EPHESIANS CHAPTER 3
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Eph 3,1-12
(68f) Authority
>>
Jesus Delegates the Holy Spirit to us >> He
guides you into all truth
Eph 3-1,2
(12g) Servant
>>
Bond servant >> Their relationship with God – Paul said this many times throughout his
epistles that he was a prisoner of Christ. Many of his epistles he
wrote in prison, so it stands to reason that he would say this, but he
got there by obeying the will of God, and in this way he was literally
Christ's
prisoner. Being a bondservant of Christ, as Paul was, is someone whom God has
chosen to determine in his heart to relinquish his freedom for a lifetime of service.
(71g) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
Ordained by His sovereign will >> God
chooses you -- These verses go with verses 7&8
(216f) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >>
God forces His bond-servants to do His will –
Anybody who has studied the Bible knows that Paul described himself as
a bondservant of Christ Jesus. He used his imprisonment as a metaphor so often that
whenever he mentions it we should assume the symbolism that God had
compelled him to preach the gospel to the point of it often landing him in
jail. Bondservants are different from an indentured servant. With an indentured
servant he
has chosen to become a servant of a master for a specified time, often seven
years, and afterward his freedom is returned to him. However, if he wanted to stay
and if the master consented, he could remain his servant for life, the
master/slave relationship was then based on whatever terms the master chose
within the legal limits (Exodus 21,1-11). Some of the more common reasons a
person indentured himself to a master was that he was unable to support
himself or he wanted to learn a trade or he was migrating to a new country.
Contrast that with the bondservant; this person has given up all his rights
to become a servant for life. His master possesses him as property, like a man
would own a car, holding absolute authority over him. Paul called himself a
bondservant of Christ; He was the property of Jesus Christ. This was
Paul’s relationship with the Lord; when Christ called him into harms way, he
went without flinching, and whatever God commanded him to do, he did it.
(236b) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
All things are for your sake >> We are
fighting for you >> Our bondage is for your
sake
Eph 3-1
(61a) Paradox
>>
Two implied meanings >> Prisoner—In jail /
Of God’s will
(187b) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to
self >> Die to self to minister to people >>
Die to self to encourage the strong -- This verse goes with verse 13
(210k) Salvation
>>
Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles
included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual
Jew) >>
Ministry to the Gentiles -- This verse goes with verses 6-12
(246b) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal bondage to
Christ
Eph 3,2-10
(115d) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Through your
ministry >> Through your calling >>
In preaching the gospel
Eph 3-2
(4e) Responsibility
>> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable
in your stewardship
– A steward is someone who has been given
management authority over someone else’s wealth, but the steward is never in
possession of his Master’s things. God had given Paul management
authority over the gospel, meaning he had authority to preach the gospel and manage the Churches of those who had been saved, but he
didn't have
ownership of these things. That is, the Church and its gospel strictly
belongs to God. The gospel is unique in that though we have not inherited it, we have
inherited its promises.
(31j) Gift of God
>>
Gift of His grace >> Being responsible with it
-- This verse goes with verses 7-10
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Eph 3,3-12
(108i) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith
>> Revelation of Jesus Christ
>> Revelation of the mysteries of God
– Paul speaks of the revelation that he
received from God as though it were the only one he received from God. As
an apostle and prophet, he understood many truths from God and penned them in
his letters to the Churches, of which we now read in the Scriptures, so
that we too know the things that God revealed to Paul. He spoke of
this revelation as though it were unique, and it was unique to Paul in that it
was the focus of his
ministry. The revelation was that the gentiles were included in God’s
salvation of the Jews. That is, the gentiles are fellow partakers of the gospel
and fellow heirs of the promises made to the fathers. Paul made mention of this in other epistles, but
he spelled it most succinctly here. See also: Gentiles; Eph 3,3-10; 214e
Eph 3,3-10
(214e) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> God’s timing >>
Dispensation of God’s revelations >>
Dispensations of revelation knowledge – There are
some things that if they
were never recorded in Scripture would have created huge confusion in the
Church. In our faith and in our understanding of the truth, and even in our
ability to believe the gospel, Paul wrote Ephesians chapter three for the
benefit of the gentiles. Had this book not been included in the cannon of
inspired writings, the gentiles would not have confidence in the gospel today. As it is, the gentile
nations of the world are confident in their faith in Christ, knowing the gospel applies to
them too. It never became an issue of
contention throughout the millennia, because Paul made it clear that the
gentiles were included in this gospel of salvation, also because it was
something the gentiles wanted to believe. See also: Gentiles; Eph 3,3-7; 110j
Eph 3,3-7
(110j) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit of revelation >>
Revelation of the truth >> Revelation of the true doctrines –
It was well documented in the Old Testament that the gentiles would be
included in the grace of God, but Peter didn’t know that. He was unskilled
in the Scriptures, and for this reason God took him by the hand and
communicated this critical fact to him (see Acts chapter 10), but Paul
didn’t need to be taken by the hand and led to the truth, because of his superior knowledge of the Old Testament.
