For the last time we get to watch that little video introduction, how many of y'all have enjoyed our study of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus?
Yeah, I have enjoyed it too. Well, in honor of that, I'm going to re-preach all the sermons this morning that I've preached over the last few months.
Look, we should be out of here in about three hours, alright? So, it's alright.
Alright, the funny thing is, I am actually going to go back.
If you have come in in the middle of this series, or at the tail end, or you missed some along the way, that's okay.
I'm going to give you a little summary of each chapter as we prepare to wrap up this series in Ephesians.
So, if you'll take your Bibles and go to Ephesians 6, and if you'd like to turn all the way back to chapter 1 and go with me as we go chapter by chapter,
up to chapter 6, you can. But I'm going to be starting off talking about this book.
It's divided into two sections. Let's say it together. Ready?
Who we are, how we live. That's kind of the themes of the book of Ephesians,
written by the Apostle Paul, who wrote many, many books in the New Testament.
It was written around AD 62 from his setting in Roman imprisonment.
He was likely under house arrest at this time.
This was a church he was very familiar with.
He had been their pastor for approximately three years, and you can read all about that in Acts chapter 19.
So, much of the study from this series was done from these two books,
as well as a few others kind of trickled in,
but the Christ-Centered Exposition series and the Bible Exposition Commentary.
Part 1, again, talks about who we are in Christ, who we are in Christ.
So, by way of review, let's dive into it.
Chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1, we talked about understanding my identity in Christ causes real-life worship.
Y'all remember that?
Understanding my identity in Christ causes real-life worship.
Verse 7 of Ephesians 1, in Him, in Jesus, we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.
And in verse 6, it says, to the praise of His glorious grace.
So, when we understand all that God did for us,
all that He made us to be in spite of how bad we are,
God, you know, you know how bad you are, you know how bad I am.
You may not know how bad I am, but let me tell you, it's pretty bad, okay?
In spite of us, God loved us so much that He gave us real-life value.
He gave us real-life worth.
So much worth that it cost the blood of His own Son.
So, that understanding, that identity in Christ Jesus causes us to worship Him in real life.
Not just sing the songs, not just show up at church, but real-life worship, obedience, prayer,
taking time, setting time aside to dive into His Word where He reveals Himself to us.
Again, in chapter 1, it says, we studied several weeks ago,
my confidence grows as my intimate knowledge of God grows.
My confidence grows as my intimate knowledge of God grows.
Back in verse 18,
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
so that you may know what is the hope of His calling,
what is the wealth of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is His immeasurable greatness of power toward us who believed.
Our confidence in God can grow when we understand
and begin to gain a more intimate knowledge of how great God is,
how much better God is than we are,
how much mightier,
how much more faithful and reliable than our confidence in Him grows.
And then, since He has given us such worth and called us His children,
our confidence in ourselves can grow,
not in our flesh,
but in His Spirit,
which lives in us.
So, chapter 2.
Chapter 2.
A gospel-centered life gives me purpose.
What do we mean by that?
Whoa.
Sorry.
I jumped ahead a little bit.
Here we go.
I give up earthly privileges.
I give up earthly preferences.
I give up earthly priorities.
And I give up earthly passions.
Then, I daily trade my earthly identity for my heavenly identity.
So, this is kind of the theme of chapter 2.
All right?
Let's back up.
A gospel-centered life gives me purpose.
First of all,
you and I are always trying to find the purpose for our broad life,
the purpose for our year,
the purpose for our month,
the purpose for our day.
What will our purpose be today?
What will the purpose be of this conversation?
What will the purpose be of this task?
Our purpose should come from our gospel-centered life.
What do we mean by gospel-centered life?
It means that we are centering our life
in the decisions we make,
in the actions we make,
in the way we think.
We've been talking in Romans 12
about changing the way we think.
We've been talking about changing us
from self-centered to gospel-centered.
I recognize that my new identity in Christ
reframes my life to not be about me anymore.
Now it's about Jesus and what he did for me
and what he is making me to become.
So now the decisions I make are in that new mind,
toward that new man that God is creating in me.
So a gospel-centered life then gives me purpose.
Now I know what I should say to that person
who's mistreating me.
Now I know how I should respond to that person
when I want to respond one way,
but I know that my purpose
in this gospel-centered life
would be to respond how Jesus would.
