Do you believe that God chose you? That before you were even born, he wanted you, and before he spoke the world into being, he had a plan for how he was going to rescue you. As I spent time studying this first chapter in the book of Ephesians, I was overcome with emotion as the truth that God wanted me all along washed over me. I pray that our time in this passage will have the same life-giving, love-filling effect on you. Because you, my friend, are wanted by the God of the universe. Before I read this passage, I would so appreciate it if you would take a minute and click that subscribe button, and give this video a like. It's one of the best ways to show the YouTube algorithm that you find this content valuable. The book of Ephesians may be very familiar to you; now, it's okay if it's not. By the end of this video series, it will be, so stick around. But if you spent much time in church, you've probably heard multiple sermons preached on the book of Ephesians, and you may have even memorized some passages from Ephesians. I want to urge you, don't let your brain go into autopilot when you hear things you've heard before, or read things that you've read before. Let's be humble as we study God's Word, and not assume that we know what it already says. Let's ask the Lord to give us eyes to see and ears to hear what he has to say as we study. So grab your Bible, and let's seek him together. Now, anytime we're going to study a new book of the Bible, we always want to start with an overview, a background to give us some context for the passages that we're going to study. Now I did this in my last video, which you can find linked in the description below. I gave a really thorough history of Paul's interaction with the Ephesians and gave you some history about the city of Ephesus and the culture there. I'd encourage you if you haven't watched that video, after you finish this one, go click that link because it's going to give you a lot of great information that will impact the way that you understand the book of Ephesians. But in the meantime, here's a quick summary. The Book of Ephesians is a letter. It was written by Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. Paul was writing to Gentile believers in the city of Ephesus and the surrounding region. Paul had spent more than two years in the city of Ephesus, building relationships with the Ephesians and telling them the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Paul loved the Ephesian believers, and so several years after his time there, while he was in prison in Rome, Paul wrote this letter back to the Ephesians. So when we read the book of Ephesians, we went to remember Paul's pastoral heart for the people he's writing to and the great respect that they had for the Apostle Paul. Ephesians is a letter that carried great weight and would have been treasured by the people who received it. As we study this book, we're going to follow a few specific steps, and this will be our system for studying each portion of Scripture.The first thing that we're going to do is make some observations. We're going to look for things like repeated words and phrases. We're going to look for key themes and ideas that are obvious focal points that the author wanted to communicate to his original readers. We're also going to ask questions like who, what, when, where, and why. Then, after we've made some observations, we'll look at interpreting the passage. What did it mean to the original readers? What was Paul trying to communicate? And then we'll consider what does all of this mean for me as a modern-day believer? What can I learn about God? And what can I learn about how to be a follower of Jesus? I'm dividing chapter 1 into three different sections. We'll look really briefly at verses one and two, which is really the introduction to the chapter. Then today we'll spend most of our time looking at verses 3 through 14. And in the next video, we'll cover verses 15 through 23. Okay, let's jump in. I'm going to begin by reading Ephesians, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by God's will, to the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus, grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” So Paul starts his letter with a greeting. Now, if you watched my previous video introducing the book of Ephesians, you will remember that verse 1 actually gives us some really important contextual facts about this book. You see in verse 1 that Paul is the author, and also that it is written to the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus. And then he gives this familiar greeting. He says, grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Paul's desire for his fellow believers, that they would know the grace and peace that God offers through Jesus. Keeping in mind these introductory details, let's dig into the first half of Chapter 1. I'm going to read to you verses 3 through 14, and then we'll break it down and look more deeply at it. Now don't get distracted while I'm reading to you, friend, because these words are so powerful and meaningful. I don't want you to miss them. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 14 says, “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself. According to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the beloved one. In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him. In him we have also received an inheritance because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of His will. So that we, who had already put our hope in Christ, might bring praise to his glory. In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the possession to the praise of his glory.” Now, what we have here in verses 3 through 14 is an outpouring of worship, and verse 3 really introduces this worship. Verse 3 says “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.” Another way to translate that first word, “blessed,” would be “praise be.” Really, what Paul is saying is praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says that this God that we're worshipping has blessed us or has bestowed upon us every spiritual blessing available in the heavens in Christ. And this phrase “in Christ” comes up over and over and over again in our passage. Effectively, Paul is saying that these blessings that God has given to us, they are available to us because of Jesus, through Jesus. Christ is the key. God the Father is the initiator, and he accomplishes his purposes through his Son, Jesus Christ. Now look at how verse 3 is connected to verse 4 and the following verses. Remember, verse 3 said, “blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ, for He chose us in Him.” So do you see that connecting word? The CSB translation, which is what I use, says, for He chose us. Other translations say things like even as, or just as. What we're seeing is that verses 4 through 14 really lay out for us what it means to be blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. So we want to keep that in mind as we're making our observations. First of all, did you notice that we see references to God, the Father, and Jesus Christ over and over and over again in this passage? When we see something repeated, we want to take note, it matters, it's important, and clearly, they are the primary “who” of our passage. While we do learn a lot about what God has done for us in this passage, the emphasis is primarily on God as the doer. We also see some other repeated words and phrases. We see words like chose, predestined, purposed, plan, his will. Again, these are pointing us to the intentionality of what God has done, and words like lavished riches, richly poured out, these are emphasizing God's extravagant generosity towards his people. Now, keep in mind that if you're reading a different translation, you might have different wording, but you should still be able to see these repeated themes and ideas. Another repeated phrase is to the “praise of his glory” and we see this several times in this passage, which communicates the why behind what Paul is telling us that God has done. If you look closely, you will see other words that are repeated, but let's hone in on these as they are the most prominent. Now let's spend a couple minutes looking at the “us” and “we” see repeated throughout our passage. When we're first studying the scripture, we want to really consider how the original readers would have understood the message. Now, remember, we saw in verse 1 that Paul is writing to the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus. We also saw in Chapter 3, verse 1 that Paul specifically addressed Gentile believers. And in my introduction video, I explained that it was likely a circular letter. So it was intended not just for the church and emphasis, but to be passed around to other churches in the region. Now I do want us to keep in mind those original readers, the people that Paul loved so much and had spent time with. However, because these verses use the words “us” and “we” so frequently, and the reality is that for those of us who are followers of Jesus, these passages do apply to us as well. I'm going to keep using the word “us” and “we” in our interpretation rather than referring to them and then applying it to us. If you are a believer, then according to the scriptures, you are a saint, and these truths about salvation and the work that God has done, they apply to you and I. These words are for us too. And friend, if you do not consider yourself a believer, or you're unsure of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, to have received the gift of salvation and the precious blessing of a personal relationship with Jesus, then I'd encourage you talk to someone you know who can tell you more about Jesus and the good news of salvation. Or you can click the link in the description below that will take you to a video where I will tell you about my personal relationship with Jesus, and I will tell you how you can know Jesus as your personal Lord and savior, finding freedom from the guilt of sin, and hope in the promise of spending eternity in heaven with God. Okay, considering what we've observed so far, let's seek to understand what these passages are communicating. First, we notice that God the Father and Jesus Christ are the main characters in our passage that we're studying. And if you look closely, you see over and over again that Paul is trying to communicate