Paul had many revelations regarding heaven in eternity, and they will have
their relevance in the ages to come, but for now Paul’s greatest revelation
was that the gentiles were included in the gospel of God’s grace, because it
pertained specifically to his ministry of evangelism. It blessed Paul to know that the gospel was meant also for the gentiles, because the
Jews rejected it. He had the greatest message the world had ever
known; he had all the tools to bring it to the world; he had the Spirit of God
dwelling in him and the truth hidden in his heart, honed to a sharp edge. So when Paul
realized that the gospel belonged also to the gentiles, his ministry was born.
See also: Gentiles; Eph 3,6-12; 210k
(219i) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >>
Predestined according to the word of God
Eph 3-5
(30f) Gift of God
>>
God is our Father >> Favor with God through His
word
(109h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit the teacher >>
Spirit teaches us about the word of God >> Spirit teaches us about Jesus
(133l) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >>
Having an awareness of God’s holiness >> The
presence of God makes us aware of His holiness –
The four gospels wrote the account of Jesus Christ, preserving many of His
saying and parables, and the epistles have added to this account with Paul’s
revelation in this verse. He was probably more excited about this revelation
than any other. He wrote with enthusiasm about his stewardship of God’s
grace, carrying the gospel to the cities and regions beyond Israel to the
known world of his time. His great revelation was that the gentiles were
fellow heirs and fellow partakers of the promise of Israel through the gospel.
Paul’s great revelation was that the gentiles were included in the salvation
of Christ; his entire ministry was hinged on this one fact. The Lord said in
Acts chapter nine that he would become a minister to the gentiles, though he
began his ministry toward the Jews and throughout his ministry he tried to
reach them, because he knew that without the Jews, the gospel would soon fall
into disrepute, with the gentiles interpreting the gospel as being all about
them, thus violating the principle of the Jew first and also for the gentiles
(Rom 1-16). The Jews dropped the old covenant ball too, so what is important
about the Jews being leaders in things pertaining to God? The Jews understood
God better than any other people, though they weren’t better at obeying Him.
They practiced temple worship for centuries, which illustrated the sacrifice
that Jesus would make, and it illustrated our manner of faith according to the
table of showbread representing the word of God, and the Golden Altar of
Incense representing prayer. When the gospel came, and they finally understood
what all these ceremonies represented, it came to them by revelation that was
more profound than any gentile could understand. It was so deeply instilled in
them, that when God lit the fire of truth to their knowledge, it shined
brighter in them than in any other people. They understand how to walk with
God, though again they didn’t have a lot of experience; the gentiles lasted
only two hundred years before they dropped the ball, allowing the gospel to
morph into Catholicism for fifteen hundred years, making the True Church live
underground, and the Catholics searched to martyr them, until the reformation,
which restored the teaching of salvation by grace through faith. That was
about all it restored, in that Protestantism still reflects the design of
Catholic services in its strong central leadership. The number of martyrs
throughout the age of Catholicism goes far beyond any statistics and is not
something that God is willing to forgive and forget, for judgment is still
coming.
