Series: Ephesians
Title: Prayer by the Faith of Christ
Text: Ephesians 3: 12
Date: December 2, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 3: 12: In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of him.
This is our first meeting of
2014. When the clock struck 12 Tuesday, one of the first things that crossed my
mind is how much we have to thank God for. Then I thought of who much we have to ask God
for.
True prayer is includes
thankfulness for what God has already done for us and total dependence upon God
to do for us in the present and in the future.
Prayer is essential as life
to the believer. The first and chief
evidence the Lord Jesus gave to Ananias that he had made the apostle Paul a new
creature was, “Behold, he prayeth.” It is the first act of a newborn baby to
cry. And the first act of a sinner converted is to cry out to our heavenly
Father. We never stop doing so the rest of our days in faith. If we are able, I expect the last thing we
will do in this life is to thank God and to express our total dependence upon
God to bring us home.
Our subject: Prayer by the Faith of Christ
Believers face all kinds of
trouble and temptation in this life. We live in a body of death, we live in a
sin-cursed world and Satan as roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may
devour.
The apostle Paul is
encouraging us to maintain our profession of faith unwaveringly—to not to faint
in persecution or in any other trouble.
He does not do so by telling us to muster up our strength. Instead he
gives this important reminder: of how we may approach God’s throne of grace.
Ephesians 3: 12: In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of him.
Proposition: Believer, as we face trials,
temptations, and difficulties none but Christ himself can make us hold fast our
profession in a good conscience until the day he brings us home to glory. Therefore, always remember that we may
approach the true and living God in prayer for grace and help in every time of
need only by the faithfulness of Christ.
Ephesians 3: 12: In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of him.
Divisions: 1) First, we are told in whom we come to
God in prayer—v12: In whom—in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2)
Secondly, we are told what we have to approach God when we come in Christ—v12: we have boldness and access with
confidence; 3) Thirdly, we are told how we approach God in prayer—v12: by the faith of him—by the faith
of Christ.
I. FIRST, IN WHOM DO WE COME TO GOD IN PRAYER?—v12: In whom—IN
CHRIST
In type, under the old
covenant there was no way to the mercy seat—to God’s presence—except through
the veil—there was no other way.
The New and Living Way
Likewise, under the new covenant
of grace, there is no other way for any to come into fellowship with God and be
accepted of God, except through the rent veil, but it is a new and living Way.
Our sin, our transgressions
against God and his law, the enmity of our hearts against God barred our
entrance into God’s presence But that veil has been split in two and entrance
consecrated for all God’s people by three things happening:
One, by Christ laying down
his life on the cross--Hebrews 10: 19:
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus, 20: By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
2
Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ, in his flesh, became
what barred the entrance of his people. In his flesh, he paid the price we owed
to justice. Now, justice says of those who come through faith in him that we
are righteous, accepted of God.
Two, we have this entrance,
by Christ rising from the dead to be the High Priest over the house of God—Hebrews 10: 21: And having an high priest
over the house of God; Christ our High Priest is the one who presents all
who come to God in him to the Father.
Three, we have this
entrance, by our conscience being sprinkled with his blood and our bodies washed
in pure water in the new birth by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews
10: 22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water. Not only did we have to be made righteous before the law, but also,
we have to be made holy inwardly to have this access. We cannot come to God
while dead in sins. It is only by being born again by Christ being formed in
our hearts. Only by his blood making us new creatures
Application: God has set forth Christ to be the
propitiation for sin—the Way—the access to God. Come this way—through faith in
Christ—and you may come freely and be accepted of God. Refuse to come this way,
and there remains between you and God a veil which forbids you entrance. Without
Christ we are without God; without Christ we are without hope. Christ said, “If ye believe not that I am he,
ye shall die in your sins.” It is only on terms of grace—through a living,
God-given faith in Christ—that we can come to God and expect to obtain the blessings
that we need. The way is open, but not
without the blood of Jesus. It would be to permit us to enter while unrighteous
and unholy to allow us to draw near to God without coming in Christ with his
blood by the new birth. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of
sin”; Likewise, without that blood making us righteous and holy there is no
access to God.
