Series Title: The Heavenly Reserve Bank of God (Ephesians)
Message Title: Good ‘n Plenty (Ephesians, Chapter 3)
Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
In the June 2, 1993, devotional in Daily Walk, by Walk thru the Bible, Inc., it gives the following illustration concerning wealth. There, it says,
“John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly [stingy] people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves.
“John Wendel was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years.
“The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers. Even worse, they were like the kind of person Jesus referred to "who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21).”
That’s pretty heavy, isn’t it? It said in the beginning of that illustration that the Wendels’ parents left them a ‘huge’ inheritance. Now, to their credit, there are a few things that we don’t know about the Wendels. We don’t know just how much money was included in that word ‘huge,’ but when the last sister died it equaled $100 million dollars. And, we also don’t know just what kind of upbringing the children received from their parents, or how much their stinginess was influence by their parents.
However, it would be safe to assume that, when parents leave their children a huge inheritance, it’s probably because the parents spent the better part of their entire lives working so as to provide more than just one dress in 25 years!
Now, taking that just one little step further, we can see that people can be separated into two basic categories: we’re either Selfish or Unselfish. It doesn’t matter to what degree of selfishness a person is, or, to what degree of unselfishness another person is, we are still on one side of the number line. Either positive or negative.
The Wendel siblings, however, were so selfish that they didn’t want people to get their money, even by way of them spending it on themselves!
It is rumored that when the one behind this excessive penny-pinching, John Wendel, passed away, his sisters were told they needed to put a notice of his death in the paper. That also serves as a legal notification of a death.
Now, they were also told that the notice would cost just two dollars for five words. The sisters asked if they could put in just two words, instead, such as, “WENDEL DEAD” and only have to pay for those two words. No, the minimum payment, they were told, was two dollars whether it was one, two, or five words.
So, to save the rest of the ‘three words’, since they were paying for them, they put in this statement, “Wendel Dead. Car for Sale.”
Yes, it does seem a bit humorous. And, though it is humorous, it is indeed sad and very tragic that even at a time such as a death in the family, some people are only thinking about how to either make or save just a small amount of money.
Though it is humorous, and we may talk about similar situations or events that have happened around us or even toward us, there are Christians that are exactly like that with their faith. There are probably some Christians that are exactly like that with their gifts. There are even some Christians that may be like that with their talents. And, worst of all, there are Christians that are exactly like that with their love!
Those that have put their faith in Jesus have been given a lot by God, yet the sad thing is, they keep it to themselves. They refuse to spread it around and are stingy with it. Many people refuse to give even one small milligram of love to the people around them.
Maybe there are some people like that, that you know. What do we do for them? How can we help them? Well, by following Paul’s example, we pray for them to use that ‘Good ‘n Plenty’ portion of the glorious riches of God that Christians have been given.
Look at verse 14,
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
For this reason…what reason? Well, Paul has been telling the Ephesians that they don’t realize exactly what they had in Christ. Paul tells them in a benefit of being in Christ.
Ephesians 3:12 In him [Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
This is a wonderful inheritance! This is a wonderful thing that every Christian in the world can approach God. Every Christian can, through the faith in the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, enter into the presence of God. Did you know that?
Paul tells them that based on what he said in verses 1-13 of Ephesians chapter 3, he is going to the Father in heaven on behalf of them.
Now look at verse 16,
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
He starts out his prayer for the Ephesians by praying that out of God’s glorious riches they would receive strength through God’s Spirit. Furthermore, Paul is exact and precise concerning the direction from which that power is going to come, and that is from God’s Spirit that has been placed in their inner being.
You, too, can have that same power. And, my personal prayer for you is that God may strengthen you with power through His Spirit. And, just where is that Spirit? Like the Ephesians, He is in you!
When you gave yourself to Jesus, He gave you the parakletos, the one called alongside.
The Spirit of God took up residence in you. Jesus gave you the one that has been ‘called alongside’ to see to your needs. Whether Mentally, Physically, or Spiritually, he will see to your needs even when you don’t know what you need, or even when you may feel you don’t need it.
But there is an even better reason that we have the Spirit, Verse 17
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Through this strengthening, Paul tells the Ephesians that they will have a fantastic result, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
I call upon the power of God in heaven to strengthen the members of this church, too, so that you may know the life of Christ in you, through faith in Him.
But, his prayer isn’t finished, yet. Our prayer isn’t finished, yet. There is more!
