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CHURCH IMPROVEMENT: BUILDING A CHURCH THAT HONORS GOD AND LOVES PEOPLE BY PASSIONATE PRAYEREphesians 1:15—23INTRODUCTION D.A. Carson in his book, “A Call to Spiritual Revolution”, repeats a story told by Lillian Guild in a magazine article. She and her husband “were driving along and happened to notice a late-model Cadillac with its hood up, parked at the side of the road. Its driver appeared somewhat perplexed and agitated. Mrs. Guild and her husband pulled over to see if they could offer assistance. The stranded driver hastily and somewhat sheepishly explained that he had known when he left home that he was rather low on fuel, but he had been in a great hurry to an important business meeting so he had not taken time to fill up his tank. The Cadillac needed nothing more than refueling. The Guilds happened to have a spare gallon of fuel with them, so they emptied it into the thirsty Cadillac and told the driver of a service station a few miles down the road. Thanking them profusely, he sped off. Twelve miles or so later, they saw the same car, hood up, stranded at the side of the road. The same driver, no less bemused than the first time, and even more agitated, was pathetically grateful when they pulled over again. You guessed it: he was in such a hurry for his business meeting that he had decided to skip the service station and press on in the dim hope that the gallon he had received would take him to his destination.” Dr. Carson then says, “It would be hard to believe anyone would be so stupid, until we remember that is exactly how many of us go about the business of Christian living. We are so busy pressing on to the next item on the agenda that we choose not to pause for fuel. Sadly, Christian leaders may be among the worst offenders. Faced with constant and urgent demands, they find it easy to neglect their calling to the ministry of the word and prayer because they are so busy.” I think this is an accurate description of not just my life but of most of our lives. We allow the urgent flood of demands that children, jobs, houses, vacations, extended family, church, school, hobbies and relaxation put on us to overwhelm us and keep us from stopping to seek God in his word and prayer. We know we ought to worship together as a family but there are so many more important things to do. We just keep moving, hoping that someday we’ll have time to do what we know is the most important thing to do, pray. I am convinced that Eugene Peterson is exactly right when he says, “Busyness is the enemy of spirituality. It is essentially laziness. It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing. It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions. It is taking charge.” When I read the NT and especially the letters of Paul I am struck by how often he talks about his praying for those to whom he writes. Each of his letters begins with a report of his prayers for the recipients of his letters, as we see here in Ephesians 1. “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” He ends this letter as he ends most of his letters with a call to prayer, “…with this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).” Taking time to pray is what we all need to do. What all of us need on a regular basis are reminders and motives for why we should stop and pray rather than to keep on driving the car of our lives. I hope this morning that by examining this prayer all us will be more willing to stop, pull over and pray rather than pressing on and then wondering why it is we have no faith and no ability to keep living the Christian life. What we will see as we examine this prayer of Paul’s is the motivation for praying passionately and persistently. MAIN POINT Passionate, persistent prayer characterizes those who are…I. Motivated by God’s Sovereign Grace (vv. 15-16) Paul begins his prayer by saying, “For this reason…I have not stopped praying for you…” What is the reason that Paul has not stopped praying for the Christians at Ephesus? “For this reason” points both backwards to what Paul has said in vv. 3-14 and ahead to what he says immediately following. Verses 3-14 are a “eulogy” to God. A eulogy is a recounting of a person’s strengths and contributions to society. Normally we think of a eulogy being given at a person’s death but a eulogy can also be delivered while a person is yet alive, usually at a dinner or ceremony to celebrate them and their achievements. Paul in vv. 3-14 gives a breathless description of the greatness of God in saving sinners. I want you to follow through these verses and see all that God has done, is doing and will do. Paul’s goal is the same goal that those who organize a lifetime achievement party for some celebrity, he wants everyone to know how great and awesome God is. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. He chose us in Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and blameless in his sight through Christ. Out of his love for us he predestined us to be adopted as his sons and he did this because it made him happy to do so. He did it to show off his glorious grace. He gave us his grace, his unmerited favor in and through this Son whom he loves. In this Son, through his bloody death, we have gained redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins. This forgiveness is not some stingy act that God did against his will but in accordance with the riches of his grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He hasn’t left us in the dark about what he is doing but has fully explained his plan for our salvation and for the future of the world. He has told us his plan to bring the entire universe under the control of this son who shed his blood for our sins. This one who chooses us and predestines us is the one who is working out everything in the universe in conformity with the purpose of his will. He rules over tsunamis and governments and economies and jobs and health and children and…everything. There is nothing going on in the entire universe that is not going exactly according to his plan. This includes the salvation of everyone who believes in him. Again, he has done all this so that his glory is praised. The “us” in these verses is everyone who has heard the gospel and believed the good news about Jesus Christ. All of these amazing things are true for all who trust in Jesus as the one who obeyed God’s law for them and went to hell for them. All who believe are sealed with God’s Holy Spirit and experience him as God’s down payment on heaven. By this Spirit we are God’s very own possession and are being kept safe until the end of all things when Christ returns. Again, he does all this to the praise of his glory. Paul is saying that the reason he is praying for them is because God is working out a plan in the world that includes their salvation. God adopts people, forgives people, redeems people, seals people with his Holy Spirit and so Paul prays. Paul prays because God has saved them and will save them apart from anything they have done. Most people think that if it is true that God chooses and predestines who is going to be saved then it makes no difference whether or not I pray or do anything. The natural, human response to God’s sovereign predestination is to say, “What’s the point of praying? God has it all figured out and nothing I do matters, so why bother?” That is exactly the opposite of how Paul reasons. He reasons that since God is the one who is in charge of who becomes a Christian and who makes it safely to heaven, then he needs to ask God to save people. Paul prays because of God’s sovereign grace that determines freely who will be saved. Paul asks God to save the Ephesians because he knows that God’s glory is made manifest in the salvation of sinners. He knows this is God’s highest motive and so he asks God to do that which most results in his name being treated with respect, the salvation of sinners like the Ephesians. Can I say this to you? If you don’t accept that God chooses and predestines those who go to heaven, then you can’t pray this prayer. If human’s decide who goes to heaven, then you can’t ask God to do what Paul asks God to do because God can’t interfere with human will and this prayer is nothing if it is not asking God to interfere with human desire and will. You can see how sovereign grace motivates Paul to pray by also looking at what follows the “for this reason.” He says that ever since he heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints he has not stopped giving thanks for them and praying for them. He heard about their faith in Christ and their love for other Christians and so he thanked God for them. Let me ask you a question. When do you thank another person? You express gratitude to someone when they do or give something that benefits you. There are two remarkable things to see in Paul’s saying thank you to God for their faith and love. First, why do these people believe in Jesus and love Christians? God is the one who created their faith in Christ and their love for other Christians. God so worked in them that he overcame all their hatred of Christ and gave them hearts that trust and love Jesus. God worked so that those who hated Christians or were indifferent to them, now love Christians. What are the marks that God has given someone eternal life? How do you know if you or anyone else has been chosen by God and predestined to be adopted as his child and sealed with his Holy Spirit? Everyone whom God has chosen, trusts in Jesus and loves Christians. When Paul hears about these evidences of God’s gracious work in their lives he thanks God for choosing, adopting, redeeming and sealing these sinners in Christ. And then he prays for them. The second remarkable thing is this: Paul views God’s saving the Ephesians as benefiting him personally. How can it be that God’s saving these people, whom he has never met, benefits him? Paul’s greatest joy in life is for God’s reputation in the world to increase. He loves God and is absolutely convinced that God is the best and greatest of all beings. Therefore, when God’s name is shown to be great he is happy. Every parent and grandparent understands this emotion. What parent isn’t delighted when their son or daughter does well in school or in playing an instrument or performing in a play or mastering some new skill? When a coach or a teacher or some other person has helped