Paul Addresses This Letter (Epistle) To Everybody In The Church
- Paul wrote this letter to the churches in the region of Ephesus / Eph 1:1
- They made copies of this letter & dispersed it
- Paul begins his letter & talks to certain groups / Eph 1:1
- To the saints- Paul describes them (see 1F through 1K below) / Eph 1:1
- This is a general statement to the church / Eph 5:1
- Paul addresses the leaders in the church Apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers / Eph 4:11
- Paul mentions all the wives in the church / Eph 5:22
- Paul addresses all the husbands in the church / Eph 5:25
- Paul mentions the children in the church to obey their parents / Eph 6:1
- Paul mentions the servants (people who work for people) / Eph 6:5
- Paul mentions the masters (whom the servants work for) / Eph 6:9
- We see the word “finally my brethren” / Eph 6:10
- Paul includes everyone (the whole church) in this verse / Eph 6:10
Put On The Whole Armor Of God
- Paul is talking to everybody in the church / Eph 6:11
- Specifically, first he is talking to the leaders / Eph 4:11
- If the leaders get it together and get it right, then they will be able to help all others in the church, get their act together
- Some people in the church may have told a few lies / Eph 4:25
- The main people who we call on to preach, need to get their act together and they must stop lying
- He is telling all to put on the whole armor of God but, first and foremost to the leaders to set an example / Eph 4:11
- They have become mature, rooted, grounded and show no signs of wavering & going back into the world / Eph 4:11
The Leaders Especially Need To Put On The Whole Armor of God
- What if an elder hasn’t been in the church for 6 weeks?
- What is that going to do to all the other ones in the church?
- That is not good, is it.
- One thing you must show the people that you are not going back into the world
- You have never known me to be out 4 or 5 weeks and you have to call asking if I’m coming back to church
- If you have done that before, tighten up the slack
- Be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord / I Cor 15:58
- Because someone is always watching you
More On Church Leaders
- Paul mentions “Children of light” literally this can refer to children / Eph 5:8
- He is not calling the leaders, “children”, they should be mature / Eph 4:11
- Paul is not talking to the leaders in this verse / Eph 5:14
- If you got a sleeping pastor, what is the congregation doing? / Eph 5:14-18
- When Paul said be ye steadfast and unmoveable, he is first talking to the bishops, elders, etc. / I Cor 15:58
The Church Of Ephesus Was A Gentile Church / Eph 2:11-12
- Gentiles in the flesh- This church was established by Paul & his workers
- Paul would go to the synagogues first and start with the Jews / Acts 14:1
- Jews knew the scriptures & read the Old Testament
- Jews and Christians all read the book of Psalms & have the same God
- Jews had God but, not Christ
- The Jews will be saved at the end because of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob
- Gentiles didn’t have anything to go off of, we were without God / Eph 2:12
The Gifts And Calling Of God Are Without Repentance / Rom 11:29
- This means God never repented that He called you
- It means if you decide that you don’t want to be an elder or pastor anymore and go back into the world, God don’t tell the rest of heaven we made a mistake, that is on YOU!
- You took a hold of the plow and decided to look back but, he never repents that he called you to preach. Too late now, you took the certificate / Luke 9:62
Timothy Is A Good Example For Leaders To Follow After To Be Well Reported Of
- By the time Timothy was 16-18 years old, he was already full of the Spirit and full of the word of God, when he first started out with Paul
- Paul took him on and took him with him to be his assistant to help carry on the church
- Timothy was well reported of / Acts 16:1-2
- Because you are going to be in the church the rest of your life you have to watch yourself
- You don’t want to have a baby over here and another baby there, and you are not married yet
- Even though God forgives us of all of our sins, you won’t be well reported
- It’s not that God can’t use you, but there is such a thing as a good/bad record
- Timothy was not a ladies’ man.
- When Paul first saw Timothy, the Spirit said he is going to be the next Apostle Paul
- Paul would tell Timothy you got to watch out for this and that, and my, etc departure is at hand and you must carry it on / II Tim 4
- Emperor Nero beheaded Paul and Paul knew that time would come
- Somebody can be something in God or you can hope that what you didn’t get to do in your life when you were in sin, you now see it in your own children’s life & you can just admire that, oh he is just like me when I was in the world
Your Best Hope Is To Be In God & In The Church
- It’s good to have a good reputation so when you grow up, you could be the next bishop, elder, etc in the church
- You can have a career in the gospel, because God forgave you of all of your sins
- We are people who had been washed, cleansed, and forgiven / I Cor 6:11
- If you get up and act like you never been washed and cleansed, you won’t relate to the people of God
- Remember now, you are talking to people who had been forgiven
- We want to hear some people that can relate to us that are forgiven who the Lord turned around.
If Riches Increase, Set Not Your Heart On Them
- Demas was like Paul, working the same miracle working power / Phil’m 1:24
- Demas loved money and went off after filthy lucre and left Paul / II Tim 4:10
- You can have a career in a job, but your main goal in life is to live for Him because that is going to give you eternal life
- You’re going to reign with him because there is going to be a new world order / Eph 3:10
Church Leaders Have Been Called For A Specific Purpose
- They been called to perfect the saints to help the people / Eph 4:12
- They been called to perfect the servants, husbands, & wives
- They have been called for the work of the ministry
- The work of the ministry is the preaching of the gospel and manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit
Part Of The Corinthians Problems Were Their Preference For Certain Preachers
- They had good public speakers
- They said that Paul was not a very good speaker, words are heavy / II Cor 10:10
- They said his appearance is he is a little scrawny guy
- They rather listen to somebody else like Apollos than Paul / I Cor 4:4-7
- Paul said when I come I will know the speech and the power / I Cor 4:19
- Paul said the gifts you have, I gave them to you when I prayed & laid hands on you
It’s Commonly Taught The Corinthians Had All Nine Gifts
- The one gift they had was tongues & they didn’t know how to use them / I Cor 14
- He had to write an epistle to let them know how to use tongues
- All believers have tongues, that is an elementary gift
- How can one have tongues when he is fornicating with his mother? / I Cor 5
- Paul said, even Gentiles don’t do that and the Gentiles were deep in sin but, that is one thing they don’t do and you are all sitting up here speaking in tongues, you should have put that man out the church and why haven’t you straighten that out and you are prophesying to one another
The Leaders Like Those In Eph 4:11 Is What Makes The Church Strong
- Knowledge of the son of God means fullness of the word of God / Eph 4:13
- That makes us rooted and grounded.
- From 12 on down you are going to see what those in verse 11 got the victory over and they are going to help others to get the victory / Eph 4:12-32
- Paul says twice to take unto the WHOLE armor of God / Eph 6:11, 13
- The more people you have, who have decided to make up their mind that they are not going back, and have been tested makes a strong church
- The strength of the church is built on the determination of the believers
- If everybody is saved this month and backslides next month, you got yourself nothing, and it’s a house full of babes
When Is The EVIL DAY?
- This is when you are going through (being tested, tempted & tried) / Eph 6:13
- The wiles of the devil will make you do things in these verses / Eph 4:25-30
- The evil day is when something is between a husband and a wife
- If a husband is full of the word of God & the wife is full of the word of God how do you both get separated and both of you are full of the word of God?
- Got to live holy, got to live right
- We are not going to leave our marriage because of disagreements, just live holy
- There is a prayer that you can pray that make the sun stand still
- Prayer will change things
- We all will pray one for the other / Eph 6:18
