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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AND CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 8

TITLE: THE PRAISE OF PAUL'S PRAYER

TEXT: EPHESIANS 1:15-16

INTRODUCTION: (1) THROUGHOUT THE AGES, THE TRUE CHURCH HAS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT MANIFESTATION OF TRUE FAITH IS LOVE.

* FAITH WITHOUT LOVE IS NOT FAITH, ONLY SPECULATION OR KNOWLEDGE OR MERE INTELLECTUAL ASSENT.

** THE FRUIT OF AUTHENTIC FAITH IS ALWAYS LOVE.

*** FOR YOU SEE THERE ARE TWO CARDINAL MARKS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN, FAITH IN CHRIST AND LOVE FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS.

**** THEY ARE INSEPARABLE, THEY ARE SIAMESE TWINS, READ JOHN 13:34&35, JOHN 3:14, I JOHN 4:7&8.

(2) SO CLEARLY THE FRUIT OF SAVING FAITH IS LOVE. FAITH IS THE ROOT OF SALVATION, WE ARE SAVED BY FAITH ALONE BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH CHRIST ALONE.

* AND THE FRUIT OF THAT ROOT IS LOVE, IN FACT, FRUIT IS THE ULTIMATE TEST OF TRUE SALVATION.

** WORKS, ACTIONS, NEW PATTERNS AND OBEDIENCE FOLLOWS GENUINE SAVING FAITH AND ARE EVIDENCES OF SAVING FAITH.

*** AND FOR CLARITY, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT PERFECTION, BUT PATTERN, NOT PERFECTION, BUT DIRECTION.

**** THE REFORMERS WERE FOND OF SAYING, “FAITH ALONE BRINGS SALVATION, BUT THE FAITH THAT BRINGS SALVATION IS NEVER ALONE.”

(3) SPURGEON SAID, “ALTHOUGH WE ARE SURE THAT MEN ARE NOT SAVED FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR WORKS, YET WE ARE EQUALLY SURE THAT NO MAN WILL BE SAVED WITHOUT THEM.”

* BELOVED, TRUE FAITH ALWAYS MANIFESTS ITSELF WITH WORKS, FRUITS, A DESIRE TO BE OBEDIENT, AND ONE OF THE FRUITS OF SAVING FAITH IS LOVE.

** NOW AS WE COME TO OUR TEXT TODAY, WE WILL SEE THAT THE APOSTLE PAUL WILL EXPRESS HIS JOY AND GRATITUDE THAT THE EPHESIANS ARE SHOWING THEIR LOVE FOR ALL THE SAINTS THAT IS FLOWING FROM THE FAITH OF THESE PEOPLE.

*** PAUL DOES NOT CEASE TO GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD THAT THIS COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS NOT ONLY HAS FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, BUT ARE SHOWING THEIR FAITH THROUGH LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

**** AND THIS KIND OF FAITH AND FRUIT LEAD PAUL TO PRAISE THE LORD AND TO PRAY FOR THESE DEAR BRETHREN.

(4) WHICH LEADS US TO THE TITLE OF OUR STUDY TODAY, “THE PRAISE OF PAUL’S PRAYER.”

* FOR BEGINNING IN V. 15 AND CONTINUING THROUGH V. 23, THE END OF CHAPTER 1, WE HAVE ANOTHER LONG SENTENCE IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE, 169 WORDS IN THE GREEK TEXT.

** AND IN IT PAUL GIVES THANKS AND PRAYS FOR THE EPHESIANS. IN VV. 15&16 WE SEE THE PRAISE OF PAUL’S PRAYER AND IN VV. 17-23 WE SEE THE PETITION OF PAUL’S PRAYER.

*** AND TODAY BY GOD’S GRACE WE’LL LOOK AT VV. 15&16 WHERE WE’LL FOCUS ON TWO THINGS, NO. 1 THE SPECIFICS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, V. 15; AND NO. 2 THE STEADFASTNESS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, V. 16.

