PT-3 "The Aspects of Blessing" (Eph. 1:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/22/2018 10:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-3 "The Aspects of Blessing”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3

            Message of the verse:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

            In today’s SD we continue to look at the different sub-sections under the main section “The Aspects of Blessing,” and as we continue to look at these we see that there is a lot of things packed into this third verse of Ephesians, and it is good for us to remember that verses 3-14 comprise one sentence in the original Greek language. 

THE BLESSINGS—EVERYTHING SPIRITUAL

            We see from this section that our heavenly Father blesses “us with every spiritual blessing.”  I look at this section and have to say that this overwhelms me, and at times when I am overwhelmed I just have a tendency of giving up and it mainly for this reason that I was not sure that I even wanted to study this book of the Bible, and yet it seemed to me that this was what the Lord wanted me to study, and so I desire to take the time to look at the details of this book in a way that will bring glory to the Lord as His Spirit opens to me some of the things that have been hidden from me in studying this book before.

            John MacArthur writes “In the New Testament pneumatikos (spiritual) is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore it does not here refer to immaterial blessings as opposed to material ones but to the divine origin of the blessings—whether they help us in our spirits, our minds, our bodies, our daily living, or however else.  Spiritual refers to the source, not the extent, of blessing.”

            One of the problems that believers in Christ have is that they will ask Him for things that He has already given them.  I think of many prayers that I have made and have heard others make saying something like “be with me” or “be with him or her” and we know that God has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Sometimes believers pray that God will give them more love, yet God’s love is perfect and what He gives us is perfect, for God is perfect.  “"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27).”  John 15:11 “"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”  Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Strength is found in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  God has already given believers love, peace, joy, and strength.

            2 Peter 1:13 tells us “seeing that 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.”   MacArthur writes “It is not that God will give us but that He has already given us ‘everything pertaining to life and godliness.’  He has blessed us already with every spiritual blessing.  We are complete ‘in Him’ (Col. 2:10).”

            The very resources in God are not simply promised; they are possessed.  Paul writes to the Philippians in 1:19 telling them that believers have “the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”  God is perfect and what He gives us is perfect as we learned yesterday, and so what He gives us is perfect, for there is nothing more to receive.  “The believer’s need, therefore, is not to receive something more but to do something more with what he has (MacArthur).” Now as we end this section think about how secure what God has given to us as we look at Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” for that is how secure they are as He sees us already seated with Him in the heavenly places.

            I think that what we have already written about here is enough for us all to think about and so we will continue looking at more things found in 1:3 in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In studying the attributes of God I have come to realize that they are perfect because God is perfect, and sometimes I find myself forgetting that because of being human.  Being human means that I can do a better job in showing love to my wife and family, or being joyful over things that bring joy to me, but as stated this is not the case with God, as He is perfect.  I cannot compare myself with God when it comes to giving love to others or being joyful.  It just won’t work.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Let God be God in my life and trust Him to better understand these truths that have been talked about today.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who first ate the forbidden fruit?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/22/2018 11:06 AM

PT-2 "The Aspect of Believers" (Eph. 1:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/21/2018 9:49 PM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Aspect of Believers”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3

            Message of the verse:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

            I will quote from MacArthur’s commentary as he gives us an outline of what we will be looking at in these opening verses of the book of Ephesians.  “In these opening verses of Ephesians Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past.  He lets us eavesdrop as Tod planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born.”  In yesterday’s SD we looked at the first sub-section under the main section of “The Aspects of Blessing,” and in today’s SD, since it is Sunday we will only look at two more short sub-sections, the first being “The Blesser—God,” and then the second “The Blessed Ones—Believers.”

            God is not only to be blessed as we saw in our last SD, but He is also the Blesser.  It is consistent with His perfection and also His praiseworthiness that the One who is to be supremely blessed for His goodness is Himself the one who is the Supreme Blesser who bestows goodness. We see this as the verse continues on “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.”  Let us look at James 1:17 which reads “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  When I was studying the book of James a few years back I quoted what Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote about this verse from James.  The following quote comes from 8-28-2003’s Spiritual Diary “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.