(231a) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The Church discloses the mystery of Christ --
These verses go with verses 8-10
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Eph 3,6-12
(210k) Salvation
>>
Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles
included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual
Jew) >>
Ministry to the Gentiles -- These verses go with verse 1. Had Paul not been
straightforward about the gospel, the door may have been slammed shut and locked against the
gentiles, and the Jews
could have claimed proprietary ownership of the gospel so that no one could be
saved. They could have spread the deception that it did not apply to the nations of
the world, only to them, even as they did in Old Testament times. It is true
that God spoke only to Israel, and that the old covenant did in fact
belong to Israel, yet the timeless word of God and His universal laws pertained to everyone. The Jews, however,
closed their heart against the world, considering the gentile nations dogs,
being unwilling to share their relationship with God and His
truth with the world. When the old covenant ended and the new covenant began,
Israel was meant to receive the gospel for themselves and open it to the gentiles and spread the gospel of
Christ throughout the world, but again they rejected God’s purpose for
themselves, so God passed over them, using Paul and the other apostles to preach the gospel to the
gentiles, resulting in the gentiles having received the stewardship of the Jewish gospel. Had the Jews been faithful, they
may have done a better
job than the gentiles at spreading the gospel throughout the world, simply
because the gentiles had to be grafted into it, whereas the Jews were
the natural stewards of the gospel (Rom 11,1-36). See also: Gentiles; Eph 3,3-12;
108i
Eph 3-6,7
(135m) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Similarity in the body >>
The things we have in common >> Common salvation
Eph 3-6
(36g) Gift
>>
God opens His home to us >> Inheritance >>
We heirs through faith
(136hb) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Body of Christ consists of individual
members >> We are being fitted together
(230e) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >>
Partaking of the word of God
Eph 3,7-10
(31j) Gift of God
>>
Gift of His grace >> Being responsible with it --
These verses go with verse 2
Eph 3,7-9
(14a)
Servant >> Servants of God’s word –
We don’t see the gospel as a mystery, yet why has man been left in
his sin? Why did he sin in the first place? Why does faith access the grace of
God? He is choosing out of the world His worshippers who have been tested and
found faithful. It is a mystery that God knows everything from the beginning;
He has foreknowledge about everything; why couldn’t He just look into the
future and see that we would be faithful instead of making us go through all
this? More than that; the gospel was unknown before it appeared. Think about
God inhabiting human flesh and letting Himself be nailed to a cross by
wretched sinners as a means of God’s forgiveness to those who would believe
in Him. All of this is highly mysterious, so much that the Jewish people of
Israel not only didn’t see it coming, they were incapable of conceptualizing
it ever happening. They thought God was more straightforward than this, like
the Law. When He came to Israel it was as though He tricked them into
crucifying Him. He had them practice this event for hundreds of years prior to
His coming in temple services they meticulously performed, and it says that
none of those thousands of sacrifices took away sin. By the fact that God
commanded them to do it sanctified them until Christ came and gave the
ultimate sacrifice of His own blood that He had planned from the foundation of
the world. This means that God has an overall plan for mankind that He
hasn’t yet divulged. Far as we know the whole purpose of our lives in this
mess of a world eking out a temporal existence is for no other reason than to
demonstrate faithfulness to God, so we can go to heaven. Nothing beyond that
has been revealed to us, except that Jesus called it eternal life, so when we
finally enter heaven, we know that it will be a place where we will live
forever. From there the mystery continues to unfold and expand. God has a
reason for everything He makes, and He likes to slowly reveal His will to us
when we need to know it. He doesn’t tell us things before we need to know
them; He would rather we lived and walked by faith. He didn’t tell Israel
that He would come and give His life a ransom for many, and his death would
resemble temple worship that they performed thousands of times for hundreds of
years. They would eventually learn these things, and when they finally
understood, it was time for them to know. See
also: Mystery
of godliness; Rom 12-1,2; 42i
Eph 3-7,8
(71g) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
Ordained by His sovereign will >> God
chooses you -- These verses go with verses 1&2
(77i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Tapping into the power of God through humility >>
The most humble are the greatest servants
(111b) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit and evangelism
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Eph 3,8-10
(46k) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to the Church through Christ – This manifold wisdom has been made known
to the Church, and the Church is making it known to the rulers and the
authorities in heavenly places. That was a strange thing to say. Anyone would
