Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

In Ephesians 2, Paul goes on totalk about why we are sinners, why we're dead in our trespasses and sins. Andhe describes the characteristics, the terrible condition of a person withoutJesus Christ.  Whatis our condition and problem before salvation? One, we're dead. We “weredead in trespasses and sins” (v. 1). Secondly, in verse two, Paul pointsout: “In which you once walked according to the course of this world,according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works inthe sons of disobedience” This was the beginning of man's spiritual death—hisdisobedience to the will of God. God said, "Do not eat of the tree ofthe knowledge of good and evil. In the day that you eat of it you shall surelydie" (Genesis 2:17). Satan said, "Ye shall not surely die"(Gen. 3:4), and because they believed this lie, the first man and woman sinnedand experienced immediate spiritual death and ultimate physical death. Sincethat time, mankind has lived in disobedience to God. We are born into thisworld as “sons of Adam” (Romans 5:12-19). Today we need to realize that thereare three forces that encourage man in his disobedience: the world, the devil,and the flesh. Theworld, or world-system, puts pressure on each person to try to get him toconform (Romans 12:2). The fashions of Madison Avenue, money, education, fame,all drive us to conform. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He was not "of thisworld" and neither are His people (John 8:23; 17:14). But the unsavedperson, either consciously or unconsciously, is controlled by the values andattitudes of this world. Thedevil is "the spirit that now worketh in the children ofdisobedience." This does not mean that Satan is personally at work inthe life of each unbeliever, since Satan as a created being is limited inspace. Unlike God, who is omnipresent, Satan cannot be in all places at onetime. But because of his demonic associates (Eph. 6:11-12), and his power overthe world system (John 12:31), Satan influences the lives of all unbelievers,and also seeks to influence believers. He wants to make people "childrenof disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6). He himself was disobedient toGod, so he wants others to disobey Him too. Oneof Satan's chief tools for getting people to disobey God is lies. He is a liar(John 8:44), and it was his lie at the beginning of human history, "Youshall not surely die," that plunged the human race into sin. Theunsaved multitudes in today's world system disobey God because they believe thelies of Satan. When a person believes and practices a lie, he becomes a child, “ason of disobedience”. Theflesh is the third force that encourages the unbeliever to disobey God. By theflesh Paul does not mean the body, because of itself, the body is not sinful.The flesh refers to that fallen nature that we were born with, that wants tocontrol the body and the mind and make us disobey God. Why does a dog bark? Whydoes he behave like a dog? It's because he has a dog's nature." If somehowyou could transplant into the dog the nature of the cat, his behavior wouldchange radically. Why does a sinner behave like a sinner? Because he is bornwith and has the nature of a sinner (Psalms 51:5; 58:3). This sinful nature theBible calls "the flesh." We are not sinners because we sin. We sin becausewe are sinners. Sometimes we get this backward. Isit any wonder that the unsaved person is disobedient to God? He is controlledby the world, the flesh, and the devil, the three great enemies of God! And hecannot change his own nature and of himself overcome the world and the devil.He needs outside help, and that help can come only from God through His grace,through the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit, and through the death and resurrectionof His Son Jesus Christ. Today,thank the Lord for His wonderful grace and power that can set us free and deliverus from this terrible condition of disobedience!

The verses in this chapter talkabout living Jesus Christ. Remember we said in chapter one we talk about knowingJesus Christ. Before we can live for Christ, we need to have our eyes of ourunderstanding open to the knowledge of God. After we begin to know and understand our position in Christ then we can beginto live Jesus Christ. Inchapter one, Paul has described our spiritual possessions in Christ. Now hespeaks in chapter two about our spiritual position in Christ. First, heexplains what God has done for all sinners in general; then he explains whatGod did for the Gentiles in particular. The sinner who trusts Christ has beenraised and seated on the throne (Ephesian 2:1-10), and believing Jews andGentiles have been reconciled and set into the temple (Ephesians 2:11-22). Whata miracle of God's grace! We are taken out of the great graveyard of sin andplaced into the throne room of glory. Todaywe will begin to look at these first three verse of Ephesians 2: “And you Hemade alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walkedaccording to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power ofthe air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom alsowe all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling thedesires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath justas the others.” Here Paul gives us a full-length picture of the terriblespiritual condition of the unsaved person. Note his characteristics: Firstthing Paul wants us to understand is sin's work against us! Paul gives thespiritual condition of the unsaved person. First, he notes that we are dead intrespasses and sin. Of course this means we're spiritually dead. We're unableto understand and appreciate spiritual things. We have no spiritual lifewhatsoever. We can talk about God. We can talk about the Bible. We can evenhave it memorized. But the truth is there is no spiritual life in us aside fromthe fact that when we get saved the Holy Spirit, the life of God Himself comesto live within us. But before then, we are dead in trespasses and sins. We cando nothing to please God. We'relike a dead man. Just as a person physically dead does not respond to physicalstimuli, so a person spiritually dead is unable to respond to spiritual things.A corpse does not hear the conversation going on in the funeral parlor. He hasno appetite for food or drink; he feels no pain; he is dead. Just so with theinner man of the unsaved person. His spiritual faculties are not functioning,and they cannot function until God gives him life. The cause of this spiritualdeath is "trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). "Thewages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In the Bible, death basicallymeans "separation," not only physically, as the spirit separated fromthe body (James 2:26), but also spiritually, as the spirit separated from God(Isaiah 59:2). Myfriend, the unbeliever is not sick. He is dead. He doesn't need resuscitation.He needs a resurrection. All lost sinners are dead, and the only differencebetween one sinner and another is the state of decay. The lost derelict on skidrow may be more decayed outwardly than the unsaved society leader, but both aredead in sin—and one corpse cannot be more dead than another! This means thatour world is one vast graveyard, filled with people who are dead while theylive (1 Tim. 5:6). We need to understand that's our position before oursalvation. And sin works against us and we're dead in these trespasses andsins.  Oh,how we ought to rejoice in the fact that one day we met Jesus Christ if you'rea believer. And if you do not understand spiritual things, there's a reason forit. We never really appreciate our health until we have experienced a terriblesickness. And we will never appreciate and be grateful for our life in Jesus Christuntil we realize how dead we were in our trespasses and sins! 

Today,we need to remember as believers, we are at war. We're not at war with people.We're not at war with ideas and philosophies. My friend, we are at war withspiritual forces in the heavenly places. And Paul reminds us of that inEphesians 6:10-18. “We do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but withprincipalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places”.This spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places, the devil and his forces, areout to rob you. Jesus said, the thief, who is the devil, has come to steal, tokill, and to destroy you.  Thedevil wants you to be robbed of your wealth in Jesus Christ. Now, he can't takethat wealth from you, but he can make you think you do not have access to thatwealth, and for you to feel like you're weak. Even like the people of Israelwhen they were in Egypt, they were stronger and mightier than the Egyptians.But the Pharaoh dealt shrewdly with them, deceived them, and thinking that theywere weaker than the Egyptians, and put them in slavery. And that's what'shappening to believers today. We have lost the sense and the knowledge of ourwealth, our power and strength that we have in Jesus Christ. Inthe Old Testament the people measured God's power by His acts of creation. Pleaseread Isaiah 40. Almost the entire chapter is devoted to God's creative powerand strength. “Who made these things”? God would answer His ownquestion.  "I made these things.I'm the God who created the heavens and the earth, and you need to know who Iam." And the nation of Israel measured His power by His acts ofcreation. They also measured God's power by His acts of power and His miraclesat the Exodus when He delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt. The 10plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and even the defeat of the enemies in thepromised land. And the people would look back and say, "What a mighty andpowerful God we have."  Buttoday, we can also measure God's power by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thepower of His resurrection was not only the fact that Jesus died on the cross,was buried, and that He rose again the third day. And also in the truth thatGod has highly exalted Him when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at Hisheavenly places (vv. 21-22). Jesus is not only our Savior, He is also our Sovereign(Acts 2:25-36). He is the sovereign God. There is no authority, power, human orin the spirit world that's greater than that of Jesus Christ, the exalted Sonof God. He is “far above all” and no future enemy can overcome Himbecause He's been exalted “far above all” powers. Oh, how important itis for us to know this.  Buthow does this apply to you and me today? In Ephesians 1:22-23, Paul explainsthe practical application. Because we are believers, we are in the church,which is Christ's body—and He is the Head. This means that there is a livingconnection between you and Christ. Physically speaking, the head controls thebody and keeps the body functioning properly. Injure certain parts of the brainand you handicap or paralyze corresponding parts of the body. Christ is ourspiritual Head. Through the Spirit, we are united to Him as the members of Hisbody. This means that we share His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation.Apart from this power, we cannot draw on our great wealth inChrist. Yes, today our war is not with people all these crazy things going onin America today. Our war is a spiritual war. It can only be fought through thepower of the Holy Spirit and the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christclaiming and knowing that we stand strong in Jesus Christ. We don't reallyfight the battle. He fights the battle. He is our Joshua. We believe thisbecause of His resurrection and the fact we're connected to Him and we are Hisbody. He is the one who does the warfare, and He binds the strong man. He setsthe captive free. He gives us liberty in Himself.  Maythe Lord help us believe and apply this to our lives.  

I'mso amazed how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I heard thatquote yesterday and how true it is when we look at the situation going on inAmerica today. God can use ordinary people like a Charlie Kirk to doextraordinary things that can impact a generation of young people for the gloryof God. And my friend, God can use you. I remember one of the clips of CharlieKirk when someone asked him who could take his place, he responded, "Youare the answer. Todayas believers, we have access to the great wealth of God that's in Christ Jesus.If we only knew how to tap into it and live in that power of His resurrectionevery day as weak vessels, ordinary people depending on a mighty awesome,extraordinary God to do great and awesome things for His glory. That's whatthese verses in Ephesians chapter 1 are about.  Ordinarypeople like you and me can face an evil generation. We can face it with hope.We can face it with faith. We can face it with grace to do the will of God inthe power of God. Paul begins this letter to the believers by telling them,"I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you to know God." My friend,when you have an intimate relationship, not just a religion, but relationshipwith Jesus Christ, it makes all the difference in the world. This relationshipand knowledge of God lead to knowing the hope in our inheritance in Christ. Wehave been chosen for His glory both for today and for eternity.  Bymaking us His inheritance, God has shown His love. By promising us a wonderfulfuture, He has encouraged our hope. Paul now offers us something to challengeour faith: "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward whobelieve" (Eph. 1:19). Themoment you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you wereplaced into the body of Christ, you are His body. You are the church. We arethe called-out ones, as we mentioned yesterday, that we might know the hope ofour calling. We have a calling as a church to stand up for Jesus to tell theworld the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wesee this great example in Charlie Kirk in both his life and death. And Aso in hiswife Erika, how even now in a time of tragedy she has proclaimed the gospel ofJesus Christ to anyone that would listen. The grace and strength to do this isavailable only through the “exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.”This is available to every believer and can make a powerful difference ineveryone's life because it's not our reasoning and our logic that changespeople. It's the power of the gospel through the ministry of the Holy Spiritthat opens people's eyes to the truth. Today,let us go on to know the Lord. Let us pursue Him and let us pursue the wealththat He's given us in Christ and the power to live a life that's different. Thespirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But it is when we realize how weak wereally are, that's when we depend on the power of God. Paul tells us that thisis his experience in  2 Corinthians12:9-10: “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for Mystrength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will ratherboast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore Itake pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, indistresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Weare at a major crossroads in America. We are at the tipping point. You are theanswer! Because God delights in using ordinary people to do extraordinary thingsthrough His strength and resurrection power! This is available to those whowill “believe”. “What is the exceeding greatness of His power towardus who believe, according to the working of His mighty power”. Will youbelieve and trust Him today? Godbless!

Paulnot only prayed that they would know God, he prayed that they “may know whatis the hope of His calling”. What is the hope of His calling? It isthe hope that we have because of the calling that we have in Christ Jesus.We're called to salvation. We're called to sanctification. We're called toservice for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to live holy lives for Hisglory. With that calling comes hope. When you live for that which is eternalrather than that which is temporal, you are reminding yourself every day, that youhave a hope that's steadfast and sure. You have something to look forward to.  Thishope that belongs to our calling is a dynamic force in our lives. It encouragesus to be pure. 1 John 2:28–3:3; "Because when we see Him, we shall belike Him. And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself even as Heis pure." It calls us to live pure, holy lives. “Be ye holy for Iam holy”, God says to us (1 Peter 1:16). It calls us to be obedient.Obedient to the Lord, obedient to our leaders, obedient to the truths andleadings of the Holy Spirit in our lives every day. It causes us to befaithful. “Moreover, it's required in a steward that he be found faithful”. InLuke 12, the faithful steward was rewarded. God wants us to be faithful.  Thishope, this living for that which is eternal rather than that which is temporal,gives us something to live for and to be glorified in Christ for. Which leadsus to the third thing that Paul is praying for: “What are the riches ofthe glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Now this is interesting. InEphesians 1:7 we are told that we  havean inheritance in Christ. But now this phrase here in verse 18, does not referto the inheritance that we have in Christ, but to the inheritance that Christhas in us. What an amazing truth that God should look upon us as part of Hisgreat wealth.  Justas a man's wealth brings glory to his name, so God will get glory from thechurch because of what He has invested in us. And when Christ returns for us,we shall be to the praise of the glory of His grace. God deals with us on thebasis of our future, not our past. He said to cowardly Gideon, hiding from theMidianites as he was threshing his wheat, "The Lord is with thee, thoumighty man of valor" (Judges 6:12). I can imagine that Gideon lookedaround and said, "Who are you talking to? I'm scared to death." Jesusalso said to Simon, Andrew's brother, "Thou art Simon, you'll be calledCephas”, which means a stone (John 1:42). And as you know, Gideon didbecome a mighty man of valor. And Simon did become Peter, a rock.  Myfriend, we live in the future tense even now. And our lives should becontrolled by what we are already in Christ Jesus. Jesus, who for the joy thatwas set before Him, He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He looked forward tothat day, that wonderful day when He would receive His church, His Bride toHimself. “…just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, thatHe might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, thatHe might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkleor any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians5:25-27). Onthat great and grand day Jesus Christ will be greatly glorified as He receivesHis inheritance. What a encouragement and blessing to know today that you and Iare a part of His inheritance. But even today, as we live for the future, weshould glorify His name!  Todaywe should desire to be more like Jesus, and can be by looking unto Jesus, theauthor and the finisher of our faith. Jesus lived for the glory of God and soshould we.  Godbless!

Today we're continuing to look at the Apostle Paul's prayerfor the church, the believers in the church in Ephesus. In this prayer, we findseveral things that Paul prayed for. The first thing we see is that He prayedthat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you thespirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. He prayed that theywould know God.  Thenwe find in verse 18, Paul also prayed, “the eyes of your understanding beingenlightened”. The eyes of your heart, your emotions, your thoughts, yoursoul, your will, in a sense everything about you, would be enlightened, wouldbe open, would have an understanding and know what is the hope of His calling. So,the second thing that Paul is praying for is that we might know God's callingon our lives. This word “called” is an important word in the Christianvocabulary. The Scripture teaches us that the church, the body of Christ, thebelievers, in the Greek is the “ecclesia”. That word is two words which togethermeans the “called-out assembly”.  Thebelievers who are the church, the body of Christ are called out. Now,interesting. We're not just called out of the world, we are called intosomething that is glorious. And that's what Paul's speaking of here. Not onlyare you called out of the world, but you are called out to be a peculiar, aroyal priesthood, a different person from the rest of the world around you. Petersays it this way in 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen generation, a royalpriesthood, a holy nation, a special people that you may proclaim the praisesof Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Paultold Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:9 that He had a holy calling. Yes, we've beencalled out of darkness into marvelous light and we've also been called toglory. I love this verse in 1 Peter 5:10. “But may the God of all grace whocalled us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you suffered a whileperfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be glory and thedominion forever and ever. Amen.” We have been called to glory!  And because of this calling, we can now have ahope that's steadfast and sure, an anchor of our souls (Hebrews 6:19). Theword hope doesn't mean wishful thinking about something. But the word hope inthe scripture means we have a delightful future in Jesus Christ. We have theassurance of that future because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the crossand His resurrection. The believer's hope is tied into the return of JesusChrist as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 John 3:1-3. Our hope isbased on the fact that Jesus promised that one day He will come again for Hisbride the Church.  Beforewe were saved, we were without hope in this world. But now in Christ, accordingto 1 Peter 1:3, we have a living hope. “Blessed be the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again toa living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. Howglorious is that? So, we have a hope that's steadfast and sure. It's a livinghope which means it gives us purpose and direction, and encouragement forwhatever we face every day. We have a better tomorrow coming. Oh, that is thehope that we have.  Paulprayed that you would know your calling from God. And this calling from Godgives you hope. I trust you'll take these words into your heart and you'llremember you have something to live for and something to look forward to. Agood verse to close with today is Romans 15:13: “Now may the God of hopefill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope bythe power of the Holy Spirit.”  KnowingGod, you have hope. No God, there is no hope.  Godbless!

