Ephesians - 13 Church Pictures

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

August 10, 2012


 *2012-08-10 - EPHESIANS - 13 CHURCH PICTURES*


 *1. 1:22b (1:15-2:10) CHURCH. ek-kleSIa from kaLEo* - 117 (520)
references. “And God gave him (Jesus) for a head over all things to the
church” (NNT). This is the first of 13 synonyms for the church in the book
of Ephesians. John Stegenga lists 117 references in his Concordance,
whereas God’s Bible Numerics as discovered by Ivan Panin places it at 114
references. Its literal meaning is: - those called out (from the world)
into this special company of blood-washed believers. In the New Testament
it refers 14 times to a local church in the home; 15 times to God’s
Universal Church of all times; and 81 times to the City Church - composed
of numerous local churches. God sees His City Church as one.*


 *2. 1:23 (1:15-2:10) CHRIST’S BODY. SOma* - 146 (150) references. “Which
is his (Christ’s*

*:body) the fullness of him that fills all in all.” 1 Corinthians 12 is
given by the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul as an analogy. Here he
shows that our physical body is a picture of Christ's spiritual body - the
Church. We like our body members - are all different, made so by our
Sovereign God, - to function in unity and harmony under our Head - Christ -
just as our physical members function under our human brain. It is an exact
analogy. No doubt whatever, God designed it so. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
describe the 9 gifts of the Spirit, and how they fit together in this
picture.*


 *3. 2:10 (1:15-2:10) HIS WORKMANSHIP. POIe-ma from poiEo* - 2 (575)
references. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus upon good
works, which :God before prepared that we should walk in them.” Before the
world’s creation - God planned for all of this! We are an integral part of
His plan. Before Paul the apostle was born, God had his life planned.
Before Jeremiah was conceived, God foresaw him as His prophet unto the
nations! We have not chosen Him, but He has chosen us, and appointed us to
bring forth fruit unto good works - and that they will remain! This is our
God! There is no other like Him!*


 *4. 2:15 (2:11-22) HIS ONE NEW MAN. ANthro-pos from aNER* - 557 (672)
references. hoRAo* “Having abolished in his :flesh the enmity, the law of
the commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself
of the two one new man, making peace.” For me, this is the key
mysteryunfolded - that Jew and Gentile alike be formed into the “One
New Man”,
with peace between us both, and no longer the law of Moses being a
separation. Think of it! This is a miracle! See Peter in Acts 10 before
entering the home of Cornelius, and one can begin to see the enormity of
God’s act.*


 *5. 2:19 (2:11-22) GOD’S HOUSEHOLD. oiKEIos from OIkos* - 3 (420)
references. “So then you are no more strangers and sojourners, but are
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of :God’s household.” Every one who
has a home, appreciates this gift. Well - for God - we are His household.
We are His home! By His Spirit He and His Son live in us. We are God’s
temple. What a privilege! What a high calling!*


 *6. 2:21 (2:11-22) GOD’S BUILDING. oi-ko-doME from OIkos - 18 (420)
references + DEmo* - 18*

*(76) references. Christ Jesus; “in whom every building, fitly framed
together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” Yes and we as many
separate buildings - are like living stones brought together into one Holy
Temple, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner-stone, and the 12 apostles with
prophets the foundation stones. And in its consummation, Jesus Christ will
return to become the Capstone, finishing it off. He then will indeed be the
Alpha and Omega, the Beginning, and the End!*


 *7. 2:21 (2:11-22) GOD’S HOLY TEMPLE. naOS* - 46 (47) references. “growing
into a holy temple in the Lord.” See how long the temple has been set forth
as a holy temple unto the Lord. Individually we are God’s temple, and
corporately we are living stones in His complete Temple. See how Jesus as a
boy of 12 at his Bar Mitzvah honored God’s house, His temple. All through
His earthly life, He sought to honor God and His house, His temple. Twice
He cast out money-changers.*