**** AND WITHOUT FURTHER INTRODUCTION LET’S MOVE INTO OUR PASSAGE BY LOOKING AT OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE SPECIFICS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

I. THE SPECIFICS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, (READ V. 15)

A. NOW THE NAS AND THE NIV BEGIN IN V. 15 WITH THE WORDS “FOR THIS REASON” WHEREAS THE KJV BEGINS IN V. 15 WITH THE WORD “WHEREFORE” AND THE NKJV BEGINS V. 15 WITH THE WORD “THEREFORE”.

* AND THIS PHRASE AND THESE WORDS POINT US BACK TO VV. 3-14, THE TRUTHS OF OUR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS AND INHERITANCE IN CHRIST.

** THE TRUTH AND SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS OF ELECTION, PREDESTINATION, ADOPTION, GRACE, REDEMPTION, FORGIVENESS, INSIGHT, UNDERSTANDING, KNOWLEDGE OF THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL AND SEALING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

*** SO ON THE BASIS OF THESE GREAT TRUTHS PAUL WILL PRAY FOR THESE BELIEVERS THAT THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND THESE GREAT TRUTHS, THAT THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND THEIR WEALTH IN CHRIST, AS WE WILL SEE IN V. 17.

**** BUT BEFORE HE DOES, HE THANKS THE LORD FOR THE GOOD REPORT HE RECEIVED ABOUT THESE BELIEVERS AT EPHESUS.

1. FOR REMEMBER, PAUL IS IN PRISON AT ROME AT THE TIME HE IS INSPIRED TO WRITE THIS EPISTLE.

* AND ALTHOUGH HE SPENT 3 YEARS OF HIS LIFE AT EPHESUS HELPING TO ESTABLISH THEM IN THE FAITH ACCORDING TO ACTS 20:31.

** IT HAD NOW BEEN ANYWHERE FROM 4-6 YEARS SINCE HE HAD BEEN AT EPHESUS. SO HE NEEDED AN UPDATE OF WHERE THEY WERE AT IN BEING ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH.

*** AND I’M SURE DURING THAT TIME OTHERS HAD COME TO SAVING FAITH THAT HE DIDN’T KNOW, BUT THERE WERE OTHERS HE KNEW VERY WELL.

**** SO THROUGH SOMEONE, PAUL IS GIVEN AN UPDATE ABOUT THE EPHESIAN BELIEVERS. AND PAUL RESPONDS BY PRAISING THE LORD IN PRAYER FOR TWO THINGS.

2. NO. 1 FOR THEIR FAITH, AND NO. 2 FOR THEIR LOVE. FOR THEIR VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP, THEIR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS AND THEIR HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP, THEIR LOVE FOR ALL THE SAINTS.

* FOR YOU SEE WHEN THE VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP IS RIGHT, THE HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP WILL BE RIGHT. FAITH AND LOVE GO TOGETHER.

** AND FIRST OF ALL I WANT TO CONCENTRATE ON THE PHRASE “FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS”.

*** NOW THE EMPHASIS HERE IS ON TRUE SAVING BELIEF, A GENUINE SAVING FAITH.

**** AND PAUL IS PRAISING GOD FOR THEIR SAVING FAITH, THAT’S WHERE IT ALL BEGINS, WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, READ ROMANS 5:1 AND EPHESIANS 2:8&9.

3. NOW AS WE GO BACK TO EPHESIANS 1:15, PAUL SPECIFICALLY GIVES THANKS FOR THEIR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS.

* AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE “LORD” HERE. I MEAN PAUL COULD HAVE JUST SAID YOUR FAITH IN JESUS, BUT HE DIDN’T.

** HE GIVES THANKS FOR THEIR FAITH IN THE “LORD” JESUS. SO AGAIN THE EMPHASIS HERE IS ON TRUE SAVING BELIEF WITH THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS AS THE OBJECT OF THAT BELIEF.

*** AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE HERE AT THIS POINT THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT SEPARATING JESUS AS SAVIOR FROM JESUS AS LORD. HE IS BOTH OR HE IS NEITHER.

**** CHRIST IS NOT RECEIVED IN PARTS, FIRST AS SAVIOR AND LATER AS LORD. JESUS THE SAVIOR IS JESUS THE LORD AND JESUS THE LORD IS JESUS THE SAVIOR.

4. AND SOME TODAY COMMUNICATE THAT YOU CAN RECEIVE JESUS AS SAVIOR AT SOME POINT AND THEN AT SOME POINT AFTER SALVATION YOU CAN SURRENDER TO HIM AS LORD AND THEN BECOME A DISCIPLE.

* AND IN THE PROCESS THERE IS A WATERING-DOWN OF THE GOSPEL AND AN EASY BELIEVISM IS COMMUNICATED. AND THAT DISCIPLES AND BELIEVERS ARE NOT THE SAME THING IS CONFUSING THE ISSUE OF WHAT A TRUE BELIEVER IS.

** THE GREAT COMMISSION COMMUNICATES THAT WE ARE TO GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.

*** DISCIPLES AND BELIEVERS ARE ONE AND THE SAME THING. AND THOSE WHO COME OUT AGAINST QUOTE “LORDSHIP SALVATION” ALSO HAVE REDEFINED REPENTANCE AS CHANGING YOUR MIND ABOUT JESUS, NOT TURNING FROM YOUR SIN TO JESUS AS YOUR LORD.

**** AND YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, WHY THE BIG DEAL? WELL THE BIG DEAL IS THE GOSPEL IS AT STAKE.

5. I MEAN IF SATAN CAN GET US MESSED UP ON THIS ISSUE, WE MESS UP THE WHOLE BALL OF WAX.

* AND WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WE HAVE A GENERATION OF PEOPLE IN AMERICA WHO SAY THEY HAVE “ACCEPTED JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR” BUT LIVE ANY WAY THEY WANT TO, WHO COMMUNICATE A “CHEAP GRACE”?

** WHO SEPARATES SALVATION FROM SANCTIFICATION? WHO SAYS THAT THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST ONLY HAS TO DO WITH HIS DEITY, NOT HIS SOVEREIGNTY?

*** BUT SUCH A SEPARATION IS ARTIFICIAL, BECAUSE DEITY IMPLIES SOVEREIGNTY. THE ONE WHO ALONE IS GOD RULES ALONE.

**** IN FACT, IN JOHN 20:28 THOMAS, AFTER HE SEES THE RESURRECTED CHRIST FOR THE FIRST TIME SAYS: (READ IT AND EXPLAIN).

6. NOW BEYOND WHAT THOMAS SAID, THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST IS CONNECTED TO GENUINE SAVING FAITH, READ ROMANS 10:9&13, ACTS 16:31, II CORINTHIANS 4:5.

* AND THEN IN I CORINTHIANS 12:3 IT SAYS: “THEREFORE I MAKE KNOWN TO YOU, THAT NO ONE SPEAKING BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD SAYS, “JESUS IS LORD,” EXCEPT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

** SO ONLY A BELIEVER CAN SAY JESUS IS LORD AND MEAN IT THROUGH THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO INDWELLS ALL BELIEVERS.

*** AND IN THE END ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL CONFESS JESUS AS LORD BECAUSE THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE, READ PHIL. 2:9-11.

**** NOW MY POINT IN ALL OF THESE VERSES AND THINGS IS TO SAY, LET US BE ON GUARD AGAINST THOSE WHO WATER DOWN THE GOSPEL AND LET US BE REMINDED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PRESENTING THE REAL GOSPEL WHEN WE PRESENT IT.

