Reflections on the Book of Ephesians 1

[music] "Alabama" Glorious God, we thank you. We glorify you. We give you praise. We thank you again for another time in your presence to look into scriptures, to fellowship together. We thank you for the joy of fellowship. Thank you for the spirit of adoption by which we can cry Abba Father. Thank you Lord our God, as we gather again unto you this Monday, we say Precious Father, we are asking, let your spirit work within us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, brethren who are physically here, brethren who are joining up with us, linking up with us online, Lord, we pray for us all, O God, meet with us all at the points of our needs in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name our God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. We thank God for this first Monday in the month of December, the last month of the year 2020. The year 2020 that has been very eventful, and we believe that God who has kept us till this time is able to keep us beyond now in the name of Jesus Christ. I am persuaded that the faithfulness of God that has kept us until now will not only bring us to the end of the year but also launch us into greater things in the year and in the years to come in the name of Jesus Christ. We were able to round up our discussion on the matter of peace. We were looking at the matter of peace in the upper Monday, and last Monday we prayed. It was our prayer time, and we were actually checking the matter of this issue of the perils of our time. The time being perilous, but that God has designed the way of peace for his people. And we were able to consider the way of peace in our last discussion before we took prayer. And one thing that was central to that discussion is the fact that what makes this period perilous is the nature of man. There's nothing perilous in the time; it is the wickedness of men, the selfishness of men, the self-centeredness of people, the greed. Look at all those things we listed that day in 2 Timothy 3. Arrogant, proud, all kinds of things were mentioned. And so we trust the Lord that our path will be part of peace and we will walk in the path of peace in the name of Jesus Christ. One pivotal point of our prayer last week, which I want to just hint on quickly before we move on for today, is remember when we were to take our prayer last week, I made reference to Psalm 32:8-9. That scripture is a very crucial scripture, honestly, for believers, for the disciples, those who intend to really follow Jesus as we round up 2020 and move towards 2021. That verse is so crucial because the Lord said, "I will lead you in the path that is best for you, I will advise you, and I will watch over you." However, do not be like the horse that lacks understanding. Do not be like the horse. In fact, the NLT says, "Do not be like the senseless horse. Until you put a bit and a bridle in its mouth, you cannot control it." And I said that scripture is so crucial. God will be doing several things as we close up this year and as we enter into the next year, but I am appealing to us, it's so crucial that we don't lack understanding. It's so crucial that we are able to understand, we are able to pick the signals of God, recognize when he's limiting us, recognize when he's pushing us, recognize when he's pulling us back. We must not lack understanding. And one central prayer last week is that God please help us so that we don't lack understanding. God please help us. Now, if you remember, I want to go to our central focus for today. Now, if you remember when we were starting the whole of this thing about before we took the way of peace out of the discussion, I said we are trying to look at a very big direction that should I call it eternal life? Should I call it living with eternity in view? How do we name it? What direction should we go? But the direction we'll be going further today in that issue I raised with us is that I want us to have a reflection. Let's have a reflection on this Paul epistle to the people of Ephesus. The book of Ephesians. Let's have a reflection. I want us to reflect on that book. As we reflect on that book, I believe it will be answering so many things that the Holy Spirit want to raise with us. So many things that the Holy Spirit want to raise with us we will be coming across them in that book. Is it living with eternity in view? We'll be encountering it. Is it living for the purpose of God? We'll be encountering it. Is it living practically for grace? We'll be encountering it. I just saw, I perceive in my spirit that we should go that way. It will answer so many of the things we want to answer to, and I trust the Lord that as we do so, it will bring great blessing to us all in Jesus name. Let's turn to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians. And I want to read something to you just as a background to that book. There's this introductory something here. This introductory refers to us as individuals that God use at a point in history for the sake of revival and particularly to put the church aright at a time when there was so much confusion about doctrine. I don't know how many of us know John Calvin. How many of us know John Calvin? You have only heard about him. You know some things about him. Look at what he said. He said Ephesians is addressed to a group of believers who are rich beyond measure in Christ, yet living as beggars, and only because they are ignorant of their wealth. Ephesians is addressed to a group of believers who are rich beyond measure in Christ, yet living as beggars, and only because they are ignorant of their wealth. Paul begins by describing in chapters one to three the content of the Christian heavenly bank account. Please note, he said they were rich