Ephesians Lesson 36 of 39 part 2

Genesis 26:6-7

"And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon."

Instead of saying, "This my wife and I’m ready to die for her", he says, "She is my sister." In so many words Isaac is saying, "You can have her", and according to custom they do. They took her to the king because she was beautiful, stunning to say the least.

Genesis 26:8-9

"And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her."

We know that the Lord intervened again, before anything could happen, and He spared both Abraham, and Isaac, and their wives. 

Do you see now how women can rest on the promises of God? That is, if you are submissive to your husband as Sarah and Rebekah were, even though your husband can make a stupid move, God by His intercessory power can take care of the situation. So do not ever doubt that God can overcome every bad situation, He is more than able.

As we proceed, and by way of reminder we do not promote any denomination. We maintain that this Bible is for everybody, as no denomination has a corner on heaven or salvation. We a tempt to just simply share the Word and we allow the chips fall where they may. Not everyone likes where the chips falls, and sometimes we step on toes. One lady, left me an e-mail, in which she said, "My toes are bleeding." to that I answered, "Well come back again and I will do it all over again. I can not back off from what the Bible says, just to keep from hurting peoples feelings." I just try to lay it out as plainly as possible, what the Bible and the Holy Spirit leads me to say, and often what it does not say. 

Before we continue allow me to ask, have any of you ever thought about what Jesus was saying when He said talking about Satan's (Belial's, Beelzebub's and I might also add Molach's house), "a kingdom or house divided can not stand" (Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25, Luke 11:17 and 12:52)? This is a two edged sword, in other words it has a double meaning. To put it in our days context, this is what we have in denominationalism which is exactly what Satan has been working overtime doing for the past ruffly 2000 years now. A kingdom or house divided that is splintered into groups oppose God and greatly hinder God's activities from every which way. This is why I cannot promote any church or church group or denomination and because of what 2Corinthians 6:11 through 7:5 reveals when rightly divided, understood.

We had gone back and looked at how Abraham and Isaac, who were both failures as husbands a couple of times, but God interceded, and took care of their wives in spite of their failures. We maintain the same thing is appropriate today. When we have a wife who submits to her husband, he may not always be right, he may at times stumble, yet if she plays her role as God intends her to do, He will make up the differences. Always remember that Paul is talking about the marriage relationship of believers. Now lord knows that ungodly men cannot be given this kind of freedom and responsibility, because they would abuse it. This we can see around the world by the miss treatment of children and woman in foreign countries under the banner of Religion and in some places Government controlled by Religion.

We are not talking about those kind of men. But rather we are talking about believing men who know the Lord. Who love and obey the Lord, the Spirit who, as we have seen in these previous verses, knows what it is to walk in the fullness of the Spirit. What it is to walk in the life of rejoicing and happiness, knowing the Lord is the head of the husband, as the husband, in turn is the head of the wife. So always keep this in perspective. This has not given men a free reign to just simply lord it over the women. No way! Nothing in Scripture ever gives men that prerogative of privilege. But when it comes to the final analysis of decision making, and especially when it comes to disciplining the children, then the major responsibly falls on the father, as we are going to see in our next chapter. We know this is a far cry from today where most of the discipline is left to the little mother or there is none at all. When I hear the way allot of child speak to their parents these days it disguises me to no end, for if I ever spoke in that fashion I would have found myself on the ground or with a hot rear-end for sure. Or possibly with soap washing the inside of my mouth.

Ephesians 5:23

"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body."

Now always remember that the word "Church" does not mean that building on the corner. You know the one with the phallic symbol called a prayer tower on its roof with a cross on its top or peck.

As we were thinking about these things, we remembered when we put together our daughter and her husband now sixteen years ago. She was from Florida and he was from here in Tennessee, and her expression always was, "The Church house." "We’re going to go to the Church house." Yeah, they had searched around for the right church house and found one close to where her now husband grow up. Well here in Tennessee, and for most people today, that is almost an over used term. Oh we used to ride herd on her for saying that, and would ask, where do you get that? Well she would say, "that’s what it is!" But we had though had used the term many times, we just called it the Church or the little white Church. Back where I came from they were on what seemed to be every street corner and across the street on the opposite corner everyone's favorite watering whole, a bar or tavern. But you know what? She was right, it is the Church house, that building is not the Church.      

