Ephesians

Ephesians 6 vs 17-24

July 16, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 6:17–24

Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 17 ·    Finally, we get to the offensive part of the armor…, the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit…, counter to the flesh, opposite of this world system, and yet immutable, undefeated and even inexhaustible! The more you spend in the Word of God the more you learn and see and discern and the more that is revealed! The Word of God is the codification of Jesus Christ, of God Himself and as you take in and apply the Word of God, you see the efficacy of God not only in your own life and the lives of others but even in the world and in the spirit. Think of it this way, the Word of God is how the Spirit of God wars FOR you in in your life! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 18 ·    Finally, the secret super kryptonite of Satan. The prayers of the saints! Welcoming, calling upon the work of the heaven in the realm of the earth. Praying not to conform God to your will but to conform to God’s will. This is the privilege of the child of God, along with the armor of God, secured and provided by the love of God through Jesus Christ! ·    And Paul says, “praying always!” What’s the right way to pray? Eyes closed? Eyes open? Alone in your prayer closet or corporately with others? Hands together, knees bent or hands to the sky, standing on your feet? Written, pre-prepared prayers or real-time off the cuff conversation with God? The simple answer is YES! Paul says, the Bible tells us, to pray ALL WAYS! Just pray! Do what you want to do and what connects your heart to the mission of God through communion with Jesus! ·    There is only one way to pray that is ineffective and disgusting to God and that is holding hands! HA! Just kidding! That’s just creepy in the flesh, totally acceptable to God, HA! Actually, though there is a manner of prayer that God detests and we find it in Matthew 6:5-8. “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” ·    Hypocritical, dramatic, vain prayers, prayers to be seen and heard by others rather than to be disassembled and undone before God. God already knows what’s up. He can see right into the intent of the heart. And prayer is personal. So, when we make it about only our own conveniences or comforts (speaking badly about others and such), well, that’s not prayer, that’s just conversation with your ego. Jesus goes on in Matthew 5 and gives a manner, a formula if you will for purity in prayer and He says in Matthew 6:9, “In this manner, therefore, pray, ‘Our Father in heaven,” remember whom you are addressing. Not just your Father but “our Father.” Not just concerned with your stuff, your well-being, your needs but equally concerned with those things for all others as well. In heaven, not on earth, so the cares of this world, the temporaries of this place, God is above all of that. Perfect, complete knowledge of the entirety of the people and situation… ·    “Hallowed be Your name.” Holy and above all and any of the drama. Perfect and good and righteous and impartial. One for us to call upon for His perspective because He is holy and not to force our perspective as correct. Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I’m praying not to protect, establish or forward my cause but calling upon God to establish, forward and perfect His cause in my situation. Prayer in the Spirit is underminded by a heart-please to God of, “Bring heaven to earth through me…” ·    Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Finally, we get to a request. So often, most times, my prayers are only requests and Jesus gives us this model and instructs us to spend the first moments or the first portion of my prayer time on focusing on the Person and goodness and mission of God rather than jumping right to my needs. And the request is not to be flooded with resources but for God to give me just enough to fit my needs as He sees it and to grow my faith! There is a faith request in this statement! Today is enough, give me faith to pray again and trust You again for tomorrow! ·    Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Notice, before we talk about others, we address ourselves! Man do I fall short in this one all the time! Something is going on, there’s a circumstance, a problem, and of course the problem is THEM! HA, duh! But God says look, when did you ascend the throne of holiness? HA! Begin with asking God to reveal and to teach and to correct and to capacitate ME before I ask for the incapacitation of them! And there’s this embedded command…, your prayers turn right to hypocrisy if you aren’t willing to humble yourself and forgive. Forgive me, but I won’t forgive them…, that just simply doesn’t work. That’s pharisaical, dramatic, hypocritical, vanity! ·    Matthew 6:13, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” That’s it! Here’s the offensive kryptonite weaponry, that whatever the enemy has wrought, whatever the flesh has brought, what the world has taught, throw a beacon up, a flare, a lighthouse in the middle of that haze, that fog, that storm and I’ll come to shore. I’ll shore all that up as You God lead me and as I row into port, I trust in Your protection. ·    To follow my feelings, to get even, to hold the grudge, to be their judge, all of that appears to be the smart thing to do, but Your Word and Your Spirit tell me differently. Against my own fallen nature and in alignment with the cross of Calvary…, I’m going to choose to trust You! What more can the enemy do at that point? Ima bring pain. I trust God over my pain. Ima bring discomfort. I trust God over my discomfort. Ima bring inconvenience and Ima bring accusation…, you’re a fool for not hurting them like they hurt you! Well then, I’m a fool for Christ’s sake! He is God, I am not and His ways are perfect. His beacon will get me to shore, my boat out here is going to sink… And the enemy flees… why? Because you just reminded him of what he wasn’t willing to do himself… You’re stronger. ·    It’s been said that a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian and that the enemy fears the weakest Christian as they pray! The Lord in you is stronger than all of his power because you just chose to serve the Lord over serving yourself which is exactly what got Lucifer fired, kicked out of heaven and what keeps him even today entirely unsettled, unhappy, unsatisfied. You just reminded him of his defeat and scared him away. That is the sword of the spirit and the power of prayer! “For YOURS is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN.” ·    Do you see that final statement? It’s in complete alignment with Ephesians 6. The enemy wanted the kingdom, he ascended to power and demands the glory…, but this prayer, this weaponry unveiled by Jesus in Matthew 6…, it’s the recipe, man. The secret sauce to quenching all of the fiery darts of the evil one and standing and withstanding in the evil day! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 19 – 20 ·    You know, just a note of encouragement. Paul calls himself an ambassador in chains, which is not an optimal position to be in at all. And Jesus is described by the church as the “chain breaker,” and He is… But Paul prays and asks us to pray that God would use him even from within his chains, and I find that encouraging. Anyone here perfected? Anyone here arrived? Anyone here sinless? The fact is, even all that I am in the Lord, I’m still carrying some chains. And God is working on me, with me, in me, just like He is in you. But it was Oswald Chambers that said, “Our righteousness is in Christ’s Christian perfection. Our Christian perfection is not perfection of performance but perfection of relationship.” Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 21 – 22 ·    I love Paul’s heart for the comfort and service and endorsement of others. Here he is in captivity and yet his heart is for the comfort of others. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 23 – 24 ·    Paul ends the letter with outstanding love and encouragement but this is also a very sharp statement. Grace, peace, love to all those who hold to what God has said, because that proves that I love and trust Jesus Christ as Lord and he throws in these two very very sharp words, “in sincerity.” ·    The word “sincerity” is derived from the Latin roots of the word sincere. Sine, meaning without and cera meaning wax. According to oral history, dishonest sculptors in Greece and Rome would cover flaws in their work by using wax. If the sculpture was chipped, cracked or damaged, the dishonest sculptors would melt wax in the marble dust, using it to conceal the flaw or imperfection. It would look perfect, and full price would be assigned to the piece. But the issue is, first hot day, or first prolonged period of sun exposure…, you see there would be no consistency of quality. ·    That’s what the word/phrase means here in the original language. Grace is going to flow upon you, through you, in you…, peace is going to be your personage, love will be your legacy…, and even all six chapters of this book will be quite naturally who you are as you simply set your own identity, will and reason as a man or a woman that has chosen to and faithful in responding to God’s love for you by simply loving Him back…  

Epehesians 6 vs 14-18

July 9, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 6:14–18

Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 14 – 17 ·    Paul begins the description of the armor of God with truth. I’m not sure anything is more under attack in our current world predicament than truth! It’s no wonder, this was the first thing ever in the history of the world to come under attack! Genesis 2:17, God stated a truth, “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” That’s a truth. Death never entered the world until sin entered the bloodstream and that happened at the original betrayal of God. So, in that day, everything, into everything death entered. ·    But Satan comes around and challenges, questions, attacks truth in Genesis 3:4 saying, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Truth under attack. First play of the devil. And man is he slick! Why would I say that…, because he attacks absolute truth with a lesser, carnal truth…! ·    Was Satan lying? Not exactly. Was he telling the truth? Not exactly. And here is the greatest leveled up attack on truth there is. Did they die the day they ate the fruit? Carnally, physically, literally, no! Spiritually, yes! And from that day forward, death was a thing, when it hadn’t been a thing. In fact, God was describing death as the knowledge of good and evil. Stay pure. Stay perfect. Stay without sin… ·    Your eyes will be opened, sounds good right? It means death. You will be like God. Sounds good right? It means self-exaltation. Knowing something that you don’t know today. Sounds good right? It means to know death… Crazy, right!? So, God presented truth, comprehensively. Absolute truth with spiritual, physical, eternal and comprehensive completeness. And Satan presents another truth as well, but this one only in the physical, while shrouding the spiritual, eternal and comprehensive elements. And that makes a truth, even a fact, a lie… See the attack? So so, slick! ·    Entirely, completely, eloquently and exactly what continues to transpire today in the individual life and on the global societal/cultural level! So, you, as well for me, we must walk in more than knowledge or power of intellect, we need wisdom! When the spiritual side is shrouded by the enemy, can you still see it? The comprehensive side, can you still discern it? This is what Paul is talking about in terms of gird your waist with the truth. ·    The belt of the armor is everything. Ties everything together. If you don’t know the truth and are not skilled by way of practice and study to discern comprehensive truth, in the battle, well you’ll be caught with your pants down! And its interesting, the belt is not particularly a piece of armor, but rather a gathering place, if you will, for all of the other armor! ·    Paul begins here because if your wreck-out on this piece of the suit, if you miss truth, all of the rest of the resources we have available to us become not only powerless for anything good but actually quite harmful in general! The enemy began this confusion, Jesus faced it in Pilate as Pilate looked Jesus in the eyes and said, “What is truth?” And the onslaught is not only continuing but heating up today as phrases like, “my truth,” and “personal truth” are far more important than absolute truth… Or a better term in my opinion, comprehensive truth. ·    One more thing here… We are witnessing and even a part of a steep and swift decline in the moral character of the world. Everyone is focused on self. The world economy markets to the individual wants and needs. Every element of the entertainment industry which is all things including the media, merchandise, restaurants and even political agendas are all focused on serving and catering to and attracting the individual by addressing personal wants and needs. And all of that not only sounds right but works! But that is not the highest, comprehensive truth… ·    All character is, all it is, is comprehensive truth in the inner man. That’s all it is…, and so why is the world in such a steep and swift moral decline? Carnal truth has ascended the throne of this world and it’s locked in… But when it comes to me, no way. How about you? ·    Paul continues and now talks armor directly, mentioning the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate would provide protection for the most vital organs, and just like that, this one is critically important. This is not my own righteousness, that is powerless against the enemy, because for everything I do right and well, guaranteed there are two things I don’t. ·    Revelation 12:10 says, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” The enemy is described as the accuser of the brethren not only because he is a dirtbag jerk, but also because there is plenty of material for him to work with! And so, my own righteousness has no chance of protecting me. ·    As a Christian, your righteousness is through Jesus Christ. What that means is that once you become a Christian, receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and therefore are forgiven of all your sin, the righteousness equal with Jesus Himself is imputed to you through faith. And this one is powerful. You and I are saved by grace through faith, and that’s it. Our right standing with God, our salvation is not through any works lest any man could boast. And so, when the accusations of the accuser come, you’re free to agree with Him… ·    All the things the enemy can accuse me of and try to shame me about and attempt to berate me for…, they’re all true! AND? AND? I’m yet beloved! I’m still accepted and affirmed and confirmed and I’m still redeemed, forgiven, not forsaken and I’m still empowered, indwelt and awesome because and by the Holy Spirit! See there’s no damage when you walk in the grace of God. Because you’re healed of the power and penalty of sin by Jesus Christ! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 15 ·    I like this one and it is related to the one we just talked about. What makes you worthy of walking this way, walking as tall as you do, walking as strongly as you do, walking where you walk? Not me…, the gospel! But Paul gives the gospel an interesting descriptor. He calls it the gospel of peace… ·    Peace is a powerful weapon. Folks don’t think of it like that because its weird to use peace and weapon as one thought but you need to know this. When your aim is peace, to bring peace, to originate it…, I’m not talking about quietness or putting and end to a conflict, but peace, real peace…, where there is balance and rightness and almost a tranquility, when that is your aim and you’re looking for it and not only that but looking to bring it, the enemy becomes very frightened of you. Why? ·    Because according to James, wars and strife come from the flesh… According to Hebrews 13, God is the God of peace…, and so when your aim is to calm the fleshly storm in first yourself and others through the activation of God through your life, oh man…, you can tread on the head of the serpent all over again. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 16 ·    Above all…, what is faith? All it is, is acting like God is telling the truth. Faith is not believing. If your beliefs never hit your feet then your faith is fake. Faith is active, outward, application of trust in God over your senses or circumstance. And Paul says that will stop everything the enemy tries to hurl at you! ·    The shield of faith would have been a door sized metal shield, covered with leather, soaked with water, to catch and stop all the fiery darts from all directions. And the darts come from all directions. Doubts, fears, insecurities, trials, difficulties, temptations, sins of others, even unseen enemies! And yet, trusting God, you don’t even have to watch, look, worry or predict…, all I do is take up the shield and it does the rest! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 17 ·    The helmet of salvation. Protect your mind! You are saved! You are in Christ! That’s who you are now… And no matter what, that cannot be taken away. John 10:28, Jesus said, “I GIVE them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” And Paul said in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ·    You need to settle for yourself whose you are and who you are so that you don’t lose in the battlefield of the mind because even in all of this other armor, you’re still going to make mistakes and you’re still even going to lose battles. That doesn’t mean you’ve lost all and God is able to reverse anything, ANYTHING, and redeem the days, moments, weeks and years the locusts have eaten up! ·    It’s also a call to play the long game! When you’re in the grip, in the moment, in the circumstance, remember, heaven is your home. Remember that your redemption is yet ahead. Remember that this moment will pass and if you do not lose heart, God will again prove Himself faithful! Paul said, in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” And in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The helmet of salvation is the grit and toughness of the saint! PUT IT ON! ·    Ah and we get to the offensive part of the armor…, the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit…, counter to the flesh, opposite of this world system, and yet immutable, undefeated and even inexhaustible! The more you spend in the Word of God the more you learn and see and discern and the more that is revealed! The Word of God is the codification of Jesus Christ, of God Himself and as you take in and apply the Word of God, you see the efficacy of God not only in your own life and the lives of others but even in the world and in the spirit. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 18 ·    Finally, the secret super kryptonite of Satan. The prayers of the saints! Welcoming, calling upon the work of the Spirit in the realm of the flesh. Praying not to conform God to your will but to conform to God’s will. This is the privilege of the child of God, along with the armor of God, secured and provided by the love of God through Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 6 vs 10-13

