Intro to Ephesians 3:14-21

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2019 9:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 3:14-21

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 3:14-21

            Message of the verses:  “14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

            I have mentioned that this letter to the Ephesians has some very deep teaching in it, and as we look at these remaining verses from the third chapter you can see why I said that.  In many of Paul’s letters he will spend the first part of the letter talking about doctrine, and then in the last part of the letter will write about how to live out that doctrine.  I suppose that, at least to me, this is seen in the letter to the Romans.  Paul spends the first eleven chapters talking about doctrine, the doctrine of what God, through Jesus Christ has done for us as believers and he ends that first section with these words:  “33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11:33-35).”  I think that the last couple of verses in Ephesians three can be compared with these verses in Romans 11 as Paul ends his teachings on doctrine and then will move onto the practical things that can be learned from these doctrines.  In Romans Paul begins chapter 12 with the word “therefore” which goes all the way back to the beginning of his teachings in chapter one as he states in the first two verses of Romans 12 to give yourself as a living sacrifice to the Lord in light of all that He has done for you to save you.  It is the logical thing to do.  In Ephesians 4:1 he also begins with the word “therefore” “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”  We still have these remaining verses of doctrine to look at before we get to the practical side of living out those doctrines beginning in chapter four.

            John MacArthur begins his introductory comments on this ninth chapter of his commentary on Ephesians, which he entitles “The Fullness of God” with these words: 

“It is possible to know a great deal about an automobile—to know exactly how the engine, the ignition, the transmission, and so on operate—and yet never use it to go anywhere.  It is also possible to know very little about an automobile and yet use it every day to travel hundreds of miles.  In the same way it is possible to know a great deal about the Bible—its doctrines, interpretations, moral standards, promises, warnings, and so on—and yet not live by those truths.”

            As I read on in his commentary MacArthur actually states that the practical part of the book of Ephesians, that is living out the doctrines that Paul first talks about actually begin in 3:14, so I guess I stand corrected in where it begins.  MacArthur writes “In 3:14-21 Paul gives his prayer requests on behalf of the Ephesian believers.  In sharing his requests with them, he urges them to live in the full power and effectiveness of ‘every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ’ (1:3).  This second prayer in the book of Ephesians (see also 1:15-23) is a prayer for enablement.  The first prayer is for believers to know their power; the second is for them to use it.”

            There are two things that a Pastor is to do that are extremely important, and they follow how Paul writes many of his letters.  Pastors are to teach who we are in Christ and then to live out what we are in Christ.  I remember a sermon; in fact there were two similar sermons that I listened to way back around 1974.  One was entitled “Becoming what You Are.”  This message goes along exactly what Paul is teaching in this and many of his letters.  As we read and understand about who we are in Christ we then need to go out and live that kind of life, “becoming what we are.”

            In this prayer Paul pleads with the believers to respond to God’s sovereign provision, and then he pleads with God to motivate them to do it, and the reason is because God not only is the provider but He is also the initiator and motivator.  MacArthur concludes his introductory comments by writing:  “Paul calls on God to activate believers’ power so that they can become faithful children and thereby glorify their heavenly Father.

            “In this great prayer of entreaty to God and exhortation to His children, Paul prays specifically for the inner strength of the Spirit, for the indwelling of Christ in the believer’s heart, for incomprehensible love to permeate their lives, for them to have God’s own fullness, and for God’s glory thereby to be manifested and proclaimed.  Each element builds on the previous ones, making a grand progression of enablement.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I study this section of Scripture it is my desire to become what I am in Christ in order to bring glory to Him who loves me, and who saved me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Give myself to the Lord so that I can then learn more about being humble before the Lord as Romans 12:3 talks about.

Verse that goes along with yesterday’s Quotation:  “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-13).”  I might add a quote that is found in many of Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentaries:  “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

1/31/2019 9:48 AM

"The Privilege of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:12-13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2019 9:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  “The Privilege of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ephesians 3:12-13

            Message of the verses:  “12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.         

