We are Saints (Eph. 5:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR5/31/2019 8:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  We are Saints

 

Bible Reading and Meditation                                                          Reference:  Ephesians 5:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks” (KJV).

 

            I promised to quote what Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote on Ephesians 5:3-4 in his commentary on the book of Ephesians and that is the reason that I used the KJV of the Bible, for that is what he used.

 

            We will be looking at a sub-section from his main section which covers Ephesians 5:3-14, and he entitled the main section “Walk As Children of Light.”  He wrote the following short introduction on this main section as follows:  “Since ‘God is light’ and we are imitating our Father, then we should walk in the light and have nothing to do with the darkness of sin.  Paul gives three descriptions of believers that prove his point.”

 

            “We are saints (vv. 3-4).  That is, we are ‘set-apart ones’ and no longer belong to the world of darkness around us.  We have been ‘called out of darkness into His marvelous light’ (1 Peter 2:9).  It is beneath the dignity of a saint to indulge in the sins that belong to the world of darkness, some of which Paul names here.  He warns us against the sexual sins (fornication, uncleanness) which were so prevalent in that day—and are prevalent today.  Sad to say, those sins have invaded the homes of Christians and brought grief to local churches too.  ‘Covetousness’ may seem out of place next to fornication, but the two sins are but different expressions of the same basic weakness of fallen nature—uncontrolled appetite.  The fornicator and the covetous person each desire to satisfy the appetite by taking what does not belong to them.  ‘The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes’ (1 John 2:16) would describe these two sins.  ‘Let there not be even a hint of these sins!’ said Paul.

 

            “In Ephesians 5:4 he warned against sins of the tongue, which, of course, are really sins of the heart.  It is not difficult to see the relationship between the sins named in Ephesians 5:3 and those of Ephesians 5:4.  People who have base appetites usually cultivate a base kind of speech and humor, and often people who want to commit sexual sins, or have committed them, enjoy jesting about them.  Two indications of a person’s character are what makes him laugh and what makes him weep.  The saint of God sees nothing humorous in obscene language or jests.  ‘Foolish talking’ does not edify or minister grace to the hearers (Eph. 4:29).  Paul is not condemning small talk because much conversation falls into that classification.  He is condemning foolish talk that accomplishes no good purpose.

 

            “Jesting is a translation of the word that means ‘able to turn easily.’  This suggests a certain kind of conversationalist who can turn any statement into a coarse jest.  The gift of wit is a blessing, but when it is attached to a filthy mind or a base motive, it becomes a curse.  There are quick-witted people who can pollute any conversation with jests that are always inconvenient (out of place).  How much better it is for us to be quick to give thanks!  This is certainly the best way to give glory to God and keep the conversation pure.

 

            “A Christian woman attended an anniversary dinner in honor of a friend, not knowing that there would be a program of low comedy following the meal.  The so-called comedian tried to entertain the crowd with coarse humor that degraded everything that the Christian guest held to be sacred and honorable.  At one point in the program, the comedian’s throat became dry.  ‘Please bring me a glass of water, ‘he called to a waiter.

 

            “At that point the Christian woman added, ‘And bring a toothbrush and a bar of soap with it!’  To be sure, soap in the mouth will never cleanse the conversation, but she made her point.

 

            “Christians who have God’s Word in their hearts (Col. 3:16) will always season their speech with salt (Col. 4:6); for grace in the heart means grace on the lips.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be like the Christian woman that Dr. Wiersbe spoke of in his commentary, and have the courage to speak out when things like happened to her happens to me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility is still on my mind, and I continue to pray that the Lord will continue to teach me more about this today and every day, so that my life will bring glory to my Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Verse that goes with yesterday’s quotation is Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

 

5/31/2019 8:55 AM

PT-4 "The Perversion" (Eph. 5:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/30/2019 10:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  “PT-4 “The Perversion”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”  “3 But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. 4 And coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks” (HCSB).

