Ephesians Lesson 19 of 39 part 3

Remember God's ministers are ministering spirits of fire as stated in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14 to which Peter has this to say:

1Peter 1:12-16

“Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.'”

And then John says this in Revelation:

Revelation 5:5-8

“And one of the elders saith unto me, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals (these seals hide the mysteries or secrets now revealed to the sons of God) thereof." And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.”

Revelation 5:9-10

"And they sung a new song, saying, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

We’re going to find doctrinal things in Paul’s writings that won’t find anywhere else in scripture. But he doesn’t cancel what went before, it’s just an advance on it. Because now we’re coming from the very small knowledge that they had way in the beginning, and it’s just building, and building, and finally the promised Messiah came, and the Nation of Israel was in the promised land, they had the temple, but yet what did they do with the Messiah. They crucified Him, and the Hebrews continued to reject Him in those early chapters of Acts, and in so many words God says, "That’s the end of that dispensation of Law, we’re now going to dispense something totally new." It was just like moving from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. If you know anything about politics, it was as different as night and day between those two administrations. Well so is Grace and Law! We cannot mix them because they are so diverse, but it’s the same God. God never changes, but He changes His programs. Now God says, "Instead of all of the things that the Law demanded, I’ve already settled it in the Last Supper in the Marriage Feast of My Lamb and on through the Cross, now if you will just believe it I’ll do everything that needs to be done." People constantly proclaim, "Oh what freedom they have found!"

We’ve come now all most 2000 years and we’re still reveling in this Gospel that was begun by this Apostle, and that is it’s by faith and God’s Grace alone. Now we're talking about salvation. We're not saying that you’re saved by Faith + Nothing, and then you just go on and drift. No, No. But for salvation it’s Faith and Faith alone, and then when that happens God begins to work in and through us, and He doesn’t expect us to become tremendous saints over night. He's patient with us while we're in basic training, in the Holy Spirit training school where we learn how to rightly divide all these things we've been sharing and where we learn obedience and our total dependency on Him. In the same way as Jesus and Paul because when we're ready and made willing we accept the discipline of the cross through our partaking of the Lord's Supper, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb into the spiritual Life where we're made heirs and then we pass through death, resurrection and ascension clothed in Christ's body and covered in His blood. We then have entered the promised New Covenant and the abundance of Eternal Life in the power of His resurrection from which no man or evil spirit can touch us or remove us from the Fathers hand. We become ministers of His Grace, Love, Truth in Light laying our lives down for this Gospel if need be, which is Christ in us.

This Bible is for everybody not just for a certain group of people, and we want to be able to help everyone in such a way that they can study it on their own, and search the Scriptures and see if these things are really so. The Book of Acts calls people who do that Bereans.