A Prayer for the Church (Eph. 1:15-23)

August 21, 2022 in Uncategorized

Video
Transcript

Inheritance in the Saints (v.18) (Closely connect this and next point)
Immeasurable Power (v.19-23
Conclusion: Say prayer for the church

Introduction
How often do you pray for the church? If you do, what exactly do you/should you pray for?
Often, we see Paul praying or mentioning his prayers for the churches. He knew the power and importance of prayer. God’s church is important as well, and if something is important, than it’s something worth praying about.
Two weeks ago, we began the letter to the Ephesians, looking a bit at the background of this letter as well as the first 14 verses of chapter 1. In Paul’s introduction, we see how blessed we are as Christians with spiritual blessings from above. We have redemption, we have an inheritance, we have the seal of the Holy Spirit. In the latter half of Ephesians 1, Paul offers a prayer. By reading this, we get a great insight into Paul’s prayer life and what is important to him while also seeing an example of what our prayer for the saints should look like. This may be Paul’s prayer for a specific group of Christians in Ephesus, but it’s a prayer we ought to share for the congregation here in Swartz Creek, for ourselves as individual members of the body of Christ, and for the church abroad. What is important to Paul in relation to the church? What does praying for the church look like? Let’s turn our attention to verse 15.

Reputation and Thanksgiving (v.15-16)
Before Paul prays for the saints in Ephesus, he speaks of their reputation. “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.”
Paul addresses 1. Their faith in the Lord and 2. Their love towards the saints. What a wonderful reputation to have as a church, to be faithful and loving.
Have you ever visited a congregation and thought how loving and hospitable they were? Maybe you’ve talked with someone else who visited and had a similar experience. How Likewise, maybe you’ve been to a congregation and had a negative experience, you weren’t treated with love and kindness. The actions, or inactions, of saints can leave congregations with good or poor reputations.
What’s the reputation of the church here in Swartz Creek? Does it matter to you? I believe it should. We want to be known as a church that is faithful to the Lord and loving towards the saints, just as the church in Ephesus was. Imagine how encouraging this was to Paul who spent nearly 3 years there to go to other congregations and hear them say “The church in Ephesus, those are good people! They stand for the truth! The love others as God loves them!” That’s the reputation we should want, as well! My prayer is that we are known for that. I don’t want us to be known for having the nicest building or the greatest speakers or the most delicious potlucks. To be known for our obedient faith to Jesus Christ, that’s the goal. And if we are faithful to Him, than it is reflected in our love for the saints. As 1 John 4:11-12 says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” If you are visiting, I hope that you can walk away saying, “They love God and His church.” If you are a member here, I hope that your words and actions show faith in God and love for others.
That reputation is cause for thanksgiving. Paul says “(Because of what I have heard about you) I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers (v.16).” Paul writes in another letter (1 These. 5:17) to “pray without ceasing.” This shows that Paul is a man who practices what he preaches. Praying is not just for the negative times or the times that we think we need God the most (Ex. sickness, pain, sorrow). Praying is for all times, and Paul shows that through his prayer life. We must let our prayer for the church be a ceaseless prayer. And, like Paul’s prayer, let it be a prayer of thanksgiving when we are living as we should, but let it also be a prayer for growth.
Paul says, “I am always remembering you in my prayers…” and what does that prayer look like apart from thanksgiving?” Let’s look for ourselves.

