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Ephesians, Chapter 3
Verses 3:1-6."For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.
[3:7] Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
[3:11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
[3:17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
MESSAGE
Before I start, I would like to comment that Paul is speaking about the promises of God to the church, and to the world. Brethren, I want to suggest to you that if the church world really knew the promise of God they would not be as lackadaisical as they are. They are waiting for a rapture. It is not a rapture.
This is a race. It is a race to transfer from our carnality into Christ. It is a race that requires exercise, commitment, work, and effort. It is not going to happen to you if you do not do your part. You have to do your part. We are going to see what Paul has to say in Chapter 3 of Ephesians.
Verse 1. "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." Let me point out to you that Paul clearly states that he is a prisoner, and there are other Scriptures in which he states that Jesus Christ is his chain. I might remind you that Satan is chained in the bottomless pit. We have talked about this on other occasions. Let me remind you that the chain on Paul is chaining his carnal mind. Satan is the unconscious mind of man. He must be chained down under the Christ in you.
Christ appearing in you is the two-fold. Christ will arise and be your mind, and Satan, the unconscious part of the carnal mind, must go down in to the pit underneath Christ. It is not enough for Christ to ascend. Satan, the unconscious part of the carnal mind, must be chained up. This requires a warfare. We have segments in the church that are preaching that Christ will arise spontaneously without a warfare. It is not true.
If Paul needed to be a prisoner of Christ, surely we too need to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Listen to this. Paul is saying "Me," the natural man. Paul has become the prisoner of the Christ that has arisen in "me." Our natural man must become a prisoner. Some people say "dying to the flesh." They think that all that, that means is that you stop drinking, and you stop smoking.
No, brethren, it means that you stop thinking. It means that Christ becomes your everything. That is what is means.
Your natural man must be bound up and chained, his mouth must be shut. The mouth of the wicked in your own mind must be shut. Paul said that he was made a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Once again, we see the principle that in this hour the Gospel, and the goodness of God is going towards the whole world.
On a recent tape, we discussed that the whole world is Israel. Of course, all of Israel is not Israel. All of natural Israel was not serving God.
All of the present day Israel, which is the whole world, is not serving God. The whole world is Israel because, with the new covenant, salvation is available to who so ever will. That makes the whole world Israel. The present day existing covenant with God is available to who so ever will. That makes the whole world Israel.
At this time, only a small segment of the world is responding to that call. Therefore, all of Israel is not Israel in this hour.
Verse 2. "If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:" This word "dispensation," means "stewardship, the administration of a household or a state." If you have heard about the administration that has been given by the grace of God to Paul on your behalf. Paul is saying that he has an administrative responsibility to the Gentiles, the management of an estate.
Brother, God has given His grace to the Gentile. That is what it says in Verse 2. Paul is an administrator of the grace of God. The grace of God, for many years, was taught to me that it was unmerited favor. That sounds really nice, but what does it mean? What has this unmerited favor placed in your hands? Brethren, I am going to suggest to you that the unmerited favor of God is Jesus Christ. We do not deserve Him, brethren.
Because He lives not up on Mars somewhere, but His spiritual life is alive, and has entered into your heart, and is reproducing itself in our heart, is chaining up our criminal personality in our vessel. God has seen fit to do that, and we have received life. We do not deserve this gift. The grace of God is Jesus Christ in your own heart chaining up your carnal mind and, eventually, slaying it so that you might be raised from the dead.
Paul is saying if you have heard of the dispensation which has been given to you-ward. What Paul is saying, brethren, is that God has imparted to me what I need to give Jesus Christ to you. It was placed within Paul. A ministry was placed within Paul that enabled him to fertilize the human spirits of whom ever he came in contact with. That Christ might be born in that individual, that they may be saved in child bearing.
Brethren this dispensation is not resident in every minister in the church today. Some ministers, for example the Baptist have the dispensation to impart faith. There are some excellent teachers that are Baptists. Some ministers have the dispensation to impart the Holy Ghost to you. There are not many ministers in the church today in whom has been placed the dispensation to bring forth the Son or to bring forth Jesus in you.
There are not that many ministers who have the ability to impregnate you so that the Son, which will save you in child bearing, the man child of Revelation twelve, which will save you in child bearing, can be born in your mind. That when He is born in your mind, He will defeat your carnal mind. You shall be raised from the dead, brethren. Your carnal mind cannot and will not be destroyed by God until the Son is standing there ready, willing, and able to replace him when he is killed, to replace the carnal mind when the carnal mind is killed.