beyond measure in Christ. So when Paul was to start, Paul began to first make them know what is in that account for them. What is in that account? And you remember that I don't know how many of us around one time when I was using this language, available balance and then ledger balance. The ledger balance and available balance. You still remember those language? Now, when he said they were rich beyond measure in Christ, what was he talking about? The ledger balance. So the first thing that Paul did was to dig into between chapter one and chapter three, to dig into look! Look at all that you have. Although in the available balance, you have zero naira. You are not spending. I hope that from that example I believe I've explained what I want to say, so let me move on. Now, he said Paul began by describing in chapter one to three the content of the Christian heavenly bank account. Look at the things he counted: adoption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, inheritance, the seal of the Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship. In short, every spiritual blessing. Now, having said that, he went on and he said in chapter four to six, the Christian learns a spiritual walk rooted in spiritual wealth. A spiritual walk rooted in the spiritual wealth. I don't know how many of you have read the book of Watchman Nee, "Sit, Walk, Stand." How many of us have read that book? You have read that book. If you read that book of Watchman Nee, what he was trying to say is that if you don't understand how you sit, you will not be able to walk. You will not be able to walk if you don't know how you sit. You'll be walking wrongly. To walk rightly, you must understand the sitting. That is what Calvin was saying. Your walk should be as a result of your wealth. Once you don't understand the wealth, what will happen to your walk? Your walk will not be alright. Your walk will be cumbersome. Your walk, and that is what he's referring to as living as beggars. Living below what you ought to live. Living outside that understanding. Now, the Christian learn, "for we are the workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good work that we should walk in them." Now, having said that, I want to move quickly into but I also want to bring in something. For Watchman Nee, when he said stand, Watchman Nee divided further, for those of you who read that book, he divided further that that walk, which is between chapter four and chapter six, should be divided again into two. There is a walk that has to do working with God, that has to do with the Christian life. But when he gets to chapter six verse ten, you must also learn how to stand. When he says, "finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." So for Nee, he is saying that in working, the believer must also understand standing. It's not only to walk; they must also understand the place of standing. But you know, the part as we go through this book, the weight of my burden in this book will draw more on believers linking our wealth and our work. WW. Wealth to work. Because once you don't understand the wealth, the working what is so crucial for us today is how is your working with the Lord? But this working, this walk in God, is something today that is so we are trying to work with God not on the basis of what God has put in place for us, and so the working becomes very difficult, if not impossible. And so generally, what you notice more is that people will say when it comes to living the life of God, there's this more emphasis that it takes, that we need the grace of God. Yes, that is true, we need the grace of God. But people speak as though that grace is yet to be given. Are you understanding what I'm trying to bring out? They speak like if you say, "Bro, please, it is not correct the way you are living like this. A believer should not be selfish." And he, "God will give me grace." Are you understanding it? Say, "Ah, this point of fit of anger," you say what do we say? "We are trusting God for grace." Now, that understanding is coming from it's flowing from something that God will yet do as against what he has done. So as a result, what I'm trying to say is this: you know when we were reading some of those things in 2 Timothy 3, the last thing it spoke about is what? Having a form of godliness but denying the power in it. Denying the power. If you compare that with what Jesus said in Matthew 24 about the perilous time, the end time, he said, "But he, because iniquity will abound, the love of many will wax cold. But he that endures to the end shall be saved." Telling you that even though iniquity will be abounding, it is actually possible for your love not to be cold. Telling you that if your love gets cold, it is what? A misnomer. It's not the normal. It's not what must normally happen. What must normally happen is that you should be able to endure to the end. Now, that enduring to the end, the reason why Jesus is saying that it is the normal is not because Jesus is expecting the believers to be able to have their working with God by some willpower that they have, but because God has made enough provision. And just before I go to I open to chapter one and call your attention to something. Look! Look at this, brethren. Look at this. It says the heavenly bank account, it talks about adoption. It talks about adoption. Adoption is not acceptance. There is adoption, but there is also acceptance. There is adoption, but there is also acceptance. They are two different things. It is adoption is one thing, acceptance is another one. Redemption is another thing. So what I'm trying to say is this: do you know that if a believer properly understand adoption what God meant by adoption we'll be splitting these things in Ephesians what God meant