Robert Jeffress - A Prayer For All Seasons
Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress, and welcome again to "Pathway to Victory". Let me begin today with a question: what or who is at the top of your prayer list today? Our Heavenly Father invites us to lay our request before his throne, request for ourselves and for others. And today, we're going to look at a passionate prayer by the apostle Paul, who both thanked God and interceded with God on our behalf. My message is titled "A Prayer For All Seasons" on today's edition of "Pathway to Victory".
I want you to use your imagination for a moment and just imagine you're checking into a luxury beach resort hotel, and because of your elite status in that hotel chain, you're given a special brochure when you check in, telling you of all the special benefits that belong to you: access to a 24-hour lounge stocked full with hors d'oeuvres, complimentary wi-fi, free dry cleaning as you need it, and a host of other benefits. But you never take advantage of any of those amenities because you don't take time to read the brochure and know that they're available to you.
You know, a lot of Christians live like that. Even though they are in Jesus Christ, they have elite status with God, if you will, they never take advantage of the benefits of that status because they don't know what the benefits are. The first three chapters of the book of Ephesians are actually a brochure, if you will, outlining all of the benefits that belong to those of us who are in Christ Jesus. And last time, we began looking at some of those benefits.
Remember, in verses 3 to 14 of chapter 1, Paul outlined seven benefits, privileges, we have if we are in Jesus Christ. He says we need to praise God, literally "Eulogia". We need to praise God, eulogize God, for all he's done for us. Remember what those seven benefits are? We thank God the Father, who has chosen us and adopted us into his family, we thank God the son, who has redeemed us, forgiven us, revealed the mystery of his will to us and given us an inheritance, and we thank God the Holy Spirit, who secured those promises in Christ.
And when Paul lists all of those things, he interrupts himself, drops to his knees, and offers the first of several prayers in this letter to the Ephesians, and it's a prayer of thanksgiving for the Christians at Ephesus. He's offered praise for God, and now, he offers this prayer to God. Let me ask you something: have you ever been separated from somebody you love dearly? Maybe it's a mate who's in military service. Maybe it's a child or grandchild who's gone off to college. And you think, I wish I could be with them. The only thing I can do right now is pray for them. Well, in fact, the best thing you can do for anyone is to pray for them.
That was Paul's situation. He had grown to love the Ephesians. He had spent more than two years with them, and now, he was under house arrest in Rome, and though he was hundreds of miles away from these Christians at Ephesus, he said, "I want you to know I am praying for you". Now, I don't know about you, but every now and then, somebody will come up and say to me, "Praying for you, pastor, praying for you". And I secretly wonder, are they really? Are they even gonna remember they told me this ten minutes later?
But every now and then, somebody will come up and say, "Now, pastor I'm praying for you, and this is what I'm praying for you," and they tell you specifically how they're praying for you. You know then they're serious about their prayers for you. That's what Paul does. He doesn't say, "Praying for you, Ephesians"! He tells them exactly how he's praying for them, and this prayer beginning in verse 15 can be divided into two parts. First of all, there's a prayer of encouragement.
Look at verse 15: "For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers". He was encouraging them. He said, "You know, every time I think about you, I can't help but just stop and thank God for you". That's encouraging. You know, I think of something Jimmy draper, who used to be associate pastor here many years ago, he used to say. He said, "Be nice to everyone because everyone is having a hard time". Isn't that true?
We're all having a hard time in one way or another. We need to be encouraged, and so, Paul encourages these Ephesians, saying, "I just want you to know every time I think about you, I thank God for you". But then notice the specificity of his prayer. He said, "Let me tell you two reasons I thank God for you, first of all, for your faith in Christ," verse 15: "Having heard of your faith in Christ which exists among you".
Now, it's important to know there are two kinds of faith in the Bible. There is, first of all, saving faith, faith that leads to salvation, and I think he certainly has that in mind here. He says in verse 13 earlier that it was faith in Christ that led them to salvation: "In him, you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed with him in the Holy Spirit of promise". So, he's talking about, first of all, a faith that leads to salvation.
Now, I want you to notice there are two components to faith that leads to salvation. There's an intellectual component, what you know. You know, a lot of people minimize the content of faith. They say, "Well, it doesn't really matters what you believe in as long as you believe". So they go around, they say, "I'm safe because I have faith". "Well, faith in what"? You ask. "Well, faith in faith. I have faith that everything's gonna turn out okay". No, faith always demands an object. You have to have the right content to believe in. There's an intellectual component, but there's also an emotional element to saving faith, and we miss this a lot of times.