If the Lord would slay the enmity in your flesh before the Son was able to jump in and sustain your body, you would die. I want to suggest to you that the ministry that Paul had that enabled him to do this is the ministry of apostleship. A quick definition of an apostle is some one in whom the Son is dwelling.
Not someone that has the Holy Ghost. Not someone that has a gift. Someone in whom the Son is growing up from seed. Someone in whom the seed of the life of Christ was planted, in whom that seed is growing, learning, experiencing, and joining with all the gifts that have already been imparted, into a working knowledge, and experience of the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is different anointing than you basically see in the church today. It is starting to come forth, and we will see more and more of it as the Lord raises up His Sons. When it appears in the church, it is not a recognized anointing, but it is a different anointing. When the Sons appear there will be more teaching on this, and it will be more accepted in the church. It is not understood in this hour.
Verse 3. "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words." This word "revelation" is Strong's 602. It means "to lay bare, or make naked." It is talking about a disclosure of truth. I would like to remind you that we found out here that, in the spirit, the carnal mind is lying over the mind of Christ like an eyelid that needs to be rolled back, so that the eye of Christ can perceive the truth of the spirit.
Brethren, revelation knowledge is in your heart the whole time. It is veiled over like the veil that was on Moses, that the Scripture tells us is still upon the Jews today. Revelation knowledge does not come from the outside. The way it works is that you will hear someone preach it under the anointing, and that preaching is ripping and tearing at that eye lid that needs to be rolled back. Then something inside of you, that which was with Christ from the beginning says, "AH HEBREW ALPHABET! I remember that, that sounds right. It is like I knew it all the time."
Brethren, I can never convince you of revelation. I would not even try. My job is to present it to you to jar your memory. Then the Christ that is in you must respond to it. If you do not have Christ in you, you will never respond to it, and you will never receive it. I am here to touch your dead human spirit and raise it from the dead.
It has to be a two-way process. I am not and never will try to convince you intellectually of anything that I preach. It has to stimulate the memory of Christ in you. It is your burden to pray about it and ask God if it is true or not. It takes enough of my energy to study and teach it. I am not here to mind control you or brain wash you into believing this.
[3:3] "How that by revelation he made known unto me," who? The Lord Jesus Christ. "The mystery; (as I wrote afore in a few words)," A mystery is a hidden thing, not obvious to the understanding. Brethren, this whole Bible can be read by anyone.
I suggest to you that the mysteries of Christ are not obvious in this written word. If you think that you can read this written word, and that the mysteries of God are going to be revealed to you by the letter, you are very mistaken. You shall surely die in your sins, because the letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive.
There is only one way that you can receive a spiritual understanding of this word, and that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, if you ask Him for it. He does not owe you anything. You can spend fifty, sixty years of your life studying, reading commentaries written by carnal men, you can travel all over the world, do whatever you want, but there is only one way you are going to know what this book says, and that is when the Lord Jesus Christ gets inside of your heart and unveils the Christ in you, rips off your carnal mind, and gives it to you.
You cannot get it for yourself, just as you cannot get salvation for yourself. Brethren, this is given by grace. Revelation knowledge of the spirit of the word is the grace of God that is in Christ in your mind. It is a gift, that you must ask for. There is no way you can do it by yourself.
"How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery." Jesus Christ, by revelation, gave Paul the mystery of the Scripture as he has already told you about in a few words.
Verse 4. "Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)." Paul is saying the Lord Jesus Christ has given him revelation knowledge that he should write it down so that when you read, if you have Jesus Christ in your mind, you too might understand.
This Bible is a point of contact. We only have two points of contact in the church today. One is this written letter of the word, the other is whoever is the human being that the spirit is flowing through.
When you read this word, and you have a knowledge of this word in your intellect, the Lord Jesus Christ can quicken it to you. He can give you revelation knowledge without this book. Does everybody know that? If He wanted to, if He had to, He does not need this book. He really does not, but this is how He has decided to do it. You read the word, and this is how He explains it to you,
He gave it to Paul on a very deep level so that Paul could put it down n a book, that you could read the book so that Christ in your mind could give you revelation knowledge.
Verse 5."Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles, and prophets by the Spirit;" This word "ages," it is not the word we would expect it to be. It is a word that means "generations." It is Strong's 1074. It is not talking about the ages as in the Age of Ages. It is talking about birth begetting, men of the same stock, or one family. What he is saying is which in other members of this same family, it was not made known unto the sons of men.
The family of God, brethren, has been in the earth for several thousands of years already.
