Ephesians | Chapter 3

 

Ephesians 3:1-7

“The messenger and the mystery”

 

• Introduction
• 1-5 A captive with a cause
• 6-7 The mystery revealed in power

 

 

Introduction

 

 In the 2nd chapter, Paul marveled at the second work of reconciliation where He took the US’s and THEM’s and created a new race called the “In HIM’s”! Now in the 3rd chapter, Paul is going to pray that they would realize just what this means to them but before he does, he gets caught up in how this once-unknown secret has come to them. The value of this section goes much deeper than most of us realize as it speaks to all of us about being in God’s hands.

 

Most of the time I’m stuck in my own little world never seeing the whole picture. As I was snorkeling on a reef during my vacation watching the fish that make their home there, I realized that I’m a lot like them just swimming around never realizing that I’m connected to a much larger world. Now and again, something comes into my little reef that causes me to realize that God has a much bigger world than what I’m living in. If you read the gospels, you will discover that the world Jesus promises you and I has three things that He promises repeatedly:

• That in Him we will be absurdly happy
• That through Him we can be completely fearless
• And that because of the above two we will be constantly in trouble

 

Now follow me on this one because it is important that you grasp this, don’t allow the third promise to negate the first two. Listen up, the truth is (as we shall see in this section) it is because of the third truth that we can be completely fearless and absurdly happy.

 

Vs. 1-5 A captive with a cause

 

Vs. 1 Paul starts with the words, “for this reason” and doesn’t pick up that thought again until the 14th verse where he repeats the phrase. In other words, Paul goes off on a tangent before he prays for their realization of God’s work of reconciling them into His family. But what got him going down this path was reflecting upon how this once-hidden secret had come to them. Amazingly Paul does not even mention this secret until the 6th verse.

           

Pastor, why are you telling me this? Well, you see I think we all struggle at times from thinking of ourselves as victims of life. Like those fish on the reef, we tend to think of ourselves as being victims of the tides just floating along in the sea of fate. This is especially true when it comes to adverse situations and circumstances, isn’t it? That is not How Paul saw it, you see as Paul was writing this letter to the Ephesians, he was in a prison in Rome on trial for his life. The fact is that for five years he had been in prison (two in Caesarea by the Sea and three in Rome).

So, what’s your point? It would have been easy don’t you think for Paul to think of himself as a victim of life? He could have been bitter about life, discouraged, and wondering what purpose there was, as he was unable to spread the word to the Gentile world which is something that he knew he was called to do. I mean he could have just given up and begun to doubt that he had ever heard the Lord’s voice, but he didn’t. Look at how he describes his imprisonment, “I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles”. Do you see his perspective on life despite what the facts were?

• He was arrested on Jewish charges, but he did not see himself as their prisoner.
• The Roman authorities imprisoned him, but he did not see himself as their prisoner.
• He had appealed to Caesar and was awaiting his trial by him, but he was not Caesar’s prisoner either.

 

Though the facts were true there was still yet another greater truth and that was that Paul was first and foremost a captive of Christ, a prisoner of a person who had given His life that Paul may have life everlasting.

 

The truth is our world, made up of our personal experiences, will not change by getting what we want but rather when we want what we get! I am convinced that my happiness or joy is far more dependent upon my perspective in my circumstance than it is upon the circumstance itself. Did you hear what I said, Christian? I think that Paul saying those words and having a fellow write them down is why from this verse all the way to verse 13 is a parenthetical statement. Wow, that is a powerful statement pastor, but how is it possible?

