PAUL’S PRAYER FOR THE EPHESIAN CHURCH

Lesson 7

Ephesians 3:14–21

The main task which the Lord has given the apos.ties to do is to teach and proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. However, there was also a priestly work to be done to build up the church which the Lord had established. It is clear from all his writings that Paul engages in prayer for the church constantly. His prayers are found throughout his writings. Many times when he is in the midst of an important point of doctrine he suddenly offers his thanksgiving to the God Whom he serves, for the wonders of His revelation. He also assures his readers again and again that he is remembering them before the throne of God.

The thought introduced in verse 1 of this chapter is now, finally, taken up in verse 14 and following verses. At the beginning of this chapter he says: “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you gentiles,” but the thought is not completed! How typically Pauline! There were other things he had to make clear to them, namely, that there was no longer a separation, but that they bad been brought together in Christ. Now, in verse 14 he takes up that which he had begun to say in verse 1. He bows his knees before God the Father, for this cause. What is the’ cause? That Jew and gentile have been brought together! The marvel of the gospel! Because of that he bows his knees before the Father. He is awed by the great responsibility and the great blessing which has been given him that he has been made a minister of such a gospel. Notice that “the Father” is always the One to Whom he prays.

To the Father of the Family

The whole family in heaven and on earth is named after Him. By this whole family he means the household of God, the church of Jesus Christ. This is a family which is not only found here on earth but is found in heaven too. Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus belong to the church which we usually call “the church triumphant.” It is that part of the church which is beyond the strife and suffering of the church here. Not only the church militant and the church triumphant, but he even seems to include the angel host in this “whole family.” It is true that the angels are not recipients of salvation through the blood of Christ and that they are not bound together with bonds of blood as men are. Yet, these also are part of the family of God. They are servants who have been taken into the household. We should pay far more attention to the things the Scriptures teach us about the angels than we usually do.

For the Spirit’s Powers

Now he reveals the content of his prayer. He prays that God the Father may give them this blessing that t hey may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man. He prays that all the powers of God (riches of His glory) may be given the believer for the strengthening of his faith. He prays that all the attributes of God may be applied to his spiritual progress. So often men speak only of such things as the grace, mercy and love of God which are to be given for our spiritual wellbeing. Paul speaks of all the riches of God to be used for this end. The Spirit of God uses all the attributes of God to strengthen faith within us. For that strengthening we need His Almighty power as well as His grace. We need His changelessness as well as His love. Then we are truly strengthened! Then the inward man, i.e., the heart is made strong. This fact is spoken of by the Apostle time and again in his epistles. He does not “play off” the one attribute of God against another. All of them are to be honored in our salvation. Consequently, we will speak of more than the love or the grace of God when we praise Him for our redemption. All of His powers are at our disposal, and we impoverish ourselves when we do not recognize this fact.

For Christ’s Indwelling

The above is necessary to recognize and believe in order that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. He makes His abode within the believer through the Spirit. Then we are strong in the faith. The Spirit of God dispenses the power of God. So do we lay hold of it. As a result you will be rooted and grounded in love. Here Paul is using a double figure of speech. That faith of the believer is like a tree having roots into the true nourishment for the life they must feed. It is also like a building which is standing on a foundation of solid rock so that it will always be a safe refuge. This is the picture of that true faith in God wrought by the Spirit and founded on the work of Christ! No one shall ever be able to overthrow that faith. It is not dependent on the one who is exercising it, no, it has its roots, it has its foundation in the love of God! All His attributes stand guard over the faith He has instilled!

Grasping What Is Beyond Knowledge

In this way the believers will also be strong to grasp, together with all other believers, what is the breadth and length and height and depth. . . . Of what? He doesn’t say. The context makes it clear, however, what he has in mind. It is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ! Then we naturally ask the question: Who will ever be able to grasp the fulness of the love of Christ? It is limitless, isn’t it? The Apostle is fully aware of this too and therefore uses these four terms. He also states that it cannot be grasped by the individual believer, but must be done in the union of all believers. The love of Christ cannot be measured in breadth or length or height or depth. It certainly cannot be grasped by the mind of man. If it is to be grasped at all it will be by faith, by a heart knowledge. But, there is that faith given to man so that he begins to grasp something of that limitless love of Christ! He cannot describe it. He cannot fathom it. But, he experiences it! Only when a person has been so strengthened by the power of the Spirit of God is there the possibility that he will be able, in a measure, to grasp the beauty and glory of the heart of his redemption. It is indeed a love which passes knowledge. No unbeliever can understand even the smallest part of it.

