Ephesians 5 Part 3 (1-22-06)

Ephesians 5 Part 3
Bible Study Time 1-22-06

The Apostle Paul explained in Ephesians, Chapter 5, that the marriage relationship is symbolic of the relationship between Christ and the Church. He said that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church.

Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians are the three epistles that Paul wrote from his prison cell in Rome, and in Ephesians and Colossians Paul brought to the forefront the fact that Christ serves as the Head of the Church which is His Body. He mentioned this three times in Ephesians and twice in Colossians. Obviously, the Holy Spirit wanted to emphasize this point. Christ is the Head of the Church which is His Body.

However, many people who are aware of Christ’s position as Head of the Church are surprised when they find out that this doctrine is not taught in Paul’s earlier, Acts-period epistles. Paul got close in I Corinthians 11:3, when he said:

1 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJ)
3 . . . the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
This is close, but it is not the specific doctrine that Paul teaches in his later epistles, that Christ is the Head of the Church.

In I Corinthians 12, Paul spoke at length about the unity of believers, saying that all believers are baptized by one spirit into one body, and then he said, “You are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

This gives us cause to question, was Paul revealing the Church which is the Body of Christ as an institution? I don’t think so. First of all, he never calls this body the Church which is the Body of Christ, and secondly, as I said earlier, Paul never names Christ as the head of this body. An institution not only needs a name, but it also needs a director.

The fact that Paul gets so close during the Acts period to truths that relate to the Church without ever revealing the Church leads me to believe that God was working during this time in a mighty way to prepare Paul’s heart and his mind for the revelation of the mystery Church which he would soon receive. God was exposing Paul a little here and a little there to concepts which would be so important in his later revelations.

During Paul’s Acts-period ministry, it was not yet time to reveal the truth of the Church which is the Body of Christ. At that point in history God was still offering the New Covenant Kingdom to the nation of Israel. The message of the kingdom is a different message from the message which has been given to us as members of the Church.

The message of the kingdom relates to the Bride of Christ, not the Body of Christ. The Lord Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and when the disciples of John asked Him why He and His disciples did not fast, He said:

Matthew 9:15 (NKJ)
15 “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Jesus called Himself the bridegroom because He had come to woo Israel as His Bride.

The Lord told the parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the Bridegroom, but when the Bridegroom came some of the virgins were not prepared and were not allowed to enter the banquet hall when it came time for the wedding.

Revelation 19 speaks of the time when Christ will come at the end of the tribulation period. At that time the Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ will be unprepared for His return, but the small, believing remnant of Jews who do believe in Jesus will meet Christ in the clouds of heaven, and will be united with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then they will return with Christ to rule and reign with Him on the earth.

As Christ came wooing His Bride during His first advent, He went preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He warned His disciples that a time of great tribulation would come before they would see Him coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

This message for the Bride of Christ stands in contrast to God’s message for the Church which is the Body of Christ as we see it in Paul’s prison epistles. In Colossians 3, Paul said:

Colossians 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

When Christ appears, we will be taken up into glory beyond the clouds of heaven. In Philippians, Chapter 3, Paul said:

Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJ)
20 . . . our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Paul wrote to Timothy after writing Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and spoke of the perilous last days of the Church, and he never said a word about the antichrist. The Bride on the other hand will be taken up after the abomination of desolation and after the tribulation of those days according to the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24. Indeed, the message for the Bride of Christ is vastly different from the message for the Body of Christ.

When Paul wrote I and II Corinthians, he was preaching the message which was formulated for the Bride of Christ. He told them that they should prepare to rule the world in an earthly kingdom. In I Corinthians 6 and verse one, he said:

1 Corinthians 6:1-10 (NKJ)
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

Paul chides them for going to a secular court to settle their legal disputes. He advises them to bring their disputes before the elders of the church so that the elders can help them resolve their differences.

This is different from Paul’s message to the Body of Christ in II Timothy 2 where Paul says:

2 Timothy 2:4 (NKJ)
4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

Why did Paul tell the Corinthian church to bring their legal matters before the church elders? He tell us in verse 2:

1 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJ)
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

He says, “The kingdom is coming, and you need to be prepared to rule the world. You need to get used to resolving conflicts.” This clearly is the message for the Bride of Christ. It is the Bride of Christ which will rule the world. When Christ catches us up as members of the Body of Christ, we will be taken up into the glory of heaven, but when Christ catches up His Bride at the end of the tribulation period, they will meet Him in the clouds above the earth, they will attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, and they will return with Christ to rule the earth in a worldwide kingdom.

At that time Christ’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and He will destroy all those nations who have played havoc with Jerusalem. Zechariah 14 says:

Zechariah 14:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, . . .
3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, . . .

Zechariah 14:9, 11,12 (NKJ)
9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. . . .
11 The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.

Zechariah 14:16 (NKJ)
16 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

This fits in with Chapter 8 where Zechariah says:

Zechariah 8:22-23 (NKJ)
22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.'
23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"

This is the hope of the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ will rule over all of the nations which are left after the great battle which takes place at the time of Christ’s second coming. Revelation 19 calls this great battle the Battle of Armageddon.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was anticipating this kingdom so he told the believers to get used to judging the issues that come up in the local assembly.

Now. You may ask, “Why didn’t the kingdom come?” Jesus said it was going to come. Paul and all of the other apostles expected it to come. Why didn’t it come?

The answer is simple. The Jews refused to accept it. They refused it when Christ offered it to them, and they refused it when the apostles offered it to them with miracles, wonders and signs from the Holy Spirit. The Jews refused it, and it could not come unless the Jews accepted it. The promise of the kingdom was to the Jews.

Now, let’s be clear about this one thing, however, when the Jews rejected Christ and the kingdom, this did not surprise God. We know that it was all part of God’s plan. It had to be part of God’s plan or He would not have allowed it.

Do you think that all of the Jews at the end of the tribulation period are going to believe in Jesus Christ when Christ does establish the kingdom? No, most of them will not accept Christ at that time either. Why then is the kingdom going to come at that time? Because at that time the rebellious Jews will be destroyed along with the rebellious nations, and only the believing remnant of Jews will enter the kingdom along with all of the nations that are left after the Battle of Armageddon.

Well, God could have done that same thing at the end of the Acts period, but He had a secret plan for mankind which He had yet to reveal. It was a plan for a group of people who would be separate and apart from the program for the Bride of Christ. You guessed it, God was planning to call out the Church, which is the Body of Christ.

God could have proceeded straight into the kingdom at the end of the Acts period, but that would have cut out all of us who have come to God through simple faith in Christ over the past 2,000 years. Oh, how He loves you and me.

In Ephesians 5 Paul speaks to the Church the Body of Christ and says that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church. Then he says that each husband should love His wife even as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for the Church to make it holy and spotless in the sight of God. Then he says:

Ephesians 5:30-32 (NKJ)
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Some people today look at these verses and say that the Body of Christ is the Bride of Christ. Besides the fact that that would really mess up the analogy, this passage does not say that the Body is the Bride of Christ. The mystery of this passage is that Christ loved us enough to die for our sins and present us before the Father as spotless and holy.

