09/20/2002 & 09/27/2002
Ephesians 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to
the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
·
Paul an apostle
belonging strictly to Jesus Christ and only for Him, and through the will
belonging exclusively to God. An
apostolic description.
·
The prophet
ministers in the progressive revelation of the rhema word of God. The apostle
ministers in the completed revelation found in the logos word. Combined, their
revealed knowledge is the foundation upon which the church builds.
·
The object
of the apostle’s ministry is geared to building up of genuine saints of God, by
the foundational knowledge that follows in this chapter, and Paul, in the
ministry of an apostle reveals.
2
Grace
be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
·
Grace is
defined as Christ’s labor within us.
The result of Christ’s labor produces within us “shalom peace.”
3
¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
·
Blessed,
is in the past tense.
God has blessed us with every kind and type of spiritual blessing
possible. They occur in Christ or as we
walk step by step in obedience to the voice of the Spirit. We do not ask Christ
for blessings, we obey Him so that every blessing already deposited within Him
can be revealed in us.
·
The source
of every blessing has the saints as the object, the final goal, or the
funneling ground.
·
“Spiritual”
is defined that the blessings proceed from the Spirit of God.
·
These
blessings proceed or are worked out by the means of our abiding in the heavenly
places, which is walking in the Spirit.
4
According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love:
·
God chose
us.
·
The limitations of God’s choosing are limited
to our relationship with the Son.
Everything is birthed in the Son, occurs by the grace or labor of the
Son, and is worked by God back to us through His Son.
·
The limit of
the choosing is that we should be holy or set apart for His sacred purposes
resulting in an unblemished internal character within us.
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblameable
and unreproveable
in his sight:
·
Holy -denotes a cut from the world and from
what is common and profane, to the sacred purposes of God.
·
Unblamable- Without blemish and spot; talks about our
inner character.
·
Unreprovable- External character. That in absolutely nothing outwardly can we
be accused of, or have an accusatory finger pointed at us. This is the outward fruit of being holy and
unblamable.
·
5 Having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
6To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
·
The purpose
of our being blessed with every Spirit originated blessing in Christ has the
goal of praise in mind. Genuine saints
that are walking in the way that we have just described above stimulate and
extract praise from the world unto God.
·
The saints
are one of God’s primary vehicles to stimulate praise from the universe. This praise had to do with the glory of
God. The glory of God is making the
invisible God to become visible in His attributes and in that glory to make Him
progressively known.
·
The saints
are one of the main bearers of God’s glory. The saints make the invisible God
to become visible.
1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God’s.
·
The physical
body is the entity, sphere or element in which the glory of God is manifested
or and made progressively known. God uses the physical bodies of His saints and
more so, His corporate body that is His church, as the element or vehicle in
which His glory is made visible in such a way that He can be progressively
known to the universe.
Eph 3: 10 To
the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
John 1:16 And of his fulness have
all we received, and grace for grace.
·
God’s
fullness is all of the attributes, essence, giftings, arrangements and
dispositions of God that make Him God, exclusive of anything else in the
universe.
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell;\
·
The fullness of God, which God now deposited in the saints, becomes the
inheritance.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh ( WHO IS ENERGIZING
in DUNAMIS POWER) all things after the counsel of his own will:
·
The more
that the saints operate in the counsel of God, the more that His energizing
power works within them to make His kingdom operational in the world, becomes a
reality.
10 That
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
·
Praise is
created unto God because of the glory manifested through the saints. Glory is the God’s mode to make His riches
becoming visible. The purpose of the church is to make God and His riches
visible.
17 That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him:
18The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
·
The hope of
his calling is the call and invitation of God to the saint that is received
with total obedience. When the call is received with obedience, and ministry is
accomplished in oneness and identicalness to the Spirit’s voice, it becomes an
effectual call or a call that is full of the powerful energy of God to make it
effective, operational and accomplish what it is supposed to accomplish through
the saint.
·
The riches
are the unsearchable arrangements and dispositions and arrangements of God that
must be revealed. Each of the riches defines a portion of the inheritance,
which is the deposit of the fullness of Christ within the believer. The riches
are to be made known or manifested in the mode of glory. The riches are the
inheritance of God within the believer, which is His fullness made
visible. Riches cannot be sought out,
they must be revealed.
Ephesians 1:8 Wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
·
A spirit of
wisdom and revelation is knowing God’s will and timing and then understanding
it in order to carry it out step by the step In the Spirit through what is
called prudence.