Illustration: Usually entrance to a place is valued by
the price one has to pay to enter. The higher
the price you paid for your ticket the more valuable the venue. Our entrance into God’s presence cost the Son
of God his precious blood, his life. Oh,
how precious is our entrance into God’s presence!
II. SECONDLY, HE TELLS US WHAT WE HAVE AS WE COME IN CHRIST—v12: In
whom we have boldness and access with confidence
Boldness
First notice, we have v12:
“boldness” to enter in. What does that mean? Presumptuously and recklessly? No.
Self-righteously! No. Demandingly! No. Holy
boldness does not mean that we come without the deepest reverence for holy God. Never forget we are coming to our Holy
Father; never forget we are coming to Holy, King Jesus; never forget we are
coming in the Holy Spirit. Boldness does
not mean that we come forgetting what I am and what Christ is to me. Our boldness to enter is not due to our holy and
righteous living but Christ’s; not from us walking consistently but by Christ;
not because we think we have subdued all our evil passions and overcome all sins
it is by the blood of Christ. He would
turn us away if we came like that. That
is how Pharisee’s come. The grounds for our boldness is, not what we are in
ourselves, but what the "great High Priest over the house of God" is
to us.
Boldness is to come freely,
with all out-spokeness, honestly bearing your heart to God. It is opposite of slavish fear; opposite of
being afraid that because he is so holy he will turn me away. It is coming with
liberty to speak to God our Father, even though you have sinned, even though
you have not walked honorably as you desire to walk. It is to come freely
knowing you have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous and
that he is the propitiation for your sins. It is to do so freely but humbly
Sometimes you hear folks pray
and they are so demanding toward God. To
speak to God in that way is pride and self-righteousness. When Abraham
was praying for Lot and for any righteous men in Sodom and Gomorrah he spoke
plainly, he came out with what he was asking for, but here was his spirit,
“Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes.”
Boldness in prayer is
consistent with humiliation; boldness comes freely, honestly but humbly and
reverently. It is to come with
submission in your hearts as the children of God to our loving Father in
heaven. As our Lord himself prayed, “Nevertheless, not as I will but as thou
wilt.”
To
come to God in prayer with boldness is to come believing that Christ has made
us one with him, robed us in his righteousness and made us partakers of the
divine nature. So he will receive us. He
has made us kings and priests unto God therefore all the privileges of those
offices came to us with the office itself. So we are welcome within the holy place. We are called to enter with no fear of being
intruders.
Illustration:
Walking into a friend’s house and walking into your own house. When we have
been given faith in Christ from then on we are at home with God our Father. Shall a child be afraid of his loving
Father’s presence? Shall a son draw near with slavish fear? Or shall a child be
afraid to ask help from his own Father who loves him? God’s children are always
welcome by the blood of our Lord Jesus. “Let
us therefore come boldly unto his throne of grace.
Access
He
says also that we have v12: Access. We may enter at all times, because the
veil is always open in Christ Jesus.
This was not the case under the old covenant. It was not the case when we were in our
unregenerate state, under the curse of Adam’s transgression.
Leviticus
16: 2: The Lord said until Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come
not at all times into the holy Place within the veil before the mercy-seat,
which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the
mercy seat.
But now, to you made one in
Christ, the Lord promises that we have access. You and I who believe have
access in Christ at all times. When your
faith is weak you have access; when you feel more like a child of hell than a child
of heaven you have access; when your sin brings you to the point of despair you
still have access; when you are grieving you have access. At all times you have access in Christ.
Always remember the
character of the one who gives us this access.
He delights to show mercy. (Mic 7: 18) He loves his own with an
everlasting love which changes not therefore we are not consumed. (Jer 31: 3;
Lam 3: 22; Mal 3: 6) He “upbraideth not” (Ja 1: 5) There will never be another separation
between God and his elect, redeemed by the Son and regenerated by the Holy
Spirit for “Who shall separate us from the love of God?” (Rom 8: 35-39) The devil himself can never divide us from
God now.
