"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
This is the first of two prayers in the book of Ephesians. Paul begins his prayer for the Ephesian Christians with PRAISE and end with PETITIONS. He starts with THANKSGIVING and finishes with REQUESTS.
THREE THOUGHTS ON PRAYER
1. PRAYER SHOULD INCLUDE MORE THAN JUST REQUESTS. IT SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE THANKSGIVING.
• ". . . in every thing by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).
• "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same WITH THANKSGIVING" (Colossians 4:2).
• "I will bless the Lord at all times: HIS PRAISE SHALL CONTINUALLY BE IN MY MOUTH. . . . I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:1, 4).
Sometimes we turn prayer into a grocery list? "Lord, I want this, I want that." "Lord, will You do this, will you do that?" We should thank Him more in our prayers.
2. PRAYER SHOULD INCLUDE MORE THAN JUST LISTING PROBLEMS TO GOD. IT SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE GIVING PRAISE TO HIM.
Paul began his prayer by praising God for the Ephesian believers’ faith and love.
3. PRAYER SHOULD INCLUDE MORE THAN JUST MAKING REQUESTS FOR OURSELVES. PRAYER SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE INTERCESSION FOR OTHERS.
Lehman Strauss, "Most of our prayers are taken up with ourselves or with those nearest and dearest to us. Needs of others occupy a small place in our prayer life" (Galatians and Ephesians, 130).
Illustration: I have heard that some people remember me in prayer everyday.
FAITH & LOVE
Paul was certain that his readers had a part in the amazing blessings listed in the first part of this chapter (v. 1). How is Paul so sure that the Ephesians are Christians?
The mere fact that a person may say that he is a Christian does not prove that he is a Christian.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5).
There must be some test to determine the validity of a person’s claim to be a Christian. Paul provides us with a two-part test. The first part involves our BELIEF; the second part involves our BEHAVIOR.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your FAITH in the Lord Jesus, and LOVE unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
FAITH AND LOVE ARE INSEPARABLE. WHERE THERE IS FAITH THERE WILL BE LOVE:
• ". . . we heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE which ye have to all the saints" (Colossians 1:4).
• "Hearing of thy LOVE and FAITH, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints" (Philemon 5).
• "And this is his commandment, That we should BELIEVE on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and LOVE one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John 3:23).
• ". . . FAITH which worketh by LOVE" (Galatians 5:6).
THE TWO-PART TEST OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION:
1. THE FIRST HALF OF THE TEST: "FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS"
Notice that Paul says "faith in the LORD Jesus."
The name "Jesus" means "SAVIOR." The title "Lord" means "MASTER."
Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes,
. . . we must emphasize that you cannot separate the Lord and Jesus. The Person is one and indivisible. He is always the Lord. . . . a man cannot accept Him as Saviour only, and then perhaps later decide to accept Him as Lord, for He is always the Lord. The One who died for our sins is the Lord. And He died for our sins because sin is under the wrath of God; it is transgression against the law, it is enmity against God, so it must be punished. If I say that I need a Saviour it is because I need a Saviour from sin, including deliverance from the power of sin and everything connected with sin. If I have a true conception of sin I cannot only ask to be forgiven. I must desire to be delivered from its power and pollution as well. We cannot believe in "Jesus" and leave out "the Lord" (God’s Ultimate Purpose, 321).
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the LORD, so walk ye in him" (Colossians 2:6).
II. THE SECOND HALF OF THE TEST: "LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS"
Craig Bloomberg, "The need for genuine, Christ-like love remains as great today as ever. Yet one of our greatest problems is defining love. Popular culture—in literature, music, advertising, and the visual arts—uses the word to mean just about everything except what the Bible means by it. So even Christians are easily misled into thinking love is primarily a feeling, something you fall in or out of. . . . throughout Scripture, love is first of all an action. . . ." (1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary, 264).
Love is the energy behind good works.
A. W. Pink wrote, "Faith in Christ is only a delusion if it issues not in love for those who are His" (Gleanings in Paul).
"As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, ESPECIALLY UNTO THEM WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH" (Galatians 6:10).
Notice the word "ALL." Christian love is indiscriminate; it does not pick and choose which believers it will love.
