Ephesians -- They will be blessed in what they do

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ZNP

ZNP

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Sep 14, 2020
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James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. What I want to focus on is this term “blessed”, what exactly is the blessing? We are entering the biggest trial of the age, how can we find the narrow way that leads to life? In that context we should also consider the second reference to being blessed in the book of James: 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

If you love the Lord you will do what He says. Obeying His word is the evidence that you love Him. This word is spoken to us, every word. Many people expound away words in the Bible, “that applies to someone else”. They are like someone looking in the mirror and don’t even recognize their own face. We need to remember what we look like, realize this word is spoken to us, don’t forget it, but do it. That is the big picture, but let’s get into the nitty gritty. The book of Ephesians examines what this promised blessing is: 3 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, There are a number of blessings, Paul refers to them as “every spiritual blessing”. In Genesis we are told “in you all the nations of the Earth will be blessed”. We were blessed in Abraham and Abraham received 7 categories of blessings. These are the blessings of the covenant we have with God.
 
The first Blessing — “Unto a land that I will show thee”. ​

Genesis gives us the life of eight men of God, concluding with Joseph being raised up from prison to sit on the throne above all powers so that he could save both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Pharoah gave him the name Zaph Naph Paaneah, which means “savior of the world”. Joseph is a type of Christ, the savior of the world. Genesis begins with Adam the first man to walk and talk with God, then Abel, whose death typified the lamb of God, Enoch who walked with God, Noah the one who was with God in saving the animals alive, Abraham being called out, blessed, Isaac born of the promise, Jacob the prince of God, and concludes with Joseph raised up from slavery to be a ruler of the world, a glimpse of what this Christ is and our destination as believers. According to Hebrews 11 these men of faith were looking to a better kingdom. They could see that God would raise up a kingdom on earth, that vision is the first blessing of the faith. You are not going to persevere under the trial unless you have a vision of where we are headed. James says everyone who does persevere is blessed, but Paul tells us the blessing comes first. We have been blessed. First we get a vision of the coming kingdom, second we persevere through the fiery trial that is about to come on the earth. So far the only concern we have had is with an invisible virus, but the prophets are clear, there will be fire. We will be tested by this fire.

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

God did not choose us because we were holy and blameless, that is a common misconception. He chose us to be holy and blameless. The second misconception is that we have been chosen to be holy and blameless in ourselves. It is “in Him” that we are holy and blameless. The minute you step outside of Him you will be the recipient of lots of blame and you will be seen to be unholy. When you are in Christ you are sanctified, made holy, and you are blameless, the full price of your sins has been paid. The final misconception is that this is in the sight of us, or Satan, or the world. It is “in His sight”. As long as the Lord sees you as Holy and Blameless you do not need to worry about the accuser of the brethren. We overcome because of our testimony and because of the blood of the lamb. The day will come when the synagogue of Satan will come and confess that God is in our midst, but that is the day of the Lord. Till then you can expect to suffer on behalf of the name of Jesus Christ.

In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

The “adoption to sonship” is different from being a child of God. We are born again when we receive Christ by faith. But, we are immature, we need to grow in grace and be matured. But when you are the child of someone who runs a great business you are not ready to take a leadership role. When you mature to the point that your father is comfortable putting you in a management position then at that point you would receive the sonship. Jacob is a good example, Reuben was a child of his but he did not receive the sonship. This is our destiny, we were predestined unto sonship, to rule and reign with Jesus Christ.

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Many ask “why”, why me? They are very conscious of their failures, their shortcomings, and feel these things will bring shame to God. What they miss is that God, taking someone who has fallen so low and then transforming them into a prince of God is to the praise of His glorious grace. Jesus asked “who loves Him more” and the answer was to whom more was forgiven. But now I would ask, who will bring more praise to His glorious grace? That is why you have been chosen and predestined it is “to the praise of His glorious grace”.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

When the times reach their fulfillment the seals are opened and then you can understand the mystery of God’s will. God has been hidden and mysterious during this age, His good pleasure was purposed in Christ, everything will be made known and accomplished through Jesus Christ. He will make us all one, each one of us will have a place in His kingdom.

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Verse 11 has a double meaning, it can be translated that "we have obtained an inheritance" or it can also be translated "we have been made a heritage", or you can understand it as meaning both of these. Unto the adoption of sons is in the future, to say that we have "obtained an inheritance" is the past. To understand this duality, how we can be made a heritage while at the same time obtaining an inheritance we should consider the book of Ruth. In this book we see that Ruth, just like Ephesians says, is no longer a stranger or sojourner to the covenants of God but is made a fellow citizen. She also is blessed with the believing Abraham -- God makes of her a great nation, He blesses her, He gives her a great name, etc. She obtained an inheritance when she became Boaz's wife. That is a legally binding contract analogous to our "adoption as sons". But the process she went through became part of the word of God. Jesus is the incarnate word, the word made flesh, so Ruth's story became the Lord's heritage. Ruth obtained an inheritance and she was made a heritage.
 
This first blessing to Abraham is a little confusing until we read Judges, Ruth and Samuel. "I will show you the land". Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once the word is revealed to him we see the blessing. Samson knew the word about the Nazarite vow, that was the word that Delilah coerced out of him. Ruth and Boaz knew the word about the "widow of an Israelite" trumping the curse on the moabites. Ruth had a dual status and she chose to be the widow of an Israelite, rather than to return to her own people. The first blessing we see in every case (Judges, Ruth and Samuel) is that the word of the Lord is revealed to them. Boaz and Ruth were in the word, in that word it was revealed that God judges us by our heart, in her heart Ruth was the widow of an Israelite, that revelation caused them to obtain an inheritance, and ultimately their story became the word, they were made a heritage. The way I see it God the Father blessed us with every blessing -- that is the covenant we have with God, and if we keep that covenant then the promise is we will receive the "adoption of sons", a legally binding document that entitles us to our inheritance. God the Son has already received this, having been declared the Son of God. If we are "in Him'' we also "obtain" an inheritance and become a heritage for those of the faith. Jesus is the incarnate word, the author and perfecter of the faith. When you are in Him you express Him and your story, like Ruth's becomes part of the heritage of all the saints.

To me, this is similar to Sardonyx, one of the precious stones in the New Jerusalem. Sardonyx is a layer of onyx between two layers of sard. It looks like a sandwich, and often it is one white layer sandwiched between two black layers. When I first saw this stone I was shocked, that is a precious stone? “How can this stone stand next to an emerald?” (Emerald is the third stone, sardonyx is the fourth). Emerald is considered the most precious of the precious stones, and then here is this stone that by comparison is a joke. You could have an emerald in the crown jewels, but a sardonyx? Joseph, the prince of Egypt was an emerald, how can God have Ruth stand next to Joseph? She is doubly cursed being both a moabitess and a widow after her husband died. But that is what this verse in Ephesians says, “in Him” we can both obtain an inheritance and be made into a heritage. What they do with sardonyx is they will carve into it and make cameos and intaglios (Cameo is where the image sticks out whereas intaglio is engraved in the stone). I saw one of these. The artist had carved through the top layer and used it to make a border which framed the picture, then in the middle white layer he had carved a King sitting on his throne with the people of his house, but then a little deeper in the bottom black layer, in the shadows he carved some sinister looking characters). It was a masterpiece. When we are “in Him” our experiences of Christ can become a priceless work of art, a heritage to all the saints. This is what happened with Ruth. Joseph said the things that happened to him were of God so that many people could be saved alive. The things that happened to Ruth were also of God so that we could be encouraged that we also could stand in His kingdom side by side with these great men of faith. The Lord can make us stand!

12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

This is good pleasure of His will in Christ. He takes those cursed by sin and makes them into His heritage so that we could be to the praise of His glory. When you see one of these precious pieces of art carved in sardonyx it is to the praise of the glory of the one who carved it. But I like this expression “we, who were the first to hope in Christ”. When I was a kid I was on a PeeWee football team for two years. We won a national championship our first year, going undefeated and then playing a bowl game in Florida. The next year we had 70 kids trying out for the team, we could only have 40. So what the coach did was schedule a scrimmage with a team that was older and bigger than us in the Bronx. For the first hour he would rotate all these new kids into the game. The field was made of little pebbles and broken glass. They didn’t want to go through the battle, they simply wanted to “be on a championship team” without the blood and guts. They were getting crushed. The coach made sure all the new kids played most of the time rotating them in and out. Then in the second hour he took our first string over to the corner to play their first string. We dominated them. What happened was that these 30 or so kids who had turned out to be on a “championship” team all quit. The coach didn’t have to cut them, they cut themselves. There is a joy in being among those who were the first to put their hope in Him.
 
