PT-2 "Petition for Believers from Eph. 1:17

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/30/2018 9:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “Petition for Believers”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:17

            Message of the verse:  “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

            We have been talking about how believers at times look for more things to come from God that are not really Scriptural, and also that believers do not realize the many blessings that God has given to them, things that we have been studying about since we first began looking at the book of Ephesians, the inheritance that we have because we are in Christ. We will continue looking at Paul’s prayer for believers from the 17^th verse of Ephesians chapter one.

            A while back, probably about two years we spent some time going through the book of Colossians, and in that study we saw that the Colossians thought that they were actually missing something from God, that God had more to offer them, that they could receive by doing some kind of act or perhaps a ritual, or even other requirements in addition to salvation.  For some of the members of that church this actually turned into actual heresy, which was taught and promulgated in place of apostolic teaching. 

            What they were taught was that a person needs Christ plus legalism.  You may remember that they talked about things like the observance of special days, feasts, and various rituals in order to attain higher spiritual standing and favor with God.  Paul writes the following in Colossians 2:16-17 “16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”

            MacArthur writes “A third error taught by the Colossians heretics involved both the sin of pride and the seeking of mystical experiences and visions to supplement the finished work of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross.  What they taught as something more really brought something less, Paul warned, because it took away from Christ’s perfect work.  ‘18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God (Col. 2:18-19).’”

            MacArthur goes on to talk about “A fourth promoted in the Colossian church was asceticism, the belief that one can gain special favor and reward from God through extreme self-denial, forsaking of physical pleasure and comfort, and avoiding contact with the ‘common’ people by living in isolated and austere situations.  The error, even more than the others, feeds human pride.  Under the name of suppressing the flesh, such ideas and practices actually stimulate it.  As Paul points out, the teaching ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch…are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence’ (2:21-23).’”

            Paul gives the solution to the Colossians and thus to those who seem to be practicing similar things today when we writes that “For in Him [Christ] all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete.”  We see from this that all of God’s fulness is in Jesus Christ, and He keeps back none of that fullness from believers, for “In Him…we have been made complete,” and the reason for that is because we are sufficient, authorized saints.  MacArthur writes “authorized saints (as the use of hikanoo [to qualify, make sufficient] in 1:12 proves).”  Colossians 1:12 states “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”  We will conclude this SD by looking at something similar that John writes in 1 John 2:26-27 “26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

            In our next SD we will begin by looking at things that some Christians do that are similar to that which we have seen the Colossians did.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that it takes study to understand what I am in Christ, and so that is what I desire to do, and as I study what I am in Christ, then by the power of the Holy Spirit I cannot make the same mistakes that the Colossian “believers” made.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn and to grow as I study the Word of God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Bethlehem” (Genesis 35:19).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was the father of James and John?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/30/2018 9:57 AM

PT-1 "Petition for Believers" from Eph. 1:17-23

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2018 10:25 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-1 “Petition for Believers”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ephesians 1:17-23

            Message of the verses:  “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

            In today’s SD we begin to look at what Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers and since this is the first of many SD’s on this section I have quoted all of the verses that go along with this section, however I will not be doing that in future SD’s unless I think it is warranted, otherwise I will just quote the verses that we will be going over in each SD.

            We have mentioned that verses 17-23, or the rest of chapter one is a petition in which Paul prays for God to give believers true comprehension and appreciation of what they are in Jesus Christ so that they may begin to have some kind of idea of how magnificent and un limited are the blessings that already belonged to them since they are in their Lord and Savior.  As we look at verse 17 we see that the petition is directed to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.”  This links God the Father to Christ the Son in terms of essential nature.  There are some verses which go along with this essential nature of God the Father to the Son and I want to go over them at this point.

1.     Romans 15:6 “so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2.     Ephesians 1:3a “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

3.     Ephesians 1:17a “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ

4.     2 Cor. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”

5.     Phil. 2:9-11 “9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

6.     1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

7.     2 John 3 “Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”

          What do all of these verses show us?  Well they show us that the One to whom all glory belongs is the same in essence as the Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe that it is correct to say that all of the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all of one essence.