Filled to God’s Fulness

At the conclusion of this prayer Paul asks that they may be filled unto all the fulness of God. The Bible speaks in many ways of our relationship to God. We are to walk with Him. We are to believe on Him. We are to obey Him. We are to approach to Him in prayer. We are to live for Him, etc. Here the Apostle speaks of being filled to all the fulness of God. So that we may be like Him. We are so to grasp the broad extent of the love of Christ that we may be filled unto all the fulness of God. In other words, we are to be filled to that fulness only through our relationship to Jesus Christ. As we increase in the knowledge of the love of Christ, we are being filled to the fulness of God. This is the way in which the author speaks of true spiritual growth in the believer. It is a growth which is never complete. This is true because the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ shall never be fully grasped and because the fulness of God is limitless! Physical growth is limited to a certain amount of time. Perhaps this is also true of the growth of intellect. However, spiritual growth goes on. Nor is it limited to this life! We are going to grow spiritually throughout all eternity! Man, even the one who is redeemed by the blood of Christ, is and remains a creature and no creature shall ever be able to comprehend the love of Christ or the fulness of God! Shall such a redeemed person then not be complete and perfect? When a man is filled with the fulness of God –is there room for more? When a container is full–how can it be made to hold more? Yet, this is precisely what the Bible teaches—we will go on from perfection to perfection. We will have to think of a container which is able to stretch to receive more. Not as a container made of wood or steel, but as a container made of rubber! It has to hold more even though it is full.

To God’s Eternal Glory

When the Apostle has come to the close of this beautiful and very significant prayer, he ends with a doxology. This is also typically Pauline. He ends with a doxology after a deep and penetrating analysis of glorious truth (Romans 11) and he frequently ends prayers and thanskgivings with a doxology. In fact, one is able to say that Paul’s whole life is a doxology. He has understanding in the mystery which has now been revealed, as he says earlier in this chapter. He knows his Lord and his God and this leads him to the highest level of praise.

To the God of Whom he has spoken, be the glory. To the One of Whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named. To the One who is to fill His people. This is the One Who is able to do all things; is able to do far more than our puny minds are able to ask or think. We have so many requests. Our minds too are filled with all the things we desire—which seem to be endless. Yet, He is able to do so much more—one is not even able to compare what we can ask or think with the ability He has of giving to His people. Paul again coins words to make it possible for him to express himself in such a way that men will understand the power of their God to care for them. He is able to answer the prayers of those in whom He has begun His work of grace. Besides, that grace which they have received will also encourage them to expect all things from Him, even the things which are humanly impossible.

To this God must the glory be given. The church of Jesus Christ shows the glory of its God. Christ Himself, the Head of that church shows the glory of God. Everything must give praise to Him. He is now, through the redeeming work of Christ, acknowledged as God. Those who have not tasted of redemption do not bring homage to Him, but the church must and does do so. This glorifying of the God Who has accomplished all that He decided to do, must go on throughout all the ages of men here on earth, and must go on forever! Never will we have completed our praise of God. We go from strength to strength—from glory to glory—from victory to victory, always praising and glorifying the God Who has revealed Himself to us. Upon this doxology Paul now pronounces his Amen!

Questions for discussion:

1. How are preaching and prayer related? Can there be the one without the other?

2. What is the place of angels in the redemption of man? Why is there no salvation for fallen angels? 3. There would be no salvation if God were not the God of love and of grace. Would there be salvation for us if He were not the Almighty or the Eternal? 4. How great is the love of Christ? If it could be measured would it be enough? 5. What is perfection for the redeemed? 6. We would willingly agree that God can do all things. Do we recognize this sufficiently in our prayers?    