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Then, we still need the sealing of the Spirit. Just like God told Gideon, He couldn't allow 30,000 Israelites to defeat 130,000 Midianites or else they would think they did it. So He winnowed it down to 300 so there was no doubt that it was God. 2 And Jehovah said to Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. We saw this time and again, the Lord stepped in so that there was no doubt who had signed, or who had sealed this covenant. That is the purpose for a seal, so that you know it was God who signed it. What this means to me. I want to know the covenant I have with God in every detail. Some people want a car, some a house, some a business. I want to know the covenant. I know the New Covenant is different from the Old, but I also know the two are related. So I want to know both covenants, how they relate, how the one came out of the other, where they differ. When I pray I want a word from the Lord, a word that reveals His will because that is a word I can stand on when I pray that the Lord’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The covenant that God has made is His will. I want to get into the “mystery of God’s will”. When I read the NT there are many questions, many mysteries, many things that I fear I may miss out on but don’t want to. Ephesians has helped me tremendously to know God’s will, to know all the blessings that we have been blessed with by God, and to know how to pray. Read this, pray that we would be to the praise of God’s glory. That is His will. When you believed you were “marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”. When we “believe” we receive the Holy Spirit, a word, an experience that marks us with God’s seal. From that point on you know you belong to God, and every word you receive after that only strengthens and confirms this covenant you have with God. In chapter 1 Paul says “wherefore, I also” as an introduction to his prayer. This indicates that in addition to God blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, he also is in a position, as one who understands the covenant that He has been blessed to bless others, to bless us. Ephesians 1 ends with this prayer —

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

If you love the Lord you will do what He says. Paul had a vision that the church is the Body of Christ. So, if you love the Lord Jesus you love all God’s people, they are His body. If we have faith in the Lord we have entered into the covenant with Him and receive the blessings of that covenant. Don’t you love Paul? The world has forgotten us, we are of no account, when they are looking at the coming catastrophe no one is thinking “quick let’s ask the church to help”. You need a vision to give thanks for the church and remember the saints. This is God’s hidden masterpiece, His army that will go before Him. The Day of the Lord is compared to Noah’s flood, and Noah’s ark is compared to the church which the Lord has built up in this last two thousand years. The church is a vessel that will make it through this judgement. Why? Because of our faith in the Lord and because of our love for all the saints.

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Never is this more necessary than right now. Joseph had a revelation of God, how else is he able to see why he went through what he did? I grew up in a very wealthy town, at the time it was ranked as one of the wealthiest towns in the US. Do you know what happens to the very wealthy? They don’t know how to do anything. Other people do their yard work, other people fix their houses, and their cars. Think about the children of Israel coming through the desert for 40 years. These rich people wouldn’t last two weeks in the desert. They would never take their babies or elderly out there. When they see the Israelites cross the Red Sea and all the Egyptians dead their thought is not how mighty God is but “they are out of the frying pan and into the fire”. They know they could never last so they assume God’s people couldn’t either. This judgement is going to turn the rest of the world into the desert that God’s people have grown up in. The rich have faith in their money, what happens when that collapses? The rich have love for themselves, they don’t even understand what it means to have love for all the saints. If we have a revelation of God in the spirit of wisdom and revelation we’ll see that He has prepared us for such a time as this.

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

It is very easy to look at the opponent and get scared. To me it is like we are in the arena about to go head to head with a terrifying army, like having to play against an NBA team. They are bigger, faster, and the more I look at them the smaller I feel. What Paul is praying for is that you would see that on your team we have Air Jordan, the one who rose from the grave, and we have the King. There is a glorious inheritance that has been deposited in all those in the church, the kingdom, Jesus is in our midst. His great power is real, it may look like Magic, you think it is a Dream, but it is real, it is the Truth. The wings of a Bird so that we could soar like an eagle is part of our inheritance. Yes, Jacob was a Worm and so were we, but transforming us into one new man is to the praise of His glory. That power is the same as the mighty strength

20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

If we are honest we know deep down we are excited to see that same power manifested for the world. Jesus is the Lord of life, He defeated death. We are destined to rule and reign with Him, this is the path that we have to take. If you want to be His bride it is a matter of faith, hope and love.

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Our hope includes the crown of life which the Lord has promised. These giants are our food. The Lord is giving them into our hands. God is not stupid. He doesn’t walk around showing off His wealth, “hey look at what I have”. This glorious inheritance is hidden within His people. This will be revealed at the end of the age. We will see a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, who has prepared herself. Finally, we need a vision of the incomparably great power for us who believe. This power is in the present age as well as the one to come. All things are under His feet. Jesus is the head of the church, we simply obey Him. It is called the “Day of the Lord”, He owns it, He is not intimidated by it, as for me I will listen to Him. This is the first blessing, to see Jesus, the Head over all things to the church.

These elected officials in our government have been given their position and power by the covenant with God at the time of Noah. If they violate this covenant then the Lord can certainly step in, responding to our prayer, to execute judgement. The covenant with Noah is a huge umbrella and our entire constitution fits within that umbrella. We have a covenant God. Pray according to the covenant to Jesus Christ who is head over all and has been given to the church.
 
The Second blessing — “and I will make of thee a great nation”​

Exodus presents the Israelites in bondage in Egypt. When God promised Abraham to make of thee a great nation the fulfillment of this promise involved them becoming slaves in Egypt. That is who God used to make this great nation. The slaves are the ones who do all the work, they are the ones who make the country run. Whatever is about to come on us is no worse than where we came from. Only this time it will be easier because the Lord has led us through this valley before. Ephesians 2 says we were formerly dead in sins in the world. Exodus shows how the Israelites were delivered from Egypt to be God’s people. Ephesians 2 talks about how we were made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies, not of ourselves but it is the gift of God. In Exodus we see the Passover feast, summing up God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, in which they are made to sit together with Jesus (the empty seat).

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Where to begin? Disobedience? The spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient? The ruler of this age? The ways of the world? Should we confess our transgressions and sins? Or should we just say we were dead. Ps 6:5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? Where you were, did anyone proclaim the Lord’s name? Did they praise Him? Ps 9:17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God. Were you surrounded by wicked who had forgotten God? Ps 7:17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. Can you give thanks to the Lord and sing praises of the name when you are in your sins and transgressions? Can you silence the enemy, the avenger when you are in sins and transgressions? Can you rejoice in your salvation? If you follow the “ways of the world” you will have a warped mind and be despised. Isaiah 1:23 Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them. The rulers you followed were rebellious, partners with thieves, they loved bribes. The first step in making us into a great nation is to restore our rulers. Isaiah 1:26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” It all begins with “a ruler who will shepherd my people” 1Timothy 6:15 God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord is building the church, He is the one who is making us into a great nation. The enemy is busy at work to stop this: Also our enemies said, Nehemiah 4:11 “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” This spirit is working in those who are disobedient. Remember what happened to Israel, they are an example to us Nehemiah 9:26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.” You know someone is disobedient by their actions. Titus 1:16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. This is our past, that is our background, hopefully we have learned and repented from this.

3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

The Old Testament prophets go into great detail about why we, like the rest, were by nature deserving of wrath. In Numbers 16 we see wrath come out from the Lord in response to the rebellion of Korah. When Achan was unfaithful in regard to the devoted thing wrath came out on the whole community. 1Samuel 28:16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. Rebellion and disobedience, this is what makes us deserving of wrath. We ended up as slaves in Egypt because of rebellion and disobedience. We have seen plagues and defeat at the hand of the enemy because of disobedience. We suffered shame and lost our crown because of disobedience.

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

How about that for a twist on the prosperity gospel -- “rich in mercy”. And it isn’t pity, it is because of God’s love for us. What does it mean to be “saved by grace”? It means that even when you were dead in transgressions you were made alive with Christ. Instead of following the spirit that operates in the disobedient and administering wrath to those who deserved wrath, we were made alive with Christ to be rich in mercy and do unto others as we would have had them do unto us. What commandments has the Lord given us that we need to obey? Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” That is what we need to obey, the Lord’s command. 1Jn 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. But what if they deserve our wrath? Do you want to be treated with mercy? The Lord commanded you do to unto others as you would have them do to you, if you want to be treated with mercy you have been commanded to treat others with mercy.

