 We'll be starting off once again. Now, this is not a session on predestination. This is supposed to be a session on Ephesians 1 and 2. So, you know, we cannot get too much into detail on the subject. Please, you know, just to quickly address the questions which have already been posted over here. You know, Kung asks why Adam and Eve were placed in the garden when God knew that they would sin. So, what we can say to that is that when God decided that he would create humans in his image, he was very serious about it. In the same way that he has free will, he has decided that even human beings will be alive. And so at no point is he going to take away his image from them. He's never going to reduce them to cattle. They will always be in his image and they will always have the dignity to make their own free choices. He decided that he would never take that away from them. He knew what it would cost him. He knew that because he has given them that free will to save them out of their mess, they literally have to send his own son and sacrifice him. Jesus Christ knew what he would have to personally go through to save these people once they start exercising their free will. So, in spite of knowing all of that, the Godhead chooses not to withdraw his image from his people. And so, he doesn't go on covering them, protecting them, keeping them away from all temptation. Rather, he just sets them in front of the temptation and says, See, this is who I am. I'm a God of love. I have the very best intentions for you. Now you use your free will because you have been created in my image. Use your free will and choose whether you will trust in me or whether you wish to fall away. And unfortunately Adam and Eve choose to use their free will and go against him. They choose not to trust him. But even then, God does not give up on them. He says, No problem. They've done this, but I still have a rescue plan which I have already set in place. So, he goes through this whole painful process of crucifixion. But he never ever tampers with the free will that has been given to humans. So, that is how much God respects us. He has loved us enough to create us in his image. So, God does not just prevent Adam and Eve from exercising their free will. They are allowed to come into the other question about many are called but few are chosen. That would be in your parable where everyone is invited to the wedding. Even people who never even had heard about the wedding, they are literally pulled out of the side streets from the lanes where these are all beggars. These are all people who are rejected by society. And they are also like literally dragged over there to the wedding to say, Look, this is something that is available even for you, not just for the high five people who were invited in originally, but even for people like you. And so, they're all brought over there. Invitation is openly given to everyone. And there's this guy who comes over there not bothering to wear the wedding garments. You know, the master has specified, if you want to come, you got to come in this particular way. But he is kind of mocking the privilege which has been offered. And he comes over there wearing his own clothes and not honouring the master, you know, who has invited all of them. He dishonours him by not wearing the right garments and coming. You know, something to do with their culture. And so, they all were called. But only those who chose to respect what was being offered, those who put on the garments that were freely being given to them, they are the ones who benefit. So again, it's a matter of free will that man chose not to wear the garment. Yes, he wanted to come and eat. He wanted to be part of the feast. He wanted to drink the wine. He wanted to enjoy. But I'll do it on my terms. I don't want to wear the garment. I'll wear what I want to wear. That was his attitude. And then, you know, he ends up being punished for that. So it comes down to free will. And there was this other question by Charles. So could someone predestined refuse to be called? So when we look at Romans chapter 8 verses 29 and 30, it's talking about God foreknowing. So God foreknew who are the people who will be willing to be confirmed to the image of his son. So he foreknows who are the people who will respond to the call. He foreknows who are the people who will be willing to be justified. So knowing that, knowing that particular category of people, those are the only people that he predestines to be confirmed to the image of his son. So the whole process does not start off with predestination. The whole process starts off with God knowing beforehand who are the ones who will respond positively favorably. And so those are the people that he predestines. But then, like we always see, even those who have been predestined continue to retain their free will. So now just because they've been predestined, it's not like as if now they are under force. They have been pre-programmed and they have no control over themselves. And so now they have to stay in the Lord? No. Even now at this point, after having been predestined, you can still walk away if you wish, which we see in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10, especially Hebrews 6, I think, where it talks about those who have tasted of the heavenly gift. They have shared in the Holy Spirit. These are believers that we are talking about. And if they wish to walk away, yes, they still have the freedom to walk away. But the Lord will do everything possible to bring them back to their senses. And if they still are stubborn and don't want to accept, then that is their free will. It's their free choice. God will never take away that free choice from us. So you probably all have many, many more doubts, but we really have to move on, you know, because we can't just dwell upon this one thing. Yeah. Anyone