Principles of Position, Lesson 2

Last week we spent the whole time doing one thing, which was going through Ephesians 1, verse 1 through 14. And what the purpose was, was just to identify positional truth. What are the positions there? So I thought, even though it's not on the question sheet, I thought maybe I'd put you on the spot right away this morning. What do you think position is? How would you define it? And I need more than one person to sort of answer. What do you think, how would you describe positional truth? Safety in God. Say that again? Safety? Safety in God? How about reality? Reality?

I don't know the word, but I'm kind of thinking like Inheritance or like, you know, when you're someone in the family, adoption, that sort of replacement. I understand. OK. Eternal, unchanging. What's that? Eternal, unchanging. It's eternal and it's unchanging. OK. What is it?

What is position or positional truth? Where we stand. Where we stand. The Brethren used to call, what we call position, they called standing. You have a standing. So it's important that we sort of get in your mind, this is a position or a standing that every believer has in Christ before God. And as we talked about two weeks ago, you can't change it. It's permanent.

It's built under grace, which means it's unlimited, totally unmerited. And the biggest issue is we're ignorant about what our positions are. And when we do find out about them, we aren't quite sure we believe all of that good news. And as we were going through Ephesians 1 last week, some of these things are just way over the top, I guess is how we would describe it.

So question two said, list some of the positional truths you see there, and we did that. And then question three was, then take to your heart Paul's prayer, which starts in 15 through 23, which is based upon the revelation of the first 14 verses. So let's go through that today.

Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. So he says, every time I pray, I mention you. And here's what I say about you, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, here's what he asks for. May he give unto you the spirit of wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him. What a terrific prayer that is. I would pray that for everybody in this room, and I would hope that you would pray it for me, because that's really the issue. Give unto each one of us the spirit of wisdom, which is applied knowledge, and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Epinosis, right, Courtney?

Not that he isn't doing that, because he is doing that, but if you see the relevance between the position that's been stated in the first 14 verses, then Paul takes that and says, here's the deal, here's how I would talk to the Lord about application of your position. The first thing is that you would know what they are. That there would be a revelation to you about the knowledge of Him, because our position is in Him. It's not a code of ethics in a book someplace, it's Him. Do you think the Lord Jesus has a pretty good standing before the Father? You think so? Where's yours? You think yours is pretty good?

Yeah, absolutely, you can say the same thing. So, the wisdom and revelation and knowledge of Him. Then, He says, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. that you may know what is the hope of his calling. So he says, look, I want you, Father, and I pray that your understanding would be made very clear, that there wouldn't be any confusion, that the revelation of the knowledge of him and the spirit of wisdom would be crystal clear. That's what he prays for. And that being enlightened that you might know was the hope of his calling. What is the hope of God's calling? It's a certainty that he knows. It's hope, so it's certainty. So what's the calling now? To call us to be in Christ. All of us to be in Christ. Go farther. The calling. We are the called and so we are in Christ. So what is there a hope about that calling? What's the goal?

There you go. That we might be conformed to his very image. And not when we leave the planet, but now. Right now. Because look at the sequence. He wants us to see and understand the revelation and we would know. That we would not be ignorant. That we would not be uninformed. Why is it so important for us to be conformed now if when we die we're going to be conformed automatically? Okay, that's a good question. Everybody hear the question? No, that's a really good question.

So what are you here for? What's God got you here for? What are you doing here? To do what? To glorify God. To glorify Him. How does He do it? through him working in and through us in kind of a light for those who don't know him yet. Okay, not bad. We're an ambassador, so... Ambassadors of the reconciliation. Right. Right. We represent him. We represent him.

The Lord Jesus Christ is as much here on the planet today as he ever was when he was walking around in Palestine. Why? Because he's in each one of us. And so the conformity to his image is so that people can see that he is here. In John 17, what does it say? And they may be one in us that the world may know that you sent me father. So nobody's interested in whether Wayne is a good Christian or you're a good Christian. That's exactly right that they would see Christ be attracted to him and come to him because they can see his glory in you.

