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Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God's word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement.

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Skip Heitzig: We finished Galatians. We started Ephesians last time. There's a few things I need to fill in the gaps with as we begin our study finishing chapter one tonight. And that is, you may not know, but Ephesus was the bank of Asia. It was not only a commercial center where roads went through and the port was there and so goods from all over the world came there, and Roman merchants would come to Ephesus to scope out the best goods and get them brought to Rome for those that sent them, but it was also the bank of the Roman province of Asia.

It's believed that the majority of the wealth in the bank was in the temple, the great temple of Diana, or Artemis as she is called in some languages. The temple of Diana was a magnificent temple, one of the seven wonders of the world, and also a place that concentrated the wealth of the Roman province of Asia. I bring that up because Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians telling us how wealthy we are in Christ Jesus.

He shows us what's in the bank account because it would seem that his audience, the Ephesians who are reading this, had forgotten that as children of God who they were, who they belonged to, and what they had because they belong to Christ. He is reminding them of their great wealth because they had forgotten or they didn't realize. It's easy to forget when you live in and out of the world like we do. We just sort of lose sight of spiritual realities. So he's reminding them.

I don't know if you've ever gone to your bank or your ATM and you put your card in and you want to withdraw money, but that little statement comes up, "Insufficient Funds." It's such a letdown when you read that. "Insufficient funds? I just put five bucks in last week!" You wonder at that and it bothers you. You're limited now on what you can or cannot do financially because you get the little sign that says, "Insufficient funds, cannot complete transaction."

The Ephesians had the opposite problem. They had a huge spiritual bank account filled with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, but they failed to recognize what they had. I heard a story about a man who saved up all his money to go on a cruise. I don't think it was a "Journeys of Paul" cruise. It might have been, but he saved up all his money, barely made enough to buy a ticket, bought a ticket, got on board, and was so stoked.

He brought with him two loaves of bread, a few jars of peanut butter, and strawberry jam because he thought, "I just have enough money for the ticket, I don't have enough money for anything else." So he would go to his room and he would spread peanut butter on the bread and put jelly on it and have breakfast that way, lunch that way, and dinner that way. He did that every day for a few days until a porter came by who worked on the cruise ship and saw what this guy was doing.

He said, "What are you doing?" And the guy told him, "I saved up all my money, I could only afford the ticket." And the porter said, "Did you not realize that when you buy the ticket, that includes all you can eat as well?" He was elated, but by the time he got the message, the cruise was almost over. He had been walking by all those tables with beef, crab, and lobster and just drooling every time, then he would go to his room and have peanut butter and jelly.

Some of us are just eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when God has steak and lobster in the spirit for us. One of the things Paul will do in chapter one, when we get to it, is pray for them that they realize what they have. He tells them what they have, but then he prays that God would open up their eyes so that they could understand it and enjoy it.

Remember last week? One of the things we noted that Paul wrote to the Ephesians is their election, their predestination, that they were chosen in Christ, verse four of chapter one, before the foundation of the world. We talked just a little bit about how some people have a real problem with that. How could God choose me before I was me, before I knew me, before I even came into existence? That is because God has a thing, an attribute you and I don't have; it's called omniscience.

Omniscience means God knows everything. One of the components of omniscience is God not only knows all things, he's precognizant. He knows everything in advance. So Peter writes in First Peter chapter one that we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. God knew the situation we would be in, knew the families we would be born in, knew our needs, and formulated his plan to reach us.

In struggling with this idea of God choosing us has come a belief under the moniker of Calvinism, the teachings of a lawyer slash theologian named John Calvin, of something called irresistible grace. God's grace is irresistible. God chose you and he's drawing you to him and you cannot resist it. You have to be saved because it's irresistible grace.

Along with irresistible grace in Calvinism is a thing called limited atonement. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn't die for the whole world, but only those whom God knew he would elect to salvation. Why waste the blood of Christ? So he only died for those whom he pre-selected for salvation. If God elected you to salvation, you will get saved. It's irresistible grace. He shed atoning blood for you and you only. If you are not chosen, you can't be saved. It's limited atonement.

