The Prayer for the Ephesians

Friday 2013.06.07

Ephesians 3:14-21, a prayer for the Ephesians.

This is a good prayer for all of us to exemplify, especially because, like all prayers in the NT, this is essentially a prayer to our Heavenly Father. If we want to pray like Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21, we should do the following:

(Scripture quoted from Young's Literal Translation)

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Bow to our Heavenly Father, who is also the Father of our Master Jesus the Messiah.

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," 3:14

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Acknowledge that every being in heavens and earth receives its true name from our Father in heaven. He is our creator God.

"of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named"3:15

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Ask our Heavenly Father to give us strength in our inner being, through His Spirit according to the wealth of His glory. Yes, this we must ask for such wealthy, glorious strength from our Father.

"that He may give to you, according to the riches of His glory, with might to be strengthened through His Spirit, in regard to the inner man" 3:16

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Along with the inner strength, ask the Father to make our Messiah (the Anointed One) to dwell in our hearts through our trust in Him.

"that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts" 3:17a

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Also ask that the Father will make us established in His love:

" in love having been rooted and founded," 3:17b

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Ask the Father that we may also, together with all other saints, have the power to understand the full dimensions (of His love)

"that ye may be in strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" 3:18

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Ask our Father that we may also know the love of the Messiah, a love which is beyond our normal knowledge / ability to understand,

"to know also the love of the Christ that is exceeding the knowledge" 3:19a

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So that we may be full of the nature of God our Father
"that ye may be filled -- to all the fulness of God;" 3:19b

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Finally, let us sing our doxology to God our Father, who works in us by His power: to HIM (God our Father) be the glory in the assembly (ekklesia) by Jesus our Messiah.

"and to Him who is able above all things to do exceeding abundantly what we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, to Him [is] the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen" 3:20,21

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Brothers and Sisters, let us pray to God, He is our Father in Heaven.

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My thoughts on the Prayer for the Ephesians:

• That we may know God — our Father (May2010)

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The Unpardonable Sin - revisited

Matthew 12: 23,24 NKJV
And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

Why did the Master Yeshua say in Matthew 12: 31, 32 that all sins and blasphemies, including speaking against the Son of Man himself, can be forgiven but "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.".

For many years as a Trinitarian believer, this verse used to puzzle me. If the Messiah is God-the-Son and if the Holy Spirit is God-the-Spirit, why would speaking against one "person" of the Triune Godhead be forgiveable while doing so against another person in the very same Godhead be unpardonable? Is it possible that God-the-Spirit is somehow more "unblasphemable" than God-the-Son?

Little did I know how wrong I was to believe that our Only True God was a "Triune Godhead".

Last week, four years after I had awakened to the truth that God our Father is the one and only true God,
I revisited this account in Matthew 12: 22-32, along with parallel passages in Mark 3:22-30 and that of a similar account giving the background to the accusation involving Beelzebub in Luke 11: 14-15.

The Master Yeshua had cast out a demon from a mute but was accused by both scribes and Pharisees that he had done this by the power of the King of Demons.

Why was this accusation tantamount to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The answer is found in Matthew's account:

Matthew 12: 27,28 NKJV
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

I am reminded that the Master Yeshua, after his baptism by John the Baptist, he saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon him. Yes, he was FILLED with the Holy Spirit. On that day the voice of God was heard, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased" (Matt.3: 16,17)

From that day, our Master became, "a Man ATTESTED by God . . . by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst" the Apostle Peter later declared to his audience in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2. Likewise, Peter also declared to the household of Cornelius at Caesarea in Acts 10:38 about "how God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."

Yes, our Master Yeshua of Nazareth is the Anointed One - the Son of Man who was filled with the Holy Spirit. When he healed the demon possessed mute person in Luke 11:14, it was the Holy Spirit of God within him that performed the wonderful work. Indeed, by such miracles, signs and wonders God had attested that Yeshua was His beloved Son.

In other words, God was with him.

As such, when the scribes from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22) and the Pharisees (Matt 12:24) accused the Master of using Beelzebub to cast out demons, it was tantamount to blaspheming against the very presence of God Himself. It was a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Mark 3:30 puts it in a nutshell,

because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”.

Set your mind on things that are above

Matthew 16: 23 NKJV
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

The words of our Master Yeshua in this well-known verse struck me during one of my morning devotions a few days ago. I have never before noticed the reason why our Master rebuked the Apostle Peter with in such harsh terms.

"Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me",

the King James Version says.

Why is Peter called "Satan" by the Master in this account? In what way is he an offence to Yeshua the Anointed One? It was just a while ago that he was called "Blessed" by the Master Yeshua for identifying correctly that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. It was also a while ago that the Master had told him in verses 18 and 19,

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

How then did Peter suddenly become an offence to the Anointed One?