            We will not move on to look at “The Blessed Ones—Believers.”  When we look at the word “us” in Eph. 1:3 it speaks of believers, as Paul was writing to believers.  In God’s wonderful grace, and marvelous providence, and also in His sovereign plan God has chosen to bless us.  When you stop and think about this it is almost too good to receive, and also too good to believe, and yet it is true.  I have said that one has to understand the characteristics of God which are seen in His attributes in order to understand why God does what He does.  Galatians 3:9 tells us “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

            We will conclude this SD with a quote from John MacArthur:  “When we bless God we speak good of Him.  When God blesses us, He communicates good to us.  We bless Him with words; He blesses us with deeds.  All we can do is to speak well of Him because in ourselves we have nothing good to give, and in Himself He lacks no goodness.  But when He blesses us the situation is reversed.  He cannot bless us for our goodness, because we have none.  Rather, He blesses us with goodness.  Our heavenly Father lavishes us with every goodness, every good gift, every blessing.  That is His nature, and that is our need.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “David” (2 Samuel 18:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “Saul wanted to bring the believers he found in Damascus to which city?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/21/2018 10:18 PM

The Aspects of Blessing (Eph. 1:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2018 10:11 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Aspects of Blessing

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference: Eph. 1:3

            Message of the verses:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

            I mentioned in our last SD that we would be looking at a number of main points which have sub-points under them, and so today I want to give the outline of what we will be looking at in Ephesians 1:3, and then we will see how far we get as we move through the sub-points.  “Paul here presents six aspects of the divine blessing he is about to unfold:  the blessed One, God; the Blesser, also God; the blessed ones, believers; the blessings, all things spiritual; the blessing location, the heavenly places; and the blessing Agent, Jesus Christ.”

THE BLESSED ONE—GOD

            We first look at such gracious truth as it is introduced appropriately by giving praise to the One who has made such provision:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I have spoken of what this word “blessed” means as we look at it in the Greek in an earlier SD.  The Greek word for blessed is “eulogeo” and from that word in the English we get the word “eulogy” “a message of praise and commendation, the declaration of a person’s goodness” writes John MacArthur.  He goes on to write “Because no one is truly good but God (Matt. 19:17), our supreme eulogy, our supreme praise, is for Him alone.” 

            Goodness is one of the attributes of God, and when one studies the attributes of God they will find that God is only good.  God’s attributes have always been His attributes, it is not that because He has provided salvation for those who accept His Son’s provision for salvation that makes Him good, He has always been, and always be good, and I realize that this is difficult for humans to get their arms around, none the less it is true.  I don’t understand how God made the earth and all of the stars that I see, and even those I don’t see, but I believe that He made them just like the Bible says that He made them, that is He made something out of nothing.  I don’t understand this but I believe it.  “"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 (Deut. 29:29).”  I have to say that there are a lot of secret things that belong to the Lord and although I don’t understand them, for they are secret, I take them by faith because things like His attributes are found as being true in the Word of God. 

            There is only One human being who demonstrates the goodness of God and that is His Son, and our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  I have heard many times that “so in so” is a good person, and yet no one possess goodness like God and His Son.  “Consequently from Genesis to Revelation, godly men, recognizing the surpassing and humanly unattainable goodness of God have proclaimed blessing upon Him.  Melchizedek declared, ‘Blessed be God Most High’ (Gen. 14:20).  In the last days, ‘every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them’ will be ‘heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever’’ (Rev. 5:13).” 