The Jews were a part of the family of God. We are all of the same stock. The stock is the spirit of Christ. There are many that have the spirit of Christ to whom this revelation knowledge has not been made, which in other members of the family has not been made known. To those who were just sons of men, "as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles, and prophets by the Spirit;" What he is saying is, now apostleship is available now that the imparted anointing is available.
That anointing that enables us to grow up from seed and be a joint heir, a thinking, functioning Son of God. Not someone in whom the Holy Spirit is flowing like an ungodly spirit channels through a medium.
Brethren, do not shut off the tape, I am telling you that was the anointing that was on the prophets. They did not understand one word that they said. The Holy Spirit flowed through them like an ungodly spirit flows through a medium. They wrote it down. The Scripture clearly states that they did not understand what they wrote down. This Scripture is saying, now in this age where apostleship is available, where it is possible for you to grow up from seed, for you to have your understanding woven with the mind of Christ so that you are not a robot, but a thinking, joint heir with Christ.
In those members of the family of God who are growing up from seeds, they are the ones that are bringing this forth, they are the ones that it is for. They are the ones that are going to reveal it to you. The Holy apostle and the prophets by the spirit. I want to give you a thought about that phrase "a prophet by the spirit." I want to suggest to you that the prophets are the ones getting this by the spirit without understanding.
There are two ways this is going forth. In this day and age, the prophets of the Hebrews did not understand it. I believe the Scripture is saying that there is a group of people in the church today, apostles that are not coming forth out of the imparted anointing, they have an imputed anointing, but for God's purposes He has given them an ability to understand this word. I have no problem believing that, brethren, because there is a whole church world out there that is preaching a large...a very deep revelation of this word.
They are denying the judgment, but aside from that they are preaching a very deep revelation of this word. It is my opinion that they do not have the imparted anointing, because if they did they would know that there is a judgment. You cannot have the imparted anointing without the judgment.
Do you know that the imparted anointing is growing up from seed, and you cannot grow up from seed unless you are simultaneously smiting your carnal mind? Does anybody not understand that?
We have two groups in the church today that are teaching deep revelation. One by the imparted anointing, and one by the imputed anointing. It is a gift in the imputed anointing to understand the mysteries of this Scripture. You can only take it so far. Apparently, you cannot understand the judgment in the imputed anointing, because it is being denied. Does anybody not know what I am talking about?
There are gifts in the church, the gifts are passing away. The Imparted anointing is not passing away. The imparted anointing is making you eternal. The imputed anointing is for a season. If you have the deepest doctrine, the greatest gifts, if you are as spiritual as came be, if it is an imputed anointing, it is a gift from God that crushes your carnal mind, and lets the spirit be reveled from you.
Brethren, when the Sons of God stand up and the imparted anointing starts to flow from their minds, those believers that are moving in the gifts are going to start to lose their anointing. It must decrease that the greater can increase.
When you lose it, Lord willing you will have an opportunity to move into the imparted anointing also. You are not entering into the kingdom on an imputed anointing.
Why? Because to enter into the kingdom, the enmity in your flesh must be slain. Jesus is not about to slay the enmity in your flesh when your flesh is not woven together with Christ. The slaying of the enmity of your flesh is the weaving together. That is what the slaying of the enmity in your flesh is. Hallelujah.
Verse 5. "Which in other ages.." which in other members of the family of God,"...was not made known unto the sons of men..." Those who are natural men. "...as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets," because the "Spirit" is upon them.
Verse 6. "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." This word is going to the Gentiles. The Jews have a big problem with that, brethren. You all know that I meet with a Hasidic rabbi that I love dearly. It amazes me how similar he is to the Pharisees in the Bible. They are convinced that they will be or remain a cut above mankind. They believe that salvation is going to the world, but they think that they are going to rule the world, that they will always be higher and more elite than the rest of the world.
The basis upon which he says this to me is this. "The Jew has an element." Listen to this, it is true! "The Jew has an element in their soul that the Gentile does not have, they have something more than the Gentile has." What he does not understand is that this extra something can be imparted by the spirit.
The natural Jew has something special in their spiritual heredity, by that they shall rule. No understanding of the move of the spirit. I continue to encourage you, brethren, to think that you are better than your brother, because the Scripture clearly states if you sit yourself in the first row, brethren, when someone comes in with merry clothing they are going to put you in the back, and you are going to be embarrassed.
Humble yourself before your Lord, thank God for everything that He gives you, and know that the more you have the more you are called to be a servant. Pride, the greatest amongst you shall be their minister.
Verse 6. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs..., equal "...and of the same body." Brethren, I am sure that you do not think that they are going to be in the same physical body with you. They are going to be a part of the body of Christ, we are talking about the soul. The body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, is not your physical, corrupted body. It is talking about you soul, brethren.
