Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

Todaywe've been looking at Ephesians 4:17–19, and now we're going to move on toverses 20–24. In these verses, the Apostle Paul follows up on his admonitionnot to walk as the Gentiles walk, but instead to walk in a way that pleasesGod. Paul describes the lost world as walking in futility—emptiness and vanityof mind. Their hearts are darkened. They lack spiritual understanding, and theydo not even know what they are stumbling over. Paul says, in essence, “Don't gothat direction. Don't live that way.” Thenhe gives us a powerful contrast in verse 20: “But ye have not so learnedChrist.” There is something fundamentally different about the believer. Youhave learned Christ. Many people may learn about Jesus, but they nevertruly learn Jesus Christ. Paul's argument is that genuine believers haveentered into a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Himself extended thisinvitation in Matthew 11:28–29: “Come unto me, all you that labor and areheavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn ofme; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto yoursouls.” To“learn Christ” means to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Ican know about historical figures—such as Abraham Lincoln. I can readbiographies and learn what he did and what he accomplished. But I don't knowhim personally. He is dead and gone. My friend, Jesus Christ is alive. He is aliving Savior. He lives today—first in my heart, and also in the Word of God.Sohow do we learn Christ? We learn Christ by spending time with Him—in the Wordof God and in prayer.Youwill never grow spiritually mature, never grow as you should as a believer, andnever dig deep down to the Rock unless you get into God's Word. We must hearHis Word, read His Word, study His Word, memorize His Word, and meditate on HisWord. I love Psalm 1:2–3, which says: “But his delight is in the law of theLORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like atree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in hisseason; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Whydoes that person prosper? Because they are planted by the river of livingwater—Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Living Water. He is the Word. He is theTruth. He is the Way. He is the Life. When you take time in the Word of God,you are fellowshipping with Christ. And when you add prayer, you are buildingan intimate relationship with Him. But learning Christ is not only aboutreading His Word—it is also about experiencing Him in prayer. Prayer is talkingto Him, but prayer also involves listening. Through the Holy Spirit, God speaksto us as we pray. Overthe years, I have learned how wonderful this is. Whether I am praying privatelyin my office, driving, walking through my house, or doing prayer walks throughmy neighborhood, I find that God speaks to me as I speak to Him—if I will taketime to be still and listen. Sometimes He says, “You need to do this. You needto write that letter. You need to call that person. You need to pray for thisindividual.” He places these things on your heart. You know it is Him. You hearHis voice. Other times, you may be discouraged and in need of comfort. As youmeditate on His Word and yield your fears and burdens to Him, He speaks to yourheart. He gives comfort. He gives courage. He gives exactly what you need inyour time of need. That is why Scripture tells us we can come boldly to thethrone of grace with confidence.  Ephesians4:20, “But you have not so learned Christ.” In other words, you nolonger live like the unsaved Gentiles because you have learned Christ. Becauseyou have learned Christ, your life is different. You have a different walk, adifferent talk, a different outlook, and a different attitude. You now seekthings from God's perspective rather than from the world's philosophies andopinions.  Itrust that you will have a heart to learn Christ—to truly know Him.

Todaywe're continuing our study of Ephesians 4:17–19. In these verses, the ApostlePaul shows us the difference between a saved person and a lost person—betweensomeone who is on their way to heaven and someone who is still on the path tocondemnation and an eternity without Jesus Christ, a terrible place calledhell. There is a difference, and that difference should be evident in ourlives. Thatis why Paul, after describing the wonderful blessings we have as believers inChrist in chapters 1 through 3 and the first part of chapter 4, now says, “Thatye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk” (Ephesians 4:17). He issaying, “Don't live the way you used to live. Walk and live differently,because now you can think differently.” Remember in verses 17 through 19, Paulfocused on the mind. He explains that the lost person's “understanding [is]darkened” and that they are “alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians4:18). Asbelievers, we now think differently because we have been enlightened by thegospel of Jesus Christ. We have come to know the truth of who Jesus really is.We now see life from a completely different perspective, and our desire is nolonger to please self or Satan, but to please the Lord. Paul goes on to saythat the lost person walks “in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians4:17). Their life is empty and without purpose. It is vain—lacking truemeaning. Theirunderstanding is darkened. Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is asdarkness: they know not at what they stumble.” What a tragedy that is—towalk through life in darkness, never realizing what you're stumbling over. Paulexplains that this condition exists “because of the ignorance that is inthem” (Ephesians 4:18). The lost person cannot see the truth. They areblind to the Word of God because they are still living in spiritual darkness. Jesusaddressed this clearly in John 3. He said, “Except a man be born again, hecannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Then He went on to say: “Andthis is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loveddarkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one thatdoeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds shouldbe reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may bemade manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19–21). Inother words, the lost person lives in darkness. He is spiritually blind. 2Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded theminds of them which believe not.” It is not that they cannot believe—it isthat they choose not to believe. They choose self, the world, the flesh, andsin over what God desires for them. Their hearts do not desire to do whatpleases God. So we see the terrible condition of a lost person. Theirunderstanding is darkened. They are alienated from the life of God. Because ofthe ignorance that is in them, they have no true knowledge of spiritualtruth—they cannot see it. Itis the hardness of the heart that keeps a person from opening their eyes to seewho God really is. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure inheart: for they shall see God.” When we live without God, our hearts areblinded by sin and by Satan. We walk in darkness, not realizing what we stumbleover. We begin to value what doesn't truly matter. We focus on things that aretemporal and passing away. We simply don't understand—until we are born againand our lives are changed. Jesussaid it plainly: those who are born again can now see the kingdom of God. TheBible opens up. Spiritual truth becomes clear. Everything is different. Myfriend, this is what God desires for you and for me. I trust that today youreyes have been opened to see who Jesus really is—and that you are no longerwalking as the Gentiles walk, no longer living as the lost live, but livingdifferently. Godbless!

Todaywe are looking at Ephesians 4:17–19. Here, the Apostle Paul explains thatbecause we have now trusted Christ—because He has saved us, changed us,transformed us, and seated us in the heavenly places, and because we havereceived the Holy Spirit—we are called to live differently. Hebegins explaining this in verse 17, where he gives a strong warning. He tellsbelievers not to live the way the lost world lives—the unconverted, those whohave never been regenerated. Their lives are described as empty in theirthinking, darkened in understanding, separated from the life of God, and drivenby ignorance and spiritual blindness. This way of life ultimately leads tomoral insensitivity, impurity, and greed. Paulbegins with a negative instruction: do not walk in that direction. Do notfollow the pattern of the lost world. He speaks with authority, testifying inthe Lord, reminding us that Jesus Himself has taught us how to walk inrighteousness—pursuing what is good, holy, just, and pure. This is the kind oflife Jesus described in Matthew chapter 5 through the Beatitudes, which revealthe attitudes that should mark a believer's life. Oneof the first things we notice in this passage is that Christians are different.How are we different? We no longer think the way unsaved people think. There isa strong emphasis on the mind in verses 17 and 18—the futility of themind, darkened understanding, and spiritual ignorance. But asbelievers, “we have learned Christ” (v. 20). Remember Jesus invited usto “come and learn of me” in Matthew 11:29:  Learning Christ meanswalking with Him—following His Word, embracing His truth, and moving in thesame direction He walked. And that direction is one of continual obedience tothe will of God and sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paulreminds us in Philippians 2:5-8, that we are to have the same mind that was inChrist Jesus. What kind of mind was that? A mind of obedience, sacrifice,humility, and devotion to the Father's will. Jesus lived for the glory andpleasure of the Father. He said that He must be about His Father's business.This kind of mindset changes everything. As a result, we no longer walk as theGentiles walk, in the futility of their minds. That word futility speaks ofemptiness—a life without purpose. When Christ comes into our lives, we live alife of repentance, which means a changed mind. We change our mind about God.We change our mind about sin. We no longer seek the pleasure of sin; instead,we desire the pleasure of God. Ourvalues change. Our goals change. Our entire view of life changes. When Christcomes in, everything becomes new, just as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17.“Old things pass away, and new life begins”. Pauldescribes the mindset of the unconverted person in Romans 1:21-23: “Because,although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, butbecame futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professingto be wise, they became fools, This is a life marked by empty thinking, darkened hearts,and self-deception. This is the futility of the mind. It is a life without truepurpose, without eternal focus. That is why we see so much violence, despair,and hopelessness in the world today. People fail to respect life because theydo not recognize God as the Creator and Giver of life. Butas believers, we are different. Our focus is no longer on temporary things orpersonal feelings alone, but on eternal realities and the life that only Godcan give through Jesus Christ. We think differently because; “… we do notlook at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Forthe things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen areeternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18). ThankGod for that difference. May the Lord bless you today as you think on thesethings (Philippians 4:8).

Todaywe are moving into the final section of Ephesians chapter 4:17–32. In theseverses, we learn that the Christian—the believer in Jesus Christ—is not onlycalled to walk in unity within the body of Christ (vv. 1-16), but also to walkdifferently from the world around us, from those who are unsaved. Paul refersto these unbelievers as “the Gentiles”—those who do not know God, who do notfollow Jesus Christ, and who have never been spiritually regenerated. Inthe first part of this section, verses 17–19, which we will be looking at overthe next few days, Paul gives a vivid description of how the Gentiles walk—howthey live. And his message is clear: as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to bedifferent. In verse 17, Paul exhorts believers not to walk as the Gentileswalk. He describes their lives as empty in their thinking, darkened inunderstanding, alienated from the life of God because of ignorance andspiritual blindness. He goes on to describe a lifestyle marked by moralinsensitivity, impurity, and greed. (Read the above verses again.) Myfriend, that is a very apt description of much of America today. Many peoplehave little understanding of spiritual truth—of the Bible, of God, or of livinga life marked by respect and responsibility. Instead, they live selfishly,seeking only to please themselves, always wanting more—more possessions, morestatus, more of the newest and the best. That is exactly what Paul isdescribing. And he makes it clear that as believers, we should be different.Yes, we are to walk in unity as a body of believers, but we are not to walk asthe Gentiles walk. Ibelieve the Bible is a book written to be obeyed, not merely studied ormemorized. That is why we repeatedly encounter words like “therefore” and“wherefore.” In fact, between Ephesians 4:1 and Ephesians 5:24, those wordsappear at least eight times. Paul is essentially saying that because of whatChrist has done for us—especially in the first three chapters and the firsthalf of chapter 4—there is now a clear responsibility for how we are to liveand walk for Jesus Christ. TheApostle James reminds us of this truth in James 1:22-25, where he tells us tobe doers of the Word and not hearers only. Otherwise, we are like someone wholooks in a mirror, notices what needs to be fixed, and then walks away withoutdoing anything about it. That is not how God intends us to live. Jesus Himselfwarned that hearing the Word without obeying it is like building a house onsand (Matthew 7:24-27). Our lives should be different. Thefact that we have been called in Christ (Ephesians 1:18) should motivate us towalk in unity (Ephesians 4:1–16). The fact that we have been raised fromspiritual death (Ephesians 2:1–10) should motivate us to walk in purity(Ephesians 4:17–5:7). Paul also reminds us in Romans 6:4, that because we havebeen identified with Christ in His death, we are now called to walk in newnessof life. It is a different life altogether. Weare alive in Christ. We are no longer dead in our sins. Therefore, we are toput off the old self and put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). Just as Jesuscommand that Lazarus have his grave clothes removed (John 11:44), we too are totake off the old grave clothes of our former life and put on the grace clothesof our new life in Christ. We are to walk in God's wonderful and marvelousgrace. AsPaul begins this section of Scripture in verses 17–19, it comes as a strongwarning—a negative admonition. We are no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk.We will be exploring this more in the coming days. Itrust that today you will determine with all your heart to be a follower ofJesus Christ who lives a different life. Godbless!

Todaywe continue our study of Ephesians 4:11–16. We have spent a significant amountof time on these verses because they are vitally important for every member ofthe body of Christ—every believer, every follower of Jesus Christ—to understandexactly what their purpose and role is within the body. Up to this point, thisentire chapter has focused on that very theme: the unity of the Spirit and theunity of the body—one body working together for one purpose.We'vediscussed that when the work of the ministry is being carried out,Christlikeness will be evident in the lives of believers. Each believer will begrowing into the likeness of Christ. Along with that growth comesstability. We will “no longer be like children”—arguing, actingselfishly, seeking positions of prominence, competing with one another, orpromoting ourselves. That kind of behavior is childish. We are no longerchildren. Additionally, we will not be easily swayed by false doctrine ordeceptive teaching, whether it comes from within the church, the surroundingculture, or the internet. Anothervital outcome of this passage is what we might call cooperation—workingtogether as one body. This is emphasized in verse 16: “From whom the wholebody, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to theeffective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the bodyfor the edifying of itself in love.”  Whenevery member is functioning according to the spiritual gifts they have beengiven, actively exercising those gifts within the local church, the body isknit together in love. It builds itself up. It is strengthened and edified.What a beautiful picture that is. And once again, we see the purpose beingfulfilled. Whatis that purpose? The saints are being equipped “for the work of theministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ”. We have beengiven spiritual gifts not for self-importance, not for personal praise orrecognition, but so that the entire body—every joint, every member—can becomeall that God intends it to be. Every part matters. Every member is important.In God's sight, every believer who faithfully serves is a hero, fulfilling thework of the ministry. Nowremember what the work of the ministry is. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:6,that “God has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant—not of theletter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul continues by saying that because we have received thisministry, we do not lose heart. We do not quit. Even though Satan has blindedthe minds of unbelievers, even though we may be knocked down, afflicted, orpersecuted, we get back up. Why? So that the message of Jesus Christ and theglorious gospel might be made known—even through our physical bodies—as welabor together. This does not mean everything will be easy or perfect, but itdoes mean the work is worth it. ThenPaul clearly defines this ministry in 2 Corinthians 5:18: “Now all thingsare of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and hasgiven us the ministry of reconciliation.” There it is. As the body ofChrist, we work together to tell the world who Jesus Christ truly is.  Throughour Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. And as believers workingtogether within the body of Christ—the church—we fulfill the work of theministry by proclaiming reconciliation. We tell the world that they can comeback to God. They can have a personal, real relationship with Him. Their sinscan be forgiven. They can experience wholeness, peace, joy, and the life Godcreated them to live. That is reconciliation—restored fellowship with God. Areyou exercising your spiritual gift in the work of ministry, theministry of reconciliation, and the building up of the body of JesusChrist for the glory of God? 

Thefirst thing that we see as an evidence of spiritual maturity and spiritualgrowth is that we are Christlike in our attitude, actions and speech. Jesus wasalways submitted to the will of His Father. Read the Gospels. Jesus always didHis Father's will. This quote from Psalms is most descriptive of Jesus: “Ihad delight to do Thy will. Oh my God. Thy law is written within my heart” (Psalm40:8). That was the heart and mind of Jesus, my friend. That's what happens tous when we're submitted in obedience to the will of God. As Oswalt Chamberssaid in one of his writings.  We'vebeen perfectly adjusted to the fact that Christ lives in us, and we now know andlive in His righteousness. We're robed in that righteousness, and we want towalk with Him with all of our heart. It's a surrendered life, as Andrew Murrayput it. Thenwe see the second evidence of our spiritual growth is stability. We're nolonger children tossed to and fro. Today, we looking at the third evidence of our spiritual growth that wefind in verse 15: “But speaking the truth in love may grow up in allthings unto Him who is the head Christ”. The third evidence of spiritualmaturity is that we consistently “speak the truth in love”. Someonehas said that truth without love is brutality, but love without truth ishypocrisy. We somehow another, by the grace of God, can combine the two. Youmust have truth expressed in love. I love that verse in Psalm 85:10 where itsays, "Love and truth and mercy have met. Righteousness and peace havekissed." I believe this happened at the cross of Calvary. It was therethe truth of God, that we're sinners that our sin must be punished, met withthe love and mercy of God, as Christ died in our place for our sins. We now canbe set free from our sin and experience peace along with God's righteousness! Nowwe can speak truth out of a heart of love to those around us because we'veexperienced the love of God. 1 John 4:7-11 tells us where this love comes from:"Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone wholoves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God. ForGod is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God hassent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Inthis is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to bethe propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to loveone another." Evidencethat we have spiritual maturity is that we can love, but we love in truth. We speakthe truth in love. We don't speak the truth to hurt, to condemn, todestroy, to tear down. We speak it in love to build up, to encourage, to help aperson get back on track. We speak the truth in love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8tells us the kind of love that God has and that we should have. “Lovesuffers long. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. Isnot puffed up. Does not behave rudely. Does not seek its own. Is not provoked.Thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, rejoices in the truth, love bearsall things.” Whenwe have a heart that is surrendered and obedient to the will of the Lord GodAlmighty, we will have the mind of Christ, and we will speak the truth withlove. It will be evidence that there is something in our heart that's differentthan when the natural man is in control of our lives and tearing down anddestroying the lives of those around us as we see so often in Christian circles.God help us to have this mark of spiritual maturity, and spiritual growth, andthat is “speaking the truth in love”. Godbless!