THE UNITY AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH

Lesson 8

Ephesians 4:1–16

The end of the previous chapter mar ks the end of the first part of this epistle, in which the Apostle has given his teaching. Beginning at chapter four he appiies the things he has taught. This is Paul’s usual mode of procedure.

He who is writing is a prisoner in the Lord and because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let these Ephesians and the whole church of Christ of later times realize that he has given everything for the church and for the gospel. He does not bring up his present situation in order to elicit sympathy, but that the people may realize that he is not speaking for his own advantage but that he is driven by his relationship to his Savior. He calls them to walk according to the calling which they have received. They are called to be believers—it is then not too much to ask that they behave themselves as believers. It is only logical to do so. This is really the heart of the application of the gospel! Do what the gospel requires! Who sins unknowingly today? People know the way—it is only a question whether or not they will walk the way they profess.

Call to Christian Unity

The way in which the members of the church of Christ must walk has been spoken of in virtually every New Testament book. Here the Apostle sums up some of the things which are necessary for any believer. There must be a spirit of lowliness and meekness. There must be longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. They must do everything to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Many will then go into an explanation of each of these terms. This is permissible, but there are many other terms which he uses in the other epistles. One can go into these various terms and then forget what they are used for! These are the things which must be observed to gain the unity and peace of the church. Otherwise there will be no peace, and surely, no unity! Besides, the church, by itself, is made up of all kinds of people. Here rich and poor meet—the wise and simple sit at the same table. Everyone, at all times, must observe the various virtues he has mentioned to further the cause of peace and to promote unity.

What Unites?

As I have mentioned in a previous Lesson in this series, the one, holy, catholic church is an article of faith. There is a unity and the members must seek the unity of the church. So the Apostle speaks of this matter in this chapter. There is one body—the church. There are not many churches nor two, there is only one. Christ, of course, has only one body. This is difficult to understand especially in our day when the number of denominations in our country exceeds 250! Many are loath to speak of the true church but would rather work with a different concept of the church. One of the churches in the Netherlands (by no means a splinter group) speaks boldly of the address of the church! Many find this far too exclusive. If the church has no address it will be difficult to speak of the true and false church. Then it doesn’t make much difference where you go to church. Then the sacraments have no address either. Then the Lord’s Supper can be celebrated at a retreat! If the church has no address, no one will be able to say much about the church. This is some of the confusion of today.

There is, therefore, only one body. There is also but one Spirit. Of course. The call of the gospel has come to these Ephesians and the Spirit of God applied that call, or gave the inner call. But, this was one call. Therein is their hope made complete because that call was the earnest of their inheritance. They have thereby been set on the road that leads to glory. There is only one Lord; there is only one faith; there is only one baptism. Anyone who would dare to claim that there is more than one Lord would be guilty of idolatry. There is but one way to be bound to that Lord—by faith. There is only that faith which has been wrought in the heart by the Spirit through the word. There is only one baptism. He mentions baptism because that is the sacrament whereby the people are brought into the fellowship of the church. It is that sacrament which symbolizes the washing away of sin through the blood of Christ and which symbolizes the union with Him and His body. There is also only one God, one Father. He is the one of Whom and through Whom and unto Whom are all things. Seeing there are only one Lord, only one God and Father, only one Spirit, one hope, one faith, and one call—how can there be more than one church? No, the unity of the church, though an article of faith, is a fact. Everything must be done to reveal and keep that unity. Not by means of a false ecumenicity, but by the true ecumenicity shown us in the Scriptures. God’s people should do all in their power to bring together those who belong together, and should clearly brand as false church those who do not believe the teachings of Scripture. Our Confessions show us the way to do this.

An Individual Gift

In the unity of the church lies its strength. That unity must be displayed before men. However, the individual members of the church are by no means all alike. Each one has received different gifts from his Lord to be used for the benefit of the church. Out of this diversity of gifts the unity of the church comes to expression. This is the theme Paul stresses in Corinthians when he speaks of all the members of the human body having different functions (gifts) and all of them together forming one body. So it is in the church.

