17th May 2026 : Ephesians ch 1 v 15 - 23

Ephesians ch 1 v 15 - 23

Today's reader is Anne and I'm going to ask her to come up and read the word of God to us.

I'll be reading from the book of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 15 to 23.

Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, the love upon all saints cease not to give thanks for you making mention of your of you in my prayers that the God of our love our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may give unto you in spirit the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is in the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to up us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrote in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and domination and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in what which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head of over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.

We have a stack of church Bibles out there so you can follow that or you can bring your own. A habit people have fallen out of these days, you know, when I first became a Christian, you see them walking into church, you knew who all the Christians were, they were carrying Bibles, you know. But that was good. because they were never without the word of God. We should never be without the word of God, but let's pray and ask for the blessing over it because it is his word and he caused it and inspired it in the 1st place. And the Lord has done quite well with that all these years and he will continue to do that.

Lord, in Jesus' name, do even better. Do all that you want to do. Bring about your will and purpose, Lord. Anoint us, Lord, in that word, Lord. Breathe your Holy Spirit into this room. And Lord, in Jesus' name, into every heart. It can well be that, Lord, you're speaking in such a way as I am not. And Lord, yet nevertheless, it's your word. And I just pray for that word to the soul that really matters, that's really crucial to moving forward in our experience of the love of God in Jesus' name. Thank you Lord, amen.

God bless you as we look at the word. What I like to do as people that know me already know is I like to give a bit of an overview of a passage first because to isolate a verse or a passage from the rest of scripture from the bigger picture I always see as a something of if it doesn't lead to error at least it can lead to tragedy, which is a bit less information that you might have had. So let's look at the Ephesian church. If I've said some of these things before, no apologies, people need to hear them again.

You'll encounter the Ephesians in Acts chapter 18 and 19. You'll also encounter them in Revelation chapter 2, verses 1 to 7. And so with this letter as well, there's quite a lot of information about the Ephesians in the Bible. St Paul first came to Ephesus, Acts chapter 18, on his second missionary journey, but he didn't stay there. He was only there a couple of days. And he left behind him two friends and co-workers in the gospel called Priscilla and Aquila. And they were testifying and evangelizing in that town while Paul travelled on. He had no freedom to stay in Ephesus at that time.

And if you read further back in Acts chapter 16, you might recall in that great call of God to the work in Macedonia, the Lord actually forbid him to enter into that region of Asia Minor where Ephesus was. That was saved till later. And then another evangelist came along there with Priscilla and Aquila called Apollos. And then you get into Acts chapter 19 and it's as though God had laid some groundwork, he'd laid some seeds in place so that when Paul finally got there to really establish the church and to really see that it was built on a firm foundation and to conduct his teaching ministry, he first of all encountered some quite confused people. They'd only known the baptism of John. But that was the first thing he had to put right. You have to be baptised into Christ and baptised into the Spirit.

And then he moved on to some extraordinary miracles. And even in biblical times, those were extraordinary. People were taking handkerchiefs that had touched him and aprons and they were laying them on the sick and they got well, amazing miracles. And people were astonished at this. People were turning to Christ. And the next thing you see in Acts chapter 19 is people coming from what they were. Their previous experience had been with the occult. It was a city that was overrun by the worship of different gods and stuff like that. They were all over the place spiritually. And they came out of that to Christ. Very, very powerful move of the Holy Spirit to establish a church in that place.

And then after that, there was a riot. In the aftermath of all that great breakthrough and the establishment of a real church in Ephesus, there was a riot. In other words, there was a response from the other side. We know also from that great passage and further that Paul spent three years going from house to house and teaching and establishing small groups, house groups, establishing the church on a firm foundation. It was very firmly put down. And then he moved on because those riots became the cause of his further travels and eventually the reason why he ended up in Rome.

And so we come to this passage because later on, out of loving concern for these people, Paul wrote them a letter. What would you have done? We break into it now in this short passage, chapter 1, verses 15 to 23. And we encounter an apostle who is so impressed and so delighted this is what he said in verse 15. After I heard of your faith, after I heard of your faith, this is the apostle Paul talking. People are used to hearing about his faith, but he was writing to them after I heard about your faith and also your great love for all the saints.