 

Paul realized that above the Jews’ hatred and jealousy, the Romans’ cruelty, and the Caesar’s insanity loomed a loving savior who could not do wrong and would make every work great and marvelous. You know what that means? That means that what we are now going through or will go through in the future is not in the hand of whimsical fate but rather in the hand of a loving savior! As far as our faith is concerned, we have peace based upon knowing Who holds our future and not in what our future holds. You see Paul may not have been fully able to grasp the why, but He was resting in the Who that had allowed it. Now you and I have a great advantage looking at Paul’s situation, don’t we? We have the perspective of “time” which reveals to us that if Paul had not been in prison, then much of the New Testament letters he wrote would never have come into being. I have no doubt right now in the present perspective of heaven that Paul is seeing the wonderful and glorious wisdom of God’s plan of making Him a prisoner. But what blesses me is that he did not wait to live in that perspective!

 

That leads me to the 2nd great discovery that Paul speaks of here as he sees himself not only as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus” but also as the purpose of this incarceration was “for you gentiles”! Do you see that? Paul’s perspective of looking at his life as being in the hands of his Savior caused him to see that there was a purpose as well! Paul was not only a prisoner of a person, a captive of Christ, he was also a prisoner with a purpose, a captive with a cause! Paul was keenly aware of two things and the 2nd was predicated upon the 1st:

1. That Jesus had placed him where He wanted him!
2. That where Jesus had placed him was going to accomplish just what the Lord wanted!

 

Now there is a rather practical side to this 2nd statement in as much as Paul was truly arrested for his testimony of the person and work of Christ to redeem the Gentiles. But based upon his statements in verse 13 where Paul says, “I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory”, I believe that he understood that his imprisonment was somehow part of God’s plan in making known to them the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (verse 8). Paul saw that God had some purpose in where He had placed him and that it was directly related to God’s calling on his life.

 

Vs. 2 Furthermore, Paul as he was dictating this letter verbalized the truth of this. You see Paul added to the equation of his circumstances by starting with what he knew was true, instead of trying to make sense out of where he was by trying to guess what might happen in the future.

            Here is what Paul says, “Hey, I’m sure you are all aware that God by His grace made me responsible for taking care of the truth that belongs to you”. That is a literal translation of this verse, and what it shows is that Paul understood that his calling to reach the Gentiles was a God thing from the very beginning. In fact, you can trace it back to when Paul was in the temple debating with Jesus why he would be perfect to reach the Jews the Lord spoke to him saying, “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21)

 

Dear Christian, that is always a good thing to do when you are trying to make sense of where you are at, to realize that God has brought you where you are. This was not Paul’s plan that had gone astray, it was God’s plan, and the only conclusion Paul came up with was that he was right on course.

 

Vs. 3-4 Furthermore, this calling had not come by his discovery but rather by God’s revelation. Why is that so important Pastor? Well, if what Paul had given them came from his ability to figure it out perhaps then he was wrong in what he discovered! You see Paul is backtracking which assures him that God knows just exactly what He is doing then and now.

 

You can look throughout scripture and find out that God had a plan to reach the Gentiles and Jesus was that plan. But at the right moment, God said, “Paul, I’m calling you to my plan!” Why when you read of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 the Lord told Ananias “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Do you see that suffering was part of the plan even from the beginning?

 

Ten years earlier Paul had spoken to them of God’s plan to reach the Gentiles, in fact, his coming to the Ephesians to begin with was all a part of God’s plan, something he had already alluded to in the 1:9-10. The only part Paul says that he had in where he now was is that he was a willing participant in God’s plan to reveal that which was given to Him by the Lord. It was not the hand of fate that guided Paul, no it was the hand of the Lord and Paul chose to follow the Lamb wherever He went! I can’t tell you what a comfort this is to me to know.

 

Vs. 5 Now this verse speaks to the timing, doesn’t it? Paul says that what God had in store for the Gentiles, although in scripture, was not fully disclosed as it is now. That means that God knew the exact timing of the events in which Paul found himself. It is the great fact of life that timing is everything and who better to know the timing than the One declares in Isaiah 46:9-10 “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.” From our earthly bound vantage point, it is easy for us to not see that God has a perfect perspective of the future.

