A Prayer for the Church: Part 2-1

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.

All of humanity longs to be a part of something greater. God intended for us to be a part of the vast company of people gathered around the main point, the person of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1 15-23, Paul ends his prayer with this request, that we would grasp the beauty of the church and the greatness of our Savior.

We're to be an intentional and accepting family in a culture of discipleship. In his message titled, A Prayer for the Church Part 2, Pastor Rich describes the beauty of the church when she devotes herself to the person of Jesus. This message was preached on June 4, 2017 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. We're in Ephesians 1 verses 15 to 23. This is Paul's prayer for the church. Verses 3 through 14 are very rich, deep doctrine about God, about His church, about who we are, about the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. And then Paul launches into yet another run-on sentence, verses 15 to 23, and this is a prayer for the church. And what he's praying for is that what is true of us may be seen in us. That is what he prays for. He prays that the truths that we proclaim do not remain lifeless doctrine, but that as the truths are rightly taught and rightly heard, these truths lead to godliness. The transformation, the sanctification, if you will, becoming holy, being made holy by God, the work that He wants to accomplish in every one of His children comes through our grasp of the truths that He has disclosed to us. Listen, you cannot become like Christ apart from a deep, rich consumption of His Word.

It's got to be there. This is God's self-disclosure to us. And so, as these truths are proclaimed, you take them, you meditate on them, you read His Word, read large chunks of Scripture. Just this last week, someone put on to the table in my office the whole text of the book of Ephesians, the letter to the church at Ephesus, and it was written in letter form. It was just the whole text right there, no verses, nothing. It's all in paragraph form, all there, just like it's a letter. And that's how the original church probably received it, on some kind of a scroll like that. One complete letter, and it was read all in one sitting.

And yet, it deserves so much unpacking. And I encourage you to do that. Take this book, read it from start to finish, the letter to Ephesus, read large chunks of Scripture. Read it prayerfully, pray the Scriptures, let God do His work in you, so that these truths are grasped by you in your heart and mind. They're grasped by you at the level of desire, so that God is doing this work in you, of making you like His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the job of His Holy Spirit. So as you are consuming His Word, the Holy Spirit takes these truths and He plants them deep in us, so that they do not remain lifeless doctrine.

But truly transforming power in the truth of God. So Paul prays for three things specifically, that what is true of us might be seen in us. And that includes three things in this prayer, and we touched on the first one last time. And that is that we would know the hope of His calling, the hope of His calling. That we are progressing in that work, that God is at work in us. It's not just left up to me to try harder to be a better person.

That doesn't work. That's a very oppressive way to do faith. To know the hope of His calling is to pursue God and let Him do His work in you as He's molding you into the image of Jesus Christ. That happens through His Word by His Holy Spirit. It's not about you simply trying harder to be a better person.

Anybody can do that. And yet every one of us fail at that. But God is working in us and He is moving us toward the hope of His calling that great glory that He has for us.

When time and space are done as we know them now. And that's why we can persevere. So the hope of His calling is the first thing that Paul prays that the church will know that does not become a lifeless doctrine, but life transforming truth.

And then we come to the second one. Look with me at verse 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Here's the second thing that Paul prays for. And it's that you and I will know the beauty of the church. The beauty of the church.

Look at the words again. The riches of His glorious inheritance. Glorious is the word that means great splendor. The awesome majesty of His inheritance in the saints.

What is that? That's the church. Do you know the awesome majesty of His inheritance in the saints? The beauty of the church. This church that God has formed, Christ is the head.

We are the body. Three things about the church. First of all, the sense of family. Again, testimony given to it this morning. The church is a beautiful thing. The common bond of forgiveness and grace among those who are part of the family of God. That common bond of having been forgiven and because I have been forgiven, I can then forgive. Because I am a recipient of the grace of God, I can then be a dispenser of the grace of God. This, folks, is the church.

That's who we are. And it saddens me to think of how many churches today that just are not grasping that. It is the unity of an accepting family. That's why we as Grace Bible Church, our vision statement is that we are an intentional community of grace that loves God demonstrated by loving people in a culture of discipleship. Life investment.

Life on life. That's the church. And it is a beautiful thing to see it happen. It has been such an immense joy of mine to see these things happening in the church.

Again, testimony given to it this morning. The unity of a family, the sense of belonging. There is a bond that crosses all barriers. All barriers and distinctions created and imposed by humanity. That's something that human beings do. It's something that human nature does.

Human nature focuses on distinctions and places labels and puts up barriers. The grace of Christ tears all of that down. And regardless of who you are, where you've been, what you've done, what your socioeconomic status is, we are all equal under grace. Isn't that a beautiful thing? That's the church, folks.

That's the church. And it has been such a huge joy and privilege of mine traveling to Egypt, raised in Colombia, South America, traveled to Egypt, to Haiti, to India. And you encounter people who are part of the body of Christ, the church. And there is that immediate bonding there because you have a common bond in Jesus Christ and you refer to each other as brother and sister. And you can embrace, not in India, they don't do that in India, but in Haiti they do.

And in Colombia especially. I grew up hugging everybody. So some of you are uncomfortable with that, but the church is a beautiful thing, folks. I have a challenge for you this morning. Ask God to help you grasp what it means to be a part of God's people, his family, the body of Christ. Ask him to help you grasp what it means to be a part of his church instead of church being an optional duty on Sunday. People drawing near to each other in genuine care and bold compassion with spiritual encouragement.

It is such a joy to see these things happening. Know the wealth of blessing that you have in your church. This, the church that we know and have today, is a prelude to our family reunion. A vast company of people gathered around the main point.

You want to know what the main point is? Read Revelation 4 and 5. There is a throne room, and on that throne sits a person. And the church is gathered around the main point. And this, as we come together, as the church comes together to worship, this is a prelude to that grand event in the future gathered around the main point, worshiping with one voice. I remember Sam giving testimony last week to having been at Liberty University, 19,000 people standing up, singing at the top of their lungs, and raising their hands, and making much of God.

Folks, that is an awesome experience. We are, as God calls us, his elect, holy, and beloved. We are the elect of God, holy, and beloved. That's a title, a phrase right out of Colossians 3.20. And to unpack that, God's elect, holy, and beloved.

What does that mean? What does that say of us? What does that say of God? Because it is what is taught in Scripture.

So we need to understand the usage of that word. And it is used always, it is used always in Scripture as a means of bringing great encouragement to the church, to the people of God. But the church is not only a beautiful thing because it is a family. The church is also a beautiful thing because it is a fragrance. The church is a fragrance. Christ came in grace and truth, and He has sent us into our world with that same grace and truth. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, lead pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Visit our church website to see upcoming events or to listen to more messages at www.gbcwinston.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in with us on weekdays at 10 AM.