Sunday, August 19, 2018 – Ephesians 6:23

Having God’s Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love in Your Life, Pt. 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBHEURCi3-E&feature=youtu.be

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here we are noting AGAPE Love that relates to the motivating force behind all that God does. Why does God do or say anything? Because of His Love.

AGAPE Love is also one of His virtues, related to His dignity and integrity. How does God do or say anything? In a Loving way!

Therefore, AGAPE is God’s Motivational Virtue Love by which He says and does all things.

This is the same love that we should have in our lives; the motivation behind all that we say and do, plus the virtue behind all that we say and do. We will call this, “Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love,” (MVA Love).  

Ephesians began with MVA Love and now ends with it, Eph 1:4, 15; 2:4; 3:17, 19; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2; 6:23. 

We continue this study by noting the last six utilizations of the noun AGAPE in Ephesians.

5. Eph 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Having the solid foundation of motivational virtue AGAPE Love for Christ, it will propel you to know and grow even greater in love with Jesus Christ, where you can know and live in His “Tesseract Love,” (breadth, length, height, and depth), vs. 18, when you live in the “Life Beyond GNOSIS,” vs. 19, and the “Life Beyond Dreams,” vs. 20.

As you may recall from our teaching in Ephesians chapter 3, (see our website), the “Tesseract Love” of Christ is that which we can comprehend spiritually and live in experientially. It is a love envelope between Christ’s love for you and your love for Him that consistently interacts and overlaps, surrounding your every thought and action. It also has the 4^th dimension of time, which is the eternal and infinite love that the Lord Jesus Christ has for you that you can know and comprehend in the faith rest life. It is “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”

6. Eph 4:2, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.”

To “walk worthy of our calling,” vs. 1, the believers Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love is demonstrated by being humble, gentle, patient (longsuffering), and tolerant towards others. Having the mental attitude of MVA Love moves you to express that love towards others in these ways. The further context of this MVA Love is found in vs. 3, “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” With MVA Love demonstrated through your humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerance towards others, you will be a peacemaker inside the body of Christ, as you help, exhort, reprove, lift up, etc., your fellow believers to the glory of God.

7. Eph 4:15, “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”

Working diligently as peacemakers towards the unity of the Spirit, in this passage MVA Love is the virtue that motivates you to teach the truth of God’s Word to each other with the result of your own personal spiritual growth, as well as enhancing the growth of others. In this, you should recognize false teaching and false teachers when you hear it and see them, vs. 14, so as to refute their teaching with the “truth” of God’s Word. This will allow you to continue your momentum in the spiritual life and provide momentum for others too. Motivated by the truth of God’s Word, individually and collectively, we will grow spiritually, with the result of being drawn closer and closer to Jesus Christ.

8. Eph 4:16, “From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

When we personally grow spiritually, we will be motivated by the virtue of AGAPE Love to assist the rest of the Body of Jesus Christ, (i.e., other believers), to also grow spiritually. The demonstration of having motivational virtue AGAPE Love is to support your church by which the Word of God is disseminated, and be an Ambassador for Christ yourself in one or more of its many applications. A demonstration that you do not have AGAPE Love, is when you do not assist the growth of others within your church or even outside of your Church with your time, talent, or treasure.

9. Eph 5:2, “And walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

Here, our motivational virtue AGAPE Love leads us to live the Christian way of life; “walk in love,” as we imitate how God lives, vs. 1, (i.e., in holiness and righteousness). This is demonstrated when our lives are a pleasing offering and sacrifice to God. In other words, instead of living for yourself inside of Satan’s cosmic system, you live for Christ, serving and sacrificing on behalf of others as God leads you to do so, as you ultimately serve God. Our great example in this endeavor is Jesus Christ and His completed work culminating in the Cross.

John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” This is a demonstration of Tesseract MVA Love.

10. Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here, Paul gives a final blessing based on his desire for all believers to have Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love in their souls and lives. In this passage, we see that love is not possible without faith. Faith means “what is believed.” It is knowledge we rely upon and use. That knowledge should be God’s Word, Bible Doctrine, resident within your soul. Having God’s Word in your soul, you rely upon it to make the various daily moment by moment decisions in your life. You think like God would think. You think like Jesus Christ would think. You think by means of the Holy Spirit based on what the Word of God says. When you use God’s Word as the basis for your daily moment by moment decisions, you are expressing your MVA Love towards God while expressing your MVA Love towards others by the righteous and holy decisions you make. That is Paul’s desire for you. That is God’s desire for you!

Thursday, August 16, 2018 – Ephesians 6:23

Having the Motivational Virtue of AGAPE Love in Your Life, Pt. 1 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9idzmJOB6ZM

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Next in Eph 6:23 we have, “… and love with faith.”

The Greek reads, KAI AGAPE META PISTIS. The Coordinating Conjunction KAI, “and” links Paul’s blessing and desire for the believers in the Church to have peace, with a blessing and desire for them to also have love (AGAPE) in their soul. Interestingly, he also adds “with faith,” META PISTIS. This tells us that love, which germinates “from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” can only be accomplished when there is faith in the life of the believer. Likewise, peace is only accomplished in the life of the believer when there is faith. Therefore, we see that peace and love come into your life by means of faith. Paul is now emphasizing the love of God that operates in a person through faith. We will talk more about the relationship between Love and Faith below.

But first, we will discuss Love by itself as used and defined in the Book of Ephesians. Nevertheless, throughout the Scriptures, AGAPE Love consistently relates to the motivating force behind all that God does. God is motivated in all that he does because of His love. It is one of His Divine attributes that make up His essence. It is the motivational factor in His grace pipeline when blessing man, both believers and unbelievers. In addition, it is one of His virtues. It is that which provides Him to have dignity and integrity in all that He does and says. Therefore, AGAPE is God’s Motivational Virtue Love by which He says and does all things.

This is the same love that we should have in our lives; the motivation behind all that we say and all that we do, plus the virtue behind all that we say and all that we do. When God’s type of AGAPE Love operates inside the believer’s soul, whatever he does will have the same motivation that God has, and the same integrity with dignity for others, (i.e., virtue) that God has. Therefore, we will call this “Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love,” (MVA Love), cf. 1 Cor 13. 1 Cor 13:13, “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is (MVA) love.”

All joking aside, the believer who consistently operates in MVA Love, will be an MVP in God’s eyes, Cf. Mat 25:21, 23; Heb 13:20-21.

It is appropriate to conclude this letter with love, because it began with love and emphasizes the unfathomable love of God. Paul has often spoken about it utilizing the Noun AGAPE, Eph 1:4, 15; 2:4; 3:17, 19; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2. A survey of its utilization in the book of Ephesians tells us about God’s Motivational Virtue AGAPE love and how we can have His MVA Love and apply it in our lives.

1. Eph 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”

Here we saw the Motivational Virtue AGAPE Love of God in His election of every believer in eternity past, “before the foundation of the world.” Because of the saving work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, “the Beloved,” vs. 6, believers are predestined to adoption as sons of God, vs. 5. The Love of God was the motivating factor for electing and predestining us through adoption into His Royal Family, giving us the status of being a child of God. Motivated by His love, He overcame our sins, and elected and predestined us to join His eternal Royal Family.

2. Eph 1:15, “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints.”

In this passage, Paul was commending the believers of the Church for expressing their motivational virtue AGAPE love towards other members of the body of Christ in their generation. It may have reference to the offering collected by the Churches in Asia Minor for the poor and stricken believers in Jerusalem. That may be how they demonstrated their love. Therefore, love was the motiving factor for these believers to give, either of their time, talent, or treasures. Therefore, we see that MVA Love is demonstrated, it is not just a thought that exists by itself. True AGAPE love is always manifested, Deut 10:19; 2 Cor 8:24; 1 Tim 4:12.

Deut 10:19, “So show your (MVA) love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

2 Cor 8:24, “Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your (MVA) love and of our reason for boasting about you.”

