A Reflection on the Book of Ephesians

[Speaker 1] Church fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tech Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] What God is saying is a shocking thing. The burden in the heart of God, the concern of God, is eluding the church. The church will just be busy doing certain things, and God is busy saying something else. You just find that only few people are able to pick what God is saying and what God is doing. Do you understand me? Because they're not seeing how much we need God. We're not seeing that those that will get the kingdom—He says, "Blessed are those who are poor." There is this realization that "Baba, we need you." That realization pushes one to be with Him, to stay with Him, to say, "God, we need you." For such people, theirs is the kingdom of God. But when we don't realize how much we need Him, we become casual about our seeking God. We are not casual about our jobs. We are just nonchalant. Every human being can be careful. There's no human being that doesn't have the tendency to be careful, but people are careless over basic things. Nobody is careless over serious matters of life. Go and check. When you see people just nonchalant about their relation to God, nonchalant about knowing God, hearing the voice of God, walking with God, having life, it's just a sign. It's just a business to see how these things are placed in their lives. It's so important that people can be quite careless, but carelessness becomes a pattern of life over those things that we place little value. Go and check. Something that you are consistently careless over is also something that you have placed little value. If you place so much value on something, if you make a mistake the first time, you become much more careful the second time. You'll be seeing that carefulness will be increasing. But when you see, "Ah, I tried, Baba, I tried. I tried as I was supposed to do." It tells you the value that is on the thing. If there's real value on it, the first day you miss it, it will become, "Ah, what happened the second day?" You will be seeing trying to readjust, trying to correct, trying to make sure you make up. Let's watch our life. Those who will get the kingdom of God are those who see how much they need God. Not that they see just that they see, but that they deeply realize how much that they needed God. Praise the Lord. The Lord will help us in our Christian walk, moving on in such a way that because I normally tell myself something. It's just like what Elijah told Israel. He said, "If God is God, then do what? Seek Him. If God is not God, then leave Him." He said, "But you are wandering between two opinions." Why are you God small, Baal small? If God is God, seek God. And if you know God is not God, seek Baal. What I find more is God small, I can follow God small, I can follow teacher small, I can follow the world small. My point is, if God is God, we shall realize God that God is God. We should really know that God is God. Example after time that there's God and God is God. And there's God and there's Christ that died on the cross for the sins of man, and there's redemption in Christ, and there's resurrection of the dead. If you only believe it and you know it, then if God is God, serve God. It's a very serious matter today when you look at certain things. You just wonder, is God really God? That's a personal question that I have for myself and for each of us in our own life. Is God really God? Is God really who He is? This God that's in the Bible, is it that God that you believe in, or maybe some other god, not as the one expressed in the Bible? Maybe a different one. But if it's this God of this Bible and you believe that He is inescapable, then if He is the God that you believe in, then serve Him. These are very important things that should reflect on our life in the way we walk with God. He will help us in the name of Jesus Christ. We have been checking faith, the indicators of faith in the life of a man. We're looking at it from the direction of good works. We said something two weeks ago that the Master said, "Let your light so shine that men will see the good works and they will glorify your Father who's in heaven." Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." And we said if men cannot see, it's possible it is there. Because I made a statement: it is one thing to be holy, it is another thing to be seen as being holy. It is one thing to have integrity, it is another thing to be seen as having integrity. They are two different things. It is one thing to be sincere, but it's another thing to be seen as being sincere. We noticed that day that while faith is in the heart, our work with God—as Jeremiah 17 said, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, even to every man according to his ways." The way of a man is in his heart. That is truth. The way of a man is in his heart. The motive, the intent of a man is within him. But we noticed that day that the Bible said, "Let this light that is inside, this thing, you are the light, you are the salt, let it so shine that men can see." So, we noted that day that if it is shining and men cannot see it, then the possibility is that the salt has been removed. Maybe it is shining; it is not so shining. If it so shines, men will see it. Men will see it. If they can't see it, like I was moving around one day when I saw a sticker: "Believe it or not, I'm a Christian." I was wondering who is arguing with the person? Who is arguing? Without a sticker, by your conduct, by your attitude, by your outlook for life, by the way you carry yourself in the midst of men, your neighbors, in the neighborhood, when matters arise, among your colleagues, among your peers, your response to matters, your attitude, your pronouncement about things, men should see. Men should see. "Okay, so tell us your own." I don't know if you understand. My thing is now "Believe it or not, I'm a Christian." Then there's a problem. There's a problem. What the Master wants, He says, "Let it so shine." He knows it can shine and men may not see it. But the one He wanted is that "Let it so shine." Before I enter into Ephesians, I want to quickly look at and pray today. Look at something in Titus that struck my attention in Titus chapter 2, talking about the grace of God. We often quote that scripture here. But look at something after that grace of God that brings salvation. Titus 2:13-14 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Look at this ordering of words. Verse 13: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Now, what did He do? Verse 14: "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people." What makes them peculiar? Zealous of good works. Let's take another translation. "Who gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Do you see? What is the peculiarity of these people? Totally committed to doing good deeds. When you have a Christian who is not totally committed to doing good deeds, who is not zealous—I like the King James, it