Today we're talking about one of the most importantsubjects in the entire Bible, and that is that we might know God. Paul'svery first prayer for the church in Ephesus, and the first of his four prisonprayers, is found here in verses 15-23. He begins by saying, "I do notcease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." Now,it's amazing how to most of churches that he wrote to, or that he was part offounding, and that he was encouraging, that he talks about praying for them “withoutceasing”. Paul must have had an awesome continuous prayer life as he prayedfor the different saints in the different churches in the different places ofthe world. He was a man of prayer.  Whatdid Paul pray? His prayers were not for their material needs, that they wouldhave money, not that they could pay their bills, not that they could buildbetter and bigger buildings or churches. Those things could have been importantand maybe were important at times, but his prayer was that “the God of ourLord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to them the spirit of wisdomand revelation in the knowledge of Him”.  Icouldn't help but think of Hosea chapters 4 and 6. God said, "My peopleare destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). That is what happens whenwe fail to know who God is. Then Hosea gives this invitation from God in chapter6: "Come, let us return to the Lord" (v. 1). In verse 3, "Letus know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord." And then God speaksin verse 6, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of Godmore than burnt offerings”. God wants us to “know Him”.  Thoughthe knowledge of God is the highest knowledge possible, the atheist claimsthere is no God for us to know. The agnostic states that if there is a God, youcannot know Him. But Paul met God in the person of Jesus Christ. And he knowsthat a man really can't understand much of anything else without a knowledge ofGod. The knowledge of God is the beginning of wisdom. The “fear of the Lordis the beginning of wisdom”. Romans1 tells us that this willful ignorance of God led mankind into corruption andcondemnation. Paul describes the beginning of this progression with thesewords: “Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (v. 18). “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”(v. 21).  And then Paul goes on to showthe development of how willful ignorance leads to idolatry, substituting a liefor the truth, exchanging God the creator for a worship of the man who wascreated. It then develops into immorality and indecency. And it all begins withan unwillingness to know God as Creator, as Sustainer, as Governor, as Savior,and as the Judge of our lives. There is tremendous danger and consequences whenthe believer does not grow in the knowledge of God.  InPhilippians 3:10, Paul said, "That I might know Him and the power ofHis resurrection," meaning to be intimately acquainted with God. Toknow God personally is salvation. Jesus prayed in John 17:3; “And this iseternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whomYou have sent”. To know God is to increase in sanctification (Philippians3:10). And to know God leads to ultimate glorification (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). Myfriend, we are made in the image of God. And the better we know God, the moresatisfied we are in Him, and the more satisfied we are even in ourselves. And thatis how we bring the greatest glory to Him. That's what God desires. That iswhat Paul prayed for the believers at Ephesus. We should pray this for ourselves.We can pray this for others.  “ThatI might know Him”—God,the true, the only God. May the Lord help us today to love and live for Himwith all of our hearts.  Godbless!

Todaywe're continuing in Ephesians 1:15-18. Paul desired the Ephesian Christians tounderstand what great wealth they had in Christ. Paul knew of their faith andlove, and in this he rejoiced. The Christian life has two dimensions: faithtoward God and love toward men, and you cannot separate the two. Now theChristian life always begins with faith. Salvation is experienced by faith inthe Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:8-13; Ephesians 2:8-9). But then the realproof of our faith is our love toward other believers and toward the people inthe world around us. We are to love them as Christ loved them. He loved them somuch that while they were yet sinners, He died for them on a cross. We are tolove others even as we want others to love us. TheScripture teaches us that when we walk with God, live in His Word, when we arefill with His Word, that we will be like a tree planted by the rivers ofwaters, bringing forth fruit in its season. Our leaves will not wither, andwhatsoever we do will prosper (Psalms 1:2-3). Now, when you have the Word ofGod, abiding in your heart, living by the river of waters, the water of God's Word,and filling your life with it, your root of your faith will go down deep intothe heart of God. Then my friend, you will be like a tree that is glorious, alife that reflects and shines forth the fruit of the love of God.  Yes,faith is the root and love is the fruit. Don't ever forget that faith is theroot of our Christian life and love is the fruit of our Christian life, andalso the outward evidence that we truly have been born again. But Paul knewthat faith and love were just the beginning. The Ephesians needed to know muchmore. This is why he prayed for them, and for us. Inthe four prison prayers of Paul found in Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Philippians1:9-11; and Colossians 1:9-12, we discover the blessings he wanted his convertsto enjoy. In none of these prayers does Paul request material things. Hisemphasis is on spiritual perception and real Christian character. He does notask God to give them what they do not have, but rather prays that God willreveal to them what they already have. Beforewe study Paul's four requests in this "prayer for enlightenment"in Ephesians 1, we must notice two facts. First, enlightenment comes from theHoly Spirit. He is the "Spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Isaiah11:2; John 14:25-26; 16:12-14). With his natural mind, man cannot understandthe things of God. He needs the Spirit to enlighten him (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).The Holy Spirit reveals truth to us from the Word, and then gives us the wisdomto understand and apply it. He also gives us the power—the enablement—topractice the truth (Ephesians 3:14-21). Second,this enlightenment comes to the heart of the believer (Ephesians 1:18).Literally this verse reads, "The eyes of your heart beingenlightened." We think of the heart as the emotional part of man, butin the Bible, the heart means the inner man, and includes the emotions, themind, and the will. The inner man, the heart, has spiritual faculties thatparallel the physical senses. Theinner man can see (Ps. 119:18; John 3:3).Theinner man can hear (Matt. 13:9; Heb. 5:11).Theinner man can taste (Ps. 34:8; 1 Peter 2:3).Theinner man can smell (Phil. 4:18; 2 Cor. 2:14)Andthe inner man can touch (Acts 17:27). Thisis what Jesus meant when He said of the people: "They seeing see not, andhearing they hear not" (Matt. 13:13). The inability to see and understandspiritual things is not the fault of the intelligence but of the heart. Theeyes of the heart must be opened by the Spirit of God. Thisis why Paul prayed this prayer for the believers at Ephesus. This is a wonderfulprayer that we can also pray for family and friends on regular basis! May God'sHoly Spirit open the eyes of our heart today! Godbless!

Let'sjust review these verses before we move on.  First,we need to understand that true riches come from God. What a source ofencouragement to know that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are allworking together on our behalf to make us rich in Christ Jesus. God not onlygives us "richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17), but Hegives us eternal riches without which all other wealth is valueless. In Jesus'first recorded message on the Mount of Beatitudes He taught us, “Blessed arethe poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God…. Blessed are the meek,for they shall inherit the earth”. When we yield our lives in poverty toJesus Christ, He gives us have an inheritance in heaven. Then when we literallyyield our daily lives to Him, (that's what it means to be meek, yielded to thecontrol of God and His Holy Spirit), then we enjoy everything on earth. In a veryreal sense we have all things richly to enjoy. Butnot only does God give us richly things to enjoy on earth, He gives us eternalriches in Christ Jesus that last for eternity. Not just forever and ever.That's timewise, but for eternity and you can't measure that. Wow, we are sorich. Over the years so many couples have come to us for counseling that are havingfinancial issues. They've spent their lives buying things. They have a nicehouse, they have expensive cars, they have all these expensive things, but thenthey lost what they really wanted and had in the early days of their marriage.They lost their love. What good is it to have an expensive house if there is nohome? Or an expensive ring if there is no love?  Myfriend, in Christ, you and I have what money can't buy. All these spiritualriches open up to us. All the wealth of God's vast creation. We enjoy the giftsbecause we know and love the Giver. Don't give up what you have in Christ forthat which you will lose. Remember the famous quote by Jim Elliot: "Heis no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannotlose".  Secondly,we learn that all these riches come from God's grace and for God's glory. Didyou notice that after each of the main sections in Ephesians 1:4-14, Paul hasadded the purpose behind these gifts? Why has God the Father chosen us, adoptedus, and accepted us? "To the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph.1:6). Why has the Son redeemed us, forgiven us, revealed God's will to us, andmade us part of God's inheritance? "That we should be to the praise of Hisglory" (Eph. 1:12). Why has God the Spirit sealed us and become theguarantee of our future blessing? "Unto the praise of His glory"(Eph. 1:14). Weoften have the idea that God saves sinners mainly because He pities them, orwants to rescue them from eternal judgment, but God's main purpose is that Hemight be glorified. His creation reveals His wisdom and power, but His churchreveals His love and grace. You cannot deserve or earn these spiritual riches;you can only receive them by grace, through faith. Thirdly,these riches are only the beginning! There is always more spiritual wealth toclaim from the Lord as we walk with Him. The Bible is our guidebook; the HolySpirit is our Teacher. As we search the Word of God, we discover more and moreof the riches we have in Christ. These riches were planned by the Father,purchased by the Son, and presented by the Spirit. There is really no need forus to live in poverty when all of God's wealth is at our disposal! Ilove the little devotional book by Charles Haddon Spurgeon called “Faith CheckBook”. A promise from the Bible is given for each day of the year, along with ashort devotional message. The author described each promise as being as good asmoney in the bank to anyone who would claim it by faith, as a person wouldwrite a check against his bank account. By faith we can claim God's promisesand draw on His limitless wealth to meet every need we may face.  

Herein verses 13 and 14, Paul tells us that we were sealed by the Holy Spirit.Already we've talked about what God the Father has given us. We talked aboutJesus Christ and what He has given us. Now we're talking about the Holy Spiritand what He gives us even today. He says we also, who have believed and trustedin Christ, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He seals us. That wasour lesson yesterday. Today,in verse 14, we learn about the guarantee we have by the Holy Spirit. Anotherword used for guarantee in the old King James is the word “earnest”. It reads, “Whichis the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchasedpossession, unto the praise of his glory”.  This word earnest is a very fascinatingword. In Paul's day, it meant the down payment to guarantee the final purchaseof some commodity or a piece of property. Even today, when you buy a piece ofproperty or you might hear the real estate agent mention the word earnest, thedown payment, the guarantee that you're going to pay the final price on thisproperty when you go to settlement in the lawyer's office. TheHoly Spirit is God's first installment to guarantee to you and me, Hischildren, that He will finish the work He begun in us and that He will eventuallybring us to glory. This “earnest” is for “the redemption of the purchasedpossession”. This refers to the redemption of the body at the return ofChrist for His Church. Romans 8:18-23 and 1 John 3:1-3 both speak of thisexperience! Redemption,as we know it in Scripture, is experienced in three different stages: Wehave been redeemed through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7).Weare being redeemed as the Spirit works in our lives to make us more like Christ(Romans 8:1-4). Weshall be redeemed one day when Christ returns, and we become His for eternity.  Butthe word “earnest” can also means “engagement ring”. Matter offact, in Greece today, you might find this word still being used that way.Isn't that what an engagement ring is? It's an assurance. It's a guarantee thatthe promise that you make to each other to be wed one day will be kept. Myfriend, our relationship to Jesus Christ and to God is not a commercial one. It'sa personal one. It's a personal experience of love. He is the bridegroom. Thechurch is His bride. Jesus is making the guarantee with the presence of theHoly Spirit in your life that one day He will come for His bride. He is goingto keep His promise. Maybe that is why He is called the Holy Spirit of promise. Whatgreater assurance do we need to have? I'm often asked, “Can I lose mysalvation? They say, “I don't feel saved. I don't have the assurance that Ikeep my salvation because I still sin. I still do things I shouldn't do”. ReadRomans 6 and 8. These two chapters should give you great assurance of your positionin Christ, and reminds you that you will never be separated from the love ofGod that's in Christ Jesus. Absolutely nothing can separate you. Why? The “Earnest”,the Guarantee has been given. You have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit isthere right now in your life, never to be taken away. Yes,can grieve the Holy Spirit, and you can quench Him, but you will never loseHim. Why? Because Jesus said, "He that comes to Me, I will by no meanscast out” (John 6:37). And Jesus promised in John 14:16, “And I will praythe Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with youforever”. My friend, “forever” means “forever”! Mayyou be especially blessed today as you relish the guarantee that you are His,and He is yours, and you're forever experiencing and enjoying His love.  Godbless!

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we're continuing to look at the ministry and work ofthe Holy Spirit as we are reading about Him in Ephesians 1:13-14. Jesuspromised in John 14 that He would give and send the Holy Spirit. John 14 beginswith Jesus assuring His disciples with these words and making several promisesto them: “Let not your heart be troubled…”. We live in a world full oftroubled and fearful hearts. Even believers today face tremendous fearconcerning so many different things in their lives, in their families, theirpersonal lives, and in a world today that is so confused, mixed up, and filledwith violence. But Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled. Youbelieve in God, believe also in Me."  Thenin verses 16-20, Jesus promises them: “And I will pray the Father, and Hewill give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--theSpirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Himnor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will bein you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. "Alittle while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I amin My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”   Howwill He come to them? He will come in the person and ministry and work of theHoly Spirit. Paul would later write, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.“At that day…”, is speaking of what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2,when the Holy Spirit came down on them as promised. Today the baptism andindwelling for the Holy Spirit begins the moment we trust Christ as ourpersonal Savior. At that very moment, the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 6:3,“baptizes us into the body of Christ”. Also in 1 Corinthians 12:13 weread: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews orGreeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into oneSpirit.” Ephesians1:13 also tell us that we are also sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Whatis the significance of this sealing of the Holy Spirit? For one thing, it speaksof a finished transaction. Even today, when important legaldocuments are processed, they are stamped with the official seal to signify thecompletion of the transaction.  Thissealing also implies ownership: God has put his seal on us because Hehas purchased us to be His own. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you notknow that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom youhave from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price;therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” Thissealing also means security and protection. The Roman seal on the tombof Jesus carried this meaning (Matt. 27:62-66). So, the believer belongs toGod, and is safe and protected because he is a part of a finished transaction. Andaccording to John 14:16-17, the Holy Spirit abides with the believer forever.It is possible for us to grieve the Spirit and thereby lose the blessings ofHis ministry (Eph. 4:30). But He doesn't leave us. Anotheruse for the seal is as a mark of authenticity. Just as a signature on aletter attests to the genuineness of the document, so the presence of theSpirit proves the believer is genuine. "If any man have not the Spiritof Christ, he is none of His" (Romans. 8:9). It is not simply our lipprofession, our religious activity, or our good works, but the witness of theSpirit that makes our profession authentic.  ThankGod for the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. Indeed,what a rich blessing from God the Holy Spirit. Godbless!

Itis always a great feeling to be back home and in my office for our pastor'schat. We want to give you an update on Brandy Manning that we asked you to prayfor who had brain surgery on a cancerous tumor Wednesday morning at DukeUniversity. Your prayers have been answered in a wonderful way. The surgerywent very well. Yesterday afternoon she was sent to a local hotel there inDurham where she will be a couple days as she recovers. It looks like they gotmost of the tumor and they will deal with what is there still there later. Wow,what a miracle. Thank you for your prayers. AlsoI received a good report from my cardiologist. He told me to come back in ayear and have another echo stress test and see him again. So as far as I'mconcerned, I'm doing fine and was told be careful and continue to take my medications.Thank you for your prayers.  Weare continuing to look at Ephesians 1:13-14. Today we are talking about theHoly Spirit of promise. First notice what Paul says back in verse 12, that “wewho first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory”. In otherwords, those who have already been born again, who have been saved, who've beenwashed in the blood, who've been redeemed, who've been forgiven, Paul says, “weshould be to the praise of His glory”. Now in verse 13, he points out that thisis who the Ephesian believers also trusted. And after you heard the word oftruth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you weresealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.  “TheHoly Spirit of promise”. Oh, my friend, Jesus promised that the HolySpirit would come. He would come into the believers. He would abide in us. Jesusgave this promise in John 14 and also John 16, in His last message to Hisdisciples in the upper room. John 16:13 says: "However, when He theSpirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speakon His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will tell youthings to come." Then verse 14 He goes on to say: “He will glorifyMe for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”. In Acts 1:4 justbefore Jesus ascended into heaven we read: “And being assembled togetherwith them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for thePromise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me”.The Holy Spirit is the “promise” of both Jesus and the Father! NowEphesians 1:14 goes on to say, not only are we sealed with the Holy Spirit ofpromise, it says He is the Holy Spirit “who is the guarantee of ourinheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession”. Then youread this phrase again, “to the praise of His glory”. I love puttingthis together with what Jesus said. He says the Holy Spirit of promise is goingto come. He's going to abide with you forever. Now He says you'll be sealedwith this Holy Spirit of promise. And all of this is “to the praise of Hisglory”.  Paul'ssaying it's to the praise of the glory of Jesus Christ. Remember back in John 16:14,Jesus said, “He (the Holy Spirit) will glorify me”. My friend, when theHoly Spirit is at work in your life, when the Holy Spirit has taken control ofyou, you will be filled with Him. As a result, He will control your mouth.He'll control your actions, He will control your attitudes as you yield to Hisauthority. He will reveal Jesus to you and preform His work in your life. Theministry of the Holy Spirit cannot be underestimated.  Tomorrowwe are going to talk about what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit andhow that is so awesomely powerful in our lives. But today, let's remember He is“the Holy Spirit of promise” of Jesus and the Father. God always keepsHis promises. If you've been born again, you have the Holy Spirit, and this is allfor, “to the praise of His glory”.  Today,is your life glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ in everything you say and do? Itrust that it is. Godbless!

Thursday September04Todaywe will continue to look at Ephesians 1:13-14. We are talking about the God theHoly Spirit and the blessings that He gives us. We've talked about God theFather and His blessings from eternity past in the first verses (vs. 2-6). Inverses 7-12, we see the past history of Jesus Christ, His death, burial,resurrection, and the blessings that we have in Christ. Now, in verse 13-14, wenot only find out about the blessings of the Holy Spirit we have in “thepresent”, but we find out exactly how we can be saved. We hear “the word oftruth”, which is “the gospel of our salvation”, then we “believe”and put our “trust” totally in Jesus Christ, and we then experience thesealing of the Holy Spirit. Romans10:13-15 makes this really clear: “For "whoever calls on the name ofthe LORD shall be saved." How then shall they call on Him in whom theyhave not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have notheard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preachunless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet ofthose who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of goodthings!". These are powerful verses.  Paulpoints out here in Ephesians 1:13, “in whom you also trusted”. Ofcourse, the “whom” is Jesus Christ that you trusted. You not only needto hear about Christ and have an intellectual understanding that He is the Sonof God, and believe that He is who He said He is, and that He is not just ahistorical figure, but you believe that He came to save us and set us free fromour sins. And you believe not just with your head, but with your heart. Thisdoesn't mean you just actually intellectually ascent to the fact He died andwas buried and rose again the third day. But that you trusted in Him for youreternal salvation. You realized there was no other way of salvation. There wasno hope for you, no future for you, no eternity for you. And you believed and trustedin Him, just like Paul on the road to Damascus trusted in Him and his lifetotally and completely changed.  Myfriend, when you sincerely, honestly, and genuinely trust in Christ, you know itbecause something takes place in your life, a miracle takes place. You become anew creation. “Old things pass away, and all things become new” (2Corinthians 5:17). Only the gospel makes this possible as Paul points out herein this verse. “After you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation,in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. Now,that's powerful because the very moment, and I mean, the very moment that youtrusted in Christ and you called on His name, as Romans 10:13 says here, thatvery moment you experienced eternal salvation, not only did Christ came to livein you, but you were baptized into the body of Christ (Romans 6:3), and yourbody also became the temple of the Holy Spirit. Read this in 1 Corinthians6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spiritwho is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you werebought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, whichare God's.” Whenthe Holy Spirit came in you, Ephesians 1:13 tells us something else takes place:"Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit ofpromise." Tomorrow, we are going to be talking about what that means, “beingsealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” The Holy Spirit guarantees our eternalsalvation. He's the guarantee. And we'll look at what that means tomorrow.  Myfriend, our salvation is such a fantastic, powerful, miraculous, mysteriousexperience. And it's for anyone and everyone who calls on His name. God wantsyou to be saved because He is “not willing that any should perish, but thatall should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  Today,have you ever really believed and put your trust in Jesus alone? Godbless!