There is access between a
believer and his God; and there must be such free access forever, since Christ has
removed that which separated us, the veil is rent, the law satisfied, our sin
is put away. It is God Himself who laid
the sin of his elect on Christ, and who in Christ has put that sin away. God
did it, so none can change it! There is
not any believer, chosen of God before the foundation of the world, who can sin
more exceedingly than the power of Christ’s blood has purged us forever. None can exceed God’s willingness to forgive
us and help us for the sake of his darling Son. We have access at all times.
The throne of grace is always open to God’s children who come through faith in
Christ, by his merits not our own.
Confidence
Then he says we can come
with v12: “confidence.” Confidence is
the opposite of doubts and fears, and apprehensions. It is to come with
assurance in our consciences.
“We have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2: 13) When Christ brings us near, he makes us to
know that “truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 Jn 1: 3) So we can come to his throne of grace with
confidence. His blood should give us all the confidence we need. God said, ‘when I see the blood” not when he
sees us. (Ex 12: 13) So let us look to
the blood for assurance rather than to ourselves.
Also, to come with
confidence means we come perseveringly, confident that he will hear us and help
us. If, at first, God appears not to
answer, we can be sure we have asked amiss. (Ja 4: 3) But when he does not give us what we ask, he
is answering our prayer. But let us come
again, and again and again—with confidence—that he does hear us and that he
shall give us what is best for our eternal good and his glory. God sometimes
makes us wait to make us value it all the more when we do receive it.
Included in coming with confidence
is to come asking unreservedly with all sorts of petitions.
Illustration:
Sadly, we are prone to scold our children for asking us something that we deem
insignificant. If it was significant
enough for them to ask us then it is significant, at least in their estimation. Can you think of anything that little
childish sinners like us, could ask the omnipotent, all-knowing God that would
be worth him hearing us if he judged the importance of our petitions the way we
do our children?
To come confidently is to
come assured that whatever we ask—whatever is burdening our hearts—will be significant
to our heavenly Father whether it be great or small; whether it be an infirmity
that is crushing us to the ground or some simple obstacle that stands in our way. The scripture says, “Cast ALL your care upon
him, for he careth for you.” (1 Pet 5: 7) The only thing that will insult our
heavenly Father is not to ask at all. We
can have far more confidence in approaching God our Father than we can in
approaching even the most loving earthly father.
So
these three words—boldness, access, and confidence—tell us we are invited to
enter into God’s presence in Christ through prayer. God would never have invited
us to pray if he had not intended to hear and answer us. If he invites us, he
will not send us away empty.
III. THIRDLY, HOW DO WE HAVE ALL OF THIS—V12: BY THE FAITH OF HIM.
This speaks of Christ’s
faithfulness. When you read in the Kings James translation there is a
difference between “the faith of Christ” and “faith in Christ.” The “faith of Christ” refers to Christ’s
faithfulness; “faith in Christ” refers to our faith in Christ. You will find
that that distinction is removed in most modern translations. They make all to hinge on your faith in
Christ because that is not offensive to a man.
When you tell someone to read their bible you have to specify which
translation because many critical words which give all the glory to God are
removed or changed in modern translations.
Faith in Christ
Indeed we must be given
faith and believe on Christ to enter. Two things the high priest had to do
before he might enter the holies of holies was: one, he had to be sprinkled with
blood, and this every true believer has; for “our hearts are sprinkled from an
evil conscience.” The other was to have
their “bodies washed with pure water.” This every believer has received in the
spiritual cleansing of regeneration and by the water of the word. (Titus 3: 5) But how often we need our conscience purged
once again and we need our bodies washed once again to turn us from our vanity
and draw us to his throne of grace.
Faith of Christ
Thankfully, v12 speaks of “the
faith of Christ” which we, in our day, would call “Christ’s faithfulness.” It
includes the faithfulness of Christ in redeeming us by his blood, it includes
the faithfulness of Christ in sending the Holy Spirit to regenerate us by the
Holy Spirit, but particularly, it includes the faithfulness of Christ to make
us truly pray. It is by his faithfulness that he gives us boldness, access and
confidence to enter into the holiest through faith in Christ.