These verses are vitallyimportant to the unity of the church, to the growth of the believer, and to thewitness of the church in the community. That's why we're taking so longcontinuing to look at this passage of Scripture. Remember the leaders of thechurch are told to lead and teach the people to grow in their Christianmaturity, to grow in faith, and to understand how that as a body of believersthat are diverse, that have different opinions, have different ideas, maybeeven different cultural backgrounds, that it is vitally important that they loveone another, and care for one another.  Readthe New Testament. Read the book of First John. Read all the Epistles. Almostall of them speak about this love for one another. Jesus, in His last words inthe upper room were that His disciples might be one. His prayer was that theywould be one (John 17). That they would be one in Christ, one in unity, one inlove, caring for one another. Then they would be a witness to the world aroundthem. That's why this passage in Ephesians 4 is so important. Now,one of the things that will happen whenever God's at work, you can rest assuredthat the devil is also at work and he has his angels, agents of false teachersto lead people astray. Today, my friend, the internet and churches are full offalse teachers who would cause people to follow after them with false doctrines.That's why Paul, Peter and others writers of the New Testament wrote aboutthese people. Even in the first century church, Jude wrote about them. John, warnedof them in his epistles of 1st and 2nd John. Almost everyNew Testament Apostle, teacher, leader warned about these false teachers. Evenhere in Ephesians 4, where Paul is saying to build up the people in the unityof the faith he goes on to say in verse 14 that we should “no longer bechildren tossed to and fro”. Tossed to and fro by what? Because we would be“carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and cunningcraftiness of deceitful plotting”, by the false teachers. In Acts 20:28-31,Paul in his last visit to the church at Ephesus, warned the elders: “Thereforetake heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit hasmade you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with Hisown blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come inamong you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up,speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.  In2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter warned the believers he's writing to about these false teachers:“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will befalse teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, evendenying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. Andmany will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth willbe blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words…”.  Like Paul, he is warning us not to be deceivedby false teachers with their false doctrine. Acharacteristic of a Christlike Christian is that he is not only bathed in thetruth, living in the truth, walking in the truth, but he is stable. He issteadfast. He's not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Everybody thatcomes along with some new teaching about this or that or especially about theLord Jesus Christ and who He is. My friend, you must be careful what you'relistening to and make sure you look at everything in light of the context ofthe entire word of God. Then listen to faithful teachers and preachers who havestayed the course over many many years. Again,these are very important words because the devil is at work to destroy theunity of the church with false teachers. We must be aware of them. They'reeverywhere. So be aware, don't be children about this danger. Grow up, listento the truth, and walk in the truth. 

The giftsand offices to the early church in order that the people of the church, thebelievers, would grow to spiritual maturity and display to the world what itreally means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Acts11:26 tells us that the believers, the disciples, were “first calledChristians at Antioch” of Syria. Remember that this was a church made up believersfrom various nationalities and backgrounds. There were Gentile believers. Therewere Jewish believers. And no doubt, some were there from other nationalities. Itwas a mixed group of believers but we find that these people worked together insuch a way they were called Christians, which means they were Christlike. Thespiritual life is not a destination that we finally arrive at, and we are now spirituallymature. No, my friend, the real spiritual mature believer's life is a journey,it is a daily walk in the right direction. Yesterday we talked about the wascalled “a perfect man” in these verses. What it means to be “perfect”.Christ tells us that we should be perfect even as our Father in heaven isperfect. That means we are like Christ. Which means that we are in a placewhere we are being obedient to the Lord and the Holy Spirit's leading and doingand living out the will of God moment by moment in our daily lives.  Ilike what Oswald Chambers says about this. When we really have grown to a placeof spiritual maturity, on our journey, “we are walking by faith, not by sight”.He said, that it is not a matter of trying to figure out and doing the will ofGod, but “we are the will of God”.  Wesee that in these verses. We're not like children any longer, walking accordingto the lust of the flesh, walking according to the desires of our heart, doingwhat we want to do. No, we're living in the Holy Spirit, walking by faith, inthe Word of God. Again notice, that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastorsand teachers were given for the equipping of the saints for the work of theministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. Paul,as awesome as he was as an Apostle and disciple and follower of Christ andchurch planter, he said, "I've not yet arrived. I still reach forth."(Philippians 3:12-14).  We're alwaysreaching forth. We are still every day coming to the knowledge that I have somuch more to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's a growthevery day. It is a daily going in the right direction!The“work of the ministry” also includes the edifying of the body of Christ. Thisproduces unity in the church. That's why they were called Christians first atAntioch. There was that unity of believers despite their background, despitetheir culture, despite where they came from, rich and poor, etc. They worktogether in love displaying the characteristics of Christlikeness in theiractions and attitudes. Paulgoes on to say that we have come to the “unity of the faith”. Which is based onthat body of truth concerning the person of Jesus. What do you believe aboutJesus. That's why he goes on to say and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Whois Jesus? If someone doesn't believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, Godin the flesh, He is deity, and that He is divine, the apostle John and otherwriters of the New Testament make it very clear, they are antichrist. They are nota true follower of Christ. (Read 1 and 2 John). TheChristian life is a walk of faith. “We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Corinthians5:7). And “We are no longer children tossed to and fro” (v. 14).Children are selfish. Children live on their emotions. They feel good and theyshow in their attitude and actions that they feel good. But then when they feelbad, in their actions and attitude they act bad and they treat others wrong. Theylive by their feelings. There are too many people in the church like that. Godwants us to always be growing spiritually where we're displaying thecharacteristics of Jesus Christ in our attitude and in everything we say and do. 

Before I get into these verses, let me just mention that I'll be going toIndia from January the 15th through the 25th 2026, with a team fromGlobal Partners in Peace and Development. First, I'm asking for your prayersfor our team and myself as we go on this trip to India. We're going to be ableto do so many different things such as meet and speak to pastors, participatein dedicating a number of freshwater wells, and distribute gifts given through theGPPD gift catalog to the widows and Indian children. Also we'll be providinganimals for different folks to help provide food for them. We will be able toimpact and bless many precious Indian people and influence them for Christ. So pleasepray, pray, for safety and strength for this trip.  Alsosecondly, if you would like to financially help me cover the expenses for thetrip and with taking some gifts and money to give to pastors, simply donate itto “Mission Travel Support” through the PayPal donate button on our website: https://www.pmiministries.org/  Or you can send a gift to the address listed onour website where I have my office. Thank you in advance for your prayers andsupport. We're so blessed to have friends like you who've supported us over theyears and have helped us continue to do this wonderful ministry. Now,back to Ephesians 4:11-16. I want to share something that I noticed yesterdayin my devotional time, that I believe will speak to your heart, too.  Remember the Apostle Paul in this chapter has alreadytalked about the grace of unity, the ground of unity, and the gifts of unity, inverses 1-11. Now he's talking about the growth of unity (vv. 11-16).  When we have true spiritual growth in ourpersonal and individual lives, we will also experience growth in our churches. Paultells us that the offices and gifts of the apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors,and the teachers are given to the church for the perfecting of the saint forthe saint to grow to spiritual maturity. He describes this as, “To a perfectman”, (or “woman”). Yesterdayin my devotion time, while reading a devotion by Oswald Chambers, he spoke ofwhat it means to “be perfect”.  Thinkingabout it, I remembered back in Matthew 5:48, Jesus had said in His Sermon onthe Mount, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father inheaven is perfect." Then in Matthew 19, a rich young ruler came toJesus asking, "What can I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answeredand told him, "If you would be perfect…." Now, what does itmean to be perfect?  OswaldChambers tells us, "Beware of mental quibbling over the word ‘perfect'. Perfectiondoes not mean the full maturity and consummation of a man's power. But perfectfitness for doing the will of God (Philippians 3:12-15). Supposing Jesus Christcan perfectly adjust me to God, to put me so perfectly right that I shall be onthe footing where I can do the will of God, do I really want Him to do it? Do Iwant God at all cost to make me perfect?” (From his book, “It Thou Wilt bePerfect”, page 116) Thequestion for you and me today is, do I really want to be the person that'sspiritually mature to the place where I will be willing to yield my life sofully to God so that I'm always “about my Father's business”. Am I doingthe will of God right now? The first characteristic of spiritual maturity is “Christlikeness”. Godbless!

Tomorrow I will be in Roanoke, Virginiaparticipating and speaking at a celebration of life service for a dear, dearsaint of God, Nancy Young. I'll tell you more about Nancy's and her life thatwas, “A Life Well Lived”, later in this blog. Matterof fact her life “measured up to the stature of the fullness of Christ”, thatPaul desired for every believer here in Ephesians 4. Today we begin looking atthis next section of the chapter where we learn about the “growth of unity” inthe local church. From verse 11 we are told this growth takes after, “HeHimself gives some apostles, and some prophets, some evangelists, and somepastors and teachers.” He does this for the purpose which we find in verses12-16. Thisis a very special passage of scripture that gives us exactly what the pastorsand leaders of the church should be doing. That is equipping the saints for thework of the ministry and for the spiritual growth and maturity of theindividual members.  Overmy 50 plus years as a pastor, if I ever knew someone that was a part of comingto the fullness of unity in Christ, coming to a place of full maturity in thebody of Christ and building up the body of Christ, and doing their part to makesure the church of Christ, the body of Christ, was the kind of church it shouldbe, it was Nancy Young. I've had the privilege of being her pastor for the pastthirty-some years now. As I think about the ministry we had together in thelocal church there at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church, of which she was a faithfulmember for the last 40 years, I watched as the Lord used Nancy in a wonderfulway to touch the lives of so many people. Manyof you probably didn't know that Nancy grew up in Africa with her parents, whowent there in 1945 when she was 3 years old. They were first missionaries inthe Congo, and then in Burundi, where during their ministry, there was aterrible genocide taking place. In her personal eight-page typed testimony thatshe recently wrote for her RFBC Sunday School class, she said from birth shewas taught the Word of God by her parents and had memorized Psalm 23 by thetime she was one year old. How amazing is that!!!!  Nancygrew up in Africa up to the time, when as a teenager she went to WheatonCollege back in the states. It was at Wheaton College that she developed apassion to teach children God's word. Not long after college, that she gotinvolved in WRE, (Weekly Religious Education). Now for over 55 plus years,every week you could find her teaching children the Bible in the public schoolsystem, usually meeting in a small trailer across the street from the school,like she did at Colonial Elementary School near where I lived. Ijust am so thankful for her faithful dedication to this ministry because manyof my grandchildren sat under her Bible teaching. Nancy actually taught mydaughters-in-law, Crystal Floyd Grooms when she was a girl. Remember Crystal,(and she won't mind that I say this), today is in her 40s. Yet when she was alittle girl at Colonial Elementary, she sat under Nancy's teaching. Nancyis a wonderful example of someone who loved the Lord, loved her husband, lovedher family, loved ministry, loved teaching God's Word, and had a grasp of the Wordof God in its entirety. She truly was an example of a mature believer who livedin the fullness of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing it has been to be herpastor. We're celebrating her homegoing tomorrow (Tuesday) with her family.We're excited about how God's going to speak to the lives of many even in theservice.  Itrust you have been encouraged by her testimony that I have shared in today'schat. I trust that you are being equipped for the work of the ministry likeNancy Young was. May the Lord also use you to affect and influence the lives ofhundreds of others as He blesses and leads you.  Godbless!

Wesee the gifts of the Spirit are given so that the whole body of Christ mightprofit as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:7. Now we notice that Paul is keying inon four specific offices that are vitally necessary for the leading, theoversight, and the feeding of the church. He mentions those here in verse 11.He gave some Apostles. Those were the initial twelve men that Jesus Himselfcalled. Then alongside these Apostles, with the next gift and office were the prophets.Together these two callings, gifting and offices, laid the foundation of the church(Ephesians 2:20).  Thenwe notice the next office and gifting was, “some evangelists”. Of course, theseare the ones who spread the word of God with a special gifting as they traveledand as they ministered in different locations. They most likely were the churchplanters. Like Peter, when they would preach people would respond to the gospelunder conviction of sin and come to know Christ as their Savior. This officeand gifting is especially exercised for the growth and expansion of the church. ThenPaul gives the last office, and He uses two names that indicates two specificgiftings. “Some pastors and teachers”. The fact that the word"some" is not repeated indicates that we have here one office withtwo ministries. The word pastor means shepherd. A shepherd is someone who caresfor the sheep. Two other words are used for the same office in the NewTestament, which are elder and bishop. We see them in 1 Timothy 3 and also in 1Peter 5.  In1 Peter 5:1-4, Peter had a specific message for the elders as leaders in thechurch.  “The elders who are among youI exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock ofGod which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly,not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted toyou, but being examples to the flock; Notice he toldthem to fulfill the role of shepherds as pastors.  Ibelieve one of the special callings that God revealed to me as a young believer,along with a special gift that goes along with, was to be a pastor shepherd to theflock of God, and to care for His sheep. To be a shepherd means you love thesheep. Remember Psalm 23 where David writes, “The Lord is my shepherd, Ishall not want”. What example do we have from the Lord Jesus Christ? Hecared for the sheep. He leads the sheep. He leads them by example and He gaveHis life for the sheep.  No doubt Peter isthinking of this in 1 Peter 5. Again the “good shepherd, cares for the sheep, feedsthe sheep the Word of God, leads the sheep, and protects the sheep from falseteachers and doctrines (Acts 20:28-30). That'swhy the companion gift of teaching has to be in the life of a pastor. When Paulgave the instructions for the elders in the early church, they had to be ableto teach God's word, understand God's word, have the knowledge of what God's Wordrepresented, stood for, and how it should be proclaimed. This is all verycrucial for the church, the flock of God, to be healthy and productive. So,pastors and teachers, these are gifted people who help care for the flock,protect the flock, lead the flock, and they take time to visit the orphans andthe widows, as we read in James 1:27. “Pure religion and undefiled beforeGod and the father is this. To visit the fatherless, the orphans and the widowsin their affliction and to keep themselves unspotted from the world”.  Apastor does this by example as he cares, protects, teaches, feeds, and leadsthe flock of God. Pray for your pastor today as he fulfills this wonderfulministry to the church! And pastors, we would do well to take heed to Paul'sparting words to young pastor Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things,endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2Timothy 4:5). Godbless!

Alreadywe talked about the office of apostleship. Thespiritual gift and office of evangelists means that these are those in thechurch who “bear the good news”. That's what evangelist means. “Evangel”, “Abearer of good news”. Someone who takes the good news of the salvation that'savailable through Jesus Christ to the world that's lost and dying and on itsway into an endless eternity to a terrible place called hell. This gift iscrucial to the outreach and expansion of the church.  As I have looked at this passage and thoughtabout the spiritual gifting of the church, I want to remind you every gift, those17 gifts that were given to the baby church, that listed in Romans 12, 1Corinthians 12-14, and here in Ephesians 4, were all necessary for the localchurch, so that it could be a healthy and growing church that fellowships, thatworships, that evangelizes, that disciples, that builds up one another,ministers and cares for one another and changes the culture and the world inwhich it's placed. Oh, how awesome that is.  Ipersonally believe that every believer has at least one primary gift. I believethese primary gifts are the seven that are listed in Romans 12. You have atleast one of those as your primary gift. But in some since we call all practicethe gift of serving, the gift of giving, the gift of ministering. We all canpractice most of the gifts, but we have that one primary gift.  Ithas also been very interesting to me that the way we look at things in thechurch, and respond to challenges that the church might have, will be based onthe spiritual giftedness that God has given to each one of us. But all thegifts are necessary. They are very necessary for the church to be a healthychurch. Every member exercising their particular gift. When you're exercisingyour gift, instead of wearing you out, there's something that energizes you,that frees you, that gives you fulfillment and contentment, and a sense ofpurpose in the church. It is vitally necessary and very important for you toknow your spiritual gift.  Whenwe look at spiritual gift and office of the evangelist, we might think ofpeople like Peter who on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, who preached and 3,000souls are saved. He is the main spokesman for the church in the early chaptersof Acts. He is sent to Cornelius in Acts 10 and wins the first Gentile to the Lord.We even think the Apostle Paul had must have had this gift of evangelism. Laterhe would write to the church at Corinth how, “some plant and some water, butGod gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7-8).  Paultold Timothy, who I believe had the gift of pastor, serving in the office ofpastor in many of the churches that Paul planted, and yet he told him do thework of an evangelist. In other words, all of us can be witnesses for JesusChrist. At the same time understanding and exercising our individual Spiritual gifts. Ithink of men in days past, like my dad, J. O. Grooms, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday,Baily Smith, and Billy Graham, and today men like Rick Via and Steeven Kumar, whoobviously have that Spiritual gift, and fulfilled the office of evangelist, andhave been used to spread the Gospel around the world. We need these wonderfulmen of God as they go forth, and they bring new believers into the Kingdom.Then the pastors and teachers come in, and disciple and grow them. What awonderful thing it is to see God functioning and working through the localchurch of believers to glorify His son Jesus Christ.  Whata wonderful passage of scripture reminding us that each of us has a place inthe church. May the Lord help us to discover our spiritual gifts, and then alsoexercise them today in the body of Christ. Godbless!

Yesterdaywe talked about what it means to be apostle. Those were the 12 that Jesusoriginally chose (Matthew 10:1-4). Specifically, these Apostles had to be a witnessof Jesus life and ministry since His baptism and also His resurrection (Acts1:21-22). These were specially chosen men we read about in the Book of Actsthat laid the foundation of the church. But also other special group thatassisted in laying the foundation of the church in the first century were menwho were called the prophets. Nowwe usually think of a prophet in the Old Testament of someone that predicts thefuture. God gave these men special revelation and insight to talk about thingsto come. But in the New Testament, the prophet was someone who forthtold theword of God. Remember in the first century New Testament church in the book ofActs, they did not have a New Testament. Most of the believers did not havecopies of the Old Testament. Those were on scrolls and these were in thesynagogues. Therefore, they needed the office of a prophet who also laid thefoundation of the church along with the apostles.  Thesepeople were gifted by the Holy Spirit with special knowledge and wisdom. Weread in 1 Corinthians 13:2, "Though I have the gift of prophecy andunderstand all mysteries and all knowledge…." This gift and officegave them special insight to God's truths. They could proclaim to the localchurch a direct revelation from God that would help the early believers to knowand understand the truth and will of God concerning the mystery and ministry ofthe church along with specific application of God's Word concerning theirlives. At the same time many of these gifted men, like Paul, also gave revelationabout future events concerning the future of the church in the last days asthey were inspired to write letters to the churches. Inthe book of Romans 12:4-8 we find that there are seven spiritual gifts that arementioned. The first one that is mentioned in Romans 12:6 is prophesy alongwith instruction on how to exercise the gift. I believe that as important andnecessary as it was for all the spiritual gifts to be exercised in the localchurch that it also appears that these gifts are listed in order of theirimportance as far as their use in the church. Here in Ephesians 4:11 the giftand office of Apostleship is of course the first one. And as far as this giftand office is concerned, it was for very a specific purpose and for a veryspecific time period at the beginning and foundation of the church. Nextin importance would be the gift of prophecy.  In 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul writes: “Pursuelove, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy”. Thenhe goes on to explain what the purpose of prophecy is in verses 2-5: “But he who prophesies speaksedification and exhortation and comfort to men. Sothis spiritual gift of prophecy was given to the men to come alongside the menwho had the gift of Apostleship to specially lay the foundation. You see thisin Ephesians 2:20: “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles andprophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone”. So they preached JesusChrist. They taught that Jesus was the head of the body, the chief cornerstone. Ibelieve that today it is possible the gift of prophecy is still able to beexercised, but it has to do with a person who is able to lead the church insuch a way that he understands and has special discernment of what is right andwrong in a specific way and is able to call out evil. Still, other Biblescholars believe the gift of prophecy expired with the early church when the NewTestament was completed. What matters today is that we still have love andunity and make the name and salvation of Jesus known to everyone we can! Godbless!