For the Church to be the Bride of Christ, one would have to conclude that God will never fulfill His kingdom promises to Israel. That Christ will never take Israel as His Bride. Revelation 19 proves that He will take Israel as His Bride after He catches up the Church which is His Body.

It’s been a pleasure being with you this morning. Thank you for listening, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 5 Part 2 (1-15-06)

Ephesians 5 Part 2
Bible Study Time 1-15-06

As I mentioned earlier, we are looking at Ephesians 5 this morning. Last week we saw that God expects believers to walk as children of light, having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. We are to avoid all sexual impurity which is one of the many unfruitful byproducts of covetousness.

We also saw that our God given sense of humor must be used to bring glory to God. It would be foolish for us to engage in obscene humor in the light of the fact that someday the wrath of God will be poured out upon the sons of disobedience. In Galatians 6 Paul said:

Galatians 6:7-8
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

What a choice! Will we chose the flesh or the Spirit? The result of the flesh is corruption, while the reward of the Spirit is everlasting life with hearts that rejoice:

Ephesians 5:19
19 speaking . . . in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in (our) hearts to the Lord,

Obviously, this does not mean that we will never feel sadness, or sorrow, or pain, but it does mean that even during tough times God will use His word to comfort us, and as we witness His working, a song of rejoicing will begin to grow.

When Paul and Silas were arrested in Philippi, they were put in a dungeon with their feet fastened in the stocks. But there they were at midnight, praying and singing hymns to God. The Bible says that all of the prisoners were listening.

God may not use miracles of language or physical healing today to confirm the gospel, but this melody which flows from the Holy Spirit is every bit as powerful. The prisoners of sin who hear that tune will sense the glory and the mystery of it all, and they will be drawn to the saving power of Jesus Christ.

While Paul and Silas sang, an earthquake broke lose the gates of that Philippian jail, and when the jailer woke up, the first thing he said was, “what must I do to be saved?”. He had heard the melody of the Holy Spirit, and he wanted to be like Paul and Silas who were:

Ephesians 5:20 (NKJ)
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of (the) Lord Jesus Christ,

Only when we experience this melody of joy can we truly do what Paul commands next and that is to submit to one another in the fear of God. Submitting to one another means that we must be willing to yield the right of way. People who go through life feeling threatened or intimidated by the circumstances of life find that hard to do. Those who feel safe and secure will have the capacity to step aside and say “let’s consider doing things your way.” The peace of Jesus Christ which spawns that melody of joy gives us the personal sense of security which allows us to submit to one another in the fear of God.

Those who do not know how to trust the Lord sometimes take their obsession with control to an extreme. Once I saw an interview on television with a family in which the mother tried to control everything. She had a schedule for every person, including her husband, which covered every activity from morning till night. Each person had to make a check mark on the schedule when they had accomplished each task. As you can imagine, this was driving the family crazy. After listening for a while, the psychologist looked at the mother and simply said, “What are you afraid of?”

The mother asked, “What do you mean?”

Again the psychologist asked, “What are you afraid of?”

After a few seconds, with tears in hers eyes, the lady said, “I have such a wonderful life, but I live everyday with this overwhelming fear that something is going to happen to take it all away from me.”

Well, this kind of fear does not come from God. In fact, the Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. God is the one who controls the circumstances of life, and it does not matter how much we try to take that power from Him, He will never give up, Praise the Lord. As believers, we are to know no fear except the fear of the Lord. David said:

Psalm 23:4 (NKJ)
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You, (Lord), are with me; . . .

This idea of submitting one to another is a wonderful introduction to Paul’s instruction concerning marriage in the next few verses where he says:

Ephesians 5:22-29
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

Throughout the Bible the marriage relationship is sacred. It was ordained by God in the Garden of Eden. After God made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, He gave her to Adam as a companion, tailor made for Adam’s needs. When God brought her to Adam, Adam said:

Genesis 2:23 (NKJ)
23 . . . "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Then in Genesis 2:24, God said:

Genesis 2:24 (NKJ)
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Here we see that God introduced the concept of the family even before Adam and Eve knew what a family was. God spoke of the father and the mother even before there were children. Obviously, the marriage relationship is superior to all other relationships and is the relationship upon which all other relationships are based.

The Lord Jesus referred to Genesis 2:24 when the Pharisees asked Him about divorce. The Lord reminded them that it was God who made the first man and the first woman, and it was God who said, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Then the Lord Jesus added something very special when he said, “What God has joined together, let not man separate.” God had intended all along for the marriage relationship to last for a lifetime.

Those who find true love in marriage would not have it any other way. In fact, it may even hurt to think that in the next life that relationship will be different. But in this we can be fully confident, though it will be different in the next life, it will be even better. Hard to imagine, I know, but the glory of heaven is indeed hard to imagine.

Now here in Ephesians 5, Paul also went to Genesis 2:24 to verify the validity of the marriage bond, and after quoting that verse he said that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church. Of coarse, this church is the same church that Paul has been talking about all through the book of Ephesians. It is the Church which is the Body of Christ.

In Matthew, Chapter 16, the Lord said to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” But the church of Matthew 16 is not the Church which is the Body of Christ. The church of Matthew 16 was a Jewish Church which had the hope of an earthly kingdom with Christ ruling as their King.

Jesus Christ does not serve as the King of the Church which is the Body of Christ. Our relationship with Christ is much more personal and much more intimate. Christ serves as the head of the Church which is His Body. In Ephesians, Chapter 1, Paul said that Christ serves as Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, and in Ephesians, Chapter 4, Paul said that we should speak the truth in love so that we may grow up into Christ who is the Head of the Body.

As we think of the analogy of the human body, the relationship of the head to the body is certainly different from that of a king to His subjects. A king functions in an authoritarian capacity. He makes certain demands of his subjects, and he rewards or punishes his subjects based on their performance.

This is not the case in the Church, the Body of Christ, and it is not suppose to be the case in the marriage relationship. The head dose not function in an authoritarian position. In the analogy of the human body, the head is totally dedicated to directing the activities of the body so that the body will survive and flourish. The body, on the other hand, is totally dedicated to performing whatever function the head may signal. There is total unity of purpose and function. The head is never threatened by the body, and the body has no thought of independence from or rebellion against the head.

The marriage relationship, like the human body, was intended to reflect the perfect unity which exists between Christ and the Church. This is a grave responsibility for those who enter into marriage, and it should, therefore, not be entered into lightly or unadvisedly. When our marriages fail to reflect the union and unity of Christ and the Church, it is not just a social malady, it actually mocks the plan and purpose of God.

After 40 years in the desert with the children of Israel, Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because he struck a rock in the desert rather than speaking to it as God had instructed him to do. Why was this so important? Because speaking to rock symbolized the believer’s fellowship with God. Moses had made a mockery of the symbolism which God had intended, and as a result he was not allowed to enter into the promised land.

God wants our marriages to display in a symbolic sense the peace, the harmony, the unity that exists between Christ and the Church, and there are great rewards for those who are faithful to follow God’s instructions. Actually, some of our deepest personal needs are met in the marriage relationship when we follow God’s instructions. God created Eve because He saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone, but His unique formula for marriage meets the personal needs of the wife and the children as well.

