Summary: Sermons covering chapter one of Ephesians

Bible Studies in Ephesians Sermon 1

Copyright 1987 by Bob Marcaurelle Ephesians 1:1-2

THE QUEEN OF THE EPISTLES

Ephesians has been called the “Queen of the Epistles”. . . “The Alps of the New Testament”. . . “The Third Heaven Epistle”... “The divinest composition of man” (Coleridge). It was John Calvin’s favorite. When John Knox was dying the book he wanted read to him was Calvin’s Sermons On the Letter to the Ephesians. Dale Moody says Ephesians is “at the peak of Paul’s theology.” Ephesians inspired John Bunyan’s immortal The Pilgrim’s Progress and furnishes the thoughts found in many of our hymns.

I. A PAULINE LETTER (1:1)

Conservative scholarship has held through the centuries that Ephesians was written by Paul (1:1) while he was in his first Roman imprisonment in the city of Rome (Acts 28). The date was somewhere around A.D. 61-63 and during this time Paul wrote his four “Prison Epistles” - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians and Colossians, being so similar, were probably written very close together, perhaps at the same time. Let’s go back and reconstruct the scene as best we can.

The Book of Acts ends with Paul in prison. While there he receives news from the Lychus Valley in Asia Minor. There is trouble in Colossae. A heresy, later to develop into Gnosticism - a denial of the humanity of Christ, which John faced in First John - had reared its ugly head. Since this heresy involved such things as the worship of the angels (Col. 2:18) and the belief that the body was evil (Col. 2:21 - 23), Paul emphasized that the Jesus who came in human form was the Cosmic Lord of Creation, the fulness of God and the head of the Church. The theme of Colossians was the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ over everything. Paul put heresy down by uplifting Jesus up.

The remarkable thing is that 55 verses of Colossians are also found in Ephesians. Ephesians seems to be an overflow of Colossians. It is an expansion of its terse, abrupt, argumentative ideas. Colossians is the sketch and Ephesians is the finished picture. While meditating and composing the Letter to the Colossians, the Holy Spirit seems to have given Paul insight into the power of this cosmic Christ to unite this divided and warring world. God’s purpose was nothing less than “to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and earth, with Christ as head” (Eph. 1:10, TEV).

This truth, born of the Holy Spirit, exemplified by the power of Rome to unite the world it conquered, and passing through the soul of the great Apostle was expanded, written out and became known as The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. Paul called for his faithful fellow worker Tychicus (Eph. 6:21, Col. 4:7) and gave him both Letters. One was intended for Colossae and dealt with the situation there. The other, while taken to Ephesus as the capitol of the province and the center of evangelism for the province (Acts 20:25) was intended as a general letter to be taken to and read to all the churches.

II. A PRISON LETTER

The style of Ephesians is so different from Paul’s other Letters that some have denied that Paul even wrote it. The difference in style however, may be explained by the difference in Paul’s situation and purpose. Paul’s earlier and later writings came in the midst of intense missionary activity. They were the heat from his fire, samples of his arguments and paragraphs from his sermons. They were full of fire and energy and knockdown blows. But in the Prison Epistles there was a calmer spirit of meditation and thought. We have here, says Hayes, the products of the sage rather than the soldier.

III. A COMPREHENSIVE LETTER

Ephesians is perhaps the most comprehensive and far reaching of all Paul’s writings and perhaps of all the Biblical Books. It is the last lengthy theological discussion we have from Paul’s pen. Here the aged prophet formulates his faith and hope for the last time and his creed is a mountain of praise and an ocean of truth. The big word “all” occurs no less than fifty - one times. His thought ranges from the doctrine of election (1:11) to the discipline of children (6:4). The sweep of his thought takes in Gentile and Jew, heaven and earth, past, present and future, time eternity. Paul sits in his prison cell, says Hayes, but he sits at the same time in the heavenly places with Christ.

IV. A PURPOSEFUL LETTER

It is said of Huxley, the great scientist, that he once hailed a carriage in Dublin, and being late for an important conference, shouted to the coachman, “Drive fast!” He took off through the cobbled streets. Finally, Huxley stuck his head out and shouted, “Man, do you know where you are going?” “No,” he answered back, “but I’m driving fast.” Paul drives the truth home fast but he is not caught up in emotion or oratory. His Ephesian Letter has a theme is UNITY IN JESUS CHRIST. This world is sadly divided. There is little peace within men, between men or between men and God. Jesus is God’s agent of reconciliation (2:13). But his work is done through His body, the church (4:16). Our task, according to Ephesians, is to tear down walls and build bridges.

V. A RELEVANT LETTER

One evidence of the divine authorship of scripture is the abiding relevance and contemporary power of the Bible. Two thousand years old, it is as modern as today’s news. Dale Moody says of Ephesians - “There is hardly a major issue of contemporary Christianity that does not come up. . . . .What Romans meant in the time of the Reformation, this letter means in this time of renewal.” He is right. The three most far reaching movements in Evangelical Twentieth Century Christianity have their Biblical foundation in Ephesians. The Lay Renewal Movement is based on Ephesians 4:12. The Spirit Filled Life Movement on 5:18. The Family Life Movement on 5:22 - 6:4. When Billy Graham was criticized for “setting British Christianity (?) back 200 years” he said, “I guess I failed. I wanted to set it back 2000 years!”

VI. A CIRCULAR LETTER ? (1:1, Col. 4:16)

Our present versions of the Bible are translations of ancient manuscripts discovered by archeologists and others. The older a manuscript is, the nearer the original writing it is and therefore the more reliable it is. Some of the earliest ancient manuscripts of Ephesians make a strange omission. They leave out the words “in Ephesus” in 1:1 and simply say. “To the saints. . the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Since the best manuscripts do have the words “in Ephesus” the best Bible versions (New American Standard, New International) leave it in and footnote the fact that some manuscripts leave it out. Let’s look at it from both sides.

1. The Church At Ephesus.

If Ephesians was written to the Christians at Ephesus then it went to a group of people close to the heart of Paul. Ephesians was the capitol city of the Roman providence of Asia which covered the western end of what is now Turkey and was the Asia Minor of Paul’s day. Four great roads led into it and thus people from all over the world passed through. It was a beautiful seaport town then, known for its magnificent road, 70 feet wide and lined with columns running through the city and down tot he sea. It was the home of the magnificent Theatre of Ephesus, carved out of Mount Oreosus, which seated 50,000 people (Acts 19:29). Here the famous Artemesian games, which rivaled the Olympics, were held. It was also the home of the Temple of Diana, one of the “seven wonders of the ancient world.” This temple took 220 years to build, was make of shining marble, 342 feet high by 164 feet wide, supported by 120 pillars covered with masterpieces of sculpture and paintings.

A center of commerce and culture, it was also a center of moral corruption. The temple was the center of worship for the ugly Greek goddess Artemis or Diana (Latin). She was the goddess of fertility of sexual reproduction and in her name thousands of temple prostitutes served. Orgies often led to cruel sexual mutilations. The ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, never smiled. He was known as “the weeping philosopher”. In a letter he explained why. It was living in Ephesus. He said the morals of animals were better than the morals of the Temple.

1) The Witness In Ephesus. But in the garbage can there was a gardenia - the little band of God’s people. Whenever we become discouraged at the sin around us and think it is impossible to be a Christian in the modern world, remember that some of the greatest victories of grace were won in the city of Ephesus. In fact, that’s where we shine the best and are needed the most. No wonder Paul spent more time there, three years (Acts 20:31), than anywhere else we know of. He was like the missionary who said: Some like to do their work/In sight and sound of chapel bell/I want to run a rescue shop/Just outside of hell

2) The Warning To Ephesus. The church at Ephesus gives us not only a witness but a warning. Paul labored there for three years with great success. He planted seeds there in this letter which gave the church power and guidance to serve God. Tradition has it that John the Apostle became the spiritual leader of Ephesus and pastored there in the closing and crowning days of his ministry. Yet when Pastor John, exiled for his faithfulness to Jesus, wrote the Book of Revelation, Jesus spoke through him to the Church at Ephesus and said, “You have lost your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first” (Rev. 2:4 - 5). How easy it is for us to work hard for God and yet do it more out of duty or fear than love. Vance Havner says of Ephesus, “The honeymoon was over.”

2. The Churches of Asia.

Most of the evidence, however, indicates that Ephesians was not written exclusively for the Church at Ephesus. The omission of the name “Ephesus” is only one of the reasons. Another is its impersonal, formal character. There are no personal remarks, no terms of endearment such as “brothers, friends, etc.” It is the most impersonal letter Paul ever wrote. This is strange since he spent three years there and his weeping goodbye to the church leaders of Ephesus (Acts 20) is one of the most personal touching scenes in the Bible. In Col. 4:16 Paul tells the Colossian Church to “read the letter from Laodicea.” It could well be that Ephesians was being passed around by the churches at this time. This was a doctrinal tract on the wealth, walk and warfare of the Christian as he tries to make peace in a divided world. It is a letter for all churches of all times, in all situations.

VII. AN INSPIRED LETTER

Like all sixty-six Books of Scripture, Ephesians is inspired by God. The English term “inspire”, from the Latin is not a good one. When the Bible says, “All scripture is inspired by God.....” (2 Tim. 3:16), the Greek word “theospneustos” literally means “God breathed.” The idea is not inspiration (to breath in) as though God breathes into the writings and gives them power. It is EXPIRATION. God breathed the Scriptures OUT. They all came from Him.

Text: Ephesians 1:1-2 Sermon 2

FAITHFUL SAINTS

The “Queen Of The Epistles” opens on royal ground. In this short introduction Paul teaches us about the authority of an inspired apostle, the blessings and responsibilities of being saved and the pathway to true peace.

I. THE AUTHOR (1:1)

The author was Paul (1:1) the Apostle as he was suffering his first Roman imprisonment (Acts 28, Eph. 4:1) somewhere around 61-63 A.D. In his introduction he tells us about his conversion and his credentials.

1. His Conversion. The writer’s name was Paul. This was his Greek name and Saul (probably named for Israel’s first king) was his Hebrew. The change pointed to his change on the Damascus road (Acts 9). Preachers and witnessing Christians may differ in their gifts. Some are learned and gifted in the use of beautiful expression, others are crude and stumbling. But the all important thing is that we have been saved and know Jesus as Lord and Savior. This was first with Paul and should be first with us. Our highest claim to fame is that we are sinners saved by the mercy of Jesus.

2. His Credentials. What right did this converted man have to dictate doctrines and duties to the church of God? Was he like the little boy who wanted to be a preacher so he could “stand up there (the pulpit) and tell everybody what to do”? First was 1). His Apostleship. The word “apostle” literally means “one sent of behalf of another.” It was used of naval fleets and ambassadors sent out by their government. In the Bible it has a general sense much like our word “missionary”. Thus it was used even of Jesus as the Sent One of God (Heb. 3:1) and of messengers sent out be the churches (2 Cor. 8:23). But the principle use of “apostle” is in the restricted sense of that select band of men with a special and direct commission from Christ who went out endued with His power and clothed with His authority.

2) His Appointment. Paul was called to preach at the same time he was saved (Acts 9:16). The early church chose Matthias (Acts 1:26) to be the apostolic replacement of Judas, but God obviously chose Paul (2 Cor. 12:12, Gal. 1:1, etc.). The office of apostle died out when these chosen ones died and Scripture was completed. But today, the New Testament pastor called “Elder”, “pastor”, and “bishop” (Acts 20:28) stands on the same ground regarding his CALL. He too must be appointed. He does not choose to preach, he is chosen. As Paul told the pastors (elders) of Ephesus, the “Holy Spirit” made you the church’s overseers ‘bishops’ (Acts 20:28).

3) His Authority. His direct appointment by Jesus to Apostleship gave him the authority of Jesus. The Apostles were the inspired (2 Tim. 3:16) interpreters of Christ (Jn. 14:26). Thus they were the “foundation of the church” (Eph. 2:20) and their writings were regarded as Scripture (2 Pet. 3:16). God’s method in the Old and New Testament was to reveal Himself in history (Revelation) and then raise up men, borne along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21) to write an infallible (119:142) record and interpretation of those revelations (Inspiration). Thus we, two thousand years later, can read that record, the Holy Bible, and find salvation (Illumination). The words “an apostle by the will of God” carry the same weight of authority as the “thus says the Lord” of the Old Testament prophet. Reading Ephesians remember: “But better had then ne’er been born, who read to doubt, or read to scorn.”

4) His Amazement. Paul’s claim to being an apostle “by the will of God” was not made with arrogance but with profound amazement and humility. (Although he never groveled before the Eleven Apostles as their inferior (2 Cor. 11:5), when it came to deserving the call, he called himself “the least of the Apostles” (1 Cor. 15:9). He said, “Although I am less than the least of ALL GOD’S PEOPLE, this grace was given to me TO PREACH.” (Eph. 3:8). It was a wonder to Paul that God saved him while on a murderous mission against the church, but it was also a wonder of wonders that God went on to call him to preach. How Thou canst think so well of us/ And be the God Thou art/Is darkness to my intellect/ tBut sunshine to my heart

Paul gives no worldly credentials. He says nothing of his degrees or pedigree. He does not mention His studies at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) or the fact that he led the class (Phil. 3:4-6). He simply says, “I have been saved and sent.”

II. THE ASSEMBLY (1:16)

Writing to all the churches of Asia Minor, Paul issues a stirring challenge to Christlike living as he speaks of three things.

1. Their Sanctification.

When Paul calls his readers “saints” we conjure up the false idea of “super Christians” most of whom are dead and have been canonized. In the New Testament, however, it simply means “a believer in Christ.” It is just one of many names for the people of God. Every Christian is a saint (Heb. 10:10). The word itself, often translated “sanctified” or “holy” literally means “separated” or “set apart to God.” It is used for all three parts of what it means to be a Christian, to be saved Salvation comes in three phases. We have been saved (Eph. 2:8) - forgiven and born again. We are being saved (1 Cor. 1:18) - made more and more like Jesus. And we will be saved (1 Pet. 1:5) in heaven when complete deliverance from sin. Sanctification is used for all three.

1) Positional Sanctification. This is the kind spoken of here and elsewhere, where all Christians, good and bad, are called “saints” (sanctified ones). This is by the blood of Christ (Heb. 10:14) and is practically synonymous with justification. The difference is that in justification we are declared to be legally right with God and in sanctification to be morally right with God. He “has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).

2) Progressive Sanctification. God tells His holy people to “be holy” (1 Th. 4:3, 5:23). Paul says, “let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us BE COMPLETELY HOLY by living in reverence for God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Progressive holiness is the outworking of the regenerate life given in the new birth.

. Perfect Sanctification?

Our salvation will be completed (1 Pet. 1:15) and we will be “without spot” (Eph. 5:27) when Jesus comes, either at our death (Jn. 14) or at the Second Coming when He will make us like Him (1 Jn. 3:3).

2. Their Dedication.

Paul also calls these people “faithful”.” This can simply mean “believers” and point to their salvation or it can mean “loyalty or faithfulness” and point to their persistent dedication. Having already discussed salvation, let’s look at the idea of faithfulness. It means that as saints we act like saints.