July 2, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 6:10–13

The Bible talks about our life as a walk. To walk with the Lord, to walk in the Spirit, to not walk in the flesh…, BUT this doesn’t mean that life is easy. Have you ever heard the expression, “This will be a walk in the park?” Well, that is definitely not what is meant when we talk about our walk with the Lord. What’s meant is that it is constant and continual. It is actually anything but easy. Every day, your enemy is committed to your destruction. I wonder do you know that? I doubt it as much as we partner with him!   Imagine if you worked with someone who had been at your place of employment for 500 years. Do you think they know how to do a job better than you? The enemy has been working here for far longer than 500 years... Compared to him, you just got here. And you’ve been thrown into, born into, a system that he has been working to setup over generations. A system that 1 John 2:16 says, “All of it, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father…” Then who is it of…?   Paul called the enemy in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age…” And so yes, my life is described in the Bible as my walk with the Lord, but the context and setting is actually from within a war. Even in my own heart, the flesh always pressing me towards sin, the Spirit always pressing me towards righteousness. The battles abound. And so, Paul launches off into these last comments, after all is said, after all is shared, after all is commanded and directed, just like a good friend, father, pastor and Christian, he pours his heart out preparing us and urging us to be awake to the war… Nothing easier to defeat than a sleeping enemy!   Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 10 ·    We are told to be strong because there exists the ability and temptation to also be weak. Isn’t it incredible, that in a time when the world is at its strongest, the church seems to be at its weakest. The church can be at its biggest in terms of numbers, programs, ministries, services, and still be at it’s weakest. Paul is very specific here to say to be strong IN THE LORD and the power of HIS might… ·    Paul actually got to the point where the weakness of his flesh was somehow and in someway, he was glad about it because it made him dependent upon the Lord. It activated a greater resource for him than he ever could have known being strong in and of himself. It’s often interesting also that the area you believe you are the strongest is often the area in which you are most vulnerable and have the greatest failures. Wherever and whatever it is about you that you believe you need no help in is a soft spot in your own crafted armor. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 11 ·    The power and the might of God, both are there, secured for me and for you by Jesus Christ at His death and His resurrection. Check this out, when Christ died, He defeated our enemy. Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” You may not have ever thought of it this way but look what Jesus said face to face with Satan in Matthew 4:7, “Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord YOUR God….” He just pulled rank… ·    And so, we have these things following described as the armor of God in order to tap into the resources we already have to fight a battle that’s already won! But the key is, you tap into the strength in the Lord and you tap into the power of His might by taking up, of your own free will, the armor that has been made available to you through Jesus Christ. Only awake people “take up…” ·    Implication is also here that if we don’t put on the whole armor, then we leave a weak spot, a toe-hold, so keep that in mind. Ever see a weed growing through the smallest of cracks in the cement? It’s like that… and left unuprooted, that cement, in time, is toast! ·    And this is important, not just information but a real call to arms for all Christians. Think of it this way… A police officer shows up at your door in uniform, well that gets a certain response; but a police officer showing up in full riot armor solicits a completely different response! How are you showing up to the battle for your life? The battle for your marriage? For your children? For this ministry? ·    Think of it this way… Paintball is not fun unless you have armor! Before you play the game you’re told, “Now look, keep your armor on because these things are flying at you so fast that if they hit you in the eye, your eyeball will be pushed to the back of your skull!” No thanks! Better have the armor! This is important! ·    Verse 11 says you won’t be able to stand without it, AND, you have got to make sure it’s the Lord’s armor and NOT your own. Look at Luke 11:21-22, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his OWN palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” The man in Luke 11 armored himself and there was one stronger. Who is stronger than God? No enemy is even difficult in any way for God! ·    Paul says this is how you stand and later he will use the word, “withstand.” I’ve seen Christians fully armored with intellect, superior knowledge, charisma, presence, force of character, command of all situations, in full control of anything they want to control and they are on their heels or backs spiritually and the enemy is just using them like a puppet, faith and all, to hurt them, keep them asleep, and harm the people around them. This is the armor, the only armor and all the armor, we need every bit of it in order to take our blood bought right to the power and might of God through the Holy Spirit! ·    Stand and withstand… We don’t need to gain any ground. Jesus already won all the ground. We have the armor, the enemy does not… So why are the majority of Christians either defeated, ineffective or “trying” constantly to be Christ-like while thinking, acting and performing like Jesus is some powerless false deity? It comes down to the will. Decision, resolve…as Paul says for you and for me to “PUT ON.” That’s an action of the will and it is personal… Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 12 ·    One more thing on this whole subject that Paul dives into before telling us what we need to decide to do…decide to put on. He tells us that the issue, the battle, the war, the struggle is not in the physical realm, not in the flesh and blood of what we know, not able to be sensed naturally, but it is in the spirit. The results are sometimes very physical for sure… The works of the flesh, but the cause and the creation of every issue and battle and struggle in the flesh is rooted in the spirit. ·    Every problem situation, circumstance, person or place. That thing is rooted in the spiritual. If you don’t know how to navigate that realm, battle and find victory in that realm, then you will do very very poorly in this realm. If you can’t get to the cause, then you cannot get to the cure. The last thing that the demonic realm wants you to do is figure them out because they know if you figure them out, then you’ve got them. They’ve seen it in Jesus, they’ve seen it in Paul, they’ve seen it in Peter, they’ve seen it countless times… ·    We have to be strong in HIS might and HIS power because our might and our power doesn’t work in the spiritual realm, and God has given us everything we need to walk in victory in the spirit and to stand and withstand in the flesh… All of it wrapped up in His might, His power, tapped into through the armor of God. Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 13 ·    Stand, withstand, stand. To be established, firm…, to uphold, to hold the line, to stay the course, to oppose, resist and to not fall. We need the whole armor of God. One more thing I’d like to offer before we close today. ·    John 17:9-16, Jesus prays, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept (there’s the stand and withstand); and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ·    The armor of God, the prayer of Jesus, prepares us to stand within the storm of the spiritual darkness that this world is. He doesn’t, because He cannot, tell us to be victorious by avoiding the battle. And here I believe the church has erred. We are to come out and be separate from the world, to be sanctified but that sanctification is not a removal, just as Jesus prayed, but it is an armament. We are to be in the world, and yet, in the armor of God, not of the world, so that we can affect the world for the truth and so that we ourselves even can fulfil our own personal purpose and glorify God. ·    Jesus continued in John 17:17-18, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” We don’t and I don’t and the church shouldn’t run lives but think about what Jesus prayed and think about this for just a moment. Protecting my children from evil influence is a recipe for disaster and failure. What we need to do is prepare them for battle from within the evil of the world. ·    It’s like preparing them to run from a storm that they cannot get away from because the storm is worldwide. We should rather prepare them to thrive within the storm and to teach others how to do so also. How? The whole armor of God. The knowledge of good and evil is part of this fallen realm. I’m not saying expose your kids to sin and wickedness. That’s stupid. I’m saying do what Jesus did. Prepare them, fortify them, teach them how to take up the whole armor of God. That’s far more difficult, loving and powerful than teaching them to deny its existence. We’ll talk about it next week and I’ll end with this, the most effective fiery dart of the devil is deception. We ought to be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves and as prepared and fortified as Jesus prayed!    

Ephesians 6 vs 5-9

June 25, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 6:5–9

The pattern of Ephesians is awesome as Paul has gone from who Jesus is, what He has done, who you are in Christ and therefore what is my personal response to God. Becoming a person of worship, praise, gratitude, intense freedom and joy as Paul writes in Ephesians 3, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given…, for this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…, who has granted me, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man!” He then, moving into Chapter 4, begins to work out his own salvation, encouraging us to do the same, in how we ought to operate in this world which is our ministry unto God and unto each other. Being a person of character, walking out and walking in that strength of might through the Holy Spirit within our heart of hearts, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Admonishing, encouraging and even directing in Chapter 5 that the one that responds to God in worship, praise, gratitude, intense freedom and joy will be a person that walks in love which is the highest form of warfare and the greatest weaponry against everything that is evil and exalts itself against God…, and this is that agape love…  A perfect transition for Paul into the home as he commands by the authority of God for wives to support their husbands and husbands to love their wives. For the home and the marriage relationship to be strong! For children to obey their parents and for fathers to bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord. So, Paul has gone from first the personal work of salvation. That secret place of one on one between you and God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then to the family of God, the outward expression of salvation in the public square. Then to the home, marriage, and parenting. And now he continues and concludes this powerfully and petterfully complete and yet very sort letter by addressing the workplace. All of it building upon itself and having us arrive this morning at how we Christians ought to function as professionals in order to glorify God.  And super interesting. We talk a lot, a ton, about leadership here. Because truly to be salt in a flavorless world and a light in a dark and ever darkening place, you have to know leadership. To glorify Jesus, to walk in strength and might of character, to strive for peace, to walk in love, to care about unity, all of that are classic leadership principles. And leadership is super important in any professional setting. BUT, Paul gives us one verse on leadership and chooses rather to spend four verses on subordination. Why?  Every good leader is a good follower. Aristotle said, “He who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader.” A Harvard Business Review article published in August of 2018 said it this way, “A major flaw in the usual advice for aspiring leaders. Instead of seeking to stand out from their peers, they may be better served by ensuring that they are seen to be a good follower — as someone who is willing to work within the group and on its behalf. In short, leaders need to be seen as “one of us” (not “one of them”) and as “doing it for us” (not only for themselves or, worse, for “them”).” That same article continued, “Aspiring leaders would be better served by ensuring that they are seen to be a good follower. A longitudinal study of 218 Royal Marines recruits completing an arduous 32-week training course suggests that may be the case: the Marines who saw themselves as followers, and were simply focused on getting the work done, were more likely to be recognized as leaders by both peers and commanders.” There is complete wisdom and total guidance of the Holy Spirit in how Paul addresses the workplace in these verses… Let’s read them and then talk a bit about perhaps a different take on the importance of being a great follower, not to become a good leader, but to be a good leader… Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 5 – 9 Paul essentially gives three directives to those subordinate to others according to the flesh. I know that’s a weird way to say it and I essentially mean an employee, but Paul is very particular to point out to bondservants and masters, subordinates and supervisors, employees and bosses, that that arrangement is not (in a way it’s not even) real, it is particular only to the workplace. Remove the workplace and we are equal. Every person no matter rank or role is equally important and equally resourced in the economy of God. And so, Paul gives essentially three directives. One, be obedient. Two, do the will of God, and three, do service. The rest of what he says are all descriptors, how to do that work, but nevertheless, there are only three things to do here.  Be obedient, same word he used for children and parents. This is not wait for direction, wait to be told what to do. This is obey before that. This is character. An incredibly rare person, I might say. And this is perhaps why Paul started this concept at children in the home… Do the will of God. That is an inch wide and miles deep. As an employee, if I am not acting with the will of God then I’m in the wrong. It makes every difference who you are actually working for… Do service. It’s one word in the Greek, “duoleuo,” and its kin to the word we have for disciple. It’s essentially, make yourself second to them in all things. This is what a good leader, which is a good follower, these three things must be there… And Paul gives us A TON of descriptors. Serve your bosses in fear and trembling. In sincerity of heart, as unto Christ. Not hypocritically, with eye service, as men-pleasers but serving him or her as you would serve Jesus Himself! Doing the will of God FROM THE HEART, with goodwill…  This actually reveals a great deal about not being an employee but being a leader. Just because you have a rank, title, tenure or years of experience and success, none of those things make you a leader. What makes someone a leader is that people want to follow and people are following! Simple as that!  Super interesting, powerful and critically important. Four verses for subordinates, one verse for leadership, why? Because they are actually all for leadership. IF, and this is what I am commanded to be, supposed to be, in sin and in the wrong and hurting myself and others and displeasing not-glorifying to God if I’m not, if I will do these three things with these three descriptors then I am one my leader LOVES to lead. And what’s amazing and lost and not known by the mass majority and I don’t know why, is that if that’s the case, then my leadership is going to not only invite me but LOOK TO ME in terms of leadership towards them, and so are others! Figure this out, man. Followship is leadership. Being a bondservant is to be the best type of master and really in God’s economy, the only type of master. Think about the cross! Think about the Garden! Think about the last supper! It’s amazing, right in front of our eyes, right here, every day and I’m the special one in my ministry and workplace because I get this? That’s crazy to me. The better you are to lead, the better leader you are. Done.  Isn’t that amazing! Well, I don’t worry about leading, I don’t want to be a leader. You are sorely mistaken. You were made for this. You were created to glorify God and to take what He has given to you and to return honor to Him for it… That’s your purpose. Leaders don’t have to be the center of attention or talkative or gregarious or at the top of the org charts. Where are those things in verses 5 – 9? The fact of it all is that when God sent His Holy Spirit upon those that would choose Him, leadership and the call to leadership in this world, arrived… One more thing on this today… After 20+ years in a career and on my 13th year of being a senior leader in ministry, I have found that rarely does what we’ve discussed today grow from a person, a heart, a life that isn’t already like this. Be very careful, extremely careful, who you surround yourself with. I know leaders aren’t born, I get it, they grow into being a leader. I’m just saying that as Paul directs, as the Bible describes, I’ve seen it happen, but rarely. Just like you don’t marry someone thinking you’re going to change them, know that the same is true in the workplace and in ministry… Walk in wisdom.  So, this one was a tough one and I KNOW, the way our culture programs us, the way our upbringings program us, the way our politics program us, and the way our economic strategies program us, tells us something perhaps entirely different, diametrically opposed, to what the Word of God lays before us… So be it. Jesus said in Matthew 20:25-26, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” Choose whom you will serve. Doesn’t change the fact that good, true leaders are the best people to lead. They are easy, supportive, respectful, loving, filled with goodwill, you want them to lead YOU! Yes men? Please! Terrible employees are yes men! But when they say no, you WANT to hear them out rather than edging them out! And ultimately in the end, they’re not really serving you, honoring you as their boss, they are serving Jesus and it’s OBVIOUS!