What did it bring from Paul? What was the response in verse 16? It says, I haven't stopped thanking God for you. And you're the cause of me entering into a whole series and experience of prayer. And the next few verses describe that prayer. all right, as they unroll. And as he does that, he's teaching them to pray and he's teaching us to pray. All right, you can see where we're going.

But those first two points in verse 15, these are the two things that leave a lasting impression. They did on the apostle Paul, they did on anybody who saw what was going on in that place. Such a powerful work of God. And they still do. There's two things that leave a very powerful impression. And one is your faith, your faith. And the second is your love for all the saints. You know when you love each other, that's a mirror really of your own relationship with God. isn't it? You know the scripture, even if you can't find the reference right now, you know the scripture. It says, how can you say you love God whom you've not seen if you don't love your brothers and sisters whom you have seen? Can't be done. No. One is a mirror of the other or a reflection in a mirror if you prefer that. My relationship with God is reflected in my relationship with you and yours to me.

You can tell when somebody's out of fellowship, they start growling at you and losing patience and you think, okay, we just need to pray for you. We'll stand in a circle around them and sing some of those songs we've just been singing or something like that and bring them out, restore them to the love of God. Because you see, it's very powerful. It speaks very powerfully. It's got a whole testament in it and surrounding it. And Jesus himself said, didn't he, to the first team, he said, this is how they will know that you're my disciples when you love each other, that you love each other. It will speak the way they pray for each other, the way they just are with each other, the way they fellowship. And even the apostle Paul was impressed by their faith and their love to that extent, he just wanted to pray.

Have you ever moved to prayer like that? Something really wonderful. And you think, I just want to pray, I can't do anything else. And this is how he prayed. I haven't ceased to give thanks for you. Thank God, you know. Do you thank God for each other? Yeah, of course, yeah. Well, you know, we should be thankful of each other, each other's faith. You need fellowship, you know. Christians don't exist in a vacuum. They're part of the body of Christ. We'll come on to that in a few verses time. But he was giving thanks for other Christians around him. And he was giving thanks for what they were doing and the way they were praying for him. Thanksgiving. And then also making mention of you in prayer.

Now verse 17 really gets to the detail of how Paul was praying for these people. And it's so instructive for us. He says, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, what's he going to give you? And what am I praying that God will give to you? Wisdom, knowledge and a revelation. A revelation of the Holy Spirit to all the truth of the gospel and what the love of God in Christ Jesus really is. You know it in your head, don't you? You've heard it thousands of times. You've responded to the gospel. You said, yes, Lord, come in, be the Saviour, be my life. You've done all the right things. But you know, still, the Ephesians had, they'd done that. We've seen the breakthrough that was made in Ephesus. Colossal, very powerful. And yet still the apostle was praying for them. I want the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to give you a revelation. That's not just in the hearing of things. It's not just in the seeing. It's when God opens your heart and shines his light into you.

You know what that is, don't you? Of course you do. When the Lord first revealed himself to you, and what was your response? I want to be saved. I want to be yours. OK, well, God gave you a revelation of himself to enable you to do that. But he can give you a revelation of the full extent and the truth and the majesty and the power of what that salvation involves. It's more than you can imagine. It's more than you can ever ask. And Paul writes that further down. If you read in Ephesians a bit further, he says to God who is able to go that bit much more further than we can ever ask or imagine. And that's what he was talking about. The revelation of him. And after that, what do you want to do? What is your response? I just want to pray. I just want to worship. I just want to be comforted in the love of God. So empowering, so enriching. And that's what he was praying.

Are you praying for each other like that? Shout, yes, of course we are. Yeah, we're praying for each other. And you're praying for members of your own family who are not saved yet. You're praying for your friends, your neighbours, your colleagues, for a revelation. I want you, Lord, to reveal yourself in these ways very powerfully in all these people that you've given me, that's your mission field. Paul's mission field was a bit bigger, OK, but then he said. says, look, verse 18, I'm praying also that the eyes of your understanding are opened up. Are there things you don't know yet? Don't be ashamed to ask God. My Father is pleased to give you the kingdom, little flock. Don't be afraid. And of all those who ask him, how much the more will he give the Holy Spirit? That's the promise of God. God is faithful to his word. And what he says there, I'm praying for you that your eyes will be open to these things, precious things. I'm praying for you.