          What does Paul write to the Ephesians and all who will read this letter about this?  MacArthur writes “In essence Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be spared from frantically searching for what was already theirs, but rather would see that the great God who is their God is the source of all they need and has it ready for them if they are open to receive it.  Such a receptive attitude requires that God Himself gives to you a spirit ‘of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.’”

          John MacArthur gives us a story that Warren Wiersbe told:  “Warren Wiersbe tells the story of how William Randolph Hearst once read of an extremely valuable piece of art, which he decided he must add to his extensive collection.  He instructed his agent to scour the galleries of the world to find the masterpiece he was determined to have at any price.  After many months of painstaking search, the agent reported that the piece already belonged to Hearst and had been stored in one of his warehouses for many years.”

          John MacArthur helps us understand this story as he writes “It is tragic that many believers become entangled in a quest for something more in the Christian life, for something special, something extra that the ‘ordinary’ Christian life does not possess.  They talk of getting more of Jesus, more of the Holy Spirit, more power, more blessings, higher life, a deeper life—as if the resources of God were divinely doled out one at a time like so many pharmaceutical prescriptions or were un locked by some spiritual combination that only an initiate few can know.

          “To say, ‘I want to get all of Jesus there is,’ implies that when we were saved Christ did not give us all of Himself, that He held some blessings in reserve to be parceled out to those who meet certain extra requirements.

          “Peter explicitly says, ‘His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence’ (2 Peter. 1:3). The New Testament teaching of salvation is that the new birth grants every believer everything in Christ.  There is consequently no need and no justification in searching for anything more.  Though it does not do so intentionally, such searching undermines the essence of God’s revealed truth about salvation.  The germ of this great truth is found in the words of the Preacher:  ‘I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should [reverence] Him’ (Eccles 3:14).”

          I think that we can conclude that Paul wants to make sure that all believers who read this portion of his prayer that they will see that they have everything that they need in Christ, there is nothing else that they need than what they already have in Christ, and so the important thing is to realize what we already have in Christ and not seek something we do not have in Christ.  Like Hearst who already had what he was looking for we as believers have everything we need and do not need to search the world over to find what we already have, we just need to continue to study the Word of God to find out what we already have.

          Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have heard the story that Warren Wiersbe told and it is my desire that I do not look for things that I do not need nor look for things that I already have in Christ Jesus my Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord will give mercy and comfort to my daughter Michele as she has to bury her adopted father today.  May the Lord grant her great comfort as she goes through such a difficult time in her life.  I also trust that the Lord will provide a job for a friend of mine who has an interview that is probably going on right now.

 Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jonah” (Jonah 4:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Near what city did Rachel die?

Answer in our next SD.

11/29/2018 11:21 AM

Praise for Their Love from Eph. 1:15c

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/28/2018 9:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:  “Praise for Their Love”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:15c

            Message of the verses:  “and you love for all the saints”

            In today’s SD we will look at the second sub-section under the main section “Praise for Believers,” and in that Paul praises the believers before he begins his rather lengthy prayer that he will pray for those believers, and in both sections they have great meaning for believers today as after all they are from the Word of God.

            When a person becomes a believer he will begin to have love for all the saints.  I realize that as we look through some of Paul’s letters that there are sometimes difficulties between different believers, but since all believers have been given new life in Christ and are forgiven for all their sins then we should love one another.  I am not saying that we have to have everyone who is a believer that perhaps we have some difficulties with over for lunch, but we should love them with the love that Christ loves us.  John MacArthur adds “To truly love a person in the Lord is to love him as the Lord loves him—genuinely and sacrificially.”  As difficult as this may seem and do it is a true statement to follow.  If God can speak and the planets are made then He can help us to love our brothers in the Lord.

