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Lectures in the School of the Master
Acts 19: Paul Teaching in Ephesus

Powerful Preaching to powerless Christians

Previously, Luke tells us about Apollos leaving Ephesus as the Apostle Paul arrives and begins preaching to the Jews.

Two Schools of Thought in Ephesus
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The School of Our Master the Lord Jesus Christ is led by the lecturer Paul; known as the Apostle to the Gentiles and formerly known as Saul of Tarsus.

Picture this setting & scene in either the 1st century A.D. where it took place OR in a more Common Era scene in a University of this time:
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‘We haven’t heard from Paul in a while. I heard that he has been teaching in the School of Tyrannus. Is that so?‘

‘Let’s go over to the big lecture hall and see.‘

Paul has already encountered various schools of thought at several points on his missionary journeys. His Pharisaical School in Jerusalem had taught different doctrines than an exclusive School the Sadducees. So the renounced Jewish scholar comfortably challenged other beliefs and philosophies.

And just like back in Corinth Achaia, Paul must reconcile perceptions of Christ with the Greeks and Yeshua Messiah of the Jews to followers of The Way in Ephesus.

Now that he resides in this key city of Asia Minor where the Holy Spirit initially had prevented Paul from going, Paul will no doubt need to answer many questions about our Lord Jesus Christ.

AND let’s not overlook Paul’s perseverance during several months of Apostolic teaching in Ephesus that took place here which Luke covers in just a few summary verses.

A brief reminder:

Paul began his journey to Ephesus in ~A.D. 52 by land from the church in Antioch and will not return from this 2700 mile mission for about five years.

As is his general practice the Apostle first teaches the Good News of the Messiah Jesus to the Jews.

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
Acts of the Apostles 19:8 ESV – Luke’s account of Paul upon arrival in Ephesus

The first three months

Twelve converted disciples join Paul, listening to the Gospel as the Apostle teaches fellow Jews how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures as the Promised One. Many Jews believe during this time of Paul’s proclaiming Jesus in the synagogue and consequently follow The Way.

Yet like everywhere else, some remain immovable by truth or any other teaching than that which serves them.

But when some became stubborn

and continued in unbelief,

speaking evil of the Way before the congregation..
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[A familiar pattern of stiff-necked men standing firm on their shaky ground of unreasoned truth and false doctrine.]
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.. he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
Acts of the Apostles 19:9
NOTE: Although this picture is NOT the School of Tyrannus, don't miss the significance of this School in the city of Ephesus as a university where men could gather to hear lecturers in order to learn and discuss their teachings.
~A.D. 53 – A.D. 54

Let’s look a root problem of unbelievers from the Greek root words Luke chooses translated from the NASB:

But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the [multitude]..
Acts 19:9a NASB20
- ἐσκληρύνοντο – to make hard, harden, metaph. to render obstinate, stubborn
- ἀπειθέω – apeitheō [Does any familiar English term come to mind?] –
  - to refuse or withhold belief
  - to refuse belief and obedience
  - not to comply with
Men APATHETIC to sound doctrine and truth of the Gospel may claim to be religious men. Stubborn and stiffnecked sinners TURNED AGAINST Christ’s Apostle of Good News and they will turn against YOU as well for your witness of JESUS Christ as your Lord.

Apparent apathy to Christ and disobedience to the very word of God go hand in hand.

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life;
but the one who does not G544 [apeitheō] obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Gospel of John 3:36

THREE MONTHS Paul had reasoned with the Ephesian Jews in his manner of quoting Scripture and applying the Old Covenant to their Messiah JESUS. A remnant is saved and follow. The rest will continue in their false faith for refusing to look up to the LORD from the wilderness of their refining.

The heart-hardened enemies of the Gospel murmur to the multitudes against the followers [disciples] of the Way, the Truth and the Life redeemed through Christ our Lord.

in the hall of Tyrannus

DAILY, from the fifth hour to the tenth (that is, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) according to some manuscripts

Lecture Hall

The lecture hall of Tyrannus is an important place of teaching Roman cultural context in a Roman community of the empire.