 

Here is what we see:

• “Perspective on where we are now is gained by looking at where God has taken us so far!” It is a lot easier to trust God for the future when we look back at His faithfulness in the past, don’t you agree?
• “Perspective is gained by realizing that God knows the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.” God dwells outside of our time limitation and as such we can have great confidence that He is placing us right where He wants us for His purposes.

 

Vs. 6-7 The mystery revealed in power

 

Vs. 6 Finally in this verse Paul speaks of three things that had been concealed that God was making known through the work He was doing in Paul. Now before I get into those three things this gives yet another truth that we can look towards as it relates to God’s work in our lives, “It is going to be glorious”! What God is taking you through right now is going to have a glorious outcome for God’s kingdom. Paul could have great confidence in this truth and it no doubt brought him much comfort on difficult days. Paul is so amazed by these three works of God that he was privileged to be a part of that he makes up three new words to describe them which is better seen in the ASV, each of which is a compound word:

1. “Fellow-heirs”: That is to say that God has adopted us His family as His children without first having to become Jews. God gives us every benefit and privilege as He gave Israel. It is this truth that Paul expounded upon in the first chapter when he declared that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. No 2nd class children in God’s house.
2. “Fellow members of the body”: They were indistinguishable from their brothers and sisters of Israel as they made up the same body. In the same way that your feet cannot hate the hands, we are all part of the same body of Christ.
3. “Fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel”: Finally, we have the same status or position within the family. In other words, God does not love some of His children more than others.

 

Paul could look out of his prison cell and know that he had been given a great privilege to partake in declaring glorious truths that set others free from the bondage of the world. Furthermore, somehow his bondage was a part of their freedom. I’m convinced that God wastes nothing in my life and that somehow my bondage seen in difficulties and struggles will be used to not only set myself free but through His power, others as well!  

 

Vs. 7 It is that final truth that I think is in view in this verse before us. Paul says that it was God’s work in the beginning and His grace that sustains him, thus it will be His continual power throughout.

            So recapping Paul declared:

• That he was a captive of Christ with a cause and not some victim of fate and that God had placed him right where he was.
• He gained perspective by looking back upon his life and seeing God’s faithfulness and by realizing that he was in the hands that knew the end from the beginning.
• Finally, he took comfort in knowing that what God was doing in his life was going to be glorious in the end, so he simply chose to start rejoicing ahead of time.

 

 

 

Ephesians 3:8-13

“Put to the test”

 

• Introduction
• Vs. 8-10 Less than least with unsearchable riches
• Vs. 11-13 My pain is your gain

 

Introduction

We saw last week that Paul was going to pray that the Gentile believers would powerfully experience the riches they now had in Christ but before he did he got off on a tangent. It is my personal opinion that this happened the moment he said those words “I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles”. You see Paul was most likely dictating this letter and instead of saying he was a victim of life; he saw himself as a captive Christ with a cause. Several years ago, a fellow wrote a book trying to explain why “Bad things happen to good people”, I never read the book but I kind of wonder at times why things don’t happen according to my plan. The truth of the matter is that God knows just what He is doing in your life and mine. Paul is going to set forth some truths this morning about why God allows events into our life that don’t go according to our plan, in fact we know this because he says so in verse 13 where he doesn’t want these Ephesian believers to lose heart at his tribulations. We are going to discover how adverse circumstances actually enhance God’s plan for our lives instead of hindering it.

 

Vs. 8-10 Less than least with unsearchable riches

 

Vs. 8 The key to this section of scripture can be found in the 13th verse. Whatever Paul is going to say in verses 8-12 has to fit into his words in verse 13 where he says, “Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” Again, the context is Paul’s reflection upon God’s hand upon his imprisonment and he has already said two important things about it:

1. That what had happened to him personally was God’s will and plan for his life. You see Paul could trace this back to when he first got saved therefore, he knew he was right where God wanted him which made him a prisoner for Christ and not a prisoner of Romans or the Jews.
2. Second, having understood that Paul therefore knew that somehow, some way his imprisonment was beneficial to God’s plan to reach the Gentiles. Again, he came to this conclusion by tracing his circumstances back through the nature of God namely that it was His desire to reach them with the “mystery” that the Gentiles could be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ.