have expected Paul to say that God is making known these things to the rulers
and the authorities on earth, to kings and princes of nations, but he didn’t
say that. He said he was making them known to the rulers and authorities in
heavenly places. He is not making them known to the angels of God, but to
Satan and his minions in heavenly places, symbolically referring to the
atmosphere surrounding the earth, called the second heaven. This is
where Satan figuratively dwells. This analogy works well in that just like the airways of radio
and television pass through the atmosphere prior to arriving at their
destination in people’s homes, where they propagate ideas that are too
often concepts of the devil, so Satan also desires to create an atmosphere
in our mind of unbelief with the goal of making his deceptions more believable than
God’s truth. Paul is not saying we should preach the gospel to the
devil, rather we are putting him on notice that his days are numbered and
that the Church is his master and that our Master is Jesus Christ, who
dwells in heaven, from whom we have a stewardship to crush the kingdom of
Satan under our feet. Part of our administration of the gospel is to overthrow
the devil's empire through the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, communicating this by
stealing his possessions, which are human souls, who are saved to
the Kingdom of God. This is spiritual warfare; we are declaring war on evil
without the use of guns or physical violence. Our faith in Jesus Christ is considered violent to the
kingdom of Satan, that
which is righteous and selfless, things that destroy the kingdom of Satan,
serving one another and bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The Kingdom of Christ is
coming; He intends to take
over this world, His earth and ultimately the universe. One day it will all
change. God will create a new heavens
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
(71b) Authority
>>
Believer’s authority >> We have authority in
the wisdom of God
– Paul endeavors to bring to light
the
administration of the gospel that he received from God. He did it not through
his own strength or will, but through the
unfathomable riches of Christ. Through the power of God he was able to
tolerate so many persecutions: beatings, whippings and imprisonments, and the
weakness of his flesh, staying awake for days at a time, being shipwrecked and
being able to speak for hours at a time about the riches of Christ. All these
things he did, not though human means, but though the grace of God, which for
ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.
(213e) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
We are his instruments >> We are tools in the
hand of God >> We are transmitters of His
kingdom
(231a) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The Church discloses the mystery of Christ --
These verses go with verses 3-5
Eph 3-8
(56ka) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Least are
greatest >> Least are the greatest servants – The apostle Paul said of himself that he was
the very least of all saints, but isn’t that the way the Kingdom of God works, the least are greatest and the greatest are least. Hence, for
Paul to say that he was the least of all was in a sense boasting, but what he
was really doing was recalling his past, how he used to destroy the saints,
hauling them into prison for their faith in Jesus where they were often
tortured and killed. For this reason Paul was the least of all saints, because of what he
once did, but since then God raised him up to become one of the greatest of
all saints, for which purpose he has served and worshipped God all the more,
because of the grace that God had given him. Without
walking in the grace of God, it is like not receiving it in the first place.
(96g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Positive attitude about yourself
(249h) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> The infinite and
eternal wealth of God >> Being rich in Jesus --
This verse goes with verses 16-21. Go to the
deepest part of the ocean and drop down a line and it’s never long enough;
we can never reach the bottom. It is seven miles deep in the Mariana Trench,
as high as the commercial airplanes fly, unfathomable. The water
pressure is so immense that anyone who wants to
explore the bottom must go through huge expense and trouble to build a craft that
can sustain such pressures. The unfathomable riches of Christ go infinitely deeper
than this. We seek God for the wisdom and the knowledge and the blessing of
Christ, and He leads us deeper into His grace. There is a bottom to the ocean, but
there is no bottom to the fathoms of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
Eph 3-9
(212c) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> He is the creator >>
The creation glorifies God >> All things
originated from God
Eph 3-10
(89g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom
is the key that unlocks the mysteries of God
(136i) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Body of Christ is the Church --
This verse goes with verse 21
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Eph 3,11-21
(81j)
Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >>
Pray for the Church – Paul shares his second prayer to the
Ephesians. He wanted God to grant to the Church “to be strengthened with power
through His Spirit in the inner man.” He didn’t ask God to give each person
a horse-n-carriage or a three-bedroom house deluxe or anything remotely materialistic.