 *8. 2:22 (2:11-22) A HABITATION OF GOD IN SPIRIT. ka-toi-keTEri-on from
OIkos* - 2 (420) references. “In whom you also are built together into a
habitation of God in Spirit.” God takes no chances lest we misunderstand.
>From every angle He seeks to point out to us who and what we are in hissight.
We - are a habitation in the Spirit unto Him! Any individual who has
notthe Holy Spirit as a gift - the d
o-reA - is none of His. This gives us the wedding garment, lest we be cast
out into outer darkness, where is fire and gnashing of teeth. Jesus spoke
more of these things than any of His apostles!*


 *9. 3:4 (3:1-13) THE MYSTERY OF THE CHRIST. mu-steRIa from MUo* - 27 (32)
references. “When you read, you can perceive my :understanding in the
mystery of the Christ.” There is no one God has chosen who knows more of
the 27 mysteries of God given in the New Testament than the apostle Paul.
Jesus taught His 12 apostles 3 years before Pentecost, but they understood
little of what He said. But following Paul’s conversion, Jesus taught him 3
years in the desert concerning these mysteries, and much more! But - the
mystery of the One New Man, in Paul’s estimation, was the greatest explained
-mystery of all!*


 *10. 3:7-8a (3:1-13) THE SAINTS (cha-siDIYM). haGIon from HAgi-os - 239
(283) references. “Of which I became a minister, according to the gift (do-reA)
of the grace of :God :given me according to the working of his :power 8 (to
me, the least of all saints, was this :grace*

*given).” Paul called himself the least of all saints, because prior to his
conversion he had persecuted the church. All through the remainder of his
life he sought to make up for this! And what was Paul as a saint? In the NT
- it means a holy person. In the OT, it comes from the word CHEsed -
“Covenant love.” cha-saDIM - saints - are those who have the glue of God’s
covenant love that binds them to Him! - and - to one another! That’s why we
called our last church “Congregation Beth CHEsed” - the House of Covenant
Love, composed of saints of covenant love!*


 *11. 4:13 (4:1-16) A PERFECT MAN. TElei-os from TElos* - 18 (193)
references. “Till we :all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of :God, unto a perfect man, unto a measure of stature
of the fullness of the Christ.” This is another remarkable picture of true
church members (for there are many so-called church members, who are
devoidof God’s Spirit!) God’s goal for saints is perfection - a
perfect man - along with perfect unity between one another. Ephesians
chapter 4 is the only place the word “unity”, Eno-chos appears. It is twice
used - once in 4:3 where we begin with unity of the Spirit; and then 4:13
where we mature unto the perfection of the unity of the faith!*


 *12. 5:32 (5:22-33) MYSTERY OF CHRIST’S BRIDE, THE CHURCH. muSTEri-on from
MUo* - 27 (32) references. “This mystery is great; but I speak in regard to
Christ and the church.” Here Paul spends time to show how the marriage of
man and woman into one flesh is a picture of Christ and His Church, His
Bride! What an abomination for homosexuals and lesbians to seek to pervert
this holy picture! But Paul says - the mystery is not really man and wife -
the mystery is really Christ and His Bride; Christ and His Church!*


 *13. 6:11 (6:10-20) ARMOR FOR CHRIST’S ARMY. pa-noPLIa from HOPlon* - 3
(11) references. “Put on the whole armor of :God, that you be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.” An army is many soldiers who individually
- and also corporately - have on them the full armor of God! This is the
last picture of the church in the book of Ephesians. Each believer needs to
daily put on by faith the 7-fold armor - pan-oPLIa - of God! But the
pronouns usage is plural. God wants us as the One New Man to corporately be
enclosed with this armor! Of course, we individually need it also -
but Histhought, God’s thought, is that
corporately we are so attired!*