 

            I promised to continue looking at the definitions of different Greek words as found in my John MacArthur commentary:  “Filthiness has to do with general obscenity, any talk that is degrading, and disgraceful.  It comes from the same Greek root as ‘Disgraceful’ in verse 12, where Paul says that such vile things should not even be mentioned, much less participated in, and is related to the term in Colossians 3:8, meaning ‘dirty speech.’ 

 

            “Morologia (silly talk) used only here in the New Testament, is derived from moros (to speak).  It is stupid talk, talk only befitting someone who is intellectually deficient.  It is sometimes referred to as low obscenity, foolish talk that comes from the drunk or the gutter mouth.  It has no point except to give an air of dirty worldliness.

 

            “Eutrapelia (coarse jesting), on the other hand, refers to talk that is more pointed and determined.  It carries the idea of quickly turning something that is said or done—no matter how innocent—into that which is obscene or suggestive.  It is the filthy talk of a person who uses every word and circumstance to display his immoral wit.  It is the stock-in-trade of the clever talk-show host who is never at a loss for sexual innuendo.  But the low obscenity of sill talk and the ‘high’ obscenity of coarse jesting comes from the same kind of heart, the heart given over to moral filthiness.”

 

            I suppose that one of the things that many believers need to work on is their speech, and to follow the things that Paul writes about in these two verses.  Sometimes we say silly things before we even know that we have said them, and that of course does not please the Lord.

 

            I think that instead of being involved in the kinds of things that Paul has written about in these two verses we should be giving thanks to the Lord for the great salvation that He has provided for us. 

 

            It is my prayer for myself that in the event I hear this kind of talk and then desire to put in my 2 cents worth, that I would either walk away or bring up Ephesians 5:3-4. 

 

            John MacArthur concludes “If Christians are known for anything it should be for love expressed toward God and others by unceasing thankfulness (cf. 1 Thess. 5:18), where the injunction is clear:  ‘In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus).

            It is my desire to give a rather long quote from the pen of Warren Wiersbe in our next SD on what he has to say about these two verses.  Warren Wiersbe put the cookies on the shelf where we can reach them.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To be loving and to be humble are two things that I need to work on in my walk with the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility is something that I suppose that I can learn about for a long time, and my prayer is that the Lord will continue to teach me more things about humility, and one of the ways that I can learn about humility is to continue to look and study the life of Jesus Christ while he was on earth, for His life was a humble life.

 

Today’s quotation is from Isaac Newton:  “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

 

5/30/2019 11:02 AM

PT-3 "The Perversion" (Eph. 5:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/29/2019 8:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-3 “The Perversion”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”  “3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4  Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving” (ESV).

 

            I am not sure that I noticed the word “but” as the first word of these two verses, and as I think about that I believe that the word “but” is comparing what Paul wrote in the first two verses, as evidenced that verse three begins a new paragraph.  Not all of the Bible versions begin with that word.

 

            The following is a quote from John MacArthur that helps us understand more about our strong sexual nature, but first I want to talk about what a man said in a study I attended a few years back.  His name was Bill Glass, and Bill played professional football in the NFL.  He ended up with the Cleveland Browns, and while there it was his desire to become the next Billy Graham, but God had other plans for him as the Lord sent him into prisons to minister for the cause of Christ.  Bill is a large man and when he shook my hand, my hand disappeared.  One of the things that he stated came from, I believe a Psalm which says something like “whatever a man thinks in his heart he will be.”  Bill said that there was a time in his life that all he thought about were girls, and so he stated that he did not want to turn into a girl.  I understand where he was coming from.  John MacArthur writes “Because of the strong sexual nature of human beings, sexual sins are powerful and can become perverted in unimaginable ways.  If given free rein, sexual sins lead to complete insensitivity to the feelings and welfare of others, to horrible brutality, and frequently to murder—as news stories testify daily.

 

            “That is why the sins of immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be named among Christians, as is proper among saints.  Those sins cannot in any way be justified, and they should not in any way be tolerated.  The meaning of saints is ‘holy ones,’ and those who are holy have nothing to do with that which is unholy.”

