Ephesians 1:15-23: The Spirit of Promise [1080p]

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The "love, joy and peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, etc.," which mark the true Spirit of promise in Christian hearts are here considered to be one in kind with the joys of the redeemed in heaven. The Christian life, faithfully lived, is itself the beginning of the heavenly adventure. Verse 15 begins a prayer Paul penned on behalf of his addressees, running through the end of Ephesians. Paul did not cease to give thanks for his converts. The constant, never-failing supplications of Paul for the beloved in Christ cannot fail to impress any thoughtful person. Paul never forgot to pray for others, and thanksgiving was a prominent, invariable element in all of Paul's prayers that have come down to us. Whatever the circumstances, he always found something to be thankful for. The apostle did not pray that God would give to all the Ephesians the knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, by an immediate revelation made to themselves; but that he would enable them to understand the revelation of these doctrines which was made to the apostles, and which they preached to the world. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus Christ spoke of "all authority" in heaven and upon earth having been given unto him; and exactly the same teaching is here. It is not merely the fact of Christ's universal, eternal power which Paul affirmed here; the significant thing is that he is the head of that community of men and women on earth called "the church" who are his body, his spiritual body, having an intimate and eternal connection with the all-powerful One who is actually the "head" of that spiritual body.