Am I Famous for My Faith in Christ and My Love for Other Christians?
Ephesians 1:15-16 a
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to Ephesians 1:15. We will be learning from Ephesians 1:15-23 this morning. Ephesians is a very theologically dense letter. There are so many doctrinal truths discussed in the first couple of chapters of Ephesians, that it can almost seem like the personal life application types of things are hardly there. But that is not the way it really is at all. Something that we all need to understand is that all doctrine and theology has life application. All of it. Every jot and tittle is something God says we need, whether we think we do or not. It doesn't matter if you don't immediately realize how all these wonderful truths benefit you in knowledge. It doesn't matter if you don't immediately recognize how to practice them. What matters is that God is theological, and doctrinal, and He wants us, His children, to be theological and doctrinal. The practical reason why God wants us to study and learn theology and doctrine, is so that we will know God and His will, and so we will make God and His will known to others. The principle is that God determines what is relevant--not you.
The first couple of chapters of Ephesians enlighten us to all the great blessings we have as Christians. The whole letter is filled with treasure for knowing God and His will. It is up to each of us to utilize all the great blessings we have to make God and His will known to others. In doing so, God will see us as being relevant. We are responsible to be about the great mandate of 2 Timothy 2:15,
"15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
There is more precious practical knowledge for us to glean from the first couple of chapters of Ephesians, and so we are going to harvest some of that good stuff for our spiritual growth this morning as workmen who are not ashamed in accurately handling God's word. Please read our text with me, starting in verse 15,
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;" Ephesians 1:15-16
Prepare your hearts for the sacred preaching of God's word as we explore the question that we all need to ask ourselves;
Am I Famous for My Faith in Christ and My Love for Other Christians?
[prayer]
Paul has not stopped praying for the Christians of Ephesus and the surrounding area of Asia. All through this section, Paul explains to them the details of his lengthy prayer. What I want to bring to our attention are the details for the reason Paul is compelled to pray, and thank God for the Christians. The reason is because of something Paul has heard. Paul knows some facts about these people of Ephesus and the surrounding area. Paul knows, that in the grand scheme of things, what are the most important things to be famous for. He mentions much of it earlier--back in verse 13. He says there, that he had heard that these people believed after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of their salvation. Because Paul had heard this, he knows that they are sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise. They were saved to the praise of God's glory. Now, here Paul says there are two things he has heard about them. One is their faith in the Lord Jesus that he mentioned before, but the other thing that he has heard about these Christians is about their love for all the set apart ones. This morning, we are going to explore the question of;
What am I known for?
What am I famous for?
What are the things that make us famous to the people who not only know us personally, but who also find out about us from what others say about us?
Several years ago a study was conducted at a Christian seminary to analyze conditions in which seminary students would act. One presupposition that we might rightly expect to have concerning those seminary students, which we would expect of most students who study theology at a Christian seminary, is that they have faith in Christ. This presupposition is not far fetched. In the seminary I attended, one of the requirements for being able to be there was that you professed faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. A second presupposition that we may rightly expect from most students who study theology at seminary is that they manifest Christian love for one another according to their salvation. After all, this is Christ's great mandate to His people. It is also one of the great identification markers of true Christians. Christ said,
"By this all men will know that you are My students, if you have love for one another." John 13:35
Christian love is the great fame generator that reveals to people that you are a true student of Christ. John plainly states it as the great Christian mandate, saying,
"This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He [Christ] commanded us." 1 John 3:23
So, this is what we expect of the students who were part of the research being done at the seminary to analyze conditions in which seminary students would act. They believe in the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ, and they love one another. The study was fascinating, and was set up this way; two researchers asked seminary students to walk from one building on the campus over to another building to give a short speech. The students were told that they needed to choose from one of two subjects in which to give their speech. They were asked to choose to give a speech on either the parable of the good Samaritan that is found in Luke 10, or to give a speech on their motives for studying theology. If you'll remember, the good Samaritan is a character in Christ's parable. In case you don't know, Samaritans were people who were typically despised by Israelites. Samaritans were despised by Israelites, but ironically Samaritans worshipped Yahweh, and kept the Old Covenant Law like Israelites did. This is important because Christ was teaching Israelites on the day He told the parable of the good Samaritan. Christ's parable of the good Samaritan came about because an Israelite Lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test. The Lawyer, who apparently fancied himself to be an expert in God's Law, asked Jesus what he (the Lawyer) must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus explained that the Lawyer would live if he did certain things according to the Law of Moses that are summations of the great love mandate. In fact, the Lawyer knew these things; he even affirmed them back to Jesus, by answering Christ,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" Luke 10:27
