Ephesians 3:19 - And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
We're complete in Christ. We're not lacking anything. We have all of Christ. Now the word filled, without getting too technical, because even in the book of Acts, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. It doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit leaks out and you got to get filled up again.
PIMPLEMI is the Greek word for "to be filled," and it has to do with having your human senses taken over by something. In other words, Christ is in me but sometimes people see me as just myself. Other times, the Holy Spirit fills my human faculties, and He uses me to speak or to understand, or something. He takes over my human faculties. That's what it means to be filled. I always have Him in His fullness. But Paul is praying that His fullness would become full over me and in me in all of my living of life, that I might be filled with all of His fullness that's already there.
Ephesians 3:20 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
He says, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. You can't piece together words like that in any literature better than that. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!
All that I'm complaining about, all that I'm asking the Lord about, He's doing much more. And He knows so much more. And it's according to the power that is working in us. The word working is the word energy. According to the DUNAMIS, the power that is energizing in us.
Ephesians 5:1 - Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
The word be is literally become. And the word followers is the word imitate. What is special about this word is that MIMETAI in the Greek has to do a mimic, a person who performs mime. In those days, the mime would express himself through facial expressions and through actions on a stage in order to produce the story.
Paul picked up on this phrase. He mentions it three times in his letters about imitating him. It doesn't mean follow him. It doesn't mean to copy him. It means to have the same expression in your life that Paul does, same story, same spirit, and same life. Therefore become mimes of God as dear children.
Ephesians 5:4 - Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Just to share with you a summary statement of the technical expression in Verse 4, what he's saying is the evil that is lived out in the world, you should not make jokes out of it.
There are people who are dying in their sins. And sometimes we play the role of the drunkard, or the person on drugs, and we have a good laugh about it. But we're making mockery of someone that is losing their soul because they are involved in those kinds of practices.
So, all these things, the immorality, and all uncleanness and covetousness, not only should it not be named amongst us that we are doing it, but we should also not make jokes about it, about sexual immorality, uncleanness, or covetousness!
Ephesians 4:14 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
That we henceforth, or from now on, be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried around by every wind of doctrine, and that's happening today. Young believers are being tossed around by every wind of doctrine. And by the sleight of men. The word sleight, KUBEIA, and you can kind of hear it in the word (cube), and it's the word for dice. By the gambling of men, and cunning craftiness, which is one Greek word that means to work every angle.
Whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Now that's a nice verse, but that's not exactly what the original says. It says whereby they methodize the error. They make a system the error. They take the error and systematize it and say that the end justifies the means, and anything goes, just as long as we get the job taken care of. And they gamble with people's souls.
Ephesians 4:31 - Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, which means yelling, and evil speaking, which is the word BLASPHEMIA, slander, let all of this be put away from you, with all malice: Malice means human hurt.
Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Literally become kind one to another. The word kind is the word useful, which is described for us as tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:3 - Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The word endeavoring means top priority. Tolerate one another in love and make it your top priority to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
These apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor teachers are for the perfecting of the saints. The word perfecting, KATARTISMOS, means to mend. It's a medical term that has to do with the mending of broken bones. It's also mentioned about the disciples, that when Jesus called them, some of them were mending their fishing nets.
The word mend is the verb form of KATARTISMOS. There are different views as to what perfecting of the saints is. Some translations translate it equipping of the saints and they say that you take people into a classroom, and you equip them and teach them how to be salesman for Christ. That's not what it means. It means the first thing a new believer needs to do to be on track is for their life to be mended.
Second phase: for the work of ministry. The word ministry is DIAKONOS which means service. Before people can be involved in the work of the Lord, they must be far along in the mending process. Churches take young believers, and they put them to work, while in private, their life is falling apart, their family is falling apart, their marriage is falling apart, and they're trying to find an answer by staying busy at church. That doesn't change anyone!
So, number one, for the mending of the saints. Number two, for the work of ministry. And thirdly: for the edifying, or development of the body of Christ. The word edification is a construction term that means to build a house. So, after a person is mended, and after they've been serving the Lord while they continue to be mended, they are then capable of participating in the growth process of the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:1 - I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
He says, that you walk worthy of the vocation, or calling, wherewith you are called. None of us are worthy from a human standpoint. But the Greek word for worthy means balanced, or equal. You go down to the marketplace and put an item on one of the balances, and you would put money on the other side until it equals out. And that's how much the item is worth, and that's how much you pay for it in the marketplace. He's saying live worthy of your calling.
Ephesians 4:2 - With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
With all lowliness, which means a humble frame of mind, or a lowly frame of mind. With all humble mindedness, and meekness, which means openness. With longsuffering, or slow in human reaction towards others. Longsuffering is exampled by two participles. Number one, forbearing, or supporting one another in love; It can even mean to tolerate which would fit in better with longsuffering.