to his readers that God initiates his plan, and he accomplishes it through Jesus. I want you to watch for that as I quickly go through all of these verses, then we'll go back to them a little bit more slowly. But I want you to look for this reality that God is the initiator, and he accomplishes his purposes through Jesus. In verse 4, we see that God chose us. Remember that “us” Paul is referring to is himself and the believers he's writing to. So God chose us, and then it says “in him” and that him is Jesus. Then in verse 5, “God predestined us to be adopted through Jesus.” In verse 6, we see that God lavished grace on us in the Beloved One, that is Jesus. In verse 7, we see that we have redemption in Jesus through his blood. We also have forgiveness according to God's grace. In verse 8, God richly poured out his grace, and in verse 9, God made known to us his will in Christ. In verse 10, we read about God's plan to bring everything together in Christ. In verse 11, we have an inheritance in Christ because God predestined it. In verse 12, it tells us that this inheritance is for those of us who have put our hope in Christ. Verse 13 tells us we are sealed in Christ. And verse 14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is our down payment to the praise of God's glory. God is the initiator here. He determined his purposes and then accomplished them through Jesus. Now, before we look more closely at what it is that God accomplished through Jesus, I want to turn your attention back to two more of those repeated themes. First, we have the words referring to God's purpose, his predestination, his plan. Now I have no intention of diving into the doctrine of predestination and all the nuances and controversy there. However, I am going to say what is plain as day here in this passage, regardless of what you believe about the overarching doctrine of predestination. Paul clearly states here that God predestined us to be adopted as his sons. And what that means for you, friend, is that if you are in Christ, if you have surrendered your life to Jesus and trusted him for salvation, then you were predestined to be adopted by God. He chose you; he wanted you before he laid the foundation of the world, before he spoke the cosmos into being. He wanted you for his own. He wanted me, this is the truth in this passage that left me breathless and brought me to tears more than once. God wanted me; he planned to adopt me. I was a part of his plan from the very beginning. So when we're reading this passage, and we encounter phrases like according to the good pleasure of his will, and predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will. Don't lose the significance here. When God decides something, then it will be, and before he created the world, God decided to adopt us, to save us, to make a way for us to be redeemed. He decided it, and then he accomplished it, because he is God, and that is what he does. So the other set of repeated words that I want to point out, we see in verses 6, 7, and 8, and really it's kind of like we see Paul gushing. He uses this dramatic language, and you can see that it's almost like he is struggling to communicate the gravity of what he wants to say. He refers to God lavishing his grace on us, and then he refers to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us. I feel like you can imagine Paul saying, this is a big deal. This grace, it's big, this gift of grace, it's extravagant. So now let's go back to verses 4 through 6 where we read, “For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. In verse 4, Paul tells us that God chose us to be holy and blameless. Again, note that being holy and blameless, it can only be accomplished through Christ. We cannot be made holy and blameless apart from Jesus. I love the way that the ESV Study Bible differentiates between these two words. It explains that holy refers to moral purity, and being blameless is to have freedom from the guilt of sin. So it was God's plan to make us holy and blameless through Jesus, then in verse 5, we see that God desired to adopt us as sons. It was God's plan and desire. Paul calls it the pleasure of his will for us to be adopted as his children. But this could only be accomplished if we were made holy and blameless, and so he sent Jesus to make that possible. This is more completely explained in verses 7 and 8, where we read “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.” So you see, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, and that word redemption, it refers to being released through the payment of a ransom. In Paul's letter to the Romans, it says, “but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” It is through the blood of Christ that our ransom was paid. We were bought back and offered forgiveness for our sins because of God's extravagant grace. Now continuing on in verses 9 and 10, it says, “He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. Now these verses actually bring up a topic that will be discussed more later in the book of Ephesians, and it was extremely significant to those original readers. If you remember from my last video, we saw that Chapter 3 tells us that the majority of the believers in Ephesus would have been Gentiles. Now the mystery referenced in verse 9 has to do with the offering of salvation to all mankind, and the uniting of believers, both Jew and Gentile. This was revolutionary to the early church, and a very difficult concept for both the Jews and the Gentiles to believe. Those early Gentile believers, they would have struggled to grasp the reality that God had chosen them and desired for them to be his children. We'll talk more about that in future videos, but again take note of the fact that the revealing of this mystery was according to God's good pleasure and purpose in Christ. Now let's read the remainder of this section, verses 11 through 14. In him, we have also received an inheritance because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will. So that we, who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory in him. You also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the possession to the praise of his glory. Okay, so here we're told about our inheritance. Now all throughout the New Testament there are references to our inheritance as believers. This inheritance has immediate as well as eternal implications, including blessings like freedom from the guilt of sin, and peace that passes understanding, and ultimately the promise of eternity in paradise with God. The point in these verses again is that this inheritance, it is according to God's plan, and it is accomplished when we believe in Christ for salvation. Then Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is our down payment, the guarantee, and the immediate portion of the inheritance that we will receive in full one day when Christ returns, and our redemption is complete. So having studied these verses together, what does this mean for you and I? Friend if you have ever wondered if you are truly loved by God, if you have ever wondered if you matter to him, or if you're even on his radar, let these words wash over you and fill you with wonder and awe at the reality that the God of the universe, he chose and planned for you. Listen to what Paul is telling you about yourself. If you are in Christ, if you have accepted the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers, and surrendered your life to God, because of the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing. You were chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. It was part of his plan to adopt you through Jesus for himself. He wanted you, and he lavished his grace upon you in Jesus. In Jesus, you have redemption through the blood of Christ, forgiveness of all your trespasses through his word. He has made known to you the mystery of his will to bring everything together in Christ. You have received an inheritance because you were chosen according to the plan of God, who does exactly what he intends to do in his perfect wisdom, and why did he lavish this grace upon us? Why did he send Jesus to offer us forgiveness, so that we who have put our hope in Christ might bring God praise and glory. We are here on this earth to make our God known, to worship him, and to point people to him. And again, because of God's lavish grace, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of your inheritance that you have waiting for you in eternity with your heavenly Father. And remember, this has nothing to do with you. You did nothing to deserve God's grace, but in his goodness, his mercy, his perfect knowledge and wisdom, he did this. And he did it all through Jesus. It was his brilliant, extravagant, gracious plan. Praise the Lord. He is so worthy of our worship. Thanks so much for joining me in this study. If you found this video valuable, I would so appreciate it. If you would share it with anyone else who may be blessed by it. And if you missed the first video in this series, where I covered the background of the book of Ephesians, you can click this link here and watch that now. Also, I'd love to hear from you in the comment section. Did you learn something new? What stuck out to you in this passage? Let's share with each other what we're learning so that we can grow together. And in the meantime, keep seeking him. He is so worth knowing.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find myself feeling disconnected from the Lord, with a spirit that feels dry and a heart that is lacking in Hope and peace. Sometimes my Bible study, it just becomes a habit. Something that I'm doing to check off of my to-do list, and then it's like my heart disconnects, and the truths that I read, they stop changing me, and God's promises stop filling me with the hope and the confidence that they should. And what I've come to recognize is that when I study God's word, either purely academically, or I'm doing it out of a sense of obligation instead of desire. Well then, my study loses some of its power and its effectiveness, but we don't have to study the Bible that way; there is a better way. We can study God's word responsibly, engaging our brains and learning. While at the same time, coming to God's word with the spirit of humility of devotion, and desire. And that is how we're going to approach the Bible. As we begin our study in the book of Ephesians.

