Welcome. Let us begin punctually to reward those of you who are spot on time. And we will end on time to honor everybody here. We've got a lot to cover today. This should be the zenith of everything that we've been studying. So all the work that you've been putting into it, I think comes to a culmination today because we are going to work through New Testament verses. And this will be the fruit of hermeneutics on display. What Ty does in the pulpit is hermeneutics on display. He has worked through the text. How many hours do you think he's spent on Ephesians 4, 11 through 16? And we are seeing the fruit of that, and you can experience that in your own study time, your own private time, because we apply biblical hermeneutics. So if you recall, Before we begin the interpretive process, we want to walk a mile in their sandals. We want to prepare to read the verse by understanding things like culture, government, commerce, war, rulers, what's happening in this particular church in this particular time. I want to be able to understand How they were thinking when they first received these letters, for instance, or these gospels. What was the mindset? I want to prepare myself, and you can do that by studying, not commentaries. Don't study commentaries yet, because commentaries get into the interpretive process. Your dictionaries, your Bible dictionaries, your Bible encyclopedias, they're going to paint the picture for you. And if you are totally theologically geeky, you will love these. You just open up a dictionary of the Bible or any sort of study guide to what was going on in the culture and encyclopedia. Look up a word. Look up the word sword. You're gonna learn, it's like, wow, I didn't know that about swords. Wall, look up the word wall, and you're gonna get this huge study on wall, which has nothing to do with our current wall situation. But nevertheless, you can learn a lot about, I just picked that. You can just learn a lot about everything, and that's all in preparation for the interpretive process, which happens in four steps. I hope that you've got these memorized. Do you remember what they are? Observation. All right, I'm not interpreting the text yet, I'm observing, I'm staring at it, what's going on in here, the structure, the language, contrast, comparisons, is there a list inside of it? So I'm just observing the text. And sometimes too, that observing, you can combine that with your preparation. Nevertheless, second step now is interpretation. What does the verse say? What does the verse mean? There's a slight distinction, but we're not gonna dive into that distinction. But there's a difference between what does the verse say, what does the verse mean? That's our interpretation. Then, because we are in the new town, the Bible was written in the old town, we've gotta take that interpreted verse, and we gotta bring it over and cross a principalizing bridge. So our third step is, what is the principle, principalization? What is the lesson, then I apply it to the 21st century church and the 21st century life that I'm living? Those are the four steps, let's jump in. and do that multiple times this morning with the New Testament. One of our favorite verses, start with Philippians 4.13. If you've got your Bible, you know this one. It's on every bookmark, posters, Evander Holyfield's boxing trunks, T-shirts. It is. It's true. I love the picture of him flat on his back, knocked out by somebody. And you can just see the stars swirling around him. And there's the 4.13. So apparently you can't do everything through Christ who strengthens you. You can't win every boxing match. You can't start every business and be successful because that's not what the verse is about. So let's jump into the verse. What is it about and is there anything there for us? A good rule of thumb is don't just read your Bible verse. Start a little early, go a little after. That's what we're gonna do. So I'm gonna just start this in Philippians 4, 11. And I'm gonna emphasize some words, because it'll help us as we observe the text. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Do you hear the antiphony? It's going back and forth between this and this. Then he says, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Let's observe that text. Now you remember, where is Paul writing? These are our observations. From where is Paul writing this letter? From where? He's in prison. Well that's fascinating. So Paul is writing a letter from prison to whom? the Philippian church. Had Paul spent any time there? Yeah. If you remember in Acts 16, which you can get from your cross-references, or when you do a Bible dictionary encyclopedia, he spent a lot of time in Philippi. And what happened, they had, he and Silas had done a demon possession, what do you call it when you get the demon, what do they call that? Exorcism, okay, not a territory I study much. So they did an exorcism, and they did what? They got flogged and put in jail. And now he's writing to those people to say, have the same sort of joy that I have. So we're seeing a man in jail who wants his intention in the book is that he wants his audience to have joy. And we're gonna look at the entire book to see that theme. This is the value of not just parachuting in on chapter four, read the whole thing leading