His Love Ministries

James 1:13-14 Tests and Temptation Part 2

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by
God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt
anyone.  14 But each one is
tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
 In this section of scripture we are taking another deeper look at
Temptation.  A temptation is a test that
is reacted to in a wrong manner.  God
Tests us, the devil tempts us.  God wants
us to become better people, the devil wants us to become bitter people.  We are taking a several message long look at
who is tempted, why we are tempted and how to handle it.  I hope you will listen to all of these
because the Bible says we are all tempted, just as all are tested.  The question is how will you react and do you
know how to overcome the struggle we all have in this area?  If you don’t, please stay with us for this
whole series because God wants us all to know how to deal with this area or we
will never become the Christians that God wants us to become.

TESTS CAN BECOME TEMPTATIONS

In this
section of scripture we will see that God wants the poor man to be satisfied in
Him and the rich man to realize that only in God is there real riches.  He will also tell us in verse 12 Blessed is
the man who endures temptation; because Trials can quickly turn into Temptation
if we don’t trust in God.  This message
begins a series of several messages on Temptation, what is it, how does it
happen, who is responsible when we are tempted, and most important of all, how
to resist temptation.

Ephesians 5.22-6:9 Displaying God's Wisdom In Our Families

 Eph 5:22 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 her, 26 that He might sanctify and
cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her
to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but
that she 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. 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. 33 Nevertheless
let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the
wife see that she respects her husband. (NKJV)
 1. How we conduct
ourselves in our marriage and family relationships can greatly affect our
efforts to make known "the manifold wisdom of God"...
   a. Marriages and families that are
"dysfunctional" serve only to give a false impression to the claims
we make about the gospel and its power to transform lives
   b. Whereas marriages and families based upon
the teachings of God's Word can speak volumes as to the value of principles
inherent in the gospel; such principles as:
      1) Submitting to God and others in
authority
      2) Exercising authority with sacrificial
love
      3) Obeying those placed over us by God
      4) Developing others through training and
admonition, not intimidation
      5) Rendering service that is sincere, not
hypocritical
      6) Exercising authority with justice and
fairness

EPHESIANS 5:15-21 UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS

1.     
Walk Wisely v 15-17
James 1:5, James 4:17, Rom 12:1-2
The Will of God is that we be saved, sanctified,
suffering at times, Spirit filled, and Thankful
1.      Walk in Wisdom v15-16
Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as
fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
·        
Walking in Wisdom means being careful how you behave
Eph 5:16 Walking in Wisdom means
Redeeming the time
Eph 5:17 Walking in Wisdom means knowing God’s will,
because not too is foolishness
2.     
Be Filled with the Spirit v18
Eph 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is
dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4, Acts 13:45, Luke 4:28
To be filled or controlled by the Spirit is to let God's
Word control you, dying to self, pursuing purity, confessing all known sin,
surrendering to God's will, and depending on His Power for all things.  It is to live dominated by the mind of
Christ, so that everything that you think or do flows through what the Word
teaches and is in harmony with it.
Col. 3:15-17
 The Results of the Filling of the Spirit
v19-21
Eph 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
1.     
Joy…a sense of adequacy and confidence in the Lord no matter
what
Phil 4:11, Acts 2:13-15, Acts 16:25
ThanksgivingJames 1:17, 1Thess 5:18
V21 submitting to one another in the
fear of God.
3.     
Submission
Phil 2:3-5, Gal 5:22-26
D.L Moody said, "I believe firmly that the moment
our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything
that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our
hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world,
there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be
filled."

EPHESIANS 5:7-14 WALK IN LIGHT

Ephesians 5:7
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 9 (for the fruit of the
Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is
acceptable to the Lord. 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. 14 Therefore
He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give
you light."
V 7 Be not ye, therefore, (what?)
partakers with them." The word partaker means partners. Don't join the
world in its evil. The past is past.
We avoid
immorality because it is not love, and because it satisfies our physical
desires at the expense of others.
v8 Walk as Children of Light
·      
Walking
as Children of Light Means you now are on the true path to God
V9      
Walking as Children of Light Means showing love by action ….Goodness
·      
Walking
as Children of Light Means being right before God and Man…..Righteousness
·      
Walking
as Children of Light Means being Truthful….living in truth
V10 
Walking as Children of Light Means Learning God's will as you walk in
his ways …Rom 12:1-2
V11
 Walking as Children of Light Means being
pure or avoiding evil (or the appearance of)
V11-13
 Walking as Children of Light Means
exposing evil
V12  Walking as Children of Light Means not even
speaking of their shameful deeds
V13
Walking as Children of Light Means making things clear (their sin) to others by
being transparent
V14
Walking as Children of Light Means guiding others (sharing the Gospel)

EPHESIANS 5:2-6 IMITATE GOD BY WALKING IN LOVE

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or
covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not
fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 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.
 
