Paul’s Pride and Joy
Ephesians - Live Like You Really Are
Chuck Sligh
May 20, 2012
POWERPOINT: There is a PowerPoint presentation for this sermon available by requesting it from me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Ephesians 1:15-16 – “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – Years ago my side of the family had a big reunion in Tennessee that I wasn’t able to attend due to my inability to find a fill-in for me when we were ministering in England. So Susan and the kids went back without me.
At the end of the day, all the relatives called to tell me they missed me and they were enjoying seeing and getting to know better our three sons. Each gave glowing reports about our two teen sons, Chris and Jon, stating how well mannered they were, how well-rounded they were and how much like their mom they were (!) and how they exuded an enthusiasm for God and the things of God.
When I hung up the phone, I bowed my head and thanked God for the sons He had given me, including our youngest who was also a very good boy. All the work, prayer, effort, concern, discipline and teaching we had given them HAD BEEN WORTH IT after all! All that week, whenever I prayed, our sons were the first ones I thanked God for and the first ones for whom I earnestly prayed for God’s protection and guidance.
You see, there’s something about a good report of your children that fills a parent’s heart with joy and thankfulness, and causes you to pray the more earnestly for them.
I think that’s the way Paul felt about the Ephesians. Acts 18 records the establishment of the church in Ephesus by the Apostle Paul. They were his spiritual children…and they were his pride and joy. But now Paul was away from them, writing to them from a prison in Rome. And like a parent, he longed for every bit of news about them. Apparently, someone had brought a good a report of the Ephesian church. He said that when he heard of their “faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,” his heart was filled with thanksgiving and an earnest desire to pray for them. All his labor among them had NOT been in vain.
In these two verses, I would like us to see three important truths this morning:
I. FIRST OF ALL, NOTICE THAT PAUL RECOGNIZED FAVORABLE PROGRESS – Verse 15 – “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.”
Paul begins verse 15 with the word “Wherefore.” This is two words in the Greek—dia touto (δια τουτο, #s 1223 & 5124) which means “on this account” or “because of this.”
In verses 1-14, Paul had taught the Ephesians about their inestimable riches they had in Christ. But all the teaching in the world won’t help a person if he doesn’t apply it in his life. The Ephesians did.
Paul commended them for a pair of Christian graces:
• The first was FAITH in the Lord Jesus.
1) Of course, first of all this would include SAVING FAITH. Paul had just mentioned their chosenness in Christ Jesus; their predestination to the full rights and responsibilities of son-ship because of being in Christ; their acceptance and redemption in Christ; and their sealing with the Holy Spirit. How was all this received?—By doing good works? By human effort? By doing religious deeds? No, Paul later tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 how salvation and all its privileges are obtained – “For by GRACE are ye saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
2) But Paul was not really referring to SAVING FAITH here, but to PRACTICAL FAITH
The Ephesians had already found the WAY to Christ by faith; but what encouraged him was how they continued to WALK by faith in their everyday lives AFTER salvation.
Too often we think of faith as simply the key to unlock the door to the JOYS OF HEAVEN, and it IS that, but it’s also the key to unlock the door to JOYS ON EARTH. The person who can trust the Lord with his life, his health, his future, his family, his employment, and his provision is a person who is at peace and without fear and worry. That’s what God wants in our lives—but it can only come by a consistent trust in God.
Illus. – I’ve seen God’s people manifest this simple trust many times, but one that stands out to me was a woman in our church in Wiesbaden whose husband had abandoned her for another woman. Through it all, she had a steadfast faith in God that somehow He would take care of her; somehow God would work it out for good; somehow God would balance the scales. Yes, she was hurt and grieving, but I do not recall a more poised, more calm, more trusting believer in all my ministry. It was a practical faith in God that got her through that terrible time in her life.
That’s the kind of faith Paul commended in the Ephesians.
Illus. – Their faith was not like the man Ken Hughes tells about who was attempting to cross the frozen St. Lawrence River in Canada. Unsure whether the ice would hold, he first tested it by laying his hand on it. Then he got on his knees and gingerly began making his way across. When he got to the middle of the frozen river, trembling with fear, he heard a racket behind him. Looking back, he saw a team of horses pulling a carriage down the road toward the river. And upon reaching the river, to his horror, they didn’t stop, but bolted right onto the ice and past him, while he crouched there on all fours, turning a deep crimson. If only he had known how FIRM the ice really was!