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

“With Christ” and “with Him”. When you obey the Lord’s command you are “with Him”. Isaiah 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Are you with Him on the cross? Then you will be raised and lifted up with Him and we’ll be seated together with Him in exalted heavenly realms. The second blessing is that God is going to make of us a great nation. We are well aware of how corrupt and warped are the rulers in this age. Well the first step is to get a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel, who won’t run when the wolves come, and if you are with Him you will be raised up with Him and seated with Him.

7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

In the prosperity gospel the riches are evidence that you have been blessed. But what about the incomparable riches expressed in His kindness to us? Everyone wants to be treated with mercy, so to do unto others as you would have them do unto you is to treat them with mercy. But mercy that is a result of pity is not kind, mercy that is because of love and is expressed in kindness, that is incomparable riches.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith

To do unto others as you would have them do unto you, instead of giving them the wrath that they deserve, that is to be saved by grace, and it requires faith. You can’t do it without faith in the Lord.

—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

It is like being a brand new, transformed person. Again, some people teach that a brand new, shiny car is a “gift from God”. Oprah can give you a car, but only God could give you a heart of flesh with His laws inscribed on them.

9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are “God’s handiwork”, the greek word is Poiema and it means God’s masterpiece, God’s poem. We were created to do good works, never more so than right now, and these works have been prepared for us in advance. That is the path that God has prepared for the church? Ephesians 2 we are told that we who were once far off were made nigh in the blood of Christ just as the story of Exodus reveals that they were made nigh in the blood of the lamb. Both Exodus and Ephesians 2 conclude with the building of the Holy Temple of the Lord, a habitation of God in Spirit, being filled with the Glory of God. We have been created for this.
 
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—

There is a contrast here between God’s handiwork and the works done by human hands. Circumcision is a sign of the OT covenant. Genesis 17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. But it is done by human hands. The NT covenant is the circumcision of our heart which is done by God. Jeremiah 9:26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” When you are merciful, out of love and expressed in kindness it is a sign of this covenant. It is a sign that God has given you a new heart. Romans 2: 28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. I am reminded of something that happened in High School. I was taking a final exam and the teacher gave us ten questions to study. He said that the final exam would be three of these essay questions. So I thought, this will be easy, I’ll study the night before. Around 7 I open up this list. I look at the first question it is so broad it covered an entire chapter in the textbook and we never even covered it in class. I realized it would take me hours to prepare for that one question. The same thing with the next. Now I was angry, “we never went over this in class”! Then I thought which questions did we go over? I found three, and these three covered the three major units we had done that semester. I decided I would study those three. I figured he had to ask at least one of them and there was a good chance he would ask two of them. So I knew I’d need to get them 100%. I wrote out long detailed answer to each question, studied them, and then closed my books and practiced rewriting those answers with a clock to make sure I could do it in the hour we had. In the exam it turns out he asked the three questions I had studied. From the first minute to the last I was writing continuously. I felt like baseball and I had fully connected with the ball and it was going, going, gone. A few days later he posted the results of the exam. I was one of the top three students in the class, but my score on the final was the lowest, I think he gave me 25%. That was when I realized he was offended by something I had said a month earlier. I had thought it was trivial but obviously he was very offended by it. So then I didn’t know what to do, I knew if I challenged him on this he would have to show the exam booklet to the headmaster and then he would get fired. I was in England, had come for a year, and didn’t want my legacy to have gotten this teacher fired. I was also already accepted to college and this grade on this test wasn’t going to change that. I couldn’t decide, so I decided to do a test. I was in the royal air force, the British equivalent of the ROTC and this teacher was in charge of us. We needed to return our uniforms to I walked up to him in the cafeteria and told him I was concerned because I was missing a button on my jacket. He was trembling, he wouldn’t even look up at me but just mumbled that was OK. I realized then that he had given me the low grade without even reading my exam, figuring on an essay question he could always find something wrong or something missing. But he must have then read it and now was terrified. I decided to have mercy on him and never said anything. Twenty five years later my brother goes to a reunion and he is there seeking out my brother to tell him how much he appreciated me. My brother wanted to know why, what had I done. But until now I had never told anyone about this. I was very happy to know that he was still there teaching and that his entire career hadn’t been ruined because of me.

12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. What do you remember? Lamentations 3:19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. We pray that God would remember his great mercy and love and that He would not remember our sins. What we need to remember is that God is our rock, He is our redeemer. We need to remember His power. We need to remember how fleeting our life was, vanity of vanities. Without God we are dust.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We were baptized into Christ, in Christ we are dead to sin but alive to God.

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, No one is able to separate us from the Love of God if we are in Christ. In Christ we form one body. Romans 15:17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, Wow! When you read the Old Testament you get the impression that it is us versus them. Jews versus Gentiles, circumcision versus uncircumcised. But God’s purpose was to create in himself, in Christ, one new man out of the two. He did this by becoming our peace offering. Look at the Lord’s crucifixion carefully. We understand that He was the lamb of God, and that His death was a peace offering to God. But who made that offering? The Jews demanded it and the Gentiles made it. Now there were a lot of things that separated the Gentiles from God’s covenant, a dividing wall of hostility. That put God in a very tough spot, do you reject the Son’s sacrifice? God had no choice, if He accepts the Lord’s sacrifice He has to set aside the law with its command and regulations that prevented us from being with God. So that barrier had to be destroyed. But, only if you are in Christ.
 
16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

That’s right, both of them. Both Jews and Gentiles needed to be reconciled. The cross of Christ was God’s judgement on man’s flesh and only one man made it through that judgement, Jesus Christ. If you are in Him you make it through, if not you don’t. The Day of the Lord will reveal who exactly is in Him.

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

This is huge. Do you want to have powerful and prevailing prayer that James describes? You need access to the Father. Do you know Jesus as the one with the key of David? That means you have access to the Father. The martyrs who we see when the 5th seal is opened, they have access to the Father. What is the point of circumcision if it isn’t a sign that you have access to the father? All religion is simply a pretense unless you have access to the Father.

19 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,

Our access is in two broad categories, as citizens who are praying for the kingdom of God and as family members who are praying for the house of God.

20 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

The term built reminds us of all the altars that were built. The foundation of the apostles and prophets, their revelation, worship and sacrifice to the Lord. This is what we are built on. I remember once I took a test and as I went through the questions I didn’t know a single answer. It was as though the test was on a completely different subject. I got angry, I said to myself I studied for this test so I am going to put down what I studied. So I looked at the questions as opportunities for me to write what I studied. I wound up getting the highest grade in the class on that test. Remember what you are built on. We are standing upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The chief cornerstone was the stone that the builders rejected. The church is composed of stones the builders rejected. Not only will God’s incomparable riches be on display but His enemies will be put to an open shame as well, having rejected these stones. God is going to make of us a great nation and He will be glorified in us. The foundation of the apostles and prophets is the revelation of Jesus Christ. A great nation is a nation that God inhabits. It is the nation where God’s glory dwells. It is a nation that is filled with justice and righteousness.
 
When you are in a very dark place your prayer is for the Lord to show you how to get out, shine a light, show me the door. Well that is the first blessing. We see a vision of Jesus Christ who can redeem us from our sins and who has been made Lord over all. Jesus is our salvation, He is the way out. You can be in a terrible situation, but just having a vision of how to get out, that is a blessing.

Then the next blessing is to be formed into the church, the body of christ. This is a vessel that can hold the blessing. By yourself you are like an ember that will go cold and go out. You cannot hold the fire of God. You are like a piece of a pot, you can't hold the living water. But with the church you are a corporate vessel that can hold the blessing.

Only after these two blessings are you in a position to be blessed.
 
The third blessing — and I will bless thee​

Ephesians 3 begins with the dispensation of grace that was given by God to Paul for us. Leviticus begins with the sacrifices and offerings that were ordained by God for the Priests to keep for us. Ephesians 3 talks about what has been made known to the apostles and prophets, and how he has been made a minister. Leviticus gives the instructions from Moses to the levitical priests and also to Aaron. Ephesians 3 says that the revelation that Jesus' sacrifice is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews was not made known in previous generations. There is no hint in Leviticus that the Gentiles will be included. We do not learn that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world until we get to the New Testament.