your son or daughter to excel, don’t you thank them for helping your child succeed? What sport’s fan doesn’t get excited when his team wins and especially when they win in a dominating fashion? My brother-in-law took me to a Brewers game a couple of years ago. It was early in the season and the Brewers were doing very well. I think they had won their first 10 games. When we got to the park we stood in line to get some food. My brother-in-law noticed that we were standing in line behind the General Manager of the Brewers, Billy Melvin. He thanked Mr. Melvin for putting together such a fine team. Why did he thank him? He loves the Brewers and was delighted they were doing well and he knew that Mr. Melvin was ultimately responsible for the quality of the team. We rejoice when the “glory” of those we love is revealed and thank those who enable them to succeed. In this case Paul is excited about God’s name being made much of and God is the one who caused his name to be made much of, therefore, he thanks God for increasing the glory of his name in the salvation of the Ephesians, thus making Paul happy. The first thing that Paul tells us is that he is persistently praying for the Ephesians because God is increasing the glory of his name in sovereignly, graciously saving these sinners. He knows God is saving them and so he prays that God would save them. Paul knows that prayer, as Dr. Bingham Hunters says, “is the means God uses to give us what he wants.” God wants to save these people as evidenced by the fact they trust Jesus and love Christians, therefore Paul asks God to save these people. Passionate, persistent prayer characterizes those who are…
II. Dependent upon the All-Powerful Holy Spirit (vv. 17-18a) In verses 17 and the first half of verse 18 is the main prayer of Paul. He is asking God for one thing, not two, as the NIV seems to be saying. Let me give you an expanded translation that will help you to see the one thing he is asking. “I’m asking God to give you the Spirit who gives wisdom and who gives revelation in the knowledge of God through the enlightening of the eyes of your heart (which has already begun) with the result that you know the following three things…” He is asking God the Father to cause the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to be more effective in opening the eyes of their heart so they might know him better. If you were to ask Paul what these Christians needed more than anything else, he would answer they need a greater, more effective work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The work has begun but his ministry needs to be of greater effect in their lives. Paul knows that the work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life is progressive. When you become a Christian you are not born a mature Christian. The Holy Spirit gives you life and he is the one who causes that life to mature in you. Paul knows this and so he prays that God the Father would send God the Spirit in greater power and effectiveness. I want you to understand what it is that you are asking when you are asking that you or another Christian be filled with the Holy Spirit. Every true Christian already has the Holy Spirit living in them. If you do not have the Holy Spirit living in you, you are not a Christian. Therefore, you are not asking him to begin a work but to continue the work he has begun. What is that primary work of the Holy Spirit? Let me first tell you what it is not. For many years I was taught and I taught this way of thinking about the work of the Holy Spirit. I taught that the work of the Holy Spirit was to give Christians power to not sin and power to do ministry. It is true that the Holy Spirit gives power to sin less and to do ministry, but not in the way I thought. This is how I thought it worked: I have a problem, let’s say, getting angry with my children. I don’t want to be angry and God doesn’t want me to be angry. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience, gentleness and self-control. Therefore I ask God to fill me with his Spirit and in some strange, mysterious way I suddenly am not angry with my children anymore, but patient, gentle and in control. Overcoming anger happens sort of like magic, without my involvement. However, if you look at how Paul describes this work you can see that it is not that mysterious. Paul says that when the Holy Spirit is at work, the eyes of your heart are being enlightened and you are knowing things. What these two phrases are referring to is not simply knowing some facts or seeing something new. Rather they are indicating that the Holy Spirit gives us a new sense of things. He gives us new tastes, new appreciations. Think of it this way. Jane and I have wanted our children to love to read. We want the eyes of their hearts opened to the glory of reading so that they know reading, not just how to read, but know it. They must learn the mechanics of reading but what we really want is for them to love reading. So a work must take place while they learn how to read, their hearts must come to value reading in such a way that they practice it with joy. Like when a young man tells a young woman, “I’d like to get to know you.” He doesn’t mean, “I