King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Friday, December 16, 2022
Chapters: THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS
Study: Be About My Father’s Business
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
As I was praying this morning, this passage came to mind, [Luke 2:48-49 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?]
This of course, was Jesus when He was a boy and left in the temple when Mary and Joseph realized that He was missing from their group traveling back home from Jerusalem. Why this came to mind is that when we are being about our Father’s business there is no room for anyone to wonder where we are or to question our morals. I do not have to tell you how wicked the world is getting, we can see it right before our eyes. Since saved, born again Christians are the Light of the world, we need to be about our Father’s business so that we can shine His Light upon them and give them some hope. This is not just man’s wickedness, this is spiritual wickedness.
[Ephesians 6:11-13,16-18 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.]
The Book of Ephesians was written by Paul from Rome, approximately 64 AD, and is addressed to the Ephesians, and all the faithful in Christ. The purpose of the epistle (letter) was to inform believers of their wealth in Christ and instruct them concerning their walk with Christ. What we are to learn from the book is that all who receive Christ are heirs to both the blessings (heavenly wealth) and responsibilities (the work) of their calling created in them through Christ Himself, [Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.]
I have to tell you, I am very concerned for my nephews who are growing up in all this, and pray that God will grant me His mercies in that I can see them grow up as Godly men. So many people have it in their minds that if they serve God it means that they have to work in the Church or give up the things they enjoy. Can I tell you that God has a purpose for everyone of His saints, and the majority of us are not servants in the Church. Yes, Jesus, has His pastors, evangelists, missionaries, teachers, and other ministers in His Church, but the best way that we can be about our Father’s business is by living our lives through Christ. Paul, begins his letter by reminding us that we were already predestined to know Christ, and that we are joint heirs with Him.
[Ephesians 1:1-5,9-10 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 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: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 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:]
[according to the good pleasure of his will,] This is God’s will for all mankind, that receive His Son and become joint heirs with Him. Jesus purchased us with His very own blood, and while He did die for all mankind, He only reveals and saves those who truly believe in Him. You see, God never intended for just one family to know who He is and follow Him, He intended for all mankind to do so. However, sin made that impossible when man started to think in their own will rather than God’s would save them. Sin, made us enemies with God, but Christ not only reconciles us with God, He makes us as one with Him.
[Ephesians 2:1-2,5,10,15-16 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:]
[And hath raised us up together,] Yes, the prince of the air and the one who works in the children of disobedience is none other than Satan himself. We literally are a reflection of our parents or of whomever raised us, those who are walking in the works of the world are doing so under the influence of Satan.
[having slain the enmity thereby:] [Enmity; The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence.] Jesus, not only abolished the ill will that God had toward man in that while we are sinners, he also killed the ill will toward us all together by His death on the cross. This goes way back to Adam and Eve, and He nailed it all to the cross with Him, every sin, curse, and hatred that He had toward the entire earth, [Genesis 3:15-18 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;]
And yes, before we are saved, God is angry at us, He cannot even look at us because we are full of sin, sin that we had no idea even existed. However, once we do get saved, every sin is erased and we not only speak the same language, we are fellow citizens of the house of God, [Ephesians 2:19-22 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.]
[and of the household of God;] Just think about what that means, we are not of the house of Jacob, or the house of Abraham, or in my case, the house of Sam as that is my father’s name, we are of the house of God, through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. Amen! Now, there are many who believe that no one knew about Jesus before His passion and therefore, they were not under the same grace that we are under today, but there is some misinformation there. Yes, they did not know the name, Jesus Christ, and were under the law of Moses, and subject to the Law because that is how God dealt with them at that time, but He was revealed to those who truly loved Him and wanted Him in their lives.
[Ephesians 3:2-6,9 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:]
[who created all things by Jesus Christ:] This entire world and universe as we know it (and still have a lot to learn) was created by and for Jesus in order for us to worship God properly, which is only done in the Spirit. Remember, what Jesus said, [John 3:6-8 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.]
All you have to do to remind yourself of why we live our lives through Christ after we are saved is to read through the Book of Ephesians. We are given eternal life by grace through our faith in Christ alone, and that is the greatest gift that we will ever receive, but we are not to use this gift selfishly, rather give it to someone else in need. That is where the ministry that God gives us comes in, and that ministry can be anywhere, in fact, we are sent out into the world for that purpose. Once we get saved and start living our lives through Christ we start gravitating to His good works. Christ, changes us for the better, He gets rid of all the junk that causes unnecessary suffering, temptation, and shame, including people that keep us from living for Him. We are one body in Christ, and we need to act like it.
[Ephesians 4:1-6,11-13 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:]
[Till we all come in the unity of the faith,] Until we all, both Jews and Gentiles come together as one by the same unity of our faith. Wow! That can take a while. Do you realize that we are fast approaching two thousand years since Jesus gave His life on the cross for us, and we still do not have it right.
[Ephesians 4:17-24 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.]
[But ye have not so learned Christ;] This is bringing tears to my eyes as I think about the people who I love dearly who got saved, but have not learned Christ and are under no conviction to do so, no matter how much God afflicts them. In their eyes, they are not sinning by continuing to do the things they were doing before they got save, clearly only to fulfill the lusts of their flesh. Let me tell you, it is so true what the Bible says about not bailing people out all the time, they need to understand that unrepentant sin does carry consequence.
[Ephesians 5:1-5 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 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. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.]
[let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;] Did you ever do something that you knew was not what you ought to be doing yet did it anyway in order to keep the peace? God, will never put us in a position that the only way to keep the peace is to succumb to sin. I learned the hard way what happens when you do succumb to them, and let me tell you, they may tell you they love you, but the proof is in the way they treat God. Yes, if they fear God, they will respect us and love us, but if they do not treat Him right they are not going to treat us right, ans we need to distance ourselves from them.
[Ephesians 5:11-13,18-21 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.]
[For it is a shame even to speak of those things] That is another thing that I learned the hard way, you do not even want to be near someone who is living a sinful life, you will be dragged into their mess. Keep in mind that we are to be in the world, not of the world, so while we are to distance ourselves from them, we are also to be kind. Since most of those who are lost will not step foot in a church, it is imperative that we are out there preaching the Gospel, yet letting our Light shine.
[Ephesians 6:5-8 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.]
[doing the will of God from the heart;] There is the key right there, we can serve God all day long, but unless it is one; God’s will to begin with, and two; from the heart, God will not recognize it. There is a difference between being busy and being about our Father’s business, and God knows if we are true, [Galatians 6:7-10 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.]
We are not perfect, but we are God’s people, we cannot stop people from living the life they want, but they cannot stop us from living for God either. Christ alone is the key to being about our Father’s business and not giving into evils of this world, He is our shield of faith.
[Ephesians 6:16-18,23-24 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. To the Ephesians written from Rome, by Tychicus.]
[all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.] Notice what Paul says here, “in sincerity” We can cry out to God all we want, we can sing the songs, preach the Gospel, pray the prayers, teach the lessons, but if we are not sincere, God will not recognize our efforts. Everything we do and even say to God needs to be done wholeheartedly, [1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Your mercy is truly something amazing that we all often take for granted, but Your grace is beyond measure, it is just astounding to think of what kind of life I lived before You were in it, and how You have completely changed it. Over the years, You have brought peace, hope, and joy to my life through both the good times and the bad. Lord, I know that I am not always in Your will, but it is Your good pleasure that You offer Your grace to get me back in it time and time again. Lord, Lead me and guide me, search me and open my heart to discover anything that is keeping me out of Your will. Strengthen me and grow me as I be about Your business and look only to You for wisdom and guidance while You are pleased to keep me here on earth. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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