How Often Should a Church Celebrate the Lord's Table?

There is much disagreement with regards to the regularity of the Lord's Table. Some churches observe it weekly, some bi-weekly, some monthly, some quarterly, while others have it whenever it seems 'right.'

Rather than defending one's traditions as to how one calendars for the Table, going to the Scriptures is always the safest bet when looking for answers.

Though there is no extended treatise on how the local church is celebrate the Table, there is nevertheless sufficient evidence that helps inform our decision as to how often we should "break bread" and "share the cup."

The first text worth noting is found in Acts 20:7. Here, we see that Paul has a week long layover in Troas while en route to Jerusalem. While there, he does what he always does: he finds believers to worship with and enjoy fellowship among.

Having done so, we read in the text, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight."

Many of us are familiar with what happens next: Paul gets passionate, and ends up preaching and teaching the assembly ("church") late into the night, resulting in sleepy Eutchys falling out the second floor window to his death, only to be raised to life again at the command of the apostle.

However, we are interested in v.7, where Luke says Paul gathered with the believers "to break bread." When we read this too casually or too quickly, we can easily pass over extremely important words, like "to." In the Greek, the verb is an infinitive of purpose, and thus we might better translate it as "in order to," or "for the purpose of."

That is, Paul gathered (literally, he "synagogued") with the believers for a reason: "to break bread."

This - the "breaking of bread" - is a common theme in the book of Acts, which chronicles the Lord Jesus building His church in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.

It is first used in 2:42, where, after the Holy Spirit powerfully visits Peter's proclamation of the gospel in Jerusalem, 3000 souls are saved and baptized (2:41). Then, as Acts repeatedly teaches, these believers begin to (super)naturally congregate together. What did they regularly do when they "gathered together" ("synagogued")? Luke writes, "And they were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers."

The definite article ("the") indicates that this was no ordinary "bread." It is clear from this text that just as regularly as they devoted themselves to hearing from and learning about the Scriptures, they also "broke the bread." In fact, the NLT translates the verse as follows: "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer" (cf. 2:46).

Many churches emphasize the necessity of including Bible teaching, praying, and giving every Lord's Day. But if we want to be consistent, and if we want to follow the NT example of gathering regularly on the Lord's Day, should we not also make "breaking the bread" a necessary component of our congregational worship and fellowship?

That breaking bread in congregational settings is another way of saying that they celebrated the Lord's Table is strengthened by Paul's own words in 1 Corinthians 10:16, where we read, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?"

Clearly, Paul is talking not about eating regular 'bread' here. The context clearly shows us that for Paul "breaking bread" with other believers is the same as celebrating the Lord's Supper with them.

This is buttressed even further by his words in the next chapter (11:23, 26-28), where, quoting the Lord Jesus Himself, Paul shows that the bread the believers are breaking refers to that of the commemoration and celebration of the Lord's Supper (also see 5:7).

How often is the church to break bread? It would seem that the context clearly emphasizes "when you gather together." The verb is used a whopping 4 times in this short section on the Lord's Table, and complements Luke's own words about Paul's own practice in the book of Acts. How often did the Corinthians "break bread"? "When they gathered together." And when did they gather together? On the Lord's Day (see 16:2). Which means they celebrated the Lord's Supper every time they "churched" on the Lord's Day.

As inconvenient as celebrating the Lord's Table might be (won't it add another 5-10 minutes to an already long service??), I guess the questions we need to ask ourselves are: "What does God teach in the Bible?" and "Am I willing to obey God, no matter what?"

If celebrating the Table is, in the words of Bobbie Jamieson, "what makes the church the church", why don't we do this every time we gather as a church on the Lord's Day?

Perhaps celebrating it every week will lead to complacency. This is a favorite argument against the weekly observance of the Table. But would we ever say the same thing about reading the Bible, singing songs of praise to King Jesus, or even the preaching of the gospel? I think not.

Of course, not everyone will be persuaded with this view. My only response to such people is to encourage them to know why they do what they do, rather than to simply 'do what we've always done.' Surely the Lord would have us worship Him with all our "mind" just as much as with all our "hearts."

Whether one agrees or not, I appeal simply to Luke's words in Acts 17:11, where the Bereans were commended for being "open-minded" (what the Greek word literally means) and searching the Scriptures to see if what Paul was teaching was indeed true, and then basing their lives off of that (see v. 12).

In Christ, and for His glory in His church,
pastor ryan

Learning to Give Thanks in Prayer

Though praying to God indeed includes requests and supplications, there is more to prayer than simply asking God for ‘things.’

Of course, there are many commands and examples that pervade the holy Scriptures, and we are certainly not incorrect in regularly and desperately “asking” and “seeking” and “knocking” when we come as needy children to our sufficient and generous Father.

However, one of the greatest evils that pervades our wealthy culture in the west is ingratitude and thanklessness. Unfortunately, this has not left our prayer lives unaffected. If you don’t believe me, try to spend an entire hour in solely giving thanks to God without beginning to ask Him for things.

But rather than bewailing and bemoaning this, let us rather endeavor to make giving thanks to God more of a predominant theme in our times of prayer.

Prayer, we remember, is really just spending time conversing with God, responding to His Word and His deeds with words of our own. And in any healthy relationship, thankfulness and gratitude is essential to fostering greater fellowship and communion.

Rather than providing a plethora of Scripture citations that emphasize thanksgiving, I simply want to look at one verse from Psalm 9, which, by God’s grace, I hope will help us in our endeavor to be a more thankful people, especially in our times of prayer.

Psalm 9:1 - “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.”

First, we are reminded that giving thanks to God is more than mere ‘lip service.’ In the Hebrew, “heart” meant the control center of one’s life, and includes one’s thoughts, emotions, and will. But how does engaging our entire hearts in thanksgiving come about?

The answer, I believe, is in the second line of the verse: “I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” 

In the classic BBC series “Pride and Prejudice”, the main character, “Lizzy”, finds herself falling in love with the all-handsome “Mr. Darcy” when she begins to realize all of the amazing things that he has been doing for her and her family. But it is not until all of his previous generosity is “accounted” for and “recounted” by Lizzy that her heart begins to really become engaged and her affections enlivened for her generous benefactor.

I believe that in the same way, when we begin to intentionally “recount” all of God’s mighty deeds, especially with regards to our salvation through Christ (read the rest of Psalm 9, especially 9:13-14; cf. 86:12-13), our hearts will inevitably begin to thaw and become tender once again under the warming influence of the Spirit.

As we begin to recount all of God’s deeds - in creation, in salvation, in providence; in His faithfulness, in His kindness, in His grace - “commands” such as “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thes. 5:18) or “be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God” (Phil. 4:6) will not induce guilt in us, or end up being so burdensome for us.