 

            I mentioned the word “but” and as stated it goes back to what Paul was writing about in verses one and two which was about love, and love has nothing to do with these actions that he is talking about here in verses 3-4 as he continues his warnings that are against this perversion of love by then mentioning an extensive list of related sins that will surely cover every believer at one time or another.  There are many lists found in the Word of God, both good ones and not so good ones, and this falls into the not so good ones, rather the sinful ones.  Christians should never engage in sexual sins of any kind, but they should never be guilty of “filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting” or joking. 

 

            We will begin to break down these words in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to pray that the Lord will keep my mind clean from any kind of sexual prevision, so that I can serve Him with a true heart.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will use humility to keep my mind clean of any sinful practice.

 

James 1:17 is the verse that goes along with our quotation from yesterday:  “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

 

5/29/2019 9:25 AM

PT-3 "The Pattern" (Eph. 5:2b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/25/2019 8:29 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  “PT-3 “The Pattern”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:2b

 

            Message of the verse:  “just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

 

            I mentioned that I would talk about lovelessness as we begin this SD, and lovelessness is not just a failure or shortcoming, it is a sin, without disobedience of God’s command and disregard of His example.  John MacArthur writes “To love as God loves is to love because God loves, because we are to ‘be imitators of God, as beloved children’ and because Christ also loved [us], and gave himself up for us an offering and a sacrifice to God.”

 

            As we look at God’s love we can see that it is not only forgiving and unconditional but is also self sacrificing.  Therefore to love as God loves is to love sacrificially, to love by the giving of ourselves as He gave Himself.  I have to say that is not the kind of love that a person can do on his own, but must be filled with the Spirit of God in order to love like that.

 

            Another difficult thing to do is to realize and remember that the Christian’s walk in love is to extend to every person, now this is where it gets very hard as it is to extend to believer and also to unbelievers as well.  God’s love reaches out to His enemies and we are to love as God loves so we are to do the same.  God loves His imperfect children with a perfect love, then how can we not love fellow believers, whose imperfection we share?  Another thing and that is if divine love led Christ to sacrifice Himself for the unworthy and the ungrateful sinners, then how can we not give ourselves to fellow sinful people, to unbelievers as well as to believers, in His name?

 

            Think back to when the Lord Jesus Christ was about to offer Himself on the cross for those who would accept the sacrifice He was making, and as you think of this think about what His disciples were doing.  They were being very selfish in talking with each other as to who would be the greatest.  What then did Jesus do to help them understand their selfishness?  When He took a bowl of water and a towel and begin to wash their feet.  This had to be a bit humiliating to these disciples, especially after the Lord rose from the dead and they then had the opportunity to think about this.  John MacArthur writes “After He finished washing their feet and returned to the supper table, ‘He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.   I then, the Lord and the Teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him’ (John 13: 12-16).  Later He commanded them to love in this manner (John 13:24-25).”

 

Bible Verse that goes along with yesterday’s quotation is Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  5/25/2019 8:52 PM

 

 

PT-2 "The Pattern" (Eph. 5:2b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/24/2019 7:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Pattern”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 5:2b

 

            Message of the verse:  “just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

 

            I stated in our last SD that I would talk about “puppy love” in today’s SD.  I think that we can define puppy love as romantic love or emotional love perhaps between a boyfriend with his girlfriend or even for a new bride of her new husband as there are ebbs and flows and even sometimes it disappears altogether.  In the case of romantic love in a marriage and when one thinks that it is over this is never an appropriate excuse for dissolving a marriage, because the love that God specifically commands husbands to have for their wives is agape love as seen in Ephesians 5:25; 3:19 as this is love like God’s own which is undeserved love for us, and this love is that which is based on willful choice on behalf of the one loved, regardless of emotions, attraction, or deserving.  This kind of love is not like what we described as puppy love.  I guess that most people can fall in love with a puppy, but the problem is that puppy will grow up and become a dog that perhaps will not be so easy to love.  John MacArthur states “Romantic love enhances and beautifies the relationship between husband and wife, but the binding force of a Christian marriage is God’s own kind of love, the love that loves because it is the divine nature to love.  It is the love of giving, not of getting; and even when it ceases to get, it continues to give.  Where there is the sacrificial love of willful choice, there is also likely to be the love of intimacy, feeling, and friendship (Philia).” 