So that's why. And I think it's pretty cool that God would even come up with a plan like that. That's really what he's doing. That you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Wow, what is that? The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

Now, go to John 17. Are you there, Courtney? Not yet. I usually am. What do you think when he says, I want every believer to understand what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. What is that? Let me ask and make it simple. What's the inheritance? The things of God. Christ. Christ is the inheritance. So what are you? I'm Christ. You're the inheritance, too. You know, in John 17, he starts talking about those that you've given me. What have I done with them? They're the prize. Who are they? It's you and me. And it's God's glory that is manifested. It's an inheritance. Like Peter says, it's stored up for us in heaven. But it has only to do with the glory of God.

To think, to even enter into the thought process, that the God of the universe has made a determination that every one of us would manifest to all of creation, his own glory, is just, how do you get around that? How is that, would he really do something like that? I would think he would make us all take showers and go to church on Sunday. Do a bunch of spiritual push-ups, you know, act like we're religious.

But this is a little different. So the riches of the glory of the inheritance, and notice where it is. Where is this inheritance? Where is it? In the saints. Who are they? You and me. And, verse 19, it gets better. And what the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. So all of what we've seen in the first 14 verses and everything that we've seen down to now, who's going to pull this off? God's going to pull it off. So how come you aren't all dancing around? What's the drawback? What keeps us from abiding? Unbelief. Who read The Hungry Heart this morning? Did you read it? Let's see if I can find it. What is the date today? 24th.

This is called Abide in Abundance. He quotes John 15.4, Abide in me and I in you. He says the quality of the fruit of the branch depends upon the quality of the life of the vine. So the inheritance of God is, who's the quality of life? It's Him. Neither quality nor quantity is the product of the branch. Who's the branch? You and me. For the branch merely receives what is produced by the vine.

To walk with God in hallowed fellowship is not only a secret of joy and growth, it is the condition of all acceptable service, of all real usefulness. answers part of your question. The value of what we do depends very much on what we are. And what we are depends upon where we abide. The mightiest power of usefulness is the quiet influence of a life that abides habitually in the secret place of the Most High. Such a one dwells in the source of all life and all purity and all fruitfulness.

That is really a cool statement because it gets rid of all of this, I got to be a great Christian. But your mind goes, oh gee, that sounds a little apathetic. You mean as a believer I can abide in the quietness, in the quiet influence of a life that habitually abides in the secret place of the Most High? Can I do that? Yeah, that's the really cool thing to do. It is just a matter of taking a position, now listen to this, that is already yours.

The enemy has filled the minds of many believers with the delusion that they are poor and in their poverty they must work and grind and toil in order to buy the blessings which are already theirs in Christ. That answers the question why don't believers abide? It is time to see that all you need you have in Christ. There is no need of yours which is not fully met in Him and you are in Him.

You only need to take the position which is already yours. That's what positional truth is about and that's how it's implemented. You take the position. In other words, you believe it and just rest in it. And it's God's obligation to reveal and to conform and to make it real.

That's Him. I read this thing, maybe I've said it in this class before, if you don't make it to heaven, you know whose fault it is? It's His. It's God's fault. See? Because He does everything. And the thing is that we have trouble, I think, grasping the vastness of what He's done in your position. If we would just let him show us and we would rest in it, it would totally change us. Okay. Okay. So everything sounded really good up until when you said, if we would just do this.

So it's almost like another, like if you just rested more, you know what I mean? I think it's part of God's plan that we would just take it as he gives it to us and not even try to rest more. You know what I mean? Or believe more. It's kind of like it sounds like, and I know this sounds like hippie stuff, but it's kind of like be in the moment, you know? Like just be now.

So if you were in the class last week and we read the first 14 verses, what do you do with the information? And isn't believing resting in it? Yeah. Okay. And we're there. There is a rest. But you don't try to rest more, you try to fall asleep. The focus isn't rest, the focus is the Lord Jesus.

And, as we're seeing here, Paul has prayed about being enlightened, that we would see, understand, and believe. And then what she brought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principality, etc, etc. So that's our position. And you could spend the rest of your life just studying your position, which means you'd be reading Paul's Epistles, especially the first half of them. So the other equation, do you have a question? Yes. Go.