So that means we have to give up earthly privileges
that we would otherwise hold tightly to.
We give up earthly preferences
that seem like the biggest thing in the world to us.
We give up earthly priorities.
You ever had somebody rearrange your priorities?
You ever had life rearrange your priorities?
You ever had life?
Moving along, trying to make as much money as you can,
trying to be as successful as you can,
and then all of a sudden a heart attack hits.
All of a sudden something stops you in your tracks
that rearranges your priorities.
The gospel can do that for you in the best of ways.
And then we give up our earthly passions.
What passions of the flesh are drawing you away
from the beautiful, beautiful future
that God has lined out for you?
So, we daily trade our earthly identity
for our heavenly identity.
And then, chapter 3,
we talked about a Christ-centered Christian.
How a Christ-centered Christian
is a willing prisoner of Christ.
A Christ-centered Christian understands
the mystery of Christ.
So willingly, we're surrendering to Christ
and saying,
God, I don't fully understand you
and everything about your mystery,
but I understand that it's a mystery.
Why did you love me so much?
Why did you send your son to die for me?
How did you know that I would be a sinner
and yet you chose me?
And yet you gave me the ability to respond to you
and the responsibility to say yes to your call.
We don't understand everything about the mystery of God,
but we understand that it's a beautiful mystery
and it has saved our souls.
What a wonderful thing.
And a Christ-centered Christian
is a servant of the gospel of Christ.
That's that rearranging of priorities.
We're no longer a servant to sin.
Now we are a servant to a much better master.
The gospel of Jesus.
The good news of Jesus that says,
hey, I'm a sinner.
You're a sinner.
We're all sinners.
But God, in his great love with which he loved us,
sent his only son, Jesus.
And that is the message that I will take
to anyone everywhere.
I will be a servant to that good news.
And because we're a servant of the gospel,
we proclaim the riches of Christ.
The wonderful riches.
Does your life reflect the riches of Christ?
Would your spouse say your life reflects the riches of Christ?
Would your kids say your life reflect the riches of Christ?
If not, we need to spend a little more time
thinking, praying, focusing on that gospel
and letting it change us from the inside out.
Letting it change the way we think.
And then people will believe us
when we proclaim the riches of Christ.
Say, hey, trust me.
God is so rich in mercy.
He's so rich in grace.
He's so rich in love.
And he wants to be that for you too.
And then a Christ-centered Christian
boldly accesses the Father.
In chapter 3,
a Christ-centered Christian
boldly accesses the Father.
We don't have to be ashamed to come to God
because despite all of our faults,
despite all of our shortcomings,
he welcomes us with open arms.
He never holds it over our head.
He welcomes us as a good father would to his child.
So,
for some reason,
this is not advancing anymore.
Can you take me to the next slide?
There we go.
Thank you.
I don't know why that's not working.
It was working.
So, continuing in chapter 3,
Jesus Christ himself,
y'all remember this part,
is the why behind the what
of me being a Christian.
Jesus is the why behind the what.
How many of you grew up in churches
that always talk to you,
whether it's this church or another one,
that so often talk to you
about what you should do
or what you should not do as a Christian.
I grew up like that.
Oftentimes,
and listen,
the Bible is full of those kinds of admonitions
of what we should do
and what we should not do as Christians.
However,
sometimes in churches,
probably more than sometimes,
we have missed the why behind the what.
We talked about this several weeks ago.
Jesus is the why behind the what.
Sometimes,
then,
in our efforts
to get people to conform
to how we think
a Christian ought to be,
we lack
telling them about the motivation.
We lack telling them
about the real reason
why
you shouldn't go out
and get drunk.
Why you shouldn't go out
and do the things
that your flesh tells you to do.
Why you should go
be faithful to be here
on Sundays in church
and not forsake the gathering
of the church body together.
All these things
that the Bible commands
a Christian to do,
the Bible is very clear
about the why.
But sometimes,
we've missed that.
So we've got to remind ourselves
that Jesus is the why
behind the what.
It says in verse 18 of chapter 3,
Through Him,
through Jesus Christ,
we both have access
in one spirit
to one Father.
So,
we talked about
powerful prayer.
