Progression to Worship and Praise
Jerry N Watts
Ephesians 3:14-21
In the first 13 verses of Ephesians 3, Paul attempts to clarify some things that he saw and wanted the Ephesians and, by extension, us, to see, know, and remember. He wanted to make sure that they (and us) knew who their MASTER was, what their MISSION was, that they understood the MYSTERY of the gospel, and embrace the MESSAGE of the gospel. For us to live the Christ-life, we need to have a grip on these truths. Why? Because we are 'AMBASSADORS' for the MASTER on His MISSION, sharing HIS MESSAGE and unveiling this MYSTERY that EVERYONE is welcome in the Kingdom.
Now, with this understanding, Paul's heart is to give Jesus, our Lord, Our Savior, God's Son, the second person in the Holy Trinity, praise, glory, honor, and adoration for who He is and What He's done for people. The question is, "How does He do this?" I see in our text a progression to Worship and Praise. I see 3 distinct steps in this progression.
1) His Progression - Why do I say a 'progression'? Because verse 14 begins, "For this reason" or "for this cause" or "This is why" or 'because of this'. He ties together all of that He just wrote, with moving toward Jesus. Too often, spiritually, we stop moving forward. We become kind of like John Mark did with Paul. We decide not to move forward. In Acts 13 after one episode of opposition (moderate by comparison of things to come), John Mark decided NO MORE - and went home, He stopped His personal progression toward Jesus. Sensing Paul's personality, he was, no doubt, highly frustrated with John Mark for quitting, and it took him a while to get over it. Paul was not one to back up, let up, or give up, and he obviously felt this was the example the Lord Jesus gave. He never got over what Jesus had done for him and He never allowed the nay-sayers to slow him up or make HIM quit. He just kept moving forward, progression toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, always careful t ...
Jerry N Watts
Ephesians 3:14-21
In the first 13 verses of Ephesians 3, Paul attempts to clarify some things that he saw and wanted the Ephesians and, by extension, us, to see, know, and remember. He wanted to make sure that they (and us) knew who their MASTER was, what their MISSION was, that they understood the MYSTERY of the gospel, and embrace the MESSAGE of the gospel. For us to live the Christ-life, we need to have a grip on these truths. Why? Because we are 'AMBASSADORS' for the MASTER on His MISSION, sharing HIS MESSAGE and unveiling this MYSTERY that EVERYONE is welcome in the Kingdom.
Now, with this understanding, Paul's heart is to give Jesus, our Lord, Our Savior, God's Son, the second person in the Holy Trinity, praise, glory, honor, and adoration for who He is and What He's done for people. The question is, "How does He do this?" I see in our text a progression to Worship and Praise. I see 3 distinct steps in this progression.
1) His Progression - Why do I say a 'progression'? Because verse 14 begins, "For this reason" or "for this cause" or "This is why" or 'because of this'. He ties together all of that He just wrote, with moving toward Jesus. Too often, spiritually, we stop moving forward. We become kind of like John Mark did with Paul. We decide not to move forward. In Acts 13 after one episode of opposition (moderate by comparison of things to come), John Mark decided NO MORE - and went home, He stopped His personal progression toward Jesus. Sensing Paul's personality, he was, no doubt, highly frustrated with John Mark for quitting, and it took him a while to get over it. Paul was not one to back up, let up, or give up, and he obviously felt this was the example the Lord Jesus gave. He never got over what Jesus had done for him and He never allowed the nay-sayers to slow him up or make HIM quit. He just kept moving forward, progression toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, always careful t ...
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