3 For this cause

God is going to take people who were dead in trespasses and sins and make them into a great nation. That is what “this cause” in chapter 2 refers to. What does that mean? If you want to know where God dwells it is with them. You want access to God, you need to go there. The nation will be known as “God with us”. This is the cause, take people who were formerly disobedient, following the ruler of this age, and make them into a kingdom built on righteousness filled with the glory of God.

I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,—

The Bible gives us the account of three very notable prisoners of God. Joseph was put in prison on behalf of the Egyptians so that he could save many people alive. He saw that it was God who was operating all things. Jesus was the prisoner of God to become our peace offering with God. And now Paul says the same thing, that the things happening to him are on behalf of the Gentiles are due to Christ Jesus. If we consider the book of Leviticus, the burnt offering, the bull, is a “prisoner of Christ Jesus” and his sacrifice is on behalf of the Gentiles. Leviticus 1:3 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. Paul is offering Jesus Christ as His burnt offering and he is laying his hands on that offering, he is identifying himself with Christ’s offering.

2 if so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward; 3 how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words,

In chapter 1 we learned that the mystery of God’s will was to put all things under Christ and to make Him the head over all things. This is the cause that he is referring to. “For this cause” to bring all things under the headship of Christ there is a “dispensation”. Paul willingly becoming a burnt offering, identifying himself with Jesus Christ, and submitting himself to the Lord to also take up his cross and follow Him. This is the mystery that he has written about briefly. God is going to bless us. He is going to do that through the sacrifice of his servants, the apostles. We cannot accomplish the things He has purposed without being blessed. These blessings are dispensed to us by Paul, the apostles, and those who are one with the lord. And now we discover that there is a dispensation of the mystery. Many people would complain if they were imprisoned wrongfully. But Joseph, Jesus and Paul saw that their imprisonment was not the work of the ruler of this age, he is merely the pawn. He wasn’t the “prisoner of Satan” he was the prisoner of Christ Jesus. Today you see many complaining about this corona virus lockdown, as though they were being made prisoners of an unrighteous age. What is happening is a mystery to them because they don’t have the revelation that God is causing all things to be under the headship of Jesus Christ. How does Paul being made a prisoner of Rome contribute to the dispensation of this mystery? Paul was given the time to focus on making known the revelation of this mystery that was made known to him. The dispensation of this mystery is through the word. This word is like a radio signal being beamed all over the earth. All you need is a properly tuned spirit to receive this signal. This word will infect you like the coronavirus, it will spread from one person to another, the church has been set up for 2,000 years to spread this word like a virus. But now, like Paul, we are in lockdown so that we too could focus on making known the mystery of this revelation. And, instead of radio signals we have the internet and social media.

4 whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; 5 which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

That is the purpose of this lockdown. That the revelation of the Body of Christ, the fellow heirs, the fellow members of the Body, and the fellow partakers of the promise could be revealed. In other generations this has not been made known to the sons of men as it is now being revealed. In Leviticus it had not been known that God would include the Gentiles. Peter and Paul revealed this. But in their day Paul’s letters were copied by hand, not like today with the internet. So this generation is also not like previous ones. This word will go everywhere, no one will be able to escape, there will be hot spots flaring up here and there of people being saved and turning to the Lord. When the Lord returns He doesn’t want to come back to one or two apostles, He wants to return to 144,000 blowing the trumpet and hailing His return.
 
7 whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.

When you minister focus on these two things. The gift of the grace of God and the working of His power. The Lord’s power is already working worldwide, you simply need to do your part. When I was in college I had an experience, we were going on a field trip for my geology class. On the last day I was driving back in the school van, one of these very large vans with more than 12 people in the van. I was in the very back seat and the person driving the van was an old roommate of mine when I was a freshman. The night before he had been telling dirty stories around the campfire. So I asked him if I could tell him a story. He said to go ahead, so of course, everyone in the van could hear this. I talked about Adam and Eve and God coming to look for them after they had sinned and calling for them “Adam where are you?” As I was telling this story it got very uncomfortable in the van, he got angry and pulled into the other lane to pass the car in front of us. He crossed the double yellow lines and we were going up hill. Inside the Lord was telling me “tell them to repent, tell them they could die today, tomorrow is not guaranteed to them!” But I was like “not so Lord, I speak the high gospel”. This went back and forth for a second or two, we pulled even with the car we were passing when just over the top of the hill a car could be seen coming toward us. The entire van was in a panic, people in front of me were pointing but couldn’t say anything, I was bowing my head repenting to the Lord. Meanwhile he hit the brake, but so did the other car and we stayed even with them, so then he slammed on the accelerator but so did the other car and we continued to stay dead even with them. We were going over 60 and the car that was fast approaching was too. He then signaled to the left and pulled into the shoulder. Just share the gift of grace and trust that the Lord’s power is working.

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things;

Once again two things to focus on, the unsearchable riches of Christ. We are not worried about impending economic collapse, that is merely the background that makes Christ appear all the brighter. Many people will worry that they haven’t been given a word. But you have been given grace, that is what you should share, the grace that was given to you. But in addition we are focused on making all men see the thing which has been hidden in God, the dispensation of the mystery. Think of this dispensation and the resolution. All things refers to God’s people, but it also refers to the disobedient and rebellious, to the enemies of God. The gospel of grace is good news because there is some really bad news for those who are one with the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’ Jeremiah 6:17 We are blowing the trumpet. There is good news, Jesus Christ is unsearchably rich. There is also bad news, the day of judgement is fast approaching. Very fast approaching.

10 to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Do not worry if you are less than the least. Think about how God is using you. I like what Larry Bird once said when asked about his opponents. “I wouldn’t know half these guys' names if they weren’t written on the back of their shirts”. No one is better at trash talking than Jesus. How do I know? Because he uses those who are less than the least to put the principalities and powers in their place.

11 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 13 Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you, which are your glory.

As we see the things that have been purposed fulfilled it should make us more bold and give us more confidence through our faith in Him. I have talked to some who are terrified at the things that are about to happen. I’m not. Why? Two thousand years ago Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets told us this was going to happen. They have been preparing us for this day for the last two thousand years. That is the dispensation of the mystery. Now it is clear that the rulers of this age are still clueless about what is happening and can’t even predict 3 months in advance. I look at what is going on, I look at the prophecies, and it strengthens my faith in the Lord, it gives me more confidence in His ability to lead us through the coming tribulations. He is the only one who is being honest with us. There will be tribulations, but they are for our glory. I tell all my students that the tests are “an opportunity for them to shine”. Students will tell me afterwards “I did my best” and I always tell them “that is all we are asking, no one is asking you to do more than your best”. Stop worrying that you aren’t good enough, you were called for a purpose. Just trust the Lord that He knows what He is doing.
 
14 For this cause

We started this chapter with the cause that He would take those dead in sin and build them into a great nation. To do that it requires that we not faint at the tribulations, but with boldness and confidence we access God through faith. For this cause, that instead of fainting we act in faith, Paul is praying.

I bow my knees unto the Father,

All these people who are terrified, what are they bowing their knees to? To their job? Take your eyes off of the enemy and focus them on the Father.

16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,

God doesn’t just want to conclude the age in victory, He wants to do it according to the riches of His glory. This is why He wouldn’t let Gideon keep all the men, He wanted the number to be so small that the victory would be that much more glorious. Think about the Exodus, that was done according to the riches of His glory. He didn’t simply defeat Pharoah, but He did it in a way that was glorious for His people.

that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;

Don’t you want to experience the outstanding resurrection? You need to also experience the fellowship of His sufferings. Your outward man may be very weak, but your inward man is where the glorious, conquering king wants to dwell.

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Remember this love is our foundation, our roots. We have been commanded to love one another.

18 may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

This chapter tells us about the blessings of the covenant. The third blessing is that we would be blessed. We will be blessed according to the riches of His glory. The blessing includes being strengthened with power through His Spirit. Jesus will dwell in us, change your name to Immanuel, God with you. In the midst of the storm, in the midst of tribulation we will stand fast in love. And this tribulation will help us to discover the height and depth, the breadth and length of all that Jesus Christ is. We will be filled to the fullness of God, when people see us they will see God, when people need to seek out God or pray to God they will seek out us, they will ask us to pray for them.
 
