#11 Did Jesus Go to Hell? Part 1

Did Jesus Go to Hell?

Part 1

As a point of clarification, once this two part series is complete, you will realize that there has been a concerted effort by the enemy of God to corrupt God’s plan of redemption; therefore, the purpose of these two weeks is to give you a better overall understanding of the Bible and to remind that we are in a war!
 

Ephesians 4:8-10
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
 
In these verses, there are two main thoughts:
 
(1) There was a change that took place in the spiritual realm for the Old Testament saints. Previously, when they died, they went to a place of the departed souls where there was a waiting period for them before they could be brought to heaven. The terminology, ...led captivity captive...explains this thought, because the words captivity and captive are very similar in their origins and essentially mean exactly that. These Old Testament saints were captive in a location in the underworld because:
 
Hebrews 10:4
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
 
The OT saints were held captive in this location because the plan for God's remission of sins had not been completed. But Jesus was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, and His blood satisfied the just demands of God.
 
Now, in this Ephesians passage, what is taking place is the thought that these OT saints were captive and waiting, and now, with God's plan for sin being completed; they were released from this captivity and made captives of Christ where He brought them into the presence of God.
 
Now, that Jesus has completed the payment required for sin when a person dies, their eternal spirit departs to one of two places. If they're saved (In Christ), they're absent from the body and present with The Lord and their body awaits the day of its resurrection and glorification.
 
Most people are confused about the concept and terminology the Bible uses regarding the place we call hell, but let's try to bring some clarity.
 
There are several words used interchangeably to describe the place of departed souls. Regarding the Old Testament, there are words such as grave, death, Hades, but the main word we often think of is "hell," more specifically we are often associating these thoughts with eternal damnation, and how it's used in the New Testament when it's associated with eternal fire:
 
Through this story in Luke about the rich man and Lazarus, we learn that there are at least two different parts to "hell." And while there are two more concepts about Hell that we will need to delve into, we'll start here.
 
Luke 16:19-31
-- There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
 
Lazarus was in the place of departed souls known as Abraham's bosom. We would also believe that this is the place referred to as Paradise by Jesus when He spoke to the thief on the cross:
 
Luke 23:43
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
 
Abraham's bosom and Paradise was the place where the Old Testament saints who were followers of God departed until Jesus brought them with Him to glory.
 
Once Jesus died on the cross, and the debt of sin was paid in full, because the blood of the OT sacrifice couldn't remove the debt of sin: Hebrews 10:4

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
 
Once again, Jesus at that point was able to lead captivity captive. In other words, He brought their departed souls to heaven, and there they await the resurrection of their bodies.
 
So in this first passage, we learn these truths:
 
(1) before the cross, the Old Testament saints, who were saved through faith in the sacrificial system, were kept in a place called Abraham's Bosom or Paradise until Jesus' blood accomplished what the blood of bulls and goats could not.
 
(2) the departed souls of people that were not believer's in God's way are in a place this story calls torments.
 
One other important concept that wasn't necessarily addressed in this story is that there is no more Abraham's Bosom, there is no Paradise, and there is no Purgatory! You make your decision for God today on this side of the grave. Once again to be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord.
 
Before we get into the last idea of hell, fire, and brimstone, we need to cover one more concept about the thought of hell.
 
1 Peter 3:19-20
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
 
Jude 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
 
2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
 
It's my personal belief that all these passages have in common disobedient angels that are being held in chains in a prison known as "hell."
 
Now, the word hell in the original language has a meaning all its own. The word here is Tartarus. Because some of this is going to be such a new thought to some of you, I want to make sure that I do my best to explain.
 
The New Testament was written in a specific type of Greek. In times past, there were two types of Greek. One was known as Koine Greek, meaning common, and the other was known as Classic Greek. The New Testament was written in the Koine Greek. Now, it's important for us to understand that the Greek language was already in place before the New Testament writers wrote the New Testament. Therefore, these words were already in place and existed.
 
In some cases, the words kept the same meaning, but in other cases, when the New Testament writers used the words, the meaning changed. For instance, last week, when we talked about walking worthy, I told you about how the word lowliness was viewed by the Grecian culture as degrading and behavior only worthy of a slave. In contrast, the New Testament writers used it as an adjective to describe someone walking worthy of the title Christian.
 
In the case of this word Tartarus, this word was already in existence and had a specific meaning. Its meaning was connected to a place in the underworld, which imprisoned the gods who crossed lines and had sexual relationships with mortals and from there hybrid type heroes were birthed. One example would be Hercules.
 
So that is the name of this word Tartarus. I don't want to spend much more time on this tonight, but let us say that the connection between these three verses, the thought of chains, the thought of prison, and the thought of hell [Tartarus] all have a common link with these fallen angels.
 
So now we've learned about three different locations in hell. Abraham's bosom, which is gone now. torment, where unbelieving souls await the great white throne judgment, and Tartarus, which has some connection to chained up angels and a story about hybrids.
 
By the way, maybe we should mention the concept of Babel and why there are so many similarities across the globe regarding stories. For instance: flood stories, mother child deities, pyramids and ziggurats, which seem to be built the same in ancient times whether in Egypt, Babylon, or South America, and as we will discuss next week, this story about Tartarus.
 
My point is that there were certain things that were well known to the people who existed before the Tower of Babel where the languages were confused. God confused the languages for multiple reasons, but the main reason for our concern tonight was so that humanity would obey the command He gave Noah, which was to replenish the earth. Instead, what they had done was stayed together and rebelled against God.
 
As these people groups began their nomadic journeys across the globe, they all had eerily similar stories that the Bible explains all these people groups would have known, because they were things God had revealed to humanity before the languages were confused. Yes, the stories may vary slightly in some cases, but usually where they vary is when they depart from the truth of God's word.
 
So what story are we to believe. Well, God did a wonderful thing right after the confusion of the languages and the separation of the nations. He called a man named Abraham out from the nations, and He made a nation for Himself, and through this nation, He gave His word and He chronicled the real version of these occurrences, and all these other nations were worshiping false god, which are fallen angels and demon spirits. So God has told His story through His people Israel and the church, and that’s the truth.

 The last concept regarding hell is a place called Gehenna. It is also known as the lake of fire or the last death.
 
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
 
Mark 9:43-44
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off:it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
 
In both of these passages the word for hell in the Greek is Gehenna, speaking of the lake of fire, also known as the final judgment.
 
The word Gehenna comes from a real place that was on earth. This name comes from the valley of Hinnom, which was located south of Jerusalem. In ancient days, when Israel cheated on God by serving false gods, they made their children walk through the fire in this valley as they worshiped the false god known as Molech. Furthermore, during Jesus' time, it was used as a refuse place, where carcasses were burned along with other garbage.
 
With this in mind, you can now get a visual of what Jesus is talking about when He's teaching on hell. He's giving them a visual of what this place is going to look like.
 
Matthew 25:41
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Just to make a point, hell was never intended for human beings. God has always had a plan to save sinners. The purpose for hell was to judge Satan and his fallen angels.
 
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
 
Revelation 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
 
So Gehenna is the place of final judgment.
 
But I don't want to leave you on a sad note because Hell doesn't await the child of God. The grave won't be able to hold the Christian down, because our Jesus was victorious. Jesus told Martha that He was the resurrection and the life. When we resurrect, we will receive a glorified body, and we will live eternally with our Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 5:6-8
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
 
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
 
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
​ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
 
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
 
He has gone before as the firstborn from the dead:
 
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
 
He told Martha that He was the resurrection:
 
John 11:24-26
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
 
What does it mean that we will be as He is? Well, it doesn't mean that we will be gods. Instead, it's descriptive of His glorified body. In some way, our glorified body, will be like His after our resurrection from the dead.
 
What was His glorified body like?
 
John 20:19-20
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
 
He still had the wounds of the cross! Also, notice the doors were shut and He appeared. In His glorified body, He operated above the laws of physical matter.
 
John 20:27-29
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
 
Luke 24:39-42
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
 
He has bones and flesh, but there is no mention of blood. I can't prove this, but I believe the reason why is because, on earth, the life of the creature is in the blood, and in the resurrection, the life will be in the Spirit of God.

#10 Walking Worthy?

Walking Worthy?

 Review of Ephesians chapters 1-3, and continuing from chapter 4:1-6
 

Ephesians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
 
V 3. The plan of God is that He would richly bless his creation with spiritual blessings. When speaking of spiritual blessings, the believer should imagine all the chaos and frustrations that this fallen earth offers. Then, from that place, it should be understood that God offers a healing from the curse of the fall; ultimately, all spiritual blessings find their source in the fact that humanity can have fellowship with the God of the universe.
 
However, it must be understood that those spiritual blessings can only be accessed in one place and that place is in Christ. Therefore, in verse three, the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, wants us to know that in the mind of God, this is all done. You are in Christ. He's in heaven, and as long as we remain in him, we remain in the will of God.
 
V 4. .… He has chosen "us" "in him"
 
"Chosen us"
 
Chosen is built from "EK" "LEKTOS"
Ek= out
Lektos= Chosen; this is where we get our word "election."
 
Now, the picking or choosing was predetermined at a time before Adam was even formed from clay in the potter's hand (1 Peter 1:19,20), and through this 1 Peter verse, we're given the revelation that it was the plan, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, not the individual person, which was foreordained or predetermined.
 
When the believer places his faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, there's a spiritual renovation that takes place inside the heart of that man. And in this place, the believer can be found holy and blameless, even allowed to be in the presence of God…holy and without blame before him in love.

 Ephesians 1:5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
 
V 5. In this first, we received the first glimpse that God was creating an eternal family. The predestinated plan allowed us to be adopted and begotten as children into the family of God (I Peter 1:2,3).

 Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
 

V 7. And all this took place through the redemption of his blood. We were purchased off the slavemarket of sin and translated from darkness to light (Colossians 1:13, 14).

 Ephesians 1:13-14
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
 

V 13–14. And when you heard the gospel and entrusted your life to the truth, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest or down payment. This is how you know you're saved. When the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart a renovation takes place. The Holy Spirit doesn't leave the room the way it was before…things are going to change because grace is an inside job that's reflected outwardly in the life.

 Ephesians 1:16-18
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

 V 16, 17, 18. Paul's prayer was that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation. He is asking God to allow their (Ephesian Christians and us) spiritual eyes to be enlightened, so that they could see three things:
 
(1) the hope of the calling – the Eliezer call.
 
(2) the riches of the inheritance in the Saints.
 
(3) The power given to believers

 Ephesians 1:21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

 V 21. The power that is given to believers in Christ is above and superior to the principalities and powers that reside in the heavenly realms [the forces of evil].

 Ephesians 2:1-3
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

V 2:1,2,3. You will need this power because you live upon a world that is fallen and driven by the prince of the power of the air. You're in a war Christian, but you've been bought out of that system and placed on another path.

Chapters 2–3. A big thought that resounded throughout these chapters was the eternal family of God. Whether we utilize the terms: church, body, family, building, temple… The thought provoked is a community of believers, who have a common union, resulting in a common unity: faith in the sacrifice of the righteous one has brought us together in him, and we have become The holy habitation of God during this timeframe known as the church age.
 
Chapter 4. Now, there is a transition taking place from doctrinal instruction to practical Christian living.
 
Some people have accused me of being too spiritual, taking the position that a practical path towards preaching is better for today's Christian. The problem with this thinking is that, if the spiritual life of the believer isn't properly dealt with, where the "old" dies and the "new" is resurrected, or where the heart is regenerated, even a spiritual circumcision of its filth, then practical Christian living will be nothing but a failing and frustrating endeavor.

 Ephesians 4:1
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
 

4:1. So the transition to practicality begins with the word "walk," which is really descriptive of one's behavior or daily Christian life. In other words, how you handle your business. "Can you talk to them about your Jesus after you did business with them?" Or did you "cut their ear off Peter?"

 Ephesians 4:2
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
 
4:2 in this verse, three adjectives describe how the believer's walk should look.
 
(1) [lowliness: humility]. This word was frowned upon in the Greek culture from which it originated. The description of humiliation associated with this word was used to describe the slaves of their society. However, the gospel turns around and teaches that when the "old man" born of Adam dies, the "new man" born in Christ takes upon himself the role of the slave (Philippians 2:6,7). Essentially, if you're going to be a real Christian, your "old man" and all his previous way of approaching this fallen world is going to have to die.
 
(2) [meekness: gentleness]. Often times, people mistake meekness for weakness. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on earth (numbers 12:3), but when Israel transgressed God (Exodus 32), he was enraged with righteous anger. Furthermore, even Jesus, who was the epitome of the meek and humble heart (Matthew 11:29) became enraged when He saw the moneychangers who were working in conjunction with the Pharisees and extorting the people.
 
• One other concept I would like to mention is that Paul made it clear that our unity (the people of God) is connected to our message (1Corinthians 1:10, 18). When leaders don't preach the gospel for the way it's written, the people are extorted spiritually and false doctrine results in their continued "worshiping" of false idols and sinning against God, simply because they're being deceived from the truth that liberates the soul. If this is happening to God's people, then there is going to be a lack of unity and if there is a prophetic voice in the house, a word of correction and righteous anger will be released.
 
(3) [long-suffering]. This word describes patience in relationships. We must always remember that we are all individuals and sometimes, we may get on each other's nerves; nevertheless, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. It should be noted that all these adjectives are fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23). Okay, so what's the significance with that? The significance with that is this: you can't manufacture this "stuff" through your flesh. This has to be done through a work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does his work in the life of the believer through dispensing grace into the heart as the believer maintains faith in the finished work of Christ.

 Ephesians 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
 
 4:3. The word endeavor describes labor or diligence. The mature believer works with diligence towards unity. Now, don't be confused and revert back to carnal Christian thinking: you can't change your heart and make it love when it's been wronged, but if you will allow the grace of God to circumcise your heart, then the fruit of the Spirit will be manifest in your life. From this perspective, you will be working in a spiritual sense, because you will know there are things in your heart that aren't right, and you will ask God to produce love, long-suffering, and peace through his grace.

 Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
4:4, 5, 6. In the next three verses, there is a little bit of a transition that takes place, where the believer is reminded of the unifying example of the Godhead and the faith. Each member of the Trinity is mentioned while at the same time, the "oneness" or unity of God is emphasized as a reminder to the believer that the family of God is supposed to be one in purpose.
 
4:4. "One body and one Spirit" it's the Spirit of God that unifies and makes the people of God "one body" "in Christ."

4:5. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism "there's only one Lord and Savior and his name is Jesus Christ. And he alone is the entrance way into the one faith. We discussed this concept before, but in certain places the word faith is used as a noun rather than a verb. In this sense, the concept is "the faith." It is the place the Christian dwells, a translation into "the Christ," which places the Christian into "the faith."
 
Regarding the one baptism, some scholars seem to have disagreements: the question they banter over is whether this speaks of the baptizing of the believer into Christ by the person of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), or the outward expression of this inner work, which is exhibited through water baptism. The main point I would like to clarify about this passage is this, it is faith in the sacrifice of the sinless one that allows the believer to be baptized or placed by the Holy Spirit into the person of Christ which now makes him righteous in the eyes of God. Water baptism is the outward physical sign of the inner spiritual work that has been completed in Christ. With that said, there is certainly truth connected to the fact that water baptism is the outward sign that a person is publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ.
 
4:6. "One God and Father." God the Father is the authority of the Godhead. He resides in believers through the Spirit of God, which is made possible because of our position in Christ, which is made possible because of our "verb" faith placing us in the position of our noun "the faith."

#9 The Dwelling Place

Previously, we ended with the thought that God is not only preparing an eternal family, but He's also preparing an eternal dwelling place for His presence to be with His family. Presently, in this time frame known as the church age, God is preparing a bride, which is His body, who are individual lively stones, collectively being built as the temple of God where His presence will dwell upon this earth and reveal Himself to humanity until the consummation of this age.
 
Much of that thought is continued in the rest of this chapter. God desires to produce a place of habitation, so His presence can dwell with His people. He loves you, and He wants to live with you.
 