"That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel."
Does it not say in another place that the Jews will come to the Lord because of the law, and Gentiles shall come by faith? Does it not say something like that in the book of Romans? The Gentile and the Jews are both coming, but they are coming different ways. The end result is going to be the same. The end result, Christ in you the Hope of Glory.
Verse 7. "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power." Paul was made a minister of this new covenant which is in Christ. This spiritual covenant is not made because of the blood of bulls or goats, but because the spiritual blood or the spiritual life of Christ is dwelling in your heart, and is becoming your mind. Thereby making the whole world of one blood, when Christ is in you, brethren.
The Body of Christ is like a bird. When the wings flap, for all intents, and purposes, the legs are worthless. Brethren, when the mind of Christ appears in the whole world, and there is no marriage or giving of marriage in Heaven, there is no more reproduction of human babies being born, it will not matter what color you are, not that it matters now, but it will not matter.
Some people are all upset over the mixing of the races. It is not going to matter what your body looks like. It is not going to matter whether you are a man or a woman, it is not going to matter if you mix your races, because you are not going to be using your body that way. You are going to be living by the blood of Christ in the spirit.
Jesus, thank you Lord. Paul is made a minister of this gospel. "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God." The reason that he is a minister is that Christ is in his mind. "by the effectual working of his power." That word "effectual" means "energy or spiritual power." He is made a minister of this gospel, because the power of God is revealed in him.
Brethren, anyone that calls them self a minister of the gospel that is not preaching out of the mind of Christ, who does not have the power of God to offer to you is a liar and a thief.
Verse 8. "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given." I remind you that Paul is saying this, because he was a murderer of Christians. He was a very great sinner, and this privilege is given unto him. Let me remind you that God does not reward you according to your works, thank God. He does not reward us according to our works.
"That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Unsearchable meaning that the spiritual riches in Christ are so beyond anything that we can imagine, that we limit ourselves by asking God for carnal things. I have ceased from that a long time ago, I do not ask for carnal things.
Every once in a while I will ask the Lord for something. I have told Him that I would like go to Florida for my daughter's wedding, I asked Him for the Online Bible. I do ask Him for things once in a while. I do try very hard not to ask for carnal things.
I tell you more, and more, every day of my life, Paul said that has become a reality for me, "I count the things of this world as dung."
I cannot think of anything that anybody can offer to me that would make me give up the privilege of spending seven days a week in the things of God. I cannot think of anything that anybody could offer me that would make me want to give this up. Everyday, I become more, and more content with what I have. Every day, more and more content. More and more at peace in believing that He who has called me to this will not fail me in the hour of my need. That is peace, brethren.
Verse 9. "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery..." This fellowship means to partake of the mystery, and to make all men see what it would be like to partake of the mystery, "...which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God." This is a very bad translation, "which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God." What the interlinear says is "having been hidden from the Ages of God." Let me remind you that in Ecclesiastes that the ages are in your heart. The ages, brethren, are your carnal mind.
These mysteries have been hidden from your carnal mind. This mystery, this knowledge, there is no way your carnal mind can receive this. It has been hidden from the ages, and it is in God, in Christ, so that the ages cannot see it.
We did something like this in the 78 series. We did that verse in Ecclesiastes where it shows clearly that God has deliberately hidden this wisdom from those people who live out of their carnal mind. Do not think that it is being preached, that it is out there. Brethren, if you are in your carnal mind you cannot hear it. You cannot comprehend it, you cannot understand it, you cannot believe it , you hate it.
Only those thinking with their Christ minds can hear this. "Who created all things by Jesus Christ."
Let me remind you that Jesus Christ was not a fallen human being creating this creation like a sand castle. This whole creation was carved out of the substance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a sacrifice, He permitted Himself to be joined to the earth, and God breathed the breath of life into the man. He added His Son to this lump of clay.
Jesus became poor so that we could become rich in receiving all of the riches in His life. We are made out of His flesh, that is why He will never let us be destroyed forever, He will not rest until He has raised us from the dead. For what man has ever hated his own flesh?
Verse 10. "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." What Paul is saying is that the principalities and the powers that are in the Heavenlies. The word "Places" is in italics, you might see if you have the King James.
In the interlinear it is not Heaven, it is Heavenlies. I am suggesting to you that this Scripture is speaking of the many souls of the many members of the living soul. The powers and principalities that are in the soul realm might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.
Brethren, the powers and principalities are the spiritual authorities that rule this age. Who is the prince of the power of the air? Satan, the unconscious part of the carnal mind. Powers and principalities, it is talking about Satan in your carnal mind. They are going to be taught the manifold wisdom of God by the church.
