Paul’s Prayer (Ephesians 1:17-18)
Wisdom Paul knows that God is a good Father Who gives good gifts to His children. Because of this He asks the Father to give the Ephesians wisdom. He wants them to understand the world around them and how God has ordered it. He wants them to know how to conduct themselves in this world and make wise decisions in light of what God has revealed. Revelation of Jesus He then prays that God might reveal to them knowledge of…
What Does the Bible say about Gossip?
What does the Bible say about gossip? How serious is this sin? How do you stop someone from sharing gossip with you? How do you share a prayer request without gossiping?
What Truly Matters (Ephesians 1:15-16)
Wherefore In light of the spiritual blessings that are in Christ Paul draws a conclusion: faith in Christ is what matters. If we truly believe in the spiritual blessings that are in Christ we will seek only one thing, genuine faith in Christ. Inheritances, the economy, popularity, family relationships, acceptance by our neighbors, financial success, business success, etc. does not really matter if there are spiritual blessings in Christ. What we value shows a lot about what we truly believe.…
Co-Heirs with Christ (Ephesians 1:11-14)
The Apostles have an inheritance Paul now turns his attention away from the Ephesians and speaks about himself and his co-laborers. By God’s grace he has been predestined for an inheritance. This was God’s plan for Paul and the Apostles. God purposed to give them a wonderful inheritance. God is glorified by the Apostles God has saved Paul and the Apostles as a display of His grace. This work He has done so that He would be glorified. This was…
God’s Eternal Plan (Ephesians 1:10)
God has purposed and administered all of timeAs we have seen, God purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world to save His people. Here we read that God’s purposes stretch farther than that. Not only did God plan our salvation before the foundation of the world, He is currently watching over all things and directing all of time to His desired end. The word translated “dispensation” comes from a Greek word meaning to administer or steward. God has…
Answering Abortion Advocates
As believers we must be able to give an answer for what we believe. Many abortion advocates have arguments in favor of abortion that are hard to answer. In this message we look at these arguments and give an answer. Of course the only answer is Jesus Christ.
The Infinite Wisdom of God (Ephesians 1:8-9)
God has poured out His grace upon us Paul here continues this thought of God’s extravagant grace poured out on us. It was not just poured out in forgiving us; it has also been poured out in God revealing His wisdom and prudence to us. God’s wisdom God has shown us how wise He is. The word for wisdom here is “sophia” from which we get the word “philosophy” (love of wisdom.) Who could conceive of such a glorious plan…
Rich in Grace (Ephesians 1:7-8)
In Him As Paul continues to tell the Ephesians about how blessed they are he keeps using the phrase “in Him” or some variation of it. He is trying to hammer into our heads that we are not blessed in who we are or what we have done; we are only blessed in Christ. All of our blessings flow from Him. Every blessing is only found in Jesus. Redemption The next blessing we have in Christ is redemption. Redemption simply…
Adoption (Ephesians 1:5-6)
In love Paul uses the phrase “in love” to connect how God has chosen us before the foundation of the world with God predestining us to adoption. God has done all of this because of His great love for His people. He predestined us to adoption The word predestined literally means to determine beforehand. Before the foundation of the world and before we had ever done any good or evil God determined that He would adopt us. In the process…
Chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4)
Paul has just told Christians that they are blessed with spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. What are these blessings? Chosen Paul immediately begins by talking about predestination. So often predestination is a source of controversy or confusion. However, Paul sees predestination as a source of comfort. We are so inclined to view salvation as us choosing God, but here Scripture tells us that our salvation was brought about because God chose us. People who are proud and successful…
Truly Blessed (Ephesians 1:1-3)
As we learned in the background of Ephesians, the church at Ephesus was facing financial loss and persecution. The more faithful they were to the Gospel the more their economy dried up. The more faithful they were to Christ the more their neighbors hated and persecuted them. The more they followed Jesus the harder things got. The closer they walked with the Lord the more their blessings disappeared. Wrong theology This brings us to a major paradox of the Christian…