Ephesians 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
 
The eternal purpose reflects back to the verse we left last week, which explained the fact that God is revealing to both humanity and His angelic creation His multi-layered, multi-faceted, multi-colored wisdom through His church.
 
While mankind may be walking around with blinded eyes upon this earth, I can assure you that the angelic creation, both good and bad, is anticipating the next move by God. And currently, the wisdom of God is being made manifest in the fact that through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, God has produced one family, more specifically, one "new man," a new creation in Christ.
 
Now, let's look a little closer at this first verse of tonight's study. The word purpose here has a lot of rich meaning with regards to the plan of God. The word purpose is used 12 times in the New Testament and is always either translated in English as the word purpose (as it is here) or shewbread. Now, we will continue the thought of the shewbread momentarily, but first, let's consider the meaning of the word itself, which is prosthesis. This is a compound word:
 
Pros- before or toward
Thesis- to show forth or put forth
 
With this in mind, if we continue the previous thought from last week, God desires to put forward or show forth the wisdom of His plan through the birthing of His people known as His church.
 
But let's consider the shewbread of the tabernacle, which we pointed out last week was a place God commanded Moses to build so that He His presence could dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8).
 
In this tabernacle, there was a golden table. Just the thought of a table carries with it the concept of communion or fellowship; for there are multiple references in the scriptures regarding the table of The Lord. More specifically, this table had lain upon it 12 loaves of bread. These loaves were situated in such a way that there were two stacks of six and upon each stack, there was a golden dish (vessel) where Frankincense was placed within and that vessel, which was filled with Frankincense, was placed upon the bread.
 
These loaves were called shewbread or the bread of presence, literally “the face” because they were to be placed continually before The Lord. In other words, the tabernacle is where God chose to dwell with His people and He wanted this bread in front of Him at all times. As we continue, we will see His reasoning is for communion, or worded differently, to dwell with His people.
 
Such care had to be taken with the exchanging of this bread, which was changed out on each Sabbath-- the day of God's rest. The procession of the changing would follow this pattern: eight priests were required in order to perform this solemn weekly ritual. In a fluid movement, two would remove the golden dishes containing the Frankincense, while two others removed the loaves and two others simultaneously replaced the loaves and two others simultaneously replaced the golden dishes with the Frankincense. There was never to be a moment within the tabernacle where these loaves were not before His presence (Numbers 4:7). Now, I have good news because God’s word tells us that Jesus is seated in the presence of the Father at His right hand, and (Ephesians 1:19; 2:6) tells us we’re in Him.
 
There is an extremely important spiritual principle in this: God desires for you to be in His presence. He has taken such meticulous moves to remain faithful to His plan through the millennia of preparing a place where His presence can dwell with His people. The good news is that Jesus is the fulfillment of those loaves; He never gets old or outdated and never has to be replaced, so you don't have to go one minute without His presence. As a matter of fact, I submit to you that if we find ourselves separated from His presence, it's not because He sent eight priests in to remove us; instead, we have removed ourselves.
 
After this task was completed, the priests were to eat the bread; whereas, a portion of the Frankincense was to be burned as an offering upon the fire. Fire is always symbolic of judgment and eating bread symbolic of communion. We can have Communion in the presence of God because of the fact that the sacrifice of Jesus took our judgment.

Regarding the Frankincense, there is much typology reflecting Jesus. First, the way it was harvested is reminiscent of the beating and sacrifice of our Lord; for Frankincense was a gum or resin extracted from a tree, which was accomplished by cutting deep incisions into the bark of the tree from which it came, resulting in the tree bleeding out a purely white resin. The name Frankincense literally means white, and this resin, which was burned upon the fire, represents the purity of Jesus. We are certainly not taking too much liberty when we connect Frankincense to our Lord; for the magi recognized the connection as they brought Frankincense (purity), Myrrh (used for embalming--death), and gold (royalty) and laid them at the feet of our Lord. In order to fulfill the Father’s will and assume His position as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus had to offer His purity as a sacrifice through death to purchase us from the dead.
 
The bread represented Christ. At the same time, the bread was 12 loaves representing Israel but stacked in two piles of six, which is the number of man. The presence of heaven's bread (John 6:35) perpetually in the face of God provides a place of communion for God's people and a hope of salvation for fallen man.
 
This brings us back to God's eternal purpose, which is to reveal Himself to His creation, through communion with His church, so that in this church age, a lost and dying world will see His plan and come to know His love.
 
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
 
There is no question in my mind that the Holy Spirit is calling us back to the book of Hebrews with the way this verse is worded. While we have covered this verse a lot lately, we must, because of the context, go back there one more time:
 
Hebrews 10:18-20 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin
 
[notice here the repetition with which the Law functioned: constantly sacrificing, constantly changing bread. Jesus' work is a finished work, so the repetition stops].
 
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
 
Most specifically the thought "boldness" and "entering in" should be compared to boldness and access in our Ephesians passage. And all this should be considered in conjunction with the fact that God is holy and His place (tabernacle) is holy; nevertheless, He has a very methodical plan through which He wants to dwell in communion with man.
 
Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
 
Paul encouraged the saints at Ephesus not to allow his shackles to cause them discouragement as though his situation was a symptom that God wasn't accomplishing His purposes. To the contrary, Paul was convinced that even in the midst of his own personal imprisonment God had called him to minister the gospel to the Gentiles, and it was imperative that they understand his (Paul's) afflictions were for their glory.
 
Just let that sink in for a moment Christian. Think about how you order your own life, making all your decisions based upon what you perceive to be best for yourself rather than what's best for the body of Christ. Part of the churches' problem is that we don't view ourselves as the building of God; instead, we want to remain individual lively stones, not considering how decisions may affect the larger body of Christ. You may not like this, but this way of thinking is selfishness. Would a person cut off a finger without thinking about how it would affect the overall body from that point forward? Of course not, so why do we allow ourselves to make individual decisions without regard for how it will affect the overall body of Christ? Because I submit to you that we can't see Jesus like Paul did.
 
Ephesians 3:14-15 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,
 
For the cause that God's purpose is being fulfilled in his life as a herald of the New Testament gospel, so the Gentile world will know the truth about Jesus, Paul bows his knees to the Father.
 
He bends the knee to the Father, and assumes a position of reverence in the presence of God. Even though he's in a jail cell for doing what God called him to do, he doesn't get bitter; instead, he reminds himself of how big the plan and purposes of God are, which he defines by going back to what all the previous thought alludes to: God is separating out for Himself a people for a family.
 
Ephesians 3:16-17 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 
Strengthened- to be made strong_ (Strong's). Empowered to overcome resistance_ (Walvoord).
 
Might- comes from Dunamis, which is the miracle working power of God.
 
...strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;...
 
This thought is still in reference to the family of God dwelling together as both Jew and Gentile are made as one. Most people would probably agree that there are very few things upon earth that cause more strife than racial divide. When the people of God, who are made up of all tongues, tribes, and nations are able to dwell together, it shows the men of the world and the angels in the heavenly realm the wisdom and power of God's plan.
 
But in order for God's plan to work on a corporate level, the Spirit of God must be allowed permission to change believers on an individual level. We've repeatedly made this point as we've journeyed through this series, but God's purposes in the church (His people) is to reveal Himself to the lost and dying. There is resistance to God's plan by the forces of evil, and one of the biggest ways the enemy combats God's plan is through causing God's people to behave in such a way that their testimony becomes invalid.
 
So God wants to strengthen. He wants to empower the believer through His power to resist the plans of darkness. And by His Spirit, empower the inner man of the believer.
 
The inner man here speaks specifically of the soul of man. We have covered this thought before, but it should be repeated. The inner man consists of both soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12) and are the eternal aspects of our humanity; whereas, the physical aspect of our humanity is this temporal flesh in which our inner man is housed. Paul referred to this outward part as an earthen vessel that is fading in 2 Corinthians 4. But the good news is that as God changes our human frailties, the more His glory shines through these earthen vessels.
 
So the spirit and soul of man are the inner man and one day our external parts will be glorified. Regarding the inner man, the spirit is specifically that aspect to man that will never die; we are eternal beings; furthermore, the spirit of man is that part of him which connects with God:
 
John 4:23,2; Ezekiel 36:25-27
 
Until a man is born again, his spirit is dead to the things of God. This concept could be likened to a receiver implanted, allowing a connection between man and God to be made. In the Ezekiel passage, we are told that in the New Covenant there would be a change to our heart (which I believe in this text represents our soul-- emotion), a change to our spirit (God said He would put a new spirit in us) and lastly, He would put His Spirit in us.
 
Now, this concept goes perfectly with the thoughts that we've been discussing recently where the plan of God is to build a family, yes, but also a holy habitation for His presence to dwell. Once again, you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). So now you can become a walking worship service. Worship isn't something we do; instead, worship is our lives given back to Him. We certainly can express some of that through music, but what Jesus was referring to when He spoke to the Samaritan woman was that God's plan for true worship isn't about a place; instead, it's about His presence. And when He told her that salvation was of the Jews, He meant that from Israel, more specifically, Judah, He came. He came and brought salvation, which when embraced allows the spirit of man to be awakened to the things of God.
 
So our spirit is the eternal aspect of who we are. Both angels and humans are spiritual beings, but we live in houses of flesh. Furthermore, with our spirit, we connect to God (when born again), or we remain dead to God (when unredeemed/ non- believer).
 
While the spirit of man connects to God personally, the soul of man connects to his external environment. Through his soul, man filters and processes the external environment he engages on a daily basis. The word often translated for soul is psuche, where we get our English word psyche, which refers to the mind, thoughts, and emotions of man. Literally, the soul of a man refers to his individuality. In other words, it's your soul that makes you who you are. Matt is Matt. He's not Robert and vice versa. And with that thought the eternal aspect of your humanity I believe will be completely cognizant of what's happening for all eternity. In other words, of a person is in hell, they will know it, hear it, smell it, feel it....
 
It is through our soul that we perceive the world we live within. In other words our soul is the inner part that receives all the incoming information that we receive from our physical surroundings. Our soul receives the information of our external surroundings, and our flesh or physical body in turn engages our physical surroundings.
 
This certainly doesn't mean that our soul doesn't experience God. To the contrary, our soul experiences and perceives our external environment. Therefore, if our external environment is filled with things of God, then our soul is receiving and processing data regarding the things of God rather than the things of the world.
 
So the intake reflects the output. When the soul stays connected to God through faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and our physical body follows suit, our hands pick up the Bible, our eyes behold the words of glory and our external filter is further filled with the things of God, and it just gets better: my mouth starts talking about Jesus, my hands start praising the Lord. My feet start walking to jail, not because I broke the law, but because I'm preaching Jesus.
 
And you could take this same scenario and apply it to multiple areas. But there is no doubt that these three aspects of our humanity are working in tandem with the free will that God gave man. If the soul is craving lust, it will use its physical members to feed its inner man lust and the result is that his spiritual connection to God becomes more distant. Whereas, the new man who craves the things of God, puts the environment of God within him, which feeds and strengthens the inner man.
 
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 
As the inner man is strengthened and changed, Christ, the anointed one is made to feel at home in our hearts. The word dwell describes reside, house, or live.
 
It's important that we understand that all this is made possible because of our connection point of faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When I say it that way: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I mean it that way! Because that is the way that God has chosen to covenant with man. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is God's covenant with man (Matthew 26:26-28). When Jesus says this is the blood of the New Testament, that's another way for Him to say, "The offering of my life is the sacrifice required of the New Covenant, and your connection to the Father, which is represented by this communion meal, is through faith in my sacrifice."
 
Why does our faith have to daily remain in His sacrifice in order for all this to work?
 
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
 
First, let me remind you that we started down this trail because we're considering the concept of faith, because Ephesians 3:17 explains that it's by faith that Jesus is made to feel at home in the temple of our hearts.
 
But faith can be such an abstract thought. However I submit to you that in God's mind, it's not abstract at all. Instead, the Father has a specific plan that man is to connect to by taking his faith and keeping it there, and that plan is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
Now, let's consider this thought more deeply. The Romans 5 passage says, "...being justified by faith..."
 
Well, first, what does it mean to be justified? It means to be declared righteous by God. You see, once again, God has a plan, and when man, places faith in God's plan (Jesus Christ and Him Crucified), that man is placed in Christ, receiving a new position of righteousness in Christ, which allows God to declare over that man's life a new verdict, "NOT GUILTY!" Furthermore, the not guilty verdict because of the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) allows the believer access into the grace of God.
 
In the presence of God, His grace changes things: the spirit of man is awakened to God, the soul of man begins craving what it was created for-- Jesus, and the physical body parts begin to connect to the godly resources that it's external environment has: church gatherings, study the scriptures, prayer, and practicing the presence of God. All this comes together, changing and strengthening the inner man to where Christ feels comfortable dwelling in our inner man.
 
Ultimately, this results in a process where a root system is formed and a settled foundation is established.
 

#8 Mystery Unveiled: Jesus the Communion

Matthew 13:1: parable of the sower intro to the thought of mystery, that which is hidden from the natural eye.
 
Ephesians 3:1-2
or 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:
 
For what cause Paul? For the cause of you Ephesian Gentiles, and you South Louisiana Gentiles who were strangers to the citizenry of God's kingdom. It's for your cause that Paul was a prisoner of Jesus.
 
This is the imprisonment in Rome where he was under house arrest, which was before the imprisonment where he was in a dungeon  in the ground in the Mamertine Prison, and from there eventually beheaded for his faith.
 
But in this imprisonment, he sits under house arrest for the cause of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Undoubtedly, there is a reference here also to the fact that the very reason he's in prison has something to do with his associations with one of the Ephesians named Trophimus (Acts 21).
 
But what really gets my attention is that no matter his circumstances, he remains focused on his real purpose in life. He calls himself a prisoner of Jesus. He's not a prisoner of Rome. Caesar doesn't hold the key to the chains that bind him to this spot, and he's also not second guessing whether he was in God's will bringing the gospel to these alienated Gentiles.
 
And then he continues by saying you have heard of the dispensation of the grace given to me for you right?
 
The word dispensation is a compound word connected to oikos, which is the Greek word for house. And the whole idea of the word is the thought of a house steward, and the way it relates to  Paul is that he has been entrusted with the task of bringing the gospel of Jesus to the Gentile world who doesn't know God, and the task can be likened to the thought of a house steward caring for his master's estate. Paul has been entrusted with a great responsibility, and he continuously forges forward with perseverance.
 
You're probably wondering in your mind, how does he do it? How does he carry on in spite of all the negative circumstances? How does he keep the faith and not just fall prey to depression?
 
The answer is "...the dispensation of the grace."
 
It's the grace of God that carries him through. No man, I don't care how resilient he may be, could carry the load Paul carried alone. It's the grace of God that bears the load in Paul's life as he accomplishes the will of God.
 
Grace changes the internal character of a man. Whatever he was before, look out because things are getting ready to change. If he was a quitter, now he's going to be a finisher with excellence. If he was weak as a father, he's about to become the best daddy a man could ever be...
 
You see grace is the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit strengthening a person to be what they couldn't be before on their own, strengthening them to do what they never could have done, it's the spiritual catalyst that changes everything. It's the hope when all hope has run out, it's the power when the bones are dried up and weakened. Just when all hope is lost and failure certain, grace shows up and takes over, and when that man allows grace to have its way-- watch out devil, because now that man or woman has become a force to be reckoned with in the hand of God.
 
Paul learned some things about grace before he ever sat under this house arrest (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). And let me say this to you Christian, "Whatever you do-- don't quit! Don't give up on Him, because He will never give up on you! Surrender your life to him, in your weakness, cry out to Him, and watch His grace change everything."
 
God gave Paul the supernatural strength he needed in order to accomplish the task he asked of Him, but let me say this Christian, "Grace must be submitted to in order for it to work; the head must be softened; the neck must be un-stiffened, and the knee must be bowed. If the man or woman of God refuses to let go of the reins and let God have His way, the wandering journey will continue when, instead, the power of God could be working on their behalf!
 