who really has something very urgent to clarify, you know, you could raise the question, either post it there or, you know, you can just, you know, unmute and ask your question. But if it is like something really, I mean, you really need to know the answer now and if it's like that. Otherwise, you know, we'll just kind of move on simply because we have so much to cover. Yeah. Anyone with that kind of a very vital question? Yeah. Let's just move on due to lack of time. So if someone could, you know, read for us an entire chunk, maybe versus 11 to 14. Again, you have the word predestined mentioned over here, versus 11 to 14, please. Can I read faster? Yes. In him, we have abstained inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believe in him, we're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire a position of faith to the praise of his glory. Okay. So God foreknew who are these people who would be responding to him. So in him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. So the Lord knew who are the people who would be responding. And so in verse 13, it says, you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth. God foreknew that these people, when they hear the message of truth, they will respond, they will believe. He knew that. And so those people whom he knew will be doing that. He also predestines them, using the wording of Romans 8. So these are the people who get predestined. And he places, he kind of, you know, it says you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. Now over here, it's not talking about any mark on the forehead. That is something which happens in Revelation chapter 9 verse 4, which is in the very end of end times. So Revelation 9 has not happened yet. So it's not talking over here about any mark being placed on our foreheads. It's simply saying that we are given a mark of ownership. And what is that mark of ownership? The Holy Spirit becomes our seal. It's not like you have a wax seal or some kind of seal made of some other substance which is placed on you in some manner. Literally the Holy Spirit who is given to you is your seal. And the seal over here is talking about ownership. For instance, in those times, you know, in biblical times, slaves were not sealed. I mean, the branding of human beings was not done. It was done to run away slaves, but it was not done to all people. They had not become that evil in those days. So seal was placed more on cattle, where the animals would literally be branded with a seal. So in that sense, anyone who looks at that particular icon which has been placed on that animal, everyone would know, this particular cow belongs to so and so. So they would know. In the same way, when the principalities and powers look at us and they see the Holy Spirit in us, they know, oh, this person is sealed with the Holy Spirit. This person bears the mark of ownership of God. And what is the mark of ownership that God has put upon us? The Holy Spirit. That's it. So this whole, again, a lot of wrong doctrine has come out of this word seal, like as if it is something which cannot be broken or torn or something. It's not some kind of substance which God has stamped on us. No. The seal is literally the Holy Spirit. So if you look in your Bible hub, the wording is that, you were marked with a seal. That entire word, it's just one single word, marked with a seal is one word. Marked with a seal, the Holy Spirit. That's all it says. So literally the seal is the Holy Spirit himself. So he gives himself to us. God gives us the Holy Spirit as a seal, saying that, okay, now you belong to me. And the Lord also gives the Holy Spirit to us as a guarantee. Because extremely lavish promises have been made. We've been told that all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms are ours. I mean, it's like almost too impossible to believe. And so it's like as if this really very rich benefactor has come to you and he has said that it's going to be giving you all of these billions of dollars or pounds or whatever. And you're like, is it even real? Is it possible that someone would give me that many billions just like that without my having earned it or done anything for it? So it's like very unbelievable. And so this benefactor says to you, you're not able to believe that I'm going to give you all of these billions. Fine. I'll give you a deposit. I'll give you one billion right now, straight up. Right now I'm going to put it in front of you. But this is just the beginning. So this one billion that I'm giving you is evidence. It is guarantee. It is the deposit that I will keep my promise and deliver all the other billions which I have promised you. So, you know, what God is promising us is that we're going to literally dwell with him. We're going to be his family members. We are going to rule with him in the New Jerusalem. We've been told all this and it just sounds so amazing. And he says, you know, this is true. In fact, I will give you my Holy Spirit right now so that this will be a mark of ownership showing to all the principalities and paths that now you belong to me. And the Holy Spirit will also be like a guarantee to you that what I'm saying, I'm not making tall promises. I'm actually going to deliver on these promises. You will actually receive what I have to offer. So, in that sense, the Holy Spirit has been given to us. He's been given to us to show the principalities and paths that we belong to the Lord Jesus. He's also been given to us as a deposit, as a guarantee that all the things that he has promised us will be fulfilled. It will all come to pass. And when we go to him and, you know, want to claim any of our spiritual riches through prayer, through faith, it will be done for us because we have the backing of the Holy Spirit. So, in that sense, the Holy Spirit has been given to us. But then