            1 John 3:14 says “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”  MacArthur goes on to write “Important as it is, sound theology is no substitute for love.  Without love the best doctrine is like ‘a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal’ (1 Cor. 13:1).  True salvation goes from the head and heart of the believer out to other believers and out to the world to touch unbelievers in Christ’s name.  True salvation produces true love, and true love does ‘not love with word or with tongue, but in deed with truth’ (1 John 3:18).  Always in the New Testament true spiritual love is defined as an attitude of selfless sacrifice that results in generous acts of kindness done to others.  It is far more than a feeling, an attraction or emotion.  When the Lord had washed the feet of the proud and self-seeking disciples, He told them that what He had done for them was the example of how they were to love each other (John 13:24).  John emphasizes the same truth:  ‘We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heat against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth (1 John 3:16-18).’”

            As we look at this kind of love we can see that this is the kind of love that the Ephesian church had, but when we look at the book of Revelation we can see that this did not last, for John says in Revelation chapter two that the Ephesians left their first love and this is the first step in what can be seen as a downward spiral that can be seen by five of the seven churches that are mentioned in the second and third chapters of Revelation.  It starts with leaving their first love to having to have the Lord actually knock on the outside door of the church of Laodicea.  

            One of the things that true believers need to do is to keep their faith and love in balance.  We have heard of monks or hermits and countless others in church history hiding away in order not to sin against the Lord, but in doing that they are not spreading the good news of the gospel to others, not keeping their faith and love in balance. 

            MacArthur concludes this sub-section by writing “The Christians to whom Paul wrote his Ephesian letter had the right balance, and it was for their great faith and their great love that the apostle assured them, ‘I…do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers.’”  

            In our next SD we will begin the longest part of this section from the last half of the first chapter of Ephesians chapter one and that is all about the prayer that Paul prayed for them.  Looking at Paul’s prayers for the saints in the New Testament letters he wrote is, I believe going to be a wonderful study, even though we are now only looking at once such prayer.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to believe that the Lord is doing a work in my heart about love as certain circumstances have happened to make me focus more on loving.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To listen to the Lord as He teaches me more about love.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “They showed God’s approval upon Him” (Acts 2:22).  “"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/28/2018 11:12 AM

Praise for Believers (Intro) from Eph. 1:15b

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/27/2018 12:33 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Praise for Believers Intro

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:15b

            Message of the verses:  “the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you,”

In today’s SD we will be looking at the introduction to the first main point which is entitled “Praise for Believers,” and then look at the first sub-section entitled “Praise for their faith,” and so I will now post the verses that go along with this first main-section.  “15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;”

            Now as we look at the first words in verse fifteen “For this reason,” Paul is giving praise to the believers because of all that he wrote in verses 3-14 which speaks of their wonderful inheritance.  One thing that I mentioned in an earlier SD is that it is believed that the letter to the Ephesians was a circuit letter that went throughout Asia Minor, and it may have gone to those seven churches that we see in Revelation chapters 2-3, and then probably to other churches as well as Paul taught in Ephesus for three years and we read that the gospel went out all over Asia Minor.  Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter and it had been around four years since he left Ephesus.  Even though Paul was in prison at this time he got letters and also visits from friends who were in Ephesus.  MacArthur adds “He heard two things that indicated the genuineness of their salvation, and for those two cardinal marks of a true Christian—faith in Christ and love for other Christians—he affectionately praises them.  Those two dimensions of spiritual life are inseparable (cf. 1 John 2:9-11).” “9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

“Praise For Their Faith: “the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you,” (Eph. 15b).

            There is something going on in this section of verse 15 that has actually caused debate among Christians.  I had a wonderful Pastor that I sat under for 16 years and I had always heard that one of the things that he differed in his belief with John MacArthur was the subject of the “Lordship of Jesus Christ.”  Now I had never spoke to him about what his issue was, however I did speak with my current Pastor one time for a moment about this but did not get an explanation as to what he meant as far as the difference was.  I plan on doing this not that I have read a quote from MacArthur’s commentary on this section says.  I will quote what MacArthur has to say here. 