Today,as we go through Ephesians chapter 1, we're looking especially at verses 13 and14. But remember back in verse 12, the Apostle Paul as he's writing to thechurch at Ephesus, he spoke to the fact that we who first trusted in Christshould be to the praise of His glory and then he continues in verse 13 to speakhow the Ephesians also trusted in Him. Notice how Paul first trusted in Christ,found salvation, his life was transformed and then he became that greatmissionary out of the church at Antioch that we know about in the book of Acts. Paulis clearly making the point that only by trusting in Christ is the only way ofsalvation. And when did they trust? When did you trust in Christ for your salvation?  It was, “after you heard the word of truth,the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed withthe Holy Spirit of promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until theredemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory”.  Rememberin the first verses of this chapter we read about the blessings from God theFather (vs. 4-6). He blessed us in eternity past before the foundation of theworld, He chose us. He adopted us. He accepted us. And in Him we havesalvation. And He chose us to be what? “To be holy and without blame beforeHim in love”. And that's eternity past.  Inverses 7-12, we have the blessings from God the Son, Jesus Christ. And that'sin history past. Jesus came, as incarnate God to planet earth, died on thecross in our place for our sins, and gave us the salvation that we have. Andthat was the experience of the Ephesian believers there in Ephesus. Now we'relooking at present tense because it is now that the Holy Spirit is the Oneworking in our lives. If you read Acts 19, you definitely will see thatwonderful story there.  Again,looking at the first part of this verse, we find the way of salvation is bytrusting in Christ. Now I don't understand all about predestination, electionand all those things. But I know this, that God also created us with a freewill. And because of that, whosoever will may be saved. And the Lord is notwilling that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And howdo you get saved? After you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, the death, burial,and resurrection. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Then, it is the work and ministryof the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds and change our lives as the Wordof God comes into our heart that we trust in Christ. That's how we experienceHis great salvation.  Continueto pray today for us as we travel and for our dear friends and their families. Again,thank you for your prayers! Godbless!

Today, we are looking at Ephesians 1, and we're talking about the riches, the richesthat we have in Christ Jesus. I made the statement the other day that Isaac wasborn to wealth. Remember his father Abraham was called by God to leave Ur ofthe Chaldees and go to a land that God would show him. And God promised that Hewould bless him. He would make him a great nation. And in him all the nationsof the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). And then God promised him a sonthrough whom this seed, this great nation would come. But it took a long time.And finally, Isaac was born. But by the time Isaac was born, Abraham, becauseof the blessings of God, was a wealthy, wealthy man. Isaac didn't do anything.If you read about him in the Old Testament, he was born to wealth.  Andmy friend, we've been born again to great riches in Christ Jesus. That's whatthe book of Ephesians is about. We see that especially in verses 2-6, becauseGod the Father, God the Father has chosen us. He has adopted us. He hasaccepted us in Christ. All these rich blessings are made possible with theFather in heaven. Before we were alienated from Him, but now we're reconciledto Him through Christ.  InEphesians 1:7-12, we see our riches we have from God the Son. In Him we havethe redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And again, it'saccording to the “riches of His grace”. He has revealed to us His will.The mystery that's been hidden in the past ages but now revealed to us throughJesus Christ. And that is that He will bring everything together. That “inthe dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in oneall things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him”(v. 10). Wehave something to look forward to. The world has nothing to look forward toexcept another day possibly. And they don't even know that they are guaranteedthat. They have no future. They're without hope. We'll read in Ephesians 2:12.But we have hope. Hope in Christ. A future that's bright. A future that's sure,secure, anchored to Jesus Christ. What a rich blessing.  Todaywe see in verse 11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all thingsaccording to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christshould be to the praise of His glory." What is the will of God? Whathas God predestined us for? That we should be to the praise of His glory. Everyborn-again believer, every saint of God has been called to glorify God, toglorify the Lord Jesus Christ, be to the praise of His glory. And this willtake place one day. But even now, we are to live for His glory.  Notonly have we “obtained an inheritance”, but as some translations read, "inwhom also we were made an inheritance", we are His, Christ, inheritance!Both are true and the one includes the other. In Christ we have a wonderfulinheritance (read 1 Peter 1:1-4), and in Christ we are an inheritance. We arevaluable to Him. Think of the price God paid to purchase us and make us part ofHis inheritance! God the Son is the Father's love gift to us; and we are theFather's love gift to His Son. Read John 17 and note how many times Christcalls us "those whom Thou hast given Me." The church is Christ's body(Eph. 1:22-23), building (Eph. 2:19-22), and bride (Eph. 5:22-23); Christ'sfuture inheritance is wrapped up in His church.  Weare "joint-heirs with Christ", which means that He cannotclaim His inheritance apart from us! Romans 8:17 says: "And ifchildren, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed wesuffer with Him that we may also be glorified together with Him."  What a rich blessing that we have aninheritance and at the same time we are His inheritance.  Today,are you enjoying the inheritance you have in Christ? Godbless!

Today,we want to continue in Ephesians 1. Now remember the chapter starts with twolong sentences. The first long sentence begins in verse 2 through verse 6, andtells us how God our Father has given us a great spiritual blessing in the factthat He has chosen us, He has adopted us, and He has accepted us in Christ. Allbecause of what His Son Jesus Christ has done for us. We are a blessed people.We're rich in Christ. That's the theme of the book.  Thenin verses 7-10, we have another long sentence. And this is what Jesus Christthe Son is continuing to do for us even today. We have redemption through Hisblood. We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Yesterdaywe talked about how through His grace He made to abound toward us in all wisdomand prudence. We have the wisdom of God and the discernment of God to do what'sright to please Him.  Todaywe are looking specifically at verses 9-10: ”Having made known to us themystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed inHimself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gathertogether in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are inearth in Him”. And that's the last part of this big sentence. What we findout here is that not only has He redeemed and forgiven us, He has also madeknown to us “the mystery of His will”.  Thisletter has much to say about God's plan for His people. A plan that was noteven fully known even in Paul's day. The word mystery that we read here, and isused several times in the book, has nothing to do with something eerie. Itactually means in the Scripture a “sacred secret” once hidden but now revealedto God's people. We believers are part of God's inner circle. We are able toshare in the secret that God one day will unite everything in Christ. Eversince sin came into the world, things have been falling apart, as you well know.First man was separated from God (Genesis 3). Then man was separated from manas Cain killed Abel (Genesis 4). People tried to maintain some kind of unity bybuilding the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. But God judged them and scatteredthem across the world.  Godcalled Abraham and put a difference between the Jew and the Gentile. Adifference that was maintained until Christ's death on the cross. Sin istearing everything apart. But in Christ, God will gather everything together inthe accumulation of the ages. We are a part as His church, even as Gentiles ofHis eternal program. He unites all things in Christ. What a blessing that themystery of God's will, bringing everything back together in Christ will befulfilled one day when Jesus Christ comes back again and sets up His kingdom.  That'sGod's plan for the ages. Oneness in Jesus Christ. No matter who we are, rich orpoor, educated, uneducated, no matter our language, our culture, we are allrich in Christ. And one day we will experience that final unity. But even now,we can have that unity because we're in Christ. It doesn't matter whether we'refrom India or China or America or Africa or South America. It doesn't matter. AsI go to different places in the world, there is this oneness despite ourlanguage barriers in Christ.  Thisis the will of God that we can have this unity in Christ. This is the will ofGod that we can be saved from the sin that separates us. God is not willingthat any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Myfriend, what a great blessing we have in Christ today. And we ought to enjoythis blessing of unity, knowing the will and plan of God for the ages. Amystery that was hidden but now is made known to us in Christ.  Godbless!

Today,we want to continue in Ephesians chapter 1. And we're kind of camping out hereon verses 7 and 8. We've talked about the blessings that we have from God theFather in the first six verses. Now verse 7-10 we see the blessings we havethrough God the Son. They both work in harmony together, each of them in theirown ministry and work giving us special spiritual blessings that we can enjoyeven today and have heaven on earth. In verse seven, we have redemption throughHis blood and the forgiveness of sins. Then in verse eight, these blessings aremade to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.  Wetalked a little bit about this yesterday, but I want to go back to that phrase,“in all wisdom and prudence”. What is wisdom? The wise man Solomon in Proverbs4, said it this way, "Get wisdom and understanding. Do not forget norturn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her and she will preserveyou. Love her and she will keep you." Wisdom is the principle thing.Therefore, get wisdom, and with all you're getting, get understanding. And thenhe gives a blessing along with it. Exalt her, and she'll promote you. She'llbring you to honor when you embrace her. She'll place on your head an ornamentof grace and a crown of glory. She will deliver to you.  Ilove that, “an ornament of grace”. You'd wonder if Paul might have hadthese verses in mind when he wrote this verse that this redemption andforgiveness of sins is according to the riches of His grace that abounds towardus in all wisdom and prudence. So what is the wisdom of God? Jesus is themanifest wisdom of God. What is God's wisdom as far as you and I are concernedas we look at Scripture, as we look at life? I believe wisdom is being able tosee life from God's viewpoint, from God's perspective. And the only way we cando that is see it through the eyes of Jesus Christ.  Youwant to know how He saw it? Study Jesus in the Gospels. Study all the Scripture.The Scripture reveals to us the mind, the heart, the thoughts of God. And whenwe study the Scripture, we get wisdom. We hear people say, "Don'tcriticize a person till you walk a mile in their shoes." And you shouldn'tbe critical of anyone, anyway. But my friend, the best way to understand aperson, and understand what's going on in their lives, is look at their lifethrough the perspective that God has in His word.  Seethem through the eyes of God in His Word. See them through Christ. “Getwisdom. But with all that getting, get understanding”. And that brings usto the word prudence. “Toward us in all wisdom and prudence”. RememberJames said, “If you lack wisdom, ask God. He will give it to you liberally."He doesn't hold back. Ask God and He will give it to you. Why? Because He's theGod of wisdom. He knows everything. He knows about everything. He knows thepast, the present, the future, all at the same time. Unreal.  Hesays, "Ask Him. He'll give you that wisdom." But you must be in His Word.You must have His Holy Spirit working in your heart. But then with that wisdom,get understanding or get prudence. The Greek word prudence is about practicalwisdom. Basically it means understanding, thoughtful. It means to berightminded, living out God's will. (We'll talk about that in the next verse). Thisleads to spiritual maturity, discerning, and living a life in harmony withGod's purpose. Andso with that wisdom, get understanding. Know how to apply it to thecircumstances and the situation that you're in. And my friend, when you dothat, you're on the road to living in harmony with God. And you'll wear a ornamentof grace on your countenance as crown of glory. You'll be exalting andglorifying Christ in everything you say and do. What a wonderful way to live.And it's available to you because it abounds through Jesus Christ today for youand me.  Godbless!

Thisis what we are talking about today as we look at Ephesians 1:7-10: "Inwhom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according tothe riches of His grace." In the first six verses, we found the blessingswe have from God the Father. In God the Father, we have been chosen. We havebeen adopted into His family. We have been accepted in Christ. Now in theseverses we see the blessings that we have from the Person and the work andministry of Jesus Christ because of His blood. We have been redeemed and wehave been forgiven. We talked about that yesterday.  Onething I want to go back to: I mentioned that evidence of our forgiveness is wehave the ability and power to forgive others. And I made the statement that ifwe cannot forgive others, maybe we haven't been forgiven. Now, that doesn'tmean that we are not a believer. It doesn't mean that we're not saved, but itmight mean we have not accepted the forgiveness that we have already in ChristJesus. Some people are forgiven but don't know they're forgiven. They've beenset free, but they don't know they've been set free. How sad.  ReadRomans chapters 6, 7, and 8. There we read about the law of sin and deaththat's always pulling us down. But then there's the law of life in Christ Jesusthat we must also understand and accept, and that we believe in and that wewalk in. And when we do that, we're free. And we walk in that law of life inChrist Jesus through a life of humility. That's why so much is made abouthumility in Christ. The humility of Christ. He humbled Himself. We humbleourselves under the mighty hand of God. It is then that we receive the grace ofGod (James 4:6), “God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble”. Whenwe receive God's grace, we don't get bitter when people hurt us and they causeus pain. When they offend us. No, we're able to forgive because of humility. Weswallow our pride. We admit our sins, our guilt. Forgiveness is a daily thingfor us. And that is because every day we get our feet dirty in this world.We're human. We don't always respond correctly to the situations and problemsand hurts and challenges that we face and we misstep, and we must come to theLord every day.  1John 1 reminds us that if we say we've not sinned, we are a liar. The truth isnot in us. 1 John 1 is about the assurance in knowing that I'm a child of God andnow that “I can walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood ofChrist is daily cleansing me from all sin”. And that means I'm forgivingothers also at the same time because of God's wonderful grace.  InChrist, we are redeemed and because of that we have been forgiven. And then Paulgoes on in verse 7, to say, "Which He has made to abound toward us inall wisdom and prudence." We have everything we need to live that lifeof abundant life. Jesus said, "The thief came to steal, to kill, and todestroy” (John 10:10). That thief is the devil, and he wants to steal yourjoy. He wants to steal your peace. He wants to steal your walk with God. He's athief. He wants you to be miserable. He wants you to walk in darkness, myfriend. But Jesus came to set you free. And if the “Son sets you free, youwill be free indeed” (John 8:32-26).  Youare free to love the Lord, free to love others, free to forgive others becauseyou've been forgiven. This again is a great blessing that we have. And Godgives us this grace. How does He give it? “In all wisdom and prudence”. Thismeans that we know how to respond to the problems in life. And we do itprudently. We do it the right way by the grace of God.Today,be encouraged!!! Deal with bitterness, deal with guilt, ask forgiveness, giveforgiveness, and walk with the Lord today. And what a wonderful life of freedomyou will have and enjoy in Christ today.  Godbless!

How do you know you've been forgiven? Do you have assurance thatyou've been forgiven for every sin that you've ever committed?  Well,the evidence and the proof is in the fact that you now have the ability toforgive others. You have the desire to forgive others instead of being a bitterperson, speaking evil against others, being full of malice and envy and wantingto get even and all those sorts of things and carrying a grudge on your shoulder.I'm telling you, my friend, the proof, the evidence that you have experiencedthe forgiveness of God through Christ Jesus is that you are willing and areable and have the power and ability to forgive others who have offended andhurt you, and who have caused you great pain and maybe loss.  RememberPeter ask Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22, "How often should I forgive mybrother? Seven times?” Jesus answers and says no, forgive him seventy times seven.That's how often you forgive the brother that sins against you and offends youand hurts you. Seventy time seven—that's limitless. That means you forget tocount after a while and you continue to forgive no matter what. Why and how? BecauseGod forgave you in Christ Jesus! And instead of talking evil against the personand being bitter.  Overthe years, the hardest and most difficult thing for me to deal with is bitterpeople. People who are full of bitterness because they feel like they've beenoffended. They have become a victim. It's everyone else's fault, and always blamingothers for their problems and attitudes. But my friend, the greatest blessingis to meet and know someone who has been hurt and been offended, yet likeCorrie ten Boom who forgave that guard who abused her and caused death to herfamily, they have forgiven the person who deeply hurt them.  Ohmy friend, through the grace of God we can forgive others, and we need to dothat. I love the story of Joseph in the last chapters of Genesis and how histen brothers threw him in a pit. They thought to kill him, but instead theysold him into slavery and they thought it was over. Then they lied to theirfather and said a beast must have killed him. You know the story how laterafter they were reconciled to their brother and after their father died inGenesis 50, they go to Joseph and they say, "Our father told us to cometo you again and ask for your forgiveness." And Joseph replied, "AmI in the place of God?" He went on to say, "Listen, you mighthave meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And I'm not only going toforgive you. You don't need to be afraid. I'm going to provide for you." Bythe way, that's another evidence that you have been forgiven. You are willingto do good and “provide” to others who have deeply hurt and offended you. Why?Because God has been good to you through your forgiveness. My friend, I sure hopeand pray that we take this lesson to heart. It's one of the biggest, greatest,most powerful lessons in the Bible. There are over thirteen passages in the NewTestament encouraging us to forgive one another. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus said,"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father willalso forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither willyour Father forgive your trespasses.” HasGod spoken to your heart today? Is there someone you need to forgive because ofthe pain, the hurt, the bitterness in your heart that wells up inside of youwhen you think of them? You can because of the grace of God you haveexperienced! You need to see them in Christ. Remember God loves them. Christdied for them, and God wants them to have the salvation you have.  Yes,my friend, you have the ability and power to forgive when you have experienced,and you know God's forgiveness for your sins. And if you can't forgive others,maybe you need to check out whether you have truly been forgiven or notyourself. Please think about these things today! Godbless!

