OPEN YOUR BIBLES to Matthew 19 and Ephesians 3
1. Some things just seem impossible: I mean way out there!
a. We look at it. We measure it up. We Estimate…
b. Yup… that’s IMPOSSIBLE alright. Not gonna happen!
c. Like the Broncos winning another Super Bowl! Just kidding.
2. According to Webster, an ‘impossibility’ is defined as…
“incapable of being or incapable of occurring”
It would be like someone coming up to me after service and saying:
Ed, I need your help. OH? Sure what can I do. I’m ready to help!
Well, I need you to build me a bookcase. – A bookcase?
Yes, I want it made out of Pine and have 3 shelves, and have this trim, and this stain, and I need it in a week.
Well friend… that’s IMPOSSIBLE. Ed doesn’t do bookcases. As a matter fact, Ed only breaks things, he doesn’t make them!
You need to talk to Marie… she knows what she’s doing!
APP: I’m sure that many of you feel that way spiritually…
· You read your Bible… You come to church… you’re eager to grow
· BUT there’s that mental and practical roadblock…
· What you’re asking God is impossible…
· What you’re looking for in my life… oh so difficult.
· That love, that forgiveness, that humility… seems so far away!
· You’re talking to the wrong person… I only break things…
BUT CHRISTIANS… we know that ALL IS NOT LOST…
· That through a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ…
· Those changes? Possible. That situation? Possible!
· In Matthew’s gospel we find Jesus talking to a Rich Young guy.
· Automatically 2 things that shouldn’t go together, a kid with a lot of money!
· HE wants eternal life… but he wants his money too.
· But he walks away from Jesus sorrowful, grieved…
· “I want my money, more than I want Jesus”
· Read… Matthew 19:23ff
SO… how do we get there from here?
· How do we move from the impossible to possible?
· May I suggest a simple solution, an easy answer?
· PRAYER! PRAYER is the answer, the key that unlocks the spiritual doors of walking in spiritual power.
NOW we turn to PRISONER Paul. Locked up, chained in…
· BUT bummed out? NO Way…
· He’s encouraged and decides to write a few letters to share his encouragement and excitement with other churches…
Where’s his focus? Where’s his mind? Where’s his hope?
· On Jesus Christ!
· For the 2nd time in this letter,
Paul is so overwhelmed with these wonderful truths and blessings in Jesus that he breaks out in prayer…
· He can’t help himself. He’s writing to his fellow brothers and sisters but as he writes, Jesus overrides his thoughts…
APP: That is exactly what happens as we turn our faces, our lives, our whole beings toward Jesus Christ. He overwhelms us!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus… Look full in His wondrous face.
And things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Psalm 37.4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Isa. 58.14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken."
· And guys… gals… it’s so good to be here this morning!!!
· Jesus wants to encourage you… uplift you… strengthen you…
· THERE is an amazing ministry that takes place in the company of believers in the presence of the Lord!
· It’s not going to happen at the bar… it’s not going to happen at the parties, it’s not going to happen in the world…
Psalm 73.14-17 For all day long I have been plagued, And chastened every morning. 15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children. 16 When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me-- 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.
I. (2:14-21) Paul’s Heart Revealed
1. (14-15) I bow my knees to the Father…
a. For this reason… the grand plan of God building the church.
b. For this reason… I’m so caught up in the grace of Jesus.
c. For this reason… I have ACCESS to the Almighty. I CAN PRAY AND HE WILL HEAR ME! Look at 2:18
Psalm 4.3 But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
A few weeks ago when I was teaching at RMCC, a young boy about 8 or 9 came up to me after the service and he wanted to pray with me. He wanted to pray that he wouldn’t like fun more than he likes the Bible. Amazing… the Lord heard that prayer and the next day he emailed me and told me that the Bible was becoming fun to him! Praise the Lord!!
d. (15) I pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family of God is named.
Q: Have you ever noticed how brief & short Paul’s prayers were?
· As you read through the Bible, almost all the prayers recorded for us are short and brief.
· The prayers of Moses, Elijah, Nehemiah… all short.
· Even the prayer of Jesus in John 15-17 only takes about 5 minutes to read through.
· AND as he came to God through prayer… he spoke naturally.
A GREAT example of a short but honest prayer is from Peter.
· Remember, he was excited when he saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat filled with disciples?
· So excited that he wanted to do it too. So Jesus calls him out.
· Peter steps out on the water and after a step, begins to sink.
· Imagine what would have happened if Peter had prayed…
· “Oh powerful, omnipotent, Heavenly and gracious Father. I come to you today with a little problem. Well it’s not that little, it’s kind of big. Well, I’m not sure if it’s big or little compared to all that you have going on… gulp, gulp…”
· He would have sunk!
· BUT Instead, Peter cries out – Lord, save me!
· So we can pray simply and honestly…
APP: The best way to pray is to pray from the heart. Whether you’re kneeling, walking, or lying down… BE REAL.
· God isn’t interested as much in your POSTURE as much as where the POSITION of your heart…
2. (16) Paul prays for the inner spiritual strength.
a. This is a MAJOR KEY & insight in effective prayer…
b. Paul prays for the spiritual man, the inner man.
c. It’s an important lesson because our spiritual man needs as much prayer as our physical man.
Question: As we woke up this morning and prepared ourselves for worship… how much time did we spend on our inner selves?
· Convicting I know… We shower & shave… we primp and prep
· But oh how our inner person needs that same attention…
NOW Don’t get me wrong here… I’m glad you did! But inwardly…
· You see we are preoccupied with this body of ours…
1 Samuel 16.7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the #LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Q: Would it help you to know that your body is dying, decaying, disappearing… It’s not designed to last forever.