 

But HOW were these things possible? I mean did God just fix something that got out of hand and make it work or was it working as He planned and designed all along? Paul is going to tell us in this section, and I believe it will offer us some comfort in God’s work in our lives as well.

 

First off in verse 8 Paul gives two things that seem to always blow his mind about God’s work in his life and he lists them both in this verse. It’s as though he just starts to see a pattern and then realizes that it is a pattern by design.

 

1. “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given”: Paul always seemed amazed at the weakness of the instrument that God would use. I mean Paul calls himself the “least of the least”, now follow me on this one as Paul was much older when he wrote his letter to Timothy and there, he called himself the “chief of sinners”. It is an interesting study when you follow the statements of Paul about himself chronologically as you will discover that the longer he knew Christ, the less he thought of himself. I think that will be true of us as well, don’t you? Think about it, the more mature in Christ you become don’t you look back at your lives a bit differently? Aren’t we always hoping that our children will avoid our mistakes? When we were young, we had such high and noble ideals, then as we grew older, we discovered that what we were reaching for was the same things everybody else was. When we were young, we had such strong convictions about every little thing and why we knew it all, and then as we became older, we saw how much in error we were especially about how to raise our children. And man did we ever exaggerate our importance and exploits around others when we grow older, we will see all the lies in those things we thought and told others about ourselves. I’ve also noticed that I find myself hating those things that I once loved in the world and couldn’t do without. What are you saying, pastor? Well, only this that, you can tell someone is maturing in Christ not by what they know but rather their admittance in what they don’t know. So then how was it possible for Paul to be a servant of the Lord and an effective instrument? Well, he says right here, “Grace was given”. What Paul is telling us is that what God put him through was designed to break Paul of the most formable enemy he ever faced, himself. In other words, God’s strength is perfected in our weakness, and getting us to this point is very much part of God’s design.

 

2. “That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”: The 2nd thing that always got Paul’s attention was the value of the gift. “Oh”, said Paul, “That I should proclaim, make know, the unreachable riches of Christ.” Here is what I see, Paul continued proclaiming the most amazing discovery he ever came across because it was not just theology, psychology, or philosophy, no it was the person of Jesus. You see Paul’s message was the Messiah, in vs. 2:7 describing Jesus and what He has for you and me, Paul said that the were “exceeding riches of His grace”, now Paul says, “strike that, they are not exceeding riches of His grace they are unsearchable riches.” The word “unsearchable” is a Greek word that means to track the untraceable riches of Christ. Paul started around the lake of the riches in Jesus for us and discovered that he was not hiking around a lack, but a never-ending ocean. There is an unfathomable vastness of what we now have in Christ that put Paul on a course of life that was never going to end. Here is what I think, it was far more the pursuit of those unfathomable riches than it was his opportunity to preach them among the Gentiles. In fact, I believe that what God was putting Paul through in adverse circumstances was allowing Paul to dig deeper and discover even more of those unfathomable riches.

 

Why do you say that Pastor? Paul put those two statements into one sentence right here in verse 8 which suggests to me that Paul saw them linked together. That is what makes that statement in verse 13 for them not to lose heart at his tribulations as he was saying it’s causing me to dig deeper in the depths of unfathomable riches which are only in Christ. 

Vs. 9-10 But why are those two things true Pastor? Paul tells us that three unique qualities about these unfathomable riches of Christ only come to light as God takes us through trials.