I have a problem with that. Here is my problem. My first problem is found in John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son." Somebody hearing that says, "Well, I know it does say that. God may love the world, but he doesn't save the world and they're not all chosen, so Jesus didn't die for the sins of the whole world."

Well, that leads me to my second problem, which is First John chapter two, verse two, which says Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, or the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. So you may be here tonight and you might think, "Maybe I'm not chosen." Or you might think this whole election thing isn't fair. My message to you is this: Get saved. Receive Christ. Repent of your sin. Believe in him. Choose him.

When you choose him, you'll make an interesting discovery. You've been chosen before you chose him. It's like if you see a door in heaven that says, "Whosoever will, let him come," and you decide, "I'm going to go through that door." You walk through the door and there's a banquet table all laid out ready for a feast. There you see on the table different name tags, and as you go down, you see your name on one of the tags.

You just made a choice to walk through that door, and now it looks as though they've been waiting for you. Just then you hear the door close behind you and you look on the inside of the door and it says verse four, "Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world." There you remember what Jesus said to his disciples, "You didn't choose me, I chose you."

So yes, I believe in election. Yes, I believe in predestination. But I also believe in choice because where we left off last week, verse 12 says, "That we who first trusted"—now that's human volition, that's human choice, that's you and I choosing to trust and believe—"That we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory."

Guest (Male): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching available to people searching for truth, purpose, and hope. And this month, we want to thank you with a pair of powerful resources to help you understand your identity in Christ and God's design for your life and relationships.

When you give, you'll receive the Expound Ephesians nine-CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's book, Beyond the Summer of Love. Together, these resources explore the richness of the gospel, reveal your place in God's family, and show how biblical truth brings strength, restoration, and lasting hope to your relationships. We'll send both resources as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now let's return to today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: Now I want you to notice something. I like to point these things out because typically we may not pick them up right away, but I think it's intentional. As you read through chapter one, you discover every member of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is active in your salvation. Verse four: God the Father chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Then down in verse seven: "In him"—that is in Jesus the beloved—"in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace." So the Father picked you, the Son redeemed you, bought you, cleansed you. And then now in verse 13 and 14, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be sealed? It speaks of two things: ownership and security.

I said that Ephesus was a seaport. Roman merchants would come to Ephesus, scope out the goods, and decide which ones they want to bring home for their masters. They would lay down the money, and they would finalize the transaction. They would then prepare the goods to be shipped. Here's how they would do it: They would take a wax seal. They would take wax, drip it onto the package, and then they had a corporate kind of a stamp or seal, an impression that they would stamp into the wax that basically said the name of the one making the purchase and who owned it.

So when it got to port in Rome, they could identify whose property it was. God put his seal on you; he owns you. The Holy Spirit is the seal of ownership. I have a question for you. When you meet people, can they easily tell who you belong to? What impression do you leave with them? If God put a seal on you, his impression on you that he owns you, do you leave that impression on people when they come in contact with you? "Oh, that person is really into God a lot. That's all that person can talk about, Jesus this, Jesus that." It's a good sign. It shows what you're about and it shows who owns you.

But also security, not just ownership but security. That's verse 14: "Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory." Does anybody here happen to have—not many of you probably do, but I'm going to shoot in the dark—anybody here have tonight with them the old King James version of the Bible? You do. Okay. It doesn't say in your version "who is the guarantee." What does it say? "Earnest."

Earnest. That happens to be a great translation. Ever heard of earnest money? That's where that term in the King James comes from: earnest money. If you're going to buy a house or a car or anything, if you really want it, they tell you to put earnest money into it. You put a percentage down on it, maybe 5, 10, or 20 percent, whatever you can afford. When you do that, it's a guarantee in their eyes that there are more payments to follow. You've just put an earnest amount down. You're in earnest; you really want to buy this thing.

You put a down payment on. The Holy Spirit is God's down payment in your life. There's more to come. You've been saved, you have peace, you have purpose, and all the benefits that you and I have in becoming a Christian. The feeling that you get of security when you came to Christ. That feeling may go up, may go down, but all of that, all that you have experienced so far, is simply a preview of coming attractions. It's earnest; it's a down payment.