1.         Walk in Love
Because You are Beloved (highly valued by) of God v1
Sonship is the motive and the means of
imitating God
Look at verse 1 now, it's a command, be imitators of God,
it's not a suggestion, it's a command.
This verse
explains how we are to imitate God, namely, by loving. The measure and model of
our love should be Christ's love for us.
Godlikeness is
godliness; godliness is godlikeness.
First of all the depth of your love is indicated by how much you
forgive. Now think about it. Do you hold a grudge against
somebody in your house? It isn't their problem that's your problem. Your
inability to forgive belies your love, and I say to you if this is
characteristic of your life you're not a Christian, because if you don't have
love you're not God's child. Think about it.
Secondly the depth of your love is
indicated by how much you know you've been forgiven.
2.     Walk in Love
Because You were Bought at a great price v2
3.     Walk in Love
Because You are a saint (holy, set-apart by God) v3
Christian Love Hates Immorality
Where God establishes true love, the world comes along and
establishes the phony, the counterfeit.
·       Walking in Love
Means avoiding immorality …or sexual
immorality (lust of the flesh (sexual) and the lust of the eyes (covetousness))
"'Immorality'
(RSV) and sexual perversion of almost every kind might be included under the
[Greek] word porneia, translated fornication in NKJV; it involves all that
works against the life-long union of one man and one woman within the sanctity
of the marriage bond.
Love is both positive and negative:
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good”
(Romans 12:9). Christian love is demonstrated by acts of sacrifice, to God and
to men. Christian love never expresses itself in immorality.
·       Walking in Love
Means avoiding impurity (sins of the tongue) or sensual talk v4
Paul
proceeded from immorality to vulgarity
Clean up your life, clean up your talk.
·       Walking in Love
Means giving Thanks v4
God's love is unselfish
and faithful and the world's love is faithless and selfish.
4.     Walk in Love
Because You are a King and are part of the Kingdom v5
From the time you were converted there's going to be a change. Because
salvation is based on repentance. If you ever learned anything when you were
saved you learned that. Titus 2:11 listen to this, "For the grace of God
that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Now when you got salvation
it says this, "Teaching us," did you know your salvation teaches you
something? It teaches you "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present age."
v6 there are some
people who want to deceive, there are people who want to deceive by selling a
counterfeit kind of love, and the world's counterfeit love involves fornication
and adultery and covetousness and uncleanness and all of that stuff. But we are
not to buy the counterfeit, if we're true Christians our lives will be not
characterized by the counterfeit but real love.
This is the punishment now. They're not going to enter the Kingdom." don't you
let anybody tell you, you can do this and be a Christian, don't you let anybody
tell you, you can live like this and God will forgive you, don't you let
anybody tell you you're going to be all right, you're going to get in the
Kingdom, it'll be okay you made a decision, you did your religious thing, it's
all right to live like this. Don't let anybody deceive you with those empty
words, they're empty, they're meaningless, they're useless. "For because
of these very things," what things? Fornication, uncleanness,
covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk and coarse jesting, "the wrath of
God comes on the sons of disobedience." Do you see? These are the very
things for which God damns people to hell. Don't let anybody deceive you. These are not characteristics of children
of God, they are characteristics of children of disobedience. Do you see the
contrast? Verse 6 ends with the children of disobedience, verse 1 began with
the dear children of God. There's a difference.
Lessons:
We avoid immorality because it is not love, and
because it satisfies our physical desires at the expense of others.Let us leave this text with a clearer grasp of what
Christian love is all about. It is not about self-gratification, but about
self-sacrifice and the glory of God

HIS LOVE MINISTRIES ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2014 ANNUAL BANQUET

1.        
Billy
Miller - Pastor of Isle of Hope Baptist Church Speaking about His Love
Ministries over at John Wesley Assisted Living Facility and the part the
ministry played in his life
 2.   
Shelly
McKenzie - Reading a letter from a Resident at Habersham House Assisted Living
 3.        
Martha
Jenkins - Speaking about her role as a Bible Teacher to the girls at the Youth
Detention Center
 4.        
Erik
Lacanilao - Speaking about his role as a fill in Bible teacher in for the
Prison, the ministry he does at Coastal Men’s Transitional Center with the Substance
abuse Program, and as a Bible Teacher to the boys at the Youth Detention Center
5.        
Ronnie
Nichols - Speaking about his role as Bible teacher in for Coastal Harbor
Treatment Center Adult and Youth Facilities
 6.   
Marty
McKenzie - Speaking about his role as head of His Love Ministries
 7.   
James
Rody and the Hope Band - Playing 2 Songs – Worship His Holy Name and I’ll Fly
Away

EPHESIANS 4:30-5:1 GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT AND IMITATE GOD

Eph 4:31 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. Eph 5:1 Therefore be imitators of
God as dear children.
 Why be concerned about putting off the "old man"
and putting on the "new man"?
When Christians act like the "old man", it grieves
the Holy Spirit
By the Holy Spirit we were sealed for the day of redemption
- cf. Ep 1:13-14
Did you know that the Holy Spirit can get sad? That's what
grieve means.
We are to exchange natural vices for
supernatural graces
Eph 4:31 Negative Let all bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Therefore, we ought to put away those
things befitting the "old man" (bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,
evil speaking, malice)
It's all relational here.
He's not talking so much about your
relation to God in this whole passage, it's how you relate to people because
the body is the concept here in this book.
Eph 4:32 Positive And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, Reason just as God in Christ
forgave you.
You say - Oh man, but you don't know
what they did to me, I have a right to be angry. They've never changed and I'm
bitter. And when I see that guy I'm going to clamor (yell). And meanwhile I'm
going to evil speak (speak evil about them). And I've got a right. Look what he
did to me.
And that's just why verse 32 ends the
way it does. "Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Look at Ephesians 5:1 now, it's a
command, be imitators of God, it's not a suggestion, it's a command. And sure
you have to start from the point of sinfulness and sure you have to start from
the fact that you can't do it, but that doesn't change the command. You've got
to be what you can't be. That's where the Spirit of God comes in.
The whole of the Christian life could
be summed up in that one statement, be mimics of God, that's it. Reproduce in
you everything that is true of God. In other words the whole of the Christian
life is summed up in this, be imitators of God, be like God. If you're fumbling
around trying to get a handle on what God wants out of you it's that.
CONCLUSION
1. What a contrast there would be if
all those in the church truly carried out the admonition to "Walk In Truth
And Holiness"!
2. Brethren, are we "grieving the
Holy Spirit of God"?