Hi friends. Welcome to my channel. My name is Sarah, and I love the word of God, and I am so excited to start this new study with you in the book of Ephesians. David refers to longing for the Lord as the dear pants for the water. And I've noticed that the more time I spend with the Lord, in the word, engaging, listening, praying, and even wrestling through the things that I don't understand, those are the times when I begin to sense his presence in my day-to-day moments; that's when I begin to hear his whisper of comfort. When I'm experiencing fear or doubt, I don't want to just be a student of the word. I want to be a lover and a follower of Jesus, but how can I love him if I don't know who he is?

But that's the thing that the Bible offers us, it offers us an opportunity to know our God today. I'm going to give you an introduction to the book of Ephesians. Now we're going to start by just looking at the basic context. We're going to ask questions like what kind of book is this, and who wrote it? Who was it written to? But later in this video, we're going to go deeper, and we're going to really learn about the people in the city of Ephesus. These are the people that Paul loved so much and was so committed to that he spent two years in the city of Ephesus with them, pouring into them, making sure that they understood the gospel of Jesus and the freedom that Christ offered them.

This book is special because it comes from a place of great devotion and affection. Now, in our next video, we're actually going to begin studying the book of Ephesians, and we're going to ask the Lord to reveal Himself to us through the scriptures. But today we're going to study the fascinating history behind the Book of Ephesians.

So grab your Bibles and let's seek him together. Now, anytime I start studying a new book of the Bible, the first question that I want to ask myself is what kind of book it is. When we are looking at the books of the Bible, we need to consider the type of literature that the specific book that we're looking at is. The Bible actually has a lot of genres of literature, and we want to consider that when we're determining how to understand and interpret the book that we're going to read.

For example, we would not read the book of Proverbs, which is a collection of wisdom sayings, in the same way that we would read the book of Isaiah, which is a prophetic book. And we wouldn't interpret the poetry of the Book of Psalms in the same way that we would interpret the narrative of the Book of Luke. So while we know that all scripture is God-breathed and profitable, there are different types of literature, and we want to know that before we begin to try to understand what the book means. So the Book of Ephesians is an epistle, and an epistle is a letter. Now, in the Bible, the epistles were written by Apostles, most of them by the Apostle Paul, and these were letters that carried weight.

They were valued and worthy of honor. So when we read the book of Ephesians, we are reading a letter that carries an important, valuable message. Now, Ephesians is actually a specific type of epistle. It is one of four prison Epistles in the New Testament. And what that means is that Ephesians, along with the books of Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, are all letters that were written by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome.

So we referred to them as the prison Epistles. Now, after we've discovered what type of literature it is, we then want to consider who wrote it, which of the human authors that God inspired to write the scriptures wrote, the book that we are going to study, and the answer to our question is actually found right in the book itself.

If you would look with me at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1, the first words we read are Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by God's will. And then again, if you look at chapter 3 of Ephesians, verse 1, it says, "For this reason, I Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus."

So we see Paul actually is identifying himself as the author of this letter. Next, let's ask the question. Who is this book to? So we saw that it was written by Paul. Who is Paul writing to? And we actually see the answer to this question in the same verses that we just read.

So if you look back to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1, it says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will to the faithful Saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus." Now again skip to chapter 3, and look at verse 1, where it says, "For this reason I Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles."

So, did you notice that there are actually three different things mentioned in. Those two verses are about the original recipients. First, we see that this letter is to the faithful Saints. So what does that mean? What is a faithful saint? Well, really, what this means is that this book is to Believers.

This is to those who have already decided to follow Jesus. Next, we saw that it is to the faithful Saints in Ephesus. So this book is called Ephesians because it is a letter written to the church in the city of Ephesus. Then, in chapter 3, we saw that it was written to Gentiles.

So, this letter is not written to those who grew up in the Jewish faith and then came to know Jesus as the Messiah. This is actually written to those who were outside of the Jewish faith, outside of the Jewish nationality, and they have given their lives to Jesus. They've come to see that Jesus is the Messiah.

Now, this is actually something that there is a lot to say about. And we're going to look a lot more at that idea that this book is written to Gentiles and the significance of that as we study the book of Ephesians But for now, we just want to take note of those background facts so so far we've seen that Ephesians is a prison epistle it was written by the Apostle Paul to Gentile Believers in the city of Ephesus.

Now, just a quick side note about that is that, although this letter is specifically written to the Ephesians, it is very likely that it was actually intended to then circulate among the other churches in the region. Now, let's talk for a minute about the city of Ephesus because this will give us some context for these people, that Paul is writing to. So, Ephesus was a poor city, it was a capital of the Roman province of Asia, and inside of the city of Ephesus, you would find the Temple of Artemis or the Temple of Diana.

And much of the culture, both in Ephesus and the surrounding region, was centered around the worship of the goddess, Artemis. Now, something else to note about the city is that it was steeped in Magic in the occult. So, keep in mind that these people that Paul is writing to, they are following Jesus, but they are living in a culture centralized around the idolatrous worship of Artemis as well as the practice of magic.

Okay. So we've asked the question, what kind of literature is the book of Ephesians? We've also asked who wrote it, and to who is it written. And now, we want to ask the question, when? So we want to consider the time frame of the book of Ephesians. And we really want to look at two different time periods.

We want to consider the time when Paul was actually writing the book, but we also want to look at the time when Paul spent time in Ephesus because the Book of Ephesians is a letter written from Paul to Believers in Ephesus, but this was a city that he had been to.

He's actually writing back to a church where he spent a significant amount of time in the past. So let's start with a little bit of a history lesson of Paul's time in Ephesus. Now, if you're trying to plot this on an actual timeline and consider dates, Paul first spent a brief period of time in Ephesus, at the very end of his second missionary journey, and this would have been around A.D 53.