            Now we have been talking about this “mystery” for a long time, learning that this mystery that Paul is writing about is that the Jews and the Gentiles who become believers in Jesus Christ are now one in Christ.  Now in verse 12 Paul speaks of “boldness” that we have as believers in Jesus Christ, boldness and confidence because of our new position that we have in Christ.  When we look back at the Jewish “religion” we see that only one person, the high priest, could come into the presence of the Lord as he went into the Holy of Holies once a year for a very short time in order to put blood onto the Ark of the Covenant, and then he left.  No other Jew had the privilege of going into the presence of God unless they died.  As a part of this mystery we as born-again believers can go into the presence of God at any time to find grace to help in our time of need, and that is the privilege of the mystery.  “15  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15-16).”

            John MacArthur writes “We are not to be flippant or irreverent but are to come to the Lord with an honest, open heart—in freedom of speech and freedom of spirit.  ‘Confident access’ is trust that knows no fear of rejection, because we belong to Him (cf. 1 Tim. 3:13).”  “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

            Now it is because of such a great privilege that Paul then writes verse 13 “Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.”  MacArthur adds “In and through every circumstance of His children, God works His goodness, blessing, and glory.”  As we look at the last part of verse 13 we probably can understand that many believers were grieving over Paul’s extended years of imprisonment and over the almost continual suffering that he was enduring due to the ministry that God had given to him.  In Romans 8:18 we read the following that Paul had written “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  We will close this portion of our SD by looking at Philippians 1:12-14 “12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”

            We have just finished looking at the first thirteen verses in the third chapter of Ephesians and learned that Paul was actually beginning his prayer for the believers in Ephesus, but then once again went back to talk about the mystery once again.  Now we will move, Lord willing, to talk about a part of the prayer that Paul began in 3:1 as we look next at verses 14-21 of Ephesians.  John MacArthur entitles this ninth chapter in his commentary on Ephesians “The Fullness of God.”  I look forward to studying these verses.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that I am so very thankful that I can enter into the presence of God by praying to Him, as I desire to bless the Lord each day, to confess any known sins to Him, and to make requests to Him for others and also for myself.  It is a privilege that I never want to take lightly.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to dwell on Romans 12:3, and to continue to learn truth from my study of God’s Word so that I can stand in the truth and not necessarily rely on my emotions which can vary, unlike God’s Truth.

Quotation for today:  President Calvin Coolidge said “Press On:  Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not…Genius will not…education will not…persistence and determination alone are overwhelmingly powerful.”           

We will look at a verse that goes along with this quote in our next SD.

1/30/2019 10:38 AM

           

PT-2 "The Purpose of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:10-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2019 11:09 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Purpose of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Eph. 3:10-11

            Message of the verses:  “10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

            What I am about to write is difficult to understand, as I am not sure that I understand all of it myself.  We have been talking about how the “good” angels bring glory to God in our last SD.  Now as we move on I have to say that even the fallen angels bring glory to the Lord, however it is not their intentions to do so.  John MacArthur writes “It was their very rejection of His glory and the seeking of their own glory that caused them to be cast out of heaven in the first place.  Yet Jesus said, ‘I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it’ (Matt. 16:18).  God is glorified through the fallen angels by continually frustrating their rebellious plans and showing the futility of their even intentions to destroy His church.  His holy wrath also displays His glory, sine it is a revelation of who He is (Rom. 9:19-22).”  Now with this said I have to tell a brief story about when my wife’s mother died.  She never wanted to have anything to do with any kind of religion and was upset with me when I because a believer.  She said that if I still believed what I did once I became a believer that she would listen to me.  She never did.  After her death in 2009 it was very difficult on my wife and me because we saw no evidence that she was a believer and feared as to where she was.  While listen to a sermon on Romans which I had my wife listen to I learned that even if she was not a believer that her death would bring glory to the Lord.  I have to admit that it did not bring a lot of comfort to us, but knowing that all things bring glory to God, even though I don’t understand all of it did bring some comfort to me and to my wife.  How does the death of an unbeliever bring glory to God?  I think the answer has to do with His attributes.  Justice and wrath are a part of His attributes and all of His attributes are holy, even justice and wrath.