Paul said that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church, and since we are to be imitators of God as dear children, it is only logical that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.

Jesus Christ was willing to humble himself and except the cruel death of the cross in order to provide for the well being of those who trust in Him. This self-sacrificing kind of love is truly the most powerful force in the universe, and because the marriage relationship is the foundation for all other relationships, God made this kind of love the cornerstone of the marriage relationship.

When the husband loves his wife with a love that is pure and unselfish, the wife will respond and submit to his leadership as naturally as the body responds to the brain. Now, we the Bible says in this passage that the husband is to love and the wife is to submit, these duties are not mutually exclusive. We have already seen that we are all instructed to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of God, and the Lord Jesus told his disciples to love one another as He has loved us for greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

In godly marriages generous portions of love and submission will be found on the part of both the husband and the wife. To follow the example of Christ, we must all learn to subject our own will to the will of others, and we must all learn to love even when the ones we love are undeserving. Jesus Christ said to the Father, “not my will, but Thine be done.” The result: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, and while we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of Christ.

As I close this morning, I would like to remind you that Christ’s offer of salvation is still open today. If you don’t know Him, if you have never put your trust in Him, open your heart to Him right now. You can pray right now, wherever you are. If you ask Him to save you, He will come into your life and put a song of rejoicing on your lips.

I’ve enjoyed being with you this morning. Thank you for listening, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 5 Part 1 (1-8-06)

Ephesians 5 Part 1
Bible Study Time 1-8-06

Last week we started the new year off with some instructions for living as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ. In Ephesians 4 the Apostle Paul reminds us that sin causes a hardening of the heart. Even people who are saved are susceptible to this terrible disease which causes so much pain and suffering. If we live in sin, we will eventually develop hardening of the heart.

We will lose our sensitivity to the needs of others, and as a matter of fact, we will not even be able to determine our own needs. We will pursue a path that leads to our own destruction and to misery for those around us. We will lose sight of the fact that we need fellowship with God and fellowship with other believers. We will become totally self absorbed. After all, the essence of sin is selfishness.

However, when we walk in the light of Jesus Christ, we have fellowship with God, and the Holy Spirit teaches us the joy of crucifying self upon the cross of Calvary. When we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, we are baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The old man dies, and the new man comes to life.

In Ephesians 4, Paul says that while the old man is characterized by lewdness and greed, the new man is characterized by true righteousness and holiness. The new man does not lie and neither does it carry a grudge. It does not steal from others, and it does not use coarse language. All bitterness, wrath, anger, and evil speaking are crucified with the old man upon the cross.

The last verse in Ephesians 4 is one of the most beautiful verses in all of the Bible. Very simply Paul says:

Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)
32 . . . be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

This verse is beautiful in its simplicity, but it is so powerful and so practical. Most of the psychological problems that people face are simply a result of internalized anger and hatred. Oh the freedom and liberty that we find in Jesus Christ when we learn to forgive and be kind one to another.

We live in a time when about half of all marriages end in divorce, and I can not help but wonder how many marriages could be saved if husbands and wives could just learn to be kind to one another and forgive one another. Can you just imagine what our homes would be like if husbands and wives could put everything else aside and learn to live by this verse.

I think it’s no coincidence that Paul follows this verse with an inspired marriage counseling session in the last part of Chapter 5, but before Paul gets into that he has a few more things to say about living for Jesus Christ. In verse 1 of Chapter 5, he says that we should not only forgive one another as God has forgiven us, but we should imitate God in everything and in every way.

What! Do we really have the power to be like God? Well, it’s obvious we’ll never be perfect like God is perfect as long as we live in this body of flesh, but we should follow God’s example in all things.

I often recommend Max Lucado’s book, Just Like Jesus, because Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s perfection. In Jesus Christ we see the fullness of God’s perfect love, His perfect compassion, His perfect purity. All that is good and holy, we see in Jesus Christ, and we should make it our daily goal to be the kind of person that Jesus was and is.

Verse 2 of Chapter 5 says that we should love others with the same kind of love that Christ had for us when he gave Himself as the sacrifice for sin, and then in verse 3 he spells out for us what it means to walk in love, saying:

Ephesians 5:3 (NKJ)
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;

According to Paul, believers do not have to work for sainthood, but all believers are saints, and God has ordained that saints should live a life of purity. This life of purity is not a sacrifice; it’s a blessing. God has determined that all sexual activity is reserved for the marriage relationship. Sexual activity outside of the marriage relationship is unclean or impure in the sight of God, and it is a form of covetousness. Believers are to be known as people who are content with that which God supplies without coveting what we don’t have.

Fornication, uncleanness and covetousness are not to be named among the saints, and then in verse 4:

Ephesians 5:4 (NKJ)
4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

I like what Paul said to the Colossians when he said:

Colossians 4:6 (NKJ)
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Grace means getting what you don’t deserve, so if our speech is seasoned with grace, that means that we speak to people with love even when they don’t deserve it. I have to say that God seems to be asking a lot from us in this. Indeed, He is. He is asking the impossible. But remember, with God all things are possible. We are now new creations in Christ with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

It’s hard to speak graciously to someone you find disgusting? It’s hard to be speak with heart felt kindness to someone who has really hurt you? You bet it is. But when you do, you reveal the new creation of God within you.

Is it hypocritical to speak with kindness when you feel disgust? It’s not hypocritical at all if you speak the truth in love. God might even give you the opportunity to say, I love you brother but I really have a hard time with what you did the other day. Or God might give you the opportunity to say, I love you sister, but I have heard that you said this the other day, and I was just wondering if that’s true. Yes, with God’s help, we can speak the truth in love, and we can always speak graciously without hypocrisy, and certainly we should never use filthy language.

When we’re joking around, we’d better really be careful then too. It’s easy to lose our sense of what’s appropriate when we’re just kidding around, but every word we say is important in the sight of God. The words we say are merely a reflection of what’s really on the inside. Verse 5 tells us why these things are so important.

Ephesians 5:5-6 (NKJ)
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

This reminds me of the Lord’s words to Israel in Isaiah 66 where the Lord said:

Isaiah 66:2-5 NLT
2 My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken! "I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.
3 But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. Their offerings will not be accepted. When such people sacrifice an ox, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a lamb or bring an offering of grain, it is as bad as putting a dog or the blood of a pig on the altar! When they burn incense, it is as if they had blessed an idol.
4 I will send great troubles against them — all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned — before my very eyes — and chose to do what they know I despise."
5 Hear this message from the LORD, and tremble at his words: "Your close relatives hate you and throw you out for being loyal to my name. 'Let the LORD be honored!' they scoff. 'Be joyful in him!' But they will be put to shame.

It is one thing to struggle with sin in your life. All of us struggle with sin. Or maybe I should say, all who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, struggle with sin, because as I said earlier, none of us is perfect yet. But Isaiah and Paul were talking about the skeptics who mock God and scoff at His word. These people will not inherit the eternal blessings of Christ. On the contrary, they will be cast into outer darkness and will be separated from God.