Leviticus also ends with a blessing:

26:3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, we have a covenant, we have to keep the covenant, but it comes with this blessing 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. 6 “‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. So why are you afraid? Fear God, obey Him, and trust Him. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. The sword passed through our country twice, war of 1812 and Civil war. 1812 was a minor issue, but it dated all the way back to Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. They both had a dispute over the power of the central government, and setting up a central bank. History has shown that Hamilton was correct, we needed the bank he instituted. But Jefferson did not humble himself, as a result when president he approached our navy with a frugalness of someone afraid to borrow money. That weakness allowed us to be bullied by both the British and the French. It was irresponsible to promote trade via the Atlantic without having a deep water navy to protect the ships. This is a minor issue, but burning down the Whitehouse was a reasonable rebuke for his arrogance. The Civil war on the other hand was horrible due to the horrible sin of slavery. Many argue that slavery is in the Bible. Fair enough, let’s compare Biblical slavery with the slavery in the South. First, in the Bible you could only have a slave if the person was an adult and signed a contract with you for their debt. You agree to pay a certain amount for a certain amount of years that I would serve you. In the South you were born into slavery. There was no end. There was no contract. Second, in the Bible you can’t “sell me into slavery”. I have to enter into that contract. In the South they had brokers who sold people into slavery. People were not treated with respect, signing a contract, having the purchase price pay off some debt they had. Also, if you got injured while working as a slave the contract was over. Biblical slavery has no resemblance to slavery in the South, it is much closer to an NFL contract. To make things worse the South then justified their slavery with racism, a component that is not found in the Bible. 7 You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. The closest the US has ever come to this is MacArthur’s victories during WWII. However, our victory in the Revolutionary war would be a close second, it was a David versus Goliath victory with the British being the superpower of the day and the US being a despised colony. The world is a complicated place. Is the US a Christian country? Everytime I visit other countries my impression is yes, the US is a Christian country. Many people in this country do keep covenant with God, but prior to this pandemic they were becoming harder and harder to see. 9 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. This to me is the issue. Yes we have been blessed, we have been fruitful, our numbers have increased. At the same time more and more we are seeing things that are done that God abhors. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. He promised that we would have peace in our land, no one would make us afraid. We’ll have enemies but we’ll pursue them. He’ll put His dwelling among us, He will walk among us, and we would be able to walk with our heads held high. Israel was brought out of Egypt, out of slavery, and most Americans can trace their lineage to those fleeing oppression and slavery. We are the newest country on the block and yet we can walk with our heads held high among the Chinese, Russians and Europeans.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the third blessing, that we would be filled unto all the fullness of God. Leviticus also concludes with a blessing on the nation of Israel. The trial we are about to go through will be the proof. It will prove the church has been filled unto all the fullness of God, lacking nothing. So the fact that God is faithful to judge the disobedient should also strengthen your faith that He will bless those that keep His covenant. This promise is sure. This blessing requires that we follow His decrees and obey His commands. James tells us that if we carefully investigate the perfect law of liberty then we will be blessed in our deed. Paul tells us that this blessing requires that the Lord dwell in our hearts by faith. It is all about us doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, and since we want to be treated with mercy it boils down to us treating others with mercy. “And I will bless thee” begins with us having mercy on others. Treating others the way we would have them treat us (not the way they have treated us but the way we would have them treat us). Our history tells us this is true. Israel’s history tells us this is true. Again and again the Lord has done things to help us trust Him, have faith in Him and obey Him.
 
The fourth blessing — and make thy name great​

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Numbers begins with the Israelites preparing for their journey and entry into the promised land. Ephesians 4 begins with how to walk worthily of the calling. Who is qualified to urge us? A prisoner of the Lord, a man who has been found worthy to suffer on behalf of the name of Jesus Christ. Consider these cases of people being killed by the police in a way that appears unjust. This has sparked outrage. However, regardless of how angry we might be we still need to walk worthily of the calling, and who are you going to listen to concerning this? It is hard to ignore the prisoner for the Lord. On the other hand consider these protests about election fraud. They may feel frustrated that the courts and representatives have shut their ears and will not listen to them, but still you must walk worthily.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Some wonder what their gift is, but the key is right here. “With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love;” If you need to exercise lowliness, or long suffering, or bearing with another in love — then that indicates your gift. For example, many years ago I was volunteering with a Christian publishing ministry. We printed gospel pamphlets. One night I was asked to transfer chemicals used to clean the ink off the rollers from a large 25 gallon jug to a much smaller container. These chemicals are toxic and flammable so they wanted it done without spilling, but as hard as I tried I couldn’t do it, I was making a mess. Then another brother from the brothers house came in, Hector. He asked what he needed to do and I told him to fill this up from that jug, saying “it is easy”. The brother in charge heard me and said “how can you say that?” I told him “to him, it is easy”. Sure enough, Hector was able to transfer the chemicals without spilling a drop. I am not a “gifted brother” in this respect, so there was no need for me to be “humble” or “long suffering” or to “bear with him”. However, if Hector were to teach me how to do it then he would need to exercise that level of forbearance. If you did not have any gifts then you would not understand what Paul is saying about “lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love”. Likewise we need every gift for the Body. The best way to remain lowly is to focus on others' gifts. If you focus on your own gift you will become puffed up rather than lowly, and that will have a negative impact on the oneness of the Body.

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:

Numbers gives instructions for making the Nazarite vows. Ephesians talks about the work of the ministry and how we all can attain it. The nazarite vow means that anyone can be a priest, in Ephesians 4 we see that every one of us can do the work of the ministry. This is a key message today. Yes, lawyers like Giuliani and Sydney Powell are necessary, journalists like Dan Bongino and Steve Bannon are required, a variety of experts who have volunteered their labor to investigate the fraud are necessary, but every single protestor is also necessary and needs to conduct themselves worthily of the ministry.

8 Wherefore he says, Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men.

Here we see the Lord giving gifts to the Body. Every one of us has, once the Lord’s grace acts within us our gift will be manifested. Since the Lord gave you as a gift to the body when you exercise that gift you are glorifying the Lord. So then, how does grace activate your gift?

9 But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things;

Has the Lord delivered you from “the lower parts of the earth”? Did the Lord lead you out? If so, you can now lead others out. We see this in James, and also with Paul, and of course with Peter. After they return from their failure they are able to strengthen their brethren. Paul was persecuting the followers of the way, but the Lord didn’t say that, He said “why do you persecute Me?” Paul got the vision of the Body of Christ. Peter denied the Lord three times, as a result he knew the pain of that and realized it was worse than death. As a result, when the Lord told him to go to the Gentiles doubting nothing he was able to be faithful to that word. James was the de facto leader of a cult of circumcision. In Galatians we see men coming from James and intimidating Peter. In Acts we see James telling Paul to offer up an animal sacrifice as a vow to the Lord, a sacrifice which would be a great insult to the sacrifice Jesus made. But James repented and his epistle demonstrates that he is now able to lead those who have wandered from the truth back to the Lord. This is what is so fascinating with the "deplorable" the people who are protesting the election fraud. They are not intimidated by ANTIFA, insults and threats. Because the Lord has led them out of a place where they were surrounded with that they are gifted in this sense, unlike the "snowflakes" who melt under even the slightest hint of animosity. We need each other, don't be proud that you can stand up to the threats of thugs, and don't look down on the "deplorables" you need them.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

I think we are all familiar with these gifts. But I would like to consider another gift that the Lord has given us in the context of the great tribulation and the rapture. Most Christians are familiar with the rapture. In the middle of the 70th week the Antichrist breaks the covenant, sets himself up in the temple, the sixth seal is opened, the overcomers are raptured to the heavens and Satan is kicked out. Satan is cast down to Earth and the Great tribulation begins. However, some believers are still left on Earth during the Great tribulation. They will need to be matured, but how? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way that those who had gone through great tribulation themselves could help equip these believers who are still left on Earth?

Revelation 3:8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

The entire church in Philadelphia will be kept from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole earth. There will be many overcomers that are raptured, but these will be taken as an entire congregation. I suspect seeing the entire church raptured will be what causes the “synagogue of Satan” to acknowledge that the Lord has loved them. They did two things that were very important, they kept the Lord’s word and they didn’t deny His name. So, if I am left on earth I will want to get the word from them. What stronger letter of commendation could they have? So then wouldn’t it be great if one of their deeds is to store up this word in a way that it would be available to all God’s people after the rapture? So now let’s return to Ephesians, God gave various gifted ones to equip His people so that they could be mature and attain to the fulness of God. He that descended is also the same that ascended. Peter, Paul and James all descended and ascended with the Lord. I suspect the church in Philadelphia also descended and ascended with the Lord. Since they have gone through tribulation they will be able to help those of us who remain to also go through the tribulation. Therefore, I would suggest He also gave the church in Philadelphia as a testimony so that in the most trying times of the Great Tribulation God’s people would know where to get the word that will build them up. I see many Christians confused by why God, who is Lord of all, would have everyone kicked out of the church. But wouldn’t it be marvelous if this church in Philadelphia is using this time to put the things they hold onto someplace where all God’s people could access them? Suppose at this moment they are putting this word on the internet. Then when they are taken up the rest of us will know exactly where to go to get that word.
 