I’ll never forget in my first year of seminary when we spent an entire day praying together for God’s blessing. In the session immediately after lunch, we spent over an hour just “shotgunning” various thanksgivings to God as students, and its effect has never left me anything but amazed at the great blessing there is in gathering together to recount God’s goodness to us and thank Him for every one of them, no matter how ‘big’ or how ‘small’ they may have seemed.

And so, let us endeavor to spend our time this evening, in the words of David, “giving to our Triune God the thanks due to His righteousness” (Psa. 7:17). He is most certainly worthy and deserving of all our praise and thanksgiving.

A brother quoted Spurgeon to me this morning: “Our best prayers are those with veins of praise and thanks.” How true this is indeed!

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,

pastor ryan

**it may be helpful to have some categories in mind to help in the dull moments when the reservoirs of our minds seem empty. Think of God’s attributes and thank Him for who He is, and spend 10 minutes thanking Him for these; think of His salvation in Christ, and thank Him for how He brought it about in our lives, and spend 10 minutes thanking Him for that; think about His faithfulness in answering past prayers, and spend 10 minutes thanking Him for that; think about a million blessings we so easily overlook (clothing, literacy, families, friends, being part of an evangelical church), and spend time thanking Him for all of these. Truly, if we just take a moment to do an inventory, we will not run out of things to thank God for.

Praying for the Advance of God's Kingdom

Tonight our focus in prayer will be on the advance of God's kingdom.

Again, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He emphasized that the Name of His Father would be hallowed, that is, revered as holy and glorious and awesome and mighty.

But HOW does this come about, and WHAT does it look like?

The answer is given in the next lines in the text:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name

     Your kingdom come,

     Your will be done,

         on earth as in heaven."

This is likely what we call "synthetic Hebrew parallelism." Synthetic carries the idea of "addition", and so the two parallel lines add, or explain, or unpack, what Jesus meant in the first line (i.e. our prayer for the Father's name to be hallowed).

So the answer to the 'how' question is this: the Father's name is hallowed as His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. And His will is done on earth as in heaven as His kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.

Many theologians, in attempting to find the central theme of the Bible, have concluded that God's kingdom is the overarching, all-encompassing, unifying theme that ties the entire 66 books of the Bible together. 

Though I would tweak this by adding that Christ is the "center" and central theme of the Scriptures, I don't hesitate to affirm the importance of God's kingdom, since the eternal plan of our triune God was to establish the kingdom in and through and by Christ (for e.g. see 1 Cor. 15:20-28; Eph. 1:10, Col. 1:15-20, Heb. 2:5-10; Rev. 4-5, etc.).

In the Old Testament, God's kingdom was to come originally through Adam as he multiplied "offspring" and filled the earth with God's image-bearers (Gen. 1-2). He failed (see Gen. 3).

Then others, such as Noah, were to establish God's kingdom on earth (note the repetition of Gen. 1-2 language in Gen. 9). But he, like Adam, failed.

In Gen. 12, after the Tower of Babel debacle, the hope of the world is placed upon the shoulders of a man named Abraham. Through him, God would finally and fully establish His kingdom and rule on earth, as He rules and reigns in heaven (see Gal. 3:16). 

But Abraham, as a sinner, inevitably fails, and thus the hope of a renewed world is passed on to Isaac, and then Jacob, and then Israel.

All of these "sons of Adam" eventually and ultimately fail to establish God's reign and kingdom on earth.

Until Jesus comes. Long story short, Jesus the Messiah does what no other had or could do: perfectly bear God's image in the world (see Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3) and thus establish His reign on earth.

This came about in a most surprising and unexpected way: not through military conquest or some kind of religious 'jihad,' but rather through His death and resurrection from the dead (see 1 Cor. 15).

And now, as the true Son of God (see Rom. 1:3-4; cf. Luke 3:38) and second Adam, He, in obedience to the will of His Father, is filling the earth with His image-bearers (see 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:22-24), a new creation that will one day inhabit a new heavens and new earth, where God, in Christ, will rule perfectly, for the heavens and earth will have become one (Rev. 21-22).

But until then, the Son is accomplishing His mission through the church, the assembly of His image-bearers.

And the church accomplishes this mission as we replicate, or image, Christ on earth, as He imaged His Father on earth. 

We do so by "imitating" Christ, and walking in Spirit-empowered love (Eph. 5:1). Or, in the words of the apostle John, we walk as that One (i.e. Christ) walked" (1 John 2:6). 

This means we too come, meekly and boldly, proclaiming the gospel of God, both in word and deed (Acts 10:36). This means we too live a life of sacrifice, going about doing good (Acts 10:38; Gal. 6:10). By doing so, we show the world how God reigns in Christ.

And so, let us pray for the church, for she is God's ordained means of demonstrating and declaring His wisdom in and to the heavens and earth (Eph. 3:10-11). It is through the church that God has determined to "sum up all things under the headship of Christ" (Eph. 1:10, my translation).

And so, let us (we must!) pray that through the church, God will fill His creation with image-bearers, who are born-again (lit. "from above" [i.e. heaven]) on earth to live as citizens of heaven on earth (cf. Phil. 1:27).

This happens as the church goes about spreading and sowing the good news of the kingdom wherever she goes (cf. Matt. 13; 28:18-20), as God has ordained the Word to be the instrument by which He builds His "host" and saves the elect He entrusted to the Son before time even began (John 10; 17).

This also happens as the church goes about spreading and sowing the fragrance of Christ in deed (e.g. Rev. 19:8), that others may see Christ in us, the hope of glory, and may give glory to our Father in heaven (cf. Matt. 5:13-16).

And so, let us (we must!) pray for the advance of the [true] church. Pray for her doctrinal purity. Pray for her spiritual unity. Pray for her protection. Pray against complacency and lukewarmness. Pray against worldliness.

And so, let us (we must!) pray for missions, both near and far. Pray for local churches to cross the street to preach and portray Christ as crucified to her neighbors. Pray for missionaries to cross the sea to preach and portray Christ to the nations. 

And so, let us (we must!) pray for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, in Christ, and through the church.

THIS is how God's Name is hallowed.

Thankfully, the Father and Son have poured out the Spirit of mission to equip and empower the church to accomplish her mission (see John 14-16; Acts; cf. Jesus' own baptism of the Spirit before embarking on His mission).

In Christ, and for His glory through His church,
pastor ryan

Here is a list of "local missionaries" to pray for:

1. A greater burden in our church to reach our families, co-workers, neighbors, and friends with the gospel.

2. A greater desire (and even creativity) to 'get out' and 'give out' the gospel to those who have never heard it, even in our city.

3. Pray that we may work together with other evangelical churches to reach Lethbridge for Christ.

4. Pray that God would give us as a church a great burden to give more generously and pray more fervently for the gospel to spread to the ends of the earth.