7. AND I DON’T HAVE TIME TO SAY ANYMORE ABOUT THIS TODAY EXCEPT TO RECOMMEND A COUPLE OF BOOKS ON THIS SUBJECT, NO. 1 TODAY’S GOSPEL, AUTHENTIC OR SYNTHETIC BY WALTER CHANTRY PUBLISHED BY THE BANNER OF TRUTH AND THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS BY JOHN MACARTHUR PUBLISHED BY ZONDERVAN.

* NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 15, PAUL HAD HEARD OF THE EPHESIANS FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS AND HE THANKED GOD FOR THAT.

** AND WHEN THERE IS GENUINE FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, THERE IS LOVE FOR ALL THE SAINTS.

*** AS WILLIAM HENRICKSEN SAID IN HIS COMMENTARY ON EPHESIANS, “THE ROSEBUD OF FAITH, MOREOVER, HAD BURST FORTH INTO THE FLOWER OF LOVE.”

**** THERE ARE TWO CARDINAL MARKS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN, FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS AND LOVE FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS.

8. FAITH IS THE ROOT AND LOVE IS THE FRUIT. AND LOVE FOR OTHER BELIEVERS IS AN EVIDENCE OF SALVATION, READ I JOHN 4:20&21 AND JOHN 13:34&35.

* NOW AT THIS POINT I WANT TO BE SPECIFIC IN OUR TEXT, IT SAYS A LOVE FOR ALL THE SAINTS, A LOVE FOR ALL WHO HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY IN CHRIST.

** AND FOR THE EPHESIANS IT MEANT THOSE IN THE EPHESIAN CHURCH AND THOSE WHO MOST LIKELY TRAVELED AND WHO THEY SHOWED HOSPITALITY TO, THE SPHERE OF THEIR CHRISTIANITY WAS NOT AS BROAD AND WIDE AS OURS.

*** THEY WERE MUCH MORE LIMITED IN TRAVEL AND IN COMMUNICATION AND IN THE NUMBER OF CHURCHES THEY COULD BE EXPOSED TO.

**** BUT THEY LOVED THE BRETHREN, AS WE SHOULD LOVE ALL TRUE BRETHREN TODAY, ALL THOSE WHO ARE TRUE BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.

9. AND TRUE SALVATION PRODUCES TRUE LOVE AND TRUE LOVE DOES NOT LOVE WITH WORD OR WITH TONGUE, BUT IN DEED AND TRUTH, READ I JOHN 3:18.

* AND BELOVED, A TRUE CHRISTIAN DOES NOT PICK AND CHOOSE, HE OR SHE JUST LOVES THE BRETHREN AND NO DOUBT THERE ARE BRETHREN WE ARE MORE ATTRACTED TO WITH LIKES AND DISLIKES, AGE, COMMON BACKGROUNDS, ETC.

** BUT WE’RE TO LOVE ALL THE SAINTS. AND THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE WARM FUZZIES TOWARD EVERY BELIEVER, WE GET HURT, WE HAVE DIFFERENCES, BUT WE ARE FAMILY, A FAMILY OF FAMILIES, SPECIFICALLY IN THE VISIBLE LOCAL CHURCH.

*** AND ALTHOUGH WE MAY DISLIKE CERTAIN THINGS THAT OTHER SAINTS DO, WE MUST REALIZE THAT ALWAYS IN THE N.T. TRUE SPIRITUAL LOVE IS DEFINED AS AN ATTITUDE OF SELFLESS SACRIFICE THAT RESULTS IN GENEROUS ACTS OF KINDNESS DOWN TO OTHERS.

**** IT IS FAR MORE THAN A FEELING, AN ATTRACTION OR AN EMOTION, IT IS AN ACT OF SELF SACRIFICE, A COMMITMENT TO EACH OTHER.

10. AND THAT SHOULD BE FOR ALL THE SAINTS. AND WE SHOW THAT WE ARE DISCIPLES OF JESUS BY THIS KIND OF LOVE, READ JOHN 13:34&35.

