Ephesians

[0:00] If you will take your scripture sheet and follow along here, we are in Ephesians chapter 1, and we have already talked a little bit about the principle of adoption and how that it is a biblical concept completely foreign to what we understand as adoption today. It is almost limited exclusively to underage children, but in Bible days it was different.

[0:28] And we are going to, unless you want to spend some more time there, we are going to move on into chapter 1, dealing primarily with verse 12 and 13 and 14. Some great truths here.

[0:43] And in verse 12, the Apostle Paul points out the objective of our being predestined and having been adopted, etc., is to the end that, verse 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory, or that we should be devoted to the extolling of His glorious attributes. In other words, what this is all about is, it's not about us. It's about Him. It's about God Himself.

[1:14] And the natural tendency for us human beings who are fallen, who possess a drivenness in self-centeredness, the natural inclination is to make everything about me. Well, isn't it? No, it isn't.

[1:34] I remember picking up Rick Warren's book on the, boy, I'm off to a great start here this morning.

[1:52] Yeah, The Purpose Driven Life. And I'd heard a lot about the book, hadn't read it, and picked up a copy and opened up the book, and the very first lines in the book were, it's not about you. And it just kind of struck me, and I thought, wow, what a way to begin a book.

[2:17] It's not about you. He might really have something to say here. And of course he did. And the book turned out to be helpful to a lot of people and controversial to some. But there is a need for a purpose-driven life. And it is to center and focus upon the Creator, not upon the creature. So that's a bitter pill for us to swallow, because in our self-centeredness and our egocentric personality, which is part of our fallenness, we just naturally tend to think that the world evolves around me. I'm what it's all about. Well, no, I'm not. It's about something far greater and someone far greater. And that's expressed here in verse 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory. And we were to manifest His glory, that we should cause His glory to be praised, who first trusted in Christ, that is, who were the first to fix our hopes on Christ. And you know, stop and think about it. It is an enormous opportunity and responsibility to be in a position where we mere human beings are able, capable of bringing praise and glory to the only one whom it's all about. We are in that position. We have the ability to do that. And that's a solemn responsibility as well as a glorious opportunity, because He is the only one who is worthy. Those who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And we need to park on these two verses for just a little while and point out to you the importance of understanding something about the tenses in a verse that is given and how we're not going to try to make Greek scholars out of anyone. I'm not one myself.

[4:32] But there is something that the Greek has to offer here that is really misleading as it is presented in the King James English. And that's the bold type that we're looking at.

[4:45] And if you will note, we've got a consequence here that follows having trusted, in whom you also trusted.

[4:58] After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that, I want you to note those two words, after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

[5:12] And these two verses, perhaps more than most others, give rise to a certain kind of teaching that prevails in Protestantism. And it has to do with, I guess we would call it with the teaching of the second blessing. I don't know if you're familiar with the term or not.

[5:37] But there is a group of believers that take this concept and they use it to demonstrate an idea that your salvation and your sealing and your security is extended to you in segments, in parts.

[5:59] And the first part, and the most important part, the first part is salvation. When you believe on Christ, you are saved. But you are not secure and you are not sealed.

[6:15] That comes afterwards. Salvation is the first blessing. The second blessing is your sanctification or your sealing. And that comes as a result of being a believer.

[6:31] You engage in prayer, in earnest conviction, and in seeking, and in striving, and in spiritual agonizing.

[6:41] And you beseech God for the second blessing. And the second blessing is your security and is your sealing. But you are not sealed as a believer, and you do not have a permanent kind of salvation until you acquire the second blessing.

[7:01] The second blessing, being your sanctification or your security, is that which delivers you into a spiritual sphere where you are no longer able to sin.

[7:16] You are completely sanctified. That means you no longer have the capacity to displease God.

[7:27] You can't sin anymore because you have been sealed or capped off, if you will, with your salvation. And the only way to get that is to pray earnestly, long and hard.