Rather, he prayed for the saints to be spiritual and to grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(249ga) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> The infinite and
eternal wealth of God >> God’s perception of
wealth >> Our blessed hope of eternal life – If
the Church became spiritual, the
doors would swing open for God to bless us in every way, perhaps last of all in
the material realm, but this is often the first of our prayers, exposing our
flawed priorities. There are so many things that get in the way of seeking God
when pursuing a
materialistic lifestyle. Greed weaves its
intricate web if deceit, creeping into our heart and making our pursuit of God
appear seemingly worthless. There is a sacrifice that must be made, and the first thing we
sacrifice is our faith whenever we prioritize
materialism.
Eph 3-11,12
(114i) Thy kingdom
come
>> Faith >>
Working the
grace of God >> Jesus does God’s
work >> All His works are what the Father does
(122b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God >>
Through prayer
– Paul is careful to remind us of the
confidence we have in Christ, that we don’t come to Him in fear or doubt,
but in faith and hope of receiving our request. We come to
Him in assurance and knowledge that He is our Father and loves us beyond all
comprehension (v19). His love makes Him willing to do whatever we
ask, under the confines that we are His servants, that we have taken upon
ourselves His will and His purpose, His desires becoming our desires, so
when we ask things from Him, we will receive them just as Jesus said in Jn
14,13-15.
(254k) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Power of
Jesus’ Spirit
Eph 3-11
(91b) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> God’s purpose is an inherent
component of His calling >> God’s eternal
purpose
(213a) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> God is all knowing >>
God knows everything about everything
(220a) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >>
Predestined before the foundation of the world
(244a) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to
his increase >> The Church shall reign with
Christ forever
(251b) Priorities
>>
God’s prerequisites >> Making plans >>
Making plans according to the will of God >>
Making plans according to the counsel of His will –
Everybody makes plans, but does anybody recognize that God makes plans too? It
is a good thing He does; otherwise, He never would have sent Jesus and we
would still be in our sins. Jesus is at the center of God’s plan. Everything
we know in truth about God is an aspect of His plan. According to God's plan
He made a universe and then made creatures to manage that universe for Him. He
also knew those creatures would rebel against Him, and so He created a hell
for those who would not repent, and would use the rebellion to test His
creatures and perfect them. Hell would forever be a deterrent for anyone who
would consider rebelling against God, in that they would know there is no
future in it. God will arrange it so rebellion makes no sense at all. He will
establish a kingdom, starting at the New Jerusalem; it will spread throughout
the earth, spilling to the next planet and beyond, populating entire galaxies
with His creatures, and we will manage them without any concern of rebellion.
His kingdom will become so large that He won’t be able to gather everybody
into the New Jerusalem, only the leaders, and show them the glory of God, as
the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon (I Kings 10,1-10). He will make them look
into the porthole of hell and see the suffering there, and then send them home
to their respective planets and galaxies to report that they have seen God's
face, and they have seen His awesome city made of crystal clear jasper, and
they will report that rebellion is utterly foolhardy. God has given us a
wonderful life, and a wonderful world and universe, and that there is no cause
for rebellion in the first place. This is all according to God’s plan that
He had been considering throughout eternity past, and we are now in the infant
stages of fulfilling it. People make plans, but God does too, and His plans
are bigger than our plans. Therefore, it would behoove us to integrate into
His plan, for all our plans will see an end, but not God, not His kingdom, and
not His plans.
Eph 3-12
(83a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Receiving from God through prayer >> Prayer of
faith
Eph 3-13
(13j) Servant
>>
Support the body >> Bear one another’s burdens – Paul did a lot to secure Christianity in the ancient world. At the
same time he was being an example to all, not only as an evangelist (not
everyone is called as an evangelist and an apostle) but also as a Christian,
as to the kind of fervor one should have. He also set the standard for
commitment and faith. He defined what it was to be a Christian in the eyes of the world and the Church. He also wrote many of the major tenets and
doctrines of the Church. All this took blood, sweat and tears, which Paul was
pleased to give for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the Church. Since Paul’s
influence on the world is still with us today, he is still bearing our burden
too.
(124c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love >>
Acts of love >> Love is the proper motive for
all you do
–
We could use this verse to define “love” as: the things we do for the sake
of others. There are other definitions of this word; one in particular has its roots in the spiritual realm,
suggesting that love is the very manifestation of faith. God
always makes sure we benefit in everything He does, so we hope to benefit
others in the acts of love
that we perform. We enjoy
our relationships with others that are born of love, causing our
relationship with God to grow and increase.