At the time I am writing this we are seeing censorship that is widespread. Now there is a very easy and scriptural way to overcome censorship so let's discuss this as it relates to this blessing of "making thy name great".

My dad was an executive at UPI and the NY Times. He told me that the key asset for a newspaper or any form of journalism is trust. CNN calls itself "the most trusted name", the NY Times said "all the news that's fit to print", etc. If they lose people's trust they are finished. Recently the NY Times ran a feature expose on the Trump administration with an anonymous source within the administration providing the information. The NY Times allowed this person to be anonymous because they claimed they were a "high level official in the administration" (Secretary of State? Chief of Staff?). Nope, as it turns out it was a low level staffer working in another building that no one ever heard of. This story revealed that the NY Times had a very clear agenda and were willing to lie and fabricate stories to push their anti Trump narrative. When the truth gets exposed people will lose trust in the NY Times, their credibility will drop, and their overall worth as a paper will also drop.

A few months ago the NY Post had a big story on Hunter Biden's laptop revealing he was trading his father's name and access to his father for millions, even a billion dollars. The laptop also revealed he was a pedophile and had other disturbing revelations as well. The NY Times, CNN, Twitter, Facebook, MSNBC, and NPR all censored the story for various bogus reasons. At first they claimed that they don't publish stories from hacked sources. As it turns out the source was not hacked so this explanation was completely irrelevant but worse they had just published a big story on Trump's tax return which was hacked. So their explanation was a lie and expressed their hypocrisy.

After Biden's victory was certified they put their censorship into high gear. Google and Apple shut Parler off their app stores so no one could get the app to access them and Amazon.com kicked them off their servers. All of this took place in a coordinated way with only one days notice. This billion dollar company lost all their data. This violates anti trust laws but that could take years to litigate. Besides Biden's campaign received incredibly large donations from these tech giants and he has seeded his administration with officials from these companies. It is highly likely that a Biden administration will look very favorably on these tech giants in any upcoming litigation.

So then, what does the Bible say about dealing with this?

First of all when you learn someone is lying to you that is a major issue. A spring does not have both fresh water and sweet. If they are lying to you go to another spring. If one company leaves their app store or their server farm that is not going to harm these giants that much. But if 75,000,000 people who voted for Trump and now realize they were robbed of the election and lied to leave, that is a very different matter. Amazon.com has about $300 billion in annual revenue. That number has grown ten fold in five years. The stock price reflects that kind of growth. How much would you pay to get a ten fold return in five years? Now if these 75 million people on average spend $1,000 a year at Amazon.com and they all leave, well that would be a decrease of about 25% of their revenue. So right now people have valued the stock as giving them a 10 fold return in 5 years, so they would buy $10 of Amazon.com assets for $50 with the hope that in five years they will have $100. That is a good return. However, if revenue drops by 25% in one year how much would you then pay? Again, you have $10 of assets but you expect in five years it might be worth $5, well in that case you would pay $2.5 for it. If these 75 million people leave Amazon.com right now the stock price could easily drop from $50 to $2.5. In a year's time it could be worth 1/20th of what it is worth now. The same principle applies to Twitter (go to Parler), Youtube (go to Rumble), Google (go to DuckDuckgo), Apple (go to Motorola) and Amazon.com (go to Walmart). These tech giants could become the MySpace, Compaq and Blockbuster in a year.

The bible says that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. This is how you get a great name. You have to slay the giants.
 
The fifth blessing — be thou a blessing​

This is so important. In the last blessing God said He would make our name great. How? By slaying the giants. Why would God declare judgement on these giants? Because they were not a blessing to others but a curse. In Deuteronomy Moses reviewed the experiences of the Israelites and urged them to keep the laws of God. The Law of God is a portrait of God, when we keep the law of God we are imitating God. This is the God that causes the sun to shine on everyone and for the rain to fall on everyone. In the last blessing I pointed out that these tech giants were exhibiting favoritism, according to James that means they were violating the Lord's royal commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. In Ephesians 5 Paul reviews the Lord’s offering and sacrifice for us and asks us to be imitators of God. Then in Deuteronomy we get the principles and instructions for a Godly life. In Ephesians we see the same. In James he says that pure religion is to visit the widows and fatherless in their affliction. In other words, pure religion is to be thou a blessing.

In chapters 29-30 of Deuteronomy they commit themselves as a nation to stand apart unto God. In Ephesians the church is the Bride of Christ, we are to be in subjection to our husband who has loved us and given Himself for us. Eve was "bone of Adam's bone and flesh of Adam's flesh". Jesus was a blessing to all, even sinners. That is who His bride must express. Finally in Deuteronomy we see the change in leadership from Moses, representing the Law, to Joshua representing Jesus. Likewise Ephesians 5 concludes with us being in subjection to Jesus and being in subjection one to another. Imitating God just as Jesus did is a blessing. Living a godly life, and being in subjection one to another is a blessing. These are ways in which we will be a blessing.

5 :1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

This is a direct reference to the example the Lord gave us that is recorded in the gospels: 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. This is what it means to “be thou a blessing”. A man covered with Leprosy asks the Lord “if you are willing you can make me clean”. The Lord touched him saying “I am willing”. Immediately the man is cleansed, if he hadn’t been cleansed the Lord would have been unclean. Demonstrated the Lord’s willingness to give himself up for us as a sacrifice. There is another example which is very interesting. Some men carried a paralyzed man to Jesus so that He would heal him. They couldn’t get to Jesus because of the crowd so they dug through the roof and lowered the man down to Jesus. Interestingly it says that Jesus saw “their” faith. It doesn’t say He saw “his” faith. That seems quite distinctive to me, perhaps these men brought the paralyzed man to Jesus even though the paralyzed man didn’t have faith that he would be healed. Perhaps it was their faith, not his, that caused him to be healed. Put yourself into the shoes of the paralyzed man, you don’t want to be taken to Jesus, you don’t want Him to say “rise and walk” only for you to be unable to, and then for Him to say “O ye of little faith”. Perhaps you would vehemently complain to these men, who completely ignore you and instead of turning back when they couldn’t get to Jesus go and dig through the roof. Those men were obviously desperate. You might even have been cursing them out as they lowered you down. Dreading this, knowing “I can’t do it”, “I can’t do it”. Then you hear the Lord say “your sins are forgiven”. He didn’t tell you to rise and walk. A little dispute starts and the Lord asks “which is easier: to say, ‘your sins are forgiven’ or to say ‘Get up and walk’? That is just weird, why would the Lord care about which is easier to say? But for you, the paralyzed man, that means a lot! I can’t “rise and walk” but I can say “your sins are forgiven”. In fact, I can start by saying it to those men who brought me here against my will. Treat people the way you want to be treated. It doesn’t mean they will treat you that way, but it does mean that the Lord will. You forgave their sins, the Lord also has the authority to forgive yours, and how do we know that? Because He also has the authority to say “rise and walk”. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Ps. 56:13 This is what it means to be a blessing by imitating the example Jesus gave us. Jesus also ate a large banquet with sinners and tax collectors that Levi threw. He was asked why He ate with sinners and He said “it is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. This is also what it means to be thou a blessing and to walk in love. Jesus is the bridegroom, we are the bride. We are a new wineskin, a new garment.
 
