EPHESIANS LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in Ephesians 4:1 "I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,"

     The "I", in the verse above, of course, is Paul. Paul never once
forgot that he was the captive of the Lord Jesus Christ. The high
calling of these Ephesians was to become Christians and thereby become
sons of God. We know that salvation is a free gift of grace from God
to all who will accept it. Note, with me, that is not the end of the
subject. When we accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, that is just
the first step. There is a job to do. The called of God are to walk in
the salvation they have received. They should produce other believers
by their walk. "To walk worthy" means living the salvation that you
received, not turning back to the sinful life. True salvation brings a
brand new life to the believer. It is a life filled with good works,
not because the works are required, but because good works follow the
new life. "Vocation", in the verse, above means calling or invitation.
This is not a job chosen to make a living by, but to make a life by.
Christianity is a way of life.

     Ephesians 4:2 "With all lowliness and meekness, with
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;"

     This is a short description of the way a true Christian conducts
his life. This is still describing the worthy walk in verse one. A
Christian should pattern his life after his leader, Christ. In fact, a
Christian is a follower of and a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
All of the above mentioned character traits go with an humble servant
of the Lord. We know that the "love" spoken of here, and the charity
in the following Scriptures in 1 Corinthians both stem from the word
agape, which is the unselfish type of love that God has. I Corinthians
13:4 "Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up," I Corinthians 13:5
"Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil;" I Corinthians 13:7 "Beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."  This
is not only the unselfish love that Christ has, but His true followers
have, as well.

     Ephesians 4:3 "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace."

     The unity of the Spirit, here, is the Holy Spirit. We are one
with Christ in this Spirit, as He is one with the Father.
"Endeavouring" means that we are going out of our way to make this
unity work. We know that on the day of Pentecost, they were in one
accord.  There were no divisions and God visited them. Jesus is the
King of Peace.  The only real peace in this life is the peace that He
gives you from within. That is the peace that the world does not
understand.  It is peace that you can have in the midst of the storm.

     Ephesians 4:4  "[There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye
are called in one hope of your calling;"

     The one body, spoken of here, is the body of Christ. Spirit,
here, is speaking of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is the only
hope that any of us have. He said Himself, no man cometh to the
Father, but by me. Our hope is in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ.

     Ephesians 4:5 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism,"

     There is One Lord Jesus Christ, who is our all in all. You can
not be the servant of more than one person. Your Lord is your master.
His wishes are your desire to fulfill. You cannot serve two masters.
Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."  Faith is in One,
as well.  Wherever your heart is, lies your faith. Our faith lies in
Jesus Christ. This baptism, here, is speaking of the one mentioned in
Matthew 28:19  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
This is the baptism to new life in Jesus. We are buried with Him in
the watery grave, to rise to new life in Him.

     Ephesians 4:6 "One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and
through all, and in you all."

     We know that the Father is the supreme Father of Jesus and of all
the believers in Christ. We are sons of God, and Jesus is His only
begotten Son. Our sonship is by adoption. I Corinthians 8:6 "But to us
[there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we
in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by
him." Because there was none greater, God swore by Himself. He is
above all the earth. I John 4:13 "Hereby know we that we dwell in him,
and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." Romans 11:36
"For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom
[be] glory for ever. Amen."  God dwells within every believer,
moulding their lives the way He would have them. The tabernacle of God
is with men. Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, [and be] their God."

     Ephesians 4:7 "But unto every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ."

     Thank goodness, He measures with His measurement, and not with
ours. It is not the amount of grace that we want that Christ gives us,
but the amount that He feels is right for us. The next Scripture gives
a little more insight into this.

     Ephesians 4:8 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

     Jesus is the one who led captivity captive, when he brought them
out with Him from hell. The victory of the Lord Jesus was on the
cross. He defeated sin and the devil on the cross. He descended to
preach to those in hell. His other reason for being in hell, was to
take the keys of hell and death away from Satan. The following
Scripture is printed in red in the Bible, which means that Jesus,
Himself spoke the Words. Revelation 1:18 "I [am] he that liveth, and
was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the
keys of hell and of death."  The gifts given to men was through the
Holy Spirit of God, and are called the gifts of the Spirit.

     Ephesians 4:9 "(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also
descended first into the lower parts of the earth?"

     This is speaking of the time after Jesus had completed payment of
the law on the cross. Victory was on the cross. There was nothing else
to pay. When Jesus said; it is finished, it meant just that. The law
had been completely fulfilled, there was no more suffering to do.
Jesus deliberately went into hell to preach, and bring out the
captives with Him. He had already defeated Satan, but Satan had to
turn over the keys to hell and death.

     Ephesians 4:10 "He that descended is the same also that ascended
up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)"

     This is still speaking of the victorious Jesus. We know in the
1st chapter of Acts, He ascended into heaven while the apostles gazed
at Him. Acts 1:9 "And when he had spoken these things, while they
beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."
Read several more verses here to get the full impact. Jesus must fill
our life, or we are dead. He is life. He is the One who sent the
Comforter. He is, also, the one who fills us with the Holy Spirit.