            What can we learn and do as believers?  Well we can appropriately bless the Lord for His great goodness.  I am going to write something that is difficult if not possible for believers to do if it were not for the indwelling Holy Spirit and that is that we are to do this in every circumstance whether in pain, struggle, trials, frustration, opposition, or even adversity we are to praise God, and the reason is because His is good in the midst of it all, and for that we praise and bless Him.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that in order for me to do this I have to truly know God in such a way that I believe that He is in complete control of all that I go through, and whatever I am going through is for my good, and for His glory, and is a part of my sanctification process to make me more like Jesus my Lord and Savior.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord, even when He steps on my toes from studying His Word.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom’?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/20/2018 10:48 AM

Intro to Ephesians 1:3-6a

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/19/2018 10:05 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 1:3-6a

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:3-6a

            Message of the verses:  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, (NASB-95).”  3 Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us through Christ every spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! 4 For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world he chose us to be, in Christ, his children, holy and blameless in his sight. 5 He planned, in his love, that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ—this was his will and pleasure 6 that we might praise that glorious generosity, (Phillips).” 

            I mentioned in an earlier SD that the first few verses in the Greek comprised one sentence, and actually it is verses 3-14 of Ephesians chapter one that comprise a full sentence in the Greek language.  We see in verse three the words “in Christ” and then in verse four we see “in Him,” which is speaking of Jesus Christ.  “In Christ” is seen 13 times in the book of Ephesians, and “in Him” is seen a total of seven times.  We will see that this is talking about what believers have because we are in Christ, and this is something that is amazing to each and every believer.

            Verses 3-14 comprise one sentence as we have noted and they encompass the past, present, and future of God’s eternal purpose for the church.  Now we also mentioned that the book of Ephesians is about the church, and this is why I believe that it was a circuit letter that went to the churches in Asia Minor so that they could understand what the function of the church was all about.  John MacArthur writes “In 3-6a we are shown the past aspect, election; in 6b-11 we are shown the present aspect, redemption; and in 12-14 we are shown the future aspect, in heritance.  Within God’s master plan of salvation is every believer who has or will ever trust in God and be saved.  As it is sometimes expressed, history is simply the outworking of ‘His story,’ which has already been planned and prewritten in eternity.” 

            He goes on to write “This passage can also be divided into three sections, each of which focuses on a different Person of the Trinity.  Verses 3-61 centers on the Father, verses 6b-12 center on the Son, and verses 13-14 center on the Holy Spirit.  Paul takes us to the very throne room of the Godhead to show the greatness and vastness of the blessings and treasures that belong to those who are in Jesus Christ.” 

            As I think about what Paul is writing about here I have to admit that there have been other things in the past that I have looked at to bring fulfillment to my life, and what I am mostly referring to is things from before I came to know Jesus Christ.  I can’t remember a day since I have been saved when I have not thought about God, and I suppose that is because the Holy Spirit lives within me since I have become a believer.  I suppose that there have been many times that my thoughts of God are because of my need for forgiveness, but none the less God is and has been at the forefront of my mind since He saved me in January of 1974.  With that said I still have a hunger and thirst to know Him better and when I read the verses that I am previewing here and better understand that as MacArthur stated that Paul takes us to the very throne room of God that I desire to understand this better and to care about it more than things that are here on planet earth which will one day be burned up.

            If someone is reading this SD and wonders how it is that they can achieve a true sense of self-worth, meaning, and significance in their life they must understand that they have to have a right relationship with their Creator.  A person without Christ has no spiritual value, no standing before God and no purpose or meaning in the world.  There is a song that was written in the 1970’s and was sung by a man who had gone to the top of the corporate latter only to fall to the bottom very fast.  He ended up living in a one room cabin and was told that he only had six months to sing, for he was a singer.  Christ invaded his life as he says in the song “He saved me, He saved me,” and then life had real meaning for him, meaning that could only come from the God who saved him. 

            I have mentioned the many times we read “in Christ” or “in Him” that are found in this book and as a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ we have to understand what we have in Him in order to live a life that is pleasing to our Lord.  Paul wants those who read this letter to have the right understanding of their position and possession and this is the foundational thrust of his letter that we are beginning to study.