Ephesians Lesson 36 of 39 part 1

I have to tell people even before being instrumental in leading them to the Lord, "Now in short order, you’re going to come through a time of testing, and it will seem as though all hell has come upon you from all directions. And from the ones you would never have thought would." That happens every time to a new believer. God will allow testings to prove us and try us because as we have pointed out He places us all within the corral and under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit as in Israel's first estate. And all it does is just deepen our love and trusting in His faithfulness to bring about our dependency to Him and obedience on Him. We have the same thing with Abraham, and he has just now begun his walk in covenant ground and there is famine in the land of promise.

We are sure Abram has been instructed not to go down into Egypt, but yet he goes contrary to those instructions. For those of you who know your Bible, Egypt is always a picture of what? The world (filled with paganism). So he leaves the land of blessing, and land of promise, even though it is being tested with famine, and drops down into Egypt, which was a lot like Washington, DC as a political institution and New York City is the commercial core today. Egypt was at the very core of all the commerce, and economic activity and so forth, so it had all the allurement that the world even today has. So here Abram and his wife, and of course his nephew Lot is also still with him, can’t take the heat of the famine in Canaan, so down to the world they go. No doubt there is plenty of food and grain there. 

Genesis 12:10-12

"And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, (he’s on the border) that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: (now this is a believing husband speaking to a believing wife) Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife; (she is such a knock out, Pharaoh is going to want her in his harem) and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive."

We want to remember that the ancients had a moral code, and don’t think for a moment that they didn’t. They may have abrogated most of the time but they had a moral code. So Abraham knew his life wasn’t going to be for long, and he was thinking up a plan to stay alive. Now we are going to see the thing that what Abram did was the exact opposite of what Paul instructs us to do concerning our wives in this Age of Grace. Paul is teaching that Abraham should have been able to say, "Sarai, you’re beautiful, they will probably kill me, but for your sake, I’m willing to let them do it." But Abraham chickened out. We mean he chickened out, and said, "Now Sarai, we’re not going to let them kill me for your sake. You just go ahead and tell them that you are my sister, and they will spare my life." Now isn’t that something?

According to today’s standard of thinking, the sociologists, the psychologists, and the feminists, they would say, "What should Sarai have done?" She should have wrapped him on the side of the head, you know give him a Gibb smack, and said, "I’m not going to do such a thing. I’m not going to end up in some pagan king’s harem just for your sake." Isn’t that the thinking today? But you see Sarai didn’t respond that way. Sarai, obediently let them take her, and sure enough old Abraham was right, as they took her into the king’s harem. But you know what? The Almighty overruled. Even though Abraham pulled a dumb stunt, God still overruled on behalf of Sarai. And we think the lesson for women today is, yes once in a while your husband is going to make a dumb move, but you know what we know? "God is going to intervene in such a way that the end result for both husband and wife will still be for our good."

Genesis 20:1-2

And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah."

We have to understand the pagan thinking of the ancients (in fact all throughout the Bible we need to be able to see and think as the ancients did, in order to understand the language and mindset of that time), and that was that they would kidnap beautiful women and bring them into the kings harem against their will. So Abraham instead of standing up and giving his life for Sarah, he lets them take her, and so she ends up in Abimelech’s harem, but God intervenes.

 

Genesis 20:3

"But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife."

And of course you know what the story goes on to say. Abimelech woke up and brought Sarah quickly back to Abraham. There is one more occasion this happens  when we find Isaac, he pulls the same stunt with his beautiful wife Rebekah in chapter 26 of Genesis. Remember this is a whole generation later.     

