Ephesians 1:15-23

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

June 11, 2020

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In our previous message we looked at Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verses 3-14. Now we will look at the last nine verses in Ephesians 1, Verses 15-23. In these nine verses we see a perfect summary of the characteristics of the true Church. Everything that Paul prayed for the Church at Ephesus also applies to every believer over all of time.

The two things which must characterize the true Church are faith or loyalty to Christ and love to men. Monks and hermits have a loyalty to Christ but they are physically separated from their fellow men. Before Jesus came, the Pharisees had a loyalty to God which made them self righteous and contemptuous of those whom they believed were less loyal than themselves. The true Christian loves God and loves his felbw man. Moreover, the true Christian knows that he cannot show his love to Christ in any other way than by showing his love to his fellow men.

That agape love is not an emotional feeling. Jesus said, in 

John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Jesus also said, in Matthew 25:40, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Verses 15 and 16: 

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

After Paul heard of the faith and love of the Ephesians, he could only give thanks for them and pray for them. Faith and love do not earn us participation in this great work of God. They are evidence of our participation in God's plan.

Significantly, Paul did not give thanks for their love for God, but for their love for all the saints. The real evidence of God's work in us is not the love we claim to have for Him, but our love for His people (1 John 4:20 and John 13:34-35). Although faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints is very important, even vital, Paul tells us not to rest on our laurels. He says there is more. Paul not only gave thanks for God's work among the Ephesians; he also prayed that it would abound more and more as he says in Philippians 1:9 and as the prayer in the following Verses 17-23 makes clear.

Verse 17:

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:

Paul prayed without ceasing that the Father would grant the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, not the knowledge of the Bible. Obviously after all of Paul's ministry to the Church at Ephesus they had not yet received that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Father. We do not pray to receive that which we already have. We simply appropriate and walk in that which we have received. Moreover, Paul could not give them that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Father. Only Abba, Father, is able to do that.

Paul had taught the Church at Ephesus day and night for three years. From simple arithmetic that means more than 1000 teaching sessions from the greatest teacher who ever lived, other than Jesus of course. Further, in Acts 20:20, Paul told the elders of the Church at Ephesus, 

"And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house," 

And in Acts 20:27, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." 

What an amazing statement! Who today has declared all the counsel of God? Who today even understands all the counsel of God? If anyone understands all the counsel of God, who would have the courage or fortitude to declare that counsel publicly?

Our Christian life must be centered upon this purpose ... to know God as He is in truth, as revealed by His Word, and to correct our false, idolatrous ideas of who God is. It is also important for us to have a true knowledge and understanding of who we are. But it is far more important for us to know and understand who God is. That is the lesson we receive from 

Isaiah 6:5, "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

Compare Isaiah's revelation with the mindset of far too many Christians today of "I am OK, you are OK; we are saved and will go to heaven one day."

The proper study by God's elect is the name, the nature, the person, and the work of our heavenly Father. 

"The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits (Daniel 11:32).

Verses 18-19: 

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,

The prayer of Verses 17-19 is essentially a request that the promises of Verses 3-14 be found as real in the lives of all Christians. The word must become flesh within us. Paul asked all these things because they are important ... because this is the will of God.

Paul prays that we would understand everything God gave us in Christ Jesus. It takes a mighty revelation to know all God has given us in Christ. It requires that the eyes of our understanding be enlightened by God. Too many Christian hearts have no eyes, no vision (the means by which we gain real knowledge and understanding), and too many Christian eyes have no heart (or compassion for all those whom the Father has given to the Son.) God wants both to be combined in us. The word "heart" in Scripture signifies the very core and center of our life. This shows the wonderful foresight of God in that He sets the members of His body, every one of them, as it pleases Him. The purpose of a prophet is to enlarge the vision of the body. The purpose of a pastor is to emphasize the love and compassion needed in the body. For some strange reason, prophets and pastors seem to almost be at odds with one another. As a generality, a pastor is horizontally oriented ... to people. A prophet is vertically oriented ... toward God. The purpose of an evangelist is to teach the members of the body how to relate to those in the world who have not yet met the reality of the Lord Jesus. The purpose of a teacher is to expand on the vision of the prophet as it relates to the word of God. These different ministries could be combined if the Lord so desires. For example, Paul an apostle of the Lord, was a prophetic teacher. He had eyes to see and a mind to understand the word of God. Peter was an apostle but began his ministry as an evangelist, as recorded in the first eight chapters of the Book of Acts. John was an apostle but he was a heart, with a pastor's heart full of compassion for all men.