            The angels can see all that God has done and is still doing.  They saw His power at creation, they saw His wrath at Sinai, and His love at Calvary.  Above all of this they see His “manifold” [multi-colored, multi-faceted] “wisdom” that is now and has been seen in the church.  When they see is taking Gentiles, and Jews, along with slave and free, and making them into one body, as all of those who are saved are worthy of the fires of hell.  We also read in Luke 15:10b “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’”

            John MacArthur writes “When Paul admonished the Corinthian women to show submission to their husbands through the custom of wearing long hair, he reinforced the command by saying it was given ‘because of the angels’ (1 Cor. 11:10), so as not to offend their sense of submissiveness and to give them greater cause to glorify God by the obedience of the church in the matter of proper male and female responses.”  This is something else about the angels and the church that I did not really understand, but understand it better now.

            MacArthur goes on to write “They are led to praise the Lord when they see the right relationship in the church overruling the perversion of man’s relationship engineered by Satan and sin.  After Paul had stated certain principles regarding elders in the church, he wrote, ‘I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias’ (1 Tim. 5:21).  Angels are exceedingly concerned about the leadership (vv. 17-25).  After all, says the writer of Hebrews, ‘Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?’ (Heb. 1:14).  They minister to and watch over the church.

            “In the classroom of God’s universe, He is the Teacher, the angels are the students, the church is the illustration, and the subject is ‘the manifold wisdom of God.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to be a good illustration to the students in order to bring glory to the Lord. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to learn and grow as I think about Romans 12:3, and to remember that truth is more important than emotions, even though at times emotions over the truth is good too.

Verse that goes along with yesterday’s quote:  “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed…But with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles (2 Chronicles 32:7a-8b).”

1/29/2019 11:39 AM

PT-1 "The Purpose of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:10-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2019 9:35 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Purpose of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Ephesians 3:10-11

            Message of the verses:  “10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

            We can see the purpose of the mystery in verse ten, and the authorities in the heavenly places according to John MacArthur refers to angels. He goes on to say that angels are also referred to in Ephesians 1:21 and Colossians 1:16.  Then in Ephesians 6:12 we will see Paul use similar words as he writes there about fallen angels.  Chapter six of Ephesians is one I am looking forward to studying again as it contains the believer’s spiritual armor and in that section as noted there is fallen angels that are mentioned.  MacArthur writes that “God has brought the church into being for the purpose of manifesting His great wisdom before the angels, both holy and unholy.  The New Testament emphasis is on the holy angels’ concern with the church, but it is obvious that the fallen angels can also to some extent see what is going on, through they have no desire or capacity for praise.”

            In verse eleven we can see that all of this mystery that we have been talking about for some time no will bring glory to the Lord as it was all in “accordance with the eternal purposes which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Let us look at Colossians 1:16 which will help us to better understand the truth of it is the ultimate purpose of God to bring glory to Himself:  “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him.”   1/28/2019 9:52 AM  1/28/2019 12:52 PM