21st century believers may not understand the openness in a university-type forum from the teaching and disciples of Paul OR even the Lord Jesus. So in order to understand this PLACE of Paul’s CLASSROOM better we will examine it from the Greek which Luke records in just one of today’s three verses:

ὡς δέ τινες ἐσκληρύνοντο καὶ ἠπείθουν κακολογοῦντες τὴν ὁδὸν ἐνώπιον τοῦ πλήθους ἀποστὰς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀφώρισεν τοὺς μαθητάς καθ᾽ ἡμέραν διαλεγόμενος ἐν τῇ σχολῇ Τυράννου
Acts 19:9 Morphological Greek New Testament

scholē tyrannos

Τύραννος – tyrannos – A provincial form of the derivative of the base of κύριος (G2962)

Its base word and root Christians may recognize but have never considered in this context of first century A.D. controversy in witness to the Gospel in the Roman Empire.
- Tyrannus = “sovereign“
- kyrios – From kuros (supremacy)
It’s the ‘sovereign school’ OR School of the Sovereign.

Is Paul now teaching in the highest school, so to speak, in Ephesus, an environment we would understand to be a University?
- scholē – probably feminine of a presumed derivative of the alternate of G2192; properly, loitering (as a withholding of oneself from work) or leisure, i.e. (by implication) a “school” (as vacation from physical employment):—school.
OR

Does the SCHOOL NAME imply a particular Sovereign for whom it is named?

(And, let the hearer understand, Ephesus, like Jerusalem, Corinth or Rome itself has only ONE SOVEREIGN.)

But they cried out,

Away with him, away with him, crucify him.

Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?

The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Gospel of John 19:15 King James Version

κύριος – kyrios – Strong’s G2962 – masculine noun From kuros (supremacy)

Lord, Lordship:

properly an adjective, signifying “having power” (kuros) or “authority,” is used as a noun, variously translated in the NT, “‘Lord,’ ‘master,’ ‘Master,’ ‘owner,’ ‘Sir,’ a title of wide significance, occurring in each book of the NT save Titus and the Epistles of John. It is used
Vine’s Expository Dictionary

WHAT DID THE APOSTLE PAUL PREACH IN EPHESUS?

Luke does not say specifically in these four verses, but we must believe that in one form or other that the Apostle proclaims the Gospel, JESUS IS LORD.

Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord G2962 Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 19:5 NASB20

Asia Minor

This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord G2962, both Jews and Greeks.
Acts 19:10 of the Apostle Paul in Ephesus

NEXT: Paul I know…
September 25, 2023
Lectures about God in Athens’ University of Idols
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD

TODAY’S LECTURE

At the Areopagus –

Visiting Professor of Philosophy & Religion

Παῦλος – paulos

πολίτης Ταρσεύς Κιλικία

Citizen of Tarseus in Cilicia

The Hill of Ares or Mars’ Hill, depending on language reference of Greek or Roman for the god of war.

The Apostle Paul is about to make an important speech to the Romans and Hellenists studying in Athens in ~A.D. 50 at the university lecture hall of the day which sits atop a hill facing the crumbling 5th c. B.C. temples of Athena and many idols.

(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)
Acts 17:21 LSB
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To best understand the 1st century Roman-Hellenist culture of Athens read our two previous posts.
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Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. – Acts of the Apostles 17:16

Approaching Athens 2 – Addressing gods and goddesses

Brief summary of Greek mythology
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
Acts 17:
God who made the world
α – θεός (theos) does not live in temples made by man
β – ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos) – mankind, timelines & nations
γ – ἐγώ (egō) in Him we live and move and exist
δ – οὖν – therefore as God’s offspring
ε – θεός νῦν παραγγέλλω – theos is now declaring
ζ – ἄνθρωπος πανταχοῦ μετανοέω – ALL men everywhere repent
η – ἡμέρα κρίνω οἰκουμένη – a day he will judge righteousness
Α – πίστις – assurance
Ω – ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν – by raising Him from the dead!
παντοκράτωρ – THE ALMIGHTY
Acts 17:

Visiting Professor Paulus teaches on the topic of an unknown God addressing stoics, epicureans and other religious professors of idolatrous worship graciously.