The answer lies in the second part of verse 23, "you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men", the Master Yeshua says.

Peter couldn't accept the sudden revelation from the Master Yeshua that He must soon suffer at the hands of His enemies and be killed by them in Jerusalem and then to be raised by God on the third day. The thought of seeing his Master captured, ill-treated and killed by His Master's adversaries, also the adversaries of all the disciples, is unimaginable.

Such an eventuality dashes the hope of Peter seeing His Master lead his disciples, along with many more of his fellow countrymen, to victory over the enemies and to become their new ruler. Peter was concerned with an earthly mission, an earthly accomplishment and an earthly success. He instinctively, perhaps even impulsively, pulled his Master aside and started to rebuke his Master in verse 22,

“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

Perhaps Peter wasn't paying enough attention to His Master's words. He had apparently not noticed the last statement of the Master Yeshua, that He would be raised from death on the third day. Well, after all, this had never happened to anyone before. It didn't make sense to Peter.

It was this very last statement of the Master Yeshua that made the difference between being mindful of the things of God versus the things of men. Had Peter been mindful of the eternal Kingdom of God, then he would have welcomed the revelation of this marvellous plan of God: that His Anointed One, the Messiah who is to be the everlasting King over Israel, would first have to die and then to BE RAISED on the third day - to rule eternally over all nations.

Today, I am reminded of the words in Colossians 3:2, "Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.".  Have we also fallen into the same error like Peter did in Matthew 16:23?

The things of God. That, is what Peter should have been mindful of.

Repent and be baptized . . .

One of the Apostolic teachings that have impressed me very much recently is that of Repentance and Baptism in the Name of Yeshua (Iesous) the Anointed One.

Acts 2:38
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

The Apostles had always taught repentance and baptism.

The call to repent and to be washed in the waters of baptism is an ancient Jewish practice called respectively "teshuva and mikveh" in Hebrew. I'm persuaded that when Peter told the crowd in Jerusalem to "Repent and be baptized" that Pentecost (Shavuot) day, his audience was not surprised by anything new. It was just a call to "teshuva and mikveh".

In Jewish teaching, baptism is effective only if one sets his heart on becoming pure. It is highly likely that Peter's call to repentance and baptism was made in the same context too. The only big difference was the mikveh was to be performed by calling upon the Name of the Messiah - Yeshua.

The following is an excerpt from "The Dynamics of Teshuva" in the book "Deep Calling Unto Deep" published by Kehot Publication Society, 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213, authored by Dr. J. Immanuel Schochet, Professor of Philosophy at Humber College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

"Just as sin is rooted in man's will and mind, so must teshuvah be rooted in man's will and mind. . . .He who sets his heart on becoming purified (from ritual defilement) becomes pure as soon as he has immersed himself (in the waters of a mikveh), though nothing new has befallen his body. So, too, it is with one who sets his heart on cleansing himself from the impurities that beset man's soul - namely, wrongful thoughts and false convictions: as soon as he consents in his heart to withdraw from those counsels and brings his soul into the waters of reason, he is pure."

The Dynamics of Teshuva

The Promise that is for you, for your children and for all afar

I read Acts chapter 2 this morning before starting work, and noticed the significance of the "promise of the Holy Spirit", as explained by the Apostle Peter:

(1) Our Lord Jesus the Messiah has received this promised Spirit from God the Father, and has poured out this Spirit on that Pentecost day:

Acts 2:33 ESV
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

(2) This promise is also for everyone who Repents and is Baptized in the Name of Jesus the Messiah, to their children and to all who are far away:

Acts 2: 38, 39
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

I am also reminded of the words of our Master in Luke 11:13

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

Let us ask our Father in Heaven for this gift.

Is YHWH our God a "He" or a "They"?

Here's a typical explanation of the doctrine of Trinity, which I had believed in and upheld steadfastly for more than thirty years of my life:

"What then does it mean that God exists as the Trinity? It is a basic principle of our biblical faith that there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The unity of the Godhead cannot be questioned. God does not consist of parts. He is one. But Scripture reveals that there are, in that one divine essence, three eternal distinctions. Those distinctions seem best described as Persons, known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three have identical attributes, however, and therefore they are one—not merely one in mind and purpose, but one in substance. To possess all the same attributes is to be one in essential nature. The three Persons of the Godhead possess identical attributes. They are one in substance and one in essence, and therefore they are one God."

Is YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, really made up of three persons?
Is our Abba in Heaven merely one of those three persons, and not YHWH himself?

Can we find "they" are one God in the Torah of Moses?
or in the Prophets?
or in the Writings?
or any where in the Gospel accounts,
the Acts of Apostles,
the Epistles
or even in the Book of Revelations?