[7:42] And I've heard people give testimonies that they have sought the second blessing for years before it came. And in the meanwhile, of course, there was no peace.

[7:53] There was no security. There was only this striving for this ultimate goal of being completely sanctified so that you no longer sin.

[8:05] And if you are familiar with any of the holiness denominations, this is the crux of their teaching. There is a Pentecostal group. That is a Church of God, Pentecostal Church of God.

[8:19] And they are headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee. And this is not to be confused with the Church of God of Anderson, Indiana. And there are churches here in Springfield that belong to that group.

[8:29] But the Church of God of Anderson, Indiana, they are holiness, but they are not Pentecostal.

[8:41] And there's a distinction. And the Church of God, and by the way, these were one at one time, but several years ago they split. And the one in Cleveland, Tennessee is Pentecostal Church of God.

[8:53] And the one in Anderson, Indiana is holiness Church of God. Bob. I'm thinking, is this parallel to a topic I asked you some time ago where a preacher, I heard a preacher say to someone that if they didn't pray enough, then good things wouldn't happen to them.

[9:12] Is that like part of this into the second sphere of protection? Yeah, it kind of goes along with that. And it has to do with the human effort and with your agonizing in prayer and so on.

[9:27] And I don't have any doubt at all or any question at all about the sincerity of these folks. But I just don't think that their thinking and their position is supported by Scripture.

[9:37] And a lot of it has to do with the way these words read here in the King James. For instance, in verse 13, it says, In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.

[10:01] So the idea then is that you believe here at point A, and then at point B, to be realized sometime later, you were sealed. But what the text is actually saying, and I think will be borne out by these alternate translations, is that this is something that happens, this sealing is something that happens at the point of salvation, as does the sanctification.

[10:27] And you are placed into union with Christ, and that involves the whole package. Notice, if you will, how the very next rendering, the ASV, that's the authorized standard version of verse 13 says, In whom you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and Alfred translates it, having heard the word of truth, and Knox renders it, When you listen to the preaching of the truth, And then the same kind of rendition is given in the following portion of the verse, In whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed.

[11:11] And the correct translation is given here, In whom, having also believed, you were sealed. When were you sealed? When you believed. That's the point.

[11:22] But the way it's read in the King James, It is at some subsequent point after. And what the text is trying to clarify here, And the alternate translations are given, Is that this is something that happens simultaneously.

[11:39] When you believed, You were sealed then, At that point in time. And you believed in Him. 20th century New Testament says, You believed in Him, And were sealed as His, By receiving the Holy Spirit, Which He promised.

[11:59] When did that happen? At the point of salvation. In other words, let me put it this way, guys. When you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, You got the whole package.

[12:12] And the reason you got the whole package, Is because you got Christ. You received Christ. And with Him, Everything comes.

[12:26] God has nothing more to offer you, By way of your redemption, Other than what He has provided, In and through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[12:38] He's the whole nine yards. He's everything. Everything. It's all wrapped up in Him. And when you receive Him, You receive everything He has to give.

[12:49] You become an heir of God, And a joint heir with Jesus Christ. And it is an amazing concept. God does not dribble out, Your salvation, In bits and pieces.

[13:03] It's a whole, Complete, Entire package. Because that's the only way Jesus Christ comes. Don't receive Him in bits and pieces. You don't have part of Christ now, And get part of Him later.

[13:16] You have the whole person of Christ. And it is Christ in you, The absolute confidence, The assurance, The guarantee, Of glory.

[13:28] And that's what this passage is also dealing with. And verse 14 says, That it is the earnest of our inheritance. Now, The earnest makes it sound like, We just get a part.

[13:44] Because the earnest really means, The down payment. And there is a sense in which, We do realize, Just a part. And I want to explain this if I can, Because it's a glorious concept, But it's a little difficult.

[13:59] And I want you to, Get the full thrust of this. When we receive Christ, We receive everything that He's got to give. But let me put it this way. But it isn't all, Applied at that same time.