Ephesians 3:3-6
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery:(as I wrote afore in a 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:
 
The word mystery is introduced in this verse and is the focal point of the thought surrounding the ten verses we will cover. Fourteen times in these six verses, from 3-10 of Ephesians chapter three, words like: mystery, knowledge, known, see, and understand are used.
 
Specifically, the mystery entails the fact that God's plan regarding the birth of His eternal family always included the entirety of the world, but that it was previously hidden in a mystery. A mystery is something that is difficult to see. It's a riddle that must be solved, a treasure that must be searched for, but in the case of God and His plans, a revelation that must be given by Him to man.
 
This mystery, Paul explains has been opened up to God's "holy" apostles. Maybe the word holy should receive attention, because I can assure you that religion, through the ages, has skewed our perception of the apostles. We have discussed this concept many times, but the word "holy" is hagios in the Greek and describes separated out ones. It's the same word that is often translated as sanctified, once again, meaning separated ones.
 
In the sense of sanctification, the believer is separated out from the world by being placed into Christ. In this place, the Holy Spirit indwells him, which separates the believer from the world. People may not like to hear this, but not everybody has the Spirit of God living in them. Only those born again from the dead are alive with the presence of God.
 
In the context surrounding this passage, the idea of the "holy" apostles is that they have been separated out by God for a purpose, to them the mystery of God has been revealed: God has an eternal plan, and this is what He meant when He said way back in Genesis:
 
Genesis 12:1-3 that in Abraham there was a blessing for all the nations.

The promise surrounded a nation that would come from Abraham, a nation that was in Him, and from him, a blessing for all nations would come forth and that blessing was Jesus. But heretofore the blessing was a mystery that is now being revealed.
 
So the word holy connected to the apostles surrounds a separating out for a purpose not some special level of Christianity they were given when compared to the rest of mankind, or some status attained that allows them to be depicted in religious art donned with crowns of halos.
 
As a matter of fact, these halos come from ancient Babylonian mystery religion; they represent the sun disc, which filtered from Babylon to Egypt and is found connected to Osiris and Isis in reference to the birth of their son Horus, which are all clues to Satan's agenda of usurping the power and plan of God.
 
I bring all this up because for so long I had this thought in my mind that these men were almost like gods; they were so holy, and how could their words help me, who was so unholy? No! You need to understand that you will never be separated out to do what they did (used as instruments to pen the holy writ), but your are just as holy in the eyes of God than they ever were because the same separation that made them holy made you holy; we were all made holy in the eyes of God when through faith, in the sacrifice of Jesus, we were translated from darkness to light, from the world into the place known as "In Christ."
 
Regarding Abraham:
 
Romans 4:16-22
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: -- He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
 
Ephesians 3:7-8
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;
 
Minister is Diakonos, which means servant, literally, a table waiter. This is where we get the word deacon. I find this concept very interesting. This word was first used to describe Stephen and the other original deacons; their purpose was to minister practically through the physical distribution of food while the apostles sought the face of God and studied the scriptures (Acts 6).
 
But here, Paul applies this word to himself. He is a diakonos, a servant to distribute food to people. But in this sense, the thought is spiritual food, even the mysteries of God to inform them of their hope in Christ.
 
If his word is applied to you as a calling on your life, your response is not to be one of elevation of self. It's a lowering of self, a lowering where one is made to serve the master, and the master has asked His servants, "Feed my sheep!" Not, "Extort my sheep."
 
Paul self deprecates and debases his person outside of Christ...Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints..., but also makes it clear that grace has been given unto him to accomplish what God has called him to do. You see from the outside looking in with physical eyes it may seem that Paul isn't of God. He's in prison. I mean no one wants to take the time to consider why he's there, to consider the fact that he's in there for preaching the gospel and taking a stand against legalism.
 
Nowadays, they would say that Paul was out of the will of God because he didn't have enough faith and so he was thrown in jail. If The Lord tarries for any length of time, and the Christian who has Jesus burning in his heart lets him out you may go to jail too Christian.
 
I'm not talking about the majority of the church, which is sitting under a social gospel that wants to make the home life better and focuses on cleaning up the community. I'm talking about a gospel that focuses on allowing God to clean the heart! Those Christians that follow that gospel will be persecuted if the Lord tarries.
 
Paul's been given grace to preach the gospel. Jesus preached peace to those that were far off and those that were near. The good news of the kingdom must be heralded. There is a wedding taking place upon the horizon! You need to understand that God is looking for a bride to marry His Son. Will you marry the Son? How many people will have left their invitation in the envelope? How many people will have not even known because they weren't told.
 
I have thought many times about how the Apostle Paul was so against God, and then God performed a suddenly, where his life was transformed instantaneously before God, and suddenly there was such a flow of revelation given unto him.
 
Undoubtedly, he remains humble because forever burned on the retina of his mind are multiple occurrences where he led the way to rip people from their homes, having them placed in prison, having them killed; forever burned in his mind is the sight of Stephen being stoned, the sound of stone striking skin, then the crack of bone, the recording of these sounds undoubtedly from time to time played again in his mind. Then that glorious day when he was full of zeal on his way to Damascus, and he was overcome by the light of God. These are persistent reminders that outside of Christ he is nothing, but a hater of God's way, but in Christ, he has been given great revelation regarding the things of God.
 
In the words that the Holy Spirit would choose through Paul's vocabulary, "...I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;"
 
Unsearchable- Untraceable: boundless: past finding out.
 
These riches, literally a treasure are past finding out but don't think for one moment that Paul has ceased in striving to mine for the gold that he knows is there.
 
What great treasures were revealed to this mighty man of God. All these connections where Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament types:
 
He is the Passover lamb (1Corinthians 5:7)
He is the unleavened bread (1Corinthians 5:7)
 
He is the mercy seat where the blood is applied to settle God's offense against us (Romans 3:25: the word propitiation in the Greek is the same word for Mercy Seat)
He is the rock which when stricken living water flowed (1 Corinthians 10:4)
 
The grace of God was poured into this humble servant Paul so he, a diakonas, could serve us the bread of God by unveiling through the Holy Spirit the mystery of God.
 
Ephesians 3:9-10
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,
 
God is using the church to reveal to both man and principalities (angels, both good and bad) the manifold wisdom of God. The word for manifold was used in ancient times to refer to embroidered patterns of many colors. The idea connects to beauty and diversity, but also unity in that all this is coming together as one. The church (called out ones) made up of both Jew and Gentile are a beautiful pattern of unity that has been woven together through the cross. And this being placed on display for both man and angel to see; for them to see the wisdom of God.
 
Mankind:
The purpose of Paul's stewardship was that all men would have the opportunity to have enlightened spiritual eyes. Remember Paul's prayer was that people would see with spiritual eyes. He wants all men to be able to see the mystery, which was previously hidden.
 
The word fellowship here in the Greek is literally koinonea and this word is also translated at times to the word communion.
 
Paul is continuing his thought from previous about people being able to see. He wants them to see this glorious mystery which was prepared from the beginning.
 
While we can attribute the word 'omniscience' to God and simply state that nothing takes God by surprise, if we consider the thought of this verse:
 
(1) God has a plan that he wants man to see
 
(2) God's eternal plan connects humanity together as a body or family for a common union or purpose; ultimately, it will result in eternal fellowship or intimacy, but what must be noted is the fact that this same verse mentions Jesus' role as the eternal word who spoke the worlds into existence.
 
This tells me that when the earth was created, God knew there would be a fall, resulting in a plan that was preordained (1 Peter 1:18) that would go into effect and through the ages He's been communicating the plan; really writing the story twice so humanity wouldn't miss it. Ultimately, whether we like it or not, the choice in the garden produced a daily choice for man. What will he choose? Who will he choose? God or what the spirit of the world is offering?
 

Angels:
But with regards to the principalities, there is something amazing taking place in the heavenly realms that you and I can't see. The angelic hosts both good and bad are viewing this redemption plan. And as God moves His plan forward, they are amazed and in awe at what God accomplishes. Everything seems scattered and thrown in different directions and then in Christ, God makes one new man. The church ekklesia, called out ones.
 
You have to understand that they've never experienced redemption. An angel will never be bought back from sin. All they know is that one third of their fellow creation went the way of Lucifer and now, those angels are destined for a lake of fire. And they see themselves and how grateful they must be that they didn't fall prey to the devices of God's most beautiful creation. How they must have previously looked upon his beauty and perceived in their angelic minds that this one was more special than they, and now they see how those that went his way are fallen and will never return.
 
But they also see that in man’s case, there is something altogether different going on in the spiritual realm. There is this thing called salvation, a buying back from the fall, and their angelic eyes observe everyday this glorious move of God!
 
Hebrews 2:14-17
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
 
Epi- above
Lambano- to seize or take hold of
 
God lowered Himself in order to seize, take hold of, or redeem humanity. He did not lower Himself to redeem fallen angels. He bypassed them. I can only imagine what they must have thought when they saw all this taking place in the spiritual realm
 
1 Peter 1:1-12
1 Peter Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
 
"...desire to look into." Literally means to stoop over to look.
 
This thought implies a willingness to exert or inconvenience oneself to obtain a better perspective. The heavenly angels peer through the portals of heaven and observe the salvation of fallen man, and when a man is saved:
 
Luke 15:10
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
 
And while all this is rejoicing over this mystery over salvation is taking place with the heavenly angels, I can only imagine the seething anger burning in the minds of the fallen ones:
 
Colossians 2:15
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
 
 Because you see Jesus spoiled their plans, through the giving of His life, He paid sin's debt because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. They didn't even know what was happening. They had a clue that one day something big would take place. They even knew that the serpent would be crushed by the seed, and that through the crushing somehow the seed would be hurt, but they were so thirsty for Jesus blood and death, they didn't even see that they played into God's plan all along, and the fact that their inciting Israel and Rome to hang Him on the cross signed the spiritual Emancipation Proclamation.

#6 When God Transplants the Heart, Reviving and Remolding Will Start

As I was thinking about this title, which I felt like communicated the essence of this passage; I was reminded of an occurrence that happened when I was working in ICU. I worked on a unit where we took care of open heart surgery patients.
 
Now, these patients weren't transplants, but they needed bypass grafts to restore blood flow (life) to their heart; without that change to their hearts, they couldn't live.
 
There was one occurrence when I was working a night shift and a man who had had surgery that day went into V-fib, it's a heart rhythm that's not compatible to life because the heart isn't beating; instead, it's in a state of a weak quiver, and there is no real movement of blood, no real life circulating; sadly, this is where many Christians live, in a state of spiritual V- fib.
 
Anyway, we were frantically doing CPR, getting ready to shock the patient when the surgeon walked in to the room and said get the thoracotomy tray because we're going to have to open him up.
 
I can still remember her telling me, “Take those hemostats and rip those staples out!” And like unzipping a zipper, I ripped those hemostats through the staples, as they flew in all directions in the air, the skin covering his sternum opened, revealing the wires holding together.
 
"Come on Matt! Get the wire cutters and cut those wires! Hurry," so I did.
 
"Come on Matt! Get those retractors and open that chest up." I can still remember opening his chest and seeing that big quivering heart he had, it was barely hanging on for life.
 
"Grab it!" She said. "Grab it and start squeezing," so I squeezed, and then we shocked with internal paddles, and I squeezed and then we shocked...on and on, we feverishly worked to bring life back to this Man's quivering heart.
 
Unfortunately, he didn't make it through that trial in his life, and I don't know where he was spiritually at that moment, but I wanted to use that as an illustration to speak about the spiritual heart of man.
 
In his fallen state, man's heart (his spirit/ the part that connects to the life of God) is quivering at best, there is no life flowing through it. But God's plan has always been to offer hope through a heart transplant.
 
In the Old Testament, promised that there would be a day when He would do something different than ever before. He was talking about the New Covenant, a new agreement, where He would meet man according to His plan.
 
In this New Covenant, God said:
 
Ezekiel 36:25-27
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
 
In this New Covenant, the promise was a heart change. God's plan would no longer work according to external religion; instead, He was saying that there would come a day when He would do an inner work, changing the very interior of man, that part of him which was driving his outward actions.
 
When God changes the heart, the reviving and remolding will start!
 
He also spoke through the prophet Jeremiah saying:
 
Jeremiah 31:31-33
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;which my covenant they brake,although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;After those days, saith the Lord,I will put my law in their inward parts,and write it in their hearts;and will be their God,and they shall be my people.
 
In this New Covenant, the internal miracle would result in God's Law being placed within the heart of the person. When the heart is "transplanted" by God, His Law or character (His Word/ who He is) is planted within the interior of man.
 
How does this happen? Because when a man or woman is born again, the Holy Spirit of God, the very life of God, and the author of the Law of God, now lives in the heart of man. So long before the sin is committed, the Holy Spirit is convicting, instructing, pleading with the believer not to transgress God's word.
 
Lastly, before we start, it's important that we understand the role of the Word and the Spirit in all this. God's word is His communication to this lost and dying world. Fallen humanity's thoughts are far removed from God; therefore, God sent His language to earth in the form of His word.
 
As the believer, begins to place God's word in him, the Holy Spirit that now lives in the transplanted heart begins to transform the whole view of reality. In this scenario, the transplant has been effective, blood flow has been restored, and the life of God is transforming the mind and conforming, even molding the believer into the image of Christ.

 
 When God Transplants the Heart, the Reviving and Remolding will Start

Ephesians 2:3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
 

…by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
 
The word children here is specifically related to the process of birth, or the production of offspring, and these children are described as those that by reason of their inherent nature were children facing wrath. Furthermore, earlier in the verse, Paul explains to the Ephesians that they also used to be among these ranks.

Sinful Nature

When God created Adam, He created him in His image and likeness Genesis 1:26,and Eve was brought forth from the side of that image, but since the occurrence of the fall, the procreation of man has followed a replication pattern of Adam's fallen image instead of the original state where Adam was created in the image of God, the image given him when he was formed of the dust and God's life was breathed within His lungs. Genesis 5:3.
 
Romans 5:12 teaches that the effects of Adam's sin has spread through the entirety of the human race.
 
Interestingly, along the "sinful nature" thought line, in the book of Romans starting at the end of chapter 5 through all of Romans 6, the word sin is used 19 times, but only once in all those places is the word used as a verb. Every other time, it's being used as a noun, which describes a person, place or thing, and in this case the noun is describing the nature of sin we received from our father Adam in our first birth.
 
Another way to describe this thought is that the sin nature (noun) is the root of sin and the (verbs/ actions) of sin are simply the fruit of the root. In essence, we need a miracle from God at the root system, because this alone will change the fruit that's manifested in the life, at least for the believer who is willing to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way.

I put this thought in the notes a couple weeks ago, and while I don’t intend to be redundant, as I was originally writing this idea, I believe God was giving me a revelation that I had previously not had. Just as Eve, Adam’s bride, was brought forth in a pristine state without spot or wrinkle from Adam’s sinless side, the bride of Christ has been grafted and is being re-created in Him, progressively being conformed into the image of our Lord until that glorious day when we will see Him (1 John 3:2), and then we will be as He is; we will have a sinless glorified body, and we will be restored to a state that truly reflects the image of God.
 

Ephesians 2:4, 5
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
 
We were dead in sins, which ultimately refers to being dead to the life of God, a separation from His presence. Sin in Adam and Eve's life resulted in expulsion from the garden, separating them from the presence and life of God (Genesis 3:24). This is why Paul describes the fact that we used to be one with them (unbelievers); we were previously amongst the unredeemed, separated from the presence and life of God; therefore, "children of wrath," because those found outside of Christ, will face the judgment of sin.
 
In this state man is dead to the light of God, no access to His presence, no access to His life. How lonely this feels as I type these words. My heart becomes heavy when I think about the countless souls who slip into eternity every day. I know that I don't do enough! Please help me God to do all I'm supposed to do!
 
Adam's banishment from the garden was a result of his disobedience and new gained knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:4, 5, 22), a knowledge only rightfully belonging to God, because He alone can hold the universe in His hand.
 
