Thanksgiving

PAUL’S APOSTOLIC PRAYER: Ephesians 1:15-23

The book of Ephesians is a travel guide for the Christian life. That does not mean that it teaches the ins and outs of piety as much as it means that the Christian life is modeled to us by Paul in the way that he brings together passion and principle, sentiment and good sense, performance and intellect. Paul does this not only explicitly in the content of the text, but also implicitly in that he couples deeply sacred topics with intense passion and spontaneity.

Paul begins with the profound declaration of eternal significance in the form of a hymn- the Hymn of Redemption. But it is not a hymn that we imagine as being eloquent though tedious. Rather, this hymn gushes with zeal and delight. The way hymns are meant to be sung.

Paul is so stirred by these doctrinal certainties and by the faith of the Ephesians that he promptly turns his letter into a prayer of thanks.

In my Christian walk, there have been times of such wonderful blessing: like when Gerda said she would marry me, when I was accepted to seminary, when we found out Gerda was pregnant, when Petra and Parker were born, when I came to Gateway…. The only thing I knew to do was abandoned worship and thanksgiving to God (in my own stoic way).

But nothing is more marvelous and awe inspiring and worship and praise producing as the salvation of a lost soul.

Let’s begin read chapter 1:15-23

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

So, here’s Paul, the Apostle Paul- he had a pretty good life guaranteed in Judaism; he came from a good family, he had nice clothes, he traveled lots, his career was exploding. But now, instead of getting enjoyment from temporal things, Paul finds joy in the salvation. Genuine triumph for Paul is when a heart that is spiritually cold and black and dead is given color and life and light through faith in Jesus Christ.

It’s funny if you think about- if Paul had not given up all those things, the success and fame, who would have ever heard of him outside of a few thousand dusty men in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire? But Paul’s preaching turned that empire on its head. And here we are, half-way around the world, two thousand years later, reading his personal correspondences in a language that did not even exist when he wrote it. Do you think there’s power and purpose like that in the Christian life enough for you?

Here we read Paul delighting in some unknown Greek converts in Ephesus. What are you building your life on? What will your life amount to? What is your delight in this world?

Paul’s delight was in his toil for the gospel. For this treasure, he sold everything he had just to possess it, actually, to be possessed by it. Many men and women have followed in his footsteps and taken the gospel to places even angels fear to go.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 4:9-13

Anything worth doing is going to produce blood, sweat and tears. You do it for things that do not last: your career, your home, your cars, your clothes, your electronics…. Do it for things that are eternal more, for the souls of those who do not yet know Jesus.

Has Jesus entrusted you with his treasure? Do you value it? Or do you treat it like yesterday newspaper? Don’t bury it- invest it. The king your groom will return and ask his bride for an account of how she has cherished his inheritance. This is a holy thing.

O boy… the pastor’s really beating us up this morning

Paul talks about the Ephesian’s faith and their “love for the saints.” In other words, Faith in Jesus Christ produces love for his bride the Church.

The love that you feel and express towards the person in the chair next to you, in front of you, behind you; the love that you feel for all men yes, but more importantly for your brothers and sister, for you pastor is the litmus test for the faith that you claim to have for Christ. Charity begins in the house of God. Do have charity for him, for her? Do we really love one another? We need to examine our relationships in this church.

I need to carry on

Paul’s prayer begins in verse 17 and he makes three requests to the God and Father of Jesus. I think we forget sometimes how much God wants to bless us if we would only ask. Jesus asked “what Father whose child asks for bread would give him a stone? Or if his child asked for fish would give him a serpent? How much more does our heavenly Father give the Spirit to them that ask?”

With that in mind, Paul bases his requests on this foundation that God would give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The NIV correctly makes that a capital S for Spirit. Paul is not talking about our spirits, but the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of revelation and wisdom.

Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 11:1-2

You remember that after his Baptism by John, Jesus was also baptized into the Holy Spirit who descended upon him in the form of a dove. Jesus ministry began at his baptism, because he was finally empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit.