            If one would ask you the question “Why does the Church Exist?”   Some may think that it exists to evangelize the world in order for souls to be saved, and although that is a good reason that is not the correct answer.  The answer comes from the Westminster shorter catechism which states “Man’s chief ends is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”  So that means that this is what the purpose of the church is.  In order to better understand this answer one has to understand God, and to understand God one must study His attributes.  We are created by God and so that means that we owe everything we have to God, and so certainly as believers we are to glorify God in all that we do.  John MacArthur writes “The supreme purpose of the church, as Paul makes explicit here, is to glorify God by manifesting His ‘wisdom’ before the angels, who can then offer greater praise to God.  The purpose of the universe is to give glory to God, and that will be its ultimate reality after all evil is conquered and destroyed.  Even now, ‘The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands’ (Ps. 19:1).  The church is not an end to itself, but a means to an end, the end of glorifying God.  The real drama of redemption can only be understood when we realize that the glory of God is the supreme goal of creation.  Holly angels are especially made and confirmed in purity and praise as creatures who will forever give God glory (Ps. 148:2; Heb. 1:6), and the redemption of fallen men enriches their praise.  Redeemed people, then, are to enhance angelic praise and some day in heaven to join in it (Rev. 4:8-11; 5:8-14; 7:9-12; 14:1-3; 10:1-8).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I find this extremely interesting as far as looking at the angels in this section.  I did not realize that Paul was writing about angels when he writes about “the authorities in heavenly places,” as I don’t think I actually knew before what he was writing about.  As a believer I can then enhance angelic praise to the Lord.  This is some great news.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give glory to Himself as He answers the man new prayer requests that are not on my spiritual plate.

Today’s quote from Winston Churchill:  “Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is courage that counts.”

Scripture reference to this quote in our next SD.

1/28/2019 1:16 PM

PT-4 "The Preaching of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:7-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2019 1:31 PM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT-4 “The Preaching of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 3:7-9

            Message of the verses:  7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8  To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9  and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

            I mentioned yesterday that this SD will be very short because of the way my Sunday’s go, and today was even a bit more stressful as I woke up to 3 inches of snow and had to get out there early to get the driveway cleared out along with my sidewalks.

            We will be looking at verse nine in this SD and in that verse we see the word “administration” in it and the Greek word for that is “oikonomia” a word that we have already looked at as it was translated “stewardship” in verse two.  The following is first of all how many times this Greek word is translated “dispensation” and then “stewardship” in the KJV of the Bible, and then we see the meaning of the word after that.

“AV-dispensation 4, stewardship 3; 7

1) the management of a household or of household affairs

1a) specifically, the management, oversight, administration, of other’s property

1b) the office of a manager or overseer, stewardship

1c) administration, dispensation”

            John MacArthur writes “Paul is saying, in effect, ‘I am not only called in the vertical area to preach the unfathomable riches of Christ, but in the horizontal area to teach about the ‘administration,’ the stewardship or dispensation, of the mystery of the church age.’  The first area deals with our relationship to God and the second with our daily living and our ministry to each other as fellow believers.”

            Now I have for a long time viewed the cross of Christ having these two areas that deal with our relationship with God as the vertical part of the cross and our relationship with fellow believers as the horizontal part of the cross.  This, to me, also goes along with the two greatest commandments that are mentioned by Jesus in the gospels:  ““You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depends all the Law and the Prophets.”

            It was the mission of Paul to bring to light, or we could say reveal, the full expression of the operation of this great truth of both the Gentiles and the Jews as being one, and this truth hidden for so very long in the mind of God the Creator, but now we can see it.

Verse related to yesterday’s quote:  “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”  (Isaiah 30:15).

1/27/2019 1:51 PM

PT-3 "The Preaching of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:7-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2019 7:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  PT-3 “The Preaching of the Ministry”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 3:7-9

            Message of the verses:  “7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8  To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9  and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

            As Paul talks about the ministry that God had given to him by “the gift of God’s grace.  To me, the very least of all the saints” and he goes on to say, “this grace was given.”  John MacArthur comments on the term “very least” as he writes “The term ‘very least’ is a comparative, indicating less than the least.  That was not mock humility but his honest assessment of himself.  Because he had such an unusually clear comprehension of God’s righteousness, he also had an unusually clear understand of how far short he himself fell on that righteousness.  Paul claimed no second work of grace by which he was perfected in holiness, love, or anything else.  To the end of his life he considered himself the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) and was overwhelmed by his sense of unworthiness.  That attitude does not limit a man’s service but rather is the key to his usefulness (cf. Gideon in Judges 6:15-16 and Isaiah in Isa. 6:1-9).”

