EphesiansThe queen of epistles

Welcome to the adventure

Seat belts please!

•helmets•Goggles.•Gloves•1st aid kit

What is our expectation?Compare;• Mt 13:44-46

• 44 and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field• 46 went and sold all that he had, and bought it. • I.e Paul counted ALL things dung for the excellency of knowing him

• Mt 25:14-30 – parable of the talents• Why was the servant unprofitable?

• Didn’t know the fathers heart• Didn’t know his own responsibility

What parable is before both of these?Luke 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

A few other verses to consider…• 1st Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in

your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

• Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

• Act 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified

Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Responsibility?I am determined to “labor in the word”. I am accountable to God for what He has given me.

Be sure, I make no pretenses. I am what I am, if anything at all, by grace. To presume to teach is a great burden and a greater responsibility that I do not take carelessly or for granted, but with great fear, trembling, and a good deal of stress…

but this is between God and I.

At the same time…… you are also equally responsible to study yourselves, and to be “good Bereans” (Acts 17:11) with anything I give you. I will stand in the gap, but you must stand with me, and you must hold up my hands.

You not only bear the same personal responsibility to study to show yourself approved, rightly dividing the word of truth, but you are absolutely exclusively responsible for what you end up believing, whether you (or I) study or not.

So then, why don’t we all study together?I need the support, balance, and accountability of your own diligence in the word. Perhaps you need me as well. (I only say that because it was in my bible… )

Again, let’s do this together. I do not intend, nor do I expect, for you to allow me to spoon feed you. You must “dig in” for your selves.

You cannot reap your own harvest without yourself sowing in sweat and tears

Consider this;if with great effort I can only just begin to understand the depth and significance of some doctrine through much painful toil and study, and I teach you 10% of what I get, without all the context and foundational details, and without the bonding ownership that only comes from having earned it myself, and if you only get 10% of what I tell you… and remember even less… what does that leave you with? And what will you have for others?

On a similar note, never mind what it may cost you to own the truth, (buy it and sell it not,) but what does it require for it to come to own you?

The pearl of great price comes to mind?

Why study the bible?• To know his word ; • It is a light/lamp for our journey, • For provision/protection,• It is a manual for life…• To thoroughly prepare us for “every good work”• That we “might not sin”• To be the reason for our hope, and the answer that we give • For sanctification, for His glory before the world• To become light and salt for the watching wretched stinking world

What is required; spiritually, and intellectually?

• Spiritual discernment; spiritual things are only spiritually discerned. • A “fear of the Lord” A reverence and a desire for holiness• Conviction of the bibles completeness and infallibility; • Conviction of its authority over the details of our lives.• Determination to obey it and to be conformed to its parameters • Humility and brokenness; readiness to abandon your own ideas and ideals• A prayer and attitude of dependency on the Spirit for revelation and illumination

• and for conviction and power

• Diligences in discipline; study, memorize, meditate• A few good tools; study bible, concordance, dictionary, thayers• Able teachers; a God given, purposeful staple in the biblical NT church• A context (body) to have your doctrine and applications tweaked.

• A place to live it out and share its fruit• We aren’t changed by what we pour in, any more than a tankful of gas will get you somewhere

• You have to put it in drive to gain some traction…

How should we study?Our modus operandi• What is exegesis? Extracting the original meaning• What is expository teaching? Expounding on the original meaning • Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on a careful, objective analysis. The

word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text.

• Exegesis, as indicated by its etymology, is the act of critically interpreting a text in an attempt to "draw the meaning out" of the text

• It is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture.

• Interpretation is the rendering of message from one form to another, without losing or changing the original meaning.

The process of exegesis involves

• Observation - Reading: what does the passage say? • Read the WHOLE book straight through, at least once

• Interpretation - Hermeneutics: what does the passage mean? • Follow the rules

• Context x3 - Correlation: how does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible? • Scripture is infallible. Compare scripture with scripture

• Application: how should this passage affect my life?• Why else would we study?

A few things about the bible

• 1st ptr 1:25 the word of the Lord endures forever• 2nd tim 3:16 all scripture is given by inspiration of God• 2nd ptr 1:21 the prophecy came not in old times by the will of men,

but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit

Josh McDowell Answers to tough questions; pg 1-3 what makes the bible special

A few more details of note;• 66 books were Canonized (confirmed to be authentically of God and gathered

exclusively together)• 40 authors, 2000yrs, from 3 continents – • and with no contradictions

• It covers about 6000 yrs of history/prophecy• There are 2 main sections, (Testament means covenant)• The old Covenant (everything up to the new one)• The new covenant (everything after the old one)

Notice what the historical divide is about…

9 types of literature• Law/statutory• Proverbial/wisdom• Poetry/songs• Prophecy• History/narrative• Epistles/letters - didactic• Genealogies• Parables• Apocalyptic

Glossary of important words to define:• Jew• Gentile• Pagan• Christian• Saint – a Jewish word. Set apart

or consecrated one. Imagine what Paul was saying in eph 1:2

• Heathen• Pharisee• Sadducee• Essenes (dead sea scrolls)• Testament• NT• OT• Covenant• Dispensation

• Presupposition• Dead• Death• Sin• Old man, sin nature• quickened• Grace• Faith• Truth• Believe• Repentance• Church – the “body” of Christ; all

Christians of all time – universal and local

• Mystery – divine secret (acts 3:2-13,) that gentile was brought in equally by grace with the Jew

• It was a mystery because 1 cor 2:1-8 if they knew, they wouldn’t have crucified Jesus

• Visible church – universal• Invisible church - Local church• Body – analogy of our ½ of the

union we have with Christ, it is parallel with the wife of her husband (functionally)

• Orthodoxy• Orthopraxy• Unity• Gospel• Rationalism – relying on (one’s

own) reason as the final authority• Doxology – a short hymn of praise

to God

The binder and handouts;

•Our outline, •Other outlines, •Glossary, •The prayer outline, •Chart/timelines, •Paper for notes