This knowledge moves man away from his focus on God alone; for now, he will spend his time and efforts playing the part of God. He will attempt to rectify the problems of sin by taking his own fallen ingenuity and logic and build a society that's more conducive to his perception of his own needs, a society that helps his physical discomforts resulting from the fall, but a society that disregards the knowledge of God.
 
The banishment from the garden results in separation from both God's presence but also God's life. There is no re-entrance, the flaming swords of the angels stand at the gate refusing entree' into this place where the presence and life of God exist. How they must have longed to partake of that tree again, to eat of its life giving fruit.
 
It must be understood that this tree can be partaken of again today, even right now; for that tree is Christ. He is the tree of life, and the cross as payment for our sin opened a new door to let man in. I wrote it a couple weeks back, but let's say it again, His side was riven (to make an opening), so we could be planted into the vine and be infused by the tree of life John 15.
 
Man is faced with a decision: which way will he turn, from which tree will he choose to eat? I want to love Jesus more than I love sin. I need a revelation from you God of this great love where with you loved, a love that reached even when I was dead and against you, even when I was born in Adam as a child of disobedience, you loved. You loved with your life.
 
Being restored into the presence of God changes everything about a person. I was able to spend some time with my brother in law this past weekend: what a blessing that was. But the most touching thing for me was when he started, through tear filled eyes, to talk about the pride of life. He said something like this, "Even my perception of appearances and clothing has changed. Why? Why clothes? Why are we so worried about trivial perceptions? Souls are hanging in the balance!"
 
You have to understand that I understand his thoughts. His "old man" and mine are much the same in this spot. The spot I speak of is the perception of appearance. With one quick glance, the mind has determined the value of another based upon their appearance. The question asked in the heart and mind is, "Can I be seen with you in public?  Let me assess this situation and scan your appearance. Let me take note of your looks and your style. Yes, you're an acceptable one, but I'm sorry, you over there go to the discard pile. You've failed inspection."
 
God help me because this is who I was, and I never want to be that person again. This is an eternal soul created by God, and God wants me to emulate my Jesus and my Jesus is love beyond comprehension. I know because He loved a prideful and arrogant person like me.
 
 
We have been given new life in Christ. Through salvation, we died to the old ways and have been born again to the new.

In verses five and six, the word together is used 3 times:

...quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

…raised us up together

… made us sit together

I just want to make one point about the Greek language here, all three of these words translated as together have in the Greek the prefix: syn or sum, and this is where we get our word sum from; the thought in the original language is an adding to, a connecting, an English word describing this thought is conjoint.

Conjointly- joined together; united; combined; associated.
pertaining to or formed by two or more in combination; joint_ American Dictionary

Faith is the connecting place. The object of faith is Jesus and His cross that instrument of death wherewith He paid our debt and purchased our soul. It requires humility to truly be saved. One must be willing to realize he’s not right and God is.
 

…quickened us together: alive together: by spiritual power to arise and invigorate: metaphorically used to describe seeds turning into life: germinating, springing up, growing_ Strong's.
 
While it cannot be understood by the natural mind, salvation has resulted in the sinner born of Adam sharing with Jesus. His cross is our cross, His death is our death, and His burial is our burial.
 
This speaks of what scholars call our vital union with Him: connected to the vine John 15
 
Ephesians 2:6
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

…raised us up together: to rouse from death: revivify

We were dead in sin, but in Christ, we’re revived to a new life.
 
…made us sit together: to cause to sit down together: to have seat in company with

This is a very difficult concept for the Christian who doesn't understand that he's truly forgiven, but seated is a posture of rest. Jesus did His work. His work is a finished work, so He sits. His work was completed for you, so you are seated in Him.

The thought of rest

Hebrews 10:11-12
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
 
Certainly there is work for the kingdom that remains; however, the Christian operating with his spiritual eyes having been opened, understands that he works from a position of rest. In other words seated in Christ, in heavenly places, the Christian receives strength from another source; truthfully, he becomes the vessel of God, through which Jesus lives His life: Galatians 2:20
 
Matthew 11:29-30
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

When two beasts of burden (work) are yoked together for the purpose of hauling or plowing, there is always a mature animal, who knows what he’s doing, yoked with a younger animal. As I have studied this thought in the past, I learned that when this process is started, the younger, weaker animal isn’t even pulling the load; instead, he’s just following the lead of the elder. In a similar fashion, it’s imperative that the Christian gain this insight: Jesus is the load bearer; He is the “workhorse” in this team; and we must learn to let Him carry the burden in order for the kingdom’s work to really be accomplished.
 
And when the believer begins to operate in this place, where he remains connected to the vine, seated in Christ, trusting in the finished work of Christ, realizing that all this is a gift from God, and that it's not of His own doing, God will use him greatly.
 
Ephesians 2:7
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
 
The thought of God showing the exceeding riches of His grace towards the saints is that the redeemed ones will be put on display for all creation to see the riches of God's mercy. In some way you become a trophy, you're part of the memory of the victory as the ages roll along; of course, we cannot forget those nail scarred hands. The book of Revelation refers to Jesus five times as the Lamb of God in the last two chapters of the Bible, even after the new heavens and the new earth, even after Satan is completely destroyed, the cross is remembered. And we are the trophy won through the war. What a glorious day that will be in those ages to come:
 
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
 
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall profess, within the vail,
A life of joy and peace.
 
The following stanza was written by an an anonymous author, often replacing the sixth stanza, or inserted as the fourth.
 
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
 
Chorus:
 
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
 
Your soul represents a trophy in the display case of God! How many more are there? How many at work? How many next door?
 
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
 
We've discussed this before, but salvation is a gift, and the specific gift of salvation is righteousness, Romans 5:17
 
The gift of righteousness is granted by God through grace to the "faithing" woman or man. God's part was the giving of His righteous Son as payment for the penalty of our sin. Our part is to receive by faith the gift of righteousness, resulting in salvation. What a blessing to have that burdened rolled away that previously plagued our person. Did you feel that Christian? When you made that step towards God and bowed your knee to Him, asking forgiveness of your sins, did you feel that release? How do you explain that to someone? Help me tell them Lord what you've done in my life!
 
Ephesians 2:9
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
 
Sadly, many in the church today have attempted to live their righteousness through works, thinking that their daily righteousness was different than their original gift of righteousness. No you're in the gift. You're supposed stay in Him. Don't leave this place right here Christian. This is the safe place to abide-- "In Christ."
 
When you begin to think it’s what you do that makes you righteous you enter a place called relative righteousness or self- righteousnes. This place isn't in Christ. Relative righteousness is self righteousness determined in the heart of the religious by comparing or relating their righteousness to some other standard other than Jesus. This is the religion of the Pharisee when compared to the tax collector in Luke 18:10-14
 
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship (a thing that is made), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
  
We are being created in Him. There is a process of molding taking place. Since the fall of man, there is an ongoing conforming of humanity into a child of God or a child of disobedience. Just as Adam was formed into the image of God, man is being conformed into an image today.
 
And once again, this conforming is a molding after a pattern. We are either being molded after Christ, or we're being molded after the world.
 
Romans 8:28-29
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
 
While the ultimate result of the conforming process will be the glorification of the believer after his resurrection, this passage describes the fact that not only was salvation, which is also known as justification, because if you will remember, we learned in the past that justification is God’s declaration that a sinner is righteous after  they placed faith in the plan of God: Jesus Christ and Him crucified  predestined "In Christ," but also sanctification, and lastly glorification are also predestined in this place or plan called "In Christ."
 

Conformed (Symmorphus)- sym or sum- to be added or joined. Morphus- shaped.
 
Symmorphus...formed; fashioned like unto.
 
(Ephesians…we are his workmanship)… (conformed to the image of his Son …Romans)

In this thought the believer, through his connection with Christ, is being molded by the hand of God through the sanctification process. Just as a reminder, the word sanctified is the same word in the Greek where the word holy comes from. It's imperative that Christians understand that sanctification, or the process where one is conformed, being molded by the hand of God to look more like Jesus is both positional and progressive. It's both a state of being and a state of changing.
 
In other words, through salvation, we were miraculously placed into the person of Christ, where the verdict over our lives was changed from guilty to innocent, which gives us access back into the life changing power of God, where we are, once again, being conformed or molded into the image of our glorious savior. We spoke about it a couple of weeks ago that our purpose was to bring God glory. The only way we can bring God glory on this earth is if our lives reflect the love of our Savior, and the only way that can happen is if we understand how sanctification or the making of one holy takes place.
 
The alternate molding is where one allows themselves to be molded from an outside source. In this scenario, they are willingly partaking in the process and molding themselves according to the standard of the world:
 
Romans 12:1-2
​ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
 
A living sacrifice is one who's "old man," born of Adam has died and his "new man," born of Christ is living. Paul exhorts those born again from the dead not to mold themselves according to the pattern of the world; instead, let the new life of God permeate your mind, allow the work of the Word and the Spirit to transform you towards the things of God.
 
The word for transform here in the Greek is where we get our word metamorphosis. Just as a caterpillar has butterfly DNA in its pre- butterfly state and must be transformed to become what it was created to be, the believer has become a partaker of the divine nature, and must allow the word of God and the Spirit of God to begin the process of transforming his heart and his perception of the world around him.
 
The alternative is that the person allows the world to conform or mold them according to their image.

#5 Broken Teeth and Lame Feet Cripple a Body!

Broken Teeth and Lame Feet Cripple a Body!

When Jesus was on earth in bodily form, He was somewhat restrained geographically. In other words, while he was in Nazareth, He couldn’t touch someone in Jerusalem. Of course the kingdom’s power transcended time and space with some of His miracles. He spoke and the centurion’s servant was healed long distance. He spoke and a four day dead man walked out of the tomb. But for the most part, if He wasn’t there, it didn’t get done.

Looking back, we can see God’s plans and purposes for this time-frame known as the church age; His intent was that the church would function as His body. Once people are born again, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live within them, and collectively, that group of people known as the church becomes the body of Christ.

Jesus said that It was expedient (a good thing) that He go back to the Father; for if He didn’t go, then the comforter couldn’t come. The comforter is the Holy Spirit of God, and if you are a born again believer, He lives in your heart, which makes you a part of the body of Christ.

So the church is His body, it isn’t a building or a denomination, it’s an organism. It’s a global organism made up of people from every nation. This intricately arrayed organism accomplishes His will, through His Spirit, all over the world—there is no geographic restraint in the church age, because God’s Spirit is strategically located globally. God’s just looking for His people to be available and function according to His purposes and plans.

As I was writing, I thought about the Sermon on the Mount. I thought about the crowds thronging this new Rabbi who was previously unknown named Jesus. I thought about how bright His light must have shined in the midst of their darkness, how His light was such a new hope that contrasted the extorting and blinding religion of the Pharisees, which had kept the people from the truth. What clothes did this crowd wear? How did their countenance appear? Was He viewing saddened faces of despair that were spiritually hungry? Is that what ignited the words of His teaching…the poor in spirit…those that mourn…the meek…were they hungry and thirsty for His righteousness and desperate to know God?

Then the light of the world given by God to darkened man tells them that they are salt and light. Already, in His first message, He is preparing those that will follow Him to be His body once He’s gone, because His light in them will bring continued light into this darkened place and their saltiness will preserve this fallen world and make others thirsty for righteousness.

When the people of God begin to reflect His hope and glory in the midst of this pain riddled world, it makes the people around them thirsty for the things of God. When the body of Christ allows the light of Jesus to shine out of them, it begins to illuminate a path of righteousness for others to see. But if the salt loses its savor, it loses its function, and its purpose becomes useless. Unsavory salt will make no one thirsty, it’s lost its function, it’s useless, throw it out and let it be trampled under the foot of men.

In a similar fashion, the light of the body of Christ is like a lighted city on a hill. In ancient times weary travelers had to hike the dangerous rocky crags of the Jordan rift system, and from afar, a glimmer of hope lied ahead, elevated illuminated cities showed the way. Surely, as long as they saw the light, there was hope in their hearts. But if that light be hidden under a basket, it’s lost its purpose. It no longer functions and the travelers are lost.

Likewise, the functioning of this organism known as the body of Christ requires that its body parts operate according to their proper function. The body of Christ must emulate the person of Christ, and when the church acts like the world instead of Jesus, it becomes a crippled body, with broken teeth and lame feet. In other words, instead of bringing healing, like a broken tooth, it brings pain; and instead of carrying the gospel to the lost, like a lame foot, it loses its function.

Ephesians 1:19-21
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
 
Last week the emphasis on the passage revolved around the people of God being able to see spiritually. There were three things the Holy Spirit wanted God's people to see, but the last one we covered was the awesome power that God gives to those believers who are in Christ.
 
The power spoken of is directly related to the resurrection. It should be understood that the cross and the resurrection represent one event where the forces of evil were overcome. Jesus' offering of Himself as the spotless Lamb of God, paid humanity's sin debt in full; therefore, death had no right to hold Jesus in the grave.
 
The resurrection proves that Jesus has conquered death, hell, and the grave. It's true to the naked eye that it appears this victory was not secured because we see death and dying all around. We are currently in a time-frame that scholars call the "already- not yet." In other words, Satan's kingdom was defeated at Calvary, the resurrection proves it, but the physical fulfillment of the kingdom of the Christ lies somewhere near on the horizon. A similar concept is that David was anointed king as a teenage boy; however, the manifestation of his kingdom didn't occur until approximately 20 years later. Some may say, “I need further proof. I don’t see any of God’s power working; instead, all I see is chaos and confusion.” For this person, my response is that God’s presence is resident and active in the lives of His true believers, and through them, according to the working of His mighty power, He is progressively moving forward with His plan.
 
Hebrews 2:8-9
hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
 
The purpose of this time-frame is for believer's, empowered by the resurrection dunamis of the slain Lamb, to do the work of the kingdom. It is beholden on the regenerate man (born again believer) to be about his Father's business. But there is a day upon the horizon where this present age will be physically brought to an end, and the Lamb of God will rule upon this earth in physical form (Revelation 20:4, 6).
 
So as we transition into verse 22, we must be reminded of God's power given to us "In Christ." This power is necessary as the church functions within this "already- not yet" time-frame; for the forces we will face in this battle are powerful.
 
The text says: Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion...
 
The power that is resident in the resurrected one, which same power resides in us through the moving and operation of the Holy Spirit, is far above principalities and powers, might and dominions. Who is Paul referring to with these words?
 
We will cover some of these concepts in detail when we get to chapter 6, but briefly, the word principality is arche in Greek, which means chief or first in order; just a couple verses down, the word prince is used to describe Satan. Jesus used this same word three times in the gospel of John to refer to Satan, as the prince/ archon. Obviously this word is a variant of arche, which is where we build the word archangel. What this means is that Satan is the chief ruler of this current evil age; more specifically, the realm that he rules is within the sphere of unredeemed man.
 
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion...
Anyway, the idea is that Satan, his power ([exousia]- the word power here is used in chapter 6 and refers to demon spirits), his might (dunamis), and his dominion (kingdoms) he has ruled, have been defeated through Calvary, and are awaiting their judgment. The point for the believer is that he understand at least three things: (1) "In Christ," we have victory over the archon {the prince} and exousia {demons} (2) "In Christ," we are the vessels God chooses to inhabit in order to accomplish His will upon this fallen earth (3) "In Christ,” we have been given the power we need to overcome the evil one.
 
Ephesians 1:22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
 
In these two verses, the emphasis surrounds the relationship of Jesus' power to His church, through HIS victory, all things, all powers have been placed under His feet, which signifies supremacy and ultimate authority. Personally, I can visualize Jesus' foot on the throat of the dragon right here; nevertheless, another thought of supremacy is that Jesus is the head; furthermore, He is the head of a body, and the body is the church.
 
Now, we have discussed this multiple times, but the word church is ekklesia, meaning called out ones. It must be understood that the church isn't a building or an organization; rather, it's an organism. The church (ekklesia- called out ones) is a functioning organism making up Christ's body upon the earth through the energy or power of the Holy Spirit, which is made available to the believer because of his righteous position given "In Christ."
 
Jesus is the head of this body. He supplies the power and the plans for its purposes and function upon the earth. Through the written word and the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus completes His work upon this earth during this "already- not yet" time frame.
 
