Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ
    Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ
    Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ
    Ebook114 pages1 hour

    Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ

    By John F. MacArthur

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Self-satisfaction and complacency: these could very well be a Christian's greatest enemies. And these are the enemies that the apostle Paul addresses in his letter to the Ephesians.  

    Pastor John MacArthur will take you through Ephesians, passage by passage, so that you can better understand the Christian encouragement and warnings in this book.

    When Paul wrote his letter to the believers in the city of Ephesus, he wrote to remind them of their immeasurable blessings in Jesus Christ and to admonish them to live in a manner worthy of them. Paul reminds them of the spiritual armor supplied through God's Word and by His Spirit, and of their need for vigilant and persistent prayer.  

    —ABOUT THE SERIES—

    The MacArthur Bible Study series is designed to help you study the Word of God with guidance from widely respected pastor and author John MacArthur. Each guide provides intriguing examinations of the whole of Scripture by examining its parts and incorporates:

    • Extensive, but straight-forward commentary on the text.
    • Detailed observations on overriding themes, timelines, history, and context.
    • Word and phrase studies to help you unlock the broader meaning and apply it to your life.
    • Probing, interactive questions with plenty of space to write down your response and thoughts.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateDec 29, 2015
    ISBN9780718035297
    Ephesians: Our Immeasurable Blessings in Christ
    Author

    John F. MacArthur

    Dr. John MacArthur es un reconocido líder cristiano a nivel internacional. Es pastor y maestro de Grace Community Church en Sun Valley, California. Siguiendo los pasos de su padre, el doctor Jack MacArthur, John representa cinco generaciones consecutivas de pastores en su familia. El doctor MacArthur también es presidente de The Master’s College and Seminary y se le escucha diariamente en «Gracia a Vosotros», una transmisión radial distribuida a nivel internacional. Él ha escrito y editado muchos libros, incluyendo el ganador del premio Medallón de Oro, La Biblia de Estudio MacArthur. Una de sus obras recientes es Jesús al descubierto.

    Read more from John F. Mac Arthur

    Related to Ephesians

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!

      Dec 31, 2021

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!
      5 min read

    • Article

      The 7 Churches Of Revelation

      Mar 16, 2020

      The 7 Churches Of Revelation
      5 min read

    • Article

      AGENTS OF Change

      Apr 13, 2020

      What on earth is a Reformational church? The Reformational church is God’s agent of constant change from glory to glory, conforming to the image of His Son. That’s why we are straightening and aligning the church to what Jesus intended in the first p

      4 min read

    • Article

      Why Study Church History?

      Jun 15, 2020

      Why Study Church History?
      3 min read

    • Article

      How to Spread the Gospel Like Wildfire

      Aug 19, 2019

      The Gospel spread like wildfire in the early church. For example, a single speech from Peter converted 3000 people (Acts 2:41), and after he gave a second speech, the number of believers totalled 5000 (Acts 4:4). In only a few decades, the Good News

      5 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Oct 28, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Getting to Know God The Personhood & Deity of the Holy Spirit

      Jan 1, 2021

      In examining the biblical revelation concerning God, we come upon an apparent contradiction. The Bible teaches that there is only one God, but it also teaches that Jesus is God. And what do we make of situations where God the Son is speaking to God t

      3 min read

    • Article

      Paul's Ministry Companions

      Oct 21, 2019

      Paul's Ministry Companions
      3 min read

    • Article

      Red Alert

      May 20, 2019

      Why does the Church today appear to be so powerless? Why are so many churches emptying? Why have young people fled the church? Why do some Christians consider ‘gathering together as the church’ to be irrelevant? What is happening in our generation?

      5 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Jun 16, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Aug 19, 2019

      Thank you for your wonderfully illustrated Biblical series of articles that you regularly publish. I find that I can’t concentrate like I used to, and love the short, precise, and factual articles. I have learnt so much from reading them. I was fasci

      7 min read

    • Article

      What The New Testament Doesn’t Say

      May 20, 2019

      When professing Christians deny Biblical creation, we often point them to the Words of Jesus and the New Testament authors, which clearly affirm their own belief in Biblical creation. Because Christians are, by definition, people who believe what Jes

      5 min read

    • Article

      A New Day Of Pentecost Part Lll

      Feb 10, 2023

      Over the last few issues of JOY, I have been sharing insights about the day of Pentecost in the Bible (Acts 2). To fully appreciate the context of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on this day, we must first look at the events that took place before

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Parables of Jesus

      Feb 10, 2023

      The Parables of Jesus
      4 min read

    • Article

      A New Day Of Pentecost The Importance Of Prayer

      Oct 27, 2023

      Over the last few issues, I have shared four guiding principles that the early church lived by, in accordance with Acts 2:42. Apostolic doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer are listed as these four “quadrants”. They created a new c

      2 min read

    • Article

      Word Search

      Aug 26, 2022

      Word Search
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Mar 10, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Ephesians