Apparently, the Ephesians knew that Christ not only could SAVE them, but that He could hold them up, sustain them—and as a result, they charged straight ahead in their Christian lives. Paul commended them for that kind of faith.
• The second thing Paul commended them for was their “love unto all the saints.”
Of the four Greek words for love, Paul chose the word agápē (ἀγάπη) in this verse, the purest form of love, which refers to a godly, selfless, sacrificing love that gives without expectation of return. He could have chosen one of the other words that refer to a lesser love or one that involves less intensity and commitment, but he chose agape.
I think Paul was implying that the Ephesians didn’t just DECLARE their love to one another, nor did they just express some kind of mushy emotion that was inert and lazy and didn’t result in ACTION. I think he was saying that they had an intense, giving, sacrificing love that reached out to one another in their midst. They looked out for one another; they had concern for one another; they put up with one another’s inadequacies and eccentricities and failures and inconsistencies; they encouraged one another.
It was the kind of love that no doubt manifested the “one anothers” mentioned so often in the New Testament—to HONOR one another; to BE LIKEMINDED WITH one another; to RECEIVE one another; to ADMONISH one another; to GREET one another; to SERVE one another; to BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS; to BEAR WITH one another; to SUBMIT TO one another; and to EDIFY one another.
Now, one word that’s easy to overlook in this verse is the word all, but it’s a very important qualifier. The Ephesians were not selective in their love for the saints. I think Paul is saying that they tried to love EVERY believer in their midst. They didn’t show favoritism or respect of persons. They loved those in the lower class and those in the upper class. They loved those who had been saved out of cesspools of sin as well as the so-called “respectable sinners” who trusted Christ. They loved those who were difficult to love. They loved those who demanded a lot of time and attention. Maybe you love the brethren in a generic sense, but there are individuals whom, truth to tell, you do not really have an agápē love for. The Ephesians were not like that. They strived to have that kind of love to ALL the saints.
Now, it’s interesting how Paul pairs faith and love in this verse. Calvin said, “Observe here, that under faith and love Paul sums up the whole perfection of Christians.” ( Calvin’s Commentaries, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance, eds. T.H.L. Parker, translators, Vol. II (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), p. 133.)
The Ephesians exercised faith, but it was not a BARREN faith that did not evidence itself in tangible works.
• JAMES especially talked about how true faith worked itself out in action.
• PAUL referred to “…faith which worketh by love.” (Galatians 5:6)
• This must have been what JOHN was talking about in 1 John 3:17-18 – “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his...compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
God’s plan is that faith will always manifest itself in love. Faith and love are two peas in a pod—a pair that naturally go together.
So first, we see that Paul RECOGNIZED FAVORABLE PROGRESS in the Ephesians.
II. SECOND, HE RECOLLECTED WITH FERVENT PRAISE – Verse 16a – “Cease not to give thanks for you…”
Illus. – You know, every time I think of some people, they just bring back good memories. There are folks all around the world that were in our churches in Germany and England whom, when they come to mind, I thank the Lord that I had the privilege of knowing and ministering to and with them. They elicit precious memories. Some of you are like that as well.
The Ephesians were like that: their faith in God and love for one another caused him to give unceasing praise to God for them.
Paul had a habit of praising God for people in his life:
• He said to the CORINTHIANS – “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:4)
• To the PHILIPPIANS he wrote, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” (Philippians 1:3)
• To the COLOSSIANS: “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Colossians 1:3)
• And to the THESSALONIANS: “We give thanks to God always for you all…” (1 Thessalonians 1:2) (By the way, the fact that he said “you all” proves Paul was a Southerner!)
I see two important principles from Paul’s penchant for praising God for people in his life:
• First, Paul made a habit of PRAISE—and so should we!
How sad that so many Christians are such lousy commercials for Christianity. They whine and complain and gripe about the weather, every ache and pain, their problems, their misfortunes, their jobs, their salaries, their kids, their parents, their spouses, their in-laws and on and on the list goes. No wonder hardly anyone wants to become a Christian! My pastor always said that some Christians look like they’ve been sucking on persimmons all day. We all laughed, even though I never knew anyone who knew what a persimmon was; but we got the point.
