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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023032S
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00:12 (music ends) 00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We are delighted to have you back with us again 00:22 as we continue our journey through the book of Ephesians, 00:26 an encouraging study and encouraging book. 00:30 And we're taking a look at it week by week, 00:33 study by study, verse by verse. 00:36 This week, we're looking at lesson 7, 00:38 "The Unified Body of Christ." 00:41 Let's begin with prayer. 00:42 Father, we want to thank You for being 00:45 with us as we study the book of Ephesians. 00:47 And as we continue to delve its depths, 00:50 we ask that You will bless us with a deeper understanding. 00:53 We thank You in Jesus' name. 00:55 Amen. >>Amen. 00:57 >>So we're grateful that you're here, 00:58 and Dr. John McVay, 01:00 we are grateful that you are here with us again, 01:03 the author of the quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 01:05 You are currently serving 01:07 as the president of Walla Walla University. 01:09 You sound like you're a fairly busy individual. 01:11 >>(chuckles) Well, it's been wonderful to carve out time 01:15 over the last years 01:16 to work afresh on "Ephesians," Sabbath school quarterly 01:19 and the companion book and so on, 01:21 and wonderful to be here with you, Eric. 01:24 >>And we're having fun delving into this 01:26 and discovering new things 01:29 and opening our minds and our hearts 01:31 to new and interesting truths and possibilities, 01:34 so, a fantastic journey. 01:36 Here we are now on lesson number seven-- 01:38 >>Yes. 01:39 >>...lesson number seven of 14. 01:41 >>Mm-hmm. >>So we're getting close 01:43 to halfway. >>Yes. 01:44 >>By the time we're done today, 01:46 we'll actually be halfway-- >>Mm-hmm. 01:48 >>...but hopefully not halfway done with 01:50 a complete study of the book of Ephesians. 01:52 >>(chuckles) Oh, we're just actually scratching the surface, 01:56 but it's fun to study this together. 01:59 >>It really is. 02:00 This week we're looking at "The Unified Body of Christ," 02:03 and we're looking specifically at chapter 4, 02:06 the beginning of chapter 4, verse number 1, 02:09 we see a shift in focus. 02:11 >>We've been looking-- >>Yes. 02:13 >>...in one direction up to this point, 02:14 and now in chapter 4-- 02:16 and there's only six chapters in the book of Ephesians, 02:19 so it's a relatively short book-- 02:20 but here in chapter 4, something happens. 02:22 Something shifts. >>Sure. 02:23 >>What happens here? >>Sure. 02:24 Well, in chapters 1-3, Paul has been unpacking 02:28 some really wondrous theology, hasn't he? 02:34 It's been a God-focused, Christ-saturated, 02:38 Spirit-inspired letter to this point, 02:41 where he really is unpacking the grand plan of God 02:44 to unify everything in Christ and how 02:47 that's especially focused on God's initiative through Christ 02:51 in creating one new humanity, which we call the church. 02:57 So he's been unpacking this glorious 03:00 theological trail through the first half of Ephesians, 03:04 and it's been a wonderful trail to trace together. 03:08 But then in chapter 4, verse 1, 03:10 as is true of most of his letters, the focus shifts. 03:14 It's not that there's no doctrine here. 03:15 It's not that that same wondrous theology isn't in view, 03:19 but he gets down 03:20 to the nitty-gritty of Christian discipleship. 03:22 How does all this wondrous, high-flown, 03:26 heavenly-places theology really impact the church 03:30 and its life and church members in their lives together? 03:34 Where does the rubber meet the road? 03:36 And we feel that change signaled in chapter 4, verse 1: 03:40 "I therefore, a prisoner [of] the Lord, 03:44 "urge you to walk in a manner 03:46 worthy of the calling to which you have been called." 03:49 So, after an introduction like that, 03:51 you're gonna expect some advice, some counsel 03:54 about how to live. 03:58 >>So now it's not so much the lofty; it's, "Okay, 04:01 you know, what about you?" Where the rubber meets the road, 04:04 where the boots meet the ground-- 04:05 >>Yes. >>...the day-to-day life, 04:07 what does this look like? So, as we read down 04:12 through the next, well, several verses, 04:15 if we're not paying attention, 04:17 it can seem perhaps a little disjointed. 