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Acts 17:22b ESV

Those claiming Christ in this 21st century A.D. would do well to address unbelievers and idolaters with the same grace as Paul employed in the first century A.D. in the beginning of his apostleship into all the world of the gentiles.

What is Paul’s outline of a logical approach to the proclamation of the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST?

The Apostle to the Gentiles points toward the incarnation of Christ as a pivotal recent event in the timeline of human history as part of GOD’S timeless plan for mankind.

God who made the world

Therefore,
the One whom you worship without knowing,
Him I proclaim to you:
ACTS 17:23b NKJV – of the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus

The religious men and other men of Athens, as well as religious Romans adding their own iconic monuments to the Athens’ landscape of religious festivals, admittedly could not possibly know every god.

Therefore, Paul begins from their own documented conclusion. They need to hear what I have to proclaim about the TRUE GOD Romans and Greeks do not know.

(And God is NOT just the God of the Hebrews worshiped in Jerusalem.)

Who IS the GOD WHO MADE THE WORLD?

(Certainly not Zeus who was not in the beginning, nor the goddess Athena — but Paul does not even need to state this accepted timeline from mythology which does not worship the very God of creation.)

α – θεός (theos) does not live in temples made by man

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

β – ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos) – mankind, timelines & nations

26 And he made from one man every nation (ethnos) of mankind (anthrōpos) to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way towards him and find him.
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Although contemporary twisting of imagery limits such use of an archaic word, I like the more literal translation of this picture of man groping for God, as a blind person reaches near for that which can be touched.
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.. in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us
Acts 17:26a NKJV & others

γ – ἐγώ (egō) in Him we live and move and exist
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Now our Professor of Theology, Paul of Cilicia, quotes two poets likely studied by the university he addresses -- NOT Hebrew poets such as David or Solomon -- NOT Jesus, whose many teachings have become well-known these past twenty years -- but GREEK or Hellenist poets revered by the university of classical thought in Athens. 

One is likely from Crete, where earlier along with Barnabas, Paul professed Christ to the gentiles. Paul also quotes a classical Greek poet from the forth century B.C. - source
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Paul's introduction of the One God (of the Hebrews) is non-confrontational, providing an outline of God's plan to have all people of all cultures and all nations seek and find the Living God at a time appointed by Him.
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Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
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Paul could have quoted Jesus here, who quoted David, but instead the Apostle to the Gentiles quotes their own learned teachers. 
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δ – οὖν – therefore as God’s offspring

The question never-the-less remains the same: WHAT IF GOD created YOU?

(It’s not simply a question of ONLY the FIRST MAN {adam}, therefore the Apostle leaves no room for arguments of philosophers backing him into a creation corner.)
- What if we are SONS (& DAUGHTERS) of the Living God?
- WHAT IF GOD CONSIDERS ME FAMILY?
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
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Do you think of your own mother or your own father as one of these idolatrous worshiped things? Of course not!

YET if you belong to GOD's own family with your LIVING human father and mother as progeny of the LIVING GOD and Creator of all life, how can you worship your loving God like a stone, a man-made myth or self-breathed thoughts?
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30 The times of ignorance God overlooked,

ε – θεός νῦν παραγγέλλω – theos is now declaring

but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,
Acts 17:30 CSB

ζ – ἄνθρωπος πανταχοῦ μετανοέω – ALL men everywhere repent
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The apostle to the Hellenists and Romans proclaims a STRONG authoritative choice to listeners in the Areopagus: GOD 'winked' (says the King James Version) but now commandeth all men every where to repent!
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REPENT, therefore, sons and daughters of the Living God!
For YOU are no longer ignorant.

