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Ephesians 3:12-13
September 25, 2022
Losing Heart When Loved Ones Suffer
Part 1
In the lives of His Children, God uses evil for good purposes. We must also understand that the enemy wants to use good for evil purposes.
And for this, what I want to do is I want to connect together, verse one, down to verse 13. Okay, so you remember from last time, we looked at verse one, and we made note of the fact that what Paul does is he breaks his train of thought, he begins here in verse one to say, “For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus,” and then he sort of breaks off his thought.
And the subject there is I, Paul, remember how he talked about the verb that goes with that subject doesn't come all the way until verse 14, and verse 14, he comes back once again with the same “for this reason,” And then comes the verb, I bow my knee, right? So the verb is I, Paul, and (I'm sorry), the subject is I, Paul, and the verb is bow my knee. So Paul saying, I pray, and here's what I pray. But then he breaks his thought, for these 13 verses of parenthetical explanation.
And we mentioned that last week, and we said that what Paul wants to do, before he prays, he wants to make sure that we've understood what he said.
Let's return to that now. And let's flesh that out just a little bit more. And I want us all to see specifically what and why Paul wants us to see before he prays, or specifically what he wants the Ephesians to see before he prays. So here's what he says, once again, “For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of the Gentiles,” and there is the dash.
That's where Paul says, women, let me let me say these other things first. Okay. So what did Paul say right there that caused him to want to sort of break his thought off for a while? I think that what Paul said right there that caused him to say, wait a minute, before I go any further, let me just explain some things. I think what he just said, was “a prisoner on your behalf.” And I think he just said, Wait a minute. I don't want them to be discouraged by this.
Because Paul is a prisoner. And he is a prisoner on their behalf. Paul is in prison, specifically, because he's teaching of the full inclusion of the Gentiles in the kingdom of God. Paul is not in prison because he's preaching Jesus Christ as the Messiah. He's in prison, specifically, because the Jews don't like his teaching about the full inclusion of the Gentiles in the kingdom. So he's right to say, “I'm in prison for you. I'm in prison, because I have taught this message of your inclusion.”
And so I think that what the reason Paul really wants to stop and re explain this, is he doesn't want discouragement to come over them. So now let's take a look down all the way down to verse 13, at where he's going to pick back up right before he picks back up, verse 13. “So I asked you not to lose heart.” The word that’s translated ‘lose hear’t literally means be discouraged. I don't want you to be discouraged over what I'm suffering, and once again for you, which is your glory.
In other words, Paul is concerned that they would lose heart or become discouraged because Paul is suffering specifically suffering on their behalf. Or you might even say in their place, and he doesn't want his suffering to discourage them. Now, I think that there is a valuable lesson in that for us that we should guard our hearts against becoming discouraged when we see the suffering of loved ones.
Isn't that an easy thing to get discouraged over? I mean, our own suffering can be hard enough. Isn't there's a certain sense in which the suffering of a loved one is even harder, to not become discouraged over? And I think Paul immediately recognizes that they could hear this, they could read that, and they can really become downhearted and discouraged because―here I am. Paul has been in prison now for five years. They can really become discouraged about this, not to mention the fact that it's on their behalf. So wait a minute, let me explain some things, first, let me make sure that you are not being led into discouragement over my suffering for you.
Because when we become discouraged over the suffering of a loved one who is in Christ, we are displaying a weak faith. Let me say that again. When we allow discouragement to come into our heart, due to the suffering of a loved one who is in Christ, we are showing a weak faith.
Is God sovereign or not? Is God good, or not? Does God not tell us that if we are in Christ, he brings good out of every evil? So either he does or he doesn't. And that, that doesn't apply only to our suffering, but to our loved ones who are also in Christ.
So either God means what He says, When he says he brings good out of suffering for his children―either we believe that or we don't. Either we believe that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” either we believe that or we don't.
That can be harder to trust in and that can be harder to believe when it's the suffering of loved ones. Nevertheless, it's still the same faith.
You know, we know that this is true, don't we that God uses evil for good purposes. We know that's true, because Romans 8:28 tells us that Genesis 50, verse 20, tells us the same thing. Joseph says to his brothers, you know, you meant this for evil, but God meant this for good. So we know that God is a God who uses evil for good purposes. But do you also know that the reverse can also be true? That Satan can use good for evil purposes? Do you know that he can do that? And do you know that that's what he seeks to do? And that's what exactly Paul does not want the enemy to do. He does not want the enemy to take this grace that the God is pouring out to Paul and use it against the Ephesians to weaken their faith or drag them down, or cause them to be disheartened.