[14:15] The person of Christ is. But the totality of the package, Is such that part of it, Really is, Yet future.

[14:27] And when he says here, That we receive the earnest, Of our inheritance, That means, We receive, I guess a down payment, Or earnest, Earnest application, Is probably the best way to put it.

[14:41] You know, You know when you go, When you go to buy a piece of real, Real estate. And, You talk with, You talk with a realtor, About buying a property, And the seller wants, Five thousand dollars, For this property.

[14:57] And you say, Okay, I'll buy it. And, And the, The realtor, May well ask you, Well, The, The seller, Would require, Some earnest money.

[15:11] What does that mean? That just means, He wants, A bond, Or a guarantee, That you are actually, Going to follow through, With this transaction, And complete the deal.

[15:24] So, You give him, Some earnest money, Which is, Another term, For good faith money, And it's an indication, That you really mean business.

[15:34] It's a guarantee. Because you see, If, For instance, If this is a piece of property, That's been advertised, In the newspaper, And it's gone through, All the faulty roll, Of the real estate, And signing the contracts, And all that stuff.

[15:47] Well, When you say, When you agree to buy the property, Then, That's going to take it off the market. It's not for sale any longer. It's been sold. But if you decide, To change your mind, And you back out, Then they got to go through, All this rigmarole again, Of listing it, And advertising it, And everything.

[16:05] So the seller wants, Some kind of guarantee, Or protection, That you are serious, About this purchase, And that you're going to, Follow through with it. So you come up with, $500, Earnest money.

[16:17] And that's your good faith money, To demonstrate, That you really mean business. And if you're going, To back out of the deal, Then you need to forfeit, The earnest money, For the time and trouble, That the guy's going through, For the transaction.

[16:30] And that's, In a sense, That is exactly, What God has done here. But you don't have to worry about him, Or negging, Or backing out on the deal. It is the earnest, Of our inheritance. Down payment, Some translate it, The spirit is a pledge, Of our future and heritage.

[16:46] But who's making the pledge? God's making the pledge. You know, When organizations, When organizations conduct, Fundraising opportunities, You know, For people to give money, Whether it's on TV, Or a call in, Or a share-a-thon, Or whatever.

[17:01] One of the difficulties they have, Is assessing, How much money, Is actually going to come in, As opposed to, How much was pledged. Because there are, A number of people, Who don't fulfill the pledge.

[17:16] Who just, Say, Yeah, I'll give a hundred dollars, And when the time comes, They don't get it. So, That makes, The recipient, Fall short of what their goal, Was going to be.

[17:26] You don't have, To be concerned, About God reneging, On his pledge. And, The pledge, That has been given, This earnest of the spirit, Means this, That when you receive, Jesus Christ, As your savior, God, Himself, In the person of the Holy Spirit, Came into, Your life.

[17:52] And, His spirit, Connected, With, Your spirit. And, It is, Your spirit, That bears witness, With his spirit, That we are, The children of God.

[18:10] You see, As, A human being, You have, Two, Essential components, That make up your composition.

[18:20] One, Is, Material, That's your physical body. The other, Is, Immaterial. That's your, Non-physical, Human spirit.

[18:33] And, That human spirit, And human body, Combined together, Constitute, The soul. That's the totality, Of your being.

[18:45] And, That's why, As I've often said, You do not have a soul, You are a soul. You are a soul, That possesses, A material part, And an immaterial part.

[18:56] And, This immaterial part, Of your being, Is your spirit. And, God's spirit, Connects with your spirit, And that's what, Bears witness, That we are, Children of God.

[19:07] That spirit, Is the down payment. That's the first fruits. That's, That which, Promises, And indicates, That there is going to be, A complete harvest coming.

[19:21] But for now, We've just got the first fruits. That is, This earnest of the spirit, That dwells within us. And he qualifies that, By saying, Which is the earnest, Or the down payment, Or the pledge, Of our inheritance, Until, Until, The redemption, Of the purchased, Possession.