Jesus tells the Lawyer, to do these love things, and he will live. But the lawyer wanted to justify himself, and so he asked Jesus an interesting question. The sinful, selfish mind is clever. We must be careful because even though we are saved, and we have the Holy Spirit, and we have the Word of God, and we have Biblical fellowship, we can still easily seek to justify ourselves. The flesh is not content with the doctrine and theology of simply loving one's neighbor. We want to question each circumstance, and each person that we are required to love. We want to justify ourselves by not loving certain people at certain times based upon our own convenience; or our own standards that we decide must be met by people before we will truly love them with more than words; but in both heart, and deed. In our sin, we make our love conditional. Dr. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, tells us that the Israelite Lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus a theological question from a carnal mind. He asked the question like so many of us do when we are angry at another brother or sister in Christ, or we are perturbed, or uncomfortable. He asked the question like so many of us do when we are self absorbed, and don't care to get involved with other people in God's church. He asked the question like so many of us do when we don't want to be longsuffering with a brother or sister in Christ that we don't like. The Lawyer asked the question like so many of us do, who are content to be immature spiritually. The Lawyer's selfish mind was clever. After all, Luke says that the Lawyer started the whole question to put Jesus to the test. But, God is more clever than we are, so Jesus turned the test back around onto the sinful Lawyer. Jesus asked the Lawyer the question that should be easy to answer, and it was. But that Lawyer was like so many people who claim to be God's covenant people. In a very real sense, he represents religiosity and all the outward trappings of being pious, religious, devout, and respectable. Yep, he was a theologian. He knew his theology 101, and so far, he got high marks on his ability to be doctrinally correct--at least according to knowing what to say. There are multitudes of people who claim to be Christians who get high marks on the theological correctness scale. They are walking catechisms. They know what to say. They have all this knowledge, but they also have that one question that reveals a heart-attitude that is immature, carnal, and in need of intense, humble, self denial that reflects the attitude of Christ Jesus that we are all urged to emulate,
"1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:1-5
Philippians 2:1-5 is some of the deepest monographs of doctrine and theology you will ever learn. It has to do with doctrine driving your actions. This is what it means to love your neighbor, which we who are in Christ, should learn and know as a first principle in the kindergarten of our first days of salvation. But that Lawyer was not doing it, and so in self justification for falling short of obeying God's commandment to love his neighbor, he asks,
"And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29
This is when Jesus tells the Israelite Lawyer the parable of the good Samaritan;
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'' Luke 10:30-35
This is an amazing parable in so many ways, But what we must understand is that this parable is a rebuke to the Israelite priests who represented God, in that they were supposed to be those who have faith in Yahweh. They are supposed to be famous for their faith. They have studied God's word. They are Bible thumpers.
Can you relate to what I'm saying?
They think they know that they are right, and you better line up with everything that they think is right, or else you just might not be their neighbor for very long. I've just identified one of the deadly diseases that has infected God's New Covenant church today. It is a cancer in the body. Folks, we need to check ourselves.
What are you famous for?
Huge numbers of brothers and sisters in Christ today claim to love their neighbor, but they fail at the most fundamental level. What I mean is that they fail to even recognize certain brothers and sisters as being their neighbors in the first place. It is sad, it is sick, and it is the sin of the Lawyer, the priest, and the Levite of Christ's parable. And at the time, those Israelites claimed to be God's true covenant people. The Levitical priests should have been famous for loving their Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength, and with all their mind. They should have been the ones who were famous for loving their neighbor as themselves. But in Christ's parable, it is not the Levitical priests that are moved with compassion on their neighbor, but rather it is one of the people they despise, and hate, who happens to be the one who has compassion on his neighbor. This is s graphic illustration, because the Israelite Lawyer probably had contempt for the Samaritan people like so many other Israelite scribes and Pharisees. So, when Jesus finishes the story, He asks the clever, sinful, priggish, Lawyer, who fancies himself as being doctrinally correct, and doctrinally justified in his actions,
"'36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?' 37 And he [the lawyer] said, 'The one who showed mercy toward him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do the same.'" Luke 10:36-37
The point is that it is up to you to prove to be a neighbor to your brothers and sisters in the body. It is not up to you to try and wrangle out of recognizing who your neighbor is according to self justification. Let me repeat that because it is so key to our study this morning;
It's up to you to prove to be a neighbor. It is not up to you to try and wrangle out of recognizing who your neighbor is according to self justification.