Paul says, don’t let anyone deceive you about this. It would be a grave mistake to think that things will always be as they always have been. Paul says that someday the wrath of God will come upon the children of disobedience. Then in verse 7 he says:

Ephesians 5:7-13 (NKJ)
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.

This world has been in spiritual darkness since the time of Adam’s sin, but Jesus Christ is the light of the world. John said that Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God and that all things were made by Him, but when He took a body of flesh, the light came shining out of the darkness.
One bright spot of light in a sea of darkness. Every other human being since the time of Adam has been born into darkness, but Jesus Christ come into this world as a ray of light from heaven. The good news is that in Him was life and the life was the light of men. The bad news is that:

John 3:19-21 (NKJ)
19 " . . . this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

Paul said:
Ephesians 5:8,10 (NKJ)
8 . . . you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

Notice that we have to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Don’t think you can just trust your instincts or that you can just trust what feels right. No, you can’t trust your neighbor either. Your neighbor might be wrong too. This is a serious matter, and we have to try to find out what God thinks. That’s what really matters.

To do this we have to study God word. We must study it diligently because that’s the only way we’re going to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. God could speak to our hears with a voice from heaven, but He has chosen to speak to our hearts through His word. His word is quick and powerful and shaper than any two edged sword, and God has made the declaration that His word will accomplish its mission. If you read it you will learn. God has declared it to be so.

Ephesians 5:14-16 (NKJ)
14 Therefore (the Lord) says: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Seeing that we are surrounded by great darkness, we must never take a step without prayerfully considering the consequences. Failure to do so would be like skipping through a minefield. The devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and only those who walk circumspectly with care and diligence can expect to avoid the pitfalls along the path.

Ephesians 5:17 (NKJ)
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 . . . do not be drunk with wine, in which is (every kind of debauchery); but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

If anger is a source of disease, then thanksgiving is certainly a source of healing. Let us give thanks always for all things to God the Father in name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, I’m certainly thankful for the time we’ve had this morning to study God’s word and find out some of the things that are acceptable to the Lord. Before we close this morning I’d like to ask you if you have put your faith and trust in this One who is the light of the world. If you are still walking in the darkness of sin, there is deliverance for those who come to the light of Jesus Christ.

If you hear the voice of Jesus Christ calling you this morning, do not hesitate for another moment. Open your heart to Him, and the One, who in the beginning commanded the light to shine out of darkness, will shine in your heart and fill your life with the glory of God.

Thank you for listening, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 4 Part 13 (1-1-06)

Ephesians 4 Part 13
Bible Study Time 1-1-06

On New Year’s Day many people turn their thoughts to New Year’s resolutions and to possibly turning over a new leaf. With the start of a new year, it’s a great opportunity to do some introspection. But self evaluation is not an easy task for us because we tend to view ourselves through tainted lenses. At times we are more optimistic than we should be, but sometimes our pessimism is unjustified.

We really need some good honest time in the word of God to help us overcome our biases. The book of Hebrews says that when we read the Bible it’s like looking in a mirror because it reveals the whole truth about who we really are. The good news for those of us who have been saved by God’s grace is that it also tells us the whole truth about who God really is. Namely, that in spite of our sinful condition, He loved us enough to send His Son to die on the cross for our sins.

When it comes to living a life that is worthy of Jesus Christ, Ephesians, Chapter 4, is a great place to start. We have been studying this chapter for several weeks now, and we have seen that we should be humble and gentle. We should be patient with one another. We should find our unity in the Spirit of God and be bound together with the bond of peace.

We should learn all we can from those men whom God has gifted as teachers of the word so that we might be able to do our part in the work of the ministry, and so that we, as members of the Body of Christ, might be strengthened and built up into the full stature of Christ.

These are among the kind of things that we should think about as we contemplate New Year’s resolutions for they represent the broad goals of Christian living, the principles that govern a walk that is worthy of Jesus Christ.

Beginning with verse 17, however, Paul gets into some of the specifics of the worthy walk. Verse 17 says:

Ephesians 4:17-5:1 (NKJ)
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

The Roman world had pretty much adopted the Greek culture which was the legacy of Alexander the Great. When Alexander went conquering his neighbors and spreading the Greek culture, he was startled when he encountered the Jewish culture. It was so different from anything he had ever seen. The Jews believed in only one God who was the creator of all things and who actually cared about His creation.

One Jewish writer pointed out that the Greeks considered all things beautiful to be holy while the Jews considered all things holy to be beautiful. Obviously, the Gentiles of Paul’s day had no concept of or appreciation for the true righteousness of God.

The Jews on the other hand had been exposed to the righteousness of God through the Law of Moses. They had been taught that the Law of the Lord was perfect, but unfortunately they could not live by such a perfect standard. They failed to live up to its standard because they did not have the power of the Holy Spirit within them.

In the book of Romans Paul gave the Jews some bad news when he informed them that God does not judge people on the basis of who knows about God’s Law, but He judges on the basis of who lives by the Law. The Old Testament gives a detailed record of Israel’s failure to keep the Law. God complained of Israel’s hypocrisy in Isaiah 58 and said:

Isaiah 58:1-10 (NLT)
1 " . . . Tell my people Israel of their sins!
2 . . . they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to hear my laws. You would almost think this was a righteous nation that would never abandon its God. They love to make a show of coming to me and asking me to take action on their behalf.
3 'We have fasted before you!' they say. 'Why aren't you impressed? We have done much penance, and you don't even notice it!' "I will tell you why! It's because you are living for yourselves even while you are fasting. You keep right on oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like a blade of grass in the wind. You dress in sackcloth and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?
6 "No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn.
7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
8 "If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the LORD will answer. 'Yes, I am here,' he will quickly reply. "Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!
10 Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day.

Isaiah went on in Chapter 59 to speak of the day when God will make a new covenant with Israel which will be established in the power of the Holy Spirit. At that time, Israel will serve as the priests of a glorious earthly kingdom. Verse 20 says:

Isaiah 59:20-21 (NLT)
20 “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem,” says the LORD{D}, “to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins.
21 And this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, Israel had rejected Jesus Christ as her Messiah, and Israel’s hope of the earthly kingdom has been temporarily set aside. Paul was writing to the Ephesians as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ. This is the Church to which believers of our present age belong. We today do not look for Christ to return to the earth and set up and earthy kingdom in which all of the hungry will be fed and all of the homeless will be given shelter. We look for the appearing of Jesus Christ in the glory of heaven, who will at the time of His appearing will catch all believers up to be with Him in heaven. As Paul told the Colossian believers:

Colossians 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

After the catching up of the Church, however, God will make a New Covenant with the nation of Israel, and the power of this New Covenant will be the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Jews rejected the Holy Spirit during the Acts period, but during the tribulation period which will follow our present age of the Church God will not allow the Jews to reject the Holy Spirit. God will cleanse and purify the nation of Israel by casting off all who refuse to belief. It will be as John the Baptist predicted when he warned the nation of Israel saying:

Luke 3:7-9 (NKJ)
7 . . . "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
9 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

When Israel’s program was set aside, God called the Apostle Paul to reveal the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ and to reveal to the Church what it means to walk worthy of Christ. He encourages us not to walk as the unsaved Gentiles who:

Ephesians 4:18 (NKJ)
18 (have) their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;

When we walk according to our own human imagination, we always go in the wrong direction. The human compass is faulty by nature and consistently points us in the wrong direction. The really sad part about this is that the longer we go in the wrong direction the harder it is for us to sense the error of our ways.