I am thankful that I have been forgiven for all my sins. That God now is my Father in heaven. That He loves me. Hecares for me. He meets all our needs according to His riches and glory inChrist Jesus. I have been so blessed with His forgiveness. Now that's what weread about in Ephesians 1:7. “In whom we have redemption through His blood.Yes, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace”.  Wedon't deserve this kind of forgiveness, but God gives it to us. He forgives usbecause Christ died on the cross for our sins. Now, a couple more things aboutforgiveness we want to continue to talk about. In John 1:29, when John theBaptist introduced Jesus Christ to his public ministry, and he saw Jesus comingto be baptized, he said, "Behold the lamb of God, which takes away thesin of the world." It is possible that John was thinking about and referringto Leviticus 16. You remember in Leviticus16, the great atonement chapter ofthe Old Testament, that on the Day of Atonement, one day a year, the High Priestof Israel would take the blood of a goat into the Most Holy Place, dipped hisfingers in that blood, and then he would sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat in the MostHoly Place before a holy God.  Rememberthat the Mercy Seat was setting over the Ark of the Covenant, which includedthe law of God, the law of Moses, the law that condemns us, the law that tellsus we're sinners, which reminds us that none of us are perfect. We've allsinned and come short of the glory of God that's revealed in His moral law. Andthere the mercy seat was sitting above and over it reminding us that with Godthere is abundant mercy and kindness and grace if we'll turn to His way ofsalvation which is through the blood. (Read Dr. Towns Devotional that is postedon my website at: https://www.pmiministries.org/post/365-ways-to-know-god-by-elmer-towns-august-24 Therewas another goat called the scapegoat. And that scapegoat would be outside thetabernacle doors. The priest laid his hands on the head of that goat and confessedall the sins of the people of Israel. Symbolically he would put the sins of thepeople on the head of that goat. Then that goat then would be taken by a manthat was appointed by the priest and led out into the wilderness, and maybethere was another man further out already waiting, and he would take it furtherand further and further into the wilderness. And so finally, there is no waythat that goat could find its way back to the people of God. And my friend, thisscapegoat symbolized that their sins were not only covered there in thetabernacle, atoned for, but they were also removed.  Thatreminds me of Psalms 103:10-12 where it says: “He has not dealt with usaccording to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as theheavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fearHim; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed ourtransgressions from us.” My friend, God's not only saved us and forgiven us,and no longer holds our sins against us, they are also no longer on ouraccount. They were put on Christ account. And on Christ account, they were paidin full.  Godhas now removed our sins from us. The removal of our sins is as far as the eastis from the west. It doesn't matter how far east you go, you can't get to thewest. And no matter how far west you go, you won't get to the east, so tospeak. They're removed from each other, never to come together.  Yoursins will never come together upon you again because you're forgiven in ChristJesus. I love what it says in Hebrews 8:11 where God says, “For I will bemerciful toward their iniquities. And I will remember their sin no more."God not only forgives us, He forgets our sins. We might not forget them, butGod does.  Forgivenand Forgotten!!!!!  Oh, how blessed weare. Today you can experience and enjoy forgiveness of sins through Christ! Godbless!

Ibelieve what we're talking about today is one of the most important things wecan talk about in the Bible and especially in the New Testament, and that is theforgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins, and knowing that we'reforgiven. Yesterday we started looking at Ephesians 1:7, and there it tells usthat “in Him we have redemption through His blood”. We explained thatyesterday. Redemption through the blood. How His blood has redeemed us, has setus free from our sin, has paid the ransom price to a holy God so that we do nothave to stand guilty before Him. And then next He says, "And theforgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace."  Oneof the greatest feelings I have ever had emotionally, mentally, spiritually, inany way, humanly speaking, was the day that I knew I was forgiven for my sins.February 21st, 1971. God didn't hold my sins against me any longer. The guiltwas gone. The darkness was gone, and the burden was lifted. In the NewTestament, the forgiveness of sins is the central theme of the gospel message. Itemphasizes God's mercy and His grace through Jesus Christ. It addresses thefact that man is a sinner. That man is a fallen creature. Man is separated fromGod. Man is alienated from God. We're separated from God by our sin. And “thewages of sin is death”. The payment for sin is death. But my friend, “thegift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  Goddoesn't forgive us because He loves us. Many people have that mistaken idea,but that's not true. God forgives us because He sent His Son to die in ourplace for our sin. Jesus took the penalty for our sin. He took the guilt. Hetook the shame. He took all of it, the death of our sin upon Himself and diedin our place in a substitutionary way. Our sin was imputed to Him and Hisrighteousness has been imputed to us, and therefore being justified by faith wehave peace with God (Romans 5:1). The word justified means now we have a rightstanding before a holy God. We're no longer guilty before a holy God.  Theonly way to be forgiven is to first recognize that you need to be forgiven.That you find yourself under the weight and guilt of your sin and you have noway to deal with that. Going to church, living a good life, doing good deeds,doing anything you're trying to do to remove your sin. The sacraments,religion, nothing can remove your sin. No priest, no man on earth can removeyour sin, my friend. Only one person can, and that is Jesus Christ through thedeath, His death on the cross of Calvary. And when we acknowledge that, then wecan cry out to God for forgiveness in repentance of our sins. Atthat point, we express our faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on thecross. And that's when the moment of salvation takes place and we are forgiven becausewe have a Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no other way (Acts 4:12). Oh, nogreater experience than to be forgiven. And that's the love God has for us(John 3:16). He sent His Son to die for us. Love is expressed in the fact thatHe does forgive us through His mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ on the cross. That'swhy when we forgive those who trespass against us those who hurt us we areexpressing not our love because our love is pretty faulty at best, but we'reexpressing God's love because God is love and God only can forgive sin and myfriend you have experienced that, it's then for Christ's sake that you canforgive others, not that they deserve it any more than we deserved it.  Well,this is a great truth. We have the forgiveness of sin according to the richesof His grace. Have you been forgiven? I trust you have.  Godbless!

Remember,the theme of Ephesians is about the riches that we have in Christ Jesus. We arein Christ the moment we trust Him to be our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spiritbaptizes us into the body of Christ (Romans 6:3). In the first long sentence,verse 2-6, we have seen how God the Father has given us at least threewonderful rich blessings. The first blessing was we are “chosen”. We are“chosen… to be holy and without blame before Him in love” (v. 4). Secondly,we are “adopted” into His family as His children (v. 5). We appreciatethe fact that we can go to Him as our Father in heaven.  Next,we are blessed with being “accepted in the beloved” (v. 6). No matterwhat happens in our life, or what goes on around us, God has accepted us notbecause of our goodness, our good deeds, or our perfection. No. He's acceptedus in Christ Jesus forever. And we have an advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ therighteous, who is always there interceding on our behalf. We are accepted, myfriend. What great blessings from God the Father.  Now,in verses 7-12, we see where we have blessings from God the Son. Now, we mustalso remember that each Person of the Godhead does not work independently ofthe other. No, my friend, they all work together to make possible everythingthat pertains to our salvation. But each Person of the Trinity, God the Father,God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, are still one. And each person has a specialministry to perform and a special deposit to make into our lives. Through theministry and finished work of Jesus the Son we are blessed with being redeemed. Theword redeem basically means to “purchase to set free by paying the price”.During the time of Christ and the apostles there were 60 million slaves in theRoman Empire and they were bought and sold like pieces of furniture. But a man couldpurchase a slave and set him free. And this is what Jesus did for us. In theNew Testament there are three words that are in the Greek that highlight thedifferent aspects of this redemption.  Thefirst Greek word is agorazō which means “to buy” or “to purchase” andespecially typically in a marketplace setting. It describes the aspect ofredemption as the initial acquisition of buying of humanity from the slavemarket of sin where Christ pays the price by His blood to claim believers asHis own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Revelation 5:9). Colossians 1:13-14 also tellsus: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into thekingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood,the forgiveness of sins.” Thenext Greek word is exagorazō, a compound form meaning “to buy out of” or “toredeem from”. This emphasizes the aspect of permanently removing the purchasedindividual from the market or the bondage of sin. The individual is no longersubject to resale or the curse of the law, delivering them from ongoingenslavement to sin.  Thenthe last Greek word is lutroō, which means “to ransom”, “to loose” or “to setfree” because the ransom price has been paid. And it focuses on the aspect ofcomplete liberation, emancipation from captivity, your release from the powerand the guilt and the shame of sin. You are set free.  Thatis what it means when it says in the scripture, we are redeemed by His blood. “InHim we have redemption through His blood”. Redemption is only possible throughHis blood. Jesus paid the price. He satisfied God's wrath for sin. Now myfriend, we are set free to love Him, to live for Him, to be free to serve Him,to serve others, to love God, and to love others like we should.  Ilove the old hymn by Fanny Crosby: “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemedby the blood of the Lamb! Redeemed through His infinite mercy—His child, andforever, I am.” Whata wonderful, wonderful blessing we have from Jesus Christ. Have you everexperienced this redemption? Godbless!

Thethird great blessing we learn from verse 6, is that we are “accepted in theBeloved”. The first time the word “accepted” was used is in Genesis 4:7,where God accepted Abel's sacrifice, but He rejected Cain's sacrifice. Cain wasvery angry and God told him: Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not beaccepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire isfor you, but you should rule over it."  God was saying that if Cain would do the rightthing by bringing the right sacrifice that God could accept that he would beaccepted, otherwise sin would control him when he could have “ruled” orconquered it by the acceptable sacrifice.  Wehave been “chosen” and we have been “adopted”. And we also been “acceptedin the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace”. One of the worst emotionsto have in our life is the feeling that we are being rejected. We might feelrejected by our parents. Sometimes we get rejected or feel rejected by ourpeers, by our friends, and rejected by our co-workers. There's this terrible sensethat you have when you walk into the room, people don't want you in there.You're not wanted. You're not a part of the group.  I'veheard that young people will do anything to be accepted by their peers. They'llchange their looks. They'll change the color of their hair. They'll doeverything to look like those who accept them. My friend, oh my friend, you andI have the great spiritual blessing of being accepted by God. Before we becamea believer we were alienated from God. We were enemies from God. We were at warwith God. But Jesus Christ came, and He took the rejection of men. He wasdespised and rejected of men. He was a man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3).  Jesustook our sin. He took our place. He is the sin offering that God accepted. Theonly offering for sin that God could accept. He was the perfect sacrifice, the Lambof God, the One without spot and without blemish. He was stainless. He wasperfect before God. He was the only sacrifice that would satisfy the wrath ofGod. God had to turn His back to His Son when He was on the cross and in asense reject His Son, as His Son, so that His Son could become our sin on thatcross and die in our place.  Nowbecause Jesus paid the full price. The offering for sin has been accepted. Whenyou read about the sacrifices and offering in the Old Testament you can't helpbut notice how many times it says that God could not accept certain sacrificesor offering because they didn't meet His standard. But thank God, now the onesacrifice of Jesus Christ has been accepted.  “Tothe praise of the glory of His grace…” It is all by the grace of God and not what wedo. It's not by our works of righteousness. There's nothing we could do. If wecould bring peace to the whole world and settle all the wars and conflicts andby doing so got the Nobel Peace Prize, that will not give you one merit to enterheaven one day. It is only by the grace of God through the blood of JesusChrist and the fact that God has accepted His sacrifice. Now,you and I are accepted in the beloved. And my friend, if you know you'reaccepted by God, what does it matter if men reject you, if friends or anyoneelse rejects you? You know that your greatest need is to be accepted by God,and you are accepted in His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. How should we respond tothis great fact and truth? We should live acceptable lives before Him as weread in Romans 12:1-2. We make acceptable offerings by giving ourselves whollyand completely to Him and please Him because we have been accepted.  Don'tever forget that you're accepted by God. You're accepted in His family. You'reone of His children. What a great, awesome, and wonderful spiritual blessing! Godbless!

Whenwe look at the words “election” or being “chosen” in theScriptures, we're speaking of the fact that God has a special people set apartfor a specific purpose. Just like He chose Abraham and chose the people ofIsrael to be His people. It didn't mean that they were all saved. It means thatthey were called to as a special people to special purpose. As believers, weare born into the family of God. But as His sons and daughters we are chosen byHim to be holy, to be a “chosen” people, an “elect” people, a people that has thepurpose of reflecting His glory as His church to the world around us.  Inverse five, it says, "Having predestined us to adoption as sons byJesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will."  Here we meet this word called predestination. Themeaning of this word has caused many divisions amongst believers. This shouldnot be the case, especially when you look at the context in which it is used inthe New Testament. We should not misunderstand this word. This word as it isused in the Bible refers primarily to what God does for saved people. Nowherein the Bible are we taught that people are predestined to hell or even toheaven, because this word is already referring to those who are saved who havebeen born into the family of God.  Theword simply means to ordain beforehand to predetermine. As we said electionseems to refer to people while predestination refers to purposes. And when youlook at scripture, you find that the events connected with the crucifixion ofJesus Christ were predestined. Read Acts 4:25-28. Jesus was slain from thefoundation of the world as the Lamb of God. God has predestined us to adoption(Ephesians 1:5). God has predestined us to conformity to Christ (Romans 8:29-30).“For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image ofHis Son”.  Goddidn't predestine us to be saved or to be lost, to go to heaven or go to hell.He predestined us to be like His Son. And my friend, one day we ultimately willbe just like Him. God also predestined our future inheritance. This is foundhere in Ephesians 1:11, “In Him also we've obtained an inheritance beingpredestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according tothe council of His will”. This has to do with our future inheritance thatwe have when we see Jesus Christ at His coming.  Adoption,when you look at it in scripture, has a dual meaning, both present and future.You do not get into God's family by adoption. You get into God's family byregeneration, the new birth. John 3:1-18. You see this also in 1 Peter 1, we'reborn again by the Word of God through the Holy Spirit of God into the family ofGod. Adoption in scripture is the act of God by which He gives His “born ones”an adult standing in the family. Why does He do this? That's because we mightimmediately begin to claim our inheritance and enjoy our spiritual wealth rightnow. A baby cannot legally use his inheritance. Galatians 4:1-7. But an adultson can and should. It means that you do not have to wait till you become anold saint before you can claim your riches in Christ Jesus. You can claim themnow as a brand-new believer.  Thefuture aspect of adoption is found in Romans 8:22-23. Again this is speaking ofthe glorified body that we will have when Jesus Christ returns and we meet Himface to face and we're like Him even in our glorified bodies. We already havean adult standing before God. But the world can't see that. When Christreturns, this private adoption will be made public for everyone to see. As Paulsays in Romans 8, we look forward to that day! My friend. I believe Jesus'coming is just around the corner. Today,are you claiming and enjoying the riches of the glory of your inheritance in ChristJesus? (Ephesians 1:15) Godbless!

Ephesians1:3-6 is one long sentence. Today we are looking at the blessings that we havefrom God the Father. “Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,who has blessed us…” (v.3). Verses 3-6 are speaking of our blessings thatwe have from God the Father. When Jesus Christ wrote His last will andtestament for His church, He made it possible for us to share in His spiritualriches. Instead of spending it all for Him, (as some do when they receive aninheritance), Jesus Christ paid for it all. His death on the cross and Hisresurrection made it possible for our salvation.  Myfriend, Jesus wrote us into His will and then He died so that the will would beenforced. That's what the book of Hebrews is about. Then He rose again that Hemight become the heavenly advocate, our lawyer, to make sure that the terms ofthe will were correctly followed.  Inthis long sentence Paul begins to name just a few of the blessings that we havethat make up our spiritual wealth. First, we find in verse four here that Godhas “chosen us in Him”. This is the speaking of the marvelous doctrineof election, a doctrine that has confused some and confounded others. Aseminary professor once remarked, "You try to explain election and you'lllose your mind. But try to explain it away and you may lose your soul."  TheScriptures teach that salvation begins with God and not with man. AllChristians must agree upon this. "You have not chosen me," Jesussaid, "but I have chosen you." (John 15:16). The lost sinnerleft to his own ways does not seek God. He hides from God. Remember Adam andEve after they sinned (Genesis 3:8). God in His love seeks the sinner (Luke19:10).  Notethat God chose us even before He created the universe, so that our salvation iswholly of His grace and not on the basis of anything we ourselves have done. Hechose us in Christ, not in ourselves. And He chose us for a purpose: “to beholy and without blame”. In the Bible, election is always unto something.It is a privilege that carries a great responsibility. We are not elected intothe family of God, we are born into the family of God (John 3:1-7). We are electedto a position of sanctification and service as we participate in the body lifein the family of God!  Doesthe sinner respond to God's grace against his own will? No, he responds becauseGod's grace makes him willing to respond (Ephesians 2:8-9). God only gives usthis grace when we humble ourselves under the condemnation of the Law and we acknowledgeand confess that we can only be saved by the death and resurrection of JesusChrist (Romans 10:10-13)! At the same time there is the mystery of divinesovereignty and human responsibility will never be solved in this life. Bothare taught in the Bible (John 6:37). Both are true, and both are essential.Spurgeon said they are friends, and they walk hand in hand. I personally believestrongly in both! Ilove how someone shared how that all three Persons in the Godhead are involvedin our salvation (see also 1 Peter 1:3-5). As far as God the Father isconcerned, you were saved when He chose you in Christ in eternity past. Butthat alone did not save you. As far as God the Son is concerned, you were savedwhen He died for you on the cross. As far as God the Spirit is concerned, youwere saved when you yielded to His conviction and received Christ as your Savior.What began in eternity past was fulfilled in time present, and will continuefor all eternity!  Oh,my friend, how wonderful it is to know that we have been chosen in Christbefore the foundation of the world, not to be saved, but “to be holyand without blame before Him in love”.  We are a special people. We have a greatblessing. We are “chosen in Him”.  Godbless!

Todaywe are talking about the riches that we have in Christ Jesus. Sometimeswe think of the wealthiest people on earth such as Elon Musk being worth over$430 billion and Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, over 200-plusbillion dollars, and other wealthy people. The top five billionaires in theworld altogether—their wealth is over a trillion dollars—and we go, wow,wouldn't we like to have that? Well, my friend, I am telling you, you havesomething better than that. You have eternal riches.  Thefact that Paul is writing about wealth would be significant to his readers,because Ephesus was considered the bank of Asia. One of the seven wonders ofthe world, the great temple of Diana, was in Ephesus, and was not only a centerfor idolatrous worship, but also a depository for wealth. Some of the greatestart treasures of the ancient world were housed in this magnificent building. Inthis letter, Paul will compare the church of Jesus Christ to a temple and willexplain the great wealth that Christ has in His church. Paul is saying to us, "BE RICH!" Thatis what Paul says in verse three: “Blessed be the God and Father of our LordJesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlyplaces in Christ.” Our riches are not in a passing world, a temporaryworld, the temporary wealth of this world. Our riches are found in the eternalperson of Jesus Christ Himself. We have His riches. We are co-inheritors withHim of all the riches of God. Our Father in heaven owns it all.  TheHoly Spirit is mentioned many times in this letter, because He is the one whochannels our riches to us from the Father, through the Son. Not to know anddepend on the Holy Spirit's provision is to live a life of spiritual poverty.No wonder Paul began his Ephesian ministry asking some professed Christians ifthey really knew the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7). We might ask professedChristians today, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Ifthe answer is no, then you are not saved." "Now if any man havenot the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). Unless youhave the witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:15-16), you cannot draw on the wealthof the Spirit. Inthese first verses of this chapter one of the guarantees that we're going tosee of our salvation and our eternal inheritance in Christ is based on the factthat we have been given the Holy Spirit (vv.11-14). In the Old Testament,promises were made to Israel that they would be blessed with prosperity, withwealth, with land, with material things. But my friend, the blessings that arepromised to the believer are eternal blessings. We're not called to be blessedwith riches physically. The prosperity gospel preachers are deceitfullymisleading many today to believe that God has promised us material wealth now.Actually Jesus promised us poverty and suffering now if we truly follow Him.  Ourriches In Christ are not in the sweet by and by. We are rich and blessed inChrist spiritually speaking right now! In Philippians 3, Paul said, "Icount all things but loss for the glory and the riches that I have in ChristJesus… that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection." Ourriches are found in the fact that we have the promise that “our God willsupply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians4:19). “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians4:13).  Myfriend, today we have the power, the ability, and the desire to please God forheavenly riches, heavenly things, and heavenly results. You can't take yourmoney to heaven with you, but you can take people to heaven with you that youinfluence and impact with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today,you are rich in Christ. You've been born into tremendous wealth in Christ. Youare seated with Him in the heavenlies even right now. GodBless!