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

I have heard from some who are very worried about the coming judgement and the day of the Lord. “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” If you are in a position to be a blessing but instead keep it for yourself. That is greedy. Very often that wealth will be gotten by immoral means and being immoral and greedy is often accompanied by being impure as well. This is idolatry. This person worships money, they worship the flesh, and pleasures of the flesh. The Lord is setting up a kingdom based on His command, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. And if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you do this your reward will be great! You will be beloved children of the Most high! You will be an imitator of God just as God the father is merciful. Right now we are seeing the ultimate test of this with the protests, looting and riots surrounding the abusive treatment of cops. You can’t judge that the cops are unrighteous and then go and riot and loot. You will be judged with the very judgement you judged. If the blind are leading these protests everyone will fall into the pit.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

I have heard a lot of people justifying these actions. They say they have seen this abuse over and over again, nothing is getting better. But they are blind. The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. Ps. 110:5 1967 was the first time we had a black mayor. Today we have many, many black mayors. When I was a baby I stayed with my grandmother who lived in Jackson, Ms. At that time it was illegal for a white man and a black woman to get married. Jackie Robinson is not that long ago, but what a change we have seen in professional sports. Separate but equal was not that long ago, but what a change we have seen in education. So don’t be deceived by empty words, we are heading in the right direction, we aren’t there yet, but peaceful protests do work. “No good tree bears bad fruit, not does a bad tree bear good fruit”. Riots and looting are fruit from a bad tree. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. Pr. 4:19 They are the blind leading the blind, they both fall in the pit and don’t even know why. Standing strong for human rights by loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, and treating people in the way you want to be treated is fruit from a good tree.

7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

Right now we are seeing a flood, a torrent striking the house. If it is built on a solid foundation of righteousness it will stand. Those who do what the Lord told us to say will not be shaken, but those who do not put the Lord’s words into practice will see the house collapse suddenly and the destruction will be complete. That is where we are right now. Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who destroys. Pr 28:24. These looters and rioters are robbing from their parents. They are robbing from everyone who lives in the community.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

It is possible to repent of past sins and to be healed. What really pleases the Lord is having faith in Him. Think about the Roman centurion that the Lord said “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel”. He was part of those who were oppressing Israel, yet he had faith in the Lord, was well aware of his sinfulness and had repented, and he became an example for us all.

11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

This is what we are seeing today with the viral videos. The deeds of darkness include vicious and inhumane attacks by the police as well as looting and rioting. Expose them through the internet, newspaper, or any other means is Biblical. These deeds have been going on since the beheading of John the Baptist. I saw a video analysis of several videos taken at the time the woman was shot and killed in the Capital building and it really exposed the deeds of darkness. You could see three people working together in a coordinated way to foment the riot and push it to a violent end.
 
12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

I think many of us have been shocked and disgusted by the things we have seen on these videos. People who just a few years ago could act in secret and do these shameful things now are being exposed by the light. A great example of this is the video of people pulling out hidden ballots and running 130,000 ballots through the machines without any observers.

13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Many people realize they have been sleeping, unaware of what was going on. These videos have gone a long way towards waking people up. Not all are concerned about justice, but for those that are Christ will shine on you. To those that aren’t Jeremiah says “I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet’! But you said, ‘We will not listen.’ Jeremiah 6:17 This is why the day of the Lord will be a day of wrath. How long are you going to sleep? It is now time to wake up.

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

When people wake up they need to be careful. Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. Pr. 29:11 And if you are a servant, perhaps a public servant, or even an employee. Be advised, A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant arouses his fury. Pr. 14:35 We have seen people who have been fired, suspended, and prosecuted for behaving shamefully.

16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Has anyone ever seen days this evil? Surely he recognizes deceivers; and when he sees evil, does he not take note? Job 11:11 Surely these days would make the top ten, and who knows what tomorrow will bring.

17 Therefore do not be foolish,

Many are stunned at how foolish this looting and rioting is. The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Pr. 14:1 This is what they are doing, they are tearing down their own house.

but understand what the Lord’s will is.

I have seen some who are very concerned, they are confused, they don’t know what the will of the Lord is and they are afraid of this coming judgement but don’t know what they should do. There is a story of Jesus going to eat with a Pharisee and while eating a woman who lived a sinful life came and anointed his feet with a jar of perfume. The Pharisee did not give Him a kiss, did not give Him water to wash His feet, but she washed His feet and kissed them. To her He said “your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace”. I have heard that this is not about Trump, when they say "never Trump" what they are really saying is "never populism". They despise the common person just like this Pharisee despised this woman.

18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You need to sow to your spirit. Getting drunk is sowing to your flesh. Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and songs, singing and making music from your heart, giving thanks, these are all ways in which we sow to our spirit. We are a lamp on a stand. We have the word, we have songs, we have our spirit. Use it or lose it. Put this word into practice and you will not be foolish. Think about the story of Jesus healing a demon possessed man by having the demons go into a herd of swine which then rushed down into the sea. The Lord told him to “return home and tell how much God has done for you”. This is what it means to always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Share your experiences of being saved.
 
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Submission has become an ugly word. It is as though being submissive means you are giving way to evil. But everyone has to submit to one another. Even Governor Cuomo on his addresses points out that all he can do is give the facts and make recommendations and if don’t heed them, if we don’t submit to them there is little he can do. I am a teacher and it is the same thing with me, we submit to students and parents every bit as much as they submit to us. Submission is not ugly, in fact it is what separates the beautiful women from the ugly ones. Song of Songs 4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. This book describes the most beautiful woman to the Lord. Her hair is a head covering to her. He describes that hair as a “flock of goats that appear on the mount Gilead”. Obviously Solomon didn’t get the memo that silky hair is the most beautiful. It seems all the shampoos try to sell “silkiness”. I never heard of “goats hair” as being beautiful. So what is he saying? Mount Gilead is where Laban and Jacob met and Laban gave Jacob the authority over his daughters. Laban and Jacob were both goats. Many women say that they would submit if their husband were this person or that person. But to submit to a goat husband, that is really beautiful. A special beauty. These women had submitted to Laban and now they were going to submit to Jacob. But Solomon continues with an even less attractive feature, her teeth are like shorn sheep. If you have ever seen a sheep after they have been shorn they are not attractive, they appear naked and comical. If I were a sheep I think it would be pretty embarrassing to be shorn. But Solomon is very specific, the teeth look like shorn sheep that go up from the washing. Right after they shear the sheep they make them run through a stream to get washed off. Right at that point where these sheep have been completely humiliated, that is what her teeth look like. I have always felt that this would be the best test in a beauty contest. At the very end, the final test, sheer the contestants, shave off all their hair and let’s see their teeth. Do we see the fangs of a snake, barren and filled with curses? I suspect that would be the common reaction. But if you were to see a woman who after being humiliated like that was filled with the double blessing, no curse, that is true beauty.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

I used to teach English in Taiwan to adults, and after sharing that verse I was asked “what about the man, what does his hair look like?” The man is Jesus Christ, He gave his life for us, we only give our hair, it will grow back. This is what it means to be a blessing. The hair that the sheep give us is a blessing to us. We make blankets, sweaters and clothes from it. Isn’t it wonderful that they could bless us like this, and with their mouth bless us as well? That is how we show our love.

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

This is a reference to Genesis: 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. In Genesis we see that Adam has two skills: observation and creativity. I took this one class on foraminifera, these are tiny little sea creatures that have shells. There are over 50,000 different ones, and they have all been catalogued, identified and named. To name this one creature which many people have never even heard of was an incredible feat of observation and creativity. We use these creatures to date and correlate rock units. Think about what a wonderful gift of observation and creativity it is to name every single creature on this earth. Once I was teaching a sunday school class about this chapter and after discussing Adam I asked what was Eve’s skill? One girl visibly bristled and said “cleaning and cooking” which I found quite funny since I couldn’t find anything in Genesis 2 about cleaning or cooking. No, what I did see was that Eve didn’t say a word and yet Adam exclaimed “This time is it! This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” How did she do that? It seems to me she is very skilled at beholding and reflecting. For her, beholding and reflecting is an art form.

33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
 
The sixth blessing — I will bless those that bless thee​

Joshua begins with the children of the Israelites entering the promised land. It is a miraculous crossing with incredible grace. Ephesians 6 begins with

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), 3 that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

The crossing of the Jordan was honoring their parents' crossing of the Red Sea. The only parents they had at this point were Moses, Joshua and Caleb who were like the parents and great grandfather for the entire nation, everyone else had died. Their parents had faced similar issues and had found a way through, that way through becomes a road map for the next generation. This is the sixth blessing, I will bless those that bless thee. Blessing your father and mother comes with a promise, that you also would be blessed. Our fathers and mothers received this blessing, if we honor them we also are blessed. To truly receive this blessing you must be a father and mother. This does not mean according to the flesh, the Lord made that clear in the gospels. Matt 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. For example, consider Herb Brooks, those kids on the US hockey team blessed him despite the intense trial he put them through, and in return they were blessed with the gold medal. Our blessing comes from our obedience to the Lord, but eventually others are blessed by obeying us.