1. Vs. 9a “To make all see”: In the 8th verse Paul said that grace was given him by God to “preach” the “unfathomable riches of Christ” but yet here in this verse, he switches senses, doesn’t he? Paul realized that part of God’s plan through trials made those “unfathomable riches” visible not just audible. Do you get it? Hearing of something true is a great place to start but it is far better to see truth in action, wouldn’t you agree? What Paul spoke of in verse 13 about the Ephesians’ not losing heart was coming from the truth that they were able to look at Paul and “see” “unfathomable riches” and not just hear about them. It is trials that cause us to employ the truths of God’s word in our lives don’t you agree? So those “unfathomable riches” are meant to be seen and not just heard!That is what is behind those words in 1 Cor. 11:1 where Paul said to the Corinthian believers to “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”
2. Vs. 9b “What is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ”: Here is the 2nd unique quality about those “unfathomable riches” as Paul uses the familiar word “fellowship” when describing the formerly hidden riches in Christ. There is something about going through adverse circumstances in one’s life that causes those “unfathomable riches” to become much more than something that we know about, and they become something that we are intimately acquainted with. You see that is what “fellowship” means as it describes people sharing a closeness with each other because of what we share in common. Get it?

 

Paul says that these “unfathomable riches” are meant to be jointly experienced not just put on a display shelve. Oh yes, they are riches, treasures, but they are not treasures that aren’t to be picked up and used. No, our trials will enhance their beauty, and luster-like wearing pearls enhance their beauty! The fact is, regarding those “unfathomable riches”; for the most part, they will remain hidden in God until they are more than intellectual truths that we hold onto. Paul said, “Hey don’t lose heart at my tribulations for you as they caused me to use and enjoy more of the unfathomable riches than I would have otherwise!  

 

3. Vs. 10 “To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”: The final unique quality that trials bring out in those unfathomable riches is what Paul speaks of here. First off Paul uses a word describing the unfathomable riches of God here that is only found in this verse in the New Testament it is the word “manifold” regarding the wisdom of God. The word means “multi-colored or multi-faceted”. Paul says that trials brought a full spectrum of color in the wisdom of God concerning the unfathomable riches in Christ. We often tend to see things from only one or two dimensions, but Paul says that adverse circumstances cause us to see a greater spectrum of color that otherwise we would not. Here is what I see Paul saying the unfathomable riches in Christ are meant to be examined not encased. As we grow through events in life that give us a greater vision of the color of hues that we would have never known of any other way!

 

As we gain this perspective, we will know we have because we will have a broken heart, not an enlarged head! Even more amazingly to me, not only other human beings will see this about the unfathomable riches in Christ but even the angelic world will marvel. They fully grasp the Holiness of God but as God allows us to go through trials that bring about a greater spectrum of color the angelic world sees aspects of God’s nature that they never understood prior. Is that not great? Next time we are going through a difficult time you can sit back and realize that God is using this in your life as a training session for angels as well! Peter spoke of this in 1 Peter 1:12 saying the Holy Spirit was doing a work in them doing “things which angels desire to look into.”

 

 

Vs. 11-13 My pain is your gain

 

Vs. 11-13 Now those unique qualities unfathomable riches in Christ also had three practical aspects, which Paul speaks of, in this section. First of all, Paul says that whatever else we may say about those riches they are everlasting and only accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Did you notice that the word “accomplished” is past tense? In other words, the work has already been completed, and all that you and I get to do for all eternity is plumb the depths of those riches. We don’t have to dig the mine just travel through it!

 

Vs. 12 Here then are the three practical aspects that trials produce as they make those unfathomable riches in Christ visible, usable, and examinable:

1. Boldness: The word means freedom of speech which suggests to me that trials produce in us a heart that is not afraid to say the truth about what is going on in our hearts before the Lord.
2. Access: The same is true with access and I think of the truth that we can just walk right into our prayer room and into the throne of God without having to make an appointment.
3. Confidence: Finally, we can have confidence in doing so because He wants us to come before Him because He cares about us.

 

And all of those are simply accessed by trusting in Him.

