Evil rarely looks evil until it accomplishes its goal; it gains entrance by appearing attractive, desireable and perfectly legitimate. It is a baited and camouflaged trap.
Praying for Spiritual Strength
I love having a window into Paul’s prayer life. The kind of window that tells us his prayer burden for churches. In Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul gets on his knees and talks with his heavenly Father praying for the people he loves.
He makes two requests and gives a reason for why he believes this prayer is important. By application, we see the importance of this prayer for us.
A Prayer for Unwavering Faith (verses 16-17a): He asks that his Father would strengthen us in our inner being through the Holy Spirit. It’s a prayer for spiritual strength. The kind of strength the Holy Spirit provides. The reason for this prayer for inner strength is so that Jesus Christ would dwell in our heart by faith. All that we are is grounded in Jesus. He must remain central in our hearts because we can’t go on without him. Faith is the key. This is a prayer for unwavering faith in the hard times, when your health is failing, when your job is unstable or non-existent, when your home is falling apart, when life feels topsy turvy. It’s also a prayer for unwavering faith in the good times. That when the comforts of life are present, I do not waver in my faith and begin to rely on self. When my career is succeeding, unwavering faith keeps Christ at the center and does not let my job become an idol. This is a prayer to the Father that the Spirit would sustain their faith in Jesus.
A Prayer for Delighting in God’s Love (verses 17b-19): This second prayer request is that we are grounded in love so we would comprehend and know the love of Christ. Our minds are so frail and slow to comprehend and it takes work to deepen in the love of God through prayer, study of the word, meditation on the Scriptures, and walking through trials and tests. Christ’s love is endless in its breadth, length, height, and depth. It truly does surpass all knowledge, and yet, Paul prays that we would know the unknowable. Why pray this prayer? So that the fullness of God, who is love, fills me. As I wallow and delight in God’s love through understanding and knowledge and experience, God’s love fills my heart.
I’ve been helped much by the Reformation Commentary on Scripture (IVP) volume on Galatians & Ephesians as we’ve been preaching through Ephesians.
Here a selection quoting Martin Bucer’s comments on Ephesians 2:1-
No one appreciates the medicine properly unless he fully understands the seriousness of the disease.
Here’s a selection quoting Johannes Bugenhagen’s comments on Ephesian 2:3-
Those who say we forbid good works when we teach the truth of the gospel, that no one is justified by works, ought to be ashamed of themselves. Good fruits do not make a tree good but show that it is good already, just as a good tree does not talk about good fruits but produces them.
This volume was edited by Gerald L. Bray. The series General Editor is Timothy George and the Associate General Editor is my dissertation adviser, Scott M. Manetsch.
Oh, long and dark the stairs I trod,
With stumbling feet to find my God:Gaining a foothold bit by bit,
Then slipping back and losing it:Never progressing, striving still,
With weakening grasp and fainting will,Bleeding to climb to God: while He
Serenely smiled, unnoting me.Then came a certain time when I
Loosened my hold and fell thereby.Down to the lowest step my fall,
As if I had not climbed at all.And while I lay despairing there,
I heard a footfall on the stair,In the same path, where I, dismayed,
Faltered and fell and lay afraid.And lo! when hope had ceased to be,
My God came down the stairs to me.-As quoted in Christian Disciplines
by Oswald Chambers
I first heard this poem from Dr. Michael Vanlaningham while taking his Romans course at Moody Bible Institute 10 years ago. This week, while preparing to preach Ephesians 2:1-10, I was reminded of it again. I remembered portions of the quote and Google’d what I could. I found the quote again at this blog, http://asweetfragrance.com/2010/10/17/my-god-came-down/. It truly is a sweet display of God’s grace to us, while we were at our wits end trying to earn God’s favor by climbing the stairs of good works. We tried and tried, only to find ourselves at the bottom step! We need Him…our God, who came down the stairs to us.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved.” ~Ephesians 2:4
5 Worship-Quenching Attitudes
As I studied Ephesians 1:7-14 for a recent message, Blood-Bought and Sealed, the Spirit showed me Five attitudes of the heart that will choke out a heart of worship.