·
The saints
are the element in the God’s fullness is deposited, energized, and made known
as riches in the mode of glory. All of
this is housed in portions within the specific believer’s body, and fully in
the body of Christ is which the church.
·
The eyes of our
thoughts being in an enlightened state explain to us the Spirit of revelation,
which is an understanding of what the Spirit is telling us.
God’s Energy in Dunamis Power
·
God’s
energy is always fully effective and fully flowing in us.
Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of
him who IS POWERFULLY ENERGIZING all things after the counsel of his own will:
1 Cor 12:11 But all these worketh is POWERFULLY ENERGIZING
that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing (DISTRIBUTING) to every man
severally as he will (COUNSELS)
Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made
a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the (
ENERGY)of his power.
Colossians 1:29 Whereunto I also
labour, striving according to his POWERFUL ENERGY which IS ENERGIZED in me AS GOD’S POWER OR ABILITY.
Spiritual Gifts
·
Spiritual gifts are used to take portions of God’s inheritance that we
now know as His riches, energize them by means of His dunamis power, and make
them visible as riches in the mode of glory through the physical bodies of His
saints.
·
Every believer represents a
portion of God’s land or kingdom in the midst of an evil world, where God ruled
unencumbered and displays His glory effectively through him or her through the
means of spiritual gifts as they are powerfully energized through His
operations.
1 Cor 12:4 Now there
are diversities of gifts,
but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh(
ENERGIZES) all in all.
·
The Motivational Aspect of the Gifts.
Romans 12:6 Having then
charismatic gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according
to the proportion(Greek “corresponding to the word)
of faith;(belonging to
faith)
·
Prophecy is faith in one of its
manifestation, this manifestation being in the “the word belonging to faith,
or which is produced in the spirit as an expression of faith.
·
Faith, which produces a rehma word, is the
FAITH OF GOD working in us. The rehma
word is a translation of God’s faith into a medium that we can discern,
minister externally, and understand. When we minister the rehma word we are
ministering the faith that God Himself has.
·
Prophecy is God’s faith in the verbal expression of His rehma
word. Therefore, prophecy is faith, and
must be given by faith.
7
Or
ministry, (in the world of ministry) or he that teacheth, in the
world of the teaching;
8 Or
he that exhorteth, in the world of
exhortation: he
that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he
that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Mystery (How We Must Minister)
1 cor 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory:
·
We
are uttering (PROPHETICALLY) God’s wisdom (WILL, WAYS & TIMING) in the sphere
of a mystery or by means of a mystery. We are dead, and our lives are hid in a
mystery state with God. Our walk in the
Spirit allows us to understand the peculiars of the movements, dispositions,
and plans of the Holy Spirit within us.
We cannot search out, the mysteries of God in us but they are revealed
by us as we walk in the Spirit. As they
are revealed through us knowledge and understanding is then given. This is
called revelation.
·
We
minister out of God’s mysteries within us because our lives now shrouded and
hidden with Christ are hid with Him who Himself lives in a mystery form.
13 Which things also we
speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
·
Not
taught in words of human wisdom but comparing and compounding the spiritual
things revealed by God in our spirits with appropriate outward spiritual forms
and expressions.
1 Cor 13:9 For we know in part, and
we prophesy in part.
·
Out of a
portion we know and out of that portion we must prophesy leading to more
knowing and more prophecy. (From faith into faith)
12 For now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know
even as also I am known.
·
For
we all see through a mirror reflecting an enigma.
Ephesians
1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:7 In
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace;
·
God’s labor,
termed as grace takes from His inheritance in us, which is His fullness,
reveals it from its mystery form and displays it in segments through us as His
riches.
1 Cor 12:6 And there are diversities
of operations, but
it is the same God which worketh all in all.
·
Different riches are manifested through the
different operations of God. The
operations are effective displays of God’s power through the believer to
effectively transfer the riches from inside the believer to the external world
in accordance to the specific ministerial circumstances.
·
The
transferred riches, which inside the believer were part of God’s inheritance,
not empowered externally by the operations of God are made visible as the glory
of God.
·
Christ’s
grace, or inward labor must display itself outwardly through the believer’s
body as glory.
·
Praise to
God is extracted by this revealed glory in the sphere of the saints.
8
Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
·
Wisdom has
to do with God’s will, ways, and timing.
Prudence is carrying out this wisdom “in the Spirit.” God’s labor in us
produces His will, His ways, and timing.