Given By the Ascended Christ

That the gifts which each individual believer has have come from the Lord Himself is made clear in the following verses. Paul refers to Psalm 68:18. This text deals with the ascension of Christ. He now tells the Ephesian church that through this ascension they have received so much. When He ascended, He came with the spoils of His victory. He has an abundance of gifts to bestow. Now this fact, He ascended, means that He must also have descended before this. Why should that be so? It is not true that anyone who ascends must first have descended? But this is true concerning the Christ because He had been above before, which was His natural station. Through His ascension He has filled all things with the multitude of His gifts and favor.

Gifts of Church Offices

Christ is the Source of all the spiritual gifts which have been bestowed on the individual believer. He also gives His gifts to the entire church. Some of these he now mentions. He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. The emphasis lies on the fact that these are gifts of Christ. The apostles were found only in the early church. The prophets too, through whom new revelations came. Evangelists will always be in t he church as well as pastors and teachers. Seeing they are His gifts, the church must acknowledge them as such—he who rejects you rejects me!

Purpose of the Gifts

Paul now shows that the purpose of the gifts which He has given the church is to equip the membership of the church to reach its full potential so that each one is used for the perfecting and building up of the body of Christ, the church. This is, of course, the stimulation of the office of all believers. This is, and always has been necessary in the life of the church. Just so no one concludes that the church here below is ever able to do without the special gifts of Christ—the offices of which Paul has spoken. Nor may we conclude that that is the only purpose of the special offices, i.e., to enliven the offices of all believers. There is more! Christ wants His church fed! He wants His church led!

A Unity of Faith and Knowing Christ

Where a unity of the body is obtained there growth will also be found. On the other hand, where there is no unity, there can be no growth. If the church gratefully accepts the gifts the ascended Christ bestows upon it and finds itself equipped to the task to which the church is called, it will attain to a unity of faith and grow in the knowledge of the Son of God and become a full-grown, a mature man in Christ. Christians will not remain babes in Christ. Maturity must come. The writer to the Hebrews (Ch. 5, 6) urges his people to strive for the same goal. So only will they be strong in the faith. Then they will not always and forever have to go back to the elementary things, but will be able to press on to perfection. The author even speaks of attaining unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. No, we will not reach that goal here, but we should strive for it.

This growth in the faith is necessary for the unity of the church. There are examples enough in the New Testament of those who knew the way, and then were led astray like unstable children. Even one of the apostles, Peter, does not escape this evil. How often it is seen today that a congregation is instructed in the right way for several years, and another minister comes, and in a few years everything is turned upside down. How can people be so fickle? The antidote? Speak the truth! Let your yea be yea and your nay nay! How little of this is found today. But, let truth also be spoken in love. The truth separated from love is of no value. Only when we follow our Lord in His manner of living will we in all things grow up into Him. So we become like Him. So we begin to measure up to the stature of the fulness of Christ. You could depend on Him! He spoke the truth and did so in love.

A Growing Body

Coming to the conclusion of this section, the Apostle emphasizes the intimate relationship between Christ and the church. As so often in this epistle, he refers to Christ as the Head of the body. Here he means it in a strictly organic sense. That body is so beautifully “put together,” it is a marvel. That is due to the fact that the head supplies all the things necessary for the proper functioning of every part of the body. Then each part of the body, doing that which is required of it, will help the whole body grow and answer to its purpose. To separate the body from its Head would be fatal and to separate any part of the body from the rest brings illness. Only as a harmonious whole can the body prosper and receive His blessing upon it.

Questions for discussion:

1. How must we seek the unity of the church? What is ecumenism? Is it proper? 2. What should be our first concern in seeking closer relations with other churches? 3. Is there only one baptism? Is there no difference between the baptism of Baptists and of Reformed? 4. How many offices are there in the church? May there be more or less? 5. What is meant by the office of all believers? This matter was not stressed prior to the Reformation and the great Reformation restored its recognition. Is there a danger today that we make too much of it? 6. How can you recognize the true church?