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

This expression “parents in the Lord” is quite nice. He isn’t saying that they have to be your biological parents. Nor does he say that you should obey them if that requires you to be outside of the Lord. I think this is the kind of word that lends itself to sharing our experiences. But I want to emphasize that you can be an orphan and still have “parents in the Lord”. Mike Tyson was an orphan, he treated his trainer like he was his father and as long as he did he was blessed. When Mike lost that he also lost the blessing. I am often reminded about my own dad. He had a small boat for fishing and I would go out with him before school and help him check the lobster pots. These traps were set among the rocks on the coastline of NY. One morning we were out and after checking the traps and dropping them back in the water we realized the fog had come in and we couldn’t see two feet in front of us. For the last couple of minutes while working with the traps we could have drifted anywhere. We had no idea which way was out of the rocks. My inclination was to throw down the anchor and wait, but my dad pulled out the map. He had me hang over the bow and watch for rocks and we putted as slowly as we could towards a bell buoy. When we got to the buoy he had me find the number on it, and then he found that number on the map. In this way we were able to find our way back to the docks without being able to see anything. He had always insisted that we keep the map on the boat and I never understood why till that morning. That map had been very hard to read with lots of little numbers on it, and now I understood that each of those little numbers was really important. Joshua 18:8 As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it”. Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ. The good land is a type of the New Covenant. The apostles have gone out and made a map of this good land, this new covenant. There will be a few times in our life when we are desperate for this word to be a lamp to our feet. These apostles, they are our fathers, the patriarchs of the church, bless them and you will be blessed. My mother was quite different from my father. She was a health food nut, played a concert piano, and wrote poetry. If you honor your father you will be successful, honor your mother and you will live long not the earth. It is a double blessing. Proverbs 4:20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. The Bible is also filled with mothers and godly women. My Mom’s brother was named as my “god father”. He had a little ministry in Jackson, MS. He ran a small charity called “operation shoestring”. It reminded me of the poor widow who cast two small copper coins into the treasury. I didn’t see the point of it when I was a kid. The charity was raising money for Black churches that had been attacked by the KKK. As a result the KKK also bombed his house with his wife and two small children in the house. As I grew up I was able to see the price he had to pay for standing for righteousness. I also came to understand the Lord’s word. Mark 12:43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Some of these lessons take years to learn. These lessons are not like something you read in a book, they are things you learn by walking with someone else in obedience. This is what baptism is. When I was first told about baptism it seemed foolish to me. I was told that to be saved you had to believe and be baptized, and I found it offensive for them to say I wasn’t already saved. But, I saw it was written quite clearly in the Bible, so I said if the Lord commands it then fine, I’ll be baptized. When I did I felt like I had walked through a wall of water and a heavy case surrounding me had fallen off into that pool. It was a Friday night and when I returned to my dorm room at the campus we had about 12 kids in the living room. My roommate asked why my hair was wet and I said “I had gotten baptized”. The looks made it clear when they asked “why did you do that” they were not asking to hear the gospel. The next morning I was woken up very early by the campus security, there was a phone call from my mother, my grandmother had died that same night and I was to fly to the funeral. Her husband had died a year earlier and she had been very lonely, she had wanted the Lord to take her for months. When I was a baby I had lived with her and I felt that she had been praying that I would be saved before the Lord took her. One day ago I was arguing about whether or not I needed to be baptized to be saved, that ended the debate as far as I was concerned. I feel that walking in the faith of my grandmother, mother and uncle is a way to honor my father and mother.
 
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

The phrase “do not exasperate” indicates you are challenging your kids. Training and instruction must be challenging, you need to develop a mindset to embrace challenges, however, if you make the challenges too hard the kids become exasperated. The idea is to maintain a delicate balance to push them to grow and expand. When I was a kid I was in the boy scouts and one year my dad agreed to be the scoutmaster. My best friend was going to be senior patrol leader, and my other friends had various administrative functions in the troop, but I felt the best way to help my dad would be to be a patrol leader. I felt that was the job that really made the biggest difference. Before our first troop meeting my dad called a meeting of all four patrol leaders and the senior patrol leader. He had a list of all 8 members of each patrol with the name of the patrol leader. He then turned to one kid and asked for two names that he didn’t want in his patrol, he did that with the second and third patrol leaders, but then he skipped me and told the first kid to choose two people from my patrol that he wanted and likewise with the second and third patrol leaders. When he was done he had 8 kids that no one had wanted and that was my patrol. No one had to explain to me what had just happened, I realized that this first patrol leader’s father had complained that the troop was rigged for my patrol to win the award for best patrol. I had won two years in a row before that year and we had simply put the awards in a drawer. Neither my dad nor I thought they were anything, so insulting my dad like this received a swift and absolute dealing, just like Abraham sacrificing Isaac. I also was insulted, but I kind of realized it was not all that unreasonable. It had never occurred to me till then, but both years I had won I had also had the “premier scout” in my patrol, those were the other two patrol leaders in this meeting. That didn’t bother me, I had chosen to be a patrol leader to help my dad and I couldn’t deny that by having this patrol I would be helping him. However, two things really did bother me. First, one of the kids in my patrol was the younger brother of one of the patrol leaders in that meeting. I knew he would go home and tell his brother what happened and then everyone in my patrol would know what happened. Second, my Mom was worn out from patrol meetings (between me and my older brother we had been doing this for many years) and asked that I not have any patrol meetings at our house. So after they learned that no one wanted them I would have to tell them and oh, by the way, my mom doesn’t want you guys to come to my house either. In the first troop meeting they allowed us to break into individual patrols to come up with a name for our patrol and arrange for the patrol meetings. Sure enough, the younger brother of that other patrol leader (the one who had been the premier scout in my patrol just the previous season) stood off by himself and said to me “looks like they gave you all the losers''. Everyone was looking at me and I said “I am not a loser and my patrol is not a loser, who told you that you were a loser?” Think of the irony, his older brother was the premier scout and the other two patrol leaders don’t pick him? That was it, as soon as I said that everyone was happy, they didn’t care what others thought, they just wanted to know what I thought. They immediately began fighting over who got to have the patrol meeting at their house. So, I said we would go by turns and graciously gave up my turn to give them more. About halfway through the year we were on a hike. My best friend had this new tent called a Northface. It was awesome. We could cook in the tent, so although it was pouring rain all night we were drinking hot cocoa and chicken soup. We were laughing that it was like being in a five star hotel. Meanwhile a member of my patrol who also had this Northface tent had camped in a dry river bed which flooded and washed out his tent. In the morning I discovered that they were miserable and the father who was leading the hike was also miserable. He demanded that we pack up and leave immediately, but I noticed that one of my patrol members had a sleeping bag hanging out of his pack, covered in mud. This would result in mocking ridicule from others during the hike and he had already reached his breaking point. I needed fifteen minutes to fix this but the father was demanding that we leave that instant. I told my friend to take point, I’d take up the read, then I handed that kid my pack and told him we’d trade back at the first rest stop, and I repacked his pack. That could have been a catastrophe, but it was narrowly averted. Then on the last camping trip, days before the end of the year, my patrol had sewn up the number one patrol a month ago, but one of my kids was 50 points away from first place. I was upset that these guys had insulted my kids so I decided I’d help him win the award. I went to the scribe who is responsible for points and asked how much he would give if he built a shelter. He said 25 points. I said that isn’t enough. He said “but, I’ll give him 75 points if he also spends the night in it”. So I shook hands and went to tell the kid. He complained that he didn’t care about the award. Since I had already agreed with the Scribe I forced him to keep his end of the bargain, I felt like a correction officer with a prisoner who complained the entire time. Inwardly I told myself “live and learn” I made a mistake, these guys got me off balance to care about these awards, I won’t make that mistake again. Then, later at the barbecue I was surprised at many of the parents that showed up. Every time I turned around there were other parents who never came to these things. Then around the campfire when my Dad called that kid in my patrol who had won the award the way he marched out like he was winning the medal of honor it hit me “he lied to me!” He cared a lot! That is why is parents were both here for the first time, that is why all the parents of my kids were here when they never came. I realized that is why my mom is here, I had thought she came because my dad was the scoutmaster.
 
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