again, you know, I mean, just keeping in mind Hebrews chapter 6, we still have our free will. So like it says in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 to 12. So if someone who has tasted the heavenly gift, who has shared the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, they cannot be brought back to repentance to their loss. They are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. So that would be Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 to 12, which talks about that entire thing. So over here, the Holy Spirit is not some kind of a seal that can be broken, can't be broken. He's a person and he's been given to us to show that what God is saying is true, that God is going to keep his promises. So we should not exaggerate these, you know, these concepts that have been given, but simply accept that the Holy Spirit has been given to show that we belong to him. The Holy Spirit has been given for the other purpose of also, you know, like a deposit to guarantee that we are going to receive the full inheritance in his perfect time. Okay. Then, you know, just quickly moving on to the next passage. Yeah, this of course is an important passage. We have to look at this. So if someone could read out for us verses 15 to 20. Yeah. Ma'am, Ephesians 1st chapter 15 to 20. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and you're loud toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Having the eyes of our pure hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. Yes. Now, this is what Paul is praying for the Ephesian believers. So he says in verse 17, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that all of these things will happen for you. So that's his prayer. And so when I first heard a sermon on this, they said you can pray this over yourself or you can pray this over your church. And so I was very, very excited and I came home and I sat down and I prayed this prayer. I said, Lord, I'm also just like Paul asked for the Ephesian believers. I'm now asking for myself that you give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I may know you better and I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which I was called and all of that. So I just prayed that prayer and over the years, you know, once in a while I go back and I pray this prayer over myself. And so what is promised over here? This is basically what is promised over here that this Holy Spirit, he is the spirit of wisdom and revelation. He will light up the eyes of our heart so that our heart can catch certain things. There are four things. Okay. So this Holy Spirit, you know, who's been given as a mark of ownership, this Holy Spirit who has been given to us as a guarantee, the same Holy Spirit, he is the wisdom of revelation and he's the spirit of wisdom and revelation. What does he do for us? If we pray to him, he says that he will light up the eyes of our heart so that we will be able to see four things. The first is we will know him better so that you may know him better, it says. And that is the first, most precious thing. The more you know him, the more he becomes personal to you, very real, you know, as real as the next person sitting in the room, the more and more real he becomes to you, the deeper and deeper your walk with God becomes. I always had this idea that, you know, really spiritual people are, I mean, I don't know that there's really fancy people who, I don't know, maybe they have this, all these deep revelations from God or something and I had, I don't know, I didn't really know what to think about all these people who are supposed to be like great spiritual people. But I'm beginning to understand that, you know, real maturity in God is nothing high-five. It just gets simpler and simpler. You just start getting to know him very well. You can hear his voice more clearly. You can feel his presence in a more tangible way. It all just gets very simple, where he's becoming a very real person to you. And so, you know, everything gets simple. So when he says to you, you know, you do this and you're like, oh, gosh, you want me to do that? That's so difficult. And he says, no, no, no, I'll watch it for you. And he gives you a bunch of scriptures and he says, you know, see, I'm giving you these verses. If you hold on to them, you will be able to do it. You will have the strength to do it. And then at the end of it, you know, you will receive your reward. And it becomes a very simple relationship. So growing in God is not something where you become more and more complex and high-five. Growing in God is something where it starts getting very simple because you're getting to know this person. He's like an actual, real person. And he talks. And he talks in your language in a way which you can understand. And when you're down, like he's there for you and it's just so beautiful and it's just so simple and it's so basic, you know, it's like nothing high-five. So the most beautiful prayer that you could ever pray for yourself is, you know, you just pray and you say, Lord, spirit of wisdom and revelation, you know, let me know him better. You know, if you can just pray that and even I speak, it's just fill up your life. You just experience him in such an intimate way and it's just so beautiful. And that's just the first part of the prayer. There's a lot more to follow. Sorry, it's not a good thing to get emotional, but it happens sometimes. So the next thing that you get to know is the hope that you have been called for. You've been called for an amazing purpose. You know, you've been called for to partner with him in accomplishing something divine. I mean, God could have just used his angels, you know, to accomplish his great purposes, but he chooses to use humans and you will begin to discover what your purpose is and then, you see, you'll not want to walk away from your