We have talked about God's graceand how important it is that we experience God's grace before we can experienceHis peace—peace with God. The Bible definitely teaches that we'reat enmity with God before our salvation. We're enemies of God. We're alienatedin our minds by wicked works away from God (Colossians 1:21), and we needreconciliation.  Justnow the world is looking for peace in the Ukraine in the Middle East. But there will be no peace without the Man of peace.That's Jesus Christ. And I can tell you one day He will bring peace to thisworld. Jesus said to His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled.You believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).   Ourhearts are yearning for peace. Your heart yearns for peace. There's somethingmissing inside because you literally are not at one with the Father in heavenwho created you, your Creator God. You've been alienated from Him by sin thatyou were born with in your heart. And there's only one way to make peace, andthat's through the blood of His cross. That's why Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore,being justified by faith," remember we talked about grace and faith.  Paulwrote to the “faithful in Christ” at Ephesus, those who have a savingfaith. And when you have a saving faith in the blood of Christ on the cross ofCalvary, you can then enjoy His peace. You're at peace with God only throughthe sacrifice and the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “Therefore,being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our LordJesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).  Peacewith Godis what we need and what we are longing for. No more war, no more enmity, nomore separation. We're reconciled to God. And it says He reconciles all thingsto Himself in Colossians 1:20, “And having reconciled all things to Himself,having made peace by the blood of His cross”. It's only through the bloodof His cross that you can experience by faith this wonderful peace with God.Have you ever come to the cross? Have you ever come to Christ through Hisblood?  InEphesians 2:13-17 Paul wrote, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who oncewere far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himselfis our peace, who has made both one and broken down the middle wall ofseparation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is the law ofcommandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new manfrom the two, thus making peace, that He might reconcile them both toGod in one body through the cross, therefore putting to death the enmity. AndHe came and preached peace to you who were far off, those who are nownear”. Myfriend, Paul was saying that the Jews were near, (they had the law of Moses),but the Gentiles, we were far off, but we are all separated from Christ. But inChrist, we are brought together, and we have peace. Oh, today this is peacewith God. But then there is also the peace of God that passes allunderstanding. Read Philippians 4:4-9. Those first verses there that talk aboutbeing at peace with God because we yield everything in our lives to Him. Wesurrender our will. We surrender our possessions. We surrender everything toHim. And we can then enjoy the peace of God that passes allunderstanding. And then think on these things that are pure and holy and lovelyand kind and good and gracious.  Youcan live a life of peace. That's why John 14:27 means so much to me when Jesussaid, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, (The verypeace He had with His Father), not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Letnot your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Troubledhearts, fearful hearts can come to reconciliation with God through Christ inHis blood on the cross and find that peace that passes all understanding andthat peace that takes away the enmity with God.  Godbless you today as you experience and enjoy grace and peace throughfaith in Christ Jesus.

Paul writes, "Grace to you and peace from God ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ." We could spend several weeks juston this one small verse, that starts with the word grace. The word graceis used 12 times in the book of Ephesians. It refers to the kindness of Godtoward undeserving people. Some people abbreviate that by saying that grace is God'sunmerited favor. That's what grace is.  Overthe years I have also expanded the description of Biblical grace to say thatgrace is God giving us everything we need to be able to fulfill and do the willof God and to find fulfillment in Christ Jesus. Peter said it this way: “Graceand peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, asHis divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which havebeen given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through theseyou may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption thatis in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4). Whenyou read through Paul's epistles you will notice that he begins every letterwith the greeting, “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the LordJesus Christ”. Paul is really big on God's grace. Paul finishes everyletter speaking of God's grace; “Grace be unto you from our Lord JesusChrist”. Next time you read through Paul's epistles be sure to notice this.Grace is a big thing with the Apostle Paul because it's a big thing with God.  TheBible tells us in John chapter 1 that the law was given by Moses, but grace andtruth came by Jesus Christ. You want to know what God's grace is? Look full inthe face of Jesus Christ and there you'll see God's grace because what you needis found in Christ. That's why Paul mentions grace and peace together so often.Now tomorrow we're going to talk about peace with God and the peace of God. Buttoday we are looking at God's grace. As I said, we desperately need God's graceto be all that we should be for the glory of God.  Graceis God giving us the desire to be saved. One of the most famous verses in theNew Testament is Ephesians 2:8- 9. “For by grace are you saved through faithand that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any manshould boast.” A person does not get saved without God giving you thegrace, giving you the desire to be saved. And when does God give you the desireto be saved? We find the answer to that in James 4:6, and also 1 Peter 5:5-6. Andthey both quote the same thing out of the Old Testament book of Proverbs 3:34. Thisis where Solomon wrote that God gives grace to the humble.  Jamesand Peter in their verses make it clear that “God resists the proud, but Hegives grace to the humble”. When we humble ourselves, when we have contritehearts. When we are broken. When we become desperate for God and the peace ofGod recognizing our great need of God's forgiveness for our sin, it is thenthat God looks down upon our humble heart and He gives us grace. First, Hegives us the desire to get saved and then He gives us the willingness to getsaved and then He actually saves us by His grace.  Oneof my favorite verses about grace is found in 1 Corinthians 15:10, where theApostle Paul proclaims, "But by the grace of God, I am what I am. AndHis grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than theyall. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."  Paul acknowledges that, "EverythingI am and everything I hope to be and everything I have accomplished for thepurposes of God is only by His grace”. Yes,my friend it is God's grace that gives us the desire, the power, the ability todo what God wants us to do. That's why Paul would write in all his letters and say,"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord JesusChrist." Everything we really need today comes from Him.

Iremember when I was a child growing up in a family that was very poor. I tell you what, my friend. The moment I found Jesus Christ as a 19-year-oldteenager, I became the richest person in the universe in Christ. And that'swhat Ephesians is about: knowing and understanding the riches of the glory theHis inheritance that I have in Jesus Christ. And that's why these three versesare so powerful to help us begin to understand what we need to learn and knowfrom this book.  Verse1 tells us that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and thathe is writing this epistle “to the saints who are in Ephesus andfaithful in Christ Jesus.” The word saints there is a very importantword. It's a word that's used at least nine times in the book of Ephesians. Theword saint actually means “one who has been set apart”. Somebody that's beensanctified. Somebody that's been made holy. The moment you received JesusChrist, you were set apart for by the Holy Spirit for Christ and for His glory(Romans 6:3).  Imean all the riches in Christ were set apart for you in Christ at that moment.And so when we trust Christ in a sense we're taken out of this world and we'replaced in Christ in a heavenly world, we can enjoy heaven on earth. We do nothave to wait for the sweet by and by. And you were set apart to go to heavenone day. It's so sad that many of us do not understand or recognize the richeswe have in Christ.  Itkind of reminds me of the story I read recently of Hetty Green who lived from1834 to 1916. When she died she was worth over $100 million. In our moneytoday, that would be $2.5 billion. She was called the witch of Wall Street. Inthe Guinness Book of World Records, she's called America's greatest miser. It'sreported that she ate cold oatmeal because it cost to heat it. She ate mostlypies that cost 15 cents. She was said never to turn on the heat or use hotwater. She wore one old black dress and undergarments that she changed onlyafter they had been worn out. She did not wash her hands and she rode in an oldcarriage. One tale claims that Green spent half a night searching her carriagefor a lost stamp worth two cents. Another asserts that she instructed herlaundress to wash only the dirtiest part of her dresses, the hems, to savemoney on soap. The sad thing is she had a son that had to suffer a legamputation because she delayed in taking so long looking for a free clinic thathis case became incurable.  Howsad. But a sadder fact is the fact that there are so many Christians that areliving miserable lives because they do not know about and understand the richesthey have in Christ. I've often said the most miserable people in the world arenot lost people. They're enjoying the pleasures of sin for the few moments theymight have with it. It's the Christian who can't enjoy those pleasures of sinany longer because of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in their lives,but they have never begun to comprehend the great riches they have in Christ.  That'swhat we're going to be talking about these next few days in Christ. In Christ.Matter of fact, the phrase “in Christ” is used, some 15 times in the book ofEphesians. We are “in Christ”. Oh, if we could only begin to understand that. Peterput it this way in 1 Peter 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our LordJesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to aliving hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to aninheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reservedin heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvationready to be revealed in the last time.” Itrust today you will begin to recognize and know the riches of His glory of theinheritance that you have in Christ.  Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!

Paul pray forthe church at Ephesus during their time of tremendous persecution they wouldknow how blessed they were in Christ. Today we want to give a little backgroundhistorically of this church and the reason Paul wrote this letter.  Nowas you read these first verses of this chapter, you find verse number one, Paulis the writer of this epistle. And we need to remember that the Apostle Paulwrote at least 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. And he wrote them asletters, as epistles to churches or to individuals that he knew. Nine of theseletters were written to churches. Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians,Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Four of theseletters were written to individuals. First and Second Timothy and Titus andPhilemon.  Weknow that Paul wrote most of his writings over a period of about 15 years. Fourof Paul's letters are what are called the Prison Epistles. They were writtenbetween AD 60 and AD 62 when he was in prison in Rome under house arrest (Acts28:30-31). He sent these letters from prison by four different men to thesechurches and one individual. Tychicus took the letter to Ephesus (Ephesians6:21). Epaphroditus from Philippi took the letter to the Philippians (Philippians4:18). Epaphras was from Colossae and he took the epistle to the Colossians.And then Onesimus who was a slave that Paul led to the Lord while he was in prison,was the one who took the letter back to Colossae where Philemon lived and deliveredhis letter to him. Nowas you read these letters and you read what Paul was going through during thistime, Paul was in prison. He was suffering. He was maybe facing immediatedeath. But we know that basically Paul was released for a period of time and laterwas sent went back to Rome under Nero's rule and there he was executed around AD67.  Thebook of Acts records at least three missionary journeys that Paul tookthroughout the Roman Empire. It was on the second missionary journey that hewas on that he went through Ephesus (Acts 18:19). He stayed only a short timebut two years later while he was on his third missionary journey he stayed inEphesus for at least two years and during that period of time it tells us thatall of Asia heard the gospel (Acts19:1-20) Later when Paul was on his way toJerusalem in Acts 20, he met with the elders of the church there at Ephesus andencouraged them to stand strong in the midst of persecution.  Later,when Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and then sent to Rome a prisoner is when hewrote this letter to the church at Ephesus. They were going through a difficulttime of persecution that was happening throughout the Roman empire and Paul waswriting a letter to help them. There's three words that stand out in this firstchapter I think are so important. Faith, Hope and Love.  Inverse one Paul talked about they were faithful in Christ Jesus. In verse15, Paul said, “he heard of their faith”, and “their love for allthe saints”. Obviously despite the hard time they were still exercising theirfaith and their love but then Paul said that he was praying “that they wouldknow the hope of their calling (v. 18). Faith, hope and love, three greatwords. Paul later to the Corinthians would say, "Now abide these three,faith, hope, love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). You can gage the strength ofyour Christian life on the amount that you have of these three spiritual connectionsto the Lord. When everything falls apart around you these three things will keepyou going! Myfriend, that's what you need when you're going through difficult, terribletimes. You need to know your position in Christ, the riches of His glory thatyou have in Him despite the circumstances around you. Keep your eyes on Jesus.He is the only hope that you can have that will bring you real security.  Today,how strong are your faith, hope and love? Godbless!

Wefinished the book of Luke several days ago and today we're going to start ourstudy in the book of Ephesians and will be looking at it for the next severalmonths. I love the book of Ephesians. I love it because I believe it gives usthe essence of what it really is to live out our Christian faith. The reasonmany people give for not becoming a Christian is because they meet a so-calledChristian who is not living out their Christian faith. I believe that Ephesiansis a powerful book that gives us a strong foundation for our Christian walk so thatwe might truly live a life that pleases God and also will give us the greatestfulfillment as we participate in His body life.  Hoseathe prophet proclaims a message to Israel revealing to them what is at the rootof their failure to live for Jehovah was their lack of knowledge of God's truth.Hosea repeats this message several times here in chapters 4 and 6. "Hearthe word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a chargeagainst the inhabitants of the land. There is no truth or mercy or knowledgeof God in the land” (4:1). And then in chapter 4:6 he says, "Mypeople are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,I'll also reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgottenthe law of your God, I will also forget your children." In Hosea6:3, he writes: “Let us know. Let us pursue the knowledge of theLord. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to uslike rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth”. And finally inHosea 6:6; “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of Godmore than burnt offerings”.  Todaywe are looking at the spiritual reason and the purpose we have for this studyof the book of Ephesians. I believe that the Lord has led me to make this ournext biblical study. In Ephesians 1:18, Paul said, he is praying several thingsfor them, but especially that “the eyes of your understanding beingenlightened." He says, "Here's my prayer. Here's what I'm writingthis book about:" First, "That you may know what isthe hope of His calling." Secondly, "That you may knowwhat are the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the saints? And third,"That you may know what is the exceeding greatness of His powertoward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power”.  Aswe look at this book over the next few months, I've outlined the whole book bylooking at each chapter to keep our focus and emphasis on Jesus. Jesus is thecenter. He is what our belief, our Christian life is all about. Matter of fact,a repeated phrase in this book and especially the first couple chapters aboutour position that we have in Christ. In Christ, in Christ, in Him, in Christ. Amajor issue for believers today is that we do not know our position inChrist. And the first three chapters have to do with our position in Christ.The last three chapters is how to live out practically what we knowabout our position in Christ.  Mysimple outline of the book is: Ephesians 1 is knowing Jesus. Ephesians 2is living Jesus. Ephesians 3 is loving Jesus. And then the lastthree chapters, the practical chapters are: Ephesians 4 is talking Jesus.Ephesians 5 is walking Jesus. And then finally, Ephesians 6 is standingwith Jesus. We stand in Him and we overcome the wiles of the evil one. Rememberwe are being destroyed and overcome by the world and the evil one because ofour lack of knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ Today,just to get us started, think on these things. Are you being destroyed for lackof knowledge of who you are in Christ? I trust today God will speak to yourheart to love Him, to know Him, to live for Him, and to make a difference inthis crazy world in which we live for eternity.  Godbless!

Forthe last few days, I have been asking for prayers for some 600 pastors in eastIndia that we partner with to take the gospel to every creature. InJanuary of this year, I met with 400 of these pastors and promised them I wouldfind at least one person in America to pray for them. I promised them that Iwould connect them with a believer, who loves the Lord, who believes that thegospel is what changes and transforms lives, to pray for them. I've been askingyou to join me in our India pastor's prayer team and be a part of a great workthat God is doing. If the Lord is speaking to your heart right now, pleasesimply email right now at: pastormike@pmiministries.org Ilike what E.M. Bounds said. He said, "One cannot rightly call himself aChristian if he does not pray." Prayer and being a follower of JesusChrist go hand in hand. You cannot absolutely be the believer, and theChristian God wants you to be without prayer. It seems that many of our prayersare prayers that we just throw up thanking God for food, grandma, grandpa, momand dad and some of the people we work with. Then we pray desperately when weget in trouble or have a need. But the truth is Paul said, "Praywithout ceasing."  Now,Paul believed in prayer. Paul, as we pointed out yesterday, asked for prayersfor himself. He asked, "Please, please pray for me as I share the gospelthat I might be bold, that I might be courageous, that I might use the rightwords. That there will open doors and opportunities for me." These pastorsin India, are people like myself. I'm convinced, as a pastor, the only reasonI've made it is because people have prayed for me. My mother was a prayingwoman who prayed daily for me. I will never forget Henry Gold making thecommitment to pray for me as a pastor every day. From the day he was tragicallykilled in an accident, I felt like I lost one of my best friends, but I also losta prayer warrior who pleaded before the throne of God for us as we serve theLord in ministry.  Weneed your prayers. Pastors need your prayers. Everyone that the Holy Spirit ofGod puts in your heart and in your mind needs your prayers. Again I'm askingyou to take one of these pastors in your heart for prayer. I wanted to pointout a few more verses that the apostle Paul actually wrote in talking aboutpeople praying for him and the difference that it would make. And I would callthis devotion through your prayers and through the prayers of many.  Read2 Corinthians 1:8-11 again and notice how Paul faced death on several occasionsbut was delivered because, “You also joining in helping us through yourprayers so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for thefavor bestowed on us through the prayers of many”. And Paul wrote inPhilippians 1:19, “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverancethrough your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,  again thanking people my deliverance throughyour prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” InPhilemon 1:22, Paul wrote: “At the same time prepare for me lodging for Ihope that through your prayers I will be given to you through your prayers.” Yes,my friend through your prayers these pastors in India will be able to survivethe hardship that they face. It is beyond our imagination the persecution theydeal with every day and the difficult field they work in sharing the gospel. Theyhave very little support in taking care of feeding their family and helpingprovide food for the  flock that God'sgiven to them. They often have very little education and only by God's graceand God's wisdom are they able to preach a gospel message and teach the Bibleevery Sunday.  Theydesperately need your prayers. Would you join me? Write me an email at my emailaddress below and just say, "Pastor Mike, I'll be one of those that willpray with you for a pastor". Godbless!pastormike@pmiministries.org