[19:46] Well, What is the purchased, Possession? That's the totality, Of your being. That's the whole you. That's the body, And, The spirit.

[19:58] But, What is it, About that, That has been realized, In a singular way? And that is, The redemption, Of your spirit.

[20:11] You see, When you received, Christ as your savior, It was your human spirit, That was regenerated, That was made new. That's the part of you, That became, A new creation, In Christ Jesus.

[20:25] That's your immaterial, Human spirit. Your body, Did change at all. Your physical body, Remains just as it was, Before you were saved.

[20:37] Even though, Christ paid, The price, In total, For our salvation, It has not, All been applied. And, And this is exactly, What this passage is saying, That, We have the earnest, Or the pledge, Or the down payment, Of our salvation, Until, The redemption, Of the purchased possession.

[20:57] And I want you to look at, Romans, Romans 8, And here, And here, By the way, Is a perfect example, Of the statement, That I've made often, That none of us, Is really competent, To interpret the Bible, For ourselves, That, Only the scriptures, Are capable, Of really interpreting, The scriptures.

[21:23] So, I'm going to begin reading, With Romans chapter 8, And verse 18, And the apostle says, For I reckon, That the sufferings, Of this present time, Are not worthy, To be compared, With the glory, Which shall be revealed, In us.

[21:40] For the earnest, Expectation, Of the creature, Waiteth for the manifestation, Of the sons of God. For the creature, Was made subject to vanity, Not willingly, But by reason of him, Who hath subjected, The same, In hope, Or in confidence, Because, The creature itself, Also, Shall, Be delivered, From the bondage, Of corruption, Into the glorious liberty, Of the children of God.

[22:17] What is this bondage, Of corruption? It applies to our body, Our physical body. We are all, Under this bondage, Of corruption, With this physical body.

[22:27] That's why, When we die, They bury us. Because the body is corrupt. And it begins to decay, And deteriorate, And you have to dispose of it.

[22:40] So we bury the body. And that's exactly, What Paul is talking about here. For we know, That the whole creation, Groans, And travails, In pain, Together, Until now.

[22:57] And not only they, But ourselves, Also, Which have, The first fruits, Of the spirit. The first fruits, The first fruits of the spirit, Is identical, With the pledge, With the promise, With the earnest, And sometimes, It's translated earnest, Here it's translated, The first fruits of the spirit.

[23:21] The first fruits, Simply indicates, That, Every time, Every time a crop, Is seeded and planted, When the time of harvest comes, There, Are always, A few plants, That, Begin to be, Productive, And ready for harvest, Before the rest of it.

[23:46] In other words, The whole field, Doesn't become, Ready for harvest, Immediately, All at the same time. Because, There are, Some plants, That maybe because, They were exposed, To a little more sun, Maybe they had a richer, Soil, Maybe they had a better, Quality of, Of rainfall, And they mature, A little bit earlier, Than the whole body.

[24:12] And that's referred to, As the first fruits. This is, This is why, Christ, Is referred to as, The first fruits, Of them that slept.

[24:23] In that Jesus Christ, Was the first one, To be resurrected, From the dead. He is the first fruits. And what the first fruits, Signified, You could always count on, Because there was a first fruits, There's going to be, A whole lot more, That will follow.

[24:39] And this is just, The beginning. But the general harvest, Is coming later. And, That's the way it is, With the first fruits, Of our salvation. It is your spirit, That is regenerated, Regenerated within you.

[24:54] This is, What Titus is talking about, When he says, Is not by works of righteousness, Which we have done, But according to his mercy, He has saved us, By the regeneration, And renewing, Of the Holy Spirit.

[25:08] That is your human spirit, That was regenerated, Or made new. And when you became, A new creation in Christ, It was done, On the inside of you. And it didn't affect, The body at all.