Ephesians 6 vs 1-4

June 18, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 6:1–4

When God began the human family, He began with the father. The father is God’s answer to foundations. The father is much more than a title for those that have children but according to God, I am to father my children, my wife and my community. And interestingly, God has chosen to title Himself as Father. 1 Corinthians 8:6, “There is one God, the Father, of who are all things…”   Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 1 ·    In the Greek, this word for parents is the word “goneus” which is a noun meaning parents but it is presented in the masculine and so it could be translated, “Children,” being anyone dependent in anyway, not just biological offspring, but, “Children, obey your fathers in the Lord, for this is right!” And what’s cool here is that the word obey isn’t receptive but rather active…, like, COME and knock seeking to listen and be obedient. ·    So, “Children, seek out the instruction of your fathers, intending and eager to do just as they direct, for this is right!” Alright, that places a real responsibility on the fathers…, what is it? Coming in verse 4 but I’ll give it to you like this…, to make others (and most and first our own children) the absolute best of us! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 2 - 3 ·    What’s the promise? Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” So, the promise that Paul is referring to can be interpreted as honoring your father and mother comes with days. What’s that mean? Dishonoring your father and mother, shortens your life! WOW! Ephesians Chapter 6 Verse 4 ·    Paul gives us the three elements of the instruction that is to come specifically from fathers in verse 4. First, I am to be careful to not provoke not just my children but also my wife and my community, careful to not provoke them to wrath but I am responsible (not just to my children, but also to my wife and to my community) to be the source/foundation and put on display the training and admonition of the Lord. ·    The word for wrath means to exasperate and I like that word. It means to introduce intense frustration. When something is futile, when you feel like you can’t get something right and you begin to lose hope, that is to be exasperated. And this is very very very easy to make the people closest to me feel if I walk in a critical nature. ·    I think all sorts of good things. See all sorts of good things. But I’m a fixer. So, I naturally tend to verbalize the problems that I see…. Totally off balance and can lead to someone feeling like all I see are the problems. Not so. Be careful to encourage and celebrate someone as much as you criticize and correct them. All coming from a good place, but constant criticisms and low volumes of praise will exasperate anyone… ·    Also, negativity exasperates. Just simple negativity. Doesn’t need to be about them or anything they’ve done or doing, but negative people exasperate those around them. Leaders, good leaders, fathers and good fathers find the positives in situations and life. Harsh words, negativity, criticism, these things all create pressure. Removing burdens and positivity relieves pressure. Kids especially are looking to find out how to measure life… Don’t provoke them to exasperation. What you’re doing is giving them the worst of you, not the best. ·    One practical example. A negative, critical and sometimes harsh person when met with someone with a problem or bad attitude may say something like this, “What’s wrong with you?” One second of intent and that question can be changed to, “Are you ok?” The same question was asked but only one of those questions actually helps… ·    And then Paul says, “But bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Two things that I’d like to explore and explain by using a bit of a play on the word, “father.” First, to train someone is to prepare them and in a way, when it comes to preparing for life, what I want to do is prepare my kids to be perfect. Hey do this, don’t do this, think this way, don’t think this way and all the while, with good intention, I’m trying to train them to be flawless. The problem with that is they aren’t and never will be and so when they aren’t, I and we both get frustrated. ·    What God does with me and what I am to do as a father is also to train my children to prepare for and recover when they (and here’s the play on words) falter. We serve a God that doesn’t kick us while we are down. He doesn’t begin tough conversations with an “I told you so,” but we serve a God that has a heart to lift us up when we have failed. ·    That’s really the entire message and demonstration of the cross. My sin, my failure, my mistakes put Him there and yet He went willingly so that I could be saved unto eternal life… Training my children that failure is a necessary part of success, that they are more important to me than their performance, relieves pressure and allows them to learn and grow with a much wider aperature… ·    The second directive of Paul for fathers is for us to apply the admonition of the Lord. And this one is a word we don’t use too much with a very long definition but I am going to simplify just for today in the second play on words and that is to take the word father and add one letter to it and say the word farther. ·    The thought behind this directive is that I as a father to my children, wife and community should have a heart to see them go farther than I could ever go. And so, I want to teach them the best of things, the things of God, not only by lip service but demonstration and also teach them and give them the best parts of me while protecting them from the limitations and bad parts of me. ·    Generations seem to be degrading and that is the plan of the enemy for sure. God’s purpose in combating and even leading away from that is for the fathers to generationally admonish those around them so that the next in line is better than they ever were and then the next and so on. Are you making the best of you into the next generation? Are you the best of the generations that have come before you? ·    Some practical offerings on admonishing your children, wife and even community. Make sure you are messaging to them that they are not special because they are smart, good in school, get good grades, excel on the ball field…, but install in them that they are special because God loves them, Jesus died for them and they are fearfully and wonderfully made. That is not an action, that is a mindset and fathers trying to make their kids, wives and communities flawless absolutely kill this message… ·    Don’t move the goalposts. Be consistent. If you move the goalposts of what it takes to gain your approval or messaging to them that they are doing well then that will cause confusion of what matters…, and that exasperates. Hypocrisy will kill your fatherhood. I am not only my kids’ father but I am also their brother in Christ… And if I dabble in hypocrisy then that confuses them as well. One other piece of just practical advice. Don’t have too many rules. The Jews came up with 613, Jesus came up with two… ·    All of this, couched within and founded upon this phrase we read in the middle of the verse and that phrase is “bring them up.” That’s it. That’s my job. Not to ween or raise but literally for my children, wife, community, people around me, my role, calling, directive and non-negotiable for the man (that would honor Jesus) is to bring and build and lift people up that are around me. Through training and through admonition. Through their failures, to progress them further… ·    Now, after hearing this, boy do we have some work to do, don’t we? We can look at the state of our homes, churches, communities and even nation and see that we as a whole are struggling. But remember, and one last thing to share with your today, this is the responsibility and approach God has adopted for Himself. ·    Ever heard, “everyone deserves a second chance?” That’s is a total lie. No one deserves a second chance but it is God’s desire and heart and character to offer and enable second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on chances for us to recover from our failures and go on farther… ·    In 1932 Pablo Picasso, a very troubled and bizarre man, painted a painting called “La reve,” or “The Dream.” The painting was purchased for $7,000 in 1941 by Victor and Sally Ganz of New York City. After their death, the painting was sold on November 11, 1997 at Christie’s Auction House for $48.4M! At the time, that was the sixth most expensive painting ever sold. ·    The man that purchased the painting was Austrian-born investment fund manager, Wolfgang Flottl. In 2001, under financial pressure, he sold “The Dream” painting to casino magnate Steve Wynn for around $60M. ·    Some five years later, Wynn agreed to sell the painting to billionaire Steven Cohen for an astonishing $139M, however, before the deal was complete, in showing the painting to some friends, he stumbled and managed to plunge his elbow right through the painting, ruining it! Devastated, he cancelled the deal… ·    He then spent a year searching for someone who could perhaps repair the painting. He did find someone. A specialist who could repair the painting and from the front, you wouldn’t ever tell that it had been ruined, but anyone who had access to the back of the painting, you’d see the devastation of the incident and the evidence of a repair. ·    The repair was completed…, and to Wynn’s surprise billionaire Steven Cohen contacted him and begged him to sell him the painting again. The fact that it had been ruined and then seemingly brought back was somehow so inspiring to the billionaire mogul, and so the painting again changed hands. Only after the repair, Cohen was no longer wanting to pay $139M. He paid $155M. The most ever paid for a painting… ·    Here is the training and admonition, the falter preparing and the farthering of the Father…, to take something, someone that was ruined and make them somehow more valuable than ever before… Perfect from the front, from the outside, devastating repair on the inside, and the highest value than any that have come before. ·    This is what God wants to do with and in you and this is what we as fathers, these are our orders…, not just for our children, but for our wives and our communities! Father’s are God’s answer for foundations and as for my people, I want their foundations to be solid, and so for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, beginning with me.

Ephesians 5 vs 22-33 Study 4

June 11, 2023 • Kristin Coupal, Pastor Jon Coupal • Ephesians 5:22–33

Ephesians 5 vs 22-33 Study 3

June 4, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:22–33

Assembly instructions have come with marriage just like a piece of Ikea furniture. It’s there, in the box, but it begins in pieces. But there’s hope. A little piece of paper that says, this piece goes here and this piece goes there. And if you follow the instructions, you get what you intended to buy…, if not, you have a pile of pieces. Now, sometimes putting that piece of furniture together with your spouse can be…trying, and the tools they give you in the box are just the worst. HA! But nevertheless, follow the instructions, and you’ll get what you want… Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 25 - 33 In these verses there is essentially only one directive towards husbands, God’s intention for him, us, me…and it’s not only the key but also the only imperative, the must have that God has given to us in designing the family and the home, not to subject us to some sort of life-long hardship but rather to establish us as kingdom men, husbands, fathers and sons. Now, we’ll look at all of what Paul has said, but none of it works or even makes sense unless we understand, accept and apply the one directive. And that must for a husband towards his wife is to love her.   Now, men, we aren’t finished. Because inherent in God’s command/call is also the necessity to seek the Lord. Why? You aren’t going to naturally love your wives and you don’t naturally even know what this love is… And here’s the problem, she does. She’s wired this way. To understand love and to understand and sense when she is loved and when she is not being loved. And so, to figure this out, it’s not “ok let me go love my wife,” unfortunately and frustratingly its far more than that… What we are going to see is that to do these things as God has commanded, requires tremendous determination and as we look at this together, try not to get discouraged, because it’s been said, “Everything is hard until its easy.”   We first need to understand this word. Words are cheap in the English language and I love my car, I love my job, I love a perfectly prepared steak, is that, are those how I should love my wife? (Maybe if you’re Jeffrey Dahmer! HA!) What happens when my car breaks down? When my job gets hard and people make my day cruddy? Still love my job? What happens when the steak is well done? Blasphemy! HA!   In the Greek, there are actually four words for love. And the word used in conversation, what word was used, made all the difference. There’s “storge” which is the word for familial love. The naturally developing affectionate bond between parents, siblings, etc. And that’s an important one because it’s quite special. You don’t quite love anyone the way you love your child. That’s “storge.” Not what we’re talking about in Ephesians Chapter 5.   There’s “phileo.” This is the emotional love between good friends. A brotherly love. This a love founded on, based in and maintained in a give and take type relationship. This love is a response to someone who treats you a certain way. If your friend doesn’t treat you right, you say, “I thought we were friends.” Therefore, this is a “you stop, I stop” love. This is not what we’re talking about in Ephesian Chapter 5.   There’s another word for love that is most popular and prevalent today and that is the Greek word “eros.” Eros is a sensual, romantic, fleshly need type love, and this is the love that we hear of in all the songs, see in all the movies and this is the love that our global society is most, if not only, concerned with. Eros love is basically lust. I have needs, those needs are natural, I want those needs filled, and the filling of my needs is to love and to be loved. This is the love that men very naturally understand… but not the love we’re talking about in Ephesians 5…   This is why “love is love” is absolutely correct. Whether I choose an animal, a tree, or another human to marry, love is most certainly love when we are talking eros. And eros is not mentioned once in the Bible. Hold that thought. The final and fourth word for love in the Greek language is “agape.” This is the highest of the four types of love and truly in the company of the other three words, this one stands alone and one could say that this is the only one we should even call love once you understand what it is. The problem is that we (English language) have one word for the four ideas we’ve learned…   Agape is perfect. God is perfect and 1 John 4:8 says, “God IS love,” and therefore this love is…, perfect. It is pure. Without blemish. Without fail and fallacy. It is unconditional. This is not an emotion at all…, that’s “phileo.” This is not a feeling at all…, that’s “eros.” This is agape and it means “decision, commitment, covenant.” This word for love means discipline and determination. We will build this out but this is the love we are, non-negotiable, to have and to express for and towards our wives. It’s major. And let me tell you men this, “discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons, and success is tons of discipline!” This is truly impossible if your focus is on your relationship with her… I believe that’s why Paul points us to Jesus here in Ephesians 5…   Ok, back to an earlier thought for just a moment. This is why “love is love” is correct but it’s also incorrect. In the understanding of the world, “eros is eros” is entirely right! Applaud! Makes sense! Duh! Marry your car! HA! But “love is love,” “eros is agape,” is entirely WRONG because unconditional, commitment love has nothing to do with the filling of fleshly needs/wants love. Totally wrong. In fact, to affirm “eros is agape,” is to make God into some sort of humanistic physical force, which in other words, the flesh. But Jesus said in John 4:24 that “God is Spirit…” So, is eros eros? OF COURSE. Is eros agape? Not even in the same category and to get there, one has to deny God… See the problem? Between the church and the world, same word, different language…   When you take a wife unto yourself, this is the command, key, advice, counsel and non-negotiable that God has directed of His sons. To love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her… The decision of agape, the commitment, the covenant is that no longer are my needs, emotions, thoughts and priorities the aim and goal of my moment, day, or life… But all of those things are now her.   Let’s put this in context… Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church. Who is the church? Its you and its me. So, husbands, love your wives as Jesus loves you. How does Jesus love you? What are the conditions? The only condition is His goodness. What if you never do anything right? Does Jesus still love you? Duh. What if you deny Him over and over again, does Jesus still love you? Duh…   Do the priorities, thoughts, aims and goals of Jesus matter? Absolutely. And these are presented to us in the Word and in our relationship with Him. Is there intense blessing in submitting to Jesus? Absolutely! But, does Jesus love me even if I couldn’t care less about His priorities? Duh. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” But what if…, there are no what ifs in agape… And this is the single directive of God towards husbands…   All of the problems in your relationship with your wife, if you really think about it, are due to our wives not phileo-ing us or our wives not eros-ing us. If you wrap everything into and around agape, your problems disappear. Romans 5:8 says that while we were yet sinners, God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that He gave His life! Do you know how much God hates sin?   Psalm 7:11 says, “God is angry with the wicked every day!” He sees all my mess, my sin, my mistakes, my rebellion, my attitude, my terrible…all of it…and decides to love me anyway! “I hate what you’re doing but even so I’m going to demonstrate My love towards you.” That is agape and the single call, directive or the husband or the marriage will remain in pieces.   In John 14:21 we read, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” There is a direct correlation to love and action. A direct correlation to love and what you DO. Agape love is demonstrated. That is how it is expressed, communicated and carried out. You can look at the cross and see love. Love/agape is always measured in action.   “I tell my wife I love her all the time.” Worthless. That’s respect. You ought to do that as the Bible does say to give honor to your wife, but in the grand scheme of the love she needs and the love we are directed to demonstrate, words on their own are worthless.   Paul writes that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and Isaiah tells us in chapter 53:5, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” AND verse 7 says, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” That is love and character and grit all wrapped into one…that is husbandry.   Men, husbands, when we say I do what we are vowing to do is to take stripes for the rest of our lives in order to heal our wives. God will work in your wife and change your wife but not without you taking stripes. And Agape expects nothing, asks for nothing and complains about nothing. It just agape’s… This is the love you must decide is the way you are going to love your wives… Here’s why intense, tremendous determination is involved! Big statement: “The quality of your thinking is the ability to determine the long term effects of your current actions.” Paul says in Ephesians 5 that sanctifying and cleansing and washing her with the water of the Word of God, making her a glorious wife without spot or wrinkle or any such things, making your marriage and home holy and without blemish and ultimately being like Christ is nothing but and everything about agape love of the husband toward the wife. She will heal as you take stripes without any expectation of anything in return…   Let’s get ultra practical just for a moment and then we are done. 1 Peter 3:7 says, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife…” What this means, which is a critical part of agepe-ing your wife is that you are to understand her! Which husband in here can understand his wife? HAHAHAHA! ZERO of us, and so we need help! Who is the greatest help in understanding our wives? OUR WIVES!   But they won’t tell us! HA! SO, what must we do? Study them and ask questions and try things and figure it out. Look, if y’all can be mechanics and figure out that noise when you were making that turn is the CV Boot leaking grease off the CV Axle…, just from a click during a turn, you can learn what your wife does and doesn’t like! What makes her tick! But you’re going to need to study her in order to agape her…   Without knowing what makes her tick, you can’t honor her…, and here is perhaps the most critical demonstration of agape from you to her…, to honor her is to make her feel good about who she is… We MUST do that! You used to do that…, remember, BEFORE you were married! Words won’t do it. Agape does it… And a woman that feels good about who she is, will make you feel good about who you are…, just sayin!   So, do something small every day. Something just for her. And don’t tell her, don’t expect anything in return, just serve her. Empty the dishwasher. Wash her car. Make the bed. Just something like that. Many wives may have a heart attack after today…, HA!   Stop being so boring! Be silly, be funny, do something out of the ordinary a few times a month. Be creative! You were before you got married, what happened? Date her. Make her think during her day, “I can’t wait to be with him.” Give her “me” time away from you and the kids. Letting her unwind and have some time to herself messages to her that she is important…   Do love her with words, but do this during the day…, not just at 10pm when you’re hoping they pay off! HA! No, love her with kindness and with husband type words at 10am and expect nothing in return. Do it simply because this is how you obey God in your marriage.   I know all this sounds difficult but to be a husband that agape’s his wife is to follow Jesus and truer words have not been spoken during our times today than these…, husbandry is the primary way that God is making every married man like Himself. Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing.” Because this is the primary avenue God is going to work in your life to make you more like Him. And He is awesome. Husbands as you agape her, you’ll be blessed in your relationship with God and your relationship with your wife. This is your only directive…, requires tremendous determination, but it will get good…, everything is hard until its easy! Imagine if this was no longer a burden task, but just simply who you are as a man…, I DEFINITELY want to be that!