EPHESIANS 4:25-29 PUT OFF THE OLD MAN AND PUT ON THE NEW MAN PART 2

Eph 4:25 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.
Number
one, you exchange
lying for speaking truth.
Eph 4:25 Negative Therefore, putting away
lying, Positive"Let each
one of you speak truth with his neighbor," Reason for we are members of one another.
      1. The "old man" thinks nothing
of lying
      2. The "new man" puts away
lying, and in its place speaks truth with his neighbor (especially to those who
are members of the same body)
The "old
man" gets angry and lets it linger, or get out of control
The "new
man" may get angry, but does not...Let it linger ("do not let the sun
go down on your wrath"
Reason Eph 4:27 nor give place to the devil.
Allow it to prompt
sinful behavior ("nor give place to the devil")
"Horace was right when he said, 'Anger is momentary
insanity.' . . .
"'Anyone can become angry,' wrote Aristotle.'But to
be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the
right purpose, and in the right way—this is not easy.'"
Second,
you exchange unrighteous anger for righteous anger.
Eph 4:26 " Positive Be angry, Negative and do not sin":
do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
3rd you are to exchange stealing for
sharing.
Eph 4:28 Negative Let him who stole steal
no longer, Positive but
rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, Reason that he may have something to give him who has need.
1.
The "old man" is willing
to steal
Instead of stealing, work so you can give to other
people. In other words, be a Robin Hood, only without the stealing part.
Instead of stealing to get, work to give. Great thought.
Three
features of the speech of the new man, verse 28.
You can tell a lot
about somebody's heart by what comes out of their mouth.
Psalm
141:3 says: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth and keep the door of
my lips? Listen, if Jesus Christ is the doorkeeper of your lips, then He'll be
the one to determine what comes out.
The
"new man" not only avoids "corrupt communication", but
seeks to speak that which is uplifting to those who hear
First, it should be edifying which is good
for edifying. Whenever you talk if the Lord is keeping watch over your lips and
you open your mouth, whatever comes out should build other people up, edifying
means building up. It should build them up.
Secondly, it ought to be necessary. It says in verse 29, the
little phrase - to the use. And literally it means as it fits the needs. Listen,
my mom used to say to me when I was a kid, I'd start to say something - Hey,
mom, do you know what so-and-so, And she'd say - Now is that necessary? If we
just said what was edifying and necessary people would flock to be near us.
Third, gracious, the end of verse 29: "That it may serve
grace to the hearers." It's coming out like water And giving them a
feast of grace. Is there sweetness in what you say that blesses and currys
favor. You know, every time you open your mouth it should be building, it should
be fitting and it should be gracious. That's the way we ought to talk. That's
what ought to come out of our mouths, not filthy communication. We have a new
heart and out of the abundance of a new heart should come a new speech.
I love what it says in Luke 4:22:
"And everybody bore Jesus' witness and wondered at the gracious words
which proceeded out of His mouth." Oh, I love that. When Jesus opened His
mouth graciousness came out. And when He spoke it was edifying, it was
necessary and it was gracious.

EPHESIANS 4:20-24 PUT OFF THE OLD MAN AND PUT ON THE NEW MAN

Ephesians
4:20 But 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 that you 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, 24 and that
you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness
and holiness.
1.  Eph 4:20 But you have not so learned Christ,- "If
indeed"means "surely or since"
first
contrast, the old, is self-centered, useless, the new, Christ centered,
purposeful. – Jer 29:11
Every
day to me is a fantastic adventure because I'm right in the middle of God's
unfolding plan for the ages.
v21 as the truth is in Jesus
Second thing, instead of being ignorant
of the truth like they are in verse 18 you know the truth,
Eph 4:22 that you put off, concerning your
former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts,
Third And because we know the truth and
because Christ thinks through us instead of being shameless, instead of having
no morality, instead of having no basis for life we are sensitive to sin, verse
22, we are called to "put off concerning the former manner of life the old
man, corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." Instead of not knowing what corruption is, we sense it in the
smallest doses, don't we? There's nothing as miserable as a sinful Christian,
wretched people to be around.
b.        
Putting off the old man is needed because it is
never content, but "grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts"
(like addictive drugs, you always need more)
Lust means any urge or
basic drive. We will get closer to the essential meaning of this word if we use
the term urge. These deceitful urges are constantly coming to us as we
react to various situations in which we find ourselves.
all these urges that arise out of the self life, the
old man, are utterly valueless. They do not do anything for us, they are
deceitful. They promise much, they deliver nothing.
Lusts
are deceitful because they promise real joy but fail to deliver it.
2.  V 23 And to "be renewed in the spirit of
your mind"
Fourth point. You learn
Christ and when you learn Christ He fills you with His truth and when you have
His truth you have a moral sensitivity, and so sin is a hated thing. And as
long as you have Christ's truth and you know what is right and you know what is
wrong then you're not going to have a reprobate mind but a renewed mind, verse
23, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." The only time in the New
Testament “(renewed) ananeo” is ever used, it means to create again, to make
new. When you become a Christian God gives you a new mind but you've got to
fill it with new stuff.
That's why Philippians 4:8 says, "If there be any virtue, if
there be any praise, think on these things that are pure and just, holy, good
report, honest." And so a renewed mind, not a reprobate mind. When you let
Christ think through you you'll have a standard of truth, that standard of
truth will give you a judgment on sin and it'll renew your mind to be the kind
of mind that pleases God. What kind of mind? Verse 24, it will be a mind
"created in righteousness and true holiness." Instead of being a
reprobate, vile, lascivious, greedy, unclean mind, it'll be a mind filled with
righteousness and a mind filled with holiness and when that's true in your mind
that's the way you'll live. "So be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and
put on the new man." The new mind, the new thinking process that results
in righteousness and holiness.
         a. Which is the key to true
"transformation" - cf. Ro 12:1-2
Paul’s words indicate that our
old nature and its deeds are not merely to be rejected, they are to be replaced
c.             V 24 and true holiness"
Now
there is a word we squirm at, holiness. We usually think of some pious Joe.
That is our picture of holiness. But let me use another word that is an
accurate translation of this word -- wholeness. That means health of being,
wholeness of personality, a whole man, as God intended man to be. Now, that
results from the life of the Lord Jesus within. But the process to it is
twofold: Put off, and put on. Our problem is that we are afraid to put off the
old man, for fear we will be left with an empty husk of life. It never seems to
dawn on us that the Holy Spirit is simply waiting for us to put these things
off in order that he might rush in and fill us with the wholeness that is God's
intention for man, the wholeness of Christ.
               Putting off the old man is like
squeezing the water out of a half-drowned man's lungs. You do not do that
because you want his lungs to be empty, you do it because you want the air to
get in so that he can live. What the Scripture reveals to us is that this old
egocentric life of ours, this old man, the self, has been suffocating us,
killing us. It has been cutting off the breath which we were designed to
breathe. The only air we were designed to breathe is God. Yet we find such
difficulty believing this and therefore we do not experience it.
The implications
of Paul’s teaching in our text and its implications in our practical daily
living.
1.  Our pagan
culture believes that the past is the key to the present. What we think and how we act, we are told, is the
result of our past. It is only by understanding our past that we can live as we
should in the present. In other words, the past controls the present.
The Bible
reverses this. Paul teaches us
that our thinking and conduct in the past was the outworking of our
unregenerate thinking. Paul insists that we refuse to allow our past to control
us in the present. Instead, Paul teaches us that what we now are, in Christ, is
what should override and overrule our past thinking and behavior. What we now
are in Christ should cause us to put away what we once thought and did as
unbelievers. Our past
should not be resurrected, analyzed and dwelled upon, it should be buried in an
unmarked grave. It is not what we were that matters, but what we are. Let us
ponder what we are, in Christ, and not what we were without Him.
2.  In our
culture, what you believe seems to have taken second place to how you feel. The
sensitive, intelligent, and probing thing to ask these days is, “How do you
feel about that?” Paul would rather have us focus on what we believe. What we
feel is often a far cry from what is true, and even from what we believe.
Faith, as I understand it, calls upon men to act on the truth God has revealed
in His Word, not on how we feel. Abraham
did not “feel” like leaving his homeland and relatives to go to an unnamed
place, but he obeyed God. Neither did he feel like offering up his son, Isaac,
but he was willing to obey. Our Lord did not feel like going to the cross of
Calvary, but He obeyed the will of His Father. Let us act on what we know to be
the truth as revealed in the Word of God, more than on how we happen to feel.
As a rule, faith acts on the facts of God’s Word and disregards our feelings.
3.  If the renewing of our minds is so vital to our Christian life, how is it
done? The Bible is
not a book of formulas, but I would like to focus your attention on one key
element: the Word of God. When a person wants to learn a foreign language, what
is the most effective way to do so? It is to enter into that culture and
language and become saturated with it. This is how our children learn to talk
and to think as we do. If we would
desire to have our minds renewed, then we must find God’s thoughts and immerse
ourselves in them. His thoughts have been incarnated in Christ, the Living
Word, and recorded in the Bible, His inspired written Word.
Most
Christians spend more time in front of their television sets, radios, phones, magazines,
and books than they do in their Bibles