 

            As we look at agape love we know that God gives us this kind of love and even though we are believers we will still sin and will fall short of His perfection and His glory, but God still loves us even when we forget Him, when we disobey Him, when we deny Him, when we fail to return His love, and even when we grieve His Holy Spirit.  In the little letter that Jude wrote he said “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21).  MacArthur states that “he was indicating the responsibility to stay in the place where that divine love sheds its blessing.”

 

            Since all believers are given God’s nature through Jesus Christ then they are commanded to love as God loves.  “In Christ, it is now our nature to love, just as it is God’s nature to love—because His nature is now our nature.  For a Christian not to love is for him to live against his own nature as well as against God’s.”

 

            We will continue on this subject of love and even begin to talk about lovelessness in our next SD, Lord willing, but I have to leave to go to what is called “Grandparents Day” at the school where three of my grandchildren attend.

 

Today’s quotation is from C. S. Lewis “Faith:  the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of you changing moods.”

 

5/24/2019 8:21 AM

PT-1 "The Pattern" (Eph. 5:2b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/23/2019 9:52 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Pattern”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Eph. 5:2b

 

            Message of the verses:  “the same sort of love which Christ gave us and which he perfectly expressed when he gave himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice well-pleasing to God” (Phillips).  “Just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (NASB95).

 

            We have called this section “The Pattern” and the pattern of living the Christian life is to follow the life of Jesus Christ who perfectly lived that life while He was on earth.  The problem is that, in and of our own strength we cannot do this.  The solution is to allow God’s Spirit to pattern us after His Son.  Paul told us how this is done in 2 Corinthians 3:18 where he writes “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  Just as we cannot become a believer in Jesus Christ without having been given the effectual call from the Holy Spirit to be saved, so we cannot live the Christian life on our own, but we are in need of the Holy Spirit of God to transform us into the same image of our Lord as He does this from one glory to another glory.  We could say that Paul is speaking of progressive sanctification here.  When we first become a believer we are “baby Christians” and as Peter says we need to feed on the milk of the Word, and then after we have grown up more in the Lord we will be able to receive solid food from the Lord.  I have heard that in the Word of God there is everything from Pabulum (baby cereal) to porterhouse.

 

            John MacArthur writes “The summum bonum of Christ that we are to imitate is His love.”  The following is the definition of summum bonum from Wikipedia “Summum bonum is a Latin expression meaning "the highest good", which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero, to correspond to the Idea of the Good in ancient Greek philosophy. The summum bonum is generally thought of as being an end in itself, and at the same time containing all other goods.”  MacArthur goes on “He loved us and gave Himself up for us.  Giving of oneself to others is the epitome of agape love.  Biblical love is not a pleasant emotion or good feeling about someone, but the giving of oneself for his welfare (cf. 1 John 3:16).  Divine love is unconditional love, love that depends entirely on the one who loves and not on the merit, attractiveness, or response of the one loved.  Christ did not simply have a deep feeling and emotional concern for mankind.  Nor did He sacrifice Himself for us because we were deserving (cf. Rom. 5:8, 10).  ‘While we were yet sinners,’ He gave Himself up for us purely out of sovereign, gracious love, taking our sin upon Himself and paying its penalty in our behalf.”  Now let us look at the verses that were spoken of in this quote:  1 John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  Next Romans 5:8, 10 “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  “10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

            The love that God has, and also anyone else that loves like God is for the sake of giving, and not for getting, and there is a difference in this kind of love (agape) with conditional love, for conditional love loves if the conditions are not met there is no obligation to love.  If we do not get then we do not give.  God makes no conditions because His love to us and commands that we love others without conditions.  There is no way that we can earn God’s love or to even deserve it by reason of human goodness, it is just not possible.

