Welcome to Leaving Laodicea
The Survival Manual for the Coming Underground Church
Prayer: Ephesians 2:19 – Living in a Family
There is one last point we need to discuss regarding being “members of the household of God” before we move on to Ephesians 1:20, and that is the unity and security that comes from being a member of a family. Our verse for today reads as follows:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God – Ephesians 2:19.
Yesterday we looked at how someone actually becomes a member of God’s household and focused our prayer time on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus as found in John 3. But today we want to examine the dynamics of being in a loving, functional family. Not the type of dysfunctional, narcissistic, and often abusive families many of us came from. But from the type of family God intended and designed. The type of family we would expect with God as the Father. Think about it.
Most families have members that don’t always agree or see things the same way. In fact, sometimes members of a family may have political or social views that are in stark contrast to each other which makes mealtimes and holidays something of an adventure. In addition, some families have siblings that often fight with each other, purposely irritate each other, and basically just get on each other’s nerves. That’s the nature of the family. Actually, it’s just human nature. In a family, we might have teenagers who are fighting for independence, pre-teens who are either goofy or moody or just plain loud and annoying, toddlers who want nothing but undivided attention, and parents who are just tired and don’t seem to have the time for each other, let alone this growing gang of children. In a functional family, often members are angry with each other and say things that are hurtful or cause pain. It happens.
441: Faith is Justified by Action
We have previously looked at how to pray at all times and in all circumstances by letting the Holy Spirit, through God’s Word, direct our prayers. But next on the Faith Prepper list of required spiritual skills is learning how to trust Him at all times by allowing our faith to grow by having it exercised in often unpleasant circumstances. After all, faith grows when it is tested. And testing is usually unpleasant during the process but wonderful at the end.
The Greek word translated “faith” in the New Testament is pístis and means: “to win over, to persuade. Subjectively it means firm persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth” This definition is used over 250 times in the New Testament alone. Everything in the Spirit is based on faith and everything of faith is designed by God to bypass the senses. Everything.
In addition to this, all faith is not justified by merely having it. But all faith is justified by the action it produces. In other words, faith by itself is worth little. But faith, accompanied by actions or works based on that faith is alive and real. This is exactly what James was trying to tell us in James 2:14-26. Read it for yourself.
440: Taking God at His Word
One of the attributes of becoming a Faith Prepper is learning how to trust God as His Word. I know many of us will say that we do. When pressed, almost al believers will state the mantra, “I believe everything God says, start to finish, from Genesis to Revelation.” After all, that’s the expected answer. To say anything less would make us seem like a lukewarm believer.
But the truth is, most believers, maybe ever you, don’t truly take God’s Word as the final authority in your life. How can I say that? Because God’s Word speaks to just about every issue we face today yet the church seems to be divided up into various opinions that differ greatly from one another. If God’s Word doesn’t change and is always true, how can that be? If God’s Word says something is wrong, for example, how can any believer who claims God’s Word as the final authority in their life, have a different opinion than what the Word says? It seems inconsistent, doesn’t it? Hypocritical.
As the adage goes, the Scriptures are true about everything it teaches. And it teaches about everything.
To test whether God’s Word molds your opinions or whether your opinions are determined independent of God’s Word, I have listed a number of controversial issues below. What is your opinion on these? And whatever your opinion is, does it line up with the Word of God? If it doesn’t, who is wrong, and what are you prepared to do about it?
439: Kingdom Praying
When we look at the content of the prayers of the early church we are amazed they didn’t pray like much of the church does today— for the little answerable “fix”. Instead, they prayed for Kingdom matters, what we call Kingdom Prayers. Let me explain.
A “little answerable” is a prayer for a little “fix” that is often related to our sense of entitlement from God. These can be called horizontal prayers. We lose our job so we pray for a new one. A loved one is sick, so we pray for their healing. We don’t have enough money to make it through the end of the month, so we pray to win the lottery. And on the surface, these seem like proper, loving, spiritual prayers. But that’s not how the early church prayed.
A Kingdom prayer, on the other hand, is praying for something that has lasting value and importance in the Kingdom of God. For example, look at the following prayers and note what they are asking for (and what they are not): Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-19, Romans 15:5-6, 13, Philippians 1:9-11, Philemon 1:4-6.
Prayer: Ephesians 2:19 – Household of God
Today, as we begin to pray, we will look at one last blessing from Ephesians 2:19 that involves our inclusion in “the household of God.” Our verse for today reads:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God – Ephesians 2:19.
As always, before we can understand what the verse means, we have to understand exactly what the text is saying. We do that by defining our key terms in order to see what the meaning of the word was when it was written, and not necessarily what it means today. After all, language is constantly in a state of flux and changes with each generation. For example, 50 years ago the word “mouse” meant only one thing to everyone, a furry rodent. But today our primary thought when we hear that word is of a computer mouse. You can see the importance of discovering the original meaning of the text and not making it say what we want it to say. So let’s define our words.
