The twenty-first message from the book of Ephesians, “Understanding the will of God.”

Eph 5:16-17 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Verse 17 tells us to be wise—in understanding what the will of the Lord is. Today we will look at what the will of God is, how man has a free will, and yet God is still all-powerful.

The will of God is often a mysterious and mis-understood belief. Many people blame everything on the will of God. For example you may have heard things like this:

“It must have been the will of God for that person to get sick or injured.” Or, “It was the will of God he or she died.” Or maybe you have heard someone say, “Maybe it was the will of God I did not get the job.”

Thinking and saying every good or bad thing that happens is the will of God is an easy way out. It may have been the will of God—but—it also may not have been the will of God. 

God has a will. That is He desires and wants certain things for His creation. He wants them to live in righteousness, peace, and love.

But man also has a will, a FREE will. We are not robots or puppets. Because of this we can go against the will of God. We have a choice.

So the will of God and the will of man are a balance. Both have a will. Man has a free will to chose his path. But—God is higher and mightier than man and His will can intervene if He so choses.

Ephesians 5 tells us to be wise and understand what the will of God is. 

The twentieth message from the book of Ephesians, “Not Once Named.”

Eph 5:3-4  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

This chapter starts by telling us to be followers of God and walk in love. It then tells us that the sinful works that the unsaved do should not be once named among the saints.

These works of the flesh and works of the unsaved are shameful to even talk about. If a child of God is named among those who do such things—then great harm will come to the testimony of the church.

A child of God may sin—but to be publicly pointed out known to be covetous or a fornicator—this is a shame and embarrassment to the body of Christ.

Many Christians today simply do not care, they are going to sin anyway. But God our Father sees this as a grave error—He does not approve of this and will judge it.

Let’s look in greater detail at the warning from these verses.

The nineteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “Inheriting the Kingdom of God.”

Eph 5:5-8  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Ephesians 5:5 along with 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 15:50; and Galatians 5:19-21 cause confusion among Christians. 

What does it mean when the Bible says “…that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God?”

Does this mean if a child of God does such things they will lose their salvation and right to enter into the kingdom of God? Let’s find out today!

The eighteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “Forgiveness.”

Eph. 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

The subject of forgiveness is a common one. Most of us learn about the importance of forgiving one another from a child. It is a fundamental habit that must be developed if we are to have lasting and loving relationships with people. This is true regardless of the relationship, it applies to family, friends, work and school colleagues, and the church body.

Forgiveness—that is forgiving and not holding something against a person—sounds simple and easy. The reality is very different. When we were young and somewhat innocent we quickly forgave but, as life goes on and the wrongs against us become larger, forgiveness gets harder to give.

Today we will look at examples of forgiveness, the command to forgive, the dangers of an unforgiving heart, and the blessings of having a forgiving heart.

The seventeenth message from the book of Ephesians, “A Generation that Grieves the Holy Spirit."

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

In this verse, we are warned not to grieve the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. To grieve means to cause great distress to someone, or to give someone a heavy burden. This is the only time in the New Testament we find this phrase.

The Holy Spirit lives inside a child of God and can become grieved with the way they live and respond to His commands and counsel.

Are we grieving the Holy Spirit? 

This is a question that we don’t ask often. In fact, many times we forget about the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We don’t think that what we are doing, looking at, thinking, and dwelling on might be grieving Him.

Today we are going to look at an example in the Bible where the Spirit of God is grieved. From this example I believe we can paint a picture of how we might be grieving the Holy Spirit—and perhaps not even realize it.

The sixteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “Labouring in a good thing.”

Eph 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Labouring, or working, in life is something we all do (or should be doing). Life is full of work. It never seems to end and can get tiring and discouraging at times. But working in a good thing is necessary, fulfilling, and a blessing to those around us.

The word ‘work” is found 420 times in the Bible and, the word “labour” 89 times. It is an important topic that the Bible gives much attention to.

Living life with nothing to do, idleness, and no purpose, is not Biblical living. Good men and women in the Bible were always busy labouring in a good thing.

Today, I want us to look at the command and example to labour, the dangers of walking disorderly and not labouring, and not getting weary labouring in a good thing.

The fifteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “Righteous Anger."

Eph 4:26-27  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.

Is it always wrong or a sin to be angry? What does the Bible say about being angry? What does the Bible mean when it says “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”?

In the Bible, we read many times when God is angry. Does God commit sin? No, He does not. So we can conclude there are occasions where anger is not a sin. Let’s look at being angry and not sinning today.

Psa 7:11  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

The fourteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “Speaking with grace”.

The Bible says “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt,...” What we say, and how we speak, is very important. The tongue is very powerful. It can be used for good or evil. It can encourage or discourage. It can build up someone or tear someone down. We need to be very careful with our speech. Everyone is watching what you say as a Christian and will judge you by your words.

Today see how to speak with Grace

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

The thirteenth message from the book of Ephesians, “The Old man versus the New man”. 

In Ephesians 4:17-32 we read about the old man and the new man. We also see how the Gentiles walk and how a Christian should walk. The difference is stark. There is a clear line drawn between the two. But a Christian has a choice: walk after the Spirit or after the flesh, walk in the new man or the old, walk in the ways of the Gentiles or the ways of a child of God. Today we will look at the new man versus the old man.

The twelfth message from the book of Ephesians: the importance of the local church.

What is the purpose of the local church? What kind of work should it be doing? Is the church a humanitarian organisation? Is it a select, private club? This short passage in the book of Ephesians tells us the purpose and work of a local church. 

Jesus Christ gave His blood for, and died for, the Church, which is part of His body. He has a plan, purpose, and work for every local church body.  

Today, we will look at the purpose or function of the local church.