We go from positional sanctification to progressive sanctification. We must always remember that our being set apart means we are set apart FOR HIS USE. We are “not our own, we have been bought with a price, the precious blood of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Pet. 1:18). We are his slaves (Rom.1:1). We wear His brand (Gal. 6:17).

Paul, in the section on our “walk in Christ” (4:1-6:9), shows how we express this in our daily life, but it all begins when we get on God’s altar like a burnt offering (Ex. 10:25) or living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) and say, “I am thine, O Lord.”

3. Their Location.

The text also speaks of the environment of the Christian as he lives out his life for God in three realms.

1) The Physical. Physically and geographically we live out our lives “in Ephesus,” in the world that hates and crucified Jesus but also in the world that Jesus loved and died for. Drawing apart to be holy is impossible because holiness is expressed in the nitty gritty rub of relationships.

We draw apart to get the strength to be holy in our daily lives. We must leave the Mount of Transfiguration because people are hurting and in need of us in the valley (Matt. 17). It is hard to be a Christian where you are because it is hard to be a Christian anywhere. Faithfulness means we accept our assigned position from God and let Christ manifest Himself through us right there.

2) The Spiritual. They were also “in Jesus Christ.” This is one of Paul’s favorite expressions and points out the vital union between Christ and His people. We are “in Him” and He is “in us”. We are under His blood (Heb. 9:13-14), in His prayers (Rom. 8:34) and in His book (Phil. 4:3). One little boy who believed in Eternal Security was asked, “Aren’t you afraid Christ might let you slip through His fingers?” ‘No, sir,’ he replied, “ I AM one of His fingers. I am a part of the body of Christ.”

3) The Fraternal. A Christian lives in the world, in Christ and also in fellowship with other believers, who are his brothers and sisters in Jesus. This word “saint” in the Bible is plural. It is in the heart of God’s people

to come together to pray, to worship, to sing, to embrace, to encourage, to help and be helped and most of all to be fed the Word of God. Thank God we don’t live in vile Ephesus and serve God alone.

III. THE AIM (1:2)

Paul ended the introduction with his usual greeting which was a prayer for his readers to experience “grace” and “peace”. While these were customary courtesies in letter writing they were also filled with theological meanings and represented Paul’s aim for his hearers. This aim was nothing less than the highest possible life of blessedness and usefulness.

1. The Scope Of This Life.

This life involves two things - grace and peace.

1) Grace. This lovely word, from which we get our word “charm”, has two ideas in it. The first is lavish generosity and the second is a lack of desert. Paul says, “I want you to be so close to God that you will experience day by day the sheer undeserved generosity of the heart of God.” Wiersbie quotes a beautiful saying, “God in His MERCY does not give me what I DO deserve, and God in His GRACE gives me what I DO NOT deserve.”

2) Peace. Many see here the modern psychological blessing “peace of mind.” It includes this but involves far more. Tolbert calls it “a practical synonym for salvation.” Because of Jesus there is peace between us and God (Rom. 5:1). We have gone from rebels to children. There is peace between us and others as we live out the Jesus life of forgiveness and love (Eph. 5:1).

There is peace in out hearts as by prayer and submission we go on to experience the “peace of God that passes understanding.” (Phil. 4:7) Notice that there is no peace without grace. Until

we are right with God we will not be right anywhere.

2. The Source Of This Life is from “God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1) God As Father. This speaks of our spiritual relationship to God where, when we trust Christ, we are born into (John 3:5) and adopted into (Rom. 8:15-16) the family of God., and are no longer children of wrath (Rom. 5:9) or of the devil (John 8:44). But many Christians who believe this and experience it theologically do not put it into practice and apply it to their lives. We do this by trusting prayer. Jesus told us to begin our prayer with the words, “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9). Beyond the theological to the practical this means you trust God with your life. You trust His wisdom, His power and most of all His love. Grace and peace come to the Christian who says: I will trust God like Abraham (Heb. 11:8) for the things I cannot understand (Is. 55:8-9) and like Paul for the things I cannot change (Phil. 4:12). Faith is the victory (1 Jn. 5:4) but this faith must go beyond belief in doctrinal truths. It must include taking the Father’s hand. One lady, asked the secret of her poise, said, “With my life I sail the high seas, but my heart is always in port.”

2) Jesus As Lord. Grace and peace also come when Jesus is our Lord and Messiah (Christ). True Christians believe this theologically and affirm the deity of Christ. But many do not practice it experientially because Jesus is not Lord (ruler) in some parts of their lives. Thus prayer is hindered (1 Pet. 3:7), guilt and its effects (depression and irritability) rob us of peace, and we miss God’s best for us. Grace and peace come when we trust God as Father and obey Jesus as Lord. “Trust and obey, For there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.”

Here at the very outset Paul challenges us to be the right kind of Christians in the wrong kind of world. We do this by making Jesus Savior, Sovereign Sanctifier and Satisfier. F. E. Marsh says that as we make Him Savior we are saved from sinning, as Sovereign we are ruled by Him, as Sanctifier we let Him live through us and as Satisfier we find our delight in Him.

Sermon 3

Ephesians 1:3

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW

(I. The Praise – 1:3))

Christianity is a singing religion. The Bible says, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” (Js. 5:13). Paul must have been happy because he began Ephesians with a song (1:3-14), which was a spontaneous outburst of praise. Whether this was a poem (NBD), hymn (Barclay) or liturgical prayer (Moody) Paul was excited about what God had done for him.

Like a child at Christmas he unwraps gift after gift and as they pass before his eyes he literally shouts with joy. Carroll says he is “economic with his periods.” How right he is. Verses 3-14 give us three stanzas of this hymn and they are all one sentence in the Greek. Paul’s joy cannot be bound by the fetters of grammar. Much like our “Doxology” he praises the Holy Trinity.

(1) Stanza one (3-6) praises the Father for His plan.

(2) Stanza two (7-12) praises the Son for His purchase

(3) Stanza three (13-14) praises the Spirit for His power

His theme was “Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”. What put this song in his heart?

I. THE PRAISE FOR OUR BLESSINGS- STANZA ONE (1:3)

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (1:3)

1. The Cause Of Our Blessings. Paul blesses or praises God because He has so blessed us. The verb “has blessed” sums up all the blessings of God and treats them as a single whole (Vaughn). Paul would say with John, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1Jn. 4:19). The One who shows His love for us in His blessings is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul pinpoints God here as the Father of Jesus to refer us to His gift of His Son. The expression of God’s love takes the form of a cross where Jesus came to the human race, died for the human race and offered his love to the human race. We often speak of the sacrifices of Jesus but we must always remember this was also a sacrifice of the Father.

I may love you enough to die for you. I do not know. But I know this. I do not love you enough to give up one of my children to die for you. In that world of many “gods” (1 Cor. 8:5) Paul pinpointed the God of the Bible. If he had just said “God” then they could “run off to the god factory” (Moody) and buy and idol. The God we love and worship is the One who gave us His Son.

2. The Channel Of Our Blessings. God blesses us “in Christ”. An ocean of divine love wants to reach out to us but we must come to the point of the funnel where we confront it. That point is in Christ and in Christ alone. He is God in human form (Jn. 1:14). He is the image of the invisible God (Co. 1:15). He who has seen Him has seen the Father (Jn. 14:9). To by-pass Jesus to get to God is to miss God altogether. Any other god than the One reveled in Jesus Christ is an idol. No less than twelve times in these first fourteen verses Paul speaks of Christ as the channel of God’s blessing. In Him we are. . . “faithful, chosen, graced, redeemed, adopted, sealed, etc.”

This speaks of 1) The Unity Between Jesus and God. “God was IN CHRIST reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). The source of salvation is the Father’s heart and the mission of the Son was to execute the loving will of the Father. Some substitutionary views of the death of Christ actually set Jesus and God apart. God is the wrathful Sovereign whose anger is appeased by the sacrifice of the loving Son. This is not the case.

When God’s heart was punctured by sin, love flowed out and the result was Calvary. Thus the Bible can actually speak of the Church being purchased by the “blood” of God (Acts 20:28). The atonement was the effect, not the cause of Divine love. Jesus did not die on the cross to induce God to love us but because He did love us.

This also speaks of 2) The Necessity Of Finding God In Jesus.. The age of idiolatry is still with us. Ninety percent of all Americans “believe in” God, but which God? Many see their god in the sunset and the rain and the flowers. But they have no time for the Son, for the church or for the dusty old doctrines of Christianity. Countless millions have their own private god who takes care of them in emergencies and to whom they go from time to time. He is the “man upstairs” and the “spare tire” they rely on. But they know nothing of a God who makes any demands upon them.

The words repentance, crossbearing, stewardship, persecution and sacrifice are not part of their vocabulary or religion. Paul pointed that idolatrous world and points ours to the Bible and says, “If you want to find God, then look into the face of Jesus Christ. Without Him you are “without God and without hope.”

We must needs go home by the way of the cross

There’s no other way but this

We shall ne’er catch sight of the gates of light

If the way of the cross we miss

3. The Character Of Our Blessings. Paul seems to refer here to all the blessings we have by virtue of out being Christians and he says two things about their character or nature.

1) They Are Spiritual. We have been blessed “IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS with every SPIRITUAL blessing.” The heavenly realm in Ephesians is where Christ is enthroned (1:20), where believers are now seated in Christ (2:6), where rulers learn of God’s wisdom (3:10), and where believers now face the forces of hell (6:12). Hodge is right when he says this is the same thing as the “Kingdom of Heaven” spoken of so much in the Gospels. We are now in the Kingdom where our prayers do battle for God in the spiritual world. We don’t get to heaven in a “rocket” (Moody) but on the wings of repentance and prayer. At death the spiritual heaven of the here and now will give way to the literal heaven of the hereafter. But it is still true that we will never get into heaven unless heaven gets into us.

The benefits we receive as members of the Kingdom are “spiritual.” For some this means spiritual in contrast to material. Dr. Vaughn, speaking of material blessings says that Paul, as a “childless, landless, homeless man” had very little. But when it came to the spiritual, he was a millionaire. Others (Vincent) see this as a reference to the spiritual source of our blessings.

The idea is that out of this heavenly realm where Jesus now reigns with His saints (Heb. 12:23) and serves as our High Priest (Heb. 4:14) at the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3) come the blessings of heaven to those who are saved.

Both ideas are present. From the heavenly realm come spiritual blessings. Far too much emphasis is placed to day on the material benefits of being a Christian. Verses on the financial benefits of giving (Lk. 6:38) and God’s desire for our prosperity (3 Jn.2) are blown all out of proportion. Jesus warned us, more than He did anything else, of dangers of money (Mt. 6:24). The Bible calls love for it the “root of all evil” (1 Ti. 6:10).

Jesus also promised us hard times where we might lose everything (Mt. 10:36). In this world of greed and misery let us remember that peace of soul and mind that comes from being right with God is the greatest possession we have. Money can buy a bed but not sleep, servants but not friends, pills but not peace, pleasures but not happiness, houses ut not homes, and earthly comforts but not eternal rewards.

2) They Are Sufficient. How much has God given us? Paul answers, “...EVERY spiritual blessings.” We might as well number the stars as try and catalog His gifts. In Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Bible He has given us “everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). Yet we are like the lady found frozen to death because she could not buy fuel. Her son, who worked overseas was horrified, and said, “I mailed her a banknote every month.” They investigated and discovered that she, not knowing what these “pieces of paper” were, had decorated her den wall with them

Surrounded by wealth, she died in poverty. That epitaph could be carved on most of our tombstones. James tells us why, “you do not have because you do not ask God. When you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives...” (Js. 4:3). In other words, we either do not pray or we do not take the time and effort to get ourselves and our motives right and learn to walk in the deeper levels of prayer. When we do we will know the meaning of Phil. 4:19, “And my God will meet ALL YOUR NEEDS according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

This sufficiency of God and the deficiency of most Christians is (1) A Call To The Practice Of Prayer (Js. 4:3). We should pray daily with our prayer lists, one for intercession on behalf of others and one for ourselves. Take a sheet of paper and write Eph. 3:20 (where Paul says God can do more than we can ask or think) on top and make a list of all your needs. Begin with your sins and, one by one, ask God to cleanse you and give you the corresponding virtue. Put down “impatience” and pray for patience, “greed” and ask for generosity, “anger” and ask for self-control, etc. You will see moral and spiritual miracles take place in your life. Put your needs on paper and lift them up to God.

But this is also (2) A Call To Perseverance In Prayer (Lk. 11:1-5, Js. 4:3). Jesus compared prayer to pounding upon a door at midnight and promised, “Everyone who keeps on asking (the present tense verb) receives; he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking the door will be opened” (Lk. 11:10). Jack Taylor is right, prayer is WORSHIP, WORK and WARFARE. A few will dabble in it and get little or nothing from it. Satan opposes them and they give it up. Christ says we must LIVE in it as we confess our sins (1 Jn. 1:9), test our motives (Js. 4:3), develop our faith (Heb. 11:6) and find the will of God (1 Jn. 5:14). Prayer is the anvil upon which we are slowly fashioned into the image of Christ and it is the door of the treasure room where we are given what God wants us to have but its benefits come to those who stay there as soldiers: “There’s no easy path to glory/There’s no rosy road to fame/Prayer, no matter how you view it/is no simple parlor game/But its prizes call for fighting/For endurance and for grit/For a rugged, “I can do it”/And some “don’t know when to quit.”

Text: Ephesians 1:4-6

Sermon 4

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW

(II. The Predestination)

We are looking at Paul’s hymn of praise (1:3-14) and have studied the first line of the first stanza (I) The Praise For Our Blessings (1:3). Now Paul goes on to elaborate on:

II. THE PREDESTINATION BEHIND OUR BLESSINGS

(1:4-6)

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (1:4-6).

The theme of Paul’s praise was God’s eternal choice (election) and predestination. This subject set him to singing but it sets most of us to sighing! We conjure up ideas of God allowing some people to go to hell because He doesn’t choose to save them and of His making us mere puppets in the hands of fate. All such ideas are the result of our limited logic and are foreign to the Scripture. Look first at

1. The Reality of Our Election. The doctrine of election and predestination is not something the Calvinists dreamed up to confuse the rest of us. It is solidly embedded in the Word of God and has so confused and bewildered man that it is truly an example of the truth, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9).

My theology professor used to say, “All attempts to explain predestination presuppose that we can sit where God sits and see what God sees and this we all know we cannot do.” No wonder Paul said God’s judgments are “unsearchable” and His “paths (are) beyond tracing out” (Rom. 11:33). Looking at this mysterious doctrine notice:

1) The Terms. Three great words (two of them used here) describe God’s election.

(1) Choice (1:4). Paul says God “chose (eklego) us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world.” The Bible makes it clear that God did not simply choose a plan of salvation before creation but that He also chose us as individuals. One name for believers is the “elect” (eklektos-chosen) which is the noun form of the verb “to choose” (Mt. 24:22, 1 Pet. 1:1, etc.). Jesus told His disciples, “You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you” (Jn. 15:16). 1 Th. 2:13 says “from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.”

(2) Foreknowledge (Rom. 8:29). In Romans 8:29 Paul uses the word “foreknow” to explain our election. He says, “those whom God FOREKNEW He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son...” Theologians differ over what it is that God knows beforehand. Some say He foreknows US and chooses (elects) us out to be saved and then gives us repentance (Acts 5:31) and faith (Eph. 2:8). Other say God knows beforehand who will and will not accept Him. He foresees our faith and thus we are the elect. He chooses to save those who choose Him when the Holy Spirit witnesses to them.