            Paul was given this grace from God in order “to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.”  This includes all His truths and all His blessings, and all that He is and has.  It is the job of Pastors to teach believers all that they have in Christ so they can understand the riches that they have in Christ.  We may not be rich in earthly things but all believers are rich in Christ and that is what matters.  John MacArthur writes “We have riches beyond measure in the One of whom it was said ‘in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Col. 2:3) and in the One in whom we have ‘everything pertaining to life and godliness’ (2 Peter. 1:3).”

            Here is a partial list of these riches:  1) “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  2) Rom. 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”  3) Eph. 2:4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.”  4)  “Eph. 3:16 “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.”  5) 1 Tim. 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”  6) Col. 2:2 “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself.”  7) Col. 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  8) Hebrews 11:26 “considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”  9) Col. 2:10 “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

            In this final paragraph of this SD I will quote from John MacArthur as he gives his readers a warning:

“Simply knowing about the ‘riches of Christ’ is not enough, however.  When we fall into sin and disobedience we forfeit the present blessing of those riches, just as did the fleshly, disobedient Corinthian believers.  ‘You are already filled, ‘ Paul told them sarcastically.  ‘You have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you have become kings so that we also might reign with you’ (1 Cor. 4:8).  Like the Laodiceans, they thought they were rich and in need of nothing, not realizing that they were really ‘wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked’ (Rev. 3:17).”

            Our next SD will be very short as I usually do not write much on Sunday’s as I have many things to do to get ready to teach my Sunday school class, so I caution you it will be very short.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Having a perspective on the riches that I have in Christ, at times, is overwhelming to me as it is hard to believe that I am that rich in Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will give me greater insight into the riches that I have in Christ.

Today’s quote from Thomas Carlyle:  “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.” 

I will give the Scripture associated to this quote in our next SD.

1/26/2019 8:40 AM

PT-2 "The Preaching of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:7-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2019 11:32 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT-2 “The Preaching of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ephesians 3:7-9

            Message of the verses:  “7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9  and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

            As we continue to talk about “mystery” I can’t help but think of one of my favorite verses:  “"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law (Deu. 29:19).”  ““The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions (Deut. 29:29 NLT),”

            One of the things that we can take note of in this section is that God is the One who called Paul to preach to the Gentiles, and in our churches today, the ones where the Word of God is preached each day by Pastors who are truly born-again believers, that God has called them to do this.  When the church began God used the eleven apostles to preach the Word of God, and as the early church began to grow there were men who had been saved through the apostle’s ministry who were called by the Lord to continue to preach the Word of God.  Later on God called Paul in order to have him preach the gospel to the Gentiles.  Now as the years went by there were no more apostles, as John was probably the last to die at the end of the fist century, and so God continued to call men to preach the Word in the churches, and so it goes on today as it is God who calls men to become preachers in the churches today.  I want to say that what I am talking about here are true born-again Pastors, whose qualifications are found in the letters that Paul wrote to men that were preachers in the early church, men like Timothy and Titus.  Now here is what has happened in the church, not only in our day, but throughout the history of the church, and that is that there are many people in the church today who were not called by the Lord to preach and to teach and John MacArthur writes to this issue:  “Any person in the ministry of the church whom God has not appointed is a usurper.  No matter how seemingly good his intentions, he can do nothing but harm the work of the Lord and to the Lord’s people.  Jeremiah speaks to this matter when he writes the Lord’s word:  ‘I did not send these prophets, but they ran.  I did not speak to them, but they prophesied…I did not send them or command them’ (Jer. 23:21, 32).  No man should enter the ministry unless he is absolutely certain of the Lord’s calling.”  I have to admit that in my life as a born-again believer in Jesus Christ that I have sat under three wonderful Pastors that I have no doubt have been called by God to preach His Word to those in the congregations that God has given to them.  I have also sat under two Pastors who I am not sure that God called them to the ministry.  My thoughts are that they could have been listening in on someone else conversation and though that God was speaking to them.

