His Love Ministries
Episodes
Thursday May 08, 2014
EPHESIANS 4:2B-6 ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE
Thursday May 08, 2014
Thursday May 08, 2014
Eph 4:2b with longsuffering,
bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Our heart has many pacemaker cells that keep the heart
beating in rhythm. When it gets out of
sync, it can cause many problems, even making the heart burst apart. It can cause the same thing in the body of
Christ when we are not unified, we have many problems and even break apart
instead of being one as Jesus said we were to be in John 17:21 "that they
all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be
one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Verses 2 and 3 depict attitudes, not techniques or methods.
In world, and even in evangelical circles, people are more interested in
techniques than in attitudes. They buy books written by people who appear
successful, and who tell them how to be successful, too. The Bible has little
to say about techniques and methods. It has much to say about obedience and
about the attitudes which are conducive to godly conduct.
Believers’ attitudes are important. These attitudes which
Paul calls for in verses 2 and 3 are necessary because they are the attitudes
of our Lord Himself (see Philippians 2:5-8). If we are to reflect Jesus Christ
to the world in which we live, then we must manifest His attitudes.
Furthermore, these attitudes are those which promote Christian harmony and
unity.
Humility is listed first because of Paul’s emphasis on unity
(pride promotes disunity; humility
promotes unity) and to counteract their past pride, so as to facilitate
obedience to and dependence on God. Christ was the supreme example of humility
(Phil. 2:6–8).
Seven elements of unity follow that
unite believers in the church. Believers should remember them when tempted
to break unity. Again all three members of the Trinity are in view and play a
part in this process.
Thursday May 01, 2014
EPHESIANS 4:1-2A WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING WITH WHICH YOU WERE CALLED
Thursday May 01, 2014
Thursday May 01, 2014
Eph 4:1 I, therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you
were called, 2 with all lowliness and
gentleness,
In this section we see Paul telling
us to walk worthy of all that God has given us and called us to in Chapters
1-3. Paul says based on all God has done
for you, now you live this way. Chapters
1-3 tell us what God has done for us, and Chapters 4-6 tell us our responsibilities
based on His grace and mercy.
The power to serve God is not found in us, in our own
striving or strength. It is the power which God Himself provides in Christ and
by means of His Spirit. Chapters 1-3 speak much of God’s power, which is at
work in us, enabling us to serve Him in a way that brings Him glory (see
Ephesians 1:19-21; 3:16-21).
The
doctrine of chapters 1-3 provides the motivation for our conduct.
Chapters 1-3 are all about the grace of God and this grace produces gratitude.
In
the Old Testament God said if you obey me I will bless you and now in the NT He
says I have blessed you already so now you need to obey me
Gratitude for God’s grace is one of the motivations for
our service. Another is the hope and assurance we have of the
fulfillment of God’s future promises. Another strong motivation is the knowledge of our
eternal security (Ephesians 1:13), and that God has
not only provided the grace to be saved, but also to serve Him, to His
glory.In this lesson we will begin to consider the “new” way of walking
which we are to learn and to practice as believers in Jesus Christ. May God
grant that we would understand Paul’s instructions and that our walk would be
consistent with our high calling in Christ.