Ephesians 3:19 - And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
We're complete in Christ. We're not lacking anything. We have all of Christ. Now the word filled, without getting too technical, because even in the book of Acts, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. It doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit leaks out and you got to get filled up again.
PIMPLEMI is the Greek word for "to be filled," and it has to do with having your human senses taken over by something. In other words, Christ is in me but sometimes people see me as just myself. Other times, the Holy Spirit fills my human faculties, and He uses me to speak or to understand, or something. He takes over my human faculties. That's what it means to be filled. I always have Him in His fullness. But Paul is praying that His fullness would become full over me and in me in all of my living of life, that I might be filled with all of His fullness that's already there.
Ephesians 3:20 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
He says, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. You can't piece together words like that in any literature better than that. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!
All that I'm complaining about, all that I'm asking the Lord about, He's doing much more. And He knows so much more. And it's according to the power that is working in us. The word working is the word energy. According to the DUNAMIS, the power that is energizing in us.
Ephesians 5:1 - Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
The word be is literally become. And the word followers is the word imitate. What is special about this word is that MIMETAI in the Greek has to do a mimic, a person who performs mime. In those days, the mime would express himself through facial expressions and through actions on a stage in order to produce the story.
Paul picked up on this phrase. He mentions it three times in his letters about imitating him. It doesn't mean follow him. It doesn't mean to copy him. It means to have the same expression in your life that Paul does, same story, same spirit, and same life. Therefore become mimes of God as dear children.
Ephesians 5:4 - Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Just to share with you a summary statement of the technical expression in Verse 4, what he's saying is the evil that is lived out in the world, you should not make jokes out of it.
There are people who are dying in their sins. And sometimes we play the role of the drunkard, or the person on drugs, and we have a good laugh about it. But we're making mockery of someone that is losing their soul because they are involved in those kinds of practices.
So, all these things, the immorality, and all uncleanness and covetousness, not only should it not be named amongst us that we are doing it, but we should also not make jokes about it, about sexual immorality, uncleanness, or covetousness!
Ephesians 4:14 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
That we henceforth, or from now on, be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried around by every wind of doctrine, and that's happening today. Young believers are being tossed around by every wind of doctrine. And by the sleight of men. The word sleight, KUBEIA, and you can kind of hear it in the word (cube), and it's the word for dice. By the gambling of men, and cunning craftiness, which is one Greek word that means to work every angle.
Whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Now that's a nice verse, but that's not exactly what the original says. It says whereby they methodize the error. They make a system the error. They take the error and systematize it and say that the end justifies the means, and anything goes, just as long as we get the job taken care of. And they gamble with people's souls.
Ephesians 4:31 - Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, which means yelling, and evil speaking, which is the word BLASPHEMIA, slander, let all of this be put away from you, with all malice: Malice means human hurt.
Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Literally become kind one to another. The word kind is the word useful, which is described for us as tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:3 - Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The word endeavoring means top priority. Tolerate one another in love and make it your top priority to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
These apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor teachers are for the perfecting of the saints. The word perfecting, KATARTISMOS, means to mend. It's a medical term that has to do with the mending of broken bones. It's also mentioned about the disciples, that when Jesus called them, some of them were mending their fishing nets.
The word mend is the verb form of KATARTISMOS. There are different views as to what perfecting of the saints is. Some translations translate it equipping of the saints and they say that you take people into a classroom, and you equip them and teach them how to be salesman for Christ. That's not what it means. It means the first thing a new believer needs to do to be on track is for their life to be mended.
Second phase: for the work of ministry. The word ministry is DIAKONOS which means service. Before people can be involved in the work of the Lord, they must be far along in the mending process. Churches take young believers, and they put them to work, while in private, their life is falling apart, their family is falling apart, their marriage is falling apart, and they're trying to find an answer by staying busy at church. That doesn't change anyone!
So, number one, for the mending of the saints. Number two, for the work of ministry. And thirdly: for the edifying, or development of the body of Christ. The word edification is a construction term that means to build a house. So, after a person is mended, and after they've been serving the Lord while they continue to be mended, they are then capable of participating in the growth process of the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:1 - I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
He says, that you walk worthy of the vocation, or calling, wherewith you are called. None of us are worthy from a human standpoint. But the Greek word for worthy means balanced, or equal. You go down to the marketplace and put an item on one of the balances, and you would put money on the other side until it equals out. And that's how much the item is worth, and that's how much you pay for it in the marketplace. He's saying live worthy of your calling.
Ephesians 4:2 - With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
With all lowliness, which means a humble frame of mind, or a lowly frame of mind. With all humble mindedness, and meekness, which means openness. With longsuffering, or slow in human reaction towards others. Longsuffering is exampled by two participles. Number one, forbearing, or supporting one another in love; It can even mean to tolerate which would fit in better with longsuffering.
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