(3) Predestination (1:5, 11). The word that gives us cold chills is (proridzo) “predestine” used five other times in the New Testament (Rom. 8:29, 30; Acts 4:28, 10:42, 17:31). The literal meaning is “to mark off or determine beforehand.” The “beforehand” clearly refers to the creation but the question is what did God mark off or determine before He created?

Wiersbie says election seems to refer to PEOPLE and predestination refers to PURPOSES. God determined beforehand that we would be “adopted as sons (children)” (Eph 1:15) and “conformed to the likeness of His son” (Rom. 8:29). He determined beforehand that Christ would be mistreated and killed (Acts 4:28) and would be the Judge of all men (Acts 10:42, 17:31).

2) The Time (1:4). The bewildering thing for us is that all this choosing took place before creation. Here we must remember that history is being viewed from God’s point of view. How God can know the future before it happens (Is. 46:10) and yet leave us free to choose is a mystery the human mind will never solve this side of heaven.

We can see this on a lower level because, as parents, we can pretty well know and predict our children’s choices, yet leave them free to choose. We are not philosophers but pilgrims and must remember above all that God holds us responsible for our choices in life which we are free to make.

A few verses on predestination should not cancel out the hundreds (probably thousands) of verses that stress our responsibility and our freedom. We are called the “chosen” (Josh. 24:15, Deut. 30:19, Rev. 22:17, etc.). D. L. Moody was not far off when he said, “The elect are the whosoever WILLS and the non-elect are the whosoever WON’TS.” The old black preacher said, “God’s doctrine of election is – God votes for you; the devil votes against you; and you cast the deciding vote.”

3) The Theologies. From these bewildering ideas three major explanations (theologies) have been given. (1) The Calvinistic. The strict followers of John Calvin teach five major points, easily remembered by the acrostic TULIP. Men are totally depraved and deserve hell. God unconditionally (for no reason but His Sovereignty) decides to save a few.

He sends His Son to die only for these chosen ones in a limited atonement (it is just for them). He sends the Holy Spirit to witness to these and they cannot refuse because His offer is irresistible. He then keeps these people saved forever (once saved always saved) by making them persevere to the end.

This view, also called “Sovereign Grace”, even though it is held in varying degrees by great men (Charles Hodge, Charles Spurgeon, etc.) leaves much to be desired. Dale Moody says the idea is that before time began, God looked at the human race and said, “Number seven, go to heaven, number six, you’re in a fix.” The picture is that of an arbitrary tyrant, he says, with the multitudes of humanity passing by. Every now and then God grabs one to be saved.

The rest get what they deserve. It is hard for me to see how it is “right” for God to send the vast majority of the human race to hell when it was God who gave them life and allowed them to be born in sin in the first place. I agree with Tolbert, “To say that our salvation is the result of God’s planning...is to verbalize a thrilling truth. But to say that others are lost because God did not choose to save them makes God a monster. Such a concept rejects the clear teaching of John 3:16 and denies any possibility of human freedom.”

(2) The Arminian. The exact opposite view (illustrated by the black preacher and his three votes) is that we choose whether or not we are saved. Carried to the extremes it can mean that all we need is to hear the gospel and we make up our minds. This view can easily overlook the fact that we cannot even understand the gospel when we hear it (1 Cor. 2:14) and we are chosen by God when we are saved (Jn. 15:16).

(3) The Combination. Most Christians find comfort between the extremes. We are put in contact with the gospel by the grace of God (Eph. 1:8). We understand and want the gospel by the grace of God (1 Cor. 2:14). We are given the desire and the ability to repent and to believe by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8). But in that moment of encounter and decision the choice is up to us. We acknowledge the inscrutable mystery that God can know ahead of time what we will do, but this in no way destroys our freedom.

This may appear contradictory but it is a paradox we can live with better than the monster God of Calvinism and better than giving up the Bible verses on foreknowledge. To those Calvinists who say we are putting “works” (our response) into the plan of salvation, we answer “Yes we are, but it is not works of merit. It is the works of a drowning man grabbing the hand offered to him or of a starving man taking food.” Calvinistic logic may see this as a movement away from free grace, but we who believe this way see our salvation as grace from beginning to end.

We sing, “I was sinking deep in sin/Far from the peaceful shore/Very deeply stained within/Sinking to rise no more/But the Master of the sea/Heard my despairing cry/From the waters lifted me/Now safe am I/Love Lifted me.” It is this third view which is taught in Eph. 1:4-6. Look next at:

2. The Reasons For Our Election (1:4-6). Why did God save anybody? Why did He choose to do it before He ever created the world? What motivated Him? The text gives three reasons:

1) God’s Good Purpose (5B). God predestined us “in accordance with His pleasure and will” (NIV). This sentence is hard to interpret and can have two meanings. One stresses the purpose (thelamatos) of God and the idea is that a sovereign God predestines because He chooses to. He has the sovereign right and He exercises it. The RSV thus translates this “according to the purpose of His will.” The other idea stresses the kindness or pleasantness (eudokia) in God’s decision and sees it as a good act of kindness.

Thus the Berkeley version translates it “the kind intent of His will.” Since we will discuss the kindness motive under “God’s love” (1:4B) let’s look at election from the standpoint of God’s eternal purposes. God did not create in the dark. He knew what He was doing and where everything He created was going. He is in control now of nations and individuals and is not sitting in heaven, wringing his hands, wondering how history is going to turn out. History is HIS STORY!

2) God’s Love (4B). We do not have to depend on the meaning of eudokia to see more than cold sovereignty in God’s decision. We are expressly told that “in love He predestined us to be adopted...” Calvinists too often see this as love FOR THE ELECT but John 3:16 does not say, “For God so loved the ELECT that He sent His only begotten Son...” It says, “For God so loved the WORLD...”

The Bible does not say Jesus died only for the elect but it does say, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2). The Bible does not say it is not God’s will for His elect to perish but he is “not wanting ANYONE to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

I like what Professor W. T. Conner told a seminary student who was worrying over the fact that the non-elect (the unchosen) could not be saved. “Young man,” he said, “your problem is that you believe you love lost people more than God does.”

3) God’s Grace (1:6). Paul says the result of our salvation will be “to the praise of His glorious grace which he has freely given us in the One He loves” (1:6). The word grace (charis) carries the two ideas of generosity and lack of desert. God generously gives salvation to those who do not deserve it. He loves the world that crucified His Son and saves us through the very act of our rebellion.

Calvinists press the meaning of grace too far when they say we can have absolutely no part in our salvation. Grace makes God love us when we don’t love Him. Grace made Jesus come and die for people like us who crucified Him. Grace made the Holy Spirit put us under the sound of the gospel, and give us the desire and power to respond to it.

None of this was our doing and our choosing. We are truly the chosen ones of God and the fact that we responded to God’s offer does not nullify this. We no more work for or earn our salvation any more than a man, given a blood transfusion from the arm of a king, earns or deserves his health.

4) God’s Goals (1:4-6). We were chosen says Paul with three divine goals in mind – sanctification (our purity); adoption (our position); and appreciation (our praise).

(1) Our Purity-Sanctification (1:4). God “chose us in Him TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS IN HIS SIGHT” (1:4). The same idea is found in Romans 8:29 where we are predestined to be “conformed to the image” of Christ. The plans and choices of a Holy God are moral. He sets us apart as holy because He is slowly making us more like Jesus and one day will make us spotless, blameless, without blemish, by removing forever every trace of sin.

(2) Our Position-Adoption (1:5). We are not to be just holy beings in heaven along with angels and others. We are part of the family of God. God is our Father (1 Jn. 3:1). Jesus is our elder Brother (Heb. 2:11). All believers are our brothers and sisters (Heb. 3:1). Regeneration means that God makes us His children by changing our nature. Adoption means He chooses us as children and chooses to be our Father. Thus we have a legal right, as joint heirs with Jesus (Ro. 8:17), to all the blessings of heaven. John spoke for all the saved when he said, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” And that is what we are! (1 Jn. 3:1).

(3) Our Praise-Appreciation (1:6). Paul ends stanza one where He begins, praising God for choosing to save Him. Hodge says the purpose of election is to “fill all hearts with wonder and all lips with praise.” My advice to you is to personalize this mysterious doctrine rather than trying to force it into a formal theology about others.

God chose to create you, to let you sin, to confront you with the gospel, to make you desire salvation, to offer His Son for you and to offer His salvation to you. In your freedom you are drawn to the gate of life and see over it the words, “Come unto me” (Mt. 11:28). After you pass through and reflect on your conversion you look back and see these words, “You have not chosen me but I have chosen you” (Jn. 15:16). Then your response is:

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

They great salvation so full and free.

Text: Ephesians 1:7-12

Sermon 5

THE MIGHTY GULF THAT GOD

DID SPAN

An old country preacher had a four point sermon on salvation: The Father THOUGHT it. The Son BOUGHT it. The Spirit BROUGHT it. And I FOUGHT it. In stanza two Paul gives praise for the purchase of our salvation by Jesus on the old rugged cross. The key word in it is “redemption” which means “to deliver by paying a price.” Paul sings:

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:7-12).

I. THE BONDAGE THAT PRECEDES REDEMPTION

This great word “redemption” was used of ransoming a slave or a prisoner of war, of releasing a criminal from the penalty of death, and for God’s great deliverance of Israel from Egypt. In every case, says William Barclay, the idea is that of setting someone free from a situation in which he was powerless to deliver himself or from a penalty he himself could never pay. This is exactly the plight of the sinner. He is under sin’s power and under God’s penalty and he is absolutely helpless to do anything from himself. And that is why God sent Jesus.

1. The Power Of Sin. We are all under the power of sin. We are its slaves (Jn. 8:34). Even if we define sin by our own standard we are guilty. We do not treat others the way we believe others ought to treat us. Paul challenges us, “You who preach against stealing, do you steal” (Rom. 2:21). Paul confesses, “I am sold as a slave to sin...I do what I hate to do” (Rom. 7:14, 15). Paul cries, “Who will deliver me from this...” (Rom. 7:24). We scream at our children, get mad at our neighbors, hurt those we love the most, and do things that torture our conscience because we are in the deadly grip of sin.

2. The Pollution Of Sin. Men under sin’s power are unfit in the sight of a holy God. We are unfit in His sight because we are unfit. The theological word for this is “depravity” which doesn’t mean we are as wicked as we can be but that “we are capable of every sin that we have seen our neighbors commit” (Augustine). The Bible’s verdict on human nature is, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understand, no one who seeks for God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless” (Rom. 3:10-11).

The verdict of God is justified by the bloody and apathetic record of man’s inhumanity to man. Either we join the robbers in Jesus’ story who leave our fellow men broken and bleeding to get what we want or we join the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side in cold indifference (Lk. 10:25ff.). At the judgement God can have two lists, one headed “The Cruel” and the other “The Calloused” or unconcerned. Most of us fit on both and all of us fit on one. We must say,

I never cut my neighbor’s throat

His purse I never stole

But for all the things I did not do

God have mercy on my soul

The ultimate act of cruelty and apathy was in the crucifixion of Jesus. Here, in one raw moment, the human heart exposed its true nature. It took the only good and truly loving human being who ever lived and nailed Him to a cross. Our God comes to live among us and “He is whipped, spat upon, pierced with nails and hung up naked for leprous sinners and painted harlots to jeer at” (W. E. Sangster). Thus we can see this leads to...

3. The Penalty Of Sin. Under sin’s power and pollution we are under the penalty of a holy God. We are condemned to a life of misery in this life and a life of eternal hell in the next. Of this life the Bible says, “The way of the transgressor is hard” (Prov. 13:15)... “There is no peace...for the wicked” (Is. 47:21)... “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest” (Is. 57:20). Of the next life the Bible says, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil” (Rom. 2:9)... “All who do evil they will then throw into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:42).

The plight of man is both tragic and hopeless. It is tragic because we stand accused of cruelty or apathy that makes us guilty of the murder of Jesus. We know that we will survive death to stand before God and when we do we will have the blood of His Son on our hands. It is hopeless because we can do nothing about our situation. We can do nothing about sin’s power because its monstrous hold is unbreakable. We can no more remove its ingrained pollution than we can change the color of our skin (Jer. 13:23).

We can reform a little but that does no more good than “painting the pump will purify the water” (R. G. Lee). We can do nothing about God’s penalty because we cannot change what we are or what we have done. All our piety cannot cancel a single line. Spurgeon says all we can do is put the noose around our own neck and plead “guilty”. This is the bondage that precedes and demands redemption. This is the great need that brought Jesus from the “ivory palaces” to a “world of woe”, from the place of majesty to the place of misery, from heaven’s crown to earth’s cross, from heaven’s kisses to the world’s hisses. That leads us to...

II. THE BLOOD THAT PURCHASED REDEMPTION

To deliver us from the bondage of sin’s power, pollution and penalty, Jesus had to come to this earth and die for our sins. He came as a teacher and preacher to give great truths but truths alone were not enough. Truths only show us how ignorant we are and how far short we fall. Great moral preaching only condemns us.

The Ten Commandments were fine ideals but Paul tells us their effect, “through the Law we become conscious of sin” (Rom. 3:20. Jesus came to face sin and temptation as a human being and live a sinless life even if it meant hell, at the cross, could give Him its best shot. That life can be made resident in us and be lived through us. That sinless nature can be given to us in the new birth. But what about the past with its irrevocable sins and the future with its inevitable sins?

Can a moral holy God let sin go unpunished? No! His word is sure, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4)... “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). But what He does is let His sinless Son, who deserves no punishment, die in our place and bear our punishment for us (Is. 53:5). The Bible says “the life is in the blood” (Lev. 17:14). When Jesus shed His blood it was the offering to God, on our behalf, as our substitute, His sinless life and His sacrificial death. Watts was right:

Well might the sun in darkness hide

And shut its glories in

When Christ the mighty Maker died

For man, the creature’s sin

Our text says several things about this bloody offering.

1. It Was Eternally Given (1:11). We were saved in accordance with the “predetermined plan” and “purpose” of God. Before God allowed man to sin, Jesus decided to come and die and provide a way of deliverance. Thus He is called the “Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8) and He was handed over to death “by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23). It is one thing to die in a courageous moment of passion but quite another to calmly sit and wait your turn to die. From Eden onwards Jesus stood in the wings waiting to come to the earth and to the cross.

2. It was Freely Given (1:7). Our redemption was “in accordance with the riches of His grace.” C. Roy Angel was right when he said grace was “something we need but do not deserve.” Another was right when he defined it with the acrostic “GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE.” We may deserve some things but never could we deserve to have Jesus die for us. We do not grasp the wonder of our worth to God because we have not personalized the death of Jesus and seen it as something done for us. Augustine said He “loved each one of us as though there was only one of us to love.”

3. It was Generously Given (1:7). Paul speaks of the “riches” of God’s grace. If you want to know how much you mean to God, look at Calvary. The most ragged, humble believer in the Lord Jesus is of more value than the whole universe. It took wisdom and power for God to create this universe but it takes the blood of Jesus to create a Christian. Our hymn book sums it up:

Oh the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

III. THE BLESSINGS THAT PROCEED FROM

REDEMPTION

One theologian estimated that 37 different divine blessings come to a person the minute he accepts Christ. However many there are, I believe they all fit into three categories, deliverance from sin’s power, and pollution (forgiveness) and its penalty (heaven). Paul lists four things Jesus’ blood buys us.