· And it’s DEFINITELY not what it used to be…
2 Cor. 4.16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
Your body, my body is positively eroding…
· But inwardly, in Jesus Christ… our inner man is being renewed.
SO Paul takes out his arrows of prayer and aims them carefully and methodically toward your inward, spiritual person… WHY?
1 Tim. 4.8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
QUOTE PHILLIPS BROOKS: Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger people. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.
SUM: Oh that you would be strengthened with might…
· Lit… dynamite. That inwardly we would have explosive power inwardly so that our lives outwardly draw others to Jesus.
3. (17) That Christ might dwell in your hearts.
a. Truly, this is how we gain the inner strength.
b. As Jesus dwells richly in our lives through faith.
c. Phrase ‘dwell’ literally means ‘to make Himself at home’.
d. That Jesus would feel at ease and comfortable in your life.
e. How are you treating Jesus in the house of your heart?
NOTE: Really this all has to do with our PRIORITIES & His LORDSHIP.
· Jesus is able to settle in, to settle down in a heart that surrendered to Him…
· That looks at Jesus and says, “Whatever it takes!”
SO you let him in… and you begin to hang out with Jesus.
· It’s great, it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s spiritually refreshing…
· Then, Jesus says… “Why do you always keep that door closed?”
· What door? That one over there. Can I go check out that room?
· No way not that one. You can’t go there. & we take lordship over lives right back…
AND so Christians walk around with things hidden away…
· Maybe it’s those magazines that you don’t want to get rid of…
· Maybe it’s that vodka bottle, yeh, just in case you have that bad day at work you can come home and unwind…
· Or maybe it’s bitterness or anger, or fill in the blank…
· Jesus wants to be more and more at home in our lives!
The following words are from an old engraving on a cathedral in Labeck, Germany: Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:
You call Me master and obey Me not. -- You call Me light and see Me not.
You call Me the Way and walk Me not. -- You call Me life and live Me not.
You call Me wise and follow Me not. -- You call Me fair and love Me not.
You call Me rich and ask Me not. -- You call Me eternal and seek Me not.
If I condemn thee, blame Me not.
How? Being rooted and grounded in love.
· Keep in mind that if we’re strengthened in the inner man, if Jesus is at home in all of my life…
· Our roots and foundation are in His love!
· Since God is love, and I’m connected to God than what will sprout up in my life through my roots is love.
· I will, you will, blossom and bloom in His love!
Matt. 12.34-35 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
Truly this is critical… our mouths reflect the contents of our hearts.
· If we’re Preoccupied with:
· The latest movies… then we’ll always be talking about movie stars and awards and stuff.
· The latest sports stuff… then we’ll talk about the stats and scores and stuff.
· BUT if we’re preoccupied with the things of God…
· That’s what we’ll talk about… God spoke, I shared… love flows
· And so the arrow of prayer flies… right toward our hearts!
4. (18-19) That we would comprehend & know the love of Jesus
a. That word know in v19 is to experience, to embrace.
b. Paul prays for a practical impossibility…
c. That we would understand something we aren’t able to understand.
d. That our understanding would go beyond the mere theological grasp to a personal, growing, overwhelming experience!
WOW: It’s like Paul taking us outside on a dark night and pointing up into the heavens, looking at the limitless sky above, the limitless horizons all around, to the depths of the earth and seas under us… and says:
· Hey Jesus’ love for you is bigger and infinite than that!
· It’s absolutely crazy that He loves me that way!
· I don’t deserve His love… but He loves me… you… anyway!
Oh… as a pastor… a shepherd… that’s my desire for you…
· Not that you just theologically understand his love…
· But that you experience it, embrace it, and NEVER look back!
And then v19, Paul ends with wanting us to be full of God.
You know… in a practical sense that isn’t possible…
1 Kings 8.27-28 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 28 "Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:
But spiritually… grow in Him, rest in Him, live in Him be full of Him
· Paul prays for the church in Ephesus… Calvary Chapel Aurora…
· Oh God strengthen the church… Oh Lord overwhelm your people.
· Not just so that we would be happy people at the Happy Church…
· NO WAY… overwhelm us that that we walk out those doors and love those you have brought into our lives!
· So that we’re prepared as a church to be ready for all the wonderful, awesome, and glorious things He has ahead for us!
AND as Paul winds down this short prayer, he’s caught up in the glory and presence of Jesus Christ.
· He breaks out & just begins to worship the Lord, uplifted in Him
5. (20) Now unto Him who is able.
a. God is able to answer this prayer. He’s able to respond.
b. He’s able to answer this prayer in YOUR LIFE.
c. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly ABOVE
d. ALL that we ask or think!
Sure it’s impossible… Sure it’s outside of your power…
Sure it seems hopeless… Sure it’s beyond your ability.
· BUT OH PRAISE THE LORD… HE IS ABLE!
· Now we are forced to trust in His ability and His strength!
6. (21) To Him be the glory…
a. You see, when this prayer in answered…
b. When you receive inner strength, when you have more of Jesus in your life, as you grow spiritually… filled with God.
c. ALL GLORY GOES TO HIM!
Are you dry this morning? Are there difficulties you face, circumstances that hurt…
· Oh that you would know of His great love for you…
· This prayer, these promises are for you!
Sergei Nikolaev was an energetic Christian leader in the Soviet Union. Many years ago, at the height of the Communist Atheisim, faced with almost insurmountable opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said, "Don’t look at the circumstances and don’t look at what you can’t do. Look at your Lord. Call on his power. Trust his timing. Don’t put a period where God puts a comma."