So we're going to look at the Book of Acts because this is where we're going to read about the time when Paul was in Ephesus. So, if you would turn with me to Acts chapter 18, and we're going to look at verses 18 through 21. And this is what we read,

"After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, but he said farewell and added, 'I'll come back to you again, if God wills.' Then he set sail from Ephesus."

So there we see this short stay in Ephesus with the intention to return. Now, then, in Acts chapter 19, you can actually read about Paul's return to Ephesus on his third missionary journey, where he actually spent between two and three years in the city of Ephesus.

So Paul's primary time in Ephesus would have been around AD53 to AD56 now. Let's spend a few minutes in Acts chapter 19 and the two to three years time span where Paul is in Ephesus when he's teaching and preaching the gospel. Now, remember that as we learn about Paul's time in Ephesus, we're learning about the Believers and Ephesus.

And we're beginning to see the relationship between Paul and these people, that he's going to write the letter of Ephesians 2 in just a few more years. So, in the first few verses of Acts chapter 19, we find out that Paul arrived in Ephesus, and he encounters some disciples of John the Baptist.

Now these were people who had heard John preach about repentance, and they had actually accepted this message. They had repented and been baptized by John, but they had not yet heard that the Messiah had come; they were still waiting for the Messiah. So they hadn't heard about Jesus or the Holy Spirit, and so Paul, he explains to them, that Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Messiah they've been waiting for. And they turned to Jesus, they are baptized, and they have received the Holy Spirit. Now let's look at Acts chapter 19, verses 8 through 10. And this is where we will read about what happens next. It says, "Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some of them became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples and conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord."

So we see here that Paul enters the synagogue and he's teaching and preaching, but he begins to receive a lot of criticism. It says that there are people who became hardened and would not believe, and they slandered the Way in front of the crowd. And so what Paul does is he actually just removes himself from the synagogue, and he finds a new place to teach where he can continue to preach the gospel, and he does this for two years.

So over the course of this two years, he is regularly sharing the gospel in the city of Ephesus, and it says that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. So what we see here is that Paul's influence is extremely significant; he's not willing to be dissuaded by those who seek to shut down his ministry.

Instead, he just finds a new location where he can continue to preach boldly, the gospel, and as a result, the gospel is spreading, not just in the city of Ephesus. But the ripple effects are trickling into the surrounding region. Now, remember how I told you that in the city of Ephesus, there is this significant practice of magic, and you can actually read about this in the next section.

In Acts chapter 19. You can read about it in verses 11 through 20. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but basically, what you have is that there are people that are practicing magic through evil forces. But then you also have Paul, and God is empowering Paul to do these amazing Miracles.

And the people are noticing. So those who are practicing this dark magic recognized that there is a greater power that Paul seems to have, and they're hoping to gain some of that power. So in these verses, there are men who want to cast out demons through the power of Paul or Jesus, but they don't actually know Jesus.

So, in Acts chapter 19 verse 15, we read this, it says, "The evil spirit answered them, I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul, but who are you?" And so, there's this significant contrast where God is showing that his power is greater, it is different, and it is to be set apart from the magic that is practiced through these spiritual forces of darkness, and the people in Ephesus are noticing it.

And in verse 17, it says, when this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem. And the impact here is so profound that many of the people who have been practicing magic, they actually collect their books and they burn them, and it says in verse 20. In this way, the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed. So once again, we see that God is working through Paul in such a significant way in the lives of the people here in the city of Ethan. God used Paul in a mighty way because he was a humble servant willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus and willing to continue to preach the gospel boldly even in the face of great criticism and persecution.

Now, in the remainder of chapter 19, we can read about the conclusion of Paul's time in Ephesus, and things get pretty rowdy. Those that were making their living around the idol worship in the Temple of Artemis. They realize that Paul is making trouble for their way of living, and they create a major disturbance in the city.

They realize that as Paul's influence increases and continues to spread and people stop worshiping Artemis, their income has the potential to decrease significantly. And so they gather the people, they get them all worked up, and they actually begin to start a riot. They drag some of Paul's companions into the amphitheater, and everybody is shouting, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" They realize that they've got to put a stop to Paul's teaching.

Now Paul wants to go into the amphitheater and speak, but the disciples won't let him. They know it's not safe for him. And actually, in verse 31, it says that some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were friends, they actually sent Words of Paul, and they pleaded with him to please not go into the amphitheater.

Now, fortunately, a city official kind of comes in and he talks some sense into the rioters, and things calm down, and the assembly is dismissed, but this is really the climax of Paul's time there in Ephesus. We see that Paul is having such a significant influence that it's beginning to create some unrest in the city.

So then in chapter 20 verse 1, it says, "After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, he departed to go to Macedonia." So Paul understands that his time in Ephesus has come to a close, and he departs. Now, I want to look at another portion of scripture where we can read about Paul's last face-to-face interaction with some of the people in Ephesus.

Now, he left the city of Ephesus and he continued his missionary work. But in chapter 20, verses 17 through 38, you can actually read about another interaction between Paul and some of the elders of Ephesus. Now I want to read just a portion of this. We're going to read Acts chapter 20, verses 17 through 21.

It says, "Now from Miletus, he's sent to Ephesus and summoned the Elders of the church. When they came to him, he said to them, 'You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia how I was with you, the whole time serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews, You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house, I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord.'"

Jesus Christ. So then he goes on to tell them that the Spirit is compelling him to go to Jerusalem and that he knows that when he gets to Jerusalem, he's going to face chains and affliction, he knows what's ahead of him, and yet, he's moving forward boldly. His time in this region has come to a close, and he knows that he may never see these people again face to face, and it's like he realizes, wait a minute, I have a few more important things I have to share with these people that I love.

So, he calls the elders to him, and he gives them a warning. He talks to them about being on guard against what he refers to as "savage wolves" in verse 29. He says that, "I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them."

So he's giving these Elders, these last warnings about watching out for false teachers, who will come in and distort the truth that he's taught them. Then he reminds them that he lived sacrificially among them, and he wants them to live sacrificially among each other. Then, in verses 36 through 38, we read this sweet, intimate interaction that shows us the extent of the relationship between Paul and the people in Ephesus.

Let's look at Acts 20, verses 36 through 38, "After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him. Grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again and they accompanied him to the ship." And this concludes the record that we have of Paul's time in Ephesus.

But we have one more thing we need to look at and really consider, as we prepare for our study in the book of Ephesians. We've been talking about the time when Paul was in Ephesus, but now we want to consider the time period when Paul actually wrote this letter.

Where was he, what was he experiencing? What were the circumstances surrounding his writing of this letter to the Ephesians? Now remember, we learned that Ephesians is one of the prison Epistles and is called that because we know that Paul wrote it while he was in prison. Now we're going to flip back to the book of Ephesians, and we've already read chapter 3, verse 1, but I'm going to read it to you again.

It says, "For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles." So we see here that Paul is identifying himself as a prisoner. Now, if you skip ahead to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1, it says, "Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received."