Is YHWH our God, a He or a They?

YHWH Elohim is One. Throughout the Torah, the Neviim and the Khetuvim, the entire scriptures refer to our God with one and only one singular pronoun: "He".

Likewise throughout the Gospel accounts, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, right through the end of the book of Revelations, our God is always referred to as "He", never once as "They".

Over the past three years, after I turned away from the man-made traditional doctrine of the trinity to worship our Father in Heaven, the Only True God, through the name of Yshua our Messiah, I have been called a cultist, a heretic, accused of falling away and of having lost my salvation. I have also been accused of twisting the scripture.

Please let me tell you who is twisting the scripture.

(1) Those who twist God into a "Godhead"

(2) Those who twist the One and Only True God into a trinity of three persons.

(3) Those who twist the worship of one God in spirit and in truth, into the worship of three little gods, sometimes praying to the father, sometimes to the son and sometimes even praying to the holy spirit.

(4) And those who twist the praise and thanks and giving of glory to our Father, the One True God, into a cult of praising Jesus, thanking Jesus, glorifying Jesus, blessing Jesus, . . . Jesus, Jesus and just only Jesus.

These people forget that over and over again, the apostles teach us to glorify the Father, give thanks to the Father, praise the Father and bless YHWH, the Name of our Father, God Almighty, creator of heavens and earth.

Ephesians 1:3 NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

1 Peter 1:3 NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

These people also forget that our Father is not only our God, that He is also the God of our Master Yeshua the Messiah (Iesou Christos).

Revelations 3: 11 - 13 NIV
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Do the Miracles prove that Messiah is God?

This morning I came across a post in a discussion group, that contained a list of some miracles performed by Jesus Christ, with a remark that, "It is these miracles that attest to who Jesus is because His remarkable deeds confirm His incredible claim to be God in flesh, the only way to salvation."

"Jesus was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:25).
Jesus changed water into wine (John 2:6-10).
Jesus caused the disciples to catch a large load of fish (Luke 5:4-6).
Jesus cast out demons (Matt. 8:28-32; 15:22-28).
Jesus healed lepers (Matt. 8:3; Luke 17:14).
Jesus healed diseases (Matt. 4:23,24; Luke 6:17-19)
Jesus healed the paralytic (Mark 2:3-12).
Jesus raised the dead (Matt. 9:25; John 11:43-44).
Jesus restored sight to the blind (Matt. 9:27-30; John 9:1-7).
Jesus cured deafness (Mark 7:32-35).
Jesus fed the multitude (Matt. 14:15-21; Matt. 15:32-38).
Jesus walked on water (Matt. 14:25-27).
Jesus healed the sick (Matt. 8:5-13; 9:22).
Jesus forgave sins (Mark 2:5).
Jesus calmed a storm with a command (Matt. 8:22-27; Mark 4:39).
Jesus was transfigured (Matt. 17:1-8).
Jesus rose from the dead (Luke 24:39; John 20:27).
Jesus appeared to disciples after resurrection (John 20:19).
Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9).

What is so important here is that Jesus claimed to be God (John 5:18; 8:24; 8:58 -- see Exodus 3:14)"

The above conclusion contradicts the preaching of the Apostle Peter in the Book of Acts:

(1) Peter's message on Pentecost Day, in Jerusalem

Acts 2:22-24, Note especially 2:36

- Jesus is a man: accredited by God,

- handed over to the Jews by God's foreknowledge,

- raised from death by God and

- made Master and Messiah by God.

(2) Peter's message to the Israelites in Solomon's Portico

Acts 3:11-26

-Yeshua is a Servant of God. 

-The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, HAS GIVEN divine glory to His Servant Yeshua. (3:13)

- Yeshua is holy and good, but the Israelites rejected him (3:14),

- They killed the one who leads to life, but God RAISED him from death (3:15)

- If the Israelites would repent and turn to God, their sins would be forgiven and God will SEND Yeshua (3:19,20)

- Yeshua is the Anointed One CHOSEN by God for Israel (3:20)

- Yeshua the Anointed One must remain in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new. (3:21)

(3) Peter's message to the household of Cornelius in Caesarea

- God anointed Yeshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power (10: 38).

- God was with Him (10: 38b).

- After he was killed, God raised him up on the third day (10:39).

It is undeniably clear, brothers and sisters, the Apostle did NOT come to any conclusion at all that the our Messiah Yeshua (Iesous Christos) is "God". Instead, again and again, he explained to people everywhere that our Messiah was chosen by God, anointed with the Spirit of God and given power by God. After he was killed, he was RAISED by God.

Yes, without doubt, the Miracles show that God was with the our Master, the Messiah.

And, No, the Miracles do not show that Messiah is God.