Here is a but a sampling of foreign missionaries to pray for tonight:

1. Vijay in India (Reach All Nations)

2. Caleb in Papua New Guinea

3. Nate and Sheila in Belize

4. Desta in Ethiopia (AIPM)

5. Andrea in Nicaragua (ABWE)

6. Donavan Epp in the northern Philippines (Ethnos)

7. Rod and Enonie in the Philippines

8. Trevor and Theresa in Indonesia

9. Anyone else you know or can think of (e.g. Heart Cry, SBC, etc.)

Praying for God's glory in Christ's Church

"To [God] be the glory, in the church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever, Amen." (Ephesians 3:21)

As we begin our prayer week tonight, we start by reminding ourselves that all our prayers this week are to be directed towards this one great and glorious theme: God's glory.

The Bible makes the following statements about God's glory:

• All things were created, and all things exist for God's glory. 

• God causes all things to work out for His glory .

• Whatever we find ourselves doing, we are to do it for God's glory.

• God will not share His glory with another.

In our prayer weeks of years gone past, we have made the theme of our first meeting, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your Name."

This year, I want us to think about what that practically looks like in our lives and in our churches.

Breathtakingly, in Ephesians 3:21, Paul tells us that in the new covenant, the primary way God's glory is to be manifested in the world is "in the church."

In the OT, God's glory was manifested at various times and in various places, but primarily, His glory was manifested in the Jerusalem Temple.

When Jesus, the God-man, entered into the world He created, God's glory was manifested most clearly in Him and His "signs."

But now that Christ has finished His task of redemption, and has been raised to His Father's right hand, the Spirit, who was poured out from the Father and Son, now reveals the triune God's glory in and through Christ's church.

If this is so, this is humbling.

If this is so, we must pray.

As the all-sufficient and self-existent God, He does not need us to glorify Him, as if some how we can "add" to His glory. If that were so, He would be needy, and thus not God, and thus (definitely) not worthy of our praise.

And yet, as the all-sufficient and self-existent God who loves, He pours out His glory and manifests it for the good of His people.

And it is in the gracious pouring out of His glory that we as His creation respond to that "out-poured" glory by "glorifying" Him. When we as the creation behold God's glory, the only fitting (and logical) response is to glorify Him by ascribing Him to be the all-glorious One, who alone is worthy of blessing and honor and praise and glory.

According to Ephesians 3:13, God has chosen the church to be the primary vessel and means by which He manifests His glory (lit. "weightiness") to His creation.

And so, this week, let us pray that God would be glorified in and through His church:

• As she faithfully preaches the gospel of the glory of Christ.

• As she becomes more and more holy, as her triune God expresses His glory in her holiness.

• As she grows through conversion and multiplies Christ's "seed" to the ends of the earth, showing the world of His power to regenerate and justify ungodly and sinful enemies.

• As she expresses God's sufficiency and power by becoming a people of prayer.

• As we reflect God's glory by loving others as He loves us.

• As the church reflects more and more the "glorious" new creation God has always planned to bring about in Christ.

May God be greatly glorified in Christ's church this year! Let us pray and pray and pray that through Christ's bride, our great Father in heaven would be "hallowed" and set apart as all-glorious.

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,

pastor ryan

Praying for Overflowing Love

Today, as we gather together as Christ's people to pray corporately, we consider Paul's prayer as found in Philippians 1:9-11:

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Here are some questions to consider as we unpack this glorious prayer:

1. WHY would Paul make praying for love for these Philippian believers a priority?

• Hint: there are hints of disunity that are affecting gospel ministry there (cf. 4:2; cf. Eph. 3:12-4:6).

2.  WHAT kind of imagery is Paul evoking of their love "abounding more and more"?

3.  WHAT kind of "love" is Paul praying for here? 

• Hint: notice the two qualifiers he attaches to love

4.  WHAT are the results of an ever-increasing and abounding love?

• Notice the unfolding and interconnecting logic Paul uses in vv.10-11 (like a cascading waterfall).

For a great picture of what "love" looks like, see 2:5-8, unpacking what exactly Paul means by being comforted by "love" in 2:1. Amazingly, as we reflect upon the true of God for us in Christ, the Spirit sheds abroad in our heart this love, which begins to pour out of our lives and into the lives of others. This is why 2:5-11 is central to Philippians, as is Paul's great desire for him (and by extension his hearers) to "know" Christ more truly, fully, and deeply. 

WHAT might it look like in our lives if God caused our love at GCC to abound more and more?

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,

pastor ryan

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare: Evangelism

This week, as we gather together to pray as God's people for the advance of God's kingdom, we look at the final verses of Paul's treatise on spiritual prayer as found in Ephesians 6:

"Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I  may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." (vv.18-20)

The Scriptures clearly teach us that God's purpose for His people, that is, His charter for His church, is that they make it their "business" (and "busyness") to be about making disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20) for the sake of His glory (Eph. 1:6,12, 14) in Christ (1:10). 

To guarantee this, the Father has put all things under the feet of His resurrected and ascended Son, who is given as Head over His church (1:21-22), that His greatness and fulness will fill all things in every way (1:23).

Furthermore, the risen and ascended King of kings generously doles out His gifts to His church, equipping her to accomplish the ministry entrusted to her, namely the building up and furtherance of Christ's body and reign to the ends of the earth (4:7-12, 16).

But nowhere does God promise us that just because this mission will be accomplished, that this mission will be easy or without opposition (Eph. 6:10-12). Yes, Jesus promised that He will inexorably build His church (Matt. 16:18). But in that very promise He tells us that the forces of Hell will be warring to impede and retard and resist the advance of Christ's reign to the ends of the earth.

In this great battle we have been enlisted as soldiers into (cf. 2 Tim. 2:3-4), it is not enough that we seek only stay alive; we have been divinely sent on a rescue mission. And thus, the armory Christ entrusts to us (6:10-18) is not only for the safety of the church, it is also (and especially) for the salvation of the lost. 

As Paul teaches in Ephesians, the sword of the Spirit (that is, the Word of God) is exceedingly powerful as the means by which the Spirit (6:17) will not only protect us, but will also save those whom we are called to reach out to (cf. 1:13).

However, Paul would have us remember that just as powerful - and just as necessary - for effective evangelism is the weapon that John Bunyan refers to as "All-Prayer." Simply put, the armor of God, including the sword of the Spirit in evangelism, is useless apart from prayer.

Paul knew this. And so he asks the believers in Ephesus to pray for their fellow soldiers doing evangelism, and to especially to pray for him as the apostle whom God had commissioned to reach the Gentiles with the saving gospel of Christ. 

As astounding as it may seem to us, Paul - like us - was often tempted to remain silent with the gospel. Struggling with the fear of man and the desire to be accepted, he knew that things would be far less uncomfortable for him if he just didn't talk so much about Jesus (remember, he was writing this letter from a prison cell, to which he was incarcerated for preaching the gospel). He knew he would not be mocked or rejected if he didn't harp so much on the exclusivity of the gospel. Or the universality of the depravity of mankind. Or the inability of sinners to merit salvation through good works. 