So once again, Paul is identifying himself as a prisoner. And finally, in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 20, he says, "For this, I am an ambassador in chains." So we know that Paul wrote Ephesians while he was imprisoned. So let's talk a little bit about what that looked like.

Now, we're gonna turn back to Acts, and we're going to go to chapter 28. So, in Acts chapter 28, we're going to see that Paul has been arrested and transferred to Rome, and he is going to stand trial before Caesar. Look with me in Acts chapter 28, verse 16.

It says, "When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him." So Paul is on house arrest in Rome. And if you skip ahead to Acts 28, verses 30 through 31. It says, "Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and he welcomed all who visited him, proclaiming the kingdom of God, and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."

So, what we know is that while Paul is in Rome, he's under house arrest and he's actually living in his own rented house under the guard of a soldier, but he is allowed to have visitors. And so he continues to proclaim the gospel while he's in prison, and it is during this two-year period of house arrest that he writes the letter to the Ephesians. So this would be approximately between the years of AD60 and AD62.

So if you think about the timeline that we talked about earlier, remember Paul was in Ephesus from about AD53 to AD56, and now he's writing this letter to the Ephesians approximately AD60 to AD62. So, about five to ten years after his time in Ephesus.

So there you have it, our context, our background, our introduction to the book of Ephesians. We've looked at what kind of book it is, who wrote it, and who it was written to. We've talked about when it was written and the cultural and life circumstances surrounding both the readers of the book as well as the author. And now, in the next video, we get to dive into our study of the book of Ephesians, this precious letter, a message of great value to the Ephesians and now to us. And friends, I'm so excited to study the book of Ephesians with you. I know that this time will be rich, it will be meaningful, and impactful to my life. And I pray and trust that it will be to yours as well.

To watch my previous video series on what the Bible teaches us about fear and anxiety. You can click this link here, and in the meantime, keep seeking Jesus. He is so worth knowing.

[transcript] Sometimes life is so overwhelming, and even thinking about taking care of basic everyday needs can create stress and worry. Today, we're going to see that Jesus knows our hearts, and he knows the things that burden us. He's actually given us instructions for how we can cope with everyday pressures and concerns. Hi friends, welcome to my channel. My name is Sarah, and I love the Word of God. And it wasn't long ago that I was feeling completely overcome by fear and worry. Even everyday normal life stuff felt overwhelming to me. Now this is the last video in a series where I've been sharing with you what I've learned as I've studied God's Word, looking for wisdom and guidance on how to deal with the things that were worrying me and creating fear. You can find the first two videos in this series linked in the description below. But today we're going to look at what Jesus himself had to say about fear and worry.

So grab your Bibles and let's seek him together. Today, we're going to be in Luke chapter 12, verses 22 through 34. I'm going to read the whole passage to you, and you can follow along either on the screen or in your own Bible.

And then we're going to break it down and look at each verse and see what it is that we can learn. So. Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 22, says,

"Then he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens. They don't sow or reap. They don't have a storeroom or a barn, yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds? Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying? If, then, you're not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest? Consider how the wildflowers grow. They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you of little faith? Don't strive for what you should eat and what you should drink. And don't be anxious, for the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom and these things will be provided for you. Don't be afraid, little flock, because your father delights to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money bags for yourselves that won't grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be."

Now, for just a little bit of context, in the verses right before this, Jesus has just finished teaching the crowds about greed. And he's been telling them about how they shouldn't spend their time and their effort storing up an abundance of possessions.

And then he turns to his disciples and just as he always does, he sees right into their hearts. He knows what they're thinking.

You see, you have these men who have been following Jesus, and they've given up much to follow him. Men who, other than Judas, clearly are not money hungry, they're not focused on material possessions, they're not motivated by a desire for things, and yet Jesus still seems to have something to say to them on a similar topic. He begins in verse 22 by saying, "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or about the body, what you will wear." So you see, he doesn't see the need to talk to his disciples about wealth or about greed. But he does know that sometimes they worry about these basic necessities. That sometimes their thoughts are too focused on physical things. And he wants to address even that, the worry about basic food and clothing. And I love this about Jesus, that he knows our hearts, often better than even we do. In my last video, we looked at God's response to three of the patriarchs and the fear that they were experiencing. But we noticed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never actually acknowledged their fear. It doesn't say that they knew that they were afraid. And yet God looked at them and He knew they were experiencing fear. And we see Jesus do this very thing right here. He's been giving a teaching that perhaps seemed not to really apply to the disciples. And so then he turns to them and he starts speaking to them about what he knows does apply to them. What he knows does actually impact them, this concern about their needs and their everyday provision. Then, in his sweet mercy, Jesus goes on to give reasons why they are not to worry about their necessities.

So in verse 23, he says, "For life is more than food and the body more than clothing." Now, this is kind of hard for us, right? Because while we might intellectually know that there is more to life than food and clothing, the reality is we need food and clothing, and so do the disciples. But Jesus is not saying that their needs don't matter. What he's saying is he wants them to zoom out. He wants them to look at the big picture. And he's going to elaborate on what that means, but first, he's going to give them a few specific reminders about who God is. Now this is really significant if you've seen the last video in this series, because in that video we talked about how God gives somewhat of a formula for how to deal with fear. He gave four specific things to focus on instead of focusing on the thing that is creating fear. God tells his children to focus on who God is, where God is, what God has done, and what God has promised. And what's fascinating about this is that while we saw this all the way back in Genesis, here in Luke, we see Jesus doing the same thing. He says in verse 24, Consider the ravens. They don't sow or reap. They don't have a storeroom or a barn, yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds?

So he's saying, remember who God is. God is the creator. He is the provider. He takes care of even the birds, and you are created in his image. You are much more valuable than the birds. Then, if you skip down to verse 27, we're going to look at 27 and 28. It says, "Consider how the wildflowers grow. They don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you?" Jesus is pointing to the fact that God is creator and he is provider, that he is the one watching over his creation and seeing that their needs are met in his perfect way and in his perfect timing. Now, in the middle of this reminder of who God is as creator and provider, he offers this humbling reminder of who man is. Looking back at verse 25, he says, "Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying? If then you are not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?" Here, Jesus is offering a little bit of logical perspective. Worry is utterly useless. It is completely and absolutely unproductive and unfruitful. It is a waste of our time and our energy. And God is reminding us that we cannot add time to our lives by worrying. The reality is that God, as creator and sustainer of life, has numbered our days, and we don't have a say in that. Our worrying does not change that.

So then continuing this gentle humbling, Jesus in verse 28 refers to his disciples as you of little faith. Now, this phrase, "You of little faith," It's used to refer to those who trust Christ, too little.

So he's saying to his disciples, you are not trusting me enough. You are not trusting your father enough. Your worry reveals that your faith needs to grow. Now we're skipping around a little bit. We already looked at verses 27 through 28.