    4/5

    24 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      My small group finally gave up on this study. We bogged down about half way through it and finally stopped two chapters from the end. It was not challenging enough for us. We had enjoyed the Romans study in this series immediately prior to starting this study of Ephesians. However, this study was disappointing and uninspiring.
    • 5/5
      "Christ's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." — 2 Peter 1:3This verse is the cornerstone of Our Sufficiency in Christ by well-known author and pastor Dr. John MacArthur. In this work, he takes a biblical look at Christ's sufficiency for every believer in every time. There are many philosophies in the world today that attack the sufficiency of Christ. Secular psychology is one belief system that has infiltrated the church and undermined this basic doctrine. Many in the church don't really believe that Christ has already granted us everything we need to live godly lives, turning instead to psychiatric medication and secular counseling. Some believe that the Bible is fallible and should be "updated" for our times, thus denying that God has given us all we need in its pages. Others contravene Christ's sufficiency by studying techniques for spiritual warfare; they are convinced that unless they have a strategy in place, "Satan will have them for breakfast" (214), and Christ's power alone is not enough to combat demons. What all these errors share is a basic disbelief in Christ's perfect sufficiency.MacArthur examines the tenets of modern psychology, which teach that if we can just dig deep enough, we can find the answers to our problems within ourselves. According to this belief system, people are inherently good but have been damaged by their experiences and environments. This directly contradicts the Bible's teaching that we are totally depraved (not as bad as we could possibly be in every respect, but with our sin nature permeating every part of our being). There are no answers deep down in our souls that just need patient digging to unearth; we need to look to something outside of ourselves. At its core, secular psychology is a flat contradiction to the Gospel. And yet many Christians have failed to realize this and have allowed secular ideas to dominate our thinking in this area.In the chapter "Bible-Believing Doubters," MacArthur discusses the tendency of many pastors and evangelists today to "dress up" the Gospel to make it more appealing and palatable to the average nonbeliever. While we should strive to present the Gospel as clearly as possible, we deny its sufficiency if we believe that our technique adds any power to it. MacArthur writes, "Christians who search beyond Scripture for ministry strategies inevitably end up opposing Christ's work, albeit unwittingly... Scripture is the perfect blueprint for all true ministry, and those who build according to any other plan are erecting a structure that will be unacceptable to the Master Architect" (120).MacArthur also discusses the closely related problem of religious hedonism, the use of gimmicks and glamor to make Christianity "relevant." The effect of liberal theology on the church has been disastrous because it teaches that Scripture alone is not adequate. The seeker-sensitive movement is guilty of this heresy, because it fails to trust in God's power to draw sinners to Himself. Instead, it relies on a pragmatic policy of marketing, in an attempt to lure people to services and events. But this idea is fatally flawed because it is based on human wisdom rather than God's. What you lure people with is what you'll keep them with. Under all the advertising, the Gospel is shuffled aside or treated merely as an add-on, an app you can use (or not) to improve yourself. Pragmatism "has succumbed to the humanistic notion that man exists for his own satisfaction" (155).As I slowly worked my way through this book, I was amazed at how often I unconsciously assume that what God has provided is not enough. "Oh, well, God's provision doesn't really cover THIS area" or "God is more concerned about this over here; He's not really involved in that problem over there." MacArthur doesn't mince words and I appreciate his firmly biblical perspective on the issue. It's been very challenging and very necessary for me to be educated on this issue, basic as it may seem. I think the sufficiency of Christ and His Word is something many Christians would agree with, but don't really define clearly enough to work it out practically in our everyday lives. We scrape by somehow, but futility is a hallmark of our lives. And yet we possess such riches in Christ!This might be a weak illustration, but I finished this book while on vacation at the beach and while I was there, I felt the lack of some toiletries that I had planned not to pack because of space constraints. The night before we left, I was repacking and found the items I had been missing at the bottom of my bag! I had them with me all week, but in the hurry of getting everything together, I forgot that I did pack them after all. It reminded me of MacArthur's oft-repeated thesis in this book: in Christ and His Word, the Christian has already everything he or she needs to live a godly life. We've had it the whole time — from the moment of salvation until forever. When we fail to believe and live this, we will always feel a lack. No secular wisdom can adequately address our needs.I am not usually a proponent of blanket recommendations, but this is one book that I highly recommend to every Christian. Christ is sufficient!
    • 5/5
      Fantastic!!!Bowing to praise God is far better than bowing to pressure of man.
    • 4/5
      While I don't agree with him on everything, John MacArthur is one of the best modern theologians around. Here he argues persuasively against recent trendy outlets for problems in favor of a complete turn toward Christ.The theme of the book is an astonishing one -- that Christ can fill every need and more -- and yet it should not be so surprising. It is His promise from the beginning. Truly, it is only when I am most separated from Him that I begin to worry about my emotions and situation. When I am tuned to Him, I have no loneliness, no concern over career and such, and no doubt as to my future. His grace is sufficient, if only trusted.