Todaywe continue to look at Ephesians 4:7-11. Weneed to understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the unity of the church isvitally important to sharing this great message of the Gospel of Christ to theworld around us. God has chosen the church today to do this. The New Testament churchcan best be describes as a local body of baptized believers, under thediscipline of the Word of God, being led by the Holy Spirit, exercising thegifts of the Spirit, organized under spiritual leadership for the purpose ofworship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry, and fulfilling theordinances of the church—the Lord's Supper and baptism. That is the localchurch. Inthat church God has placed people with various spiritual gifts to make surethat body functions properly in such a way that they are able to fulfill,complete, and carry out God's great commission. That is the purpose of thespiritual gifts. We see that specifically as we look at the passage here inEphesians chapter 4, verses 7-11.It says in verse 11, “And He Himself gavesome to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors andteachers.” Interesting,as you look at all three passages in the New Testament speaking specificallyabout spiritual gifts, you will find that in Romans 12, and also 1 Corinthians12-14, that Paul lists many gifts. Some people estimate up to 18 differentspiritual gifts were given to the church initially. But here in Ephesians 4:7,it appears that Paul is talking not so much about the gifts of the Spirit as heis talking about some of the offices that are being fulfilled because of thegift of the Spirit that were given to particular people in his day. Thefirst one Paul mentions was the Apostles. “He gave some to be apostles”.The word apostle means one who is sent with a commission. Jesus had manydisciples—even one time 70 disciples are mentioned—but we know that He onlyselected 12 apostles (Matthew 10:1-4). The disciple is a learner, a follower.But an apostle is a divinely appointed representative. For someone to be anapostle, he had to have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts1:21-22). In Acts 1, when they were replacing Judas as one of the twelveapostles, they prayed about it, sought God's will about it, and particularlychose one person, Matthias, to become that twelfth Apostle (Acts 1:26). Today,there are no apostles in the strictest New Testament sense. These apostles laidthe foundation of the church along with the prophets as we are told in Ephesians2:19-20, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, butfellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, havingbeen built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himselfbeing the chief corner stone.”  Oncethe foundation of the church, the New Testament church, was laid, there was nolonger a need for apostles. Today when I hear someone saying, “I'm an apostle,”I hope they mean that they are one who is sent with a commission. Because allof us as believers are sent. As Jesus said to the disciples and to theapostles, “As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you.” Every believer inthat sense is sent. We are sent with a commission to share the good news ofJesus Christ. Butthere were only twelve who laid the foundation of the church in the NewTestament. That is very important to know. Today we should not claim to be anapostle. We should claim to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ. We havebeen sent even as an Apostle was sent, but we are not apostles because we didnot physically witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was thequalification given in Acts 1. Aswe study these four offices of the church that are mentioned by Paul here, theyshould encourage us to be what God wants us to be with our spiritual gift inthe church so the body of Christ can function as it should. Godbless!

Interestingly, when you come to the subject of spiritual gifts in the NewTestament and in the church today it can be a matter of division rather thanunity. People have so many different opinions and ideas and biblical teachingsthat they're given about spiritual gifts that there's division in the churchover the gifts. That happened in the church of Corinth. It is apparent that inthis early church some believers thought because they had certain spiritualcharismatic type gifts that they were more spiritual than other people. Theywere puffed up about it. No doubt that's why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13, wherehe talked about love. Basically, he writes and tells us that the exercise ofthe gifts of the Spirit without the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, whichis love, the gift “profits nothing”.  Weshould practice and exercise our spiritual gifts that we have been individuallygiven in the spirit and motivation of love to glorify God. When we do that, webuild up the body of Jesus Christ, encourage and comfort, and edify one anotheras we read in the three passages of scriptures that have to do especially withspiritual gifts. Remember the three main passages in the New Testament on thissubject are Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 and here in Ephesians 4.Itis important to remember as we look at the subject of Spiritual gifts that thereare difference of opinions. I personally teach that the gifts can be dividedinto three categories which are, the speaking gifts, the service gifts, and thesign gifts. For examples, in the early church the speaking gifts, would haveincluded teaching, exhortation, and prophecy. The service gifts would have includedadministration, giving, ministering, and mercy. The sign gifts would haveincluded healing, miracles, tongues and interpretation of tongues.  Whenit comes to the giving and exercising of the sign gifts, I personally believe, (andrealize that many Bible teachers and others, and some of my best friends woulddisagree with me when it comes to this particular category of gifts), that thesign gifts ceased with the completion of the New Testament being written. Thesegifts were only for the baby church. Remember in 1 Corinthians 13 when Paulwrote, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, butwhen I became a man, I put away childish things”. , I believe, Paul isindicating that when we have a complete Bible that we did not need the signedgifts. Nowthis doesn't mean that today somebody couldn't speak miraculously speak in anotherlanguage and share the gospel to someone else. It doesn't mean that someonecouldn't pray and experience a healing for themselves or for someone else. Itdoesn't mean that someone can't pray for a miracle and a miracle takes place. Ibelieve all those things are still possible. But as far as a gift to aparticular person who could walk into hospital and empty it because he or she hasthe gift of healing. I just have never met that person today. I don't believeit's necessary because we have the complete Word of God and we don't need signs. Again,this is my opinion, and I have great fellowship with pastors and friends whofeel and believe differently about this particular subject, because we love oneanother and agree the main thing is that lost people need to experience salvationthrough Jesus Christ.  Itrust this has not confused you today but that we focus on exercising our Spiritualgifts for the purpose of edifying, encouraging, and exhorting one another inthe body of Christ with love and unity, and most of all glorify the Lord JesusChrist! Godbless!

Todaywill continue to look at Ephesians 4:7-11. These verses are about the Spiritualgifts that God gives “to each one of us” for unity in the church.These gifts can either be used to build us up or used to tear us down. God hasalready given us the Gift of the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation. Atthat time, we were baptized into the body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit cameto dwell within us. This great truth is taught throughout the Epistles in theNew Testament.  Butalong with the Gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit,also imparted Spiritual gifts into our life. These gifts are many and you willfind them listed in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14 and also in Ephesians 4. Weneed to also understand that these Spiritual gifts are not the naturalabilities that we're born with, such as mechanical ability, musical ability,athletic ability, or artistic ability. No, those are natural abilities anddifferent people have different natural abilities.  Butthese are Spiritual gifts and this gifting is very important for us tounderstand as believers. I'm convinced, we will not find real fulfillment,satisfaction, and real contentment in our lives unless we're fulfilling thepurpose for which God created us. Remember in Ephesians 2:8-10 we learned that Godsaved us by His grace, not just so we could go to heaven when we died, butbecause, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, whichGod prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” He saves us to do “goodworks” for Him through the abilities we have from our Spiritual gifts.  Godknew exactly what gifts the body needed in that particular local church and He “preparedbeforehand” and gifted every believer that became a part of that localchurch with specific spiritual gifts to build up that body of Jesus Christwhich builds up the whole body of Christ around the world. So these arepowerful verses to understand and make sure we begin to comprehend and apply to“each” of our lives as we see in verse 7: “But to each one of us,grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift”.  Paulsaid something similar in Romans 12:4-6: "For aswe have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the samefunction. So we being many are one body in Christ and individually members ofone another." Having then gifts differing according to the grace that isgiven to us, let us use them”. We should make sure we're exercising thosespiritual gifts that God has given us. Thenin verses 8-10, we read something very interesting. These are wonderful versesreminding us that Jesus Christ first descended that He might ascend. And He ledcaptivity captive. I believe the meaning of this is that just as we werecaptive to Satan by sin before salvation, Jesus Christ because He wasvictorious over death and sin and hell and the grave, He now takes us captivefor His glory, and gives the Spiritual gifts that we need to serve Him. “Jesusdescended that He might ascend”. He descended in obedience to “death of thecross and for that God has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name that isabove every name…” (Philippians 2:8-11).  Jesus“descended to the lower parts of the earth”. I believe that this couldmean that Jesus took there those in paradise previous to the cross and He ledthem up to the third heaven. And Jesus also delivered us from our captivity tosin and Satan and made us His captives to be free to live holy and Godly livesand gave us the Spiritual gifts to serve Him.  Ohmy friend, aren't you so thankful that Jesus “though He was rich, He becamepoor that we through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Wehave the riches of Christ, and the Spiritual gifts that He's given “toeach one of us”, the wealth of Christ Himself living within “eachone of us” today.  Doyou know your Spiritual gifts? Are you using them for the glory of God and thebuilding up of the body of Jesus Christ?

Nowwe are looking at the unity that especially needs to be there because of thegifts of the Spirit which differ for individuals in the church. In the body ofChrist, the Church, we have different gifts, but we should still have unitybecause we need each other, with each other's Spiritual gifts to be built up inthe body of Jesus Christ. We're going to see that this is what Paul is talkingabout in these verses.  So,in these verses 7-11, Paul moves on from what all Christians have in common tohow Christians differ from each other. He's discussing the variety andindividuality within the unity of the Spirit because God has given eachbeliever at least two to three gifts. You find this taught in 1 Corinthians12:4-11: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And thereare differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there arediversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Butthe manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal…..Butall these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every manseverally as He will.” Didyou notice that the “Holy Spirit gives to each man severally as Hewills." I believe that's speaking of at least maybe two to threegifts. I believe we have one primary spiritual gift along with a few others. Ialso believe we can still all practice many of the Spiritual gifts such asserving, giving, faith, and so on. You find these Spiritual gifts listed inthree main passages in the New Testament: Romans 12; here in Ephesians 4, andalso in more detail in chapters 12 through 14 in 1 Corinthians. There you'llfind the list and the discussion of Spiritual gifts by the Apostle Paul tothese three churches: The church at Rome, the church at Ephesus and the churchat Corinth.  Rememberthat the church at Corinth was having major divisions over the use and purposeof Spiritual gifts. It is also very important that we understand from 1Corinthians 12 and from this Ephesians 4 passage of Scripture that the HolySpirit gave the gifts for the unity and the building up of the body. One of thebest definitions of a Spiritual gift I have found is that: A Spiritual Gift is aGod-given ability to serve God and other members in the church in such a waythat Christ is glorified and believers are edified. Which means when the giftsare being exercised properly in the Church, they build up the others as theybuild up the body of Christ.  Thisis what Paul really keys in on here in this passage before us. We'll be lookingat these verses the next few days and how we have a wonderful Christ Who hasgiven these gifts because He's “ascended”. The Holy Spirit has beengiven to the church. He is the “gift of the Spirit” (Acts 2:38-39). Youreceive this “Gift” at the moment of your salvation. But then there are the differentgifts of the Spirit that build up the body of Christ. You personally also receiveyour specific particular gifts at the moment of your salvation even though youmight discover them at a later time. This is what we will be studying overthese next few days.  Today,do you know what your Spiritual gifts are? Godbless!

In the Gospel of John, Jesusused the word “Father” 126 times when He spoke of His relationship withGod. The last of the seven spiritual realities that Paul speaks of, that is theground of our unity, is “one God and Father of all who isabove all and through all and in you all” (v. 6). Nowinteresting Paul basically said the same thing to the church at  Corinth in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: “... yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are allthings, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,and through whom we live”. Paul often used this word Father when he referredto God. (Over 46 times in his epistles). Many times, Paul said, “God theFather”. He also said, “God and Father”. Then Paul would often say “Godour Father”.  “Godour Father”.That the God of the universe, the God who created all things. In a sense, theFather of everything that is in this world came and emanated from our CreatorGod. Yet, that truth doesn't make every one of us today one of His children.Because, as you know, we're told in Ephesians 2, that we are born “childrenof wrath, children of disobedience”. That means we are under the control ofour old nature, of Satan himself in a sense. We are alienated in our minds ourby our wicked works against a holy God (Colossians 1:21).  ButGod loves us so much (John 3:16). He wants us to be in His family. That's whyJohn 1:12 says, "But as many as receive Him, to them He gives thepower, the authority to become the children of God." Then in the bookof 1 John 3:1-2, John again reminds us of this awesome relationship we can havewith God with these words: “Behold what manner of love the Father hasbestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! … Beloved, now we arechildren of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we knowthat when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”.Wow! What love and what a great promise!!!! This is the truth of thespiritual reality that anyone, anywhere, can experience when they believe andtrust the Lord Jesus Christ to be their personal Lord and Savior! Paulin Romans 8:14-17, puts it this way: “For as many as are led by the Spiritof God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondageagain to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,"Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit thatwe are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and jointheirs with Christ…”  Inour despair and pain we can “cry Abba Father, dear Father, daddy Father”. Weare close to Him. He is a Father who cares for us, who loves us, who draws usnear to His bosom, who holds us close. “He is Father of mercies and the God ofall comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).Oh, what an awesome Father God that you and I have who cares for us so deeplythat He would send His Son, His only Son. He's the Father of our Lord JesusChrist in the trinity. He is Father of us as we trust Him to be our Lord andSavior. Oh my friend, you can call Him, “my Father”. The Lord's prayerteaches us to pray “Our Father who art in heaven”. Why? Because againit's speaking of the unity of believers.  So,in these seven spiritual realities that Paul points out, we have the purity ofour doctrine. Oh my friend, that's who weneed to worship. The true, the living God, the God who sent His Son, JesusChrist. Be encouraged today if you're a believer. Despite what else ishappening around you, what's going on that might be bad or tragic in your life,God can be your Father today. He loves you. He cares for you. He yearns for youto come to Him with all your needs, with all your hurts, with all your pain.He's ready to heal them through His Holy Spirit and through the blood of JesusChrist He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Would you come to Himtoday? He's waiting for you just as the father waited for the prodigal sonthere in Luke 15.

Todaywill continue to look at Ephesians 4:4-6 where we talk about the ground of ourunity. Remember in verses 1-3, Paul was talking about the grace of our unity.We have longsuffering, gentleness, and humility. We bear with one another inlove. That's the grace of our unity and now we need the basis of our unity.What gives us unity? Oneness in Jesus Christ. Oneness in our church. Unitywhere there's diversity and yet we have a unity of love and kindness and gracewith each other.  Theworld should see this love and oneness that Jesus prayed about in John 17 becausewe are one with Christ and in Christ. Because we are one with God we can loveone another despite our differences. Oh, my friend, how the church needs thatunity today. The local body of Jesus Christ caring for one another, praying forone another, working together as we serve the one Lord and God of our Father ofour Lord Jesus Christ.  SoPaul writes about the seven spiritual realities that we in verses 4-6. Thefirst five being: one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith. Now, thelast two of these spiritual realities are one baptism and one God and Father inverses five and six.  “Onebaptism”.I believe the baptism here that the Apostle Paul is writing about is thebaptism that takes place at the moment of our salvation. In 1 Corinthians 12:13Paul wrote, "For by one Spirit we are baptized into one body."For sure there is a difference of opinions when it comes to the teaching of thebaptism of the Spirit in the New Testament. I personally believe that there wasan initial, unique, one time in history experience, that took place when the120 disciples in the upper room praying in one accord (Acts 2:1-3).  Thishappened on the day of Pentecost, (that's 50 days after Passover), when theHoly Spirit came down on these disciples with tongues of fire and they werebaptized into the body of Christ and the church was birthed. Jesus had toldthem to: "Tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father, theHoly Spirit", in Acts 1. For 10 days they had waited and prayedtogether. Then on that tenth day, a one-time historical event took place as the120 were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Laterthat day, when Peter preached, 3,000 souls were saved. At the moment of eachsalvation of those 3,000 people, each one individually was baptized into thebody of Christ. If you want to read details about this, read Acts 1-2. Anotherpassage that speaks of this spiritual experience that takes place in the lifeof each believer when they get saved, is 1 Corinthians 12. Paul speaks of the diversityof gifts but “the same Spirit”. There are differences of ministry orservice but “the same Lord”. In verse 6, he says there's diversities ofactivities, but “the same God” who works all in all.  Youwill see this theme throughout this chapter, one spirit, same God, one God, oneLord Jesus Christ. And remember Paul is writing to the church at Corinth that'shaving tremendous divisions amongst themselves. He's reminding them when onebody, one spirit, one God, one Father. And now he is doing the same with thechurch at Ephesus.  Sotoday, we need to remember this baptism he is speaking of in Ephesians 4:5 isnot a second experience, third, fourth, fifth, sixth experience of baptism.This baptism only takes place at the moment of your salvation. You're baptizedat that moment into the body of Christ. Read Romans 6:3, where Paul speaks ofwhat takes place at this baptism of the Spirit. "Don't you know that asmany of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, we were baptized into Hisdeath?"  Again, this takes placeat our salvation.  So,there is only “one baptism”, and you don't need to look for asecond, third, or fourth, or fifth baptism. It's already taken place. Surely, aswe dwell on these things and think about what God has done for us in Christ, wecan have true unity one with another. Godbless!