up to it. And we see a theme. So for instance, chapter one, I see to live is Christ, to die is gain. Hear it again? It's this or it's that. He considers being with Christ a gain. But either way, I'm content. Chapter two, we are to be humble and endure just like Jesus did on the cross. That's verses one through 12. Chapter three, finally my brethren, and by the way, This is why a pastor can always go long. Right here this verse, finally my brethren. When a pastor says finally my brethren, he's thinking of Paul who went on for two more chapters. So the next time you hear finally, it means nothing. Finally my brethren. Rejoice in the Lord. Philippians is the happy book. Philippians is the joyful book. Philippians is the, mm, it's good to be in Christ book. Verse seven of chapter three. but whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." And he concludes it by saying, so follow my pattern of living. Now we've arrived at chapter four. Think of the good things. Look at how I endure whether I have much or little. That's what Paul is saying in chapter four. The contrast goes back and forth antiphonally, constantly. We even heard it in chapter three. Our verse, he does a compare and contrast. Humble means and prosperity, being filled, going hungry, abundance and need, no matter what the circumstance is. I can endure the hardship and suffering. I can live joyfully, whether I've got a lot or I've got a little. That is what I observe about our text. So with that in mind, I'm gonna interpret the verse, which is step two. Remember, observation, interpretation, we'll get to principalization, and application. This is my interpretation. Now remember our verse, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, my interpretation. Paul can be victorious or endure sufferings by the power of Jesus Christ who strengthens him. And you hear that there's a little bit of a difference. It doesn't always have to be a big difference, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I interpret it to say Paul can be victorious and endure sufferings by the power of Jesus who strengthens, well, it's him, really. It shouldn't be me yet, because the interpretation, this is just Paul making this claim. So what is step three, the principle? Remember, this is an epistle. So the principle, almost always, not always in an epistle, is going to have a direct application. You can be the Philippian church almost. That's the epistles and the connection to us today. So it's a pastoral epistle, so it's written to us. So here's the principle that I came up with. Remember it was, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. My interpretation was Paul can be victorious and endure sufferings by the power of Jesus who strengthens him. Here's my principle, Jesus will give believers the strength to endure hardships that come from living like a Christian. Did you feel the difference? We move from this is what it said, and this is how it said it to Paul. Then I move a little bit more toward just this understanding, and I'm coming up with the principle, the generalized concept behind it that can apply to everybody for all time. And that principle is Jesus will give believers, not just Paul, but will give all believers the strength to endure hardships that come from living like a Christian. And that's important, that last little phrase, that come from living like a Christian, because this verse has much comfort in it. But we have to qualify like Paul in order to have access to what this verse is teaching. So in other words, if I'm a Christian, and I am just having troubles at home because I am doing this, or she is doing that, or the kids are acting like this, I don't go, well, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Why? Because you're not really being persecuted. You're reaping the consequences of being a jerk, perhaps. What do I need to do to qualify for this verse? I need to be a Christian who is working for the Lord. I'm living like a Christian, and I'm taking a beating for it. So with that in mind, let's come up with the application. for the verse to apply, we have to meet the criteria in the context. We must be a persecuted Christian for doing God's work, not just typical struggles that come with living in our world. So to whom would this apply? Who can get comfort from this? If the idea is not prosperity, the idea is God will get you through, believer, when you're being persecuted, how's about the unequally yoked spouse? Will this verse in a biblical counseling session come up? Yeah. Why? Because he, she is living like a Christian. They're unequally yoked. And so what typically so frequently happens in this type of dynamic, the unbeliever starts to really go after the believer. And Jesus says, I'll get you through this. You can do this. I got you. Because you're living for me and I'm going to carry you through it and you're going to have joy no matter what the outcome is. Maybe you were passed over at work because you are a believer and they know it. Not because you're bad at the job. This verse doesn't apply if you're bad at the job and you get passed over. But if they know, boy they, They see him reading that Bible at lunchtime, or he talks about, and he maybe sometimes shuts down people who use blasphemous phrases, whatever it is, not