EPHESIANS 4:17-19 WALK NO LONGER LIKE THE UNSAVED

Eph 4:17 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, 18 having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who,
being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all
uncleanness with greediness.
 I. THE ADMONITION
(17-24)
A.  NO
LONGER WALK LIKE THE REST OF THE GENTILES... (17-19)
The issue here is the mind, the whole issue here is how you think.
Look for example at verse 17, it ends with “the mind,” verse 18 begins,
“the understanding,” verse 18 also talks about ignorance. Then as you come down
to verse 20 you have the word “learned,” and in verse 21 you have the word
“taught,” and in verse 23 the word “mind” again. In other words this whole
thing of learning and teaching and mind and knowing as opposed to ignorance,
the mind is the issue, the, the point being this, now here's the key,
Christians think different than pagans, " Pr 23:7 For as he thinks in his
heart, so is he. ". We've got to think different, and when we think
different we will act different. Salvation first of all is a change of mind, it
is a new thinking process. Unsaved people can't think right.
Salvation is a change of mind. A new thinking process. He says it in
verse 20, "You have not so learned Christ." And we have told
you enough about that so you understand that Christianity is mental, before
it's experiential. It is a thinking that draws us to God. We think different
about our sin than we used to think, we think different about God than we used
to think, we think different about Christ than we used to think, we think different
about what we ought to do with our life than we used to think and a new
thinking process brings us to salvation, and salvation is a change of mind. That's really what the word repentance
means, to change your mind, new thinking process. So, the pagan thinks one way
and we think another way. Now how does a pagan think? Well he's got some
problems.
 He
shows us four elements of pagan thinking.
1.    They walk
"in the futility of their mind"
First is self-centeredness, and you could
also call it useless thinking, but let's call it self-centered.
2.                  
Which leads to "ignorance that is in them"
Ignorance here surely does not refer to
one’s intelligence. Neither does ignorance seem to refer to what one does not
know. Ignorance, as Paul uses the term, refers to the “knowledge” which
unbelievers possess, in which they place their trust, and from which they base
their actions.
Because of such ignorance they are
"alienated from the life of God
       
C. It starts with the "hardening of their heart"
Their being insensitive to God and His ways
               And the better word is hardness of heart.
Because man willfully is alienated
from God, willfully ignorant and willfully hardens his heart he gets his
understanding darkened judicially by a sovereign God.
3.       
They
are shameless. One thing about pagans, when they continue in sin and they
turn themselves off from the life of God they will become shameless, verse l9,
"Who being past feeling." They just don't feel anymore, apathetic,
insensitive, they don't care. There are no standards, they don't care what the
consequences are. They don't mind shocking people. Their whole processes of
thought are just destroyed.
4.       
Which
finally results in what we could call borrowing a term from Romans 1 a
reprobate mind.
        Shameless thinking people,
leads to shameless action. First of all, center on yourself, that's where it
starts, pagan, centers on himself, all his own things, his own attitude.
Centering on himself in his useless, purposeless, pointless existence he turns
God off and then he begins the hardening process that hardens him against God
and pretty soon he has no sense of shame, he'll say anything, do anything he
can get away with, the only ethic becomes, can you get away with it?.  
     
"work all uncleanness with greediness"
        
-- Desensitized, they seek after ever-increasing forms moral depravity -
cf. Ro 1:18-32
The word work is very interesting, it is a
word that means business, it, it, it can mean actually business, they make a
business out of uncleanness
 Lessons: 1. We are to
be different, unique and set apart.
2. We don’t need a list, we know what is wrong  - Ro 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if
he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is
sin. If in doubt, cut it out

EPHESIANS 4:12-13 THE GIFTS FOR UNITY PART 3

Ephesians 4:12 for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,13 till
we all 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;
 V12 Equipping is to bring from sin to
obedience…to mend or restore something.
As believers we are to restore those
who have fallen or lost their way back to what they were intended to be, a
useful member of the body of Christ.  A
body only works right if all parts are healthy
Every person, therefore, is essential and valuable as part
of the whole. By ourselves, we may sometimes feel insignif­icant, unneeded, and
of little value, like so much spare change. But as individual parts that make
up the whole, each of us is needed.
All people are unique individuals, but as Christians we are
also indispensable parts of the body of Christ, and of greater value than we
can ever know. –David MCcasland
THERE ARE NO
UNIMPORTANT MEMBERS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.
It
says in verse 13 when we do this it results in Christlikeness.  We ought not to be like the Hebrews who had
not matured and not followed these principles.
Heb
5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to
teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come
to need milk and not solid food.