    Book preview

    Ephesians - John F. MacArthur

    INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS

    The letter is addressed to the church in the city of Ephesus, capital of the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor, modern Turkey). Because the name Ephesus is not mentioned in every early manuscript of this letter, some scholars believe the letter was an encyclical, intended to be circulated and read among all the churches in Asia Minor and was simply sent first to believers in Ephesus.

    AUTHOR AND DATE

    No evidence has arisen for questioning Paul’s authorship. He is indicated as author in the opening salutation (1:1; 3:1). Written from prison in Rome (Acts 28:16–31) sometime between AD 60–62, the letter is, therefore, often labeled a prison epistle (along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). Ephesians may have been composed almost at the same time as Colossians and initially sent with that epistle and Philemon by Tychicus (6:21–22; Col. 4:7–8).

    BACKGROUND AND SETTING

    The gospel probably was first brought to Ephesus by Priscilla and Aquila, an exceptionally gifted couple (see Acts 18:26), who had been left there by Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:18–19). Located at the mouth of the Cayster River, on the east side of the Aegean Sea, Ephesus was perhaps best known for its magnificent temple of Artemis, or Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was also an important political, educational, and commercial center, ranking with Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch of Pisidia, in southern Asia Minor.

    Later, Paul firmly established this fledgling church on his third missionary journey (Acts 19), and he pastored it for some three years. After Paul left, Timothy pastored the congregation for perhaps a year and a half, primarily to counter the false teaching of a few influential men (such as Hymenaeus and Alexander), who were probably elders in the congregation there (1 Tim. 1:3, 20). Because of those men, the church at Ephesus was plagued by fables and endless genealogies (1 Tim. 1:4) and by such ascetic and unscriptural ideas as the forbidding of marriage and abstaining from certain foods (1 Tim. 4:3). Although those false teachers did not rightly understand Scripture, they propounded their ungodly interpretations with confidence (1 Tim. 1:7), which produced in the church harmful disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith (1 Tim. 1:4). About thirty years later, Christ gave the apostle John a letter for the church indicating that its people had left their first love for Him (Rev. 2:1–7).

    HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL THEMES

    The first three chapters are theological, emphasizing New Testament doctrine, whereas the last three chapters are practical and focus on Christian behavior. Above all, this is a letter of encouragement and admonition, written to remind believers of their immeasurable blessings in Jesus Christ, not only to be thankful for those blessings, but also to live in a manner worthy of them. Despite, and partly even because of, Christians’ great blessings in Jesus Christ, they are sure to be tempted by Satan to self-satisfaction and complacency. Thus, in the last chapter, Paul reminds believers of the full and sufficient spiritual armor supplied to them through God’s Word and by His Spirit (6:10–17) and of their need for vigilant and persistent prayer (6:18).

    A key theme of Ephesians is the mystery (meaning a heretofore unrevealed truth) of the church—that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel (3:6), a truth completely hidden from the Old Testament saints (3:5, 9). All believers in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, are equal before the Lord as His children and as citizens of His eternal kingdom, a marvelous truth that only believers of this present age possess. Paul also speaks of the mystery of the church as the bride of Christ (5:32; Rev. 21:9). Paul emphasizes the major truth that the church is Christ’s present spiritual, earthly body, also a distinct and formerly unrevealed truth about God’s people. This metaphor depicts the church not as an organization, but as a living organism composed of mutually related and interdependent parts. Christ is Head of the body, and the Holy Spirit is its lifeblood. The body functions through the faithful use of its members’ various spiritual gifts, sovereignly and uniquely given by the Holy Spirit to each believer.

    Another prominent theme is the riches and fullness of blessing to believers. Paul writes of the riches of His [God’s] grace (1:7), the unsearchable riches of Christ (3:8), and the riches of His glory (3:16). Paul admonishes believers to be filled with all the fullness of God (3:19), to come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (4:13), and to be filled with the Spirit (5:18). Believers’ riches in Christ are based on God’s grace (1:2, 6–7; 2:7), peace (1:2), will (1:5), pleasure and purpose (1:9), glory (1:12–14), calling and inheritance (1:18), power and strength (1:19; 6:10), love (2:4), workmanship (2:10), Holy Spirit (3:16), offering and sacrifice (5:2), and armor (6:11–13). The word riches is used five times in the letter; grace is used twelve times; glory eight times, fullness or filled six times; and the key phrase in Christ (or in Him") twelve times.

    1

    THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE

    Ephesians 1:1–14

    DRAWING NEAR

    The book of Ephesians opens with praise and wonder at God’s love and grace for His people. Yet we often fail to appreciate that love and grace ourselves. The famed nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon told a story of a minister who called on a poor woman with a desire to help her out of her financial straits. Money in hand, he knocked on her door repeatedly, but she did not answer. Eventually he left. Later, he related the incident to her at church. Oh dear, she said, I heard you, sir, and I’m so sorry I did not answer. I thought you were the man calling for the rent.

    How does this story illustrate our tendency to misunderstand (and miss out on) the riches we have in Christ?

    [Your Response Here]

    Think about your own relationship with God.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1