3. Eph 2:4, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.”

The greater context of this passage is found in the preceding and following verses that tell us we were dead in our sins and enemies of God, yet because of His MVA Love, God saved us, gave us eternal spiritual life and raised us up in glory to be seated with Christ at His right hand. God motivated by His love did all this for us.

As Paul is pointing out the motivating factor for God’s “mercy” being shown towards us, this is also a reminder to believers that this same MVA Love must be the motivating force behind all our deeds as Christians towards others. That is, not holding their sins against them, but forgiving them and then helping or serving them to raise them out of their sinful state to a place of glory.

4. Eph 3:17, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”

Here, the faithful believer is rooted and grounded in motivational virtue AGAPE love as a result of their experiential sanctification, where Christ is consistently at home in their heart, the right lobe of the soul, i.e., “the mentality of their soul.” In other words, with the Word of God, (the mind of Jesus Christ), resident within our souls, we will be “rooted and grounded in MVA Love.” That is, we will have a firm / solid foundation by which we stand upon that motivates us to construct and conduct our spiritual life. The further context of this passage is of comprehending the “Tesseract Love” of Christ is noted below.

5. Eph 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Having the solid foundation of motivational virtue AGAPE Love for Christ, it will propel you to know and grow even greater in love with Jesus Christ, where you can know and live in His “Tesseract Love,” (breadth, length, height, and depth), vs. 18, when you live in the “Life Beyond GNOSIS,” vs. 19, and the “Life Beyond Dreams,” vs. 20.

As you may recall from our teaching in Ephesians chapter 3, (see our website), the “Tesseract Love” of Christ is that which we can comprehend spiritually and live in experientially. It is a love envelope between Christ’s love for you and your love for Him that consistently interacts and overlaps, surrounding your every thought and action. It also has the 4^th dimension of time, which is the eternal and infinite love that the Lord Jesus Christ has for you that you can know and comprehend in the faith rest life. It is “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”

Tuesday, August 14, 2018 – Ephesians 6:23

Having the Peace of God in your Life Pt. 3,

The Hindrances to Peace in your Life Pt. 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yCcA_mhFYs

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are several hindrances to your inner peace, mostly stemming from a negative mental attitude. Just as righteousness and truth are the noble companions of peace, so sin and falsehood are its great hindrances.

It is God’s desire for you to live in all manners of peace: Peace with God, Peace of conscience, Peace among ourselves. Yet, there are three evil masters that can sap the peace and joy out of your life: Worry, Anxiety, and Striving, Luke 12:22-29; cf., Mat 6:25-34.

Our Lord tells us not to worry, have anxiety, nor strive for even the most basic necessities of life, as He is a loving and caring God who can provide all these things and more.

Mat 6:34, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

Prov 12:20, “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.”

Emotions can be a believer’s worst enemy. We must recognize Satan’s lies and identify feelings that are not in line with God’s Word.

Worry is, and always will be, a fatal disease of the heart, for its beginning signals the end of faith.

Worry intrudes on God’s compassionate ability to provide. When we allow our problems to overshadow God’s promises, we unknowingly, doom ourselves to a defeat that was never part of God’s eternal plans.

The Lord has a plan to provide peace in the pressure of life. If we do not learn to trust Him, we will not go any farther on our journey with Him.

Psa 4:8, “In peace (shalom) I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”

Psa 29:11, “The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.”

Psa 55:18, “He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me.”

Psa 119:165, “Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

Heb 13:20, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, ²¹equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Rom 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

In real life, when we walk in faith, God intercepts the problems and interjects wonderful vertical truths to guide us through our lives, especially regarding worry. As His disciples, we must operate our lives in the power of His Word and the energy of the Spirit, and not in the energy of the flesh.

Many times, life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. The scriptures provide us with the backwards view of life while we are living it in a forwards mode. “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward (vertical view point) to what lies ahead,” Phil 3:13. Live life with a vertical mind. Keep thinking the things above, Col 3:1-2.

When, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been faithful in the reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine and have advanced to spiritual maturity; you are not only a strong person, but you have great inner happiness. You then take the peace of God with you wherever you go.

