Untitled Sermon (10)

Walk Worthy of Your Calling:

In Paul’s first prayer he prays that That we be given a spirit of wisdom, that our hearts be enlightened, that we’re aware of the glorious riches we have, of the glorious inheritance that God made possible for us, through Jesus and the immeasurable greatness of his power which God worked through Christ when he Resurrected him from the dead...

Ephesians 1:17–20 “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, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,” —-

Adding to the grace that we freely receive from our Father in Heaven. Paul in his second prayer prays that we be strengthened with power in our inner being through his Spirit, so that Christ can dwell in our hearts. Affirming that we’re grounded in love and that we realize that that’s where our strength comes from… From God(Who is Love) through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit... In our daily walking in that strength.

In Paul’s second prayer he prays/ informs them of their strength and the source of that strength.

Ephesians 3:16–19 “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

All of these gifts are given us so that we can become a loving, living part of his body the church. The first 3 chapters of this book primarily focus on doctrine in chapter 4 Paul shifts to our responsibility to practice these principles . Ephesians 4:1 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” Paul immediately tells us how to do it; Ephesians 4:2–3 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”—- Then in verses 4 through 6 he wants to emphasize the position of the Holy Trinity and the importance of its oneness, unity . Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”... Absolute completeness and Unity!!!

What’s on my heart right now is the the depth and weight of what we’re learning here in Paul’s prayers and the ultimate authority of Paul’s teachings . Matthew, Mark, John and Luke in their gospels recorded Jesus's teachings from a historical pre rapture perspective. Paul was an apostle chosen by Jesus after His resurrection. Paul, Peter and John seem to be the apostolic authors that emphasize the depths of Jesus teachings about Christianity after Pentecost in this dispensation of Grace, which we live in today They give insight into the details for creating and maintaining unity in the Church. I believe that Jesus prepared Paul in a supernatural way with more depth than the other apostles because of the nature of his calling to the Gentiles. Paul, a Jew, had to referee and instill unity between two of the most contentious groups of that time, the Jews and the gentiles. They had to become like one to form the body of Christ. I also believe that Paul received his teaching in a more sincere way because of the nature of his shame and guilt toward the way he treated the Church and Jesus . Galatians 1:15–18 “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.” —- I would have really liked to have been with Peter and Paul those 15 days just to listen to their conversation . —-This time away in Arabia Paul used to receive instruction directly from God/Jesus and study the Torah, with a new perspective considering the effects of the death resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This time was a time of deep communion and reflection with the Lord before his public ministry. Paul in his epistles brings out the doctrines of the 1,Christians(yours, mine)) death burial resurrection and ascension with Jesus. 2 He illuminates all of the riches that we have as Christians because of Gods Love.3 Paul also talks about our life-out-of-death, being Dead to myself and alive in Christ, the Christian experience replaying itself in our daily walk with Jesus. 4 The work of the Holy Spirit producing, working out, the Christians (our) progressive spiritual growth in righteousness and love, my sanctification. 5 Paul emphasizes as Christians we are in the body of Christ (the Church) a part of his own body, of which He’s the head, and It’s Unity. 6 Paul also teaches us of the roles of and our relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Paul is the most expressive expositor of Jesus teachings and of the New Covenant realities for the Church of any of the New Testament writers. He continually emphasizes Christ in us, us in Christ and that our focus is to be continually on Jesus.

David Guzik Writes: “ Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is different compared to many of the other New Testament letters he wrote. Like Romans, Ephesians was not written so much to address problems in a particular church; more so, it was written to explain some of the great themes and doctrines of Christianity.”—- “ If the Letter to the Romans focuses more on God’s work in the individual Christian, (Greg will begin teaching on that next week) Ephesians includes the great themes of God’s work in the church, the community of believers.”

This is an observation from Charles Spurgeon about Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. “The Epistle to the Ephesians is a complete Body of Divinity. In the first chapter you have the doctrines of the gospel; in the next, you have the experience of the Christians; and before the Epistle is finished, you have the precepts of the Christian faith. Whosoever would see Christianity in one treatise, let him ‘read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest’ the Epistle to the Ephesians.” (Spurgeon)

Why all this about Paul and his credentials or authority? Well, I’m just saying when Paul the apostle speaks people ought to listen, especially Christians. Peter in his final words encouraged his church to read Paul’s letters and he echo's what is to be our Christian theology; 2 Peter 3:14–18 “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these,(events preceding the coming of the new heavens and the new earth) be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” —- I wasn’t going to use the entire passage, but after reading it several times I could not, not use it in its entirety, because it’s so strengthens everything that we’ve been learning from Paul. Paul’s theology was advanced in every sense of the word,(hard to understand) we may say almost Christ like, but Paul is teaching us the fundamental principles of how to live in a way that is pleasing and glorifying to God. That seems to be the primary purpose of the universe so to speak; God glorifies Himself, Jesus glorifies God, the angels glorify God, and we, in our daily walk, are to glorify God.

Oswald Chambers in his meditation on August 30th accurately captures Paul’s heart and mine in this part of his meditation ;

“Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don’t rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service, to rejoice in the fact that God has used you. You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it. When once you are rightly related to God by salvation and sanctification, remember that wherever you are, you are put there by God; and by the reaction of your life on the circumstances around you, you will fulfil God’s purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the light.”

Here’s Philippians 1:9–11 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

This is what Paul reemphasizes with his prayer for the church at Colossae in Colossians 1:9–13 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,”

As I read this another passage of scripture came to mind from another of Jesus’s apostles ; 1 John 1:5–7 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

To finish this lesson this morning, I’m going to jump to the little book right before Hebrews, Paul’s letter to Philemon. It’s may not seem in line with what we’ve been studying per se ,however it touched my heart when I read Paul's prison letters.

Let’s read Philemon 8–21 I’m going to skip Paul’s opening and closing comments “Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.” —-

So here we have a runaway slave who by all rights is condemned to death if caught. He crosses Paul’s path and is saved and becomes Paul's servant and humble child/brother. Ironically we have a runaway slave, a fugitive, becoming a servant to the imprisoned Paul. Because of Paul’s intercession and Philemon's obedience, we have the fundamental story of redemption only with different characters . Early church tradition has it that Onesimus became the pastor/bishop of the church at Ephesus after Timothy is martyred. It’s figured that Onesimus was in his late teens or early 20s when this letter was written in AD 61-2. Timothy was martyred about AD 97 so Onesimus was probably in his late 60’s when he became pastor at Ephesus... Paul didn’t have to intercede and Philemon didn’t have to obey ... To God be the Glory…

Next week we’ll be starting a study about John 17. Jesus’s prayer to his Father on behalf of us his children and the church before His Crucifixion.