Christ in your mind, when you submit to this teaching you are forcing the powers and principalities in your mind to be taught the manifold wisdom of God.
When you bring your body here, when you bring your carnal mind here when it does not want to come, when Satan in your mind is screaming "do not go back to that crazy ministry," and you get here anyway, you are instructing the powers and principalities in your mind the manifold wisdom of God. You have taken authority over your vessel.
Do not think that you are going to do something like that without paying a price. The powers and principalities in your own mind are not dead yet, and they will bring harassment into your life on one level or another. Do not think that this is a free ride, because it is not.
Someone told me once that they like to go to a particular church because they have peace there, and every time they come here they are tormented. To assume that God wants you where you are having peace is not necessarily a correct assumption. Peace, brethren, that God gives you comes at the end of the battle.
The peace this lady was talking about was the peace of a turncoat. Someone who had sold out, who would not fight the warfare and had the peace because Satan, the unconscious part of the carnal mind, was not harassing her. The peace that comes after you obey God, and God gives you the victory over Satan and the carnal mind, that is the peace that passeth all understanding.
That is the peace that no man can take from you. If you sell out, brethren, and you do not obey God, the day will come, maybe God will start to goad you, and you will find yourself pushing against the pricks. Then you will be caught between Satan and the Lord, then watch the warfare fall.
What am I saying? If you have peace, because you are disobeying God, it is just a false peace. Peace, peace but there is no peace. It is just a matter of time before all Hell breaks loose. When you win the warfare, when you take the victory after obeying God, that is the peace no man can take from you. That is your crownlets. Better to start fighting sooner than later.
Verse 11. "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." This word "eternal" does not mean eternal in the Greek. You may know that the word eternal, everlasting, or eternity verses the life of the ages is continuously confused in the King James translation as well as other translations.
Eternity, brethren, has no beginning and no end. The Life of the Ages has a beginning and has an end. Even the age that is the greatest of all, the Age of Age the last stage, the stage of Jesus Christ, that too has a beginning and has an end.
The end of it is that when we are offered up to the Father, and we become pure spirit, and we are absorbed into eternity. "According to the purpose of the ages God placed in Jesus our Lord." These purposes that God has purposed by creating the ages in Christ Jesus are going to be explained to your carnal mind. What does that mean? Is that not another way of saying that your carnal mind is being woven together with the mind of Christ? Is this not another witness to what we are teaching here? Is the Lord bypassing your carnal mind like a robot?
No. He is going to teach your carnal mind, that is the weaving together that is going to produce the life of the Age and eventually eternal life.
I have been teaching you that the first generation of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the unconscious mind in the believer, and the second generation of Christ known as Christ Jesus is the conscious mind in the believer. In view of this teaching, how can Verse 11 say "according to the purpose that He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." If we are the second generation of Christ, if we are Christ Jesus, how can Paul say Christ Jesus our Lord?
This is the answer, brethren. While we are still in an unwoven condition while Christ Jesus is being formed in the womb of the earth of our fallen Adamic soul, and that fallen Adamic soul known as our carnal mind is separate and independent from Jesus Christ, not only separate and independent from Him but at war with Him. While we in our carnal minds, in the darkness of our fallen minds, have not yet totally apprehended by Christ in accordance with this Scripture. Paul is saying that we are that carnal fallen man, and Christ Jesus the mind of Christ who is co existing at this time, with our carnal mind, is the Lord of the carnal man.
The end of the carnal man, however, if Christ Jesus is appearing in you, is that He shall be woven together with our Lord Christ Jesus, which is the slaying of the enmity in our flesh which is the carnal mind. Then we shall be one with Him, but for so long as our canal mind is alive and well and living through...in any measure of our thought pattern, or our behavior, we are not Christ Jesus, but Christ Jesus is the Lord of us.
Please do not be confused if you recall me saying to you, we are Christ Jesus, because when I say that to you I am doing the same think that the Lord is doing in Daniel seven where He calls the church saints. "Saints," means "holy ones," but no one knows how unholy we are. We are spiritual filth in our spirit and in our soul. The Lord knows that the command has gone forth. It is only a matter of time before He cleans us up.
He calls us saints in the same way the Lord knows it is only a matter of time until Christ Jesus in us is woven together with our carnal minds; therefore, He can call us Christ Jesus. For whatever Paul's purpose in Ephesians 3:11, he makes the point that, that promise has not yet been fulfilled in the saints, in every saint of God other than the man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 12. "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him." "In Whom we have boldness..." In Christ we have boldness. When Christ is in us we become bold. We also have access to confidence of faith in Him. I thought I made some notes here, here it is I put it in the wrong place. This is not the best translation, what this is saying according to the Interlinear "by His faith," we have boldness, by "His faith" which is distributed to our hearts.