            I want to close with another important quote from John MacArthur and then will give us the outline that we will look at for these verses.  He entitles this chapter “The Body Formed in Eternity Past,” and this quote will help explain that title.

“If we belong to Christ, Paul says, we can be sure that God put our name down as part of His church even before the world began.  Out of grace and in divine sovereignty, He chose each one of us to belong to Him.  It was not because we were more worthy than anyone else or more deserving or meritorious—but simply because God willed to chose us.”

“Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past.  He lets us eavesdrop as God planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born.”  We will begin by looking at “The Aspects of Blessing” which has several section in it, and then move onto “The Elements of the Eternal Forming of the Body” which also has some sub-sections in it, and that is basically the outline of this short section from the first chapter of Ephesians.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Upon finishing his message to the multitude, Jesus as Peter to do something, what was that?

Answer in our next SD.  10/19/2018 10:51 AM

More from the Salutation (Eph. 1:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/18/2018 10:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  More from the Salutation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 1:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            In today’s SD we have two sub-sections to look at.

THE DUAL BLESSINGS OF BELIEVERS

Ephesians 1:2a

“Grace to you and peace.”

            We begin by looking at the Greek word and meaning for the word translated “grace.” 

“1) grace

1a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

2) good will, loving-kindness, favour

2a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues

3) what is due to grace

3a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace

3b) the token or proof of grace, benefit

3b1) a gift of grace

3b2) benefit, bounty

4) thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward.”

            It has been well said that grace means that God gives us what we do not deserve or could ever earn, and mercy is God holding back what we do deserve, and what every person who has ever lived on planet earth deserves is God’s wrath.  John MacArthur writes of grace:  “Grace is God’s great kindness toward those who are undeserving of His favor but who have placed their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.”  When the early church greeted a fellow believer with the word grace it was in this way much more than a wish for their general well-being.  This was also the acknowledgment of the divine grace in which we stand, and this has made us mutual members of Christ’s Body and also of God’s divine family, and that is something to praise the Lord for.

            MacArthur goes on to write “Grace is the fountain of which peace (eirene) is the stream.  Because we have grace from God we have peace with God and the peace of God, ‘which surpasses all comprehension’ (Phil. 4:7).  Peace is the equivalent of the Hebrew shalom, which, in its highest connotation, signifies spiritual prosperity and completeness.”

THE DUAL SOURCE OF BLESSING

Ephesians 1:2B

“from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            We looked at the dual source of authority in our last SD which came from 1:1a, and as we look at the dual source of blessing it comes from the dual source of authority, that is God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  I want to look at the connection of God the Father which is seen in the word “and” which in the Greek is “kai” and this word can indicate equivalence, and in this passage it indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ is deity just like God our Father.  Paul teaches that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and is co-equal with God, which some people have a difficult time understanding and believing.  The Bible teaches that there is a Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One God but three persons.  I know that this is hard to completely understand, and it is one of the things that we believe by faith because that is what the Bible teaches.

            MacArthur’s concluding remarks:  “Paul’s message throughout this epistle is that believers might understand and experience more fully all of the blessing granted by their heavenly Father and His Son and their Savior, Jesus Christ.”  I would say that this is also the goal for studying this book too.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to be as much in tuned with the Holy Spirit of God as I can be, praying that He will be the One who teaches me what it is that He desires me to learn from this important book found in the NT.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray that my heart will be teachable as I study Ephesians.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Seven fat ones and seven lean ones” (Genesis 41:1-4).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Paul count fleshly gain?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/18/2018 11:29 AM

           

PT-1 "The Salutation" (Eph. 1:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/17/2018 10:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus: PT-1 “The Salutation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  Eph. 1:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            The following is what we will find in this Salutation:  1. The Dual Source of Authority, 2. The Dual Designation of Believers, 3. The Dual Blessings of Believers, and 4. The Dual Source of Blessing.  I have stated that we will move slowly through this letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians, and in today’s SD I want to cover two parts of this salutation.

The Dual Source of Authority

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, (1:1a).”