Our hearts become hardened to God and to His word. The devil convinces us of our own superior intelligence, and we refuse to heed God’s offer of deliverance. God pleaded with Israel through Isaiah and said:

Isaiah 59:1-3 (NLT)
1 Listen! The LORD is not too weak to save you, and he is not becoming deaf. He can hear you when you call.
2 But there is a problem — your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
3 Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin. Your mouth is full of lies, and your lips are tainted with corruption.

The word of God reveals our sin and warns us that sin separates us from God and causes us to be like the Gentiles of Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:19 (NKJ)
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Here Paul indicates that most sins are a result of either lewdness and greediness. The dictionary defines lewdness as sexual impurity. It defines greed as an excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain. The flesh is never satisfied with that which God supplies. It always wants more and more. God is gracious enough to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory, and if we are wise we will learn to be satisfied with that which God supplies.

The flesh has a continual lust for more but Paul says:

Ephesians 4:20-23 (NKJ)
20 . . . you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 you should put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Paul says, don’t listen to the lies of the devil. He only wants to destroy you. Instead:

Ephesians 4:24-32 (NKJ)
24 . . . put on the new man which (is) created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

These are the things that please God. These are the things that we should allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate in our hearts and in our lives. May the Lord bless each one of you in this coming year with this kind of righteousness and purity as well as with peace and prosperity.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Christmas (12-25-05)

Christmas 2005
Bible Study Time 12-25-05

This morning I am going to start by simply reading Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ. I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation, and I’ll start with verse 18 of Matthew, Chapter 1.

Matthew 1:18-25 (NLT)
18 Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
19 Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.
20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
22 All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet:
23 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us)."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife,
25 but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Matthew 2:1-23 (NLT)
1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
2 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him."
3 Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem.
4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. "Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?" he asked them.
5 "In Bethlehem," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:
6'O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.' "
7 Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star.
8 Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"
9 After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
11 They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child."
14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother,
15 and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt."
16 Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier.
17 Herod's brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah:
18 "A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah — weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted — for they are dead."
The Return to Nazareth
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him,
20 "Get up and take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."
21 So Joseph returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother.
22 But when he learned that the new ruler was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid. Then, in another dream, he was warned to go to Galilee.
23 So they went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets concerning the Messiah: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Matthew 3:1-6 (NLT)
1 In those days John the Baptist began preaching in the Judean wilderness. His message was,
2 "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
3 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: 'Prepare a pathway for the Lord's coming! Make a straight road for him!' "
4 John's clothes were woven from camel hair, and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People from Jerusalem and from every section of Judea and from all over the Jordan Valley went out to the wilderness to hear him preach.
6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

Well, as the Apostle Paul said, Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He was sent by the Father to save the world from the guilt and penalty of sin. Matthew gives us a beautiful description of the means by which the Lord Jesus entered into the world. Paul said that,

Galatians 4:4-5 (NKJ)
4 . . . when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Indeed, He was born under Israel’s Old Covenant Law. He fulfilled every aspect of the Law, the ceremonial aspects, the moral aspects and the prophetic aspects. Then He shed His blood to atone for sin and usher in Israel’s New Covenant of peace and grace.

As we read Matthew’s account of the events surrounding Christ’s birth, we can not help but notice his emphasis upon the fulfillment of prophecy. All of the Old Testament prophecies had to be fulfilled in every detail for Jesus to be the promised Messiah. The prophets provide the confirmation, for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. By the same token, Jesus Christ is the proof that the prophets were the true prophets of God. Peter said:

2 Peter 1:16-21 (NKJ)
16 . . . we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Peter said that when he heard the voice from heaven as he stood with Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration, he knew that this was the fulfillment of prophecy, and that it confirmed in his mind that Jesus was the Christ. Then he said that we would do well to heed this confirmation as a light that shines in a dark place.

It seems that Matthew was driving home that same point as he wrote about the many events which took place which were a direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. First, he mentioned that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin just as Isaiah had predicted in Isaiah, Chapter 7. Then Matthew reminded us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as the prophet Micah had predicted.

Herod’s slaughter of the boys who were two years of age and younger was also a fulfillment of prophecy for Jeremiah had said:

Jeremiah 31:15 (NKJ)
15 Thus says the LORD: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."

Matthew then showed how the Old Testament pictures of Christ were in a sense prophecies concerning Christ. Matthew wrote about Jesus coming up out of Egypt after Herod’s death. This is pictured in Israel’s exodus from Egypt. In fact, when Moses was on his way to Egypt to deliver his people, God instructed Moses to speak these words to Pharaoh:

Exodus 4:22-23 (NKJ)
22 . . . 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn.
23 "So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me . . . "'"

Finally, Matthew pointed to the vow of the Nazarite in the Old Testament as a picture of Christ. Adam Clarke said that the vow of the Nazarite was the greatest picture in the Old Testament of purity and perfection. Certainly, it was no coincidence that Joseph was instructed to go to Galilee or that he finally settled in Nazareth so that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.

Obviously, the life of Jesus Christ from the stable in Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary was directed in every detail by our heavenly Father. He worked out every detail of every event even before the creation, and then He revealed those details to the holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

In Isaiah 44 the Lord reprimanded the nation of Israel for their idolatry and exposed the foolishness of worshiping man-made idols. The Lord said that idolaters cut down a tree and then use half of it for fuel, while they use the other half to make an idol. Then He said that the idolaters never even stop to think how foolish it is to worship that which they have created with their own hands. In verse 6 of Isaiah 44, the Lord said:

Isaiah 44:6-8 (NKJ)
6 . . . "I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.
7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me . . . And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them.
8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.'"

Only the true and the living God can declare beforehand the things that will come to pass. No idol can do that. When Matthew wrote about Jesus being born of a virgin, he knew he would need proof to substantiate such a claim. The proof for Matthew was in the fulfillment of prophecy. God had declared beforehand that all of these things would come to pass.

Matthew went immediately from the birth of Jesus to the ministry of John the Baptist who, in accordance with prophecy, went preparing the way of the Lord. Matthew said:

Matthew 3:3 (NKJ)
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.' "

The Spirit of the Lord was upon John as he spoke for “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” People came from far and near to give their hearts to God.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ today, let us think not only of the birth of Christ, but let us rejoice in the fact that if we believe that Christ died for our sins and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, we can be saved. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and all those who come to Him in faith, confessing their sins, will find the peace that comes with forgiveness and the hope of everlasting life.