Resting doesn't really mean... resting. I mean, resting means, to me, I'm just saying, resting means that I'm not worried about whether my daughter is ever going to get to go home again because of the snowstorm. I'm not going to Resting is just knowing that God is in charge.

There's a lot to that. There's a lot to that statement. I think you're right. And not only just to know that he's in charge, but the vastness of his control, you know, and the personalness of his focus and attention on each one of his sons. You know, it is personal with him and it's individual.

And so it's cool that it is that way because none of us are left to wait in line. The rest of it is just believing and trusting in Him. That's the rest. You get the rest because you believe and you trust in Him. That's a result of that. Just believing what He says and trusting Him.

But when you kept talking about rest, you know, way back when, I just... I just now am beginning to understand what that means. Well, we get a lot of it in the grace class, too. When non-meritorious, non-working, and that means you just sit back in the hippie, and you sit back in the room and om, and contemplate your navel, and kind of sit back and do nothing. That's not what it means. You operate from a position of rest.

And that's where, once you believe, then you... in Him and all these promises that He has, the facts that He has about us. And that's the beautiful part, you know, is that it's rest, and the world can't provide that. That's the stark contrast is between rest in Him, there is no rest in the world. And that's the beauty of it. Once you believe this, the rest that you have is rest, but that doesn't mean you just sit in a room and do nothing.

Now you can be used mightily of it. And the other thing I wanted to say too, we need kind of the yada yada yada at the end of this. There's some beautiful stuff at the end of this in verse 22 and 23. That's why he's here. And gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, us. The fullness of him who fills all in all. That is tremendous. You know, he's the head over the church. We are the church. And he fills us completely, all in all. And like you were saying, Wanda, he's in charge with the way it says in 22. He put all things under his feet and gave him the head over all things to the church. So, you know, if... So if I'm not resting, And I had a couple days this week as I'm dealing with the IRS that I wasn't resting. What's my problem?

We're studying on Wednesday night the book of Philippians and Paul is in the Mamertine prison. Usually if you're in the Mamertine prison, the only reason they take you out is to put you to death. And he's telling the Philippians he wants to come see him. He's not quite sure whether he'll be able to do that or not, but then he decides he is going to see him again. And he's confident about it. And you know what's interesting about that? He never once mentioned Caesar. Because he knew Caesar wasn't the deciding factor. His father was. So when this says all things are put under his feet, who's the decider here? Now it's the IRS. That's right. That's right. So what's my problem?

I'm functioning in disbelief. I'm not operating by faith. I'm believing in the IRS. So if you're resting in your position, is your sin nature comfortable? Oh wow, what a question. Galatians says walk in the Spirit. I've asked this question a thousand times.

What's going on in your mind and your vision when you're walking in the spirit? What's happening? Are you just daydreaming or sleeping? What are you doing? You're not paying any attention to it. Why not? Because you're paying attention to something else. And what's the something else?

And His glory. Because the Spirit of God has said, Oh yeah, I see that Paul was talking. Yeah, I think I'll do that. I'll let those guys know what the deal is here. I'll let them know and I'll open up their understanding and I will enlighten them. And I will show them the greatness of God's power.

The sin nature is the one that always wants to be in control. Sure. And that's kind of what we... And so does the Spirit of God. He always wants to be in control. They are rivals within you to control you. See, you don't get to control yourself. If you think you are, the sin nature is driving the bus. The thing is, is that you abide in the Lord Jesus Christ and you let him, by faith, the Spirit of God manifest his life through you. What are you doing? You're beholding him. Now, I know what you're thinking. If I'm going down on I-25 and I'm beholding him, boy, they better look out. I think the other is that there is no rest in the old man. There's no rest in him. He always wants to work, do something. There's rest in Christ.

And when thinking about the IRS and all the things, I always go back to what I pound a lot is, who's in control? Did he allow the IRS to torment you? Sure he did. He did? Yeah. If you understand, there's rest in that. It doesn't matter. He allowed it. He didn't go oops and miss that. And he's allowing it for a reason and a purpose.