And WHY should you REPENT? 
WHY turn back to the Living God?
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η – ἡμέρα κρίνω οἰκουμένη – a day he will judge righteousness

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed;
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Can WE SAVE the earth anymore than WE can save our own FLESH and BLOOD from DEATH and destruction?
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But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:7 LSB
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SO is this professor of the unknown god proclaiming that his teaching must be given authority over all other schools of thought about our gods?

WHO IS THIS MAN Paulus of Cilicia claims will JUDGE all of mankind?
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Α – πίστις – assurance

and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:12 διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον & again, Paul’s letter to Roman believers 5:15 ESV

Ω – ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν – by raising Him from the dead!

He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Acts of the Apostles 17:31b CSB

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Gospel of Luke 10:22 ESV

I and the Father are one.”
Gospel of John 10:30 ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν

παντοκράτωρ – THE ALMIGHTY

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Revelation of the risen Jesus Christ to John 1:8 ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ὁ παντοκράτωρ
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CLICK HERE: For more information about Jesus Christ and Inerrant TRUTH: Our reasoned Biblical Faith.
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ACTS of the Apostles – To Be Continued…

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
May 2, 2023
What is the Chief End of Man? – Our #1 question
Perhaps you know this first QUESTION (What is the chief end of man?) of the Westminster Divines, actually a shortened version of the original.
1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
What is the Highest Goal of Mankind?
Who do you live your life for?
Answer to question #1
It is written from the Gospel:
Does GOD deserve to be #1 on your VIP list?
What IF you have the wrong ANSWER to Question #1?
I could ask the first question of the Westminster Catechism (teaching) a different way.

What is the Highest Goal of Mankind?

Mankind, of course, includes womankind, just as Scripture frequently includes women while referring to or instructing men.

What is YOUR big GOAL?

OR may I ask the chief question of every man or woman:

WHY am I here?

(You do have a purpose to your mortal life, don’t you?)
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If you don't know the ANSWER or have never considered the #1 Question of life, NOW might be the best time to carefully create your own answer to man's compelling question of purpose.
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Who do you live your life for?

IF our chief end in life relates to a person, then we must ask:

WHO is this VIP for whom WE live our lives, the one who truly deserves to be the principle person receiving the chief end of our goals of this brief mortal life?
- Our Husband or Wife?
- Our Father or Mother?
- A Son or a Daughter (perhaps all of our Children)?
- A beloved Friend or possibly a Mentor and Teacher worthy of our highest regard?
- Someone from the past or an idol of these present times?
WHO is the MOST important Person worthy of the chief end of your time?

Answer to question #1

Before I reveal the answer (if you don’t already know it) let me ask you this:

Are YOU the ONLY important person in your life OR is someone else the MOST important person in your life?

Didn’t God create you to relate to someone other than yourself?

So then shouldn’t your goals in life — especially your ‘chief end’ — relate to the PERSON of highest importance to the most important outcome or final end of your mortal life?

Consider one additional Person, an overlooked highest One most deserving to become the chief end of our earthly attention, love, praise — and yes, even worship.

It is written from the Gospel:

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Gospel of John 13:1 Legacy Standard Bible

Almost everyone knows the gospel of the One worthy of the chief end of mankind’s earthly purpose?

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Gospel of John 3:16 Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’
Gospel of John 8:54 LSB

10:30 ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν

“I and the Father are one.”
Good News of John 10:30 – testimony of JESUS that he the Son is of one essence with the One God our Father

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.
Gospel of John 14:6 LSB

.. He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. – John 20:20b

.. He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. – John 20:22b

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
Answer: Question #1 of The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

Does GOD deserve to be #1 on your VIP list?

Whoever else you named as #1 on your personal VIP list, this most beloved person you view as your chief end of a purposeful life – they are NOT worthy of your worship.

HOWEVER:

IF you recognize the Eternal Person of God the Father —

IF you recognize the Eternal Person of God the Son —

IF you recognize the Eternal mysterious third Person of the TRINITY, God the Holy Spirit —

THEN you have chosen the right PERSONS of GOD to glorify.

Congratulations! You have won ETERNAL LIFE.

Recognize that the Lord God is a PERSONAL God to those He has chosen.

