Vs. 14 "Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory."

In our last lesson we dealt at length with the phrase, "The earnest of inheritance. "And learned that the term" earnest as used in the text meant initial payment, Pledge, or "Caution money deposited by a purchaser in pledge of full payment" (Vincent).

Now, we want to consider the other two phrases in the text, "The redemption of the purchased possession, "and" Unto the praise of His glory."

First, "Until the redemption of the purchased possession," Earnest payment has been made, and this payment speaks of a time when the final payment will be made, and the transaction will be complete.

Let us never lose sight of the glorious fact, THERE IS A REAL SENSE IN WHICH OUR REDEMPTION IS COMPLETE, EVERY ASPECT OF IT BEING A FINISHED WORK, thus it is, Paul says, that Christ, "...entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption or us" (Heb. 9:12). Redemption has been perfectly accomplished by Christ for every covenant son, and nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. This is what Paul has in mind when he says to the Ephesians, "Ye were sealed" (Vs. 13). The "seal" speaks of ownership and ownership means price fully paid.

"The purchased possession," being the elect people of God. While they have NOTHING to do with obtaining their redemption, on the contrary, they are in their native state rebels against God. They are as much before their experience of regeneration the objects of the love of the Purchaser, as after their regeneration, and it is in manifesting this love that the elect are the objects of the Earnest, or original experience of many experiences which is to be realized by them on their God directed pilgrimage toward the complete redemption which Christ has purchased for them.

Phil. 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The original good in our realization of the eternal redemption which Christ has purchased for us is, regeneration, the second good work is, sanctification, and the glorification of the, believer's, wherein the physical body is raised from the grave incorruptible, the final experience. It is in glorification that redemption becomes complete in the believer's experience.

From the Divine side, redemption of the elect is eternally complete, from the human side there is the necessity of Holy Spirit regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. So, there is a sense wherein our redemption is complete, and a senses wherein it is progressive-future.

This same truth is vividly illustrated for us in II Sam. 9, Where we have the account of David and Mephibosheth.

1. David at this time is the undisputed king, who determined that Mephibosheth live in the palace with him. Mephibosheth knows nothing of the king's intentions. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God."

2. Mephibosheth lived in Lo-debar, which is to say, he lived in a land where there was no pasture. (2 Cor. 2:14) Not a single word of God makes any sense to the natural mind.

3. Mephibosheth was lame in both feet helpless and despicable. "No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him." (John 6:44). "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Ro. 5:6).

4. David sends for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth had neither, the will, nor the ability to come to David. He was "fetched out of his house." Psa. 110:3 "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power..." Isa. 40:11 "…He shall gather the lambs with His am, and carry then in His bosom..."

5. Mephibosheth is brought to the king's house, and is given a place at the king's table, and is treated as "one of the king's sons." He is given a great inheritance I John 3:1 "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God..."

Mephibosheth is a type of every believer, Elected by God, redeemed by Christ, brought by the Holy Spirit. In the bringing of the elect unto God, they are regenerated, sanctified, and glorified. The soul and spirit of every believer has. experienced regeneration, and presently experiencing sanctification. But Christ in His passion also redeemed the body and when our bodies are raised from the grave at the resurrection of the just or, if yet living, changed at the rapture, then we will have realized the full and complete redemption which Christ purchased for us.

"Unto the praise of His glory," This phrase speaks of the glorified saints praising the infinite magnificence of God. Beholding His excellence, we will then without variation glory in the Lord. In the meantime, in the interim between now and our glorification let us strive with all of our might to bring glory to Him who has made us His "purchased possession."

Vs. 15 "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.
Vs. 16 "Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." Paul was preeminently, a man of prayer. Prayer is one of the Christian’s greatest privileges, yet with many it seems to be a hateful duty, the dereliction of which brings no bitter consequent. While the Lord will rebuke His prayer less saints Paul knew that his God had said, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me" (Psa-50:15), While prayer is a duty, it was an exceedingly joyful one for Paul.

Paul said, "After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all saints," Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church was prompted by the wonderful manifestation of divine grace in their lives. People saved by grace will be gracious people, and thus it was with the Ephesian church, and thus it was, they were ever in Paul's prayers, lie said, I "cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers" (vs. 16).

The Ephesian saints were manifestly the objects of God's love and grace; this is seen in their being sealed by the Holy Spirit. The "seal" as we said before, speaks of God's loving ownership, arid vested authority. The Ephesian church was well versed in doctrine, this is seen from the deep doctrinal truth mentioned in the first 14 verses of chapter one. They were a missionary church; this is seen in their "love for all saints." In view of these two characteristics of the Ephesian church, Paul's heart swelled up with gratitude toward God for them. They had attained to great heights on God's mountain of grace, and Paul writes to encourage them to keep keeping on in the good fight of faith. Their faith in God gave birth to their love for all of God's people.

"After I heard", these words of Paul have been erroneously taken by some Bible scholars to mean that Paul had no personal acquaintance with the Ephesian church. However, this is not the case, Paul had spent three years (Acts 20:31) with the Ephesians, a longer period of time than he had spent with any particular church. The things that Paul heard of the Ephesian church was that they had faith toward God, and love toward the saints. This "faith", I believe, is more than trust or confidence in God; it also includes a proper doctrinal system. So the words, "After I heard" refer to progressive sanctification, which is present and continuing experience for those whose object of trust is Jesus Christ. They do not refer to the Ephesians initial experience of grace whereby they were saved, but to their growth in grace.

Paul's prayer (Vs. 16) emanates from a heart overflowing with gratitude toward God for the Ephesian church. We find in Paul's writings that he is evermore giving thanks to God, and this is especially true as regards the Lord's churches of Paul's day. We hear him say to the church at Rome, "...I thank my God...for you all..." (Rom. 1:8) To the church at Corinth, "I thank my God always on your behalf..." (1 Cor. 1:4)
To the church at Philippi, "I thank my God upon ever remembrance of You" (1:3).
To the church at Thessalonica "'we give thanks to God always or you all, making mention of you in our prayers." (I Thes. 1:2).

We learn from these verses (15-16) that Paul knows,
1. How to be thankful.
2. Whom to thank.
3. And that his thankfulness is not short lived, but that it is undiminished and daily. He says, "I cease not."

4. Also, we note Paul knows what to be thankful for, he is thankful for their love and faith.