obnoxiously, and you get passed over. Jesus says to you, I'll get you through this. I'll give you the strength to endure this. What about the cake baker? And the florist, who these days, we know for a fact, their businesses are getting lost, they're getting sued, they're being thrown into debt, this verse applies to them. God will get you through, Christian, when you're living for him, no matter what your circumstances. It is a verse of comfort, not a verse of accomplishment, which is the way it gets used today. So, application. Let's ask ourselves, how do I apply this? There's a lot of ways. I like to ask questions about the text. I like to ask how I'm doing inside of the text. So the application questions that I came up with is, how do I respond in poverty? What is my attitude when things are going poorly? Do I always have joy no matter what? How do I respond when things are going well? Whose strength am I relying on when I'm being persecuted? Are you relying on your wits, your charm, your connections, or are you relying on his strength to get you through? Do I ever find myself feeling hopeless in my circumstances? What is missing when I'm sinfully worried about my situation? That's a great question right there. What's missing? When you're, let's say you're a believer and you're not experiencing joy because of circumstances, what's missing when you're anxious? You're not remembering, it's his strength that you need to rely on. You're weak, he's strong. We're clay pots that are all busted up and cracked up so that the contents can look more glorious. In other words, my thinking is kinda out of whack. When I'm really getting anxious and nervous, wait a second, it's because I'm relying on me. We actually got to preach on this. You remember what Jesus kept saying to the disciples? What are we gonna do about bread and fish? They'd just seen 5,000, then 4,000 people fed by bread and fish. What are we gonna do? And Jesus says, how quickly you forget. Peter starts to sink into the water, and what does Jesus say? Oh, you of little faith. That's what's going on when I'm anxious. I'm forgetting these promises, which are for us, and that I can have joy. The next time somebody wounds me for being a believer, how could I respond joyfully like Paul? That's a lot, isn't it? That, if you don't mind me saying so, is a whole lot better than you can be successful in building a shed or getting the property. Here's a good question. I remember when we were working with the city, we wanted the land, whatever. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. A lot of churches would say that. It just doesn't apply. Now, if the city is surrounding us with guns, we can apply this verse. But to just say we're gonna conquer the land or we're gonna take over the territory and use this verse is not the correct use because of context and the theme of the book. Let's do Hebrews 12, one through two. Hebrews 12, one through two. Therefore, any alarm bells go off for anybody? Yeah, we just came out of what? Chapter 11, the great cloud of witnesses, and the preceding 10 chapters, which all have one theme, and we're going to get to that. Therefore, since, oh, we've got to compare, we've got to, because of this, then that. Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race run race, that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." All right, who is being written to in the book of Hebrews? The Hebrews, Jewish believers, probably scattered. So these are the people in James, really, that are going to be getting this message. So it's scattered Jewish church. He's talking to believers here. But we also know this. He's also talking to those who maybe are thinking about becoming a believer or think they're a believer and are not. When you make your way through Hebrews, you see Paul regularly, you could put it into three classes or two, he's talking to those who are in Christ, and he's talking to those who are considering the claims of Christ. So that's what's being addressed. They're scattered, they are considering the claims, there are unbelievers who are just going along, and there are believers that are addressed in our text. What's the tone? This isn't the happy book. This is a pretty serious book, Hebrews 13, 22. What's the purpose of the book of Hebrews? Anybody wanna take a shot at it? The purpose. Supremacy of Christ. That's what Hebrews is about in a nutshell. Jesus is better. Better than Melchizedek, better than angels, Better than the priests. Better than the temple. Jesus is better, better, better, better, better. Encouraging him, don't go back to the old system, which wasn't nearly as good. That's chapters eight through 10. The old covenant, blotto. It was the lesser covenant. We've got the greater now. So move forward to the better. Jesus Christ. It's almost an evangelistic plea to get saved. So the first 11 chapters, Jesus is better. Now, our context is established. What is the therefore therefore? So as soon as I see therefore, why? Well, because Jesus is better, and there's a great cloud of witnesses. We just read all about these people who were dead believers. Because of that, now we get into our text. What is the therefore therefore? It's about chapter 11 and the entire book. There are a lot of fellow believers that have come before me, the