by adoption, what God meant by acceptance and all of that. If you come to what he means by adoption do you know that if you really enter into what it means that you are an adopted child of God, if you see the amount of things it will take care of, if you see the way it will affect how you live in this life, if you see the way it will affect how you come to the place of prayer, it's honestly it will be amazing. And so brethren, I want us just to take a journey through this thing, because I believe if you take this journey, many of the things I want to capture independently we will capture it as we reflect on the book of Ephesians. So today we are looking at a reflection of Ephesians 1. We'll have one, we'll have so I don't know how many we'll have. But a reflection on the book of Ephesians. And the first thing we have here in chapter one, I'll not go more than just around verse three or four for today. It says, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." That's the greeting from Paul. Now, in opening up the letter, the first thing that Paul open up for the Ephesians in verse three. In verse three, he said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Opening up the heavenly bank account. Now, the background that we are drawing from this place is that God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ought to be worshiped, ought to be praised, ought to be appreciated, ought to be thanked for what? He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Now, in this place, Paul just mentioned that there are spiritual blessings. Isn't it? There are spiritual blessings. And those blessings, they are where? As we have discussed. The heavenly places. To make it practical, it's what? They are already provided for where? In the ledger balance. Why are they in the ledger balance? Because we are in Christ. Outside Christ, it is not. He said we are blessed in Christ. Now, the first thing I want to draw to you, I want to call our attention to by this statement is that number one, it is crucial for the believer to know that the focus of God upon their lives is not first nor primarily material blessings. It is very crucial to understand this. It is so crucial to have this as an understanding that what we are what what Christ made available for us, what the focus of God dealings upon our lives is primarily, first and foremost, they are what? They are spiritual blessings. Now, the reason why this matter is very crucial, why it is something that we must get clear and properly understand, is that if you are not careful, you'll be expecting how will I put it now? Okay, let me link what I want to link. I believe it will still be clear. You know when we were reading some of those things in 2 Timothy 3, look at something in Psalm 36. Look at Psalm 36. I will come back to this place. Look at Psalm 36. Psalm 36. I want to read, I want to call our attention to something between verse one and verse five. It's just twelve verses. Five of or thereabouts. Please look at something. The King James says, "An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked. What do you see?" The Bible says, "There is no fear of God before their eyes. For he flatters within himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He devises wickedness on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He does not abhor evil." But what do you see in the verse five? What do you see in the verse five? "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens." Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains. Your judgment are a great and deep water. Are you getting something at all? The wicked don't have the fear of God before him. He devises wickedness and he does evil continually. He speaks deceit; he goes on doing that. But what is the first response of God? Mercy. You'll be thinking that God will just arise, kill the wicked, cut off their head, make them not to prosper, make them not to have anything, make them not to be materially blessed, cause them to die. They will be wicked, they will be going on, they will prosper, they will have things, and you'll be wondering, "Ah, the wicked! Me, I'm godly. Why is the wicked..." I'm trying to explain something. Please get this thing clear. If you read that thing further, it says, "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains. Your judgment are a great and deep water." You'll be thinking that since the man curse God continually, what should God do? In fact, he should not see the light of tomorrow. Am I correct? Since he looks sometimes and says, "Bah, we stupid God! Leave all those things, you religious people, you are God deceiving yourself!" You see that same man, he will apply for job, and as he apply for job like this, he got good job, 400,000 in a month. He apply for that, he got a he got a visa, he's going abroad. Should such a man get such things? Are you understanding me? The response of God to those things about the wicked, he says, "Your mercy." I'm saying this so that if what Christ if we are in Christ and what Christ came to offer is primarily and fundamentally material blessing, then we are not blessed. Because the men who also curse God and have nothing to do with God have the same thing. Are you understanding me? It is so important for you to understand that the Bible says that we were blessed with heavenly blessings in Christ. And I also want to call your attention, when Christ left, what did he say? When Christ was about to leave, what did he tell his disciples in John 14? "I am going to prepare a place." So the prepared place is not a place here. Are you getting the point I'm making? When he said, "It is finished," that work being finished, what was finished was that everything we need, every blessing we need, everything was for