1. Forgiveness. He mentions first our deliverance from sin’s polluting guilt. The plural “sins” points to the accumulation of sins, past, present and future. They have all been wiped away (Acts 3:19), put behind God’s back (Is. 38:17) and out of His mind (Jer. 31:34), and put away as far as the East is from the West (Ps. 103:12). Those who call sin a sickness or a weakness and absolve us from guilt do us a great disservice.

If we are responsible we can be helped. If sin is an offense to God we can be forgiven. When evangelical Christianity labels us “worthless sinners” it is not to make us grovel in the dirt of worthlessness but to experience the marvelous heights of forgiveness and being loved when we don’t deserve it.

2. Insight (1:8-10). This can mean

1) Insight From God. God delivers our minds from bondage (Rom. 1:28). He gives us insight into the deep principles of true living (wisdom). He gives us the ability to apply these principles to the practical needs of daily life (understanding, prudence). Then He gives us spiritual knowledge concerning His dealings with the universe (1:9). He reveals His mystery the secret plan He is now revealing in Christ.

From all the uses of the word “mystery” (3:3, 4, 9; 5:32; 6:19) it seems to mean the whole New Testament revelation of God’s act in Christ. The end result of the mystery is unity (1:10) when God will “bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as the head” (TEV).

This unity is taken by some to mean that in the end, all people, and perhaps even Satan and his devils, will be saved (Universal Salvation). The Bible flatly denies this. In eternity the filthy will be filthy still (Rev. 22:11) and will be excluded from heaven (Rev. 22:15). What it means is that in the end Jesus will reign. Every knee will bow to Him (Phil. 2:10). Some will bow in love and reverence to Jesus as their Savior. The others will bow in enforced submission to Jesus as their Sovereign. These “times of fulfillment” (1:10) is the period when we choose the type of reign Christ has over us. We live in the “end of the ages” (1 Cor. 10:11), “the last days” (Heb. 1:1), when God extends His mercy.

This can also mean

2) Insight of God and stress the wisdom and practicality of His method of salvation. His grace does not flow out of control but within the beautiful banks of order and wisdom. The Christian philosopher Paschal used to show that of all the world religions, Christianity with its cross, was the only one that really solved the sin problem. It (1) punished the sin and forgave the sinner. It (2) gave power to conquer. It (3) humbled the proud by charging them with the murder of God. And it (4) lifted the lowly by offering pardon to anyone and everyone.

3. Heaven. (1:11A). Paul begins verse 11 with a phrase that can mean that we are the “heirs” of God’s blessings or that we are God’s “inheritance”. The first idea points to what God gives us as we like Israel in the promised land receive our portion. The second idea points to what God gets in us. We are His portion, His people. Praise God, both ideas are true. God’s blessings are ours and we are God’s. When this short life is over there is a heaven to make and a hell to miss. Heaven with all its bounty is the portion of God’s people (1 Pet. 1:4). God’s people, bought by the blood of Christ, are God’s precious portion. (Deut. 32:9).

4. Praise (1:12). The end result of redemption is praise. Paul seems here to single out Jewish Christians, “we who were the first to hope in Christ” who, like the disciples had accepted Him immediately or like Paul after a short interval. The idea is that “we who were the first are the forerunners of a great harvest” (1:13) and one day we will all, Jew and Gentile, be one company singing praises about the blood of redemption.

God in Christ has solved our sin problem. He has lifted the awful, crushing, burden of sin. John Bunyan begins his Pilgrim’s Progress with Pilgrim standing in rags, his back to the house and a Book (the Bible) in his hands. On his back is a huge burden, the weight of his sins. He is weeping because the Bible pictures his lost estate. Only when he comes to the cross does his burden fall away. That is what we experience in Jesus and why we sing, At the cross/At the cross/Where the burden of my heart rolled away. A young man, dying of cancer, called on to give the benediction, told of selling himself to homosexuals. Then he told of being saved and serving Christ and closed the service singing,

“Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, / Jesus loves even me.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

Sermon 6

PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT’S POWER

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit makes most Christians want to either right or run. The strange excesses of some have caused us to shy away from learning about the Spirit and thus we miss much of what the power of God has made available. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings the blessed benefits of the earth of Jesus to us and causes us to desire them and accept them. God the Father plans our salvation. God the Son purchases our salvation. God the Holy Spirit produces our salvation in us at the moment of conversion. He also causes us to persevere in salvation in the process of sanctification (growth).

I. THE HEARING 1:13A

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (1:13A).

The good news (gospel) of our salvation through Christ has the power to save (Rom. 1:16). It is the truth that sets us free (Jn. 8:32) from the slavery (Eph. 1:7) and punishment (Eph. 2:3) of sin. The first step in being saved then is to hear the gospel – to hear it literally and physically with our ears and more important, spiritually with our hearts and lives. This external and internal call of God to us is the work of the Spirit. He makes the gospel...

1. A Providential Gospel. It is in the providence and plans of God that we who are saved are brought into contact with the gospel. He chooses the place of our birth. But for His grace we could have been born in the darkness of heathenism where the Gospel of Christ is unknown. Why we are chosen to hear the gospel while millions live and die in darkness is a mystery hidden in the sovereign purposes of God. Our task however is not a mystery.

We are to pray, to pay, and to go (if called) to share the gospel with every human being on earth. Neither is our responsibility a mystery. Of whom much is given, much is expected (Lk. 12:48). As God said to Israel through Amos, “you only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” (3:2). I do not know if God has made some special provision to include some people who have never heard of Jesus in the benefits of Christ’s death as He does for the mentally ill and babies who die.

I do not know if there is any hope. But I do know this. There is no hope for those who live and die in the shadows of a thousand churches and reject Jesus Christ.

2. A Particular Gospel. Paul calls the Gospel “the word of truth.” The word gospel means “good news” and the good news of Christianity is that Jesus has come, has died, has risen and now reigns. He offer salvation to those who repent and trust in Him as Savior and Lord. Anywhere the true Gospel of God is preached the false gospels of the devil will fill the air. It was true of the hodge podge (Moody) being taught in the Lycus Valley and of the junk being preached in the world today. Two themes mark the true Gospel.

1) The Lostness Of Man. The Good News of God begins with the bad news about man. Its judgement is, “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Is. 53:6). We are all hopelessly and helplessly in the grip and under the condemnation of sin. Those who minimize our responsibility and label our problem as sickness rather than sin do us a great injustice. We can turn from a sin but not from a sickness. As soon as we say “We can’t help it. We are not to blame,” we have lost all hope of deliverance.

2) The Love of God. The Good News for lost man is that he has Someone who loves him. The Eternal God who made him, Whom he has offended, has stepped into history and died on the cross to save him from all the effects of his sin. One can preach the truth without preaching the Gospel.

The statement, “Diphtheria is a bad disease” is true, but it is not good news. Good news is when we say, “We can cure diphtheria.” One man, after listening to a searching sermon on sin, said, “If we are that bad, then God help us!” The Christian gospel is that He has. Through His death we can be forgiven. Through His life we can be changed. Through His eternal love we can live forever in heaven.

3. A Perfect Gospel. A third thing Paul says about the Gospel is that it is true. The Gospel, predicted in the Old Testament is true from Genesis to Revelation. We live in a strange age where people mutilate the Bible with the scissors of human reason and see how little they can believe about Jesus and still be Christians. They throw out the “cruel” God of the Old Testament and the bloody theology of Paul. They throw out the Lord’s virgin birth, miracles, deity and sinlessness and still claim salvation.

Marvel of marvels, they find the “truth” in a Book full of errors. Clark Pinnock is right when he says that preaching the gospel from such a mended Bible is like trying “to rescue the perishing by sinking the lifeboats.” The Jesus we trust is the Jesus of the Bible, just as the Bible pictures Him to be. Spurgeon defined faith as “believing Jesus is who He says He is and doing what He tells us to do.”

4. A Personal Gospel. Paul speaks of “the Gospel of YOUR salvation. We must make God’s loving act in Christ PERSONAL. The Holy Spirit who brings us into contact with the Gospel is the One who drives its truth into our soul until we cry with the Negro spiritual, “It’s me, it’s me O Lord, Standing in the need of prayer, It’s not my brother or my sister, But it’s me O Lord, Standing in the need of prayer.” Luther said, “Put your name in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved MARTIN LUTHER...” Paul said, “I live by faith in the Son of God who loved ME and gave Himself for ME” (Gal. 2:20). Salvation comes when we affirm our lostness and say, “My sins nailed Him to the tree” and when we affirm His love and say, “It was for ME He died.”

Oh can it be, upon a tree, the Savior died for ME?

My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled,

To think He died for me!

5. A Powerful Gospel. The simple story of our lostness and God’s love has the “power to save” (Rom. 1:16). This is the truth that sets us free. It is, says Paul, “the gospel of your SALVATION.” There are many questions we cannot answer about theology and philosophy. But like the man born blind we can say, “I do not know, but I know this, once I was blind but now I see” (Jn. 9:25).

Most of us know the Gospel is true because it has solved our sin problem and met our needs as sinners. We are free from guilt because Jesus paid for our sins and we can confidently face a holy God unafraid. We have peace and purpose and power to go along with our pardon. A non-Christian said to a Christian, “You Christians are a bunch of dreamers.” The Christian answered, “If that is true then don’t wake me up because IT IS WONDERFUL!!”

II. THE BELIEVING 1:13B

“...Having believed, you were stamped (marked) with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit in Him...” (1:13B)

How do you and I receive this bountiful and beautiful salvation? Our text says, “HAVING BELIEVED you were marked...” The Bible says, “By grace are you saved THROUGH FAITH” (Eph. 2:8). The connecting link is faith.

1. The Means Of Faith. The Holy Spirit, after enabling us to heat the Gospel, enables us to believe it and to respond to is. He strives with the lost (Gen. 6:3), bears witness of Christ (Jn. 15:26, Acts 5:32), convicts of sin (Jn. 16:8-11) and creates repentance and faith (Eph. 2:8) in the new birth (Jn. 3).

2. The Meaning of Faith. What does it mean to believe? It is not mere intellectual assent, like the “devils who believe and tremble” (Js. 2:19). It is not emotional trauma like that of the rich, young ruler who believed but not enough to change his lifestyle (Lk. 18:18). It is not moral reformation like the Pharisees practiced.

Faith is the total response of the total person to the truth of God. With our minds we believe the bad news of our sinfulness and the good news that Christ, the divine Son of God dies for our sins. With our emotions we want to love righteousness and hate sin. With our wills we choose to renounce sin as a way of life and choose Jesus as the Lord and master of our lives. True faith thus involves the intellect, the emotions and the will as we repent (turn from sin) and believe (turn to Christ as Savior and Lord).

III. THE SEALING 1:13B

The Holy Spirit who saves us is the One who keeps us saved. He is

the author of salvation and the agent of sanctification. He is the converter and the conserver. Part of this conserving work is called sealing. The King James version is wrong when it says, “AFTER that ye believed ye were sealed...” The meaning is “when you believed you were sealed” and the newer translations bring this out.

What does this sealing mean? It might be well to look at the ministry of Spirit as a whole before giving an answer. The Old Testament (Joel 2) and Jesus (Acts 1:8) promised (1:13B) that the Spirit would come. He did come at Pentecost (Acts 2). Believers are to look at the coming of the Spirit and CLAIM six things as already accomplished by their conversion and SEEK three things they should accomplish by their commitment.

We can CLAIM as already ours the Spirit’s presence (Rom. 8:9), baptism (1 Cor. 12:13), sealing (Eph. 1:13-14), bestowal of our spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:11), anointing (1 Jn. 2:20) and personal ministry to us as He instructs (Jn. 16:13), gives assurance (Rom. 8:16), calls to special service (Acts. 13:2-4), etc. We are to SEEK three things.

First, not to grieve the Spirit by sin (Eph. 4:30), second, not to quench the Spirit (1 Th. 5:19), and third, to be led or filled (Eph. 5:18), controlled and empowered by the Spirit.

The Spirit’s sealing, mentioned three times (Eph. 1:13, 4:30, 2 Cor. 1:22) is something we can claim by faith as already ours. What is it? In the ancient world the work seal has several meanings. It was a brand or mark on things like cattle or lumber to (1) Mark Ownership. The presence of God the Holy Spirit in us is God’s way of marking us as His.

Then on each He places, His own secret sign

They that have My Spirit, These, says He, are mine.

The seal was also used to (2) Mark A Completed Transaction. When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He marked the completion of His redemptive offering to God. When the Holy Spirit converts us He completes the new birth in us and the application of Christ’s blood to us. A seal was also used

(3) To Render Something Secure, like the grave of Jesus (Mt. 27:66) or letters (1 K. 21:8). Seals on letters (1 K. 21:18) and legal documents also (4) Marked Something As Genuine. Add these four uses up and two ideas come to mind.

1. Spirituality. The Spirit of God in us is Holy and He will make us the same. He is Jesus in us and this and this alone brands us as God’s and marks us as genuine. This sealing is both within and without. Within, it is the felt workings of the Spirit as we rest on the work of Christ, find our delight in turning from sin and living for Jesus.

Without, it is the result of this new nature that others see, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) making us more and more like Jesus in the eyes of others. Today, in this age of “easy believism” it is fashionable to get assurance of salvation by quoting verses of Scripture that promise it. Jesus told us to look for fruit (Mt. 7:16) and Paul said, “Examine yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5).

In the end, it is not what we know or claim we know that marks us as genuine Christians, but the evidence of Jesus living in us and being revealed through us.

2. Security. Once we have the evidence of Jesus’ Spirit living in us by the new birth and working through us by the new line, we have the blessed assurance of eternal security, that “He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion” (Phil. 1:6). We are sealed in Jesus like Noah and his family were sealed in the ark when God closed the door (Gen. 7:16).

In Rev. 7:4, the people of God, symbolically represented as the 144,000 were sealed. In Rev. 14, with Christ on Mt. Zion were the 144,000. Every one was accounted for! Every one sealed was there! Not a one was lost! Praise God, we are not only SAVED in Jesus, we are SAFE in Jesus.

IV. THE PLEDGING 1:14A

“...who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession...” (1:14A)

The idea of eternal security is reinforced by Paul calling the presence of the Holy Spirit a “pledge, earnest, deposit, first installment, guarantee, etc.” of the redemption (full salvation - 1 Pet. 1:3-5) that “is to come” (2 Cor. 1:22). All that we have in the Holy Spirit (holiness, joy, comfort, love, divine fellowship, etc.) is just a taste of what we have coming.

But this taste is also a pledge or guarantee. God will finish what He has started. The Jews, when they promised to see a piece of land, often gave the buyer a handful of soil, as an example and a promise of their future estate. In the salvation, sanctification ministry of the Spirit, God has given us the foretaste of heaven and the promise of heaven. The same word was also used of an engagement ring. Wiersbie rightly says that our relationship with God is not a commercial one but a personal one. We are the bride of Christ, the objects of a love that will not let us go.

V. THE PRAISING 1:14B

“...to the praise of His glory” (1:14B)

The result of all this was praise. We are SAVED in Jesus and we are SAFE in Jesus. He will never leave us (Heb. 13:5-6). Nothing can snatch us from His hand (Jn. 10:28-30). This is something to sing about. A salvation we can lose is no comfort, for a thousand devils, each one stronger than we are, lies between us and heaven. Thank God for a salvation correctly described in Newton’s grand old hymn, “Amazing Grace”.

Stanza one speaks of CONVERSION, being lost and found. Stanza four speaks of the CONSUMMATION, where after ten thousand years we are just getting started in our praise. But in many ways the best stanza is number three which speaks of CONTINUANCE.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come.

Tis grace has kept me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

Text: Ephesians 1:15-17A

Sermon 7

A PASTOR’S PRAISE FOR HIS CHURCH

For many people prayer seems to be an unpleasant duty, but for Paul it was obviously a supreme joy. Vaughn says the prayers of Paul are the “high watermark of his letters.” His letters, like his life, were filled with prayers and references to prayer. This prayer is made up of praise (15-16) and petition (17-23). He petitions God for their increased knowledge of Him through the Holy Spirit (17). Today we look at the praise:

“For this reason, I, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, have never stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you...” (Ephesians 1:15-17A)

I. THE MANNER OF PRAYER

The fact that we pray is not enough. Pagans, in times of stress, turn to prayer like drowning men clutch at straws. The Pharisees, who murdered Jesus, were men of prayer. The Bible, in James 4:2-3 gives us two reasons why we do not get what we need from God. One is because we do not ask – “you have not because you ask not;” and the second is because we ask in the wrong way – “When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives...” Paul teaches us the right WAY of prayer. His

prayer was...

1. Marked By Constancy. Paul says he “never stopped giving thanks” and that he “kept on” asking God to give them spiritual knowledge. All of us pray in emergencies. Most of us pray when it is convenient and when we feel like it. Paul prayed regularly and habitually. To have a regular, constant prayer life we need to do three things.

(1) We need a daily time set aside for Bible study and prayer.

(2) We need to maintain the attitude of prayer during the day as we hurl short ejaculatory prayer-thoughts toward heaven as we see needs in our lives and the lives of others.

(3) We need to go to bed at night, leaving the day, with its victories and defeats, virtues and sins, in the hands of God. If in the morning you commit the day to God, if during the day you use the day for God, and if at night you leave the day with God, you will be “walking in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16) and living behind the shield of God’s protection (Gen. 15:1).

2. Marked By Sanctity (v.17). Paul addressed his prayer to “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father.” These words point to the dignity and reverence Paul had for God. One of the biggest problems in prayer is getting close to God without getting too close, without becoming overly familiar. Jesus taught us to be so close to God that we can ask for daily bread but He also taught us to call upon him as “Father” and make our first petition, “Hallowed be Thy name.”

II. THE MOTIVES OF PRAYER

Having looked at the WAY of Paul’s prayer, we now turn to the WHY of it. The text suggests four reasons why we should pray:

1. The Faithfulness of Their Commitment.

The first why of prayer is simple. We are commanded by our Lord who said, “Men ought always to pray” (Lk. 18:1), by the Holy Spirit who said through Paul, “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer” (1 Tim. 2:8), and by God the Father, who said, “Call unto me” (Jer. 33:3). Prayer is a blessing and privilege but it is also a duty. The non-praying Christian is a disobedient Christian. He is a rebel. He is being faithless to his Lord.

We will never cultivate and maintain the habit of prayer until first of all we see it as a command to be obeyed and enlist the service of our will. We depend too much on feelings and frames of mind when it comes to regular prayer. If we pray only when we “feel like it” then we will seldom pray.

The devil will see to it that we don’t feel like it. He will use our tired, aching bodies, our domestic turmoil, our busy schedules and our normal ups and downs to keep us from the demanding work of prayer. I never had anything close to a regular or powerful prayer life until I set aside a time and a place and determined that “come hell or high water” I would keep my appointment with God. There are “high” times and “dry” times but that is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to be there.

2. The Fact Of Their Conversion.

Another motive for Paul’s prayer was the fact of his reader’s conversion. The word “therefore” points back to the grand hymn of praise for salvation. Saved people need prayer and Paul provided it. We agonize for lost people to be saved and when they are, we often drop them like a hot rock. With their “soul in the bag” we forget about them and their needs and move on to others. How unlike Jesus and Paul and the New Testament churches.

We rightfully condemn any parent who abandons their children or refuses to nourish them. Yet countless “soul winning” Christians do just that. George Sweazey says, “I never saw a cradle without sides.” After the great harvest of Pentecost the converts were instructed in “the apostle’s doctrine” (Acts 2:42). Our Lord’s great commission was not just to make disciples and baptize but also to “teach them all things...” (Matt. 28:18-20).

We have neglected our own and this has resulted in the awful spiritual retardation we find in our churches. Waylon Moore gives some startling statistics. Of our membership 20 percent never pray, 27 percent never read the Bible, 30 percent never attend church, 40 percent never give, 50 percent never attend Sunday School, 80 percent never attend prayer meeting, 90 percent never have family worship, 95 percent never lead anyone to Christ, and 99 percent never follow up those they win.

Jaroy Webber, former President of the Southern Baptist Convention says, “Southern Baptists have majored on saving the lost but minored on saving the saved. Each year about as many Baptists become non-resident members as are added to all our church rolls. If this continues, we face self-liquidation within a few years.” The future of the church is in the hands of the spiritual babies now being born therefore they need our constant care and prayers.

3. The Fruits Of Their Conversion.

The fact that Paul said he “heard” of their faith, leads some to believe that he had never personally met these believers. His word here could refer to the ever expanding number of converts being added to the churches around Ephesus. In other words, he was thankful for

1) Their Evangelistic Ministry. Nothing gladdens the heart of any pastor more than to see his people mature to the point where they win others to Christ. It is a great thing to win a soul for Christ, but it is an even greater thing to win a soul winner. Spurgeon said, “He who converts a soul winner produces a fountain from which thousands may drink.”

2) Their Edification. But this word faith could also refer to the life or walk of faith being practiced by those whom Paul helped lead to Christ. They were perhaps growing in their assurance of salvation and not being tossed by the storms of doubt. They were perhaps growing more and more confident in the power of Jesus to control and care for every facet of their lives. What a joy when a Christian becomes a tither and trusts God for his finances, when he takes a job in the church and trusts God to enable him to serve, when he tries his hand at evangelism and trusts God to give him courage, wisdom, and success.

3) Their Evidence of Salvation. Either way we take it their faith was the evidence to Paul of the genuineness of their Christianity. The question is, how do we see faith? Faith is an inner quality that can only be seen when it works its way out into the life. Tolbert reminds us that these words “I have heard of your faith” point to much that is unknown. Faith usually reveals itself in crisis. What had Paul heard. Times of trial and persecution may have arisen. The churches may have been under tremendous pressure to deny their Lord. If so, says Tolbert, they had come through these trials victoriously. In both the crisis and the daily grind faith will reveal itself in our lives and Paul goes on to mention one of those ways – the second fruit of their conversion.

More important than their day by day faith in Jesus was their love for others (1 Cor. 13:2, 13). Love surpasses faith because faith makes us work for Jesus and lean on Jesus, but love makes us like Jesus. In fact, love is the evidence that our faith is real. There is not evangelism without love and no edification without love. Faith, if it has not works (results, fruits) is dead (Js. 2:17).

And when you add up all the fruits of a Spirit filled Christian listed in Gal. 5:22 you can spell it L-O-V-E or better still J-E-S-U-S. Galatians doesn’t mention the “fruits” (plural) but the fruit (singular). Many feel there is thus one fruit (love) with eight clusters - joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

This passage speaks to us of

(1) The Preeminence of Love. William Barclay is right when he says that two things should characterize the true church, loyalty to Christ and love to men. It is so easy to hold to the truth and push people aside in the process. It is so easy to be orthodox and unkind. It is so easy to know the Bible and to recite the creeds and to memorize Scripture, while we don’t get to know people, while we don’t say the encouraging things they need to hear and while we don’t remember to offer them ourselves and our love. The preeminence of love should lead all of us to seek for

(2) The Pathway Of Love. How do we start loving people? We don’t grit our teeth and try to generate a feeling. We do it by prayer and by practice. Remembering that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches

(Jn. 15), we get close to Him in prayer and ask Him to give us the love we need. Then we start doing kind, considerate, Christlike things for people. Love is something we do, not something we feel. The feeling comes after the doing! The feeling of love very often is not love at all. The little rhyme says:

Mommy I love you said little Nell

I love you more than tongue can tell

And away to the garden gate she flew

Leaving mommy with all the word to do

Max Beerbohm in “The Happy Hypocrite” tells of a terrible villain named Lord George Hell. He was mean on the inside and his face was even lined with the ugly effects of his hate. The sight of his evil face made people fear him. He met and fell in love with a girl names Little Miss Mere. She refused him because of the evil on his face. He went to a famous mask-maker who made him the lifelike and beautiful face of a saint. He courted and won the hand of Miss Mere and day after day was a happy hypocrite as he showed only kindness, charm, and goodness to her and others.

One day, years later, an old enemy saw him on the street and in the presence of his lovely wife, ripped off the mask to expose his ugly face. When the mask came off it exposed, not the face of a devil but of a saint. He had actually become what he had practiced day by day. We do not become like Jesus by retreating to a monastery or even by praying and reading our Bibles. We do it after prayer and Bible study by getting involved with others and reaching out to meet their needs.

A bell is not a bell until you ring it

A song is not a song until you sing it

Love wasn’t put in your heart there to stay

Love isn’t love until you give it away.

4. The Furtherance Of Their Conversion.

But as great as their faith and love was, it was not enough. Paul went from thanksgiving for what they were to petition for what they still needed. The danger of the heresy of full sanctification or perfectionism is that it teaches people they have arrived spiritually. This kills growth. Evangelicals denounce their proud spirit of attainment but many of them teach the same thing with their careless use of phrases like “FULL surrender”... “FILLED with the spirit”...”CONSTANT abiding in Christ...”

Can any of us really claim any of these. To be sure these should be our goals. But the minute we claim any of these. To be sure these should be our goals. But the minute we claim them as our attainments we kill any chance of growth. With Paul we must say, “I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win..” (Phil. 3:12 TEV). And with the hymn writer:

I’m pressing on the upward way

New heights I’m gaining every day

Still praying as I onward bound

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground

Paul’s thanksgiving reveals what was important to him – the faith, faithfulness and love of the people of God. We are made aware, says Tolbert, of the contract between his way of thinking and ours. When we speak of great churches we generally have in mind, buildings, budgets, baptisms and bulging church rolls. These standards of measurement were totally foreign to Paul. He put his tape measure around the heart. A great church is made up of people who trust Jesus, are faithful to Jesus and who love each other.

Text: Ephesians 1:17-18A

Sermon 8

SEEING WITH THE HEART (I)

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened...” (Eph. 1:17-18)

The date was May 24, 1738. The place was London, England, in a small chapel on Aldersgate Street. As the worship leader read from Luther’s preface to Romans, a young, disillusioned Church of England pastor said his heart was “strangely warmed.” Young John Wesley left there that night to become perhaps the greatest evangelist and church builder since the Apostle Paul.

Of this Aldersgate experience he said, “Then it pleased God to kindle a fire which I trust shall never be extinguished.” What had happened to Wesley? We will never know for sure, but one thing was this – the truth he had known and preached from his head, moved down to his heart. He saw “with the eyes of his heart.” The truth he possessed took possession of him.

Leonard Griffith reminds us there are many ways to say “I see it.” A small boy looking for a satellite, a student looking for the solution to a mathematical problem and a person seeking some meaning in life can all say, “I see it.”

Paul’s inspired prayer for the Ephesians and for us was this last kind of sight or knowledge. It was for the knowledge like that which took possession of John Wesley and turned both him and his world upside down. He uses three words to describe it. The first is wisdom (sophia) which refers to general wisdom that sees into meanings and principles. The second is revelation (apokalupsis) or insight. This is the specific knowledge given to us by the Lord in the Bible.

The third word is knowledge (epignosis), which is full or accurate knowledge gained primarily from experience. Add these up and you get the knowledge of God that changes lives. We get what Bill Gothard calls “the ability to see life from God’s point of view.” This spiritual insight involves several things revealed in our text.

I. IT IS SPIRITUAL (1:17B, 18A)

Paul’s prayer was for “the Spirit of wisdom” that reveals things seen with “the eyes of the heart.” There are truths, he says, beyond what the human eye can see, what the human ear can hear and what the human mind can discover. Our scientific age glories in the logical, but the great truths by which men live are spiritual. They are seen with the eyes of the soul. Logic and reason have their place but standing alone they fail to satisfy our deepest needs.

Paschal said that heart has reasons about which the mind knows nothing. Some of the greatest things in life cannot be seen and analyzed. Who can see a principle? Who can explain character? Who can analyze love or sacrifice or devotion or duty?

Spiritual wisdom is not the so called wisdom of the world. This wisdom comes from “darkened minds” (Rom. 1:21). It is the wisdom of fools (Rom. 1:22). It puffs men up (1 Cor. 8:1) like proud peacocks. And mos of all, it is a barren desert that does not satisfy the soul. The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom...but I learned that this, too is chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (Eccl. 1:17-18).

Dr. Criswell tells of the author of a textbook on psychology who gave this personal note at the end: “I have been an unbeliever. I have not believed in immortality and I have not believed in the resurrection. But since I began writing this book my father died, and my mother died, and though I cannot explain it, nor can I intellectually defend it,

I cannot believe that my father has ceased to be and that my mother is altogether gone. I believe my father is somewhere and my mother is somewhere and though yesterday I denied both immortality and resurrection, today after the death of my father and my mother, I believe in both of them.” (Ephesians-An Exposition By W. A. Criswell, Zondervan, p. 57).

Some would accuse this man of creating an intellectual crutch to carry him through a terrible valley but in reality he was seeing truth with the heart that answered the deepest needs of his soul.

When nine Dartmouth men were asphyxiated in their fraternity house the student body came face to face with the emptiness of logic alone. The president of the student body spoke to them all and probably for them all when he said, “We begin to sense that rationalism is not all, and that there is no harder or colder form of materialism than the materialism of pure intellect un-tempered by the influence of heart and soul...human nature claims to be both rational and religious, and the life which is not both is neither.”

II. IT IS PRACTICAL (1:18A)

The Greeks occupied themselves with wisdom (sophia). They gave the world philosophers like Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. These men, for the most part, dwelt upon the great spiritual principles of life but it was too theoretical. It encouraged discussion in the classroom but did not go out into the streets where men and women lived their daily lives. To the Hebrew wisdom was intensely practical.

It taught men how to live with themselves, with God and with others. Wisdom begins with the fear of God (Pro. 1:7), has its seat in the heart, the center or moral and intellectual decision (1 K. 3:9) and branches out to touch all of life. The Book of Proverbs begins, “Here are proverbs that will help you recognize wisdom and good advice and understand sayings with deep meanings. THEY CAN TEACH YOU HOW TO LIVE INTELLIGENTLY AND HOW TO BE HONEST, FAIR AND JUST” (1:2 TEV).