calling because the calling that you have is something so amazing and you realize the gravity of it and the great privilege of it. You don't want to walk away from it. You will want to do it however hard it gets, however tough it gets. So when you pray this prayer over yourself, you start getting to know him in a very real way. You start discovering the purpose for which you have been called. The third thing, you start knowing the immense riches which are yours. You begin to discover that these reama words that are being given to you, they are so powerful and you can really use them to walk in victory, to really get the things that you are meant to have, you know, as a child of God. So you begin to understand what are all the riches available to you even as God starts opening up the scripture verses to you. And the fourth thing, you discover that the resurrection power of God which raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that resurrection power is now in your hands. It's now yours, it's available to you and you can use it for absolutely any godly purpose that you want to put your hand to. So these are the four things that we can talk about and explain and once we talk and explain, we get to know these are the things available to us. But when you pray and the Holy Spirit reveals these four things to you at his level, you begin to operate in them. So what was just head knowledge starts becoming experiential knowledge and nobody ever actually arrives at these four things completely. We continue to grow into them. So we continue to get more and more, get to know him better and better. We draw, become closer and closer to him. We start realizing the hope and the purpose for which we have been called to a greater level. We start understanding the immensity of the riches which are available to us and you begin to claim them more and more and you begin to use this resurrection power that is available to a greater and greater extent. So even Paul says I have not yet arrived, I have not yet reached but I'm pressing on because you know these four things he was just pressing on into them again and again probably because every day he would be praying this prayer over himself. So I urge you really pray this prayer over yourself because the Holy Spirit is like eager to actually make those things happen in our lives. So he actually wants to give us these things. So it's a very lovely prayer to pray and verses 21 to 23 talk about how this resurrection power has placed Jesus Christ far above all rule and authority. Okay, let's actually read this. Because this beauty even over here something important that we need to grasp. So if someone could read out verses 21 to 23, please. Far above all rule and authority and power and zoning and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So you're no longer reading the NLT. NLT is beautiful. It's very simple. It just brings those scriptures to life but yeah, sometimes it kind of misses out on which is why we generally stick to NKJV and NIV because the translation tries to stick more to the original but NLT brings out the meaning sometimes so beautifully. So yeah, over here it says in verse 22 God placed all things under his feet under Jesus Christ's feet. So he was raised back to life through the resurrection power. He was placed above every ruler and authority and dominion and all things were placed under his feet. It says he was appointed to be head over everything to the church. In NIV it will say for the church. So he didn't need to be placed in this position of authority. I mean he's God. In the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus Christ was always God. Everything was already under his feet always. He went through this process for us on our behalf. So you see now we share in it earlier only he had all the dominion and everything was under his feet but now he became our representative came here out to the earth became our human representative and shared his victory with us as our representative he won the victory for us on the cross where even we have now overcome all the principalities and powers. So in him we too have become victorious. So now he has risen back he has resumed his throne and everything has been placed under his feet and now we are sharing in that. So not only are these dominions and principalities and power under his feet he is in that position of power for us. So in him through him we also enjoy that authority and we can in fact use it. Of course more details are given in Ephesians chapter 6 where we would talk about this in greater detail but just for us to appreciate what has been offered to us maybe we can dwell on it very briefly even as we get into chapter 2. So if someone could read out okay we have one more question here second and third thing of the Holy Spirit you know those four points you mean right it's there in your notes you just have to open your notes it's there all the four points that we can have in the Holy Spirit. Yeah chapter 2 if someone could read out for us Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1, 2 and 3 please. And you I think we can who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time pass you walk according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now work in the children of disobedience among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desire of the flesh and of the mind and where by nature the children of wrath even as others Yeah you know I mean he reminds the believers of what they were once upon a time he says you were spiritually dead people you know you had nothing what were you you were slaves you were slaves of this you know ruler of the kingdom of the air basically talking about Satan and all of his you know principalities and powers so you know they were nothing they were under the control of this and this spirit of evil