EPHESIANS 4:11 THE GIFTS FOR UNITY PART 2

Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
v11 Apostles
·      
Lay
the foundation of the church
·      
Receive,
declare, and write scripture
·      
Give
confirmation of the Word by signs, wonders, and miracles
Prophets
·      
Served
in a Local Congregation
·      
Gave
direct revelation
·      
Explained
scripture
·      
Were
judged by other Prophets
1Co 14:29 Let two or three prophets
speak, and let the others judge.
These two gifts were replaced by the
Evangelists and Pastor Teacher
Evangelists…Share
the good News
Pastor/Teacher…Feed, Lead, and Protect
the Flock

EPHESIANS 4:7-10 THE GIFTS FOR UNITY Part 1

 Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us
grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says:
"When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to
men." 9 (Now this, "He ascended" --what does it mean but that He
also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is
also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
                In this section we face a most important question. How is
the church expected to demonstrate the power of God and thus influence society? Is it by some miraculous, wonder-working, dramatic display
of divine power? Is it something that captures the attention of the multitudes
by miracles? Or is it by the power of numbers -- getting people together to
vote the same way and thus exert pressure upon the legislatures to obtain the
right kind of legislation? Is that the power of the church? Is it by agitating
for change by joining picket lines? Is it by attending conventions devoted to
discussions of various things and the passing of resolutions? Well, you notice
the apostle does not waste one moment on these kinds of activity. He suggests very clearly that the power of
the church lies in each Christian discovering and intelligently exercising the
spiritual gift that was given to him when he became a member of the body of
Christ. That is largely a forsaken principle today, and that is why the church
is so weak. If we ever recover the strength God intended the church to exert in
human society, it will be by a return to that simple thing, the exercise of
each person's spiritual gift.

EPHESIANS 4:2B-6 ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE

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.

EPHESIANS 4:1-2A WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING WITH WHICH YOU WERE CALLED

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.

EPHESIANS 3:18-21 THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD

Eph 3:18 may be able to
comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and
height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
               We finish up this great prayer
that Paul prayed with him bowing on his knees to God the Father and praying
that we would have inner strength because of us allowing God to be at home in
our lives through the Holy Spirit.  Then
this would lead to knowing how great Christ’s love is for us.  Then that would lead us to be filled so full
of God that we would live for Him and Him only. 
Then he begins to close this section with a great praise to God because
He can do so much more than we ask or think and He does it because of His great
power that resides in us through the Holy Spirit and us meeting each of the
preceding conditions which are needed for this to happen.  He finishes by giving God all the glory
because of what Jesus Christ does in us, the church.

EPHESIANS 3:7-13 THAT NOW THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD MIGHT BE MADE KNOWN

Eph 3:7 of which I became a minister according to the gift
of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 8 To me,
who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to
make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of
the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10
to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the
church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the
eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we
have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I
ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
 In this section we see Paul had a task
which was given to him by God’s great power.  'Paulus' is Latin for 'little' or
'small', and tradition says he was a little man. 'I am little,' he may be saying, 'little by name,
little in stature, and morally and spiritually littler than the littlest of all
Christians.  He
also was to explain this mystery that Jews and Gentiles would be one in the
church, with a purpose that God’s manifold (of many kinds; numerous and varied)
wisdom would be known by the church and the angels in the heavenly places would
too.  That this was something planned
according to his eternal purposes and was accomplished by Jesus’ death on the
cross.  He also tells them that we have
boldness and access to God and we should come to Him with confidence because we
have faith in Him.  Lastly that they
would not lose heart at Paul’s trouble and the trials that he was going
through.

EPHESIANS 3:1-7 THE MYSTERY REVEALED

Eph
3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles-- 2
if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was
given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery
(as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 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, 7 of
which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me
by the effective working of His power.
A.  
A MYSTERY ONCE HIDDEN, NOW REVEALED
(1-7)
1. Interrupting himself, Paul makes
mention of His Status
How Did it Effect Paul v1,2,7V1 Paul was a Prisoner of Christ
2Ti 1:11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle,
and a teacher of the Gentiles.12 For this reason I also suffer these things;
nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
Ac
9:10-16
A.    V2
Paul was a Steward of the Mystery- He was entrusted with a great task
B.    V3-5
The Mystery is that Jews and Gentiles would be joined in the Church
How Did it Effect the GentilesA.    V6
A new relationship
1)    Fellow
Heirs of the Inheritance…sums up Eph 3:11-22
2)    of
the same body
3)    and
partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
Gen
12:3 I will bless those who
bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed."
Galatians
3:28-29 There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to
the promise.
A.    V7
New Power
Paul's role as a minister to the Gentiles of this
"mystery" was a gift from God (7)
         a. A gift of
God's grace
         b. A gift
given to him by the effective working of God's power
 To Live the Christian Life –
Overcome Sin, suffering and temptation to be able to walk in righteousness

Ephesians 2:16-22 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians
2:15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two,
thus making peace,  16 and that He might
reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to
death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off
and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one
Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of
God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building,
being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you
also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
 