I know. But I think for a long time, Your perception is that the sin nature is going to have that blessing. You know what I'm saying? People that are sick or people that have a lot of things that are going on, somehow or other the Holy Spirit transcends the condition that you're in and allows you to focus on Christ. See, I think that's the growth and the grace and the knowledge. It's a growth process. resting in Adam to resting in Christ. Because you try and rest in Adam and there is no rest. And as the Spirit convicts you of that, it's resting in Christ. That's where rest is. Sure. Okay.

Now we're going to talk about, which we've already been talking about, is the condition. What's your condition? What's our condition? Position, condition, standing, state. What's a condition? Why that word? That's kind of a cool word. What does it mean? That's when you can be bothered by your condition. There's no question, you can be. So what is meant by my condition? So we've spent a couple of weeks talking about position, and we have a position, but we also have a condition.

It can change. Okay, it can change. It's a moment by moment almost, isn't it? Yeah. It's our state of affairs. It's what? Our state of affairs. Yeah, it's a state of affairs. So let's do four and five together. The element's your condition. It's the experiential aspect of the Christian walk. Now, I don't want us to think that the word condition is bad. It's not.

Because what is God up to? His purpose is to get our condition to line up with our position. So that we will walk conditionally commensurate with what we have in our position. God also doesn't do it all at once when we become saved, all of a sudden. The position he does all at once.

Right, but I mean our tradition doesn't. No, that's right. Because isn't it like, I kind of think of back in the Old Testament, he says I would give you everything, but it would be too much for you. There was a war. You're talking about Israel taking over the land. And they'll take it over little by little. Because I think we have to be expanded to take possession of our positions. I think that's right. I think that's absolutely right.

Here's what the chapter I sent you, what Miles says, it is what we are in our Christian walk, in which we develop from infancy to maturity, and it's variable. It takes a long time. Only guys that are over 50 can say that. And if you look at Hebrews 12, the metaphor there is that we're running a marathon race to glory. That's what we're doing.

And this conformity process is going on all the time. Yeah, I'm growing spiritually, but it's to manifest the glory of the Lord Jesus for the benefit of the body and others. Let's say it happened all of a sudden. Let's say you became a Christian and then all of a sudden you just manifested the glory of God right away. It seems like people would try and get in on that.

No, you know what they would do? They'd crucify you. That's what they did to Christ. Yeah, they'd get rid of you. Because you're too much of a guilt. The Lord Jesus said that they would not have had their sin if I didn't show up. So he shows up and everybody is intimidated.

What is the exact meaning of glory? Oh boy. Okay. No, that's good. Glory. And we're talking about God's glory, right? Yes. God's glory is the sum total of God's intrinsic attributes. manifested. Intrinsic attributes. And God's glory isn't piecemeal, you know, it's like the fruit of the spirit singular, all the fruit all the time, it's not one or the other. So it's a matter of the production via the work of the Holy Spirit to manifest the glory of God through you.

But the one who is the visible glory of God is Christ, Him. And then John 17, you go back to that, he says, look, Father that you may glorify me with the glory that we had before the world began. Why would he ask him? Because he set it aside as a man. But now, as a man, the full glory of God is his and radiates out of him.

And that's why in 2 Corinthians 3.18 it says that as we behold in the word with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, and that's what the Bible is really designed to do, is to reveal, as he says here in Ephesians, the glory of the Lord. And when you see his glory, what happens? It has an effect on us. It begins this transformation process into his very image. But what is his image?

It's glory. But it's like the vine and the branches. Every time you sneak a peek to the fruit, the glory goes away. The focus is to be on the source of the life who is divine. The glory which you have given me, I've given to them, that they may be one just as we are one. You've given it to us.

So, you know, we've been we've been talking for maybe 40 minutes. I don't know if you like me. How much stuff have we talked about? That if we just settle down on any of it, it would just cause us to rest and not be anxious or antsy about anything. Look what he's already just laid out to us in 40 minutes.

But we're going to go home this afternoon and worry. My daughter's in Brooklyn and it's snowing and she's worried about letting the dogs out. Well, that wouldn't be a problem. And if you watched the Weather Channel yesterday, you'd think that the winter storm was on again. We're all going to die. And then they show pictures of everybody out to celebrate. Give me a break.