Happy Thanksgiving Psalm 100 & 145 Make a joyful shout tothe LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presencewith singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and notwe ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into Hisgates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, andbless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth enduresto all generations.  HappyThanksgiving!!!!! Iprerecorded my chat for today knowing I would be in Virginia with family for Thanksgiving.Myfamily is taking advantage of this special day to also get together for a very specialfamily reunion in Lynchburg at Thomas Terrace Baptist Church where my brother Markis pastor. My youngest sister, Janet Baldis, flew in from Slovakia with her husbandCharles. My middle sister, Beverly Riggins, drove down from Pennsylvania withher husband Ronnie.  Ibelieve almost all of our children, and all their children will be able toattend, along with all of the grandchildren. Cousins will see each other forthe first time in years. Some of the grandchildren will be meeting and seeingeach other for the first time ever. This is our first family get together sincemy mother passed away in October 2018.  Notonly will we celebrate Thanksgiving, but we are also taking advantage of this timetogether to have a celebration of life and memorial service for our oldestsister, Lynda Smith, who went to be with Lord earlier this month on November 6in Denver Colorado. This service in the TTBC sanctuary will give us theopportunity as a family to celebrate her life and honor her memory. Despiteall the difficulties, hardships, disappointments, and challenges over the manyyears that we have faced as a family, we still have so so much to be gratefuland thankful for. Our parents left us a powerful and wonderful legacy andwitness of living the blessed life of total dedication and surrender to the LordJesus. Lynda is now a beautiful part of the legacy! God has been so good to allof us! Today,I trust you will take the time to reflect and remember the blessings andgoodness of the Lord in your life on this special day of Thanksgiving. I feltimpressed to read both Psalm 100 and 145 for today's chat to help us lift upour praise and thankfulness to the LORD for His love, truth, mercy and graceover the many years! All these blessings are wonderfully and beautifully foundin the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!! Godbless!

Todaywe're looking specifically at Ephesians 4:5 where we read of the fifthspiritual reality, “One faith”. Sofar in verse 4, Paul has already mentioned one body, one Spirit, one hope. Andyesterday we talked about one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is Lord overall. Now today we're talking about the next word, one faith. One faith. Nowit's important that we remember we're talking about unity. What brings aboutunity in the local body of Christ amongst believers is found in this essentialspiritual reality that is called “one faith”. Now the word “faith”here is not speaking of a personal faith that we have. Like when we say, I haveput my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I put my faith in His resurrectionpower. I have faith to believe that God's going to do this or that. No, thisword here is not speaking of that kind of faith. That's a personal faith.  The“One Faith” here, is speaking of an objective faith. This “onefaith" transcends mere personal conviction or subjectivetrust; it represents the objective, divinely revealed body of doctrine thatforms the bedrock of Christianity. This “one faith” is speakingof the body of truth were find in the Word of God that you and I hold dear toour hearts we're not going to let change. So, it's “one faith”.There are not many paths to God. There is only one path to God. That path isthrough the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not “two faiths”, “five faiths”, or “tenfaiths”. It's “one faith”, one body of truth that brings us into arevelation, a knowledge of who God really is through His son Jesus Christ.  Wecan't miss the importance of this truth! We live in a day of apostasy. We livein a day when the Gospel message has been watered down. We have a good God, a gooddevil, a good everybody. Be good. Do your best. Go to church. Try to keep theten commandments the best you can do, and God will understand in the end. Butmy friend, that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible gives us one faith, onebody of truth that guarantees us an eternal salvation through our faith inChrist, in Christ alone. So, we have “one faith”.  Theessentials of this faith include the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His deity. Heis God manifest in the flesh! I believe a great verse that speaks of this isJude 1:3. Jude writing to the believers says, "Beloved, while I wasvery diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found itnecessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faithwhich was once for all delivered to all the saints. For certain men have creptin unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly menwho have turned the grace of our God into lewdness deny the only Lord God ourLord Jesus Christ." Sothe faith that he's speaking of here is this body of truth, this original bodyof truth that the apostles have delivered to us once for all, it's unchanging.It's not negotiable. It has been always the same. My friend, Jesus Christ isthe same yesterday, today, and forever. “One faith”. This includes Jesus Christ'svirgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, Hisascension into heaven where He's seated at the right hand of the Father rightnow. This includes salvation by grace through faith alone, not works. Thisspeaks of the Trinity, God in three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Thisspeaks of the authority of the Holy Scriptures as inspired and infallible. Thisspeaks of moral ethical living, holiness, love, and avoidance of sin in ourlives.  This“one faith” speaks of the hope of Jesus Christ and His bodily returnone day and eternal life that is through Him alone. My friend, that's the “onefaith” we must hold dear in our hearts and “earnestly contend for” eventoday.  Godbless!

Todaywe're continuing to look at Ephesians 4:4-6. One of the outstanding characteristicsand testimony of the early church we read about in the early chapters of the Bookof Acts was that “they were in one accord” (Acts 1:14; 2:1, 46; 4:24,32; 5:12). So much so that in Acts 4:32 it was said of them: “Now themultitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither didanyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had allthings in common.” Theyprayed to the same Lord. They prayed to the same God. They had the same HolySpirit working in each one of them. And because of that, they were in oneaccord. My friend, when you're in one accord with the fellow believers aroundyou, there is the awesome power of God that comes down upon us to be a greatwitness to all the world around us, in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and tothe uttermost parts of the earth. Remember that the light that shines thebrightest at home shines the farthest.  Thegreatest hindrance to the church to the witness of the church is the fact thatso many times in our churches, the believers who claim to have the same Lord donot get along with each other. That's why Paul wrote the whole book of FirstCorinthians. He heard that there were divisions among them. So much so that inhis introduction to them in 1 Corinthians 1:10 he wrote: “Now I plead withyou, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak thesame thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectlyjoined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Herein Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul reminds us of the spiritual realities that make usone, one in unity, unity in the church despite our diversity and differences. Yesterdaywe talked about, “One body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling” (v. 4).Today we will be looking at the next spiritual reality, which is “One Lord”(v. 5).  InRomans 14:3-10, Paul wrote these words to the church at Rome, dealing with thedivisions they were having in their church. "He who observes the day,observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to theLord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for hegives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat,and gives God thanks. .. . For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to theLord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For tothis end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord ofboth the dead and the living.  Now,this is powerful reminder that because we are a part of one body, one Spirit, andhave one hope of our calling, and knowing one day we will stand before the LordJesus Christ and give an account of our attitudes and actions we should “endeavorto keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  This is also possible because we should rememberthat we are serving “the same Lord” (Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:5).  Jesusis either Lord of all, or He's not Lord at all. When there's contention amongus, it's because we have forgotten that we have the same Lord that we worship,that we follow, that we submit to, that we surrender to. If there's contentionin the church, it's always because of a person who has pride in his heartthinks he knows better maybe than the others or he has pride in his heartbecause he thinks he's better than others or he thinks he has more spiritualgifts or he's given more than others in the church. Proverbs 13:10 tells usthat: “Only by pride cometh contention…”. My friend, these things oughtnot to be. There should be oneness of spirit, oneness of heart, oneness ofpurpose and mission in our churches. When we have that, it's because there werecognize that there is one Lord. IsJesus the Lord of your life today. Is Jesus honored and worshipped as Lord in yourchurch? How can there be disunity when we're loving and serving the “sameLord”?  

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 4:4-6 where the Apostle Paul is giving us the sevenspiritual realities that unite us in Jesus Christ. There must be a foundationaltruth that makes us one. Our oneness is based on and because of theseseven realities that are given to us at the moment we trust Jesus Christ as ourpersonal Lord Savior.  Atthe moment of our salvation, we were baptized into the body of Jesus Christ. Read1 Corinthians 12, where Paul is dealing with a church that's in tremendousdivision. One of their divisions is over the matter of spiritual gifts and whohas the best gifts. Paul deals with this subject by taking them back to thefoundational truth of the Holy Spirit and His giving the gifts of the Spirit,that are given to every member in the body.  “For as the body is one and has manymembers, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, soalso is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whetherJews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink intoone Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13-14). Paul uses the analogy of the humanbody to describe this foundational truth to help us to understand it. I only haveone body. I don't have three bodies or four bodies different bodies. I don'thave the option to jump into this body today, and tomorrow I wake up and say, “Iwant to dress up in this next body”.  No,I only have one body God has given it to me not only duration of this life onearth, but He's given it to me for eternity. One day God will glorify even thissame frail fallen body for eternity. My friend, this is a foundational truth.Just as the body is one, it has many members. I have hands, I have eyes, feet.Paul goes through those different aspects of the body and what they individuallydo, but it's one body they work together. Eachmember of our body helps and cares for the other members. They are not jealousof each other because it is one body. This is the same spiritual reality thatis ours in Christ, the moment of our salvation as it says in verse 12 and 13: “Foras the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were allbaptized into one body”. Nowback to Ephesians 4:4 where Paul writes, “one body, one Spirit”. There'sonly one Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that dwells lives in me, lives inyou. This is what gives us unity, one body, one Spirit, working for theselfsame purpose to build up the body, the church of Jesus Christ, to exhortone another encourage one another so much more as we see the day approaching. Thattakes us to the next spiritual reality. “Just as you were called in one hopeof your calling.” This “one hope of your calling” has to do with thesecond coming of Jesus Christ. It is also called “the blessed hope” (Titus2:13). We are looking forward to Jesus coming one day. Paul is talking aboutthis also in Romans 8:23-25: “Not only that, but we also who have thefirstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerlywaiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in thishope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for whathe sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it withperseverance”. Wewere called to look forward to this “one hope” that one day Jesus is comingback for us! 1 John 3:2-3 promises it this way: “Beloved, now we arechildren of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we knowthat when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Andeveryone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”. Whata blessed and glorious hope is ours today!!! So,the spiritual reality is: one body, one Spirit, one hope. We have fourmore to look at over the next few days. Godbless!

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 4:4-6. Yesterday we talked about the grace of unityin verses 1-3. This is a unity in the church among the members that aredisplayed in our humility, our gentleness, our longsuffering, our bearing withone another, and which we continually endeavor to keep so that the world aroundus sees our love for one another, and most of all, the great love of God forthe world through Christ and His cross. Butmy friend, we are not to compromise our foundational beliefs to experience thisunity. There are so many churches and people today that attempt to uniteChristians in a way that is not biblical. They say things like, "We're notreally interested in doctrine, but in love. Let's just love one another. Let'sset aside what we believe just love one another." My friend, that'scompromise. We cannot compromise the essentials of the faith, the foundationsof the faith. Pauldid not discuss spiritual unity in the first three chapters; he waited until hehad laid the doctrinal foundation. While not all Christians agree on some minormatters of Christian doctrine, they all do agree on the foundation truths ofthe faith. Unity built on anything other than Bible truth is standing on a veryshaky foundation. Now in verses 4-6, Paul names at least seven basic spiritualrealities that unite all true Christians. Didyou notice one word that got repeated over again? “One..”. Why? Paulis making it really clear there is a foundation, a ground for our unity. Thereis a ground for our faith that we must realize we cannot compromise. So, inessentials we have unity. In non-essentials we have liberty. But in all of ourbeliefs we have charity. We can still have truth in love. Even when we disagreeon a foundational doctrinal truth with someone else, we can still love themhopefully they can still love us.  Butwe cannot compromise the foundations of our faith which basically is JesusChrist was born of a virgin. Jesus lived a sinless life. Jesus died a vicariousdeath, a substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary. He was buried. He roseagain physically on the third day. And He ever lives to make intercession forus. There's only one way of salvation that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Churchmembership doesn't save you. Works does not save you. Just getting baptized andgetting wet doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ, believing, putting yourhope and trust in His salvation through the cross through His resurrectionpower is what saves us from the guilt and penalty of our sin. These are thefoundational truths. They cannot be compromised.  Inverse 4, Paul points out that there is “one body. Paul is speaking aboutthe one body of Christ in which every believer is a member. We find this in 1Corinthians 12:13: Ofcourse, this is the body of Christ, which is His church. Romans 6:3 teaches us that we should know: “we were baptized into the bodyof Christ”. This means that we were placed into Jesus Christ at the momentof our salvation! We are in one body in Christ. This is a spiritual realitythat we need to contemplate, think about, meditate on, believe with all of ourheart. Interestingly,every Tuesday morning at 8:30, at a local church here in Sneads Ferry NC, Imeet with a group of pastors from various denominations. For a fact, we do notagree on every specific area of church practices and beliefs when it comes tocertain ideas about tongues, about predestination, the particulars on the returnof Christ, music or whatever. But I assure you, that we all agree on theessentials of the foundation of faith. These men love one another. They prayfor one another. They love the people of God. They love the community we livein, and missions. In the four years I've been praying with them we are seeingand experiencing God do phenomenal things in our community because we arepraying in one accord. Despite the different names and denominations we are “onein Christ”.  

WhenPaul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians, he told them, "Because you arecarnal, acting like babies, there is strife and division among you.” Someof you are saying you're of Paul. Others are saying, 'I'm of Peter.' Others  claimed to be in the Apollos crowd, while somewere saying, 'We're more spiritual than the rest because we're ofChrist.'" Because of this problem Paul wrote the First Corinthian letterto correct them because of this disunity, the disharmony, the strife anddivision that exist in the church there in Corinth. Sounds like too manychurches today! Nowin this letter to the church at Ephesus, after Paul gives them their positionin Christ, the first thing he addresses is the need to have unity of spirit,unity of heart, unity of mind, have one goal. My friend, over the years I've experiencedthat the church that's focused on Jesus, the church that's focused on who He is, on what He has done for us, focused onbeing obedient in fulfilling the Great Commission, is a church full of peoplethat will get along with each other, love each other, care for each other, worktogether for the glory of God, as they set their own agenda, ambitions, and preferencesaside.  Howimportant this is and that is what Paul is addressing in the first three verseshere. That's the unity that comes from the grace of God that we are enjoying,as we follow Him, live in Him, and walk in Him. We are to walk worthy of our callingin Christ. We do that with all “lowliness”, which of course is humility(v. 2). Jesus began His first public message with these words, “Blessed arethe poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God”. The first beatitudeis being humble, being a beggar, realizing how helpless you are without theLord. The moment you think you have humility is the moment you lost it, myfriend. Because it's an attitude, where every moment of every day, you die toyourself, and you're alive in Christ unto God for the glory of God, loving oneanother. So lowliness, humility, is the first grace of unity we see. Thesecond grace of unity is “gentleness”, which also is translated “meekness”.Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Meekness does not mean weakness. Itmeans power under control. It means you have yielded your ambitions, yieldedyour preferences. You've yielded your ownership of everything in your life tothe Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shallinherit the earth”. Meekness means that you give up your right to yourselfas you die to self and you live unto the Lord and let Him live His life throughyou. A “gentle” attitude goes a long way in building unity in the church! Thenthere is “longsuffering” (v. 2). “Longsuffering”, which means “long-tempered”,is the ability to endure discomfort without fighting back. Then it goes on tosay “bearing with one another in love”. Remember, “love suffers long” (1Corinthians 13:4). Have you noticed that these graces of unity are basically thesame as the “fruit of the Spirit” that we find in Galatians 5:22; “Thefruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”. Howwonderful. When you're filled with the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is beingdisplayed in your life and there is the unity.  Thenthere must be “endeavoring”. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of theSpirit…” (v. 3). Literally it reads "being eager to maintain, orguard, the unity of the Spirit." Finally, there is the grace of unitythat is “the bond of peace”. Peace within your own heart. Peace betweenmembers. We must first experience “peace with God”, then the “peace of God”that rules in our hearts that brings us to peace with one another.  Whenwe all do that, there is this grace of unity that rules in the body of Christ andthat displays the love of God to a lost world around us. May God help us to experiencethis unity today. 

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 4:1-3. The first 16 verses of this chapter is aboutthe unity, the unity of the body of Christ, the church. Having unity in thechurch that shows forth to the world that we are one in Christ. We love oneanother. Jesus had told His disciples, "By this shall all men know thatyou are my disciples because of your love for one another" (John13:35). To truly love one another means will manifest itself in unity. We setaside our differences, our preferences, and out of God's love and reservoir ofHis great endless love, we are now able to forgive one another, love oneanother, and have unity in the church. Inthese first 16 verses, we see four very important things about this unity. Inverses 1-3, we see the grace of this unity. Then we see in verses 4-6, theground of unity. How that we are one in spirit, one in body, one in theFather, one in the Son, one in baptism. Then we'll see in verses 7-11, thegifts of unity. The gifts of the body of Christ that He has given us that enablesus to serve one another and to work together. Then in verses 12-16, we see thegrowth of unity, as we grow into the fullness of Christ. Meaning we areChristlike in our attitude toward one another. We're Christlike in our attitudetoward the lost world around us. Having the heart of Jesus that shows forth thematurity of the Christian believer. AsI was studying for this chat this morning, I couldn't help but think if I as apastor again, I would not just recommend, I would require every new churchmember, indeed every church member, to read Ephesians 4 over and over again,almost memorize it. Nowthis unity is so important. What we must remember is, unity is not uniformity.Unity comes from within. It's a spiritual grace. While uniformity is the resultof pressure from without. The real church is not everybody dressing alike,looking alike, sounding alike, talking alike. You see some churches like that.That's not the real church. The real church is diversity with unity. Unity withdiversity. We have old people with gray hair, white hair, sitting there lovingJesus, loving the children, loving the young couples. We see the young couplesand the children loving the old people. We see the people that like and preferthe Christian contemporary music loving the people that like the Beethoven typeof Christian music. And vice versa. We are people that get along with eachother despite our differences. This is “the unity of the Spirit in the bondof peace” as we read in these first three verses. Remember in verse 1, Paultells us to, "Walk worthy of the calling by which you werecalled." What were we called to?  We are called to unity.  Thenin verses 2-3, we see how that is possible. With all lowliness, gentleness,with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep theunity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Here we see seven differentattributes or graces of this unity that we should be experiencing in ourchurches. The first one is “with all lowliness”. The other word for “lowliness”is humility. We humble ourselves. We prefer one another over the other, andover ourselves. It means we put Christ first in our lives. And because we putHim first in our lives, others around us are being loved, and ourselves are putlast. Real JOY is Jesus first, Others second, and Yourselflast.  Oh,my friend, may God help us to pray that we have that unity in our churchestoday. The sad thing is that so many churches today have a reputation of a handfulof people running and ruining the church. Always making problems that causesdisunity that destroys the love of Christ in the body of Christ and destroys ourwitness and testimony to the world around us.  MayGod speak to our hearts today through these verses to help us all go back toour churches and endeavor to have this unity in the body of believers in ourlocal church!