anybody who is in Christ. Everything came to a ledger balance. But we should understand that the focus of God on the believer is primarily, primarily, and first and foremost and primarily, he wasn't speaking of something that is material. Because if you look at it from the material point of view, you will not understand the judgments of God. Do you know one of the fathers that have very such a similar problem, he was almost going to confusion before God called his attention. Which of the fathers have that confusion? David. Where do we find that? Psalm 73. That's where he had that same problem. He said as for him, he almost thought that God was not good, that God was bad. He said when he was considering the prosperity of the wicked, "Aha! Everything went well. They don't have problem. Me that is righteous, many are the afflictions of the righteous. This ones don't have afflictions. Everything was going well. Everything was going good." And so he was almost telling God that, "God, you are not good to Israel." He said until he entered into the temple of God and God now showed him that actually, what matters about a man is how a man ends. Now, having said that in that place, let's go back to Ephesians. Let's go back to Ephesians. Now, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in Christ. Now, the where I want to stop today is the verse four. And that is where I want to quickly enter. You see, now let's look a little bit into this matter of picked us before the foundation of the world. I want us to try as many versions as possible for this verse four. It says, "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Another translation, if you are reading, please you use the mic. [Speaker 2] Common English Bible: "God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God's presence before the creation of the world." [Speaker 1] Do you get that? God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in his presence. When? Before the foundation of the world. Another presentation. [Speaker 3] "Even as in his love, he chose us, actually picked us out for himself as his own." [Speaker 1] He did what? He picked us out. He did what? He picked us out for himself as his own. He picked us as his own. So others, what are they? They are not his own. There's a difference between God being the God of all and being the Father of some. He's the God of all, but he's the Father of some. He picked us as his own. Please, you've not finished it. That translation I want actually wanted. Yes. [Speaker 3] "In Christ before the foundation of the world." [Speaker 1] Before the foundation of the world. Please, sit down. Now, I want us to look a little bit into this matter of picked us before the foundation of the world. I'll now come to "as his own." Now, when he said he picked us before the foundation of the world, what does that simply mean? Without going into any big theology, any sign to use big grammar, what does that mean? When he say "before the foundation of the world," what does that mean? Before he created the world. Does that look something possible? Does that look something possible? Brethren, you are not talking. Before he chose you in him. Let me say something. From the point before salvation, whosoever believe. But when you find yourself in salvation, you must understand that the choice was from before the beginning. I don't know whether you are understanding me. When you come from before salvation, what should you be? Whosoever believe in him shall not perish. But once you know that you have been saved, you are saved, what should you now understand? That actually it was not that day that you were actually taken. You should understand that before you were formed in your mother's womb. Is that not what he told Jeremiah? Is that not what he said concerning Josiah? You remember Josiah of the Bible, the king that came to power at age eight. God spoke through the young prophet to who? To Rehoboam. Through the young prophet to Rehoboam. The young prophet that came to Samaria, and he said, "O altar, O altar, a child will be born in the house of David. He shall be named Josiah. That child will do what? He's going to break this altar, he's going to pour the dust of the altar on this thing." And hundreds of years after, that child came. And that child began to do what that prophet said. As he was doing it, he now saw the grave of the prophet who prophesied the word of God. If it is the word of God that you speak, even after you have died, your word will still stand. Except if your word is your word. But if your word is the word of God, even after your death, your word will still be standing. They now said, "Ah, this tomb, who owns it?" He said, "Ah," they said, "King, this is the tomb of the man of God who prophesied what you are doing now." "Okay, leave him, let him rest. We'll not touch his tomb." Before salvation is whosoever believe shall not perish. But when you have come into salvation, you must understand adoption. That it was not when you were believing and you were repenting that God actually chose you. But that rather, ever before the world was, before you were formed in your mother's womb, he knew you and began to shape and began to direct, and was working around your life ever before you came to him. So after you finally came to him, why are we not coming to an understanding that his love for us is eternal? Why are we not seeing that ever before I began to pray and began to love God and began to want to follow God and I want to take all the care to make sure I follow God, God has been working around my life to make sure I enter into his plan? Is it now that you can fall out of that plan? When we were busy worshipping whatever, living useless life, God was steady guiding, no, this one, no, no, no, I have