 

            There is more to talk about from the subject of love as we continue looking in our next SD.  We may even take time to look at what is called “puppy love” in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I mentioned the love that God has for me is nothing that I deserve or could earn, and for me to love as God loves me, I cannot do on my own, for His love has to flow through me to others, and I surely desire to have this happen in my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I truly believe that humility and love go together as both must come from the Lord, also something I desire to be better at through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Bible verse that goes along with yesterdays quotation is from Isaiah 30:15 “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be you strength.”

 

5/23/2019 10:36 AM 

PT-4 "The Plea" (Eph. 5:1-2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/22/2019 10:28 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-4 “The Plea”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Eph. 5:1-2a

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 So then you should try to become like God, for you are his children and he loves you. 2 Live your lives in love,” (Phillips).

 

            We continue to talk about love, God’s love for others and also our love for others.  MacArthur comments “Just as the depth of God’s love is shown by how much He has forgiven, the depth of our love is shown by how much we forgive.”  Peter writes the following in 1 Peter 4:8 “8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”  MacArthur talks about the word “fervent” “The Greek word behind ‘fervent’ refers to a muscle stretched to the limit.  Our love is to stretch to the limit in order to cover ‘a multitude of sins.’  The greater our love the greater the multitude of sins it will cover in forgiveness.”

 

            As we think about the depth of our love it can also be seen by how much that we realize how much we have been forgiven.  The word that comes to mind in thinking about how much I have been forgiven is the word “ALL.”  All means “everything.”  There is a story found in the gospel of Luke 7:36-47, and if I am not mistaken, and I’m not Joseph Stowell wrote a book entitled “Why It’s Hard to Love Jesus”, and the book is based on Luke 7:36-47.  We will look at that passage at this time. 

 

“36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." 40 And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." 41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has

not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’”

            In Stowell’s book he writes in the preface about a concert that he went to where the “Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir” was singing, and he mentions a song being sung entitle “I’m Not Afraid Anymore,” and the man who sang the song was a person who lived in the city of Brooklyn doing crack cocaine.  He had a young daughter who witnessed to him and the result was that he gave his heart to the Lord, and thus was not afraid of that old lifestyle anymore because of His great love for His Savior.  He had been down to the pit of Hell and Jesus brought him up so that he now sings for the cause of Christ.  His story is similar to the woman in the story that Luke tells.  Both the singer and the woman were forgiven much, and thus they loved much.  I think that it would be easier for each of them to forgive others of doing them wrong than a person who had not lived the lifestyle that they lived, but that is no excuse for any believer not to forgive others for wrong doings.  As mentioned in an earlier SD it is harder, in most cases for the person who does not forgive than the person that they need to forgive. 

 

            John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “The person who sees the greatness of his own forgiveness by God’s love will himself in love be forgiving.  He forgives in love because his heavenly Father has forgiven in love and he desires to be an imitator of His Father.”

 

            If for some reason you think that perhaps you deserve the salvation that Jesus Christ offers, then it will probably be harder for you to forgive others, but if you really realize that there is no way, that on your own you can get to heaven, then perhaps it will be easier to love the Lord and be thankful for the wonderful salvation that He has given you, and then be willing to forgive those who sin against you.  Paul’s plea concerning love is loud and clear in this short section of his letter to the Ephesians.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be more thankful for what the Lord has done for me, and desire also to be more forgiving to others, especially those I come in contact on the roads as I drive.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I truly desire to not only be a humble person, but to continue to learn more about true humility.

 

The quotation for today is from Thomas Carlyle who said “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.”