Which is awesome
because in just a few minutes,
we're going to wrap up this book
at the end of chapter 6
and talk about
powerful prayer.
But there's a little preview
here in chapter 3.
It says,
Pray with humility.
Pray for God's full power
and full love.
Pray with great expectations.
Can you imagine
a prayer life
that looks like that?
Where we humbly
come before God?
Not thinking,
Man,
I'm a pretty good Christian.
God needs to listen to me
and He better do
what I want.
None of us would ever
say that, right?
But sometimes,
that's the attitude
we bring in prayer.
And then,
if God doesn't respond
exactly how we want Him to,
we get a little
bent out of shape sometimes.
But praying with humility
and praying for God's
full power
and full love.
Can you imagine
a prayer life like that?
Praying for God's
full power
and full love
in your life
or in the life
of someone you're praying for?
What a difference
that would make.
And praying
with great expectations.
It's an old missionary,
C.T. Stud,
who said,
expect great things
from God
and attempt great things
for God.
Pray with great expectations.
There is nothing
that God can't do.
There's no mountain
He won't move.
So we should pray
expecting nothing less
than God's greatness
to be at work.
And then,
well,
it's kind of working sometimes
and then not.
So if you'll take me
to the next one,
sorry,
thank you,
ask God to help you
take the next step
in your life.
What do we mean by that?
Ask God to help you
take the next step
in your life.
The second to last verse
of Ephesians 3,
now to Him
who is able to do
above and beyond
all that we ask
or think
according to the power
that works in us,
to Him be glory.
God can do everything
that we want Him to do
and so much more.
So sometimes
He doesn't answer us
exactly
as we want Him
to answer us
because He wants
to give us
that so much more part.
And in our mind,
that doesn't work,
right?
Because we're this
small-minded,
right here,
right now
kind of people.
We don't see it
from His perspective.
So God might be
wanting us
to take the next step
toward this beautiful ending
that He has for us.
And that might look
a little different
than what we have planned.
So we have to ask God,
God,
what is the next step
that I need to take
in my prayer life?
And then chapter,
well,
before we jump
into chapter 4,
we're launching
into part 2.
So that was our identity
in Christ,
who we are in Christ.
Part 2,
how we live
for Christ.
How we live
for Christ.
We said in chapter 4,
God's design
is diversity.
Satan's distraction
is division.
God's design
is the diversity
of the believers.
Look around this church.
Seriously,
look around for a minute.
Check around,
you know,
I'm giving you permission.
Look at everybody's outfits.
Judge not,
lest ye be judged.
Look around
at this diverse crowd
we got in here.
We got all kinds of people
from all kinds
of different walks of life,
right?
All kinds of different
experiences and backgrounds
in here.
That's God's design.
God's design
is diversity.
Diversity among races.
Diversity among genders.
Diversity among
financial standing.
Diversity among
family life.
Diversity among
experiences and backgrounds.
Diversity among future.
But God brings us
all together
under His banner.
His banner of love.
His banner of being
washed in His blood.
Washed clean
from all those sins
that separate us
from Him.
But Satan wants
to take that same concept
and distort it.
His distraction for us
is division.
God's design
was this beautiful
diverse body
gathering together
under His name.
Satan's distraction
is highlighting
those differences
to drive us apart.
And that happens
so often in churches.
Y'all,
I think it's incredible
that this church
has been around
since 1876.
Right?
Most churches
never last that long.
So,
chapter 4.
We walk worthy
before God
when we apply
the gospel
directly.
We're challenged
in chapter 4.
Live worthy
of the calling
you have received.
So,
when we apply
this gospel
of diversity,
when we apply
this gospel
of unity,
when we apply
this gospel
of not putting
ourselves above
everybody else,
then we walk
worthy of that
gospel that we've
received,
that we've received
because we're applying
it directly.
Can I tell you
the gospel of Jesus,
the good news
is Jesus,
of Jesus,
is not just good enough
to save you
from your sins,
it's good enough
to get you
through this life.
it's good enough
to help you
walk worthy
before God.
But you've got
to apply it.
Not just applying
it by putting
your faith in Jesus
and saying,
I trust Jesus
enough to save
me from my sin.
I trust Him
enough that He
died on the cross,
that He was buried,
that He didn't
stay dead,
He came up
out of the grave
and He's alive today.