Peace is not dependent on environment, associations, or circumstances of prosperity or adversity. It is a part of God’s grace plan for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. True peace and happiness is a system of thought in the soul, not association with stimulation or pleasure, Prov 3:13-18; Rom 5:1-5.

Therefore, do not worry, do not strive, do not be anxious, but trust the Lord who knows your need, seek His kingdom, focus on the eternal and follow God’s plan for your life, your finances, your relationships, etc., and your future.

We must release the regrets of yesterday, refuse the fears of tomorrow, and receive instead, the peace of today. Simply let go and let God be God. To do so we trust, we maintain a focus on the eternal, and we do what the scripture tells us to do, just as Paul did and tells us to do as well, Phil 4:6-9.

Determine how you will handle things that come your way. Believe that God loves you unconditionally and trust Him for direction. Measure everything by His Word instead of feelings. His peace will come when you believe Him more than lies and emotions.

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 - Ephesians 6:23

Having the Peace of God in Your Life, Pt. 2 

The Hindrances to Peace in Your Life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz4UqtuPnEc&feature=youtu.be

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

Continuing in vs. 23, we note the “peace” of God that Paul desires all believers to experience.

Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Yet, there are several hindrances to your inner peace, mostly stemming from a negative mental attitude. Just as righteousness and truth are the noble companions of peace, so sin and falsehood are its great hindrances.

Jeremiah said in Jer 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²²deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Therefore, knowing that our Adamic nature, (the Flesh, Old Self, Old Sin Nature) can produce such vileness within our souls, it is imperative that we counter it with the holiness and righteousness of God. Experientially, this is only accomplished through the intake and application of God’s Word through the filling of God the Holy Spirit. When we have God’s Word and Spirit working within our souls, we now have the ability to recognize and avert the sickly deceitfulness of our human heart.

Rom 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

God tells us that there are three evil masters that can sap the peace and joy out of our lives. The three hindrances are: worry, anxiety, and striving.

Our Lord said in Luke 12:22, 29, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.” …²⁹And do not seek (strive for) what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.”

Here, we see the three main enemies of peace within your soul in the following order, “worry, seeking / striving, and anxiety.”

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between “worry” and “anxiety,” and we typically view them as one and the same. Yet, there is a difference we can know and understand, so that we can defeat them.

“Anxious” is the verb MERIMNAO, μεριμνάω that means, “be anxious, care for, or be concerned about.” It means, “to be apprehensive, have anxiety, be anxious, be (unduly) concerned.” It is used for the unduly concern, or the unnecessary anxiety experienced, over daily needs such as food and clothing in Luke 12:25-26. It is also used in Luke 12:11.

“Anxiety” is an uneasy feeling called apprehension or distress, a feeling of danger, doom, or misfortune you might have about present or future events. It can also be an intense fear of dread lacking a definite cause or a specific threat. It can be induced by perceived danger or threat when you consider your present situation or a future event. It is nervousness or agitation, often about something that is going to happen. It can also be a strong desire to do something, especially if the desire is unnecessarily or unhealthily strong.

“Worry” is the verb METEORIZOMAI, μετεωρίζομαι, a cognate of MERIMNAO that means, “worried, troubled, unsettled, be in suspense, or even anxious.” It is only used here in scripture. In classical Greek and in the papyri METEORIZOMAI meant, “to raise on high, to exalt, or to suspend.” It implies the suspending of an object or even a person in midair. It emphasized the mental attitude placed on a thing. Figuratively, it is used in two ways:

  1) “To raise up someone by hope, to lift up oneself, to be proud or arrogant.”

  2) “To doubt, worry, be unsettled, tense, anxious or to be suspended between fear and hope.”

The context in our passage indicates the second meaning of “being doubtful or worried.”

“Worry” is the mental part of anxiety. Worry has to do with anxious thoughts. It is the constant machination of something that goes unresolved in your thinking, leading to fear and causing anxiety.  It is a distressing and painful state of mind involving undue concern over something in life. It always envisions the worst, and so becomes apprehension or anticipation of danger, misfortune or trouble, or uncertainty. It is also a state of restlessness and agitation, producing mental disturbance, uneasiness, anxiety, and painful uncertainty.

