Tag Archives: God’s holy people

PARTNERS WITH EVERYONE

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:21-23 NLT
[21]”Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. [22] And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. [23] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

True to his nature, Paul left no one out of his circle of love and togetherness. He knew the people by name. He greeted them personally. He worked with them and for them individually and collectively.

True, he singled out some for special mention in some of his letters because they stood out in his mind for their love and loyalty to him and their labour in the work of God’s kingdom with him…but, for him, everyone was special, everyone was part of God’s family, and everyone was honoured and greeted with affection.

It’s not possible that the church in Philippi knew all the believers in Rome. How would they have been personally acquainted with those of Caesar’s household, for example, who were new believers in Caesar’s palace, the fruit of Paul’s witness in prison? How could they have know every believer in every church across Europe and Asia Minor?

It didn’t matter to Paul that these people had never met face to face. All that mattered was that they were one family, one body through their faith in Jesus. They were united in spirit, all facing the same trials in a hostile environment, all filled with the same Spirit, and all going in the same direction.

Paul’s greeting to all and from all without exception speaks volumes about a true and loving leader who wanted to bind them together by the personal assurances of love and participation in each other’s lives. They may not have been in physical contact, geographically connected, but they were one in spirit through their faith in Jesus.

So, Paul says, “Hello” from us to you and from you to us, God’s holy people, brothers and sisters, eternally joined as members of God’s forever family.

Should this not be our attitude to fellow believers all over the world? We cannot physically connect with them but we can be one with them in spirit through our prayers for them. If Paul instructed us to pray for the saints everywhere, does it matter that we don’t know them?

Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for ALL BELIEVERS EVERYWHERE.

It’s in the Spirit, who is the omniscient and omnipresent God, that we pray for believers everywhere and can be confident that God hears and answers our prayers for His universal church because He is God. He wants us to partner with Him in accomplishing His will on earth as in heaven. Praying for the church is the perfect way to express our love for God’s people and our unity as Christ’s body on earth.

Let’s cultivate a perspective of togetherness. Let’s consider God’s people as one global family joined by God’s Spirit in us. Let’s experience together, as one body, the trials that God uses to shape us into one holy people, a witness to the world of His kingdom in us that prepare us for our eternity together in His presence.

Hebrews 13:1-3 NLT
[1] “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. [2] Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! [3] Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

Although we don’t all suffer what others suffer, we are with them in our hearts, sharing their hardships as we pray for grace to endure, for God’s protection and provision in hards times, and for the witness of their live in places of terrible spiritual darkness so that, in all our circumstances together, we may present a powerful witness to God’s glory all over the world.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT
[9]”…You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

SLAVES OF CHRIST JESUS

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 1:1-2 NLT
[1] “This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons. [2] May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”

Slaves of Christ! What an unusual but illuminating title Paul chose to introduce his letter to the people of the Philippian church. Why not “apostle” or some other title expressing his relationship to Jesus in keeping with his calling?

Perhaps Paul chose the title “slave” because of his situation, a prisoner chained to Roman guards. That’s the way slaves were treated if they fell out of favour with their masters. Imprisonment was the will of the master and the slave had no option but to accept incarceration as punishment for his misdemeanor.

However, Paul did not view his imprisonment as punishment but as privilege. He accepted his situation with gratitude because it was in keeping with what his Master had done for him.

There was no word of complaint against his Master for allowing such treatment, or resentment against the Roman government for finding him guilty of an illegitimate charge. How could he be guilty of and punishable by imprisonment for bowing to Jesus as Lord and giving himself in loyalty to Him, and not to Caesar? Yet, Paul accepted his lot without complaint and used it for the sake of the kingdom. Slave or free was all alike to him as long as he had breath in his lungs to tell the story of Jesus, in prison or in freedom.

It seems that Paul bore the title, “slave” with pride. In his letter to the Colossians, he viewed his suffering, especially at the hands of his persecutors, both Roman and Jew, as a calling and a necessary part of his life. His suffering was specifically a demonstration of what Jesus suffered, rejection and its consequences, by the entire human race represented by Jew and Gentile.

Colossians 1:24-25 NLT
[24] “I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. [25] God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.”

And that included suffering for His sake.

Since…

Isaiah 53:3 NLT
[3]”He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

Why not accept the same lot as He did? After all, it was for the sake of unity with His people that He suffered.

Although Paul viewed himself as a slave of Christ, even his “office” as a slave equipped him to exercise his commission and the apostolic authority that entrusted him with the message of Jesus.

