Dear One,

The Lord bless you!

I love Charles Spurgeon! I can’t wait to meet him one day. I’ll tell you my favorite Spurgeon story. Years ago, my friend Paul took me to DL Moodys house in Northhampton MA. DL Moody was a nineteenth century evangelist who preached to over one hundred million people in his life. His cathedral, there at his home, held ten thousand seats and you could easily hear the speakers voice from the highest seat, the acoustics were so good. But the real treasure for me was when they kindly allowed us to enter his study.  There on his desk was a beautiful wide margin Bible with elegantly written notes filling the margins. I picked it up, sensing the deep presence of God, and turned to the front cover. There in gold leaf was the name of the owner…Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I came across a word from him recently that was so timely, so powerful that even though it was written over one hundred years ago, it still hit like a hammer. That’s how you discern RHEMA words! Here’s the word…

“Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” — Haggai 1:9

Churlish souls stint their contributions to the ministry and missionary operations, and call such saving good economy; little do they dream that they are thus impoverishing themselves. Their excuse is that they must care for their own families, and they forget that to neglect the house of God is the sure way to bring ruin upon their own houses. Our God has a method in providence by which He can succeed our endeavours beyond our expectation, or can defeat our plans to our confusion and dismay; by a turn of His hand He can steer our vessel in a profitable channel, or run it aground in poverty and bankruptcy. It is the teaching of Scripture that the Lord enriches the liberal and leaves the miserly to find out that withholding tendeth to poverty. In a very wide sphere of observation, I have noticed that the most generous Christians of my acquaintance have been always the most happy, and almost invariably the most prosperous. I have seen the liberal giver rise to wealth of which he never dreamed; and I have as often seen the mean, ungenerous churl descend to poverty by the very parsimony by which he thought to rise. Men trust good stewards with larger and larger sums, and so it frequently is with the Lord; He gives by cartloads to those who give by bushels. Where wealth is not bestowed the Lord makes the little much by the contentment which the sanctified heart feels in a portion of which the tithe has been dedicated to the Lord. Selfishness looks first at home, but godliness seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, yet in the long run selfishness is loss, and godliness is great gain. It needs faith to act towards our God with an open hand, but surely He deserves it of us; and all that we can do is a very poor acknowledgment of our amazing indebtedness to His goodness. 

After that, it’s time for a little quiet reflection, isn’t it?

American saint, remember to vote by November Third, and all of us pray!

Love you! KRP

TREASURE OF ALL TREASURES

One of the few regrets of my life is how long it has taken me to begin to appreciate Ephesians. Like the practice of speaking in tongues for hours daily, it took me years to begin to appreciate the truths set forth in the great epistle to the Ephesians. Like with tongues, the prior years were not wasted, but they were never lived so fully in consequence and result as they are now, because of the appreciation of Ephesians and tongues. My hearts desire is for each of my readers to so grasp and appreciate these truths that their lives are changed forever, and the effect to their faith touches the ends of the earth, to the glory of our God.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Eph 1:1 NKJV

One of the great moments in my life involved an angel of God. I don’t claim to see angels often, but I have at least once. I was working in my office one morning when I decided to take a nap. Just a short one, mind you! So, I lay down on the couch and I started to dream. In my dream I see myself lying on the couch and this big angel, like eight feet tall, is standing over me and he is leaning on a big sword. He looks up to Heaven with a disgusted look on his face, like he didn’t want anything to do with me, and says, “Is this man serious?” I leap off the couch, run back to my office, saying, “I’m serious, I’m serious! Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me!” I told you that because Ephesians is addressed to the faithful in Christ Jesus – those who are seriously rooted in Romans doctrine.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…Rom 8:1 NKJV

If you are still drowning in condemnation, you need to go back to Romans Eight. If you’re still caught in habitual sin, you need to go back to Romans Six and Romans Twelve. Ephesians won’t open up to you until you’ve gotten a handle on Romans doctrine. It’s probably what took so long for me to appreciate Ephesians!

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Eph 2:4-7 NKJV

…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:16-19 NKJV

In Ephesians we see that we are seated with Christ on thrones of authority at the right hand of God, with the apex of our walk in Him in being filled with all the fullness of God. You don’t see this anywhere else in the Bible. Jesus hints at it in His HS discourse in John 14-16, and in His High Priestly prayer for us in John 17, but no other Scripture anywhere spells it out like in Ephesians. Again, in Acts you start to see the manifestation of it especially in the apostles as they take on the challenge of reaching the world fearlessly, and even doctrinally where in Antioch they were first called Christians – ‘Christ-in’s’. Christ in you – Colossians 1:27 – is part of this whole section of Ephesians doctrine, as in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians (Romans doctrine is encapsulated in Romans, Corinthians and Galatians). Do you see it…do you see the treasure of Ephesians?

Ephesians Four begins to teach us how to walk being seated and being filled.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Eph 4:1-6 NKJV

Paul was the prisoner of the Lord, meaning, he was a serious guy. I’m glad the angel called out my lazy rearend and challenged me to be serious. It took my friend Henry to slap me in the face as he preached to our house church leaders gathering, showing me that everything I thought about the unity of the Body was wrong. What I thought never worked anyways, but I thought it was right. Henry taught that the unity of the Body was around the Spirit. I thought the unity of the Body centered around doctrine. When you think about it, our unity could never be around doctrine because each one of us is on our own unique level of understanding. But each of us can love one another, and respect others’ opinions (even if they are demonstrably wrong!), and still walk together. This was Henry’s preaching!

Ephesians Six calls us to be strong and fearless.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Eph 6:10 NKJV

I’ve always been an athlete, but not a very accomplished one. I’ve run marathons, played on championship teams and gotten my belt in TaeKwondo. So I’ve always associated strength with effort, and on a physical level, that is valid. But not here! The words ‘be strong’ here are the great Greek word ENDUNAMOO, used seven times in the Greek NT and either in the passive or middle voice. The passive voice is where the subject is acted upon. The middle voice is where the subject allows themselves to be acted upon. Ephesians 6:10 is a command. We are commanded to allow ourselves to be strengthened in the Lord, not by works like pushups or my beloved planks, but by positioning ourselves under the favor of God. We humbly set ourselves to hear RHEMA words, which are our daily bread, like from Henry or Charles Spurgeon, or directly from the Lord Himself. This is where our empowerment comes from! Finally, in Ephesians we get the appreciation of praying in the Spirit, in tongues for hours – praying ALWAYS – daily.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints —  19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel…Eph 6:17-20 NKJV

Verse eighteen should have always been included in the context of the armor of God but it wasn’t because of cessationist demons infiltrating the corridors of power in the Church. Well, as they say, the cat is out of the bag! Corinthians says that when I pray in tongues, my spirit prays. That is what it means to pray always in the Spirit. We could make a very cogent argument that speaking in tongues was normal Christianity in the first century at the time of the writing of the Acts and the Pauline Epistles. It will be again in our lifetimes. If the Church doesn’t embrace it in our leisure, then the Church will embrace it under judgement because God is not mocked. So, embrace it in our leisure now, dear ones! Teach others to pray in tongues as well. Don’t wait until you get to be my age before you wake up to the reality of the Spirit.

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Eph 1:17-21 NKJV

Paul’s prayer here in Ephesians One speaks volumes. That’s my prayer for you and I as well, dear one, that you and I will know Him, and the fullness of all the blessing of God to us from Him, and the exceeding greatness of His power to us as we believe Him in fearlessness and love. Don’t you just love Ephesians? Treasure of all treasures found in these scriptures, and we will enjoy them for all eternity. Amen? Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…