[25:21] But that which made you, A new person, Is the real essence, Of your being, Inwardly. Which by the way, None of us has ever seen. Nobody here, Has ever seen the real you.

[25:33] All we see, Is the physical, Outward appearance, That the real you represents. And that helps us, To identify one from another. So, When Paul continues here, Verse 22, He says, We know, That the whole creation, Groans and travails in pain, Together until now.

[25:52] And not only they, But ourselves also, Which have, The first fruits, Of the Spirit. Even we, Ourselves, Groan within ourselves, Waiting, For the adoption, To wit, The redemption, Of our body.

[26:16] So, Our bodies, Our physical bodies, Have never, Have never, Been, Redeemed. Christ, Paid the full price, For our redemption, Lock, Stock and barrel.

[26:28] But, It hasn't all been applied. Only a portion, Of that redemption, Has been applied. That is the redemption, Of your human spirit.

[26:39] The redemption, Of the body, Is yet future. And it will be realized, When, As Paul says, In 1 Corinthians 15, When this corruptible, Puts on incorruption, And this mortal, Puts on immortality, Then, Shall be brought to pass, The saying, Death, Is swallowed up, In victory.

[27:06] As I've often said, A lot of times, At gravesides, Death, Is not now, Swallowed up in victory. Death, Swallows us up, In our body. But death, Cannot touch, Our human spirit.

[27:24] That, Has been regenerated. And that, When you exit the body, When the real you, Leaves your body, Your human spirit, You are absent from the body, And present with the Lord.

[27:38] And, That spirit, That disembodied spirit, That is with the Lord, Is awaiting, The redemption, Of the body.

[27:49] Which has not yet occurred. The application, Has not yet occurred. Christ paid the price for it, But it hasn't all been applied. So, He makes it clear here, When he says, That we ourselves, Grown within ourselves, Waiting for the adoption, To wit, The redemption of our body.

[28:06] Is there anybody here, That doesn't suspect, That you are not a finished product? Boy, We aren't.

[28:17] We've got, We've got, Aches and pains. We've got, Replacement parts. We've got, Bypass surgeries. We've got, Artificial this and that, That's been put in there.

[28:30] Some of us are, Six million dollar, Six million dollar men, With all the spare parts, And everything that we've got. Physically guys, We have not even, Come close to arriving.

[28:42] I mean, This, What you've got now, Is not as good, As it's going to get. The way it's going to get, Is, We are going to have a body, That is fashioned like, Unto the body of Jesus Christ.

[28:54] We shall see him as he is, And we shall be like him. We'll have a glorified body. And man, We are going to have, We're going to have our hair back, We're going to have our teeth back, We're going to have our, Everything back.

[29:09] And it's going to be, Just the way it's supposed to be. It's going to be something. So right now, We are, We are, A work in progress. We have not arrived. But we've got a down payment.

[29:20] And we've got a pledge, That God is going to complete, That which he has begun. Faithful is he that calls you, Who also will do it. Yes. That's, Spiritually also, Isn't it?

[29:31] Because, Isn't that, What the Holy Spirit does, For the time of salvation, He starts that process, Of sanctification. Absolutely. It will go on, Until we die.

[29:42] Absolutely. Absolutely. There, Sanctification comes in, In three parts. Number one, Number one, We are sanctified, At the point of salvation, In that, And the word sanctified, Simply means, To set apart.

[30:02] To make holy. It means, To segregate. And when you are sanctified, It is as if, God picks you up, Out of the mass of humanity, When you believe on Christ, He picks you up, Out of the mass of humanity, And he lifts you up, And he brings you over here, And he sets you down, In a new group.

[30:25] And this new group, Is the body of Christ, Made up of all believers. So he sets you apart, From the world as a whole, Into this new entity, This body of Christ.

[30:38] That is, Positional, Sanctification. And your position, Is unalterable, You now have, A new life, A new purpose, A new destiny, In Christ, And in this dynamic, Organism, That is called, The spiritual body of Christ, Of which Christ is the head.