We need to know the hope of His calling. Few things give us a more secure and enduring hope in life than simply knowing that God has called us and has a specific purpose for us to fulfill. I have been greatly blessed in that the Lord revealed to me fifty years ago the specific purpose for which He apprehended me. The hope of His calling has its perspective in the future. The believer has a glorious future of resurrection, eternal life, freedom from sin and a calling even above the angels.

We also need to know the greatness of God's inheritance in His people. Because of our human nature, our self-centeredness, we usually think only of our inheritance in God, but we need to understand that we are so precious to God that He considers us His own inheritance. Paul also spoke of God's inheritance in His people in Ephesians 1:11.

Knowing our spiritual poverty, we wonder how God can find any inheritance in the saints. Yet God can make riches out of poor men and women because He invests so much in us. He invests riches of love, riches of wisdom, riches of suffering, and riches of glory. In the Bible, suffering for the Lord's sake is always followed by glory. These things accrue to a rich inheritance in the saints.

We also need to know how great the power of God is towards us who believe We should know we serve and love a God of unlimited power who shows His strength on behalf of His people. Many Christians do not know this power or know it only intellectually. By that I do not mean the power to do miracles, healings, and deliverances. Those things are gifts that were manifested even in Old Testament times. I speak of the power to become that which the Lord desires us to become. God wants resurrection life to be real in the life of us believers. The power that works in us is the same mighty power that raised Jesus from the dead. The death of Christ is the supreme demonstration of the love of God, the resurrection of Christ is the supreme demonstration of His power.

Verse 20:

Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

From Verse 20, the right hand is the place of honor, confidence, and authority.

Matthew 25:33-34, "And He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Verse 21:

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

It is the Father's mighty power that raised Jesus to heaven after His resurrection, raising Him above every potential enemy of all time. From Ephesians 3:10 and Ephesians 6:12 this refers to all angelic beings. Apparently there is a hierarchy in the angelic realm, but the only hierarchy in Christ is that Jesus is the head of the body. I don't completely understand the ranks of the angelic realm, but Jesus is raised above them so we know that Christ is above all.

Verses 22-23:

22 And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

This great resurrection power of the Father placed Jesus above all things. It set Jesus as the head over all things, including the church. Angels and archangels are subject to Him. But believing men are joined to Him, with a union such that He and we are called one "Christ."

1 Corinthians 12:12, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."

In the natural realm, a head without a body or a body without a head are both useless. In the realm of the Spirit, Our spiritual Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, without His body, the true Church, negates the will of God. Further, the Head and the body are joined as one. To think of Jesus being in heaven and we believers being disconneced on earth, is just not true.

These last two verses in Ephesians 1 contain one of the greatest most profound, and uplifting thoughts that any man has ever had. Let us try to lay hold of and understand what the Spirit is saying through Paul. We need to compare the essence of these verses with 

Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." 

Another way we could express that is that the earth was a wreck and a ruin, or a worthless thing, filled with emptiness. But God never created anything that could be described by any of those characteristics. That emptiness and the resulting darkness came about because of the rebellion of Lucifer, who then became Satan.

What do we see in the world today in the natural realm? disunity in all of its ugliest forms. America has not been this divided since the Civil War. Democrats and Republicans are bitterly at odds with each other. Today, instead of a war using rifles and canons, our wars are waged with words. It is a rare event when a unanimous decision comes from the Supreme Court. Everyone is "slamming" someone else. Political election campaigns are filled with "mudslinging." Law suits abound, with the only winners being the lawyers. Finger pointing is an everyday occurrence, just as Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. It is difficult to separate the truth from the lies in any and all forms of media. There is disunity between man and beasts, so that man and the beasts are enemies instead of friends. Even within the Christian community we see hundreds if not thousands of denominations, non-denominations, house churches, and no churches at all. Moreover, within a given Christian fellowship we have widely different perspectives and understandings of Scripture. Every man does that which is right in his own eyes. There is disunity between Jew and Gentile. We also see disunity within almost every man, many of whom have one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. Even more alarming is the disunity between man and God.