 *NOTE**: **Ephesians is here setting forth for us a 13-fold picture of the
church from God’s point-of-view. As we look at each of these aspects, like
a jig-saw-puzzle - we begin to see a fuller picture of what God would have
us understand - how He sees us! He wants us to “think His thoughts” after
Him - and it is only as we major on His Word in meditation that this
insight comes. It is only by revelation of the Spirit, transforming the
LOgos-word into a REma-word, that we begin to apprehend His plan on our
behalf, of which we are an integral part! He planned it this way. To see
ourselves as an integral part of Christ and His Body! His Bride! His
Temple! His Church! and so much more. Then from this Book we are lifted
into planes of promise and worship with understanding - that truly
glorifies our God!*


 *It is for this reason that I agree with Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter in his
“Explore the Book.” He sees Romans, Ephesians and 1& 2 Thessalonians as the
3 key churches founded through the apostle Paul. I see Romans as setting
forth the Feast of Passover. It portrays “Justification by Faith” at the
Cross, “the Brazen Altar”, the first piece of the Tabernacle Furniture. But
Ephesians sets forth the Feast of Pentecost, which links with the Menorah,
the Candlestick, the 3rd piece of Tabernacle furniture in the Holy Place.*


 *At the Cross and Laver, we receive a conversion experience, the first 2
steps of Acts 2:38. But at the Menorah we are baptized in the Spirit by our
Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately enter into the manifestation of the
Gifts of the Spirit. We are still carnal Christians, and need to pass on
into the 9-fold fruit of the Spirit. The one baptism of Ephesians 4:3-5, is
the gift (do-reA) of the Spirit of Acts 2:38, and readies us to begin our
Christian journey. It wasn’t until Jesus was baptized in water by John,
then baptized in the Spirit by His Father - then successfully encountered
Satan following a 40 day fast - that He returned in the power of the Holy
spirit..*


 *Ephesians then gives us this 13-fold portrait of the many-membered body
of Christ composed of Jew and Gentile in the One New Man. Maturity on our
part corporately follows as we like George Muller learn to take “Soul
Nourishment First” in our early morning devotions - by meditating over
God’s Word. Just as Joshua (1:8) successfully did under the Old Covenant -
we as New Covenant believers (Jeremiah 31:31-34) are to meditate over the
New Testament. Dr. David Stern points out that in Hebrews 8:6, God has
Sovereignly constituted the New Covenant as Torah - and with Psalms and
Proverbs we need to meditate on its words and truths. This enables us to
spiritually celebrate the Feast of Pentecost!*


 *But we should press on to the Blessed Hope of 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
According to the teaching of George Muller, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and
Samuel Tregelles, these 2 letters will make this Blessed Hope exceedingly
real. And when we look at Ephesians 4:4-6 and the “one hope” - we realize
that Ephesians is pointing us forward to the Thessalonian letters!
Jesusreturns.
He is our only Hope! And - thank God - He’s returning soon!*


 *So - how will understanding of the “church” and all its synonyms help us
today? Much - every way. For we remember that Jesus said - “I will build My
Church - us - and the gates (counsels) of hell will not prevail against it.
According to Ephesians 3:10-12 God has designed that through the
churchSatan will come to fully understand his final demise! Yes! Even
today we
have much to rejoice in, even before the Blessed Hope takes place!*


 *Help is on the way. God back in 1890 allowed Russian Ivan Panin to
discover Bible Numerics, and how through this we now have the original NT
Manuscripts - plus the accurate sentence and paragraph structure! And
though he died in 1942 with hope unrealized for an Interlinear text based
on his discoveries - yet - 70 years following his death, he is about to see
his “Outlined Interlinear New Testament in print, both in Book and E-book
format. God is the God now of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. He is the God of
the living, of Ivan Panin too, not the dead!*


 *So that you and I can more easily meditate over this simplified and
accurate text; and by the Holy Spirit transform the written word into a Living
Word - and become individually and corporately the Overcomers God designed
us to be, see the following. We can then enter into effective spiritual
warfare against Satan and his hosts through Spiritual Star Wars - as set
forth in the Introduction to this text. Contact <www.BTJohnsonPublishing.com>
to order. Jim Watt*



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