word a lot, it's a great cloud of witnesses. It's a great, the church triumphant in heaven, it's not a small group of folks. It's a great cloud of witnesses. How do I know these are people who are dead? Well, I think because chapter 11, all those people that were certainly dead at the time of the writing of the book of Hebrews, they are the great cloud of witnesses. We should do everything to not sin, is what the verse is telling us. Get rid of everything. Just lose it all. Our salvation is from Jesus. I see that in the author and finisher. Remember, I'm just observing the text right now. I'm just looking to see what nuggets are in there that I can pull out. Jesus is the author and the finisher. There's a powerful statement. We have to keep our eyes on him if we want to make it to the finish line. This is a race that we are in, and we're to be running, which means I'm supposed to be active in this. That means the Holy Spirit doesn't just carry me along. It means he gives me the strength to run, but I got to put those legs to work, and I got to do, I've got to participate in the race. Jesus is the best runner. He's the best one that there is. So who should we pattern our lives after? The one who ran the race the best. So I want to keep my eyes on Jesus. Jesus is God. Where do I get that from? Well, he's sitting at the right hand of the Father. Furthermore, I see that he is sitting. This is overlooked, typically. What is the significance of Jesus entering heaven Upon the resurrection, lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates. The gates go up. Jesus marches in. The first time a human being walks through the doors of heaven and he sits down. Why? because he is the better Melchizedek. He's the better priest. They always had to stand. When you study the tabernacle in the temple, lots of furniture, no chairs. Why? It symbolized that the priest's work was never done. Jesus sits down because his work is done. We've just observed the text now. I'm doing a word study on this text. It's a great cloud of witnesses. What is a witness? Someone who is watching or someone who is testifying? Somebody who is observing us? A witness, you know, checking us out to see what we're doing, like a private eye, writing down notes about us. Is that what's in view here? No, uh-uh. These are people who are testifying witnesses. What are they testifying? That Jesus can take you there. That there's a lot of people who came before you that moved away from the old covenant and they looked forward to Jesus. And now we've got him, we've got the better. So seek him, stop with the works. It's a great cloud of witnesses that testifies. And to those people who just love the idea of going to the Eastern Orthodox Church or Roman Catholicism because that's my link back to the disciples and to the early church, wrong. This is our link, the great cloud of witnesses, the universal church, those who are in Christ. Not a denomination, not in a building or a location, but those who are in Christ. That's my heritage. So do we go all the way back to the apostles? Yeah. How? What's our lineage? This great cloud of witnesses who have come before us. So this is an encouragement and a command. It is also, by the way, I'm just observing the text plural, Run, y'all, not just you. Remember, Christianity, it's personal faith in Jesus Christ, but this is a collective. We are running this race together. Every endurance easily entangles our word that jumps out. So what do I need to get rid of? Anything that keeps me from running the race well, because it easily entangles us, can trip you up fast. We see that this is a sports analogy. The race is set before us. In other words, the course has already been determined. You don't chart your own course. It's been designed for you. Now get on the track and run. Keep looking forward to Jesus because he's better and he's run the race well. So follow him and get rid of everything that bogs you down. The finish line is Jesus Himself, who began our faith and brings it to an end. Jesus is our example. Why did Jesus do this? Obviously, there's many reasons. We'll see that with our last verse, that He did it for the glory of the Father, Ephesians 2. But also it tells us for the joy, the reward, He endured the cross. Why do we want to strip away everything and run the race? Not because, oh man, this Christianity thing, and oh, the legalism, and oh, all the rules. I want to get rid of this, because there is something joyful waiting for me, and I want to get there. And I want to get there unscathed, and I want to get there as fast and well as I possibly can. Jesus is our example, and he did it for joy and reward. Sometimes we downplay this when it comes to sanctification. Is it, in my opinion, the ideal to do things for the reward. No, I think the ideal is, I love the Lord, I want to be obedient. Nevertheless, God does dangle a carrot in front of us and say, there's going to be crowns for you, there's a reward for you, and it's rich. You're going to enjoy me more. The more you do for me, the more you understand me. The bigger your faith is, the more you're going to get me in eternity. So we do get rewards. It's probably not the prime motivator, but I don't think it should be eliminated from what gets us to witness to people or be obedient. Jesus