So skip down to verses 29 through 31. Where we read, "Don't strive for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Now, all throughout his time on earth, Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. He mentions the kingdom specifically there in verse 31. Jesus was constantly telling his followers that this new kingdom is going to be different from the kingdom of man. That the way that we, as followers of Jesus, as members of the kingdom of God, are to relate to each other, the way that we are to function, the way that we are to think in his kingdom is to be different.

So when he says that the Gentile world eagerly seeks after these things, He's saying that this concern, this worry, this anxiety about food and clothes and drinks, this is what the world does, but this is not what we do. The kingdom of God has a different way of thinking, and this way relies completely on God.

So he says, "Your father, he knows that you need them." Now remember how we talked about the raven and the wildflower? He's telling the disciples that this burden of their needs, It's not theirs to carry. Your father, he's saying, is taking care of these things. He knows what you need better than you do.

So trust in him. Decide to no longer be those of little faith.

And then he goes on to tell them what to do instead of worrying. He says, but seek his kingdom, that is the Father's kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Now, this is a little interesting, and there are some questions about the interpretation of what these "things that will be provided for you" are. It could be that these things are the food and drink. The things that the disciples were worrying about, it could be that what's being said here is that if you will seek his kingdom, these things, your basic needs, they will be provided for you. But it's possible that what's being said here is seek God's kingdom, and he will give you his kingdom. Because if you look in verse 32, it says, "Don't be afraid, little flock, because your father delights to give you the kingdom." See, your father He delights to give you the kingdom. Let that sink in. If that doesn't give you goosebumps, then listen to me one more time. Because if you are a follower of Jesus, then this applies to you. Don't be afraid, little flock. Because your Father, he delights to give you the kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 2:16-17, Verse 9, we read, "But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived, God has prepared these things for those who love him." Then in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 17 through 21, Paul prays this prayer, and he says, "I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width ...height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

So what does it mean that God delights to give us the kingdom? It means that it brings God joy. It brings him pleasure to have us as part of his kingdom and to bestow on us the rights and privileges of his rule and reign. This is the kind of king that he is. He is a good king. He is kind. He is a father who loves us, who knows what we need and is taking care of us.

So we do not need to worry. Our heart, our focus, should be seeking to see God's kingdom grow. To see people come to know who our king really is. To work to be a part of demonstrating the kingdom values. This upside-down kingdom that Jesus established and taught about while he was here on earth. In the last couple of verses, he goes on to be even more practical. Starting in verse 33, it says, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money bags for yourselves that won't grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be."

So here he's bringing it back to the beginning. Remember in verse 23 when he said, life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Here he's saying make money bags for yourself, but he's not talking about literal bags of money. He's saying store up things that are truly valuable. Be generous. Be kind. Trust God for your needs. And set your heart and your mind on the kingdom, not on physical needs. Here's the thing, friend. Our God, He knows what we need. And he's taking care of it. Our job is to trust him. To step back, zoom out from those things that we see right in front of us, those everyday needs that can so quickly distract us and consume us and turn our eyes away from what really matters. Instead, we can set our hearts and our minds on the kingdom, both on the way that we can influence and grow the kingdom here on earth by pointing people to Jesus, and the confidence that we're going to spend all of eternity under the loving care and protection of the one true king. And if we will view our lives in light of eternity, in view of the facts, we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, that the almighty creator of the universe rules and he can be trusted. Then, we don't have to worry. Because we know that our God's got it all under control. Thanks for watching, friends. To watch the other videos in this series on fear and worry, you can click this link here. And remember, keep seeking the Lord. He is so worth knowing.

[transcript] If you have ever felt overwhelmed by your circumstances, worried about the future, or afraid as you face life's challenges, you are not alone. And so today we're going to look at what God's Word has to say about our worry and our fear. Hi friends, welcome to my channel. My name is Sarah, and I love the Word of God. Now, recently, I was going through a season where I was really overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. And this is actually the second video in a series where I'm sharing with you what I have learned in my time studying God's Word, desperate for wisdom and guidance on how to deal with my fear and my worry. You can find the first video in this series linked in the description below, but today, we're going to look at a few of the first instances in Scripture where God specifically addresses fear, and I'm going to show you that God actually gives us four specific things to focus on in our battle with fear and worry.

So, grab your Bibles and let's seek him together. Okay. Before we get into the Scriptures, let's get clear on what we're talking about when we refer to fear or worry.

So the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fear as an unpleasant, often strong emotion, caused by the anticipation or awareness of danger. Merriam-Webster defines worry this way: to feel or experience concern, anxiety, mental distress, or agitation, resulting from concerns. Usually for something impending or anticipated.

So, do you see the similarities in those two words? Really, what we're talking about is some degree of unpleasant emotion caused by either the experience of, or the anticipation of, something that we view as negative. I point out the similarities in these words because I don't want you to dismiss this lesson because you don't think that you're experiencing fear, which is actually the word that we're going to see referred to in our specific passages. In reality, if you feel concern or worry or any kind of turmoil about something that you're experiencing now or that you anticipate in the future, then I believe that there is something here for you. Now, in order for you to get the significance of all of these passages that we're going to look at, we really need to read through all three of them. Then we'll come back and look at them more closely.

So I'd encourage you, if you have your Bible available, grab your Bible, but grab some Post-it notes or something that you can use as a bookmark to mark each of these passages so that you can easily flip back and forth with me. I need you to bear with me as I read to you. Try not to get distracted. I know it can be hard to pay attention when someone is reading to you, especially if it's online, but remember, what I'm reading is the Word of God, and there's nothing more valuable. I promise, none of these passages are very long. I'm not going to be reading to you for too long.

So, try to follow along either on the screen or in your Bible as I read and watch specifically for how God is telling his children to deal with their fear. The first passage that we're going to look at is Genesis chapter 15, verses 1 through 7. This is what we read.

After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward will be very great. But Abram said, "Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezar of Damascus?" Abram continued, "Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir. Now the word of the Lord came to him. This one will not be your heir. Instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir. He took him outside and said, Look at the sky and count the stars if you are able to count them. Then he said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous." Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.

So there's a lot going on here, and it's hard to understand the significance without a little bit of a history lesson. So Abram was called out of the land where he had always lived by God, and he was sent to a land that God was going to lead him to, the promised land. Where God promised to make him the father of many nations, and that all people would be blessed by him. But when we encounter Abram in chapter 15, there's a problem.

You see, Abram did what God called him to do. He followed God to an unknown land full of enemy nations. And there he lived. A foreigner with no power, no control, no rights, and worst of all, no son. Remember, his promise was that he would be the father of many nations, and yet he still had no children at all.

So his circumstances would have been overwhelming and confusing, and his future looked pretty bleak. Now, we don't actually see Abram say that he's afraid, but we can assume that he's afraid because God tells him, "Do not be afraid." And it makes sense, right? We can understand why Abram would have been worried and afraid.