Now, by emotion, I don't mean you break down into uncontrollable sobs when you're saved. Some people do. Some people don't. I don't mean you start rolling around on the ground and speaking in some ecstatic utterance. But "Emotion," by that, I mean believing. Having faith in Christ is more than a cool, intellectual ascent to a certain body of truth. But there's another kind of faith. There's not only a saving faith that you exercise one time and you have eternal life, there is a sustaining faith that, I think, he had in mind here, a faith that leads to obedience after you're saved.
Look at Ephesians 1:1: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus who are faithful," not who were, but who are right now faithful in Christ Jesus. And then he says in verse 15, "For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists," present tense, not a one-time act only, but it continues to exist, "And your love for all the saints". Remember where the Ephesians lived? In Ephesus. That's seven years of seminary right there for ya.
The Ephesians lived in Ephesus. Remember the setting for Ephesus? Ephesus was a pagan city. They had that temple of Artemis, or Diana. You worship Diana by sex by using the 200 temple prostitutes. You worship her by worshiping wealth. There was a depository of gold and silver there. Sex and money was the focus of people in Ephesus. Not much has changed in 2,000 years, has it? It's our focus today. It was hard being a Christian in Ephesus. It was hard being a Christian and is hard being a Christian in Dallas, Texas, or wherever you are right now. But Paul said, "I'm grateful your faith has led you to continue to be obedient. You are faithful in Christ Jesus". He's talking about a sustaining faith that's kept them obedient in spite of the culture in which they lived.
Do you know what the single greatest evidence of your salvation is? It is your obedience to God, your continued obedience to God. You know, we talk about the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. We sometimes call it "Once saved, always saved". People put the emphasis on the wrong thing. You know how you know you're saved? If you persevere in your faith. If you don't persevere, if you give up or give in to the world, it's not that you lose your salvation, it's you never had salvation.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:22, some of you are saying, "Well, I'm not sure I agree with that". Well, you disagree with Jesus then. Look at what he said in Matthew 10:22: "You will be hated by all because of my name, but it is the one who has endured," to the what? "The end who will be saved". Now, don't misunderstand. Our obedience doesn't earn our salvation. Our obedience confirms our salvation. But there's some things we need to cut some slack for people on. We don't have to be unified on. I'm gonna start preachin' about the end-times next week. Are we living in the end-times?
And I know everybody doesn't agree with me in the church on my view on the end-times. That's fine, we don't divide over that. We have people with different views in our church about what we call the charismatic gifts, speaking in tongues and healings, that's fine. We allow diversity. We can be diversified in some things, and by the way, it's okay to be diversified in your political views too about some things. We have different views in our church about gun control, or immigration, or taxation policy. That is fine, that is fine, but we cannot allow political differences to tear apart the church of Jesus Christ, and we're not going to allow it at the First Baptist Church of Dallas. We are going to love one another.
You know, the Moravians were noted for saying, "In the essentials, unity, in the non-essentials, liberty, but in all things, charity, love for one another". That was true of these ephesian Christians. Romans 12:10, Paul said, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love: giving preference to one another". We're to be devoted to one another. You know what that word "Brotherly" means? It's the Greek word "Adelfos," literally "From the same womb". The reason we're to be devoted, loving of one another, is because we come from the same womb, the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who birthed us into existence, and because of that, we're to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul said, "I thank God for your faith in Christ, for your love for all the saints". Now, the second part of the prayer is a prayer of exhortation. He said, "Now, this is what I'm praying that God will do in your life," and by the way, this is a perfect way to pray for other people you love. It's a perfect way to pray for yourself. He said, "First of all, I pray that you would have a knowledge of God". Look at verse 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," underline that word "Knowledge". He said, "Ephesian Christians, I'm praying that God would give you a knowledge of himself".
Now, that word "Knowledge," the usual Greek word is "Gnosis," gnosis, but he uses a prefix here on the word gnosis, "Epi," e-p-i, "Epinosis". Some translations say, "I pray that God will give you a full, a complete, knowledge of himself". I think what he means here is "I'm praying that God doesn't give you just an intellectual knowledge of himself, but an experiential, an epinosis, kind of knowledge". That's what he's talking about here. You know, there's a great deal of difference between knowing about somebody and knowing somebody. Ladies and gentlemen, there's a lot of difference between knowing about God, having a lot of facts about God, and really knowing God. What does it mean to know God?
J.I. Packer, in his seminal work, "Knowing God," tells us what it means to know God. He said, "First, knowing God is a matter of personal dealing. It's more than knowing about him. It's a matter of dealing with him as he opens up to you and being dealt with by him as he takes knowledge of you. Secondly, knowing God is a matter of personal involvement in mind, and will, and feeling. The believer rejoices when his God is honored and vindicated and feels the acutest distress when he sees God flouted. Equally, the Christian feels shame and grief when convicted of having failed his Lord". Do you hear what packer is saying? There's a difference between "Knowing" and "Knowing about" somebody.