Iread through the New Testament at least twice a year, sometimes even three andfour times a year. I love reading the New Testament, especially the epistles ofthe Apostle Paul as he writes to the churches. And I noticed these last fewtimes as I've been reading how many times the Apostle Paul asked for prayer.And I'm thinking about how if he, this anointed man of God, who writes 13 booksof the New Testament, asks for prayer on many occasions, how much more do I asa pastor, and pastors, need the prayers of God's people?  Today,again I am inviting you to join us in doing the great important task ofintercessory prayer for pastors in India who really have no connections withanybody but a small group of other pastors. The pastors we're working with andpraying for are over 600 men of God that are overseeing over 1300 churchesthey're working with. We have a great leader that oversees and loves them,prays for them, visits them, and encourages them. When I was there with them thispast January, I met with them, preached to them, took pictures of over 400 ofthem and, and told them I would have somebody individually praying for each oneof them.  Istill need at least 300 people to join me on this Pastors in India Prayer Team.So, please consider this wonderful opportunity to join us in the prayer effortand email at: pastormike@pmiministries.org Noticehow the apostle Paul urgently asks for prayers from other people. Romans 15:30-32.“Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of theSpirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I may berescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my service forJerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints so that I may come to you in joyby the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.” Here we seePaul praying for support for his ministry travels and service and asking forprotection against opposition that hinders the work.  InEphesians 6:19-20, Paul asked the church at Ephesus, "And pray on mybehalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to makeknown with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador inchains, that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."Paul here is praying and asking specifically for prayers to receive the rightwords and the courage to proclaim the gospel fearlessly even while imprisoned.And I can tell you the pastors in India are facing tremendous persecution. Iget emails and text messages regularly from our associates there that tell meabout this and I'll share some of that in the emails that I will be writing toyou.  In1 Thessalonians 5:25, Paul simply request, "Brethren, pray forus." And this is a concise direct appeal for prayer on behalf of Pauland his co-workers in the context of their ongoing ministry and teaching. InColossians 4:3-4, Paul writes, “Praying at the same time for us as well thatGod will open up to us a door for the word that we may speak forth the mysteryof Christ for which I have been imprisoned that I may make it clear in the wayI ought to speak”. Paul is asking for prayer for open doors to preach thegospel and opportunities. We can pray that for these dear pastors. In2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, Paul writes: “Finally Brethren, pray for us that theword of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did also withyou and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men for all men do nothave faith.” My friend, this is the request for prayers that we have forthose pastors in India. That God's word would spread quickly to the 3.4 billionpeople who have little or no access or to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thesepastors are working with many of those unreached people groups.  Willyou please email me and let me know that you'll join our Pastors Prayer Team.  Godbless!pastormike@pmiministries.org

Whenyou read all the Great Commission passages in the Gospels and Acts, Jesus sentthe disciples to preach and share the message of the His suffering, death,burial, and resurrection to all the nations and every people and language group.But we need to remember salvation doesn't happen in groups but in individuals,one at a time. Each individual person is loved by God, and they experience His graceand salvation one at a time. That's why today in our chat we are focusing onthe numbers of individuals that are alive and living on planet Earth that need theopportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. Todaythe world has the largest population of people in history. As of August 4, 2025,the world population is estimated to be approximately 8.24 billion people andgrowing at rate of 0.84% per year. We are being told that approximately 3.4billion people (roughly 42% of the world's population of 8.24 billion as ofAugust 2025) are considered part of unreached people groups (UPGs), meaningthey have little to no access to the Gospel. This includes individuals withminimal or no exposure to the message of Jesus Christ or salvation. Alsotoday, there are approximately 17,400 distinct people groups worldwide whendefined by ethnolinguistic and cultural boundaries. Of these, about 7,280 to7,400 are considered unreached, meaning they have less than 2% evangelicalChristians and less than 5% overall Christian adherents, with no indigenouschurch capable of evangelizing the group without external help. Within UPGs,189 unengaged unreached people groups (UUPGs), totaling over 5.7 millionpeople, have no missionaries, no outreach, and no Christian resources likeBibles in their language. Estimates suggest 66,000 people die daily withouthearing the Gospel, emphasizing the urgency of missionary efforts. Jesuscared for individuals. In Luke chapter 8, He told His disciples, "Get inthe boat. Let's go to the other side." Despite ministering to crowds innorthern Galilee, He crossed over for two demon-possessed men, one ready to befreed and come to Him. Jesus went to where he was to share the good news. Myfriend, today will you join me to go to the other side.  Youcan be part of this mission through prayer. Right now I'm asking for people tojoin me in praying for 400 pastors I've met in India, many of them working withunreached people groups. I need 300 more people to pray for these pastors. Mydad began working with this fellowship of pastors over 30 years ago, and it hasgrown significantly. They need your prayers, support, and encouragement. Yourprayers alone can make a difference. Every believer praying, giving, and goingis essential to the fulfillment of the Great Commission! Pleaseemail at pastormike@pmiministries.organd I will send you a pastor's name, location, and information about his familyand church so you can pray specifically for him. Yes, they need financialsupport—our budget for these pastors is $6,000 a month, and we currently are onlyreceiving $3,000 a month for this ministry. However, prayer is the main thing.Will you join me as an India pastor prayer partner for these dear men of God?Your prayers can make an eternal difference, as many of these pastors work withunreached people groups. Jesusis coming again, but we don't know when. The gospel must be preached to allnations, and every person deserves the chance to hear it before they perish.You can make a difference. Join me in this prayer team, and I believe that inheaven, people from India will thank you for praying for the pastor who ledthem to Jesus. These pastors face tremendous persecution and suffering—a churchwas attacked and scattered this week. They need your prayers. Send me an emailtoday at the email address below, and I'll provide the name of a pastor for youto pray for.  Godbless!pastormike@pmiministries.org

Last evening I was in Roanoke, Virginia, at the GoCenter. You can learn more about the Go Center at: https://www.gpartners.org/gocenter Iwas called to ministry in April 1971, on in a Sunday night service at LandmarkBaptist Temple in Cincinnati Ohio under a missionary named Bob Hughes.  Withina few weeks of that night I heard that Thomas Road Baptist Church was startinga brand-new Bible college called Lynchburg Baptist College, I registeredimmediately and went there with my heart set on going to Africa to share thegospel. Yet during school, I was able to be part of a church plant inWinchester, Virginia, Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church. After graduating Godthen called me to be the pastor of that church. I never really got to be thatmissionary who went full-time to the mission field.  Ibegan to realize that the Lord left me in America as a pastor to mobilize,influence, and send as many people as we can. And raise as money as I could formissions.  Now with that background justrecently as we studied through the Gospel of Luke, we found that God gives theGreat Commission to His disciples to preach the gospel to all the nations, topreach the good news, the message of the kingdom that Jesus saves. The Gospelof Luke seems to be all about what Jesus said in Luke 19:10, "For theSon of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  Asyou read through the gospels, every one of them ends with a reference to theGreat Commission. In John's gospel, Jesus said, "As the Father has sentMe, even so send I you." That was the commission to those disciples: Justas Jesus was sent as the Son of God to seek and save the lost we are to also tobe bringing this good news to a lost world around us. Over these past 50-plusyears of ministry, by God's grace we have been able to influence hundreds,maybe thousands of believers to love Jesus, to pray for missions, to go to theforeign field, and to give to missions. We've watched God do awesome things.  I'minvolved in a ministry right now in India where we have 600 pastors I'mdirectly connected to. I went there in January of this year and took an individualpicture of 400 of them. I also got a bio of them at that time that I have onhand. It gives their name, their place of ministry, and how many churches theyare pastoring. I'm asking people like you to partner with me to pray for theseprecious pastors. Would you take one of these pastors into your heart? Inthe video I made of today, I'm standing in front of pictures of unreachedpeople groups in the world. I understand right now there are 3.4 billion peoplewho have little or no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of the pastorsI'm working with are ministering among the Koya people, the Banjari people, theChenchu people on the east side of India, and they are reaching these unreachedpeople groups with the gospel of Christ. But besides them are many otherpastors reaching many other people groups with the gospel of Christ. They desperatelyneed our prayers. Of course, they need money, and I'll talk about that in mychat tomorrow. But right now, I'm asking for prayer partners. Would you bewilling to join me as a prayer partner for one of these pastors? I will sendyou his name, his location, how many churches he's pastoring, the names of hisfamily members, and you can pray specifically for him and his ministry, and youcan join with me in impacting many lives for Christ. Ifyou feel that the Lord is leading you to join me in this prayer effort pleasesend me your name and email address to pastormike@pmiministries.org andI'll get back in touch with you. I beg you, I plead with you, join me as aprayer partner. I already have 100 people who have already joined with me topray for these 400 pastors. I just need another 300 prayer partners right now.I trust you'll be one of those 300 that will join me. We should all be a partof fulfilling the Great Commission.  

Thursday August07JoyfulHearts Sharing His GospelLuke 24:48-5348And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of MyFather upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued withpower from on high." 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, andHe lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while Heblessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 Andthey worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 andwere continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.Aswe look at the last verses of Luke 24, we remember that after the crucifixionof Christ, the disciples faced disappointment, discouragement, and all thatcomes with it. The women went to the tomb with perplexed hearts,expecting a sealed tomb. Today, many in our Christian community love the Lordand live for Him, like these women, but get perplexed trying to figure it allout. What is happening? Where is His body? He shows them the open tomb and evengives His first appearance to Mary Magdalene.  Then,we have the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with discouraged hearts,thinking Jesus was going to set up His kingdom. Many believers today arediscouraged because things aren't turning out as expected. Jesus opens theireyes to see Him. In the upper room, the disciples have troubled hearts,afraid and wondering what is going on. Jesus opens their understanding to theScriptures, explaining all things concerning His death, burial, andresurrection, beginning with Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Andwhat happens next? We find out in verse 52.  They have joyful hearts and Jesus nowopens their lips to share the Good News of His resurrection. My friend, whenyou know there's an empty tomb, keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, and realize Heis there with you, and He opens your understanding to all the Scriptures, youwill experience a joyful heart and be willing to open your lips too! Luke24:50-52 should be compared with Mark 16:19-20 and Acts 1:9-12. Think of whatit meant to Him to return to heaven and sit on the throne of glory! (John 17:5,11) His ascension is proof that He has conquered every enemy and that He reignssupremely "far above all" (Eph. 1:18-23). Inheaven today, our Lord ministers as our High Priest (Heb. 7:25) and ourAdvocate (1 John 2:1). As High Priest, He gives us the grace we need to facetesting and temptation (Heb. 4:14-16); and if we fail, as Advocate He forgivesand restores us when we confess our sins (1 John 1:6-10). As the glorified Headof the church, Jesus Christ is equipping His people to live for Him and serveHim in this present world (Eph. 4:7-16; Heb. 13:20-21). Through the Word of Godand prayer, He is ministering to us by His Spirit and making us more likeHimself. Ilove this book. It started with Zacharias in the temple and the angelsappearing to shepherds, proclaiming, a message “of great joy whichshall be to all people." Now the book ends with these disciples fullof great joy. Jesus opens their lips, and they go everywhere worshiping,praising, and telling the nations that Jesus Christ is alive. He is risen, andyou can trust Him today to be your Lord and Savior. It will change everything,and your perplexed, troubled, discouraged hearts will become joyful heartsliving for eternity.  That'swhat the Great Commission is all about. Over the next couple of days we will betalking about how you can also participate in fulfilling the Great Commission. Godbless!

We'recontinuing to look at the last verses of Luke 24. In these verses, Jesus givesHis last words to His disciples before He ascends into heaven. It is what wecall the Great Commission, the commission to go into all the world and sharethe gospel with every creature. We have this recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. ThereJesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all thenations." In Mark 16:15, “And He said to them, "Go into allthe world and preach the gospel to every creature”.  Andhere in Luke's Gospel, verse 46, “Then He said to them, "Thus it iswritten and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from thedead the third day." This is essence of the gospel. Then Jesus says inverse 47, not that this is just a historical event that a few people might besaved, but, my friend, “that repentance and remission of sins should bepreached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. For a personto come to Christ, they must turn. That's what repentance means. Turn fromtheir sin, turn from the world, turn from their self, and turn to God. Turnfrom religion, turn from good works, and turn to God, God alone, and the nameof Jesus Christ.  Thenit says they'll receive “remission of sins”. Their sins will be removedfrom them as far as the east is from the west. My friend, how simple can God'ssalvation be? Simply turn to Him and you will receive forgiveness of sins asyou repent, as you turn, as you believe, as you trust, as you receive Him. Youbecome a son of God. John 1:12. And then He goes on to say here, "Andyou are witnesses of these things." In Acts chapter 4, when Peter andJohn were brought before the Sanhedrin and told they could not preach anymorein the name of Jesus, they proclaimed, "For there is salvation in noother name. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby wemust be saved." It's only the name of Jesus. His name means Savior.His name means Deliverer. He is the only one who can deliver us, save us fromour sins.  That'swhy Jesus came. Jesus said. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to savethat which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  InJohn's gospel, the Great Commission is also given in John 20:21, He said,"Peace be to you. As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you."My friend, you and I as followers of Christ, believers in His great salvation,have been sent and commissioned by Jesus Himself. Now we have the opportunityto be witnesses unto Him. In other words, He is the one who does thewitnessing.  Jesustells us, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you. But tarryin Jerusalem till you be endued with power from on high”. This is the authorityof the Holy Spirit, God Himself in us. We are on mission with God. God is alwaysat work in this world to reveal Himself. God is speaking to people's hearts andlives today. There people with empty hearts living aimless lives seeking intheir hearts to know the truth. And God is ready to connects you with thembecause where the Master is, there will His servant be also.  Oh, what a privilege it has been for me these50 years to be on mission with God and experience His Holy Spirit bring dear peopleto Jesus and save their souls. I love these verses in the book of Daniel 12:2-3that give us a great promise. “And many of those who sleep in the dust ofthe earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlastingcontempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of thefirmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever”. Proverbs11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he thatwins souls is wise." My friend, you can't take anything to heaven withyou. Your money, your fame, everything gets left behind. The only can take toheaven are the souls, those precious lives that you share Jesus and Hiswonderful Gospel message with. Who are you taking to heaven with you? Godbless!

Ihope you've enjoyed going through the Gospel of Luke as much as I have. I'velearned so much, and it's been a great joy sharing this book with you overthese past months. As we finish the book of Luke over the next few days, I getso excited looking at these final verses because God didn't just save us to sitand soak. He saved us and redeemed us that we might go and speak and share thatwhich we've heard, that which we've seen, and that which we have handled withour own hands of the Word of life.  Aswe read these final verses, Jesus is revealing Himself to His disciples andassuring them that He indeed is risen from the dead, because everything hingeson that. These eleven men, who were uneducated and came from places nobody knewabout except as fishermen, were called to change the world. God has given usthat commission also. Jesus said in verse 44, "These are the wordswhich I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must befulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and thePsalms concerning Me.”  Bythe way, just before He spoke these words, it says that He ate with them. Ibelieve we're going to eat in heaven. I'm not sure we're going to eat animals,but we possibly will eat fish from the river of life and eat fruit that isgrowing from the fruit trees growing on the sides of the river coming out fromunderneath the throne of God (Revelation 22:1-2). Jesusthen “opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures”.It's important, if we're going to be the witnesses He wants us to be, that wehave an understanding of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit. In verse 46, Hesays, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ tosuffer and to rise from the dead the third day." That's the essence ofthe gospel: Christ suffered for our sins and He rose the third day.  Verse47 continues, "and that repentance and remission of sins should bepreached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Thegospel being shared starts at home, in our own family, our neighborhood, theneighborhood around our church, our community, and then goes throughout thewhole world. Jesus said in verse 48, "And you are witnesses of thesethings." The word "witness" comes from the Greek wordfrom which we get our word "martyr." You're going to be someone whois willing to die, someone who has died to self, as a living testimony of thesethings.  Jesuscontinues, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you, but tarryin the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."We cannot do this task of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth withoutthe enduing of the power of the Holy Spirit upon our lives, as the Gospelsteach. I love what we read in 1 John 1:1-3, because John, this wonderfuldisciple, would later write, "That which was from the beginning, whichwe have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon andour hands have handled concerning the Word of life." My friend, wehave the Word of life in our hands, called the 66 books of the Bible. As wehandle them, we handle Jesus. We love Him, we see Him, we hear Him, He speaksto us.  Johngoes on to write, "The life was manifested, and we have seen and bearwitness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and wasmanifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you."My friend, that's what you and I have been called to do as followers of JesusChrist. These powerful verses remind us that it is God who works in us andthrough us to do His perfect will and to manifest the wonderful works of God.  Augustinesaid, "Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words”. Because itwill show up in our lives as those who are crucified followers of Jesus Christourselves (Galatians 2:20).  And by theway, it will be necessary to use words. Godbless!

This is Jesus' first appearance tothe eleven disciples in the upper room when they're all together. Jesus had told themmany times He would be crucified, and that He would rise again, but theirhearts still doubted even now.  Whatwe want to talk about today is in these next words of Jesus to the disciples, “HandleMe and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Ihave. And when He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet”. NowJohn's gospel tells us in John 20:25-27 that when Jesus showed them His handsand His feet, it doesn't say that He showed them the scars on His body, but at leasttwice it says that He showed them the prints. He showed them “the prints ofthe nails”. The prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet.  Jesussaid, "Handle Me and see”, And again, it says, “He showedthem His hands and in His feet”, not the scars. The only thing in heaventhat will be made by man are the prints of the nails in His hands and His feet.We will be able to still see them. And then we find also that Jesus went on tosay, "And while they did not believe for joy and marveled, He said tothem, 'Do you have any food here?'" And they gave Him a piece of boiledfish and some honeycomb, and He took it and ate in their presence”.  Now,one of the most asked questions I get is, "Will we eat in heaven?" Whatwill we be like in heaven? Will we have bodies in heaven? And for a fact, I'mconvinced at the rapture of the church, the Bible speaks about the dead inChrist rising in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4:13-18 and in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.Paul reveals to us a mystery and there He says, "We shall all bechanged in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye." In Thessalonians 4:16,he wrote, "And the dead in Christ shall rise first”. The bodies ofall the deceased believers will resurrect out of the graves and at that momentthey'll reunite with their soul and spirit in heaven and at the same time ourbodies with be changed to a body like Jesus'.  1John 3: 2-3, tells us, "And when we see Him, we will be like Him, forwe shall see Him as He is." We'll have a body like Jesus. He could eatsolid foods. He could move in and out of rooms through closed doors. Now how aphysical body could go through a closed solid wall, I cannot explain. But myfriend, we'll have a body like that. I believe we'll travel at the speed ofthought even during the millennium, just like Jesus did from Galilee and backand forth to Jerusalem during the 40 days after His resurrection.  Oh,heaven's going to be a wonderful place. We have new bodies. “Thiscorruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality, thenshall be brought to pass the saying that's written, Death is swallowed up invictory." We will have new bodies. A body that will not experience anymore pain, any more suffering, and has no more problems with health at all. Oh,we'll see perfectly because we'll still have all our faculties. People willrecognize each other in those bodies that we originally had on planet Earth,but they'll be glorified bodies just like Jesus. Jesusstill says troubled hearts, "Handle Me and see." Interestingto me, the Gospel of John starts out with, "Come and see," toAndrew and John (John 1:39). But now Luke's Gospel ends with, "HandleMe and see." Later John went on to write in 1John 1:1, “That whichwas from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word oflife”.  Ohmy friend, today Jesus invites us to come and handle Him. First you, “Come andsee”, but now You can handle Him and see. Come to Jesus today and handle Him inHis Word. You can reach out and touch Him today! Open your heart to Him.Believe in the reality of a physical, literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thereality of this truth will change and transform your life like it did thedisciples as the Holy Spirit fills you.