Prayer for Understanding (v. 17-18)
First, Paul gives his main inspiration for praying for the church: He wants them to grow in knowledge.
He says he prays, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened…”
Let’s take a look at this for a moment. Look especially at the word “spirit.” Some translations will capitalize the word spirit, implying that this is referencing the Holy Spirit. Anytime the word spirit is used, we, like translators, have to read the context of the passage to decide if this is talking about the Holy Spirit or an attitude. Here, I believe the lower case of spirit is appropriate. In verses 13-14, it is clear that Christians have already received the Holy Spirit, having been sealed by Him. If they already have the Holy Spirit, it would not make sense for Paul to say, “I pray that God may give you the Holy Spirit of wisdom.” They already have it! So, what is Paul saying? Paul is not praying for a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. Paul has already received that, and he’s sharing God’s inspired Word with them. Later in Eph. 3:1-5, Paul shared that the mystery was made known to him by revelation and, upon reading his letter, they can learn what has been revealed to him. The Holy Spirit does not speak to us through dreams and individual revelation, but through His Word. As we read in 2 Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” So Paul’s prayer for a “spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” is the same as our prayer today for ourselves and for the saints: that we might grow in wisdom and understanding of God’s Word.
The more we fill our minds and hearts and lives with His Word, the more we grasp what he has done for us and what he wants for us, today and in eternity. And that’s the key: grasping it more fully. The beginning of grasping the weight of God’s promises comes from our surrender to Him through baptism, but each day should lead to us grasping and more and more. That’s our prayer for ourselves and for the church, that we would collectively understand what we have in Him. Not just to hear him, but to believe for ourselves what is said.
Some of the best teachers are the ones who see potential in you even when you don’t see it yourself. I recall a music teacher I had in 3rd grade. This was in the time where we just sang karaoke and had recorder concerts, but I specifically remember how obnoxious of a kid I was. I remember one example of us singing some song, and I thought it would be funny to do the classic “run and slide on your knees” move while over-the-top singing. Needless to say, the teacher was not as thrilled with me as I was. That was just one of many examples of me being a bit extra in our music classes. Fast forward to the end of the year. We had class awards that were selected by the teachers, and Ms. Nell, the music teacher, selected me for the music award in our class. I thought it was a mistake. See, she loved my older sister. My older sister is also musically talented and was much better behaved. But this had nothing to do with my sister. However obnoxious I was, Ms. Nell saw potential in me. She saw that I had a gift and love for music, I just needed some maturity and discipline. But to grow, I couldn’t just hear that she thought I had potential with music. I needed to believe it for myself. What a teacher, coach, or parents says about a child’s potential doesn’t mean anything until the child believes it. Likewise, what a preacher says to an audience is ineffective unless you take it, believe it, grasp it, and use it. Paul is saying this to his students of faith. “I want you to completely understand what you have in Christ Jesus!” That’s our prayer for the church as well, individually and as a whole, for new converts and seasoned Christians, for young and for old, that each day we will grow spiritually each day and grasp more fully what we have.
And what do we have? Paul goes on to share with them 3 things. “I want you to grow in wisdom and understanding having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may (1) know what is the hope to which he has called you, (2)what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and (2) what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (v.18-19).
Paul’s prayer, and our prayer, should be to grow in these 3 things. Let’s dig a little deeper into what these are.

The Hope to which we are called
What do you hope in? Where is your happiness, your life’s foundation? If we’ve learned anything in this post-pandemic world, it’s that hope in anything in this life is like building a house on the sand. At some point, our hope will crumble, because it is not an anchor of hope. It’s a brittle hope. It’s an empty calling. So, what is the hope he’s called us to?
First of all, this hope is a noun, not a verb. It’s not a “I hope my team does well this season.” This hope is assurance. It’s something we have possession of.
Eph. 2:12 says that when we are separated from Christ we are “without hope.” But elsewhere, in Titus 2:13, we are said to be “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” He’s coming back. This is a sure thing, not a desire. If the prayer is to know this hope better, than the prayer is to have our eyes trained on that hope, looking to what is to come, living for what is to come rather than what is now. We are children of God, and one day will live with Him. We won’t grasp the fullness of what that means until we see it in glory, but we are children of Him now!
John opens our eyes to how children of God should live with hope. Beginning in 1 John 2:28, “And now, little children, abide in him…” Live in Him. Let his life be reflected in your lives. We are to abide in Him… “so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” And how do we abide in Him? (v.29) “If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” Want to live according to the hope to which you are called? Practice righteousness! Practice the things that are of God. How do we know what is of God? Study and know the Word that is of God. This is the prayer! KNow the hope, how do we know what that is and how to live by it? Know and believe His Word.
Look a little further into 1 John 3. We are called children of God (v.1) and verse 2 elaborates by saying, “Beloved, we are God's children now (right now, we are His. This isn’t something we are waiting for. This is right now! though…) what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” One day, we shall see Him and be like Him, but for now, we must live like Him. (v.3) "Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” He has called us to be more like Him. It’s a higher calling. We sang a song at Horizons this last year. The chorus says, “You have called me higher, you have called me deeper, and I’ll go where you will lead me, Lord.” His hope for us is greater. We need to trust in Him and live according to that hope.