In Christ Jesus we received boldness and have access with confidence to His faith which He has distributed to us. Brethren, your faith is not worth very much. It is very nice that you believe that He was crucified and that He died for you but, brethren, it is the faith of Christ that is going to raise you from the dead. His faith, His mind, His life must become you. It must swallow up every inch of corruption in you. It is not our faith, but it is by His faith which has been imparted to us.
Verse 13. "Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory." Brethren, some people get very upset when they see elders in the church go through severe trials. Some times I am very concerned about, especially the younger people, that you are going to be set back by some of the things you see that I go through. It is for your glory, the higher I ascend, the higher I bring you up. This way I can be a better example to you. This is the way it has to be. Severe trials, whether or not you will have to go through the same trials, I do not know.
I have been going through trials like this for 15 years. There are people that do not believe my life. I have been criticized frequently saying "Someone this long in the church, you cannot possibly have these problems. There must be something wrong with you." There is nothing wrong with me, brethren. It is all for your sake, it is all for your glory. That means you are going to benefit from everything that I am becoming, everything that I have become, and everything that I have learned through all that I have been through. It is going before you, to teach you, and to help you.
Verse 14. "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," He is talking about his soul. He is bowing his soul down low so that Christ can have the pre-eminence in his mind. The people that are preaching a sonship message that says we are equal with Christ, we are on the same level as the man Jesus, they are mistaken. That man, Jesus, has been glorified and became our unconscious mind.
Even when we stand in full stature, He will be greater than we are because He shall be the Father, and we shall be the Son. He shall always be greater.
When we are translated into pure spirit, then there will be no difference between the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ Jesus. All will all be flowing as one ocean. That is a long way off. There will be no more soul realm, it will be pure spirit. I do not know much about that.
Verse 15. "Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," I would just like to point out something interesting to you. This phrase "of whom the whole family," we have had lots of Scripture and prophesy, where the English says "and the men or all of the men," then I would say, "Brethren, I am going to translate that "the whole man."
This Scripture, when you look it up in the Interlinear, that is what it says. It says "all of the family." Here we find a Scripture that it is translated "the whole family." I have done that many times in our Alternate Translation. Does anyone not know what I am talking about?
Verse 15. "Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," Brethren, there is a family, a family of God that exists in the spiritual realm of God, and it exists in the earth of our soul. Right now we have some Christians in Heaven with the Lord, but their souls are still very polluted. We have some Christians that are moving in all partial ways, but there is a family of God where Christ will be appearing in the Heaven of their spirit and in the soul of their earth. It is not enough to have Christ in your Heaven, He has got to be in your earth.
He has got to be in your relationships, He has got to be in the way you deal with people, He has got to be in the way you respond to crisis. He has got to be in your outward man. It is not enough to be in your inward man. He can start there, but He must reach out and touch the ends of your earth if you want your soul to be saved. The salvation of your soul is the appearance of Christ in your flesh.
As He vibrates into your soul, He is killing your soul. It requires a sacrifice, trials and warfare, and pain. Brethren, it is the pain or pangs of child birth, joy truly cometh in the morning. You are not only fighting for yourself, you are fighting for your children. If you are married, you are fighting for your husband. If your parents are still alive, you are fighting for your parents. Your whole family, whoever is dear to you.
When Christ starts vibrating forth from your mind on a regular basis, it is going to touch everyone that you have a soul tie. It has to.
You are fighting for your whole family plus future generations. God has called you, and you are the only one in your family. You have an awesome responsibility. You should know this. Not only is it your family, if you are called in any measure of ministry...I believe that everybody has some ministry. You do not have to be in formal ministry. There is a whole slew of people out there waiting for you to mature, so that you can minister to them. I tell you the truth. The whole slew of people that God has ordained will be ministered to by you.
If you have been called you have an awesome responsibility in the earth, you are very important. God has some important works to do through you. Jesus
Verse 16. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Glory is talking about His spirit in the soul realm, the manifestation of His spirit in the soul realm. It is rich, it is valuable, brethren. It is powerful enough to strengthen you by His spirit in the inner man.
If you look that up in the Greek, it is not saying the Spirit of Might, but it is saying to strengthen you that you might become mighty by His spirit in the inner man.