This brings us back to our study that was conducted at the seminary. The students there are told that they can choose to give a speech at the other building concerning this parable of the good Samaritan, or they can give a speech on their motives for studying theology. There are a lot of motives for studying theology folks. Some people study theology because it is interesting. Some people study theology because they want a degree. Some people study theology because they are forced to study it. Either their parents forced them to study it, or maybe they do so to be part of what the group is doing. We are studying doctrine and theology by going through Ephesians. Hopefully nobody here is doing it just because everyone else is doing it; and our real motive is that we are merely going along with the crowd. The proper reason for studying doctrine and theology is the practical reason. Remember the practical reason:
The practical reason for studying doctrine and theology is to know God and His will, and to make God and His will known to others.
We don't know what the seminary students thought about studying theology, but we do know something that the students didn't know at the time. You see, the researchers that were there had planted an actor along the route between the two buildings of the seminary grounds. The actor was slumped over. He was coughing in such a way as to express that he was at the point of needing emergency attention. The researchers had told half the students that they were late for their speaking appointment. They told the other half that they had more than enough time to prepare and get over to the other building. The interesting fact that came out of the study was that contrary to what we would probably expect, though the students were thinking about either the parable of the Good Samaritan or their motives for studying theology, (depending on which subject they chose) the content of the speech made no difference on how they behaved in respect to helping the student actor who was apparently in need.
What do you think it was that mattered the most?
What mattered the most, was whether students were in a hurry to get to the other building or not. Of those who were told that they were late, only 10 percent stopped to help out the student actor who was apparently in need of attention. Of those who were told that they had plenty of time, 60 percent stopped to help. The results of this test demonstrate many things to us. One thing it demonstrates is how much our self benefiting goals, self benefiting priorities, and self benefiting actions, can dictate to us how we will manifest love for our brothers and sisters. It shows us, that even though we are Christians, and even though we have the stuff of God in our minds that should dictate to us the right thing to do, it is so easy for us to lose site of the practical reality of what we should do. Further, it demonstrates to us what faith in Christ means in terms of being much more than just a confession. It gives us pause to wonder just how much our own faith dictates our actions when we have other goals, priorities, and self benefits on the forefront of importance in our lives. Listen, God wants us to be the ones who would rather be late because we stopped to express our faith in Christ and our love for others. That is the fame that we are looking for. God wants our theology to be correct theology, and God wants our correct theology to drive our actions. Paul says,
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,"
Let's asks ourselves the real questions:
Am I famous for my faith in Christ, where people generally know me as a servant of the King of kings?
Are you?
Okay, now ask yourself,
Am I famous for my love for other Christians?
Am I known for holding grudges, or am I known for holding up the body?
Am I known for helping out with the needs of my brothers and sisters?
Or,
Am I known for ducking out of sight when needs are expressed?
Am I known as truly caring for the people in my church that God in His providence has me fellowshipping with?
These might be some tough questions but we need to ask them of ourselves and we need to answer honestly.
Where is Christ in you, if nobody sees Him being manifest?
Now, I want us to notice that this fame is the only reason why Paul thanks God for sovereignly saving these people that He elected, and prays for these people. In other words, if Paul had not heard of these important things being true of the folks he was writing this letter to, then he would not have thanked God for doing the miracle in their hearts, and he would not have blessed them with unceasing prayer to know greater riches of Christ. He says,
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16 I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;" Ephesians 1:15-16
It is amazing what blessing the fame of our faith and love produces. But, what was Paul praying for these faithful loving Christians? His prayer that he prayed without ceasing was,
"17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him." Ephesians 1:17
This is really amazing, because what most Christians are having a difficult time with today, in living out their doctrine and theology, should be the fundamental thing we are focused upon doing. In other words, our faith, and our love should not be something that we have to have someone pray for us to receive. It is already there if we are saved. The fundamental faith and love that we have as babes in Christ is something that is different than the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him that Paul is talking about. The faith and love should already be there in a famous way. The other things are just icing on the cake. The first things should be the easy things. It should be the one theology that drives our actions no matter what. Everyone in your sphere of influence should know you for your faith in Christ, and your love for other Christians. Think about it for a moment. If you are not famous for your faith in Christ and your love for other Christians then you need to ask yourself why.
