Bro. Matt’s Blog

One day not too long ago, I heard Mark Driscoll who pastors the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, noted how he received a phone call one day from a woman who was frantic. She told Mark, “My husband physically restrained me and I don’t think that is right. I need your help. Could you talk to him?” After getting some more details about the matter, he did feel compelled to go and talk to this husband.

He asked him, “Your wife called me and asked me to talk with you. Is she right? Did you physically restrain her?” “Yes, I did,” replied the husband. “Did she tell you why?” “Well, no, she didn’t.” “She grew upset at me, turned a glass of water over on my head, hit me with a pan, then she went for the steak knife. It was then that I physically restrained her hand to keep her from stabbing me.” It helps all of us a great deal to receive both sides on an issue.

If it is so crucial to have both sides of an issue presented in earthly relationships, how much more important it is to have both perspectives when it comes to spiritual matters?

Recently, I had a privilege of having a conversation via e-mail of a Reformed Baptist pastor in Trinidad and Tobago. After speaking through some pleasant introductory remarks, we began talking about this issue to which they hold so closely and that is of God’s work of salvation on the believer. Without going into the entire conversation, I remember one statement he made about what they believe. He said, “It is sad that so many do not want to hear about God’s side of salvation.”

Yet when we look at the Apostle Paul, he seems to have no trouble at all proclaiming God’s side of salvation. The Apostle Paul begins by lifting up praise and honor to God the Father . He begins, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3, ESV). Paul here reverts to his Jewish upbringing by pronouncing what is known as a berakah, which takes the form of “Blessed be God, who has …” followed by the reasons for this outburst of praise.[1] Again, Paul desires to show God’s side of salvation and to show us the blessings He has lavished upon the “saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1b, ESV).

(The text for this sermon in Ephesians 1:3-14. To listen to the rest of this sermon, click here. It will only be up until Saturday, October 7, so if you would like to download it now, just right click the link and click “Save Target As” (IE) or “Save Link As” (Firefox). Otherwise, you can simply e-mail us and we will e-mail you the sermon. You will need RealAudio to listen. To download a free version, log on to http://www.real.com.)

(Preached by Bro. Matthew Perry at the Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, on Sunday, September 10, 2006.)

[1] Peter T. O’Brien. The Letter To The Ephesians of The Pillar New Testament Commentary.