Intro to Eph. 1:15-23

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2018 11:29 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 1:15-23

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 1:15-23

 

            Message of the verses:  As mentioned in our last SD we will be looking at what is actually the next section from the book of Ephesians which covers 1:15-23, and John MacArthur entitles this chapter of his commentary “Our Resources in Christ.”

 

            “15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

 

            I think it best that I just quote the short introduction from MacArthur’s commentary in order for us to get a small review of what we have been studying and then look ahead into what we will be looking at as we finish up this first chapter of the book of Ephesians.

 

“In verses 3-14 Paul has set forth the amazing and unlimited blessings believers have in Jesus Christ, blessings that amount to our personal inheritance of all that belongs to Him.  In the remainder of the chapter (vv. 15-23) Paul prays that the believers to whom he writes will come to fully understand and appreciate those blessings.  In this prayer he focuses on believer’s comprehension of their resources in their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In verses 15-16 he praises them, and in verses 17-23 he makes petitions to God for them.”

 

            As we look at this outline that is found in these verses I can say that this is typical of many of Paul’s letters to different churches that he has written.  He usually begins with an introduction and the introduction we saw in verses 3-14 is not really a typical one that he writes.  He then begins to pray for those believers that he is writing to which is what we will be going over in the verses from above, and then the next thing we see is theological studies.  In the last part of his letters he will usually go to practical things that go along with his teaching in the first part of his letters.  At the end of many of his letters you will often find things that Paul wants his readers to pray about for him.  If we understand better how Paul’s letters are usually written then we will better understand what he is telling us as we look at the different sections of his letters.

 

            In the introduction from John MacArthur we find that he breaks up this passage into two parts “Praise for Believers” which comes from verses 15-16, and then Paul’s petitions or prayers for the believers.  As I look at the twelve pages of this long chapter from MacArthur’s commentary I can see that there will be many different sub-sections under these two main sections so I have to believe that we will be studying from these verses for some time, however as always when we are studying the Word of God we will learn many things from it that will help us walk more worthy of our calling.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I look forward to looking at this prayer that Paul has prayed for those who read this letter.  I know that I can learn much from this prayer.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to deliver me from the temptations that Satan fires at me today just as His Word has promised to do.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel” (Exodus 5:1).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “When did Timothy first began to learn the Holy Scriptures?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

11/26/2018 12:15 PM