Ephesians; 1:3 – every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, part 14.

Thursday October 25, 2018

 

Correction: NJ is 1500 furlongs (1380 miles long, wide, and high) and not cubits.

 

Postmodernism is a toolkit for removing all power structures without bombing the building.

 

I begin with a current example of why it is so important that we each life the spiritual life, with the spiritual blessings from the Father as the center of our lives.

 

It is an attempt to use language, indoctrination, political correctness, and race baiting to rip down the establishment of Western culture. It is a philosophy in which there is a denial of absolute truth. Even recorded history and obvious facts are tossed aside in an “ends justifies the means” philosophy. These minions of Satan don’t even really know what the ends will look like if they actually achieve them, but Satan does.  

 

Western culture is the product of Christianity. America is the only nation formed in the history of the world that is not based upon a certain ethnic group, but based upon values. These values were spelled out by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was a deist, not a Christian, but he was fully influenced by the values of Christianity. Satan has been tirelessly working to tear it all down. It is difficult to determine how close he may be to doing it.  

 

Postmodernism has grown powerful in our society and it is only a matter of time before the church is in its crosshairs. Of course, they are powerless against the church. The history of both Israel and the church have clearly shown that persecution only strengthens the church. It is not the body of Christ that is in danger, but individuals who are caught up in the lie. Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors are currently being indoctrinated with the meaningless.

 

However, there is nothing new under the sun. What postmodernists are doing has been done before, and many times over. They are simply using new terms and calling it new.

 

Jude’s name is actually Judas. Early on, the translators wrote Jude so as to not have the name carry a negative stigma. Judas is the Hellenized form of Judah.

 

Jud 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

 

Jud 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain [jealousy], and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam [greed], and perished in the rebellion of Korah [power lust].

 

Judas is actually quoting 2PE 2:12, 15 in these verses. He included 13 quotations from 2Peter in his short letter.

 

Jud 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit;

 

Jud 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

 

Jud 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;

 

Jud 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

 

Many commentators are of the opinion that these three categories refer to believers and in the context of the book, this is a viable interpretation. The doubting are those who have legitimate questions - have mercy on them. The other in the fire are those who have believed the false doctrines being taught in the various assemblies - deliver them with the truth. The final group with the polluted garments are those who have fallen into falsehood so much that they are teaching it, beware of their errors when ministering to them in mercy.

 

Jud 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

 

Jud 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

 

It is clear that we are all called to be ministers of the gospel to the unbeliever and the truth to the believer. If we don’t live the spiritual blessings, our ministries will be ineffective.

 

It is only by living the spiritual life that we can show them the light of Christ, which will infiltrate the darkness that surrounds them. Our study of Ephesians is just in time. None of us should balk at its challenge. The body of Christ is the only light in this world. 

 

The postmodernist states that the end justifies the means, which means that the kind of means is not important. There is only one end for this world and for mankind, and that end is divine. There is only one means that heads towards that end, and He is divine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Having a meaningful life is having the divine means and being headed to a divine end, which has zero to do with self.

 

Many human lives are a means to end that is centered on self. In Christianity, the believer has a means to an end that has nothing to do with himself. 

 

Over and over again in the OT the Jews were told that they were a divine means towards a divine end. The individual believer in this age is that means and end. Each of our lives was designed to have such a meaning, and not making the spiritual blessings from the Father as the center of your life and holding on to them in faith will destroy the experience of that meaning.

 

We left last time on this point:

 

Spiritual over material: The tenets of the Bible apply perfectly to all peoples in all times no matter what society they are in.

 

The word of God is alive and powerful and it is profitable for instruction, correction, and reproof; not just in one or some generations, but in all.

 

This led us to see that most people do not actually desire heaven in its fullness. Christ will make a heaven out of the earth during His Millennial reign and as many as are the sands of the seashore will hate it and hate Him. 

 

Many people actually don’t want heaven at all. They want the parts of heaven that leave them to their own way and not the parts that demand total obedience to God’s way.

 

This is an eye-opening statement. People want physical blessings, they want things to be easy, they want entertainment, and things that dazzle the eye. I think we could say conclusively that heaven has all of these things. We don’t know a lot about what life in heaven will be like. Actually, we only know one thing.

 

REV 4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

 

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."

 

REV 4:9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

 

REV 4:10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

 

REV 4:11 "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created."

 

We worship Jesus continually; in prayer, in song, in heart, mind, and soul. Many people don’t actually want heaven.

 

REV 5:8 And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

 

REV 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying,

"Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

 

REV 5:10 "And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."

 

In our worship we proclaim our love of His sacrifice on the cross for us, and we love that only He is worthy.

 

REV 5:11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

 

REV 5:12 saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."

 

REV 5:13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,

 

"To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."

 

REV 5:14 And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.