Vs. 13 “Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” “Ah”, Paul says, “My pain is not only my gain but your gain as well!” The trials that come into our lives bring about a greater depth of the unfathomable riches in Christ which benefits us as we make those riches visible, usable, examinable, and ultimately more like Him! 

 

 

Ephesians 3:14-21

“A close encounter of the spiritual kind”

 

• Introduction
• Vs. 14-15 I’m praying for you
• Vs. 16-19 A spiritual makeover
• Vs. 20-21 How big is your God?

 

Introduction

 

I can still remember watching the movie, “Close Encounters” with Richard Dreyfuss. The movie was a science fiction dealing with supposed encounters with aliens from another planet. If you recall, there were three levels of encounters that humans could have with aliens the 3rd of which was called a “close encounter of the third kind” which was personal contact. Does this have a point pastor?  Yes, as that is what Paul prays now for the church in Ephesus only not with an alien life form, but rather with the living God. You see Paul was reflecting on his own ongoing encounter with the living God and the trials that brought him deeper into the unfathomable riches in Christ. Thus, this prayer is born out of a heart that they too would have the same experience.

 

Have you noticed lately everywhere you turn on your T.V. dial there is some sort of “makeover show”? Everything from your old vehicle to your home and even your physical appearance? But I have yet to see the one show that will deal with what we all truly need to get made over, “our hearts”. Wouldn’t that be a great show as we watch the work of God making Himself more real to us, that transformation as every aspect of our lives gets “made over” into His image? That is where we are heading today as Paul wrote to a healthy Church and prayed for what they needed most, “A close encounter of the spiritual kind”.

 

Vs. 14-15 I’m praying for you

 

Vs. 14 After going on a tangent that led Paul to express how the unfathomable riches in Christ became to him, (as well as the Ephesians), more visible, usable, and examinable, he now goes back to what he originally wanted to pray for.

Let me ask you, “What do you consider to be your greatest need?” It is obvious based on verse 13 that these Ephesians considered Paul’s greatest need in his present five-year stint in prison, as he exhorts them not to lose heart. Yet I find it interesting that Paul’s prayer is for them to experience more of Christ, and it was those very trials that they saw as a hindrance that was instead a blessing. What we have here indirectly Paul gives us the antidote when we start to lose heart. There is a very interesting truth that we can lose on a lot of levels and still press on, but if we lose heart then we will fold up. You see as long as your heart stays on course you will keep going through pain and adversity. Perhaps today you are facing something, or you know of someone who is facing something that is causing them to lose heart. What do you do? Let me suggest to you something that often goes undone PRAYER! You’ve heard it said, “When everything else fails pray!” I’d like to change that a bit and say, “Before everything else fails pray!” In verse 12 Paul told us that in Jesus we have “boldness, access with confidence” as we come to God. So, when you start to lose heart why not pray?

 

Here is a truth about prayer, you see I don’t pray to change the circumstance I pray to change me through the circumstance! So here Paul lists three important attitudes we have when we pray to not lose heart:

1. Vs. 14a “I bow my knees”: As Paul wrote this, he was specifically speaking of a physical position that related to a spiritual attitude in prayer. You see the Jews most often prayed standing with their arms lifted. They also prayed laying on their faces before the Lord, yet neither of these does he use to describe this prayer to not lose heart. You can go through out the Bible and look up the references to “bowing the knee” and get a great picture of the heart attitude Paul is trying to convey. You see when some bowed their knee it showed several things:

• It showed emotion
• It showed brokenness
• It showed surrender

 

Wouldn’t you agree that that has more to do with the heart’s position than it does with the body’s posture? So, when we start to lose heart we come to the Lord just as we are desperate, broken, and surrendered. We aren’t there indifferent, no we are passionate. We aren’t there to strike a deal no we are broken. We aren’t trying to manipulate God into our plan, no we have surrendered.                