He hears me
when I pray,
He hears me
when I sing to Him.
I believe,
I put my faith
in Him
for salvation.
That's good,
that's the starting place.
But you've got
to keep applying
the gospel
in all the days
that come after that
until He brings us home.
So many Christians
have been saved
for so many years.
Man,
that day
when you put your faith
in Jesus
was 20,
30,
40,
50,
60,
70 years ago.
But you haven't
applied that gospel
very many days
after that.
There's no other way
to walk worthy
before God
than when we apply
the gospel directly.
So what does that look like?
It looks like
a new creation
from conversion
to transformation.
We're not just staying
at the converted part.
Talking about
getting saved,
we call it.
Putting your faith
in Jesus
and saying,
I believe.
That makes you
a child of God.
That makes you
a Christian.
That's being converted
from death to life.
But then
the transformation
part happens.
Then the Holy Spirit
starts to transform you
and change you
from the inside out.
Once again,
we're hitting on churches again.
Sometimes churches
have tried to change people
from the outside in.
It doesn't work
very well,
does it?
You can get people
to conform
to the outside changes
you want them to make.
I've seen it happen.
I've seen it happen
in my own life.
But inwardly,
they're not changed.
Inwardly,
they're just as rotten
as you want their outside
to stop being.
God wants to transform you
from the outside,
from the inside out.
Romans 12,
once again,
he wants to change
the way you think.
So,
Romans 4,
I'm sorry,
Ephesians 4,
daily renew
my values
to reflect
my new nature
in Christ.
Y'all,
this is a daily
transformation.
It's not a one-time
pill
that you take
that makes you
look like Jesus
every day.
Doesn't work.
It is a daily renewal
saying,
going to God
in prayer
better than any pill
could be.
He's always there.
He's always effective.
And the side effects
are grace,
peace,
faith,
love,
hope,
joy,
long-suffering,
goodness,
patience,
meekness.
So,
we daily renew
our values
to reflect
our new nature
in Christ.
Your family knows
when you do this.
Your family knows
when you don't.
You know when you do this.
You know when you don't.
So,
that's our challenge.
Here's a question.
How often
do my words
and actions
cause grief
to the God
who loves me
so deeply?
How often
do my words
and actions
cause grief
to the God
who loves me
so deeply?
In the latter part
of Ephesians 4,
putting away lying,
speak truth,
each one,
to his neighbor.
Be angry
and do not sin.
Be kind
and compassionate
to one another,
forgiving one another
just as God
also forgave you
in Christ.
God laid so much
on the line.
He sacrificed everything.
He gave up
His one
and only Son,
His highest prize,
His highest treasure.
So,
why would we then
turn around
and hold back
so much from Him?
Why would we not
turn around
and forgive our neighbor?
Why would we not
show the same kind of love
that God showed to us?
My true nature
is revealed
in my words,
my actions,
and my attitudes
toward others.
That's what Ephesians 4
challenges us on
so much.
Be kind to each other.
Be gentle
with each other.
Share with each other.
Don't be stingy.
Don't be prideful.
Don't be arrogant.
Don't be hateful
and unkind.
Our true nature,
that daily renewal
of our attitudes,
our perspectives,
is revealed
in our words,
our actions,
and our attitudes
toward others.
So,
how often
does my path
stray from following
Jesus' footsteps?
The answer is
pretty often,
isn't it?
It's true.
The answer is
pretty often.
Chapter 5
challenges us
to imitate Jesus
when we walk in love,
light,
and wisdom.
Love,
light,
and wisdom.
Everything exposed
by the light
is made visible.
What makes everything
visible is light.
Get up,
sleeper.
Rise from the dead
and Christ
will shine on you.
Let the light
of Jesus
shine into
the dark corners
of your life.
Whether it's sin,
whether it's trauma
from the past,
whether it's
a broken relationship,
whatever the dark
corners of your mind
and your heart
and your life are,
God can shine there
and He can transform it.
He can bring hope
where there is no hope.
And He can help you
develop that new nature
that walks worthy
of Him
and His gospel.
So,
then we get into,
I want to make sure
we got,
there we go.
Then we get into
the last part
of chapter 5
and it talks about
mutual submission.