“The emphasis here is on true saving belief, with the lordship of Jesus as the object of that belief.  Some Christians, perhaps intending to protect the gospel from any taint of works righteousness, underplay Christ’s lordship almost to the point of denying it.  Others would like to accept the term ‘Lord,’ only as a reference to deity, not sovereignty.  But such a separation is artificial, because deity implies sovereignty.  The One who alone is God rules alone.  Yet those who teach that a person must believe in Christ as sovereign Lord in order to be saved are sometimes described derisively as ‘lordship Salvationists.’  The New Testament, however, does not separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord.  He is both, or He is neither.  Paul says, ‘If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved’ (Rom. 10:9; cf. Acts 16:31).  Jesus becomes Savior when He is accepted as Lord. ‘For to this end,’ Paul explains later in Romans, ‘Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living’ (14:9).  Believers say—in fact, only believers can say—‘Jesus is Lord’ because they possess the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3), who was given to them when they were saved (Rom. 8:9).  To receive Jesus as Savior but not as Lord would be to divide His nature in two.  When we receive Him, we receive Him wholly as He is.

“Granted, no person re3ceives Jesus Christ with a full understanding of all He is or all He requires as Lord of those He saved.  Many Christians come to Christ with only the barest idea of His sovereign deity or what is means to belong to and submit to Him.  But they are willing to submit (cf. Matt. 8:19-22; 9:9; 10:37-39; Luke 9:57-62), to give up all they have (cf. Matthew 13:44-36; 18:3-4; 19:16-26), and to leave all and follow Him (Matt. 19:27).  Once they have come to Him, some Christians lose their first love for Him as Savior and resist obeying Him as Lord.  But their lovelessness makes Him no less Savior, and their resistance makes Him no less Lord.  Chris is not accepted in parts, first as Savior and latter as Lord.  Jesus the Savior is Jesus the Lord, and Jesus the Lord is Jesus the Savior.  He does not exist in parts or relate to believers in parts.  Awareness, appreciation, and obedience to Him as Savior and Lord change.  When we are faithful to Him those things increase, and when we are unfaithful they dimish.  But the fact of Jesus’ lordship begins the same moment He becomes Savior, and neither His lordship nor His saviorhood changes for believers from that time through all eternity.  All the commands of Christ, which are to be taught to all believers (Matt. 28:19-20), assume His sovereign right to give orders and to be obeyed.  That is precisely why Paul calls salvation ‘the obedience of faith’ (Rom. 1:5).

“Pau is not praising the Ephesians for some later, supplement act of faith but for the original faith that brought them to saving submission to the sovereign Lord.  ‘The faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you’ refers to this same saving faith with which they entered the Christian life and in which they were continuing to live.”

            As I relate this long quote to what happened to me when I was saved I have to agree that I did not know that Jesus Christ was even God, but with the patience of God He showed me who Jesus Christ is as I knew He was both my Savior and my Lord. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am forever thankful that the Lord saved me and then began to teach me all about Himself, and has given an appetite for His Word so He can continue to teach me more about who He is and what He does.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to continue to teach me so that I can then, by the grace of God show others what He has taught me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “as a child” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Today’s Bible question:  “What was the purpose of Jesus’ miracles?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/27/2018 1:32 PM  

Intro to Ephesians 1:15-23

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2018 11:29 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 1:15-23

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:15-23

            Message of the verses:  As mentioned in our last SD we will be looking at what is actually the next section from the book of Ephesians which covers 1:15-23, and John MacArthur entitles this chapter of his commentary “Our Resources in Christ.”

            “15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

            I think it best that I just quote the short introduction from MacArthur’s commentary in order for us to get a small review of what we have been studying and then look ahead into what we will be looking at as we finish up this first chapter of the book of Ephesians.

“In verses 3-14 Paul has set forth the amazing and unlimited blessings believers have in Jesus Christ, blessings that amount to our personal inheritance of all that belongs to Him.  In the remainder of the chapter (vv. 15-23) Paul prays that the believers to whom he writes will come to fully understand and appreciate those blessings.  In this prayer he focuses on believer’s comprehension of their resources in their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In verses 15-16 he praises them, and in verses 17-23 he makes petitions to God for them.”