The Spirit Of Might is one of the Seven Spirits of God, and it is speaking of the formation of Christ in you. He is the warrior. You might have heard me teach that the Holy Spirit is not defensive, he is curative. He may heal you of a disease, He may cast out a demon, but He never prevents you from becoming infected. A Spirit of Might in your inward man, when He vibrates out towards our flesh, will defend you against dieses, and will defend you against Spiritual attack.
We are told here in Verse 16 that Christ Jesus has the power to make you mighty by the impartation of His Spirit that will be revealed as your inner man. Before Christ comes to you, you only have one man, your carnal man. When Christ comes to you, you now have two men. Your inner man and an outer man, a spiritual man and an earth man.
It is the same thing as Paul talking about you immortal soul. If you have an immortal soul you must have a mortal soul.
We have talked about this, reverse inference, if you have one you must have the other, or there must be another. The inner man is your immortal soul. The outer man is your mortal soul, the one that dies. This false teaching in the church that your soul is eternal, it is a lie. Your soul is mortal, it dies when it sins. That which is immortal is your spirit. God help us.
Verse 17. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love." Brethren, Christ dwells in your heart by His faith that has been imparted to you. His faith is the faith of God that has been imparted to you as a seed. He is dwelling in your hearts because of the victory that the Father gave Him when He raised Him from the dead.
It is not your faith, there is nothing of you that is worth anything. You are a shadow, you are vile, you are dust, you are corrupt. If Christ is not in you, you are a menstruous rag. There is nothing in you that is worth anything, but when He joins Himself with you, you are valuable.
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love." This is in the Interlinear. It is one word, rooted and grounded, #2311. It means "to erect a foundation. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by His faith," that He may place His foundation in you.
Brethren, we have preached it here as a foundation, we have preached it here as a power base. We found out in Zechariah that when the living soul went off into rebellion, she started her own power base and started incarnating on her own authority.
That is why we have a whole world full of vile people who are sick and dying, because they are incarnated by the fallen living soul, not the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has come to place a new foundation in you. The foundation that you are grounded and rooted in now is made of sand. That is why you are dying , you are sick, and you have all kinds of problems. The Lord has come to give you a new foundation.
Even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and upon Him the prophets and the apostles, that you might build a Holy temple in your own heart, and receive the eternal life of His spirit. When you build that temple, it is going to be indwelt by the Spirit of Christ.
Verse 18. "May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height." Brethren, if you look these words up in the Greek that is what it means. I am going to suggest to you something that we have taught her over the years. I am going to suggest to you that these four words, breadth, length, depth, and height is talking about a three dimensional square. Does anyone have a problem with that?
A three dimensional square. Does anybody remember what a square represents in regards to spiritual matter? Anybody? It means the fullness, but more specifically than that, we know that a right triangle typifies the spiritual man. What kind of a man does the square typify?
COMMENT: Inaudible.
PASTOR VITALE: No, it typifies the glorified man. The man who has become pure spirit, that you might be able to comprehend what it is going to be like to be pure spirit. That you might be able to comprehend this promise to you that you are going to be pure spirit.
Fallen man, brethren, we say that he is a straight line, but really he is an arc on the circle of the earth, that he is so shallow that he looks like he is a straight line. He is a six. At some point in your life, the Father in Heaven descends and meets that earth man at a right angle. Spiritual man/earth man. The man becomes a right triangle, spiritual man. His number is 12. Two sided man.
Then, when the glorification comes we found out that the glorification is accomplished by a spiritualization, an impact, an impartation of power that can be likened to atomic energy. In our past studies, we have applied Einstein's theory of relativity. We found that when you square the right triangle, after applying Einstein's theory of relativity, you get a square and the number of this man, the glorified man is 144.
Verse 19. "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," Brethren, this says we cannot comprehend the love of God. I see people the everyday refusing to recognize the love of God, they cannot believe it. When it manifests towards them, they think evil of it. They try to drag it down to the carnal realm and make it something dirty and something filthy. Fallen man cannot comprehend the love of God. They cannot comprehend loving one's enemies, it cannot comprehend not taking revenge.
I want to tell you that I found out a secret. I want to tell you something, there is no revenge, there is nothing that is worth losing anything that God has given, or is willing to give you. There is no emotion, there is no satisfaction in this horrible, fallen carnal world that is worth losing anything of the Spirit of God. It is not worth it. Turn your back on it, because it is a bondage.
Verse 19. "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." When we know the love of God, it is His purpose to fill us with it. Filled with the fullness of it, Spirit without measure, brethren. First we get to know it. First we have a relationship with Christ. When He comes to us and introduces Himself to us, and gives us gifts, the gifts of His spirit, it is His full intention to fill us with the fullness of it. which means He wants to conceive His Son in us. He wants that Son to grow up to the fullness of the stature of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be fully born in us and to fill us completely.