And then he went on to say, he's praying in different ways, to know the hope of his calling. Now the English word hope, I've said it many times, is the only real literal translation we can give to the original, but it's actually more akin to the word certainty. The certainty of your calling. I'm praying for you that God opens your heart and your spirit to this truth. The certainty of your calling. You've got no doubt. You've got no fear. There's no fear in love, is there? And so that you're enriched by the sheer certainty of his call on your life.

What is the call on your life? Anybody answer me? I'll let you do that by yourself. What is the call on your life? Only you can answer that. It's with your lips you confess. It's with your heart you believe. It's to that heart that God makes his revelation and continues to do it. And also what's the glory of his inheritance in the saints? It's not my inheritance in him. That's one way of looking at. It's his inheritance in you. We're coming closer now at the end of this reading to what it means to be the body of Christ in the church. Something he ordained. Christ loved the church and gave up his life for her.

Scripture, isn't it? That's in Ephesians actually if you read on. There's quite a lot in there, isn't there? And then he goes on to talk in verse 19 about the greatness of his power. You know, there's one thing that a lot of Christians doubt, even if they don't want to admit it, and they waver on. Can I believe this or that? Do I believe God? To that extent, I'll see his power at work. Does he work powerfully like that still? Better reaction, yeah. But the number of people and Christians, saved people, you get all those thoughts and questions swimming round in the head, but Paul was praying for them and he's praying for you. I want God to give you that revelation of his power.

What power? How do we define power? He does it for us. It's a work in us who believe, that's you and me. And it's like that great work you did when you raised Jesus from the dead. And you were dead in your sins. He was dead in righteousness and buried in the ground. But you were dead in your sins. But still the miracle happened, didn't it? You were given new life. You were born again. You were saved. Isn't that powerful? Well that's the same power that was at work in Christ when he was raised from the dead. Now can you see the magnitude of what God has done for you? What he did in Christ to raise him from the dead, he did when he delivered you from the dead in your sins and gave you new life.

Have you seen it yet? Has god given it to your heart where you think, All I want to do is pray and worship. Oh boy. All I want to carry away from here is a testimony of how good God is, you know? And this is how Paul was praying. Are you praying like that? Are you praying for each other like that? There's nothing to stop you. There's no regulation. But that's God's power at work. And he raised us up to sit with him in heavenly places, verse 21, far above, with him he's seated above all principality, all power, all might, all dominion, everything. Satan, everything.

Christians give Satan too much credit. He's a bluffer. Said last week his biggest weapon is deceit, deception. But God has the power and he is lifted up high above all dominion, Jesus. And this is the place which is prepared and where you in essence are seated with him. That's power, isn't it? Power with God. And it's power above every name that's named, not only in this age, but that is to come. So there's no limit on that. And then verse 22 and 23, finally we come to this. Just how much God loves the church, how much to what extent he's ordained the church, and that Jesus himself is the head of the church. Nobody on earth can take that role or take that title. Christ is the head of the church, and only Christ himself can confirm you into Christ.

Okay, and verse 22 says, and God has put all things, everything, that you can imagine or think of under his feet, under his feet and given to him to be the head of all things, to the church, to the church, the body, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Do you feel like the fullness of Jesus today? I know somebody's going to say, actually, no, I came here wondering what fullness I've got. And other people say, yeah, without really having understood what that really means. We are talking about Christ, the head of the church, the church's body. You're that body. You're that body. You're his people. Yours is the testimony in his name, the power, the glory and everything. And if God is going to testify in this world today, it's going to be through you, his voice through the body. And Paul was saying to the Ephesians, I'm praying for you that the outcome will be like this. And then he went into detail in the book of Ephesians and told them how to live it. You can read that for yourself.