Luke 24 is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the difference it makes. Remember the ladies as they came to thetomb, they had perplexed hearts. The disciples walking to Emmaus, they haddiscouraged hearts. And now we're looking at some disciples in an upper roomthat have troubled hearts.  Andthat takes me back to John 14:1 where Jesus, just before His crucifixion in theupper room, no doubt the same room they are in now, had told them, "Letnot your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me." Andthen also in verse 27, Jesus had told them in John 14, "Peace I leave withyou. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let notyour heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Look now at  verse 36 of Luke 24, where Jesus shows up inthe midst of these disciples in the upper room, but they were terrified andfrightened.  Jesusstood in the midst of them and said, "Peace to you." Now,what's interesting about this is this “Peace to you” statement thatJesus makes. You will find in John's gospel that Jesus makes it at least threetimes in the first eight days of His resurrection. Notice in John chapter 20:19,“On the first day of the week, Jesus comes to the upper room and for fear ofthe Jews they had the doors locked. They were afraid. Jesus came, stood in themidst of them, and said, "Peace be with you." Then again in verse21, after He talked to them, showing them His hands and His feet, as we justread in Luke's gospel, Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you, as theFather sent Me, so send I you." Eight days later in verse 26, they'reback in the upper room meeting together, now with Thomas, and Jesus came, thedoors being shut, stood in the midst, and for the third time said, "Peaceto you."  Youknow the Bible teaches that if we don't have Jesus Christ, we don't have peace.We are born into this world without this contentment, satisfaction, fulfillmentthat peace gives us. There's something missing. In Isaiah  Bible says that “The wicked are like thetroubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, there isno peace says my God to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-21). And my friend, we'reborn with wicked hearts and they lack peace. But we find Good News in Romans 5:1that tells us, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace withGod through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Myfriend, there's peace with God that's made through Jesus Christ and His deathon the cross. Then  Jesus can say to youtoday, if you trust Him to be your Savior, "Peace be to you." Andthen, my friend, even as a believer, we can lose that peace. Here are thedisciples of Jesus who followed Him now for three and a half years. And theyhave the word of many people that He is risen, and yet they still are troubled.So what does Jesus do? He shows up, shows them His hands, His feet. He appearsto them and then He opens their understanding to the scriptures and in verse 45it says that they might comprehend the scriptures.  Theanswer to this lack of peace, this disturbance, these troubled hearts that wehave today are the scriptures and belief and faith in the words that Jesusgives us in those scriptures. And so, my friend, today, turn to Jesus. Turn tothe Word of God. The book of Hebrews tells us, "Looking unto Jesus, theauthor and the finisher of our salvation." That's where you findpeace. You won't find it in a book. You won't find it in a conference. Youwon't find it in relationships. You won't find it in education. You won't findit in money. You won't find it with friends. My friend, you find peace with JesusChrist through His Word, through believing and making sure your eyes are fixedon Him. Handle Him and touch Him in the Word. And my friend, your heart won'tbe troubled. You'll have a peace that only Jesus can give you.  Ipray today that Jesus will speak peace to your heart today as you seek Him inthe Scriptures!  Godbless!

Thank you so much for your prayers the last couple days during ourtravels to Colorado. God gave us traveling mercies. We did experience somedifficulty catching our flight from Dulles to Roanoke, yet the Lord provided abus for us, which was a long ride with the rain and terrible conditions onInterstate 81. But we made it back to Salem safely last night, and our dearfriends Johnny and Linda King picked us up and took care of us. On top of it,God gave us a wonderful divine appointment in His providence, and that'sanother story for another time. God is so good, and we thank you for yourprayers.  Today, I feel led,because it is the second day of August, to look at Psalm 32, which is the firstof the five Psalms readings for today. I encourage you to read the Psalms withus or read them yourself. Five Psalms a day will get you through the Book ofPsalms every month. Oh, how we need to be reminded of God's mercy, because inthe Old Testament especially, we read so much about the wrath of God, thepunishment of God, and the chastisement of God upon His people and the nations.Therefore, it's great to have a book right in the middle of the Old Testament,so to speak, that reminds us of God's wonderful mercy. Yesterday, we discussedPsalm 1, and found blessed is the man who walks with God and meditates in HisWord. We find not only are we blessed that way, but we're blessed when our sinsare forgiven. That's how Psalm 32 starts. David is calling out to God toforgive him for his sin. His sin was significant, as he committed adultery andthen murder. He's crying out to God for forgiveness, confessing not only hissin but the iniquity of his sin—the motive behind it, being selfish,self-centered, and letting pride creep into his life, thinking he could make iton his own without God. That's what always leads us to drift away from God. Remember, we said blessed is the man who walks with the Lord, who is in God'sWord and becomes like a tree planted by the rivers of water in Psalm 1. But nowin Psalm 32, blessed is the person whose sin is forgiven. To have our sinsforgiven, there must be confession. Verses 2-4 go on to say, “Blessed is theman in whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.For when I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the daylong. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried upas by the heat of summer.” David tried to hide his sin, covering it up, andhe felt the oppression of God upon him, the hand of God pushing him down. Hefelt the heaviness, guilt, and burden of that sin. Then, in verse 5, Davidsays, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity. Isaid, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and You forgave theiniquity of my sin.” Not only the sin David committed, because that wasn'tthe real problem. The real problem was the motive, the iniquity, thereason—what took place in his heart that led to that sin. He confessed that.  David says in verse 6, “Therefore,let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found.Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.” In otherwords, when times of trouble come, they won't overwhelm you if you haveconfessed your sins.  Yes, blessed is the manwho meditates in God's Word, who doesn't walk or run around with the wrongpeople, as in Psalm 1. But now, blessed is the man whose sin is covered. Godhas taken care of it through the blood of Jesus Christ. There's no greaterfeeling, no greater emotion, no greater thing that can happen to you and methan to know our sins are covered. That they are forgiven. God has removed themfrom us. Why? Because He placed them on Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, and Hepaid the price for those sins so that when we confess our sins, we can be setfree.  Today, are you experiencingand enjoying the blessing of your sins being forgiven?

BeforeI begin my chat in Luke 24, I'd like to ask for special prayer. This morning,I'll be driving to Roanoke, Virginia. From there, this afternoon my sonJonathan and I will catch a flight to Colorado to attend a graduation for two ofhis sons, Elijah and Jeriah, from a two-week Biblical World View Camp at the Summit.We'll also see my older sister Lynda, who is in a nursing home there in Denver.She retired from United Airlines several years ago and was able to giftJonathan and myself with the opportunity to fly free on United Airlines on standbyanywhere in the world for the last twenty plus years.ThenSaturday morning I will drive to Lynchburg Virginia to the Thomas TerraceBaptist Church, where my brother Mark is pastor, and attend a “Going Home CelebrationService” for Carl Townsend's wonderful wife Leah, who was a wonderful wife andChristian lady who served the Lord in so many ways. We'll be honoring hermemory and celebrating her life. I won't be back home in Sneads Ferry NC, untillate Saturday night. I'll do my best to keep up with the chats, so bear with meas there might be some challenges in getting them recorded and posted oninternet. God bless you and thank you for your prayers. Aswe continue to look at Luke 24 and the resurrection appearances of Christ, weneed to remember, according to Dr. Wilmington and other good Bible commentators,that Christ probably appeared at least eleven different times and occasions toHis disciples after His resurrection. There could have been more, but these arethe recorded appearances of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, giving proof thatJesus died, He was buried, and He rose again. The first verses of 1 Corinthians15 give a lists of several of those appearances. We need to remind ourselves ofthat often. It's the very foundation of our faith that Jesus indeed is risen! Herein this chapter we read about some of those appearances, and Luke gives somedetails we don't even read in the other gospels, which is very interesting. Tothe “perplexed” women at the empty tomb, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene. Onthe road to Emmaus, Jesus appear to the two “sad” disciples, and opens theireyes and their understanding, and they literally get so excited they run backto Jerusalem. As I read the timetable here, it had to be late in the eveningbefore they got back because it was still on that resurrection day. They getback and tell exactly what happened, so excited in that upper room.  Thenin verse 36, as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst ofthem and said to them, "Peace to you." They were terrified andfrightened and supposed they'd seen a spirit. Just imagine, Jesus appeared tothe two fellows on the road to Emmaus, and it was only after He broke breadwith them that their eyes were opened, and they beheld Him, and almostimmediately He vanishes out of their sight. Now, with the doors being shut,according to other scriptures, Jesus appears in the same room with them. Ofcourse, they're terrified. So He says to them, "Why are you troubled?And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it isI Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as yousee I have."  Jesusrose from the dead physically, not just spiritually. He's not a ghost. He is ina physical body and even today sits in a physical body in heaven. “When Hehad said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they did notbelieve for joy and marveled, He said to them…”. Can you imagine theirmixed emotions? Jesus assures them that it is He, Himself with many comfortingwords and eats with them. Today we can go to the word of God and commune withJesus. We can feel His touch as we commune with Him in His Word and prayer. Yes,today we can believe, and our troubled hearts will also find peace. Godbless!

Todaywe're looking at Luke 24:25-35. Luke is the only gospel that tells us the storyabout these two men on the road to Emmaus. While they're walking, they'reconfused, troubled, sad, discouraged, and disappointed. Jesus did not fulfillthe expectations they had about setting up the kingdom and running out theRomans authorities. They had heard that Jesus had resurrected, but they did notbelieve. My friends, when we don't believe in the resurrection like we should,even as believers, we're going to be disappointed, discouraged, and sad. Sowhat is the answer to that?  Wefind it here in this passage. Jesus talked to them about the Scriptures, Moses,the prophets, and all the things in them concerning Himself. Then He acted asif He would go further when they got to the village of Emmaus. But theyconstrained Him and said, "No, it's getting evening. Stay with us."So He did, and what happened next, Luke say it best: “As He sat at the tablewith them, He took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Thentheir eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished from their sight.They said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talkedwith us on the road and while He opened the scriptures to us?" So theyrose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and thosewho were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeedand has appeared to Simon." They told about the things that had happenedon the road and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.” Whata powerful message for you and me today. It was as they heard the scriptures,as Jesus talked and conversed with them and fellowshipped with them, theirhearts began to burn. Even though they didn't see Him exactly as He really is,the Son of God, the risen Savior, their hearts still burned from the Scriptures.Then as they sat at bread with Him and He broke it, their eyes were opened.  Myfriend, the answer to sad, discouraged, disappointed hearts is when you spendtime with Jesus. Spend time with Jesus in His Word, meditate upon Him, thinkabout Him, and listen to Him. Your heart will begin to burn, and that's when Heopens your eyes, makes Himself known to you in the scripture, and you have thatreal fellowship with the Lord. This is what we need, “Just a closer walkwith Jesus”, as the old hymn says. Spend that time with Him.  That'swhat you and I should desire more than anything else as we open up the Scripturein the morning, not just to read our devotional Scriptures, but to spend timewith Jesus in His Word. As they ran back the eight miles to Jerusalem to theUpper Room so excited that they couldn't wait to tell the other disciples whatthey had experienced. I'll guarantee you if every church member spent time withJesus during the week in the word of God, when they came together on Sundaymorning, they would not have a dead service.  Whenthey got back to the service, the other eleven and many of the other followersof Jesus were all excited about what had happened. They exclaimed that Simonhad also seen Jesus. They were all saying, "Jesus indeed is risen. He hasappeared." What a great service they had back then, rejoicing in the risenSavior. Would to God that would happen in all our churches each Sunday. I havea feeling that he crowds would come like they did on the day of Pentecost.  Haveyour experienced a “burning heart” recently? When was the last time that theHoly Spirit opened your eyes to see Jesus in the Word?  Godbless!

When the womencame to the tomb, they were perplexed because the stone was rolled away, butthere was no body. And the answer was that they needed to remember God's Word.Today, are you perplexed about the problems of life, the problems in yourfamily, and all the different difficulties or challenges that you're goingthrough? You're perplexed as to what is going to happen? What is going on? Oh,my friend, remember the promises of Jesus. He had promised His followers thatHe will rise again. “He indeed is risen as He said”.  NextLuke tells us of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and as they'rewalking, they're talking and questioning. In verse 15 says; “So it was whilethey conversed and reasoned that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know who He was”. Hewas like a stranger. He begins walking with them and asked, "What are youtalking about”? “What things happened in Jerusalem?" Of course Heknew, but He wanted to hear them say it, and listen to them. They began to tellHim how disappointed they were because they thought that Jesus, the Messiah,would bring about His kingdom. How He had healed people and had done greatmiracles. And they were so disappointed and now they're discouraged because itdidn't turn out as they expected. And it says, their hearts were sad.  FinallyJesus speaks in verses 25-26. Canyou imagine this Bible conference? Oh, don't you wish you could have beenthere? Imagine the greatest Teacher explaining the greatest themes from thegreatest Book and bringing the greatest blessings to men's lives that openedtheir eyes to see Him and hearts opened up to receive the Word and lips openedto go back and tell others what Jesus had said to them. Wouldn't you have lovedthat?  Yearsago, as I was reading Morning and Evening devotional by Charles Haddon Spurgeonevery day, I came across the following devotional on January 18 in the eveningsection. And I thought I would share it today as we close our chat. Spurgeon wrote: "Thetwo disciples on the road to Emmaus had a most profitable journey. Theircompanion and teacher was the best of tutors; the interpreter one of athousand, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The LordJesus condescended to become a preacher of the gospel, and He was not ashamedto exercise His calling before an audience of two persons, neither does He nowrefuse to become the teacher of even one. Let us court the company of soexcellent an Instructor, for till He is made unto us wisdom we shall never bewise unto salvation. Thisunrivalled tutor used as His class-book the best of books. Although able toreveal fresh truth, He preferred to expound the old. He knew by His omnisciencewhat was the most instructive way of teaching, and by turning at once to Mosesand the prophets, He showed us that the surest road to wisdom is notspeculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the Word ofGod. The readiest way to be spiritually rich in heavenly knowledge is to dig inthis mine of diamonds, to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When JesusHimself sought to enrich others, He wrought in the quarry of Holy Scripture. Thefavoured pair were led to consider the best of subjects, for Jesus spake ofJesus, and expounded the things concerning Himself. Here the diamond cut thediamond, and what could be more admirable? The Master of the House unlocked Hisown doors, conducted the guests to His table, and placed His own dainties uponit. He who hid the treasure in the field Himself guided the searchers to it.Our Lord would naturally discourse upon the sweetest of topics, and He couldfind none sweeter than His own person and work: with an eye to these we shouldalways search the Word. O for grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both ourteacher and our lesson!” God bless!

"...21 But we were hoping that it was He whowas going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third daysince these things happened. ..." Luke24 is one of the most exciting chapters in the Bible as it describes theresurrection of Jesus Christ. When you have a perplexed heart like the womendid at the cross because they found no body, the tomb was opened and Jesusrevealed Himself to Mary Magdalene, I am reminded that Jesus knows our name andreveals Himself to perplexed hearts. And oh, what a difference it makes. Todaywe're looking at verses 13 through 35, where we find two disciples on the roadto Emmaus. They had disappointed, discouraged hearts, and were sad until Jesusopened their eyes. Emmauswas a small village eight miles northwest of Jerusalem. The two men walkingfrom Jerusalem to Emmaus were disappointed and discouraged disciples who had noreason to be discouraged. They had heard the reports of the women that the tombwas empty and that Jesus was alive, but they did not believe them. They hadhoped that Jesus would redeem Israel (Luke 24:21), but their hopes had beenshattered. We get the impression that these men were discouraged anddisappointed because God did not do what they wanted Him to do. They saw theglory of the kingdom, but they failed to understand the suffering. Jesusgraciously walked with them and listened to their "animated heatedconversation" (Luke 24:17, Wuest). No doubt they were quoting various OldTestament prophecies and trying to remember what Jesus had taught, but theywere unable to put it all together and come up with an explanation that madesense. Was He a failure or a success? Why did He have to die? Was there afuture for the nation? Thereis a touch of humor in Luke 24:19 when Jesus asked, "What things?"He had been at the heart of all that had happened in Jerusalem, and now Hewas asking them to tell Him what occurred! How patient our Lord is with us asHe listens to us tell Him what He already knows (Romans 8:34). But we may come"boldly" ("with freedom of speech") to His throne and pourout our hearts to Him, and He will help us (Ps. 62:8; Heb. 4:16). Thelonger Cleopas talked, the more he indicted himself and his friend for theirunbelief. What more evidence could they want? Witnesses (including Apostles)had seen the tomb empty. Angels had announced that Jesus was alive. Witnesseshad seen Him alive and heard Him speak. The proof was there! "Faithcomes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Thisexplains why Jesus opened the Word to these two men as the three of them walkedto Emmaus. Their real problem was not in their heads but in their hearts (seeLuke 24:25 and 32, and note v. 38). They could have discussed the subject fordays and never arrived at a satisfactory answer. What they needed was a freshunderstanding of the Word of God, and Jesus gave that understanding to them. Heopened the Scriptures and then opened their eyes, and they realized that Jesuswas not only alive but right there with them! Whatwas their basic problem? They did not believe all that the prophets had writtenabout the Messiah. That was the problem with most of the Jews in that day: theysaw Messiah as a conquering Redeemer, but they did not see Him as a SufferingServant. As they read the Old Testament, they saw the glory but not thesuffering, the crown but not the cross. The teachers in that day were notunlike some of the "success preachers" today, blind to the totalmessage of the Bible. Maythe Lord help us to get into the Word and give Jesus and the Holy Spirit timeto open our eyes to the Truth! Remember Jesus parting words to His disciples: “…andlo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Godbless!