            As we look at this outline that is found in these verses I can say that this is typical of many of Paul’s letters to different churches that he has written.  He usually begins with an introduction and the introduction we saw in verses 3-14 is not really a typical one that he writes.  He then begins to pray for those believers that he is writing to which is what we will be going over in the verses from above, and then the next thing we see is theological studies.  In the last part of his letters he will usually go to practical things that go along with his teaching in the first part of his letters.  At the end of many of his letters you will often find things that Paul wants his readers to pray about for him.  If we understand better how Paul’s letters are usually written then we will better understand what he is telling us as we look at the different sections of his letters.

            In the introduction from John MacArthur we find that he breaks up this passage into two parts “Praise for Believers” which come from verses 15-16, and then Paul’s petitions or prayers for the believers.  As I look at the twelve pages of this long chapter from MacArthur’s commentary I can see that there will be many different sub-sections  under these two main sections so I have to believe that we will be studying from these verses for some time, however as always when we are studying the Word of God we will learn many things from it that will help us walk more worthy of our calling.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I look forward to looking at this prayer that Paul has prayed for those who read this letter.  I know that I can learn much from this prayer.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to deliver me from the temptations that Satan fires at me today just as His Word has promised to do.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel” (Exodus 5:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “When did Timothy first began to learn the Holy Scriptures?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/26/2018 12:15 PM

God's Pledge (Eph. 1:14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/25/2018 9:23 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  God’s Pledge

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Eph. 1:14a

            Message of the verses:  “Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.”

            The word in the Greek for our word “pledge” is “arrabon” and this word was used for a down-payment so as we look at this in reference to this part of verse fourteen we see that the Holy Spirit is God’s down-payment to all believers that they will get to heaven, and that all of the inheritance that we have been looking at and as it says in this portion of verse fourteen.

            The Holy Spirit is “God’s first installment of His guarantee that the fullness of the promised spiritual blessings “in the heavenly places in Christ” (v.3) will one day be completely fulfilled.  They are assured and guaranteed with an absolute certainty that only God could provide.  The Holy Spirit is the church’s irrevocable pledge, her divine engagement ring, as it were, that, as Christ’s bride, she will never be neglected or forsaken (cf. 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5).”

The Goal of Our Inheritance (Eph. 1:14b)

            “with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

            We have been studying what our inheritance is for a number of weeks, and as we look at it in view of our salvation we will see that this was not the primary purpose of it.  So what is the primary purpose of our salvation if not receiving an inheritance from our Lord?  MacArthur writes “The great, overriding purpose of God’s ‘redemption’ of men is the rescuing of what is His ‘own possession.’  All creation belongs to God, and in His infinite wisdom, love, and grace He chose to provide redemption for the fallen creatures He had made in His own image—for His own sake even more than for their sakes, because they do not belong to themselves, but to Him.”  Now think about that statement for a while as to some of us this may be the first time that we have heard something like this.

            The key thing that Paul states here and has already stated in verse six and twelve is “to the praise of His glory.”  We are not saved for our own glory, but for the glory of God.  “20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. 21 “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise (Isa. 43:20-21).”  If we desire and bring glory to ourselves then we are robbing God of what He alone deserves as He saved us to serve Him and to praise Him.  MacArthur adds “We are saved to be restored to the intended divine purpose of creation—to bear the image of God and bring Him greater glory.

            “This is fully accomplished at the believer’s glorification, when we receive full glory and redemption and are made the perfect possession of God.”

            This SD ends the very long sentence from the original language which covers verses 3-14, and so in tomorrow’s SD we will begin “Our Resources in Christ” which covers 1:15-23.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He went out and weep bitterly.”

Today’s Bible Question:  “What was the first statement Moses and Aaron made to Pharaoh?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/25/2018 9:50 PM

PT-2 "God's Seal" (Eph. 1:13b-14a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/24/2018 10:41 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 “God’s Seal”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Ephesians 1:13b-14a

            Message of the verses:  “you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.”