            I mention the Pastoral letters and so I want to look at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 “1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”  I can thankfully say that in all of my years as a believer in Jesus Christ, which will be 45 years tomorrow, that the three Pastors that I have set under fit what Paul is writing to Timothy says they should be.  The other two, as mentioned, I’m not sure of their calling, but am sure they did not follow what these qualifications listed above.

            Perhaps two of the things that can cause Pastors to fail in today’s world are the constant bombarding of sex related issues.  Another thing is pride as they forget that they are stewards of God and began to think of themselves as being able to do the ministry on their own.

            We will, Lord willing, to continue to look at these verses in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To keep on fighting the spiritual battle as I continues to go on for me and for every believer, to rely on the Word of God and the God of the Word to give me victory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will teach me to rely on “truth” and not on my emotions, and to teach me the truths from Rom. 12:3.

Verse related to yesterday’s quotation.  

James 1:17 “Every Good and every perfect Gift is from Above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

The following comes from my SD dated 08:28-2003 and is from the help of Warren Wiersbe:  “If I understand what Dr. Wiersbe says about this verse it could start out something like this:  Every gift that God gives us is perfect, and the way that He gives it to us is perfect, and He keeps on giving us gifts all of the time, even when we do not realize that He is giving them to us, and God is not like the moving of the planets and stars, for He never changes because He cannot change for worse because He is holy, and He cannot change for better because He is perfect.

1/25/2019 12:13 PM

PT-1 "The Preaching of the Mystery" (Eph. 3:7-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2019 10:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT-1 “The Preaching of the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 3:7-9

            Message of the verses:  “7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9  and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

            Paul is stating here that it was God who called him to give out the gospel to the Gentiles, and in the tenth chapter of the book of Romans, in which Paul will quote from Isaiah 52:7 he wrote the following “14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’”  We see here that not all who hear the gospel will respond to it in order to become a true believer in Jesus Christ, but at least they heard the gospel, for if they had not heard it then there would have been no chance for them to respond to it.  Now you may be asking the question “What about the heathens who have never heard of Jesus Christ?”  Psalm 19 gives us some answers to that age old question, for people in places who have never heard of Jesus Christ are without excuse for they can look at the stars and the sun and moon in the skies and know that these had to be created, and thus began to seek out who this One was who did all of this.  I have heard that if a person is seeking light, that is the light of who God really is then God will give them more light.  I have mentioned a story from a book entitled “The God who Hung on the Cross,” and in one of the many stories found in this book there was a woman in Cambodia who only heard that there was a God who hung on the cross.  The communists came to her village to kill on the people from her village.  They made them dig their own graves and then stand around them waiting to be killed.  This woman who only heard of the God who hung on the cross cried out to Him, not really knowing if He was real or not.  As the time past by and people began to open their eyes the enemies were nowhere to be found.  A few years past when some missionaries came to their village and this brave woman asked the missionaries “What took you so long.”  She only had a little light but the Lord honored it and sent people there to tell her the truth of the gospel and so she became a believer.

            Paul tells the Ephesians that he was “a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace” and this is not only true of Paul, but true of all who believe in Jesus Christ as all people can tell others what it means to become a believer in Jesus Christ because of how He had changed their life. 

            John MacArthur writes “Minister’ is from diakonos, the basis meaning of which is servant in particular a servant who waits on tables.  It later came to refer to servants in general.  By definition, a servant is one who acts on the commands of others, who recognizes and submits to a higher power.  His primary responsibility is to do what he is told to do.  Paul’s single responsibility was to faithfully be a servant, ‘according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to [him] according to the working of His power.”  Let us look at 1 Corinthians 3:5 to help us better understand this term “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one (1 Cor. 3:5).”  As we look at this we can understand that it is the Lord who is the power behind the servant.  Paul writes the following to the Colossians “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me (Col. 1:29).” 

