BIBLE LESSONS, SECOND QUARTER, 2015

THEME FOR LESSONS

The Holy Spirit has inspired us to present a series of Bible Lessons that have to do with and portray the great plan of salvation that God has brought to pass through His Son Jesus Christ. We want to bring from the Holy Scriptures what God has done to provide deliverance from sin and death and to give mankind a blessed hope for the eternal future that we all are facing. Our first lesson, being on Easter Sunday, brings out the blessing that Christ’s resurrection from the dead has brought to us, that will enable us to be resurrected from the dead state of sin, to a life of righteousness and victory. Then we will endeavor to cover other important subjects, such as how sin and going astray from God’s holy way has affected mankind. We trust the Lord will bless these lessons to all who partake of their study.

   —Bro. Leslie Busbee

APRIL 5, 2015

QUICKENED TOGETHER WITH CHRIST

Ephesians 1:17  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:

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,

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,

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:

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 fullness of him that filleth all in all.

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

   MEMORY VERSE: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. —Colossians 3:1, 2

   CENTRAL THOUGHT: When God Almighty raised up His Son Jesus Christ from death and the tomb and set Him at His own right hand in Heaven, He provided, for all who will believe and be obedient to Him, a spiritual resurrection from sin and this evil world, a blessed hope and expectation of eternal happiness, and glory with Him in the eternal world to come.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Ephesians 1:18, “eyes of your understanding”: Spiritual perception and eyesight of the inner man. “being enlightened”: Made to be able to see clearly the wonderful truth in Christ. “hope of his calling”: The future glory Christ is inviting us to share with Him. “his inheritance in the saints”: What Christ joyfully possesses in the heart and life of every one who truly believes and will follow Him faithfully.

Ver. 19, “working of his mighty power”: What God can accomplish by His great force and energy.

Ver. 20, “wrought”: “Accomplished and made available for us. “set”: Positioned with glorious power and authority.

Ver. 21, “above all principality”: Triumphant over all earthly power and dominion.

Ver. 22, “under his feet”: Subject to His rule and control. “head over all things”: Ruler, director, and controller over things in earth and heaven. “to the church”: For the benefit of all who are gathered together unto Him.

Ver. 21, “Which is his body”: The Church is joyfully all who love, worship, and are truly faithful and obedient to Him. They are His joyful possession even as a man’s lawful and wedded wife is to him.

Ephesians 2:1, “quickened”: Raised from death to life.

Ver. 2, “prince of the power of the air”: Satan, the devil.

Ver. 3, “conversation”: Ways, behavior, and conduct.

Ver. 6, “sit together in heavenly places”: Have unity and fellowship with one another in spiritual life.

Ver. 7, “in the ages to come”: For all eternity!

LESSON BACKGROUND

Our lesson today is from the epistle of the apostle Paul to the saints at Ephesus. He offered praise and joyful blessing to the Almighty God for all the wonderful spiritual blessings He has made available to us in Christ, to enable us to overcome this sinful world and be “holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph. 1:3, 4). He spoke of the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, the wonderful gathering of the holy saints unto Him and the joyful inheritance they possess. He spoke of his concern for them and what he was praying God to give unto them. We begin our lesson with Paul’s description of the wonderful blessings they would inherit through Christ.

He prayed that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened. Oh, how needful this is for every human being! The lusts of the flesh that he mentions in chapter two of our lesson blind the inner man to the spiritual blessings we really need! Oh, how good it is to have the Holy Spirit make known to our hearts the enjoyable, eternal treasures! May the Lord inspire all of us to faithfully seek the Lord and apply our hearts in prayer to experience these wonderful revelations; and turn away from sin and ungodliness, so we can obtain a relationship with our Creator that is sweet, enjoyable and real.

  —Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the things the eyes of our understanding need to see?

2. What are some of the blessings that God wrought in Christ?

3. Where did God set Christ after He raised Him from the dead?

4. What does God, through Christ, want to do in everyone’s life?

5. What can we look forward to with Christ in the ages to come?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

What a wonderful blessing the soul of man can experience through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, whereby the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, opens up to the eyes of our understanding the things that are mentioned in today’s lesson! Another person can speak of these wonderful blessings, but they cannot communicate to our hearts and minds like the Holy Spirit can and will do. Let us examine these things that are listed in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.

The first one he mentions that we may know is “the hope of his calling,” that blessed hope that God through Christ has made available for us! It truly is an anchor for our souls. (Hebrews 6:18-20).

The next thing Paul mentions are “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” What was Christ blessed to gain for His obedience to the death of the cross? He was resurrected to eternal life and glory, not just for Himself, but for all who will believe and faithfully follow Him all the way, who will also share and enjoy that glory.

And then—“the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” Oh, ponder the wonderful depth and value of these glorious blessings! It is a hope that will be worth all we ever suffer or go through in this life!

   —Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

These verses in Ephesians are very encouraging because they reveal what has been made available to us through “the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power”; namely, the spirit of wisdom, revelation and the eyes of our understanding being enlightened.

There is a tendency for us, as humans, to lean upon our own understanding. It seems so natural to follow and respond to life by what we see and feel.  Proverbs 21:2 tells us, “Every way of man is right in his own eyes.”  Another verse states, “There is a way which seemeth right unto  a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

In Psalms 73, Asaph’s walk with God was slipping.  He was backsliding over the conclusions he was coming to by what he was seeing with his natural eyes.  Life can be so different in reality from what it appears to be.  Sometimes we can feel so right and yet be so wrong.  Verse 17 says, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God.”  His spiritual eyes were enlightened; he had a revelation.  Verse 21: “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was a beast before thee.” We need revelations from the Lord in raising our children, facing the battles of life, and detecting the snares of the enemy.

—Bro. Bob Wilson