We pivot then
if we're talking about
being kind to each other,
treating each other well,
then we start
getting specific.
Paul starts highlighting
different relationships,
husband and wife,
bosses and employees,
parents and children.
And he introduces
this concept
of mutual submission.
We submit
to God's Spirit
in us
when we voluntarily
submit to each other.
This is not
lording it over each other.
This is not saying,
I'm in charge,
you better listen to me.
That's not at all
the Spirit
that Jesus taught
His disciples
and that's not at all
the Spirit
that Paul is teaching us.
He says,
submit one another
to one another,
submit yourselves
to each other.
So,
how does God
want to change
my thinking
to see my relationships
as He would see them?
You might have had
a different view
of your relationships,
but how are you
going to let God
influence how you view
your relationships?
Husbands,
are you going to let God
change the way
you think
about your home
and about your wife?
Wives,
are you going to let God
influence the way
you think about your husband?
Husbands,
we're supposed to love
our wives sacrificially,
lay down our life
for them
as Jesus did
for His church.
Husbands,
I mean,
wives,
you're supposed to
lovingly honor,
respect,
and follow your husband
as he follows Christ.
And as he follows Christ,
laying his life down
for you,
that is a picture
of mutual submission
to each other,
not one dominating
over the other.
Chapter 5 also says,
we submit to God's Spirit
in us when we voluntarily
submit to each other.
That's what it teaches
at the end of chapter 5.
Then,
we get into serving the Lord
by serving others.
In chapter 6,
it gets into parents
and children,
bosses and employees,
and this concept
continues on.
Less hierarchy,
more humility.
Less who's in charge,
and more,
how can I serve?
You understand
there's a mind shift?
Once again,
we're just going to
keep hitting on it.
Romans 12,
changing the way
you think.
That's why I referenced
this passage
time and time again
through our study
of Ephesians.
So the first part
of chapter 6,
we serve God
when we willingly
serve each other.
Parents serving children.
Sometimes that looks like
training them up
in the way they should go.
Teaching them.
To follow Jesus
in all of His teachings.
That's often how parents
can serve their kids.
But also,
not being cruel,
not being unkind,
not being impatient
is a way parents
can serve their kids.
Kids,
you can serve your parents
by honoring them,
by obeying them,
so your days would be long
on this land.
And then we got into
the last part
of chapter 6.
Last Sunday,
and we said,
know your enemy,
Satan himself,
see some passages,
some verses about that.
Our struggle is not
against flesh and blood.
It's against rulers,
authorities,
the cosmic powers
of this darkness,
against evil,
spiritual forces
in the heaven.
It's against all
the darkness of sin.
It's against all
the darkness
of lostness.
Wade in here.
Do you remember
when I said last Sunday,
our enemy is not
each other,
our enemy is
lostness,
being lost,
all the darkness,
spiritual darkness
out there of being lost
and not being saved.
I went to Wade's Bible study
the next night.
By the way,
men,
if you haven't had a chance
to attend Wade's Bible study
on Monday nights,
that's an awesome opportunity.
Jump in with that
if you can,
if your schedule allows.
And I went last week
and it's a great,
great time,
a fellowship,
Bible study,
prayer.
So I got there
and Wade had drawn
the Loch Ness Monster.
You know what they call
the Loch Ness Monster?
Nessie.
They call her Nessie sometimes.
Well, this was Lossie, right?
Lossie,
the lostness monster
instead of Loch Ness.
I'm just saying that
so it'll stick in your head,
all right?
So who's our enemy?
Lossie,
the lostness monster,
okay?
We're fighting against
lostness out there.
We're not fighting each other.
We're not fighting politics.
We're not fighting Hollywood.
We're fighting against sin.
And then you know
your equipment.
You know your enemy
and you know your equipment.
And we talked about
the armor of God.
Our enemy is the spiritual
darkness of lostness,
but our equipment
is the spiritual armor of God.
You see,
spiritual fights spiritual.
We can talk about gun control
and what kind of guns
we should be allowed to own
and all this,
but y'all,
that's not what we're fighting
this spiritual battle with.
We're fighting this spiritual battle
with the armor of God.
And we went through it last Sunday.
Every piece of protective armor,
the weapon,
which is the word of God,
that two-edged sword.
So we prepare for war
by putting on
the Lord Jesus himself.