            To make this clear Paul emphasizes the fact that it was not him who made himself a minister but writes that he “was made a minister.”  I suppose that you have to remember Paul’s history before the Lord called him on the road to Damascus as seen in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts.  Paul was seeking out believers to kill them when God reached down to save him.  “10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake’ (Acts 9:10-16).”  This story shows us that God had chosen Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and that is why Paul states that he “was made a minister” as it had nothing to do with him, for surely he was not seeking to do this, but was chosen to do this ministering to the Gentiles.

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  I have to say that I was not out trying to destroy any Christians when God called me 45 years ago this coming Saturday, but I was certainly gone in the wrong direction.  God has given me a love for His Word and a desire to tell others about the God who saved me, and that is one of the biggest reasons that I write these blogs.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to learn about being humble, and to stand on the truth and not on my emotions.

Today’s Quote:  “Glory not in wealth if you have it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God who gives all things, and above all desires to give you Himself.”  (Thomas A. Kempis)

Scripture that goes along with this quote in our next SD.

1/24/2019 11:28 AM

PT-3 "The Plan for the Mystery" (Eph. 3:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2019 9:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-3 “The Plan for the Mystery”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 3:5-6

            Message of the verses:  “5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,”

            In verse six we see that Paul states “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs,” and as mentioned in an earlier SD, Paul began to pray as seen in verse one, but then he decided to go back over the mystery that he had already spoken about which is exactly what this section of verse six states, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with all the things that the Jews have.  Paul wrote the following to the Galatians in 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”  Now the Jews were physically descendants of Abraham, but not all were spiritual descendants of Abraham.  All of this is explained in the book of Galatians.  Believers, both Jews and Gentiles are spiritually descendants of Abraham. 

            Paul goes on to write that the Gentiles are also now “fellow members of the body.”  We have mentioned that one of the ways that the church is described in the New Testament is that of a body, and so when a Gentile believes in Jesus Christ they become part of the body of Christ, they are “joint heirs” and have the same benefits as Jews.  The church is “one body” the body of Christ, and so it makes no difference as to whether you are a Jew or a Gentile when you become a believer you are one in Christ.

            John MacArthur writes “In addition to having the same legal and family status, Gentiles also are ‘fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel.’  That is not so much a third status as it is a summary of the other two.  All Christians, regardless of their status or position before being saved, are now ‘fellow partakers’ of everything that pertains to ‘Christ through the Gospel—which is everything that pertains to Christ.  The essence of the ‘gospel’ is that, through faith in Jesus Christ, believers are made everything He is and given everything He has.”  The phrase ‘the mystery of Christ’ (v. 4) is also used in Col. 4:3 as the very essence of Paul’s message.  It carries the truth of Col. 1:27, that Christ is in believing Gentiles as well as believing Jews as ‘the hope of glory’ for both.  It also carries the truth of Colossians 2:2, that the mystery is ‘Christ Himself,’ in whom believers have everything (v.3).  So the mystery is fully understood to be Jew and Gentile in Christ—Christ in Jew and Gentile, so that there is the intimate shared union of eternal life as they both become immersed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20).  God predestines every believer ‘to become conformed to the image of His Son’ (Rom. 8:29).  This is the answer to the prayer our Lord recorded in John 17:20-23 ‘20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.’”

            This prayer in John 17 has been called the “Holy of Holies” of the New Testament.  I had the privilege to teach through this prayer in our Sunday school class a couple of years ago and now to see it in this light of being a fulfillment of this great mystery sheds another light on it. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I’m thankful that I am in Christ and have the things that He has, and it is my desire to be closer to Him as I go through life on this earth, praying each day that the Lord will come in the Rapture to take us all home to be with Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to teach me the truths of Romans 12:3, so that I can serve Him better, giving all the glory to Him.

Verse from yesterday’s quote:  “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).

