Bro Gyme Sunday School 10/23/11

Bro Gyme Sunday School 10/23/11

Ephesus was for many years the second largest city in the Roman Empire: 250,000 people. 

Paul had great challenges.  One of his attributes was endurance.  If he had quit at the first resistance there would not have been a church at Ephesus.

Eph 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

An apostle is a delegate.  He was a delegate of Christ.

“All scripture… is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for instruction.” This is what God wanted to tell us.  God inspired Paul to write this book for us. 

It was written to the faithful in Christ Jesus.  ‘Will’ means determination.  This is what God determined to tell us.

Eph 1:2  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace: divine influence upon the heart… 

Peace means quietness, rest, set at one again.  The wall that separates us from God is sin. 

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

God wanted to bless us.  Paul speaks much of unity throughout this book.  He wanted us to be one in heavenly places.  He wants us to be one people.  We have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.  He set it up that we can have heavenly places on earth.  Where He is, is heaven there.  If we will obey and have salvation according to the bible we can sit together in heavenly places.

Psa 21:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Psa 21:2  Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

Psa 21:3  For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

Goodness here means ‘beautiful and the very best’.  God has the very best blessings for you and me.  He anticipated every need that you and I would have.  ‘Preventest’ means anticipated.

Psa 21:4  He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

Psa 21:5  His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

Psa 21:6  For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

When we are saved, God looks upon us with favor.  Even when we were not saved he looked upon us with favor and made a way for us to be grafted into His family.  An ambassador is a representative.  When Paul came and taught and preached this epistles he was representing Christ’s wishes and God’s wishes. 

What God wanted to tell us He spoke through Paul.  He showed us what the will of God is.  We don’t have to guess the truth will be backed up with the Word and Spirit of God.  If something doesn’t ring true, you can reject it.  God always witnesses to truth. 

If you seek, you will find.  God is fair.  We don’t have an excuse, “I wasn’t in the right place at the right time, or I thought those people were way off.”  It is ok to seek.  It is ok to have questions; God wants to answer your questions.  We want to show our self approved.  Truth will stand up to questioning. 

Paul also taught by example.  Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”  A counselor needs to live what he preaches.  People that are trying to get their life together are trying to help others get their life together. 

The guy that wrote the book, “Having a new kid by Friday” had a son that told him, “Dad you need to read your own book.”

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Predestined means that there is no special people, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female.  God had a plan from the beginning that we would all be saved.  There is no ‘special people’ in the gospel day.  It is not who that is predestinated but what.  Salvation was predestined from the beginning. 

Sis Teri spoke of a man that had money set aside preplanned for his children.  When the time came for them to receive it, the kid’s lives were in such a mess that they would have used it for bad purposes so he didn’t give it to them. 

God had it in his heart for us to be saved.  Whosoever will can be saved according to the good pleasure of His will.

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Clark - By the giving of the Law, God’s justice and holiness were rendered most glorious; by the giving of the Gospel, his grace and mercy are made equally conspicuous.

His grace and mercy are made equally visible through the grace of Christ.

Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

We can have an abundance of His grace.  He has made it to abound to us.

Prudence means moral insight. 

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

If we have His grace, we can know what He wants us to do.  We can have wisdom and prudence.  Before I knew much about the Bible, God told me that some things had to go.  He was faithful. 

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We were born of God, the only entrance into God’s Church.  To have unity you must be born into the church, by the blood of Jesus Christ.  There are saints throughout the whole world.  They have come the bible way if they are saved.  They are walking in the light and we can have fellowship with them. 

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

It is very important that we have unity at home first.  We need to have unity with Athol and others too, if they have the same spirit.    If we cannot have unity at home, then there is no way that we can have unity with anyone else.  It will not be hard to have unity if all are doing that.

Sometimes walking in the light is having God correct us.  What we need to agree on is the word of God and what God teaches.  It is ok if we don’t agree on all our opinions.  We need to learn how to live together.  If we will walk in the light and let God correct us, then we can have unity with others. 

We don’t see the whole picture.  We see one little snapshot in time, we are not around each other all the time, we see one snapshot in time and expect to make a full rounded judgment. 

Sis Teri – the biggest test of unity is locally.  It is easy to get along with those that we hardly ever see and when we are together we are both on our best behavior.  When we see each other on an everyday basis then we see each other at their best and their worst.

Bro Bob – People will not always treat us right, we must treat them right and walk in the Spirit.  Then unity is easy.

Bro Bill – I have learned to leave others to God.  There are some situations that come at us that I cannot even handle mentally.   If I attack it mentally than I will end up where I don’t want to be in my mind.

1Jn 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1Jn 1:2  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1Jn 1:4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

1Jn 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1Jn 1:6  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

We need to walk in the light; in the light there is no darkness at all.

How good and how pleasant it is for brothern to dwell together in unity.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Eph 1:15  Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

Eph 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Christ is the head of His church.  If there is a place that you go where Christ is not the head then He is not there.  In God’s church there is only one that can add and subtract and that is Christ.  He is the head and He will not take a lesser spot.