Ephesians 5 vs 22-33 Study 2

May 28, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:22–33

Assembly instructions have come with marriage just like a piece of Ikea furniture. It’s there, in the box, but it begins in pieces. But there’s hope. A little piece of paper that says, this piece goes here and this piece goes there. And if you follow the instructions, you get what you intended to buy…, if not, you have a pile of pieces. Now, sometimes putting that piece of furniture together with your spouse can be…trying, and the tools they give you in the box are just the worst. HA! But nevertheless, follow the instructions, and you’ll get what you want… Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 22 – 24, 33 In these verses there are essentially two directives towards wives, intentions that God had in designing the family and the home, that He has given us not to subject us to some sort of life-long hardship but rather to give us the keys to unlocking His plan for our marriages. There are only two things here and we will spend our time today exploring them.   Submit The directive to submit has been so very damaged and twisted. No wonder. Jesus came and said, “God has said,” but the enemy came and said, “Has God said…” He’s been twisting scriptures since before they were scriptures. Submission is spiritually nothing about human person over person authority and everything about assembly instructions…, everything about love.   Most men, the vast majority and truly all Godly men, we don’t want or need or even truly benefit from submission, what we need and benefit from as a family and truly what we want is support support. One team. One purpose. One Home. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to His wife and the two shall become one. It is the support of one thing that allows the formation of the other. Unless the foundation supports the flooring, there will be no home. Unless the fuel supports the combustion, there will be no acceleration. To submit to your own husband is to formulate a response to faith personally that results in a peace within your home, family and even your husband himself. Wives, as the earthly companion to your husband, he should be able to assume with ease his God given responsibility in the home…   Proverbs 31:10-11, “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so, he will have no lack of gain.” A submissive wife is not a mousy wife but rather a life partner that adds to her home and to her husband all the things he has not on his own. Affirmation, stability, construction towards usefulness in the kingdom. God looked at man and said it’s not good for him to be alone. Even in the midst of perfection there was a discouragement in the man as he looked at how each animal had his companion and yet he did not. And so, God gave Eve to Adam to complete him and be his help-mate.   Proverbs 31:12, “She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” She is not his battle, she is the reason he wins his battles. And together they take on the world which pleases the Father as both His children whom He loves so dearly are sent out two by two to not be discouraged nor destroyed but to be established. Proverbs 31:23, “Her husband is known in the gates,” respected as a judge and leader of men…, because she supports his own growth towards Godliness and she props us his good reputation.   Proverbs 31:26, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.” This is the key ingredient in the recipe for support in the home towards your man. Kindness. Kindness is everything. Kindness means you work to center…, you wives initiate and lead the charge towards goodness in your relationship. This is the desire of your husband but he has no idea how to do it, and yet for the wife, this is the greatest and most effective tool you have in your quiver. Men are EASY. Tell us we’re pretty and show us kindness and we will thrive. Proverbs 31:27, “She watches over her household,” takes accountability for the home, and her children and husband call her their biggest blessing and praise. This is all that it is to submit to and support your husband and this is why God has given him, brought him to you. Proverbs 31:30, “A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” Your reward of supporting your husband will be that you are celebrated and the pieces come together to make what they were intended to become. This is to submit to your own husband as unto the Lord because all of that comes from fearing the Lord. Which leads us to the second thing, directive two of two towards wives in Ephesians 5.   FEAR In the end of this verse set, this advice, guidance, counsel, design and directive of the Holy Spirit, we read, “Let the wife see that she respects her husband.” This is the only time, out of 93 times, that this word in the Greek is translated as “respect” in all of scripture. The word in the Greek is “phobeo,” which is every other time translated, all 92 other times, as to fear. What on earth are we talking about here?   Is respect an appropriate translation? Absolutely. After we look at this a bit in context of the entirety of scripture, I think “respect” hit the mark well. Other well mark hitters include, “reverence,” and to “treat with deference.” There’s something entirely special and unlike any other the way the wife is to treat the husband. Perhaps better said, the way the husband so desperately desires to be treated by his wife.   Ok, lets look at this word fear. Is it the right word to use here in the Greek? OF COURSE! This is the word of God! So is the wife to fear her own husband. Absolutely! BUT, what does that mean? Scripture really helps us out here and I want to step through a few things that make total sense and really, as a man, as a husband, resonate in my own mind and heart. Just one statement though, wife, are you afraid of your husband suffering? This really is the fear that I believe God is talking about… Do you care, is it something that even sets you to flight, puts you to action, the thought that he’s hurting and you could either turn that hurt off or help him in it? If so, you’re a good wife. And I think that is the foundation of this directive design given to us by God.   What does God mean by wives, a good wife, fears her husband (because that is literally what it says here)? Looking at the other 92 times this word is used in scripture is a huge HUGE help. Let’s start with what it is NOT. It is NOT to fear your husband in some sort of way in terms of hurt, abuse, misuse or domination. 365 times we read in the Bible that we are to “fear not,” and so there is no way God repeated Himself hundreds of times telling us to not be fearful and then turns around and tells wives to be fearful, so we are talking about something else entirely with what is demanded of wives in Ephesians 5.   1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” And so, we know this fear as wives are to fear their husbands, has nothing to do with torment in anyway towards wives from husbands.   Ok, first stop, and I want to move through these rather quickly, Mark 4:41, “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” To fear your husband is to look for things about him and physically affirm what it is in him that is admirable and wow-ing. Husbands, we love that, and from our wives turns our heart to joy.   Here's another example of that. Mark 5:15, “Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.” They weren’t afraid that Jesus was going to hurt or dominate them here. That’s not why they feared. They feared because they acknowledged His greatness and His power. A good wife will do this often for her husband. (Ladies are you taking notes? If not, what is wrong with you!? HA)   Mark 5:25-34, “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the [affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her (that she had been healed), came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”   Is she afraid in a bad way of Jesus? Absolutely not. She is knowing, acknowledging, seeing, expressing, communicating how He has helped and supported and healed her and that is the emotion, the action of fear here. Wives, you are better for having your husband. What God has brought together, let no man break apart. A good wife takes the time to think through how she has been healed, helped, positively supported, partnershipped by her husband and she hides it in her heart and that creates KINDNESS towards him. And oh, by the way, if you tell him, you’ll heal anything broken in him… This woman told Jesus the WHOLE truth!   Next up, Mark 6:20, “For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.” This is a great example of such a wonderful fear from one person towards another. Most wives will receive Biblical counsel and correction from any man except her own husband and that is not only tragic but disastrous to a man’s inner self. When your man prays, teaches, exhorts, and perhaps even corrects, he ought to be treated with deference by his wife. Do you know that your husband is just and holy? See, so much needs to be corrected not in the relationship but in your own heart because if he is a Christian like you, he’s just and he is holy…, or you’re not… And this fear produced a desire to protect John. A good wife is protective of her husband and the first threat is her own sin…that is respect at its finest!   Look at this one…, Mark 10:32, “Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed (fearful). And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.” Let your husband amaze you… Do you know why he doesn’t? Because you take him for granted…   How’d you get here today? In a car, right… First time you rode in a car, amazing…. 10,000th time, not so amazing. What changed? Being a good wife has very little to do with him, doesn’t it? See, we’re scratching on the intent behind Ephesians 5…   A few more, Luke 1:50, “And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” Every man in this room who is a Christian is extremely EXTREMELY merciful…, to those who fear hurting him…   Acts 10:2, “A devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.” A person that is fearful in a great and Godly way is a giving person. Are you giving towards your husband? Good wives are, and without condition…. Enough said there…   Romans 11:20, “Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.” The opposite of fearfulness is pridefulness. A wife is to not approach her husband with a haughty spirit. There are only a few things that destroy a marriage faster and worse than that. Work towards center. When you argue, argue for the health of the relationship, not for the personal perspective you have… That is to fear…   One final one, Gal 2:12, “For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.” This is an interesting use of the word and applicable in context to our discussion today. If you don’t fear your husband in a Godly way, he will fear you in a tragic way. A way that drives you apart. Respect is so important and such a need to a man, and specifically a husband, that to remain in close proximity to someone who doesn’t respect him literally destroys him over and over again in his heart of hearts. So, he will, MUST, withdrawal…   Now, this is a lot, I know…, wives, you’ll need to probably listen to this again, read these notes again, and if you truly desire to honor the Lord in your marriage, well, Paul says here, “Let the wife SEE that she respects her husband,” the result of what you’ve learned today won’t be a feeling, emotion, decision or thought but it will be action that you not only watch for and take inventory of but because you love the Lord and love your husband, these (just like they are to the Lord) are today non-negotiables to you personally. And God is going to richly richly bless your marriage and your family through you because you are now not submitted to your husband, but truly you are submitted and trusting in God. Summary Wives, two directives or the marriage remains in pieces: 1. Submit a.  Be your husband’s greatest support b. Cultivate ease in your husband’s life c.  Affirm and stabilize your husband d. Be the reason he wins his battles e.  Support his good reputation f.   Lead with kindness in your home and work to center g. Watch over and protect your husband 2. Fear a.  Express respect towards your husbands b. Treat your husband with deference c.  Be afraid of your husband suffering d. Look for things about him that wow you e.  Acknowledge the great/powerful things about your husband f.   Be thankful for how he has partnered with you in life g. Don’t take your husband for granted h. Unconditionally Giving i.   Present Humility j.   Respect should be able to be inventoried