 

5/22/2019 11:23 AM

PT-3 "The Plea" (Eph. 5:1-2a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/21/2019 9:26 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-3 “The Plea”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:1-2a

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love,”

 

            In our last SD we were talking about love and we want to continue talking about love. We begin by talking about what the greatest evidence of love is.  The greatest evidence of love is that there is undeserved forgiveness.  I hope that as believers we do not take this lightly, as if it were not for God’s love for us then He would not have sent His Son to earth to die for us, and if that did not happen then all human beings would end up in hell, a place that was made for the devil and his angels.  Let us look at what probably is the most famous verse in the entire Word of God:  “"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  John MacArthur comments on this by writing “God’s love brought man’s forgiveness.  God loved the world with such a great love that He offered forgiveness to sinful, rebellious, wretched, vile mankind, by sending His own Son to give His life on the cross that they might not suffer death.  He offered the world the free gift of eternal fellowship with Him.”  As I said at the beginning of this paragraph we cannot take this love of God for granted.

 

            I have mentioned the parable that Jesus spoke of about forgiveness in an earlier SD about the man who was forgiven a huge debt, a debt so large that no one could pay it back, and yet the person he owed it to forgave the dept, but afterwards the man went after another man who owed him only a small dept, yet he would not forgive that dept.  Once the person who forgave the large debt found out about it he went after the man who owed him the large debt to ask him why he would not forgive such a small dept when such a large dept was forgiven to him.  Sometimes in life there is someone who does something terrible to you and you have a very difficult time in forgiving that person, and yet if you are a believer you must think about the fact that you have been forgiven every sin you ever committed or will commit and so you must forgive the person who did a terrible thing to you.  Let us look again at Ephesians 4:32 “32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Notice again the highlighted portion of this verse.  John MacArthur writes that “Nothing more clearly discloses a hard, loveless heart than lack of forgiveness.  Lack of forgiveness betrays lack of love (see Eph. 4:31).  The presence of forgiveness always proves the presence of love, because only love as the motive and power to forgive.  The extent of our love is the extent of our ability to forgive.”  “31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Eph. 4:31).  The sin that a believer has done against you or me, no matter how awful has been paid for by what Christ did on the cross, Christ has forgiven them.  We as believers are not to express, or even harbor vengeance toward another believer as when and if we do this we not only sin by allowing selfish hatred to control us, but we sin by profaning Christ’s sacrifice—by seeking to mete out punishment for a sin whose penalty has already been paid for by the Lord.  I know that these are difficult things to deal with, and yet if one thinks about it the one who has not forgiven another person is probably the one who is the most miserable. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “Because Christ has paid the penalty for every sin; we have no right to hold any sin against any person, even a nonbeliever.  Peter thought that forgiving someone ‘up to seven times’ was generous.  But Jesus said, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven’ (Matt. 18:22).  In Christ all our ‘sins are forgiven for His name’s sake’ (1 John 2:12); He has ‘forgiven us all our transgressions’ (Col. 2:13, emphasis added).  ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace’ (Eph. 1:7).” 

 

            There is more to be written about this subject of love and forgiveness, but as in the case of other passages we have looked at in Ephesians I can only do so much in a day because of the passage being so hard for me to take.  John MacArthur talks about the word that Peter uses in 1 Peter 4:8 which is “fervent” and says that it’s Greek meaning is about a muscle that is stretched to its limit, and this is kind of what happens to me as I study these very difficult passages.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It seems to me that selfishness is the subject of this section, and what I mean is that God was selfless in His forgiveness, yet I suppose there are times when I am selfish in my forgiveness and this cannot be. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Since I as a believer are to be like Christ, then because of the fact that Christ is humble then I too am to be humble.  When I think about the humbleness of Christ I have to think about what He went through when and before He was put on the cross, that certainly is humility.

 

Verse that goes along with yesterday’s quote is Proverbs 15:23 “A man has joy by the answer of His mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!”

 

5/21/2019 10:14 AM 

PT-2 "The Plea" (Eph. 5:1-2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/20/2019 10:05 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Plea”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephes. 5:1-2a

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love,”

 

            We looked at some of the characteristics of God in our last SD which came from Ephesians 4:32, and stated that we are to mimic those as we live out the Christian life.  That seems to be a difficult thing to do but only by His grace it is possible to reflect Him even in our present limitations. 