            I am not sure that it would be proper if I turned this portion of verse one around, but it would help me understand this a bit better, “By the will of God, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.”  First we want to look at the word apostle in the Greek:  “1) a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders 1a) specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ 1b) in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers 1b1) of Barnabas 1b2) of Timothy and Silvanus.” 

            When we look at the highlighted part of this explanation of this word we see that it was “specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ,” and so we have to include Paul in that group as Christ called him on the road to Damascus, and Paul defends his apostleship in his letters to the Corinthians.  The Lord used these men to bring about the foundation of the church, and therefore there are no real apostles left, as John was the last one of the apostles who died in the late first century.  John MacArthur writes that “The apostolic duties were to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 1:17), teach and pray (Acts 6:4), work miracles (2 Cor. 12:12), build up other leaders of the church (Acts 14:23), and write the Word of God (Eph. 1:1; etc.).”

            I want to explain that after the death of Judas, Peter formed a group of the eleven to, with the aid of God chose a replacement for him, and it turned out that Matthias was chosen (Acts 1:26).  Now I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that there are some who think that Peter acted in a hurry in choosing Matthias in that the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the eleven.  Later on God chose Paul to be an apostle and as mentioned some think that he was the one who should have taken the place of Judas.  At any rate if one believes that Matthias was one of the twelve, then Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles is also an apostle, and there is no doubt that he is an apostle for we see that in this verse which is part of our Bible that the Holy Spirit has authored. 

            We know that Paul was a brilliant man who was a top leader in Judaism, but that was not the reason he was an apostle, as we read “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,” and that is the reason he is an apostle.  Paul did not write this to boast, but I see that it had to do with him being humble, since Paul, better than anyone knew his past and how he had treated the early believers of the church in Jerusalem.  Paul even calls himself “the chief of sinners.”  MacArthur writes “By mentioning his apostleship, Paul simply established his undeserved but divinely-bestowed authority to speak in God’s behalf—which he states at the beginning of each of his epistles except Philippians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.”

The Dual Designation of Believers

“To the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: (1:1b).”

            We want to look at the word “saints” as it is found in this section of verse one.  “Holy, characteristic of God, separated to God, worthy of veneration 1) its highest application is to God himself, in his purity, majesty and glory. {Lu 1:49 Joh 17:11 Re 4:8 } 1a) Of things and places which have a claim to reverence as sacred to God, e.g. the Temple: {Mt 24:15 Heb 9:1 } 1b) Of persons employed by him, as angels: {1Th 3:13 marg. } prophets, {Lu 1:70 } apostles, {Eph 3:5 } 2) Applied to persons as separated to God’s service: 2a) Of Christ: {Mr 1:24 Ac 4:30 } 2b) Of Christians: {Ac 9:13 Ro 1:7 Heb 6:10 Re 5:8 } 3) In the moral sense of sharing God’s purity: {Mr 6:20 Joh 17:11 Ac 3:14 Re 3:7 } 4) Of pure, clean sacrifices and offerings: {1Co 7:14 Eph 1:4 }.”  I know that people have a problem with this word “saint” and yet the truth of the matter is that every person who has been born-again through the blood of Jesus Christ is a saint.  The truth also is that believers do nothing on their own to earn this fact that they are saints and so as we read in Ephesians 2:9 “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Every Christian is a saint because every Christian is set apart and made holy through the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, as His righteousness has been placed on believer’s accounts.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that God has chosen me to be one of His children, knowing that I did not chose God but He chose me and now I am to go out and work for the cause of Christ as He leads me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I take time to study this wonderful letter of Ephesians.  I know that what I learn from this book will be taught to me by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Describe the fourteen cattle that Pharaoh dreamed about.”

Answer in our next SD.