So we're going to come back to this, but now let's look at our next passage, which is Genesis 26:23-24, which actually focuses on Isaac, who is Abram's son, the son that he doesn't yet have in chapter 15 that we just read. So starting in verse 23, it says,

"From there he went up to Beersheba, and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham."

Okay, so for our quick history lesson here, we actually have a similar situation. We find Isaac living in the land, waiting for God to fulfill the promise of possession of the land, but he's still an outsider there. And in fact, earlier in chapter 26, you can read about this interesting conflict over wells. Isaac is actually struggling to even provide water for his flocks and his herds because the Philistines who live in that area keep taking possession of the wells that Isaac's servants dig. And so what we have here is a man who is struggling to provide even the most basic needs for his family and his herds. And in the meantime, he's waiting for the fulfillment of the promise of God. Again, we can imagine that this situation would be very overwhelming and frightening. Hang in there with me. I know that we're bouncing from one set of verses to another, and we are going to look more deeply at these, but I want you to see one more set of scriptures first.

So we're going to skip ahead a few more chapters to Genesis chapter 46, and let's look at verses 1 through 4, where we're going to read about Isaac's son Israel, who's named Jacob. And remember, we're watching for what God says specifically about their fear.

So, in Genesis chapter 46 verses 1 through 4, we read,

Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. That night, God spoke to Israel in a vision. "Jacob," he said. And Jacob replied, "Here I am. " God said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes when you die."

Now, for the context of this passage, we find Jacob, who is Isaac's son, but this is many years later. Jacob actually has several grown sons, and he's living through a time of very serious famine.

So God has told Jacob to go to Egypt. Now there's a lot more going on with this story, and Jacob is going to be reunited with a long-lost son. But this is actually a very big deal, leaving his home because he's being called away from the promised land. And so again, what we have here is a man who is faced with the unknown, faced with great need, great heartache, and certainly great confusion about what God is doing. But certainly, Jacob was facing fear that would seem reasonable to us.

So let's make a couple of important observations. We just looked at three generations of men, and these are three of what we refer to as the patriarchs. These are the fathers of the Jewish nation. First, we have Abram, who's going to be renamed Abraham, and then we have his son Isaac, and last, we looked at Isaac's son Jacob, who is called Israel. Now, there are decades of time between each of these passages, and lots of life has happened. But there are some really significant similarities in each of these situations that were really impactful to me as I was studying, and I discovered them. And so that's what I want to show you.

So we're going to really focus in on what God says to each of these men. And this is what totally blew me away. Because God is talking directly to them about the fear that they're experiencing. And while they're in the midst of these overwhelming circumstances, God has words to say to them about their fear. And I think for myself how frequently I wish that God would just tell me what to do, or just give me tools for how to deal with the emotions and the things that are going on in my head. And that's what he does here. He goes to these men and he tells them what to do about their fear.

So, flip back with me to chapter 15 and let's break down what God says. The first thing he says is, "Do not be afraid." Now, this is a clear instruction to Abram not to be afraid. And we actually see those instructions in all three of our passages. But then, in his graciousness, God tells Abram why he doesn't need to be afraid. He tells Abram, "I am your shield." And so he is promising to be the source of protection for Abraham. And God is actually identifying himself as Abram's shield. Then he goes on to reassure him that he intends to keep his promise of giving him numerous offspring. Again, this is actually something that we see in all three passages, a renewal of the promise. And he finishes by reminding Abram of who he is and what he's done in the past. There in verse 7, he says, "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

So he says, I am God, and I called you to this land. Now, let's look at what God said in chapter 26 and really try to pay attention to the similarities that you're going to see.

So remember we're in verses 23 through 24. And he starts by reminding Isaac of who he is. He says, "I am the God of your father Abraham." Then he tells him, "Do not be afraid." Remember, we saw that in the last passage. And now he actually adds this promise of his presence. "Do not be afraid, for I am with you." And then he renews the promise by saying, "I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham." So he says, "Just like I promised your father Abraham, I am going to multiply your offspring." We have this renewal of the promise.

So are you beginning to see a pattern? So let's look at our last passage in chapter 46. Here we see God tell Jacob, "I am the God of your father." Now he's reminding him of who he is. Then he says, "Don't be afraid to go down to Egypt." I will make you into a great nation. And there he says, "I will go down with you to Egypt and I will bring you back."

So here we see again a promise of God's presence and the renewal of a promise to make him into a great nation. So there's a lot of repetition in these passages. And anytime something is repeated in scripture, we want to take notice. It's not a coincidence. It's there for a reason. And it makes a point. And what's really fascinating is that we're looking at these first few instances where God specifically addresses fear. And He says a lot of the same things to each of these men. He tells them, "Do not be afraid." Then God reminds them of who He is and what he's done in the past.

And then he reassures them that he intends to keep the promises that he's made and reminds them that he is with them. So, did you see the four things that he tells them to focus on? Instead of their fear, he says that they should focus on who God is, where God is, which is with them, what God has promised, and what God has done. Now, I want to point out something really important here. In order to combat their fear, God tells them who he is, and he tells them that he is with them. But it's really important that we recognize that the fact that God is with us will mean nothing to us if we do not know and believe who God is. We cannot find comfort in the presence of God if we do not know and believe who God is. I'm going to say it one more time because it's so important. We cannot find comfort in God's presence if we do not know and believe that God is who he says he is.

So if you have ever found yourself in a season where you were afraid or worried, and you were trying to comfort yourself by saying, I don't need to be afraid, God is with me, but you don't actually find that comfort. Then I want to suggest that perhaps you do not believe that God is who he says he is. Or maybe you don't even really know who God says that he is. But the good news is that this book right here is all about who God is. The Bible gives us a clear picture of the character of God. This is where you learn who God is, and that is how you can find comfort in the knowledge of his presence in the midst of your challenging circumstances. And so we see that God's solution in these scriptures for fear in the midst of overwhelming circumstances and challenges and very real threats is to remember these four things. Who God is, where God is, what God has done, and what God has promised. And doing this, what we've been doing here, studying God's word. This is exactly how we learn and remind ourselves of these things. We don't need to come up with a new strategy for dealing with our fear and our worry. God has given us one right here in these passages. And so now you can know that when you're faced with fear and worry, the solution is to be in God's word, allowing the Holy Spirit and his word to remind you of who your God is. As you study God's word, you are reminding yourself of the character of God and of the amazing things that he has done. Because our God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That means that the same God that you saw working in your life five or ten years ago, the same God that you read about doing amazing things in the scriptures, is the same God who is with you today. Friend, do not be afraid. Your God is great. He is good. He is mighty. He loves you and he is with you. Lean into that. To watch the next video in this series, you can click this link here, where we're going to look at what Jesus himself had to say about worry. Or you can click this link to see the first video in this series, where we learned that our God has no limit to his strength or his understanding. In the meantime, keep seeking the Lord. He is so worth knowing.