Ephesians Lesson 35 of 39 part 7

The Old Testament is full of instances where an angel appeared and said that it took him many days to reach the person to whom He was addressing with the message. It is no different for us now we just need more patients and trust. The one difference is that now we can receive directly through Christ from God's own mouth and in effect Hear God's voice over our own flesh voice. God is never late but maybe the God of the eleventh hour kind of thing. And if not then we may have been in error and missed the que all together.

Psalms 37:7b

"...fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."

And is not that always a temptation? We see the ungodly prosper, they are driving their big cars, and living in their huge homes, expensive homes and we know that they are ungodly. Do not worry about it, living today will probably be the only heaven that they will have, their doom is waiting them. So do not worry about that, and use those two verses when trying times come your way. For it is easier for the street person, a person bankrupt of personal wealth to enter God's heaven than the person of wealth and riches. And why is that so, the person of personal wealth treasures his or her name above all else, they treasure their social standing be it as it may, temporary and fleeting away.

1Peter 1:7-9

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” and

1Peter 4:12-14

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”

 

It’s the same way in the marriage relationship. We commit our marriage unto the hands of the Lord, and as the husband and wife in union commit that marriage to the Lord, then it follows that we are going to follow God’s format. And God’s format was established back in the Garden of Eden. And here it is

.

Ephesians 5:22

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, (not as some slave master, but like a husband) as unto the Lord."

There’s nothing wrong with being submissive to that kind of husband. 99.9% of women would just thrive in that kind of an environment, to be married to a man who treats her, even as the Lord treats him, and that is the analogy all through here. Why should the wife submit to the husband? Because of God’s decree.

Ephesians 5:23

"For the husband is the head of the wife, (and again look at the analogy) even as Christ is the head of the church: (the Body of Christ) and he is the saviour of the body."

In order to become the savior of the Body of Christ, His Church assemblage what did Christ have to do? He had to die! So what is the admonition to us as husbands, men? We have got to be willing to die for our wives, are we willing to die for our wives, not unless something drastically would happen we think we would die for her, because that is what the Scripture demands. We are to love our wife with such a love that we are willing to give up our life for her. 

We are going to take you back to the Old Testament, for the benefit of the women. How many women will say, "Well I’m not going to go by what my husband says, because he can make the dumbest decisions." Isn’t that right? Sure, we all do. You know I have made a couple of whammies myself, I really have. But the wife does not constantly remind us of it, she could, but if she is a good wife, she does not. She does not use them as leverage or as a means to gain higher ground or to belittle us. Do you know what God has promised by our going back to the Old Testament? That in spite of our dumb moves, God works it out for His own good.

 

So back with us to Genesis chapter 12, here in chapter 12, we are dealing with Abram and Sarai before God gave them the names of Abraham and Sarah. Abram has just been given the Abrahamic Covenant, so he is on right standing with God, he is a true believer, he is a man of trusting faith, and no doubt Sarai is as well, because of what Peter says about these two people. So here we have two believers, and they have just begun their walk with the God after He had given them this tremendous covenant promise earlier in the chapter.     

Ephesians Lesson 35 of 39 part 6

A few years ago, one of the major denominations made a statement concerning this very part of the marriage relationship "that the husband was to be the head of the wife," and remember the liberal press just about went into orbit. We remember all the feminist movements had a fit, and one lady said that had set equal rights back at least 50 years. No, the Christian community is not setting anything back, but rather we are exemplifying what the Scriptures says about the husband and wife relationship. Marriage is a covenant of two, in and through blood, the virgin's issue (these is from both individuals as the male and female are both to be virgins upon entry) of blood at consummation of the marriage vows. Just as Jesus' blood was shed even before going to the tree of execution, each blow He suffered drew blood, each whip cord (the whip of nine tails had broken shards of pottery woven into each cord) drew blood as it lacerated His flesh, when the crown of thrones (representing the curse of the ground) was pushed into His head every spike drew blood and then there are the wrists of His hands and the heels of His feet through which spikes were driven. Not to leave out the spear which pierced His side from which both water and His blood flowed after it had punctured the sack which surrounds the heart and fills with water while a body hangs suspended and in great distress.