            We began in our last SD to look at the main section entitled “The Guarantee of Our Inheritance,” and this section covers the verses mentioned above.  After doing the introduction we began to look at the first sub-section under this main section entitled “God’s Seal” and we continue looking at this sub-section in our SD for today.  We promised to continue to look at the sealing of the Holy Spirit in our SD for today.

            We have mentioned that once a person becomes a believer then at that very moment the Spirit of God takes up residence in their life.  We have continued to mention from this very long sentence in the Greek (Eph. 1:3-14) that we are in Christ, and life in Christ is different than life before coming to Christ, and that difference is because of having the Holy Spirit in our life.  The Spirit of God is there to empower us, and to equip us for the ministry, and function through the gifts He has given to us as believers.  The Holy Spirit is also our Helper and Advocate.  He also protects and gives us encouragement.  Another thing He does is to guarantee our inheritance in Jesus Christ as seen in Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”  He (The Spirit of God) is our securing force, and our guarantee.

            John MacArthur writes “The sealing of which Paul speaks here refers to an official mark of identification that was placed on a letter, contract, or other important document.  The seal usually was made from hot wax, which was placed on the document and then impressed with a signet ring.  The document was thereby officially identified with and under the authority of the person to whom the signet belonged.

            “That is the idea behind our being sealed in Him [Christ] with ‘the Holy Spirit of promise.’  The seal of God’s Spirit in the believer signifies four primary things:  security, authenticity, ownership, and authority.”  I want to briefly look at four primary things that are provided by the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

Security:  This has to do with ancient times when the seal of a king, prince, or a noble represented security and inviolability.  An example from the OT is seen in the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel when Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s den and King Darius along with his nobles, placed their seal on the stone placed over the entrance to the den, “so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel” as seen in Daniel 6:17.  We can be assured that if anyone would have tampered with that seal would have probably lost their life.  This was also seen on the tomb where Jesus’ body laid as Pilate had his seal placed there as seen in Matthew 27:62-66. 

“In an infinitely greater way, the Holy Spirit secures each believer, making him with His own unchallengeable seal.”

Authenticity:  The example from the OT is about the story of King Ahab wanting the vineyard of Naboth.  His wife Jezebel then wrote letters to various nobles who lived in Naboth’s city, demanding that they arranged false accusations of blasphemy and treason against him and then she sealed them with the king’s seal making them as if the king signed them.

“When God gives us His Holy Spirit, it is as if He stamps us with a seal that reads, “This person belongs to Me and is an authentic citizen of My divine kingdom and member of My divine family.”

Ownership:  The example from the OT is the story of when Jeremiah bought some land from his cousin that was about to be taken over by the Babylonians.  Now he did this because it was a promise from God that one day that land would again be taken over by Israel.  This story is found in Jeremiah chapter thirty-two and verse ten gives the agreement. 

“When the Holy Spirit seal believes, He marks them as God’s divine possessions, who from that moment on entirely and eternally belong to Him.  The Spirit’s seal declares the transaction of salvation as divinely official and final.”

Authority:  This OT story comes from the book of Ester.  The law that the king signed or sealed which allowed the people of his kingdom to kill the Jews and to take their possession could not be revoked, and so at Ester’s encouragement he made another law which allowed the Jews to defend themselves.  (Ester 8:8-12).

“When Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit they are delegated to proclaim, teach, minister, and defend God’s Word and His gospel with the Lord’s own authority.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is interesting that as I am preparing for my Sunday school class for tomorrow that a part of this comes from the first five verses in Revelation chapter 14 where we read about how God has sealed the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and so this actually fits right into what I am teaching.  (A God Thing for sure!)

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to help me remember these four things that the Spirit of God does for me because He has sealed me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Sin.”

Today’s Bible question:  “After denying Jesus three times, what did Peter do when he heard the roster crow?

Answer in our next SD.

11/24/2018 11:33 AM

The Guarantee of Our Inheritance (Eph. 1:13b-14a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/23/2018 9:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus: The Guarantee of Our Inheritance

Bible Reading & Mediation                                                              Reference:  Eph. 1:13b-14a

            Message of the verses:  “you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.”