But Jesus came to earth and died on the cross of Calvary to bring everything in this universe into one ... to reconcile man to God and man to man. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the Father's instrument of reconciliation. Christ died in order to bring everthing and everyone into one family and one unity. Unity exists only in Christ. Clearly, that unity in the Church does not yet exist.

Unity is a key word which should prevail throughout the universe. Jesus said, "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30). No war can exist if there is only one.

After the ascension of the resurrected Christ to heaven, as recorded in Acts 1, the Book of Acts records seven times that those early disciples were "in one accord." But none of those seven verses states what they were in one accord about. We could all be in one accord that we like ice cream or pizza. We could all be in one accord that we like money and all of the pleasures that money can buy. The only place I have found in the New Testament that states what those disciples were in accord about is found in 

Romans 15:6, which says, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The phrase "with one mind" can be translated as "with one accord." So those early disciples were all in one accord to glorify the Father. How do we glorify the Father? by fulfilling the purpose for which we were created (John 17:4); by obeying His commandments (John 14:21); by loving the Lord and our neighbor with all of our heart (Luke 10:27). Then we have Paul's great call to unity within the body of Christ. The following verses speak of seven "ones" all of which pertain to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:1-6, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." 

The "one faith" is not my faith but His faith. The one baptism is not my baptism but His baptism. The one hope is His hope that He works within us.

Philippians 2:2, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love being of one accord, of one mind."

How did all of this disunity begin? It began when Lucifer rebelled against God. We read of Lucifer's five I wills in Isaiah 14. In Ezekiel 28 we see that Lucifer was created by God and was perfect in all his ways. He was an anointed cherub until pride caused him to rebel. Then he became Satan and the unity in the universe collapsed.

The devil hates for the body of Christ to be in one accord. Therefore he lies, robs, steals, kills, and does everything he can to prevent us fom being in one accord to glorify the Father.

When will all of this disunity end? Scripture answers that question.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-11, 

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:

9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Concerning Verses 6 and 7, "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." The word "withholdeth" in Verse 6 and the word "letteth" in Verse 7 is the same Greek word, which means "to hinder," "to restrain," or "to hold down." Marion Fretwell, one of the most mature and understanding Christians I have ever met, wrote the following many years ago about Verse 6 and 7:

"It was a real eye-opener to see how much latitude the translators had allowed themselves in their translations. Also to see how much they had been influenced by Catholic teachings of the past.

By using Walter [Swier]'s method of "how many times a word is translated a certain way, compared to another way," I was able to conclude that the current theory which told us that the Christian people would hinder the working of antichrist until they were snatched away, and then "all hell breaks loose," was probably the exact opposite of what the scripture really was saying.

A much more probable translation could have been that an unrecognized force is hindering (letting) the recognition of the enemy identity until the unrecognized force shall "become" or "arise as a storm arises" "from, or in the midst" of God's people." (end quote)

If we look at the context of those verses in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-11, it is a real mystery to me how Verses 6 and 7 could be misunderstood. Paul in those verses speaks of the man of sin, the son of perdition, the Wicked one, and how he will deceive many in these last days. Both Verses 6 and 7 use the pronoun "he," which means one person, not the whole body of Christ and certainly not the Lord. So Verse 7 means that the man of sin, the son of perdition, the Wicked one is hindering or holding down or restraining the maturity of the body of Christ until he be taken away, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming."

The phrase "son of perdition" occurs only two times in the Bible. The first occurrence is in John 17:12 and references Judas Iscariot. Jesus said, concerning Judas, in 

John 13:27," And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly." 

The other occurrence is in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, which we read a little earlier. The word "perdition" means "eternal damnation" or "utter destruction." It can also be used as a synonym for hell.