After his temptation in the desert, Jesus’ preached a rousing sermon that nearly got him killed because he claimed for himself the prophecy of Isaiah that says “the Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted and recovery of sight to the blind and set the captives free” (Luke 4:18). Jesus ministry was a Spirit empowered ministry.

Here is where I fall back on my Pentecostal training in theology, well, only because it is what the Bible teaches.

Basically, what Paul is praying is that we would have the same spirit empowered ministry as Jesus. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses….”

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation means that we are able to discern the ways of God, that we are able to understand the depth and the breadth and heights of what He has revealed to us in scripture. And that we go in boldness and power to preach good news.

First Paul asks that they eyes of our understanding be enlightened that we may know what is the hope of His calling.

I used to really struggle with that song, “Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord” because it didn’t seem theologically correct to me. After all, I’m born again; my eyes have already been opened to my sins and my need of a saviour. But who doesn’t need to know more about God and His goodness towards us?

Paul once prayed that he might “know Jesus and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death” (Phil 3:10). Who wouldn’t want to know Jesus that way? Open the eyes of my heart Lord.

The expression “eyes of your understanding” is an idiom for the place of the heart, beyond the scope of intellectual comprehension. It is not enough to give an intellectual assent to the gospel. A pastor of mine once said that the longest distance that the gospel must travel is from the head to the heart.

But Paul is speaking to believers. How can a finite mind, even one that is enlightened by the Holy Spirit ever fully understand a God who is infinite? We need to always labour to know Him and the hope His calling; that it is rooted in Him, in His sovereignty, in His ability to finish what He started, to preserve His chosen in Christ.

• The Hope of the calling is that we be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)
• The Hope of the calling is that we be found holy and blameless on Christ (Eph 1:4)
• …that we be one with His church (Eph. 2:11-18)
• …that we live a life that is worthy of the calling (4:1)
• …that we share in His sufferings (Rom 8:17)
• …that we participate in the resurrection to life (Revelation 21)

Second, that we would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance? Now, what is His inheritance? When we think of an inheritance we think of a rich relative who dies and leaves a portion of his wealth to his relatives. This is a shallow inheritance. Who doesn’t know someone who lost a parent and then was robbed of their inheritance by scheming greedy relatives.

But that is not the kind of inheritance here. Yes, someone has died, Christ. But we are the inheritance which he has left for His Father. He has set the captives free. The Church is God’s inheritance. We are God’s portion. We belong to him. What a secure feeling it is to belong to the eternal, infinite, merciful, all-knowing, loving God who has chosen to liken Himself to a Father.

Third, Paul requests that we would know the exceeding greatness of His power. If ever a redundant statement is appropriate, it is when we are talking about God’s power. With a word, he set the universe into existence. In six days the entire earth was formed. By His will he flooded the earth, scattered the nations, set Israel free and brought them into captivity again. And by his power, he raised Christ Jesus from the grave and set Him above the heavens that he might have dominion over the earth and under the earth and in the earth.

He put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over the Church…. the church, the only organization on earth that can claim God himself as its leader. Not popes, or Dahli lamas, or Apostles or priest or pastors. God is the head of this church. He is here right now, holding his arms out to you. Will you reach out to Him? Will you obey Him and follow Him? Will you live for Him and in Him and through Him? I don’t want you to think I preach a gospel of success, but apart from Him and His authority over you and your family and this church, there is no success.

Apart from Him, we can do nothing. God is always working. He is working in power. When we submit to his rule, we partake in his Spirit and His wisdom and His power.

Application:
1. Be filled with the Spirit, walk in the Spirit. Do that through prayer, obedience, holiness and purity.
2. Keep a short account with God, have you been harboring secret sin in your life? Repent. He will forgive you.
3. Learn to think like God. You do that when you concentrate on Him and His Word.