The sad thing about modern man is that he has learned so much about the world he lives in and so little about how to live in the world. We are intellectual giants and moral and spiritual midgets. Dr. Criswell says, “Man has learned to fly through the air like a bird, to swim in the sea like a fish, but not how to walk on the earth like a man.”

Men want to know many things. They want to know how to get rich; how to get ahead without working; how to cheat without getting caught. The Christian is one who should want to know – how can I serve God? How can I know and do the will of God? How can I get hold of those principles by which I can live with myself, my fellow man and most of all my God?

The writer of Ecclesiastes went down every path - wisdom, wealth, works, wine and women – but came up empty on each one. This was his conclusion: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14).

This is the wisdom of one who sees with the eyes of the soul, who knows the highest knowledge is to know right from wrong and the highest wisdom is to choose the right. It is the wisdom of Daniel Webster. When a visitor surveyed his vast library and asked him, “What is the greatest thought you have ever received?”, Webster answered in a flash, “The greatest thought I know is MY INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD!”

The mind of man has not been able to sure the sin problem of man. Psychiatry is a failing science. Few can afford it and few who can are helped by it., G. A. Studdert-Kennedy wrote:

“he takes the saints to pieces and labels all the part /s, he tabulates the secrets of loyal loving hearts. His reasonings are perfect, his proofs plain as paint- he has one small weakness- he cannot make a saint”.

Philosophy, too, leaves us steeped in sin. Socrates cried out, “Plato, Plato, I know God will forgive sin, but I cannot see how.”

Better far is the wisdom of the great scientist, Sir James Simson, who discovered the use of the chloroform as an anesthetic. When asked to name his greatest discovery he didn’t even mention this. Instead he said, “The greatest discovery I ever made was that I was a great sinner and Jesus Christ was a wonderful Savior.” He did not make this discovery in the chemical laboratory but in the crucible of life.

It has been well said, “A man may be a man and not know algebra; a man may be a man and not know Greek; but a man cannot be a man and not know God.”

A young man, a brilliant student at Oxford, came to Chesterton and asked the secret of life. Chesterton asked him, “What do you want to do next?” “Graduate from Oxford.” “What then?” said Chesterton. “Practice law” “What then?” “Serve in Parliament.” “What then?” “Write.” “What then?” Well, I guess I’ll retire.” “What then?” Asked Chesterton. The boy stammered and said, “I don’t know.” “Young man,” Chesterton said, “You are a fool! Go home and think your life through to the end. And don’t forget to include death and eternity.” This is the wisdom from above.

We may know all about architecture but if we don’t know Jesus as the Door, we are fools. We may know all about botany but if we do not know Jesus as the Lily of the Valley, we are fools. We may know all about astronomy but if we do not know Jesus as the Bright and Morning Star, we are fools. We may know about medicine but if we don’t know Jesus as the Great Physician we are fools. We may know all about law but if Jesus is not our Advocate we are fools. We may know all about animals but if we do not know Jesus as the Lamb of God we are fools.

Text: Ephesians 1:17-18

Sermon 9

SEEING WITH THE HEART (II)

We continue our study of the spiritual wisdom, insight and knowledge which Paul prayer God would give the Ephesian Christians (and us). We have seen that this wisdom, in contrast to the foolish wisdom of the world, is (I) Spiritual and (II) Practical. Today, two other thoughts are given. It is (III) Revelational and it is (IV) Relational or personal.

III. IT IS REVELATIONAL (1:17)

Knowledge and wisdom like this is revealed. It is the “wisdom from above” (Js. 3:17). Paul says it comes from “the god of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father ...” (1:17). This wisdom from God comes through the Spirit. He asked God to “give...the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”

Commentators disagree over whether the word “spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit who is the “Spirit of wisdom and understanding” (Is. 11:2) or to the human spirit. The answer is probably both. Alford says it is the complex idea of the spirit of man indwelt by the Spirit of God. Three things come to mind:

1. Our Ignorance. Left to ourselves we are totally ignorant of the things of God and totally unable to find them out. A sunset reveals no beauty to a blind man an we can never see the truths of God until God opens the eyes of the soul and lets in the light. The King of Babylon put out the eyes of Zedekiah and took him through the beautiful streets of Babylon. All around him were vast halls, splendid palaces, flowing fountains, hanging gardens and the like.

But the blind monarch say nothing. God has his witness in the world (Rom. 1:19-20) and in the Word but we see nothing until He shows us. Paul says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God .” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

This blindness even applies to Christians. We can only know what God allows us to know and see what He shows us. The reason is that the study of God (theology) is different from every other kind of science. In them we stand above the object we investigate and test it. In theology we stand below the Object of study and He investigates and tests us. He gives us the desire and ability to know Him.

2. Our Illumination. This revealing to our souls of the things of God is the ministry of the blessed Holy Spirit. Jesus called Him our Teacher, Who would lead us into all the truth (Jn. 16:13). The great assignment of the Holy Spirit, says Dr. Criswell, is to enlighten our inward souls. Many scriptures bear this out. Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Wiersbie says the Holy spirit reveals truth to us from the Word, and then gives us the wisdom to understand and apply it and the power to practice it.

3. Our Involvement. This does not mean that the acquisition of spiritual wisdom is automatic. It is a gift, yes, but a gift to those who obey god’s laws and put themselves in the path of blessing. The Methodist evangelist Sam Jones said too many people are praying for rain with their “wash tubs turned upside down.” We are commanded to “seek wisdom” (Prov. 4:5) and to pray for it (Js. 1:5). This does not mean we EARN God’s gifts but like the patient who obeys his physician we simply do what needs to be done to receive the blessings offered.

When Paul prays for the “eyes of our heart to be enlightened” (1:18A), he involved the TOTAL MAN in the learning process. The “heart” (kardia) to a Hebrew was not just the center of our emotions (feelings) but also of our intellect (Ex. 35:25) and our will (Deut. 5:29). It is the seat of the human personality and we learn the things of God when we yield to God the reins of our intellect, our emotions and our will. To see with the eyes of the soul we must be willing to learn, to feel and to do. Our involvement includes at least three things.

1) An Open Bible. Psalm 119:30 says “the entrance of Thy word gives light.” The Spirit’s wisdom and insight is given from the pages of scripture. We need no further revelations or visions because the Bible enables us to be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible is our guide (Ps. 119:105), our lamp (Ps. 119:105) and our counselor (Ps. 119:24).

This call for an open Bible is a challenge to the Christian church and especially to the Christian ministry to preach and teach from an open Bible. Too many preachers “take a text and then take off” Spurgeon). The pastors must see themselves as “pastor-teachers” (Eph. 4:11) and give themselves to the hard work of Bible study and Bible exposition. There is too much devotional dribble, personal experience, news commentary, book reports, and stolen sermons being preached tody and too little Bible. In the words of Chillingsworth, “The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.” The preacher, says George Sweazey, is a professional plagiarist. He preaches to others because he has been preached to by the Bible.

2) A Bended Knee. With an open Bible before us we must go to our knees and pray for the teaching ministry of the Holy spirit. We must pray with King David, “Open my eyes so that I may see the wonderful truths in your Law...Give me understanding so that I may learn your laws” (Ps. 119:18, 73). We are to work hard in our Bible study. When Paul said, Rightly divide the Word” (2 Tim 2:15), the term he used meant “to plow.” But we must remember that we do not wrestle truth from scripture, we are given it in answer to prayer. We pray,

Break Thou the bread of live, Dear Lord to me

As though didst break the loaves, beside the sea

3) An Obedient Life. David said, “I have greater wisdom than old men BECAUSE I OBEY YOUR COMMANDS” (Ps. 119:100). Jesus said, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God...” (Jn. 7:17). There is a moral element in spiritual truth. When you and I study the Scripture and confront God, we are the ones being studied. We do not search the Scriptures as much as the Scriptures search us. We learn about God as we live with and for God.

IV. IT IS PERSONAL (1:17C)

The goal of all this wisdom is personal knowledge of the personal God. Paul says, “I ask God to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW HIM BETTER” (1:17C). We fall on our knees before an open Bible not to find doctrine, not to find ethical principles, not to find insight into life’s meaning, but to find God. All these things are but means to the glorious end of knowing God. Our prayer before an open Bible is:

Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee Lord

My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word

O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now unto me,

That He may touch my eyes, and make me see

Show me the truth concealed, within Thy word

And in Thy Book revealed, I see Thee Lord

Prayer number one for the Ephesians and us is that we may come to know God. The word for know is “epiginosko” and it means “true, accurate, full knowledge’ (Wuest). The idea is not that we will ever know all there is to know about God. The finite can never understand the infinite. The idea is that our knowledge of God will become more and more accurate, fuller and fuller with each passing day. God is not an “it” we can add to our storehouse of knowledge. “Who has known the mind of the Lord” asks Paul (Rom. 11:34). “His thoughts are not out thoughts” says Isaiah (Is. 55:8). God is a Person who allows us to know more and more about Him.

1. We Know Him As Savior. There is a sense in which every Christian knows God because salvation itself is called “knowing God.” Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: That they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ who you have sent” (Jn. 17:3). This knowledge issues in love (1 Jn. 4:8) and obedience (1 Jn. 2:3). A Christian has come to know God as Lord and Savior through Jesus Christ.

2. Do We Know Him As Shepherd? If a Christian knows God, how can Paul pray for Christians to know Him? The NIV brings out the meaning. We are to know God BETTER. Wiersbie says “To know God personally is salvation (Jn. 17:3). To know Him increasingly is sanctification (Phil. 3:10).” Many who know God as Savior never move beyond the baby stage of Christian growth and get to know Him as the strong Shepherd who guides, provides and protects (ps. 23). We get to know God as we walk the hills and valleys of like with Him, as we learn to trust Him and obey Him. There are hard times. There are times when He seems unwise, unfair and even cruel. But when time marches on He proves again and again that He is a loving Father who can be trusted.

Words fail me as I try to explain what it means to know God! The language of the soul is hard to put on paper. One young man said, “The older I get, the smarter my dad gets.” Friends, that’s the way it is with our heavenly Father. Getting to know God involves TENSION. There is the tension of faith and doubt, and certainty and agnosticism, as we get to know a God we can never prove or fully know. It takes TIME. The knowledge of God is an ever receding goal.

It takes TEARS. Relationships are nourished in the valley of sorrow. It takes TROUBLE. There are troubles in the world all around us. There are troubles with God as He seems to be unconcerned or unfair. And it takes TRIUMPHS! Those blessed hours when the ways of God and the waitings of the saints are vindicated. Add all this up and you get TRUST. You get the Psalm 23 kind of faith that can walk through the valley unshaken and unafraid.

Twenty years ago I read these words from Charles Spurgeon on the resolve of Joshua, “But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15)/ They still give the best description I know of what it means to know God. In the midst of weak people who were turning to the gods of this world Joshua stood like a giant oak. Spurgeon describes the scene:

“Gaze upon the stern warrior’s face scarred in many battles, bronzed with exposure, wrinkled with more than a hundred years of varied experience! ... his utterances rise from that broad breast of his with the rugged honesty and brace sincerity of a soldier prince. ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’: as much as if he had said, ‘I have known my God too many years to forsake Him now.

I have not bared my breast to the battle so many scores of times to be a coward now. I have not dwelt under the shadow of the Almighty forty years in the wilderness, and all these years in Canaan, that I might seek to idols at last.

He golden calf is not for me, I saw it ground to powder long ago: the idols of the Amorites are not for me, I have dashed thousands of them to the ground.’ He speaks as one who has weighed the matter, counted the cost, and come to a decision which he can defend against all comers. It would be idle to try and shake his resolve, it is as stable as Lebanon.” (The Treasury Of The Old Testament, Marshall, Morgan, Scott, p. 538)

Text: Ephesians 1:18

Chapter 10

WHAT EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO KNOW

Knowing God is not enough. Any relationship must either deteriorate or develop. It must grow or decline. The same is true of our relationship with God. Abraham was called the “friend of God” (Js. 2:23). I once heard a beautiful three-point sermon on his life with the Lord. God told him to “Get Going”. He had to leave Ur behind. God told him to “Go On”. He had to keep walking with God no matter where it led – through deserts, droughts, disappointments, etc. Finally he had to “Give Up”. He had to give up his Isaac on the altar and his Sarah to death.

We get to know God by getting on the road with Him, by walking down the road beside Him, and by bearing our crosses on the road with Him. In 1:18-23 Paul asks God to teach us three things that will help us in our walk with God. The first is the hope of our calling which is the assurance of the security of our relationship with God. The One on the road with us is our Father who will never leave us (Josh 1:9). The second is the glory of our inheritance which is the reward that waits at the end of the road. The third is the power of our God that keeps us on the road. Today we will look at the first two:

I. THE HOPE OF OUR CALLING 1:18A

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you...” (1:18A)

People who know God need to cultivate the attitude of hope. We ought to be the world’s champion optimists! Hope can be objective in the sense of the thing we hope for. It is used this way in Titus 2:13, Romans 8:24, etc. Here it would be synonymous with the inheritance mentioned in the last part of the verse. It would be our hope of heaven. More than likely Paul refers here to the subjective inner attitude of hope. This would be the hope of assurance we have in our souls of which God is the author and Source.

1. A Salvation Hope. Hope begins with the fact of our salvation. The word “call” is used of the salvation experience many times (Eph. 4:4, Gal. 4:13). People build their lives on many false hopes. The atheist hopes there is no God. The agnostic hopes there has been no revelation from God. The infidel hopes the Bible is a lie. The wicked hope there is no heaven or hell. All these hopes are refuges of lies. Hope lies in the fact that God has called us through Christ to be forgiven and to be controlled. We have responded in repentance and faith. We have been forgiven. We have been born again. We have been enrolled in heaven’s record book. We sing.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

On Christ the solid Rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

2. A Secure Hope. The Bible speaks of our hope of salvation as something strong and secure. The Book of Hebrews says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (6:19). Paul’s prayer for us to know the hope of our call is a prayer for us to have assurance of salvation.

For us to grow in our knowledge of God and usefulness to God we cannot forever be in doubt about our relationship to God. We have to stand on the Word of God and march through this sinful world with our heads help high, strong in the glorious assurance that we are God’s children, in God’s hands, headed toward God’s heaven.

Our sense of security is never in ourselves but in the God of our salvation. Assurance of salvation never comes until the eyes of our heart are enabled by the Spirit to see our salvation from the UPPER and not just the LOWER side, from the DIVINE and not just from the HUMAN side. We accepted Christ, yes, but by that acceptance we responded to a divine call, issued in time, revealed at calvary, and planned in eternity. This was the theme of Paul’s opening hymn of praise (1:3-14).

As we walk the Christian road with God we are to turn and see in Him a God who will never stop loving us. Suppose my child and I were walking and she said, “Daddy, do you love me?” What if she asked me again, and again, and again? Her doubts would break my heart. I know many a young Christian has doubts and has to search his heart to see if he is saved (2 Cor. 13:5). But I also know we have to get to the place that we believe God and believe the promises of the Book in the face of a thousand devils tempting us to doubt. We have to fight our way and faith our way back to the religion of our child and say,

Jesus loves me this I know / For the Bible tells me so

3. A Sublime Hope. The word “calling” points to our vocation or purpose in life. Our calling is to be children of God. There is no greater honor, no greater calling in life than to be called out by God to be part of His family. I have many possessions that are dear and valuable to me. If you were to steal my car it would hurt.