Worry is a destroyer of the soul. If unchecked, it results in mental illness, because it is a satanic device to lead the believer into reversionism and even the sin unto death, Ezek 4:15-17; cf. 1 Peter 5:5-9. It is a mental attitude sin which is self-induced misery and therefore, soulish torture regarding anything in life.

I once read an interesting allegory about worry that goes as follows: Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, “What are you going to do?” “I'm going to take 100 people,” Death replied. “That's horrible!” the man said. “That's the way it is.” Death said. “That's what I do.” Then the man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death's plan. As evening fell, he met Death again. “You told me you were going to take 100 people,” the man said. “Why did 1,000 die?” “I kept my word,” Death responded. “I only took 100 people. WORRY took the others.”

Therefore, “anxiety” can be viewed as the emotional response to a situation, while “worry” is related to the thoughts about life or an area of concern. Worry causes anxiety. Most people would say, “regardless of how you explain it, it feels the same and has the same impact on my life.” That may be true, but we must see the slight differences between them so that we can overcome them. That is why Jesus said regarding both, “do not do it…” using the Present, Active, Imperative, as He also did with the third enemy to our peace.

“Striving.” Here we see the third enemy of our peace, which is “seeking or striving.”  Here we have the Greek verb ZETEO, ζητέω that means, “seek, look for, wish for, desire, inquire into or about.” It was a technical term for philosophical investigation; something “examined, considered, or deliberated.” In our passage, it is used in the negative sense of trying to solve your own problems.

It is to diligently, earnestly, and tenaciously searching after something, sparing no effort or expense. This is what some Bible translators, such as Holman Bible Publishers, call “striving for.”

Luke 12:29 (HCSB), “Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink…”

If anxiety is the emotional response and worry is the mental activity, striving is the action taken. Striving is what you do to solve the problem on your own. It is taking matters into your own hands. It is not trusting or relying on God and moving into inappropriate action to get the results you desire. It is “seeking” for something in the negative sense.

These three evil masters noted in Luke 12:22, 29 are paralleled in Mat 6:25-34. In these verses, Jesus is talking about food and clothing, not cars and yachts and recreational apparel. He is talking about the basic needs of life, and if you do not have them or fear losing them, it would seem to be a reason to be anxious, worry, and strive for. Yet, in these and other passages, our Lord tells us not to worry, have anxiety, nor strive for even the most basic necessities of life, as He is a loving and caring God who can provide all these things and more.

Mat 6:34, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid (PHOBEO), little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

1 Cor 14:33, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

And as we know, it is sin that causes us to have distress, worry, and anxiety, Psa 38:18, “For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.”

Moreover, your anxiety will not change a thing, e.g., Luke 12:25, “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

Our priorities and focus are not to be dictated by the world around us or what others do. Even in the midst of the most basic, fundamental needs of our life, Jesus says, do not strive, do not get worked up on how you are going to bring them into your life. Instead, “trust Me.” The God who cares for the grass that grows in the fields and the birds of the air says that He cares for each of us more than they, Luke 12:24-28.

And Jesus said, John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

If Jesus left His peace for us, why aren’t we taking it? People react emotionally and allow their pride to steal their peace with God and with others. When we believe Satan’s lies; when we worry and fail to trust God’s love, we block the peace and joy that is available to us.

Prov 12:20, “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy (inner happiness).”

Emotions can be a believer’s worst enemy. We must recognize Satan’s lies and identify feelings that are not in line with God’s Word. Worry is, and always will be, a fatal disease of the heart, for its beginning signals the end of faith. Worry intrudes on God’s compassionate ability to provide. When we allow our problems to overshadow God’s promises, we unknowingly, doom ourselves to a defeat that was never part of God’s eternal plans.