04:19 >>Yes, it can. 04:20 >>But Paul, though he writes some things, as Peter says, 04:23 they're difficult to understand at times, 04:25 he's led us up through the first three chapters 04:29 to see that he has the themes. >>Yes. 04:32 >>And goes from point A to point B to point C. 04:34 We wouldn't expect him here, as we get to chapter four, 04:37 to just lose 04:38 that train of thought. >>No. 04:40 No, he remains very organized in his thought, and, in fact, 04:43 though he now turns to advice and counsel 04:48 directed toward how we act and behave 04:51 as disciples, particularly together in the church, 04:54 there's still a good dose of wondrous theology here. 04:57 He's gonna give us a new picture of the exaltation 05:02 of Jesus, harking back to the end of chapter 1. 05:05 You remember when we studied the exaltation 05:08 of Jesus there and this, these four historical events, 05:12 and Christ being enthroned with the Father and so on. 05:17 He's gonna give us a fresh picture 05:18 of the exaltation of Jesus. 05:20 So even though it's nitty-gritty, 05:23 rubber-meets-the-road counsel, 05:26 there's still rich theology that he presents. 05:29 >>So if we look at verses 1-16 here, 05:32 how would we kind of break that down, 05:34 break it apart-- >>Sure. 05:36 >>...pull it apart? How does it fit nicely together? 05:38 >>Well, verses 1-6 is a call to unity. 05:42 And it has two sections. 05:46 It has a list, a discussion 05:50 of attributes and actions that foster unity in the church, 05:54 'kay? So he talks about 05:58 "humility and gentleness, with patience"-- 06:00 verse 2--"bearing with one another in love" and so on. 06:05 But then in verses 4-6, 06:09 it becomes more poetic or hymn-like. 06:12 And he gives this list of seven ones, 06:15 this wondrous list of seven ones. 06:18 "There is one body"--counting them, 06:20 that's number one, right? One of the sevens. 06:22 There's "one body," there's "one Spirit-- 06:26 "just as you were called to...one hope"-- 06:28 there's number three--"one Lord, one faith, one baptism"-- 06:33 and concluding, appropriately enough-- 06:35 "one God and Father of all, who is over all 06:38 and through all and in all." Did we get all seven? 06:40 >>That's all seven of 'em. 06:41 >>Seven, and, you know, the number seven has that sense 06:44 of fullness, completeness, perfection. 06:48 So one, one, one, "one Lord, one faith, 06:50 one baptism," and so on, 06:53 this is a beautiful, wonderful celebration 06:58 of unity that we find in verses 1-6, 07:02 a call to unity, an announcement of unity. 07:07 And perhaps it's a good thing to pause right there 07:11 for a moment, Eric, and talk about unity 07:16 in these first six verses. 07:19 Paul seems to be almost of two minds here. 07:22 So, it's clear that unity is a theological fact. 07:29 He celebrates those in those sevens, right? 07:30 Those seven ones. There is not, "There might be," 07:35 but there is "one body," "one Spirit," and so on, 07:40 "one Lord, ...one baptism, one God and Father of all." 07:45 There's--he's celebrating this unity 07:48 as a God-given fact, a theological truth. 07:54 And sometimes I think we need to do more of that. 07:58 We get worried about some spat 08:00 that we're having in our local congregation 08:01 over the color of the carpet in the new renovation, right? 08:05 (chuckles) And we forget that, in fact, theological truth: 08:12 Blood-bought by Christ on Calvary, we are one. 08:14 >>That's right. That's right. 08:16 And he's helping us to revisit that. 08:19 >>He is. >>Or perhaps visit it 08:20 for the first time for ourselves 08:22 if we've sensed some disunity. 08:25 So in verses 1-6, there's a call to unity. 08:28 What do we see in 7-16? 08:30 >>Well, before we move there, looking at verse 3, you notice 08:33 that while unity is a theological fact, 08:37 Paul can say you need to be "eager to maintain 08:40 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of [faith]." 08:43 And the Greek verb for "unity" there is an energized word. 08:47 I mean, it's a theological fact. 08:51 It is truth. But you need to work hard to make it happen. 