Thanking Him
[12-13-09]
Who Should We Pray For?
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;
QUESTION: What is Paul thanking God for? Why?
ANSWER: What? He’s thanking God for his fellow believers. Why? He heard about their “faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.”
NOTE: When you and I are walking in faith and love we have great potential for Christian growth. Unbelief and lack of love are great hindrances to growth.
Colossians 1:3-6) We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4) Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints,
5) For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6) Which is come unto you, as [it is] in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as [it doth] also in you, since the day ye heard [of it], and knew the grace of God in truth:
QUESTION: What do we notice in this passage?
ANSWER: We notice the same thing here. When Paul heard that believers had faith and love he would place them on his everyday prayer list.
What Should We Ask God To Do For This Group?
Ephesians 1:17-23) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18) The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Concerning “revelation,”
“includes not merely the thing shown and seen but the interpretation, the unveiling of the same” [Word Study].
“The Eyes of Your Understanding” In Other Translations:
(BBE) And that having the eyes of your heart full of light,
(CEV) My prayer is that light will flood your hearts
QUESTION: How does this “wisdom and revelation” come?
ANSWER: God floods our hearts with His revelation light
NOTE: We can only understand Spiritual truth when the Holy Spirit reveals it to us.
1Corinthians 2:14-16) [GW] A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.
15) Spiritual people evaluate everything but are subject to no one’s evaluation.
16) “Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can teach him?” However, we have the mind of Christ.
Verse 18 of Ephesians, Chapter 1 In Another Translation:
(CEV) My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.
QUESTION: What does the Apostle want us to see/know?
ANSWER: He wants us to know that this “calling” of ours has a glorious inheritance attached to it, and he wants us to understand what that inheritance entails.
19a) And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
(GW) You will also know the unlimited greatness of his power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers.
(BBE) And how unlimited is his power to us who have faith,
NOTE: God is working His will in us with unlimited power.
19b) according to the working of his mighty power,
20a) Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,
NOTE: God is exercising that same power that He demonstrated when He raised Christ from the dead in completing what He started in you and I.
Philippians 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
Romans 8:29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
1John 3:2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
20b) and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
21) Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
QUESTION: Exactly where is Christ Jesus now sitting?
ANSWER: He’s sitting next to His Father in Heaven, far above the very things you and I wrestle against.
Ephesians 6:12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
Ephesians 2:6) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
QUESTION: Exactly where are we sitting right now?
ANSWER: We’re sitting “in Christ Jesus” next to our Heavenly Father in Heaven, far above the very things we wrestle against.
22) And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church,
23) Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
(CEV) The church is Christ’s body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.
(GNB) The church is Christ’s body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere.
QUESTION: Exactly what is the church?
ANSWER: You and I, and all other believers make up His church. But, there’s more! The church is “the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”
NOTE: The “full measure of Who Christ is” is in the church, His body. Obviously, we are not living up to our full potential.