Since the gospel has always been - and will always be - offensive to sinners (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-31), we must be intentional to pray for each other when it comes to the effective and consistent witness and proclamation of the gospel to our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even enemies.

As we learned in our study of the book of Acts, for evangelism to be truly effective, our sovereign Triune God must sovereignly open the following:

1. Doors of opportunity to present the gospel
2. Our mouths to unashamedly proclaim the gospel
3. Our hearers' hearts to receive the gospel

Thankfully, we have the omnipotence of God Almighty on our side. None of these things, which are seemingly impossible obstacles to us, are obstacles to Him. And thus we need not fear any of them.

But we must remember that the God of ends is the God of means. And the means by which God opens doors and mouths and hearts is the faithful and fervent prayers of His people.

And so, brothers and sisters, let us pray for each other in this regard: let us pray for opportunities; let us pray for courage; and let us pray for conversions as we proclaim Christ's unsearchable riches to the ends of the earth (3:8).

Beloved, we are in a cosmic battle for the eternal souls of people. Let us never forget that, in the words of John Piper, "We will not know what prayer is for, until we know that life is war."

In Christ and for His glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,

pastor ryan

* It may be quite fruitful for us to be specific in our prayer requests. I think of a brother who sent a text to me on Monday asking for prayer for (the names of) two JW's he met, and who are coming back on Saturday. Knowing these details helps me to pray for open doors, open hearts, and open mouths. Share the names and circumstances of those whom God has placed in your life and upon your heart, that your fellow soldiers may pray Ephesians 6:19-20 for you.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, Pt. 2

As we meet again to pray corporately as a church this week, we return to Paul's words in Ephesians 6:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

 Today, we will focus v.18b, where Paul emphasizes the absolute necessity of "making supplication for all the saints." Simply put, spiritual warfare is a corporate endeavor. 

The first thing we note is the preface Paul attaches, namely the vital importance of "keeping alert with all perseverance" when it comes to praying for our fellow brothers and sisters who have been enlisted into this ferocious battle.

It would seem that the reason these words were inspired is because of our natural tendency to focus our prayers and supplications on ourselves and our own trials and circumstances. 

In the previous sentence, we are told we must be praying in the Spirit at "all" times, with "all" prayer and supplication. Certainly "all" times and "all kinds" of prayers* extends beyond our own lives and cares into the concentric circles of the lives of those around us, and even further into the lives of others in our congregation.

And so, "to this end", that is, praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in our midst, we must be on guard and intentional. Furthermore, we must cultivate perseverance in this important spiritual discipline of praying for others.

• What are some ways we can corporately and practically "keep alert" when it comes to praying for our fellow soldiers? 

Perhaps one of the best ways is simply to regularly attend and participate in the weekly corporate prayer meeting at our local church, where individualism is virtually impossible. 

Another great opportunity is to intentionally plan to gather with other Christians to pray with and for them. A great start is in making it a priority to be part of one of the community groups, where an integral part of 'community' is praying for one another. Of course this can play itself out in regular gatherings with other Christians throughout the week.

A great practice I and my family have sought to employ is to make sure that before our guests leave, we ask them how we can be praying for them....and then pray for them right then and there. 

• And so, when you get together with other Christians, make time to talk about how you can pray for each other. Just as importantly, make time to actually pray for one another (perhaps one of the greatest sins in cultural Christianity is the lie when we flippantly tell others, "I'm praying for you" when we're not or don't). 

Praying for others often requires being with others. How can others be accurately praying for me if they don't know how they can be praying for me? 

When we look at the various components of the Christian's 'complete' armor, we notice that there is not any armor for our backs that Paul lists. Perhaps that is why he emphasizes at the end of this section the vital necessity of being together, of 'having each other's back.' 

When the Romans would assemble their soldiers for war, their armor was designed ultimately to be used as a company. The 'interlocking' shield of the soldier was not only for his own protection, but was designed to protect his comrades on his right and his left as well. They were trained to work in unison to prevent the enemy from breaching their lines and forcing hand to hand combat, something which would drastically impair their odds of victory. As effective predators seek to isolate their prey from the herd, so Satan works diligently to keep Christians isolated from the church, and especially church prayer meetings.

Brothers and sisters, we actually need one another. We actually need to be with one another. And we actually need to be praying together** and for one another.

Let me encourage you all to make it a priority to come out to the weekly prayer meetings. Come, and let us know how we can be praying for you as your fellow-soldiers in Christ. Come, and pray for those around you. Come, join us as we pray for a different country and church every week.  You'll be surprised how often you find yourself praying for others during the week (conversely, you'll be surprised how rarely you pray for others you don't see regularly). 

I know it is costly to do so. But I would posit for your consideration just how costly it is to not do so. 

Grace Community, may the world see that we as Christ's people are a praying people!

In Christ, and for His great glory to the ends of the earth, through the church,
pastor ryan




* The Greek can also by translated this way ("all kinds" of prayers...). One kind of prayer might be for ourselves; another for their close associations; yet others for people such as Paul (v.19).

** Westerns often 'individualize' Ephesians 6. But all the verbs are plural, and so Paul has in view here a church praying these kinds of things together.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

This week, as we gather together for prayer, we will consider Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10-18:

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Tragically, when many Christians talk about "spiritual warfare," prayer is rarely in the conversation. 

Though it is true that Jesus Himself regularly rebuked and cast out demons (e.g. Mark 1:23-27, 34, 39, etc.), and that He gave authority to the twelve apostles (Mark 3:14-15*), we must be careful to not make the narrative sections of the Bible normative. 

Unfortunately, many well-intentioned but poorly-informed Christians read a passage like Mark 3:14-15 or Luke 9:1-3 and believe that we too have been commissioned by Christ with power and authority over all demons and diseases, even though there are zero commands for 'non-apostles' in the NT letters to go around rebuking, binding, and casting out demons.

Rather, we find ourselves reading things like, "Resist [the devil], firm in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9, my translation). Or here in Ephesians 6, the clearest passage in the NT letters, we are called to "put on" and "take up" the whole armor of God.

Rather than providing an exposition of each accoutrement of armor, it will suffice for us simply to sum up Paul's teaching by saying that we need to apply the gospel - in all of its glorious aspects - to our lives. 

In Ephesians 4:24, we "put on" the new man by having the Spirit renew our minds.** Here, we "put on" the gospel in and by "praying in the Spirit."***

In other words, just as we can't live the Christian life without the Spirit's power, neither can we do 'spiritual' warfare without the Spirit's presence.