The love that Paul showed was for the glory of the Church by his faith and
dedication to the fulfillment of his calling, resulting
in the furtherance of the gospel and the growth of God’s kingdom, reaching as far as us that more people may come to the
knowledge of the truth and believe in a salvation that is ready to be revealed
in the last day (1Pet 1-5).
(139h) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Edification
(187b) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >>
The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to
minister to people >> Die to self to encourage
the strong -- This verse goes with verse 1
(233k) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering
>>
Seek His glory through hardship
(236a) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
All things are for your sake >> We are fighting
for you >> Our suffering is for your sake
Eph 3-14
(234a) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> God chooses us as we seek His glory
>> As we submit to Him –
Paul bowed his knees before the Father in prayer. He was a very
devout worshipper of God before his conversion, though he believed in God
through a phony religion, worshipping Him through the precepts of men and bowing his knees to a false god, until he met
Jesus Christ on
the road to Damascus. After his conversion he now worships is the true God,
who receives his prayer and answers his request, and what was Paul’s
prayer? It starts in the very next verse, that the Christian Church should be
strengthened with power in the inner man, and that Christ should dwell in our
heart through faith and be rooted and grounded in love and that we should mature in
the faith. This is what Paul wanted more than anything: that the people of God
would know the truth and become immune to deception, so nobody could lie to us. He wanted
us to become like trees, rooted deeply in the faith that we should remain
steadfast regardless of the storms that assailed us.
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Eph 3,16-21
(6h) Responsibility
>>
Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by
submitting to the Holy Spirit – Paul asked spiritual things for
the Church,
even though there may have been some who were poorly clothed, sick and hungry.
He still prayed for them that they would grow spiritually. Paul was not
worried about the Church; if they could get in touch with God on a spiritual
level, they would have the necessary tools to ask God for the things they needed for their bodies. It has always been Paul’s
prayer that the Church grew in the grace and knowledge of Christ,
because the spiritual side of us is
more important than anything else. This exposes just how petty materialism is
to our well-being. We place far too high a priority on material
possessions, equating them with survival, but we would be surprised to know
just how little a person actually needs to survive in the world. Paul seemed to think we were less likely to survive if we allowed our
spiritual state to slip into complacency.
(9e)
Responsibility >> God strengthens us from our weaknesses – There are those who say these verses are just
a chain of superlatives, yet those who are born of God know the truth
from their innermost being. It seems, however, that the Church has drifted from many
teachings of the Holy Spirit. Jesus died for our sins,
rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, and the gospel ends there for
many Christians, because they have forgotten the Book of Acts that started
at the ascension of Christ, and then detailed the experience of Christ sending
the Holy Spirit in His place at Pentecost,
starting with that small nucleus of believers huddled in the upper room, who
represented the Church in its fledgling state. We need to understand that the
Holy Spirit they received that day did not make them born-again, for prior to
Pentecost, "[Jesus] breathed on [His disciples] and said
to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (In Jn 20-22). What happened in the upper room
was the anointing. We were vessels of weakness living in darkness
and without God in the world; then the message of the gospel came and we
believe in Jesus, and God placed His Spirit in our heart, which grew into an anointing
that manifested the inner workings of Christ. The born-again believer receives
the anointing to materialize the Spirit he has received.
(34b) Gift of God
>>
God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Trinity belongs to us >>
Father belongs to us –
When we pray, we should expect God to do far more than we ask or think, not
just because He is generous but because He knows what we need. We ask and God
gives us things we didn't know we needed, and once we receive them, we need
them, and we keep them with all our heart. We understand the things we really
need and pray for them, and He gives us more than we ask or think, according
to the power that works within us. Almost everyone asks God for material
things, but God wants to give His spirit (Lk 11-13), which is a true possession.
Things we can hold in our hand can be taken for us, but things we possess in
our heart define us. People try to define themselves by their
material things; they live in a certain neighborhood and drive a fast car and
treat them as status symbols. One
wrong move on the steering wheel and the car is junk; one powerful
wind and the house becomes scrap wood, but what God gives is indestructible and holds
its value beyond this life. They are a possession
that gets us through any situation and follows us into death, and God
crowns us with them, the inlayed precious stones of our aura. We desire to
share His love with others, which completes the
revelation of His knowledge.