We must release the regrets of yesterday, refuse the fears of tomorrow, and receive instead, the peace of today. Simply let go and let God be God. To do so we trust, we maintain a focus on the eternal, and we do what the scripture tells us to do, just as Paul did and tells us to do as well, Phil 4:9, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Phil 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Lord has a plan to provide peace in the pressure of life. Do not worry, do not strive, do not be anxious, but trust the Lord who knows your need, seek His kingdom, focus on the eternal and follow God’s plan for your finances and your future. If we do not learn to trust Him, we will not go any farther on our journey with Him.

Psa 4:8, “In peace (shalom) I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”

Psa 29:11, “The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.”

Psa 55:18, “He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me.”

Psa 119:165, “Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

Heb 13:20, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, ²¹equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Rom 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

In real life, God intercepts and interjects wonderful vertical truths to guide us through our lives, especially regarding worry. Disciples operate their lives in the energy of the Spirit and not in the energy of the flesh.

Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards. The scriptures provide us with the backwards view of life while we are living it in a forwards mode. Live life with a vertical mind. Keep thinking the things above. Forget what lies behind and reach forward / vertical to what lies ahead.

When, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been faithful in the reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine and have advanced to spiritual maturity; you are not only a strong person, but you have great inner happiness. You then take the peace of God with you wherever you go. It is not dependent on environment, associations, or circumstances of prosperity or adversity. It is a part of God’s grace plan for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

True peace and happiness is a system of thought in the soul, not association with stimulation or pleasure, Prov 3:13-18; Rom 5:1-5.

 

Thursday, Aug 9, 2018 - Ephesians 6:23

Having the Peace of God in your Life. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhC8YDUkMgw

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.  

We now turn to vs. 23, in Paul’s closing salutation / benediction, Eph 6:23, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The word salutation comes from the Greek verb ASPASMOS, ἀσπασμός that means, “a greeting or salutation.” The verb ASPAZOMAI, ἀσπάζομαι means, “to greet, welcome, cherish, embrace, or salute.”

“The noun form is extremely rare in antiquity, both in literary documents and nonliterary papyri. Similarly, aspasmos is not found in either the canonical or apocryphal writings of the Septuagint.” (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary).

It comes from the Greek A, a particle of union, and SPAO, a primary verb meaning “to draw, draw out,” or even, “to draw one’s sword.” So, combined it means, first to draw out, to salute one, greet, bid welcome, wish well to, paid their respects to, to embrace in greeting as well as the erotic embrace of love. At the closing of a letter it comes to mean, “to embrace them, took leave of them, or bid them farewell.”

In Paul’s typical fashion of closing salutations, he mentions, “peace, love, and faith,” along with “grace,” which is included in the concept of peace, cf. Rom 15:33; Gal 6:16; Phil 4:23; 1 Thes 5:28; 2 Thes 3:16-18; Titus 3:15; Heb 13:20-25.

In Paul’s opening salutations, (greetings), Grace and Peace always occur in that order, cf. Eph 1:2, witnessing to the truth that peace cannot be experienced apart from the prior experience of God’s grace in your life.

Here, we see that peace is united with faith and love. These three are also seen together in Gal 5:22, as part of the “fruit of the Holy Spirit,” and 2 Tim 2:22, as what we should be pursuing, along with righteousness, in our spiritual walk with Christ, as we flee from “youthful lusts.” Our passage is the only other verse that has these three together in one verse.

Paul begins this closing salutation with, “peace be to the brethren,” EIRENE HO ADELPHOS. ADELPHOS can be used literally for “a physical brother,” or figuratively it can refer to a brother in the spiritual sense, especially in the Christian community. Therefore, it is an affectionate use for, “a fellow Christian or neighbor.”

“Peace” is the Greek Noun EIRENE, εἰρήνη in the Nominative case here that means, “peace, harmony, tranquility, health, prosperity.” It is the equivalent to SHALOM of the OT Hebrew. It means there is fellowship between each other. It is also related to a condition of peace, a respite during an endless series of wars. And since Paul just got done speaking about our spiritual warfare and the armor of God we are to adorn ourselves with for battle inside the Angelic Conflict, it is an apropos ending, because in Christ we truly have peace.