08:55 Now, that seems a little bit-- 08:59 doesn't align quite right 09:01 in our heads, but nonetheless, that's a fact. 09:03 We are, theologically--divine fact--we are united, 09:07 but we need to work zealously to actualize 09:11 that unity that is God-given fact. 09:14 >>I can only imagine that if more of us, as Christians, 09:18 worked zealously to realize the theological fact, 09:22 imagine how different the church would be today-- 09:25 >>Yes. >>...if we were able to find 09:27 unity, as opposed to just hoping for it 09:31 and wishing for it, as it were. 09:33 >>Now, in the second major section of our passage, 09:35 verses 4--verses 7-16, 09:41 Paul is going to give us an image of the exalted Jesus 09:45 as the Giver of gifted people to His church, 'kay? 09:49 So hang on to that, 09:51 because this is where it gets a little confusing. 09:53 He cites a specific verse from Scripture, 09:57 Psalm 68:18. It's a complex passage 10:01 with an ascent and descent, 10:03 and this, that, and the other go on, 10:04 and it's easy to get a little lost. 10:07 So hang on to--we should all hang on together 10:10 this idea that, in this second major section, 10:14 he's giving us an image of the exalted Christ 10:18 as the One who gives gifted people to His church, okay? 10:22 And we'll see how that works out. 10:24 >>Okay, very good. So, what should we learn? 10:28 I guess--let me put it that way: 10:29 What should we learn about the unity of the church 10:32 from this passage that we're pulling out here? 10:37 >>It's God-given fact, theological truth, 10:39 yet we need to work hard to help actualize it 10:42 and help it come into being in our experience 10:46 in our local congregations, in our city, and so on. 10:50 And number three, that unity is enhanced 10:54 by the gifted people that God places 10:57 within the church--their role, if they're playing the role 11:01 the ascended Jesus wishes them to play, 11:03 is to bind the church together, 11:06 to help it be unified in its life and its witness to Jesus. 11:10 >>So I'm gonna make an assumption here-- 11:13 and I'm fairly comfortable 11:15 with making the assumption-- (Dr. McVay laughs) 11:17 that if God wants His church to be unified, 11:21 He wants everybody to be a part 11:24 of that work, of that message, 11:28 of that understanding, of that body. 11:30 Because if you have some who are agreeing to being 11:34 a part of it and others who would just as soon go along 11:38 for the ride, as it were, we're not gonna see that unity, 11:42 and we're not gonna see the power and the strength, are we? 11:45 >>No. So, at the beginning and ending 11:48 of this second half of our passage, 11:50 in verses 7 and verse 16, 11:54 Paul underlines a very important principle, and that is 11:58 that every church member is gifted by Jesus. 12:04 Everyone has some role in helping 12:08 to bring this wonderful theological fact 12:12 of unity into the congregation at hand, 12:16 into the fellowship of the church, every church member. 12:20 >>And there are lots of different gifts-- 12:22 >>Yes. >>...many different gifts, 12:23 and not everyone 12:24 has the same gifts. >>Right, right. 12:26 >>I'm perfectly comfortable admitting the fact 12:29 that I do not have the gift of song, 12:30 of singing. (Dr. McVay chuckles) 12:32 I'm not gifted in that area at all. 12:34 Hospitality? Ehhh. 12:36 Speaking? Maybe. 12:38 But everybody has different gifts. 12:41 >>Yes. >>And so we're gonna talk 12:42 about some of those gifts a little bit 12:44 and see where different people can fit in, 12:46 and we're gonna look at what Paul has to say 12:50 about the unity of the church, those gifts, and what he, 12:54 by the grace of God, wants to see happen in our churches. 12:59 We're gonna come back and look at that in just a moment. 13:01 But before we do, I want to encourage you and remind you 13:05 that, in addition to the weekly studies that you are doing 13:08 on the book of Ephesians, there is a companion book 13:11 to this weekly study, called "Ephesians" by Dr. John McVay. 13:15 You can pick this up at itiswritten.shop. 13:19 Again, that's itiswritten.shop. 13:21 And it will give you so much more. 13:24 You do not wanna miss the opportunity to pick up 13:27 this companion book, you will be blessed by it, 13:31 and it will help you in learning more about God's plan 13:35 for your life, the beautiful letter that Paul wrote 13:37 to the church in Ephesus. 13:39 It is worth adding to your library, not just to look good 13:43 on your shelf, but to really bless your heart and your soul. 13:47 We're going to come back in just a moment 13:48 as we continue looking 13:50 at this week's lesson on the book of Ephesians. 13:53 We'll be right back. 13:54 (uplifting theme music swells and ends) 13:58 >>[John Bradshaw] Thank you for remembering 13:59 that It Is Written exists 14:00 because of the kindness of people just like you. 14:03 To support this international life-changing ministry, 14:06 please call us now at 800-253-300. 