Spiritual Affections: Growing in Gratitude and Hope Sermon Manuscript (obviously not proofread) By Tim Shorey November 8, 2105 In case you haven t noticed, people are different! There are those who are quiet and conservative and unemotional and then there are those who, well, are the opposite! There is the frozen chosen crowd and there is the emotion commotion crowd! There is the feeling-phobic crowd and there is the feelingfanatic crowd! I was raised in a conservative New England, milk-white culture where if there was one thing you did not show, it was emotion unless it was in cheering on the Red Sox or Patriots or Celtics or Bruins. But when it came to church to faith to worship emotions were suppressed and even feared! I was among the frozen chosen. I did not say Amen unless in a whisper. I did not clap my hands unless my team scored. I did NOT raise my hands unless I had a question. I did not cultivate emotions or celebrate faith. If I smiled in worship I was breaking loose and going a bit radical in faith! Now this wasn t because I had no joy or emotion or gratitude or love. It was just that it was an internal kind of thing. Now look at me! Years ago in his book, called, Keep in Step with the Spirit, J I Packer wrote about these different approaches to faith and worship and he made this comment Many churches today are orderly simply because they are asleep, and with someone fears that it is the sleep of death. It is no great thing to have order in a cemetery! Now my early years were not the sleep of death but when it came to affections and emotions I certainly was drowsy! Paul is decidedly not drowsy in Ephesians 1. In verses 3-13 he busts loose in a kind of human explosion of praise!! Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! and let all things be To the praise of his glorious grace! He is full of worship and wonder and praise and joy and gladness toward God! But in our text this morning, Ephesians 1:15-19, we see that this isn t just a joy and praise toward God; it is a joy and gratitude toward others too! Paul here in these verses refers to faith love thankfulness and hope all in four verses! These are spiritual affections. They are emotions and passions toward God and others that are real and vigorous and strongly felt! We sometimes talk about spiritual or religious affections, and by this are referring to the heart aspects of faith. Faith affects more than the mind it affects the heart the feelings the inner being and affections of the believer! Friends emotion is good; emotionalism is not. Feelings really do matter; but feelings unmotivated and uninformed and unguided by truth, are not healthy. But Paul models for us the kind of spiritual affections that are healthy and good. Affections that are the evidence of a new heart that loves God and loves people! So I m calling this message Spiritual Affections: Growing in Gratitude and Hope. And along these lines I d like to offer this summary statement: Love for others will see their faith, thank their God, and long for their hope. Paul loved these people dearly and in that love he saw their faith, thanked their God and longed (in prayer) for their hope! This was a prayer inspired by and aimed at the increase of spiritual affections in their souls. Love for 1
others will see their faith, thank their God, and long for their hope. I want us to see these things by looking at Paul s prayer under three headings: The catalyst for Paul s prayer The object of his prayer The focus of his prayer First, The catalyst for his prayers. In Ephesians 1:13-16 Paul says that he remembers them in his prayers FOR THIS REASON and BECAUSE he heard of their faith in Jesus and love for the church for the saints and this filled him with thanksgiving! Reports of the work of God in their souls and the fruits of grace in their lives had gotten to him and filled him with so much gratitude that he couldn t keep himself from praying with thanksgiving. And here as in almost all his letters, he makes sure to tell them that he is thankful for them and why. This is a principle for life brothers and sisters for parenting, for fellowship, for being good shepherd-pastors, AND for being good sheep. Love for others will see their faith and thank their God! Paul models for us the heart of God and the will of God for our lives! God wants us to be seeing grace in others and then verbalizing that grace to others, and to God. Brothers and sisters, let it be said of us that we are a thankful people and that that thankfulness focuses largely on what God is doing in each other s lives! Let us get so deep into fellowship so connected to our community groups and ministries that we will be able to see what God is doing in others. And in seeing the grace of God, let us be sure to then point it out to the ones in whom we see it and then give all glory to God! Let us be a people in whom gratitude is pronounced and affirmation is frequent and emphatic. Let us also be a people for whom criticism and fault-finding are rare and only done if essential for someone s good! Let us be those who really do live by the rule that for every one word of criticism or concern we raise, we will speak ten or 100 words of gratitude and commendation. This doesn t mean that we should never correct or rebuke. But it does mean that we should aim that most conversations include at least some encouragement, some gratitude, some thankfulness for what God is doing in each other. This is NOT flattery or empty praise; it is the art of seeing what God sees in others and celebrating it. Bryan Chappell writes to pastors but his words apply to all of us Learning the art of commendation is important for all Christian[s] who desire to form churches of spiritual support. It takes no special skill to see what is wrong with people, and to criticize them. But to see people robed in a righteousness not their own and to encourage them on this basis to be more of what they should be powerfully communicates the heart of Christ. The best [influencers] are those who develop the ability to see the good that is sprouting in people and water its growth with commendation, even when it is obvious (perhaps to everyone in the church) that more growth is needed. We provide spiritual support by commending others for the good we can see despite the growth that they still need. This is easy for me to do with you all! I don t know how many times per week I hear of evidences of grace in your lives and find myself thanking God for them! Some examples are: I got this letter in the mail recently from Women s Space. 2