All the armor,
all the weapons
that you can assemble
is nothing without Christ himself.
He's the one
that gives the power.
So,
in the last five minutes today,
we're going to close out
Ephesians 6.
Would you look with me
at verse 10?
If you're able to join us
in standing,
would you stand?
If you need to remain seated,
that's fine.
Ephesians 6,
and verse 10.
Finally,
be strengthened by the Lord
and by his vast strength.
Skip down to verse 18.
Pray at all times
in the Spirit
with every prayer and request.
Stay alert
with all perseverance
and intercession
for all the saints.
Pray also for me
that the message
may be given to me
when I open my mouth
to make known with boldness
the mystery of the gospel.
For this,
I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I might be bold enough
to speak about it
as I should.
And then he gives
his farewell address.
Tychicus,
our dearly loved brother
and faithful servant
in the Lord,
will tell you all the news
about me
so you can be informed.
I'm sending him to you
for this reason,
to let you know
how we are
and to encourage your hearts.
Peace to the brothers
and sisters
and love with faith
from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be with all
who have undying love
for our Lord Jesus Christ.
You may be seated.
Prayer is the power.
How do we remember
who we are in Christ?
How do we wake up
every morning and say,
man, I'm not going to be upset.
I'm a child of God.
Prayer is the power.
Going to God first,
the start of each day.
Closing each day
by going back to God
before we go to sleep.
Doing as Jesus did
and praying before our meals.
Stopping along the way
to give thanks to God.
Stopping to bring problems
to Him.
Stopping to bring requests
to Him as needs arise.
Prayer is the power.
All the time,
everywhere,
for everything,
and everyone.
How are we supposed to pray?
Let's say it together.
Would you join me?
All the time,
everywhere,
for everything,
and everyone.
Let's do it again.
All the time,
everywhere,
for everything,
and everyone.
That's how we're supposed
to pray.
That's how we're supposed
to pray.
So can you and I
improve our prayer life?
Yeah?
Can you improve
your prayer life?
I know I can improve mine.
Y'all looking at me like,
no, I got this under control,
but I think you can.
Verse 18 tells us that.
Pray at all times
in the Spirit
with every prayer
and every request.
Okay?
That's our commission
from God.
1 Thessalonians 5, 17
gives a similar charge.
Pray constantly.
Give thanks in everything,
for this is God's will
for you in Christ Jesus.
Give thanks to God
in the good times.
Give thanks to God
in the bad times.
In every season,
for everything,
give thanks to God,
even when it breaks
your heart,
even when it's hard,
even when it's difficult.
Thank God you have someone
to run to in prayer.
Philippians 4, 6.
Don't worry about anything,
but in everything,
through prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests
to God.
D.L. Moody said it this way,
He who kneels the most
stands the best.
Thought that was one
of the best quotes
I've read on prayer.
He who kneels the most
in prayer
stands the best
in this life.
Number two,
pray for gospel advance.
This is what Paul
asked them to pray for.
At the end of this letter,
after everything
he'd given them,
all this incredible content
that came from
the Holy Spirit of God,
and it was preserved
for you and I
to read today,
Paul closes it out
by saying,
pray that I will share
the gospel.
Pray for the gospel
to flourish.
Y'all,
how many times
have we been guilty
of not praying
for the gospel?
Not praying
for the lost
to be saved.
Our enemy
is lostness.
We'll pray against
a lot of other things.
We'll pray for
a lot of other things,
but so often
we don't pray
for the gospel
to advance.
And we read about this
in verses 19 and 20.
Romans 10, 1,
Paul was all about this.
He said,
my heart's desire
and my prayer
for God,
to God,
is that they
would be saved.
He's talking about
the Israelites
who were lost,
his people,
his countrymen.
He wanted them
to be saved.
How many friends,
co-workers,
families,
neighbors,
how many people
do you know
in your life
that need to be saved?
And are we praying
for them?
Are we praying?
Is that our heart's
desire to God?
Matthew 9, 38,
Jesus said,
pray earnestly
to the Lord
of the harvest
to send out laborers
into his harvest.
We pray for the lost
to be saved
and we pray
for the saved
to be sent
out
as witnesses,
as missionaries
with his gospel,
people.