is our example. He is now seated where? Right hand, throne. Big picture that we're getting painted. We were in the hall of faith. We were looking at people in heaven. Now we're seeing Jesus in heaven. The race analogy, it is our guide. It's a long distance run. It's not a sprint, it's a run. It requires effort, training, sacrifice, stripping anything away that hinders us. We keep our eyes on the author, which if you dive into some Bible dictionaries, which we just don't have time to do, the champion of our faith. Well, that's cool. Who's the best? Who's the champion? Jesus Christ. Look at him. You want to get better? Look at him. How many times do you hear a young athlete? Oh, I watched Tiger Woods my whole life. I just watched LeBron. I want to look at the best to become like that. That's what we should be doing, too. Many other runners have made it. We need to be on the right path to run and arrive. So what does the text say, if you will? I'm paraphrasing what it says. The author uses the imagery of long distance running to encourage his audience to endure despite opposition by remembering others and especially Jesus and what he has done and who he is. It's kind of what it says, right? But that's different than the interpretation. So what is my interpretation of this verse? And just in case you've forgotten it, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay hold and lay aside every encumbrance in the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God, at the right hand of the throne of God. So here's what I came up with. Since so many believers have come before us, Run the long race of faith by disentangling yourself from the world and keeping your eyes on Jesus, who is God, the best example we can have. Shorter, but that's basically what the text says to us. What's the principle? How wide is the river that we need to cross? Not very. We've got a language issue. We've got a time issue. So we've got to watch out for words because remember, we want to understand the words, what they meant in the first century, not what they meant in the 12th century or what they mean today. We don't want to have any fallacies in understanding the language, but the river overall, pretty narrow. This applies to us. So here's my principle. God has made a path for me, and I am to strive to finish the race by working hard to fight sin while looking at Jesus the whole time. My principle. Now I can take a principle and I can start to apply it. So what I see in the text, this is what I did with it. I took a look at just kind of the categories. I see just a bunch of encouragement in here. A bunch of, remember we said that this is an encouraging command that's going on? So here's the encouragement that I saw. I'm not alone in my Christian walk. I'm not the first one. We're not the first generation. There have been hundreds, millions of people, even now, pressing into the kingdom. That's what we're a part of. That's the race that we are in. I have ancestors. I don't need the Eastern Church. I'm encouraged because Jesus never failed, ever. My salvation is secure. Where is your salvation? If you're a wobbly-kneed Christian, this verse is for you. Why? Because you most likely, whenever we get kind of like, oh, it's because we're just looking inside. How am I doing on the inside? How am I doing? How am I feeling? How am I worshiping? How am I reading? What am I doing? All of those things are important, but your salvation is not kept inside of you. It is seated at the right hand of God. It's secure. That's what this verse says. Now I see some exhortation. If I'm not keeping my eyes on Jesus, I won't make it to the finish line. That's a good application, isn't it? You want to get there? You take your eyes off Jesus, you're going to be in trouble. Keep your eyes on Jesus, keep running. My battle with sin is a war that I have to engage in totally. so easily entangles us. I don't care. I count all this stuff rubbish. I want to get rid of it. It's a long race, so I need to run with endurance. How do I get endurance? And the answer is studying Jesus, keeping my eyes on Jesus, the champion of our faith. I see that there's theology inside of these verses that I can pull out. For instance, salvation is of the Lord. He is the author and finisher. Did I save myself? Did my decision save me? Did my asking Jesus into my heart save me? No, God saved you. This could be an Ordo Salutis verse, the order of salvation. God saves you, then you exhibit repentance and faith. Oh, has to be. He wrote it. He's the beginner of your faith. So that doesn't mean that your faith comes before him and salvation. It means salvation happens to you, and you then respond in repentance and faith as gifts of God. A lot of theology in here. My salvation is secure. You can't lose your faith. Can't lose your salvation. You're held, you're in his hand. What can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. Because it's seated at the right hand of God and it's not incumbent upon me. What? Oh, you've got a question. Well. Okay, young lady. Yes. Well, I think to what we see, you know, the tension of how are you growing in holiness? I know that, but Ah, I see what you're getting at. Let me take a look at the text. Yeah, let me see if I can get clarity. Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, be sanctified, run to the finish line, to the end, Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Yeah, I do see both in there. There is a sanctification and a justification element going on. The process of sanctification. The question again though, part of what I see in your question is the tension of who's doing this. Holy Spirit, I'm doing this, kind of a combo. So yeah, there is both in the text. All right, what else do I see? Theology. I see that Jesus is God. This is a deity text. Love the people. Why didn't Jesus just say, I am God? Well, because he's more clever than that. And he said it in more profound ways. We see that. He's seated at the right hand of the Father, his redemptive work done. Application questions. How serious am I about my race, my walk? Am I remembering those who have gone before me? Am I running alone or am I running with my church? That's what Ty's after these days. Am I getting entangled in sin? If so, which ones? And why don't I want to put them off once and for all? Why do I let those things weigh me down? Do I ever worry about my salvation? I shouldn't. I need to remember this verse. Am I trying to keep myself saved or am I just being obedient? Am I trying to keep myself saved, or am I being obedient? Why am I doing this? Is it because I'm earning salvation? Nope, it's secure, it's done, seated at the right hand. I'm doing this because of all of that. So it's my motivation, not to earn salvation, but to live in response to salvation. Do I remember Jesus as God when I think about Him and pray to Him? All application questions. Now, I'm gonna skip over Revelation chapter four, and we're gonna try to zoom through our last verse, Ephesians 2, four. Remember what Greg Koukl said, never read a Bible verse. Here's a good reason why. Here's our verse, Ephesians chapter two, verse four. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. There's your verse. It's an incomplete thought. So you can't just interpret this verse. You have to interpret the sentence. You have to interpret the thought. Well, we can get something out of that. And we want to probably put the whole idea together. So really Paul's sentence, and boy, could he string them on. This is chapter two, verse four through seven is his thought. I'm going to start with this word, but. Time out. What's that? But what? Something came before this. We'll find out what it is in a moment. Being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved through faith, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that Remember, so that, in order that, one of those key phrases we look for. Is that a hynna clause, Jess? Might be. So that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. Wow, how fast we can blow through that verse. And there's a treasure chest. So here's my observations. Okay. Because therefore, this is the benefit. So, here's my observations. But, but what? I stopped there, which means I gotta go back and I've gotta read the verses before it to know what he's contrasting it to. So it's this, but that. So what is my contrast? And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. This is chapter two, verse one. I was reading this last night. Just listen to this contrast, if you can hear this. And you were, I'm gonna read this the way that I think that it's intended to show us our compare and contrast. You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air. of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. You're a child of the devil, is what he's saying. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like everybody else. But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us. When we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive together with Christ. Grace, you're saved through faith. Raised us up with Him. Seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ, so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Did you feel that? From the word but. I keep going with my observations. We used to be dead pagans, but now we're alive believers. So here, there's a contrast that we see. Here's a second contrast in verse five. We were dead, now we're alive because of him. What kind of death? Physical or spiritual death? Clearly it wasn't physical death. He's talking about spiritual death here. Otherwise we would have been dead physically. So we were spiritually dead. I see that God is rich in forgiveness. this whole thought is repeated again in verses 8-10, which is the benefit of reading a bigger chunk of scripture. He says it like this, he even hints at it with a little parenthetical, by grace you have been saved, but that is in verses 8 and 9 which we've all memorized. So he smacks it, and then he smacks it again, grace, grace, I'm screaming grace, not works. Not only were we raised, but we are seated with Him in the heavenly places. The purpose of our salvation is what? What is the purpose of our salvation? Can you see it? So that in the ages to come. This is a verse that our kids need to understand. This is our teleological verse. What's the point? Why does this whole shebang exist? Here's the reason. So that wicked sinners can be saved by an amazing God so that He can be praised for being so kind for all of eternity. That's it! So when a young person says, what's