Paul calls for believers to be "HAVING THE SAME LOVE" (Philippians 2:2), which is to love all believers the same.
First Corinthians 13:1-3 declares the absolute necessity of Christian love.
Sadly, the Ephesians’ love did not last. In Christ’s letter to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, the Lord says of the church at Ephesus, "I hold this against you: YOU HAVE FORSAKEN YOUR FIRST LOVE" (Revelation 2:4).
Notice the order of faith and love in Ephesians 1:15: first, faith; then, love.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "We are told about the early disciples that they ‘continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers.’ Today the fellowship is put first, and the doctrine is almost regarded as a hindrance and an obstacle" (God’s Ultimate Purpose, 325).
CAN A PERSON BE A CHILD OF GOD AND STILL LIVE LIKE THE WORLD?
What did Jesus say?
". . . every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew: depart from me, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY" (Matthew 7:17-20).
What did the apostles say?
Paul
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21).
"This ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).
Peter
"Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, BOTH LORD AND CHRIST" (Acts 2:36).
James
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:14-17).
"An individual can claim to have right beliefs about God, Jesus, and salvation but still lack real Christianity. Works, not intellectual statements, are the only acceptable demonstrations of your claim to have faith" (Thomas D. Lea, Holman New Testament Commentary: Hebrews & James, 285).
John
"He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now" (1 John 2:9).
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14).
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18).
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also" (1 John 4:20-21).
You might be thinking to yourself, "I love Christ, but I struggle constantly with sin in my life. Should I doubt my salvation." No. The perpetual struggle with sin is the normal experience for believers (Romans 7:7-25). All of us struggle continually with sinful thoughts, sinful attitudes, sinful habits, and sinful desires. IT IS THOSE WHO DO NOT STRUGGLE—THOSE WHO DELIBERATELY AND EAGERLY REVEL IN THEIR SIN—WHO NEED TO HAVE THE FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY SHAKEN.
What did great Christian leaders of the past say?
Martin Luther, who sparked the Protestant Reformation, wrote, "If (good) works and love do not blossom forth, it is not genuine faith, the gospel has not yet gained a foothold, and Christ is not yet rightly known."
Matthew Henry, author of perhaps the most popular Bible commentary of all time, said, "We are too apt to rest in a bare profession of faith, and to think that this will save us; it is a cheap and easy religion to say, ‘We believe the articles of the Christian faith;’ but it is a great delusion to imagine that this is enough to bring us to heaven."
Jonathan Edwards, possibly the finest preacher and clearest theological thinker of the 1700s, wrote, "It is not God’s design that men should obtain assurance in any other way than by mortifying corruption, increasing in grace, and obtaining the lively exercises of it. . . . Assurance is not to be obtained so much be self-examination, as by action."
Charles Spurgeon was the best-known of all preachers of the 1800s. In a book on personal evangelism, he wrote,
Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in a real change of life. If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction. . . .
There must be a harmony between the life and the profession. A Christian professes to renounce sin; and if he does not do so, his very name is an imposture.
Spurgeon also said,
We cannot be saved by or for our good works, neither can we be saved without good works. Christ never will save any of His people in their sins; he saves His people from their sins. . . . The idea of "saving faith" apart from good works, is ridiculous. The saved man is not a perfect man, but his heart’s desire is to become perfect, he is always panting after perfection. . . .
R. A. Torrey, former president of Moody Bible Institute, in his textbook on personal evangelism, told students to make the lordship of Christ a focus of the gospel invitation to a sinner: "Lead him as directly as you can to accept Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, and to surrender to Him as his Lord and Master."
A. W. Tozer stated,
Can it be that we really think that we do not owe Jesus Christ our obedience?
We have owed Him our obedience ever since the second we cried out to Him for salvation, and if we do not give Him that obedience, I have reason to wonder if we are really converted!
I see things and I hear of things that Christian people are doing, and as I watch them operate within the profession of Christianity I do raise the question of whether they have been truly converted.
Brethren, I believe it is the result of faulty teaching to begin with. They thought of the Lord as a hospital and Jesus as chief of staff to fix up poor sinners that had gotten into trouble!
"Fix me up, Lord," they have insisted, "so that I can go my own way!"
That is bad teaching, brethren. (The above quotes were found in The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur.)
