August 8, 2004
Morning Worship
Text: Ephesians 3:14-21
Subject: The Mystery of God
Title: No Limits - Unlocking the Mystery
As a boy growing up, one of the things that I loved to do was read. I was glad when it was time for our class to go to the library. And I read all kinds of books. I really loved the Science Fiction books that talked about space travel or times on earth in the distant future. To me it seemed that those books held a key that unlocked the mysteries of things to come. And I loved to delve into the mysteries of life.
I also liked to read mystery books. I remember my sisters had the Nancy Drew mystery books around the house when I was only six or seven. They were for teenagers but I was a very good reader and could easily understand them. It was always fun trying to solve the mystery before the end of the book. And as I grew up my curious ways continued. I want to know the answers to the mysterious things around me. I was curious about UFO’s and the Supernatural, and para-normal. I wanted to know.
Not all people are like me. Not everyone needs to find the answer to the mysteries of life. Some are quite satisfied with knowing there are mysteries and allowing them to remain mysteries. That is not a bad quality. It’s just different than the way I am made.
An English professor at a prestigious college was grading tests before Christmas break one year when he came across an answer that said, “This question is a mystery. Only God knows the answer to this. Merry Christmas!” The wise old professor wrote in response, “God gets an “A”. You get an “F” Happy New Year!”. Obviously the student wasn’t too concerned about finding the answer to a mystery, but probably wished that he had in the end.
Paul describes the Christian experience as the mystery of God. In The first part of chapter 3 Paul writes about how the mystery has been revealed. Then he writes about the purpose of the mystery. Now he continues with the application of the mystery in the lives of people everywhere.
God’s mystery has been unveiled and it has no limits to those who believe.
I. WAKE UP AND LIVE. (verses 14-17a)
A. God Knows Your Name. Paul begins this section of his letter by saying that he is praying for the church. (I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.) God is the Father of Jesus Christ not by creation, or adoption, but by generation. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. And because of our relationship with Jesus we are called God’s children. God is a personal God. He knows you by name. Listen to what God spoke to the young prophet Jeremiah in Jer. 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Paul’s prayer reminds us to whom we belong; “From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Since God is a personal God, he wants us to know that HE has given us a name. Revelation 2:17, “…To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” Who is this referring to? Those who have trusted Christ as their Savior. God is so personal that He gave up His throne to come to earth and walk among His creation and fellowship with humanity. He is so personal that He willing gave His life as a ransom for many. He is so personal that He has called you (or is calling you) by name, to come to Him through His Son.
B. God Gives You Strength. Paul’s prayer continues here with the desire for God to strengthen all who know Him. How does He want to strengthen you? Through His Spirit in the inner man. In Acts 4, after Peter and John had been arrested by the Sanhedrin and were threatened not to speak in the name of Jesus again, they gathered with other believers and prayed. What did they pray for? They prayed for boldness or strength to speak God’s word. Verses 29-31, “Now Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God boldly.” Where did their strength or boldness come from? It came from being re-filled with the Holy Spirit. They were Baptized in the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, but now they experienced a re-filling – “in the inner man”. Now go back to our original passage. Paul doesn’t want God to strengthen believers out of the excess of His riches, but according to His riches. Paul does not want us to experience something from God, but for us to experience God Himself. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is just that – experiencing God through His Spirit.
C. God Dwells in You. When you are “Born Again” God’s Spirit comes and takes up residence in you. But Paul is not satisfied with the people of God just being saved. He desires that “Christ dwell in your hearts”. Listen, Jesus wants to have constant fellowship with you. He wants to set up housekeeping in your hearts. That means that He will go from room to room and may find some things in each that He is not comfortable with. He will let you know that He doesn’t like it, but He will never make you stop whatever it is you are doing. But He will begin to flood those compartments with His word so that there is not enough room for both. You will have to make a decision. Do I want more of Jesus or do I want to hang on to those worldly things that I think bring pleasure? Now, when you make up your mind to be all for Jesus, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit gives you the power to do just that. If your Christian walk is based on a set of rules and regulations, then it becomes no different than any other religion. But if your Christian faith is the source of power, it becomes something different than any other religion.
II. LISTEN UP AND GROW.
A. A Solid Foundation. What is it that makes mighty oak trees so stable? Storms may come and blow some limbs out, but it is not often that you see an oak blown over from the roots. The oak’s root system is created so that it can withstand the storm. And there is a tap - root that goes down as deep as it has to go to get the nourishment it needs to stay healthy. Oak trees are rooted and grounded. Christians are to be grounded in God’s love. When you submit yourself to the indwelling presence of the Living God and to the baptism in His Holy Spirit, your foundation cannot help but become a strong one. Jesus told the parable of the two men who built houses – one on the sand and one on solid rock. When the storms came which one was left standing? It one that was built on the solid Rock. So verse 17 tells us that Christ dwells in your heart through faith that is built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and His ability to save.