I have said it as long as we have been sharing, there has never been anything so instrumental in giving women their freedom, and their rights as Christianity has. We want to remember all the way back in human history, not just in Israel, but in all of human history, the women were consider as nothing, they were used a chattel and slaves. They could not get an education, they could not read, they could not work math, they were kept ignorant purposely. Christianity is what opened the door for them. I have said it over and over, do not ever accuse Paul of being anti-feminist. He and Jesus did more for the female gender than any other man of the human race.

We had a lady say, "Bill I used to hate the Apostle Paul, I wouldn’t read any of his letters, in fact I didn’t even think it should be in the Bible. It was such a strong feeling that I also passed it on to my two married daughters. But thanks to you, I can now see the Scriptures completely differently. I see now that Paul is our Apostle, and now I’ve got both my daughters convinced." Well praise the Lord that her eyes were opened. Here the apostle simply goes back to the format that God intended. Oh it’s not what the sociologists think, or the psychologists say, or what the advice columns say, but what God says. Don’t lose sight of this. In this whole format of being filled with the Spirit, speaking and singing in songs, and making melody, giving thanks to God for everything, what does the next verse say?

Ephesians 5:21

"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

You see we are in a time when people do not like to submit to anybody. We are in the period of the big egos, the big number ONE. The old crooner Bing Crosby hit song "I Did It My Way," kind of thing. But the scripture says, "that we are still to be submissive first and foremost to God. That is an attitude of the Christian life. That is having the mind of Christ! A verse just comes to mind in the book of Psalms. We hadn’t intended to use this, but we referred someone to this a few days ago who was going through some trying times. They were almost despairing that God was even aware of them. But even Peter a tests to our having to go through trying times. So let’s look at 1 Peter 1:7 and 4:12 and Psalms 37:5 and we can pass this on to anybody that is going through trying times, whatever the case may be. Even though it is Old Testament, and David speaking it, yet God has not changed. 

We told someone that they were putting too much of their doctrine on the Old Testament, that being the Law. He said, "Well what am I supposed to do, throw it away?" No. You do not throw the Old Testament away, it is the same God, the only thing is He is now operating differently, then He did under Law, He is doing differently within us under Grace. But many things that David says are very appropriate for us in the Church Age, and this is one of them. But to get full advantage of the Old we need to have the eyes and ears that the New only provides, as Jesus said have a clear eye, to light our whole being.

I am not quite sure how this all fits but this morning early He said, “those who do not gather with Me, scatter.” I looked this up and found it in Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23 and have read and reread these verses in their context and what it is saying to me is, If we do not walk out His Life restored within us then we scatter to the four winds those He wants to draw to Himself through us. For this to happen in His way we have to have surrendered our life (of self rule) for His Life, the whole meaning of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Romans 12:1-5, along with the understanding of Galatians 2:20.

Psalms 37:5

"Commit * thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him**; and he shall bring it to pass."

*that is in the category of submitting. **remember there are three words that means the same thing, Trust, Faith, and Believe.

We do not know when, we just rest in the fact that it is in God’s hands, and we submit it into His care and keeping. Then we come down to verse 7, and what is the first word?

Psalms 37:7a

"Rest in the LORD,..."

Once we have committed something to God, we can rest. We have used this illustration more than once. Say you are taking a trip on an airplane, you find your seat, and get all squared away and take off. Do you start fretting and sweating and wondering, "is this plane going in the wrong direction?" Maybe some people do, but we think the average passenger sits down, picks up something to read, and you have totally committed your life and direction to the airline. And you just absolutely trust that they are going to take you where you intended to go. Well it is the same way within the spiritual realm, once we have committed to the Lord, then we know what direction we are going, and we do not have to wonder and worry. 

Psalms 37:7a

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:..."