But what does it mean to pray "in the Spirit"? It unlikely refers to praying in tongues. More likely, it has to do with praying "in the sphere" of the Spirit.*** That is, we pray in His neighborhood. And His neighborhood is simply the gospel of Christ. This fits the context here, as well as other passages such as 3:5-6, where the Spirit enables us to "get" the riches of the gospel that God has for us in Christ (cf. the "Spirit who reveals" in 1:17).

To be mindful of Christ and to be full of the gospel (cf. 5:18) is to be "in the Spirit."****

So let's never separate spiritual warfare from the Spirit, whose weapon to fight against Satan and his foes is "the Word of God." As we pray the gospel, we put a sword in His sovereign hands, which protects us from all of Satan and his deceitful schemes.

This is New Testament spiritual warfare. It's all about the gospel of Christ. And it's all about prayer. 

So let's pray for the Spirit to apply the gospel to our hearts (cf. 3:16-17) and minds (cf. 4:23), so that we might be equipped and empowered to "stand strong in this evil day."

Oh how we need to "get" the gospel. Let's pray that the Spirit would help us really get it. Otherwise we are easy pickings for the adversary of our souls.

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth,
pastor ryan



* Mark 3:14-15 - "And [Jesus] appointed twelve (whom He also named apostles) so that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons." (my translation)

** The ESV translation is a good literal translation, but seems to miss Paul's Pneumatology in Ephesians. The Spirit is central to the Christian life, from regeneration (2:5) to sealing (1:13-14). He maintains our unity (4:3), empowers our obedience (5:18), and makes us long for the day of redemption (4:30). In 4:24, He is the One who renews our mind, enlightening the eyes of our hearts to better know God and His ways (cf. 1:17-18). 

*** Unfortunately, the NIV translates the participle "praying" as if it were a new command or imperative ("And pray in the Spirit"). Though possible, it is more likely that this participle is the means by which the Christian puts on the whole armor of God enumerated by Paul in the previous verses ("Put on...take up...by praying...").

**** For Greek nerds, I take this the dative preposition "in" to be a dative of sphere.

***** The participle here can be the result. That is, when we saturate our services with the gospel, the congregation (the verb is plural) is "filled in/with the Spirit." This is Graham Cole's exegetical conclusion in his "He who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit." I take it as both/and. When we are filled with the Spirit, we sing and give thanks. But singing and giving thanks and having the gospel saturate our service provides a means of being filled collectively with the Spirit. 

Praying to be Filled with Christ's Love

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend  with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-19)

There are few prayers that are more sweepingly important than this one. This is because* it is the very thing Paul prays for immediately after telling us that God's eternal purpose to put His wisdom and glory on display is accomplished through the church (3:10-11; cf. 1:10).

The question is, "What kind of church displays God's wisdom and glory?" 

The answer is simply this: "a church that is filled with the love of Christ." Which is why Paul prays these words in Ephesians 3.

A couple of things to note, which will hopefully stoke fervent prayer for the Spirit to fill us with Christ's love:

(1) This love is expressed in unity, which is one of the main themes in Ephesians. The Father of v.14 is the Father of "all" His children in heaven and earth. All in Christ are in the same family. The gasoline that fuels its existence is Christ's love.

(2) That our confidence of God's pouring out His love by the Spirit is rooted in and according to "the riches of His glory." In other words, there is no shortage, for God's glory is inexhaustible.

(3) That the ultimate expression of the Spirit's power in the life of a Christian is "Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith." This is what a "Spirit-filled" Christian looks like, and is even more miraculous than so many of the signs and wonders many seek after.

(4) That we need the Spirit to strengthen us not merely as individuals, but as a church, to "co-comprehend" what is this immeasurable gift Christ has for those who ask.

(5) This love is not "learned" by study; rather, it is comprehended by the Spirit's revelation. Thus, this is something we must ask for (cf. 1:17; 3:5).

(6) To be filled with all the fullness of God is to be filled with the love of Christ. This is what a truly mature Christian and church looks like.

(7) It is through Spirit-filled - and thus love-of-Christ-filled - Christians that Christ is "filling" the world with His glory (cf. 1:23; 3:21).

As we are filled with the Spirit, and His first-fruit of love (cf. Gal. 5:25), we are enabled and empowered (cf. 1:19) to walk in a manner worthy of Christ's call (4:1-6:9; cf. 1:18).

This is the kind of church that brings the Father glory through Christ. So let us pray this prayer today, for we have access to the Father's throne of grace through our faith in Christ (3:12).

In Christ, and for His glory through His church,
pastor ryan


* Note the conjunction ("For this reason") in v.14, which links Paul's train of thought in this section to the previous section.

Praying to See our Riches in Christ

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having your eyes enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that in named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Last week, we saw the absolute necessity of having the Spirit of God "enlighten the eyes of our hearts" so that we might come to a greater realization of, and appreciation for, "the knowledge of God." That is, if we really want to know God better, we need to have our eyes increasingly opened by the Spirit; as this happens, our hearts - which God has created to be the center of our passions and volition, will pant after and live for God and His glory.

As the Spirit opens the eyes of the hearts of the Ephesian believers, Paul prays that they would "see" three things. As they do, their hearts, and thus subsequently their "walk,"* will be radically and dynamically transformed.

As we look at them, let us endeavor to pray for these very things for others in our church and spheres of influence.

First, we ought to pray that we might "know" what is the hope to which the Father has called us in Christ. Again, "know" means more than an intellectual 'fact' that we acquire and store up in our brain. We might liken the connotation here to a kind of assurance - a settled disposition of the heart.

• How differently would we live if we were absolutely and resolutely convinced and continually aware that for eternity of eternities we will forever abide in the very presence of Christ our King!!

The Good News of the gospel is not less than having our sins forgiven in Christ. But there is so much more to the gospel than just the glories of Christ's atonement!! The epistles** of the NT are absolutely saturated with this kind of forward-looking hope that all of God's saints will forever enjoy in His new heaven and new earth. 

• Pray that the age to come would be a reality in the hearts of your brothers and sisters at GCC. I guarantee that their lives will not be the same (e.g. think of how differently we will see our treasures on earth [cf. Matt. 6:19-20, 33]).

Second, and I believe closely related to the first, we are to pray that we as God's people might realize "what is the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints".*** 

In ancient cultures, inheritance was everything. One's future inheritance determined their earthly destiny. In a much greater way, teaches Paul, the believer's "knowledge" of the certainty of their inheritance - one of "glory" and thus true "riches" - ought to transform how they live here on earth as well. 