[30:58] That is your official position. And yet, There is a progressive, Sanctification, In that, We are being, Set apart, Spiritually, More and more, As, We, Grow, And mature, More and more, In Christ.

[31:15] And this has nothing to do, With your position, It has everything to do, With your practice, With your developing, With your maturing. This is what it means, This is growing, In the grace, And knowledge, Of Jesus Christ.

[31:30] So that we are becoming, More and more, Like him, And less and less, Like our old self. That's spiritual growth. And then, There is, Ultimate sanctification, When we will be, A finished product.

[31:46] But now, We are, In process. We are involved in that, Ongoing growth, And maturity. Yeah, Pat. Doesn't that statement, Debunk the people, That believe, That they've arrived, That they should be, Without sin?

[32:02] Well, Yes, It does. And it, It does, Sad to say. And again, I don't want to, You know, I don't want to demean, Or berate these people. I just want to, Kindly point out the error.

[32:12] I'm afraid that they are, Self-deceived. If you believe, If you believe, That you are, Incapable, Of sin, Then, About the first thing, You need to do, Is, Start redefining, What sin is.

[32:26] You know, You got to, You got to step it down, Because, It's, It's a difficult thing. Yeah. I deal with, Young people in Google, And some people come in there, And, Expouse that to them.

[32:40] And that's, Really, Really, Detrimental. Oh my. Because, All of a sudden, They come back and say, I don't feel like I'm saved, Because I do still mess up.

[32:52] Yes. And so, That's a very bad message, It is. It really is. It really is. It's, That can be terribly discouraging. And frankly, This is what leads, A lot of people, To go back to the altar, And pray again, And get saved again.

[33:09] And, You know, It's, It's, It's too bad. It's very, It's very confusing, And it's very discouraging. Because, Folks, We all have feet of clay.

[33:23] And I don't care, How much you love the Lord, You are still a product, Of human flesh. And you, And I, Are capable, Of, Of envy, Of jealousy, Of lying, Of, You know, We're capable of all kinds, When, When you receive Christ, You didn't lose the old sin nature.

[33:46] You still have a volition. And, And we are, We have a new degree of accountability, Being in Christ, Than what we had as a non-believer. But, We're still, Capable of displeasing the Lord, And disappointing the Lord.

[33:59] And, And, And it's sad, Because when people, When people think that, That, They are supposed to be sinless, And yet, They do something, That is undeniably sinful, It creates enormous confusion, And discouragement, And everything else, And, And this is what causes, A lot of people, To just, Chuck the whole thing, And say, Man, I can't live that, I can't live that way, I just, Scrap it all, You know, And just forget it, Because I can't be that way.

[34:29] Well, You can't. But that's not what God is requiring of you. So, It's, Just saying you're sinless is a sin, Because it's a lie, That's a sin. Yeah. Unfortunately.

[34:40] Dan. The first part of this presentation this morning, I almost said it was, There's a, There's a defined step, To become first a Christian, And then all of a sudden, You reach the Christianity, Existential moment, And you have arrived.

[34:56] But, If I understand you correctly, This is an evolving process. It is, Yes. And, And even though, When you first give your life, To Jesus Christ as your Savior, That it's a growing process.

[35:08] But you'll never complete the oldest. You do not, You do not grow, In your salvation, In that you are becoming, More and more saved.

[35:20] But you grow, In your maturity, And your spirituality, And your understanding, And your love for the Lord, Those are the things you grow in. Your salvation, Your salvation, Does not, Become, Become, Any greater, Than it is, At the point of salvation.

[35:33] Because, When you receive Christ, You receive, Christ. And everything that he has to give. And, And yet, It is not all applied. And, We have the promise, And the pledge, That it will be applied.

[35:48] Because, He who began this good work in you, Is faithful, And he will perform it, Until the day of Christ. He will complete that which he has begun. In other words, Let me put it this way. God has made, An incredible investment, In you.