want to know the facts about you.” He is saying he wants to grow in his affection for and delight in who he discovers her to be. It involves perception or the learning of facts but it is far more than that. It means that I grow to love and appreciate what I learn. That is what we are asking for when we ask the Father of glory to give us and others the Spirit of wisdom and revelation through the eyes of your heart being enlightened so that we and others might know. You will not know God in this way without knowing doctrine, without growing in your knowledge of the Bible. You must study and read and listen. But while you do these things you are always praying that God would give you the Spirit who gives wisdom and revelation through the enlightening of your heart so you will know him, not just know about him. Dear friends, being a Christian is not about following rules or performing religious rituals. It is about discovering that Jesus Christ and his salvation is more attractive and desirable than the pleasures of sin and of this world. Parents, we are not out to grow children who know the rules and who obey the rules because they are afraid of getting punished if they disobey or because they want our approval by obeying. We want children who love sexual purity and who love using their mouths to speak words of kindness rather than mockery and sarcasm, who delight in being sober and working hard. We want children who have had the eyes of their hearts enlightened by the Holy Spirit so they know God and righteousness the same way that fans know their teams, husbands know their wives, gourmet food connoisseurs know food, grandparents know their grandchildren, music fans know their favorite groups. You don’t have to threaten certain girls I know with punishment to get them to go shopping at the mall. You don’t have to use bribery to get certain young men I know to play their video games. We are asking the Holy Spirit who gives wisdom and revelation, through the enlightening of hearts to give us wisdom, revelation and enlightening so that we and others will know God. Passionate, persistent prayer characterizes those who are…
III. Yearning for God’s people to be happy in the knowledge of him (18b-23) Paul now tells these Christians specifically what it is that he wants them to know about God and his ways. There are three things that he wants them to both understand and love. First he wants them to be infatuated with the “hope of God’s calling.” Paul uses the term “calling” as a shorthand way of summarizing everything he said about our salvation in vv. 3-14. The best picture I know of this calling is in John’s gospel when Jesus stood outside the tomb of Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days and he called to the dead man, “Lazarus, Come out!” Dead men cannot obey commands. Yet, Lazarus, appeared at the door of his tomb, wrapped in his burial clothes. How did that happen? The power to obey Christ’s command was contained in the command, because Christ’s word is a word of power. If you are a person who has faith in Christ and love for Christians it is because God exercised his mighty power, commanding you to do what you could never do and then giving the power to do it by giving you a new heart. He called you out of the darkness of sin and death and into the kingdom of light to live a life that is taken up with Christ. In Ephesians 2:13 Paul describes our condition prior to our being called by God to Christ. He says, “…at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Apart from God’s effectual call every human being is in a hopeless condition. No matter how much pleasure you enjoy on earth, you are facing an eternity of suffering in hell if you are outside of Christ. However, for all who have been called by God into eternal life, there is only joy and peace waiting. The God who calls us is the God who will make sure we arrive safely at our eternal home. One day we will live free from guilt and sin. One day we will enjoy creation as a good gift from God and not as if it were God. One day our hearts will always be full of love for God and for others. One day there will be no physical or emotional or relational pain. One day you won’t be annoyed by others and you won’t annoy anyone. One day there will be no fighting or jealousy or anger or lust or gossip or greed or drunkenness or disobedience or rape or child abuse or depression. One day you will never worry about or fight over money and how to spend it. This is not a dream. It is a certain hope. The God who determined to make you his son or daughter before he made one molecule of the universe is determined to bring you to this place. You cannot think too much about heaven. You cannot love heaven and yearn for it too much. If you know the hope of your calling you will be a more joyful, peaceful, forgiving, loving person because your hope will be fixed on heaven, not on your retirement plan, or finding a husband or wife or having children you can be proud of or a job that is satisfying and good paying or friends that never let you down. The second thing that Paul prays that these Christians know will blow your mind if you can grasp it. He wants us to know the abundance