Ephesians 5 vs 22-33 Study 1

May 21, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:22–33

Communication about the family and within the family…, both are critically important. My plan is to not necessarily reconstruct the Marriage Series from about five years ago, I think that was for then, its good, and it’s out there for you to go and listen to. Rather for the next three or four weeks I’d like to truly try and understand very very well these final verses of Ephesians Chapter 5. And so, I’ll be trying to communicate well the heart of the Lord and the mind of God in the context of the home, the family and specifically marriage.   Communication is so incredibly important. We have got to work to get it right so that what we are thinking, feeling, saying…, sharing that and working in and through that, we get that right too. It’s like a story I heard once of a man in Illinois. He and his wife had planned a Florida get-away in order to leave the snow covered streets of their state. He was going to go on ahead while his wife was on a business trip and she was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick text. Just setting up his new phone, he hadn’t yet transferred his contacts and so he typed her number in by memory but unfortunately got one of the numbers wrong and his text went to an elderly preacher’s wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow read the text, she fell to the floor passed out. At that sound, her family rushed to her and saw the text on her phone. “Dearest wife, I wanted to let you know that I have arrived safely. Everything is prepared for your arrival tomorrow, your loving husband. PS. It sure is hot down here!” HA!   For many or most, marriage is a three-ring circus. First comes the engagement ring, then the wedding ring and then suffering! HA! It’s a challenge for real…, and all you have to do is read the end of Ephesians Chapter 5 to know that! Reading and applying these verses can have you as a husband perhaps in the future there in the cemetery banging on the tombstone and saying, “WHY, why why!? Why did you have to die!?” And someone says, “Oh I’m so sorry you lost your wife.” And he says, “No this is my wife’s first husband!” HA!   It’s a challenge! Marriage is a REAL challenge! But met with understanding and agreement with God, you and I have a 100% chance at being successful at it and even qualifying marriage, the family and the home as the greatest privilege and blessing in all of life other than knowing Jesus personally!   Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 25 – 33 is the widely and commonly accepted authoritative scripture set on marriage. However, I think that’s entirely problematic. Why? It’s nine verses. Nine verses! Three for wives and seven for husbands (Verse 32 is a shared verse). But that’s it!? Nine verses!? There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. Look, nine out of 31,102 verses (0.03%) doesn’t give us what we need to know about marriage. Sorry. These verses are clear, to the point, challenging and critical. The problem arises when we jump right to them and hand them out like marching orders. They lack context…   Paul has spent five and three quarters chapters before getting here, and God wrapped over 30,000 truths around these. Context truly is everything. Is the mega-need of the husband respect? Absolutely. A respected man is a delighted man. A man becomes who he is to become in an environment of respect. Is the mega-need of the wife to be loved entirely/securely and without condition? Absolutely. A cherished wife is a delighted wife. We will get to those things for sure and truly they are essential to a Godly and enjoyable home life and marriage relationship. But context is absolutely everything. The central theme of the Book of Ephesians is the work of God. Even the parts that we are instructed to do in the later half of the book, none of them are able to be done without the power of the Holy Spirit and frankly none of them even make sense in the life of someone who is not reborn by the saving power of Jesus Christ. Walk worthy of the calling of Christ in all lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bear with one another….? Why!? What’s my motivation in any way to do that if I have no desire to glorify/thank God for what He has done for me in the work of the cross?   And wading into the subject of marriage is a recipe for drowning even in an inch of water without the context of the power, promises and preeminence of God at work, God will work, God has worked, God is working, and God is the worker.   So, for example. Husbands, love your wives… Why? She’s not good to me. Doesn’t respect me. Doesn’t understand me. Doesn’t serve me. Doesn’t value me. Doesn’t appreciate me. So why? You’re right, don’t. BUT, it’s through loving her that God will work. And even now, you can’t see it, you’re not allowed to see it lest you become entirely faithless, but God is working. You love her not because it is fair but in response to faith. Because without faith, God will not move in your home.   There is one word that frames it all entirely in terms of marriage. Found in Malachi 2:14. “Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.” Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. And the blessing, work, promises and even miracles of God only function within the confines of that covenant. If you leave covenant, you forfeit the promises of God within that covenant. It’s like an umbrella. It’s raining crazy but as long as you are under that umbrella, that rain doesn’t even dampen you…but the moment you move out, you get soaked… See, context is everything…   So, nine verses. Challenging. Enlightening. But just a drop in a bucket full of context and connection with the family and the marriage relationship. When I gave a marriage series four/five years ago, we weren’t going through the Book of Ephesians, we were in 1 Corinthians. And we stopped at love to talk about the marriage relationship (1 Corinthians 13). Truly, that is the correct context to begin with again. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He has forgiven us. We endure the details of depravity with our spouses because God endures with grace and mercy each day with us… And so, the context above all others to wade intothese verse in Ephesians with has got to be the motivation, calling, challenge and commandment of covenant and love.   It’s not primarily love for each other and covenant with each other. That’s not going to get you there. I’ve been married now for almost twenty years. And I have failed April so deeply, drastically and completely so many times to the point that I can’t expect her love for me to be the thing that enables or drums up the respect I need, the honor I need, the admiration I need to fulfil me. Admire me? She knows the worst of me?! Ok, perhaps you can but I’m just an ultra-realist. And honestly the respect I want and the admiration I want is as if I have never failed her. So how can that come forth after these many years and failures!?   Love in the home and in a marriage relationship and for your spouse must not primarily be based on your partner but on the Lord. Period. End of Line. Think of the greatest commandment given in the Bible. Love others as yourself and love the Lord. Wrong. Wrong order. In fact, so wrong in order that the commandment becomes impossible to apply. The greatest commandment given by Jesus Himself.   This is the attack of the enemy. This is the context of the 31k verses. And this is where the marriage relationship begins. God instituted marriage before the fall.  It is therefore the original, hand in hand with the man’s fellowship agape with his Creator, marriage is the original target of the enemy and number one on the hit list and hate list of Satan himself. No wonder it’s difficult, right?   You see we all have issues. Every marriage has problems.  But, as you walk with the Lord, sanctification has a reversing effect of the fall in your heart and life. I love what Tony Evans explained once, cracks in your walls cannot be fixed and more will always come, you’ll always be doing patchwork, if you do not fix the foundation that keeps shifting. That foundation is your relationship and commitment and truly your closeness with Jesus Christ.   God did not create marriage for you to find happiness and fulfillment. That is only and can only be found in a God! In fact, get ready for the flesh to be greatly enhanced! If you have a problem now, getting married will only serve to bring it to the surface! If you’re unhappy now, unfulfilled now, you will be the same as a wife…as a husband. In fact, it will be multiplied. Satan never messed with mankind until they were married…   Oh, and he will mess with you! Exploit the vast differences between a man and a woman. Here’s one example. Where do you want to go to eat? Common question from a husband, right? Common answer from the wife? Where do YOU want to go to eat? Get ready for a deep, extremely deep, theological exposition. This is going to shock you. That answer is entirely disrespectful. It’s loving, entirely loving, but intensely disrespectful! You see, we speak different languages, HA! And rather than get shocked and offended and frustrated…, learn a new language.   You have a 100% chance of being successful in marriage if you do it God’s way. 100%. What’s God’s way? You shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…, and love each other the same and as yourself. Wives be like, so how am I supposed to answer that question? By answering THE question! HA! And IF you HAVE to pepper in your language, throw in an offer to be ok with something else also, but I’m telling you, we don’t like that. HA! That’s speaking your language. And I get it, we can and must learn your language too, and we do! How do you know? We don’t stop the car and tell you to walk! HA!   What’s Ephesians 5 about? The 30+k verses about? Learning a better way and that way is covenant and love. Love the Lord with your all and love each other as yourself. Learn it or not, your choice. But doing marriage God’s way, you have a 100% chance of being successful and a good, Godly, fulfilling marriage is God’s design for the closest thing to heaven He has given us on earth, that’s verse 32.   It's like this. You’re sitting at an amazing feast called marriage. All the good foods you love to eat, everything you love and need, all there contained and designed into that marriage by God Himself. And you are hungry, naturally and designed that way by God also! Across the table, which is six feet wide and full of delicacies, is your spouse. And right before digging in, you notice your utensils. Not like others you have ever see before. These are six feet long.   Try as you may, there is no way to feed yourself. And there is no way for your spouse to feed themselves. If either of you are going to get any of that feast, its going to have to be that you use your tools to feed them. Now, many if not most marriages. What do you want? I’d love some of that stuffing! HA! I hate stuffing, April loves stuffing. I plunge that spoon into that bowl of perfect stuffing, her favorite, and then I just refuse to give it to her because well, I hate stuffing! Isn’t that horrible…? Hell on earth.   Two selfless people serving each other in a covenant marriage relationship is heaven on earth, or the closest you can get. Two selfish people together set on serving themselves, neither will eat, and there’s nothing closer to hell on earth. Your choice. My choice. So, what do we do? Ephesians 5:25-33…. How do we do it? 31k verses, ALL of God, ALL of me. All in. Come back next week and let’s get busy!  

Ephesians 5 vs 11-21

April 30, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:11–21

Verses 1 through 21 really lead up to verses 22 through 33. We often skip right to 22, especially the men, ha…, but without verses 1 through 21, verses 22 through 33 don’t work. Ephesians Chapter 5 Verse 11 ·    This is most certainly an important and critical directive from God. That as the light, folks that know the Light Himself, folks that walk in the light, folks that are called to be and actually are different than what this world has become, we are to breakup with the unfruitful/wasteful/destructive works of darkness. Stop holding hands, stop going on little secret dates, stop sending cute little text messages…, all of that destroys our relationship with the Lord…, so we ought too, man we need to stop mixing ourselves with the garbage of the flesh so that we can function properly, be healthy but also just enjoy the things of life we should and could enjoy. ·    It’s like this. Take something that is great for you to eat. A super food. Check it out. Here are four super foods. Blueberries, ginger, salmon and Green Tea. Ok, so you sit down and God by His Word and will have prepared for you a perfectly cooked filet of Salmon. Little ginger glaze, some fresh blueberries on the side and some perfect temperature Green Tea (sweet tea for all ya’ll southern bells! HA)! ·    And right before you eat it up, you mix in a little used cat liter fresh from the cash box! HA! Welcome to fellowship with the flesh! What are we doing to ourselves people!? Not only will that not digest well, probably not sit well in our systems, we won’t feel well and certainly won’t enjoy what should and could be enjoyable! Who wants a salmon filet glazed with ginger spiced kitty tootsie rolls!? ·    So, fellowship, mixing ourselves with the flesh for many reasons just doesn’t fit. Not for us…, and at the top of that list, it harms our relationship with Jesus. So, Paul tells us to break up. And then we, as the light, are rather to “expose” unfruitful works of darkness. That’s right! We need to call out sin for what it is and call folks to repentance. Um, Paul isn’t talking about doing this for others. This is personal. This is what we ought to do to and for ourselves… ·    Imagine. Just imagine a room filled with Christians that dealt with their own darkness. Bruh, I’d never have to deal with yours and you’d never have to deal with mine. Already taken care of…, that’s what God wants for His church! And the process is easy. How do you expose what is hidden in darkness? Light…, simple as that! (Goodness, righteousness, and truth) ·    Ok, let’s admit it, it’s fun to expose the works of darkness of others, right? Isn’t that like a benefit of being a Christian? We get to judge. Ok, I’ll give that to you…, for sure we are supposed to “shine” which means even our light applies to others, totally. But that’s exactly the means…, by shining. You can’t chase out darkness or expose darkness with darkness… So, glorify God in how you judge others…, and remember, His judgement looked like sacrifice… Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 12 – 14 ·    This is interesting because Paul is writing this “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus.” This is written to Christians! And he says, “Awake!” Or, “Wake up!” That Greek word means literally “Rise and rise again!” ·    Are you asleep, unconscious, unaware of something amazing and wonderful that God has planned for you or wants to do in you? If you said “no” or “I don’t know,” then Christian, YOUR ANSWER IS YES! Why? Because only people that are awake are aware! Only Christians that are awake can become aware of where we are missing out! ·    Spurgeon went in hard on this point and made these statements. “Be careful that you don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re awake. Because asleep people can speak, hear, walk, sing, think…, these aren’t signs that one is awake. And yet asleep people, one thing they do not do is care a bit about the state of his neighbors. Asleep Christians don’t care at all about the souls of others, whether they are saved or damned. It is enough for them if they are comfortable. If they can attend a respectable place of worship and go with others to heaven, they are indifferent about everything else.” ·    Speaking from the great prophet Snoop, “Yizikes!” And Paul calls us out of this sleepiness as Christians, remember, all in preparation for being able to do your own business adequately and well (the later parts of Ephesians 5). And this arise and arising again starts to look like… Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 15 – 16 ·    There’s a foolishness that comes along with sleepiness in the life of a Christian. I mean, obviously. And that’s something to buck up against…foolishness that is…because the fool suffers. A theme throughout the Bible. And wisdom walkers Paul says are those that are awake to circumspection. ·    The word in the Greek is akribos and it means to be diligent, perfect, circumspect. Circumspect harkens back to middle school and we think of circumference. Which is entirely correct. ALL the way around. We are walking with an awareness of all the things that God wants us aware to…for our own good and for the good of His order ultimately bringing Him glory. ·    Think of it this way. God is taking you somewhere, a plan for you, and you’re on your way if you are a Christian. You are on the highway to His program for your life. Now, have you ever been on a highway and looked over at the car next to you and that person is straight up asleep? I have! HA! May have actually been that person a time or two…! ·    That is a Christian who lacks diligence and the pursuit of perfection in their walk and life. A Christian who cares little to none about the souls of others and is just comfortable in their little heavenly hookup (life is about life and then I’m going to paradise!). No keeping up with traffic, no yielding to stop lights and traffic signs and certainly no care about what’s in their blind spot and definitely doesn’t use that magical little wand next to their steering wheel called the “turn signal!” HA! ·    What’s going to happen to them eventually? They’re going to crash! Paul says wake up, don’t be the fool, avoid the stupidity of caused crashes, and walk circumspectly! Akribos, with diligence and some grit! And in doing so, you will redeem your time… ·    This is a big one. We don’t care about today because we think we have a ton of todays left. Supply and demand. The more we perceive our supply, the less we have a demand in our hearts and minds. Totally foolish. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. One more day with our spouse, our kids, or moms and dads…., and yet today we take them for granted! And in doing so, we miss out on loving, appreciating….and enjoying them! ·    You never know what you’ve got until its gone. Ever heard that? That should NOT be the case for a Christian and its NOT the case for any Christian that is awake to the work and blessings of God in their life! Redeem the time or your days are evil and you won’t even know it until end game… Talk about COMPLETE tragedy! Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 17 – 18 ·    Interesting how Paul puts these contrasting conditions together. Almost linking them, well actually, that’s exactly what he’s doing. How does one get drunk with wine? They take in excessive portions! So, Paul says, Christian…, take in excessive portions of the Spirit of God! Bible studies, and times of prayer, fellowship and serving! And be being filled with the Holy Spirit and rise and rise again!! Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 19 – 21 ·    So, here’s what a life awake to the wonder of God and the grace of Jesus delivers! And notice the final thing before we dive into the home is that Paul says, BEFORE verse 22, comes verse 21, that we are to submit to one another in the fear of God. Which we won’t do unless we are first walking in the light, second living as children of the light, third, walking circumspectly and fourth, taking in excessive amounts of the Holy Spirit… ·    All this means, this submitting to one another, is GET UNDER each other and be their foundational support. Uphold them. Affirm them. Back them. Brace them. Give them rest and help and approval and assistance and relief and even protection. Get up under them and sustain! Paul said back in verse 17, “UNDERSTAND,” which is just two words put together meaning submit to each other. Without doing this for each other, we will NOT understand anything of God. And, in truth, if you’re not doing this for her, for him, for us, for the Lord…, then it has NOHTING to do with any of us or them but everything to do with you! You’re asleep. Perhaps even a fool. And a crash is coming!   Los versículos 1 al 21 realmente conducen a los versículos 22 al 33. A menudo nos saltamos directamente a 22, especialmente los hombres, ja..., pero sin los versículos 1 al 21, los versículos 22 al 33 no funcionan. Efesios Capítulo 5 Versículo 11 · Esta es ciertamente una directiva importante y crítica de Dios. Que como la luz, las personas que conocen la Luz Misma, las personas que caminan en la luz, las personas que están llamadas a ser y en realidad son diferentes de lo que este mundo se ha convertido, debemos romper con las obras infructuosas / derrochadoras / destructivas de la oscuridad. Deja de tomarte de las manos, deja de ir a pequeñas citas secretas, deja de enviar lindos mensajes de texto..., todo eso destruye nuestra relación con el Señor..., así que nosotros también debemos, hombre, dejar de mezclarnos con la basura de la carne para que podamos funcionar correctamente, estar sanos, pero también simplemente disfrutar de las cosas de la vida que deberíamos y podríamos disfrutar. · Es así. Tome algo que sea genial para comer.  Un súper alimento. Mira esto. Aquí hay cuatro súper alimentos. Arándanos, jengibre, salmón y té verde. Ok, entonces siéntate y Dios por Su Palabra y habrá preparado para ti un filete de salmón perfectamente cocido. Un poco de glaseado de jengibre, algunos arándanos frescos a un lado y un poco de té verde de temperatura perfecta (té dulce para todas las campanas del sur! JA)! · ¡Y justo antes de comerlo, mezclas un poco de suciedad recién salida de la caja del gato! ¡JA! ¡Bienvenidos a la comunión con la carne! ¿¡Qué nos estamos haciendo a nosotros mismos, gente!? ¡No solo eso no se digiere bien, probablemente no se sentará bien en nuestros sistemas, no nos sentiremos bien y ciertamente no disfrutaremos de lo que debería y podría ser agradable! ¿Quién quiere un filete de salmón glaseado con rollos de desperdicio de gato con especias de jengibre? · Entonces, el compañerismo, mezclarnos con la carne por muchas razones simplemente no encaja. No para nosotros..., y en la parte superior de esa lista, daña nuestra relación con Jesús. Entonces, Pablo nos dice que rompamos. Y entonces nosotros, como la luz, debemos más bien "exponer" obras infructuosas de oscuridad. ¡Así es! Necesitamos llamar al pecado por lo que es y llamar a la gente al arrepentimiento. Um, Pablo no está hablando de hacer esto por otros. Esto es personal. Esto es lo que debemos hacer por y para nosotros mismos... · Imagínese. Solo imagínese una habitación llena de cristianos que lidiaban con su propia oscuridad. Bruh, nunca tendría que lidiar con el tuyo y tú nunca tendrías que lidiar con el mío. Ya atendido..., ¡eso es lo que Dios quiere para Su iglesia! Y el proceso es fácil. ¿Cómo exponer lo que está oculto en la oscuridad? ¡Luz..., así de simple! (Bondad, justicia y verdad) · Ok, admitámoslo, es divertido exponer las obras de oscuridad de otros, ¿verdad? ¿No es eso como un beneficio de ser cristiano? Tenemos que juzgar. Ok, te daré eso ..., seguro que se supone que debemos "brillar", lo que significa que incluso nuestra luz se aplica a los demás, totalmente. Pero ese es exactamente el medio..., al brillar. No puedes expulsar la oscuridad o exponer la oscuridad con la oscuridad ... Entonces, glorifica a Dios en la forma en que juzgas a los demás ..., y recuerda, Su juicio parecía sacrificio ... Efesios Capítulo 5 Versículos 12 – 14 · Esto es interesante porque Pablo está escribiendo esto "A los santos que están en Éfeso, y fieles en Cristo Jesús". ¡Esto está escrito para los cristianos! Y él dice: "¡Despierta!" O, "¡Despiértate!" Esa palabra griega significa literalmente "¡Levántate y levántate de nuevo!" · ¿Estás dormido, inconsciente, inconsciente de algo asombroso y maravilloso que Dios ha planeado para ti o quiere hacer en ti? Si dijiste "no" o "no sé", entonces Christian, ¡TU RESPUESTA ES SÍ! ¿Por qué? ¡Porque solo las personas que están despiertas son conscientes! ¡Solo los cristianos que están despiertos pueden darse cuenta de dónde y de lo que nos estamos perdiendo! · Spurgeon fue duro en este punto e hizo estas declaraciones. "Ten cuidado de no engañarte pensando que estás despierto. Debido a que las personas dormidas pueden hablar, oír, caminar, cantar, pensar ..., estas no son señales de que uno está despierto. Y sin embargo, las personas dormidas, una cosa que no hacen es preocuparse un poco por el estado de sus vecinos. Cristianos dormidos no les importan en absoluto las almas de los demás, ya sean salvos o condenados. Es suficiente para ellos si están cómodos. Si pueden asistir a un lugar respetable de adoración e ir con otros al cielo, son indiferentes a todo lo demás". · Hablando del gran profeta Snoop, "¡Yizikes!" Y Pablo nos llama a salir de esta somnolencia como cristianos, recuerden, todo en preparación para poder hacer sus propios negocios adecuadamente y bien (las últimas partes de Efesios 5). Y esto de Levántate y levántate de nuevo comienza a verse así ... Efesios Capítulo 5 Versículos 15 – 16 · Hay una tontería que viene junto con la somnolencia en la vida de un cristiano. Quiero decir, obviamente. Y eso es algo contra lo que hay que luchar... la necedad  que es ... Porque el necio sufre. Un tema en toda la Biblia. Y los caminantes de sabiduría que Pablo dice son aquellos que están despiertos a la circunspección. · La palabra en griego es akribos y significa ser diligente, perfecto, circunspecto. La circunspección se remonta a la escuela secundaria y pensamos en la circunferencia. Lo cual es totalmente correcto. En TODA SU Totalidad. Estamos caminando con una conciencia de todas las cosas que Dios quiere que sepamos... para nuestro propio bien y para el bien de Su orden que finalmente le trae gloria. · Piénsalo de esta manera. Dios te está llevando a alguna parte, un plan para ti, y estás en camino si eres cristiano. Estás en el camino hacia Su programa para tu vida. Ahora, ¿alguna vez has estado en una carretera y has mirado el auto a tu lado y esa persona está dormida? ¡Yo si! ¡JA ¡Puede haber sido esa persona una o dos veces...! · Ese es un cristiano que carece de diligencia y la búsqueda de la perfección en su caminar y vida. Un cristiano que se preocupa poco o nada por las almas de los demás y se siente cómodo en su pequeña conexión celestial (¡la vida se trata de la vida y luego me voy al paraíso!). No mantenerse al día con el tráfico, no ceder a los semáforos y señales de tráfico y ciertamente no preocuparse sobre lo que hay en su punto ciego y definitivamente no usa esa pequeña varita mágica al lado de su volante llamada "direccional". ¡JA! · ¿Qué va a pasar con ellos eventualmente? ¡Se van a estrellar! Pablo dice ¡despierta, no seas tonto, evita la estupidez de los choques causados y camina circunspectamente! Akribos, con diligencia y algo de agallas! Y al hacerlo, redimirás tu tiempo ... · Este es grande. No nos importa el día de hoy porque creemos que nos quedan muchos hoy . Oferta y demanda. Cuanto más percibimos nuestra oferta, menos demanda tenemos en nuestros corazones y mentes. Totalmente estúpido. El mañana no está prometido a ninguno de nosotros. Un día más con nuestro cónyuge, nuestros hijos, o mamás y papás ... ¡y sin embargo, hoy los no los valoras! Y al hacerlo, nos perdemos de amarlos, apreciarlos... ¡y disfrutarlos! · Nunca sabes lo que tienes hasta que se ha ido. ¿Alguna vez has escuchado eso? ¡Ese NO debería ser el caso para un cristiano y NO es el caso para cualquier cristiano que esté despierto a la obra y las bendiciones de Dios en su vida! Redime el tiempo o tus días son malos y ni siquiera lo sabrás hasta el final del juego... ¡Eso si es una tragedia COMPLETA!     Efesios Capítulo 5 Versículos 17 – 18 · Es interesante cómo Pablo pone juntas estas condiciones contrastantes. Casi vinculándolos, bueno, en realidad, eso es exactamente lo que está haciendo. ¿Cómo se emborracha con vino? ¡Toman porciones excesivas! Entonces, Pablo dice: Cristiano..., ¡toma porciones excesivas del Espíritu de Dios! ¡Estudios bíblicos y tiempos de oración, compañerismo y servicio! ¡Y ser llenos del Espíritu Santo y levántate y levántate de nuevo! Efesios Capítulo 5 Versículos 19 – 21 · Entonces, ¡esto es lo que una vida despierta a la maravilla de Dios y la gracia de Jesús ofrece! Y note que lo último antes de sumergirnos en el hogar es que Pablo dice, ANTES del versículo 22, viene el versículo 21, que debemos someternos unos a otros en el temor de Dios. Lo cual no haremos a menos que primero estamos caminando en la luz, segundo viviendo como hijos de la luz, tercero, caminando circunspectamente y cuarto, tomando cantidades excesivas del Espíritu Santo ... · Todo esto significa, este sometimiento el uno al otro, es PONERSE DEBAJO el uno del otro y ser su apoyo fundamental. Sosténganlos. Afirmarlos. Respaldarlos. Prepáralos. Dales descanso y ayuda y aprobación y asistencia y alivio e incluso protección. ¡Levántate debajo de ellos y sostenlo! Pablo dijo en el versículo 17, "ENTENDER", que son solo dos palabras juntas, lo que significa someterse el uno al otro. Sin hacer esto el uno por el otro, NO entenderemos nada de Dios. Y, en verdad, si no estás haciendo esto por ella, por él, por nosotros, por el Señor..., entonces no tiene nada que ver con ninguno de nosotros o ellos, ¡pero todo que ver contigo! Estás dormido. Tal vez incluso eres un necio. ¡Y se avecina un choque!  

Ephesians 5 vs 8-10

April 16, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:8–10

Ephesians Chapter 5 Verse 8 This is interesting! Paul doesn’t say that you and I were once in darkness, and now we are in the light…, he says that you and I were darkness itself and now we are light in the Lord! Being darkness as opposed to being in the darkness is far more intense, right!?  I don’t think this is something I’ve directly considered in my walk with the Lord. This concept, idea, Biblical imperative that as a Christian, I’m not just in the light as it were being in Christ, but an appropriate supposition is that I am supposed to BE light.  I recall Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Let me ask you, Christian, (as I ask also myself), would you readily characterize yourself as “light?” I wonder if I’m doing and being what I’m supposed to be in the Lord and this perhaps helps. If I’m honest, if we’re honest, sure…, AT TIMES, sure… And that in and of itself informs me that I need to change and to grow in the Lord.  Light is interesting and for you photographers or artists here today, you know this…, you know far more than this probably, but light has qualities or characteristics that really matter. Things like intensity, quality, direction, color balance or softness, and even coverage. (I read that on a website called “http://creativeshrimp.com” so it must be legit, HA!) But I find that interesting! Each of us who are in the Lord we most certainly have been lit up, enlightened by the accepting of Jesus Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus says we can put that light under a basket and/or we can squelch the shine… I think we were and are so used to being darkness that its almost like a set of habits that need to be broken… 1 John 1:7 reads, “Walk in the light as He is in the light,” and so it appears to me that an appropriate biblical supposition I should place on myself is that in order to do what I’m supposed to do and be who I’m supposed to be, I need to step into and accept the burden/job/privilege and calling (it’s all of those things) to be light. Which means become more like Jesus. John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to them saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Anyone in here not need to change? Ok, then this isn’t for you. Dark is good for sleeping not good for living…) Light essentially chases away darkness. It removes it. Hey Christian…, is that what you do? What is darkness? Need to know what to chase away, right? Misunderstanding or no understanding. Psalm 82:5, “They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness…” As a Christian, I shouldn’t myself live on cruise-control or surface-level “come what may” strategy. I should be seeking to understand and even embrace the larger scope of the issue and picture of the situation so that I might grow in my own personal wisdom. We talked about that on Wednesday night as being humility. Christian, are you growing in wisdom and leading others/yourself to a deeper and more thorough understanding? Light does that… What else is darkness? Psalm 82:5 again, the end of that verse. “All the foundations are unstable.” Light chases away instability. Light creates a consistency throughout the environment and in the context of following Jesus, that consistency is a lean towards whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous and incites praise (Phil 4). Are you generally a positive person or a negative person? Do you bring, introduce, deliver positivity first in your own heart but also in the lives of others? In the context of following Jesus, light does that. One more because this can go on and on, Psalm 91:6, “Pestilence walks in darkness.” Are you one to heal or is that at least your heart’s desire? Everyone is broken. Everyone is dealing with things. Everyone carries weight. Are you one to add weight or take it off of others. This is what the light of the Lord does. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle (a characteristic of light) and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” As light, am I a rest-giver?  As a Christian and with the Spirit of God within your heart of hearts, this is there in you, these things. To grow in wisdom and understanding, helping others do the same. Stable in positivity and bringing that environment into existence. A healer of hearts and a reliever of souls. These are just a few things God cries out from within each of His people and yet Jesus says we all have baskets… and if and when we use them, we struggle. Inner turmoil type struggle and that becomes confusing when we give in to a basket weaving life… So, what can I do? The rest of this verse. Walk as children of light. Simple, learning, not too strong, not too high on self, but hey, I get it now, this is in me, its what my heart wants now and its what God expects and commands of me so here I go… And I’m going to get better at it as I try… And that attitude gets you here…, the next verse…. Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 9 – 10 First the realization that naturally, on cruise control, just living, just being me, I don’t necessarily know what is acceptable to the Lord! Some folks have a real problem with learning for all sorts of reasons. People and places have let you down in the past and now, to be someone that embraces an attitude of learning makes you feel weak and vulnerable, I get it… But Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”  We must learn little by little what is acceptable to God. If we don’t learn it, we won’t have it. And I know that’s tough for some if not most. But God wants to bring forth fruit in your life. The fruit of the Spirit. And it doesn’t just come without environment being set. Put a fruit tree in a vacuum or set a fruit tree on concrete and in both circumstances, although it is most certainly a fruit tree, which I am in Christ, in both circumstances there will be no fruit!  No love, no joy, no peace, no longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. Or maybe better said for today, self-command. I’m in control! And that is a huge benefit of walking in the light and learning as a way of life! I get control! Not my emotions, urges, frustrations, and not my past! I am in command! That is a fruit of the Spirit! That’s 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind!” (That word in the Greek actually means a disciplined and correctable mind!) So, check this out. Here’s some elements of walking as light, in the light and environment setting for fruitfulness! Paul gives us three things. Goodness, righteousness and truth. And let me give you one layer down the meanings of these words in the Greek. Goodness is the word for kindness. Cultivate a gentle and kind spirit. A person that helps others along the way. This life, this journey, wherever they are. There’s place for tough love, for correction, and for rebuke, but the fruit of the Spirit, the deliberate, we need to be kind. “I’m not kind.” Then CHANGE. Your choice.  Righteousness is the word integrity. You say what you’re going to do and do what you say, and you are teachable! The people of God grow as they walk in integrity. That means you are willing even to correct your own thinking if your thinking is out of alignment with God. And then truth. This is the word for personal excellence. Be an excellent person. Reliable, dependable, consistent, kind, and whatever you set your hand to do, do it well. Do it well or do it twice. It’s the truth!  And those things, making that who we are (totally my decision) I am kind, I am integrity, I am personally excellent, make your life such that you can say those things and believe them yourself, and you will bear fruit, you will be light, and you will walk IN the light! And Christian, this is in the mind of God, non-negotiable. We are supposed to be this… Creating stability in the midst of chaos; Embracing, growing in and sharing wisdom and understanding about all kinds of things; Giving and being a source of example and relief in some way to others but definitely through hope and positivity… And as life goes on, we get just better and better and better at these things because we are ALWAYS learning. Some circumstances we apply different intensity, qualities, directions, color balances and degrees of softness, even coverage as we decide what to do, address or leave alone through grace and prayer… Always striving and being filled by the Holy Spirit continually to walk in kindness, integrity and personal excellence… Christian, Matt, this is some of what you are supposed to do to glorify and share Jesus Christ!