 

            We realize that there are many more characteristics or we could call them attributes that the Lord posses other than found in Ephesians 4:32, and in order to help us find them we must study the Word of God.  In the Word of God we will find His revelation of Himself, His great Self-disclosure.  However the more we learn of God’s character the more we learn how far above us that God is and how impossible, in ourselves, it is to fulfill the command to be like Him, to be absolutely perfect, just as He is, something we spoke of yesterday when we look at what Peter wrote.  MacArthur writes “That is why we need ‘to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man’ in order to ‘be filled up to all the fulness of God’ (Eph. 3:16, 19).  The only way we can become ‘imitators of God’ is for the Lord Jesus Christ to live His perfect life through us.  We are totally dependent on His Spirit to become like Him.  If we are to obey Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians, ‘let all that you do be done in love’ (1 Cor. 16:14), we must submit to the controlling influence of the Spirit.”

 

            In our church service last evening we had to vote on a man to be the administrator of our Christian school, and even though I did not know this man I know his father fairly well as I have heard him preach many times.  His son spoke in the evening service and also in a combined Sunday school class and one of the things that I noticed right away was how much he is like his father, which made me believe that he was the man for the job.  Through Jesus Christ, God has given us the right to become His children as seen in John 1:12; and Gal. 3:26.  When we go back to the beginning of this letter we see that God “predestined us to be adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:5).  Now it is because our heavenly Father is holy, we are to be holy.  As we go through some of the other characteristics He has like being kind, forgiving, we are to be kind and forgiving too.  There is another one that is near and dear to my heart, especially this year and that is because God in Christ humbled Himself, we are to humble ourselves.  Because God is love we as His beloved children are to walk in love.  MacArthur concludes “This ability is not natural, however, but supernatural—requiring a new nature and the continuous power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us by obedience to God’s Word.”

 

            Lord willing, we will continue to look at this section in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the problems that I have when it comes to believing that the Lord will work through me is that I don’t think that I am worthy to do something for Him that will bring Him glory.  I realize that every person who is a born-again believer is not worthy, but that doesn’t make it easier for me at times.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Accomplishing the task of humbling myself is a frightening thing for me to do, and cannot be done without the word of the Spirit of God in my life.

 

Verse that goes with our last quotation:  “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23).

 

5/20/2019 10:37 AM

PT-1 "The Plea" (Eph. 5:1-2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/19/2019 8:48 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Plea”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:1-2a

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love,”

 

            Let us begin by looking at how Paul has used the word “walk” in previous and future verses which shows us that the walk of the believer is a key matter for Paul.  “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,” (Eph. 4:1).  “17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,” (Eph. 4:17).  “8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” (Eph. 5:8).”  “15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,” (Eph. 5:15).  “2 and walk in love,” (Eph. 1:2a).  John MacArthur writes “Growing in love is a continuing need for every believer, since love fulfills all of God’s law (Rom. 13:8-10).  ‘8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9  For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8-10).’  As we grow in love we also see the need to be even more loving.  And since biblically defined love is so contrary to the flesh, we are always in need of reminders and encouragement to love.”

 

            I have mentioned many times how much I like the way the word “therefore” is used in the Word of God as it is used some 905 times in the NASB95 version.  The “therefore” used in verse one refers back, as most of the time that is what the word “therefore” is used for. It refers back to the last part of chapter four, and especially from verse 32 where we read “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Notice all of the highlighted words from verse 32 and you will see that they are characteristics of God, who is love, and all of these highlighted words show that God is kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving.

 

            In our last SD when we quoted from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary we saw that the word “imitator” comes from the Greek word “Mimetes” which we get the English word Mimic.  The word mimic speaks of someone who copies specific characteristics of another person, so as we read verse one we see that Paul is instructing us to mimic God’s characteristics, and some of those characteristics are the ones mentioned in 4:32 as we have already discussed, and especially the character of love as seen in 5:2a.  MacArthur writes that “The whole of the Christian life is the reproduction of godliness as seen in the person of Christ.  God’s purpose in salvation is to redeem men from sin and to conform them ‘to the image of His Son’ (Rom. 8:29(.  To be conformed to Christ is to become perfect, just as God is perfect (Matt. 5:48).  ‘As obedient children, ‘ Peter tells us, ‘do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’’ (1 Pet. 1:14-16; cf. Lev. 11:44).  The great hope of believers is, ‘We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is’ (1 John 3:2).  Imitation His love is possible because ‘the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Rom. 5:5).”