Be sure to get this: In
the heart of God, believers always have access to approach God through Jesus
Christ. But we, personally in our hearts, do not always have boldness and
confidence in our access to God.
Most times our approaching
is merely formal in the head but not in the heart. You may decide to get on your knees. Still, so often your heart feels dead as a
hammer. Most of the time, we use vain
repetitions and senseless words but say nothing from the heart.
To truly enter into Gods
presence is to come when Grace reigns in the heart by his faithfulness, when Grace
draws us in power by his faithfulness, when grace flows out of the fullness of
Jesus Christ like light and heat from the sun by his faithfulness.
Because we dwell in a body
of death, it takes the faithfulness of Christ ever moving upon us to make us
feel the depths of our sins then to behold the forgiveness of those very sins; to
feel our lukewarmness then feel the power of his heat in our souls. Oh, how different it is to pray by his
faithfulness working in our hearts than it is to crank out a few senseless,
vain words while our hearts are really set on this earth. To feel our inward man surrounded with
infirmities and a thousand temptations then to see Christ present to deliver us
makes all the difference in the world.
It is only when the Spirit
of Christ “takes the things of
Christ and shews them to us”
effectually (John 16:14.)—by Christ’s faithfulness—that we have true
boldness and confidence and access in him.
The Holy Spirit says through the apostle Paul, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17.)
Romans 8: 26: For the Spirit
helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought;
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. 27: And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God.
This is so important
to remember, it is Christ through the Holy Comforter who moved Paul to write
our text, as well Romans 8: 26-27, 2 Corinthians 3: 17, Hebrews 4: 16 and other
scriptures which remind us we have access to his throne of grace. In those scriptures, Christ Jesus, together
with the Holy Spirit, reminds us that he faithfully promises to move upon us
and accompany us to his own throne of grace. How does he do that? Christ does it by his faithfulness.
When we are cast down or
turned aside by our flesh, by the faith of Christ, he speaks by his divine
Voice into our hearts, wraps his divine arm around us and turns us, walking
beside us, saying, “Let US therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace
to help in time of need.”
When you and I would never
otherwise approach him in spirit and in truth, by the faith of Christ, our
merciful Savior comes to us in the power of the Holy Spirit, drawing us to walk
together with him to his very footstool by speaking effectually into our
hearts, “Let US come before his
presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” (Ps
95: 2)
He promises “I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He promises, “As thy days, so shall thy strength
be.” And Christ is that Strength. (Heb 13: 5; Deut 33: 25; Ex 13: 3; 15:
2) By the faith of Christ he himself by
the Holy Spirit guides us unto his holy habitation. (Ex 15: 13)
Therefore, Christ by his
faithfulness Christ not only presents our petitions to the Father, but also by
the faith of Christ, he draws us and accompanies us to his own throne to ask of
him.
Then how gracious he is to say
to us, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
(Jn 16: 23) And by the faith of Christ,
once he has drawn us to ask, it is Christ himself who gives that which we ask
according to God’s will. (Jn 14: 3) Do
you see that we have no room to boast even of our prayers to God?
Oh, brethren be thankful for
“the faith of him.” Jesus is the
Author and the Finisher of faith. And by the faith of him, he sustains our
pitiful faith the whole way. "He
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ" (Phil.1:6). By the faith of Christ, it is Christ the Way who
draws, leads, guides, bears us and brings us near.
Then by his faithfulness, Christ
represents us before God, so that we come to God through Him who is our covenant
Head, our Representative and our Forerunner before the throne of the Most High.
Our access, our boldness, and our confidence is by the faith of the Faithful
One, Jesus Christ our Righteousness and Sanctification.
Oh, speak little of your
faithfulness, but speak much of the “faith of him.” Let us never try to pray without
Christ; never try to sing without Christ; or never try to preach without
Christ. Let us perform no holy function, nor attempt to have fellowship with
God in any way, except through Christ. Prayer
is by the faith of Christ. To God be the
glory even in our prayer!
Amen!