The Greek word translated “household” is oikeíos and means “belonging or standing in relation to the household.” Or, more literally, “belonging to a household.” The blessing for each of us as revealed in this verse once again drives home the point we are now God’s family, His children, and as such, members of His household, the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Which raises just a few questions and some encouraging answers.
Prayer: Ephesians 2:19 – Saints, Part 2
Yesterday we looked at the word saints and how the Lord continually used it to describe each of us that have been redeemed by the blood of His Son. As you will recall, the word translated saints (hágios) means “holy, with the idea of separation, consecration, sanctification, and devotion to God” and is the standard name in the New Testament God uses to describe believers. The verse we are using to help focus our prayers is Ephesians 2:19 which reads:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God – Ephesians 2:19.
But for many of us, the idea of being called a saint is unsettling and uncomfortable. Why? Because we view sainthood as perfection or something like a title given to someone far closer to the Lord than we are or who has done something for Him much greater than anything we have ever done. And that is unfortunate. Not that we haven’t accomplished what some heroes of the faith have accomplished. What is unfortunate is our faulty view of how the Lord sees us in His Son. For Him, we are saints, and that should settle the issue once and for all, no matter how uncomfortable we may feel. But you and I both know that it doesn’t.
So maybe this will help.
Prayer: Ephesians 2:19 – Saints, Part 1
As we get ready for another Sunday, let me encourage you to prepare your heart this morning to meet with the Lord. Remember, how you worship in church with others is just an extension of how you worship with Him alone. So begin today with just the Lord and worship Him by prayer and adoration. And then, come and worship with the rest of the “called-out” ones this morning.
To help focus your prayers we are looking at Ephesians 2:19 and especially this strange description the Holy Spirit calls each of us: saints. Read it for yourself.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God – Ephesians 2:19.
Note the transition from the many to the few. We go from “citizens” to members of a “household.” Note also the description of those who are also citizens with you, the “fellow” part of this verse. They are called saints or, literally, “holy ones.”
438: How to Pray God’s Word
For the last couple of weeks, we have been talking about praying through Scripture to help focus our prayers and have specifically been using the book of Ephesians. If you remember, before we began we looked at three great truths regarding using God’s Word to focus our prayers. They are:
One, there is a direct connection between the degree that our minds are shaped by Scripture and the degree to which our prayers are answered.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” – John 15:7.
Two, God only answers the prayers and petitions that His Son had some part in asking.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him – 1 John 5:14-15.
And three, the early church prayed Scripture. And so should we.
But today we want to focus on some of the doctrines we found in just the first chapter of Ephesians. It is on these doctrines we have been focusing our prayers.
437: Our Union with Christ
As we begin to look more into the idea of being a faith prepper, one of the key elements to understanding our position in Christ is to try to get a firm grasp on our union with Him. After all, it seems the most common phrase in Scripture regarding our position is “in Christ” or “in Him”. But what does that mean? And what kind of union with Christ does that phrase imply?
Let’s put on our theology hats for just a moment and look at the two types of unions spoken of in Scripture about Christ.
First, our union with Christ can be seen as a federal (head) or covenantal union (called Federalism). Romans 5:12-21 shows each of us as being in Adam before salvation and in Christ after salvation. And God established Adam as a representative or federal head of the human race. If Adam continued in righteousness, we would also have been considered to have continued in righteousness, being in Adam. But if Adam sinned, we too would be considered as also having sinned, being in Adam. This is where we begin to understand original sin.
If Adam sinned and fell by the transgression of God’s command, then we would also be considered to have sinned in him and Adam’s sin judgment and subsequent death would pass on to each of us. And, as we know, Adam did sin and death was passed on to each of us. This is the proof of our identification with Adam.
436: Exercising Faith: No Pain, No Gain
As we begin to grow in our life with Christ and actually, without reservation, take His Word and His promises at face value, we will inevitably come face to face with the limits of our faith. After all, there is only so much we can believe today and, if we are growing in our faith, there will hopefully be more we can believe tomorrow. But right now we live in today and today we must begin to prepare for tomorrow. That is why His disciples cried out to Him and pleaded, “Lord, increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).
That’s the essence of being a faith prepper.
So let me ask just a few questions. What is the shortest way to get from where you are in your life of faith right now and where you want to be? Or, what can you do to increase your faith? Just like everything else in life, increase comes from repeated use and exercise. So you must exercise your faith and, unfortunately, that is done by having your faith tested.
No pain, no gain.
Something About Us
This is a collection of the many questions I have struggled with and the answers I have found regarding the relationship between authentic faith in Christ and much of what is portrayed today as Biblical Christianity. Especially with the coming darkness looming over all of us, including the church.
Come with me. It should be a wild ride!
To find out more about us and what we believe, just continue reading…