Ephesians 5 vs 1-7

March 26, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 5:1–7

Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 1 – 2 Throughout the New Testament, seven times we are instructed to be imitators of followers. Paul gives us instruction; Peter gives us instruction; John give us instruction; and the writer of the Hebrews does once as well. Here, we are told to be imitators of God. In 1 Corinthians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul instructed for us to be imitators of him as he imitates Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Paul tells us to follow those that are following the Lord. Interestingly, in 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Paul tells us to become imitators of the churches. The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 6:12 tells us to be imitators/followers of those that are faithful. In 3 John 1:11, we are told to imitate what is good. And finally, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:13 to become followers or imitators of that which is good and in that we would learn to avoid allowing evil to be effective in our lives. So, easy peasy for me. Here’s one that is easy peasy! Disarm the reach of evil specific to myself, because that’s really all I can control, how? Ephesians 5. Follow God. As I see Him doing, I decide to do. Follow (even imitate) those that I see are able to discipline their own hearts to follow God. Find a church that worships in Spirit and in truth and open my heart to be led. Learn what is good, follow that too. Easy peasy… Track every reach of evil into my story back and if I had gone that route, what we just discussed, that evil would not have been effective in my life! Same for you… So, take that rebel spirit, that desperate need for us to prove ourselves to us, and shelf it. And learn… Paul says to do this as dear children. The word in the Greek is agapetos.  Little lovelies. Little lovers. Ha! Little night lights. Glow worms! HA! Simple, humble, willing…, in many ways we are to be childlike. Children naturally imitate. That’s why our Children’s Ministry team knows more about you than I do! HA! Your kids sell you out! HA!  Kiddos, we are supposed to be willing to listen and yield as God speaks, and that is a spiritual discipline because it will not naturally be what we do… The problem is, at least for me, I’m far too often not childlike but rather childish. Take my ball and go home! HA! But hey, back to easy peasy… According to the Bible, we don’t actually ever, not one ounce or inch, grow up in maturity until we are ok with being childlike in our heart of hearts…  It’s an odd thing, ironic for sure…, but Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth…” and it was Paul that said at the beginning of Chapter 4 of Ephesians (Ephesians 4:1-2) that this is how we walk worthy of God…, “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” So, how do I access easy peasy…, not so easy, eh? Be a little lovely lover in your heart of hearts. And that’s actually the path to power. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you…” So, walk in love, Paul continues there in verse 2. How? What does that mean? To walk in love is to give your life a living sacrifice to God. Just as Jesus gave Himself literally as a living sacrifice for you, to God, that’s our example and standard of love. Agape…and we are to be, to grow up to be, agapetos. Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 3 – 4 The point is, these things don’t fit. That’s the word Paul uses twice here. It’s like using an international plug in the United States. Doesn’t work. It’s not from here. Wrong configuration. No power. Check this out, talk about fit, did you know that Mr. Roger’s middle name was McFeely!? For real! Go Google it! See, that fits! What if his middle name was McMurderer!? HA! Wouldn’t fit. Just like these works of the flesh in the life of a person that should be imitating Jesus…, little agapetos! These are the things that will welcome evil to be effective in the life of a believer. And that will sap your power, character, person, attitude, all of it… Now things like blessings, maturity, character capacity, patience, goodness, gentleness…, in the company of these things Paul just listed, those things become just confusing and certainly no purpose! It’s just like twice this week…, TWICE, I was sitting in thick traffic, just inching along at 10 or 20 MPH on the highway and I keep the little map up on my phone on the dash to show me where the traffic is slow and it said, “Speed Check Ahead.” I was like, SO WHAT!? HA! What good is a speed check in thick traffic, ya dummies!? Same thing with blessing and the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of a carnal life. It’s just no GOOD! Throw some fruit into that poop group! HA! Paul says rather think about, learn about, grow to understand who God is, who you are, and what God has done for you in Jesus and develop like a muscle in a gym a heart and lifestyle of gratitude. The truth is if you put great and attitude together you get gratitude. One leads to the other. And for a person to be full of greatness, they must first be grateful. It’s just how it works, man.  And a heart that is wise enough to understand these things will be immune in a way (think about it, a vaccine that actually works, ha!) vaccinated from things that take away, chip away, steal away who you are. Make no mistake, living, walking, doing things that are not of the Lord, sin, not fitting for the saint, these things chip away at who you even are and sometimes, in some circumstances, sledge hammer away… And Paul gets even a bit more aggressive with it as we finish up for today… Ephesians Chapter 5 Verses 5 – 7 At the time that Paul penned this letter, there was a very popular sect of Christianity called Gnosticism. It was prevalent and popular because it was super appealing to the carnal mind, which means it’s going to sell easily. Gnosticism taught, among other things, that everything physical, material, was inherently evil. The material world was not of God. God is Spirit, Jesus said that Himself in John 4:24, and so since all things physical were not of God then all of it is basically evil… It is the spiritual side of a person that is pure.  So, the teaching was that what was done in the body, the physical side of life, really didn’t matter because it was the spiritual side that counted. That teaching is still very alive and well today in several mainstream and even traditional church movements, groups and reformations. Paul strikes this error down clearly…, as well (I might say) as does the rest of scripture.  Yes, you and I are saved by grace through faith and its not of works lest anyone should boast, and yes there is nothing at all that can snatch us out of the hand of God, all of that is true, but the kingdom of Christ and God as Paul wrote in Romans 14:17 is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Neither/None of those three things come from sin… And so, Paul lays this out for you and for I in addressing how we are to think and conduct ourselves as Christians… And not be dumb about this… dark living leads to dark life. I mean, DUH! The kingdom of Christ and God is not just heaven to come! The Bible speaks of eternal life, yes, in the presence of the King but the Bible also speaks equally of everlasting life which is now, right now, at the moment the Holy Spirit shows up in a heart… To think or say or reason somehow that the Spirit of God shows up in my heart of hearts with no intention of changing me from the inside out and cleaning up my life to make me pure and powerful and right-on in my dealings and more like Christ is to deny the Word and reject the faith and absolutely MISS what God has purposed for me in Christ. I step forward towards God’s incredibly and awesome plan for me as I trust Him above my own futility of mind…, period! Paul warns us too that if we can live like this without conviction, because come on, all of us do these things according to Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, but if we can continue in these things just like we were before Christ then it could very well be that we are yet without Christ! Paul says sin without conviction is a warning that perhaps I am or you are a child of disobedience. Which really just means, someone who doesn’t believe. Let me show you. Hebrews 3:15-18, ““Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?” Ok, the writer of Hebrews talks about those that rebelled, refused to obey God, missed the rest of God. Both on earth and implication of eternal rest as well. Now look at the connection in the next verse. Hebrews 3:19, “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Make no mistake, disobedience, refusing the leadership of God in my life/in your life as a style of life, a definition of who you are, isn’t disobedience…, go one layer down, ask why…, it’s unbelief. For which is truly the single call and requirement of heaven. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever would BELIEVE in Him would not perish but have everlasting life! Heaven…, but also have EVERYLASTING life. The Kingdom of Christ and God today. Do you have that?

Ephesians 4 vs 17-32

March 19, 2023 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 4:17–32

Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 17a ·    This “therefore” is the connection of Chapters 1 – 3; all that Jesus has done for me. All that He is. All that He has provided and who I am in Him and this “therefore” is also the connection of the first part of Chapter 4 which is the call to be a person that honors the Lord in unity, maturity, character and grit. Growing up, edifying and encouraging and giving and a man that has a heart to strive for what is great! ·    Because Paul is going to double-down on the details as we round out this chapter but getting to the statements of shoulds and should nots are worthless without what we’ve already covered thus far in this book. Religion jumps right to the should and should nots, leaving the heart of faith, personal connection and relationship with Jesus to be either secondary or not even addressed. Not God’s way at all and the Bible knows nothing of that. God is far more concerned with our hearts than the do’s and do nots. ·    Look, I’m not saying that acts, rites and disciplines aren’t important. I’m just saying that they’re not primary. I want my kids to trust me because they love me. That’s where we connect. That’s where we become and enjoy being a family. That’s where I get to be their dad. But they could do what I say to my face because they fear me or because they’re playing me…then go off and do whatever they want when I’m not around and mess themselves all up. In that case there is no love there, no respect, no connection and the relationship in many ways is laying a foundation of grief and pain in my life. ·    Where as my kids that love me, admire me, respect me and revere me…, do what I am teaching them because of those things and especially when I’m not around, it becomes who they are…, then hey, that relationship is sweet and, in many ways, defines even my life as their dad. I not only enjoy that; I cherish my connection with my kids at that point and there is this sweetness of connection. ·    So, which do you want. Kids that obey you when you’re around because they know how heavy handed you are and how easy to play you are…or kids that learn from you because they look to you for wisdom and what they learn they apply not because you’ll judge them if they don’t, but because they truly think you care for them and have their best interest in mind? They trust you. See what I’m saying? And that’s a weak, very weak, earthly relationship example. How much more your Heavenly Father who loves you so much He not only would but did place your life above His own and gave Himself to save you? ·    So, therefore, because of how much you are loved. Because of how incredibly amazing our God is. And because you are one that has discovered His goodness and walk in His grace, therefore… Ephesians Chapter 4 Verses 17 – 19 ·    Paul is not dissing (do the kids still say that?) gentiles and calling them stupid. Not at all! His heart is to reach them, provide for them and bring them to the Lord. These are statements of fact outside of emotion or judgment. Paul says that apart from walking with the Lord, a person only has one option. To walk in the futility of their mind. I mean…DUH! ·    That’s the only resource we’ve got at that point! HA! Take a 7th grader for example. I remember being 12 years old. (I mean, that’s us as a church, ha! We’re basically a 7th grader!) And send them to Wall Street. Just drop them off in New York City and say, “Good luck kid!” Cruel, harsh, if you’re their father, stupid! You’re ruining them. Why? All they’ve got is zero information about everything! ·    But, the child of the person that created the stock market. With endless resources. Never made a mistake. Everything that father has ever done has been perfect and that father takes his kid and gives him all that he has… All the resources, staff, processes, tools, and even says that he’ll stay right with him every step of the way in love and gentleness and connection, guiding that kiddo… Listen, doesn’t matter if that child is 2 years old with all that, they’re going to do well, and they’re to be rich! Does that make sense? ·    If all I have available to me is my own mind, no matter how smart I am, there is futility there. The word means vanity. That on my own, and this is what humans do, we naturally look out for ourselves ferociously which leads us to see the world differently than it actually is…, because we see it through the soda straw of self and there is MUCH more going on in this world, this church, this family, this place of employment, this whatever, MUCH more going on than me. If your world is centered upon yourself then you live in a very small world… ·    Understanding is darkened as Paul says here, focused on self takes you out of the will of God not because you’re a bad person but because there is a blindness that is always associated with vanity. Paul calls it ignorance which is what it is. Folks that are in sin aren’t to be judged and condemned, they are to be instructed. Because if you knew what God, who God, how God then you wouldn’t be so vain (Carley Simon, HA!). ·    But focusing only on self binds and blinds and sensing, feeling what is right in the eyes of God numbs and the flesh walks you right into a life of greed. There are two powerful motivators in the world today that move folks; love and greed. The true follower of Jesus is motivated by love and that love is the love of Christ in them. They are giving of themselves because they are motivated by the love that has given so much to them. Whereas those motivated by greed are preoccupied, wired and program with getting. What’s best for me… ·    Paul says, therefore. Get to know Christ and grow up into the resources God has provided for you in Jesus that by submitting to, you actually walk right out of futility and into well, turn these verses around. Paul says futility leads you to darkened understanding, alienated from God’s will, ignorant, blind, past feeling and greedy. So, turn that around. Accept, apply and surrender to what we’ve already read in this book and the opposite is you. Not futile but mature. Enlightened understanding. Squarely living in God’s will and plan for your life. Understanding the big picture and the deets, seeing with eyes of wisdom, sensing even what’s happened, going on and even yet ahead and a spirit within you of graceful generosity. Just like Jesus…, you’re becoming a Christian…, and now some really practical do’s and don’ts… Ephesians Chapter 4 Verses 20 – 24 ·    Here’s the picture, the thought. You’ve got a meeting, a date with both the flesh and the spirit every day, really in every situation. The flesh looks really good. All done up. Quite attractive, incredibly tempting. But she/he will eat you alive and destroy you. HA. You know him don’t you? HA! And then there’s the spirit. Humble. Pretty, handsome but in a heart way, ha! She’ll give you a great life, treat you right, encourage you and build you up. But sometimes she’s a little boring, ha! Which do you ghost? ·    You can’t go to both. You ever see Mrs. Doubtfire? HA! That was a mess and you end up showing up to one being the wrong person, right!? Makes total sense! But this is the idea Paul is saying. Before you were a Christian, you didn’t have this choice or this ability. All you had was the flesh…but now you have the power of choice. Your free will is actually awakened once you know Jesus…and now, you can choose to put off, to stand up, to ghost the flesh! Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 25a ·    That is it! THE thing! the number one way to do it because that is humility. Be revealed and so be it! Stop lying. Stop hiding all that is hurting you. All that you are struggling with. Tell the truth in love and deal with your demons, man! If everyone told the truth you think this world would be a terrible place? Absolutely not! This world would be dimensionally more mature! ·    The word in the Greek is pseudos. Put away the fake you, falsehoods, hiding and deception… And when that causes problems, whatever that causes, deal with it! Oh, the horror! Ephesians Chapter 4 Verses 25 – 26 ·    Actually deal with anger. Undealt with anger turns into confusion, depression, and eventually bitterness of spirit. Apologize, soften up, forgive and make your date with the spirit before you go to bed. One of the most insulting and demeaning things is knowing someone can sleep soundly when you’ve been hurt badly by them. So, stop. This is how we as real Christians ought to operate. But wait, there’s more!! Ephesians Chapter 4 Verses 27 – 29 ·    This does not mean that you have to be some sort of vanilla, pre-programmed Christian. Have fun, cut up, make fun but do those things in such a way that it strengthens through grace rather than destroys through contempt. Really, here’s how you know what is and is not acceptable, the next verse… Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 30 – 32 ·    Kindness is King because Jesus is King! Tat that on your character! Here’s the word in the Greek, “easy.” Be easy on each other. Make life easier when you’re around. That is the life-mark of a Christian! Make life good, make life gracious, make life mild, make life pleasant…, make life just a bit more manageable. That’s what this word means. Oh man, how wonderful if I were to be surrounded by people that were that for me… I’d be surrounded by a bunch of…., Christians (because that is one thing Jesus does for me)!