1. Gentiles now share
access to the Father with the Jews (17-18)
Not only is Jesus Christ our
peace (v. 14), but He also preached peace. He preached the message of peace,
the gospel, through His apostles following His ascension (cf. Acts 1:1-2, 8) to
both Gentiles and Jews (vv. 12-13).
       As
a result of the Cross, both Jewish and Gentile believers have access to God.
Formerly access to God was through Judaism, but now it is through Christ by the
Holy Spirit. As a result of Christ's death, all believers now have direct
access to the Father (cf. 3:12; Rom. 5:2). The Holy Spirit gives Jewish and
Gentile Christians equal access to God. Note that all three members of the
Godhead appear again here.
In four ways in 2:14–18 Paul emphasized that the two (Jew and
Gentile) have been united: (1) “the two” are made “one” (v. 14), (2) “one new
man” is created “out of the two” (v. 15), (3) “in this one body … both”) are
reconciled (v. 16), and (4) “both” “have access … by one Spirit” (v. 18).
Nothing could be clearer than the fact that this new union replaces enmity.
   C. THE GENTILES' CONDITION "IN"
CHRIST (19-22)
      1. They are now "fellow citizens
with the saints" (19a)
      2. They are now "members of the
household of God" (19b)
      3. They are now part of "a holy
temple in the Lord" (20-22)
Eph 2:20 having been built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone,
It rests on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets. Evidently New Testament prophets are in view
since the word "prophets" follows "apostles" (cf. 3:5;
4:11). These men were the foundation of the church since it was through them
that God revealed and established the church. "In practical terms this
means that the church is built on the New Testament Scriptures.
When Paul wrote, the
cornerstone was the crucial part of the foundation of a building. It was the
stone with which the builder squared up every other stone, including the other
foundation stones.
"In the East it was
considered to be even more important than the foundation."
  Eph 2:21 in whom the whole building,
being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
Paul pictured the church as
under construction with God adding new believers constantly (cf. 4:15-16; Matt.
16:18; 1 Pet. 2:5). The individual stones represent believers, both Jewish and Gentile.
Today God does not inhabit a physical temple somewhere on earth, as He did in
Old Testament times. He indwells His church, which is a spiritual temple spread
over all the earth. It began on the day of Pentecost, and it will continue
until the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18). As physical temples glorified the gods
they represented in ancient times, so the church glorifies the true God today.
Paul may very well have used the illustration of a temple because the temple of
Artemis in Ephesus was the city's most outstanding claim to fame. It was four
times as big as the Parthenon that still stands in Athens. One hundred
twenty-seven white columns rose 60 feet high and surrounded an image of the
goddess Artemis (Diana).104 Authorities still regard this temple as one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world (cf.Acts 19:23-41).
a.  Before, they were "without
God in the world"
b.  But now, God dwells in them
through His Spirit!
Here he revealed that all Christians are part of one great
temple, the church
universal. "Now His presence is dispersed, not localized.
Now His presence is incarnated, instead of confined behind a veil."
"I wonder if anything
is more urgent today, for the honor of Christ and for the spread of the gospel,
than that the church should be, and should be seen to be, what by God's purpose
and Christ's achievement it already is a single new humanity, a model of human
community, a family of reconciled brothers and sisters who love their Father
and love each other, the evident dwelling place of God by his Spirit. Only then
will the world believe in Christ as Peacemaker. Only then will God receive the
glory due to his name." John Stott
II. MAKING APPLICATION OF
THIS PASSAGE TO OUR LIVES
   A. UNDERSTAND WHAT ONE'S CONDITION
"OUTSIDE" CHRIST TRULY IS...
      1. A person is still an "alien"
and "stranger", with no participation in covenants and promises that
God has with His people today!
      2. A person has no basis for hope, and
must go through life without the blessing of God guiding them in this world!
   B. UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED
"THROUGH" CHRIST...
      1. He has brought to an end the Old Law; we should not seek to be justified by the
Law - cf. Ga 5:4
      2. He has sought to unite all into one
body; we should not try to undo the work of Christ on the cross through
religious division cf. Ep 4:1-6
   C. UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE BECOME
"IN" CHRIST...
      1. We have become "fellow citizens
with the saints" in the wonderful kingdom of God; let's live accordingly!
- cf. Ro 14:16-19
      2. We have become "members of God's
household (family)"; let's behave and treat each other as the family of
God! - cf. 1 Ti 3:15; 5:1-2
      3. We have become "the temple of
God" in which God dwells through His Spirit; let's be careful not to
profane God's holy habitation! - cf. 1 Co 3:16-17; 1 Co 6:19-20
CONCLUSION
1. Though Paul may have been
speaking in "general" or "corporate" terms,
   I trust that we have seen the implications
of what he has said affects each of us "personally"
   a. With salvation coming to the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ, we each benefit greatly on an individual level
   b. With salvation coming to the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ, we each bear an individual responsibility to live up to
our "holy calling" as God's kingdom, God's family, and as God's
temple!
2. What is YOUR condition in
regard to Jesus Christ?
   a. Are you still "outside" of
Christ?
   b. Have you benefited from the work that was
done "through" Christ on the cross?
   c. Are you living as a person should who is
now "in" Christ?
Jesus Christ is the key to
reconciliation.
 

EPHESIANS 2:11-16 FOR HE HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE, WHO HAS MADE BOTH ONE

Eph 2:11 Therefore
remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by
what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- 12 that at that
time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both
one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in
His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances,
so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and
that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby
putting to death the enmity.
I. CHRIST
IS OUR PEACE (11-16)
    A. (Separation) THE GENTILES' CONDITION
"BEFORE" CHRIST’S COMING 
(11-12)
1.     Without
Christ
2.     Without
the Nation or Aliens from the nation of Israel
3.     Without
the promises or Strangers from the covenants of promise
4.     Without
hope
5.     Without
God in the world
    B. (Reconciliation) THE GENTILES'
CONDITION "THROUGH" CHRIST’S DYING (13-16)
      1. Made near by the blood of Christ (13)
      2. Now "one body" with the Jews
(14)
because...
         a. Jesus has made Jew and Gentile both
one, breaking down the wall of division between them (14)
         b. Jesus abolished in His flesh the
law of commandments contained in ordinances that had separated them (15)
         c. Jesus now reconciles them both to
God in one body through the cross (16)

EPHESIANS 2:4-10 BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US

Ephesians 2:4 But
God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
 God’s
Work for Us (4-10)
The focus
of attention now is on God, not on sinful man. “Salvation is of the Lord”
(Jonah 2:9).
We are
reminded of five activities that God performed on behalf of sinners to save
them from the consequences of their sins.
He Loved Us
                