* NOW WITH THAT SAID, LET ME GIVE YOU SOME BALANCE. OUR LOVE FOR CHRIST AND LOVE FOR TRUTH MOVES US AT TIMES TO REPROVE ERROR WHICH IS CONSIDERED UNLOVING BY SOME TODAY.

** IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN YOU SPEAK OF DOCTRINE ERROR TODAY AND ARE DOGMATIC ABOUT TRUTH, YOU ARE PERCEIVED AS BEING UNLOVING.

*** BUT UNDERSTAND THIS LOVE FOR GOD LEADS ALSO TO LOVE FOR THE TRUTH AND DISCERNMENT IN A DAY WHERE THAT IS LACKING.

**** FOR YOU SEE IN THE GREAT LOVE CHAPTER IN

I CORINTHIANS 13:6 IT SAYS: (READ IT).

11. NOW LOVE HATES EVIL, LOVE HATES SIN. IN ROMANS 12:9 IT SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ

I PETER 3:10&11, PSALM 119:103&104, PROVERBS 8:13.

* NOW BEYOND HATING SIN, WE ARE TO LOVE TRUTH, THE CONTRAST IN I CORINTHIANS 13:6, WE DON’T REJOICE IN SIN, WE REJOICE IN TRUTH.

** LOVE IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH COMPROMISE OF TRUTH. COMPROMISING THE TRUTH IS NOT KIND TO THOSE WHO WE MISLEAD BY OUR FAILURE TO STAND FIRMLY IN THE TRUTH.

*** BUT ACCORDING TO SOME TODAY WE ARE DIVIDING THE BODY OF CHRIST BY TAKING CERTAIN STANDS.

**** WE ARE UNLOVING, DIVISIVE, HARSH AND UNKIND BY SPEAKING OUT AGAINST CERTAIN SINS.

12. AND LET ME GO TO THE HEADLINES TO ILLUSTRATE WHAT I MEAN.

* AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, THE BISHOPS OF THE NATIONAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH HERE IN AMERICA VOTED THIS WEEK 62-45 ON TUESDAY TO ACCEPT THE ORDINATION OF THE REV. V. EUGENE ROBINSON AS BISHOP OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

** NOW THE PROBLEM WITH EUGENE ROBINSON IS HE IS DIVORCED AND HAS BEEN LIVING WITH A MAN PARTNER FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND HAS OPENLY CONFESSED THAT HE IS A HOMOSEXUAL.

*** NOW WHEN YOU SPEAK OUT AGAINST WHAT WAS DONE AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST MR. ROBINSON’S IMMORAL BEHAVIOR, BY SOME YOU ARE CALLED HOMOPHOBIC, AS ONE WHO DISCRIMINATES, AS A SCHISMATIC AND AS AN UNLOVING PERSON.

**** IN FACT IN AN ARTICLE ON THURSDAY IN THE CANTON REPOSITORY, “LOCAL PASTORS REACT TO ELECTION OF GAY BISHOP” A LOCAL EPISCOPALIAN PASTOR SAID AND I QUOTE:

13. “THE PEOPLE DID NOT ELECT A GAY BISHOP. THEY ELECTED V. EUGENE ROBINSON AS THEIR BISHOP, AND HE HAPPENS TO BE GAY. THAT’S ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.”

* THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOW AND PREVIOUS ERAS, ROSENBERG SAID, IS THAT GAYS “NO LONGER HAVE TO HIDE, NO LONGER HAVE TO LIE.” ROBINSON, HE SAID, IS ONLY “THE FIRST HONEST GAY BISHOP.”

** SEEING PEOPLE ONLY IN TERMS OF ONE TRAIT, AND NOT AS WHOLE SOULS, ROSENBERG SAID, IS DISCRIMINATION, JUST AS BLACKS AND WOMEN HAVE FACED.

*** THE ONLY THINGS THAT ALL EPISCOPALIANS HAVE TO AGREE ON, HE SAID, ARE THE TRINITY AND THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST. “V. EUGENE ROBINSON HASN’T DENIED EITHER OF THOSE,” ROSENBERG SAID. “IF PEOPLE CHOOSE TO SPLIT FROM THE CHURCH, THEY STAND CONDEMNED AS WILLFUL AND VOLUNTARY SCHISMATICS.”