I think about John Scott, the British theologian. He said, "There is something fundamentally flawed about a purely academic interest in God. God is not the appropriate object for cruel, critical, detached scientific observation and evaluation. Know the true knowledge of God always leads us to worship as it did Paul. Our place is on our faces before him in adoration". That's the kind of epinosis, the full knowledge, that Paul prayed for us, as well as the Ephesians, to possess, knowing God. Closely related to that, he said, "Not only do I want you to have a true knowledge of God, but I want you to understand God's workings, what he's doing in our lives".
Look at verses 18 and 19: "I pray that the eyes of your," not mind, but heart, your mind, will, and emotion, "I pray the eyes of your heart may be enlightened," that word is "Photizo". We get "Photograph" from it. It means to be flooded with light. "I pray that your eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know," three things, "First, what is the hope of his calling, secondly, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance, and thirdly, what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe".
Notice, there are three things Paul says we need to understand in our pursuit of God, first of all, that God has called us. "I pray," verse 18, "That you may know what is the hope of your calling". "What do you mean, pastor? What has God called me to"? Well, first of all, he's called you to salvation. That's the mystery of election. He has chosen you. He has called you to save you. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "He has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light".
Do you remember when Jesus heard that Lazarus was dead? He went to the tomb of Lazarus, and he cried out, "Lazarus, come forth"! If he hadn't named Lazarus, the whole cemetery would have risen from the dead. He was specific. He called, "Lazarus, come forth"! And he says the same thing to us. Just think about this. God could have saved billions of people. There are billions and millions of people who will not be saved, but God, for whatever it means, chose you. He said to you, "Dee, come forth! Mary, come forth! Danny, come forth! Robert, come forth"! God has called us to eternal life. We should never get over that fact. He's called us to salvation. Not only that, he has called us to holiness of life.
1 Peter 1:15 says, "Like the holy one who called you, you be holy," separate, different, "In all of your behavior". He called us not to live for ourselves but live in obedience to Christ that we might resemble the Christ who saved us. He's called us the holiness of life. And third, the Bible says, "If you're called by God, you're called to suffering". 1 Peter 2:21 says that, "He has called us for this purpose," for suffering, "Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving for you an example to follow in his steps".
You know, so many times, Christians go through a difficult time, and they think they've been abandoned by God. No, God hasn't abandoned you. He called you. I mean, think about it. If God's plan for his own son, his beloved son, Jesus Christ, if it included horrific suffering, God gives us an inkling though of what awaits us in scripture. And he said, "I pray that you might know of not only what you already possess in Christ but what's coming your way one day". I pray that you would understand that he has called you, he has enriched you, and thirdly, he has empowered you.
Look at verse 19: "That you may know what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe". He's given us power, that Greek word "Huperboulo," "Huperboulo," H-U-P-E-R is the prefix. We get our word "Hyper" from it. A hyper child is an overactive child. A hyperbole, hyperbole, a hyperbole is an over the top statement. Well, God has given us an over the top power, the Holy Spirit of God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in your life right now to give you the power to say "No" to sin and "Yes" to God. That power is yours. And Paul said, "I want you to be aware of that power that belongs to you".
What Paul says we ought to pray for others is what we ought to pray for ourselves. You ever pray for yourself? If you do, here's the best prayer that you can pray: "Lord, I pray that I would not just know about you but I would know you. I pray that you would help me understand your calling, your riches, your power that you have given to me".
You see, we all have a craving, an inward craving, to know God. That's why we were made, to know God, and to try to satisfy that craving we all long for with other people, with possessions, with accomplishments, it's like trying to satisfy your thirst by eating pretzels. It doesn't help at all. Only God can satisfy that deepest need, that craving that we have. What is our number one desire in life? To know God. What is the greatest pleasure in life? The knowledge of God. What gives God the greatest pleasure? Our knowledge of him. What is the chief end of man? It's to know God and to enjoy him all the days of our lives.
Remember in John 17, before his crucifixion, Jesus was alone praying to God the Father, and in that great priestly prayer, he not only prayed for his apostles he was about to leave behind, but he prayed for you and me as well. Because he said, "I pray not only for these but those in future generations who will come to know you because of their witness". That's us. We've come to know Christ, and so, John 17, Jesus prayed for you. You know what he prayed? John 17:3: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you've sent". That is truly a prayer for every season of life.