By nature, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
He Made Us Alive
This means He made
us alive, even when we were dead in sins. He accomplished this spiritual
resurrection by the power of the Spirit, using the Word
·      
Even when dead in trespasses
·      
By His grace we have been saved
·      
v6 God raised us with Christ - He exalted us
 This describes our spiritual, not
physical experience.
Made to sit with Him in heavenly places (to
enjoy his fellowship)
The
Purpose of Salvation  
·      
v7 He keeps us –
·      
Note
that verses 1-3 describe what we were in the past, verses 4-6 what we are in
the present, and verse 7 what we shall be in the future.
 3. v8 He gives us Salvation - Saved by grace through faith - God’s riches at Christ’s
expense
a.   
Not of ourselves, it is the gift of
God
Grace
means that God does it all for Jesus’ sake!
Salvation
is a gift of God. It does not find its source in man. Furthermore, this
salvation is not “out of a source of works.” This explains salvation by grace.
It is not produced by man nor earned by him. It is a gift from God with no strings tied to it. Paul presents the
same truth in Ro 4:4 -6
V9 Not of works, lest any man should boast
No
one will be able to boast that he or she has done something that earned him or
her salvation. All the glory will go to God for accomplishing salvation.
"Since we have not been saved by our good works, we
cannot be lost by our bad works."
Sin
worked against us and God worked for us, but the great work of conversion is just
the beginning.
v10 We are God's workmanship – God Works In Us
Here
Paul gave the reason salvation is not from man or by works. Rather than
salvation being a masterpiece that we have produced, regenerated believers are
a masterpiece that God has produced.
"Workmanship" (Gr. poieme, from which we get the word
"poem"; cf. Rom. 1:20) means a work of art, a masterpiece. The
Jerusalem Bible translated it "work of art" here.
·      
Created in Christ Jesus to walk in
good works,
As a master worker, God has created us in Christ Jesus.
The word translated "created" here (Gr. ktizo) describes only God's
activity and denotes something He alone can produce.
Good works are not
the roots from which salvation grows but the fruit God intends it to bear. God
has not saved us because of our works (vv. 8- 9), but He has saved us to do
good works (v. 10). which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
". . . God has
prepared a path of good works for believers which He will perform in and
through them as they walk by faith. This does not mean doing a work for God;
instead, it is God's performing His work in and through believers.
To walk is to regulate one’s life, to conduct one’s self,
to order one’s behavior.”
·      
Which God prepared beforehand
In other words, our conversion is not the end;
it is the beginning. We are a part of God’s “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), and
God continues to work in us to make us what He wants us to be. His purpose is
to make us more like Christ (Rom. 8:29).
But how does God work in us? Through His Holy
Spirit, “both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Christ
finished His work of redemption on the cross, but He arose from the dead and
returned to heaven. There He carries on His unfinished work of perfecting His
church (Eph. 4:7–16; Heb. 13:20–21).
Christ is equipping us for our walk and our work here on
earth. To do this, He uses three special tools: the Word of God (1 Thes. 2:13),
prayer (Eph. 3:20–21), and suffering (1 Peter 4:11–14). As we read God’s Word,
understand it, meditate on it, and feed on it, the Word goes to work in our
lives to cleanse us and nourish us. As we pray, God’s Spirit works in us to
release power. And as we suffer, the Spirit of God ministers to us. Suffering
drives us back to the Word and prayer, and the cycle is repeated.
Too many Christians think that
conversion is the only important experience, and that nothing follows.

We are perfected by
the Word, Prayer, and Suffering
Moses 40 years to prepare him for 40 years of
desert wanderings
At the beginning of his ministry, Moses was
impetuous and depended on his own strength. He killed an Egyptian and had to
flee Egypt, hardly a successful way to start a ministry. But during those 40
years as a humble shepherd in the desert, Moses experienced God’s working in
his life, a working that prepared him for forty more years of magnificent
service.
Joseph 13 years to
prepare him for the throne of Egypt second to Pharaoh
David many years in exile to prepare him for
the throne of Israel
Paul 3 years in the desert of Arabia to
prepare him for Ministry
 God has to work in us before He can work
through us;
Mt 5:16 Let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
Our good works
show that Christ lives in us.
Lessons
1.   
We were
Sinners, but God is our Savior
2.   
We were
made into a new creation
3.   
We were
saved not by works, but because God wanted to show His glory through His Mercy
and grace
4.   
We are
His Masterpiece
5.   
He made
us to do good works after our salvation, works are the fruit of salvation, not
the cause or root of it.

EPHESIANS 2:1-3 AND YOU HE MADE ALIVE, WHO WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS

Ephesians 2:1 And you
He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others.
 Verses 1-3 focus on fallen man, and
his hopeless condition (dead) as a result of his sin.
If Ephesians 1:19-23 takes us to the heights in exploring the power and
authority of the risen and ascended Christ, Ephesians 2:1-3 takes us to the
very depths, as Paul gives a detailed explanation of the powerless, hopeless,
lifeless condition of fallen men, enslaved by their own fleshly desires, and controlled
by the world around them and by Satan. The irony of fallen man’s dilemma is
that he doesn’t even realize his condition until after he is saved. Lost
men, blinded and deceived by Satan, think they are really “living it up,” when
in reality they are dead. They think that by living in sin they are
enjoying life to its fullest, but they are not. They suppose that they are
free, subject to no one, but they are really enslaved.

EPHESIANS 1:18B – 23 WHAT IS THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS POWER TOWARD US WHO BELIEVE

Eph 1:18 the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the
hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who
believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in
Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that
which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be
head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him
who fills all in all.
 After
demonstrating that believers have all spiritual blessings (1:3–14), Paul prayed
that believers would come to know God intimately (v. 17) in order that they
might know three facts: (1) the past call of salvation that produced the hope of
heaven (v. 18), (2) the future inheritance that God has in His saints (v. 18),
and (3) the present power of God that is available to believers, which (a) was
manifested in the past in Christ’s resurrection and Ascension, (b) will be
manifested in the future in Christ’s headship over Creation, and (c) is
presently manifested in Christ’s headship over the church.

