by A l Sanders
LOVE
O N E o f t h e most practical and helpful studies to be found in the Word of God is in prayers uttered by the Apostle Paul. Two outstand ing inspirational intercessions are found in the letter to the Ephesian church. The first is in Chapter one, verses 15 through 21, and the second in chapter three, verses 14 to 21. In the former we find, under the in spiration of the Holy Spirit, that Paul wrote, “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 pray ers.” The thing that this passage of •Scripture indicates to us is the fact there there were two distinctives which stood out as representative of this Ephesian church. The two char acteristics of the people were faith and love. Think, first of all, about being com mended for faith in the Lord Jesus. When trouble comes to you, do you move ahead in the power of God, or do you become frustrated, unhappy, miserable, and discontented like the people of the world? At the writing of this Epistle, it had been some years since the Apos tle Paul had visited Ephesus. Best estimates are anywhere from four to ten. The Ephesian church was well over a thousand air miles away from Rome. Transportation and communi cation were not easy. Yet word had spread to the Apostle, then incar cerated in a Roman prison, about the faith of these dear Christians. Here in verse 15, of Ephesians one, Paul says, “I heard of your faith.” This shows the perfect trust which the Ephesian Christians had placed in Jesus Christ. It had become a conver sation piece throughout the known 18
world. They were not ashamed to let it be known for whom they stood. Some years ago, a preacher decided on some desperate course of action. His people seemed to become disin terested in the things of Christ as well as the needs of others. He dressed up as a disheveled beggar and began going from house to house of members, asking for help. He was turned down consistently. They could not be bothered. They didn’t want to waste their time on such a hope less wretch. In one home to which he came the woman scolded, “Well, if you’d go to church, this would never have happened to you!” The preacher protested that he really was a religious man, but that hard times had come to him. The woman said, “Well, if you’re such a good Chris tian, I’ll test you out. How many commandments are there?” After a moment of silence, the disguised man of God responded quietly but con fidently, “Eleven!” Whereupon the woman became quite irate. She physi cally shoved him off her step, angrily shouting, “I knew right from the start that you were nothing but a fraud. I caught you in your own trap. There are only ten commandments. Now go away and don’t you ever come back again!” The next Sunday at church the preacher took as his text a very fa miliar portion of Scripture, John 13:34, from which we read, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” He reminded the audience that this conclusively proved that there are really eleven commandments for the Christian. The audience was horri fied to hear how cold and calloused they had become.
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