            “The Guarantee of Our Inheritance” is the second main section in the outline from John MacArthur’s commentary.  In this second main point we will find two sub-sections, and in today’s SD we want to look at the introduction and then perhaps begin to look at the first sub-section “God’s Seal.”

            In the world that we live in we would like guarantees when it comes to things in our life.  However even if we are given a guarantee from men, and even if they swear to it, or take an oath to fulfill the agreement, or even give us their assurance that what they will do will happen it does not always happen for various reasons, and some of those reasons are outright lies.

            When we look at God’s Word we know for sure that what He says He will do that He will do for God cannot lie.  As MacArthur writes “His graciousness He makes His promises even more certain—if that were possible—by giving us His own guarantees.  Here the Lord guarantees His promises with His seal and with His pledge.  This is reminiscent of Hebrews 6:13-18, in which God gives His promise of blessing and then confirms it with an oath to provide what the Holy Spirit calls ‘strong encouragement’ (v. 18) to all who hope in Christ.”  I think that we will take the time to look at Hebrews 6:13-18 at this time: 

“13  For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU." 15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

            We will now begin looking at the first sub-section “God’s Seal.”

            As we looked at the passage from Hebrews we saw that the writer of Hebrews was writing at first about Abraham, and the promises that God gave to Abraham.  Now we know that in Abraham’s life time he did not receive the promises that God gave to him, and many of those promises have yet to be fulfilled, but we know that because God was the One who gave those promises that they will one day all be fulfilled.  In the same way when we become a believer in Jesus Christ, when we are born from above that all of the promises that God gives to believers will not be fulfilled while we are on this earth in this human body we occupy.  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”  The highlighted portion is what we want to focus in on for our purposes today in looking at many of the promises that God has given to us will be fulfilled for us “in heaven.”  I suppose that because of this truth that there are times when we sort of loose faith, and even think that these promises of our inheritance will not ever be fulfilled, but that is not the case as all of the inheritance we have that we have been learning about will all be fulfilled.  MacArthur writes “While we are still in this life our redemption is not complete, because we still await ‘the redemption of our body’ (Rom. 8:23).  Because we have not yet received full possession of our inheritance, we may question its reality or at least its greatness.”

            We can see from the first portion of our verse today the following which gives us hope “you were sealed in Him with the Holly Spirit of promise.”  Every believer, at the moment of His salvation has been given the Person of the Holy Spirit of God as Paul declares in Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”  Notice that only those who truly have been born-again are given the Holy Spirit.  This is an incredible to think that every believer has the Holy Spirit making them “the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in [him]” as seen in 1 Corinthians 6:19.

            We will continue looking at this amazing truth in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for those many promises that have to do with my salvation that I will receive as an inheritance when I hopefully meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes. 3:13-18).

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Holy Spirit of God to guide me, especially as I study His Word, so that He can show me the truths that He wants me to see so I can learn by them and also pass them onto those who read my blogs and who are in my Sunday school class.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He raised him from the dead” (2 Kings 4:18-37).

Today’s Bible question:  “What does James 4:17 call the circumstances of ‘Knowing to do good and doing it not’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/23/2018 10:46 AM

PT-2 "The Human Perspective" (Eph. 1:12a, 13a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/22/2018 11:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Human Perspective”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ephesians 1:12a, 13a

            Message of the verses:  “to the end that we who were first to hope in Christ…In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed.”

            In the United States of America today we celebrate “Thanksgiving Day,” a day that was designed to give thanks to the Lord that actually dates back to when the pilgrims landed on our shore and found themselves in trouble until some friendly American Indians helped them survive by helping them to grow food.  As the harvest came the new settlers along with the Indians were thankful, and they gave thanks to the Lord. 

            As we have been looking at both the Divine and Human perspectives on our salvation I can think of nothing better to do on this Thanksgiving Day than to praise the Lord for the wonderful gift of salvation that He has offered to us.  We now continue to look at the human perspective in today’s SD.