EPHESIANS 1:15-18A THE FATHER OF GLORY, MAY GIVE TO YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM

Eph
1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
 The
Christian Life has 2 dimensions:
Faith
towards God -Trust
Love
towards Men - Obey
Mark
12:30 Love the Lord your God and your neighbor
Paul
knew these two things were the just the tip of the iceberg
Notice
Paul’s prayer, same as in all the prison epistles.
It
is not for health, wealth, or material things
He
prays for spiritual perception and real Christian character.
He Prays
first of all for spiritual wisdom and revelation
The
Holy Spirit is the one who reveals all spiritual wisdom
But
you cannot hear from the Holy Spirit if you have not opened your heart to hear
Mt
13:13 Jesus said Seeing they see not and hearing they hear not2.     Second,
He prays they may know God, not only as Savior, but as Father friend and guide
Psalms
63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My
flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
Isaiah
26:9 With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me
I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

EPHESIANS 1:11-14 TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY

Ephesians 1:11 In Him
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the
purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12
that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In
Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
 The whole section from verse 1-14 tells us everything He does is to the
praise of His glory.  We see in this section
today how to be saved.  You hear, you
trust in the Gospel and having believed you are sealed with the Holy Spirit
until the day He comes back to get us. 
There are 5 great things that come with being Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.  The sealing work of the Spirit is mentioned 2
other places in the Scripture, 2Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 4:30
1.    A seal on a legal document means it is a
finished contract or transaction
You know what the seal means? We are
not in the process of getting saved. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ
God gave you the Holy Spirit and said - That is a finished transaction.
2.   
It
means security and protection.. We are secure in Christ - Hebrews
6:19
3.  Authenticity… It’ real, we are a genuine child of God - Ro
8:9
When God gives us His Holy Spirit He is saying
this is an authentic child of the King. The only authentic Christian is the one
who possesses the Holy Spirit, who’s sealed with a mark of authenticity. 
4. Ownership…He owns us - 1Co 6:19-20
5.  Authority and power - Read the the eighth
chapter of Esther. Esther wanted the king to settle a certain issue. So she
said, Okay, you make the edict, king, and you sign it with your seal and we'll
carry it out. And so they're walking around with this letter from the king. And
it's a sign of authority. Esther 3:8-15,
We have His authority and
power in our lives over sin, suffering, and temptation.  The Authority to preach the Gospel and go in
His name since He has sent us Mt. 28:20
In
essence, the “deposit” of the Holy Spirit is a little bit of heaven in
believers’ lives with a guarantee of much more yet to come.
Who
is The guarantee of our inheritance – The Holy Spirit – This means He will
never leave us or forsake us Hebrews 13:5

EPHESIANS 1:8-11a IN HIM ALSO WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE

Eph 1:8 which He
made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us
the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in
Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth--in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to
the counsel of His will,
 God has made his
forgiveness abound to us because of His wisdom & foresight. He gives us
knowledge of His mysteries, the things which were hidden in the Old Testament, such as the
Jew & Gentile becoming one in the church. He did this so he could reconcile
everything back to himself as it was in the beginning of time. The Bible is the
story of man being created, falling & God working throughout time to
restore us to Him in the end. This
does not suggest that everyone will be saved; instead, sin’s disorder will be
removed & universal peace will be established (Isa. 2:2–4; 11:1–10). We also see that everything that God has will
ultimately belong to us too because we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
 

EPHESIANS 1:7 REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
 The first great
act of redemption in the Old Testament is the exodus, the deliverance of the
nation Israel from her bondage in Egypt. From the time of the exodus on this
event epitomized redemption in Exodus 6:6. Thus, the nation Israel not only
looked back in time, to see God’s redemption, but also to the future. They
called upon God to redeem them: Psalm 25:22 In order for God to bring
His elect people into the inheritance that He has in the future for them He,
must redeem them. Redemption is an act
of God by which He Himself pays as a ransom the price for sin which has
outraged His holiness. It means to pay a price to free somebody from bondage.
Everybody that comes into the world is
a captive, the Bible says. We are slaves. No man is free. Every person in the
world is a slave in their sinful state. And to whom are they slaves? Who is the
captor? Who is the captor of every man? Listen to this, John 8:34 says,
"Men are slaves to sin." Romans 6:17 says, "Men are servants to
sin." Romans 7:14; "Sold under sin." Romans 8:21; "In
bondage to corruption." What is the captor of men? Sin.
So, sin is the
captor that holds men. Now sin demands a price to be paid to release its
victim. What is that price? The price or the wage of sin is death. So in order
to purchase sinners from the grasp of sin there must be death. Without, says
Hebrews 9:22, the shedding of blood, which is simply a term for death, without
death there is no remission of sin. The soul that sinneth, the Old Testament
says, it shall die. All right, the wages or the price of sin is death. But
Jesus redeemed us. What does it mean? He paid the price of sin to free the
slave to set him free. That's the whole point of redemption. That is exactly
what He did. He paid the price to set us free.
We have been set
free from the law - In Galatians
chapter 5:1 it says; "For freedom Christ has set us free. Therefore stand fast and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Set free from slavery to sin
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from
sin.
Set free from the power of Satan and the world Gal 1:4 who gave
Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father

EPHESIANS 1:3 BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having
predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the
good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which
He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
        In this section we see that the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ.  What are these
blessings? The first 3 chapters describe all of them. We will talk about three
of those blessings today.  First we have
been chosen by God so that He could make us holy and without blame, next we
have been adopted as sons and have become part of the family of God, and lastly
we have been accepted in Jesus Christ the Beloved because of what He did on the
cross.  To be accepted means we now are
approved of by God.  Before we were
sinners not able to come into His presence and now we can because we are now
saints in the eyes of God because Jesus blood shed on the cross took away all
of our sins.

EPHESIANS INTRODUCTION

 WHO WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS AND
WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR USEphesians  3:1  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of
Christ Jesus for you Gentiles-- 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
KEY VERSE: Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"
The two main divisions in this epistle
are:
 
Chapters 1-3 Doctrine: Our Riches In Christ or Who we are in Christ
 
Chapters 4-6 Duty: Our Responsibilities In Christ or How we are to
behave because of who we are in Christ