[36:05] In the providing, The death, Burial, And resurrection of his son. And, Those who have the earnest of the spirit in that, The down payment in that, You may be sure, That God is going to complete the transaction.

[36:21] He who has begun a good work in you, Will perform it, Until the day of Christ. Other questions or comments? Yeah, Larry? After we're, After we're saved, And we still sin, We have to confess our sins.

[36:38] Well, I, I, I, I think that the principle, That is found, In, In 1 John 1, 9.

[36:50] And let me put it this way. I, I'm really, I'm really, I'm really, Really high on the subject of repentance, Because I see that as, Nothing, Nothing moves the heart of God more, Than a repentant person.

[37:06] Because when we repent, We are acknowledging, Being wrong, About something, Whatever it is. And we see the right, And we come over to the right.

[37:16] That's repentance. It means to change your mind. And, And as a believer, As a believer, We have this package, Of salvation, And the person of Christ.

[37:31] But because we still have, This fleshly nature, This old man, This is a struggle of Romans, 6, 7, And 8, That we're talking about. We are capable, Of displeasing the Lord.

[37:43] And, As a believer, When we displease the Lord, There's only one thing, That will displease him. And that is doing anything, That is contrary, To the nature and character of God.

[37:56] That displeases him. What do you call that? You call that sin. Yeah. You call that sin. And as a believer, You, Are capable, Of sinning.

[38:08] In word, Thought, And deed. You don't have an excuse for it, Like you did before you became Christ, Before you came to Christ, But you still have the capacity, To do that. And, And, Excuse me.

[38:24] And when we sin, And displease the Lord like that, What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? When it comes to your attention, That you were really out of line here, When you spoke, In a very unkind way, To your wife, Or to your children, And you were harsh, And unloving, What are you going to do about that?

[38:49] Well, There are several things you can do. You can do what a lot of people do, You can just ignore it, And say, Well, After all, I'm only human. You can excuse it, You can say, Well, I wouldn't have done that, If they hadn't have done thus and so, Thus and so.

[39:02] You can justify it, Well, They had it coming, Well, You know, Or, You can say, You know what? I really messed up there, And that was my fault, And I shouldn't have said that, Or I shouldn't have done that, And if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't.

[39:21] But I did, And I can't undo it. So the next best thing I can do, Is take responsibility for it, And say, You know what? I'm sorry. I apologize.

[39:32] I was out of line. You didn't deserve that. I shouldn't have done that. That was my bad. That's called repenting. That means you change your mind, About what you said or did.

[39:48] That's repentance. And it doesn't necessarily involve salvation at all. Although, As I've often said, Repentance, Repentance does not save you.

[40:00] But you cannot be saved, Without repenting. Because, When you repent, You change your mind. You cannot come to faith in Christ, Without repenting.

[40:12] Without changing your mind. Because, Before you came to faith in Christ, You had some concept, Or some idea, Of what it meant, To, Please God.

[40:27] Whether it was, Your church attendance, Or whether it was, Your good works, Or whether it was, Your good character, Or whether it was, Your generosity, Or whatever.

[40:38] There was something, That you were counting on, That you thought, Would please God. But before you can come to faith in Christ, You have to change your mind about that.

[40:50] This, By the way, Guys, This is the rationale, For preaching the gospel. When you preach the gospel, You give people information, That gives them a reason, To change their mind.

[41:04] That's all the gospel is. It's information, About death, Burial, And resurrection of Christ, And about our being sinners. And when, You hear the gospel, Proclaimed, And it, Contradicts, What you always thought, Up to that time, You've got to change your mind.

[41:28] You've got to say, You know what? I've been wrong all along about this. I had the whole wrong idea. I need to, Put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, As opposed to, What I was trusting before.

[41:43] That's repentance. That's changing your mind. And it doesn't necessarily, Involve tears, Or agonizing, Or anything. It's an intellectual act. It's an act of a will.