the purpose of my life? Here's the answer, get saved and you'll be glorifying God. You'll figure out school, that's nothing compared to this. Here's your big purpose, who am I gonna marry? You'll figure that one out. But here's your purpose, glorify God in everything because that's what the universe is about. That's what God is doing, that's the point of all of this. And that does help us, by the way, to strip away some entanglements. What else do I see here? There's two in Christs. You see in Christ a lot in Paul's writings in the epistles. It's a magnificent concept. You were in darkness, you were placed in light. You were a child of wrath, now you are seated at the right hand of God because you're in Christ. What is the implication of that? How does the father view the son? There is no greater love in the universe than the inter-Trinitarian love that exists. And I get put right in that, and so do you. So when the Father looks at you, He loves you with the same intensity that He loves the Son. Because we're in Christ. We get it all. We don't earn it. He did it all. We are in Him. He is our source. He is our security. He is our safety. He is our salvation. So the verse basically says we're spiritually dead sinners who are made alive by a gracious God who seats us in the heavenly places if we are in Christ. Okay, we can do a lot more observing, but we're going to get to the finish line here. My interpretation. Remember the verse. Now here's my interpretation. Our merciful and loving God makes dead sinners alive by grace and seats us in the heavenly places because we are in Christ for the praise of His name. Kind of captures it all. Now here's the principle. This is about the salvation of dead sinners because of Christ, or dead sinners can't save themselves, God must, and He does in Christ for His glory. This is a salvation verse. So what's my application? Well, our sin has caused us to die spiritually. I see the theology that is loaded in this text. We go to hell because we sin. Not because we don't believe in Jesus, by the way. That is a sin to not believe in Jesus. But people have a tendency to say, well, you don't go to hell for your sins. You go to hell because you don't believe in Jesus. Nugget of truth in that, we don't go to heaven because we don't believe in Jesus, but you go to hell for your sins, including the chief sin, which is disbelief in Jesus Christ. We can't make ourselves alive. This puts an end to decisional regeneration or Pelagianism, doesn't it? God must do a supernatural work. That's why being born again is such a big deal. These ho-hum testimonies, well, yeah, that's pretty cool. Wow. It's a supernatural work. Our salvation is outside of us. Huge comfort. Here's some more encouragement. We have so much to look forward to. How amazing is God for saving dead sinners and raising us up? Not only does He forgive, He raises us up and seats us in Christ. It's not up to us, these things. So what's the application? When you doubt, when you struggle in your assurance, remember you are in Christ. When you lack assurance, remember your salvation is outside of you. When you think you have to work to get saved, it's already been done by Jesus Christ. So application questions. Do I remember that I was once dead? Should I think ever that I save myself in any way or keep myself saved? When I'm concerned about my salvation, what am I failing to remember? I'm in Christ, this is all done. This was determined beforehand. which he actually says also in Ephesians 1 and 2. Have I forgotten that my sins killed and condemned me? Am I hating those sins that I still commit in light of what Jesus has done for me? What am I failing to remember when I complain about my circumstances? My biggest problem's been solved. I'm sorry, I'm worried about what? Now, this would be as preposterous as a man who walks out in the street, gets mowed over, his limbs are broken, he's bleeding all over the place, and he goes, could you help me with this sliver? I've got this little sliver right here. Could you pull that out of my finger? You'd go, well, your priorities are totally out of whack. You've got a much bigger problem. Here's man's biggest problem, God. Man's biggest problem is, you've got a court date, and you are going to face God. And this is the one with whom you must do, and he is going to crush you and grind you to powder. What are you worried about? Once that's taken care of, it's like, okay, work is rough, but I am not facing the wrath of God anymore. This is a huge verse of encouragement for us because of two key words, we are in Christ. Any questions? Good, because it's time to go. Oh, nuts. I should have just bowed my head. Great. Oh, we'll be talking about it after church today, I can assure you that. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for our salvation that is in Christ, that we are secure because of you. You are the author, you are the champion, you are the perfecter of our faith, and we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. Thank you for all of the believers who have come before us, and we look forward to the day that we get to join them triumphantly in heaven. and we'll only get to that finish line because of you, and we are grateful for you for that. Help us to run together now, in Jesus' name, amen.