Last week there were 50+ children in Promise Kingdom and 16 PK workers!! On Wednesday evening 15 guests heard about Jesus and why he had to die for our sins because no less than 15-18 of our Risen Hope folks gave up an evening and convenience to create a context for them to hear! To hold a Sunday morning meeting like this involves no less than 12-15 distinct ministry teams. We have seven community group leaders and wives who are serving many dozens of our members and friends. We have new guests here every week and one after another is here (they tell us) because a friend invited them. Week after week I hear of members of this church campus reaching out to unbelievers and engaging the world for the sake of finding those who need a Savior. I see love; I hear of prayer times. On and on it goes, and it all speaks of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints! Now let us follow the model of Paul as a pattern for love and life. Give yourself to this folks as a way of life. Paul observed people s faith and he observed their love even though they were not perfect or even close! So let us see beyond the mess beyond the imperfections beyond the sins beyond the clutter and confusion, and: Identify the image of God in each other Identify common grace and abilities in each other Identify the fruit of the Spirit in each other Identify the gifts of the Spirit in each other AND BE COMMENDING AND THANKFUL. Now notice, there s an interesting cause and effect sequence that goes on in this text. First Paul observes God s work in their lives. Second, this leads to joyful gratitude for that work. Third, this produces prayers of thanksgiving TO God FOR that work. And fourth, this produces prayer to God for MORE of that work in their lives!! There s a cool spiritual dynamic going on here my friends, that we d be blessed to learn. It s a pretty safe bet that we would do a whole lot more praying FOR folks if we took the time to notice the good going on in their lives and gave thanks FOR it. Noticing the good in others lives breeds thankfulness for that good---which leads to thanksgiving to God for that good AND THEN prayer that even MORE good would be done in them and for them. This will lead to a grateful, a happy, an affirming, and a praying life. Secondly, notice the Object of his prayers. In Ephesians 1:16 and 17 there is an interesting reference to the Trinity. Paul tells them of his prayer for them and speaks of a big desire: that the triune God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit-- would do something glorious in their lives. He prays to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Father s Beloved Son in whom we have all spiritual blessings), that he would give them more of the Holy Spirit of wisdom, revelation and knowledge of him! At the risk of wandering into the very deep end of the pool, let me at least mention that there is a very real Trinitarian emphasis in EPHESIANS. Trace it out through Ephesians 1:3, 13, Ephesians 2:18, Ephesians 2:21, 22, Ephesians 3:14-17, Ephesians 4:4-6, and Ephesians 5:18-20. Christians are Trinitarian. Those who deny the Trinity who deny the deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit deny the God of the Bible, the one true God of heaven and earth! Christians are those who worship and 3
pray to God the Father, through the Son, in the power and with the help of the Holy Spirit! Now with that in place let s move toward the FOCUS of his prayers. In Ephesians 1:16, 17, Paul wants them to know God better by the illuminating and enlightening work of the Holy Spirit within them. He then moves to specifics: that they (that YOU that WE) would know the hope we have, the inheritance we are and have, and the power we receive. O that this would be what we all desire for each other that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will by his Holy Spirit reveal to us: the hope we have, the inheritance we ARE and HAVE, and the power we receive. We ll combine the first two this week, and then consider the third next week. For today, we ll cover the hope we have along with the inheritance we ARE and HAVE. There is debate among Bible students as to whether the inheritance Paul mentions here is something God owns or God gives. It is very possible that it is saying that GOD has an inheritance a cherished treasure which is all the saints; all of us! This is to say that WE are God s inheritance the treasure he will enjoy forever and ever (which isn t a bad gig at all!)! God s treasured ones! OR Paul could be saying that God has an inheritance FOR us. So it could be saying that Paul wants us to know EITHER the inheritance that we ARE OR the inheritance that we HAVE. Both are true in Scripture and I cannot know for sure which one is which here. But I do know this: Paul is saying that something really GOOD awaits us and already IS ours. We ARE and we HAVE treasure in Christ from God! And Paul prays that their eyes would be opened and enlightened to KNOW what is the HOPE to which God had called them a hope that includes the riches of God s glorious inheritance in the saints. ALL that Jared spoke of last week. Paul wanted their faith to give birth to hope John Calvin helps us see the difference and the connection between these Faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when His truth shall be manifested; faith believes that He is our Father, hope anticipates that He will ever show Himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will sometime be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith. The hope of a glorious inheritance of heaven and a new earth and all that God is going to do through his crucified, risen and reigning Son, Jesus Christ! And the hope of being God s cherished people forever! He wants us to know the HOPE that we have. Friends, from this text we learn these two things: Christian hope is both a FACT that is true AND a feeling that we need! First, Paul speaks here of hope as a fact that is true. There is a hope to which we have been called, and it is rich and glorious and amazing and stupendous! One of the distinct blessings of being a Christian in a broken world is that the believer has HOPE. The word hope appears 4 times in Ephesians and 50+ times in the New Testament. By the way, this makes for a great Bible study. Look up all the times the word hope appears in the NT! If you do, this is what you will discover about CHRISTIAN HOPE: We can like Jesus DIE in HOPE (Acts 2:26) We can rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2; 12:12) 4