But you see we are not patient, we are living in a time of instant gratification. I want it right now. But you see the Lord does not move as fast as we think He should, but rest assured if we wait patiently, He is going to bring it to pass. In most cases and without our ever knowing it, it was a done deal from the onset because God is always a NOW, because our trusting faith is the substance. Even though we do not yet see or sense the thing asked for, believing is the receptivity of, Now.     

Ephesians Lesson 35 of 39 part 5

Philippians 4:6a

"Be careful (worry) for nothing; but in every thing* by prayer and supplication (here is the key) with thanksgiving..."

*not just in some of the things of the Spirit, but in everything that is important to us, God wants to hear it. He wants us to know who we are in Christ and even of more importance who He is in us.

Most people today when they pray never think to thank Him. Most people do nothing but ask, ask, ask as if pleading with God as an unjust judge which He is NOT. We can tell you right up front, those kind of prayers are not very apt to be answered. Every time we pray, we preclude it with thanksgiving. "Thank You Lord for what You are going to do and are now doing." And when it happens for goodness sakes, do not forget to thank Him again. In fact thank Him before and after prayer, for just listening to you. 

Philippians 4:6b

"...let your requests be made known unto God."

How do we make our requests made known to God? We verbalize it. Do you see that? We know God can hear our thoughts, do not think for a minute that we do not know that. But does not God expect us to think something, and then He takes it as our request? No. No, He expects us to verbalize these things, "Lord this is what I need. This is what someone else's needs are." We usually open our day and study time with prayer, and regardless of what it is we know that God is concerned, and that He expects us to verbalize these requests. Talk to Him about what concerns you. Then in verse 7 we see that this is the answer to every single prayer that you have uttered. If you are a true believer, every prayer that you utter is answered in verse 7. Then the direct request may be answered in the way you expect. But whether He says, "Yes, No, or Maybe later", to your request in verse 6, He has already promised the response of verse 7, and what is that?

Philippians 4:7

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

What does that mean? Regardless of what we are praying for, whether it actually becomes a reality and is answered, that is moot. You know what is important? THE PEACE WITH GOD! Even if we lose that loved one that we are praying for, or possibly that new job, the peace with God puts us in a position to accept that, and to live with it. He may respond and answer exactly the way we hoped He would, but He is not bound to. He is bound to give us that peace that passes all understanding through Christ Jesus and that is all.

Because this all ties so beautifully with our walk in Christ, we will recap from verse 18.

Ephesians 5:18

"And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess*; but be filled with the (Holy) Spirit:"

*don’t respond to the spirits of alcohol to bend your thinking.

Of course that goes along with our concept that at redemption we get the fullness of the Holy Spirit. To this Peter in his second letter verses 10 through 13 of chapter 1. Reveals the steps in the process and this is especially seen in the Amplified Bible. My we just get a whole fresh start, but just like anything else it kind of wears down, and then periodically we have to be refilled. So according to Ephesians 4:5 and 1Corinthians 12:13 there is one Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that happens the moment we are saved, but after that you can have many fillings or refreshings. We think it behooves us then to continue to be being filled by the Spirit, which comes of course by the soaking up of the Scriptures, the study, prayer time, fellowship, and so forth, we need that constant filling or refreshing of the Holy Spirit. For He is given as a deposit, a down payment, if you will, with more refillings.

Then, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit as we look at verse 19, it is going to have an effect on our whole life style. He is going to be a life of speaking of songs and hymns, and spiritual songs. That does not mean we will never have bad times. Christians have just as many problems as the world around us. To which even Peter confirms this as our proof that we are in His Kingdom. The difference is we have the Lord to take us through those times. Do not ever accuse us of teaching, that when you become a believer, you are going to have a rose covered pathway, because it is just not going to happen, because we are enlisted in a spiritual army doing spiritual warfare but we do have the Lord to carry us through when it does happen.