If you feel the Holy Spirit drawing you to Jesus Christ this morning, do not wait another minute to respond to His prompting. Confess your sins to God and open your heart to Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

John 6:37-38 (NKJ)
37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

It’s God will for all people to be saved. God wants you and me to enjoy the glorious fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

Revelation 3:20 (NKJ)
20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

If you want to experience the peace that passes understanding and joy unspeakable, if you want to know Jesus Christ in a person way, ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that there are many ways to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” There is no other God besides the God of the Bible. He’s the God who tells about things before they come to pass.

I see our time is gone. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you this morning. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at the same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 4 Part 12 (12-18-05)

Ephesians 4 Part 12
Bible Study Time 12-18-05

In Ephesians, Chapter 4, the Holy Spirit pleads with us to walk worthy of the high calling with which we have been called as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ. With all humility, we should endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. With all diligence, we should study the word of God and take advantage of every opportunity to learn from those men who have been gifted as evangelists and pastor-teachers.

As we grow in our understanding of the word, we will not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, nor will we be susceptible to the trickery of men or the cunning craftiness of those who plot to deceive. With understanding, we will be able to go out and speak the truth in love, thus diffusing the fragrance of Christ in every place.

If we do these things, we will grow up into Christ, who is the Head of the Church which is the Body of Christ. When Peter spoke to Jesus in Matthew 16 and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” the Lord said:

Matthew 16:17-19 (NKJ)
17 . . . "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of (Hell) shall not prevail against it.
19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Some take these words to mean that Peter was the first head of the church to which we belong today, that Peter was the first head of the Church which is the Body of Christ. However, when we study the scriptures rightly divided, we see the Lord could not have been speaking of the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Paul’s prison epistles include Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and these epistles declare that the revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ was given only to the Apostle Paul, and that it was never revealed to anyone until it was revealed to Paul. In Colossians 1, Paul said:

Colossians 1:24-26 (NKJ)
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

Paul confirms this in Ephesians 3, saying:

Ephesians 3:3-6 (NKJ)
3 . . . by revelation (God) made known to me the mystery
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

To be sure, God never told anyone about the church of our present age until He revealed it to Paul. Therefore, the Lord Jesus could not have been talking about the church of our present age when He spoke to Peter and said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.”

Well, what church was the Lord talking about in Matthew 16? We know from Matthew 10 that Peter would have thought the Lord was talking about a Jewish church which had the hope of the kingdom. You will recall that in Matthew 10, the Lord sent out the apostles and said:

Matthew 10:5-8 (NKJ)
5 . . . "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, . . .
6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

You may be thinking, that’s true, but the church of Matthew 16 was a future church because Jesus said, “upon this rock I will build My church.” If you’re thinking that the Lord was referring to the Church of Acts, Chapter 2, I think you are exactly right, but let’s take a close look at the church in Acts, Chapter 2.

When Peter stood up to speak, he said, “Men of Judea heed my words.” Then later he said, “Ye men of Israel hear these words.” This too was a Jewish church. In his message Peter never mentioned the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins, but he did mention that, according to prophesy, the Christ would have to die and be raised from the dead before He could sit upon the throne of David. The church of Acts 2 was not only Jewish, but it had the hope of an earthly kingdom as well.

When the Jews heard Peter’s message, they were cut to the heart, and they asked, “What shall we do?”

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJ)
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Therefore, the church before the cross was totally Jewish, and it had the hope of an earthly kingdom, while the church after the cross was totally Jewish and had the hope of the earthly kingdom, but what set this church in Acts 2 apart was the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Many people have concluded that the giving of the Holy Spirit marked the beginning of the church of our present age, the Church which is the Body of Christ. However, as Peter said, the giving of the Holy Spirit was a promise which was made to the Jews and to their children in relationship to the promised kingdom. In the book of Ezekiel, God spoke to Israel and said:

Ezekiel 36:24-28 (NKJ)
24 " . . . I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
28 "Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 34:25-27 (NKJ)
25 "I will make a covenant of peace with (you), and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and (you) will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 "I will make (you) and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27 "Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. (You) shall be safe in (your) land; and (you) shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of (your) yoke and delivered (you) from the hand of those who enslaved (you).

This was the promise to which Peter referred in Acts, Chapter 2, when he said, “This promise is to you and your children and to as many as the Lord our God will call.” This covenant of peace had to come before the promised kingdom could come. When the Lord ate the Passover just before He was crucified, He drank the wine and said:

Matthew 26:28-29 (NKJ)
28 " . . . this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

The blood of the New Covenant had to be offered as an atonement for sin, before the promised kingdom could come. The Holy Spirit had to come to live within the hearts of the believers before the kingdom could come. But as Paul revealed the great truths regarding the Church which is the Body of Christ in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, he continued to emphasize the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, but he never said a word about the New Covenant because the New Covenant with its kingdom hope had been set aside.

Today, Jesus Christ officially serves not as the King of the Church but as the Head of the Church which is His Body.

Ephesians 1:22-23 (NKJ)
22 (For God has) put all things under His feet, and (has given) Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Colossians 1:18-19 (NKJ)
18 And (Jesus Christ) is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

Ephesians 5 describes what it took for Jesus Christ to qualify as the Head of the Church. Verse 25 says:

Ephesians 5:25-27 (KJV)
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Serving as the Head of the Church means having the capacity to love the Church with an undying, unconditional love. The Head of the Church had to be able to provide for the safety, protection and purity of the Church. Christ alone is worthy of such a position. He gave His own life that He might sanctify and cleanse the Church and present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

It seems that many today have never thought about the unique position to which Christ has been appointed in the church of our present age. We should be very careful to note accurately this position which Christ holds. Paul said that there are consequences for those who fail to recognize Christ as the Head of the Church. He says in Colossians 2:

Colossians 2:18-19 (NKJ)
18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

Those who follow after men and the traditions of men will find themselves in a sea of spiritual darkness, intruding into those things which are neither profitable nor edifying. If we fail to recognize Christ, Himself, as the true source of our strength and power, we will inevitably turn to a superstitious faith in the trinkets and rituals and doctrines of man’s own making. Those who turn to such idols will stumble and fall,

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

As we approach the Christmas holidays, let us realize that the baby who was born in Bethlehem, not only came to be the King of Israel and the Savior of the world, but let us rejoice in the fact that He came to be the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body.

Thank you for listening this morning. I trust that you will enjoy the blessings of Christ throughout the Christmas holidays. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 4 Part 11 (12-11-05)

Ephesians 4 Part 11
Bible Study Time 12-11-05

Last week in our study of Ephesians 4, we saw that we need to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God in order to grow in the unity of the faith and into the full measure of the stature of Christ. This is God’s ultimate goal for the Church which is the Body of Christ. We must look to the word of God for our knowledge of Jesus Christ, for all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable in that it fully equips us for every good work.

The Bible is our only completely reliable source of information concerning Jesus Christ in that it was the only book which was written by the Holy Spirit of God. Fortunately for us, the one who interprets the Bible for us is the Holy Spirit of God who lives within us. Without the working of the Holy Spirit, the Bible can not be understood. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God, but we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Ephesians 4 gives us two reasons why it’s important for us to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God. First, we need this knowledge to avoid being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ there will be fewer and fewer doctrines which threaten our faith. The preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes spoke in very human terms and said:

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NKJ)
9 That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

If someone tells you that their religion is a brand new religion, you’d better take that with a grain of salt because there’s really nothing new under the sun. Their religion may have a new name, and it may have been tweeked a little here and there, but the chances are pretty good that it’s just a variation of one of the age old religions.