If you were to burn down my home, it would hurt. If you were to attack me personally and cause me to lose my life or my health it would hurt. In all of these acts I would not resist you to the point of taking your life in self-defense.

But there are two things in my home I cannot let you touch. There are two things more precious to me than my life or yours. There are two things which no price tag can value. One is my wife and the other is my children. And the New Testament calls us the “bride of Christ” and children of God.

God has many valuable, precious things throughout this universe, but nothing as valuable and as precious as His people. Our hope rests in the fact that God loves and values us more than anything else He has. We cost Him the suffering and death of His Son.

4. A Strengthening Hope. When we look back and see God alive and active in the past we can look forward and see Him alive and active in the future. Nothing braces us like hope and nothing takes the fight out of us like despair and pessimism.

One explanation for the weakness of the modern church is that we really do not have this firm, unshakable hope we sing about and preach about. When we think about the world situation we are like the doctor who calls the relatives in and says of his patient, “Well, at least there is hope.” Our faith is a front instead of a fact to us. It is wishful thinking.

William Cole tells the imaginary story about Khrushchev and Titov, the Russian cosmonaut. He asked him, “Did you see God in space?” Titov answered, “Yes, I really did see Him.” Khrushchev responded, “I knew he was there, but you know our official policy, so please do not tell anybody.”

Later Titov was interviewed by the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The father asked, “My son, did you see God in space?” Titov remembered the orders of Khrushchev and said, “No, there was no God.” To which the patriarch replied, “Well, I know He wasn’t really there, but you know our official policy, so please do not tell anybody.”

II. THE GLORY OF OUR INHERITANCE 1:18B

“(know) ... the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints” (1:18B).

1. The Glory Of Our Position As God’s Heritage. These words have two possible interpretations. One is that Paul wants us to know how valuable we are to God. We are His inheritance. We are His prize possessions. This idea is found in 1:11 (“we were made a heritage”) and 1:14 (“the purchased possession”) and I discussed it under our hope as “sublime”. This would refer to the glory of our position as God’s heritage.

2. The Glory Of Our Position As God’s Heirs. More than likely Paul is talking about our hope of heaven, about the glorious wealth of our possessions as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. Walking the hard road of Christianity God shows us the destination, the goal, the reward. This is why Paul the sufferer could say, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). What is our hope?

All we have are glimpses into the treasure chest but these are enough. In heaven we have release from sin and sorrow (Rev. 21:1-4). We have relief from the weariness of frustrating toil (Rev. 14:13). We have the realizations of seeing Jesus and seeing our friends (Rev. 14:1-5) and serving God, He will point, in times of discouragement, to the far off lights at the end of the road. He reminds us that we are not wandering, we are traveling.

Few things about Christianity are more severely criticized that our hope of heaven. Many times rightly so. We long for Jesus to come and we dwell on the glories of heaven to escape our responsibility in the world. Our command from Jesus is not to fold our hands and wait for the rapture but to “occupy” until He comes (Lk. 19:13).

The word literally means “do business.” I like the way E. V. Hill put it, “I’m not sitting around waiting for the gates of hell to attack me. When Jesus comes I want him to find me attacking the gates of hell.” That, my friends, is the kind of “heavenly mindedness” that does a lot of earthly good.

Heaven, for us, is far more than “pie in the sky, by and by.” It is the outcome of what we hope for and fight for. It is the true life toward which this life of testing and trial moves. One of my best friends lost his teenage son in a tragic accident. I can still remember him saying to me, “Bob, the great regret of my life is that I did not get to know my boy. I was so busy I didn’t take the time and now he is gone.”

Well, that is a lesson for all of us, to take time with those we love. But there is another message here. What my friend failed to do in time, he can do and will do in eternity. He will have forever to get to know and to get to love that boy of his.

No wonder Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19). When he said this he wasn’t thinking primarily of rewards but of the realizations of the noble dreams of the soul. He was seeing, with the eyes of the heart, that day when we would be delivered from all suffering, all sin and all separation.

In hope of that immortal crown, I now the cross sustain,

And gladly wander up and down, And smile to toil and pain.

I suffer out my threescore years, Til my Deliverer come,

And wipe away His servant’s tears, And take His exile home.

- Charles Wesley

Text: Ephesians 1:19-23

Sermon 11

THE POWER TO DO WHAT WE KNOW

“And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power, and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:19-23)

An old editor was fighting against the legalizing of gambling in his city. Someone reminded him that gambling was purely voluntary. It was a matter of choice. No one would force him to gamble. The old man replied, “Most people in this city are like me and I am in the grip of an awesome power that causes me to do what I want and not what I should.”

Paul carried this to an even deeper level when he said that as a Christian he wanted to do good but often wound up doing evil. “The good I want to do,” he said, “I do not do and the bad I do not want to do, that I do.” (Rom. 7:19) Most of us know right from wrong. Our problem is finding the power to do it.

A young salesman tried fervently to sell a crusty old farmer a new book on the modern techniques of farming. After listening to his sales pitch the farmer spit tobacco juice on the ground and said, “Son, I don’t need your book.” The bewildered salesman said, “Why? It tells you hundreds of new things about how to farm.” The farmer replied, “Son, I already KNOW MORE FARMING THAN I’M DOING NOW, so why do I need to learn any more?”

When it comes to living the Christian life most of us KNOW far more Christianity than we are doing. Our greatest need is not for more knowledge of right and wrong, but for the power to do the right God has already shown us.

Thus Paul’s final plea for the Christians of Ephesus in the first great prayer was for them to know ...” His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms ...” (1:19-20).

For the past we have the hope of assurance. For the future we have the hope of heaven. For the present we have the hope of power.

I. THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS POWER

1. The Descriptive Words (1:19). Paul almost exhausts the Greek language as he reaches for words to describe the power of God. The word “incomparably” means “a throwing beyond” (Wuest) and indicates power that cannot be measured. “Power” is dunamis from which we get our word “dynamite.”

“Working” is energeis from which we get energy. “Strength” is kratos used in words like democratic and autocratic. A second word used here for “power”, is ischus. The shades of meaning are not important. The main idea is that God has power at our disposal that defies description and is beyond measure.

2. The Demonstration (1:20-23). The thought of this power turned Paul’s mind to Jesus and what God had done for Him. He gave a demonstration of it by comparing it to the power that raised Jesus from the dead, seated Him at God’s right hand above all created beings and made Him the head of all things for the Church.

When a gifted preacher developed throat cancer several years ago it seemed that his career and possibly even his life was about to end. Today this man is still preaching and teaching. His physicians put him in the hospital and focused on his throat the rays of a cobalt bomb that destroyed the malignancy and restored his health.

The incalculable power of a cobalt bomb, several of which could destroy the human race, was zeroed in to focus on and help one human being. That is what God wants for us. He wants to zero in on us with the power of heaven to help us and to work through us.

II. THE DISCUSSION OF THIS POWER

These verses sound great but they also sound totally unreal. To tell me that I have the very power of God borders on the ridiculous when I look at my life, my church and my fellow Christians. Before we get all excited and start shouting “hallelujah”, let’s make an admission. Who among us has this find of power?

We look at our weaknesses and failures and the weaknesses and failures of the modern church and words like this seem unbelievable. Did not even the great Apostle Paul cry out, “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” (Rom. 7:18) In other words He too knew more than he was doing.

We look at the forces of evil entrenched and spreading like cancer through our society and we are more conscious of weakness than of strength. David Redding is right, “The modern David walks out and Goliath yawns.” Why is it that the church has failed to appropriate the vast resources of power available to her? Why does this verse seem ridiculous?

First of all we must be sure of just what Christ has promised us. Much of our frustration comes because we expect things God has never said we would have. Many husbands and wives are disillusioned over marriage, actually expecting things no marriage partner can provide. Much heartache comes when we believe God has not delivered. Therefore, let’s see what God has and has not promised.

1. The Power To Work Miracles? Many Christians are frustrated and feel inferior because they do not have the miracle working power described in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. The modern Charismatic movement calls itself the “True Reformation” because it has restored true Biblical Christianity with its miracle working power. We, with no miracle, who still stay sick and see our loved ones continue to hurt, feel left out, inferior and frustrated.

The simple truth is that God never promises us miracle working power on a regular basis. The three great miracle periods of the Bible (under Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and the Apostles) all marked great turning points in the ways of God and the new words of God through men. Thus Paul, arguing for his authority, said, “The things that mark an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done among you ...” (1 Cor. 12:12). If you expect constant miracle working power then you are doomed to a life of disappointment and frustration.

Somerset Maugham in his classic work Of Human Bondage, which is largely autobiographical, has a moving scene in the life of little Philip, the main character. He had just discovered the verse in Mark, “Whatever you ask in my name, believing, you will receive it.” He thought immediately of his club foot. He could play football and quit standing on the sidelines. He could stop going to the locker room early and getting in the water so people wouldn’t see his foot. He prayer with all the power of his soul and with a faith that could move mountains.

Kneeling by his bed in a cold room he asked the Lord to heal his foot that night. When his Aunt Louisa woke him the next morning it was the greatest day of his life. It was the day of his miracle. He knew his foot was well an he touched it with the tod of his right foot and then slowly slipped his hand down into the covers and passed his hand over it. He limped downstairs to breakfast just s Mary Ann was going into the dining room for prayers. When he sat down to breakfast, Aunt Louisa said, “You’re very quiet this morning, Philip.” Yes, he was quiet, disillusioned and heartbroken, but more than that, part of his faith in God had dies that night. Expecting something god never promised he was hurting more than ever.

2. The Power To Be Perfect? Other Christians are frustrated and defeated because their growth in true holiness is so slow, and sinful habits and attitudes remain entrenched in their lives. Once again Charismatics and their cousins “spirit-filled Christians” talk about sudden jumps to holiness, and leave the rest of us behind feeling left out, inferior and frustrated. Lane Adams says we keep “plugging along in the Christian life...hoping and praying that something will come along and a magic, overnight, total transformation is going to take place.”

Well, we are in the good company of Paul. He was at least a twenty year Christian when he wrote Romans. He had spent three years in the desert with God and his Bible. He had ministered ten years in his home town of Tarsus. He had been a missionary for over fifteen years. He was in prison suffering for Jesus. Did he write a tract on the spirit filled life? Did he write about the victorious life? No, he wrote Romans seven where he said, “The good I want to do, I do not do! The bad I do not want to do , that I do.” (Rom. 7:15). Why? Because sanctification is a long, slow, painful process. Our goal is to be like Jesus and this takes time, tears, tragedy, temptation, trial and triumphs.

Any time a person claims to have arrived he is either lying or has shortened his goal to either legalism (obeying a few rules) or emotionalism (living on a constant high). I sat behind one of the high priests of the victorious Christian life one Sunday night in a worship service of a local church. While his pastor was preaching he was writing a sermon or a chapter for one of his books.

Now that is anything but spirit-filled or victorious living. When I hear these men preach I often want a second opinion from their wives and children on their holiness. As long as being like Jesus is our goal we will fall short and be frustrated and ashamed. We will live with Paul in Romans 7. Anyone who “gets out” of Romans 7 to the “victory” of Romans 8, has taken his eyes off of Jesus as his goal in the Christian life.

3. The Power To Save The World (1:21-22)? A third source of frustration is that we believe Jesus has given us the power to save or change the world. Paul says of the risen Christ that He was exalted above “all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” (1:21). These categories take in all the created angelic and spiritual beings in the universe, those that are real and those that men dream up and fear. You name any being, says Paul, and he bows down to Christ. Then Paul adds that God has “placed ll things under his feet” (1:22a). This is a military metaphor which pictures Jesus as the conqueror at whose feet all the forces of evil bow.

The only problem is – they don’t! Evil systems are more entrenched than ever. There are more lost people per capita on earth now than ever before. We hear a great deal of pulpit rhetoric about “saving the world” or “over-coming evil in society.” In each of these areas we are failing. Our evangelism is not keeping pace with population growth and Christians are becoming a tiny, insignificant little minority among the teeming billions of the world. Evil in society is getting worse and worse. Because of this we feel weak, inferior and frustrated.

The simple truth, however, is that we have never been promised anything but this. We have never been promised world wide evangelistic success or that Christians would ever be great in number. We have never been promised nation wide victory over evil systems. We have been promised PERSONAL VICTORY. God’s will is to call out a select band of people, who stand against the multitudes of evil ones, and overcome in their personal lives.

God may or may not save America. He may or may not crush communism. That is His business. His business with me and my business with me is to overcome the world in my life. To expect anything else is to invite frustration. We are to witness to the ends of the earth and fight evil until we die, but total victory is never promised until the return of Christ. God apparently wants His people to go against the majority and win their personal battles in a sea of sin.

But before we hang our heads in shame and crawl in a hole bemoaning the failure of Christianity let us remember the powerful impact of the life and teachings and Spirit of Christ upon this godless world. England’s greatest statesman was William E. Gladstone. He was an evangelical Christian whom Fosdic says, “broke the chains of a million slaves.”

When asked to estimate the influence of Christianity upon man, he said Christianity abolished: (1) gladiatorial shows and other spectacles of cruelty to men; (2) human sacrifices; (3) polygamy; (4) exposure of children; (5) slavery and (6) cannibalism. Then he added that Christianity established (1) the moral and social equality of women; (2) relief for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted; and (3) peace instead of war as a way to solve conflicts. No wonder James Russell Lowell said,

“The worst kind of religion is no religion at all, and these men living in ease and luxury, indulging themselves in the amusement of going without religion, may be thankful that they live in lands where the gospel they neglect has tamed the beastliness and ferocity of men who but for Christianity, might long ago have eaten their carcasses like South Sea Islanders, or cut off their heads and tanned their hides like the monsters of the French Revolution.”

(Quoted in Therefore Stand, Wilbur Smith, Baker, p. 32).

Friends, the devil may seem loose, but he is on God’s chain (Rev. 20:1-10) with Christ’s foot on his neck. His power keeps all this world’s evil at bay, going only as far as He allows it to go.

4. The Power To Grow (1:20A). Enough about what God has not promised! What power do we have? For one thing we have the power to grow. All born again Christians have the resurrection power of Jesus. His life becomes our life. Sanctification is the outworking of the Christ life implanted in us in regeneration. We can slowly become more and more like Jesus. A tiny seed falls to the ground. Dirt covers it and it is seen by no one. It is frail and fragile and small. But in that seed is a giant oak. Add time and soil and rain and sunshine and struggle and the seed turns into a tree. Those who want to be like Jesus can slowly but surely be more and more like Him. I see moral miracles take place in me as God takes sin out and puts righteousness in. The great cobalt ray of God does not zap me all at once and give me a “second blessing” jump to goodness. But it does burn out this sin and that weakness and this burden one by one by one by one.

5. The Power To Persevere (1:20-22). We also have the reining power of Jesus to persevere in the Christian life and make it to heaven. The devil could not stop Jesus from getting to the Father when He lived on this earth and he can’t stop Him now as He lives in us. As our ascended Lord He is in heaven’s holy place as our “sure and steadfast anchor” (Heb. 6:19). At God’s right hand He prays for us (Heb. 7:25). And those prayers keep us safe in life’s storms.