says "zealous," zeal, fervent of good works—what is missing in that Christian life? What have they lost? He has lost the indicator of his peculiarity. He redeemed to Himself a peculiar people. What makes people peculiar? They distinguish themselves. What distinguishes them? It's the defining line between them. This matter is often underemphasized when we talk about grace and faith. Because grace and faith are two things that are strictly within the realm of the spirit. It looks as if it's there many times. It looks as if it's just there between the person and God. But what we've been looking at the past two weeks is that no, if it is truly there, and the knowing and the breaking forth with God is deeply going on, people will be seeing that the person starts becoming peculiar. This person is peculiar. They start seeing what they will be seeing is a people totally committed. It's a difficult thing for man not to be selfish. Even in Christian marriages, one major thing we deal with is selfishness. The ingredient of incompatibility is selfishness. Marriage as an institution of God, it doesn't fail. It doesn't fail. Marriage doesn't fail. Anytime you see two people who marry and then things are crashing and they say that something happened, the truth about the matter is that the marriage did not fail. It has only revealed people. It has only told us that these are two individuals who are selfish. When a man is truly knowing Christ, the first thing about that man is that he denies himself. He forgets about himself, his interests, his concerns, his pursuits, his ego. He said if a man must follow me, let him first do what? Deny himself. That is one thing that destroys marriage. And that's why you notice scripture says that if a man wants to lead people of God, he must be a man or woman who are married more than once. What that simply means is not that if somebody loses his wife by death, he cannot remarry. That's not what it's saying. What it's saying is that if you find someone who divorces a man or a woman, it's not a good spiritual material. If he's a good spiritual material, what makes marriage to scatter would not have manifested. It would have been subdued, it would have been conquered. That is the truth. And that's why God placed that condition there for anybody to be a bishop. Although we don't look at them today, we're looking for men with anointing who can do miracles, who can do signs and wonders, who can speak in tongues very well, who can shout and then miracles happen. That's what we are looking for. But the first thing is that he must have been married only once. He must have been married only once. God is addressing something more fundamental, more fundamental. If you go and check again for widows, don't put a widow in the list except she's sixty years of age. First Timothy chapter 5. The other one is First Timothy chapter 3. You can go home and read these things yourself. He says she must be threescore years, that's sixty years old. Go and check the first qualification for a woman that God wants them to put in the list of widows. Do you know what that means? What it means is that when somebody is a widow, is over sixty years old, by then and doesn't have anybody to sponsor, no children, nobody to do that, so they had to be spending tithes and offerings on that person. That's the list he's talking about, the list that the church will support. He said the widow must be threescore years old. Go and check the next thing that follows. He said she must have been faithful to her husband. God did not say she must have won many souls. She must be a good preacher. She must be a good—God didn't mention from that direction. Because all those ones, they are just gifts. And gifts don't tell you anything about a man. I can be a very strong teacher of the word of God, but if you come and check me at home, I may not have character. Gift is gift; it doesn't tell you anything about a man. Samson was gifted; he was at the peak of his gift, but at the pit of his character. So they are two different things entirely. So when we're talking about men who have stayed with Jesus so that the more they stay with Him, what dies inside them? Self. It is as self dies that character develops. So you notice scripture says they are peculiar. Their peculiarity—when a man begins to know Jesus on a consistent basis and he's fellowshipping with Jesus, the peculiarity of that life is revealed through good works. You will see something about him that is not tied around self. You will see a continuous denial of self, a continuous ability to live for the sake of others, a continuous ability not to count what he has as something. The mind of Christ. He said who, although He was like God, but He did not count it as something to hold to, but He made Himself of no reputation. Not only that, look at the way Christ died. If you were Christ, would you want to die the way Christ died? But it's telling you how much selfless Christ was. But do you know what I'm trying to make? Do you see a true relationship between selflessness and humility? A man who does not die to self cannot also simultaneously be proud. It is as self dies that humility also develops. Because what he holds on to that makes him proud is about my self, it's still about the self. So you will see selflessness, you will see selflessness and arrogance. They converge in a single thing that you call self. The reason I'm pointing this thing is that a question popped up in my heart: how many Christians have not lost their peculiarity today? We normally say you are a chosen generation, a peculiar people. That peculiar, that peculiarity it's talking about—how you know a man is truly peculiar is not in a chosen generation. It's not by the song. It's by a life that is zealous of good deeds. And it's not because he's trying to look for any name. Remember Dorcas? She was so committed to good deeds, so committed that when she died, everybody gave a reason why she must not die. In that city, there could be rich men who were three times richer than Dorcas. Do you agree with me? But Dorcas, a lady. It's not about how much or how many, but I'm talking about a peculiarity of the Christian. So our focus this period is focusing on: yes, faith is in the heart, grace is a matter of believing, holding to what Christ has done and moving on in that realm. Sincerely, it stands that way. But one good way to be sure that one is growing is of Christ and is in Christ, is that we will be seeing a continuous manifestation of men whose peculiarity is in what—it says "who gave himself on our behalf that he might redeem us, purchase us, purchase our freedom from all iniquity and purify for himself a people to be peculiarly his own people, who are eager and enthusiastic about living a life that is good and filled with beneficial deeds." They are living a life that is good and is filled with beneficial deeds. That is the peculiarity of a Christian. While it is true that if work stands alone, there's no eternal life—hope you know. Do you understand