IF we will choose to place Him at the TOP of our VIP list, we secure His loving RELATIONSHIP for an ETERNAL LIFETIME!

God is not a man like us, yet the Lord God IS One God of THREE PERSONS, a true teaching of the Bible called Trinity.

I cannot address the deeper doctrine of the Trinity as part of this #1 answer to the teaching of a Biblical Christian Church, however you may read more about it here:

What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

.. only one God exists; there are three distinct Persons in the New Testament – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; each of these three distinct Persons is called God. Therefore the three distinct Persons must be the one God.
Don Stewart :: What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

What IF you have the wrong ANSWER to Question #1?

This may be a time to rethink the #1 priorities and goals of your daily and mortal life.

Maybe God has NOT chosen you for eternal life

and regrettably you accept the END of your mortal life

— you are dust and to dust you will return — .. AND then the judgment!

This is all supported by God’s written word of the Bible; but in addition to Scripture you could RETHINK your chief end through further study in the link provided earlier or by reading more about the DOCTRINES of God.
- SELF is ALWAYS the wrong answer (as frequently WE see in others)
- THINGS (like money or work or entertainment or vacations or clothes or cars or houses or politics or social clubs or sports or.. ANY other IDOL) will eventually prove to be WRONG ANSWERS.
- Your mom or your dad (present in your life, but not far distant or long passed from this mortal life), MAY be your #1 living person worthy of #1 on your human list; BUT not in the place of God.
  - Most of us know the Biblical Commandment of God concerning the HONOR of Parents, yet honor of our father or mother is less than our chief end of giving glory to the God who created us all.
- Your husband is not worthy of glory above God, though wives are commanded to RESPECT your husband.
  - And husbands, your wife is not worthy of glory above God since He commands you to LOVE her as Christ loves the Church.
  - These are God-ordained personal relationships between one man and one woman like no other, which God glorifies uniquely as ‘two become one,’ not unrelated to the Oneness of God and Christ with the Church.
- Should ANY child, infant to adult, become the chief end of purpose in the life of a parent (especially a mom)?
  - ALL biological fathers and biological mothers ought to cherish the special bond of the conception and birth of their child which God has given into your care, nurture and instruction, but NO CHILD should receive your #1 glory above God. (There are no ‘single moms,’ or at least their wouldn’t be if in the lives of both lovers God we chief end of their relationship.)
  - Adopted children with parents having chosen them by a new relationship are also equal to our biological children in our love. Like the children of our birth parents, chosen children inherit God’s love through parents who have chosen them but not in the place of glorifying God first.
- How about a FRIEND?
  - Do you value one friend above another? Are both of you not dependent on the God who knitted together the strong cord of all of your heart-held friendships? Glorify God with your friends and thank Him for each.
  - As for relationships of our past: have some become idols weighing our heart down to the darkness of the dust? You know God’s Commandment about idols, not all which are chiseled from wood or stone.
Perhaps YOU CHOSE more than one of the PERSONS you glorify for the top of your list. (None deserve #1)

ERASE your former WRONG answer[s] & REPENT.

Glorify God

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.
Answer: Question #1 of The Westminster Larger Catechism

Go ahead — repent and erase your former wrong answer.

Glorify the Lord God – the only One who deserves our highest worship.

The chief end of YOUR mortal life is to finish God’s work for His Glory.

The chief end for those who love God, mere morals made in God’s image — men, women and children who’s chief relationship is the with Jesus Christ, Son of God — by His grace is eternal life.

By the mercy of God the Father, foreordaining His Only Son to die for our sins — the end of a mortal Son of man, Jesus sacrificed for our sin on the Cross ERASES our mortal end.

Christ’s resurrection of the body to eternal life assures us of God’s mercy, grace and love of those who love Him — those of us for whom He died.

YOU and I have a #1 chief end:

In heart and in deed WE must Glorify the One Person who has saved us to eternal life;

consequently through Christ, our highest end will be with GOD to enjoy Him forever.

Glorify the Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

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February 24, 2023