Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Message
  What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
• II. COUPLETS EXPRESSING WISDOM 10:1--22:16
  Chapters 1-9, as we have seen, contain discourses that Solomon evidently wrote urging his sons to choose the way of wisdom for their lives.92At 10:1 we begin the part of the book that sets forth what the wise way is in a vari...
• II. Oracle one: Yahweh's love for Israel 1:2-5
  The revelation that Yahweh gave Malachi for Israel consisted of six "heavy"messages. The first one reminded God's people of His love for them and of their ungratefulness.1:2a The Lord's first word to His people was short and ...
• VI. Oracle five: The people's sin of robbing God 3:7-12
  The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
• Praying 6:5-15 (cf. Luke 11:1-13)
  6:5-6 Jesus assumed that His disciples would pray, as He assumed they would give alms (v. 2) and fast (v. 16). Again He warned against ostentatious worship. The synagogues and streets were public places where people could pra...
• 5. Instruction about serving 20:20-28 (cf. Mark 10:35-45)
  This pericope shows that the disciples did not understand what Jesus had said (cf. Luke 18:34)."Despite Jesus' repeated predictions of his passion, two disciples and their mother are still thinking about privilege, status, an...
• The Lord's Prayer 11:1-4 (cf. Matt. 6:9-13)
  Luke's record of Jesus' teaching the Lord's Prayer differs significantly enough from Matthew's account that we can safely conclude that Jesus gave similar teaching on separate occasions. This repetition illustrates the import...
• Paul's address to the Ephesian elders 20:17-35
  "Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its the...
• A. The description of justification 3:21-26
  Paul began by explaining the concept of justification.92"We now come to the unfolding of that word which Paul in Chapter One declares to be the very heart of the gospel . . ."933:21 The "righteousness of God"here refers to Go...
• B. Thanksgiving 1:4-9
  Paul followed his salutation with an expression of gratitude for his original readers, as he usually did in his epistles. In this case the focus of his thanksgiving was on God's grace in giving the Corinthians such great spir...
• The reason participating in prostitution is wrong 6:18-20
  Sexual immorality is wrong, Paul concluded, because it involves sinning against one's body, which in the case of believers belongs to the Lord through divine purchase.6:18 In conclusion, believers should flee from fornication...
• Message3
  The Book of Ephesians enables us to view God's creation from an alpine altitude. When we study this book, it is as though we have climbed a high mountain peak because the book gives us that kind of perspective on what God has...
• Outline
  I. Salutation 1:1-2II. The Christian's calling 1:3-3:21A. Individual calling 1:3-2:101. The purpose: glory 1:3-142. The means: knowledge 1:15-233. The motive: grace 2:1-10B. Corporate calling 2:11-3:191. Present unity 2:11-22...
• I. SALUTATION 1:1-2
  In most of his epistles Paul began by setting forth foundational truth and then concluded by applying that truth to the lives of his readers. This pattern is very obvious in Ephesians where the first three chapters deal with ...
• 1. The purpose: glory 1:3-14
  In the Greek text verses 3-14 are one sentence. The Holy Spirit carried Paul along in his thinking as he contemplated God's provision so that he moved quickly from one blessing to the next. It is as though he was ecstatically...
• The sacrifice of the Son 1:7-12
  1:7 The "Him"in view is the beloved Son (v. 6).Redemption (Gr. apolytrosin) means release from slavery (cf. v. 14; 4:30; Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35). It involves buying back and sett...
• The seal of the Spirit 1:13-14
  "God's spiritual blessings for believers are based not only on the sovereign election of the Father (vv. 3-6) and the redemptive work of the Son (vv. 7-12), but also on the seal of the Holy Spirit."301:13 In contrast to the J...
• 2. The means: knowledge 1:15-23
  Having reviewed his readers' blessings in Christ, Paul next prayed that they would appreciate and appropriate these good things in their own lives. Verses 15-23 are one sentence in the Greek text as are verses 3-14. Intellect...
• Supplication 1:17-23
  1:17 Paul returned to his concept of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3; cf. Matt. 6:9). He combined with this fact the idea that all glory belongs to the Father (vv. 6, 12, 14; cf. Acts 7:2; 1 Cor. 2:8).Paul as...
• 3. The motive: grace 2:1-10
  Paul concluded his revelation of the Christian's individual calling in Christ (1:3-2:10). He began this section of the epistle by explaining the purpose of our calling (i.e., the glory of God, 1:3-14). He then expounded the m...
• Once dead to God 2:1-3
  These verses are really preliminary to Paul's main point. They describe the Christian's condition as an unbeliever before God justified him or her. In the Greek text verses 1-7 are one sentence. The subject of this sentence i...
• Now alive in God 2:4-10
  The wrath of God on the unbeliever (v. 3) contrasts with the grace of God on the believer (vv. 5, 7, 8). God's grace toward some unbelievers gives them life (vv. 4-5), raises them up (v. 6), and seats them in heavenly realms ...
• III. THE CHRISTIAN'S CONDUCT 4:1--6:20
  Practical application (chs. 4-6) now follows doctrinal instruction (chs. 1-3).
• The basis of unity 4:1-6
  4:1 "Therefore"or "then"refers to what Paul had said in chapters 1-3. To walk worthily or in balance means to harmonize one's conduct with his or her calling. Calling here refers to God's calling to live in unity as Jews and ...
• 3. Walking in love 5:1-6
  In addition to calling his readers to walk in unity (4:1) and holiness (4:17), Paul urged them to walk in love (5:2). He first advocated positive love (vv. 1-2) and then negatively warned to abstain from evil (vv. 3-6).5:1 "T...
• B. Spiritual warfare 6:10-20
  That this section is distinct from the five that precede it is evident from two facts. Paul introduced it differently, and the emphasis in it is on God's resources. Earlier Paul urged the strengthening and growth of the body ...
• IV. CONCLUSION 6:21-24
  Paul's anticipation of his defense before Nero brought him back to the present in his thinking. His exposition of the mystery of the church to his readers had ended. He had also explained their proper conduct in view of their...
• C. The Possibility of Rest for God's People 4:1-14
  The writer returned again from exhortation to exposition. He now posed the alternatives of rest and peril that confronted the new people of God, Christians.127The writer warned his readers so they would not fail to enter into...
• A. The Believer's Resources 1:3-4
  Peter reminded his readers of God's power and promises that were available to them. He did this to rekindle an appreciation for the resources God had given them in view of their present needs. This epistle begins and ends on ...
• 1. Renouncing sin 1:8-2:2
  John continued a structural pattern that he established in the previous section (vv. 6-7) in which he used pairs of clauses to present a false assertion followed by his correction.1:8 This second claim (cf. v. 6) is more seri...
• 2. The salvation of the great multitude 7:9-17
  There are a number of contrasts between the 144,000 and this great multitude. The number of the first group is not only smaller but definite whereas the number of the second group is larger and indefinite. People from the 12 ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• According To' I.
  According to the good pleasure of His will, According to the riches of His grace.'--Eph. 1:5-7.THAT phrase, according to,' is one of the key-words of this profound epistle, which occurs over and over again, like a refrain. I ...
• According To'--II.
  According to the riches of His grace.'--Eph. 1:7.WE have seen, in a previous sermon, that a characteristic note of this letter is the frequent occurrence of that phrase according to.' I also then pointed out that it was emplo...