10/17/2018 11:38 AM

PT-4 Intro to Ephesians (The Body of Christ)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/16/2018 10:31 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-4 Intro to Ephesians

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians

            Message of the verses:  We have been looking at some different aspects of what we will be learning as we study the book of Ephesians.  Today we want to begin by looking at another aspect found in the book of Ephesians and that is the church as Christ’s body.  This of course is a metaphor that shows the church not as an organization, but as a living organism which is made up of many interrelated and mutually dependent parts.  We see that Chris is the Head and that the Holy Spirit is as it were, its lifeblood.

            The following descriptions or metaphors are used both for the church and for Israel.  First they are both called a bride or a wife as seen in His. 1:2 and we can also compare Jeremiah 3:20 “Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, said the LORD (KJV).”  Revelation 21:2 states “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”  The following verses speak of both Israel and the church as a family household:  Psalm 107:41; Jeremiah 31:1; and Ephesians chapter two.  Next we look at them being called a flock from Isaiah 40:11, and we can compare also Psalm 23, Luke 12:32 and Acts 20:28-29.  Vineyard or vine found in Isaiah 5:1-7 and also John 15:5.  MacArthur adds “But the Old Testament never speaks of Israel as God’s body.  That is a distinct and formerly unrevealed figure for God’s people in the New Covenant.  Christ’s church is His present reincarnated Body on earth.

            “It is only this outward incarnation of Christ that the world sees.  Consequently, the church should be just as whole and full statured as Jesus was when He ministered on earth.  Members of the Body of Christ are inextricably united in their Lord, and when one member malfunctions, the whole Body is weakened.  When its members disobey the Head, the Body limps and stumbles.  Yet when its members faithfully respond to the Head, the church manifests the Lord’s beauty, power and glory.

            “The Body functions through the use of spiritual gifts and through the responsibilities of fellowship and mutual ministry.  When the church is faithful Christ comes to full stature in His present earthly Body.  When the church is not faithful, the world’s view of Christ is distorted, the church is weakened, and the Lord is dishonored.”

            I want to point out something that is obvious and that is that the Apostle Paul is the author if this letter (book) to the Ephesian church.  I have learned from taking a brief look at this book a few years ago that this book or letter was to be a circuit letter similar to the book of Revelation which was to be given to the seven churches mentioned in chapters two and three, and so perhaps this letter to the Ephesians also circulated around those seven churches also.

            As far as when it was written, probably between 60-62 when Paul wrote this letter from Prison.   MacArthur adds “Because of the phrase who are at Ephesus is not in many early manuscripts, and because there is no mention of a local situation or individual believer, many scholars think this letter was an encyclical, intended to be circulated among all the churches in Asia Minor (including those in Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis, as well as Ephesus).  It may be that the letter was sent first to Ephesus and therefore became especially associated with that church.

            “The first three chapters of Ephesians emphasize doctrine, and the last three chapters emphasize behavior.  The first half is theological, and the second half is practical.”

            I guess that it is good to know that I agree with what John MacArthur has to say about this letter being a circular letter around Asia Minor.  This helps us to better understand this letter, for when we look at other letters that Paul wrote like 1 Corinthians we see that he was addressing a series of problems that the church was going through, but we also see that part of the letter was theological or doctrinal and the other part was practical, and this follows Paul’s way of writing letters.  I have thought that if the people that Paul wrote to had not had similar problems that are seen in the churches today then we would not have the answers on how to answer these problems.

            In our next SD on this letter or book of Ephesians we will begin to look at the first two verses, and if memory serves me correctly there is a very long sentence in the original language in this first chapter of Ephesians, so we will only be looking at a small part of that long sentence as we begin in our next SD looking at what is called “The Salutation.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Being reminded that the church is the body of Christ has brought back some things that I have to admit that I had forgotten, and am very thankful for this wonderful reminder.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to open up to me some wonderful things from this letter that Paul wrote so many years ago, things that will cause me to know and understand my Lord better, and things that will cause me to understand better the function of the church.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Apollos” (Acts 18:24).

Today’s Bible question:  “What 5 books were written by John?

Answer in our next SD.

10/16/2018 11:16 AM