was you know working in them that is what they were but now you know in the previous passage we looked now this very same spiritually dead people who were in that pathetic condition now through Jesus Christ they are seated in a position of authority all everything has been placed under the feet of Jesus for them and they are sharing now in his power and authority so look how far God has brought them people who were spiritually dead people who were under the control of this ruler of the air you know Satan and all of his forces such people now have power and dominion over the ruler of the air slaves have now risen up and now they can crush the one who had enslaved them you know all of their lives so that is the kind of power that is given you know to just go back to verse 19 it says over there is incomparably great power for us who believe so anyone who chooses to believe that Jesus Christ indeed has this kind of a power anyone who chooses to believe that everything has indeed been placed under the feet of Jesus anyone who chooses to believe in what he has the power he has they will confidently say in the name of Jesus let this be done because they know that Jesus actually possesses that level of power they know that everything has indeed been brought under subjugation and because they believe it they declare in Jesus name let this be done so whenever we say in Jesus name we are talking about what that name carries that name carries the finished work of the cross that name carries what Christ Jesus has accomplished for the church that name carries resurrection power so when we say let some purpose of God be fulfilled in the name of Jesus we are saying Jesus is going to do this and I believe it and therefore I am declaring that it shall be done in the name of Jesus so in that way we come against the different works of the evil one for instance if you are praying for a person who is not yet saved and you can see what is it called it's called in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2 this thing it's called the ruler of the kingdom of the air the spirit of this ruler of the kingdom of the air is working in those who are disobedient and here you are you are praying for this person that they should be saved and the spirit it's controlling them it's doing its works in them but you know about a different work that was done the work that was done on the cross by a greater spirit the eternal infinite Holy Spirit so you choose to believe in the work which Jesus Christ has done and so even though you can see the spirit of disobedience which is operating in this person for whom you are striving in prayer you are interceding for them you are hoping that they will be saved even as you are praying for them you can remember that there is a greater work that has been done on the cross and because Christ Jesus has done that greater work for the salvation of all people because his will and his purpose is greater you can in Jesus name cancel the works which this ruler of the air is doing in that person's life you can declare and say in Jesus name I cancel the works which the evil one is doing in this person's life because I know there is a greater work that was done on the cross and Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit will convict this person of sin and righteousness and judgment so in faith you claim through the name of Jesus that this great resurrection power should be released on behalf of this person so that the Holy Spirit can start doing his work inside this person so what is your role in this entire thing by faith you are cancelling out what the ruler of the kingdom of air is doing and you are claiming what Christ Jesus has done on the cross so you have two works evil ones works and you have the finished work of Jesus Christ you can always cancel out the works of the evil one by faith in the name of Jesus standing on what Jesus Christ has done using this finished work of Christ so these are lesser works these lesser works can be cancelled by faith in the name of this higher one this greater work which will prevail these are temporary works of the evil one they will perish when we stand up in faith they will perish but this eternal work of Jesus Christ done on the cross is finished work when we claim it in the name of Jesus and in his name we cancel this temporary work this temporary work has to be broken so these are things that we do so the ruler of the kingdom of the air once upon a time he enslaved us now he has absolutely no authority over us in fact we are in a position of power with Jesus Christ and we can cancel this works we can cancel the works of this evil spirit that is ruling the world so we can pray for people confidently cancel the works of the evil one that are being done in that person's life so that that person will start becoming more open to the works of the Holy Spirit so you can claim people for salvation in this way so in the next few verses verses 4 to 7 a lot of wording is used to talk about how these people who were spiritually dead who were nothing once upon a time now look at the privileges which they have so in verse 4 it says the great love for us that God has and it says he is rich in mercy and it says in verse 5 he has made us alive with Christ we who were spiritually dead in our transgressions now he has made us alive with Christ it says then in verse 6 it says raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus so at a physical level we are still here on the earth and we are battling with all the challenges which we face on a daily basis but we are doing it out of our spiritual position in Christ because in Christ we are seated with him remember right we looked at how everything has been placed under his feet for the church and so now the church is seated with him and because we have that authority in him we can use his name