Then in verse 20, that along with our rejoicing, and our happiness, we are to be constantly in an attitude of thanksgiving, and it is all to be given to God though the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have had people ask, "Are we still supposed to pray in Jesus name?" Absolutely. He is still interceding for us at the Father’s right hand, and so we pray to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we are now clothed in Christ or with Christ. We have His divine Eternal Life as ours we are, as a wife carries her husbands name, we carry Christ's name. So when we pray we are always praying in His name for He makes the intercessions for us. A thought just came to me, you know that there are allot of businesses and agencies that work by direct deposit into our bank accounts theses days. We have such an account with God through Christ Jesus, our account in His kingdom never runs down because He is ours without limit as our Mediator and Intercessor. We can draw on His power and Authority endlessly under the terms of His kingdom and Covenant.

In this same line of joyful Christian living, of all things what does Paul bring in? The marriage relationship, isn’t that amazing? In other words, at the very heart of a Christian community is the family and the home. No our bond goes much deeper than the external bond of a simple sample of expression of figurative language. And there is a lot of talk lately about family in politics, but unfortunately they are not using Paul’s approach to it, but rather they are using the secular world, and the world view. But in this lesson we are going to look at the marriage relationship according to the Scriptures. An unbreakable bond, a union of spirit's, with the Father of spirit's, Who is the Father of Life itself. The Father who makes Covenant through the Blood not of an animal but His Own Blood in Christ Jesus. A bond and union that only the fool would break or refuse to enter.    

Ephesians Lesson 35 of 39 part 4

When we walk in the spirit we will be led by Him. In the early stages of this new life we are apt to be headstrong and impulsive, as was Moses when he felled the Egyptians. But as we grow in understanding in this Christian experience, and the Holy Spirit recaptures the ontological essence of Christ within us we increase in knowledge of Him and we wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit. And His moving us by suggestion, impressions on us to do His will. By His working within us what afterwards He works out in our character and deed. We do not go in front, but follow behind, when we are led by the Spirit. We grow in dependency on Him.

The man or woman who walks in the Spirit has no desire to fulfill the lust of the flesh. The desire for SELF gratification of natural appetite may be latent in the soul, and may flash through the thoughts, but we do not fulfill them. These desires cannot be prevented, but their fulfillment can certainly be withheld. As the Holy Spirit grows in strength within, He empowers, us to resist and then concur those desires of the flesh voice.

When we walk in the Spirit He produces in us the fruit of a holy character. The contrast between the works of the fleshly----i.e., the selfish life----and the fruit of the Spirit, which is the natural product of His influence, and Christ's own character, is very marked. In works there is effort, the clatter of machinery, the deafening noise of the factory. But our fruit is found in the calm, still, regular process of Nature, which is ever producing in her secret laboratory the kindly fruits of the earth. How quiet it all is! There is no voice nor language. It is almost impossible to realize what is being effected by a long summer day of sunshine. The growing of autumn arrives with noiseless footsteps. So it is with the soul that daily walks in and with the Spirit. There are probably no startling experiences, no marked transitions, nothing special to record in the diary, but every hour and indeed moment of the day and year those who live in close proximity witness a ripening wealth of fruit in the manifestation of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. All signs of the season of an eternal life restored within our soul.

Ephesians 5:20

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

When we have the right understanding of the Lord's Passover, and the days which followed, where we learn of our restored union with Him, a union stronger and better than that of the marriage union, we know that He is in us and we are in Him, and we therefore carry His name. And the fruit of His Spirit restored causes us to be thankful as we grow in knowledge of Him. Paul tells us that we are clothed in Christ, and this understanding and knowledge strengthens us as our character is changed to resemble His. After this verse we have to turn to the book of Philippians chapter 4, and verse 4. What is the first word? Rejoice. That means exactly what it says. We are not to be a people of chins on our chests and moping around thinking, "what a tough old world this is." No, but rather we are to be in an attitude of rejoicing, for His joy lives in us.