What's going to follow is heaven, resurrected body, ruling and reigning with Christ, a whole list of things in the future. So it speaks of ownership and security. He put his seal on you; you belong to him; he owns you. And security: He gave you enough that you can taste that the Lord is good. I remember when I first got saved how good it felt. I tried to explain to people what it was like and I was telling my friends, "I can't explain what it's like, but it's like I'm—" and a friend of mine said, "Skip, have you been born again?"

I said, "That's what I feel like! Where'd you get that term? That's a perfect description of what happened." He goes, "Jesus said you must be born again." I didn't know that. But I thought he couldn't have come up with a more fitting description of what it feels like. I'm born anew. All of that is simply earnest, a down payment. There's more to come. He's the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. One day you and I are going to arrive in the port of heaven. And his stamp of ownership is on you.

Therefore, verse 15 says, "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints"—what an awesome group of people the Ephesians were for Paul to make mention of the fact that he heard of their faith and their love for all the saints. "Therefore, after hearing all that good stuff about you, verse 16, I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."

We have a great principle right here in the "therefore" of this verse. "Therefore, because I hear all this awesome stuff about how good you're doing, I'm praying for you." Why is that important? Typically, we reserve our prayers for people who are really doing bad. "Let's put their prayer request on the screen. They're not doing very good. We better pray for them." It's good to do that.

But how about praying for those people who are doing good, who are having awesome days and growing in their faith? You know why you need to pray for them? They're a target. They're a bullseye for the enemy. So Paul was right in saying, "Because you're excelling in all these Christian virtues, therefore I'm very thankful to God and I'm praying for you." Well, that's good, Paul. What are you praying for them about? He tells exactly what he's praying about. Verse 17 he begins.

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." If I could sum that up, I would say this: number one on Paul's prayer list is that they may know the person of God. That they might know God better. Jesus said in John 17, that high priestly prayer in the garden on the way to the cross, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Paul prays that they'll know God and get insight and wisdom into knowing God better than they already know him now. They'll grow in an intimate relationship with him. I remember when somebody first asked me, "Do you know God?" I said, "Pardon me?" It was a weird question to me because we usually don't think of God on those terms, like he's that familiar. But he said, "Do you know God?" and I was flummoxed. I didn't know how to answer it, and I think I might have said, "No, I mean, I know who he is, yeah." He said, "No, do you really know him?"

I hemmed and hawed, and then I think I might have said, "Well, okay, I guess I do." Then his next question was, "How well do you know him?" That's always a question for us, isn't it? How well do you know him? You may know things about him, but do you know him? Do you walk with him? Are you in fellowship with him regularly? Is there an intimacy? Do you refer to God as the "big guy upstairs" or "the Good Lord" or "my Father"?

So I'm praying that you'll get to know God better. God cannot be known unless he reveals himself. We're in luck; God has revealed himself over and over again through the prophets, through the apostles, and in the word, we have 66 books that reveal the character and nature of God. So I'm praying that you'll know the person of God. Second request: that they might know the plan of God, verse 18: "That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling."

Do you know what God has called you to do, to perform, or to be? What gifts you have? The hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Let me unpack a few of these thoughts in that verse. First, when he says, "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened." The Greek word for understanding is "kardia" here in the text. It's the heart, the eyes of your heart.

It is translated in the New King James "your understanding," your ability to think through and understand something. It speaks of your mind. Why is that important? Because here in Western culture, we think the heart is the center of what you feel, right? It's your emotional center. The ancients didn't do that. Two thousand years ago, the ancients believed the heart was the center of your intellect, your mind, and your will.

The feelings, they believed, took place in the gut, the bowels. So the old King James speaks about "bowels of tender mercies." You read that and go, "Ugh, that's gross!" But back then, they just thought you feel some mercy deep down in your gut for somebody. That's where the emotions take place. We want to feel certain things and call that our heart. The Bible talks about the heart as the center of your intellect. So heart is translated, "that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling." And look at this, this is awesome: "And what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it's needed most. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you the Expound Ephesians nine-CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's book, Beyond the Summer of Love.

These resources will help you understand your identity in Christ and see how God's design brings strength and restoration to your relationships. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.