2. Vs. 14b “To the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”: This is a bit obvious, but Paul did not come to a higher power when he lost heart. No, when Paul had problems that paralyzed him, he went straight to our Father who has all the love and resources available to use on our behalf. Our prayer must be directed to a person whom we know can alone change our hearts.
3. Vs. 15 “From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named”: Now this is interesting to me as Paul states the finished work of God as He directed his prayer. In other words, when he started to lose heart, he prayed with his heart fixed upon the victory that was already won. You see when we start to lose heart it is because we think that somehow the outcome is in jeopardy, but the truth is “the whole family in heaven and earth is named” thus the outcome is not in doubt at all.

 

Vs. 16-19 A spiritual makeover

 

Vs. 16-19 Here we come to the fourfold prayer of Paul which is to get what we know into our hearts and lives. Now before we look at these four things we need to realize two things:

1. They are progressive in nature as each one of these four requests leads naturally into the next.
2. Second, each of these four requests applies more of what we already have in the unfathomable riches in Christ.
3. Durability Vs. 16 “To be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man”: Hey, when we are losing heart the first thing we need to pray is to be “strengthened with might”. Literally this verse reads that He gives us “His power to become mighty”. Now there are several aspects of our strength that Paul gives us right here:
4. “He would grant you”: First off, this prayer request for more strength is based upon grace not merit as that is how Paul prays. He doesn’t say, “Hey God give them strength because they deserve it!” The word “grant” is “be graced” in the Greek.
5. “according to the riches of His glory”: Second it is not “out of the riches of His glory” but rather “according to” the riches of His glory. Now that is not just a matter of semantics as these are two very different things. You see if I give “out of” then it is in proportion to the supply but if I give “according to” it is not based upon the supply but rather upon God’s nature. You see we need strength and we come to Him who is by His very nature glorious and will never be anything other than this! Ok then strength is allocated by grace through His nature of glory, but how does it come to us?
6. “Through His Spirit”: So, it is that we need His power to become mighty and this is through His Spirit. We cannot whip up our emotions and do some spiritual weight training to strengthen our hearts, no it comes only through His Spirit. The Power and strength of the Spirit is not a luxury it is a necessity.
7. “In the inner man”: Finally, this strengthening of His power needs to come to the core of the person. We don’t need just a temporary fix we need a complete overhaul. As God renews us through His strength it won’t matter what the outward circumstances our that caused us to lose heart, to begin with.
8. Depth Vs. 17 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love”: The 2nd aspect of Paul’s prayer when we start to lose heart deals with the love of God for us. Paul uses three verbs from three very different fields to describe his prayer for our need to grasp the depth of God’s love for us.
9. Relational: “dwell” Now this word means “to settle down and feel at home with”. The prayer is that Jesus would settle down in our hearts through our trust in Him. Hey, pastor, I thought that once I gave my heart to Jesus, He came to live in me. Well, he did but how would you describe His making His home with you? You see a lot of the time we Christians start to lose heart because Jesus is just an acquaintance in our hearts and not one that is our closest friend. Our losing heart may indicate that we have only a service relationship with Him instead of Him being allowed into every aspect of our homes and lives. I’m afraid that far too often we would prefer Jesus not living in our hearts and instead settle for Him to just make visitations when we invite Him! The truth is we just aren’t that secure in His love, but Jesus desires for us to have an ever-deepening relationship with Him. My wife is not just an acquaintance of mine she is my very best friend, and our relationship continues to grow ever stronger. There is far too much of what I call “shopping cart” Christianity where all people want is to add Jesus to their shopping carts. “You know a little help on time management, how to succeed in the business world, some social activities for myself and the family but nothing that will interfere with everything else I’ve placed in my shopping cart!” And the Church has begun to market Christianity right along those lines, but Jesus doesn’t want to just be added to your “shopping cart” He wants to indwell you, possess every fiber of your being, to be your best friend. Frankly, Jesus destroyed “my shopping cart” and now He carries me everywhere I go, as I’m not looking for a Co-Pilot, I want him to fly the plane!
10. Agricultural: “rooted” God’s love will “root” us in His love! Now that’s a term that deals with plant life, isn’t it? For plants to have nourishment and stability the root system must root deep into the ground. We recently purchased some tropical plants called Plumeria. As I planted them the directions told me to water them right away and then to wait several weeks which would force the root system to go deep. I think God allows us to go through “dry” times to force our root system deep into His love so that we would gain nourishment and stability. Strength is increased only to the degree that depth is increased!
11. Architectural: “grounded” Now here we switch terms to that of the building trades and the need to have a firm foundation. Again, this has to do with the depth on which the foundation will be placed. Here though, the idea is not for nourishment or strength as much as it is for height. If our Christian lives are going to reach the height God wants for them then our foundation in God’s love is going to need to be deep enough to support it!