Prudence causes us to walk step by step in Christ’s labor. This is termed to walk in the Spirit.
·
The normal
mode of God’s labor in us as we walk in prudence is to produce abundance and
superabundance. In proportion to how we
follow Christ’s labor in us in wisdom and prudence is the same proportion we
will live in the realm of “SPIRITUAL
AND NOT USUALLY MATERIAL” abundance and superabundance. This is the normal mode of God’s operation.
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory
of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace;
·
The grace,
or God’s labor in us which allows us to be a fit and equipped vehicle that
displays His glory to the universe, and makes God known, can occur because we
have been graciously favored in His beloved Son, or in the Son of His love,
Christ Jesus. Because we are in the Son of His love, likewise God loves
us. Because we are loved, God can favor
us with this type of labor.
·
Part of this
favoring can occur because we are experiencing a continual redemption. Redemption is defined as a “releasing of
slaves by the payment of a ransom.” The
ransom money is the blood of Christ.
The forgiveness of sins the actual sending away or discharge of our
sins. In the sending way of our sins, our condition becomes as if we have never
committed them, since they are now far away from us. Thus we the penalty for our sins likewise has been remitted. We
become the beloved of God because in the eyes of God we are sinless.
8Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself:
·
As we walk
in the will and prudence of God we understand more and more the mysteries found
within the labor of Christ that pertains to His will.
·
The understanding of the mysteries of Christ,
which define the attributes of His labor within us, in this case the attribute
of His will, is called the spirit of revelation. A mystery is something that was once hidden but is not revealed
to our understanding with the objective that we will execute it fully to
produce the glory of God.
·
The
revelation of a mystery is our understanding of a portion of God’s inheritance.
Our understanding of a mystery becomes one of God’s riches. We carry out the
riches of God into the external world through one a spiritual gift resulting in
God’s glory.
·
The more
that we understand the mystery of His will, and execute in the riches that make
God visible the more that we will live in the superabundance of God.
9
That
in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in
him:
·
The purpose of
manifesting God’s glory to the universe through the church is that God may be
progressively known, as the church walks in prudence, by the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, so that in this knowledge of God by the church, He might gather
in one all things in Christ.
·
A dispensation is defined as the
administration or the management of a house or property. In God’s management or administration that
focuses on the fullness of times, He will sum up all things into and for
Himself.
·
God uses His
saints, His church, to make manifest, progressively known, and effectively
operational within the universe the ongoing activity and consummation of this
part of His administration.
10 In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will:
·
For this
purpose we have received the fullness of God, His inheritance in us, so that
through us may be manifested, and may be made operational this part of God’s
administration in the saints.
·
Vine- “God
made know the mystery of His will, the plan of redemption according to His good
pleasure, in order to bring back an economy peculiar to that point of time when
the ages of the Christian dispensation are fulfilled- an economy which should be
by the regathering of all things round one point, Christ.”
13 In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.
15 ¶ Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks
for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him:
18The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
·
The hope of
the calling is the call and invitation of God that is received with total
obedience. When the call is received with obedience and ministry is accomplished
in oneness and identicalness to the Spirit it becomes an effectual call, or a
call that is full of the powerful energy of God to make it effective,
operational and accomplish what it is supposed to do through us.
·
The riches
are the unsearchable arrangements and dispositions and arrangements of God that
must be revealed. Each of the riches defines a portion of the inheritance,
which is the deposit of the fullness of Christ within the believer. The riches
are to be made known or manifested in the mode of glory. The riches are the
inheritance of God within the believer which is God’s fullness made
visible. The saints, by the
manifestation of these riches, allow God to effectively operate His
dispensation of gathering in one all things in Christ.
·
The saints
therefore are the element in which God’s fullness is deposited, energized and
made known as riches in the mode of glory. The manifestation of God’s glory is
the effective external manifestation of God as gather in one all things in
Christ.
·
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblameable
and unreproveable
in his sight:
·
The
dispensation gathering in one all things in Christ.in the fullness of time is
manifested through the saints in proportion first to their holiness,
unblameableness, and unreprovableness of character.
Eph 1:18The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:11 In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who IS POWERFULLY ENERGIZING all things after the counsel of his
own will:
·
Secondly, it
is manifested to how closely they answer the hope of the calling, which is the
obedient response to the call of God, allowing God to powerfully energize
through the saints in power.