me? Because you are not saved by work. We are saved by what? We are saved by faith. So that doesn't mean that a good moralist is on his way to heaven. That's not what we're discussing. What we're discussing is that if the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, manifested by that abundant grace of God, is welling up in the life of a believer, over time you'll start seeing the person becoming peculiar in being good. The good will become consistent. Consistent that in everything—what makes him not to be good is his sin, put it together in three things: the self, the world, and the devil. He has been redeemed from that. So if he has been redeemed from the world, himself, and the devil, then what should remain? Should he not become like his Father? That is what should remain. So it should be a thing that a Christian tracks his life. Many times we don't track our lives. We don't check how much we move from one glory to another glory. We just live freely as if there is no perfecting of the faith. Grow in what? In grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There should be things welling up, and one of the main things that is welling up is this zeal for good deeds. Now, having made reference to the fact that a life that is good and filled with beneficial deeds—now brethren, let's quickly survey some things in the epistle of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. We'll take the whole of God's word, we'll just be making reference to some selected verses that bring them together. Ephesians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 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." That is what God did for us eternally. When He chose us in Christ, He chose us to be holy. And so we're not trying to get one righteousness that will make us holy. Who made peace for us? Christ. Who made righteousness for us? Christ. Who sanctified us? Christ. Who made us holy? Christ. All of these we got in Christ. When we were selected, when we were taken, that is who we are. This thing is not talking about who you will be before God; it's talking about what Christ did for you. You have been chosen; you are chosen as holy and blameless. And that's why when a man gets born again today and he is saved today, if he dies there, he's going straight to where? Heaven. There's no sin that can hold him, whether past, present, future, nothing can hold him. Because in Christ, that was what he was made. So we're not trying to do something that will make us acceptable to God. No. We are acceptable to God. And that's what I tell people: if I'm doing certain things so that I can be righteous before God, you don't understand salvation. I have been made righteous. The reason why I'm doing righteousness is because I am righteous. It's not so that it can make me righteous before God. Now, so we see the selection is quite clear. We have been chosen to be that. Now, why was that done? Verse 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." So the reason why that selection was made was that eventually God is seeking a reconciliation. And do you know one thing that trips me about this verse 10? Particularly when I have reasons to look at so many things when people talk to me so much about togetherness and marriage. You keep making reference to marriage because sincerely if you truly understand redemption, you will know that no man who does not truly understand redemption can have a fulfilled marriage. That is truth. You can't have a fulfilled marriage except you truly understand redemption. You see that God had a family, there was a problem in the family, earth was separated from heaven, and God was paying all the price. And thought in the mind of God that eventually there should be reconciliation. Do you get the point I make? Despite everything that's happened, in the fullness of time, the whole thing that God did is that in the fullness of time, things in heaven and on earth can reconcile back in Christ. I'm only saying when people enter into marriage, the primary thing that makes them like God is that there's nothing that is not reconcilable. If certain things are not reconcilable, then you lack an attribute of God. There is nothing. Tell yourself when you are entering into this marriage must work. It must work. Not because there will be no wahala. Was there no wahala in God's family? Was there no problem? Was there no clash? There was serious division, there was death, there were so many things. But in the fullness of time, He bring them together again. But let's move on. So that was why that choice was made and everything God seeks to bring everything together in the fullness of time. Now, verse 15: "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." That they can understand these things better and better. So chapter 1 concluded with having talked about the great privilege that we have, Apostle now said when he heard that some people believe in Christ, began to pray for them so they can understand these thing better and better. Okay, so with that we move into chapter 2. In chapter 2, what did he say? Look at the opening verse in chapter 2: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." What does it mean to quicken? To make alive. He made you alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, that gives us a picture. By that selection, by making us holy, by making us blameless, He made us back eternally. Is that not true? But that selection brought something to us: a quickening. A quickening. We were dead. That chance of taking us to Himself also quickened us. It brought us life. So which means before the selection, we were dead. So when you see men who deliberately, continuously, habitually sin, what's the picture? What's it about them? They are dead. He said you who were dead in trespasses and sins. So when you see a man who does not feel the prick of sin, it doesn't prick him. It doesn't bring confusion to him. It doesn't make him—it's just there. When he lies, it's just okay, there's nothing particular. When he can just excuse anything. Somebody said he didn't kill, he didn't steal. He only lied so that the business can prosper. And he was so serious with the explanation that you will know I'm talking about when a man is dead. That selection, what I want you to see about that selection is that physically what that selection did is that He made us alive. That selection did not physically make us to be holy. I'm talking about the physical life now. Spiritually, this is our position. But physically what happened to us was that we became alive. Life was introduced. He said in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, according to the prince that now worketh in children of disobedience. You used to live in sin just like the rest of the world, obey the devil, the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the heart of those who refuse to obey God. Are you following me? Among whom also you had your own conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh, in the desires of the flesh.