The Riches of our Inheritance
Hope and inheritance are closely related. Both are future things, but both have a present aspect as well. For hope, we wait for the hope of his glorious appearing (future), but we have hope as an anchor (Heb. 6:19) knowing that we have the righteousness of Jesus that covers us and motivates us to live like Him (in the present) so that we can one day be like Him (future). Likewise, one day, we will fully receive our inheritance (in the future), but we share in it now with the saints. Do you realize what we have in the saints Do you realize just how blessed we are to have the church? We have a family to lean on. We have encouragers that we can work with so that we can both one day see the fullness of our inheritance in heaven.
As a unified body, we have inherited the grace that Jesus offers. Recall our last study, in verse 11, “we have obtained an inheritance.” Part of that inheritance is here now. We’ve inherited his grace, we’ve inherited His Holy Spirit as a down payment of what is to come. and we’ve inherited membership into His body. All of those are present and they are all given, not earned, hence an inheritance, a gift. As his people, we are heirs with Him (as Eph. 3 will share it is both Jews and Gentiles in Christ). We, as the body of Jesus Christ, get to appreciate the joys here on earth of what it means to be his people. And our prayer, each day, should be that we grasp more fully what he’s given us now and what he’s promised us in the future. Remember verse 7-8, “he’s lavished riches of grace on us in all wisdom and insight.” How rich it is to be heirs of Jesus because of his gracious sacrifice!
Not only that, some have suggested that this is referring to us being God’s inheritance. Though I don’t believe the context fully supports this idea, certainly it’s not far off as part of the riches of our inheritance is to know that God has bought us. He’s chosen us to be his adopted sons, and therefore recipients of the inheritance he offers. I would not say that this supports the idea that we are his inheritance, because God does not need us. But greater still is the truth that though God does not need us, God wants us! What a rich blessing it is, to be called His children!
The Immeasurable Greatness of His Power
And finally, as we share in the riches of His glorious in hesitance in the saints, we also experience the immeasurable greatness of His power. Think about that word immeasurable. How great is the power of God? Think of that carnival game where you hit the bell with the sledgehammer and it measures your strength by how high the ball goes or if you hit the bell. How powerful is God? it would shoot through that bell and beyond. Think of the most powerful being you can imagine. God is more powerful than that. There is no limit to what he can do. His power is immeasurable. What’s greater is that that immeasurable power is working in us.
Paul goes on to explain what power he’s talking about. What power of God’s is at work in us? This is his great might (v.20-23), “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…” The same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead, this is his power that works in us. That’s amazing! If God can raise His son from the dead, what can he do in us? First of all, he can cleanse us of our sins. Secondly, he will raise us again. Third, he will exalt us as he has his Son.
Continue reading (v.20-21): “(Christ is seated at his right hand in the heavenly places) far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

So first off, Christ is raised above all things. He is exalted, seated on high in the heavenly places. Satan may be the prince of the world, or “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), but he is under the feet of Jesus. That’s power! And we share in that power in Christ. Jesus is the head of the church, and we are His body. Let’s piece this together. If Jesus is in the heavenly places, above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above the prince of this world, we as His body share in that glory. Recall in verse 3, “He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Look forward, too, to EPh. 2:6, where Paul says, “He has raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This is a kingdom relationship that we share with Him right now! As God’s people, we sit in a privileged state. We are in an exalted position in the heavenly places. That’s part of what we inherit from Him: citizenship in the kingdom of God. His resurrection power is seen in the lives of Christians, in your life and in mine. The prayer for the church, in this aspect, is we might grasp more fully just how great His power is towards us who believe.
We’ll see this even more as we get into Ephesians 6, but this power is victory. His power is on our side. We have spiritual blessings inside and we have the armor of God protecting us.
Because of His power, we can have victory. Certainly this world can leave us feeling defeated. We’ve all felt it at some point in these last two years. But let’s remember the words of Jesus in John 16:33. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus, the head, has overcome the world. And as the body of Christ, we too can overcome the world. This is the greatness of His power working towards us!

Conclusion:
So, what is our prayer for the church? What is our prayer for us as members of the body and for the body as a whole?
First, that we may know Him more deeply. We need to fall deeper in love with Jesus every day and grow in our knowledge of Him. Then, because of our knowledge and wisdom of Him, we can better know what is the hope that we have been called to: To learn better what it means live like Him so that we may one day be fully made to be like Him. Not only that, but let us pray that we can grasp more fully every day that riches that we have as citizens of the Kingdom of God. And finally, that we may know that power that is on our side. If we live as ones who have the same power that raised Christ from the dead, imagine what all we can overcome! So, before I offer the invitation this morning, let us pray this prayer that Paul ceaselessly had for the church. Let this inspired prayer be our prayer now and always. Let’s Pray

Take Home Message: Our prayer is to know Him. Through our deeper knowledge and love for Him, we can better grasp the hope we have, the inheritance we have, and the power that we have in Jesus and His body.