Life lessons from Paul
Ephesians 3:14-21
Good morning again and welcome to those who are listening online.
If you would turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 3, we will be looking at the prayer that the apostle Paul offers up for the church at Ephesus and for us as believers today.
We can always complain about what is wrong with the world, wrong with the people, the dysfunctional family that God has put us into.
It is easier to blame others than it is to change.
As we come into this New Year I would like us to be looking internally instead of externally when we want to see change.
Change begins with each of us.
The world has its problems and a lot of the world we will never be able to change or have opportunity to change, but we will always have a chance to change what is going on inside of us.
Apostle Paul in the text is praying for the church at Ephesus and us as believers.
He is directing them to God the Father and letting us see His great love for us.
He points us into this messed up world and tells us to go make a difference.
I understand the fact that as believers we have the Holy Spirit of Almighty God dwelling inside of us and that this building is not the church but each one who claims the name of Jesus is the church.
I have heard some say that we should not say that this is God’s house because he dwells in us.
I see in scripture that the church is also a place where God’s people should come together and be energized to reach a world that is slowly dying and decaying.
We come into this building, the house to be united and then going out to reach this world for Jesus.
It appears to me that when we do it right, we will see His blessing-
Jesus says to His followers, those who are believers, to go into the world and preach the gospel, and go to the highways and byways which is everywhere we get a chance to go.
Jesus says to go, but not many are saying to those we come in contact with to come…
Believers should be going out into the world and say come into a right relationship.
I understand that when the word of God is preached that there is conviction and transformation.
When the Lord gets a hold of lives, they will be transformed and they will also be sharing the word of God with others.
It is a natural flow- you and I going…reaching ones that we were sent to reach and then they come into the body of Christ and they themselves are taught to model the life of Christ.
It is natural after we have that kind of relationship with the Lord that we would then be in the house of the Lord and get our marching orders, our encouragement, our gained strength from the word of God to go into the world and continue to reach others.
Today, the church universal in the United States is in decline because we have not lived out our faith.
In other countries where there is persecution of the believers of Christ, we are seeing great growth even with the persecution.
That is not natural but is super-natural.
It is natural in this day of unnatural to think that if we open up these church doors and hold the door open that people would just show up.
Occasionally someone might do that but usually you don’t go somewhere until someone gives you a review, you tasted of the food of that restaurant, or you know someone who has come and recommended it to you.
Apostle Paul is speaking to us to be in a right relationship so that we might be strengthened and given our direction about the people that God the Father will bring into our lives and we are to show them the great love that God has for us through His wonderful savior and Son Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 3:14-21Read from the Bible clearly
Apostle Paul earnest prayer for you and I - he begins “for this cause”- we have to go back to chapter 1of the letter to letter to the Ephesians to see that cause and it is the church in a messed up and chaotic world and us making a difference to show the world the great love of the Father through Jesus.
“I bow my knees” ( I kneel ) - which means he is prostrating himself before the Lord.
Jews do a lot of praying standing up with palms up- the look you see when they are praying at the wailing wall.
Apostle points out that to be a father in this world is what God created between a man and a women- paternal, you can take a test to see if you are the paternal father of a child-
Paul shows us it is more than that with our heavenly Father- it is a supernatural relationship with Him.
You remember , much of the Old Testament was a Holy God that was not approachable-
Only once a year, a high priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies, go into God’s presence and atone for the sins of mankind (covering). If that priest did not do everything correctly, he would be killed and someone else would drag his body out.
BUT BECAUSE OF JESUS- WE HAVE ACCESS TO A HOLY GOD THAT DESIRES TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH AND EVERYONE OF US.
The center core of Christianity is an approachable God that has made a way for us to be in a right relationship with a holy and righteous God.
Barclay Commentary
God the Father is God for all- no individual, no church, no denomination, no country, no nation has exclusive procession of God
That is the mistake that the Jews made-Jesus opened up that door of opportunity (end quote)
We have a debt we cannot pay back but it is still a debt- we are to live our lives with thanksgiving and praise for what Jesus has done for us.