 

Pastor, how do you know if you are deep enough into God’s love to have strength and height? Well, if you go through trials, you will find out how deep you have dug into God’s love for you! Now most of us spend every effort we can dodging the trials of life, don’t we? “Woo, that one came close and almost got me, but I ducked just in time!” But in so doing our depth into His love goes untested!       

1. Dimension Vs. 18-19a “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 which passes knowledge”: Here is the third aspect and it is still dealing with the love of God but look at what Paul prays. That we may be able to “grasp or lay hold of” that which he says, “passes knowledge”. How is that possible? It’s because what Paul is praying for cannot be grasped by our intellect it must instead be experienced by us personally! Secondly, look at the dimensions of the love of Christ, “width, length, depth, and height”. Do you know what that looks like if you draw it out on paper? Why it looks like a cross to me!

• God’s love is wide enough to include me
• Long enough to last forever
• Deep enough to reach past all my sins
• And high enough to take me into His presence

1. Development Vs. 19b “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God”: The final aspect of this prayer to overcome our loss of heart has to the with the continual development of His love in our lives. Simply put Paul prays that God would continue to fill up our empty places with more of Jesus! Ever notice that in nature life hates a vacuum? I mean wherever there is an empty place that is where water, air, or dirt will rush in to fill it. Get a flat tire and what happens? There is a void where the rubber used to be and the air rushes in to fill that void. That is what Paul prays, “May the Lord rush into your life and fill in every empty spot”. Now I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to have more empty spots. How do I go about doing that? Well, first off, we need to get punctured now and again and as our flesh gets emptied we just ask Him to fill us up with Himself instead of our old selves.

Paul’s prayer for those who lose heart is supplying Jesus to give us:

• Durability
• Depth
• Dimension
• Development

But how can this prayer happen? The next two verses ensure that it is not just a pipe dream but rather a reality.

 

 

Vs. 20-21 How big is your God?

 

Vs. 20-21 This is what is called doxology or a benediction which is an expression of praise. But in it, Paul reveals how this prayer will become a reality in our lives:

1. “Now to Him who is able to do”: The first truth is that it is not us who will bring this prayer into reality it is God who will do so.
2. “Exceedingly”: God’s ability is exceedingly above all we can ask. Concerning our need for the love of God start asking and we will run of things to ask before the supply will run out.
3. “Abundantly”: I may not have the words to ask but my mind is always running. That may be true, but God’s supply is abundantly above all you can think.
4. “According to the power that works in us”: It has a track record in our lives already it is in accord with what He has already been doing in our lives. His work has a history already in my heart so it’s on familiar ground! Paul uses two words with regards to this, “power” which is where we get our word “dynamite” from, and “works” where we get our word “energy” from. Paul says that we can be assured of the God’’ ability to answer this prayer because His explosive power is already a work in us!

 

1. Vs. 21 “To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Finally, we can be assured of this because it is for His glory in His Church through time. In other words, we are not asking for God to do something that He does not already desire to do, we are instead asking Him to do that which he wants to do, make Himself known in us and through us to a world that has never had an encounter with Him! May we pray to the Lord daily this prayer of Paul for our own lives!