1. Ingratitude – It’s far too easy to view blessings from based on what we should be receiving materially rather than what God has promised and delivered in the “heavenly places” (Eph 1:3). When we have this mindset, we take for granted the glorious blessings that are ours in Christ. This ungrateful heart brings bitterness and does not cultivate a heart of worship. Paul’s writing Ephesians while in prison (3:1, 4:1, 6:20), and yet he can begin his letter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” He understood and was grateful for all of the spiritual blessings that were his, although his external circumstances were difficult.
2. A cheapening of Grace – A grand hindrance from living as an instrument of praise is a cheapening of God’s grace. The power of the blood of Christ demonstrates the riches of God’s grace, which covered the “cost” of our bondage and bring forgiveness for our trespasses (Eph 1:7-8). However, some people diminish the value of God’s grace with a “He’ll forgive me” mindset. This “I can sin and then ‘repent’” attitude tramples upon God’s grace. “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? By no means!” (Rom 6:1-2). God’s grace is of infinite worth driving us to worship. An attitude that cheapens God’s grace quenches worship.
3. Allowing past bondage prevent present worship – In Christ, you have been redeemed from the bondage of sin (Rom 6:6-7), death (Rom 8:2), Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15), and the Law (Rom 7:4-6) and delivered from the wrath of God (Rom 5:9). In Christ you have been forgiven! Yet, some of us live as if this were not the case. We believe that Jesus had died for us, but still back in our minds we feel like we still must earn God’s love or acceptance. So we feel chained by our past sin. But there is nothing you can do to free you from your guilt. Jesus has done that through his blood. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus, remember that you have been redeemed and forgiven (Eph 1:7). God’s grace has been lavished upon you. Don’t let your past bondage prevent present worship.
4. Despair over the struggles of this life (personal, local, global) – It’s easy to despair when we here of Christians being arrested for their faith. It’s easy to despair when we hear of suicide bombings. It’s easy to despair when our country is in the midst of a financial crisis and jobs are lacking but bills are increasing. It’s easy to despair when we read statistics of sex trafficking, statistics of child abuse, statistics of families breaking down. It’s easy to despair when we watch the news at night. Although it seems our world is unraveling, we must trust God’s sovereignty that he will unite things under Christ (Eph 1:9-10). When the fullness of time comes, amidst the great hurts and pains of this life, God will redeem those who are His and execute judgment on those who reject. He will unite all things under Christ. So do not let despair quench your worship. Hope in God, for He is sovereign.
5. Unbelief – Nowhere in the Scripture does the Spirit come into the lives of Believers in a “quiet” way. When the Spirit comes, he comes in power! He comes to change your life by giving you a new one in regeneration. He comes to seal you with a sure hope. He comes to enliven godly affections that stir your heart to worship. But where there is unbelief, the Spirit is not present and there is no heart to worship God because there is no Spirit within. Unbelief is a deadly venom that will prevent a heart of worship. But when we have heard the gospel and believed in Christ, the Spirit has sealed us securing our salvation and giving us a heart of worship (Eph 1:13-14).
Our God is worthy of all worship so let us be unquenchable worshipers of Him, to the praise of His glorious grace!
Sunday's Sermon: Blood-Bought and Sealed
Here’s the message I preached yesterday (Sunday, January 22, 2012) at Good News Bible Church. We’re in the early stages of an expositional series on Ephesians that has been such a treat! My text was Ephesians 1:7-14. Praise God for His remarkable grace!
The Glory of God
I came across this quote of John Calvin as he expounded the phrase “to the praise of his glory” in Ephesians 1:14 (in light of its similar mentioning in 1:6 and 1:12) -
The frequent mention of the glory of God ought not to be regarded as redundant, for what is infinite cannot be too strongly expressed. This is particularly true in commendations of the Divine mercy, for which every godly person will always feel himself unable to find adequate language. He will be more ready to utter, than other men will be to hear, the expression of praise; for the eloquence both of men and angels, after being strained to the utmost, falls immeasurably below the vastness of this subject. We may likewise observe, that there is not a more effectual method of shutting the mouths of wicked men, than by shewing that our views tend to illustrate, and theirs to obscure, the glory of God.
Amen.