We cannot forget that Jesus wants to see a transformed life when we come to Him.
He died for all but all will not love Him and accept what He has done for them.
My goal is to live each day to make a difference. I don’t think we have to go overseas to be on the mission field for the Lord. We were not meant to live isolated and afraid. You can’t fix all the world’s problem but you can make a difference in someone’s life.
Galatians 6:9
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
The next thing to see in this prayer is Paul praying for God’s people to experience His strength.
(16) “I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”
Out of the Lord’s abundant resources, that He would give you power through His Holy Spirit in your inner being.
That power comes to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
It comes in abundance by faith.
The people of that time would understand what Paul was saying……..
The inner man was three things
Reason
Conscience
Will
Reason-
“Explanation for a cause of action”
That through Jesus Christ God’s people would make right decisions on the things of God.
That our minds would be brought under the captivity of Christ.
That we as believers would submit ourselves to Him.
Proverbs 14:7-97
“Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips. 8 The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. 9 Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.”
A fool is someone who refuses to listen to wisdom or learn from discipline.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
Things the Bible Says about Fools
A fool starts fights. (Proverbs 18:6 )
A fool is a hot head. (Proverbs 12:16 )
A fool believes everything he reads. (Proverbs 14:15 )
A fool loves to talk, but hates to listen. (Proverbs 18:2 )
A fool is fiercely independent. ...
A fool makes light of sin. ...
Conscience
What is a person's conscience?
The concept of “conscience", as commonly used in its moral sense, is the inherent ability of every healthy human being to perceive what is right and what is wrong and, on the strength of this perception, to control, monitor, evaluate and execute their actions
The conscience is a wonderful gift from God. He has generously placed His standards of right and wrong in the mind of every person. He's done this to lead us into the best life possible. Without a conscience, we'd have no ability to function in community.
There are some things we are asking god for answers and we know the answer- from His word, our spirit is bearing witness to His spirit and we have an internal knowledge of what we should do and we choose to ignore it.
Will
We may know what the right thing is to do but we struggle to do the right thing- grant us Jesus the ability with your help that your will becomes our will and your strength becomes our strength because you are working in us and through us.
Barclay says that the inner being that Paul is talking about is reason, the conscience, our will. The strengthening of the inner being comes when we let Christ take permanent residency in us.
The secrecy on strength is the presence of Christ within our lives.
He will never force His way into our lives. He has to be invited.
The infinite love of Christ
Paul prays for us to know the breadth, depth, length and height of the love of Christ.
You want to know the vastness of His love- look at the universe with skyless limits, and unlimited power and awesomeness – he tells us that Christ love is beyond knowledge.
(19) “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”
You could never be close enough to God and you will never be turned away from Him- He loves us that much!
Paul never knew the information available to us concerning the things of God, the vastness of His power and beauty. The unlimited space and planets and inexhaustible riches of His presence because of the power of the Holy Spirit working and dwelling in us!
Paul comes back to the thought of the letter to how can we experience and enjoy that love? In His presence and living and loving each other.
John Wesley said “No man, ever went to heaven alone”
The church is not perfect- it is made up of people- but he goes on to say- “ in the fellowship of the church we find the love of God”
Close
As I wind this up
(20) “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”
Paul reminds us that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is the same power working in our lives!
He offers us praise to the wonderful God that is willing to share that power in the lives of His people
Paul tells us that Jesus is the one who is able to do superabundantly above all we asking or imagining- that is not good grammar but it is good stuff!
God’s power is beyond measure
His power is at work in us and his church!
A.W. Tozer,
"God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves." This power enables us to do the impossible, to achieve the unachievable, to reach the unreachable. It's a power that inspires us, motivates us, and drives us to seek more of God.
One preacher says it like this-
He is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. He is able to turn our trials into triumphs, our tests into testimonies, and our mess into a message. He is able to take our broken pieces and make them into a beautiful masterpiece. He is able to do all this and so much more, because His love for us is limitless.