When a person is called "son of perdition," it means that person is in an unredeemable state, someone who is already damned while he is still alive. The verse in 2 Thessalonians 2 refers to a future son of perdition. Because Judas Iscariot hung himself and died, he cannot be the imminent son of perdition spoken of in 2 Thessalonians. Therefore in these end times Satan will enter into another man who will be either the world political leader or (more likely) the world religious leader. From 2 Thessalonians 2:9 it will not be Satan himself but a man whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. That verse lends credence that this man will be the world religious leader (not a Christian). It will be a man, a wolf in sheep's clothing, who, if it were possible, will deceive even the very elect of God. Four times in Matthew 24 Jesus speaks of the great deception that will cover the earth in these last days. Only the Lord knows, but that man may well be in the earth even now. Martin Luther knew who that man is. It is not a mystery.

Without any doubt the earth has seen great tribulation in the past, certainly in the days of Nero and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Before that time period, we read about much tribulation in Hebrews 11:35-39. In the soon coming days there indeed will be a final great tribulation, from which no Christians can escape (except those who have previously died and gone to be with the Lord).

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain [or survive] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

What is "air" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17? Webster's definitions are completely inadequate to explain scripture. We must use scripture to interpret scripture. The only scriptural definition of AIR is found in Ephesians 2:2 which tells us that Satan still is the "prince of the power of the air," the realm which Satan operates from today. It is his headquarters. It has nothing to do with the natural air that we breathe. Here, then, is the work and purpose of the overcomers ... the binding of Satan, and removing him from his headquarters to the bottomless pit (which is also a natural name for a spiritual phenomenon). Here are the overcomers being "caught up" (in spirit only) into the realm which Satan now occupies, and replacing his influence of evil, hatred and war with the influence of the fruit of the Spirit, Love, Joy and Peace, etc. Whereas the evil influence of Satan now permeates all space, the influence of the overcomers will counteract and replace it with the influence of God and goodness not in their own strength! but, by the power and anointing of the SPIRIT. They will be operating in a new realm after they have been "caught up" into it by the sovereign moving of the Spirit of God.

Those verses in 1 Thessalonians 4 clearly state that some number of true Christian believers will be alive on earth when the Lord returns. What happens to those Christians on earth when the Lord returns?

1 Corinthians 15:51-54, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

Jeremiah 15:19-21, "Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible."

Although the Lord spoke those words to Jeremiah, God is no respecter of persons. If we Christians return (repent) we also will stand before the LORD to minister unto Him. Those who will minister to the LORD are the sons of Zadok, as described in Ezekiel 44. The sons of Zadok, again from Ezekiel 44, are distinct from the priests who have committed abominations but who still are allowed to minister to the house (Ezekiel 44:10-14).

Ezekiel 44:23, "And they [the sons of Zadok] shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

Ezekiel 44:23 sounds much like Jeremiah 15:19, 

"If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth."

If we take forth the precious from the vile then we likewise shall be as His mouth. That does not say that we will BE His mouth, but those who qualify will be AS His mouth. The prophet Ezekiel was chosen by God to be an example of a man who was AS the Lord's mouth. When Jesus walked the face of the earth, He mostly referred to Himself as the Son of man. The Lord calls Ezekiel "thou son of man" 94 different times. The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy against at least 16 different entities including Israel, the elders of Israel, the mountains of Israel, the shepherds of Israel, the daughters of Israel, the prophets of Israel, the wind, and several other nations. Most of Ezekiel's prophecies were directed to Israel, even though Ezekiel lived his adult life in Babylon. So Ezekiel prophesied to Israel even though he was not in Israel. That says that natural ears do not have to hear a true prophecy. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. Moreover when the Lord's word goes forth it accomplishes that for which it is sent. In my lifetme I have known several men who have prophesied to birds, to trees, and to people who were not present at the time.

Now let us relate that word of the Lord to 2 Thessalonians 2:8

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:" 

1 Corinthians 15:24, "Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power."

Then we will see the end of all disunity.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen!