Mind-blowing realities!

Mind-blowing realities

Ephesians 1:13-23

Introduction

Having given detailed and foundational teaching on the Holy Spirit last Sunday which I felt compelled to do, I don't have the same feeling this week about the Holy Trinity. For those of us who follow, however gently, the Church's Year, today is Trinity Sunday.

God, as Trinity is a core and creedal belief: One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, totally biblical and demonstrable as such. What we shall do as we look at the passage which has been laid on my heart to preach from, Ephesians 1, is observe what is present in so many scriptures God working as one - Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

1. Unflinching and Unquestioned Inclusion - verses 13-14

[13] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

I am aware I have come into a passage mid flow of what Paul is saying and so, being very concise, the first part establishes how the first, and Jewish believers, came to be incorporated into Christ as part of God's eternal plan.

So, who is the 'you' of verse 13a?

The Christians at Ephesus and the significance in the emphasis of 'you also' is that they were not Jews but Gentiles. When they believed the gospel of Jesus, they became a part of the household of faith without any distinction from the Jewish believers. By extension the 'you' of verse 13a is all Christians from all walks and strata of life down through the ages - us right now!
One tier Christianity! Unpack that in your thoughts!!!

Then verses 13b-14, paralleling a point we looked at last week:

Sealed with the Holy Spirit - God's mark of ownership
Guaranteeing the inheritance of redemption

Jews and Gentiles (latter is you and me as none Jews) completely on the same footing. No 2nd class or 2nd rate Christians.As I said, one tier Christianity - but too often 'them and us'. Some on pedestals, others not really welcome or side-lined because . . ..



2. Dedicated and Dynamic Prayer - verses 15-23

Last week I highlighted a point on prayers which said we don't always need words just that deep seeking of the mind and will of God. Here, Paul is absolutely specific in his prayer for these Gentile Christians which, please note, is surrounded by thanksgiving for their generous love, for their faith in the Lord Jesus and love for God's people. We also saw, two weeks ago, how Jesus prayed very specifically in the upper room in John 17.

Side note - the Christian faith isn't just about me and God but me, God and other believers!

So, his prayer coming from this thankfulness

For God to acts in us as Father, Son & Holy Spirit - verses 15-17

[15] For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, [16] I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. [17] I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

All three persons are mentioned and so active in the purpose of Paul's prayer which is that we may know Him (God) better because we are given wisdom and revelation. That in turn should arise from some bible knowledge and relationship with God.

Side note - these folks had no new testament! It was in the process of being written and so after what they heard of the Old Testament, the rest would be the accounts being shared about the life and events of Jesus.

For us to open eyed to appreciate our inheritance - verses 18-19a

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

What he is saying is that our hope is based on our inheritance which flows from the victory of the cross with the price of sin paid -forgiveness comes through saying sorry and changing (repentance); death being defeated through resurrection and that brings in life which is eternal!

Check - this is what Jesus has inherited and He is the first to rise and be in the heavenly realm!

In the same breath Paul brings in us knowing the incomparably great power for us as believers. No brevity in his words but that was because he knew all this for himself!

And when Paul gets rolling, he just rocks on and so the final part of what we are looking at which follows on from power:

For us to be constantly aware of the power and authority we are under - verses 19b-23 and I have to read it again:

That power is the same as the mighty strength [20] he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, [21] far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. [22] And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We have access now to the same power that raised Jesus from death and into eternity
That raising placed Jesus in sovereignty over any and every other kind of authority and power - human or demonic - for all time and the result is:
everything is subject to him, under his feet, and he rules it all including the church, he is the head over it, which means we / it is his body that serves him and not ourselves.

We have a phrase to the effect: power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely!

This power, the power of the cross, resurrection and exultation of Jesus: respects, liberates and brings hope and life itself because it was born out of complete servitude and humility by submitting to the corrupting power of sin and death at our hands! (see Philippians 2:5-11). It is the power of victory arising from apparent weakness and defeat!

Conclusion

Finally,

This morning we have explored, broadly, two matters:

That all who are called, who have responded through repentance to that call, and are now In Christ, stand before God as co-heirs. Hopefully we also stand before each other's as equals.


That the Holy Spirit power which lives in us, individually and corporately, also assures that with Jesus reigning over all with complete and utter victory, we are safe.

