By Evangelist Eric Smith “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Ephesians 1: 4. The next portion of the sentence we are pursuing is verse 4. The whole sentence is verse 3 through verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 1. Notice how Paul used each word to express the message he gives every reader. In comparison, how we write and say each word makes a difference to what is understood. Paul desired we understand a relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to where each individual will spend eternity.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” Ephesians 1:3. We are taking a closer look at each section of the sentence, beginning with verse three and going through fourteen, over the next several weeks. This is the same Scripture we did a brief overview of two weeks ago. Paul writes so every word has a special meaning to teach us how to be faithful Christians.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalm 127:1. This week we celebrate the 4th of July, the birthday of our nation. Seeing things that have happened throughout the nation lately make you wonder if the Lord is with us or has He abandoned us for all the evil being done. In many areas the principles our nation was founded on are being ignored or changed. Because of this you can see our nation going further and further away from God. Our text tells us that if the Lord is not the builder than the “labor is in vain”.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:” Ephesians 1:2. In this verse Paul continues his greeting. In the original language verse one and two are one sentence. A form of this greeting, Paul uses in most of his letters. "Grace" was a normal Greek greeting and "peace" was the Jewish greeting. Each word written would bring about some point of teaching about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Beyond the fact of the Holy Spirit directing Paul with what to write, the using of these two terms would help reach both Jews and Gentiles. God selected Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles, but Paul still was concerned about the faith of his own people, the Jews as he wrote in the Roman letter.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 1:1. The book of Ephesians is a very powerful book. This letter, to the Ephesians, reveals a great deal concerning the Church. Coincidentally the book of Acts chapter 18 and 19 record the beginning of the Church in Ephesus. The Ephesian letter and the two letters written to Timothy while he was at Ephesus help us to fully understand the history of the Church at Ephesus. Also, Ephesus is one of the seven Churches written to in the book of Revelation. From this Church we can learn how to be effective Christians and how the Church is to function as a whole.
Evangelist Eric Smith “She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” 1st Peter 5:13-14. These are the final words Peter wrote in this letter. This letter was written from Rome; therefore the “She” is referring to the Church in Rome. Other letters and especially the Book of Revelation use the term “Babylon” for the city of Rome. There are other possibilities but Rome fits the situation best. This Church is sending their “greetings” to the Christians in Asia Minor to encourage them to remain faithful to Jesus Christ in the face of persecution.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” 1st Peter 5:12. Peter continues to encourage his readers as he closes this letter. Peter says, he wrote the whole letter to be an encouragement to those reading it to first remain faithful to Jesus Christ. What was written is still applicable to us today.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you need to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:16-18.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1st Peter 5:10-11. Peter is bringing this letter to a close. He is encouraging his readers to remain faithful by reminding them they are not alone. As a Christian you are never alone for the Spirit of God lives in you to help guide you in your walk of faithfulness. Realizing this as a Christian will help you to overcome the temptations which come your way.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1st Peter 5:8-9. Once again, Peter is encouraging Christians to be in control of themselves. After telling his readers to give all their cares to the Lord, Peter is stating what the real problem is. It is the devil and individuals giving in to him. Christians must remind themselves He who lives in them is greater them he who lives in the world. This means the Holy Spirit is more powerful then Satan. Recognizing the power we have in us ought to cause us to “be self controlled and alert.” It is being unaware of Satan’s ways that lead us to sin. Satan’s goal is to have Christians disobey God and deny Jesus Christ.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Humble yourselves, therefore,under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1st Peter 5:6-7. The main purpose of this letter was to encourage believers who were suffering because of their faith in Jesus Christ. It is no different today. Many Christians in the world today are suffering for the same reason, they are Christians. We also, see it happening more and more in America.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1st Peter 5:5. The verses prior to this one, Peter gave instruction to the elders about not lording over those they are shepherding. Peter has given the instructions for the eldership and now, he is instructing the rest of the body of believers.
By Evangelist Eric Smith We all want to hear things that will help us live a better life. The Gospel writers knew the answer and John summarizes it up best in John 20:30-31, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” More information is revealed when you read John 21:25, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” It is beyond our imagination to give an actual number of books this world could contain. Even more so if there had been volumes of books written about the life of Christ how long would it take us to read all of them and study them to understand who Jesus is? It would be an impossible task. God knew the four Gospels would reveal His Son and His purpose in coming. Since the time of the apostles many volumes have been written about the Gospels.
By Evangelist Eric Smith “He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” Luke 24:44-47. Each time Jesus appeared to the disciples, following His resurrection, He gave instructions. These verses are a section of the last instructions Jesus gave before His ascension into heaven.
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