We gain hope through the Scriptures (Romans 15:4) The God of hope fills us with peace that we might abound in hope (Romans 15:13) Our hope is stored up in heaven (Colossians 1:5) Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) We can have endurance inspired by hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3) We do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) We have the hope of salvation (1 Thess. 5:8) God has given us everlasting comfort and good hope through grace (2 Thess 2:16) We live in hope of eternal life which God who never lies promised before the ages began (Titus 1:2) We look for that blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13) Because it is impossible for God to lie, we have fled for refuge and have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that is set before us (Hebrews 6:18) And according to God s great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3) For Paul and all New Testament writers, this HOPE roots in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1:18-23, the believer knows that Jesus the eternal Son of God though once dead now lives! This is the FACT of our HOPE! God is and God reigns and in the end he will be all-in-all. Dear church, let me tell you why this objective fact of HOPE means so much to me! Why does THIS man need hope? Maybe it s because I live in the same broken world as you do. Maybe it s because I look all around and I see the unhappiness of people living life without God. Maybe it s because the globe seems overrun with hatred and warfare and bigotry and distrust. Maybe it s because chaos and confusion seem to be spreading. Maybe it s because the wrong seems OFT so strong. Maybe it s because I have a 26 year long headache that won t go away. Maybe it s because I have children who don t fully know Jesus yet. Maybe Friends, here we must stand. There is hope real, risen hope in a Real Risen Savior! And knowing this is the difference between a life of strength and a life of despair. Christian hope stands in sharp and real contrast to those who do not believe. Look at Ephesians 2:11, 12. One of the casualties of unbelief is hopelessness. This is an inevitable consequence of thinking there is no God. To reject the existence of a real and personal and sovereign and reigning God is to abandon all hope! Philosophers and thinkers who deny God and are consistent with their own thinking all draw this conclusion: NO GOD means NO HOPE. It is no coincidence that there has been in our culture a pronounced increase of despair and hopelessness in the wake and train of our cultures pronounced denial of the existence of God and the Christian gospel. I think especially of our teens and twenty-somethings today. The teen who has tried everything there is to try, who aspires for something more, who wishes that there was something high something noble something that lasts. But we tell him, This is all there is. There is NO UP THERE no SUPER-NATURAL NO ETERNITY to hope for or live for. NO transcendent reality to which to aspire and toward which to run and in which to find transcendent meaning and joy. And o, by the way dear teen and twenty-something, You are an accident a chance combination of random molecules whose every action is a simple reaction to electronic impulses in the brain. We are nobodies going nowhere that mean nothing. Now go out there and be happy. And so they try: sex video games parties pot drugs booze concerts and by the time they hit their 5
late teens they ve tried it all and have hope for nothing better. We tell them that all that matters is matter and then we wonder WHY their SOULS their SPIRITS their inner selves feel a profound sense of hollowness! There is more; for there is God. NOT God as an add-on, NOT God as icing on the cake of life, NOT God as a little foam on your latte. But God as the center and substance of life! And his Son as Lord of all! We need to see the importance of hope but also to the futility and tragedy of false hope. I have seen false hope destroy lives. When people have believed that something was meant to be and going to be only to have it never be. O the heartache of it all! It leads to depression, desperation, and despair. Make sure your hope is sure! And how does the Christian know his or her hope is sure? Because it is a risen hope--rooted and grounded in the risen Savior. But Paul also sees HOPE as a feeling we need. Paul wants them to KNOW the hope to which they are called. This is NOT a head-knowledge KNOWING but an experiential KNOWING, a knowing of the heart and of the spirit and of the affections and emotions. By praying that they would KNOW the HOPE that they have, Paul is saying that while it is wonderful to HAVE a hope, it is even better to KNOW you have it. It is good to have a HOPE; it is even better to HOPE in that HOPE! So Christian friends, are you hoping in your hope!?! In conclusion, let texts like this guide your prayer life both for yourself and for others. Who and what are you focused on in your prayers? Yourself? Health? Wealth? There s nothing really wrong with having a laundry list of prayer requests before God, but this will change things for you. Pray these kinds of prayers! For your spouse, for your kids, for your grand-kids, for your pastors, [pastors] for your sheep, for the believer that you don t like or you can so very easily find fault with, for the one who is different. Consider God s grace in their life; yes, look for it! Be grateful for God s grace in their life. Thank God for it, and then let God s grace in their life inspire you to pray for more of God s grace in their life! And tell them of God s grace in their life. Pray these things, O God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, may your Spirit enlighten my wife, my husband, my son, my daughter, my brother and my sister and enable them to know, yes to know, the hope they have, the inheritance they are and have, and the power they possess!! Let us stir up our affections for Jesus and for others! We don t have to be passive about this. Stir them up. Think, notice, see, hear, thank, feel, pray. Amen. 6