This thought will be expanded upon in a couple of chapters, but let the title of tonight's message ring loud in the ears of the hearers: Broken Teeth and Lame Feet Cripple a Body!
 
Proverbs 25:19
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
is like a broken tooth (painful), and a foot out of joint (can’t function properly).

In other words, when the body of Christ doesn’t function like it’s supposed to, the work of God is hindered in some way. It’s not operating at capacity. No one wants to be responsible for their own actions; rather, they would prefer to live their lives the way they want, pretending that their daily decisions don’t have consequences for the kingdom of God. I’m sorry that is a lie. Every time we, who call ourselves “Christian,” make a decision contrary to God’s will, there is a result.

Many times our decisions are made based upon selfish motives, but the results don’t just affect us, they affect countless others. For instance, let’s pretend for a moment that we are having a hard time getting our flesh under control. We’re irritated with others and just don’t have any patience with anyone at work. Many times this will result in the believer thinking his problem is the work place, resulting in the frustrated believer wanting to run in another direction to solve the problem, but the problem isn’t the environment; instead, the problem is the believer’s perception of his situation. This person is viewing their circumstances from their own eyes instead of God’s, from their own desires instead of God’s.

By the way this can also be true for relationships, whether they are marital or companionship in nature, and once the decision is made to move on, countless people are affected, the witness left the building. I understand that God moves witnesses and brings new ones, but we are supposed to be making sure that the decisions we make, as His body, are lining up with His will. Other scenarios can be attitudinal. When we behave or respond a certain way to people, we either bless them, giving them a positive perception about the kingdom of God, or we offend them and give them a negative perception about the kingdom of God. The salt just lost its flavor, the light was dimmed, the tooth was broken, and the foot’s out of joint.
 

Just as humans require body parts that are wholly functional in order to operate at capacity and accomplish work in the physical realm, the organism known as the church operates at capacity when its individual parts work in unison as it carries out the orders from the head, which is Christ.
 
There is so much that could be said here; yet, there is so little time to say it. But let's try an abbreviated version.
 
First, without a proper understanding of God's word, the body is void of knowledge regarding proper function to begin with. This problem can have multiple reasons for its existence-- a couple are: (1) the believer refuses to study to show themselves approved (2) the preacher doesn't properly teach the scriptures from God's perspective; instead, he teaches them from a mindset that wants to meet the people where they are instead of the mindset of bringing the people where God is.
 
But one other main thought that comes to mind is this question: what is unity? Is unity of the body where we all gather around the campfire, sing songs, and tell each other what a wonderful job we're doing for God's kingdom? True unity surrounds our holding to the gospel of faith?
 
Ephesians 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
 
1 Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
 
When a person is born again from the dead and begins to gain a revelation that daily faith in the finished work of Christ provides a standing of righteousness before God, allowing the believer access into the presence of God, allowing the believer fellowship with the presence of God, a deep work is begun in the heart of that man.
 
This New Testament believer is being properly positioned within the body and is now receiving its signals from the head. The thought here is similar to the anatomy and physiology of the human body. There are sensory and motor pathways that send and receive signals from the brain to the body parts resulting in action. But if there is a body part severed from the whole, that body part can't receive its proper signal; therefore, it can't operate as it’s supposed to.
 
It would be like a severed hand lying on the ground trying to hand a Christian tract to an individual two blocks away, it has no feet to get there, and it has no mouth to speak with. While there is the chance that a passerby may happen upon this isolated hand and receive the tract, the separated hand is not as effective because it's in disunion, it's in disunity from the body. Also, worth mentioning, it becomes obvious at some point that something isn't right. My point is that a hand is supposed to be a part of a larger whole in the same way that a Christian is supposed to be a part of the body of Christ. And when there is a person in isolation unable to coincide with anyone, there is a problem. All these scenarios are just a couple everyday examples of broken teeth and disjointed feet affecting the proper operation of the body of Christ upon this earth.
 
…Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
 
He wants to fill His body (the church) with Himself, so He can operate through them.
 
 

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
 
These three verses are rich with details, but the main thought shouldn't be missed: there is a juxtaposing of two thoughts here when these verses are viewed in light of what we've been studying. In other words, a comparison and contrast is taking place between the redeemed (believers) and the unredeemed (unbelievers).
 
What's being compared and contrasted is God's plan for humanity compared to the current fallen order of things. In the first part of Ephesians, we learned that we were adopted of God. Once again, God is in the process of creating an eternal family. Entrance into this family comes by way of birth. While it’s true the terminology adoption was used, and in that sense likely refers to the differences in God's plan regarding Old and New covenants and Jew versus Gentile believers; nevertheless, entrance into the kingdom or family of God, comes through a new birth in Christ.
 
Upon faith in the plan of God, the believer is born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit makes your heart His home, and you become the temple of God, the dwelling place where the God of the universe performs His day to day operations, even the body of Christ.
 
So the born again believer is being led by the Holy Spirit as he travels his pilgrimage, and this thought is being contrasted to our new thought: …the spirit of the air that is working in the children of disobedience.
 
 

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
 
Those that are born again are born out of the world system, and while they were previously dead in sin because they were separated from the life of God, now they've been quickened or given life through their connection to Jesus.
 
The words trespasses and sins have specific meanings.
 
Trespasses- describe a wandering from the right path. This is descriptive of a lifestyle walking in opposition to God's will.
 
The context of this verse related this thought to unbelievers, but how often are churches filled with people whose journey is heading in the opposite direction from God's will?
 
Sins- this word means to miss the mark. The idea is a spear-man missing the bull’s eye. The thought for everyday life is that there is right and wrong, and wrong choices miss the mark of God.

While the first describes chronic behavior, the second describes acute failures along the way, and the person walking the path of the first word, will repeatedly perform the works of the second.
 
Ephesians 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
 
As human beings we all have one thing in common: we've all walked "according to the course of this world." The hope is that we no longer are. While we will certainly miss the mark because of our frail humanity, we shouldn’t be constantly failing in the same area time and again.
 
From being born in Adam until being born again in Christ, we walked the course of the world. We were enslaved to the prince of the power of the air. As mentioned earlier, Jesus called Satan the prince of this world. Satan is the chief ruler of this fallen age of sin, but he is not sovereign-- God is in control. Furthermore, notice the words...the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
 
The people that are bound by the kingdom of Satan are those who are unredeemed. The born again Christian is no longer under the power of Satan's kingdom. Unfortunately, if the preacher doesn’t preach the gospel for the way God wrote it, believers will not be equipped to travel the freedom path; sadly, they won’t even know it’s there even though it’s in the very book they’re reading. The same thing happened to the Pharisees, who were reading and searching but never seeing (John 5:39, 40).
 
The spirit that works disobedience is synonymous with the spirit of antichrist spoken of in:
 
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
 
It should be understood that the spirit of antichrist is the spiritual power that Satan exerts over God's creation humanity, which was made possible through Adam's fall. From the beginning of his associations with the human race, he has been a seductress.
 
I use the feminine form of the word because the book of Revelation calls his lying false system of religion a harlot that causes humanity to live in a state of intoxication and fornication (Revelation 17:1-6). Proverbs seven gives a good rendering of how this seductive spirit operates within the hearts and minds of God’s people. This spirit uses beauty and sensuality, religion and carnality, in order to entice and seduce the people of God into bed with it, and the whole time it’s a trap, a snare to entrap, a leading to the slaughter house to destroy.
 
This spirit has been seducing and usurping from the garden, through Babel's corporate rebellion, and will not stop until Jesus destroys him with the sword of His mouth. We should be reminded that a couple weeks back we discussed the fact that the family of God isn't only Father and children, but it's also Bridegroom and bride, and there is nothing that will ruin a marriage faster than the presence of a harlot in the house.
 
…worketh in the children of disobedience:
 
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
 
The word "worketh" is energeo in the Greek. Just as the spirit of antichrist is influencing the unredeemed to do the works of his kingdom, God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us the desire to accomplish His work.
 
We will complete this thought next week, but the ability of Satan to operate in humanity is related to the inherent sinful nature man receives from Adam; whereas, the redeemed have been spiritually transformed, becoming partakers of a new nature, and receiving new desires from God (Ezekiel 36: 25-27; 2 Peter 1:4).

#4 Can You See?

Can You See?

Ephesians 1:15-19 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,…

 
Look at Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, he prays that they would be able to see. He wants God to give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of Him-- of who? Paul wants the Ephesians to know this Jesus that died and bled and rose again for them!
 
The word revelation is apokalupsis, which is where we get our word apocalypse, which also has the meaning-- revelation. As a matter of fact, the word apokalupsis, is the Greek word used for revelation as in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The whole concept of the book of Revelation is that there is a day on the horizon when that which has been hidden to the naked eye will be revealed, it will be unveiled; He will be unveiled and made manifest for all eyes to see.
 
In the meantime, Paul wants the Ephesians to be able to see today. He wants them to have spiritual eyes and understanding about the concepts he's spoken of before regarding the fact that God has a plan for creating a family that will dwell with Him for all eternity. He's creating a peculiar people that will show forth the praises of Him, a people called out of darkness into the light of God, and Paul wants them to be able to spiritually see that truth.
 
But understanding doesn't have eyes to see. Paul's point once again is that they be able to see spiritually. We've made this point in times past, but let's be reminded that before conversion man can't see the things of God because the things of God are spiritually understood and man's logic and natural thinking are contrary to the Spirit of God; therefore, in the unconverted state, or the Christian who walks in fleshly carnality, outside the leading of the Holy Spirit, he cannot perceive the things of God:
 
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:for they are foolishness unto him:neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
 
The word eyes is ophthalmos and enlightened is photizo, from phos, where phosphorous comes from, which is glowing; essentially the idea is the emitting of light, without which the physical eye cannot see, and Paul is using that idea here, desiring in his prayers that the Ephesians would have their spiritual eyes opened and be given light by God to see spiritual truth. One more interesting thought in reference to the word phos, which, once again is the root of the word we're considering in this verse, photizo, is that it's the same Greek word translated as light in reference to Jesus-- that His life is the light of men (John 1:4).
 
There is great revelation to this thought through one of the miracles Jesus performed in the gospel of John. In all actuality, the whole gospel of John has as, at least one of its sub- themes, the thought of Jesus bringing light into the darkness. Even in the very beginning, we see the truth of light essential to God's plan for man; for without light, life cannot exist.
 
In the Genesis account of creation, God creates the heavens and the earth. The eternal Word speaks, while the Spirit hovers over the deep, and creation out of nothing (ex- nihilo) comes into existence. But there is darkness, so the word says let there be light, and through light, as we know, things can grow.
 
When we taught the gospel of John a few years back, God began to reveal to me that there was spiritual meaning deeper than our physical eyes were seeing. I'm not talking about some mystical Bible code. What I'm saying is that, while the gospel of John is truly a narrative of actual events and miraculous occurrences, there is also a spiritual context within the movement of these stories that tell of the deeper plans of God.
 
For instance, there is certainly a connection between the Genesis account and the gospel of John. And just as Genesis starts with God's creation, providing a place of habitation for humanity, John starts with the plan for a new creation in Christ. Whereas, the first creation provided a habitable place on earth for man, the new creation, through Calvary, provides a habitation for God to dwell on earth in the creation He loves after the catastrophic fall. We become the tabernacle or temple of God on earth until the Millennial Reign of Christ.   
 
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and nothing that was made was made without Him. He (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of men (paraphrase of John 1:1-4).
 
So we can see here the connection between life and light that was spoken clearly in the Genesis account, but we see in John that Jesus is life given by God to man, giving light to man, which is needed because of the fall. Between the first creation in Genesis and the advent of the new creation given in Jesus, mankind is in darkness, void of the true life of God, and separated from intimacy with God until life and light is given by God.
 
There is no doubt that there is also a transitioning from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in the gospel of John. I've talked to you before about the first miracle at the Cana wedding when Jesus performed a transformation miracle, changing the internal contents of those vessels, symbolizing the message of the New Covenant where man, in the darkened state of sin has now been exposed to the life giving light of God, and it's about to change everything.
 
Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Representing the fact that he's walking in a state where he can’t see, he’s in darkness. He represents external religion, which can’t perceive the things of God. Jesus says, "I speak to you about earthly things and you don't understand. How will I tell you about heavenly things?"
 
Throughout the whole Gospel, I see these miracles and dialogues in the gospel of John repeatedly pointing to the new creation change. For instance, man separated from God can't walk right, and he can't see. In John chapter five, Jesus heals the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, asking him, "Will you be made whole? Rise pick up your bed and walk."
 
What about you believer or non believer whoever you are, will you be made whole? Will you let Jesus touch you and set you free?
 
But let's not lose sight with where we're going because in the gospel of John (chapter 9), we’re told that there is a man who was born blind from his birth. Man born in Adam is blind to the things of God. Yes, Jesus performs a miracle that day, and we need to be reminded and believe God that He will still do miracles today, but look at how Jesus chooses to perform this miracle. He takes the dirt of the earth, the same substance from which man was created, this creation made from dust, now in its fallen state and blind to the ways of God. This fallen man is in a hopeless state, he was formed from the dust, and because of sin, he will return to the dust. (Genesis 3:19). A mixture is made from two things dust (the frailty of man) and what comes out of Jesus’ mouth. I understand that He used His spit to mix this clay, but the mouth of Jesus is the most powerful thing that this earth has ever experienced; for out of His mouth proceeds the living word of God that spoke this world into existence. And Jesus mixes what's in His mouth with the substance from which fallen man was produced, the dust or dirt of the earth, and He brings light to this man's darkened eyes.
 
And He's the light of this world and He brings light to these darkened eyes, so they can see, and He brings life to these lame legs, so they can walk.
 
And in the Romans passage, Paul's prayer is that these Ephesians would be able to really see what God is doing. His prayer is that they would be able to see three specific things:
 
(1). He wants them to be able to see: "...that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,..."
 
(2). "...and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,..."
 
(3). "... And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,..."
 
(1).... the hope of his calling...
 
The word calling is klesis. I've already introduced this thought to you before, but let's keep it on the forefront of our minds. The word translated as church is ekklessia, which literally means, called out ones, so there is a calling of God reaching out to fallen humanity to receive the life and light that God is offering.
 
We see the call announced throughout scripture, from the Old Testament through the New; for the sake of time, we will just cover two thoughts:
 
A. The Eliezer Call
 
In Genesis chapter 24, we are given a thought known as the Eliezer call. Within this narrative story, we see certain characters that along with the story itself spiritually represent the calling of God. While we have already discussed in the past some thoughts about narrative literature in the Bible and how it tells a story, we should introduce here the thought that many times the characters in these narratives have attributes of deeper, even divine significance. Now, we must be careful not to over spiritualize the scriptures; nevertheless, there are times that God is obviously offering deeper meaning within His word than what lies on the surface in a narrative.
 
The safe way to make sure you're not over spiritualizing or reading something inaccurate into the text is to ask yourself this: "Is the thought that I think I'm seeing here consistent with the overall teaching of God? Furthermore, is there a New Testament truth that I can connect to this thought?"
 
If the answer is yes, while its not absolute certainty that you're not over spiritualizing, there is a good chance that the Holy Spirit is leading you to see a revelation about His word that He wants you to have.
 
In the story of the Eliezer call, Abraham is nearing the end of his life. This story occurs long after the promise has come and Sarah has died. Abraham, the father of the faith, the man who heard the call of the living God and obeyed, left the land of his heritage, and became a pilgrim in a land that he was promised but never possessed. Now, he’s preparing for his departure, and his main concern is to find a bride for the promised son. He goes to his main servant whose name is Eliezer and speaks to him about calling a bride for the son. He tells the servant that the bride must come from his people in the area of Babylon, and under no circumstances can the bride come from the land of Canaan.
 
Now, we don't have time to cover this right now, but Abraham's descendants in Ur of the Chaldees were heathens also; in other words, they didn't necessarily know the God of Abraham. With time, they will learn because Jacob will return and spend fourteen years there; nevertheless, there was always a lingering question in my mind on what the difference between the heathens of Ur versus the heathens of Canaan was.
 
