The change in times helped
far more today. Leaving at 6:45am, it took only 15 minutes to arrive at the
venue. Since we finished about 4pm (30 minutes early), it took only 20 minutes
to get back to the hotel. This is definitely the way to go in our schedule in
order to minimize wasted time on the road.
We started class this morning
with Ephesians 4:7 and completed the book in the afternoon session. Having
completed the more “doctrinal” portion of the epistle, we concentrated on the
application made to the lives mandated of those “in Christ.” We discussed and
examined in some detail numerous points:
· The various functions God gave to the church in order
to bring all to maturity and unity in Christ as every part does the work He
intended.
· When evil is permitted into our lives, it grows from a
mind desiring the evil, to a practice of evil and finally brings on to a habit
of evil that continues in “being past feeling,” no longer touch by the truth.
· When the light of truth are put into our lives, it has
the power to grow from a mind of desiring good, to a practice of righteousness
and finally become a habit of righteousness that becomes a joyous way of life.
· Anger and bitterness, if allowed to remain in our
life, will cause a multitude of problems and will spread like a cancer.
· Immorality must be permitted no place in our lives as
Christians because it is totally the opposite of the holiness of God. Such evil
has taken many from the light of God to a life of darkness, no longer serving
God’s cause, but living an existence of shame.
· The terrible danger and destruction of using
intoxicants.
· The parallel of the husband-wife relationship and that
of Christ and His church. We saw the primary lesson was that of Christ and the
church, but the parallel also teaches us about the responsibilities of husbands
and wives as well.
· The responsibilities of parents and children were
discussed in some detail giving some specific admonitions to the preachers to
remember their responsibilities as fathers to properly train their own
children, not just teaching the church and forgetting to take care of their own
homes.
· We looked in some detail at the “whole armor of God”
and emphasized the need to be equipped overall, not just in a few areas.
The Lord willing, we will
start with Colossians in the morning.