1/23/2019 9:56 AM

PT-2 "The Plan for the Mystery" (Eph. 3:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/22/2019 9:45 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “The Plan for the Ministry”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 3:5-6

            Message of the verses:  “5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,”

            We were talking about some of the clues that are found in the OT that speak of the church age, and yet these clues were never enough for any of the prophets or the priests to understand that there would be a church age.  I have heard it said that if you look at the mystery of the church age it would be like looking at two great mountains, the first could be looked at as the Old Testament and then the second could be looked at as the coming kingdom of Israel.  However when you get to the top of the first mountain you will see a great valley between the two mountains, and that valley is the church age.  I suppose that when the church age began in Acts chapter two that the Jews, including Peter, did not even at that time see that God was going to include Gentiles to be a part of the church.  It took a great miracle from the Lord to get Peter to go and to talk to Cornelius to tell he and his family how they can be saved.  I suppose that it is difficult for us to understand the prejudice that went on between the Jews and Gentiles of that day.  However as we look at similar prejudices today we can probably get an idea of how this was going in back then.

            John MacArthur writes “That truth ‘has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the spirit.  The Greek behind ‘has…been revealed’ is in the aorist tense, which refers to specific acts or events.  Coupled with ‘now,’ it here indicates the present immediacy of the revelation, which was given exclusively to New Testament holy ‘apostles and prophets,’ and not to any other persons before or after them.  These men were the instruments of writing Scripture, and 1 John 1:1-3 describes their unique function.  The last time they met was at the Jerusalem Council, and the man who officiated there (James, the half brother of Jesus; see Acts 15:13) was not an apostle.  They were soon scattered and died, but not before the revelation was complete.  They are referred to in Ephesians 2:20 and 4:11, but only here are they called ‘holy,’ to affirm that they were fit for such revelation and were authentic.”

            There is one more quote needed to help us understand things from these verses:  “Some have noted that the personal pronoun (autou, ‘His’) is linked with ‘apostles’ and that there is no such pronoun with ‘prophets.’  This would be an emphasis on both the primacy and chronological priority of the ‘apostles’ over the ‘prophets’ who followed them.  The distinction will be treated in connection with the discussion of 4:11.”  (I hope that I will remember all of this when we get to Ephesians 4:11.)

            Paul then gets specific as he writes “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”  Notice in the NASB that the words “be specific” are in italics showing that these words were not in the original text but were added to make the text more understandable.  

            I suppose that if we were Jews in the first century and became a part of the early church such as was seen in Acts chapters 2-9 that we would also have a hard time understanding that Gentiles were brought into the church solely by the grace of God.  We have gone over some of the verses found in the Old Testament showing that God was going to bless the Gentiles, and I have to say something that I have said before and that is that the children of Israel missed the mark when it came to evangelism as they were suppose to tell Gentiles that they too needed to have faith in the God of Israel.  A couple of examples where Gentile women became believers in God are Rahab, and also Ruth, and Ruth is in the blood line of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have to also say that there are people today who are a part of the church who want nothing to do with evangelizing the Jews, and this is just as wrong as the Jews did in OT times. 

           

            John MacArthur speaks of having both Jews and Gentiles in one body as was the spiritual “equivalent saying that lepers were no longer to be isolated, that they were now perfectly free to intermingle and associate with everyone else as normal members of society.  In the minds of most Jews, their spiritual separation from Gentiles was so absolute and so right that the thought of total equality before God was inconceivable and little short of blasphemy.”

            We will talk more about this in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to not have any problem in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with any people group, to tell them that God loves them and desires for them to be saved.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To trust the Lord to teach me the truths of Romans 12:3, and to remember that truth does not always go along with emotions, but truth is always truth.

Quote from E. M. Bounds today and see if you can figure out the Scripture that goes along with the quote.

“God regards the personal purity of the man more than He regards any sacrifice or any ceremony.”

Scripture given in our next SD

1/22/2019 10:37 AM