Because Paul understands that all of life is a spiritual battlefield. Every moment of your life is a spiritual battlefield. This is a battlefield right now. And the battlefield includes, among other things, the battle over good things that happen and evil things that happen, who's going to use them? Is God going to use them for good? Or is the enemy going to use them for evil? And Paul understands that. And Paul says, Listen, yes, this This is no fun being in prison. This this is this is indeed suffering. And I am, yes, I am suffering on your behalf. But don't be downhearted about that. Don't be discouraged, because our God is the God who allows no bad thing to touch us. Who absolutely brings good out of everything that he allows to touch us, His loving hands have not allowed anything to come into Paul's life that God didn't want there, that God has not promised to use that for Paul's ultimate good, which is why he says this is for your glory.
And so that's the final takeaway in this section here is to ask God to strengthen the faith in your heart that when others who are close to you are undergoing trials and suffering. If they are in Christ, then that is not cause for discouragement on your part.
I think right now of, for example, Leah Fleming, a sister in Christ who now stage four breast cancer, okay. And we see the updates and everything. Isn't that cause that the enemy could take that and discourage us? Not if we know what Paul's saying to us. Not if we know that our God promises good out of every evil and not just for us, but for all who are His children.
Part 2
Those whose freedoms on earth are most limited can have free and bold access--through Jesus Christ--to the Maker of the heavens and the earth.
So from the foundation of the world, this was the purpose of God. And eternal means that it will always be the purpose of God, we will be the display of the wisdom of God for eternity. In the next new heavens and the new earth and the eternity, we will look to the church still, to see the wisdom of God because this is the eternal plan. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized or caused or determined in Christ Jesus, our Lord, verse 12, In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So wonder why Paul just threw that in In whom we have boldness and confidence with our access to him. First of all, what a thing for a Jew to hear. Paul is a believing Jews. And the church in Ephesus is mostly believing Gentiles, but there are some believing Jews. What a thing for a Jew to hear, bold, confident access to God, because the Jew is the one who knew one day a year, one man got access to God for a short time, and that was it. But the temple veil has been torn. And that limited access to God has been flung open wide, so that all who are in Christ now have full access to God the Father. Look at Hebrews chapter nine, or sorry, chapter 10, verse 19, through 24. So the author to the Hebrews is going to make the same argument that Paul makes, he's just going to kind of do it in reverse. Paul has been arguing, know who you are in Christ, think about your privileges and blessings in Christ. And then allow that to inform how you know that you have this confident access to God, the right to the Hebrews is going to do that and reverse therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places through the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us to the curtain that is through his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. So because you have this free confident access to God, therefore, bolster your assurance and faith, bolster your your knowledge of your blessings and privileges in Christ. Let us verse 23, hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful. And then finally, let us consider how to stir one another up to love and to good works. That's chapter four, five and six. So the same type of argumentation, consider your privileges and for Christ, consider the blessings in Christ, consider the unsearchable riches of Christ. And consider your free and open access your open invitation into the presence of God, the one who was closed to you, the one who was separated from you, because of your iniquities, consider the blessings that are yours, one of which is that you now have confident and bold access to him. So think of what this would have meant to Paul. He's speaking about access to the Father. Where's Paul right now, you might know, he's in prison. He has access to nothing. And he's writing about access to the Maker of all things while he himself doesn't have access to go to the bathroom. And he's writing to people who themselves aren't prisoners right now. But these are not the shakers and movers of society. These are not the socially mobile people of society. These are the people whom their whole life they've been told, You're not allowed there. You're not allowed there. You're not allowed in there. And he's saying, we are allowed somewhere else. We are allowed into the presence of the living God. That is the access that we have. Listen, as I read a few words from a Christian who writes to those who also have no access in this earthly life. This Christian rights to these who are prisoners, and he writes to them about something that we would call the priesthood unbelievers, the priesthood of believers is just a way that we put this truth, this reality that all of us in Christ, we don't need a certain person to give us access to God, we don't need a priest or a holy man to give us access to God, the Holy Spirit of God comes into all of us, giving us his ear, giving us his attention at all times.
We call that sometimes the priesthood of believers. Now, Paul probably doesn't feel very free right now, probably the Ephesian believers probably don't feel very free either. But the way that they feel, doesn't matter. What matters is how Paul has told him, We have bold and confident access to the Father. So listen to this brothers words, you may not feel as favored by God. You, however, are in reality favored, because feelings are simply reflections of your thinking, with ideas that may or may not be accurate. The Word of God is true and objective. And the Word of God teaches the priesthood of believers. Imprisonment denies one access to the outside. However, your priesthood gives you the privilege of accessing the heavenlies, sweeping across the universe to access the very throne of God. Those are wise words, written by somebody you all know, brother James in the back row as he was writing to Christian detainees, who, because of their faith, had no more access to their family, or no more access to their home, but instead, would spend years and years as detainees because of their conversion from a Muslim context, into faith in Christ. And his words to them are so true and helpful to say, this world may deny you access to anywhere at once.
But you have access to the maker. You have access to the one who made this world.
And not only do you have reluctant access, you don't have begrudging access. You have confident, bold access. Because your maker not only says you may come to me, your maker says to you cast your cares upon me. I command you to cast your burdens upon me. I want them. Give them to me
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