**** NOW HERE’S THE PROBLEM, THE ARGUMENT OVER WHETHER MR. ROBINSON SHOULD BE ORDAINED AS A BISHOP IS CRAZY, HE’S NOT EVEN A CHRISTIAN!

14. AND SOME MIGHT REACT AND SAY RAY, THAT IS JUDGMENTAL AND UNLOVING. AND MY RESPONSE IS I’M NOT BEING JUDGMENTAL FOR EUGENE ROBINSON OPENLY DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL AND HAS BEEN LIVING WITH HIS MALE PARTNER FOR OVER 10 YEARS IN A PRACTICE THAT LEVITICUS 18:22 SAYS IS AN ABOMINATION (READ IT).

* AND THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS IN THE N.T., THE WORD OF GOD SAYS IN I CORINTHIANS 6:9-11 – “OR DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE UNRIGHTEOUS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD? DO NOT BE DECEIVED; NEITHER FORNICATORS, NOR IDOLATERS, NOR ADULTERERS, NOR EFFEMINATE, NOR HOMOSEXUALS,”

V. 10 – “NOR THIEVES, NOR COVETOUS, NOR DRUNKARDS, NOR REVILERS, NOR SWINDLERS, SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”

V. 11 – “AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU; BUT YOU WERE WASHED, BUT YOU WERE SANCTIFIED, BUT YOU WERE JUSTIFIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND IN THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD.”

** NOW THE WORD OF GOD DECLARES THAT EUGENE ROBINSON IS NOT A CHRISTIAN, NOT ME, AND I’M NOT BEING JUDGMENTAL OR UNLOVING BECAUSE I LOVE THE TRUTH.

*** I MEAN IT’S OBVIOUS THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE A BISHOP IF HE IS NOT A CHRISTIAN, FOR PASTORS HAVE A HIGH INTEGRITY FACTOR IN THEIR CHARACTER QUALIFICATIONS IN I TIMOTHY 3 AND TITUS 1 AND NOT ONLY ARE THEY TO BE A ONE WOMAN MAN, NOT A ONE MAN, MAN, BUT ALSO THEY HAVE TO BE SAVED!

**** AND AS A SIDE NOTE, IT IS IRRITATING TO ME THAT THE MEDIA IS PUSHING THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA DOWN OUR THROATS, BUT NOW SO IS THE CHURCH.

15. BELOVED, PRAY, BE SALT AND LIGHT, SPEAK THE TRUTH AND VOTE IS MY COUNSEL. AND I REALIZE THE ANSWER IS NOT IN WASHINGTON BUT IN PREACHING THE TRUTH AND HAVING HEARTS CHANGED.

* SO WE ARE TO LOVE THE SAINTS BUT REMEMBER THEY HAVE TO BE A SAINT, BUT ALSO THE BALANCE IS WE MUST LOVE THE TRUTH.

** AND THE EPHESIANS LOVED THE SAINTS WHICH GAVE EVIDENCE OF GENUINE SAVING FAITH AND PAUL SPECIFICALLY THANKS GOD FOR THAT.

*** AND QUICKLY WE’LL LOOK AT OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, IN V. 16 THE STEADFASTNESS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING. HE’S GIVEN TWO SPECIFICS IN V. 15, NOW IN V. 16 WE SEE HIS STEADFASTNESS IN PRAYER. LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE.

II. THE STEADFASTNESS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, (READ V. 16)

A. NOW PAUL’S HEART WAS FULL OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE EPHESIAN BELIEVERS AND WHAT HE HAD HEARD ABOUT THEIR FAITH AND LOVE.