• Imagine two men are hired to a one-year contract on an assembly line making widgets. Imagine that to the first man, he is told at the end of the year he will receive the equivalent salary to one who made minimum wage. Then imagine the second man is promised that at the end of the year, he will be paid out ten million dollars. Then try to imagine how each will work that year. The "knowledge" of the second man's "glorious inheritance" that awaits him in the future will enable him to view - and thus carry out - his tedious, monotonous, and 'inglorious' work differently than the other man.****

Oh for the Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts to "see" that the inheritance the Lord has for us (literally "in us") is "glorious"! In fact, our inheritance is glory. Beloved, we will forever bask in the glory of Christ for ages of ages. No "riches" in this age can compare to this. But we need the eyes of our hearts to see it and to feel it.

• Pray for God to remind us that all God promises us in the future will be defined by glory (e.g. "glorified" joy in 1 Pet. 1:8).*****

Third, Paul prays that believers might see the great treasure they have now. The same Spirit that gives us hope for the future also grants us power for the present.

Despite what many wrongly believe, this 'power' is not granted to us to cast out demons or bind Satan, nor does it seem that the Spirit is given for the church to put on shows of "signs and wonders." Ultimately, in light of the theology of Ephesians, as well as the Great Commission of Jesus (cf. Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), it seems that the Spirit is especially given to God's people to accomplish God's mission, namely the building of Christ's church (1:22-23; 3:9-11; 4:11-16) in the face of demonic opposition (cf. 6:10-20). This happens both as the church preaches the unsearchable riches of Christ to others (cf. 3:7-9), and as she walks together in unity and obedience (4:1-6:9).

God has given His people the power to carry out His commission. But, like the man who lives like a beggar because he has forgotten the riches his father deposited into his bank account, we as Christians all too often live powerless and fruitless lives because we all too often forget that the very power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us who believe.******

• Pray that the Spirit would open our eyes to see this vast power at our disposal to live holy and evangelistically powerful lives.

As long as this study is, much (much!) more could have been written. For those who would like to study this prayer out more fully, I heartily recommend the following sermons preached by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Lord, in Your mercy visit Your people this week as we pray for Your blessing on us.

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,
pastor ryan


* This is a key theme in the second half of the letter, where chapters 4-6 flesh out and apply the doctrine Paul sets forth in chapters 1-3. Simply put, what we believe affects how we live.

** For example, read 1 Peter 1:3-12, and see how this "hope" transforms our "walk," as elucidated in the following verses. Or, see the classic chapter on eschatological hope in Romans 8, and how it shapes how we suffer in this life (cf. Rom. 5:3-5). In fact, the entire book of Revelation is meant to instill this hope of our eternal future into the hearts of God's suffering saints.

*** This is a literal translation of the original Greek.

**** This is the same line of argument Paul uses to motivate slaves to work "as to the Lord" in Colossians 3:22-25, "knowing" that from the Lord Himself, they will receive "the inheritance." Also, this illustration is borrowed from Timothy Keller's "Gospel for Life" video series.

***** The participle is in the perfect tense, meaning that the joy we experience now is defined by glory, but one day in the future, it will be fully realized and eternally enjoyed and celebrated.

****** The present participle could be rendered "to us as we are believing", hinting at the notion that this "power" of the Spirit is unleashed as we believe (cf. Rom. 1:16).

Praying to be Healed of Spiritual Myopia

This week as we gather together to pray together with and as God's people, we continue our study through Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having your eyes enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that in named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.

Last time, we noted that the gist of Paul's prayer for these believers is that the Spirit would "reveal" to them a greater and growing "knowledge of God."

Prerequisite to this, says Paul, is the necessity of "having the eyes of our hearts enlightened." 

Of course, at regeneration, this is exactly what the Spirit did to us and for us. Before this, we were spiritually blind (2 Cor. 4:4), and as Paul will say in the next chapter, spiritually dead in - and because of - our willful rebellions and sins against God (2:1). The "eyes of our hearts" were set on the things below, and thus we, with all of our "hearts," gladly followed the course of this fallen world; we willingly followed the god of this evil age; and thus we passionately pursued what the culture and commercials said we should. 

But when we were sovereignly "born again from above" by the Spirit, the "eyes" of our hearts were enlightened.* In Paul's words elsewhere, we were made a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17), which includes "seeing" people and things differently (5:16; cf. Col. 3:1-2).

However, the Greek employed by Paul also teaches us that as necessary as this initial 'conversion' of the 'eyes of our heart' is, we also need to have our eyes progressively enlightened by the Spirit if we are to know our God rightly and live in His world accordingly.

Simply put, we need more of the Spirit's "eyes" to see things as they truly are. The natural person - that is, the unregenerate, worldly person devoid of the Spirit of God - sees things with 'natural' eyes, that is, a carnal and worldly perspective (see esp. 1 Cor. 2:6-16). And, as Jesus says, our "eyes" - how we see things - determine our desires and passions and therefore what we spend our time looking at (Matt. 6:22-23).

Our hearts naturally seek after and fall in love with whatever we set our eyes on. And so Paul prays that God would enlighten our 'heartly' eyes and remove the glaucoma that muddies and distorts our perspective. We need the sun of the Spirit to burn away the darkness that veils us from seeing the world as God would have us, for how we use our time, our talents, or our treasure is always in relation to what we set the eyes of our hearts on. 

As Paul makes clear in the rest of the letter, believers need to see that the world that so allures their hearts is not their friend, but rather a fierce and ruthless foe that wants us to waste our lives here by focusing our eyes on things below (cf. Col. 3:1-4). The world (i.e. this fallen "age") is the primary tool Satan uses to blind the eyes of people's hearts from seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). He wants us to live as spiritual myopics; to live with a temporal focus; to live with such a short-sightedness that renders us no different from the world we are called to be set apart from (cf. Matt. 5:13-16).

And so we, like the believers in Ephesus, need "eyes" to see aright if we are to be of any earthly good in our short time here.

It is alleged that the famous American evangelist D.L. Moody once quipped that some believers could be so spiritually minded that they ended up being of no earthly good. According to Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1, nothing could be further from the truth! The only way we who are believers will be of any earthly use is to have our eyes progressively enlightened, and our hearts subsequently enflamed, by the beauty of God in the face of Jesus Christ as seen in the glorious gospel of grace. Only the Spirit of God can do this, and so let us ask Him to.

Holy Spirit, please, we beg You, open the eyes of our hearts! For the sake of Jesus and His church, and thus the glory of the Father, please open the eyes of our hearts! Like Elisha's servant**, open our eyes to see the world through Your eyes, for if we do not, we will not live any differently from the people we want You to draw to King Jesus.

Next week, we will look at the three concrete examples Paul lists of what it will look like for us to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened by the Spirit.

In Christ, and for the sake of His glory in the church,
pastor ryan



* The NET translates the perfect participle this way - that is, emphasizing more of the initial transformation of our heart, whereas other translations, like the NIV, emphasize more the ongoing transformation - enlightening - of our hearts to help us "see" things from God's perspective.