picked this one before time, and he was working, he was busy working, he was busy working. I want to ask you, now that finally there is now a change of fatherhood, you are not just a creation of God. God is the God of all, but the Father of some. Brethren, when he was still the God of all, in that all, he remembered you. He remembered you. He was busy tele-guiding it. Eventually when he now become the Father, his own, what will be the level and the extent of tele-guiding? I want to stop here today brethren, and I want you to do two things I want you to do. He said, "Blessed be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't it? God this evening, can you bless God? I don't know how you have been living your life. I don't know what you have been thinking, how you have been looking at your life. But can you particularly bless God? Can you bless God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Can you bless him? Can you bless him? Can you bless him? Can you bless him? And can you in opening up the letter, the first thing that Paul open up for the Ephesians in verse three. In verse three, he said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Can you bless this God and say God, I bless you for my life. I bless you for my life. I am particularly blessing you for my life. I refuse to see myself any other way anything wants me to see myself. I bless you for my life. I bless you for who I am. I bless you for who I am. I bless you. I bless you Lord, I bless you. Can you bless him? Can you bless God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Can you bless him? Can you bless him? Can you bless him? And can you the second thing I want you to pray is that God, God, God, God. Help me Lord, help me to realize that ever before, ever before, ever before time was and before, before I even came to you, you have been working around my life. Ever before I finally came, ever before I now say I became a believer, Lord you have been working around my life. You have been tele-guiding my life. You have been working around it. You have been doing something. Your mercy extended to me. Your mercy extended to me. That's what I showed you in Psalm 36. In the wickedness of the wicked, what God use to respond is mercy. That is why the Bible say God does not want the death of the wicked. God does not delight in the death of the wicked. The response of God to the wickedness of men is first mercy. Mercy. You see, I want you to say God, I thank you that ever before I came to you, your mercy, your mercy came to me. Ever before I even became your own. Before I became your own. When it was still the God of all, the God of all. Lord, your mercy, your mercy came to me. Particularly the mercy of salvation. Particularly the mercy of salvation. O Lord, I bless you for who I am. I bless you, I bless you. And last prayer you are to pray. O Lord, O Lord, help me to be secured in your love. Help me to know that this love O God, this love look! This love is an eternal love. It has nothing to do with what you did or did not do, because even when you were still wicked, the response of God to your wickedness was mercy. When God was responding to your wickedness, God responded with mercy. Oh brethren, sisters, when we were still unbelievers and we were wicked, what God used to respond to you was mercy. It was mercy. Now you are a child of God. Oh God, God, help me to understand this love. This love is so deep, it's so deep, so wide, we cannot comprehend it. We cannot comprehend it. We cannot comprehend it. And the last prayer you are to pray. O Lord, help me to be secured in your love. Lord, remove from me this thing of insecurity. Help me to know that you love me. And Lord, that you are working around my life. That Lord, you cannot abandon me. That Lord, you cannot leave me. That Lord, you will not show me off. That Lord, your love for me is eternal. Oh thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. Oh Father, help me to be secured in your love. Remove from me this double-mindedness, doubt, unbelief, you know, living in fear, living in. No, help me to know that you love me. And Lord, that you are working around my life. That Lord, you cannot abandon me. That Lord, you cannot leave me. That Lord, you will not show me off. That Lord, your love for me is eternal. Oh thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. Oh Father, help me to be secured in your love. Let me ask God to begin to quickly round up and also share the grace with us. Father, we want to say thank you for this evening again. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the assurance of your love. Thank you for the power of adoption. That we have nothing to offer, just to say thank you. Thank you now that we have the understanding that you have been working around us before we even come to you. Before you called us. Lord, we appreciate you for this love. We appreciate you. Take all the glory Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. Father as we go, we are going on this understanding, and we pray O Lord, that you will help us. And that you will help our understanding to understand that which you have done for us right from the foundation of the world, in the name of Jesus Christ. We ask Lord that your presence will go with us, and you will help us, you will bless us the more, in the name of Jesus Christ. We pray for your servant, Lord that you will refresh him in the name of Jesus Christ. The unction upon him will not run dry in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you precious Father. And as we meet next week, we have testimony to share of that which you have done today, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you precious Father. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever. Amen.