[transcript] Life has no shortage of things to worry about or be anxious about, and so today we're going to take a look at what God has to say about our fear and our worry.

Hi, Friends! Welcome to my channel. My name is Sarah and I love the Word of God. Recently, I found myself in a season where I was really struggling with fear and anxiety, and I was pleading with the Lord for relief, both from my circumstances, but also just from the fear and anxiety that I was feeling.

And I felt the Holy Spirit remind me that God's word actually has a lot to say about worry and anxiety. And so I set my heart and my mind into studying the Scriptures, just pouring over them, looking for wisdom and guidance for how to deal with the anxiety and the worry that I was experiencing.

In the next couple of videos, I'm going to share with you what I've been learning from God's Word about how to find peace in overwhelming circumstances and how we can actually find rest for our hearts, even in the midst of fear and anxiety and the unknown. So without further ado, grab your Bible and let's seek Him together.

Okay, we're going to be looking at Isaiah chapter 40, verses 27 through 31. I'm going to read the whole passage to you initially, and then we're going to kind of break it down and look at it one verse at a time. So Isaiah 40, verse 27, says:

Jacob, why do you say,

and Israel, why do you assert,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the whole earth.

He never becomes faint or weary;

there is no limit to his understanding.

He gives strength to the faint

and strengthens the powerless.

Youths may become faint and weary,

and young men stumble and fall,

but those who trust in the Lord

will renew their strength;

they will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not become weary,

they will walk and not faint.

So, looking here at Isaiah 40, we're actually looking at a passage that is a prophecy of God's deliverance. So, the book of Isaiah is a prophetic book, but it's kind of divided into two parts. The first half of Isaiah is actually a prophetic warning to the people of Israel of coming judgment that will be for their rebellion against God.

But then the second half of the book of Isaiah is actually God's promise that after they have received that judgment that was spoken about in the first half of the book, now He's promising that He will come to rescue them. He will come to deliver them. And so this passage that we looked at in Isaiah 40, it's actually part of that promised rescue portion of Isaiah. So, these words in Isaiah chapter 40 were written to a people very familiar with suffering. Now, their suffering was a result of divine judgment, and yet it was suffering nonetheless. They had been exiled, so they had been sent away from their home and they were under the control of an enemy nation.

They had been powerless to save themselves. They probably felt really hopeless and abandoned by God. They seemed to be at the mercy of their circumstances. They wanted something to change, but they didn't have a way to change anything. I don't know about you, but that's actually very familiar to me.

I have been in seasons where I found myself in circumstances that I felt like I had no control over, where I was longing for a change, but powerless to change anything. And if that doesn't breed anxiety and fear, then I don't know what does. So let's get into our passage.

We're going to start by looking at verse 27 and in 27, what we actually see is what the Lord is going to respond to in the following verses. Israel has made this cry, they said,

“My way is hidden from the Lord and my claim is ignored by my God.”

And you can really sense their feeling of abandonment, right? And to be completely honest, I've felt that way before. I have had times where I look around at my life and I think, “Where is God?” Where I felt like, “it seems like He's not here. Like, He's not showing up, He's not involved.”

And that's what they're saying. But God responds to their alleged ignorance with a challenge, and He says to them, “Do you not know? Have you not heard?” But here's the thing, they did know. They had heard. It was actually an integral part of their culture to pass on stories of what God had done, stories of His miracles, of His provision of His protection, so they did know. But, and I think that this happens to us, in the midst of their suffering and their confusion, they forgot to remember. And so, God firmly and clearly reminds them of who He is. He says the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary. There is no limit to His understanding. So, do you hear that direct response to their accusation? Remember, they had said, “My way is hidden from the Lord. My claim is ignored by my God.” And He says, “Oh no, there is no limit to my understanding.” And then He also reminds them of His strength, of His might. It's not just that there's no limit to His understanding, but there's also no limit to His ability to intervene.

Now, in verse 29, it says,

He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless.

Now here, the Lord is actually speaking to their feelings of weakness and powerlessness, and He's reminding His people that He is strong and that He also strengthens His people. I love verse 30 because there's this comparison to the strength of youth.

Now, I have two teenaged sons and the older I get, the greater the discrepancy between what they're capable of doing and what I'm capable of doing. But there is still a limit even to the strength of a strong athletic young man. Even my sons become weary at the end of a long, hard day, and sometimes they even stumble and fall.

But not our God. There is no limit to His understanding, but there is also no limit to His strength. Now, don't miss what that means for His children, what that means for me and for you. It means that there is no limit to the strength that He is able to give to us.

So now, in verse 31, it says,

but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not become weary. They will walk and not faint.

Now, it's important to notice the poetic language here, and we see it especially in the line that says they will soar on wings like eagles.

Clearly, it doesn't mean that the Lord intends to give His people literal eagles wings, right? So we can assume that He's not specifically or exclusively referring to physical strength. This strength that God is promising is like a fortitude against weariness. He's talking about strength of spirit and of mind.

He's talking about this confidence to move forward in the face of fear and of the unknown. The ability to not give up, even when we don't understand what God is doing, even when we can't see what the future holds, even in the waiting. And in fact, the word that my translation uses is trust, in verse 31, it says that those who trust in the Lord. Some translations say those who wait or those who hope. And this word, it really carries a feeling of trust with anticipation. You see, it's the one who looks for and trusts in the Lord who renews their strength.

When we depend on ourselves, we will always find ourselves to be lacking, right? There is a limit to our strength, and I think about our physical and our mental and our emotional capacities, they're all limited. We need the Lord. And if we will look to Him expectantly, trusting that He is the everlasting God, that He is in control, that He has a perfect understanding of our situation and a perfect plan, then we can find peace and strength in our minds and in our hearts. Then we can find peace in that place of anxiety, in that time of worry and of fear. That's where that peace comes. It comes from the strength of the Lord.

We find that we can move forward, regardless of our circumstances, because we are leaning on and leaning into the strength of the everlasting God, the creator of the whole earth, the one who has no limit to His understanding and no limit to His strength, who never becomes faint or weary. That's why we can have strength. That's why we can have peace.

And so my encouragement to you today is that when you are feeling overwhelmed, when you're afraid, or you're worried, and that anxiety is just building up inside of you; when you're tempted to look at your circumstances and think that you may have been abandoned by God, look to God's very words here in Isaiah 40. Remember who He is. Friend, our God is faithful. He is compassionate, He is strong, and there's no limit to His understanding.

He sees you. He knows you and He loves you. Lean into that.

To watch the next video in this series, you can click this link here, where we're going to look at a few of the first instances in Scripture, where God specifically addresses fear. He tells three different men not to be afraid, and He gives them reasons why and those reasons I have come to rehearse in my times of worry and fear.

In the meantime, keep seeking the Lord. He is so worth knowing!