So the issue is to believe your position and then understand that while I do have a walking around everyday existence called a condition, And it's the experiential aspect of the Christian life. And you know what's cool about that? God intends to make experiential to you the position. It isn't just theological theory. It isn't just a bunch of biblical truths up on the wall. It's life. It's Him. And your condition is always dependent on your position. Always. It has to be.

I was wondering, as you've been talking, I was thinking about the Christians who saw them too, and how that all fits in in real time back then when that was going on. And they still had their position in Christ, and the condition of them being, you know, it would be tricky to have a lot of rest while they were sawing.

Or what if you were one of Nero's torches? Oh, yeah. How about one of those? I don't know. But here's the thing. As a young believer, when I was talking to somebody one day and they were talking about, they couldn't understand why, when the Christians were being marched down to the Coliseum to do lunch for the lions that they were singing, Why were they singing? I think they were singing because they knew who they were. And you know what?

We all sort of worry about, oh, we're going to die, or how we're going to die, or whatever. You know, it's the greatest day. We've been praying for several weeks for Paul Giles, and the Lord is certainly going to take him home soon. If I'm him, I'm anxious to get out of here. I'm done. Let's go. Why would I want to stay here? Paul says in Philippians, it's far better for me to be with you, Lord, but I'll stay here if that's what your purpose is.

And so when you learn your position, what do you find out? Boy, what's in front of you? What have you got to look forward to? Where are you going? How cool is that? Sin nature dropped off out of the cesspool of the world and abiding face to face with the Lord Jesus. Wow, that's pretty cool.

We're supposed to know that before we get there. I think a lot of these theologians, you've heard me say this before, will be walking around in heaven with all their books under their arms and they'll walk up to Jesus and say, excuse me. They won't know him. And the whole idea is to know him.

I think what you said about what you're talking about martyrs or Christians who get killed, Exactly what you said is that it incites hatred. If they're manifesting Christ, then people want to kill them. Because they love the darkness more than the light. Okay, a couple more things.

Your condition is variable. It changes at any given time, where your position never does. God's promise is that he will work the facts of our position into our condition so you can trust him. Is the condition of every believer the same? No. Is the position of every believer the same? Yes. You're doing really good.

When Adam sinned, did he die positionally or conditionally? Explain. I think he died positionally because he became separated from God. Okay. He died positionally, spiritually. Yes. But it's 700 plus years later that he died conditionally. Okay. So his position was sealed immediately, but it took 700 years to implement a condition based on the position of separation from God. But I thought you said Adam's going to be in heaven.

Sure is. So doesn't that mean positionally he wouldn't be? Well, let's see if Adam measures up to the test. Is Adam in Christ? No. No, he's not. So, but he's saved. He's a saint. But he had faith after... After God presented something to him. Abraham had faith and he was accounted righteous. Does that mean he's in Christ?

No. No. Because there's no language in the Old Testament or even in the New Testament that says any of these Old Testament saints are in Christ, that are inheritors and sons. But they are saints, which means they've been set apart by God, and what are they going to inherit? New heavens, new earth, here. It's kind of cool.

But God killed his animals and made clothes. Sure did, yeah. So that was the first sacrifice. First blood sacrifice, that's right. And what did it show? What did it show? I don't know if you've had this thought process. Have you ever noticed that God demands a blood sacrifice for sin? Even with Adam? Why? Why does somebody have to die? Because you can't, it's like that seed, unless the seed dies, you can't, I don't know. That's pretty good, you're tracking good. Anybody else? Why death? Why doesn't he give us 40 years of hard labor? Well, why that punishment?

Because God cannot have sin in his presence. Sin is not part of who he is. In the new creation that we're the first fruits of, there is no sin. And when the new creation is implemented, there won't be any sin. There can't be anything adverse to God in the new creation.