to accomplish his purposes when we use his name all the power backing up that name the finished work of the cross which is there in that name starts getting operated for that particular thing for which we are praying so that power gets released that finished work of the cross gets released for that particular thing to accomplish that particular thing for which we are praying and obviously we are not talking about worldly material things we are talking about godly purposes where we are praying for someone or something bad has happened in the family and we are facing a crisis and we want God's protection and we want his provision so we are praying for that I am not talking about greed and wealth and all of that so people who are in total poverty have now been made rich because of the great love of god and it goes on to say in verse 7 the incomparable riches of his grace so we now have all of the spiritual riches and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms which is now which means that now we have a high status and a high authority so in Christ our lives have been completely turned around now in verse 8 verse 8 onwards he starts okay verse 8 is still in the previous portion if someone could just read out verses 8 and 9 please for it is by grace you have been saved true faith and this is not from yourself it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast okay so how exactly did we come to have faith in him and trust him you see it all begins with the work of God God initiates the whole process if you look if you were to go to John 16 verses 8 to 11 it talks about the work which the Holy Spirit will do when he comes okay so the Holy Spirit is the one who actually begins the whole process so he is in the world now the Holy Spirit and he is fulfilling implementing the redemption plan which Jesus Christ has achieved so he is now the implementation process is going on he is in the world and he is convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment and whoever is open to this whoever is receptive to the work which the Holy Spirit is doing in the world such people are given this gift of faith to believe in Jesus and place their faith in him and submit to him so it is not something that we achieved by ourselves all we did was we were willing to open our hearts to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us we were willing to open our hearts and accept what he is saying about righteousness and judgment because in our hearts we sensed God saying what you are doing leads to death it is sin it is not just compromise it is not just defect or a mistake it is sin against God Almighty and you will go to hell if you do not repent of these things so we we heard the Holy Spirit in our hearts telling us these things and we were open to receive that we were open to be corrected and because that openness was there the gift of faith was given to us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we could not have done it on our own but it was given to us this free gift was given there will be some people like those Pharisees and Sadducees who do not want to open their hearts so they will close their hearts and say no I do not want to believe this I do not want to hear this even when they are hearing they will question what they are hearing because they are hoping that through all of their questions the truth will just go away and they will not have to receive it so they have made up their minds that they do not want to be open so for such people Jesus Christ calls them brood of wipers they are beyond hope there is no redemption for them because they have closed themselves utterly to redemption every human being who has this even a little bit of openness even if it is just one tiny little you know crack one little opening if they are willing to hear he will start talking to them more he will bring people into their lives who will start making them think in terms of salvation and future and eternity so he will start even if there is a little bit of openness God will begin his work and then when that person comes to a point where they are really willing to you know hear he will give them the gift of faith to believe and they will be able to believe okay so it says over here even the believing which you did in Jesus Christ that was not by yourself it was the work of God all along God did his work you know in us so um alright if if um we don't have much time time is always a factor um alright um maybe we can just quickly get into verses 11 to 13 okay maybe 11 to 16 if someone could just read out this entire chunk 11 to 16 you know let's tackle it yeah therefore sir you can go ahead ash go ahead sorry go ahead please 11 to 16 therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh call the unsurconcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at the presence and that you were at the time separated from Christ alienated from the common common wealth of Israel and strangers to the coming of promise having no hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who were once far have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinance that he might create himself one new man in place of the two so making peace might reconcile us both together in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility yeah so right from the beginning of Ephesians up to you know chapter 2 verse 10 he talked about what we have in Christ how we were in this really helpless position before and now here we are in a position of authority because Christ Jesus has won all of that for us so he talks about that now because Christ Jesus has done all of this verse 11 onwards he starts addressing the Gentile believers specifically so based on this we kind of get the impression that maybe maybe the Gentile believers were not being given the same status that the Jewish believers