(98c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >>
The lord establishes us
(111f) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power
(meaning) of God >> Word in obedience cannot
evade the power of God
(115j) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of
faith >> Through determination
>> Determined to obey Christ
(117e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith
>>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >>
Let Him work on you
(138g) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >>
Glorifying God in your exhortation –
The book of Ephesians could conceivably be cited with using flowery language,
but how could Paul describe God in any other words? He wasn’t using flowery
language; he was describing a flower. We could describe
something beautiful and avoid flowery language, but how would anyone
know about its essential characteristics or how we personally felt?
The person in love who tries to describe his beloved will not use a vernacular
similar to describing a machine or a house; he will use language above his
normal speech, because he is talking about the one he loves, and this was
Paul’s way of writing to the Ephesians about Christ. We can say that the Ephesian
Church was one of the most mature churches of the epistles, by evidence of
Paul being superfluous in his writing, for the Ephesians understood him. This
was Paul’s prayer for them; wouldn’t it be nice to receive a prayer from
someone who used flowery language? It would seem he cared! Paul cared more
about the Ephesians than he did about himself, risking his life to establish
them, and all the churches.
(140g) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Christ builds the
temple from the bricks of the Church
(230k) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The love of Christ is the mystery of
godliness –
Paul spoke about the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, which is rooted
and grounded in love. The world speaks about love as though it were an action,
and ultimately it is an action. In fact, we could say that if love does not
manifest in the natural realm, it doesn’t exist. However, once it surfaces, we see that it has a spiritual side.
"To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge," is one of the most interesting
statements in the Bible. We know what people say about love, but Paul did not
equate love to actions but to knowledge. How could love be associated with
knowledge or surpass it? Paul
is talking about loving the word of God, not just loving the Bible; it goes
beyond that. We are talking about the Holy Spirit, according to verse 16, “that
He would… [strengthen you] with power through His Spirit in the inner
man.” When He does, the knowledge He imparts comes
by revelation, transcending all other forms of knowledge, and this enables us
to love people with God's love. He comes to dwell in us and weaves His Spirit into our
spirit so we become one with Him (1Cor 6-17). Over a lifetime there is a slow and steady revelation of God's
love that occurs, giving us the ability to know Him in a way that bypasses the
mind. He reveals Himself to our spirit, something that goes
beyond anything we know. Man thinks he knows himself, but in fact he
doesn’t. The very essence of man is a spirit, and man does not understand
the spiritual realm, so when God reveals Himself to us, we come to know Him in
ways we don't understand.
(243l) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to
his increase >> He shall reign forever and ever – We have expectations of God,
and God has
expectations of us. When we submit to Him and live out His expectations, He overwhelms all our expectations of Him, according to the saying, ‘Give God
an inch of your life and He will give you a mile of His own.’ This is what
God is asking, one weakness at a time, one vise at a time. God will always
surprise us with His grace. We think we know what we are about to receive, but
when we receive it, His grace is always better than what we expected, and it has a result that we could have never imagined.
He enables us to do things we could have never done without Him, and we bless people in ways they need most. Give God a portion of our lives and He will
give us a portion of His. God is infinite and eternal, and we can keep His gifts forever as a reminder that He
loved us even in our sinful flesh. The things God asks of us in this life are
great, and obeying Him will make the difference between life and death among
those around us, and the repercussions of our obedience will reverberate
throughout eternity.
(249h) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> The infinite and
eternal wealth of God >> Being rich in Jesus --
These verses go with verse 8
KJV
WEB
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Eph 3,16-19
(74b) Thy kingdom come
>>
The heart >> God wants a relationship with your
heart –
Paul’s prayer was that Christ would dwell in our heart, where we
make life-decisions. We seek things we think would make us happy, and we make
decisions based on the content of our heart, which is the deepest level of what we call: ourselves. Consequently,
our heart is responsible for what we do and how we live, and we are responsible
whether we commit our lives to Christ. Many people think money is
more important than serving God; other people think a relationship with the
opposite sex is more important, but the bottom line for every person who decides
not to serve God is that he wants to make the decisions about the course of his
life, but the one who has made Jesus
Lord of his heart no longer has the right to make life-decisions, for he has given that right to
God.