Yes, life is good, yes life can be tough and at times very, very tough and terrible as well as wonderful things happen to God's children. He suffers with those who suffer and rejoices in the good. We rest assured in joys and struggles that nothing can rob us of what we have or snatch us out of the Father's hand. Jesus, the shepherd king speaking, John 10:28-30

[28] I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. [30] I and the Father are one."

Now, finally, finally!

I came up with the heading for this talk 'Mind-blowing Realities' and what Paul say is: mind-blowing and stretching at one and the same time. Realities because God is who he is, Father, Son & HOLY SPIRIT - beyond comprehension; but, at the same time He has brought victory out of seeming defeat which results in our security now and for ever. Why? Because through faith / trust in Jesus we have all that Jesus has.

God the Father loves us; Jesus the Son has won salvation and God the Holy Spirit imparts it to you and I freely, but, with the paradoxical cost of our lives as servants of the living God.


Rev S.J. Abram


Chaplaincy of Poitou-Charentes

With all my heart - Bechol libi

Dear friends, I have the pleasure to share with you this messianic song for the glory of our Lord. I hope that it will  bless you. Praise our God. In Jesus-Christ. N.

Happy Hanukkah!

This morning as I was listening to Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks on thought for the day (BBC 4) and I thought that I should do some more reading on this Jewish holiday.  During the 2nd century BC a Greek ruler tried to force Mattathias, a Jew from the priestly class, to offer a sacrifice to a pagan god. Not only did Mattathias refuse, he murdered the Greek official. The Greek king Antiochus launched a series of reprisals, including desecrating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem by filling it with statues of Greek gods. Mattathias and his five sons rose up against these actions and fought for Jewish liberation of Judea. Mattathias' sons can to be known as the Maccabees, which comes from the root of the Hebrew word for "hammer" since the band of insurgents were said to strike hammer-like blows against their enemies. The patriarch Mattathias was killed shortly after the fighting against the Greeks began. His son Judas took over as the leader of the rebels and is credited with great tactical ability and unparalleled bravery. By the end of the war against the Greeks, the only brother to have survived was Shimon (Simon). The heroes of the Chanukah story, the Macccabees, guided by their fierce and steadfast belief in God. The Maccabees rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which had been desecrated by the polytheistic Greeks during their rule of the city.

Did you know the only biblical reference to Hanukkah is in the New Testament? John 10:22-33

• Did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah? 
• Did you know that Hanukkah is the feast of lights and the feast of dedication?
• Did you know that Jesus Christ completely fulfilled this celebration by being our Light of the world? Many aspects of this holiday point to Jesus as the promised Messiah.
• Here's a short excerpt from the "Jews for Jesus" website blog. The article is entitled "The Light of Hanukkah" and it's a good summary of the spiritual significance of Hanukkah and how it relates to Jesus as our Messiah:

  The Hanukkah candles are traditionally lit by a special candle called the shammash. Shammash is Hebrew for "servant." In the shammash candle, we can see a symbol of our Messiah Jesus, for as the Gospel of Matthew says,

  "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

  The shammash serves the other candles by bringing light to them. In the New Testament, Jesus is frequently referred to as "the Light," and Jesus Himself once said,

  "I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8

  
  Blessings. Yours in Jesus-Christ.
  
  

We believe in Yeshua as Messiah....

 Among the 14 million Jewish people there is a group of perhaps twenty or thirty thousand people, born Jews, who believe in the Torah and the rest of the Tenach and practice Jewish customs and religion.  They also believe in Jesus. Some, if not most of them, prefer to call Him by His Jewish name, Yeshua...
 We believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah because He alone gives sense to the words of our Jewish prophets.  There is Isaiah 53 with its minute description of the suffering servant who was despised and rejected, afflicted with pain and stripes, by whose "stripes we are healed."   He then dies, is buried, yet is revived and suffers all this "for the affliction of my (Isaiah the prophet's) people."  All this can best be applied to one person only - Yeshua of Nazareth.  The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98) teaches that this chapter refers to Messiah. The Targum of Jonathan begins the passage with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha, "Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper
 From the first book, Bereshit, to the last prophet in the Tonach, Malachi, the Messiah's activity involves "the people" or the nations.  Yaacov Aveenoo foresees it and says:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)
Isaiah the prophet sees Him as the "root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people;
to Him shall the Gentiles seek" (Isaiah 11:10).
In Isaiah 49:6 Messiah is proclaimed with these words:
It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the preserved of Israel: 
I will also give thee a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Malachi says of Him (1:11):