Brethren, there is a reverse inference here. You cannot be filled with the fullness of God while your carnal mind still lives. If you have a glass of water, and you want to change what is filling that glass to wine, the water has to go somewhere. That carnal mind has got to go. You cannot hold on to the things of this world, brethren. It will hinder, they will hinder your spiritual growth. Love not the things of this world, brethren, for they will only bring death into your life.
That does not mean you cannot have the things you need to have a life in this world, but offer them up to the Lord. If He gives them to you fine, if He takes them from you, hopefully you will be able to say Amen. There should not be anything in your life that you would not be willing to give up if you were convinced that it was the Lord who wanted it from you.
I have even gone as far as to say, "Lord if you take that from me, I will feel bad." You can express your emotions that is OK. "If you take it I would really cry, but if you want it, it is yours." Sometimes He takes it, sometimes He does not. Sometimes He takes, and He gives it back. Sometimes He takes it and gives you back something better. You cannot lose by sacrificing your whole life to God, even if that sacrifice is in your mind, in the way you think.
Brethren, if you will not let it go, it is idolatry. That which you idolize, you shall surely lose. That is a spiritual principle, brethren. God will destroy your idols. Better to offer it up to Him, He will not tolerate you worshiping another. The idols are in your heart, something that you love more than you love Christ. Ask God to help you, brethren. Ask Him to help you. There is not any sin that He is not strong enough to take from you if you tell Him that you recognize it as sin, and that there is nothing you can do about it. He will help you.
Verse 20. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Brethren, I tell you that here all the time, I preach that here all the time. Do not tell God what the answer to your problem is. Do not tell Him because He can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you can ask Him for, or that in your wildest dreams you could think that you could want. He can do above that. Do not solve your problems. You have a Savior, you have a Protector, you have a Mighty One that wants to rule over your life.
Do not tell Him His business. Tell Him what your problem is. Tell Him how you feel. Tell Him what you think, offer up your emotions to Him. Tell Him that your are angry, be real, then leave it on the alter. Let Him take care of it. He will do exceedingly, abundantly, above anything that you can imagine in your wildest dreams, according to the power that worketh in us.
Verse 21. "Unto him...," the Lord Jesus Christ, "...be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Maybe I did not mention this before, I think the Lord is telling me to comment on this.
There is a difference between Jesus the Christ and Christ Jesus. Jesus is the first generation of Christ, and this is speaking about the glorified man, Jesus. Christ Jesus is the second generation of Christ. Meaning all of the people in whom the spiritual life of that man, Jesus, is dwelling as our new unconscious mind.
We are the Sons. He has become the Father, and we are the Sons. Our conscious personality is Christ Jesus. "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." I was really surprised to find what a bad translation this was. I even preached "world without end" a lot. It is wrong.
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." Remember that the Lord has been teaching us here that we are existing in the divided age. The age that has been divided into seven days, or seven ages. The seventh day is the Sabbath, the day of rest, it is the day of Christ, or the age that is greatest of all ages. The spiritual year of Jubilee, we had that when we did Daniel 9 the other night.
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages," He is going to be glorified. This phrase "world without end" what this was saying is...let me back up a minute. "Throughout all ages." This word "ages" is not eons. It is the same word we had before, Strong's #1074. It is talking about the generations or all of the members of this age of Christ. To all the generations of the Age of ages. To all those that are born...remember that #1074 means to beget, to birth to be of the same stock, of the same family.
What it is saying, to every man that is born into the Age of Ages and how are you born into the Age of Ages? When Christ is born in you, brethren, and you enter into Him.
Remember, that part of you that is transferring from your carnal mind into the mind of Christ is your human spirit. When you abandon your carnal mind, and you enter into Christ you shall have become a member or a generation in His age, a member of the family which is all one, because you have Christ in common.
"Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus...," Unto all of the generations or unto all of those who are born into Christ, "...Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all..." Those that are born into Christ.
Then, Paul says "world without end." That is a totally wrong translation. What it says in the Interlinear is the Age of Ages. Paul says "world without end," and it sounds like eternity. The Age of Ages has an end. It has a beginning, and it has an end. The end of it is when it is swallowed up into eternity. This is just a totally wrong translation.
Let me give it to you one more time. "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout..." All those that are born into the age of Christ, the age which is the greatest of all ages. It is not world without end, it will come to an end. Anybody not know what I just said? Hallelujah. Any questions?
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