a. Paul begins by drawing our attention to his present situation, he is a prisoner. And yet, when it comes to the love of God, we are all charity cases. 1:4-6 tells us that He set His heart upon adopting you into His family before the world began: "[God the Father] chose us in Him (Christ), before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. When Barbie had lunch, Pandy ate beside her at the table. Exodus 20:1-21, Ephesians 3:14-21 I saw a cartoon somewhere picturing two Army trainees standing in front of a military chapel. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. One thing that Jesus constantly declared was that God was His Father. We celebrate Epiphany on January 6 as that time when God came into the world as a man named Jesus. C. S. Lewis picked up on this thought: "We are all receiving Charity," he wrote. Return to the Main Player. 116. 56-61 c. Hendricksen's conclusion: this letter was written to the churches of Ephesus and surroundings 3. "Once we took a vacation from our home in Rockford, Illinois, to Canada. It is important that we note two things with regards to Paul’s circumstances. 1) Power through the Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-16) 2) Power through the Son (Ephesians 3:17a), and 3) Power through the Father’s Love (Ephesians 3:17b–21). I. It is the blazing light of the glory of God’s grace which inspires Paul to continue, it is ‘For this reason…’. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Bible Verse; Newest; Oldest; Most Viewed; Most Shared; Sermon. [4], Luke gives us some details of Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome (the most likely location for the writing of the letter to the Ephesians) and although he is under house arrest with some freedom, he is still chained (Acts 28:20).[5]. In some respects, it does not matter where Paul is imprisoned. Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12:3-8 . If you are into quick fix Christianity, with instant discipleship, you'll give up too early. Ephesians 3, Sermon Bible Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this 12 volume, chapter by chapter commentary of 4,800 sermon outlines and 24,000 homiletic references The Purpose of Suffering – for you Gentiles, For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you. Paul understands that he is imprisoned because of the gospel of Christ Jesus. ), but concur with the ESV translators that the phrase here denotes cause. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Here is this professor of theology, the Apostle Paul, who studied deeply the implications of the cross, where Jesus became his substitute. We ran back up to our room - no Pandy. Ephesians 1-3 reveal to Christians the riches we have in Jesus Christ. If you are a believer this morning it is because he poured out grace and mercy. The second thing to note, however, is that Paul’s suffering here is incredibly purposeful, Paul explains to us why it ultimately does not matter whether he is imprisoned in Philippi, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Caesarea or Rome (and he was imprisoned in all of these places); ultimately Paul is imprisoned for Christ Jesus (Paul will later describe himself as ‘a prisoner for the Lord’ (Ephesians 4:1)).[6]. Paul wants us to remember who we were before Christ radically intervened. We don't provoke, trick, convince, earn, or win agape from God. I want to shine a light on the amazing love of God for us. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Just so, we who are His by faith in the Son of God are rooted in love, absorbing our life from the love of God. Scriptures: Ephesians 3. It is important that we are not seduced and blinded to reality by the poetic descriptions Paul assigns to his present circumstances, i. A Sermon on Ephesians 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (ESV) Read more How does God change our thinking? This is surprising because Paul has used the preceding chapters and verses to ensure that God is seen to be as he is: at the centre of everything, everywhere and at every time. There is no end to the truth, but there should be an end to the sermon, or else it will answer no end but that of wearying the hearer. Ephesians 3:1-13: Pulpit Commentary Homiletics "the Prisoner Of Jesus Christ." T. Croskery . SermonAudio.com - Ephesians 3 Sermons. C. In Romans 11:33 he speaks of the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21. A woman once approached the famous preacher, G. Campbell Morgan, after he spoke and asked, Do you think we should pray for even the little things in our lives, or just for the big things? The Apostle Paul explained God’s love in this fashion: Ephesians 3:18NLT "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is." It is important that we see that the call to Christ is the call to walk the way of the cross. There is trace of self-pity or regret. If you are an unbeliever and persist this morning in your unbelief, all you have heard and all Paul has written is of no benefit to you because it will not produce glory. John Piper Sep 29, 1985 10 Shares Sermon. You are fixed to unbreakable love. The Paperback Bible presents the Bible by the Book and is designed to be portable, readable, and truly personal with ample margins for notations. He wants us to remember that we were alienated from men and God. Your inner being is always at flood tide with rush of God's love for you. Paul’s acceptance of his circumstances, suffering, imprisonment and even death, flows out of a greater reality. In Romans 2:4 Paul speaks of the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering. As we have already considered, the ‘For this reason…’ points the reader back to all that has gone before. Christ and his church are deeply and intimately one. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has … Moreover, the disciple of Jesus should expect to face the same rejection, scorn and threat of persecution that Jesus himself faced, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Grace, humility and the gospel go hand-in-hand and cannot be separated. When a man who is characteristically exacting in his language suddenly gets vague, we know we are dealing with something too deep for words. These are the notes of a sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 23 January 2011 at Firwood Church. There are two conditions to moving from head to heart. Ephesians 3:3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. This is far different from biblical Christianity, which assumes that God plays no favorites in delivering revelation but has given to all of His people all that they need for life and godliness in the Scriptures. The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Oct 23, 1988. Paul wants us to see this and to marvel at the glorious grace of God at work towards us and at work within us. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. We had returned almost all the way home when we realized at the Illinois border that Pandy had not come back with us. 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