Like slaves under the Old Covenant who chose loyalty to their master above freedom, and whose ears were pierced as a sign of their permanent slavery, Paul was forever Jesus’ slave by choice. Nothing would ever induce him to choose freedom from in favour of freedom in Christ Jesus. Paul, in Christ, was pierced as Jesus was pierced, to secure his belongingness to Him forever.

Paul included his young “son”, Timothy, in this attitude of slavery to Jesus. Timothy may not have been a prisoner in a Roman jail, but he was also a prisoner of Jesus like his mentor, Paul.

In keeping with Paul’s theme of “partnership” in this letter, it was his bond with Jesus as a slave to a master with no rights or will of his own, that underpinned his humility. He knew how much he depended on his partnership with his fellow believers to help him accomplish his mission. Without embarrassment or shame, Paul called on them for help, binding himself to them in a strong team of togetherness for the sake of God’s kingdom and glory.

So, in fellowship with their Master, Paul and Timothy heartily greeted their readers, with prayers for grace and peace.

“Grace and peace”… for what is Paul praying? Grace…the reason for this amazing salvation, peace… the outcome of faith in this message. God’s grace is His overriding attitude towards us. Yes, He hates our sin. Yes, He judges and condemns sinners. Yes, hell is the penalty for sin but…grace intervened, undeserved, unmerited favour because of who He is.

Paul addressed his readers as “holy people”, another shocking title! Were these not pagans a short while before, indulging in all the pagan foolishness of their godless society? How could Paul address them as “holy”?

This is the miracle of the gospel Paul was under obligation to share with the pagan world. Faith in the Jesus who died for the sin of the the world changed everything. The sinful past of those who believed in Him was obliterated and exchanged for a new life, a new destiny, and a new standing before God. They were now forgiven, clean, declared righteous, and made holy by His shed blood.

Did you get that?

In response to faith in the Son of God, God does the same for everyone. He forgives and forgets their sin, brings them back from spiritual death to spiritual life, cleanses them from their filthy past, declares them not guilty of all the sin they ever committed, attributes Jesus’ righteousness to them, and makes them holy, turning them from sin to God.

So, you see, faith in Jesus triggers a burst of action, God doing amazing things to put us back into fellowship with Himself.

Paul encapsulates all these details in his short address, greeting, and prayer for his readers.

GRACE AND PEACE

Bible Study, ,

GRACE AND PEACE

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” Colossians 1:1, 2.

Quite a mouthful in the opening sentence! Unlike our modern communication, ancient letters said it all in the first sentence; writer, recipients, and who they were.

Who were Paul and Timothy?

Paul described himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. He was not a self-appointed or self-proclaimed apostle. We have many of those today. Why do spiritual leaders love titles? Does it elevate them above the rest or give them an edge on spirituality? On what authority do they claim those titles? Those who call themselves Apostle So-and-so or Prophet So-and-so – can they honestly say that they were given that title and office by the will of God?

With a title comes a task – to lead people by example as Paul did. Because he was a God-appointed and Spirit-anointed apostle, he could say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” How often do those who carry official-sounding titles betray them by espousing people to themselves! They are the only ones who are right and not to recognise that is to dishonour their title.

Who was Timothy? A brother! Timothy was Paul’s young trainee. When Paul found him, he realised that he had found gold – a young believer who had the makings of a fine leader. Paul did not give him the title of apostle. It was not his right to give, but he trained and mntored him to understudy him as a faithful and fully equipped leader. He was able to leave him in Ephesus to care for the church there while Paul went on with his mission to make Christ known where He was not known.

Paul regarded Timothy as his son in the faith. He often accompanied Paul on his journeys and acted as messenger and support during Paul’s imprisonments. He was a comfort to Paul in his suffering and in his old age, a true son upon whom Paul could rely to continue his work when he was no longer there

Who were the Colossians? The ancient city of Colossae was built on a major trade route which ran through the Lycus River valley in the province of Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey. It was famous for its dark red wool cloth called colossinum from where the city got its name. The city lost its importance when the nearby city of Laodicea overtook it as a business centre.

Paul spent two years in the nearby city of Ephesus from where the gospel spread to other centres, carried by converts from Ephesus. It is likely that one of Paul’s converts, Epaphras, was responsible for carrying the message to Colossae. Philemon was a member of that church, to whom Paul wrote a short letter about his slave Onesimus.