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power ( DUNAMIS) to us-ward (FUNNELED INTO)
who believe ( CONTINUALLY BELIEVING) , according to the working( ENERGY PUT OUT) of his mighty ( INNER
SPIRITUAL STRENGTH) power,(EXTERNAL DOMINION)
What is the throwing beyond (homerun) greatness of
His dunamis power
funneled into us the ones believing according to the energy that is put out as God’s inner spiritual strength
is translated into His external
dominion.
·
Dunamis power is
the inherent power within every created being, living, and non-living. God has His own inherent dunamis power.
·
This dunamis power of God now deposited in us allows for His glory
to be revealed in the saints as He puts down and renders useless all that is
not of him.
20 Which he wrought (ENERGIZED) in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead
(CORPSE), and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
·
Which He energized (PAST TENSE) in Christ
when He raised Him out of a corpse…..
·
Working in verse nineteen, and wrought in
verse twenty are exactly the same root word; ENERGY; Working, is the noun, energy. Wrought
is the verb to
energize.
·
The
definition of God’s DUNAMIS POWER was the energy that was “put
out” (in the historical event 2000 years ago), as Christ was raised up
from a corpse and made to sit far above in rank, power, and physical
distance over all principalities, powers, and might, dominions, and all
names which are named both in heaven and upon the earth.
·
This
dunamis power was once and for all energized INTO CHRIST. Because Christ lives
in us, so does this DUNAMIS POWER.
·
However
the living reality of this dunamis power, as it is funneled or manifested into
us, comes in proportion to our faith.
·
Let
us look now in more detail now the properties of the dunamis power that we have
resident within us and available to us when we walk in childlike obedience and
faith
21
Far above all principality
(BEGINNING), and power(AUTHORITY),
and might,
(DUNAMIS POWER) and dominion(
LORDSHIP OR BONDAGE), and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which
is to come:
·
Far above in rank, power, and physical distance
·
Every type of principality – Or the beginning of every
created thing
·
We know a principality to be an
authoritative demonic being. However, in
the NT, the word principality is also used for a physical beginning, the
creation of something, and the root source of something. The dunamis power of God in Christ, and
available to us, is far above in rank and power, above every root problem such
as generational sins, curses, judgments, and the root causes and beginnings in
diseases. This is very important to us
when we minister. A simple knowledge of
this facet of God’s power will allow us to exercise God’s power with a new
level of faith.
·
Authority Power of choice; liberty to do as one
pleases; jurisdiction such as a state police has over every road within a
state; the power of rule and government
·
Authority is the power of choice; or the liberty to do as
one pleases, such as the jurisdiction enjoyed by a state policeman or woman
over every road and highway within the state wherein they work. Cancer, for example has its own authority,
in that it can spread at will throughout the human body. However the authority
found in Christ’s dunamis power has an authority far above in rank and power
over that of cancer. By our words, as they are tempered or alloyed 50/50 with
faith, the kingly sway, the power of choice, or the liberty of action to
command the cancer where we please, is available to us.
·
Dunamis
power The inherent power
in every created thing that defines it and gives to it its life.
·
As we spoke earlier on, dunamis power is
the inherent power exclusive, to every created thing. Water, has an inherent power of its own, which gives to it its
life, and defines it as water exclusive of any another object. Cancer has another type of dunamis
power. God has His own dunamis
power. The dunamis or inherent power of
Christ resident in us is far in rank and power above the inherent power of any
other created object. Hallelujah! When we minister, we know that Christ’s
inherent power will subordinate, subjugate and destroy the inherent power
sustaining the evil that we are ministering against.
·
The inherent or dunamis power of something
gives to it life, glory, and honor.
Cancer, though evil in nature, has its own evil glory and honor. The word, “to rebuke” is
defined as “UPON THE HONOR.” When
we rebuke cancer in JESUS NAME, we are heaping Christ’s power to bear upon the
honor of the root source of the cancer, the liberty that it exercises and the
very inherent power that makes it up and gives to its life.
·
Lordship- Someone or something which can bring
into bondage.
·
And every name that identifies something for what it is exclusive of
anything else.
22
And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
·
All
these Christ subordinated and subjected under His feet. When God gave Christ be to be head over all
of these things to the church; this same power is now available to us.
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
·
The church is His body, and is filled with His fullness or
His inheritance to make His glory effective, and His dispensation to become
consummated as it allows Christ to fill every aspect of every believer with His
fullness.