B. A Sure Understanding. Paul prays in verse 18 that we, “May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ…” Do you have a good understanding of what you believe? A few weeks ago we finished a Sunday night series about “why we believe what we believe.” I hope that gave you enough head knowledge to help you along, but Paul is talking here about more than head knowledge. He is speaking of a spiritual experience that is grounded in the love and the word of Jesus. Through this you can understand the width, the length, the depth, and the height of the love of Christ. His love is so wide that it encompasses the whole world – all are included if they accept it by faith. It is so long that it extends from eternity past to eternity future. It is so deep that it reaches down into the miry clay and lifts sinners up to stand on the solid Rock and it is so high that it raises both Jew and Gentile up to the heavenly places to be seated along side Him in His eternal kingdom. Can we comprehend it all? The mystery is being revealed to us little by little. Some more quickly than others and some a little slower than others. God ‘s revelation through His word is gradual. As you seek Him more He will reveal a little more to you. His love is amazing.
C. A Secure Knowledge. The love of Christ that you have in your heart surpasses all the head knowledge that you could ever hope to have. But it is the knowledge of the heart – that you know without a doubt who He is and who you are in Him – and not knowledge of the head that fills you with all the fullness of God. Does this mean that we are to have all the same supernatural fullness that God has. We are not God. We are not even like God. His Spirit dwells in us and guides us and enlightens us and empowers us and confirms our adoption as sons and daughters of God, but we are not God. But Paul prays that we might have all the fullness of faith, of power, and of knowledge that God has made available to us. In other words, God gives us everything we need to be Christ like and yet still retain our dubious position as people of free will. God has enabled us to have faith to accept His word, knowledge to understand what it means to us, and the power to live it out in our daily lives. It is a secure knowledge that the world cannot know because it is spiritual knowledge.
III. POWER UP AND GO.
A. God is Able. I think that verse 20 is the one verse in the bible that can change the very nature of this church if you can get hold of it and run with it. So I am going to walk you through it very carefully so you don’t miss anything. 1) Now to Him who is… he who comes to God must believe that He is …(Hebrews 11:6) 2) Now to Him who is able … Romans 4:20-21, Abraham, “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to perform”. 3) Able to do… God is not inactive. He is the God of the living. He doesn’t just sit on His throne and rule. He works. 4) Able to do beyond what we ask… When you ask according to God’s word you can expect more than you ask for. Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” 5) Able to do beyond what we think. Did you ever wonder if something was just too outrageous to ask God for? I believe that God has spoken to me that He would give a tithe of the town of Palmyra to this church. So I pray for that. That’s outrageous. This church only holds about 100 packed in. How could I even think of asking for something like that? Because God is able to do above what we ask or think. Oh, yeah, there are a couple of adjectives that Paul uses that I intentionally left out. God is not only able to do above what we ask or think, but He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we ask or think.
B. We Are Empowered. How is God going to do all this? “according to the power that works in us…” This is the same power that Jesus is building His church with… it is the same power that spoke all creation into being… it is the same power that declared Jesus to be the Son of God through His resurrection… it is the same power Jesus implied when He said, “the work that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do because I go to My Father…” it is the same power that heals the sick, sets the captives free, casts out demons, and raises the spiritually dead to eternal life… it is the same power that baptizes you in the Holy Spirit to enable you to be the man and woman of God you are intended to be… so you can experience God in His fullness. It is the same power that can change the entire world much less the town of Palmyra, the county of Marion, the state of Missouri… “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power working in us…”
C. God is Glorified. “To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. You know, all of the power that we just talked about that God has given, if we intend to draw attention to ourselves, this church, the Assemblies of God or any thing or person other than God, let’s just go ahead and get the boards and nails and nail the doors shut. The church that lifts itself up is a dying church. A church that exalts God through His Son Jesus is a church that will blossom. If we continue to operate in the power available to us and glorify God through our faith in Christ and His saving work, this church will remain a force in the world until Jesus returns. The promise is to all generations.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen!
What are you asking God for? In its early days, Dallas Theological Seminary was in critical need of $10,000 to keep the work going. During a prayer meeting, renowned Bible teacher Harry Ironside, a lecturer at the school, prayed, "Lord, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. Please sell some of those cattle to help us meet this need." Shortly after the prayer meeting, a check for $10,000 arrived at the school, sent days earlier by a friend who had no idea of the urgent need or of Ironside’s prayer. The man simply said the money came from the sale of some of his cattle!
Today in the Word, MBI, January, 1990, p. 36.
Has the mystery been revealed to you? Do you know without a doubt that you are heaven bound? God wants you to have that assurance.
If you have that assurance, is the Lord still opening the mystery to you? Do you know who you are in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you have any idea what you can accomplish through the power that works in you? Can you begin to fathom the idea that God is willing to do exceedingly abundantly above what you ask or even think?
A tithe of Palmyra for this church? That’s pretty far-fetched isn’t it? 350 people at First Assembly? Not going to happen! Not in your power or my power but in the power that works in us God can do all things. Who are you to limit God’s power? Why aren’t we asking for big things from a big God? All we want is for God to be glorified in this church as He is through His Son.
People say that we put God in a box, because we expect Him to act a certain way or do certain things when we pray, but I say to you today that if we are not believing God for big things for this church, that’s when we are putting God in a box. We are limiting His power because of our lack of faith.
The mystery is revealed. The promise is made. The power is available. What are you going to do with it?
