STAND & COMFORT Newsletter
Email NEWSLETTER Vol 2, No 1
By Ed Tarkowski

January 1, 2002

Paul's Prayers And The Year 2002

In Ephesians 2, Paul writes that the Gentiles had "no hope, and [were] without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12), and that it was the Jews who had "the covenants of promise" (v. 12). But then he goes on to tell how Christ reconciled the two into one body, having "broken down the middle wall of partition between us" (Eph. 2:14-15). Now, the gospel was the means by which all could come to God through Christ and become members of the household of God. Natural birth is a type of what Paul is speaking of; a baby is born through blood and is born into a family. This is typical of being spiritually born through the shed blood of Christ into the family of God. Some today believe that Christians and Jews are to be united without the Jews believing the gospel. That's impossible. Though naturally born as Jews, they must also be spiritually born into God's household.

Some also believe that uniting all things spiritual without regard for what God has spelled out in His word is the only way to peace, as long as one believes in a "Jesus" of some sort or other. There are any number of these imaginative, deceptive beliefs or theories found in the world today. But Paul prayed that the Church would have

Eph 1:17 . . . the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

In contrast to the hope presented in God's call to the Church, many voices in the world also call for peace and unity. While the Church understands that the problem in the world is just plain old sin, the world does not have that understanding. Even if it did, it doesn't know how to rid itself of sin and its effects. The world's hope lies in the human family uniting in the effort to get rid of the evil, and then all will be good and peace will come. The hope is for a Golden Age on earth, which in the world's understanding of things, is an inheritance well worth working towards. We are familiar with the song, "We Are The World, We Are The Children" which points to a human family hoping for unity and peace through its power to deliver itself from evil.

All of this finds its source in the frustrations and imaginations and human effort of men apart from God's word. But to the Christian, God says that through the cross, we have been transferred from the household of humanity into the household of God. It is the same as saying we are in the world but not of it, not of its frustrations, imaginations and initiatives. It is inevitable that conflict has to eventually rise against the Christian, because the world calls the Christian to return to its household and its efforts while the Christian calls the world to repent of its sin and come into the household of God.

Paul places the gospel at the center of becoming a part of the household of God through Christ, while the world places anything it darn well pleases at the center of its call to unity. I believe that what Paul is aiming at in the above verses is this: that through wisdom and revelation, the Church would know not only that God brought them to the place of salvation through the power of Christ's crucifixion, but also that by the resurrection power of Christ, He has the undisputed power to bring the whole household of God into His presence in glory in Christ. Whether one is to be a part of that gathering at the end is determined by whether or not one's faith is based on Christ as presented in Scripture. Salvation is individual, but it places the believer into something - the household of God with Christ as its preeminent Head. Without this faith, one is excluded from that household. In spite of the controversy and bickering and arguments that water down the gospel of forebearing grace, its just that simple.

Paul told the Ephesians that his call was to make known the mystery of God to all, that through the wisdom of the cross, salvation was now available to both Jew and Gentile. Paul prayed that the Church would have a deep realization of not only God's wisdom, but the love radiating through that wisdom,

Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

This is a good prayer for the year 2002. As the ears are tempted to bend towards the many voices calling for the unity of the human family, the members of the household of faith need to "be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" because the clamoring of these other voices can drain the soul. We are called in these times to maintain our faith that Christ is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (v. 20). In 2001, we realized a little more that true Christianity is not considered a friend by the world, and in 2002, such Scripture should encourage us all to:

1. Hold fast to our faith within the household of God
2. Know who we are in Christ
3. Look to the Lord for increased strength to persevere
4. Realize more fully the preciousness of our hope
5. Realize more deeply how crucial is the sharing of the gospel

Paul also prayed a prayer in Colossians that shows the consistency in his hopes and desires in service to the Lord Jesus towards the Church:

Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Notice that wisdom must be complemented by spiritual understanding, which is what the world lacks. The world has a lot of wisdom and at times does pretty good for itself, but it lacks the ability to apply its wisdom according to the spiritual understanding that only God can give. It doesn't understand that its goal to bring final peace to the earth by the riddance of evil is unreachable. Why? Because it doesn't understand that the foundation of all evil is sin, and sin can only be dealt with through understanding and yielding oneself to the wisdom of God manifested in Christ crucified. God's will is for all men to accept Christ that none perish. His will is for each member of the world's household to repent of its sin and become members of His household. IF that were to happen with all men, humanity's household would disappear! But Scripture says that not all will love the truth so as to be saved, and so Paul prays that the Church would not "be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." God's household will be saved from God's wrath; it will be gathered, it will be glorified, it will reign on earth under Christ:

Col 1:10 . . . might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

These prayers of Paul would be good prayers for us to read and meditate on during the coming year because the world is not going to stop what it is doing. Neither is the apostate church. The Church's greatest protection is understanding Christ, God's plan in Christ and who it is in Christ, both individually and corporately. Why? Because it's inevitable that the world and the wandering Church will continue to wrongly redefine these at deeper levels in 2002. I believe some of us need to take time to refresh ourselves in these simple truths related in God's word, because through the confusion, divisions, "new" revelations, redefinitions, bickerings, additions to or subtractions from God's word, worldliness, "newly revealed" agendas - need I go on? - the SIMPLICITY of the Gospel of God has been watered-down, covered up, and redefined to the point that it does not seem to be SIMPLE anymore. The simplicity of it is this:

1. Christ came
2. Christ died
3. Christ rose
4. Christ sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who believe so God can gather a people for his coming kingdom
5. All who believe are of the household of God, to be matured by the Holy Spirit through the word
5. The members of God's household are to expose the lies and share the gospel so new members can do the same
6. God's household is to love the truth, and love the promise of His coming
7. Their expectancy is Christ's coming back to bring about a united people living in peace under His headship in God's then-manifested Kingdom

The world and apostate Christianity have perverted the simplicity of God's message to the world. I don't mean perverted it a little, I mean, they have P-E-R-V-E-R-T-E-D IT! They have complicated it! That is why Paul's prayers are such good examples of how I believe we should pray in 2002 so we:

1. Know Him better
2. Know who we are in Him and what is our hope and inheritance in Him
3. Know our hope and inheritance are fulfilled and given ONLY when He returns in glory and power

If we pray in this way, God will answer, for when we ask according to His will, we know he hears us and gives us our heart's desire.

I believe being refreshed in God's simple plan should be a priority this year, sharing it wherever we can, even in materials which expose the lies and deceits flooding the Church today. To sum it all up,

2 Cor 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

This newsletter will be sent out whenever I think there is something the body of Christ needs to consider, to build it up, to give it encouragement or comfort in hard times.

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