Why aren't you known for living out your basic kindergarten Christian theology?
Are you harboring sin in your heart?
One thing you might want to ask yourself is whether you are truly saved. Remember the line from the song we sang this morning?
"They will know we are Christians by our love."
This is basic theology, and God has given it to us to check ourselves by. Paul says,
"Now as to the love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;" 1 Thessalonians 4:9
John says,
"For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;" 1 John 3:11
Seriously, this is kindergarten Christianity, and so:
If you are not known for your faith in Christ, and your love for the saints when you are at work, or at school, and so forth; especially in the church, then how does anyone know you are saved?
If your spouse does not know you for your faith in Christ and your love for the saints, then how does your spouse know whether you are saved or not?
The same goes for your children, your teachers, your students, your neighbors, and anyone else; They will know we are Christians by our faith, the will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. They will know you are a true child of God by your faith, hope, and love.
Now listen to me; We are not perfect people, so there are times when you will make mistakes. There are times when we do not manifest the spiritual life that holds us and molds in Christ. I know that this is the way it is with me. I am not perfect in my actions all the time. Nobody is. There are things that our flesh, in self orientation, will nurture that eclipses the evidence of our faith in Christ, and diminishes our love for others. We know we are supposed to be lights in the world who demonstrate the glory of God's grace. We know that our fame should be that we are true Christians who live out biblical faith in Christ. We know that we should love that Christian brother, or the particular Christians sister, but sometimes something is there, and it is holding us back in what God expects from us. We know all the scriptures I have shared this morning, but many of us still have a problem. Our light is eclipsed even though our Lord says,
"You are the light of the world ... Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:14 and 16
Our love is broken, though we are commanded in Romans 12:10,
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;" Romans 12:10
God convicts us through His word, and so we know we are not famous for our faith in Christ and our love of Christ. To help us break out of being known for the wrong things, (which are the things that every lost person is typically known for) let me identify two walls that can be built in our lives that eclipse the fame of our faith. Along with that, I also want to identify some love eclipsers for us this morning as we finish up. I'm also going to explain what we need to do about it, so that our fame in God's eyes is well pleasing in His sight.
/1/
The first thing that will eclipse your light of shining forth your faith in Christ before men, is fear. Fear of what lost people will say about you or do to you will shut you down faster than anything else. The result is that instead of being known for your faith in Christ, you are known for the same meaningless things that they are known for. You see, when you fear people, part of your natural defense mechanism is to try not to be offensive, and in our flesh, we realize the best way to not be offensive is to be part of the crowd. They tell dirty jokes; we listen and we laugh. They steal something; we look the other way. They talk about their godless theories of life, and we sit there and listen to them as if they are saying something relevant. It is like the Proverb,
"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him." Proverbs 26:4
Fear of what people will think about you, or will do to you, will cause you to listen, act, and answer the foolish lost dying world according to all its self glorifying folly; and so, in fear, it is easy to become like them.
