2006-10-14 - Who needs a blessing - eph 1 15-23
Message: Who needs a blessing? Newport Baptist Church
Scr: Eph 1-15-23 Date: 2006-10-15
Intro: Our story – major changes began with Debbie praying the prayer of Jabez – big best seller – people want a blessing!
Explanation – Who needs a blessing? We do! So why then did Paul write this letter to the church in Ephesus where people in general were very well off?
TS - After all… Ephesus was capital city (Asia Minor – modern Turkey) – about 230 communities around it – Paul writing for all the believers there – He spent 3 years there planting and building up the church. A thriving business centre – port, stadium (24000 people), also a place for religious pilgrims (Artemis/Diana – like Mecca or Salt lake city ;) )
Paul’s purpose in writing this letter was to help those within the church understand how to relate to God and to one another.
Paul knew that the Ephesian church needed a blessing even as we do. He knew that without it, they would struggle and fail to accomplish their mission. With all the distractions around them, they needed to be reminded of what God has done, and that they, like us, needed a blessing.
Ephesians 1 – Paul’s outline of the blessings we have in Christ and his prayer for us that we would understand those blessings… quite a list!
VS 3 – God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ!
VS 4 – He chose us
Vs 5- He predestined us
Vs 6 – He gave us grace
Vs 7 – he gave us forgivemness
Vs 8 – he gave us wisdom and understanding
Vs 9 – He made known his will
Vs 10 – He put all things under Christ
Vs 11 – He works out everything in line with his will
Vs 13 – He sealed us with the HS
Vs 14 – He guaranteed our inheritance
Prayer for Understanding (1:15–23)
There are two prayers in Ephesians: (1) “that you might know,” 1:15–23; and (2) “that you might be,” 3:13–21. The first is for enlightenment, the second for enablement. Paul prays here that we might know what Christ has done for us; and in ch 3 he prays that we might live up to these wonderful blessings and put them to work in our daily lives.
Paul wants us to know the blessing we have! Notice Paul’s requests:
1) That God may give you spiritual understanding (vv. 17–18a).
a) Ill – Mom and jokes – tell a joke – 15 minute lag time…
b) Spiritual truths must be spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:9–16), and this understanding can come only from the Spirit.
c) He wrote the Word; He alone can teach us what it says.
2) That you might know the hope of His calling (v. 18b).
a) When mom calls, kids hope they will survive J
b) Because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, we have a blessed hope for all eternity that depends not on our goodness but on His grace.
c) Review vv. 4–6, where this calling is summarized for us.
d) The Christian who does not know his high calling (Phil. 3:14), holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9), and heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1) will never be able to walk worthy of that calling (Eph. 4:1, where “vocation” is “calling”).
3) That you might know the riches of His inheritance (v. 18c).
a) Deb and I – Newlyweds – fantasizing about our inheritance – We know better now!!!!
b) We not only have an inheritance in Christ, but we are an inheritance to Christ (see v. 11).
c) The word “riches” appears often in Ephesians, suggesting that there is nothing lacking, nothing more that we need.
d) Christians mature in the Lord when they learn how much they mean to Christ and then start living to bring joy to His heart.
4) That you might know His power (vv. 19–23).
a) Looking at Niagara falls – power! NOPE – HS, that’s power!
b) The very power that raised Jesus from the dead is available for our daily lives!
i) Christ has already won the victory over sin, death, the world, and Satan.
ii) God’s people do not fight for victory but from victory!
c) We are seated with Him in the heavenly realms, where there are power, peace, and victory.
Conclusion – Who needs a blessing? We do… one problem!
all these blessings are only for those who meet the conditions in v 1–2.
Paul writes to the church, people who have put faith in Christ. These saints (set-apart ones) have experienced God’s grace and now enjoy God’s peace. only God can make a sinner a saint. And the sinner must become a saint while he is still alive, for after death is the judgment (Heb. 9:27).
Today we take the time to reflect on God’s blessings as we sing together, and we pray that we might understand them, that we might place our hope in them, that we might know the riches of his inheritance, and that we might know God’s power.
If you are one of God’s saints, I challenge you this morning to remember God’s blessings. If you aren’t sure, Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Reflect this morning on whether you need a blessing. If you do, all you have to do is confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead… God’s blessings are waiting.
Prayer –