it with reference to this one main stone which has been put over there how much should each of the other stones be placed at what distance should they be placed from this main chief corner stone because that becomes the main measure by which all the placement of all the other foundation stones will be placed so all the steps that they take in building the rest of the foundation it will all be centered around this corner stone against which everything else will be measured and placed in its correct positions so now Jesus Christ is this chief corner stone who has brought both the communities together he has placed the believers now in certain positions you know because he is the chief corner stone he determines where all the other stones should go and so in that way the apostles and the prophets and these early leaders they became the foundation and then the church building started to grow on top of that where each individual believer is like one stone in the walls of the building which is coming up and the foundation is the leaders that God has appointed you know and so Jesus Christ and the leaders are together helping this church to now grow and so now we all have a role to play in the way this kingdom of God is built you know so we all get to participate in it that's the privilege that has been given to us so let's just close with a brief word of prayer please we thank you Lord that we have been able to touch a little upon the high status that has now been given to us and we also realize that now there are responsibilities attached to this high status you created us so Lord designed us for very specific good works that we should be doing in our lives so we pray that we will access the riches that are made available to us we will access the incomparable power that has been released to us and we will use it to accomplish those good works for which you have placed us here oh Lord we pray that we would live in a way that would please you honor you and we will be able to achieve, accomplish all the purposes that you have for our lives oh Lord Lord even as we reflect on the things that we have studied today in Ephesians and even as we go through the rest of the letter we pray oh Lord that these realities would become very very real to us personally so that we can become the handy work that you created us to be oh Lord thank you Lord in Jesus name Amen