** See the account in 2 Kings 6, especially verse 17.

Praying That We Might Really Know God

As we gather together to pray together as a church, we are going to look at the first part of Paul's prayer for the Christians of Ephesus in the letter's first chapter (vv.15-23):

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having your eyes enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that in named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.

This truly is one of the greatest recorded prayers we have in Scripture, and if we unpacked all the glorious gems contained in this opulent mine, all the blogs in the world could not contain the glory therein. 

So we'll just touch on a few.

First, note what stimulates Paul's prayer(s) for the Ephesian believers: he prays for them simply because they are believers. As the letter unfolds, Paul tells us that all believers are integral parts of God's temple (2:21-22), and thus all play an integral part (1:22-23; cf, 4:16) in God's eternal purpose to sum up all things in the Son (cf. 1:9-10). Regardless of one's 'functional importance' in the church, all Christians have the Holy Spirit (1:13-14; 4:30) and represent on earth the Christ is who ruling from heaven. 

Of course, it is not wrong to naturally pray for those in our churches who are nearest and dearest to us. But this ought to encourage to be intentional in praying for those in our midst who might be easily overlooked or neglected. One example worth emulating is that of Mark Dever, who makes it a habit to systematically pray through the church's membership directory* throughout the year, so that none of the saints will be forgotten in prayer.

• There are many hurting Christians in our membership that are 'falling through the cracks.' Let us ask God to bring them to our remembrance, that we might pray prayers like Ephesians 1 for them.

Second, notice when and how Paul remembers them: "in [his] prayers." The present tense of the verb and plural nouns perhaps suggest that Paul indeed had regular times of prayer that he intentionally set apart to pray for the Christians in the various churches he had planted. 

• Let us pray for the discipline to intentionally set apart times of prayer where we pray not only for ourselves and our family and our close friends [as necessary and important as this is], but also for others in our midst who bear the badge of heaven as new creatures in Christ.

When Paul remembers these believers, he prays. He doesn't gossip about them. He doesn't remember their faults and follies. Nor does he simply 'move on.' No, when God brings them to his remembrance, he prays for them (cf. Phil. 1:3). What a glorious habit!

• Let us pray that God would give us such a 'heavenly perspective' and love for His people that we would immediately pray for them when they are brought to our minds by the Holy Spirit.

Third, and lastly, we see the content of His prayer: that God the Father would give them "the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."

Because the wisdom that comes from the revelatory Spirit is a gift, we must ask for it - not only for ourselves, but also for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Of all the things Paul could have prayed for - safety, riches, influence, giftings - Paul chooses rather to pray for what these Christians truly needed: a God-revealed wisdom that enables them to see the world from His perspective (cf. 2 Cor. 5:16), resulting in practical and intentional decisions that reflect this Spirit-wrought 'heavenly-mindedness', something that is diametrically opposed to the kind of mindset and lifestyle that is characterized amongst the 'sons of disobedience' (see 2:1-4). What this practically looks like is seen in chapters 4-6. 

• Let us then simply pray that God would grant us as a church this kind of "Spiritual wisdom and revelation" that produces a "growing knowledge" (NET) of our great God and Savior. For when a Christian truly knows God,** everything changes!!

In Christ, and for His glory in His church,

pastor ryan

* It is interesting that the believers in Ephesus did not keep their faith to themselves. When Paul says he "has heard of their faith," it likely means that one of his apostolic emissaries (e.g. Timothy, Titus, etc.) had come back with a report, revealing that these Christians were going public with the gospel (cf. Rom. 1:8). We also see that their faith in the Lord Jesus is inseparably coupled with their love towards the saints. "Towards" is a great translation of the preposition, and infers more than just a sentimentality here; rather, this love was demonstrated in tangible expressions of love that could be seen flowing from the source towards the recipient. Those who confess faith in Christ and submission to His lordship will also possess a genuine and concrete love towards those who belong to Him.

** The Greek word used for "knowledge" here, epignosis, often carries the connotation of an intimate knowledge. That is, this is more than just 'head knowledge.' As important as it is to devour and learn a systematic theology textbook, this is not the kind of 'knowledge' Paul is praying for. Rather, he is praying that the believers would so "know" God - which can only come about by the Spirit's "revelation" (and not just mere study) - and be transformed in their minds and hearts and wills and lives.

Remembering the Trinity in Prayer

This week as we gather together to pray, we consider perhaps Paul's most well-known and best-loved benediction, found in the final verse of his second letter to the Corinthian church:

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

To pray to the true and living God is to pray to the God who is triune.

As the Scriptures progressively unfold, YHWH, who is championed as "one" (e.g. Deut. 6:4), is most fully revealed in the New Testament as three distinct persons. The shadows that suggested a plurality in the Old Testament make way for the light of fullest revelation in the coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus reveals for us most fully not merely Himself, but also who the Father and Spirit are as well. In other words, we cannot know who the Triune God is unless we understand who God the Son is. And this seems to be Paul's great emphasis in His letters. As the apostle of Christ Jesus, he concomitantly shows us the eternal relationship between the Son and the Father and the Spirit.

Not surprisingly, then, Paul ends this at times awkward epistle with a benediction pleading for God's blessing upon His elect people.

As most commentators note, Paul is not trying to lay out a Trinitarian theology here. Paul simply assumes the Trinity as a fact. He is not defending the Trinity; he is delighting in it.

Moreover, Paul is not saying that grace alone is bestowed by Jesus, or love poured out solely by the Father, or the establishment of fellowship being the unique ministry of the Spirit. That is, the Son loves us just as much as the Father, and the Father bestows grace with the Son, and the poured out Spirit establishes fellowship in the Son. The Trinity, though a glorious mystery, is nevertheless a harmonious symphony.

He is, however, generalizing, and saying that grace flows to us from God through Christ, and that the Father is the orchestrator of sovereign love; and that the Spirit by and large takes the reins when it comes to establishing and strengthening fellowship within God's people.

And so, let us pray to this end:

• That the grace of redemption, purchased by Christ for us, might be more fully experienced and cherished and esteemed in our hearts and lives.
• That we might more deeply sense how great the Father's love for us is in Christ.
• That the Spirit might bind and knit us together more tightly in Christ.

This is the 'secret' of overcoming the Corinthians perennial problem of disunity (see 13:11). This triune blessing of the Triune God will bring about "restoration" in their congregation, allow them to "agree with one another," and ultimately enable them to "live in peace."

We are no less needy today. 

My encouragement is to memorize this glorious verse, as well as begin to regularly employ it in our arsenal when we come before the throne of grace in prayer.

In Christ, and for His glory in and through His church,

pastor ryan

Praying for the Realization of God's Sufficiency (i.e. Contentment)

As we gather this week to pray together, we look at Paul's famous words in 2 Corinthians 12:

"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Truly, God moves in mysterious ways. Especially when it comes to our sanctification. If we were on His throne, certainly we would not intentionally use the pains and hardships and trials that are so common to life to conform us into Christ's image. 