Although Paul did not know the people in the church at Colossae personally, he could still address them as “holy people” and “faithful brothers and sisters.” Why? Because, like his Master, he could view them as already complete in Christ. As long as they were in Christ, from God’s perspective, they had already been perfected. “In Christ” is, of course the operative word.

Grace and peace! Grace – a prayer for his readers to experience the ongoing grace of God in their lives, and peace – a normal Jewish greeting – “shalom” but for Paul the result of all God’s mercy to us – His peace that guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Infused into this greeting is all the richness of God’s work in the lives of those who are “in Christ”.

This was much more than just a nicety, a polite greeting like we would say when we say “hello” and “goodbye” but, to Paul, it was the expression of his heart and his love for God’s children, even if he did not know them personally.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

HELLO, EPHESIAN BELIEVERS!

Bible Study, ,

HELLO, EPHESIAN BELIEVERS!

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1: 1-2).

I wonder if we will even appreciate the significance of these words of greeting, or even the letter Paul wrote to this church in Asia Minor.

A Roman writer once called Ephesus Lumen Asiae, The Light of Asia. Ephesus, with a population of 300,000, was the chief commercial city of the province and the centre of the mother goddess worship of western Asia. In the New Testament era it was the fourth greatest city in the world, after Rome, Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch of Syria . . .

The apostle Paul first visited Ephesus on the return from his missionary journey where he “entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews” (Acts 18:19-21).

On his second journey, Paul came to Ephesus and taught the twelve disciples who knew only the baptism of John (Acts 19:1-7) and “went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). He later taught in the school of Tryannus for two years, and as a result, “all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:9-10).

Ephesus was full of wizards, sorcerers, witches, astrologers, diviners of the entrails of animals and people who could read one’s fortune by the palm of the hand. And yet, after the preaching of Paul, the magicians publicly burned their books, “so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:19-20). Timothy and Erastus were with Paul, but he sent them to Macedonia, while “he himself stayed in Asia for a time” (Acts 19:22) . . .

The disturbance over Diana of the Ephesians is one of the most prominent stories in the book of Acts (Acts 19:23-41). There were 33 temples in the Greco-Roman world where Diana was worshiped. After Paul’s preaching in Ephesus had harmed the local silversmiths who made statues of Diana, Paul’s companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, were dragged into the theatre. The disciples would not allow Paul to go into the assembly . . .

“The goddess who had largely given Ephesus its wealth and importance — so that it was a kind of Lourdes of the ancient world — was at the core of so much human thinking. She derived from those early manifestations of religious belief, the mother-goddess figures to be found from Asia Minor to the Cyclades, and westward to Sicily. The embodiment of the female principle, she represented not only fertility but resurrection in the shape of new birth, the eternal return of life to the earth and, as found in a number of early carvings, the ‘Tree of Life’. As Isis she bore the divine son, Horus; and as Artemis she was the Mother of Wild Things, the goddess of all animals. The Isis-Artemis conception embraced everything. It could be taken at any level; from the simple peasant’s conception of the divinity who would ensure that his beasts and land were fruitful, to the intellectual idea of an all-creating mother who sustained the whole universe.” (Ernle Bradford, Paul The Traveler, pp. 194-195).

http://www.biblelandhistory.com/turkey/ephesus.html – retrieved December 2015

Paul challenged Diana worship, not by doing “spiritual warfare” or preaching against her in the city but by declaring the truth about Jesus, despite opposition and personal danger. The outcome was startling. The worship of Diana was in tatters. When the many people who were involved in witchcraft, received Jesus as Lord, they burned their occult paraphernalia. The silversmiths, let by Demetrius, rioted because they had lost their business selling Diana images.

The power of the gospel had broken the evil deception of Diana, just as Jesus had told His disciples it would during their visit to Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16: 13-19).

How marvellous that Paul could write words like “to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus,” to a group of people who were once pagan idolaters! They had worshipped the image of a goddess whose history goes back to the time of Nimrod, the rebel king who, together with his wicked wife, Semiramis, led a revolt against Yahweh and set up the first organised false religious system of sun-worship, symbolised by the tower of Babel.

How tragic that the church today, in the name of Jesus, has unwittingly reincorporated so much of the pagan mythology of Diana-worship into the worship of Jesus, especially in the so-called “Christian” festivals of Christmas and Easter. We have swallowed the lies of the Roman Catholic Church by following their deceptive “Christianising” of the worship of the sun-god, Baal, through the incorporation of the many symbols of Baal-worship into our celebrations in the name of the one who expressly forbade the practice.