Todaywe're moving on to a new chapter, Ephesians 4. As we look at this chapter, weactually are beginning a new section of the book of Ephesians. The first threechapters of Ephesians dealt with doctrine, with knowledge, primarily our positionin Christ. The key word was the wealth that we have already in Jesus Christ. Ithink it's interesting that in the Old Testament, God would say to the nationof Israel, if you obey me, I will bless you. But here in the New Testament, inall Paul's epistles, God is basically saying to the believers, now that I haveblessed you, “therefore”, now walk in me, walk in my love. Live for me like youshould. So we see the first three chapters are doctrinal where the last threechapters of Ephesians are duty. God gives us the doctrine, the knowledge first.What we now know about our position in Christ and in His body, the church,we  should apply these truths to ourlives in a practical way everyday. Some Christians say, "It doesn't matterwhat I believe, just as long as I live right." My friend, it does matterwhat you believe because what you believe determines what your walk will be. Jesussaid, "From out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks".  Thefirst three chapters are about our wealth, our riches in Christ while the lastthree have to do with our walk in Jesus Christ. In chapters 4 through 6, wewill see the word walk will appear several times. We are told to “walkworthy of the calling” (4:1); “walk in love” (5:2); “walk aschildren of Light” (5:8); “walk circumspectly” (carefully) (5:15).  Pauluses two important words in the first verse of chapter 4. The first is “therefore”,and the second is “beseech”. “I therefore a prisoner of the Lordbeseech you”. “I therefore”, by that He means what I have already saidbefore, based what I've said before concerning the knowledge the wealth andriches you have in Christ. Paul uses this same reasoning in Romans 12:1-2, “Ibeseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present yourbodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonableservice. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by therenewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable andperfect will of God.” Inthe first 11 chapters of Romans, Paul basically gave us the doctrine ofsalvation. Then in chapter 12, he exhorts us to now live a sacrificial life forChrist, which in the only reasonable thing to do because of His love andsacrifice He made for us! We first know Christ, then we begin to live Christ,to love Christ, now we are to walk Christ. This is so important.  InEphesians 4 we see this walk that Paul is writing about to us to have is a walkin unity. Walk worthy of the calling to which you are called. How? “Inlowliness and gentleness and longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” Paulis asking us to walk in unity (4:1-6, walk in purity (4:7-5:17), walk withharmony (5:18-6:9), and in walk in victory (6:10-24). Again,the main idea in these first sixteen verses in Ephesians 4 is the unity ofbelievers in Christ. This is simply the practical application of the doctrinetaught in the first half of the letter: God is building a body, a temple. Hehas reconciled Jews and Gentiles to Himself in Christ. The oneness of believersin Christ is already a spiritual reality. Our responsibility is to guard,protect, and preserve that unity.  Godhas given us such a marvelous calling in Christ; now it is our responsibilityto live up to that calling. Maythe Lord help us to do that today! Godbless!

Todaywe're looking at the last two verses in Ephesians chapter 3. Along withPhilippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, theseare two of the most quoted verses in the Bible that we hear when people finishtheir prayer. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above allthat we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be gloryin the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. Whata powerful ending to this chapter!Paulseems to want to use every word possible to convey to us the vastness of God'spower as found in Jesus Christ. He has ended each of the two previous chapterswith praise to God for His great victory in Christ. He tells us that Christ'spower is so great He arose from the dead and ascended far above all (1:19-23).He teaches us that His power is so great He has reconciled Jews and Gentiles toeach other, and to God; and that He is now building a temple to the eternalglory of God (2:19-22). But in the paragraph before us, Paul shares theexciting truth that this, far “above all power”, is available to us! Itis even "above all that we ask or think." In other words, thepower of Christ, like the love of Christ, is beyond human understanding ormeasurement. And this is just the kind of power you and I need if we are towalk and war in victory. Theword "power" is again dunamis, which we met back in Ephesians 3:7;and "working" is energeia (energy) found in Ephesians 1:11, 19; 2:2;3:7; and 4:16. Some power is dormant; it is available, but not being used, suchas the power stored in a battery. But God's energy is effectual power—power atwork in our lives. This power works in us, in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). RememberPhilippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to doof his good pleasure”. We can't even begin to imagine what it means that theeternal, creator God of the universe, through His Holy Spirit, is working inus!!!!! I'llnever forget I had a car for years that when it got cold below 30° the crazycar wouldn't start. Somehow or another, a disconnection took place between thebattery and the starter as I tried to start the car. I'm telling you, myfriend, in Christ Jesus, all the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, allthe power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, all the power that God wants usto have to live and do what He wants us to do, to be what He wants us to be, toaccomplish what He wants us to accomplish, is available in us. Ifwe could only understand and believe this and comprehend this! But our lack of experiencingthis power being released in our lives is because a disconnection has takenplace. Maybe, like my car, we get cold in our Christian experience. We're notreading our Bible. We're not praying as we should. We've lost fellowship withthe Lord. We've allowed some sin or corruption to get in our lives and heartslike the corrosion on the battery cables. I'm telling you my friend, when thattakes place we lose that connection. The power is still there, but we have lostthe connection because of unbelief, unconfessed sin, careless living and becauseof lack of love or grace that we need in our lives. Myfriend, oh my friend, today realize the available power, the resurrectionpower, the power that raised Jesus from the dead. God Himself is at work in usif we'd only allow Him to flow through us for His glory. Note in verse 20 “ToHim be glory in the church by Christ Jesus”. This power is not given to usso we can build bigger churches, live better lives, or even to do a greater workfor Christ. No, it's all to the glory of Jesus Christ. That power is available butwhen we want to use it selfishly, God doesn't give it to us. He doesn't releaseit within us. But when we live for the glory of God, oh, awesome and wonderfuland powerful things take place for His kingdom's sake.  

Todaywe're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition that the Apostle Paul madefor the church at Ephesus here in Ephesians 3:14-19. It's very important thatwe remember that as Paul prayed this prayer, these four petitions have to dowith Christian growth, Christian maturity. Paul was concerned that every mancould be made perfect, mature in Jesus Christ. That was his goal. Not just towin people to Christ and say, "Oh, another one's going to heaven."But that he could present these dear believers before Christ as mature peoplewho have learned to live for the Lord, love the Lord, and let the Lord live Hislife through their lives. (Colossians 1:27-29). Myfriend, this is what Paul toiled, struggled, and prayed for. This is what weneed, to “be filled with all the fullness of God”. This is whatwe need to pray for other believers. In verse 14, Paul said, "For thisreason I bow my knees." He had a purpose when he prayed. I mean, when Ipray, I want something to happen. I want God to make a difference in the livesof people. I pray for a reason, not just to say some words with my head bowedand my eyes closed, but praying with purpose.  It'sso important we understand that when we are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ, andwe are obedient to the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us and gives us an assignment,that there is an energy that begins at that moment of obedience. It's anemotional energy. It's a physical energy. It's a mental energy. Most of all,it's a spiritual energy that energizes us to do the will of God. So, with ourmind, we say, "I want to do the will of God. I will do the will ofGod." But then when we're obedient to put our foot forward, to raise ourhand to say, "Here I am, Lord, send me." Or then we go forward in theservice, go to Bible college, or volunteer to take that Sunday school class, orwhatever it is, at that moment of obedience, we have a new energy and power todo God's will.  Toget out of bed in obedience and spend another 10 minutes before we leave forwork, reading our Bibles, and spending some time in prayer with the Lord,asking for grace for the day, dealing with the issues of the day in prayerbefore we begin the day. That energy that comes when we're obedient to read HisWord, obedient to pray, obedient to go to church, obedient to share our faithwith others around us. That's when we experience the energizing strength andpower of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paulsays, "That's what I'm praying for, that Christ may dwell in your heartsthrough faith." It's by faith we live. We do not walk by sight. We do notlook at the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen, the thingsthat are eternal. We see God at work around us. We join Him in that work. Webecome a part of what He's doing. We're co-laborers with God and with others asthe Gospel is being shared. We then experience God in a new and a fresh wayevery day. ThenPaul prays that, "you may be able tocomprehend with all the saints ... and be filled with all the fullness of God”. We both comprehend and apprehend.Comprehend means that we mentally know this is what God's truth is. Toapprehend means that we make it our own. We grab hold of it. We lay hold on GodHimself and know it's God, Christ, the Holy Spirit working in us to do the willof God.  Oh,my friend, what a wonderful life this is. It is then that we experience the “widthand length and depth and height of God's love. It is immeasurable. It's allabout the love of Christ that's found in the redemptive work of Christ on thecross of Calvary. We experience that love and we are filled with thefullness of God. We express God's life through our life. People see God in us. Because you'refilled with the fullness of God, which is being filled with the Holy Spirit. Godbless you as you meditate on these truths today for the glory of God.

Todaywe're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition, that the Apostle Paulprayed for the saints there at the church of Ephesus. The first thing he prayedfor in verse 16 is that they would “be strengthened with might through HisSpirit in the inner man”. They'd have spiritual energy to live for the LordJesus Christ and to do the will of God. Secondly, Paul prayed, “that Christmay dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and groundedin love”. So, the second thing now Paul is praying for is the depth oftheir spiritual experience in Christ. How deep is your spiritual life? Youknow, so many Christians are like a mile wide and an inch deep. They display alot of Christianity until they end up in a different situation, a crisis, thenit's revealed they have no depth to their Christian life. That's what Paul ispraying for, that there would be depth in their spiritual walk with God. Heuses three words in verse 17 to speak of this depth. The first word is “dwell”.Then the second is “rooted”. The third word is “grounded”.  Theword “dwell” is a word that speaks of Christ being at home in our hearts. WhatPaul is praying for is a deeper experience between Christ and His people. Heyearns for Christ to settle down and feel at home in their hearts—not a surfacerelationship, but an ever-deepening fellowship. Not only are we at home inChrist, He's at home in our hearts. Abraham is a good illustration of this.When God and the two angels came to see Abraham after He has promised him ason, God felt at home with Abraham. He sat down to have a meal with him. Heconversed with him. He talked with him. But then, God had another thing on Hisagenda, that was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He didn't go to Lot'shouse. He sent the two angels because He didn't feel at home in Lot's heart.So, my friend, to dwell in our hearts means Christ is at home. He has a placewhere He can commune and fellowship with us. Jesus is always a welcome guest. Now,already we are saints. That's what Paul addressed these Christians at Ephesuswith in the very first verse of the book: “To the saints at Ephesus”. So,they're saints already. They are already in Christ. Christ is already in them.But the question is, does Christ dwell in your hearts? Is He abiding in yourheart? (John 15:7-8).  Thesecond word that we see here is the word “rooted”. The verb rootedmoves us into the plant world. The tree must get its roots deep into the soilif it is to have both nourishment and stability; and the Christian must havehis spiritual roots deep into the love of God. Psalm 1:2-3 is a perfectdescription of this word. Jeremiah 17:5-8 is agood commentary on it. One of the most important questions a Christian can askhimself is, "From what do I draw my nourishment and my stability?" Ifthere is to be power in the Christian life, then there must be depth. The rootsmust go deeper and deeper into the love of Christ. Thirdly,we see the word “grounded”. Grounded is an architectural term; it refersto the foundations on which we build. There's only one foundation that can bein our lives and that's the foundation of Jesus Christ. We know that theexperiences of life, the trials of life will expose if we're building on thefirm foundation of Jesus Christ. Which means we have depth. Jesus said it thisway in Luke 6:47-48, He is like a man building a house, whodug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  We'redwelling in Christ. Christ is dwelling in us. We have deep roots into thefoundation, Christ Himself. “Christ is our life” (Colossians 3:4). “Forto me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  That is then the story of our life. It's aChrist-like life. It's exchanged life, as Hudson Taylor put it.  Myfriend, that's what we need to have. That's why Paul prayed for the depth, thedepth of our love in Christ. We should pray for that not only for ourselves,but for others.  Godbless!

Todaywe're specifically looking at Ephesians 3:16. Two things we're going to talkabout and that's, “the riches of His glory” and “in the inner man”.As we look at this passage of scripture, we realize that the power of the HolySpirit is given to us “according to the riches of His glory”. Christreturned to glory. But remember He said, "If I don't go away, I can'tsend the Holy Spirit. But if I go away, I will send the Comforter, the HolySpirit." (John 14; John 16:7). Christ returned to glory and sent theHoly Spirit from heaven to indwell and to empower His people.  So,it's not necessary for us to work something up. The power of God has been sentdown. Jesus said, "Tarry at Jerusalem till the power of the Holy Spiritis come upon you." (Acts 1:4-8). They did tarry and the HolySpirit, 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, came down upon them. The HolySpirit was sent down. The Holy Spirit is the “gift of God” according tothose first passages of Scripture in the book of Acts (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45;11:17). Now the Holy Spirit dwells in us and empowers us.  Goddoesn't give us the Holy Spirit's power out of His riches, but “according toHis riches” and that is a far greater thing. If I'm a billionaire and Igive you $10, I've given you out of my riches. But if I give you a milliondollars, I have given you according to my riches. The first is a portion, butmy friend, the second is a proportion. Oh, God has His riches in heaven thatare immeasurable, unfathomable, endless, eternal. He gives you not out of Hisriches but “according to the riches of His glory”. Nowvery interesting this power is available for “the inner man”.This means the spiritual part of man where God dwells and God lives in us. Weread in Romans 8:16; “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit thatwe are the children of God”. The inner man of the lost sinner is dead (Ephesians2:1), but that inner spirit becomes alive when the Holy Spirit of Christ,Christ Himself comes to indwell us. We find that the inner mancan see in Psalm 119:18, "Open mine eyes that I may see wondrous thingsout of your law." The inner man can hear Matthew13:9, Jesus said, "He who has ears, let him hear."  “Theinner man”has taste in Psalm 34:8; “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. We findwe can feel with the inner man (Acts 17:27). According to 1 Timothy 4:7-8,we find that bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness exercises greatprofit for those who trust and believe in Him. The outward man is perishing.But the inner man, the inner man can be renewed day by day in spite of thephysical outward decay that takes place. I love that passage in 2 Corinthians4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man isperishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our lightaffliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceedingand eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen,but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen aretemporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.  Whatdoes it mean to have the Holy Spirit empower “the inner man”? Itmeans that our spiritual faculties are controlled by God, and we are exercisingthem and growing in the Word (Hebrews 5:12-14). It is only when we yield to theSpirit and let Him control the inner man that we succeed in living to the gloryof God. This means we are feeding the inner man the Word of God, praying andworshiping, keeping clean, and exercising the senses by loving obedience. MayGod help us to trust Him today to have that strength that only He can give forHis glory and for His ministry of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ withthe world around us.  Godbless!

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we're looking at Ephesians 3:14-19. These are powerfulverses reminding us of the Apostle Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus. Inthis prayer, there are four request, but they're not to be looked at asinsulated individual petitions because these four requests are like four partsto a telescope. One request leads into the next one and so on. He prays thatthe inner man might have spiritual strength, which will, in turn, lead to adeeper experience with Christ. This deeper experience will enable him to “apprehend”(to get a hold) of God's great love, which will result in being “filled untothe fullness of God”. So, then, Paul is praying for strength, for depth inour spiritual life, for apprehension, and for fullness.  That'swhat we'll be talking about these next couple days because this prayer, thispetition is so vitally important to our spiritual growth and our spiritualwell-being and our spiritual standing as we fight and stand against the wilesof the evil one (Ephesians 6). Please read the petition in these six versescarefully. Oh my friend, it's almost unimaginable that we have a prayer herethat tells us that on earth we can be filled with the fullness of God. JesusChrist himself was the exact image of God (Hebrews 1:3). He was the fullness ofGod manifest on earth (Colossians 1:19). Now we as His believers, as His light,as His witnesses, can be filled with the same fullness of God to make a bigdifference in the world in which we live.  Oh,if only we as believers would learn this truth and pray for this greatanointing, this great strengthening of the Holy Spirit to make us all that weshould be for the glory of God. The lack of power and weakness of the churchestoday is that we have no idea as far as most believers are concerned what wehave in Christ Jesus and the fullness of God and the riches of His glory that'savailable to us. And that through this prayer that we read about here we can experiencethis power and strength in our lives Thefirst thing Paul prays for is “to be strengthened with might throughHis Spirit in the inner man”. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lifeis evidence of our salvation. Romans 8:9 says: “But you are not in the fleshbut in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyonedoes not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”. Scripture is very clearthat at the moment of our salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us. But thepower of the Holy Spirit is enablement for Christian living. It's this powerthat Paul desires for these believers here at Ephesus.  InActs 1:8, Jesus had said to the disciples, you shall receive power after thatthe Holy Spirit is come upon you. We are told in Luke 4:1, 14, that Jesusperformed His ministry on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit. This power ofthe Holy Spirit is the only resource that we have for Christian living today.When you read through the book of Acts, over and again you see the importanceof the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. There are at least some fifty-ninereferences to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. This is one fourth of allthe references found in the New Testament on the Holy Spirit. Someonesaid, that if God took the Holy Spirit out of the church today, He wouldn'teven be missed because we would just go on working as usual. How sad that thisis so true. We can't imagine the wisdom that we would have, the strength thatwe would, the witness that we would in the world, if we would receive this greattruth and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us. living and working in us, andthrough us.  Today,how real is the Holy Spirit to you? Are you praying to “be strengthened withmight through His Spirit” to face the challenges of living theChristian life in today's godless culture? Are you praying this for others too? Godbless!