14:10 You can send your tax-deductible gift 14:12 to the address on your screen, 14:14 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:17 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 14:20 Our number again is 800-253-3000, 14:24 or you could visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:29 More and more people are watching It Is Written TV. 14:32 They're watching their favorite It Is Written programs, 14:36 listening to inspiring sermon series, and much more. 14:40 They're watching them here, here, and even here. 14:44 See for yourself why people are turning to It Is Written TV 14:47 to watch their favorite Christian programs live 14:50 and on demand. 14:51 Watch It Is Written TV for free anytime 14:54 on Roku, Apple TV, 14:56 and at itiswritten.tv. 14:58 (uplifting theme music) 15:03 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:04 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:06 We're continuing our study of lesson number seven, 15:09 looking at "The Unified Body of Christ." 15:11 And, John, before we went to break, 15:13 we were talking a little bit about this passage 15:16 that Paul quotes from Psalms here in verse number 8. 15:21 And you mentioned some very interesting characteristics 15:23 of this passage or this verse. What do we see here? 15:28 >>Well, I believe that 15:30 studying the Old Testament passage is really the key 15:32 to understanding the ascent and the descent 15:34 and some of the complexity of the passage here. 15:37 So if you go back to Psalm 68, verse 18, 15:40 it's a passage describing Yahweh, the Lord. 15:44 And it's describing Him, as is fairly frequent 15:48 in the Old Testament literature, as the great warrior. 15:52 So God is the great warrior stepping 15:54 onto the stage of history to right wrongs and so on. 15:58 And so here's the picture: 16:00 "You ascended on high, leading a host of captives 16:04 in your train and receiving gifts among men." 16:07 That's the picture; that's the snippet, 'kay? 16:11 Now, what's fascinating is that 16:13 when Paul quotes the verse, 16:16 he doesn't have the Yahweh Lord figure 16:20 as receiving gifts but giving gifts. 16:24 And that may be simply because at the end of the passage, 16:28 oh, verse 35, God is giving gifts. 16:32 So Paul may be drawing some things together 16:36 in Psalm 68. But the picture here is a warfare picture. 16:42 The Lord Yahweh has just won a great battle, a great war. 16:46 And when you do that in the context of the ancient world, 16:51 you ascend to the top of your capital city, 16:55 'cause your city's probably on a, 16:56 what we call a "tell" these days, right? 16:58 You ascend to your capital city. So, "You ascended on high," 17:01 meaning, You ascended to your capital city. 17:04 You "led a host of captives in Your train." 17:06 So You've won this great victory. You have prisoners of war. 17:10 You have a victory parade 17:12 up to Your city with these captives behind You, 17:17 testimony to the great victory that You've won. 17:20 And You receive gifts from people; 17:22 You receive tribute from those You have conquered. 17:25 You see the basic picture there. 17:27 Now, Paul is reading Psalm 68:18 17:30 just like he reads Psalm 8 and Psalm 110, 17:33 and he's seeing here a prophecy of Jesus. 17:39 And he believes that when Jesus ascended on high, 17:45 He then gave gifts to His people. 17:48 'Kay, so Jesus has won on Calvary's tree 17:52 a tremendous victory over, 17:55 against what seems to be obvious. 17:57 It wasn't a defeat. His death wasn't a defeat. 18:01 Colossians 2, verse 15, 18:03 it was, in fact, a victory over the powers of darkness. 18:06 And Jesus ascends to heaven, 18:10 and from heaven, having been exalted, from heaven, 18:14 He gives gifts to His people. 18:16 That's the basic picture, 'kay? 18:19 >>So we've got Jesus giving these gifts, and then 18:23 Paul starts talking a little bit about some of these gifts. 18:27 What do we see here? 18:29 >>It identifies, Paul identifies for us in verses 11 and 12 18:33 of chapter 4 of Ephesians-- 18:36 he identifies what the gifts were, right? 18:41 And so, the verses 9 and 10 18:45 try to sort out the ascent and the descent. 18:48 I think we follow the order of the psalm. 18:51 In that case, the ascent comes before the descent. 18:55 The ascent is Christ's ascent to the throne of God 18:58 following His resurrection. 