When we are young in faith and young in knowledge, we are more vulnerable to the deceptive ploys of the devil. Some of those who come to us with false doctrine may be very sincere even though their doctrine is deceitful. However, we can rest assured that false doctrine will always be exposed by the word of God. If we faithfully and prayerfully study the word, the Holy Spirit will lead us into that which is correct.

In Ephesians 4, Paul particularly warns us about those who come by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. It would be a grave mistake to think that all religious people have pure motives. The Apostle Paul knew from personal experience the cunning craftiness and deceitful plotting of religious people. He may well have been one of those who offered payment for the false testimony which was given at Stephen’s trial, and the Bible plainly declares that Paul stood there and watched as Stephen was stoned.

Paul told Timothy that some who teach false doctrine have been robbed of the truth and think that godliness is a means to financial gain. Well, whether their motive is financial or political, we must be on guard for such hypocrisy. Paul made sure that nobody could accused him of serving the Lord for financial gain. He worked as a tentmaker providing for his own financial support even though he had every right to claim support from his followers. In I Corinthians 9, he said:

1 Corinthians 9:11,12,18 (NIV)
11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.

When Paul warned the Ephesians about being tossed about by every wind of doctrine, he was not giving them or us an excuse for closing our minds to any doctrine that we’ve never heard before. Nothing could be further from the truth. The essence of growth is an open mind. How can we grow, if we never learn anything new?

Paul praised the Bereans because they were willing to search the scriptures to see if his doctrine was true. To be sure no one had ever heard Paul’s doctrine before because this was something that was new. Paul clearly stated in his book to the Galatians that he did not get his doctrine from men, but it came to him as a direct revelation from God.

Paul, himself, at one time stubbornly held to the doctrines of the Pharisees, but after he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, he realized that his motivation was selfish and worldly. As he grew in his knowledge of the Jesus Christ, he said that he counted the selfish glory of his former religion but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ. God went to great lengths to reveal Himself to this man who was very close minded. Ultimately, Paul opened his mind and his heart to Jesus Christ.

As Paul defended himself before Festus and King Agrippa, he told of his conversion and of the fact that Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead and had actually spoken to him from heaven. Festus closed his mind and his heart and said, “Paul, much learning has made you mad.” King Agrippa on the other hand, opened his mind but not his heart and said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

The first step to having an open heart is having an open mind. But if we have an open mind, how can we avoid being tossed about by every wind of doctrine? That is a dilemma which every believer must face. If we really study the scriptures, our beliefs will be challenged because some of our beliefs are wrong, and God wants to change our minds on those things. Would any of us claim to be infallible in our doctrine? If we do, there’s something wrong.

In general terms, the solution to this problem is to keep an open mind, keep studying the word, and keep praying for discernment. Some items we just have to put on the back burner for a while. God will give us a perfect understanding of all things in His own time.

It’s also important to remember that knowledge is not the end of the growth process, but it is the beginning. II Peter, Chapter 1, says:

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NKJ)
5 . . . giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

This indicates that true knowledge will lead us to a more perfect love. In I Corinthians 13, Paul agreed and said, though I have all knowledge and have not love, I am nothing.

The knowledge which is offered by the Holy Spirit will lead us to love, but there is a type of human knowledge which leads not to love but to arrogance and pride. Paul spoke of this kind of knowledge when he said:

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NIV)
1 . . . Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

Again, love is seen a superior to knowledge. Paul probably had the people at the tower of Babel in mind when he wrote Romans 1 and said:

Romans 1:22-25,28 (KJV)
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 (Ultimately, they) changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, . . .
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

The knowledge which comes from the Holy Spirit leads us to know and love Jesus Christ, but the people at the tower of Babel had closed their minds to God because they did not want to retain God in their knowledge. Those who refuse to believe in God have to close their minds to the truth, but those who love God have no reason to fear the truth because truth always leads to Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Unbelievers who profess themselves to be wise have a knowledge which is not based on truth. Those who believe in evolution, for example, profess themselves to be wise, but their doctrine ignores the evidence. Knowledge which ignores the evidence is false knowledge. Paul warned Timothy about those who possess false knowledge when he told him to avoid profane and idle babbling and all that is falsely called knowledge. Paul went on to say that those who are obsessed with disputes and arguments are destitute of the truth.

Human knowledge puffs up and leads man to think that he no longer needs God. But the knowledge which comes from the Holy Spirit leaves us kneeling before our Creator with a humble desire to learn more. As we open our hearts and minds to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, we grow in our knowledge of the Son of God and this knowledge keeps us from being tossed about by every wind of doctrine.

In Ephesians 4, Paul give us another reason to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God, and that is that we might be able to speak the truth in love. To grow up into Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church which is His Body, we need to learn about Him, and we need to speak about Him. And, of coarse, God would have it no other way but that we should speak the truth in love. In II Corinthians 2, Paul said that we are to diffuse the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place.

When my wife, Joan, and I go into a department store, you can bet that Joan will eventually find her way to the perfume counter. She loves to check out any new fragrance and the older ones too. There’s just something special about a beautiful fragrance. It’s not something you can easily forget.

When the people around us sense the fragrance of Jesus Christ, they will be drawn to Him. I saw a Louis Palau television special the other day in which the actor Stephen Baldwin gave his testimony. When he and his family moved to Los Angeles, they hired a housekeeper who spoke often of her faith in Jesus Christ. Stephen and his wife could not help but notice the joy and the peace that this lady brought into their home. Today the Baldwins serve Jesus Christ and are very active in several youth ministries in the southern California all because this housekeeper brought the fragrance of Jesus Christ with her to work. When people see the Lord Jesus for what He really is, they will seek Him, and they will find Him.

If you are listening this morning, and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you can accept Him today. By simply believing God’s word, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day, you can become a child of God and receive everlasting life, and God will begin to reveal the fragrance of Jesus Christ in your life.

If you’re listening this morning, and you already know Jesus Christ, let us dedicate ourselves to Christ so that everyone around us will sense the beautiful fragrance of Jesus Christ. May the lost see Him through us and come to Him for healing, for cleansing and for everlasting life.

I see our time is gone this morning. Thank you for listening. I’ll look forward to being you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 4 Part 10 (12-4-05)

Ephesians 4 Part 10
Bible Study Time 12-4-05

When Jesus Christ ascended on high after His resurrection, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men which for us today includes evangelists and pastor-teachers. The purpose of evangelists and pastor-teachers is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. God created us in Christ Jesus unto good works, and He has given us all that we need to do every good work. All scripture is God-breathed and is a package deal which in and of itself thoroughly furnishes the believer for every good work.

When I go into my house, I find it helpful to have a table at mealtime. I enjoy having a chair to sit in when its time to read a book. I enjoy having a bed to sleep in when its time to sleep. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be if I had no furnishings in my house. I can just imagine myself standing around wondering what to do.