[41:55] And it is based upon, The information that you receive, And you're acting upon it. Pat? When we recognize, A weakness in ourselves, Is that when we should go to the Holy Spirit, And ask for his strength, To change that part of our life?

[42:07] Absolutely. Absolutely. And when we know, We've done something, That displeases the Lord, The first John 1, 9 principle says, If we confess our sins, That means, If we acknowledge.

[42:17] And the word means, The homo legeo in the Greek, It means, To say the same thing as. And when we sin, And we know we have sinned, We know the Bible, Already identifies that thing, As sin.

[42:34] And we say the same thing, As what the word of God says, About that thing, That means we acknowledge, That it is sin. And if we confess, Or agree, Means to agree with God, You take God's part, Against yourself.

[42:52] And that's a tough thing to do. Because we love ourselves. Really. We want to protect our ego. We want to justify, And explain, And all the rest. But when we confess our sins, Acknowledge our sins, We take God's part against ourself, And we say, Hey God, You're right, And I'm wrong.

[43:10] Again. And I need to change my thinking about this. I need to repent of that. And if we confess, And there's a condition there. If we confess, If we confess our sin, He is faithful.

[43:26] That means God can always be counseled on it. He is faithful and just. God is not unrighteous in His forgiving us.

[43:39] Because, Because, The penalty for our sin, Has already been paid. Justice has already been satisfied. So we come to God, With repentance.

[43:50] We confess our sins. We thank Him. We thank Him, For our forgiveness. We do not have to, Ask, For forgiveness.

[44:03] This is an important concept guys. I want to emphasize this. We do not have to ask for forgiveness. Why not? What does asking imply?

[44:16] Asking implies, Maybe He will. Maybe He won't. Do you know how many people are living under that cloud?

[44:27] I've talked with dear saints over the years. And they've been agonizing over a sin, Or some indiscretion, Or something maybe that goes back 30 years. And they say, You know what?

[44:39] I've prayed about this. I've prayed about this. I've asked forgiveness over and over and over again. And I don't know whether God has forgiven me or not.

[44:51] And you know what? I don't feel forgiven. I don't feel forgiven. They're looking for a feeling. What would that feeling be like? Listen, fellas.

[45:03] Our forgiveness is not based on our feeling forgiven. Our forgiveness is based upon the integrity of God, Who said, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[45:21] No ifs, ands, or maybes about it. There is no point in agonizing over whether God is... Listen, if God can be trusted, If God has any integrity, And if you've confessed your sin, He's forgiven you.

[45:37] His forgiveness is automatic. Really, it's automatic. But what it is waiting for is your acknowledgement of it. And when we acknowledge it, The forgiveness is there.

[45:49] And we just thank Him for it. Because that too is all wrapped up in the package That Jesus Christ provided for us. And it's a glorious thing. It's just...

[46:01] The freedom that forgiveness brings Is something that all too many Christians Do not enjoy. And nobody is saying that this gives us Some kind of a license for sin.

[46:16] Frankly, I've been flat out embarrassed at times About some of the things I had to take to the Lord And Confess.

[46:29] I don't think I've ever gone into His presence Without some kind of embarrassment Over my stupidity, My stubbornness, Or something like that. And you know, And I've...

[46:42] The Lord has never... The Lord has never said to me, Okay, Wiseman, I'm going to forgive you This time. But Betty, Don't you ever come back with this again. Because the string has run out And there isn't going to be any more forgiveness For you, Buster.

[46:57] Listen, If there is one single sin In our life For which Christ has not paid for And died for It is yet untreated You're sunk.

[47:12] You don't have a prayer. But we know that in Him He is our completion. We have it all in Him. Any other thoughts or comments?

[47:25] Or we enjoy our breakfast. It's called humility. Well, Yeah, Humility has got something to do with it. For sure. Okay, Thank you guys. Enjoy your breakfast.