19:00 The descent is Christ's descending in the Spirit 19:03 at Pentecost to give gifts, 19:05 okay? >>Very good. 19:06 >>Now, some of the translations don't help us 19:08 because they insert a word--He "first" descended. 19:13 But that word "first" is not in the Greek text. 19:16 And so I think we should track on the order 19:19 that the psalm gives us. 19:21 Exaltation, the ascent comes first with Christ's ascent 19:25 following the resurrection. 19:27 And the descent follows with Christ, in His Spirit, 19:31 descending at Pentecost. 19:33 >>Very good. >>Okay? 19:34 So then it says in verse 11, 19:37 "And He gave"--remember, 19:38 the ascended Christ is now from the heights, 19:42 from the exaltation of heaven. 19:44 He is pouring out His Spirit. He is giving gifts. 19:46 This would be Acts, chapter 2 language, 19:49 the end of Acts 2, verses 33-36. 19:52 "And He gave"--or the gifts that He gave were-- 19:57 that some would be apostles, prophets, 20:01 evangelists, pastors, and teachers. 20:05 Now, the particular Greek syntax there suggests 20:07 that pastor, teacher are one group. 20:10 So these are pastors/teachers-- 20:12 >>Pastors who are teachers. 20:14 >>...pastors who are teachers, teachers who are pastors. 20:16 They're sharing this activity. 20:20 So you have these four categories of 20:23 what could be called ministers of the Word, right? 20:27 In some way or another, they're ministering God's Word 20:30 to people, evangelistically, as a form of nurture and so on. 20:35 So they're ministers of the Word. 20:37 And the comparison with 1 Corinthians 12 is interesting. 20:41 In 1 Corinthians 12, 20:43 the Spirit gives spiritual gifts to people. 20:47 In Ephesians, chapter 4, a little twist on the imagery here, 20:51 Jesus is the Giver of the gifts. 20:54 And He doesn't so much give spiritual gifts 20:56 to people as He gives gifted people to His church. 21:01 You see the slight difference there? 21:03 So He gives these people. Now, at that point, Eric, 21:06 we have to ask ourselves, who are these people? 21:09 Because we kind of think we know 21:11 who some of these people are. 21:12 We know who evangelists are, and we know who pastors are, 21:17 and we kind of know who teachers are, 21:20 but our categories 21:21 for those don't necessarily match precisely 21:25 what Paul is thinking of in the first century in Ephesus. 21:29 This is in a day long before there were conference offices 21:32 and paychecks and, you know, all of those things. 21:35 Paul really here is highlighting local church leaders 21:40 in the local house churches and those people 21:43 who had these roles of sharing the Word of God 21:47 with their fellow members, of sharing the message 21:50 of the gospel with the community, and so on. 21:53 So we ought not to think of these 21:54 as some special class of people, clergy, and so on. 21:59 These are lay members of the church. 22:01 These are church members who have added 22:04 to their vocations of earning bread a role, 22:09 God-breathed, God-ordained role. 22:13 >>Which kind of makes sense if Paul is writing 22:15 this letter to the church in Ephesus-- 22:17 >>Mm-hmm. >>...to let them know 22:19 that these are some gifts that they can expect to see there 22:21 in that local church. >>Right, right. 22:24 >>Makes a whole lot of sense. 22:26 >>And so Paul's gonna work this out 22:28 in the context of the body metaphor. 22:30 And again, the body metaphor is similar 22:33 in some ways to its presence in 1 Corinthians 12. 22:36 And in some other ways it's fairly different. 22:39 So in Romans 12, in 1 Corinthians 12, 22:44 the head is not distinguished 22:46 as a particularly important part of the body. 22:49 This is the first time, Colossians and Ephesians, 22:52 where the head is identified. 22:53 And here the head is-- >>The Christ. 22:56 >>...is Christ, right? 22:58 So the head is Christ. So that's a little bit new. 23:01 And then also here, 23:03 these gifted people that we've just talked about 23:06 are identified in the context of the body metaphor 23:09 as ligaments or tendons. 23:11 And so they're playing a role as connective tissue, right? 23:16 Uniting the body, pulling everything together. 23:19 The role of these ministers of the Word ought to be, 23:22 if it's functioning well, 23:24 it ought to be to help unify the church, 23:27 actualize that unity, which is our God-given right and fact. 23:32 >>I like the way you use the term 23:34 "if it's functioning well." 23:35 >>(chuckling) Yes, if it's functioning well. 23:37 >>Because we--there are ideals, 23:39 and then there's the situation 23:40 in which we find ourselves in the real world. 