God has entrusted to His people the rich treasure of His Word. He asked us to preserve it intact and teach it as the truth, not to add or subtract anything. He will hold us accountable for what we do with it because His Word is the embodiment of Himself.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once of all entrusted to the saints (Jude 1: 3).

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

Hello, Ephesian Believers!

Bible Study, , ,

HELLO, EPHESIAN BELIEVERS!

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1: 1-2).

I wonder if we will even appreciate the significance of these words of greeting or even the letter Paul wrote to this church in Asia Minor.

A Roman writer once called Ephesus Lumen Asiae, The Light of Asia. Ephesus, with a population of 300,000, was the chief commercial city of the province and the centre of the mother goddess worship of western Asia. In the New Testament era, it was the fourth greatest city in the world, after Rome, Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch of Syria . . .

The apostle Paul first visited Ephesus on the return from his missionary journey where he “entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews” (Acts 18:19-21).

On his second journey, Paul came to Ephesus and taught the twelve disciples who knew only the baptism of John (Acts 19:1-7) and “went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). He later taught in the school of Tryannus for two years, and as a result, “all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:9-10).

Ephesus was full of wizards, sorcerers, witches, astrologers, diviners of the entrails of animals and people who could read one’s fortune by the palm of the hand. And yet, after the preaching of Paul, the magicians publicly burned their books, “so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:19-20). Timothy and Erastus were with Paul, but he sent them to Macedonia, while “he himself stayed in Asia for a time” (Acts 19:22) . . .

The disturbance over Diana of the Ephesians is one of the most prominent stories in the book of Acts (Acts 19:23-41). There were 33 temples in the Greco-Roman world where Diana was worshiped. After Paul’s preaching in Ephesus had harmed the local silversmiths who made statues of Diana, Paul’s companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, were dragged into the theatre. The disciples would not allow Paul to go into the assembly . . .

“The goddess who had largely given Ephesus its wealth and importance — so that it was a kind of Lourdes of the ancient world — was at the core of so much human thinking. She derived from those early manifestations of religious belief, the mother-goddess figures to be found from Asia Minor to the Cyclades, and westward to Sicily. The embodiment of the female principle, she represented not only fertility but resurrection in the shape of the new birth, the eternal return of life to the earth and, as found in a number of early carvings, the ‘Tree of Life’. As Isis she bore the divine son, Horus; and as Artemis, she was the Mother of Wild Things, the goddess of all animals. The Isis-Artemis conception embraced everything. It could be taken at any level; from the simple peasant’s conception of the divinity who would ensure that his beasts and land were fruitful, to the intellectual idea of an all-creating mother who sustained the whole universe.” (Ernle Bradford, Paul The Traveler, pp. 194-195).

http://www.biblelandhistory.com/turkey/ephesus.html – retrieved December 2015

Paul challenged Diana worship, not by doing “spiritual warfare” or preaching against her in the city but by declaring the truth about Jesus, despite opposition and personal danger. The outcome was startling. The worship of Diana was in tatters. When the many people who were involved in witchcraft, received Jesus as Lord, they burned their occult paraphernalia. The silversmiths, let by Demetrius, rioted because they had lost their business selling Diana images.

The power of the gospel had broken the evil deception of Diana, just as Jesus had told His disciples it would during their visit to Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16: 13-19).

How marvellous that Paul could write words like “to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus,” to a group of people who were once pagan idolaters! They had worshipped the image of a goddess whose history goes back to the time of Nimrod, the rebel king who, together with his wicked wife, Semiramis, led a revolt against Yahweh and set up the first organised false religious system of sun-worship, symbolised by the tower of Babel.

How tragic that the church today, in the name of Jesus, has unwittingly reincorporated so much of the pagan mythology of Diana-worship into the worship of Jesus, especially in the so-called “Christian” festivals of Christmas and Easter. We have swallowed the lies of the Roman Catholic Church by following their deceptive “Christianising” of the worship of the sun-god, Baal, through the incorporation of the many symbols of Baal-worship into our celebrations in the name of the one who expressly forbade the practice.

God has entrusted to His people the rich treasure of His Word. He asked us to preserve it intact and teach it as the truth, not to add or subtract anything. He will hold us accountable for what we do with it because His Word is the embodiment of Himself.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once of all entrusted to the saints (Jude 1: 3).

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?