/2/
The second thing that will eclipse your light of shining forth your faith in Christ before men is not fear, but rather, lack of fear. It is the sin of lack of fear of God. I am speaking about the lack of fear of respect, awe, and realization that there is consequence for all of or our actions according to God's sovereign hand. This is also something that the world is already famous for, as Paul says of the unsaved in Romans 3:18,
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:18
But, we must remember that they are fools, lost in their folly, so they have no excuse. They are only acting according to their foolishness, as another Proverb states so well,
"The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
It is amazing, but somehow in our generation, Christians are starting to act as if they do not fear the Lord. The Lordship of Christ and the chastisement of God have been diminished to such a degree that huge numbers of Christians do not have reverential awe, fear and trembling before the mighty Creator of the universe. Those things may be diminished, but they are very real, and they do not go away. Christ is Lord, and He does chastise those whom He loves. But huge numbers of Christians do not act as if God has a sovereign hand in their lives in blessing them for their individual heart attitudes and actions, and they do not act as if God applies His biblical chastisement to His children to mold them. They lack the basic beginning of wisdom that will bring them the only fame that matters in their Lord's eyes and in the eyes of men. God says in His word,
"... those whom the Lord loves He chastises, and He scourges every son whom he receives 7 It is for chastisement that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not chastise?, ... 11 All chastisement for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Hebrews 12:6
It is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians, saying
"31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:31-32
This is wisdom for a lifetime when it comes to overcoming the fear of people that keeps holding us back from expressing our faith in Christ in the lost and dying world that is all around us. The point is that misplaced fear will misplace our priorities as God's children. These walls that we can build in our lives will eclipse the fame of our faith. By the same token, we can also allow love eclipsers to come into our lives. One of the biggest love eclipsers that we need to recognize and then repent from is prejudice. Now, when I say that, what is the first thing to come into most people's minds. Typically in our culture we quickly associate prejudice with race. Racial prejudice is a love eclipser, and God hates it, but we need to consider other areas that loom like a lamp shade that is just waiting there to block our Christian love.
(A)
One is doctrinal prejudice. This is actually one of the biggest love eclipsers in the church. Remember, God's Old Covenant priests, and Israelites generally hated the Samaritans. Racial prejudice was a big factor. But there were some theological differences that put more fuel on the sinful fire of hate filled spite. More often than not, doctrinal differences creep into the body of Christ and tear down people's love for one another. I'm talking about differences that are not essentials of the faith either; where we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ's full work alone. Paul says in Romans,
"Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." Romans 14:1
The sad thing about it, is that because it has to do with a difference of some non-essential doctrinal opinion, the people who decide to despise, neglect, and hold back manifestations of true Christian love with their fellow brothers and sisters, like the Israelite lawyer, think that they are justified in their unbiblical actions. But Paul says,
"22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. 24 The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth," 2 Timothy 2:22-25
When it comes to the arena of doctrines, it is absolutely amazing that there are brothers and sisters in Christ will do anything to fracture the bond of love that they are commanded to keep. They would rather sin and forsake the love of Christ, than do the clear doctrine that is in this passage.
(B)
Another area that prejudice manifests itself to break down our Christian love is in judging people because of their appearance. Christians can be some of the biggest bigots in the world, and its all based upon their own personal philosophies about how they think someone should dress, or talk, an so forth.
(C)
Differences in personalities is another area where brothers and sisters in Christ think that have a right to withhold manifesting the love of Christ.
None of these things are excuses. What God wants is for you to be famous for your faith in Christ, and for your love for other Christians. I urge you to seek the true fame and fortune that God provides. It is the fame and fortune of the riches of basic Christianity 101. Make it your ambition to rise above being a mediocre Christian. Seek out opportunities to demonstrate to others that you have faith in the Lord Jesus. Seek out opportunities to express genuine love, concern, and forgiveness for other Christians. These are the brand marks of Christianity--show them in reverence for your Lord. Your faith and love are things that people should immediately think about when they think about you. Whether they see it, or hear it; it should be the foundation of your fame. I encourage you to diminish yourself and your concerns about your own little world, and start giving yourself to others in love as a reflection of your faith in Christ. Don't be like that 90 % of the students in the seminary study, who, (though they had prepared for speaking about their motives for studying theology, or on the parable of the good Samaritan), were too absorbed in their own agendas to give themselves to expressing the foundational agenda of Christ. Don't walk down that dead end road of trying to be clever, and in your cleverness, you feed your sin nature by seeking to justify yourself. Remember; your sinful nature is not content with the theology of simply loving your neighbor. It wants to wrangle out of each circumstance, and each person that you are required to love. Check yourself on a daily, moment to moment basis. Check yourself this morning. Maybe you need to go back to the kindergarten files, and just dwell upon the big basics.
"... if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ... [be] of the same mind, [maintain] the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:1-5
Going to church is easy to do, and God mandates it from His word, but going to church does not mean you are instantly famous for your faith in the Lord, or your love for other Christians. You have got to go one step further and make a conscious effort to practice your faith, and practice true love. Your theology and doctrine ultimately drives your actions, and what you do in your everyday actions will demonstrate your theology to the world.