Eph 3-16,17
(8d)
Responsibility >> Prepare to interact with
God >> Entering the realm of the Spirit
(132k) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> Holy Spirit is in the
hearts of men –
We see signs in front of bars advertising spirits, and we read poetry
about the human spirit, referring to the emotional level of man,
whereas Paul was talking
about the literal human spirit. Not too many people talk about the human
spirit so literally; in fact, worldly people don’t even know they have one, probably because it is linked
to the heart and they don’t have one of those either. In the most literal sense
Paul said that the human spirit
housed the Spirit of the living God, among those who believe in Jesus for the
salvation of their souls. God lives in a place in our heart that is far below our
emotions, in our very essence. If it weren’t for God living in us, our
spirit would be dead, according to God’s definition of life. Unbelievers are
convinced they are alive because they are physically alive, but God says they are
dead. The saints are the only people who are truly
alive, because God lives in them.
Eph 3-16
(35h) Gift of God
>>
God gives Himself to us >> The anointing
Eph 3,17-19
(108hb)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith
>> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation
>> Revelation of His love –
Paul is speaking about knowledge, but not just facts, speaking in reference to a paradox:
how can we know something that surpasses comprehension? It
should be no less the goal of every Christian to know the unknowable! This
knowledge
does not refer to certain facts and information that the mind can easily
process but refers to a depth of
knowledge that is imparted by the Spirit, where the natural mind has no
access. We are not constrained to believe in
mere facts and information; that would be penance; rather, we understand God
by revelation of the Holy Spirit. This is the very definition of faith, “the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11-1).
(124l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of
God’s faith –
Paul taught faith as the key element of our salvation, whereas James
taught works as the key element of our salvation, and when we put the two
together, we get the teachings of Christ. When He said, “He who believes in
Me…,” He was referring to both faith and works, God's faith that we
receive as a result of believing in Him that opens our ears to the Holy Spirit
and then doing whatever He says. What is the Bible's definition of “love”? There are basically two perspectives on
the subject. First, there is
the action of love, but it also has a more spiritual side, described as
incomprehensible knowledge, which is an oxymoron and is equivalent to faith.
When we compare "faith" and love, we see that they are mirror
images of each other. Love is defined in 1Cor 13-4 as being patient
and kind. These are two of the nine fruits of the Spirit, so we can go to the
list of nine fruits in Gal 5-22,23 and get a fuller definition of love,
meaning that the other eight fruits are attributes of the one.
Eph 3-17
(254j) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Salvation
of Jesus’ Spirit
Eph 3-18,19
(42i) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Transformed >>
Conform to the mind of Christ
Eph 3-19,20
(132g) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >>
Filled with the power of God
KJV
WEB
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Eph 3-19
(54o) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Knowing the unknowable –
How can we know the unknowable? Actually,
it is one of the best descriptions of spiritual knowledge! On the one hand it
is paradoxical, and on the other it makes perfect sense that sinful flesh
would struggle with the knowledge of God. We experience heaven and the love of
Christ in
the knowledge of these things, though it is not the message
itself that is unknowable but the manner in which we understand it. All
the things God reveals to us are spiritual in nature and all that is spiritual
is unknowable to the natural mind. God wants to reveal the love of
Christ, which surpasses knowledge by
letting the Holy Spirit teach us about Him. This is why
the world doesn’t know God, because it doesn’t accept the things of the
Spirit. We could tell
them what we know about God’s love, but they still wouldn’t know it, until the Holy Spirit
revealed it
to them.
Eph 3-20,21
(29l) Gift of God
>>
God knows our needs; therefore we don’t have to care
(34i) Gift of God
>>
Generosity >> God is willing to Give >>
His natural blessings
(105g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Led by the Spirit into the will of God >>
Led to the right place
Eph 3-21
(136i) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Body of Christ is the Church --
This verse goes with verse 10
(252i) Trinity
>>
You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship
God >> Worship God for who He is >>
Glorifying God
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