Ephesians (Program #71) – Ordinances and the Church Life

The book of Ephesians reveals that what God is after is for Christ to be wrought into His chosen and redeemed people to produce the Church. But it also exposes many of the negative things that frustrate us form attaining to His purpose. Among these are the obvious items of sin and worldliness. But though these things surely damage the Church none are so great a problem as the not so obvious matter of ordinances.

Ordinances expressed our own way of practicing the Christian life. And each group, each gathering of believers has its’ own particular characteristics, its’ way to practice, to meet and to worship. Yet these ways that we treasure and value so dearly may in fact be the factor divide us from other believers and thereby frustrate God to the uttermost and He desires to obtain His heart desire, the Church as the One New Man.

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Ephesians (Program #70) – Overflowing to Speak

If you ever visited a country where idol worship is practiced, one of the striking aspects of such worship is that it’s always done in silent.  The worshipers are silent or dumb because the idols they are worshiping are dumb. But our God is not an idol and He certainly is not dumb.

For Hebrews 12 tells us,  “you have come forward to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”  And it’s interesting here implying that not only do the worshipers speak but listen to Hebrew 12:24 “And to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks something better than that of Abel.”  Here not only do the worshipers speak even the blood is speaking.  A marvelous portion today based on really Ephesians where we are to be filled in spirit speaking.

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Ephesians (Program #69) -Experiencing the Riches of Christ

Ephesians Chapter 3 is a remarkable Chapter in all of Scripture. For it tells us that the immeasurable, unsearchable and unlimited Christ has now become so close, so intimate and so personal to us that He is actually making His home in our hearts.

This Chapter also tells us that this one is unsearchably rich. In fact it’s by our experiencing Him in this unsearchable riches that bit by bit, day by day, He is able to spread Himself into all the regions of all our inner being. This is the Christ that Paul presents to us in the book of Ephesians. And it is the very Christ that Paul himself experienced and described in many of his other epistles. We will consider the unsearchable riches of Christ on our program today.

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Ephesians (Program #68) -The Church—the Expression of Christ

Through out Church history many items have been used by God to help His people to become close to Him and experience Him. The gifts of the Spirit, miraculous power, great teachings from the Bible with deep and profound doctrines are just few of the things that God had used through out the ages.

But while on one hand God has used these things, it must also be confessed that these things can and have been used by God’s enemy to distract God’s people from the very Christ that they are intended to bring us to.

Substitute for Christ are most often good things even spiritual things. But they are things, and not the very person of Christ Himself. Of this, we must be very clear and constantly on guard not to fall into such a temptation.

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Ephesians (Program #67) -Putting on the New Man by Growing Up into Christ

The Church as seen in Ephesians has many aspects. First as the Body of Christ, the Church has His life. But even in a higher aspect is that of the New Man. In order for the Church to be joint with Christ as the head to become he New Man, it must not only have the life of Christ, but it must also have Christ as its’ person. It is this aspect that the apostle Paul was focused on as he prayed so earnestly in Chapter 3 that we would be strengthened so that Christ might make His home in our hearts.

What is it really to have Christ making His home in our hearts? It means that His person with His own likes and dislikes would occupy our hearts, replacing even becoming our own likes and dislikes.

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Ephesians (Program #66) – Christ in God’s Economy, Taking Christ as our Person

Many books in the New Testament speak of the mysteries of God. First of all, Colossians tells us that God is a mystery but that Christ is the mystery of God. But then Christ also is a mystery. And so Ephesians tells us that the mystery of Christ is the Church.  Well, you may say what’s so mysterious about the Church?  The Church in reality is where the immeasurable Christ far above all, can still be so small and so intimate that He can dwell within us. Even makes His home in our hearts. Now this is mysterious.  For as the apostle Paul himself put it, “this mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.“

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Ephesians (Program #65) – God’s Economy—To Work Christ into Us

Once we are saved and had believed into Christ receiving Him as our redeemer and savior, what is God most interested in seeing in our lives?  Good Christian conduct? Christians virtues, such as kindness, patience, love and generosity? Well, what about seeing us been gifted and powerful in our service? Well, how about full knowledge of the Bible?

Well, all of these things are surely wonderful, spiritual. But here is the great surprise. Though all of these things are mentioned in the Bible none of them are of that much interest to God. I said, none of them are of that much interest to God.  Because what He desires above all else in His people is to see Christ, the first born among many brethren making His home in our hearts, and living His life in us, through us and out of us.

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Ephesians (Program #64) – God’s Economy—Christ with the Church

In many ways the highest revelation in the New Testament is found in the book of Ephesians. In this book, the apostle Paul reveals God’s eternal purpose and how we, the members of His Body are needed for and incorporated into this purpose. In order to convey such a divine thought, he uses wonderful even divine language. So for us to get into the real thought and heart of the book of Ephesians, we need to learn this heavenly language and enter into the very heart of God as He unveils the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure unto the economy of the fullness of the times according to the council of His will. This is the heavenly language used in Ephesians.

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Ephesians (Program #63) – Seven Aspects of the Church

Through out history if you look carefully, you will see that God’s enemy has focused his attack on the Church. He has work relentless to divide the Church and damage it with religion, organization and teachings that turn it away from the oneness Christ died on the cross to accomplish.

Surely if the Church is Satan’s focus, it must indicate that the Church is what he fears the most. This is not only reveal by looking at history, it is the central revelation of God’s word. “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against her”.  The Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed in Matthew 16 and one of the great prophecies in scripture. But to see how He will do this building work, we need the book of Ephesians.  Today we will consider 7 crucial aspects of the Church.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #29) – The Unique Work of the Processed Triune God

In 2 Samuel, the Lord through the Prophet Nathan prophesied to David the king, “Moreover Jehovah declares to you that Jehovah will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Properly understood, this passage constitutes one of the greatest prophecies in the entire Old Testament.

In Matthew in the New Testament, chapter 16, the Lord Jesus makes a similar prophecy to His disciples. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” This passage equally constitutes one of the greatest prophecies in the New Testament as well. God’s desire to build a dwelling for Himself and for us, from the beginning of the Bible through to the very end.

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