     Ephesians 4:11 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"

     This is spoken of as the five-fold ministry. A church is really
not complete, until God calls someone to fill all of these ministries
in the church. Many people confuse the apostles and the disciples.
There was a much larger group of disciples than there were apostles.
All apostles were disciples, as well. Not all disciples were apostles,
however. One of the requirements for being an apostle was that they
had to have personally seen Jesus. The apostle had to be called
directly of Christ. The 12 apostles were chosen by Jesus from the
larger group of disciples, after He prayed all night. Apostle means
delegate or ambassador of the gospel. It indicates {with miraculous
powers}. It, also, means a messenger, or he that is sent. An
ambassador does not bring his own message, but brings the message of
the One who sent him. "Prophets" are  foretellers or inspired
speakers.  "Evangelist" is a preacher of the gospel. An evangelist
usually has one message, and that is how to receive salvation. A
pastor differs from the evangelist, in that after the person is saved,
he or she watches over them to lead them into Christian growth. They
may, also, lead the person to salvation. They are like a good shepherd
which leads the flock.  Teachers in the sense that we would understand
would be like Sunday school teachers and Bible study teachers. They
would keep the Word of God ever before the people.

     Ephesians 4:12 "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"

     Christianity is a growing experience in Jesus. It is a way of
life. The more we are taught, the more we grow in the Lord. The
object, of course, is the perfecting of our faith. We either go
forward or backwards with the Lord, we never stand still. The ministry
can not really function properly, until these ministry positions are
filled. When there is no one taking care of one of the ministries, it
puts an extra load on the pastor. All of this is to build up the body
of Christ. All of this is to help the Christian in his walk with God.

     Ephesians 4:13 "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

     The call to the ministry is a lifetime call. We should never stop
working, trying to bring unity of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowledge, is accumulated learning, as we have said before. We must
learn all we can about the Word of God. We need to allow the Holy
Spirit to reveal to us the meaning of the Scriptures. The goal that we
set for ourselves should be to be perfect in Jesus. We will never be
perfect on this earth, but it should be the desire of our heart to be
perfect. With our example being Jesus, we should try to be more and
more like Him every day. Romans 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren."  As individuals, we
should desire to become more like Jesus everyday. The entire body of
Christ {all believers} should be working toward being like Jesus.

     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;"

     When we are brand new Christians, we have to be fed on milk and
honey. When we get stronger in our walk with Christ, we feed on the
meat of the Word. The five-fold ministry is supposed to help the
Christian grow stronger in his or her walk with the Lord. When you are
a new Christian, you are easily persuaded, and might fall for false
doctrines. The strong Christian, grounded in the Word of God, is like
a big oak tree that cannot be blown over with every wind of doctrine.
We are told, that in the end time nearly everyone will be deceived.
Mark 13:22 "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall
shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the
elect."  Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if
[it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect."  The only way
to keep from being deceived, is to be fully grounded in the Word of
God. Study to show thyself approved of God.
                        Ephesians 7 Questions


1.  What is Paul telling them they must do in verse 1?
2.  What was the high calling of these Ephesians?
3.  Salvation is a ______ _____ of grace from God.
4.  What does it mean to "walk worthy"?
5.  What does "vocation", in verse 1, mean?
6.  This is not a job to make a living by, but to make a ______ by.
7.  Describe the way a true Christian conducts his life.
8.  A Christian is a ________ of and a ________ in the Lord Jesus
    Christ.
9.  What word does "love", in verse 2, stem from?
10. What does the word mean?
11. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 4.
12. What is the unity of the Spirit in verse 3?
13. What does "endeavoring" mean?
14. Who is King of Peace?
15. What type of peace does He bring?
16. There is one ______, and one ________, even as ye are called in
    the hope of your calling.
17. Quote Ephesians chapter 4 verse 5.
18. Who is God the Father of?
19. Our sonship is by ____________.
20. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 6.
21. What tells us that we dwell in Him and He in us?
22. Where is the tabernacle of God spoken of in Revelation chapter 21
    verse 3.
23. Unto every one of us is given grace according to what?
24. When He ascended up on high, he led __________ ________.
25. Where was the victory of Jesus won?
26. Who has the keys of hell and death in Revelation chapter 1 verse
    18.
27. What is verse 9 speaking of?
28. Quote Acts chapter 1 verse 9.
29. Name the 5 ministries in verse 11.
30. What is the difference in an "evangelist" and a pastor?
31. What is a "prophet"?
32. What is the object of studying the Word of God?
33. In verse 13, we see that the ultimate goal of the Christian is to
    measure up to what?
34. What are young Christians called in verse 14?
35. What can you compare the strong Christian to?
36. What is the only way to keep from being deceived?