Ephesians 3:14-15Forthis reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whomthe whole family in heaven and earth is named. Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3.  It is interestingto note that this chapter begins with these words; “For this reason” (v.1). Paul is basically saying, “For this reason…”, I'm writingthese things concerning the mystery of the church in the first verses of thischapter because he's trying to convey to his readers there at the church ofEphesus that they are rich in Christ, they are wealthy in Christ, they have aninheritance in Christ. We need to be able to claim our wealth that we have inChrist.  “Forthis reason”, I'mwriting to you because this was a mystery and was hidden in ages past, but nowit's being revealed. That is, the unity of the church which gives us the gloryof God in our midst, and gives witness to the world that Jesus Christ is Kingand Lord. He can transform lives. People that hate each other can love eachother. My friend, what a wonderful message we have that we can have peace withGod through our Lord Jesus Christ and peace with one another and unity onlythrough Jesus Christ. The church is that institution God's planted on planetearth. Jesus said, "I'll build my church that we can enjoy theseblessings."  Nowgo down to verse 14, Paul again writes: “For this reason I bow my knees tothe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven andearth is named”.  In verse 1, “Forthis reason”, I write.  So for thisreason, I'm writing to you about the mystery of the church. Now as he closesthe chapter in verse 14, Paul writes “For this reason”, I'm praying foryou. I'm praying that you would know what you have in Jesus Christ.  Thisis a petition and a prayer you and I ought to study and learn to pray for ourfriends, our family, and others, and also the leaders of the church. For thisreason, we bow our knees and pray. When's the last time you bowed your kneesand prayed to the Father?  Paul'sprayer was addressed to "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."In the Bible, prayer is addressed to the Father, through the Son, and in theSpirit. This is the usual pattern, though you do find petitions addressed tothe Son, and possibly to the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13). In Ephesians1:3, Paul calls the Father "the God and Father of our Lord JesusChrist." He was the "God... of our Lord JesusChrist" when Jesus was here on earth, for as man, Jesus lived in totaldependence on God. This title reminds us of Christ's humanity. But God is the "Fatherof our Lord Jesus Christ", because Jesus Christ is eternal God; sothis title reminds us of His deity. Thereis a sense, however, in which all men in general, and Christians in particular,share in the fatherhood of God. Paul states that "the whole family inheaven and earth is named" after the divine Father. That word familycan be translated "fatherhood." Every fatherhood in heaven and onearth gets its origin and name from the Father. He is the great Original; everyother fatherhood is but a copy. Adam is called "the son of God"(Luke 3:38), referring to his creation.  Butbelievers are the "sons of God" by rebirth (John 1:11-13; 1 John3:1-2). All men are not children of God by nature. Instead, they are childrenof disobedience and children of wrath (Ephesians 2:2-3). As Creator, God is theFather of each man; but as Savior, He is only the Father of those who believe.There is no such thing in Scripture as the universal fatherhood of God thatsaves all men. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Thenin verses 16-19, Paul shares four requests in his prayer that we will belooking at for the next several days. Today,can you truly say that God is your Father in heaven because you have been bornagain into His family?Areyou praying with a “reason in mind”? With a divine purpose and motivation tointercede for others? Godbless!

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3:14-15. In the last verses of this chapter, we willbe looking at the prayer  that Paul givesus that could even for you and me today be a model prayer. Paul is teaching us another lesson on prayer.  Thisprayer in verses 14-21 is the second of two prayers that are recorded inEphesians. The first one is in Ephesians 1:15-23. In the first prayer, theemphasis was on enlightenment, but in this prayer, the emphasis is onenablement. It's not so much a matter of knowing as it is on being. It is aboutlaying our hands on what God has for us by faith, making God's riches and Hislove a vital part of our lives. Paul is basically saying here, I want you toget your hands on your wealth in Christ. I want you to realize how vast it is, andstart to use it on a regular daily, moment-by-moment basis in your life. It'sworth noting also that both of these prayers, as well as the other prisonprayers of Paul, (Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-12), are awesome prayersthat you and I can use faithfully and regularly in our own lives, praying forour spiritual well-being and the spiritual well-being of our family and friendsand others in the body of Christ. These prayers deal with the inner spiritualcondition of the man, not the material needs of the body. Remember Paul is inprison. He could be saying, "Oh, I'm hurting. Pray for me. I'm chained up.My wrists are all bloody." No, he didn't ask for those kinds of prayers orteach us to pray those kinds of prayers. Certainly, it's not wrong to pray forphysical and material needs. But the emphasis in these petitions is on thespiritual.  Paulknew that if the inner man is what he ought to be, the outer man will be takencare of in due time. So many of our prayers focus solely on our physical andmaterial needs. They fail to lay hold of the deeper inner needs of our hearts.It would do us good to use these prison prayers as our own, asking God to helpus as we grow in the inner man, believing and receiving the riches of Christ inus, and living on those riches. This is where our great need is. Inverse 14, the first thing that strikes us is Paul's posture: “For thisreason I bow my knees”. (This must have been quite an experience for theRoman soldier that was chained to Paul!). You'll notice in the Bible, nowhereare we commanded any special posture for prayer. It says in Genesis 18:22, thatAbraham “stood before the Lord” when he prayed for Sodom. In first Kings8:22, Solomon “stood” when he prayed to dedicate the temple. David “satbefore the Lord” when he prayed about the future of the kingdom in 1Chronicles 17:16. Jesus “fell on His face” and prayed in the garden ofGethsemane in Matthew 26:39. The emphasis is on the spiritual posture here inthe book of Ephesians.  Aslost sinners, we were buried in the graveyard of sin (Ephesians 2:1). But whenwe trusted Christ, He raised us from the dead, seated us with Christ in theheavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). Because we are seated with Christ, wecan walk so as to please Him (Ephesians 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15). Now we canstand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-13). But theposture that links “sitting” with “walking” and “standing” is “bowing the knee”. Oh,my friend, it is through prayer that we lay hold of God's riches that enable usto behave like Christians, and battle like Christians, as true believers ofJesus Christ. Whether we actually bow our knees, that's not the important thing;but that we bow our hearts and our will to the Lord and ask Him for grace and whatwe need in the real vital matters of our lives. Today,will you take the time to bow your heart before the Lord? Godbless!

Todayin Ephesians 3, we're talking about the mystery of the church. The word mysteryis used at least six times in the New Testament to refer to the church that wasborn on the day of Pentecost. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would comeupon people and anoint them to do special deeds, great works such as Samsondid. But in the New Testament, something new takes place. Something that washidden in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit would not only come down upon thepeople and upon the church (Acts 2:1-4), but He would enter the hearts of thebelievers and dwell there and never leave.  TheHoly Spirit might be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and He might be quenched (1Thessalonians 5:19), but the Holy Spirit will still be there. Our body is thetemple of the Holy Spirit, the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19:20. My friend,we need to believe and understand this truth, this truth of the mystery of thechurch, being born on the day of Pentecost, is now God's agency, God'sinstitution that He is using to spread the Good News, the Gospel to let theworld know that by faith you can have a relationship with God through JesusChrist. The church is “according to theeternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”.  Thisgreat mystery and truth was important to Paul (vv. 1-5). It was important tothe Gentiles that now they could be one with the Jews and be one in Christtogether (vv. 6-8). It was important to the angels (vv. 9-10).  And as we've been seeing through this chapter,it is also very important to the believers that today we should understand thisgreat truth. When God saved Paul, He deposited with him the precious treasuresof the Gospel truth (1 Timothy 1:11). Paul in turn committed these truths to othersand exhorted them to commit the truths to faithful men who would guard and sharethem (2 Timothy 2:2).  And in those apostolicdays, the truth of the church was being made manifest in such a way thateverywhere everyone went and they knew as they became a part of that local bodyof believers, the body of Christ, that they were a part of something specialand they had a plan and program. They had a mission to be on with God, and theyturned the world upside down for Jesus Christ (Acts 17:6). And in a very wicked,evil, cruel world, things changed because of the church.  Today,I believe that the same thing is happening again. I really believe in theselast days before Jesus Christ comes again. This great truth, the mystery of thechurch should be important to us today as we study through the Scriptures. Weknow that this “mystery” is the key to what God promised in the Old Testament.What Christ did in the gospels, what the early church did in the book of Acts, whatPaul and the other writers teach in the epistles, and what God will do asrecorded in the book of Revelation. God's program today is not the headship ofIsrael, Deuteronomy 28:1-13, but the headship of Christ over the church. Wetoday are under a different leadership, dispensation, if you want to call itthat, from that of Moses and the prophets. We must be careful not to confusewhat God has clarified.  Thereason so many churches are weak and ineffective because they do not understandwhat we have and what they have in Jesus Christ. This great truth concerning the church is not a divine afterthought. Itis part of God's eternal purpose in Christ (Ephesians 3:11). When we know this truth, we will have boldness and access with great confidenceinto the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God, and to go forward againstthe gates of hell with the message of Jesus Christ.  Oh,my friend, today, like Paul, we ask that you don't lose heart over what ourspiritual leaders and the people of God might suffer on behalf of sharing thisgood news with the others in the world. This passage of scripture shouldencourage us today to give our all to Christ, live for Him, and let His Gospelbe known to the world around us.

The last verse in Romans 12 speaks ofdealing with the issue of evil in this world. Today'sVeterans Day and I want to take time to thank our veterans. I hope that youhave someone you know that is a veteran and you can give them a personal thankyou for their service to our country. I'm convinced that the Bible teachesthere are four world empires beginning with the Babylonian Empire, then ofcourse the Medo-Persian Empire, then the Grecian Empire, then the Roman Empire(Daniel 2:36-45). The last kingdom that'll be on planet Earth is the kingdom ofour Lord Jesus Christ in His millennial reign. That's what I believe prophetic Scriptureteaches. Which means the Chinese will never rule the world. The Muslimcountries will never rule the world. ISIS will not rule the world. We don'thave to worry about that.  Butwhat keeps them from taking over right now? I'm convinced China would invadeAmerica in a moment's notice if they thought they could win. But my friend,there is something that stands in their way. That is the United Statesmilitary. The might of the United States military. I'm convinced God probablyraised this country up, even though it's not in prophecy, to be that peoplethat stand against evil of this world in the end times. Romans 13 is addressingthis subject of dealing with evil through nations and governments that God hasordained and raised up. “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but toevil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and youwill have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. Butif you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he isGod's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Romans13:3-4). “Heis God's minister”, that'sthe people that God appointed to administered that government. This includesthe soldiers that work in that government, the police officers. And, “If youdo evil, be afraid for He does not bear the sword in vain. For He is God'sminister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil”. I believeGod has raised up America to stand against the evil of this world.  Thankyou veterans!!!! We would not be free today to worship, to share, to give, togo as we do with the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. We would not enjoywhat we enjoy in this great country, America, if it was not for you. Yourwillingness to sacrifice your life when you signed up, when you were drafted,if you were my age back in the days of the Vietnam War. But you served. Youwere willing to sacrifice your life for our country. We can't say thank youenough. Just like I'm a minister as a pastor, you are a minister of God to dealwith the evil of this world.  Haveministered to God through the word of God, through the local church, you'vebeen a minister of God. Now,I'm also convinced the church is really special in God's agenda today. Part ofGod's agenda today is that through the church, we spread the Gospel of peace,the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the responsibility to be soldiers of thecross. I'm afraid as believers in the church, we have lost the mentality ofwhat it is to be a soldier. That's why Paul, who was a good faithful soldier ofthe cross, said in second Timothy 2:2, That we, “Therefore must endurehardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”. A soldier is committed to hardships,to live the hard tough life and be willing to die for the sake of the Gospel. Jesusnever promised us a life of ease as His followers! Weas a church are to be like soldiers. We want to be like Paul, keep the faith,share the good news of Christ and let the world know there's an answer to thebrokenness in their lives. That answer is Jesus Christ Himself. Again,thank you veterans for serving.  Godbless you!

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3:8-13. Early in my ministry at Shenandoah Valley BaptistChurch, on Sunday mornings, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to prayer walk aroundthe church facilities at least seven times. I continued to do this at all thechurches I was privileged to pastor. The verses we are studying today are reallyspecial to me because for the last 15 or so years, every Sunday morning, as Iwould take this prayer walk, I would quote these verses in Ephesians 3,reminding me of the wonderful responsibility and also the privilege and honor Ihave of proclaiming the mystery of the church. I was also praying these verses outloud knowing that the evil angels, “the principalities and powers in theheavenly place”, and Satan himself must tremble at the Word of God as weproclaim the mystery of the fellowship of the church. Verse8: “To me who am less than the least of all the saints. This grace was giventhat I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”As I would quote that verse, I'd remind myself, I'm the less of the least. Ihave been so privileged to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ that was longhidden in the Old Testament, called the mystery. Some people might ask, why didGod keep this mystery hidden for so long? Remember the mystery of salvationwasn't hidden because as far back as Genesis 12 God had promised throughAbraham and his seed that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Jesushad said in John 4 that “we know salvation is of the Jews”. It wasobvious that God's great salvation, His plan of salvation, that would bringredemption to mankind, would come through the Jewish nation, through the Jewishpeople.  Abraham'sseed would give us the Bible, give us the Messiah, give us the Old Testamentexample of a Creator and Holy God working in their midst. And how only by faithcan we experience and know Him. Yes, salvation is of the Jews. But the churchwas a mystery. How is that? That's what these verses are about. Because this ishow that believers can come together as one! Both Jew and Gentile, no matterhow rich or poor, no matter your background, your racial background, or anythingelse. No matter what differences, we can come together in the fellowship of thechurch through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can find grace to forgive eachother. To forgive each other for former offences despite the hurt and pain it mighthave brought us. And we can be one in Christ.  That'sa great mystery in the Old Testament. It's now possible through the blood ofChrist and the creation of the church. I believe the church was born on the dayof Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon the believers in the upperroom. The disciples were told to wait for the promise of the Father. On thatday, when the Holy Spirit came down, something new that took place. The churchwas born. Now the church has the opportunity on earth to make known not only tothe people of the world but even to the principalities and powers in theheavenly places.   That'swhy Paul goes on to say, "And to make all see what is the fellowship ofthe mystery”. The word fellowship could be translated, “thestewardship of the mystery..." Myfriend, what a wonderful mystery that has now been made manifest that we havethe privilege of being a part of. Even Satan trembles when he sees how thatpeople can forgive one another. How they can come together in unity and onenessand fellowship of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a great witness to theworld. People that hated each other now love each other. That is the Gospel ofJesus Christ. This Gospel, that to the lost world is foolishness, but unto uswhich are saved, it is the power of God.  Ohhow wonderful it is my friend, to be a part of His church. This great mysteryhidden in ages past but now made known to us. Today, we have the responsibilityand privilege to share this great news with the world around us.

People talk about the dead church. My friend, the church is not dead. Thechurch is the body of Christ. Christ would have to die for the church to die.But Christ will not die. He is resurrected. The church is alive and well. Theproblem is a bunch of us believers who do not know what our position and power isin Jesus Christ, and we're living as though we are dead. Oh my God, help us towake up to the riches that we have in Christ Jesus that Paul's talking abouthere to the church at Ephesus. AsPaul has already stated, he's been given a ministry because it's been revealedto him and the apostles the power and the ministry of the church. The mysteryof the church, the body of Christ that brings us together and makes us one. Thismystery and ministry is not only important to Paul as an apostle, which hemakes it really clear in verse 8, but it is also important to the Gentiles: "Tome who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given that Ishould preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Paulknows he has a ministry and he has a new power, the power of the Holy Spirit,the resurrected Christ working through him to fulfill the ministry that God hasgiven him.  Heis also making it clear that we as Gentiles, are members of His church, and bothJews and Gentiles, have the same power, have the same opportunity to ministerand serve. We not only have a new position, we have a new power. I love what Paulwrites in verse 7, "Of which I became a minister according to the giftof the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power."Paul is saying that the only way we can fulfill the ministry that God has givenus and exercise the gift that God's given us, is by His grace. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 15:10, “Only by His grace, I am what I am." We need toremember that God's marvelous and wonderful grace is given to us when we humbleourselves. “God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble” (James4:6). As we've already stated in previous chats, grace is everything we need,to be all that we should be for the glory of God, and to be energized by HisHoly Spirit to do His will!  Paulcalled it “the effective working of His power”.  The word "working" here is energeiafrom which we get our word "energy." People often say to me,"Pastor Mike, how do you get all that energy?" Well the truth is, Idon't feel like I have any energy. I'm physically worn out, especially with myage and my health at this point in my life. But I know that I get energy as Irely upon the Holy Spirit of the living God to work through me. At the momentof my obedience to His calling and leading and to His ministry He's given us,there's an energy that comes into me that's unexplainable.  Thatresurrection energy is the power of God. The word "power" is dunamiswhich gives us our words "dynamic" and "dynamite." Paul hasalready told us about this mighty power in Ephesians 1:19-23, and he willmention it again in Ephesians 3:20 and Ephesians 4:16. The mighty resurrectionpower of Christ is available to us for daily life and service. It is found in in“the unsearchable riches of Christ”, that Paul says he'spreaching among the Gentiles. And this is also what we should be sharing withthe world around us. The unfathomable riches of Jesus Christ.  Oh,we're so wealthy in Jesus. If only we would open our hearts, our minds, and ourlives to this great truth and reality, we would not be dead Christians. We'd beliving Christians sharing the light of the Gospel with everyone around us.  Godhelp us today. The world needs Jesus. He is the only answer to their problemsand difficulties and challenges. And they can only find Jesus through us as weshare Jesus with them. Godbless!