I believe with all my heart now that it had something to do with the Nephilim seed that had filled the land of Canaan. I'm not saying that there were no Nephilim in the area of Babylon, but (Leviticus 18:4-30) is clear that one of the main reasons that God have the people that He created (Israel) the land of Canaan was because the inhabitants of that land had defiled it with their witchcraft.
 
In the story of the Eliezer call, Abraham represents the Father who sends the servant Eliezer, who represents the Holy Spirit to call a bride, representing the church, for the promised son Jesus.
 
B. A calling to the wedding feast (Matthew 22)
 
In this parable, the emphasis connecting the believer to God is related to their being present at the wedding feast. The marriage of the bride to the Son will result in a feast or banquet. Those that are present are the people that have accepted the invitation, those that have accepted the call of God. In the first scenario, the invitation went to Israel, specifically, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders that are rejecting His ministry; they are rejecting the long awaited promised Messiah. They still haven't accepted Him; therefore, they're in rebellion towards Him right now as we speak.
 
Because of their rebellion and rejection, God has extended the call to others. Every nation, tribe, and tongue is being called during this time frame known as the church age. What will you do with the Son? Will you marry the Son? Will you be part of the bride of Christ?

(2). "...and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,..."
 
It should be noted that the inheritance spoken of here refers to the fact that it's His inheritance not ours that's being discussed; furthermore, God's inheritance, which is the saints, brings Him glory and is seen by God as "riches," literally a treasure. Don't ask me how, but in spite of the fact that we’ve made so many mistakes, God views us as an inheritance. The word saints means: the consecrated ones or holy ones. While we've made this excessively clear for several years, let's make sure we remain understood, the saints are consecrated and made holy in the eyes of God because they have been called through the gospel and responded by faith (Ephesians :13, 14), were baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12), where their relationship with sin in Adam was severed (Romans 6:6), they were connected to the vine (John 15), becoming a partaker of the nature of God (2 Peter 1:4), they were clothed with His righteousness (Galatians 3:27), and accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). The saints are "In Him," and "In Him," is a place separated out from the world (kosmos) this present evil age (2 Corinthians 6:14).
 
A. Riches
 
There are two New Testament parables that beautifully expound this thought:
 
Matthew 13:44-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Matthew 13:46
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
 

In both these parables the throwing alongside (para (side) – ballo (to throw)) that's taking place is the kingdom of heaven being compared in the first to a treasure in a field and the second time to a priceless pearl. Now, on first glance, it would appear that these treasures represent the believer finding the Kingdom of God (Jesus) and then selling all they have in order to attain or own that possession, but whenever these two parables are compared to the ones that come before and after it becomes clearer what's being communicated.
 
In the parable before, the enemy sowed tares in the field and the message is that in the end the tares and the wheat will be separated where the tares will be judged and the wheat harvested (hallelujah)!
 
The parable after speaks of a net being cast into the sea where the good are kept and the bad aren't; furthermore, in both cases, the reader is made aware that the idea is that the wicked will be judged.
 
With that said the interpretation is that the pearl and treasure are the saints, and they are so precious to God that He sold all He had to purchase them. The Father released the most prize possession heaven ever held to earth so that sinful man, who God somehow sees as a pearl of great price and a treasure hidden in a field could be redeemed.
 
Interestingly, in both cases, the object was sought out by "God," which goes along with our calling by God. He's sent the servant, the Holy Spirit, who works through vessels, proclaiming the eternal gospel to a dying world. He's calling you Christian to get on board with what He's doing. He's calling you unbeliever to allow yourself to be that pearl or that treasure. He purchased you. Won't you allow yourself to be owned by Him?
 
B. Glory
 
So the idea, once again, is that the saints are a treasure, God's inheritance, and they bring Him glory. How does this work? How do the saints bring God glory?
 
First, it should be noted that God is deserving of glory and worship simply based upon the fact that He is God.
In the New Testament the word glory describes God's splendor and magnificence. He is worthy to have His glory recognized because He is God. This truth should be enough, but in this crazy world we live in, God is seen by some as an "ego-maniac" who demands to be worshiped or else. The spirit generating this deception to turn man from wanting to give God glory is the spirit of antichrist, which has been usurping God's glory since Lucifer's fall and in this present "cosmos," or evil age upon this earth, this lying spirit has been stealing God's glory since Eve's seduction.
 
We will also see as we move forward that there is an Old Testament thought translated as (God's glory) that describes His character, who He really is in all His majesty and splendor, which is really beyond man's ability to comprehend because man's mind is finite and God's glory is infinite; nevertheless, God wants to reveal to man as much of His character as He can, God wants to show His people what He really looks like while also wanting them to emulate Him; thereby reflecting His glory to those who are lost around them. This has always been His plan, and on this side of eternity that will never change.
 
   (a). New Testament: If believers reflect the glory of Jesus the way Jesus reflects the glory of the Father, God is magnified and the unredeemed are made aware of His presence and work upon this earth!
 
John 17-- Jesus' prayer to the Father uses the words "glory," "glorify," or "glorified" eight times in John 17. The essence of Jesus' prayer is that He has accomplished the work the Father has asked of Him. Jesus has glorified the Father in everything He’s done. Every selfless action, every miracle, every teaching that opened man's mind to a little more understanding of God, and especially, the ultimate price He will pay on the cross soon after this prayer, all brings glory to the Father.
 
There is also the foundational truth explained within this prayer that during this time known as the "church age" the disciples and those who believe because of their testimony (me and you) will bring God glory.
 
How do we bring glory to God? By living a life in front of the world that reflects His character!
 
Let this be said; nay, rather let it be screamed from the rooftops, "IF THE EMPHASIS OF YOUR PREACHER ISN'T TEACHING YOU HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WILL BRING GOD GLORY, AND INSTEAD, HE IS TEACHING YOU HOW TO HAVE “YOUR BEST LIFE NOW," YOU'RE BEING LED ASTRAY, WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY RESULT IN A WASTE OF THIS PRECIOUS TIME OF LIFE THAT GOD GAVE YOU AS A SEED TO BE PLANTED IN THIS TEMPORARY EARTH, RESULTING IN AN ETERNAL HARVEST... WHAT A WASTE OF THIS PRECIOUS LIFE WE'VE BEEN GIVEN IF ALL WE DID WAS TRY TO IMPROVE OUR POSITION AND NEVER USED IT TO GIVE GOD GLORY! HELP US GOD!
 
    (b). Old Testament: In Exodus 33, God is angry with Israel because of their repeated rebelliousness. He tells them not to put on their ornaments (jewelry) obviously signifying happiness, because they are stiff necked and rebellious.
 
God tells Moses to go ahead, get up, and bring these stiff necked people that Moses has brought up out of Egypt into the Promised Land, but Moses' response is that he can't go if God won't go before him. He pleads with God and says if your presence doesn't go before us, we won't be separated from the other nations, and they won't know who you are. We need you God to be with us on this journey, and I can't do what you ask of me if you don't go before us. I won't go God. "If you won't go before us the deal is off because it’s doomed to failure." {Matt’s paraphrase}
 
God says; go you've found favor in my eyes. I will be with you. But Moses wants more. Moses needs more. He has to know more. He's still not ready because He has to better understand God, because if he doesn't understand the God he represents, He will never be able to represent him on this journey.
 
God's response is to bring Moses to a certain place. God describes this place as right beside Him. This is a place where one can get close to the God of the universe. This is a place where one can see all that he will ever be able to see of God on this side of eternity. The place beside Him that He speaks of is a cleft (a crevice) in the rock where God will hide Moses, and in this place, God will allow Moses to see as much of His glory as a man can be shown on this side of the eternal veil, during this time known as the Old Testament covenant.
 
The glory of God spoken of here represents God's character, it represents His person, who He really is and what His heart looks like.
 
God had a plan all along and this rock where Moses was hid is just a foreshadowing of a place called "In Christ."
 
This place called in Christ allows the New Testament believer to be planted in Him. On the cross, His side was opened and riven with the soldier's spear, just as a tree is opened so a new branch can be grafted, just as Eve was taken from Adam's side, a cleft was opened in the side of the rock, where a branch called bride could be planted into the vine, and in that place, God's glory, His character can be revealed. And when that character is revealed, embraced, and infused into the branch, God's glory is manifest to a lost and dying world through the fruit that is produced.
 
The first bride Eve, who was created from the side of Adam, was seduced by the serpent. The second bride Christian is being created in the riven (split) side of the last Adam, Jesus. But beware Christian soldier there is a serpent that still slithers, he slithers, and he injects with poisonous doctrine, and just as he seduced the First Lady Eve, he wants so badly, as a matter of fact, I can see no other purpose that his sick, blackened heart longs for other than to seduce and cause the bride of Christ to play the harlot with him.
 
(3). "... And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,..."
 
There are three Greek words here that caught my interest:
 
1. Exceeding- huperballo
   Ballo- to throw
   Hupo- under: huper- over
 
To throw over
 
2. Greatness- Megethos- of great magnitude
 
3. Dunamis- explosive, violent power.
 
All this is given "to us ward," who believe.
 
In other words, there is great power given to the believer in Christ. The question that should be asked is how does all this work? Your faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified has allowed you to be a partaker in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
 
We need to understand that at the cross, God dealt a death blow to Satan's plans. When the innocent one died in place of the guilty, there was a pathway opened for sinful humanity to enter relationship with God, because a payment for sin's penalty was paid. Once the believer places faith in Christ, this debt transaction takes place where the sins are paid in full, the old man is dead, a new man resurrected, and the new man has huperballo megethos dunamis coming his way.
 
In other words, RESURRECTION POWER CHILD OF GOD. Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave, and the same Spirit that dwells in you:
 
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

#3 The Family of God: Adopted and Sealed as a Son! Pt. 2

The Eternal Family of God: Adopted and Sealed as a Son!

 Ephesians Chapter 1: Part 2

Galatians 4:6-7
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art 
no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God 
through Christ.

Luke 15: 11-24 

Introduction: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. 

The word parable is a Greek compound word: para- on the side of:
ballo- throw. The idea is that in parabolic teaching, two or 
more things are thrown along the side of one another for the 
purpose of comparison and contrast. In the parable of the prodigal
son, the main teaching is that Jesus is comparing the self 
righteous hearts of the Pharisees (the prodigal’s brother) to the 
broken hearts of repentant sinners, which will be accepted by God
the prodigal); however, as should be obvious,there is also an 
allusion to the journey of the rebellious free will of man. He 
stubbornly refuses God’s way time and again; yet, God has a way of
ringing the heart that is willing to receive Him to place of 
brokenness and repentance. Ultimately,it should be noted that 
when the prodigal comes to himself, he’s willing to be humbled as 
a servant, but accepted again as a son. It’s in his humility that 
he’s sealed in a robe, given a signet ring, which is a proof sign 
of his identity, and Vincent points out that both the shoes and 
the ring symbolize a free man, because servants traveled barefoot.
personally, for me, anytime I see shoes pointed out in the New 
Testament, my mind is drawn to the thought of a journey; 
specifically, the journey of our Christian lives. In this sense,
the Prodigal is equipped for his journey; furthermore, he finally 
really understands both his person and hi purpose—when he was 
willing to become a servant, his father made him a son. 

 7.  "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"
 
Once again, we are presented a form of this prepositional phrase.
 
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
 
The word redemption is apolutrosis Once again, this is an example of a Greek compound word with the prepositional prefix attached to the front.
 
Apo means away; whereas, lutrosis means to be loosed through ransom or payment.
 
Before Jesus, you and I were not acceptable to God in the beloved because we were outside of him clothed in our sin and self-righteousness. Furthermore, we we’re not loosed or free. But a payment plan was foreordained before the foundation of the earth (1 Peter 1:18–20).

The thought of loosing here is reminiscent of the Old Testament scapegoat. On the Day of Atonement, Israel’s high priest would take two goats: one was used as a sacrifice for the people’s sins, and the other was released into the wilderness with the people’s sins upon it. In both cases, there would have been a moment where there was a laying on of hands upon both animals signifying transference of guilt from the people to the animals. Once again, one would be sacrificed typifying the future sacrifice of Jesus as He fulfilled the payment of sin; whereas, the other would have been released, signifying the fact that our sins are sent away and to be remembered no more. It’s crucial to the walk of the Christian that we get a revelation that our sins have been dealt with at the cross, and they have been sent away into the wilderness to be remembered no more. As long as we are tied to our sin, we will never be able to believe that we are a son of God.

But many times the people of God aren’t taught the importance of really believing that their sins were dealt with at the cross; therefore, they begin to let that old nasty goat come back and start hanging around the camp again. Some may ask, “Why do I really need to know all this information?” You need to know because Satan is relentless when it comes to trying to keep you under a cloud of condemnation and guilt. We’ve been redeemed loosed away from our sins through His payment for our penalty, and we need to know it, believe it, and live our lives every day that way.
 
8–9. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
 
The word wherein is speaking of the grace from the previous verse. The gracious act of God in Christ, has provided a place for us to dwell, wrapped in the beloved and acceptable unto God.
 
In this place called "in Christ," God is able to reveal his wisdom and prudence (intellect)." In Christ, we're able to receive a glimpse of the big plan of God. Before Jesus, we operated through our own logic (1 Corinthians 2:14; John 14:17). But now, in Christ, the Spirit of God has made our heart His home and God communicates with us, revealing His mysteries for humanity that are hidden from those outside of Christ. And as deep and rich as all this is, all the mysteries of God since before the foundation of this earth are found complete in this person and place known as "in Christ."

God wants His remnant family to have a revelation about what he’s doing upon this earth in the creation of this eternal family, because he is love, and He wants to love. Sadly, there are many people who’ve been hurt so bad throughout life, or deceived so bad by religion that the love of God is foreign to their understanding. My prayer for people in those circumstances is that they would experience a born again relationship with God, that they would be healed from the hurt of their past, and that God would make His home their heart, so they can experience what true love is.

 10. "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:"
 
The long phrase, "that in the dispensation of the fullness of times…" is built from a word that describes a house servant.
 
The idea is that through the ages, God has been bringing humanity to a point where He would reveal Jesus to a lost and dying world. Through the ages, His Spirit and plan is acting as a steward caring for this lost and blinded human race. While certain portions of the plan have remained a mystery, God has been methodically revealing the mystery that will be completed in Jesus.
 
A young child in the home doesn't understand all the plans and actions that his father's undertaking; rather, the child is carried along and cared for by the steward of the house until he comes of an age when the "mystery" (details of the plan\the hidden things) can be revealed.
 
An excellent scriptural reference point to this would be the purpose the law served until the giving of Jesus: Galatians 3:8–29.
 
And we are still moving towards the fullness of times, because there's going to be a day when gravity will lose its hold:
 
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
 
A treaty will be signed (Daniel 9) between Israel and the antichrist, which will begin the prophetic time clock of Israel's last seven year period, ultimately ushering in the millennial reign of Christ where the will of God will be completely done on earth even as it is in heaven.
 
In this sense, the finished work of Jesus not only saves the souls of chosen humanity in Christ, Satan's rebellion will also be brought to an end. What's amazing to me is that as God has called this eternal family, He has allowed us to be used by Him to proclaim this wonderful kingdom message, allowing us in some way to be part of something so much bigger than what the naked eye can see.
 
11a. "… In whom we have also obtained an inheritance…"
 
Children receive an inheritance from their parents. Just as Israel of old inherited an allotment of land from God, the New Testament believer has received a promised inheritance in Christ. As we will see moving forward, this inheritance is much bigger than a physical plot of ground; rather, this inheritance is of eternal value, and is connected to an eternal life with a loving Father who gave his only begotten Son, so that wayward son's could be redeemed, adopted, and given an inheritance – and you’ve already received the down payment of your inheritance.
 
11b. "…In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"
 
This plan for redeeming wayward children was predestined beforehand by God. It is His will, according to his counsel (advice, or wisdom) that an eternal family, created for his fellowship be given birth to. It's His will child of God to create a family, and the question on this side of the eternal veil is, "what will a man or woman do with this Jesus, who was offered by God as a ransom and a hope for something bigger than what the natural eye perceives?"
 
