I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3, ESV.
The humility of the apostle Paul is astounding. A Jewish scholar and successful zealot miraculously converted on the Road to Damascus, assigned the office of apostle and the role of missionary to the Gentiles, Paul has an impressive ministry résumé. But, writing to the church in Ephesus, he calls attention to the fact that his current calling is to be a prisoner for his service to Christ. Following this reminder of his humble circumstances, Paul calls on the church to live lives that are “worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” What characterizes this worthy life? Is it daring deeds of faith? Is it drawing large crowds for gospel programs? Is it pastoring a large church? None of these. A worthy walk is a humble walk. Paul calls upon the church to sacrifice for one another in humility in order to maintain spiritual unity in the church. We desperately need to heed this call in the church today. Be it at the denominational level or the level of the local congregation, the contemporary church in America stands divided over almost every imaginable topic. Inspired more by social media than the Spirit of God, her members too often echo the haughty and angry mood of the culture around her. As this happens, the church experiences the reality of this simple biblical formula: Pride destroys. Humility builds. Both James and Peter look to Proverbs 3:34 and declare, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). It is time to look at one another and, before we speak the next words or make the next post on social media, ask these probing questions: Am I being humble toward my brother or proud? Am I being gentle toward them or harsh? Am I being patient or rash? Am I bearing with them or adding to their burden? Am I showing love or hate? Is my heart eager to promote peace or am pursuing victory in a war of words? The sinless Son of God humbled Himself by taking on flesh and went willingly to a humiliating and painful death to redeem people who did not deserve it. That is how the church was born. Is it any wonder that she only finds “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” when her members live lives of humility? May God grant that we each walk humbly before one another and our God today. This is my prayer. Pastor Don Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV.
For many churchgoers, I imagine the word “doxology” is just the name of a short song often sung when the church partakes of the Lord’s Supper or at the close of the worship service. In reality, the Doxology we sing is an example of doxology. Doxology is a transliteration—where the Greek letters are simply swapped with English letters to make an English word. The Greek word is a compound word meaning “speaking glory” or “praising.” So when we sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow...,” we are doxologizing! Paul is also doxologizing at the end of Ephesians chapter 3 as he declares “to him be the glory.” His doxologizing is not generic, though. He assigns it an object, a choir, and a duration. Paul’s doxology is glory directed to God who is able. God’s ability is boundless—far beyond the content of our petitions and even our imaginations. God is omnipotent (all-powerful). He is omniscient (all-knowing). He is omnipresent (present everywhere). These characteristics of God make Him practically omnicompetent (always able). Paul’s doxology is to be joined by a choir of those who have experienced this power at work in their own lives. Paul desires that the church, the body of Christ made up of those God has mightily saved from the dark realm of sin and brought into His light, join him in proclaiming glory to God. Paul’s doxology is eternal. It is “throughout all generations, forever and ever.” There will never be a reason for the church to cease her praise of God. The redeemed will never tire of it. Even into eternity, as God sits enthroned in the new creation, the people of God will join with all the heavenly creatures in praising their God (Revelation 4-5; 22:1-5). I am praying that today you will be reminded often and in many ways of the power of God at work in you, power without limits. And I am praying that you will be blessed as you join with the saints of all the ages in praising God. Singing the Doxology is a good place to start: Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Written by Thomas Ken (1674) Pastor Don For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19, ESV.
This last Sunday was wonderful. For the first time in months, we were able to gather together under one roof to worship. Brothers and sisters in Christ who had missed being together struggled with social distancing, but the joy of fellowship was palatable. Having prayed for one another during a period of absence, it was good to gather together once more. Today’s passage reminds us that our regathering is no cause to cease praying. Here we read of Paul’s humble prayer for the church. God brought the church together as a family in the first place. Paul now asks that God now make His church strong. Since there are many kinds of strength, it is important to consider how Paul describes the strength he is seeking. This strength is a spiritual gift. It comes as a gift of God’s grace through the work of the Holy Spirit. It builds faith and closeness to Christ in the heart of the believer. That is why we must ask God to bless His church with this strength. It is His and His alone to give. This strength is revealed in a knowledge of God’s love. As the Spirit grounds the believer in the love of God by faith, the believer experiences that love and comes to understand its degree, at least to a point. What the believer learns is that God’s love is greater than our minds will ever truly comprehend! Thus, we pray that the church will become overwhelmed by the love of God. This strength turns the church into a spiritual house where God is pleased to dwell. Paul goes as far as to speak of the fullness of God dwelling in His church—a phrase similar to that he uses to describe Christ in Colossians 2:9. In this sense, we pray that the church will become the true body of Christ! What am I praying for you today? I am praying Ephesians 3:14-19! Pastor Don To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. Ephesians 3:8–12, ESV.
In our passage this morning, Paul expresses his humble gratitude for a particular gift of God’s grace. He is thankful that God called him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, to grow the church as a testimony in the heavens to the power of the gospel, and to play a part in the outworking of God’s eternal plan to gather a people for Himself through faith in Christ. Paul’s heart was filled with gratitude because his passion was a godly passion. I want to challenge you today to embrace Paul’s passion and, consequently, experience Paul’s gratitude. To have a passion like Paul’s, we first need to commit ourselves to take the good news of Jesus to those who have not heard it, calling them to repentance and faith and offering them forgiveness in Christ. Paul was able to thank God for his calling because he was faithfully answering that call. The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has long encouraged us to pray, give, and go. While many of us have treated that ‘and’ as a multiple-choice ‘or’, a passion like Paul’s demands that our approach be all of the above! To have a passion like Paul’s we need to start living in a biblical reality. We live in a world that is intimately connected with the heavenly world. Our obedience to the call to make disciples and start churches rings out as a testimony in the heavens and results in powerful heavenly beings giving glory to God. We must live in the knowledge that our commission is not earth-bound! To have a passion like Paul’s we need to think a little more humbly about our role in this work. What a blessing it is that God would save undeserving sinners and then engage them in bringing the good news about the finished work of Christ to a lost and dying world. We should find it thrilling to be one of many tools in the hands of our evangelistic God! My prayer for you today is that you will become passionately engaged in the exciting work of gathering the lost to Christ and that this passion will drive you to thankful worship of our gracious God. Pastor Don For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:14-22, ESV.
Sinners of every ethnic, racial, and political stripe come to Jesus. They come divided and even hostile to one another. But when they come to Him, the many become “one new man.” The hostility is removed. They become citizens of a new kingdom and members of a new family. They are built up into a new temple, a new dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God. The saving work of Jesus on the cross does not rescue sinners from the hell they deserve just so they can continue in their individualistic division and hostility. That is the way of the world they are saved out of. The gospel that rescues is a gospel that binds. Christian unity is not some pie-in-the-sky dream, but the genuine result of the reconciling work of Jesus, binding us to God and one another. This Sunday, we gather again for worship. Some will wear masks. Some will forgo wearing masks. Some will be glad to see social distancing. Some will think it unnecessary. There will be many different opinions about the hot social and political topics of our day. Even so, our united testimony to one another and the world will be this: “We follow Jesus and we love one another because He loved us.” See John 13:34-35. Looking forward to this Lord’s Day and praying for you, Pastor Don |
From Pastor DonWriting about the Bible and praying that it will be of some good for someone. Archives
June 2021
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