Whenyou read the Old Testament, it mainly is about the covenant promises and thework of God amongst the Jewish nation. The Jewish nation was called of God, setapart for Him and by Him for a specific purpose. That purpose was to make knownto the world that you can know God, the true and the living God, the creatorGod, the only God. And the only way you can know and experience Him is byfaith. That's what the life of Abraham teaches us as you study both the Old andthe New Testament. He not only is the father of the Jewish nation he is thefather of the faithful. This includes both Jew and Gentile who come toexperience God by faith. (Read Romans 4 and Galatians 3).   Theonly way we can learn about God, that we can know God, that we can begin tounderstand and comprehend God, is by faith. The writer of Hebrews made thisclear in Hebrews 11.TheJewish nation was chosen to be an example, to be an illustration, to be atestimony to the world that there is a creator God that wants us to know Him.God revealed Himself to Abraham and the Jews in various ways. As the people ofGod they gave us His written revelation, the Word of God, the Bible, God's holyinspired word and they also give us the Savior, Jesus Christ the Messiah. Godhad this specific purpose for them. But as you know, as you study both the Old  and New Testament and Jewish history, they failmiserably and rejected Jesus. But God already in eternity past had anotherplan. That plan was the church, the called out assembly, the body of JesusChrist. Inthe Old Testament, the church was a mystery, a sacred mystery. It was not knownbefore. That's why Paul was writing here in these verses. In verse 5 he writes:"Which in other ages, was not made known to the sons of men, as it has nowbeen revealed by the spirit to His holy apostles and prophets." Now, myfriend, we've got to understand something. You know, it's been 2,000 yearssince the Apostle Paul was writing to this church at Ephesus and explaining tothem how as Gentiles, they are now in the body of Christ. They now can bereconciled to the Jewish people and be partaker of the promises with them. Thatwas a new thing, a brand new thing. Nowtoday, after 2,000 years of history, we have churches on every corner inAmerica, churches all over the world, a church everywhere. And I'm afraid thatwe take the church for granted. You can go down any Sunday morning in Americaand walk into a church building and become a member of that church by goingforward professing Christ as your Savior, following the Lord in believer'sbaptism and you're part of that church. We take it for granted that we can be apart of the body of Christ.  NowPaul is telling the folks there at Ephesus, this is a mystery. It's now beingrevealed. So it was important to Paul because he knew he was a steward of thismystery. That was the dispensationgiven to him, the stewardship given to him to make sure that the body ofbelievers, the Gentiles and the Jews alike knew that anyone could be a part ofthe body of Jesus Christ by faith through the cross, by faith in Hisresurrection, by faith. Todayyou and I become a part of the body of Christ, and we can now exercisestewardship and ministry and have the hope and the peace and the joy that comesfrom belonging to the body of Christ and being a part of that fellowship ofbelievers. How wonderful is that? I'm telling you, it's awesome. It is importantthat you also understand that the church, the body of Christ is so very special,just like His body was special on earth physically when He was here. Jesus wentto heaven in that body, but today He gave us the opportunity to be a member ofHis body the church. He is the head we're the members, and we're members one ofanother. We have different functions and activities and gifts in the church,but we belong to His church.  Myfriend, what a great privilege! Don't take it for granted!!!!

Todaywe're going to be looking at “the sacred secret” in Ephesians 3. It is what theScripture calls the mystery. The mystery of the church. A plan that God had inages past that was hidden in the Old Testament but is now being revealed in theNew Testament. How that Gentiles can be a part of the family of God. How thatthe church can have unity with both Jews, Gentiles, and anyone and everyone whoby faith receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. A sacred secret thatwas before hidden but now made known to believers to enjoy and to look forwardto. Which is the fellowship that we can have in Christ Jesus with anyone andeveryone who receives Jesus as Christ and Lord of their lives. Nowwith that in mind, I believe as you read this passage and think about it, theseverses will pop out to you. In these first 13 verses, Paul is trying to answerthe question of why he's a prisoner in Rome. He begins by actually saying, “Forthis reason I” and then it seems like he has a parenthesis here because inverse 14 He seems to pick up where he left off and again repeats, “For thisreason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, itappears He was going to say, "I'm going to pray for you to know the loveof Jesus Christ." But then He says, "I need to explain first why I'min prison and what my ministry is and this wonderful sacred secret that you asGentiles and Jews can have unity in your church." Remember chapter 2 endedon the subject of the unity that we should have in the church. Pleaseread again these first nine verses. “For this reason, I Paul the prisoner ofChrist Jesus for you Gentiles. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation ofthe grace of God which was given to me for you”. A dispensation was aspecial period of time where God did a special work amongst people. There aredifferent dispensations of times where God works and uses different methods.But His truth never changes. His principles never change. But His methods, theydo change from time to time. Hesays, "Was given to me for you, how? That by revelation He made knownto me the mystery as I have briefly written already. By which when you read youmay understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages wasnot made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit toHis holy apostles and prophets." What was that mystery? “That theGentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promisein Christ through the gospel of which I became a minister according to the giftof the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me,though I'm the least of all the saints, this grace was given that I shouldpreach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make allsee what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the ageshas been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.” Itwas important to Paul for people to understand and know that God had given hima special ministry, a special calling at his salvation. Remember in Acts 9, hewas told that he would be a light to the Gentiles. He'd bring the gospel to theGentiles. The Jews did not understand this initially. Paul had this calling,and he knew that he was going to be used of God for this specific purpose.Everywhere he went as he founded churches, those churches were made up of bothJews and Gentiles. The mystery was they could have fellowship in Christ. Theycould be joined together in unity because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Myfriend, this “sacred secret” was something hidden in the Old Testament,revealed in the New Testament, and today has great implications for us in ourmodern churches teaching us that we can have unity despite so many preferencesand differences. Our unity is in the fellowship of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Godbless!

Todaywe will begin our study in Ephesians 3 and learn more about who Jesus is, whatJesus has done for us, the mystery of the church, and how we serve Him out oflove. We minister to a lost world, to people around us that maybe hate us, thatmistreat us, but we can love them anyway because Jesus loves us. Aswe've looked at this book so far, chapter 1 has taught us that we need toknow Jesus. Paul wrote in In Ephesians 1:18, “The eyes of yourunderstanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope ofHis calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in thesaints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believeaccording to the working of His mighty power.” Because we know who Jesusis, our position in Christ, we have an understanding of the exceeding greatnessof His power that works in us. Inchapter 2, it's about living Jesus. We've been saved by faith throughgrace (vv 8-9). But then in verse 10, remember: “We are His workmanshipcreated in Christ Jesus to good works which God prepared beforehand that weshould walk in them.” We see now we are to live Jesus because we know Him.We know our position in Christ. We know our calling through Him, from Him andfor Him. Now we live for Him. In a real sense it's not us living for Him, it'sChrist living in us. Paul said, "I'm crucified with Christ.Nevertheless, I live yet not I but Christ lives in me. The life that I now livein the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gaveHimself for me" (Galatians 2:20).  Whenwe realize that we know who we are in Christ, and we know our position inChrist. And we know our calling in Christ. Then we can live out the life ofChrist. He lives His life in us and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit. Now,in chapter 3, we're going to be talking about loving Christ. In verses17-19 we read, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; thatyou, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all thesaints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love ofChrist which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness ofGod.” Then we can experience verse 20: “Now to Him who is able to doexceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power thatworks in us.”  SoPaul is now wanting us to know here verse 17 that we are grounded in His love.Christ loves us and we love Christ. When we truly know this then we can serveand minister and work out of love for Christ. Remember what Jesus said in Johnchapter 15? “If you love Me you will keep My commandments. We will not belike servants but we'll be like friends.” Why? Because out of love, we serveand minister because of His love for us. We have experienced His great love andnow we live for Him. Alsoin chapter 3, Paul begins to explain a great mystery. That mystery is thechurch. We're going to be talking about that over the next couple days. Today Iwant us to understand and have this desire to know Christ, to live for Christ, andto love Christ in that order. To love and be rooted and grounded in His love. Thismust be the foundation of our life in serving and ministering for Christ in awicked and evil world. Paul begins this chapter talking about being a prisoner.He's a prisoner in bonds in Rome. The church at Ephesus must be thinking, whyis Paul a prisoner? He's never committed any crimes.  ButPaul's saying, "No, I'm a prisoner and a bondservant of Jesus Christ foryour sake, for the sake of the gospel. Because I love Christ, it's not like I'min prison. Even here I have greater opportunities to serve and live forHim." When we love Christ, everything becomes an opportunity and aprivilege to share His love with the world around us that desperately needs toknow the love of God through Christ Jesus. Today,are you experiencing the love of Christ in your life and service for Him? I prayand trust that you are!

Todaywe are continuing to look at Ephesians 2:18-22. In these verses, we find thatGod's purpose for the church, God's purpose for Jew and Gentile. God's purposefor every human being is to know that you are of tremendous value to God. Itdoesn't matter whether you're a Jew, whether you're a Palestinian, whetheryou're called a Christian, whether you're called a Muslim, Hindu, a Buddhist, aRussian, an American, a Chinese, or any other nationality for that matter. Itdoesn't matter your ethnic background or your racial background. It doesn'tmatter whether you're rich or poor. You are of tremendous value to God.  Everyhuman being was created in the image of God. That means we have personality.That means we can think, we have a will, we have emotions. Every human beinghas all these things because we're created in the image of God. God's plan andpurpose is that we have peace with one another and that we get along with oneanother and that we love one another. The great commandment is to love God withall your heart, soul, and mind. Alongside of this first and great commandmentis the second commandment, which is the proof that we truly love God, that welove our neighbors as ourselves. No matter who our neighbor is.Wehave been created with and for something special. Every human being, no matteryour background and religion, no matter who you are, where you live, whereyou're from, or what you've been taught, you have been created with eternity inyour heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  In thelast verses in Ephesians 2, Paul reminds us, “For through Him we both haveaccess by one Spirit to the Father”. Yes, we can have access to the creatorGod and Father of the universe. You can have access to the God, already beingworshiped as “the unknown God” that many are still looking for.  But He can only be found “through”Jesus Christ alone.  Myfriend, only then can you enjoy personal peace and experience unity with thosearound you. Now, therefore, we're no longer strangers or foreigners, butfellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (v. 19).Verse 20 tells us that this unity is: “built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” Paulsaid in 1 Corinthians 3:6:11, “I planted. He says Apollos watered. But Godgave the increase." He then goes on to say, "For no other foundation can anyone laythan that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus."  WhenPaul said, "I laid the foundation," he says earlier in 1Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you exceptJesus Christ and Him crucified”. Christ is the foundation and He's thechief cornerstone of Psalm 118:22. This is the chief cornerstone which thebuilders rejected and is often referred to in the New Testament as in verse 20.The “cornerstone” binds a building together.  Nowwe are part of His temple, the church of Jesus Christ, the universal church,the church which is His body. Oh, how wonderful to be a part of something sospecial and that's eternal. Nations come and go, institutions come and go, butone thing will last, for eternity, and that is the body of Jesus Christ, Hischurch. Today, you can be a part of His church by placing your faith, not in areligion but in a person, Jesus Christ! A religion didn't die for you! OnlyJesus Christ did! Thatis what this chapter is about. We're separated from God by our sin, but Jesusdied to give us eternal life. We can by faith trust Him and enter into ourunion with Him and with one another today. Would you do that? Would you trustChrist? And then if you know Christ, if you're in Christ, then as a follower ofChrist, tell others.  Today,would you tell someone about this hope, this faith you can have that changesand transforms everything and brings you peace with God and with others.   GodBless!

Today,as we are looking at the last verses of Ephesians 2, we need to remember thatPaul has been talking about separation beginning in verses 11-12. TheJews were separated from the Gentiles, the Gentiles from the Jews. They bothwere separated from God because of sin. Next, we see reconciliation inverses 13-18. How now through the blood of Jesus Christ, we've been reconciledto God. We can be reconciled and have peace with one another. In these lastverses, Paul speaks of unification.  Paulhas repeated the word "one" to emphasize the unifyingwork of Christ: "who has made both one" (Ephesians2:14); "to create in Himself one new man" (Ephesians2:15); "might reconcile them both to God in one body" (Ephesians2:16); and, "we both have access by one Spirit" (Ephesians2:18). All spiritual distance and division have been overcome by Christ. In theclosing verses of this chapter, Paul gives three pictures that illustrate theunity of believing Jews and Gentiles in the church. Weare now one new nation (v. 19a).  Israel was God'schosen nation, but they rejected their Redeemer and suffered the consequences.The kingdom was taken from them and given to "a nation bringing forththe fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). This "new nation" isthe church. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holynation, His own special people, (1 Peter 2:9-10).  Inthe Old Testament, the nations were reckoned by their descent from Shem, Ham,or Japheth (Genesis 10). In the Book of Acts, we see these three familiesunited in Christ. In Acts 8, a descendant of Ham is saved, the Ethiopiantreasurer. In Acts 9, a descendant of Shem, Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul theapostle. And in Acts 10, the descendants of Japheth, the Gentiles in thehousehold of the Roman soldier, Cornelius. Sin has divided mankind, but Christunites by His Spirit. All believers, regardless of national background, belongto that "holy nation" with citizenship in heaven (Philippians3:20-21). “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly waitfor the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ". Weare now one family(v. 19b). “But fellow citizens with the saints and members of the householdof God”.  Through our faith in Jesus Christ,we enter into God's family, and God becomes our Father. This wonderful familyof God is found in two places, "in heaven and earth" (Ephesians3:15). Living believers are on earth and believers who have died are in heaven.None of God's children are "under the earth" (Philippians2:10) or in any other place in the universe. We are all brothers and sisters inthe one family, no matter what racial, national, or physical distinctions wemay possess. Weare now one temple(vv. 20-22). In the Book of Genesis, God "walked" with His people.Enoch walked with God (Genesis. 5:22-24). And Noah walked with God (Genesis6:9). But then in the Book of Exodus, God decided to "dwell" with Hispeople:  (Exodus 25:8). God dwelt in thetabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38) until Israel's sins caused "the glory todepart" when the Philistines captured the ark in battle. (1 Samuel 4).  ThenGod dwelt in the temple Solomon built (1 Kings 8:1-11). But again Israel sinnedand the glory departed: “Then the glory of the LORD departed from thethreshold of the temple…” (Ezekiel 10:18-19). God's next dwelling place wasthe body of Christ: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and webeheld His glory " (John 1:14). But men took and nailed this body to a cross. Today,through His Spirit, God dwells in the church, the temple of God. God does notdwell in man-made temples, including church buildings (Acts 7:48-50). Goddwells in the hearts of those who have trusted Christ: (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). And God dwellsin the church collectively as we see in these last verses in Ephesians 2:20-22. Ourunity is in Christ and is best displayed when we love one another despite ourdifferences! GodBless!

Ifthere's one thing everyone needs, is looking for, and desires, it is to havepeace. To have peace within themselves, peace with God, and peace with thosearound them. But it often appears that many people today are bent on havingwar, at enmity with others, with hatred, malice, anger and violence in their heartsand lives. There is no peace in their lives, and they live to destroy any peacein the world around them. The Bible describes it this way in Isaiah 57:20-21, “Butthe wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast upmire and dirt. "There is no peace," Says my God, "for thewicked."  Theirhearts are against God, so their hearts are against everyone around them, andin a sense even themselves. But I believe that deep inside every individualthere is a desire, there is a yearning for peace. The only way to make thatpeace is with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:1 tells us: “Havingtherefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LordJesus Christ.” That's what we're talking about in these verses before ustoday in Ephesians 2:16-18.  Rememberin verses 11-15, Paul was dealing with the Gentiles basically and thereconciliation they needed and could now experience between themselves and theJews now that they were in the same church, in the same body of Christ. Now we'rein Christ (v. 13). Before we were aliens and strangers but now, we're a holynation. Colossians 1:19-22 speaks of this very thing: “For it pleased theFather that in Him all the fullness should dwell, speaking of Jesus. By Him,Jesus, to reconcile all things to Himself. By Him, whether things on earth orthings in heaven. having made peace through the blood of His cross, and you whowere once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has Hereconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy andblameless, and above reproach in His sight.” How wonderful, how powerful isthat? We'reno longer strangers because we are now in the family of God along with theJewish people. We had no hope. Now we've been called into one hope. We werewithout God, but now through Christ God is our Father. Nowin verses 16-18, Paul is talking about how both Jews and Gentiles needreconciliation as sinners with God.  Paul'sletter to the Colossians in chapter 2:13-14 says it this way: “You beingdead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alivetogether with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out thehandwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, andHe has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to His cross." Inother words, the law tells us we're sinners. The law tells us that we arecondemned. God is a holy God and He must punish sin. God also at the same timeis a God of love. He's a God who wants us to know peace and have peace.  That'swhy in Ephesians 2:17, Paul writes: “He came and He preached peace.” Didyou notice that in verse 14 it says Jesus Christ is our peace. In verse15, He made peace because of the blood of His cross between us and God.Then in verse 17, He preached peace. Remember the angels saying to theshepherds that day on the hillside, "Peace on earth and good willtoward men”, is the message of Jesus Christ to all world of sinners."(Luke 2:13-14).   Ifyou want peace, the only peace you'll ever find and the only peace the worldwill ever find is in the person and ministry and work of Jesus Christ throughHis Holy Spirit that can be in all of our hearts at the same time. “Forthrough Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (v. 18).  Whata wonderful message for us today. We have a God that can take care of theenmity, bring reconciliation, and bring us back into a place where we can havefellowship one with another. Today,I trust you're experiencing that peace and joy in yourself, and with God, andwith those around you.  

First,I want to thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies for my wife and Iyesterday as we left our home in Sneads Ferry NC around 3am to drive 6 hours upto Roanoke, Virginia for the ribbon cutting ceremony and the grand opening ofthe Go Center. Aroundnoon, we were got in the car to go to Charlottesville to visit my brother Mark atthe UVA Medical Center. We called to make sure it would be ok to visit him andwere pleasantly surprised to find out he was being discharged at that verymoment to go back home to Lynchburg. He has made an amazing recovery from hisbypass surgery. Todaywe want to look specifically at Ephesians 2:14-15, where it speaks of the factthat, “Jesus Christ Himself is our peace who has made both one and hasbroken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in His flesh theenmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to createin Himself one new man from the two thus making peace.”  Myfirst big question as a brand-new Christian was how did people get saved beforethe cross? How did they get saved in the Old Testament? My friend over theyears I've concluded there's only one way of salvation. That is the way offaith. The way of faith through Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament, they lookforward to His sacrifice on the cross and now we look backwards, and by faith,both looks are taken. Everyone, both Jew and Gentile receive salvation becauseof Jesus and His sacrifice and blood shed on the cross. Verse15 reveals that the cause of the enmity was the law because the law had made adefinite distinction between Jew and Gentiles. The dietary laws reminded theJews that God had put a distance and difference between the clean and theunclean (Leviticus 11:44-47). But the Gentiles did not obey these laws.Therefore, they were unclean. Ezekiel the prophet reminded the priests thattheir task was to teach the Jews the difference between the holy and theprofane (Ezekiel 44:23). The divine ordinances given by God to Israel stood asa wall between the Jews and the other nations. In fact, there was a wall in theJewish temple separating the court of the Gentiles from the rest of the templeareas.  Archaeologistshave discovered this inscription from Herod's temple. It reads like this: “Noforeigner may enter within this barricade that surrounds the sanctuary andenclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will himself be blamed for his ensuingdeath”. It was this wall that the Jews thought Paul and his gentile friendscrossed when the Jews attacked him in the temple and threatened to kill him inActs 21:28-31.  Inorder for Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled, this wall had to be destroyed,and this Jesus did on the cross. The cost of destroying the enmity was theblood of Christ. When He died, the veil in the temple was literally torn intwo, and the wall of separation (figuratively) was torn down. By fulfilling thedemands of the Law in His righteous life, and by bearing the curse of the Lawin His sacrificial death (Galatians 3:10-13), Jesus removed the legal barrierthat separated Jew from Gentile. For centuries, there was a difference betweenthem. But today, "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoevershall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans10:12-13). Ohmy friend, what a wonderful Savior we have. He is our peace. We are now onewith anyone. The new creation is the church, the body of Jesus Christ. We arepart of that new creation. “Old things have passed away. Behold, all thingshave become new”. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to have peace with God,peace with one another, and be made one in Christ, and with any and everyonewho accepts Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Godbless!