17 … And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Yes, there is much more! The power that is provided through the strengthening of the Spirit in our inner being enables us to get a small human-sized glimpse of just how much Christ loves each one that calls upon His name.
I say human-sized glimpse, because that is all that we are able to understand.
As an example, let’s say that we’re in the middle of the ocean and the ocean represents Christ’s love for us. Let’s say that we’re in one of those magnificent three or four masted ships with the ocean of Christ’s love all around us. It’s great to be in that position, to know that we are surrounded on every side by Christ’s love.
But, there’s more. There is an enabling within us to know more of HIM. We want to know the width, the length, the height, and the depth of Christ’s love for us. But, I can’t know it if I stay in that one place. I need to move, I need to move upward IN HIM. I need to grow in HIM.
Now, if we look toward the top of the tallest mast, we’ll see what they call the ‘crow’s nest’ that was used as an observation tower. When I’m standing beside the mast, I can turn and look in any direction and see endless ocean, but my field of vision is limited, it’s cut off by the horizon. My understanding of Christ’s love is limited by me staying in that one place, spiritually. So, I begin to climb the mast of that great ship. And, as I climb, I can see more and more, and I can appreciate more and more of Christ’s love for me. I climb, and climb, and climb, and more of His love is revealed. It seems to grow right before my eyes, AND there’s no end to it! Because, look what he says in verse 19
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
There’s no end to it because my mind can not get ‘wrapped around’ just how big it is. It’s endless!
But, that’s not all. What if I never get into the ship? What if, even though I get into the ship, I never climb the mast. I will never know just how big Christ’s love is.
Oh, you say I can just read about it in a book? Oh, you say I can just look at it in a picture? Oh, you say I can just fly over it in an airplane? No, I will never know just how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love for me is, unless I get INTO IT. And, that’s Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. That’s my prayer for every member of this church.
Don’t be stingy with God’s love. God’s love is similar to what happened to the little boy that was digging a hole near the ocean side. After reaching a depth of only a couple of inches, the hole started to fill with water. The boy tried to scoop out the water and pour it back into the ocean, but, it the water kept filling up faster than he could empty it. Then, he found out a very important fact. He stopped scooping the water and let the hole fill up. The water stopped, right at the top of the hole that he had dug. No more water came in. He thought it had stopped, so he started to empty it once again. But, the water continued to ‘seep’ in. The hole continued to fill to the same measure of the size the boy had dug.
That’s the measure that Paul is talking about. That’s the measure with which God will use to fill you with His love. It’s endless, and it continues to fill, no matter how much you use. You can’t get to the end of God’s love, for like Paul says, it surpasses knowledge. It surpasses understanding.
But there’s more. The little boy made that hole bigger, thinking that the water couldn’t possibly fill a bigger hole, but it did.
That’s God measure, too. When you enlarge yourself, you enlarge the amount that you can hold, and when you enlarge the amount you can hold, GOD WILL FILL IT!
But, there is a down side. There is a caution. If you stop emptying yourself of love to others, there won’t be anymore coming in. If that little boy had chosen to let the hole alone and not empty it after it had filled it to the top and just stopped, the water in the hole would have become stagnant or stale. No more water would come in.
The gifts, the talents, the love, and the possessions and money that you have are all God’s. And, there is plenty more where that comes from!
The Ephesians didn’t know that until Paul told them. The Ephesians didn’t know how rich they were until Paul told them.
Conclusion:
John Wendel and his sisters knew just how rich they were, but they chose not to use the money. They knew just how rich they were!!
And, something else also can be said about how excessive selfishness can even make the wisest person appear to be a fool. The selfish are afflicted. Their hearts, their minds, and their souls will slowly grow stale, hard and black as they practice their selfishness. They are unforgiving of others, and lack love in their actions. They are indeed the poorest of all God’s creatures.
How about you? Do you know how rich you are in Christ?
Through putting your faith in Christ and subsequently following God’s will for your life, by reading the Bible and by attending church on a regular basis you can know just how rich you are in HIM. And, when you realize just how rich you re in Him, you’ll begin to pour out those things that He has given you. By pouring out those gifts, talents, love and blessings on others, you’ll be blessed, you’ll be climbing up that mast of that ship in the ocean of Christ’s love. And, you’ll notice that there isn’t an end to it. You’ll notice that you’re surrounded by His ocean of love. And, every once in a while you’ll stop and not only look around at the wonderful people and creation around you, but you’ll also notice one important aspect. You’ll notice the transformation that He has made in your life.