And then at the end, Ephesians chapter 6, people often talk about it, don't they? The armour of God. But consider where they'd come from. They'd come out of the occult into these glorious things. The enemy was going to come after them. And so Paul wrote to them saying, remember what you were, rejoice in what you are, and keep your PPE equipment on. I don't say armour, and I'm not having a go at anybody by the way. Just a joke between me and Brian.

Well you know when I was at work, I worked for a big company, they were paranoid about accidents because anybody that can see they had a lot of accidents might not buy their products. And they were really concerned about sales, not safety. That's the reality. Cynical, I know. But we had lectures on gloves. What a boring subject. A lecture on different gloves. I couldn't believe it when the production manager said that. Is he serious? We are engineers, you know. There's all these different types of gloves on his desk. one had an orange back with a number 3 on and that indicates the cut level factor. It's got a Kevlar back so you could draw a knife across it and it wouldn't cut your hand. I never tried it. And then inside it had a non-slip surface because you see the vulnerability level was assessed to this end that those operators in our section needed gloves to protect them from cuts. Cuts was the most common vulnerability.

You go into a foundry where furnace men work and they wear gloves, big thick gloves. They're no good for cuts, straight through. But their problem isn't sharp edges, their problem is burns when they open the cradle door for the metallurgist to take a sample and check the steel. Oh, we need a bit more nickel in there, we need a bit more iron, you know. All spitting molten metal. They wear visors, they wear jackets, they wear gloves. They've got their PPE on because there's a vulnerability level.

If you've worked in an office or you still do, do you sometimes use keyboard shortcuts instead of a mouse? You know why don't you? Because you'll get RSI somewhere around about there in your wrist or your elbow. And after years, it can really cause problems. So you have to get up and walk about a bit. Change your view because you're just looking at a screen all the time, blue light. Make sure your chair's adjusted properly, otherwise you get back problems.

Years ago I worked at a company where they had a huge typing pool before, actually before the PCs came in a big way, they were still using golf ball typewriters. One or two typists, like that. I can't remember how many words a minute, something phenomenal. A whole pool of typists. And they had hearing problems after a long time. Every workplace has its own vulnerability level. And Christians, because we're all so unique, all have our own vulnerability level.

Now, despite God has ordained great things for you, keep your PPE equipment on. We call it armour in the Bible, don't we? Otherwise you'll get hurt. I was a safety officer there at that company, gas safety, fire safety and our first aid and some of the cuts I got, you know, and I'd say to people, didn't you have your gloves on? Oh yeah. What were they the right type of gloves? No, I thought I'd be all right, so I just used those, you know. It won't happen to me. I thought I'd be okay.

When you're praying for great things, you're praying for a breakthrough into the kingdom of God. To subject the town, to subject the things around you to his will and his purpose, that is noticeable and you're entering into something serious spiritually. If you want to be there, don't play with God in the first place, mean it and pray these things for each other. But remember, keep your armour on.

Now listen, later, if you read Revelation chapter 2, 1-7, you'll see that years later, it wasn't Paul that wrote to the Ephesians, it was the apostle John. And he said, you've got a problem. You've lost your first love. What did we read in verse 15? Two things that impressed the apostle Paul, your faith and your love. And yet later somebody else wrote saying, you've got a problem, you've lost your first love. You didn't keep your armour on.

Let's pray, let's pray for each other. But what you take away, beloved, is this, the need to pray for each other, the privilege to pray for each other, and specifically what you're going to pray for each other. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are the body of Christ. All right, let's pray.

Lord, I'm just going to pray a blanket prayer for folks, Lord, in Jesus' name, I pray like Paul. I want you to give people a revelation. I want you to give them more of the love of God in Christ Jesus. I want you to expose all these people to your power and glory and to kingdom things. I want you to make it so Lord that they find themselves in circumstances where people are asking about their faith, asking them questions, challenging them to testify because they've been impressed. I pray like Paul Lord that the eyes of the heart of every single person in this room is open to these precious things. And Lord, I pray that Lord, as we are opened, we find ourselves being clothed with Jesus. Put Jesus on. He is your armour. Oh, thank you, Lord. I just pray for the fulfilment of your word. And thank you for the privilege that these people, me included, this place, is a temple of your Holy Spirit. And fearfully we worship you, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Amen.