Rememberwhat Jesus said in John 14:1, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Youbelieve in God, believe also in Me”. I love that because you see in thispassage that we have in Luke 24, there were many different kinds of responsesin the hearts of people concerning Jesus and as to what had happened. Verse 4tells us the first women at the tomb “were greatly perplexed”.They had perplexed hearts. But my friend, I'm telling you, the empty tomb andthe risen Savior is the answer for perplexed hearts. Inverses 1-7, that we read yesterday, the angel had said to the ladies that Jesuswould be delivered into sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day riseagain. “And they remembered His words” (v. 8). Then they returned fromthe tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It wasMary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with themwho told these things to the apostles.  Itmust have been a good group of ladies that had gone to the tomb early thatmorning (v. 10). Their words to the disciples seemed to them like idle tales,and they did not believe them (v. 11). Only Peter arose and ran to the tomb, andafter stooping down, he saw the linen clothes lying by themselves (v. 12). Andhe departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Thispassage tells us that Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week.And it must have been very early. According to Matthew 28:2-4, a great earthquaketook place and an angel came and rolled the stone away. This was not done tolet Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in to see that the tomb was empty. Andof course, the message was and still is, “come and see” (Matthew 28:6).  Now,Mary Magdalene is the woman who had been specially helped by Jesus and was verydevoted to Him (Luke 8: 2). She had lingered at the cross and became the firstperson that Jesus appeared to (Mark 15:48). Luke mentions that she was thefirst at the tomb.  Then, we also read thatMary the mother of James, Joanna, and the other devout women also were at thattomb with her. They came to prepare the body of Jesus for burial. But theirlabor of love was transformed into gladness when they discovered that Jesus wasalive.  Theirmain concern on the way there, was who will roll this stone away, because theyknew that the Roman soldier would not allow someone to break the Roman seal,especially a group of mourning Jewish women. But God solved the problem forthem because the tomb was open when they got there, and there were two angels thatappeared to these ladies. Matthew and Mark also talk about the one angel thatgave them the message. The angel's message was a kind rebuke: “Rememberhow He spoke to you when you were still in Galilee, that He must die, He mustbe crucified, and He would rise again”.  God'sanswer for our perplexed hearts today is also to remember! We need to rememberthe word of God. To do that we need to read it and have it in our hearts. Itwas then they were told to go back and tell the other disciples, which ofcourse, they did. But it was Mary Magalene that came back to the tomb, andshe's still perplexed, but Jesus shows up and meets with her according to thegospel of John. She supposes Him first to be a gardener. But then when He saysher name and she recognizes His voice because: “My sheep hear My voice, andthey know My voice, and I know their name” (John 10:3-4). Everythingchanged for her at that point.  Myfriend, Jesus will change everything for you too when you hear His voice sayyour name. Today, He will speak to us through His Word if we will only listen.  GodBless!

The fact and the truth of theresurrection of Jesus cannot be underestimated! John Stott said,"Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The conceptof resurrection lies at its very heart, and if you remove it, Christianity isdestroyed." Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:17: “If Christ benot risen, then our faith is vain.  It isempty. It has nothing to it. And we are yet in our sins”. Yes, the Bibleteaches, and the gospels affirm, and the witnesses affirm, and history affirmsthat Jesus Christ indeed rose from the grave early that Sunday morning 2,000years ago after His crucifixion on the cross.  Theresurrection of Jesus Christ affirms to us that He is indeed the Son of God,just as He claimed to be Romans 1:4: “And declared to be the Son of God withpower, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead”. It also proves that His sacrifice forsin has been accepted and that the work of salvation is completed (Romans4:24-25). Those who trust Him can "walk in newness of life" becauseHe is alive and imparts His power to them (Romans 6:4; Gal. 2:20). Our Lord'sresurrection also declares to us that He is the Judge who will come one day andjudge the world (Acts 17:30-31). Itis no surprise, then, that Satan has attacked the truth of the Resurrection.The first lie that he spawned was that the disciples came and stole Christ'sbody (Matthew 28:11-15), but it is difficult to imagine how they could havedone this. To begin with, the tomb was carefully guarded (Matthew 27:61-66);and it would have been next to impossible for the frightened Apostles tooverpower the soldiers, open the tomb, and secure the body. But the biggestobstacle is the fact that the Apostles themselves did not believe that He wouldbe resurrected! Why, then, would they steal His body and try to perpetrate ahoax? Asecond lie is that Jesus did not really die on the cross but only swooned, andwhen He was put into the cool tomb, He revived. But Pilate carefully checkedwith the centurion to see whether Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44), and the Romansoldiers who broke the legs of the two thieves knew that Jesus had died (John19:31-34). Furthermore, how could a "cool tomb" transform Christ'sbody so that He could appear and disappear and walk through closed doors? Themessage of the Gospel rests on the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection(1 Corinthians 15:1-8). The Apostles were sent out as witnesses of Hisresurrection (Acts 1:22), and the emphasis in the Book of Acts is on theresurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul put it plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19: “Andif Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then theyalso which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only wehave hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”Thisexplains why Luke climaxed his book with a report of some of the appearances ofJesus after He had been raised from the dead. He first appeared to MaryMagdalene (John 20:11-18), then to the "other women" (Matt. 28:9-10),and then to the two men on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-22). At some time, Healso appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34) and to His half-brother James (1 Corinthians15:7).Thatevening, He appeared to the Apostles (Luke 24:36-43), but Thomas was not withthem (John 20:19-25). A week later, He appeared to the Apostles again,especially for the sake of Thomas (John 20:26-31). He appeared to seven of theApostles when they were fishing at the Sea of Galilee (John 21). He appearedseveral times to the Apostles before His ascension, teaching them and preparingthem for their ministry (Acts 1:1-12). Whenthe believers discovered that Jesus was alive, it made a tremendous differencein their lives. And it has transformed millions of lives since then like mineand yours! “Heis Risen! He is Risen Indeed!”

Psalm 22 which has been called by many as “The Psalmof the Cross”. There are two passages I really want to encourage you to taketime over the next few days to look at, and that's Psalm 22 and also Isaiah 53.Both of these are Messianic passages that prophecy and tell us about thesufferings of Christ. Psalm 22 was written by David 1,000 years before thecrucifixion of Christ. The Bible calls him both a king and a prophet (Acts2:30). And here he looked ahead one-thousand years and clearly saw the LordJesus Christ dying on the cross. Davidbegins the psalm with these words, "My God, My God, why have Youforsaken Me?" Jesus quoted these very words on the cross (Matthew27:46; Mark 15:34). As you read through this psalm, you find that many versesare directly related to the cross of Jesus Christ. In verses 6 through 8, Jesuson the cross experienced this: "But I am a worm and no man, a reproachof men and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me. They shootout the lip. They shake the head, saying He trusted in the Lord. Let Him rescueHim. Let Him deliver Him since He delights in Him." This is fulfilled inMatthew 27:39-44 and what we just studied in Luke 23. Psalm22:16, "They pierced My hands and My feet." This was fulfilledin Matthew 27:35 when they nailed Him to the cross and pierced both His handsand His feet. Remember later in John 20:20-27, Jesus would say to Thomas, "Touchand see the scars in My hand and My side”. John 19:23 records the fulfilmentof Psalm 22:17, "They divided My garments among them and for Myclothing they cast lots." Ibelieve Psalm 22:12-18, describes the mental and spiritual sufferings of Christduring the three hours of darkness as the devil and the demons of hellattempted to destroy Him and God turned His back on His Son. David wrote, "Manybulls have surrounded Me. The strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. Theygape upon Me with their mouths like a raging and a roaring lion. I'm poured outlike water. All My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is meltedwithin Me." When you understand what took place in the crucifixion,literally the bones of Christ, when they put that cross into the ground with athud and He's hanging there, it's like it put all His bones out of joint. Hisheart is poured out like wax as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. AndHe says in verse 16, "For dogs have surrounded Me. The congregation ofthe wicked has enclosed Me. They pierce My hands and My feet. I can count allMy bones. They look and stare at Me." Jesus was flogged before thecross. And literally His bones actually could be seen as He was hanging on thecross. In verse 18 we read: "They divided My garments among them andfor My clothing they cast lots."  Jesus hung naked on the cross in shame andsuffering. Oh,my friend, some believe that Jesus possibly quoted this entire psalm on thecross at some time when He cried out, "My God, My God, why have Youforsaken Me?" Yes, we see both the darkness of the cross and the glory ofthe cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. I alsoencourage you to read Hebrews 2:9-18. It begins with: "But we see Jesuswho is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death."Psalm 22 is quoted in Hebrews 2:12.  Hebrews2:14-15 describes the purpose of Christ death and suffering: “Inasmuch thenas the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared inthe same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death,that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all theirlifetime subject to bondage.” Todaywe should be so thankful for a Savior who suffered so much for you and I thatwe could be set free from the guilt and the penalty of our sins. Please meditateon these things. Godbless!

Todaywe'll be looking at the last verses of Luke 23:50-56. As we look at thispassage of scripture, we learn that Joseph of Arimathea was also one of theseven meetings that Jesus had in this chapter with other people. Remember Hemet with Pilate and He met with Herod. On the way to the crucifixion, He metwith Simon of Cyrene who helped carry His cross. It was then that He spoke tothe women of Jerusalem. He spoke to the thief on the cross saying, “Todayyou'll be with Me in Paradise.” And then of course there was His Fatherthat He conversed with while He was on the cross. Now,this chapter ends with Christ being taken down off the cross by a man namedJoseph of Arimathea. Only the Gospel of John tells us that there was anotherperson involved with the burial of Jesus, and that was Nicodemus. Johnintroduces him in John chapter 3. In John 7:50, Nicodemus speaks up for Jesusin one of the council meetings when they're trying to condemn Him. And ofcourse, we believe that neither Joseph of Arimathea nor Nicodemus was presentaccording to Mark 14:64 when “all the council” voted to condemned Jesusto death; they must not have been there because they were a part of thatSanhedrin, and they would not have voted to condemn Jesus. Accordingto the Gospel of John 19:38-42, we also notice that this tomb where they buriedJesus was in a garden nearby the place where He was crucified. We believe thatit's very possible that this is a tomb that Joseph had previously prepared forJesus. He and Nicodemus had read the Scriptures. They had studied the fact thatthe Christ would die He would rise again. And they knew it was only a temporaryplace to bury the body of Jesus. It was a borrowed tomb in a sense, but it wasspecially prepared by Joseph for Jesus nearby. Joseph would have prepared hisown tomb in his home city close to where he lived. So we believe Joseph ownedthis tomb and he prepared it for Jesus.  Andwe also know that this burial fulfilled the Scripture. We believe that it ispossible Nicodemus and Joseph had studied the Scriptures in Isaiah 53:9, andalso knew that it says that the Messiah “made His grave with the rich in Hisdeath”. And so they fulfilled that Scripture. When Jesus died, Joseph isready to go immediately to Pilate. Nicodemus is part of helping have everythingready. Because they would not have been able to go shopping for these items onPassover, Joseph and Nicodemus must have already purchased the things that wereneeded for the burial of Christ, the fine linen that they wrapped Him and the hundredpounds of myrrh and aloes to anoint His body (John 19:38-44).  Itwas very important that Jesus be buried by people that would know He was deadbecause His death and resurrection are the very essence of the Gospel. Theproof was evidenced by the fact that men like these, men of character andintegrity were the ones who took His body off the cross and buried Him. Ifthere were any doubt about His death or burial, that could affect the messageand the ministry of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Italso might be interesting to remember that in Genesis 2:1-3, after six days, Godfinished the work of the “old Creation” and He rested. Now after six hours onthe cross, Jesus finished the work of the “new Creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17),and He rested on the Sabbath in Joseph's tomb.  And because Christ's resurrection, three dayslater, we know that we can experience this new life in Jesus Christ and alsofind our “rest and peace” in Him! ThankGod for people that stand up for Jesus like Joseph and Nicodemus and were partof this very powerful story of the death, burial, and resurrection of JesusChrist. God bless you as you meditate on these things today. Are you willing tobe identified with the resurrected Savior today? Godbless!

Jesus justbreathed His last and had cried out, "Father, into Thy hands I commitMy spirit."  Now,there are three responses that Luke records here in these verses that happenwhen Jesus died. In verse 47, the centurion who was in charge of the executiontestified, "So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorifiedGod, saying, certainly this was a righteous Man." Mark's Gospel describethis scene also: “So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that Hecried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man wasthe Son of God!"  (Mark 15:39). Heexclaimed that Jesus was an innocent, righteous Man, who is the Son of God.  Thiscenturion had observe Jesus for six hours as He was being crucified and as hewatch what took place and also heard the words of Jesus from the cross somethinghappens in his heart.  He had heard thewords of Jesus to the mockers, "Father, forgive them. They know notwhat they do”. He heard Jesus say to the murder being crucified with him, “Todayyou'll be with Me in paradise." He heard Jesus speak to John and Hismother Mary, "Behold your mother. Mother, behold your son." Thenthe three hours of darkness happen and he had heard Jesus cried out, "MyGod, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" And then shortly after that heheard Jesus cry out a shout of victory, "It is finished."  Andlast the centurion heard Jesus said, "Father, Into Your hands I commitMy spirit." Then he watched as Jesus' head dropped and breathed Hislast. Usually, people that were being crucified might have lingered for daysbefore they actually died. This centurion actually, personally observed Jesuslaid down His life. He felt the earthquake and watch the rock split and he wasso amazed and it says that “he glorified God”. As he had watched allthis, it came over him. There is no doubt that this Man indeed is the Son ofGod. He is the Savior. He is an innocent Man. He's a righteous Man. I believe itis very possible that we will see this centurion in heaven. Who knows? Maybe itwill be Cornelius who later called for Peter in Acts 10 to clearly hear the planof salvation. I guess we will find out when we get to heaven. Thenin verse 48, we see the other response as, “the whole crowd who cametogether to that sight, seeing what had been done, they beat their breast andreturned”. Remember not only did the darkness take place, but when Jesusgave up His life and laid it down, my friend, there was a great earthquake. Godshook the ground, and they all felt that, and they beat their breast. I'm notsure if they were repenting, if they were saying, "We wish we hadn't seena righteous Man die like this." We don't know. Maybe some of them gotsaved later and some of them maybe didn't. They were spectators, and they left.Like so many today and unchanged! Butthen there were His acquaintances in verse 49. And the women who followed Himfrom Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. They didn't leave. Now,isn't that interesting because women were mentioned last at the cross, and theywere mentioned first at His resurrection. Isn't that interesting? Oh, myfriend, God loves everyone. He loves the poor, the rich, as we're going to seewhen we talk about Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus loves the sinner. He loves thewicked. He loves you today so much.  Thecenturion proclaimed, “This Man is the Son of God”! My friend, that'sthe real question. Who is Jesus? Is He indeed the Son of God? Oh, if youbelieve that, you can believe that He is the Savior of the world, and He's theonly one who can save you from your sins. That's crucial. And so, I trust todaythat you'll trust Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior. And like thecenturion, you will proclaim Him as innocent, the Son of God, and you willreceive Him as your Lord and Savior. Godbless!

These verses cover the last three hours that Jesushung on the cross at Calvary. During the first three hours during the morning fromnine to twelve, Jesus made three statements: "Father, forgive them.They know not what they do." (Luke 23:34). To the thief, Hesaid, "Today you will be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:43). Andin John 19:25-27, He turned to John the disciple and Mary His mother, who wereclose by, and said, "Woman, behold your son," and to John,"Behold your mother." He ensured His mother, whose husband Joseph hadpassed away, was taken care of as He was dying on the cross. TheBible tells us in Mark chapter 15 that at the sixth hour, darkness covered thewhole land until the ninth hour. For those last three hours, from noon tothree, what took place was between God and His Son. Remember Jesus had alwayscalled God His Father previously in all the Gospel accounts of His ministry.The last four statements of Christ on the cross, we believe, took place at theend of those three hours according to the Gospel of Mark 15:33-41. “When thesixth hour came, darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour. At theninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lamasabachthani," which is translated, "My God, My God, why have Youforsaken Me?"  Webelieve this was the fourth statement Jesus made to His Father but notice He addressedHim as “God”. Then He said, "I thirst," in John 19:28, and inJohn 19:30, just before He gave up His spirit, He said, "It isfinished." I believe the work of salvation was complete on the crossof Calvary.  Thelast statement Jesus said was, "Father, into Thy hands I commit Myspirit." In His final statements, Jesus first said, "My God, MyGod, why have You forsaken Me?" Did you notice that in His first statementand His last saying on the cross He addressed God as His Father. Now, why didHe call Him “My God” instead of “My Father”? Because during those threehours of darkness God had turned His back on His Son and did not recognize Himas His Son any longer as He paid the full punishment for our sins. Jesus wasestranged and separated from God. That's what real death is. It means separationfrom God!  SomehowJesus became separated from God in their Father-Son relationship. How Jesus didthat while being God is a mystery. You might have noticed in the Gospels that Jesus'favorite phrase for God was "My Father." In the Gospels, Herefers to God as "My Father" some 61 times, and 34 times inthe Gospel of John alone. But now on the cross, He says, "My God, MyGod," the only time He does so. In the Old Testament, no one had arelationship with God as Father. No Old Testament saints addressed God as “MyFather”. The only times your find the title “Father” capitalized in the Old Testamentis in these verses, 1 Chronicles 28:6; 29:10; Psalms 89:26; Isaiah 9:6;Jeremiah 3:19; and Malachi 1:6; 2:10.  WhenJesus taught His disciples to pray in Luke 11:1-4, He said, "Pray likethis, Our Father which art in heaven." Interestingly, the term "OurFather" is only mentioned twice in the Gospels, here in Luke and in Matthew:6:9-15,where Jesus taught us what is called the Lord's Prayer.  Myfriend, this is so important. Something the Old Testament saints could not experienceor enjoy Jesus came to show us how we can now have a personal, intimaterelationship with God because of His payment for our sins on the cross and Hissending of the Holy Spirit to abide in us. In Romans 8:14-16, we learn that Godis our “Abba Father”, a special Father, a Daddy Father, that we canboldly come to because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, being separatedfrom God.  Ilove how the Word of God makes so much sense when we understand that Jesusintroduces us to God, not as a God of wrath, but as a God who loves us as aFather loves, cares for, and protects His children. This ought to speak to ourhearts today.