And so he demands the death of the old in every case. That's why the blood sacrifice. That's why Jesus was crucified. Why didn't they just lock him up? I think that supports the Trinity too, because the Holy Spirit must be able to see sin. Now, from a positional standpoint, when Adam died positionally to God, when did you die? When he died. Yeah, when Adam was condemned, when were you condemned? when he was. So Adam died conditionally 700 years later. Are we all condemned, are all men condemned that are born on the earth?

Romans 5.12 if you want to reference it. By one man sin entered the world, our boy Adam, and along with that sin came death, separation from God, and death or separation passed to all men. Why? Because all men sinned in Adam.

What will be the result if the believer does not know his position in the Lord Jesus and how to abide in him as his very life? What's going to be the consequences of that? Well, I thought you said it's God's fault if we're not conformed. No, it's God's fault if you don't make it to heaven. So what happens if a believer doesn't know Let's just say, are there a lot of believers who don't know position? Absolutely there are. Anybody who's into Reformed theology doesn't know anything about position. Nothing.

I was sitting with Glenn this week, and we're talking, I'm teaching him position. He's blinking. He never heard this before. And I'm showing him in the Word, I said, well, you know, is that true of you? Yeah, that's true of you. And what is that called? It's a position. And you can see, Wow, he's kind of excited he's finding out some things about who he is that he never knew before. So, believers are more aware of their condition than their position.

Wouldn't you say that's true? So, if that's the case, you won't be able to grow. Why? Because you haven't got the focus of your faith. See that? The beholding in a mirror of the glory of the Lord is your position. If that isn't apparent to you, you can't grow because you don't have an object for your faith. The Christian who comes to see his position in Lord Jesus begins to experience the benefit of all that he is in him. His daily state is developed from the source of his eternal standing. How about this statement? But only the believer who knows grows.

So if I'm at the Third Reformed Church over here, and they're never teaching me anything but legalism, I never get to my position. Therefore, I cannot grow. But the Holy Spirit's still working. Working to do what? To get you to know it. To get you to start to show you this.

But if you hang on to that legalism and that performance and that condition, you can't grow because you haven't got an object. So is that what the Word talks about, is carnal? Yeah, which is a fleshly condition. It also goes back to just the elementals. You're in the milk. You're always kept in the nursery. You're always kept in the nursery. You're always drinking milk. You can grow as much as the milk will take you.

Well, if you want to look at where the growth is, it's in Romans 5.11. That's as far as you can go. You won't go any farther than that if you don't know your position. Okay, quickly, true or false? See how smart you are.

Are you ready? God promises that he will work the facts of our position into our condition. True or false? True. Okay. We are the product of our position, just so in our spiritual birth. True or false? True. Our position, the source of our Christian life, is ever-changing. When we concentrate upon our condition, we are not living by faith, but by feelings and appearances. Our Father intends us to know and understand that He has already provided in Christ our life most of what is required for our Christian life both in time and eternity. Why is it false? Most! I call my dog the mostly brown dog. So under grace we have a prime responsibility is to pay attention to the Lord Jesus to rest or abide in him as our position. there will then be growth and he will be more and more manifested in our condition.

But we all with open face 2 Corinthians 3.18. And that's what the whole discussion of the vine and the branches is about.

What is the one command that God, the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to his disciples before the cross before there's Paul the Apostle, before there is any discussion about position, identification or any of that. What does he tell the disciples? What do I want you to do? Are you talking about abiding? John 15. Abide. It's the greatest word. Abide. And from a positional standpoint, you know how you abide? You just stay where you are. You don't move. As you find out more and more about your position, you just stay there. Just rest there. This is who you are because God has told us.

Yes? Can you tell us as well the elements of my condition? You might have mentioned that I was... That's variable. Oh, I see. It's experiential. It's dependent on my position. And the fourth one I said is that God promises that he will work the facts of our position into our condition. So why do you think this is up here? Think position.

That's who we are. Boy, am I going to close before the bell goes off? Awesome, let's do it. Father, how we thank you for your word, and how we thank you how careful you are to tell us who we are in your Son, the Lord Jesus, and all of the possessions that we have there, that we might rest in them by faith, Father. We thank you. We pray in your Son's precious name. Amen. All right, next week we'll do three, and then I'll send out The next thing I want to send out is chapter two and questions on four.