Did you know that there are over 800 references in the Bible to praising and giving thanks and rendering honor and glory to God?
If there ever was anyone who had a RIGHT to complain, it was Paul. Have you been STONED lately?—and I don’t mean the way the word is used today! Have you been whipped five times with thirty-nine stripes? beaten with rods three times? floated 24 hours in the sea after a shipwreck? been hated by non-believers and opposed by many believers as well? Paul experienced ALL OF THAT, and yet his letters are peppered with praise and thankfulness to God. They exude an irrepressible joy and a hopeful attitude. If Paul could be praiseful and thankful in such extreme hardships—brethren, we can as well with our puny problems compared to his. Folks—let’s be a people of PRAISE!
• The second principle I see here is this: Paul had a great love for PEOPLE—and so should we!
Notice that Paul does not mention anything material in what he thanks God for. That seems to be what we value so often today—money, cars, houses, furniture, computers—THINGS! Paul cared for none of those.
His focus was two-fold: God and people. Everything else was of lesser importance to him. Folks, let me give you a little motto to live your life by: “Always put relationships before things.” (REPEAT) How often I see people get those turned around in their lives with disastrous results:
No, Paul valued PEOPLE—He LOVED them; SERVED them; LIVED FOR them; PRAYED FOR them; SPENT HIMSELF FOR them.
Let’s do a little prioritizing this morning and put first things first:
• First should come THE LORD and TIME SPENT WITH HIM.
• Second should come your first and foremost ministry—YOUR SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.
• Third should come your responsibilities in life—your responsibility to make a living and your responsibility to serve in the local church.
• The very LAST thing in your order of priorities should be money, material possessions, position, amusement and hobbies.
In these verses Paul not only recognized favorable progress and recollected with fervent praise.
III. THIRD, NOTE THAT HE RESPONDED WITH FAITHFUL PRAYER – Verse 16b – “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”
The precious memories of the Ephesians prompted Paul to faithful prayer. My, what an example Paul is to us! I hang my head every time I put my life up against his. He was a man of many things, but here we see he was a man of faithful prayer.
Just as he was unceasing in PRAISE for those he had ministered to, Paul was equally unceasing in his PRAYER for them. The various verses I read earlier where Paul repeatedly thanked God for the Ephesians, the Galatians, the Colossians and the Thessalonians were all followed by statements in those passages in which he told them that he prayed faithfully for them.
One of the great privileges we have is to pray for one another—the ministry of intercessory prayer. Yet I wonder how many of us do it. I don’t mean doing it occasionally. Rather, I wonder how many of us, like Paul, “cease not” to pray for one another. One impediment to us doing this is that we don’t have a means to do it church-wide, so if someone will volunteer to keep and distribute via email a congregational prayer list, I’d like to start doing that right away. (See me later if you’re interested.)
One of the most convicting statements in Scripture is 1 Samuel 12:23 – “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way.” It is a sin not to pray, but on the basis of this verse, I’ll go a step further—it is evidently a sin not to pray faithfully and regularly and unceasingly for one another. Let’s learn the good and right way Samuel referred to. Let us, like Paul, pray unceasingly for the saints.
CONCLUSION
Now let’s bring these truths down to where we live today.
• What kind of FAITH are you living out as a Christian? Are you trusting the Lord in EVERY area of your life? May God help you to exercise PRACTICAL FAITH.
• Second, do you actively show a giving, self-sacrificing, action-oriented, helping LOVE for the saints?
• Third, do you love ALL the saints, and are not selective of your favorite friends?
• Fourth, how is your P.Q.? We all know what an I.Q. is—that’s an INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT. But what about your P.Q.—your PRAISE QUOTIENT? Are you a chronically negative, critical, down, discouraged Christian…or one who ceaseless voices the praises of God?
• Fifth, do you have your priorities in line, with God and the people you love at the top of your list of priorities?
• And last, how is your ministry of intercession for other believers? DO you pray for the saints?—I mean besides at your homegroup. Why not commit yourself to pray unceasingly for the saints.
