Ephesians 4:3-6; One Father, part 5 – Fatherhood of God and summary of our passage.

Sunday June 13,2021

Open: We should be thankful every day that we can openly worship our Lord and reveal His word in the United States. There will come a day in this land where it will be harder and cost you more. So do it now. Extend yourself out there and speak up when you can, for your voice will be quieter later.

Christian persecution reported in Israel My Glory publication:

Uganda – The Muslim husband of a 38-year-old mother of three beat his wife unconscious and forced her to drink pesticide after he found two Bibles in her suitcase and she told him that she had embraced Christianity. He left her for dead but she was saved by others and staying with a Christian family while her three children reside with their father.

Democratic Republic of Congo – A jihadist group slaughtered 20 Christians in villages. They tried to force them to convert to Islam, and one clergyman said, “They also tried to force my wife and our four children to convert to Islam, but when they refused to convert, they shot my wife in the head while our four children were cut to pieces with a Somali sword.”

India – Six Hindu extremists beat a pastor unconscious and threatened to sacrifice him to their god as punishment for passing out gospel tracts. When he regained consciousness, he found himself locked in a dark room. “I shouted for help, cried loud hoping someone would hear my cries and come to help me, but nobody could hear me,” he said. “I was lying down on the floor without food or water for the next few days.” Seven days later he persuaded an elderly woman who heard his cries to open the door. He was similarly attack in June of 2019. Now he has been forced to vacate his home. Christians, house churches, and pastors are attacked here weekly. Many do not call the police, as officers are often complicit in Hindu extremist aggression.

India – Christians were celebrating a child dedication in the evening. Some 20-25 friends and family were then sleeping in the home and another 25-30 were sleeping in the adjacent church hall. Villagers attacked them at 1 a.m. A survivor reported, “While the children were beaten up with hands and feet, the others were shot at with arrows and beaten up with iron rods. It was complete mayhem, and people were running to save their lives.”

[Hong Kong newspaper: Apple Daily]

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities have ordered the few legal churches in the country to study and celebrate the Communist Party ahead of the 100th anniversary of its founding on July 1.

“The official Catholic church in China is among the most active, with some parishes holding Thanksgiving Mass to sing praise of the CCP [sic].” according to the report.

“In a statement published last month, Liu Yuanlong, the vice president of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association [CPCA] as well as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s National Committee, wrote that ‘God has chosen the Chinese Communist Party.'”

Revealing what the CCP is made of, they say “God has chosen the CCP,” and they are avowed atheists.

Our Father is “over all and through all and in all.”

Stand strong in the faith and don’t let anyone or anything scare you. Remember, Jesus’ words were recorded for us for a reason. It’s not chance:

Luk 12:1-9

Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [show; leaven – it is hidden until you see its effects]. 2 "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known [what is not show]. 3 "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. [every scene, even the most remote will be seen] 4 "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body [live your life], and after that have no more that they can do. 5 "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! [know His immensity] 6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows. 8 "And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man shall confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

The Father gives to His sons and daughters.

The Father promises to supply your every need. We are not to anxiously seek after them as the world does, but to seek after God’s kingdom and understand and practice of His righteousness.

As sons and daughters we are to openly, and intelligently, ask the Father for what is good. And when we misunderstand what is good, the Father will actively show us what is good and work to bring its presence about in our lives.

Our Father gave us the Holy Spirit at the Son’s request. He also gave us the revelation of what belongs to Christ and so now belongs to us.

If you won’t get with the spiritual life on your own, then no one will do it for you. All of us have to the Spirit so as to tap into unlimited wisdom and power of Christ.

Joh 14:16-17

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.”

Joh 16:15

“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.”

Joh 16:23-24

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.”

Our Father gives us His love.

Joh 16:27

“for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

He gives us His peace in concordance with our faith.

Eph 6:23-24

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.

Our lives are to glorify our Father.

Phi 4:19-20

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Father provided for you and protected you.

Col 1:9-14

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Father is our Father and He has done perfectly what a good Father should. He could do no other for He is unchangeable and eternal. He gives us good things. He loves us. He protects and provides for us. He thoroughly instructs us in the way of life and models that way for us through the historical person of Christ, His Son. He seeks and open dialogue with us and entreats us to ask of Him. He forgives us when we fail and instructs us in the solutions and the means of change. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He will never evict us from the house, never turn His back on us, never do or say anything unloving or unkind to us. He will discipline us for our good, and that, perfectly for proper correction, never too hard or harsh, and always accompanied by instruction. He will always give us grace and welcome us home whenever we stray. He is the one and only Father who is over all and through all and in all.