            In the first part of our verses today, that is verse 12a we see the word hope, and that word actually comes after the word faith in the chronological and the theological way we are saved, but Paul is actually using this word hope as a synonym of faith in this passage.  The first to hope in Christ were the first to believe in Him.

            Now we move on to verse 13a where Paul continues “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed.”  The Apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Romans “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  MacArthur writes “Faith comes from a positive response to the message of truth, the gospel, the good news that God has provided a way of salvation through the atoning work of His Son. To ‘as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name’ (John 1:12).  Man-made systems of religion, which rely on ritual or works or both, not only do not lead to God but can become great barriers to finding Him.  The only way to come is through His Son,  ‘10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ ‘Having also believed not only stresses the means by which salvation is appropriated but also the uniformity of such means by the use of ‘also.’”

            In conclusion to this section we can say that faith is man’s response to God’s elective purpose.  God chooses men through election, and then man’s choice of God is faith.  In election God gives His promises, and by faith men receive those promises.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to wish all a very happy Thanksgiving Day in the truest sense of the meaning of this wonderful holiday.  I am so very thankful for the salvation that God has given to me and my prayer is that all who read this SD will also have that wonderful hope that all true believers have.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will continue to unlock the great truths that are found in this great book of Ephesians.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Christ.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Elisha do for the Shunammite woman’s son?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/22/2018 11:45 AM

PT-1 "The Human Perspective" (Eph. 1:12a, 13a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2018 10:25 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Human Perspective”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:12a, 13a

            Message of the verses:  “to the end we who were first to hope in Christ…In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of you salvation—having also believed,”

            In this SD we move from the divine perspective of inheritance to the human perspective of inheritance.  Once again I need to quote from John MacArthur for us to understand the Greek in this section:  “In the Greek text this passage is continuous, the last part of verse 12 leading directly into verse 13.  Here we see the believer’s divine inheritance in Jesus Christ from our own human perspective. 

            In earlier SD’s I have mentioned the tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s will and we come upon this tension more than once in this book of Ephesians.  I have stated that early on in my Christian life that I felt that it was man who was the one to determine whether or not he becomes a believer in Jesus Christ for salvation, and then a bit later I began reading books on the sovereignty of God and then totally believed that it was all up to God who would be saved.  Now later on in my walk with the Lord I began to believe both views, that is that God chose me before the earth was formed, and that I was the one who had to accept the effectual call of the Holy Spirit in order to be saved.  Yes both are true, and yes we will never be able to understand it while we are in our earthly bodies.  John MacArthur writes “We know the truths are in perfect accord in God’s mind, and that knowledge should satisfy us.”  He then tells the story of what someone versioned when they got to heaven and saw a sign as then entered which read “Whosoever will may come,” and after you enter heaven you look back to the same sign and read on the other side, “Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.”

            “Whatever God’s reasons for designing such humanly irreconcilable truths, we should thank and praise Him for them.  For the very reason that they are completely true while seeming to be contradictory, we are humbled in His presence as we stand in awe of that which to us is incomprehensible.  To the trusting believer such truths are but further evidence that Scripture is God’s doing, and not man’s.”  I suppose this one truth among many which shows that it was not man who wrote the Word of God, that is that it was not man’s idea as Peter tells us that men were moved along by the Spirit of God to write His Word.

            “To the end we who were first to hope in Christ” is the first statement given here about the human side of our divine inheritance in Christ.  MacArthur writes that “The Greek has a definite article before Christ, and a more literal translation is ‘hope in the Christ.’  The meaning is not changed, but the definite article emphasizes the uniqueness of our hope:  it is in the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.  It also stresses the idea that the apostles and other first-generation Jewish believers were the first to receive the Messiah.”

            This is a very heavy portion of Scripture and so I think that this is all that I can write about today and will hope to finish this section in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jehu” (2 Kings 9:20).

Today’s Bible question:  “What does Matthew depict not only as the greatest prophet and lawgiver, but also as fulfilling the Law and the Prophets?

Answer in our next SD.

11/21/2018 11:02 AM