We have noted EIRENE in Eph 1:2, the opening Salutation, as well as, Eph 2:14-15, 17; 4:3; 6:15. As we have previously noted, the progression of this word in Ephesians includes:

1. A salutation for peace that comes from God our Father and Jesus Christ, Eph 1:2.

2. Jesus who broke down the dividing barrier between Jews and Gentiles to bring the two to peace, Eph 2:14.

3. By taking on the sins of the world, He brought peace to all who believe in Him, making them one body, Eph 2:15.

4. He preached the gospel of peace to all, both Jews and Gentiles, Eph 2:17.

5. We now are to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit, (the one body), in the bond of Peace, Eph 4:3.

6. We are to be prepared to fight the Angelic Warfare with the Gospel of Peace, Eph 6:15.

7. God desires us to live in peace, Eph 6:23.

As Paul is wishing “peace” to the believers of the early church, he is conveying God’s desire for every believer to live in peace with God, Jesus Christ, others believers, and even non-believers. He desires the believers to live in peace, while also conveying the fondness of relationship he has with them. When we read this closing salutation, by peace, we understand all manners of peace; peace with God, peace of conscience, peace among themselves, etc.

As we have noted, Biblical peace has two aspects: Positional and Experiential. We noted positional back in vs. 15, where we are to give the “gospel of peace,” to the lost. When they believe upon the gospel of Jesus Christ they receive Positional Peace, just as we did when we believed.

Positionally, the believer is at Peace with God. That is, we have a direct relationship with Him. There is nothing dividing us or keep us apart. The peace between God and the believer was achieved by the completed work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, where He broke down the barrier between God and man by paying the penalty for our sins.

Jesus Christ paid for the sin of the unbeliever, 1 John 2:2, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Yet, because they have not accepted His saving work on their behalf, “believed in Him,” the barrier remains between them and God, and there is no peace.

But for the believer, there is peace, Rom 5:1; Eph 2:12-18.

Rom 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

Therefore, peace is achieved only through faith in the work of Jesus Christ, Col 1:20.

Col 1:19-20, “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Experientially, the believer has the potential for “the peace of Jesus Christ” by having His Word resident within their soul and by being filled with the Holy Spirit, (as result of rebounding), John 14:25-27; Rom 8:6; 14:17, 19; Phil 4:9.

John 14:25, “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. ²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

Rom 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Rom 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Rom 14:19, “So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”

Phil 4:9, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

To have His peace experientially, also means we must consistently apply faith in our prayers, cf. 1 John 1:9; 1 John 5:14-15, and the utilization of the “if” statements.

Your prayer life enters you into His peace experientially, not only by rebounding, but by turning all your needs, cares, and worries over to the Father, faith resting that He hears and answers those prayer, Phil 4:6-7.

Phil 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Frequently, “peace” is used with reference to outward conditions of tranquility and thus of individuals, of communities, of churches, and of nations, e.g., Numb 6:26; 1 Sam 7:14; 1 Kings 4:24; Acts 9:31; Eph 4:3; 1 Thes 5:13; Heb 12:14; 2 Peter 3:14.

Heb 12:14, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

2 Peter 3:14, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”

In its deepest application, peace is used for “spiritual peace” that means restored relations and harmony with God, e.g., Isa 9:6-7, “Jesus as the Prince of Peace”; Isa 26:3; Luke 2:14; John 14:27; Acts 10:36; Rom 1:7; 5:1; Gal 5:22.

Isa 9:6-7, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Peace between individuals is also called harmony, prosperity, and tranquility, Act 7:26; Eph 4:1-3.

Eph 4:1-3, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Act 7:26, “And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?'.”

Peace is related to security, safety, and prosperity. Peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous, Phil 4:7; 2 Peter 1:2-8.

Phil 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Peace is the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God. We are content with our earthly lot in whatever it is or may be, Act 9:31; Rom 15:33.

Act 9:31, “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”

Rom 15:33, “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

Peace is the blessed state of righteous men after death, 1 Thes 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”