 

            We will continue, Lord willing, in our next SD as we look more at “The Plea.”

 

Today’s quotation is from Lord Byron who said “Words are things; and a small drop of ink falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.”

 

5/19/2019 9:19 PM

 

 

           

Intro to Ephesians Five

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/18/2019 10:00 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  Intro to Ephesians Five

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5

 

            Message of the verses:  In his commentary on the book of Ephesians Dr. Warren Wiersbe entitles the tenth chapter “Imitating Our Father” and this covers Ephesians 5:1-17 and I would like to begin this SD by quoting what he has to say in his introductory comments on these verses and then we will look at the very short paragraph that John MacArthur has to say in his commentary. 

 

“The word ‘followers’ in Ephesians 5:1 is the word mimics, so that the verse can be translated:  ‘Be ye imitators of God as beloved children.’  This sets the theme for the section.  Paul is simply arguing that children are to like their parents, a fact that can be both encouraging and embarrassing to those of us who have children. Have you ever seen a child sitting in the front seat of an automobile, trying to drive like his father!  Or walking behind him, pretending to mow the lawn?  Or, sad to say, imitating Dad smoking a cigarette or taking a drink of alcohol?  Children probably learn more by watching and imitation than any other way.

 

We are the children of God, then we ought to imitate our Father.  This is the basis for the three admonitions in this section.  God is love (1 John 4:8); therefore, ‘walk in love’ (Eph. 5:1-2).  God is light (1 John 1:5); therefore, walk as children of light (Eph. 1:3-14).  God is truth (1 John 5:6); therefore, walk in wisdom (Eph. 5:15-17).  Of course, each of these ‘walks’ is a part of Paul’s exhortation to walk in purity.’”

 

            Now as mentioned many times we will be following the outline that John MacArthur has written in his commentary as we study the book of Ephesians, but from time to time I will put some things in these SD’s that come from the pen of Warren Wiersbe who as you know went to be with the Lord earlier this month, and I for one will miss Dr. Wiersbe and look forward to seeing him when the Lord takes me to heaven. 

 

            John MacArthur entitles his 15^th chapter of his commentary on the book of Ephesians “Walking in Love” as he only covers the first seven verses of chapter five which we will now look at and then quote his very short introduction to these verses: 

 

“1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

 

John MacArthur writes “In this passage Paul first presents the positive truths about true godly love and then the negative truths about Satan’s counterfeit love and its consequences.”

 

            It is my desire to begin to look at the first section entitled “The Plea” from Ephesians 5:1-2a in our next SD, something that will probably take a few days to talk about.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Thinking about God’s love is something that from time to time I seem to forget or perhaps not understand the great love that He has for me even though I know for certain that God does love me very much as evidenced by the fact of Him sending His Son to pay for my sins and then giving me an effectual call to salvation a little over 45 years ago.  I suppose that the times when I have some trouble understanding God’s love is when I sin and then perhaps want to bring God down to the level of a human being and then think about if I did something wrong that I would have to be punished for it.  As I go through this section perhaps the Lord will use it to help me better understand more about His great love He has for me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I have been thinking about humility a lot this year as has been mentioned many times and one of the things that I am learning is that humility has to do with a lot of things that I have been studying in this book of Ephesians, and I suppose that humility and love, the love that God has for me will help me to grow more in humility.

 

The verse that goes along with yesterday’s quotation is from 2 Chronicles 32:7a-8b:  “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed…But with us is the Lord our God, to Help us and to fight our battles.”

 

5/18/2019 10:55 AM