But like Paul - and the rest of humanity - we struggle with self-sufficiency. "Sufficiency" is a major theme in 2 Corinthians, and is used positively in some places, and negatively in others. Here, the Lord Jesus is dealing with the latter, namely a sinful, godless, proud self-sufficiency.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne once said, "God always gives us what we ask, or something better." This is precisely what is happening for Paul. Rather than granting Paul's urgent and repeated request to remove this "thorn in the flesh," Jesus grants Paul a theological epiphany: His grace is sufficient for him in his discomfort.

This is something we need to pray for. 

Often, when God doesn't answer our prayers for immediate deliverance or pain relief, we can become disillusioned and numb on the one hand, or angry and bitter on the other.

But, by prayer, we can let these trials have their perfect work. According to both James 1 and our passage above, this much desired fruit is called contentment. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul says that for the Christian this Spirit-wrought contentment is "great gain."

Therefore, we must pray for a greater trust in God, even (especially!) when His ways don't make sense to us (cf. Isa. 55:8-9). In the words of Spurgeon, "when we cannot trace His loving hand in the storm, we must by faith trust His loving heart."

Often, the greater miracle God performs in answer to our prayer is not the granting of the prayer itself, but the granting of patience and endurance and faith to bear and persevere through these painful God-ordained "messengers." Paul's last sentence is a miracle of grace: "For when I am weak, then I am strong [in Christ]."

In addition to Scripture, having a working knowledge of the great hymns of the faith can be a great help for hurting and trial-weary Christians. Two I heartily recommend, and personally return to and revisit myself, are "God Moves in a Mysterious Way", and "I Asked the Lord." 

As we gather, let us pray for grace to help in our time of need, knowing that in Christ, God will grant it to all His children who ask.

In Christ, and for His glory in His church,
pastor ryan

Thanking God in our Prayers for our Brothers and Sisters

This week, as we gather together to pray and praise our triune God, we look at Paul's first prayer in his first letter to the Corinthians:

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you - so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Anyone who has ever read either of Paul's Spirit-inspired letters to this church knows that they had their issues. To put it bluntly, this was one messed-up church!

Paul would have been totally justified in cutting straight to the point and admonishing these wayward Christians for all of there erring and rebellious ways.

But he doesn't.

Instead, he does something quite remarkable - something we ourselves must be careful not to miss.

The first matter of business Paul gets to in this letter is giving thanks to his God for this motley crew of justified sinners.

This is something that can become quite foreign to us if we are not intentional in our prayer lives in making thanksgiving to God for our brothers and sisters a priority.

This is not Paul seeking to puff them up or tickle their ears. We know that later on in this very letter, he says some pretty hard things to these same believers.

What Paul is doing is demonstrating his genuine love for them. Or, in the words of Sam Crabtree, his is exercising the spiritual gift of "practicing affirmation."

As any good coach or parent knows, constantly nit-picking the faults of others can lead to the discouragement and despair of the very people we are trying to 'help.' However, as we all know, any kind of genuine and legitimate affirmation of any kind (no matter how 'small') of progress or achievement pays off great dividends, and helps 'soften the blow' when those rebukes and disciplines are necessary.

As I write this, I ask myself, "When have I last spent time in prayer thanking God for the growth in grace of some fellow believer? When is the last time I've come alongside one of my joint-heirs in Christ and told them I see God at work in their life? When is the last time I've thanked my gracious God for saving those who God has placed in my life and fellowship?"

Thankfully, Scripture is a lamp to my feet and life - including my prayer life.

Brothers and sisters of GCC, let us pray that this kind of thankfulness to God for others would increasingly infuse our own prayers, as they seem to characteristically infuse Paul's (see Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, Philemon).

Some suggestions from our very text might include:

• The activity of God's grace at work in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ (both in conversion and sanctification).
• The evidence of God's grace in "enriching" our brethren with gospel speech and knowledge.
• God's abundant grace in bestowing various spiritual gifts (further spelled out in chapters 12 and 14).
• God's sustaining grace and faithfulness, which will hold us fast to the end, when we will stand guiltless before our Savior.
• God's electing grace in calling us individually and corporately into the fellowship of His Son.

As we follow Paul's own example, may a greater unity - something that seemed to be lacking in the Corinthian congregation - be fostered in our midst, to the glory of our glorious triune God.

In Christ, and for His church,

pastor ryan

Praying for God's Glory

As we gather to pray as a church, we consider Paul's final words in his letter to the believers in Rome:

Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith - to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Herein we once again see Paul's obsession with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He could have easily prayed, "May our only God be glorified. Amen."

But for Paul, God's glory is inseparable from the gospel and its saving power.

In other words, we can pray that God would be specifically glorified:

1. In the strengthening of His people through the gospel. 

• Let us pray that the gospel never becomes a mere cliche, or a 'thing' we refer to, both individually, and as a church. Let us pray for a greater faith in the gospel of Christ, which Paul says is God's means of delivering His people from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin.
• Let us pray that we study the gospel, so that it's not just a six letter word we throw around to prove our orthodoxy to others. May we know what it means to be justified by faith and adopted by Christ. May God help us understand what it truly means to be "in Christ", and to have peace with God and power through His Spirit. May we be humbled by the doctrines of election and predestination, as we would have never believed the gospel apart from God's sovereign grace.  

     2.  Through the preaching of Jesus Christ

• Pray for the preaching of the gospel on the Lord's Day as we gather together to sit under God's Word.
• Pray that we would "mutually encourage one another" (1:12) as we gossip the gospel to each other whenever we meet, whether on Sunday or during the week.
• Pray that we would be faithful to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ to our children, our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, as well as strangers who desperately need Christ.

     3.  By the salvation of God's elect around the world

• God's glory in salvation through the gospel is global. Romans is a missionary letter written by a missionary (it seems that the main purpose he wrote this letter is that he hoped to be sent by the believers in Rome to take the gospel of Christ to Spain).
• The gospel must be "made known to all nations." Let us pray that God would "speed it along readily" to those who have never heard.

     4.  Because of the obedience of those who believe

• Romans 1:5 and 16:26 form an inclusio ("bookends") to the letter, highlighting a major theme that tinctures and flavors the rest of the book: obedience.
• If faith in the gospel empowers obedience, let us pray for a greater faith in it, that God might be glorified greatly in our lives.

Though we could say much more, these four themes more than suffice as spurs to encourage Scripture-saturated prayer: gospel-strength, gospel-preaching, gospel-salvation, and gospel-obedience.

Let us pray that the result of these gospel fruits in our lives and in the life of our church would bring great glory to the only wise God. May our triune God alone get the glory that is due Him for His all-wise plan to save a people for Himself in Christ through the glorious gospel.

In Christ, and for His glory to the ends of the earth,

pastor ryan