Well, God did not create us in Christ Jesus to be a bunch of stand around Christians so He made it possible for us to be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Everything we need is furnished for us in the word of God.

God has called us to reach out to the lost and tell them that Jesus Christ died for their sins. But then when the lost get saved, they are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Church which is the Body of Christ. That means that at any given time there are many different kinds of people in the body of Christ, and each one of us is at a different level of maturity in our relationship with Christ. Therefore, it is also God’s will for us to minister to one another under the leadership of our pastor-teachers until we:

Ephesians 4:13 (NKJ)
13 . . . come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

God has a plan for us that encompasses a whole lot more than just going to church on Sunday and placing an offering in the offering plate. One of the critical factors in our capacity to grow into the measure of the stature of Christ is our knowledge of the Son of God.

The other day a young man in our church services said something very profound. He said, “What’s really important is what God thinks!” I’ve thought about that quite a bit since then, and I thought about the fact that it’s easy to get all wrapped up in what people think because we have so much exposure to man’s thoughts.

We have libraries full of books. We have coffee tables full of newspapers and magazines. We have talk shows on television and radio. The opinions vary on any given subject from one end of the spectrum to the other. But what really matters is what God thinks. That’s why we need to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God until we come into the unity of the faith.

The Son of God, of coarse, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Shortly after the Lord Jesus fed 4000 hungry people with seven loaves of bread and just a few small fish, He traveled with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say I am?” They said, some say you’re John the Baptist, others say you’re Elijah, while others say you’re Jeremiah. When Jesus asked, who do you say I am?, Peter boldly declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

When the Ethiopian made his confession to Philip the Evangelist, he simply said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

The Apostle John spoke of Jesus as the Word and said:

John 1:14 (NKJ)
14 . . . the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

But John also said:

John 1:1,3,4 (NKJ)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The work of the ministry relates directly to the knowledge of the Son of God. We have so much to learn, and we need to dedicate ourselves to learning and teaching doctrine which leads to an increase in our knowledge of the Son of God. Even the Apostle Paul, after revealing the great truths concerning the supremacy of Christ, said he would gladly give up all of the glory of this world for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is the word of God, and it is our only reliable source when it comes to growing in the knowledge of the Son of God. To gain this knowledge we must study the scriptures, rightly divided, to show ourselves approved unto God as workers who need not to be ashamed.

The Apostle Peter confirmed that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. In II Peter 1, Peter said:

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NKJ)
20 . . . no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, and we just happen to have the Holy Spirit living within us. That means that the Holy Spirit can apply each word with precision to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives.

There are those who think that they should get an earth shattering revelation every time they read the Bible, and that can be a problem. Although there are times when God simply leaves us astonished, there are other times when we just get some information. The Bible calls this information doctrine, and it says that this information is profitable in the sense that in the long run, it makes us complete and thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

Much of this doctrine comes to us in the form of history. Who did what and when. Some people tell me that they don’t like history. They say it’s too boring, and that amazes me because I love history. But really history is fascinating because it is so apparent that God has been directing every aspect of history all along the way.

But the historical information that’s given in the Bible is the most fascinating historical information of all because these events were actually planned by God as pictures of future events. They were prophetic pictures or types of things to come.

When Abraham placed his son, Isaac, upon the alter, that was a picture of God sending His Son to die for our sins. The plagues in Egypt were a picture of the plagues of the tribulation period which will come to pass just before Jesus Christ returns to set up His earthly kingdom. The children of Israel were protected during the plagues of Egypt just like the believing Jews will be protected during the tribulation period.

God parted the waters of the Red Sea so that the children of Israel could pass through the its red waters on their way to the promised land. This pictured the fact that the believing Jews who enter Christ’s kingdom will be those Jews who have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. The kingdom is for those Jews who have been baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Do you think it was just a coincidence that the sea they crossed was the Red Sea? God worked out the details of this event even before He created Adam and Eve. The sea had to be the Red Sea because it represented the blood of Jesus Christ.

Doctrine is information which we need to be complete. God did not just give us pastors to encourage us during difficult times, but He gave us pastor-teachers to teach us this information which is so important for us if we are to grow in our knowledge of the Son of God. But, obviously, our pastor-teachers can not do all of the studying. Each of us must study to show ourselves approved unto God.

When we see how much information is available to us through the electronic media, and then when we compare that with how little the Bible is read even by believers, it’s no wonder we often feel incomplete. The Bible was given that the man of God might be complete. If the word of God is not the dominate influence in our hearts then we may well feel a void in our lives. We will feel incapacitated when it comes to self discipline and self control. When we feel incomplete or inadequate, we should turn to the word of God. There are many programs available which will take us through the entire Bible every year.

You might say that you don’t have time to read the Bible for 30 minutes a day, but the real question is this, can you afford not to read the Bible for 30 minutes every day? The Bible itself declares that the information we get will make us complete. Do we really want to face the challenges we face when we’re not functioning at full capacity? God wants us to be all we can be, and He gave us His word so that we can be just that.

Doctrine is information while reproof is that which corrections false doctrine or misinformation. Instruction in righteousness is that which teaches us how to behave, while correction changes us when we misbehave. All of this comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit when we read the word of God.

God’s word gives direction according to Psalm 119:105:
Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

God’s word gives cleansing:
Psalm 119:9 (KJV)
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

God’s word gives hope:
Psalm 119:114 (KJV)
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

God’s word gives us life:
Psalm 119:50 (KJV)
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.

When the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He turned to the greatest spiritual force in the world to resist the devil. He turned to the word of God. When the devil said, turn these stones into bread,
Matthew 4:4 (KJV)
4 . . . (Jesus) answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

When the devil said, cast yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 4:7 (KJV)
7 Jesus said . . . It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

The devil said, all these kingdoms I will give you if you bow down and worship me, but again Jesus said:
Matthew 4:10 (KJV)
10 . . . it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

God’s word is settled in heaven, and the entirety of it is truth.

Our pastor-teachers have been given special gifts in regard to the teaching of the word. And they have special gifts which enable them to minister to the special needs of the individual members of the body of Christ. When we’re hurting, they comfort us through the word. When we’re discouraged, they build us up through the word. When we have important decisions to make, they help us to discern the will of God for our lives as they teach the various doctrines of the Bible.

The first deacons were appointed in Acts, Chapter 6, because there were so many tables to serve at mealtime. The believers all ate their meals together at that time and their numbers had grown to such an extent that it was difficult to serve everyone efficiently. The twelve apostles brought the people together and said:

Acts 6:1-4 (NKJ)
2 . . . "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

The Apostles knew that to be an apostle was to be a minister of the word, and they also knew that the work of the ministry is a work that belongs to all believers. What a wonderful opportunity we all have to take part in the work of the ministry.

There is no work that is more satisfying than the work of the ministry. Seeing people grow in the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God is such a blessing. Why is it such a blessing? Because God has made it that way. He engineered us and life in such a way that we are most happy when we are busy in the work of the ministry. Teaching the word of God so that we can all grow into that perfect man, into the full measure of the stature of Christ.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/