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same
my name shall be great among the Gentiles. PEACE THAT MESSIAH GIVES

   Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua found that only in Him they have rest, peace, and satisfaction.  They heard Messiah's invitation, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).  They verified it in their own lives.  They read the record of His promise, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).  They found Messiah to be the Great Gentleman who always keeps His promise.  The result is that we can say together with one of the first hosidim of Messiah Yeshua, Simon bar Jonah, called Simon Peter:

Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we believe and are sure that thou art the Messiah, the Ben Elohim. 
(John 6:68-69)
How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the Stone whom the builders rejected?
In Him is life, light and joy and in His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin.

Reprinted from The American Messianic Jewish Quarterly Reprinted 

with permission of 

The Messianic Literature Outreach 

6161 Busch Blvd., Suite 205 Columbus, Ohio 43229

For further information contact: 

-MENORAH MINISTRIES -

P.O. Box 460024

Glendale, CO 80246-0024

Voice: 303-355-2009 Fax: 303-355-6901 

E-mail: menorah@menorah.org 

Internet Page: http://www.menorah.org

gomakedisciples: Jews do come to faith in Jesus...

Messiah declared he was Y'shua.
In Luke 4:16-21 Jesus said: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He annointed Me to preach the gospel (besorah) to the poor...
I have found another excellent site called jewishgentilecouples.com

It is worth having a look.
Have a blessed day!

Jews do come to faith in Jesus...

I would like to quote an article that I have read in this amazing website, jews for jesus. I hope that it will enlighten any Jewish readers who are still wondering if Jesus is the Messiah. Follow the link:

http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_01/07Glad

QUESTION: Would it be possible sometime to explain in the Newsletter how Isaiah 53 is interpreted by Jews who are nonbelievers in Jesus? Is that chapter included in the Hebrew Scriptures? Is it read in the synagogue? Is it discussed in Hebrew school?

ANSWER: Isaiah 53 is definitely included in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jewish religious leaders down through the ages have had too much respect for the Scriptures to tamper with them. They would not delete a controversial passage. On the other hand, they will use a variant translation wherever possible in order to play down or entirely avoid the obviously Christological portent of some Old Testament passages.
With Isaiah 53, however, no matter how freely one interprets the language, the passage very obviously describes one who was allowed by God to suffer and die for the sins of others. It so closely parallels the life, ministry and death of Jesus of Nazareth that nonbelieving Jewish scholars have been hard pressed to find other logical interpretations.
There are two most widely used Jewish explanations concerning the identity of the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. One theory holds that the passage refers to the entire nation of Israel; the other theory holds to the thought that the passage refers to Isaiah himself. The obvious answer to both of these explanations is that the pronouns used there do not lend themselves well to either theory.
A minority of Jewish people do hold to another thought, which is that the passage does refer to a suffering messiah, but not to Jesus. Proponents of this idea say that there will be two messiahs—one the Messiah ben Joseph, who will come to suffer, and the other Messiah ben David, who will come to conquer and reign.
Although Isaiah 53 is definitely contained in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is omitted from the liturgical synagogue readings during that portion of the calendar year when the Prophet Isaiah is normally read.
As for this "problem passage" being discussed in Hebrew school, it would be highly unlikely below seminary level. Generally the prophetic writings are not studied at the lower levels of religious training that comprise the experience of the average Jewish person. For this reason, most Jewish people are unaware that the Isaiah 53 passage even exists. A very common response from a Jewish person who is shown that text for the first time is, "That's not from our Jewish Bible. That sounds like the New Testament."

Showing a Jewish person Isaiah 53 does not automatically guarantee that he or she will believe in Jesus. Isaiah himself wrote that as a nation, Israel would hear and not understand, and they would see and not perceive (Isaiah 6:9, 10).

Nevertheless, individual Jews do come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, often without ever having seen Isaiah 53. When such people see the passage for the first time, they are usually quite startled to discover that it was there all along.

Isaiah 53

1Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who consideredthat he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?9And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makesan offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.