12 "… Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
 
Paul as a Jew is speaking to Gentiles. He explains that "we" Jewish Christians first trusted, but as we will see, he acknowledges that "they" (Gentile Ephesians) afterward trusted.
 
Ultimately, as both Jew and Gentile join the eternal family of God by trusting (exhibiting faith) in the eternal plan of God (Jesus Christ and him crucified), God receives praise and glory on this side of eternity as the people of God live their lives in the open for Him.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

And finally we come to the answer the title of tonight’ message asked: how did we get in? The answer is that you heard the gospel, you believed the gospel, through faith you were saved, and when you were saved, you were sealed.

The idea of sealed has the thought of a waxed seal that protects the contents on the inside of the envelope. Once you were saved, the Holy Spirit’s stamp on you is a mark to make you secured and assured. You’re secure because the presence of God protects you from the wiles of Satan, and you can be assured that you’re part of the family of God because you’ve been sealed by the Holy Spirit. The child of God cannot move forward if there is doubt about salvation. When the Holy Spirit seals a person, that person will know that they know that they know that they are saved!!

When my two daughters were younger, my oldest would say something that was really kind of mean. At first, we all laughed because it was so shocking, but then I started to tell her to stop. I just found out Sunday that she learned it from a youth pastor’s son. Anyway, she would to tell her younger sister that we adopted her from China and bought her a new face. At first, my poor, little youngest would look confused and almost sad, like she believed it. Of course after a while, she would just blow her big sister off, but I was thinking about how it must feel for the person who is unsure of their salvation. You need to know that the Word of God says that through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice you were saved. If you would say that you’re unsure, then you need to get alone with God and have a heart to heart. Cry out to Him, repent of your sin, and invite Jesus in. And if you are saved, then disconnect yourself from the world and start fellowshipping with the saints of God, or don’t, let that nasty goat of sin back into the camp, and walk around with uncertainty about whether or not you’re really saved if that’ what you want to do, but you don’t be unsure, you don’t have to feel unworthy; if you’re saved, you’re sealed.

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

The sealing of the believer is the earnest, the advance or down payment, of the purchased possession. There is coming a day when there will be no more questioning. The rapture of the church will go up in the rapture, and the this corrupted flesh will put on incorruption and this mortal will put on immortality, because we will receive our glorified body. That is the day that all creation is groaning for in anticipation (1 Corinthians 15:52-54).

Romans 8:18-25 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope:but hope that is seen is not hope:for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

#2 The Family of God: Are You In or Out? Pt. 1

The Family of God: Are You In or Out?
 

Ephesians Chapter 1: Part 1

Before the ages of human history or the pages of His word, God planned 
a harvest of humanity from this earth. The communication from the beginning 
in Genesis speaks of seed and harvest. The seeds of the herbs and the trees 
had built within them the directive to replicate after their own kind.

God expects a harvest when seed is planted into the soil; and the concept 
of seed and harvest extend past the thought of vegetation even to the animal 
kingdom, but much more specifically the essence of God’s purpose is found in 
the seed and harvest of humanity. Pervasive throughout the scriptures is the 
promise of the coming seed from Abraham, who would be Messiah, the anointed 
one to save the world, and through Him, the New Testament teaches that He 
would be planted as a seed in the ground, through the cross, resulting 
in a great harvest of souls (John 12:24). But the genesis or beginning of that 
promised seed is introduced to us as the seed of the woman, and within the context 
of this introduction is great turmoil strife and disarray for the seed God 
planted in the garden, a man named Adam has rebelled, and now a predestinated 
plan written before in the mind of God is set into motion; in this plan, 
there would be war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, 
which is Jesus; and at just the right time, Jesus, the obedient one would crush 
the serpent's head.

Not only is seedtime and harvest a pervasive theme upon the pages of Scripture, 
but the family of God is repeatedly brought to the attention of the Bible reader's
mind; for the seed was the Son, the Son had a Father, and in the Son children are 
born into the family of God.

But not only are they children; they are also the bride given in marriage to the 
bridegroom, who is the eternal Son, even the eternal lamb of God who consummated 
the contractual portion of this marriage through the shedding of his blood on the 
cross, and once again, children are born from this act of love called Calvary's cross. 

I believe the theme of this first chapter of Ephesians is exactly that: language 
concerning the contractual agreement God has arranged with humanity: God has been 
for thousands of years creating: The Eternal Family of God and the question that 
must be asked is: are you in or are you out?

Eph. 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which 
are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, 
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, there is a lot of history behind the fact that his name is no longer Saul. We probably shouldn't spend too much time here but name changes in the Bible are always significant:
 
Abram – Abraham
Sarai - Sarah
Jacob – Israel
Saul – Paul
Simon – Peter
 
The name change always represents an identity change. One's identity is changed when they move from being a follower of the world to a follower of God, or it can denote a movement from rebellion towards obedience. The whole theme of what we are speaking of in this first chapter with reference to the eternal family of God surrounds this truth that we have been born again from the death that has plagued the human race in Adam "… into a lively hope…" in Christ. The name change represents a break from the old life to the new; the born again believer, introduced into the family of God, through his association with Jesus’ cross, burial and resurrection, becomes a new creation, and the ways of the “old man” begin to die. Saul was a murderer and a persecutor of Christians. Matt was consumed with the party and the gratification of flesh, but these days are gone, these names are changed. The past is that, it’s the past. Who was your past? Do you still see glimpses of his failing heartbeat flutter in your life? Does he still try to manipulate and control, deceive or lie in order to get his way? Does his anger still dominate your behavior when no one else is around to see? I’m not talking about while you’re at bible study, most Christians put on the hupokritos, the hypocrite’s mask, and like an actor on a stage, they play their part, saying the right words and responding the right way, but when no one’s looking, Saul of Tarsus remains alive. The seed of God’s kingdom, the Spirit of God has been planted in you, you’ve received a name change, a new identity—it’s time to start living it for real.

Also, the word apostle is rich with meaning, literally denoting an ambassador of the gospel. In common language, the word describes a representative of a sovereign state that is temporarily dispatched for the cause of their country or kingdom; they travel to a foreign land and bring their country or kingdom with them. While none of us in this room would entitle ourselves an apostle, we should understand that God has certainly called us to be ambassadors of His kingdom; we are asked by Him to embark upon this journey of life as a representative of the kingdom of God, a herald or public crier of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How did God save you? What did He save you from? What’s your story? People out there are dying and in need of you to represent God’s kingdom, to represent the family of God, so that they too can be born anew.
 
Eph. 1:2. …Grace be to you, and peace… The definition of peace: quietness and rest.
 
How different are the majority of people's lives in the midst of the world today? To be truthful, in many cases, the world and believers alike, find themselves overwhelmed in chaos. There is turmoil everywhere they turn: relationship strife, the kids don't act right, drama at work…
 
We won't be separated from the effects of this fallen Earth until Jesus takes us out of here, whether we go by way of the air (rapture) or through the grave, there is hope on the horizon, but there's also hope right now because where there is grace there is peace.
 
I don't think it's an accident that Paul nearly always starts his epistles with, grace and peace unto you. It must be understood that where there is no grace, there is no peace, and where grace abides, there is peace.
 
So how does one have access to Grace?
 
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
 
Whether we know it or not, the peace our souls are craving is peace with God. We may think in our minds, I just wish I wouldn't have all these relationship problems in my life, but if your relationship in the earthly realm is contrary to God, it opens a door for chaos and confusion for your relationship with god in the heavenly realm. It opens a door for the enemy to gain a foothold in your life.
 
Why are my kids crazy? Well, hold on a second to some extent… No let's be real, a big part of a child's behavior is learned in their environment.
 
I don't understand why I have all the strife in my life… What are you talking about? You've been living a life of witchcraft! You're engaging in New Testament pharmakeia: pain pills, alcohol, and drugs that manipulate your neurotransmitters…

In this sense, we’re letting Saul stay alive instead of letting the new man Paul be resurrected.
 
Where there is Grace, there is peace. Romans 5:1,2 teaches us that justification – a declaration by God that we are righteous, made possible because of Jesus' payment for the penalty of our sin, puts us in a place where we're at peace with God. Once we’re in a position of peace, we have access to grace; when grace is flowing in our lives, there is peace in our surrounding atmosphere.
 
In this place of right standing (justified), we have access to Grace. Grace is more than just forgiveness. Grace is power from God, and where there is grace, there is peace. So when I'm justified, I'm at peace with God; and when I'm at peace with God, I have access to grace.
 
Access – the act of bringing to.
 
It's like the scenario of a locked door. On the other side is grace and peace. I need grace and peace, but I can't get there because the door is locked, and I have no access. Jesus is the key! Our sinful state, born in Adam, is the lock preventing access, but Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and our resulting faith, allows the door to the presence of God to be open, allowing access to Grace, allowing peace in our lives to flourish; however, it must also be understood that we have to choose to live in this place on a daily basis.
 
What place? The place where daily faith in the forgiving work of Jesus on the cross gives me continued access to grace where I'm empowered by God to stand, and where there is grace, there is peace.
 
But you can't be double minded (James 1:8, 4:8) and think you will remain in the place of grace. You can't talk like a Christian, live like the world, and expect grace and peace from God.
 
Eph. 1:3–6 A Family has a Home, and Grace has a place.
 
3a. "all spiritual blessings…"
 
While we have a tendency to consider our daily lives as physical and practical, the truth is: we need spiritual blessings from God. The word blessings right here speaks of a spoken word. In other words, the Holy Spirit wants to speak blessings over the life of the new man, who has been born into the family of God. He wants to speak hope, marital healing, obedience to children, and freedom from addiction, manipulation, control, anger, financial woes….
 
Okay, if you want peace in the physical, you need a spiritual blessing. You need the Holy Spirit to minister to your marriage; you need the Holy Spirit to minister to your children, and you need the Holy Spirit to minister to you, so you will be a better parent, helping you to make better decisions on how to raise and discipline your children. You need the Holy Spirit to give you grace at work, so you can do a great job, be productive, and be in a place where God can bless you.
 
"I need help with my finances." I can use myself as an example here: what I needed was a spiritual blessing from God to break the power of sin in my life that was driving me to overspend my money on frivolous stupidity. Once that happened, stress and crying over not having enough started to stop.
 
3b. "… Blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ…"
 
The place of Grace is in Christ! We must constantly be reminded of these basic biblical truths that are needed to renew our minds and transform our thinking:

(1) the Holy Spirit is the person of God on earth dispensing grace and spiritual blessings from God to man.
 
(2). The Holy Spirit is able to dispense grace and spiritual blessings to man based upon the place where "man lives."
 
(3). The man or woman that receives grace and spiritual blessings from the Holy Spirit can receive that blessing because they live in a place called "in Christ."
 
(4). A man or woman in Christ that receives spiritual blessings from the Holy Spirit received their new home "in Christ" when faith was placed in Jesus Christ and him crucified.
 
(5). When faith was placed in Jesus Christ and him crucified, a translation occurred, where the old man was baptized and placed "in Christ," where the old man died, and the new man was resurrected to newness of life.
 
(6). If the new man wants to abide in grace, where spiritual blessings flow, he will have to abide in Christ where the branch receives strength from the vine; simply because, the connection point between sinful man and holy God resides in one place alone, "in Christ," where the righteous one removed our guilt and sin.
 
(4) a. "… As he has chosen us in him…"
 
Before we move forward with this portion of scripture, let's note the fact that some form of the prepositional phrase,… In Christ… is used six times in these first 12 verses of Ephesians chapter 1.
 
(1) v 1… To the faithful in Christ…
 
(2) v3… Spiritual blessings in Christ…
 
(3) v4… Chosen us in him…
 
(4) v6… accepted in the beloved
 
(5) v10… gathered together in one all things in Christ
 
(6) v10... which are on earth, even in him
 
The title I gave to part 1 of Ephesians chapter 1 is: Just as the family has a home, Grace has a place.
 
These prepositional phrases: "in Christ," "in him," "in the beloved," speak of both the home (when I use the word home, I speak metaphorically, as in, "we've been translated from darkness into light, and this is the new place where we are to live"), so these phrases speak of the home where the family of God lives and the place where grace abides. This place is known as "in Christ."
 
We (believers) are the chosen of God. It should be noted that the word chosen here is very similar to the word Elect in first Peter 1:2. Both of these words have the Greek preposition "Ek" as a prefix connected to two different Greek words that are from the root of chosen, so the idea for both "chosen and "elect" is that these verses are speaking about the "chosen out" ones of God. Are you chosen out? Are you in or out of the family of God?
 
How did God choose?
 
1 Peter 1:2-4
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
 
Ephesians 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
 
1 Peter 1:18-20
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
 
God has chosen in advance the people through the plan. That group of people who would be willing to believe God according to his plan of righteousness would be chosen in Christ and found without blame in him.
 
The terminology without blame speaks of no blemish. Just as in the idea of the Old Testament sacrifice, which had to be inspected thoroughly inside and out for faults or blemish before it could be offered, the believer in Christ is found without fault because he's been placed in the faultless one.
 
Salvation provides the believer with a white robe of righteousness because he's been robed with the righteousness of Christ (Revelation 3:18; Galatians 3:27). Righteousness is a gift given by God to sinful man (Romans 5:17).
 
All gifts are free to the recipient, but were purchased by someone else; and while the gift of righteousness is free to man, it was purchased by God for man through the act of love known as Calvary's cross.
 
4b. … That we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
 
Two thoughts that should be emphasize from this part of verse 4:
 
(1) holy
 
(2) without blame.
 
The word holy is the same word often used for sanctified, meaning to separate or consecrate; whereas, blameless, once again denotes the thought of without blemish. God has commanded that His people be separated and blameless in His eyes. While at first glance, these words may cause the Christian to slump in his chair, posturing defeat, he should instead sit up straight, nay, rather he should stand on the truth that he has been given holiness and blamelessness through Christ; but it doesn't end there, because the separating out in Christ provides access to the power of God, which enables man to not only be positioned in the righteous one but also emulate His behavior through the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
5a. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, ..."
 
This scripture specifically describes God producing the eternal family that I spoke of through the title of Ephesians chapter 1:
 
The Eternal Family of God: are you in or out?
 
Here, the terminology adoption is used. In 1 Peter 1:2-4, the word begotten, which describes the process of giving birth is used.
 
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
 
The essence of both of these ideas is that God has been redeeming (purchasing back) and creating an eternal family for himself throughout the ages of human history. He has given man a free will to make a choice. The choices are:
 
(1) obedience to his word resulting in eternal life and
 

(2) disobedience to God and an embracing of deception resulting in eternal damnation.
 
The two trees in the garden preach the gospel of God. One tree looks good, tastes good, and seems good when first taken into the mouth; however, its finality is disastrous. The other tree is life! The other tree is Christ, which is God's way of eternal life, and for thousands of years millions of souls have made daily decisions regarding which fruit they will eat – will they meet God at Abel's altar – the cross, or will man build his own altar like Cain and obstinately choose another way for himself whatever way that may be?
 
Just as a matter of clarity, according to the first Peter 1:3 passage, God is giving birth to this family through the sprinkling of Jesus' blood  v2 and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead  v3. In this sense, I can envision the old man dying at the cross with Christ, and like a newborn baby released from its mother's womb, the new creation in Christ springs forth from the tomb with Him (in Christ) filled with his resurrection power.
 
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this part of the passage "Having predestinated us…, but I think it should be mentioned. The word predestinated has caused a lot of controversy since the Reformation.
 
The meaning of the word itself describes something prearranged or preordained. From this, came two sides of a contentious debate. John Calvin and Jacob Arminian saw predestination completely different.
 
Calvin focused on the sovereignty of God, and in its extreme, this thought produced a belief that it is the believer who is predestined or chosen beforehand. In other words, it's as though God went through the crowd picking certain ones He wanted on His team beforehand and the others would never make it anyway.
 
Arminian, on the other hand, concluded that a position such as this completely nullifies the free will of man.
 