of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints. Notice, Paul is not repeating himself. It is not the glory of our inheritance, that is, heaven, but the glory of God’s inheritance that he wants us to know. We are God’s inheritance. The point is that God values us as he values his son Jesus Christ. We are not valuable to God because of who we are but because of who Jesus is. It is due to Jesus’ perfect life and his willing death that he considers us his inheritance. We are in Christ and so God’s treats us as we would treat a valuable inheritance. My grandfather, before he died, gave me the rifle he hunted with for 50 years. It is a Model 98, Winchester, 30-30, lever action that was made in 1904. I treat this gun with great respect and care. It is very valuable to me. If we had a fire in our house, it would be the one physical object I would try to rescue once my family was safe. We who are in Christ are God’s inheritance. We are always on his mind. He is always watching over us, making sure we are safe and secure. He prizes us and looks forward to spending all of eternity with us in the same way that he prizes and enjoys fellowship with his only Son, Jesus Christ. The third thing that Paul wants us to know is the incomparably great power that he has for us who believe. The power that God has given us is not like being given superhuman powers, like Superman or Spiderman. The point isn’t that we can perform great acts that no other humans can perform. The power that we have been given is the power that corresponds to the power that did these four things: raised Christ from the dead, seated Christ at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms, placed all things under Christ both now and in the future and made Christ head over all things for the sake of his church. The idea here is that because we are in Christ, we share in all of the benefits that God’s power accomplished for Christ. Think about what happened to Jesus Christ. Here was a man who claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God but who was betrayed by one of his own followers, was cruelly tortured and falsely convicted by brutal men and finally killed like a common criminal. It appeared, at the end of Jesus’ life as if he was an absolute failure, a nobody and a nothing. Yet, now this man who is God and God who became man has been raised from the dead and is seated at God’s right hand ruling over all things for the benefit of his church. Out of the most agonizing suffering and apparent failure, God brought Christ to the highest place of power and authority in the universe. In and through all the suffering God was at work, unbeknownst to men and demons, to accomplish the greatest feat in the universe, the destruction of sin, death and the devil and the salvation of his church. God’s power orchestrated every detail of Jesus’ life, including his great suffering, so that his power could raise Christ to the highest place of honor and power. God wants us to know and love the fact that his power is at work right now for every Christian to bring us into the glory of Christ. No matter how impotent you feel as a Christian or how much misery you are experiencing, the fact is, that if you are a Christian, God’s power is at work to bring you into this glorious reality. The same power that brought Christ safely through the trials and temptations and miseries of his life into glory is at work to bring us through the difficulties of our lives into glory. We will one day judge angels because we are seated with Christ. We will one day possess the earth because we are in Christ. We will one day place our feet on the necks of all our enemies and live as princes in the eternal kingdom of God. We know this because the power of God was exercised in bringing Christ into his glory for our sake. That same power is at work in us and for us to ensure we also overcome every obstacle along the way and make it to the heavenly realms to share in the victory of Christ. God wants to give us, by the wise, revealing, enlightening work of the Holy Spirit a knowledge of and affection for the hope of his calling, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and the incomparably great power he exercises on behalf of Christ’s people. This is what he wants to give us, is this what we want him to give us? Or would you be happier with a new computer or a better wife or more satisfying job? No matter what kind of difficulty you are experiencing in life, the thing you need the most is what Paul prays for here. When you know someone who has faith in the Lord Jesus, then you know someone who needs what Paul prays for here. This is what we will be praying for one another through the course of this week of prayer. I would urge you to take the time to pull over your car this week and join us each evening from 7 to 8:30 pm here at the church for a time of prayer and then from 9pm to 5am on Friday night. Don’t be stupid and think you can make it safely to your eternal destination without praying, because you can’t. Stop and pray, don’t keep pressing on without prayer. Passionate, persistent prayer characterizes those who are…
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2004 John Swanson. |