_Prayer for Power_. Ephesians 1:15-20, "Wherefore I also, after I
heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what
is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his
power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power; which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."
The Church at Ephesus was in every way remarkable, but to this people
Paul wrote his most spiritual epistle, which in itself is a compliment
to them, for as in another instance it was not necessary for him to
write unto them as if they were carnal. With this people for the space
of two or three years he labored, as we find recorded in Acts the
nineteenth chapter and the tenth verse, "And this continued by the
space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word
of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." Acts 20:31, "Therefore
watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to
warn every one night and day with tears."
There were no divisions in this church as at Corinth; there were no
heresies as at Galatia, and no dissensions as at Philippi; and yet, for
all that, he prays most earnestly. The natural question for us to ask
is, just what is it for which he prays, and the question is easily
answered.
First: For advancement in knowledge; he asks God that the eyes of their
understanding might be enlightened. Under this general petition there
are three special requests.
(1) _That they might know the hope of their calling_. We have but to
study Paul's Epistles to realize that this calling involved:
A perfect vision, for one day it is Christ's promise and teaching that
they shall see him as he is. The hope of this would keep them faithful.
It involved, in the next place, a perfect likeness, for, seeing him as
he is, they would become like him, and the hope of this would keep them
clean.
It involved, in the third place, a perfect union, for when this hope of
their calling is fulfilled there is no possibility of anything coming
between the believer and Christ; so the fellowship must be perfect.
(2) Paul also requests that they may know the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints. That is very wonderful. He does not
say the riches of the saints in him--that could be easily understood;
but what an inspiration it is to know that he has glory in us, and that
the mere possession of poor, frail creatures like ourselves is to him a
perfect delight! We sometimes say that we could not get along without
Christ, but how inspiring it is to know that he could not and he would
not get along without us!
(3) The Apostle also prays that the church at Ephesus might know what
is the exceeding greatness of Christ's power towards us. It is not
simply a great power that is described but an exceedingly great power.
There is absolutely no limit to what he can accomplish in and through
us if we but yield ourselves unreservedly to him.
Second: Another question, may naturally come to us. Why have we not
this power of his? The answer is simply because the eyes of our
understanding have not been enlightened. We have been too much
self-centered and too closely wedded to the world. We need a stronger
vision. There are stars in the heavens to-day that have never yet been
seen, not because they do not exist but because there has been no glass
invented strong enough to take them in. Each new day brings a vision
of new heavenly bodies. We also need stronger faith, for if we have
become persuaded of the fact that he can do all things the victory is
won when we take this position.
V
_Prayer for Perseverance_. Philippians 1:9-11, "And this I pray, that
your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all
judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be
sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with
the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory
and praise of God." Paul has a tender affection for this Philippian
Church. Naturally he would wish for them only the best things, and the
burden of this prayer of his is,
First: That they might be able to persevere to the end, or rather to
the day of Christ. Let it not be forgotten that he who said, "Nothing
can separate us from the love of God," at the same time prays that
those who are the object of this love may be faithful in their
perseverance until time shall be no more. It is God's privilege to
preserve us, it is our privilege to persevere; and if we study the
words "preserve" and "persevere" we shall find that they are composed
of almost the same letters with only a slightly different arrangement.
We must be exceedingly careful in our walk and we must rely perfectly
upon Christ.
Second: Paul prays for the purity of these Philippians when he asks
that they may be sincere and without offence. I have been told that
the word "sincere" sometimes means sunlight; which leads me to say that
our conduct as Christians should be such as to bear the clearest light
of investigation. Possibly the use of this word grew out of the custom
of the people who stored away their goods in the darkest corners of the
bazaar where their defects could not be seen plainly. When the
purchase had been consummated they were brought out into the sunlight.
The word also means "wax." It is said that in the days of imperial
Rome when a sculptor came to a flaw in the marble he filled it with wax
to hide the defect, but when the hot days came and the wax was melted
the defect was seen plainly. Paul is desiring for these Philippians
that there may be none of this, but that their lives should commend
themselves both to God and to men.
Third: He desires that they may be filled with the fruits of
righteousness, not simply that they may produce fruit of one sort or
another. It is not enough simply to bear fruit. "Herein is my Father
glorified, that ye bear much fruit." This is the overflow experience
of the Christian and must be realized by us all.