To be truthful, the Bible contains a healthy flow of God's sovereignty working within the free will of man. God will never transgress the free will of an individual; yet, like only God can do, He still accomplishes His sovereign plan, even when the free will of man rebels. The most important concept we should understand about this word is that it's not the individual that is chosen or predestined; instead, it’s the plan of God that was chosen before hand and predestined.
 
We are predestined and chosen in him. In other words, the chosen one's are those who respond through faith to God's plan, are translated from darkness to light, and find themselves in Christ. Yes, God is omniscient and through His foreknowledge sees those who will and won't choose him; nevertheless, he allows man to make that choice.
 
5b. "… According to the good pleasure of his will."
 
It was the pleasure of God's will that there would be a remnant of people "harvested" from this earth. God's plan, as communicated in the title of this teaching, is to create an eternal family.
 
He has accomplished this through the adoption of the saints in Christ. The idea of adoption is the placing of a son. We are placed in Christ, through salvation, which places upon us His righteousness, allowing us to be the children of God, and all this is "… According to the good pleasure of his will." In other words, all these words, and all these years of salvation history have commenced so you could be in the family of God!
 
6. "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
 
What a beautiful plan God has created in Christ! When we only stop to think about how far away we had traveled, how contrary to the will of God we had lived, yet, even then, His mercy provided a plan of grace, producing a place, where humanity could be saved.
 
In this place called Christ, we are "accepted in the beloved."
 
The word accepted here is a variant of the word Grace, but it describes honor being bestowed upon someone. I don't know how far away from God's will you have traveled. There is a good possibility that you feel as though, in a spiritual sense, you're wearing clothes that are tattered and torn. You may feel that your disobedience has brought you so far away from God that you could never be accepted by him.
 
This passage says otherwise child of God. This verse says that the plan of God, in Christ, has clothed us as a gracious honor in the beloved one. You're in him, you're clothed in him, and it's your position in Him that makes you acceptable to God. So rest in your acceptance and enjoy the life-changing power of God's grace.
 
"… In the beloved."
 
This word beloved is from the Greek word for God's kind of love agape. Essentially, the verse is telling us that Jesus is the manifestation of God's love, and our acceptance of Jesus and his sacrifice through faith has clothed us in the agape of God, which is Jesus, who is the beloved of God and never failed.
 
I don't know what that thought does for you, but it makes me want to stop and cry from a thankful heart when I think that Jesus persevered for my restoration, and it brought him joy
 
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
There are three specific times that a form of agape is used as a name of Jesus in the New Testament.
 
Colossians 1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
 
Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
 
Matthew 17:5
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them:and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
 
The world and self-righteous religion will never tolerate a statement like this, but outside of Jesus the "beloved" God's not pleased with man. Man left to himself, standing outside of Christ, clothed in his own righteous rags is offensive to God, but in Christ, you’ve become a vessel of honor, clothed in the righteousness of the beloved, clothed in a swathe of the love of God known as Jesus.
 

Here's a video of my father-in-law playing an old medley of songs he used to play at Twin City Gospel Temple back in the day for us at  #Agnoeo! "Saints Go Marching In / I'll Fly Away / Jesus on The Mainline Medley"

#1 Intro to Ephesians: A Prison Epistle

Intro to Ephesians: A Prison Epistle

The Apostle Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament. His writings include: Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, 1&2 Thessalonians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and the early church attributed the book of Hebrews to him also. Hebrews is one book in the New Testament, which doesn't specifically state who the author is.

Of his 13, more likely 14, epistles, four of them were written while he was a prisoner in Rome. The four prison epistles are: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Internal evidence that Ephesians is a prison letter:

Ephesians 3:1: For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 4:1: I urge you, therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord, to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called.

Ephesians 6:20: ...for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak it boldly as I must.

Date: The date Ephesians was written is likely AD 60-62, during his Roman imprisonment.

Genre: just as music has various types of genre, the Bible does also. Various biblical literary genres include: narrative literature, prophetic, apocalyptic (Daniel & Revelation), and epistles.

Ephesians is an epistle; the word epistle simply means that it was written as a letter to communicate biblical truths to the early church.

In the New Testament, all four gospels and the book of Acts are narrative literature. Whereas, the gospels explain the advent of Jesus, the book of Acts tells the story of the acts of the apostles, and the growth of the early church against all the odds of the mighty Roman Empire. All other books in the New Testament, except the book of Revelation are considered epistles or letters, so that includes James, John, Peter, and Jude's writings also in addition to Paul's.

The reason all this is important is because spiritual truths are communicated slightly different when comparing narrative vs. epistle literature. For instance, in narrative literature, God's story is being told, whether it be Old or New Testament. Furthermore, within the unfolding of the story, God reveals deep spiritual truths.

Just a couple we have learned recently include:

Jonah

(1). When God calls His people to do something and we write a "but" instead of an "and" into the script, in other words, we're contrary to His will, God will also write a "but," and in Jonah's case, the word says,

"Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.Jonah 1:4...

.... But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Gideon

(2). When we studied the life of Gideon out of the book of Judge's, the story unfolded that Israel had been placed under the bondage of their enemy because of their disobedience towards God: does that sound familiar?

During this time, they were ravaged by the Midianites, and we found Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press. Well, you're not supposed to thresh wheat in a wine press. You're supposed to stomp grapes, but Gideon is cowering in fear; nevertheless, his name Gideon means "great warrior," and the angel of the Lord shows up and calls him a mighty man of valor. There are a lot of spiritual truths that could be brought out of this passage, but let's just mention this one: just as Israel's disobedience brought them under bondage to their enemy, many times, our disobedience, does the same to us. But it's important that we get a revelation about something right here: God sees something in you that you can't see. Many times, we're so busy hiding in the wine press, we never look up to realize that God has a plan to restore us, a plan of deliverance, and a plan where He let's us know that the way we see ourselves isn't the way He sees us. You need to know that you're precious in His eyes. I don't care how bad you may think you've failed Him. God loves you, He's committed to you, and He proved His part by sending His only begotten Son to die in your place (John 3:16). All He's asking from you and me is that we would believe Him at His word and keep our faith in His plan.

Epistles, on the other hand, are very doctrinal (instructive) in nature. The whole purpose they were written was to combat heretical teachings, instruct the believer in truth, and bring encouragement to persecuted Christians. Whereas, truth about God is drawn out from the movement and dialogue of Biblical narrative, when studying New Testament epistles, it must be understood that close attention to the thoughts, and even the individual words, can contain great spiritual truth when unpacked within their proper context.

Some examples of the importance of specific Bible words and how they can directly affect our understanding of the Bible are:

Elect- chosen out

Church- called out

Communion- common union

Purpose of Ephesians:

In many of Paul's letters, the purpose is of the letter is obvious because he often addresses openly the problems that the church is facing. In this letter, the specific concerns are a little more difficult to ascertain within the letter itself because there doesn't appear to be an obvious problem within the letter; however, if we review other portions of scripture, we begin to gain a glimpse of the Holy Spirit's purpose through Paul for this letter. Also, I believe that as we move forward, there will be an overarching theme reminding the reader that there is an eternal God with an eternal plan who is creating an eternal family. Ultimately, Paul's purpose is to make the Ephesians aware of that plan, who those people are, what they should look like, and their purposes for God's kingdom.

Acts 20:17-23

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound (to be fastened with chains) in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide...

(abide- to dwell or continue [its almost like he's saying, "I'm on my journey to Jerusalem to do God's will, and I don't know exactly what will happen, but I've been told by the Holy Spirit that I will be living in a new place called affliction])

Acts 20:23-27

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Acts 20:28-30

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers (he's preaching to preachers), to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

He was concerned about wolves and false doctrine affecting Ephesus.

Revelation 2:1-7

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars...

(We we're told the stars represented the "angels" of the churches in Revelation 1:20. The word aggelos is the Greek word for angel here. it can be translated as pastor or angel. The word literally means messenger. Personally, I believe that in a spiritual sense, churches have angels assigned to them; however, most people agree that the intent was that these things be written and communicated to the pastors of these churches; therefore, the idea would be that while churches probably do have angels assigned to them, the letters were physical letters John was instructed to write to these specific churches in Asia Minor, which, according to church tradition, he was the overseer or bishop of).

in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks

(other translations would use lamp stand, which is probably more accurate when you consider the way a lamp burns vs. a candle. A lamp can burn perpetually as long as it is cared for, wick trimmed and oil replenished (oil of the Holy Spirit); furthermore, both of these were duties of the high priest to keep the lamp stand (menorah) in the holy place burning brightly. A candlestick, on the other hand, would burn only for a short period of time; furthermore, we were told that the candlesticks or lamp stands represented the seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 1:20. The church, made up of individual born again believers are supposed to be the light of the world).

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The commendation and correction to the church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation surrounds two main thoughts: (1) they refused to tolerate false apostles and false doctrine; with this is in mind, it appears that some 30-35 years later, when the book of Revelation was written, which was approximately AD 90-95, remember Ephesians was written by Paul approximately AD 61, the church of Ephesus had stayed true to to the apostle's charge to beware of false apostles. However, the condemnation our Lord gives in Revelation two is that "they have lost their first love."

We must be careful in our endeavor to protect and preserve the truth of God's word in our hearts that we don't become so cynical of everyone else that we lose our love towards them. We must strive to love with God's love for both the world and God's people, whether they've erred in the doctrine or not. I'm not saying that we should condone error; to the contrary, we should contradict error; nevertheless, we must love with our Master's love.

Interestingly, the Bible Knowledge commentary points out that the word love, either in its noun or adverb form is used 16 times in the book of Ephesians, which is 1/6 of the times Paul uses agape love in all his writings; with this in mind, it appears the purpose of the letter is to: instruct in proper doctrine, warn against false doctrine, and remind the people of God to love with the love of Christ. Remember agape love describes God's kind of love, which recognizes the value of the object being loved. God can see past all our failures and love us with His love. Phileo love, on the other hand, is a brotherly love, a fondness, it's the type of love that humans more often exhibit. All is fine until wronged; then that type of love becomes exhausted. God's love, when found in man is there because it's produced as a fruit of God from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

The environment and occultic religion of Ephesus.

The goddess Diana can be traced all the way back to Semiramis, which, according to extra- biblical findings was Nimrod's wife. The story of Nimrod, according to the Bible's testimony:

Genesis 10:8-10

And Cush begat Nimrod:he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before (against the face) the Lord:wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Some of the things to take notice of are: (1) Nimrod was a mighty hunter, (2) the Bible says he was before The Lord, but when you study the words and the context, you realize that the word before is describing the fact that he was against and in the face of God i.e. the Tower of Babel.

I wanted you to be aware of the fact that he was a mighty hunter because archaeological finds have the goddess Diana in pictures as a huntress with command over wild animals. And the story of Semiramis connects all the way to Diana this way.

Semiramis was married to Nimrod, and they were bringing the whole world together as one in opposition and defiance against God (this same Luciferian agenda continues today under the New World Order agenda). At some point Nimrod was killed, some say he was killed by Shem, who was one of Noah's righteous sons, but we don't have biblical evidence to support that; nevertheless, Nimrod was killed and the story goes that his body was ravaged by wild animals. She searched to recover his body parts and found everything, but his male member. I'm not trying to be graphic. I'm just trying to tell you the story.

Because she couldn't find that all important part, she began to erect poles all over the land; ultimately, through some "mystical" happening because of these occult symbols, in the land, she became pregnant for her son and the story gets really weird between them afterwards, so we won't go there, but her place as a god was preserved, and she began to be revered with the same attributes Nimrod previously had as a great hunter, hence, the pictures of Diana as a hunter and tamer of wild animals.

The mystery religions, which have been in existence since Babel, will finally be destroyed in the end when Jesus comes back to exact judgment on the nations and leaders that have raged against God (Psalm 2:1-5).

But these same mystery religions, which include every false religion instituted by Satan upon the earth that pull humanity away from the real Jesus, all started at Babel and spread South and West towards Egypt, through Asia Minor, into Rome and throughout Europe, and along this routed pathway can be found a strange occurrence that physically connects and gives validity to both the story of Nimrod and definitely, in my opinion, the God of the Bible.

What I mean is that in the land of Canaan, which is now the land called Israel, the bible tells us that there were Asherah poles all over. These poles are also referred to as the "groves" in the KJV. Furthermore, they were connected to the worship of the goddess Ashtoreth, which was the Canaanite version of Semiramis, who was known as Ishtar in the more modern Babylonian Empire, which existed long after Babel, as we know she is where our word Easter comes from, and she was also known as the Queen of Heaven as we discussed in the class about Personal vs. Biblical Convictions part 1.

In Egypt she was known as Isis, and her poles were called obelisks. Let's just take a moment to realize that these poles straddle the globe as we speak. there are 12 in Rome (one stands in front of the pope when he stands on his balcony, facing the crowd); also, our Washington monument is one. In Ephesus, she was Diana, but she also had other names in other places.

Diana of Ephesus

Acts 19:24-28

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

The world and false religion hates the truth because it exposes their error!

Acts 19:34-35

But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

Have you ever noticed that when you expose false doctrine or the lies of religion to people that many times their first response is to hold tighter to the lie? Don't give up Christian there's a breakthrough on the way for the people that God is ministering to through you.

Paul's Trade as a Tentmaker

Acts 18:1-5

-- After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought:for by their occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

Acts 20:33-35

I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

1 Corinthians 9:1-19

His Education

Acts 21:35 - 22:30

And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him. And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city:and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

Chapter 22 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence:and he saith,)

The main point that I wanted to make here was that he spoke at least two languages.

Education and Training as a Pharisee

Acts 22:3,4

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Gamaliel was a very well known teacher of the Jewish Law during his time. The idea that Paul learned under the tutelage of a teacher like Gamaliel points to the fact that he had been exposed to the highest level of education that a young Jewish man could have been exposed to-- all this was for the purpose of his preparation as a Pharisee, which was one half of the group known as the Sanhedrin, which were the religious rulers during Jesus' time, so for clarity, the Sanhedrin was comprised of both: Pharisees, which Paul was and Saducees, which didn't believe in the resurrection (Matt 3:7,16:1,16:6,16:11,16:12,22:23-34)

His Conversion

Acts 22:5-19

(actual occurrence took place in Acts 9. Here he's retelling the story) As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders:from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem:for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

Stephen the Martyr

Acts 22:20-25

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart:for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth:for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with throngs,

I've often wondered how Paul must have felt throughout his life, knowing that he had a big part to play in Stephen being stoned to death as a martyr for Jesus (Acts 7). When I consider what God accomplished through the Apostle Paul and the revelation God gave him about true righteousness, it makes me want to scream to the church, "Preacher! Teach your people that they're righteous through faith in Jesus and His cross. Christian! Learn who the Bible says you are in Christ. Quit walking around under a cloud of guilt because you used to be a drug addict and a fornicator. Paul was a murderer. Paul allowed a man of God to be stoned to death before his very eyes. Get over yourself already." Most scholars agree that he was probably the highest ranking Jewish leader there, and his consent allowed the stoning to commence. If Paul could be healed of that and accomplish the work he did for the kingdom of God, surely we can allow God to forgive us for our sins.

Roman Citizen

Acts 22:25-30

Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest:for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him:and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.-- On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

Paul's Roman citizenship helped him in many ways. In this passage and the one below, it allowed him to be released from prison.

Acts 16:37-38

But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates:and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

Acts 26:32

Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

"Because Paul had used his Roman right to appeal to Caesar’s tribunal, Agrippa and Festus can only refer him there with a letter specifying their own opinion. This appeal had earlier saved Paul’s life (25:3), and now it provides him free passage to Rome (19:21) and a public forum for the *gospel there." _ Bible Background Commentary.

His Trials for the Kingdom

2 Corinthians 11:22-28

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

His Pedigree

Philippians 3:2-7

Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

His Love for Jesus

Philippians 3:8-10

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Philippians 3:12-14

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:but I follow after, if that I may apprehend (to seize or lay hold of) that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark (skopos-- the distant mark) for the prize (victor's award in the games) of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.