It's a hard quote,
y'all.
Paul Washer,
a pastor
who often tells it
like it is,
okay,
he said,
we spend more time
praying to keep
saints out of heaven
than we ever spend
praying to get
sinners into heaven.
I'm not saying
you shouldn't pray
for Aunt So-and-So's
heart attack
or whatever,
you fill in the blank
with the health concern,
but y'all,
is it true
that we probably
spend more time
praying to keep
saints on this earth
and out of heaven?
than we ever pray
to get sinners
into heaven.
God,
save my sister.
God,
save my brother.
Save my son.
Save my mom.
Save my boss.
Save my neighbor.
Save that person
that drives me nuts.
So finally,
verse 23 and 24.
we can be encouraged.
I don't want to leave you
just feeling guilty.
It's not how Paul left us
in Ephesians here.
Be encouraged by God's peace,
his love,
his faith,
and his grace.
Those four words
are found in the final two
verses of Ephesians.
God's peace,
love,
faith,
and grace.
God's peace.
So as we pray,
as we pray for all things,
for everyone,
at all times,
for the gospel to advance,
we know that God's got us.
We know that our faith in him,
that he bore in our hearts,
and we responded to
when he called our name.
And the love
that he continually
shows to us
and calls us
to show to each other.
And the grace
that he initially
showed us
in not sending us
to hell
to pay for our sins.
And the grace
that he continues
to show us every day
in withholding
so many things
from us
that our mistakes
and our failures
would otherwise
lead us into.
And the peace
that surpasses
all our understanding.
The peace
that is beyond explanation.
The peace
in the middle
of the storm.
These four things
will go with us.
As we go into
another sermon series,
as we leave today
and we go have lunch,
as we get up
and go to work tomorrow,
as we get up
and interact
with each other,
these four things
can carry us on.
God's peace,
his love,
his faith
that he gave to us
and his grace.
So the takeaway
for today,
God's great purpose
for me
starts with prayer.
Ephesians is all about
God's great purpose.
Who are we in Christ?
What are we supposed
to do for Christ?
Christ.
This is God's great purpose
for me.
For you
and for me,
it starts
with prayer.
So church,
I want to call us
into a season of prayer.
For the next several months,
you'll hear things
on the calendar
to try to enable that
and try to
provide opportunities
for us to pray
individually
and corporately
together as a church.
church.
But I would love
to call us
into an intentional
season of prayer
at First Baptist
Henrietta.
So would you,
with heads bowed
and eyes closed
in this moment,
would you start
that right now?
All of us together,
would we purpose
in our hearts
and say,
God,
maybe my prayer life
is better than it's been
in a long time?
Or maybe it's suffering.
Maybe I'm not praying
anywhere near
as much as I should.
Regardless of where
you find yourself
right now,
none of us are praying
as we ought to.
So would you take
a moment
in this quiet time
and ask God
to remind you
frequently
throughout the day
to turn to him
in prayer?
And then would you
take an extra step
and say,
God,
help me to schedule
a time
to pray.
Y'all,
I don't know about you,
but if I don't schedule
something,
it's probably not
going to get done.
You can talk to Joy
or Sarah
or any member
of the staff
and they'll tell you
if I don't put it
on my calendar,
I'm going to forget it.
Part of it.
Maybe you're like that too.
Whatever it takes
for you,
if it's putting it
on a calendar
on your phone
or on a paper calendar
or writing a sticky note
on your mirror,
whatever it takes
for you,
would you find a time
that you can schedule
to prayer?
Family prayer
is important.
Praying with best friends
is important.
But private,
individual,
one-on-one time
with God
is irreplaceable.
you can't replace
that.
That's where God
speaks to us
in ways that
we'll never
otherwise hear.
That's where God
opens His arms
and holds us close
and gives us
that peace
when we stop
and slow down
and pray.
That's where God
reveals His great
purpose to us.
So if you're struggling
a little bit,
whatever that is,
would you lay it
on Jesus
in prayer?
God,
right now,
would you work
in your church?
Would you work
in our hearts?
What a difference
could be made
in Henrietta,
Texas,
and beyond
if our church
was a church
committed to prayer?
Show us what steps
we need to take,
God,
in our own lives
and together
as a church.
We'll give you the glory
of God.
Amen.