were being given so maybe because the Jewish believers were still observing some of the rituals and observing the Sabbath and not eating certain foods maybe people treated them with more respect than they did the Gentile believers so now Paul wants to make it very very clear that all of these beautiful things that we have seen you know up to verse 10 those are not just for Jewish believers they are even for Gentile believers he goes on to establish in the next few verses the Gentiles have equal status with the Jewish believers they are in no way inferior in any way and he uses all of these big big words to bring out what he is saying so he talks about what their pathetic condition was before salvation they were separate from Christ he says in verse 12 they were excluded from the citizenship in Israel it says they were foreigners to the covenants of the promise they were without hope they were without God that was their status but that was their former status they are not to be treated like that in the church anymore in the church you can't act like as if they are separate from Christ you have no right to treat them now like as if they are not citizens that they are excluded no way are you allowed to treat them as foreigners now so it's making it very clear that was their status before but now in verse 13 he says but now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near God himself has brought you near to himself through the blood of Christ so now nobody can dare you know point fingers at this Jewish to these gentle believers and say oh you people are not citizens the way we are no one can act like as if they are inferior in some way and so he uses very very strong wording in 14 15 16 he says the barrier that was there between these two people groups it has been and he says it was a dividing wall of hostility where the Jewish people would say we are chosen people you on the other hand your heathen your pagans you see there was a wall of hostility between these two groups and this wall was broken down and why does he break down this wall why does Jesus Christ break down this wall verse 15 says setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations his purpose was to create in himself one new humanity and it says in verse 16 and in one body to reconcile both so verse 15 in his flesh in himself in one body see this is literally Jesus Christ that's being spoken of over here Jesus Christ in his body in his flesh he chose to bring these two peoples together so literally when these people would be having their Lord supper they would be having that meal together they are eating his body and declaring oh we both came to this to God through the same axis by eating Jesus Christ you know circumcision didn't do anything great for me the same way the gentile person has now come to God by eating Jesus I also have come to God by eating Jesus nothing to do with mosaic rituals or anything so over here he says in his flesh in himself he has created one new humanity out of the two and in one body he has reconciled both of them to God so in God's eyes these gentile believers were extremely precious very important no way were they allowed to be regarded as inferior so that was something that he would have God would have taken very very seriously because he has personally broken down the wall of hostility that existed between these two people groups in fact when you in those days if you were to go to the Jerusalem temple you know you had the outer court the court of the Gentiles and then you have the inner court all the Israelites can walk into the inner court happily nobody is going to stop them but no gentile would ever enter so Josephus the ancient historian in his writings he says that there were I think 13 stone slabs were placed there was this kind of dividing wall separating the inner court from the outer court of the Gentiles at 13 places you had 13 stone slabs with the word of warning written over there Gentiles do not proceed further if you proceed further what is the wording that is there whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death you would be put to death if you entered inside so that was the seriousness of it that was the wall of hostility that existed between these two groups and Jesus Christ in his flesh in his body he breaks down that barrier and he says now these people are also my flock they are part of my flock and nobody should speak against them he goes on to talk more about unity and all of that later so we will be looking at that in our next session but for now we are completely totally out of time so let's just close with the word of prayer thank you so much Lord for the things that we are able to learn from your scriptures Lord it is a beautiful thing that you have chosen to seat us in the heavenly realms with you and you have made available to us your resurrection power now Lord we need to use it in the right way to accomplish your divine purposes so Lord we pray that even as we spend time with you in your presence you would start teaching us how to use the resurrection power that is now available to us you start teaching us Lord how to use your name to accomplish your purposes this is not available just to people in full time ministry it is available to all believers who choose to believe in what you have done for us on the cross so I pray that you Lord would train us and show us how to do these things in our practical everyday lives you be our teacher you be our trainer Lord because that is what you have released your Holy Spirit for thank you Lord in Jesus name amen thank you so much for sticking it out right up to the end and we will meet again next class I am sorry we don't have the pdf for evisions the book of evisions oh my thank you for telling me that I will post it today I will definitely do it now immediately thank you thank you thank you