Maclaren is right when he says that hope of heaven “will sometimes quench rather than stimulate hope.” The path behind us is littered with hundreds of battlefields where we were defeated. The path before us is lined with ten thousand devils trying to pull us away from Christ. In one hand the hold the enticements of sin and in the other the infliction of sorrow. Each one is a formidable weapon designed to destroy our faith in and love for God.

Shall we stand? Shall we conquer? Will we walk through these howling devils and wear the victor’s crown as we walk the golden streets? Do we have this power? The Bible answers yes! The Bible says, “The righteous also shall hold on his way and he that has clean hands will be stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9). It says we are “guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5). We have the power to persevere.

6. The Power To Advance (1:23). Paul ends this prayer with the thought that God gave this resurrected, reigning Christ to the Church to be its head and to make it His body. This means we have the residing power that enables Him to minister to the world. The church is called “the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” This phrase is hard to interpret but the idea is twofold.

1) Edification. As we grow spiritually Jesus fills us and our churches more and more. We have the power to let Jesus advance and take over one area after another. I see Christ slowly filling my life and my church. His Lordship is slowly being extended throughout His body.

2) Evangelism. In verse 23 Paul makes the remarkable claim that the church is the “body of Christ.” Jesus, in His human form, with the nail prints in His hands, is at the right hand of God. This could well be a “spot in the heavens where His glorified body exists, in immediate contact with some manifestations of the glory of the Father” (Pulpit Commentary).

This would be like the desert days in Israel when the Shekinah glory of God dwelt in the Tabernacle and Moses ministered from it. Our Moses, the Lord Jesus, could well minister from the heavenly holy place, where God’s glory resides. But the Spirit of Jesus is in the earth, helping, healing and showing love to those who need Him. How does it move? How does it work?

Through His body, the church. The church here is not he local church, but the general church, the church universal, made up of all believers of all denominations. As one mighty body we allow our Lord to minister through us.

The church then is no human organization, it is a living organism that embodies the Spirit of God. Its main mission is to fill up the body with new believers and to expand the body to cover the earth. Every city, every hamlet, every tribe is to hear the story of Jesus. We cannot win the world but we can win some. Annie Johnson Flint reminds us:

Christ has no hands but our hands

To do His work today

He has no feet but our feet

To lead men in His way

He has no help but our help

To bring men to His side

He has no tongues but out tongues

To tell men how He died

The greatest thing one human being can do for another is lead him to Jesus, and we have the power to do it.

Text: Ephesians 1:19-20

Sermon 12

TURNING ON THOSE WHO ARE TAPPED ON

Our city water system has millions of gallons of water available for our use. As residents the water is ours. It is there to meet our needs. It is enough to meet our needs. Yet we can perish for lack of one glass of water if we are not tapped on to the system or if we do not know how and where to turn on the water.

According to Paul we are tapped on to the vast reservoir of God’s power. The resurrection, ruling and residing power of Jesus is ours. The first give us power to grow. The second gives us power to stay. The third gives us the power to go through the earth filling up the body of Christ. The great shame of modern Christianity is that we do not use the power available to us. We lead weak, ineffective and powerless lives. We are tapped on but we are not turned on. The Spirit of Jesus resides in us but somehow we have failed to learn how to release Him to flood our lives and our world with His power. Today I want to offer three simple suggestions for turning on those who are tapped on. To release God’s power we need...

I. WE NEED TO KNOW MORE (Jn. 8:32)

I said last week that we “know more than we are doing” now. That does not nullify the fact that ignorance of God’s principles for living is a major cause of our poverty when it comes to power. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32). You can put it down, says R. G. Lee, that most of your members believe that “Epistles” are the wives of the “Apostles” and that Dan and Beersheba are two fo the Twelve Disciples. I had a Baptist deacon, in his forties, tell me as a young preacher, that it would be best for a Christian to die right after he was saved. When I asked why he said, “Because there’s nothing that can save him from sins he commits after conversion.” In Georgia parlance, friends, that is “ignerance.”

Once I was going though a terrible period of self-doubt in the ministry, When I talked with an older and wiser pastor he told me that I was going through the “Ten Year Syndrome” for ministers who were ten years out of the seminary. He explained what he meant, and that, along with some studies on the “Mid-life Crisis” showed me psychologically what was happening to me. I pulled out of it with flying colors. But the key was this – knowledge of some psychological and Biblical principles were power for me. They set me free.

I believe that for every problem God has a truth that will set us free. Life is like a cross country trip and God furnishes the car, the gas, the driving instructions, the highway signs, the highway, the hitchhikers, the wise folk who help us when we get on the wrong road and the strong folk who pull us out of the ditch. Where do we get all this help?

1. The Bible. Liberating truth comes to us first and foremost from the Bible. Davis said, “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11). “I have more insight than all my teachers for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders...” (Ps. 119:99-100). The Bible guides. It is like a road map, a driver’s manual, and highway signs as we drive through life. Ignorance often causes us to be stranded or worse, to be involved

in terrible crashes.

The Bible empowers. It is to the soul what food is to the body. It is more than a road map, it is like gas in the car. It guides and it empowers. Peter said, “Desire the sincere milk of the Word THAT YOU MAY GROW THEREBY” (1 Pet. 2:2). R. A. Torrey said that whenever he heard a Christian blubbering over their poor progress in the Christian life and wondering why they don’t make more headway, he would ask,

“Do you meditate in God’s Word. . . Do you really dig into the Bible?” Invariably, he said, their answer was “no.” Then Torrey added, “I have been told that if you study Mrs. Eddy’s ‘Science and Health; seriously enough it will cure you of appendicitis.

Well, study this Book (the Bible) as you ought and it will cure you of DEVILITIS!” We lack power because we do not feed our spirits on the Word of God. As a pastor I deal with many lives that have been wrecked and wasted. The saddest part is that in the vast majority of the cases, the people involved have violated a principle of Scripture. They have either been unaware of or indifferent to the highway signs of God and have crashed on Satan’s curves. There are vast reservoirs of power for those who live in and by their Bibles.

2. Friends. Liberating truth comes to us second from good Christian friends. The Bible says, “For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors” (Prov. 24:6). “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure” (Prov. 11:14). You need to be active in your church and take counsel from your pastor’s sermons and your teacher’s lessons. You ought to receive them as words spoken directly to you.

Within your church or the Christian community you need a special friend or two to whom you can disclose the inner secrets of your soul and seek counsel. God has given others great insight into truth and if you open yourselves up to them they will share them with you. Emerson said, “We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our rooms tight, and our clothing sufficient; but who provides wisely that he shall not be wanting in the best property of all – friends.” To show the truth of this I quote Helen Keller, “With the death of friends I love ... a part of me has been buried ... but their contribution to my being of happiness, strength and understanding remains to sustain me.” There are vast reservoirs of power in the friendship and advice of others.

3. Books. Paul, in prison, told Timothy to “bring his books” (2 Tim. 4:13). Truth that sets us free comes also from good Christian books. We need to fill our minds and hearts with the great truths of God revealed in Christian biography and devotional literature that has stood the test of time.

I was set free from complaining by exposure to Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. I was delivered from doubt about my salvation by Harry Ironside’s Full assurance. Cicero said, “A room without books is like a body without soul.”

Books are like compasses, telescopes, sextants and charts which others have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life. One Egyptian king wrote over his library, “The Medicine of the Soul.” In fifteen minutes a day you could read five-ten of the greatest Christian books each year. Those truths would feed your soul and heal your spirit and give you power beyond your wildest dreams.

If you and I speed past a sign that says “SLOW - DANGEROUS CURVE AHEAD” and clip a telephone pole in two, we have done one of two things. Either we didn’t see the sign or we didn’t heed the sign. We were either ignorant or indifferent. Either way we crashed. This is how it is with Scriptural principles. Both indifference to them or ignorance of them invites disaster and defeat.

II. WE NEED TO PRAY MORE (Js. 4:2)

We turn on our water system by turning the handle, and we turn on the power of God by prayer. The Bible says, “You have not because you ask not” (Js. 4:2). As we get to know the truths that set us free, the first lesson we learn is the priority and the power of prayer. Mountains are removed in prayer.

The devil’s strongholds come tumbling down through prayer. Souls are won by prayer. Prayer, said John Chrysostum, has subdued the strength of fire, has bridled the rage of lions, hushes anarchy, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, cured diseases, rescued cities from destruction and halted the sun in its course.”

Men of God with the power of God come in all shapes and sizes, from every theological persuasion and with every denominational label. The Calvinistic Whitfield and the Arminian Wesley, were opposites theologically, but as praying, preaching partners they brought revival blessings to England and America.

But these men of God with the power of God unite in one area – they say the power comes only from prayer. John Wesley said, “God does nothing except through prayer.” When someone asked Evans Roberts the secret of the Welch Revival, when hundreds of thousands were saved, he answered, “There is no secret. It is simply, ‘Ask and you shall receive.’”

W. A. Criswell, whom God has used to build the world’s greatest church says, “The same Lord God who made the universe that follows certain laws decided and purposed that we should have the presence and power in our lives through intercession and through prayer.”

Prayer lays hold of God’s power. Our answer to this is, “Not for me it hasn’t. I pray and nothing happens.” Most of us are like Huckleberry Finn. He said, “I sat down one time in the woods and had a long think about it. I says to myself, ‘If a body can get anything they pry for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on the pork? ... Why can’t Mrs. Watson fat up? No! Says I to myself, there ain’t nothing in it.’” For all too many Christians there are nagging, destructive doubts about the value and power of prayer. I believe there are two reasons for this.

1. We Need To Seek Faith In Prayer. (Mt. 21:21). We need to saturate ourselves with the Word of God, with the testimonies of others and with good Christian biographies, and ask God to overcome our doubts and give us faith in what prayer can really do. Such faith would do more for you, for me, for this church and for our witness than anything else I could think of. It is what moves mountains (Mt. 21:21). My number one prayer for you and for me is “Oh God, make yourself real and give us Holy Spirit inspired faith in the power of prayer! Start with me, O God. Set me afire with the faith and then let it spread through my church like wildfire!”

2. We Need To Practice Prayer. Our faith must drive us to our prayer closets where we “keep on asking ... seeking ... and knocking” (Mt. 7:7) until the answer comes. I think the main problem is that we have dabbled in prayer, we have said a few prayers, but we have never really lived through prayer to learn the will of God through prayer and to find our place in the answer through prayer.

Above all, we have not stayed on our knees in shameless persistence (Lk. 11, 18), begging and pleading and pounding and waiting and believing until the answer comes. Set aside a regular time of prayer. Make a list of specific prayer requests. Exercise your faith with honest prayers and you will see the power of God slowly come down one answer at a time. And from time to time God will drop a bomb of blessing on you that will leave you speechless and more turned on than ever.

Bob Strunk, one of the assistant basketball coaches at Clemson, told our church an amazing story. He was coaching Junior Varsity basketball and happened to see the N.I.T. finals on television. The dream of his life was to coach college basketball and to make it to the N.I.T. tournament. He made that dream a matter of prayer and the very next year was called to be a coach at Clemson and Clemson went to the finals of the N.I.T. that year. Bob Strunk believes in and practices prayer.

He also shared with us the source of his faith. When he was six years old his devout parents told him a story. They told him of a baby who was born with a “water head.” The fluid that was for his body all went to his head and medical science could do nothing then to help it. The doctors told he parents aside and told them the baby would eventually die at a young age. All they could do was make life as comfortable for him as possible. Things looked bad right then because the little baby would not eat or sleep and cried almost constantly. The doctors agreed there was no hope.

The parents went home and for two weeks, while the baby fought for life, they prayed and prayed and prayed. The baby’s grandfather was a pastor and the second Wednesday night after the baby’s birth he went to prayer meeting. His people met him at the door and told him to put his Bible away, they were all going to spend the prayer meeting hour in prayer for his grandbaby. For two hours they pleaded with the Lord for the child. The old preacher went home and still burdened beyond words, he and his wife knelt by their bed to pray some more. Suddenly, he got up and told his wife that no more prayer was necessary. He had his burden lifted with the assurance that the little child would be healed.

The next day he went to the hospital and was met by an excited nurse. She said, “Preacher, your grandchild is better. The fever has broken and he is eating and sleeping.” Then the miracle came. The power of God flowed into that hospital room and the fluid in that baby’s head slowly flowed down to its little body. The parents took him home and came back for their first checkup. The doctor measured his head and it was exactly the size it should be. He said to the parents. “This is a medical miracle. It is an act of God in answer to your prayers. This little boy is your miracle child.” Bob Strunk’s parents said to him, “Som, never doubt the power of prayer, for TAT BABY WAS YOU! You are our miracle child.” No wonder he believes in and lives by prayer.

III. WE NEED TO ATTEMPT MORE (Nu. 13:33)

Prayer and knowledge are useless without action. William Carey said it long ago, “Except great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” Out of that spirit the modern missionary movement was born. We do not win people to Christ because we do not try to win them to Christ. We do not see miracles in our lives and in our churches because we do not get out on any limbs and attempt the impossible for the Lord.

If we would get on our knees until we found the will of God, if we would laugh at obstacles like the Red Sea and believe in the power of God, and if we would march like fools right up to the waves of the sea, right up to the feet of goliath, and attempt great things of God, we would see miracles without measure. We would see power beyond our wildest dreams.

The children of Israel, at Kadesh Barnea listened to the report of the spies and refused to enter the land of Canaan (Nu. 13:33). Because of this God let them die in the wilderness and never let them see and experience the miracles of conquest. They never saw the River Jordan stop flowing, the Jericho walls fall down, or most important, the Canaanite “giants” fall before God’s “grasshopper” people (Nu. 13:33). The faith that attempts sees the power.

I have criticized the Charismatics and their “Spirit-filled” cousins far more serious, and far more dishonoring to God is our lack of God’s power in our lives and our subsequent lack of joy and enthusiasm. These brothers and sisters we criticize are far more blessed of God than we are. They do see alcoholics unchained, prostitutes made pure, people saved and hopeless diseases cured.

Why? Because they do everything I have stressed in this sermon and God honors their faith and persistent prayer. They ask for miracles. They long for perfection. They stand up to evil. They seek to grow. They devour the Scriptures. They band together and lean on their friends. They sell their television sets and give time and effort to prayer. And they get out on limb after limb with God.

Dr. Criswell once said that God honors faith so much that He probably would have created an America for Columbus if there hadn’t been one. He would not have let that man sail out there and find nothing. I was talking with a charismatic lady about her alcoholic husband. She said,

“We have prayer for him much at our church to be saved and delivered from alcohol. I believe he has been delivered from the alcohol EVEN THOUGH IT HAS NOT MANIFESTED ITSELF.” I said, “You mean he is still drinking?” She said, “Yes, but he will quit.” I cannot laugh at that or criticize that. That faith and that prayer will move mountains. It will tap the vast reservoirs of heaven where God’s power waits to be put to use.

I once heard E. V. Hill, the great black preacher say, that “if he was God” he would take the doctrinal stability and organizational ability of Southern Baptists and fill it with the enthusiasm and spirit of National (Black) Baptists so he could turn the world right side up. I believe he is right. Oh God, give us a love for the Bible, a love for souls and a bold faith like we criticize. Use our doctrine. Use our organization. Use our size. But give us the fire we so desperately need, the fire from on high!