Ephesians 1 vs 1-2

November 27, 2022 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 1:1–2

The Book of Ephesians is an amazing book dense with theology and practicality! The design is also incredible! Paul spends the first three chapters talking about what we have been given in Christ and who we are in Him, and then the second three chapters he talks about what to do with it! I like what John MacArthur says about this book. He says that this is the book written to the Christians who don’t understand what they have, how rich they truly are, and who don’t understand hot to tap into your God given resources maybe because you don’t know where they are or that you have them at all… Some people have called this book, “The bank of the believer.” It’s a book about riches, fullness, inheritance…all kinds of depth of theology and perhaps even what Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 3 when he said that Paul, man he writes so intelligently at times that its even hard to understand. (I mean, for example, if you read ahead, verses 3 through 14 are one long sentence!)  Let’s go through some setting type of data points. The author self identifies as “Paul,” the apostle and there is very little controversy around the authorship of this book. It was written about the same time as the Book of Colossians, around 60AD, while Paul was in prison in Rome. This is the first of the prison epistles and really a bit unique among Paul’s letters. Paul gives no correction unlike his other epistles and there are very few personal reference, also unlike other epistles. We find two significant personal prayers of Paul in this book and 42 Greek words that aren’t used in any other letter of Paul. More than any other book, Ephesians presents the purpose and plan of God for the church. The message is that through the grace given via the agency of the cross of Christ, God has reconciled us to Himself, us to each other, and through those two actions, really even a step further, has united this into one body, the church which Paul calls a “mystery” because it’s so amazing. “Mystery” is a word used 8 times in this book. The only word used more is “grace” at 12 times. We find the objective statement of Paul as to why he penned this letter in Chapter 3 Verses 14 – 19. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesus is geographically located in modern day Turkey and was second only to Jerusalem in terms of Biblical importance relevant to cities in that region. It’s mentioned more than 20 times throughout the New Testament. Paul spent more time in Ephesus than in any other location and he commissioned Timothy to be in charge of the city there for three years. It was the greatest commercial city of the Roman province of Asia. The convergence of three major trade routes and situated with easy Aegean Sea access.  Ephesians Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 2 Now, borrowing a bit from Alistairr Begg who so awesomely pointed out four things we find in this book that are fantastic and the first is that within the Book of Ephesians we find the “Grammar of the Gospel.” What’s that? Well check this out. The first three chapters of this book deal with all that Christ has done for us, all that we have in Him, all that we are because of Him and its only then that the final three chapters deal with what we are supposed to do and that is the proper “Grammar of the Gospel.”When the emphasis is on human behavior and what I am supposed to do and not do then failure will always be the result. Let alone discouragement, heavy burdening, and the like. But when the leadership of the Gospel of grace and right Christian living is settled upon Jesus Christ and what He has already accomplished, all things follow rightly in order. Too often and too many well-meaning apologists, preachers, Christians and churches talk about what we are to do and to be doing when the true Gospel of salvation and forgiveness of sin is based firmly upon what Jesus has DONE!And the crazy almost incredibly counter-intuitive fact is that once I fully and completely and gladly and humbly grasp what Jesus has done for me on earth and in heaven, it is THEN that I find and am finally able to activate the strength to live unto God. Free and alive and abundant in all that my Father and your Father has given to us in Jesus!! That is the “GRAMMAR of the GOSPEL!”We also have in this book the “Geography of the Gospel” in that it is written to those in Ephesus and yet also to those in Christ Jesus. And so, the first three chapters work out what it is to be in Christ Jesus while the final three chapters work out what it is to be in Christ Jesus in Ephesus…The “Identity of the Gospel” is also found in this book as notice Paul first addresses the “saints” and then the “faithful” as chapters one to three establish your sainthood and chapters four to six show how to walk within faithfulness to that sainthood. To be a “saint” is simply to be in the Greek “hagios” meaning “holy, clean, set apart for God on this earth.” Many believe (because they have been taught) that chapters four through six, doing the “do’s” very well in life earn you the title of “saint” but Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify (“hagiazo”) them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” And John said in John 1:1 and 14, “The Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” And so according to Jesus and John, we are sanctified by the Word, the truth, and Jesus, the Word became flesh and I even recall Him saying that He was the truth. What’s the point? Biblically, if you are a Christian, Jesus by His blood has qualified you into sainthood. There are only two types of people on this planet. Saints, those that are in Christ Jesus, and ain’ts, those that are not. Finally, this book contains the “Security of the Gospel” in that it is through God’s grace that He grants us peace. “Grace to you and peace from God…” Even when our own heart condemns us, God’s grace overcomes the condemnation of our own hearts and in a very good way, we wonder at that. You and I, saints, called according to the purpose of God, saved according to His great love and washed from our sins by the perfect blood of Jesus, who stood in my place, took my penalty which was the grave, and for me and for all time, overcame it, being resurrected in the flesh unto eternal life. So, this book, four things… The grammar, geography, identify and security of the gospel! And Paul says here in verse one that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. It’s important to settle within yourself what it is God would will for you to be. Not everyone is to be like Paul. 1 Corinthians 12:29 says, “Not all are apostles, not all are prophets, not all are teachers, not all are workers of miracles…” Paul was an apostle. He was not a pastor, evangelist, prophet, or teacher. His teaching actually killed a young man once in Acts 20:9! HA!But there could be a great burden here, a weight on your soul as you look at others in the work of the Lord and say, “I should do that, I should be that.” No, you should encourage them in their calling and walk in your own. I know that I am not called to be an evangelist. A missionary. An apostle. Those things, I am honestly terrible and awkward at and extremely ineffective. And I used to want to hide that. I am called to be a pastor/teacher, and that’s it… And thank God because I’m finally ok with that. You may be called to be a parking lot tidy-upper…you know we need those too? You know that calling carries the same reward as Greg Laurie’s? ...if you’re faithful in it… So, stop carrying around a weight of condemnation or hiding that you’re ineffective in the ministry you think everyone else wants you in…because that keeps you paralyzed in service to the Lord. And start walking in whatever is the will of God for you!And so, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace and peace, always in that order in the Bible because you and I can never truly experience peace until we truly experience grace. That you are indeed forgiven. That Jesus did pay the price. That you are loved. Cherished, desired, chosen, spoken and asked for to the extent that Jesus would give His life for you and in His blood, you are free to go. No longer bound by your own weight of guilt and no longer shackled by what you’ve done. Get up, get over it, and move forward in gratitude rather than duty… And then, peace…Peace, this word in Greek means security, prosperity, simplicity, a soul assured and without fear… It means to be upright. Standing on your feet. Everything your Father has in mind for you! You and I have all taken a blow from the enemy, and we’ve been knocked flat out…but to his surprise and even to his fear, we stand straight up strongly…that is peace. And you’ll never know that until you allow your heart to know grace. So saint-up and lets live this life in the inner-victory of the empty grave!

Ephesians 1 vs 3-12

December 4, 2022 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • Ephesians 1:3–12

Ephesians Chapter 1 Verse 3 ·    Perhaps the most important word to baseline the entirety of this exceptional promise is actually one of the smallest words, “has.” Don’t miss that. Before we talk about what’s stated in terms of the promise, notice the promise isn’t yet ahead, isn’t contingent upon anything I have yet to do or yet to continue in doing or even yet not to do. This incredible promise of God, HAS been delivered to you and to me in Christ. ·    That’s the thing about grace and frankly it’s not fair. God’s resources, unconditional love, incessantly faithful support and guidance, are there for us always. No matter how much I have blown it, no matter if I’m blowing it right now… In turning to God, I will find Him already turned towards me. All because of the cross of Christ, sufficient for the forgiveness of all sin, for all time! ·    Now what’s interesting and maybe why so many miss what God has for them is that they are demanding God to deliver where He has not promised. The promise is that we have been blessed, there for us right now and always, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place in Christ. Very different than, “God, bless me with every physical blessing, on earth, in Jesus name, amen.” ·    The blessing in the spiritual supersedes and outlives the blessing of the material. And truly to appreciate and enjoy and rightly spend the blessings of the physical (because they all end up spent), the spiritual should have the preeminence. ·    It’s simple really. If I am not blessed spiritually, struggling with love, low on joy, not really at peace with myself or others, no strength to suffer, no self-discipline, short on kindness and faithfulness and I come up in a worldly sense, it’s not good enough, not enough, not satisfying and even can be disastrous not only for me but for others. But take someone who is rich in the Spirit, loving, joyful, filled with grace, walking in peace, strength of character to deny the flesh and strong in kindness of heart and bless them materially, well that’s an entirely different story… ·    It’s like as I was driving to work on Thursday morning. I was sitting at a light and I looked next to me and there was this super nice car and I was like, “Alright man, nice car!” And I went even to give the thumbs up, ya know. HA! But the look on the guy’s face behind the wheel…he just looked so miserable! Like he wanted to hurt me! And so, I made up this narrative in my head, “My life is falling apart. I hate my job. I’ll probably lose it soon. My wife left me, I ‘ve got no friends…but hey, thumbs up on my car!!” It’s sorta like that… ·    The fact is, as stated here by Paul, you and I have been blessed by God because and in Jesus with everything that truly pertains to life and godliness which is in the Spirit, reserved and sent and even housed in heaven, with you name, my name, on it like a Christmas present under the tree. It’s there, all of it, in Christ. And so, the access to this account, these unrestricted and inexhaustible riches, we achieve that by stepping into Jesus and surrendering our own will to being second fiddle to God’s will. ·    Before someone is in Christ Jesus, they are not able to benefit from the spiritual blessings and divine resources of God. God’s wealth for every believer is deposited in Christ! And listen, if you are in Christ today, its not that you WILL BE blessed when your ship comes in. Your ship came in 2,000 years ago! You went from having a sinful nature in Adam, to now having a divine nature in Jesus! ·    Perhaps the confusing part of it all is the grace aspect. That the covenant that we are in now with God is one in the Spirit, based on grace, as a result of the obedience, perfection and blood of Jesus. It wasn’t always that way. The Old Covenant was a physical covenant. Obey and God will bless. And even things like wealth and health hinged upon the obedience of the Jews. But that was the Old Covenant, a physical covenant, and one that was fulfilled in Jesus. ·    This is revealed in Jeremiah 31:31-33, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” ·    And people get really tripped up in this problem in that expectations of blessing are levied upon God such as happiness, health, wealth and prosperity but all of those are physical blessings…and yes God can do all of those things today but He is under no obligation to heal, no obligation to bless financially, and so on… Truly, that is all Old Covenant talk. The Covenant with God now between Him and His people is one in the Spirit…one based upon grace granted by the accomplishment of Jesus and not of obedience unto blessing. ·    And we are given perhaps one of the primary and most important spiritual blessings in these next verses… Ephesians Chapter 1 Verses 4 – 12 ·    Before we tackle the behemoth, can we just talk for one moment about adoption? Do you see that there in verse 5? “Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself.” If I have nothing and I am homeless, and then I get adopted by a super-rich family, do you think they leave me on the side of the street? Absolutely not! You and I have been adopted into the family of God through Jesus. And so, we have access to everything that God the Father can and has provided! ·    Ok, onto the 500lb elephant in the room… (Ephesians 1:11), “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things,” And this statement aligns with many other passages such as Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” There are many many others. ·    And yet we also read 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is patient toward you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” And John 3:16, “For God so loved the (entire) world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him, would not perish but have everlasting life.” So, which is it? It is the will and work of God to predestine some or is it the will and work of God that all should come to repentance and faith? ·    This is such a sticky subject in the church today and on one hand I understand, but on the other, part of me just is like whatever. We have such a tendency to concentrate on the 1% we don’t agree about rather than spending our time focused on the 99% we do agree about. But I get it. ·    This subject is like the story I heard of a guy that walked into a church that held to a strict interpretation of predestination. And they asked Him, “How’d you find our church?” And he said, “Well, I didn’t. I just decided to come.” So, they kicked him out! Then he went across the street to the church that rejects predestination and they asked him the same question. He said, “Well, I guess I was sent.” So, THEY kicked him out! HA! The goodness is that the guy was going to church, tho! HA! Anyway, I digress… ·    So, is it salvation through free will or is it salvation through predestination? Am I saved through my own will or through God’s will? The answer is yes which is confusing but the clarity, explanation, understanding, resolution…is in the sovereignty of God. ·    The sovereignty of God…that in all things, God is all knowing, all powerful and all present. That what He promises, He cannot recant. And what He gives, He cannot steal away. He is good. God, in His sovereignty, created man, and unto that creation He declared in Genesis 1:26, “Let them have dominion.” In His sovereignty, He gave man free will. And that’s the key! ·    And so, is God sovereign? Yes. Is man responsible then for his own destiny? Yes. Does God know who will and will not choose Him? Yes…. But He GAVE man the ability, capacity, gift and responsibility to choose through his own dominion in his own will… and because God is sovereign, that is the way it must be. So, am I saved by grace or through faith? YES! ·    BIG QUESTION. Why still create then? Well, that’s love. If God resolved to only create those that would choose Him then is He really creating in accordance with His gift? The gift of free will? And is He really creating the circumstance of choice upon and within His creation? No way. Without choice there is no love. Love without choice is not love at all… ·    It simply comes down to this. Have you chosen Jesus? Then you are the elect. Have you rejected Jesus? Then you are not. This is a long discussion for sure…and honestly, you can disagree with me and that is fine, don’t spend a lot of time here. Spend your time encouraging and serving and loving and building up and caring for others. Not convincing them that you’ve figured out something that you demand they figure out too… ·    Look, Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God predestines anyone to hell. You see, that’s where critics of God’s sovereign grace dead-end. Is that ultimately, they have to insert into scripture what is not there… ·    We get so stuck in the snow stuck in verses 4 and 5 that its almost like we don’t even care about verses 6-12! Stuck in the snow stuck…sitting there spinning wheels, burning gas, looking stupid…doing too much and going nowhere. Verse 7 says I am redeemed…sins forgiven being clothed forever into the riches of a good God’s grace! ·    That redemption, that indwelling presence of God, my new divine nature, what comes with that as I step into all that God has for me…verse 8! Wisdom and prudence and knowledge of even the mysteries of God’s will…that we who first trusted in Christ (my part), should be to the praise of His glory (His part, and the amazing life-long and life-filling benefit of being adopted into the Household of the Highest)!