23:43 Paul kind of makes reference 23:45 to something along those lines in verse number 14. 23:47 In verse 14, he says, 23:49 "That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro 23:51 and carried about with every" this, that and the other. 23:54 The indication here is things aren't going 100% smoothly. 23:58 >>Yep, this is a very idealistic letter, 24:01 but one has the sense that Paul chooses to be in that tone. 24:04 He doesn't want to add to their being downhearted 24:08 about what it means to be a Christian. 24:10 So mostly he stays on a fairly idealistic plane. 24:13 But this would be probably the principal place 24:16 in the letter, chapter 4, verse 14, 24:19 where he suggests there could be some issues, 24:21 apparently some false doctrine floating around and so on. 24:25 Don't be "children, tossed to and fro by the waves, 24:28 "carried [around] by every wind of doctrine, 24:30 by human cunning, by craftiness." 24:32 There's a lot of different imagery 24:34 that's going on in verse 14. 24:38 Someone has summarized all these metaphors 24:41 that he's using this way: 24:42 "Stop being babies tossed high by waves 24:46 "and blown about by every gust of teaching 24:48 in this sea of human trickery." 24:52 It's quite an image, quite a set of images. 24:54 >>That puts it down in our terms, 24:56 in our language that we can understand. 24:59 And we're talking here this week 25:01 about "The Unified Body of Christ." 25:03 And as you mentioned, Paul is being somewhat idealistic 25:06 about this. >>Yes. 25:07 >>But we also recognize 25:09 that he's dealing with reality in here. 25:11 The reality for someone who's watching this, 25:13 listening to this week's program right now 25:15 is they may see a lack of unity, 25:18 a lack of participation in perhaps their own local church. 25:23 >>Sure. >>What words of encouragement 25:25 would you give them to help buoy them up 25:28 above the morass of reality, at least as they see it, 25:33 and help them to see the exalted picture 25:36 and the very realistic possibility 25:39 that God desires for them to experience 25:42 and be a part of in their church? 25:45 >>I think our passage, Ephesians 4:1-16, 25:49 is really, really helpful for us here. 25:51 I like the fact that verse 14 is there; 25:53 it acknowledges the reality of 25:55 less-than-perfect situations in local congregations. 25:59 But again, Paul is gonna point us 26:01 to the wondrous theological realities. 26:04 The fact that your congregation is haggling 26:07 about this, that, or the other, 26:11 the carpet in the renovation, or whatever it might be, 26:14 is a kind of surface issue. 26:17 And you can certainly acknowledge that surface issue 26:20 in prayer before the Lord and say, 26:21 "You know this challenge and this issue. 26:24 "But thank You for helping us live 26:28 "into the true unity of the church. 26:31 "Thank You for bringing the power of the gospel 26:34 to bear upon our church fellowship." 26:37 >>So there's encouragement there, 26:39 and we hope that you are encouraged. 26:41 The reality is not everything is perfect in Christ's church. 26:46 But the reality is also 26:48 that everything is perfect in Christ Jesus. 26:51 And when we take a look at His exalted status 26:54 and His power and what He desires to do in the church, 26:59 and even in your local church, there should be hope. 27:02 In fact, indeed, there is hope and a great deal of it. 27:07 We're going to continue, 27:08 as we go through the book of Ephesians, 27:10 seeing some very practical advice 27:12 that Paul gives to those of us living today, 27:16 in the very closing hours of earth's history, 27:19 so that we can be encouraged, 27:21 we can be strengthened, we can be emboldened 27:25 to be exactly what Jesus wants us to be. 27:29 And in the remaining weeks 27:30 as we study the book of Ephesians, 27:31 we're going to see that in very, very clear ways. 27:35 We trust that you've been blessed this week 27:37 as we've looked at "The Unified Body of Christ." 27:39 And we look forward to seeing you again next week 27:41 as we continue our study in the book of Ephesians. 27:44 This has been "Sabbath School," 27:46 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:48 (uplifting theme music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-08-03