Philippians 4:4

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

What were the circumstances that Paul was in when he wrote this? He is in prison in Rome, he is under Roman guard, he is in bands probably on both arms, and yet the man could write, "Rejoice." Earlier in his ministry, he and Silas were down in the dungeon at Philippi, and they had just been scourged, which meant that their backs and torsos were like raw hamburger. Their feet were in stocks, rats and the like were running all over them you can be sure, and yet did Paul and Silas bemoan their condition? No, but rather they sang hymns. They sang those hymns so loud that all the prisoners took note of how those two men under their circumstances could still sing. So here in verse 4, Paul did not say this flippantly. Paul is not just all of a sudden writing from some great beautiful hotel room, and telling his poor people out there, "Hey rejoice" No, he is in the worst of circumstances himself, and then he can say it twice in one verse. 

Philippians 4:5

"Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand."

What does Paul mean through “the Lord is at hand”? How much closer is He to be today. He is the brother that sticks closest to you, because His ontological essence is in you. But here is the next verse that we came here to see.    

Ephesians Lesson 35 of 39 part 3

There is one exception to this rule and that is the generous man, such as Abraham was when he returned from the battle with the kings and encountered his old friend Melchizedek king of Salem and priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14 and Hebrews 7). Being a philanthropist who is generous with finances may cause blessings but the root of the word of philanthropist means; the effort to advance human will and this goes against God. However Abraham was already righteous in God's eyes and so he was indeed blessed of God, and we are his seed. Seed here being not necessarily the natural seed but rather his spiritual seed, those of similar trusting faith, those who God declares righteous, which is what Hebrews 7 and James 2:23 reveal. Why or by what means? Both men where gentiles at the time of this action which honored God.

Ephesians 5:17

"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

This is all the same process of living under the Light, living according to the wise steps of a man of faith. How many know and understand the Will of the Lord in our day and time? This question has posed a problem for me for years, more than 40 to be exact. Back in 1985 when my family and I were filled by God with His Holy Spirit I was plagued by a question which was never answered by any pastor we encountered. And that was what happens to those who have the Holy Spirit in the world and church setting. There is NO one to assist them in their spiritual Life other than the Holy Spirit Himself. Like myself none of those men or women know God in the same fashion that we were learning Him, and this troubled me greatly. We had become peculiar to say the least and we did not understand what was happening to us. We tried to fit in and we searched church after church and even tired to work with church pastors in their organizations from one state to another but to know avail. As I have shared elsewhere the Lord told us to come out from among them on at least three occasions, that I recall, and it was the last time that we understand Him and so we did. It was for this reason that I share these things on my blogs as the Lord gives understanding.

 

Ephesians 5:18

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but (instead of using wine as the spirit) be filled with the (Holy) Spirit:"

We do not know how many people stop to think of this; how many times have you driven through the city and you will see a sign over the liquor store that says, "spirits". Where do they get that? Alcohol is a spirit, it is a mind bender. You know in the fire apparatus manufacturing business when they where at the end of a long day, they use to have about 5-7 o’clock in the afternoon, a cocktail hour. This happened at the plant as well as in the field when we would entertain customers. Do you know what they call it now? It’s an attitude adjustment time. That is pretty coy isn’t it. They want to adjust the guy’s mind so he is willing to spend a lot more than what he had planned on spending. The concept is the same here in the Scripture. We are not to depend on the spirit of alcohol to effect our thinking, but the flip side is the Holy Spirit in Whom we are to depend on. The Holy Spirit becomes our mind adjuster, if you want to call Him that, and He is the One who will lead us and direct us into all the things that God would have us to do, understand and know. In verse 19, we mean this is all in this same concept of the Christian walk. Is it not to be a life of humdrum, or a life where you have your chin on your chest? No, it is to be a Life life of joy. 

Ephesians 5:19

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;"

When we were looking at verse 19 preparing for this, we could not help to think about the Haitian people. We want to remember, those people are in abject poverty, they have absolutely nothing of this world’s goods. But boy, when they start singing you would never know they were lacking anything. And that is to be the Christians behavior. Ours is to be a life of joy and happiness, and singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. You know how King David responded more than once. My he just got exuberant, and there is nothing wrong with that.