In these verses, we see that Paul isspeaking to the Gentiles, specifically telling them how by the blood of Christ thatthey have now been able to make peace not only with God, but with the Jewishbelievers also in the church. They have been brought together to be one. Veryimportant. God wants His church to be one. One in Christ. Despite our culturaland religious and other backgrounds that could cause tremendous enmity, division,and strife, God wants us to be one. Ourpreferences often divide us in the church over music, rituals, ceremonies anddifferent things that might take place. But God wants us to be one. Jesus said,"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples because you loveone another." It was the love of Christ that gave us oneness with Godthrough Christ Jesus and His blood on the cross. My friend, it's the love thatwe can have for God and for others that can help us to set aside ourpreferences and our differences and love one another in such a way that theworld sees this great reconciliation between those who are at enmity. Inever forget that in my first years of ministry, I was out visiting and stoppedalongside a country road to talk with a man from our church. While were talkingwe were accosted by a man who actually began to beat up my friend. When I sawthe drunk man coming down his driveway with a crowbar in his hand, I told myfriend we should drive down the road to get away from him. I drove down the roadbut my friend felt he had the right to stay where he was and the drunk man beganto beat up my friend. My friend went and reported it to the police, of course,and there were some issues that took place. A few years later on a Sundayevening, at a new members gathering, was a man who had gotten saved because hischildren had come to church and gotten saved. I'll never forget this because theman that got saved said, "See that man over there?" He said, "Iremember beating him up and having a terrible situation with him. Would youtell him I want to ask him to forgive me for the way I acted and what I did tohim?" It was a wonderful experience that night to watch two men who hadbeen at enmity, had been in a terrible altercation, now making reconciliationbecause of the blood of Jesus Christ and the peace that God had brought intotheir hearts. It was a great testimony to watch them over the next years they becamegood friends and worked together maintaining buses for our outreach ministry. Thiskind of peace and reconciliation is only possible through Jesus Christ. Sowe see that in this passage of scripture we're at enmity with God before oursalvation. Enmity with God began in the Garden of Eden when sin entered thepicture. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God. That's whatscripture teaches. They experienced death. Death is separation. They wereseparated from God. Their first two children, Cain and Abel, they experiencedenmity, deep-seated hatred to the point that Cain killed Abel, the first two brothersthat were ever born on planet earth.  Sincreated this enmity between human beings and only God can reconcile us. Then wefind that violence came into the earth because of the enmity between oneanother. The earth was filled with violence in Genesis chapter 6 and the floodtook place. But then even after the flood, men tried to make peace with eachother by building the Tower of Babel so that they can have unity. Yet this didnot bring unity. God scattered the nations and gives them the curse oflanguages that separated them.  Myfriend, there has always been this enmity because of sin. The only answer forsin is the blood of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 describes the ministryof reconciliation. Please take time to read these verses!God bless!

Ialso wanted to remind you of the grand opening tomorrow of the GO Center therein Bonsack, Virginia, right outside Roanoke, Virginia at 9:30am. You're morethan welcome to attend this grand ribbon cutting ceremony opening up the GOCenter. You can read more about this in my Pastor's Chat. Again, thank you somuch for your prayers and being a part of this ministry with us at Pastor MikeImpact Ministries. Today,we are continuing to look at Ephesians 2. We've been talking about how Paulhere in verse 11 begins to address specifically the Gentiles in the church. Anamazing thing took place when of course the Gentiles began to get saved. BeforeActs 11, there was no conflict in the church at Jerusalem. The conflict, strifeand contention, appears in the church when the Gentiles started getting saved inActs chapter 10. This is when Peter went to speak to Cornelius the centurionand brought him to faith in Christ. It was then in Acts 11 we begin to see thisconflict between the Jewish believers concerning circumcision and the Gentiles.Of course, even at the church at Ephesus, because there are both Jewishbelievers and Gentile believers, this conflict possibly was continuing. No doubtthat is why here in Ephesians 2 Paul is writing about the greatest peacemission that has ever taken place on planet earth. That's the peace JesusChrist came to make between us and God, and to make between us and others. Especiallybetween other believers that we might be one. AsI was reading through these verses 11-22, the word one keptcoming up. I circled it. It is important to note that God came to make us onewith Himself through Christ and make us one with one another. Rememberthat was the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Now in Ephesians 2:11. Paul had remindsthe Gentiles that before their salvation, they were without God. They werewithout hope. They were without Christ. They were alienated and strangers tothe commonwealth of Israel, separated from the Jews. Verse13 begins with: “But now”.  This“But now” parallels the “But God” in verse 4, “Whois rich in mercy with His great love”. “But now in Christ,you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ.”He goes on to write. We're going to read through verse 18. “For HeHimself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down themiddle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity,that is the law of commandments contained in the ordinances, so as to create inHimself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that Hemight reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,thereby putting to death the enmity. He came and preached peace to youwho are far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have accessby one Spirit to the Father.” Howpowerful is that? So, we see a key word here is enmity. The word enmitymeans a deep-seated hatred between people or groups. It's often long-lasting.We see this enmity going on in America today between the left and the right inpolitics and the hatred that the left has for our president. We see thisenmity. It's long-lasting. That there seems to be no reconciliation or peace.We see in this passage of scripture the enmity between the Jews and theGentiles, between sinners and God. But thank God we see that Jesus Christ hascome with the greatest peace mission in history, there is only reconciliationbetween Jews and Gentiles, between God and man through Jesus Christ.  Haveyou made peace with God through Jesus Christ? I trust that it will encourageyou to know only through Christ you can receive reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Godbless!

Paul talks about some definite things that have brought these twogroups together who usually were at odds with one another. In the first versesof this chapter Paul is addressing both the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul tells bothJews and Gentiles that God has made alive those who were dead in trespasses andsins. Remember that a Gentile is anyone who is not born of Jewish descent. Paulreminds them and us how before salvation in Christ we are all dead in ourtrespasses and sins because sin works against us. We're disobedient. We'redepraved, and we're doomed, and we are children of wrath. But God, but God whois rich in His mercy with a great love that He's loved us. And with that loveHe has now brought us salvation and reconciliation and redemption by His graceand through our faith in Christ (vv. 4-9). God has a plan for our life and weare His workmanship, land He has before ordained before the foundation of theworld that we should walk in these wonderful works of God, the good works thatonly He can do through us and let the light of Christ shine out of us andthrough us to a dark world. Nowwe come to verse 11. Here Paul is particularly addressing theGentiles, those who are not of Jewish descent. First, He reminds them, you'recalled uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision (the Jews) made in theflesh by the hand. The Jews look down upon the Gentiles, calling them the uncircumcision.The Gentiles were like dogs in many cases for most of the Jewish people.  Inverse 12 Paul points out that the Gentiles were without Christ being aliensfrom the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promisehaving no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you whowere once a far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The one wordthat best describes the Gentiles is without. They were “outside” in severalrespects. They were without Christ. They're without citizenship in the nationof Israel without the covenants. The covenants were given to Abraham and to hisseed.  BothJews and Gentiles were without hope. Historians tell us that a great cloud ofhopelessness covered the ancient world. Philosophies were empty; traditionswere disappearing; religions were powerless to help men face either life ordeath. People longed to pierce the veil and get some message of hope from theother side, but there was none (1 Thes. 4:13-18). Theywere without God. The heathen had gods aplenty, as Paul discovered in Athens(Acts 17:16-23). But the pagan, no matter how religious or moral he might have been,did not know the true God. The writer of Psalm 115 contrasted the true God withthe idols of the heathen. Itis worth noting that the spiritual plight of the Gentiles was caused not by Godbut by their own willful sin. Paul said the Gentiles knew the true God butdeliberately refused to honor Him (Rom. 1:18-23). Religious history is not arecord of man starting with many gods (idolatry) and gradually discovering theone true God. Rather, it is the sad story of man knowing the truth about Godand deliberately turning away from it! It is a story of devolution, notevolution! The first eleven chapters of Genesis give the story of the declineof the Gentiles; and from Genesis 12 on (the call of Abraham), it is the storyof the Jews. God separated the Jews from the Gentiles that He might be able tosave the Gentiles also. "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). Godcalled the Jews, beginning with Abraham, that through them He might revealHimself as the one true God. With the Jews He deposited His Word, and throughthe Jews He gave the world the Savior (Rom. 9:1-5). Israel was to be a light tothe Gentiles that they too might be saved. But sad to say, Israel became likethe Gentiles, and the light burned but dimly. This fact is a warning to thechurch today. When the church is least like the world, it does the most for theworld. 

Yesterday, I promised I'd give an update on my brotherMark and his triple bypass surgery at the UVA hospital in Charlottesville,Virginia. The surgery went extremely well, according to the report of thesurgeon to his family after he came out of surgery. But last night we heardthat Mark was in excruciating pain from the surgery.  Also, we were told that Mark will be inintensive care for at about five to seven days. You can continue to pray forhim. Pray for his wife Renee as sheministers to him and his family during this time and as he recovers andrecuperates from this surgery. Yesterdaywe also mentioned the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Go Center that's going totake place in the Bonsack, Roanoke area of Virginia this Saturday morning, November1st, at 9:30am. Again, if you live in that area, we invite you tocome. If you don't live in that area, I want you to pray for the Go Center. Iremember when I became a believer, I felt the Lord was calling me to missionsand that He wanted me to go overseas. I surrendered my life to ministry under amissionary thinking that that's exactly what was going to happen. But the Lordhad other plans and led me to stay in America as a pastor. Yet at the same time,the Lord gave me a tremendous burden to do all I could to facilitate missions,to encourage people to pray, to give, and to go.  Overthe last 50 some years in ministry, we've watched God do amazing things. One ofthose things is that my heart has been moved and blessed by the fact that my familyis very involved in missions. And especially my son Jonathan who is the head ofGlobal Partners in Peace and Development. The Go Center Out was born out of thishumanitarian organization by the great passion Jonathan's and his wife Heidi hasfor missions and the unreached peoples of the world. This is the central themeof Go Center.  Ilove what others are already saying about the Go Center. The mission's directorof the Parkway Church on the Mountain wrote after visiting it: "The GoCenter has the potential to spark the fire for a movement of young people toengage in a great commission. This incredible unique discovery experience willenable families to actively participate in learning about God's plan for thenations and the unreached people groups of the world. You'll leave the GoCenter in awe that you just made your way across the globe without setting afoot on an airplane."  JeremiahHambrick, the lead pastor of Bedrock Church Roanoke, wrote this: "I've hadthe unique privilege of witnessing the transformation of the Go Center from arundown church building into a place full of purpose and potential. It's morethan just a building. It's a launching pad for global mission right in theheart of the Roanoke Valley. The Go Center isn't just a place to visit. It's anexperience that draws you into the story of God's heart for the nations, takingyou on a journey to the world's unreached people groups and inviting you toplay a part in His global mission.” Again,I want to invite you to come this Saturday for the grand opening starting with theribbon cutting ceremony at 9:30. If you can't attend this Saturday, at a laterdate bring your family and a group of young people. Help let them see whatmissions and really what the heart of God is all about. That's been my heartfor over 50 some years and I'm so blessed to see it now just blossom into thisgreat Go Center to continue to facilitate and to excite people about doing whatGod has called us all to do. That is to go into the world and make disciples ofall the nations. All the nations, even those who've never heard of Jesus, needthe opportunity to hear. Ireally want to encourage you to help us with the Go Center. Even if you don't liveclose by you can pray and you can give. And if you live close you can participate by volunteering. You can visitthe Go Center website at: https://www.gpartners.org/gocenterto learn more about all these opportunities.

I'm so thankful for your prayers these past couple weeks while we'vebeen on tour in Jordan and in Egypt. It was a wonderful, wonderful tour. Everyoneon it was tremendously blessed. We met new friends. We built new relationships.We saw some exciting things that reminded us that our God is God. He is the Godof all the earth. He is the God of all the nations. Despite the fact there's somuch division, strife, hurt, pain in the Middle East, I'm telling you, God isat work there in a marvelous way in the lives of so many people. People arelooking for peace. Peace, even there in all the areas of these countries. We'reso thankful for your prayers during this trip. We're glad to be back. Also,I want to announce, if you live in the Roanoke or Lynchburg area of Virginia,we'd love to invite you to come to the GO Center this coming Saturday. Therewill be a ribbon breaking ceremony for the Grand Opening at 9:30. The GO Centerwill be open to help encourage people to go into all the world with the gospelof Jesus Christ. To go in prayer, to go on mission trips, to go with theirgiving. This facility was designed to get an experience of being on the missionfield right there in Bonsack Virginia at the GO Center. You can look up moreinformation at the www.gpartners.orgwebsite. I trust that you will plan on coming. That is this Saturday, November1st at the GO Center. I think it's going to be a great way that people aregoing to be touched to be on mission with God and for getting a new view ofwhat missions is really all about. That's what the GO Center is about, toencourage, also enlighten people about missions. That's really what the Bibleis about. It's about the heart of God who loves the world and how He preparedin eternity past a plan to bring redemption and reconciliation to every person. That'swhat Paul is talking about here in Ephesians 2:10-22 that we are presentlylooking at. We see that this chapter is telling us that God is on a great peacemission to reconcile the world to Himself through Jesus Christ. I love theseverses. We've already gone down through verse 10 talking about how we can besaved by grace. We who were dead in sins now can be made alive in Christ Jesus.We have been redeemed. We've been forgiven. We find that all through the bloodof the Lord Jesus Christ.  Inverses 11-13, Paul writes to the Gentiles in the Church at Ephesus, "Thereforeremember that you once Gentiles in the flesh." Remember he's writing tothe church at Ephesus who mainly were made up of Gentiles, non-Jews, who arecalled uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision, made in theflesh by hands. That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens fromthe commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having nohope, without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once faroff have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Actually,in these next verses through verse 22 at the end of the chapter, we see thatthree words summarize what this chapter is about: Separation, reconciliationand unification. The Gentiles were separated from God. They were separated fromthe covenant. They were separated from Christ. They were separated fromcitizenship in the holy nation. They were separated, without hope, without God.That's the condition of every sinner, both Jew and Gentile. This includes everyonethat has never accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We'reseparated from Him. My friend, only God can reconcile us to Himself through Hisson Jesus Christ.  Again,thank you for your prayers and tomorrow we will update you on my brother. Godbless!

Iam so reminded, as we think about what's going on right now in the news, thatJesus Christ is coming soon. The Bible says when everyone is saying peace andsafety, then sudden destruction will come upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3).Before real peace comes in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, there will bethe rapture of the church and then a terrible seven-year tribulation period, asI understand the prophetic Scriptures in the Bible. But we can still pray forpeace today. This is something that we can pray for, “that we might live godlyand quiet lives, that we might have the opportunities to share the gospel ofJesus Christ with everyone we possibly can” (1 Timothy 2:1-3).  Again,I ask for your prayers. You know that while we travel, we are not able to makeour daily pastor chats. I trust you'll just go back and look at maybe some ofthe old chats. You can do that on YouTube and even on Facebook. Just look themup and go back and listen. I trust they'll encourage you and bless you whilewe're missing our daily chats. We hope to be back by October the 26th from thistrip. Wehave been looking at Ephesians 2. In these first 10 verses we see how that sin worksagainst us and brings death into our lives. “But God”, (I love verse four), butGod, God works for us. He redeems us. He forgives us. And it's all through theblood of His son Jesus Christ. He exalts us. We sit in the heavenly places eventoday in Christ Jesus. We are to the praise of His glory. What a wonderfulchange takes place when we meet Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We talkedabout how that we are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Thatfaith makes a difference because it's a faith that not only saves us, it's afaith that works in us and through us and out of us. God works in us, throughus, and for us as we trust in the blood of His son Jesus Christ. Nowas we get down to verse 11 through the end of the chapter, we're finding aboutthe peace that God can make between not only ourselves and God, but betweenourselves and others. The Gentiles and the Jews were so divided because theJews look down very much upon the Gentile people as you see in these verses.Now the Jew and Gentile can go to church together and be made one in JesusChrist. I am telling you, it doesn't matter what religion you are, what faith youare, what background you might have, what culture you were raised in. When youcome to know Jesus Christ as your savior, other believers become your brothersand sisters in Christ. They, I'm telling you, can be loved in Christ. You canhave oneness in Jesus Christ. That means you have peace. You not only havepeace with God, but you also have peace with those around you.  Thecircumcision were the Jews that was made with hands. Circumcision was a sign ofthe covenant that God had made with His people Israel. The Gentiles were theuncircumcised. Paul now addresses the Gentiles in the church at Ephesus. Theywere without Christ. They were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Theywere strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God inthe world. But now in Christ Jesus, those “who were once afar off have beenbrought near by the blood of Christ”. What a powerful message for us today.Come to Jesus through His blood and you can be made one with those around youin Christ!  Myfriend, today you can have peace with God and peace with those around you.That's the real peace we should all be seeking today. Godbless!