* AND THAT THANKSGIVING LED PAUL TO SPECIFICALLY PRAY FOR THE EPHESIANS, TO MAKE MENTION OF THEM IN PRAYER, FOR THE WORDS MAKING MENTION HAVE TO DO WITH REMEMBERING, BRINGING THEM TO MEMORY, AS THE NIV TRANSLATES HERE, “REMEMBERING YOU IN MY PRAYERS”.

** PAUL WAS A FERVENT PRAYER WARRIOR AND THANKSGIVING FOR THESE PARTICULAR BELIEVERS MOVED HIM TO PRAY FOR THEM AND THE SPECIFICS OF WHAT HE PRAYED FOR ARE FOUND BEGINNING IN V. 17 WHICH WE’LL START TO SEE, LORD WILLING, NEXT WEEK.

*** BUT NOTICE THE STEADFASTNESS OF PAUL’S THANKSGIVING, HE DID NOT CEASE GIVING THANKS.

**** AND I BELIEVE THE IDEA HERE LIKE THE ADMONITION TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING IS TO BE IN AN ATTITUDE OF PRAYER, IT MEANS CONSTANT PRAYER AND DEFINES AS A WAY OF LIFE MARKED BY A CONTINUAL ATTITUDE OF PRAYER.

1. WELL, PAUL, AS A WAY OF LIFE, GAVE THANKS FOR THEM AS HE DID OTHER CHURCHES, AND IT WAS SOMETHING CONTINUAL FOR HIM FROM THE STANDPOINT OF SOMETHING DONE REGULARLY, NOT OCCASIONALLY BUT REGULARLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY, AS HE PRAYED.

* THEY WERE ON THE FOREFRONT OF HIS MIND IN PRAYER. AGAIN WHAT A MAN OF PRAYER HE WAS AND HOW GRATEFUL HE WAS.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY (1) SOMETIMES WE EXCUSE OUR PRAYERLESSNESS AND LACK OF GRATEFULNESS BECAUSE OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, THINGS ARE NOT GOING WELL AND WE ARE BUSY.

* WELL LET ME REMIND YOU, PAUL WAS IN PRISON AND PRISON LIFE AND ON HOUSE ARREST WAS NOT EASY.

** BUT HIS HEART WAS FULL OF THANKSGIVING WHICH LED HIM TO PRAY FOR I BELIEVE HE RESTED IN THE TRUTHS THAT WE STUDIED IN VV. 3-14, THE TRUTHS OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY.

*** FOR AS PAUL WRITES LATER IN THIS EPISTLE IN EPHESIANS 4:1, HE CALLS HIMSELF THE PRISONER OF THE LORD. NOW THAT’S PROFOUND TO ME.

**** NOT THE PRISONER OF ROME, OR THE PRISONER OF CAESAR, OR THE PRISONER OF BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT THE PRISONER OF THE LORD.

(2) AND MY POINT IS, HE BELIEVED THAT HIS SOVEREIGN GOD WAS IN CHARGE OF THAT CIRCUMSTANCE AND REJOICED IN HIS GOD AND PRAYED.

* AND SOMETIMES WE EXCUSE OUR LACK OF A THANKFUL HEART AND PRAYERLESSNESS FROM OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. MAY WE NOT DO THAT ANYMORE.

** FOR THANKSGIVING IS A FRUIT OF BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT WHO IS OUR DOWNPAYMENT, OUR PLEDGE, AS OUR GUARANTEE THAT WE WILL RECEIVE OUR INHERITANCE.

*** AND EPHESIANS 5:18-20 SAYS: (READ THEM)

**** AND BELOVED, PAUL PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED IN EPHESIANS 5:20 AND MAY WE ALLOW OUR GRATITUDE FOR ALL THE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS WE HAVE IN CHRIST THROUGH THE SPIRIT LEAD US TO BE PEOPLE FILLED WITH PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING AND MOVING US TO PRAY.

(3) MAY OUR THANKSGIVING LEAD TO THANKSLIVING MANIFESTED BY PRAYER.