Sermon - Ephesians 3:14-21 - Littleby Baptist Church - October 14, 2018

We will be starting in Ephesians 3:14 this morning.

Last week we started 3^rd chapter of Ephesians. Paul talked about his calling, his Damascus road experience, how the Holy Spirit worked in him, the unity that the gift of Grace brings, how the Gentiles have a share in the Messianic promise, and how what is really important above all other things is that each one of us has accepted Christ’s gift of grace and that we share it with others.

Ephesians 3:14

“¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father”

For this reason – For all that we have talked about so far in this letter to the Ephesians. For all the blessings that God has poured out. For the fact that we are saved by our faith in Jesus. For the wisdom and revelation that God has poured out on us. For the limitless power available to our Lord to accomplish His will. For how we were once dead in our sin, but through our faith in Jesus we have been given new life. We have been redeemed and set free from our past lives.

For the love that our Savior has for each one of us. For the mark that has been placed on each one of us by the Holy Spirt dwelling in us. For how we gentiles are now part of God’s family, coheirs with Christ, having part in the future eternity in Glory. For how we do not have to follow the Law in attempt to earn our salvation. For how free the gift of Grace truly is. How it completely wipes away our sins and makes us a new creation. For the unity in all true believers. For the New Covenant that we have part in. For all of this and more, Paul kneeled before the Father and prayed.

The kings and queens of old expected their people to kneel before them as a sign of submission. We don’t have to physically kneel before our King, but Paul’s imagery here is telling us that we need to submit to God.

Scanning through the list of things that Paul has covered in this letter and in this chapter, you can pick anyone of them and see that we need to kneel before our God. Our Lord deserves our complete submission, every aspect of our lives, everything we have, every desire, and every dream… they are all things that we need to submit to our God. Don’t hold any of it back, submit to God in every way and in everything.  

Ephesians 3:15

“¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”

Basically, everything and everyone comes from God. I think Colossians 1:15-18 says it better than I can.

Colossians 1:15-18

“¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. ¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.”

Jesus is the creator of all, everything, everyone, come from Him. If it was not for our Creator none of this or us would be here. Without Him we do not exist.

Ephesians 3:16

“¹⁶ I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,”

The first thing Paul is praying for is strength. How many here struggle with things now and again? If we are honest with ourselves all of us can raise our hands for this one. Life, temptations, the devil, that really trying neighbor or co-worker, our limited faith, or fill in the blank, any of it can drain the strength from us. There are times when we try to take care of things on our own, then we hit a brick wall. We may run out of ideas on how to work through it, we may struggle with how to overcome, we may feel like we cannot walk away from that sin that seems to be strangling us. Whatever it is, if we attempt to handle it on our own we will run out of strength.

People like to say that God will only give you what you can handle. That statement is false. God will give you more than you can handle, because He wants you to rely on Him. If you rely on His power given to you by His Spirit, you can overcome anything. Rely on His Spirit and get His strength, we cannot do it all on our own.

First part of Ephesians 3:17a

“and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

The word dwell does not do this prayer justice.

Let me put it this way. I dwell in my house, but we have lived there for 6.5 years, our history in it is limited. In many ways it is home, but another house could be our home also. Some people live in the family home. That is a house that either their parents or grandparents bought or built and they are now the second or third generation that lives in it. That home has history, it is ingrained in their lives for as long as they can remember. I can move out of my house and into another, but someone living in a multi-generational home would really struggle moving.

If Christ is truly dwelling in our hearts, it is so much more than what happens when we are first saved. Paul is praying that Christ would literally be at home in our hearts. Rooted so deeply in our lives that He is the forefront of our thoughts and actions.

Ephesians 3:17b-19

“I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, ¹⁹ and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

We are to be firmly rooted like a giant tree, and firmly established like the foundation of a building, Rooted and established in God’s Love. These are things that cannot be easily moved or destroyed. We are to have roots so deep in God’s love that it is impossible to dig them out. We are to be have a foundation that is so solid that nothing can knock it over.

Why do we need to be so rooted and established? So that we can begin to understand how much God Loves us. It is a love without limits. There is no way to measure the length, width, height, and depth of it. It is immeasurable, it is beyond understanding. As it states right here in verse 19 that ‘Christ’s love surpasses knowledge’. We may not understand it on our own, but every day or our life we can see how amazing it is.

Think about the Old Testament law for a moment and all its rules that needed to be followed. Every one of us has violated it more times than we could count, we break it in some way every day. Lust, greed, hate, pride, not trusting in God… pick one of many sins. It is amazing to think that the day I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior that He washed all that garbage away, He cleansed me of my sins, out of His love for me. Then what happens, later that day I sin again and once again Jesus wipes it away. Then again, and again, and again, and again, and every day of my life I continue to sin, continue to be unworthy of all that God has given me and every day, after every sin, after every stumble, after every mistake, He picks me up and makes me clean once again.

He does that for each of us, because there is no limit to God’s Love.

The last part of verse 19 says “so that you may be filled with the fullness of God.”

Paul is praying that the Jews and Gentiles will love each other. For us it means that we need to be loving every person in this building today as Christ loves them. Your coworkers, you need to be loving them as Jesus loves them. Your family, all of your family, yes even that crazy uncle that nobody likes to talk about. You need to love each one of them as God loves them. Every person in your life, every person you meet, every homeless person, every child at the children’s home, every person with a need, and even every person that is out to get you. You need to be loving everyone as Jesus would love them. Remember He loves you without limit and He loves everyone else the same way.

We need to love as Christ loves, we need to love without measure.

Ephesians 3:20-21

“²⁰ Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Most of what we have covered so far in the first three chapters of the letter to the Ephesians has been a prayer, which Paul is wrapping up in these two verses. This is his benediction.

Paul is recognizing that God is able to do so much more than anyone could ever imagine. Through Jesus all who believe have been merged into one family, which is something that was beyond what people thought was possible. If we look through the Bible we see situation after situation where God demonstrates His power in ways that would defy the imagination.

Think about the young nation of Israel leaving Egypt. Who would of thought that God would part the sea so they could cross safely on dry ground? Who would have thought that God could provide manna to feed the people?

How about Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha.

In John chapter 11 both of the sisters make statements along the line of ‘I know my brother would not have died if you had been here.’ They believed that Jesus could heal people and wished Jesus had been there before Lazarus died. Even after Jesus asked them to move the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, Martha commented on how long her brother had been dead and the stench that comes with it. She was not thinking about the power available to Jesus, just what was in front of her.

Then Jesus prayed and called out for Lazarus to come out of the tomb. They witnessed first hand the power of God. That same power that is at work in us. That same power that takes this sinful being, cleanses it, and makes it new. That same power that can accomplish more than we can ever imagine. That same power that can tear down walls, build hope, and change lives.

We tend to limit God! Do we limit the vision for His Church because of what we can imagine and see? Do we limit His healing power? Do we limit the impact He can have on our lives? Do we limit what we pray for because it does not seem possible?

The Israelites would never have imagined that God would part the sea and provide them with food. Mary and Martha did not think Jesus could raise their brother from the dead after 4 days.

God can do so much more than our limited minds can imagine and that power is in us through the work of the Holy Spirit. God can do more in us and through us than we think. All we have to do is believe and then give God the glory for all that He has done, is doing, and will do. He is worthy of all the honor and glory. He is worthy of our praise.

Let Christ be so deeply rooted in your heart that nothing can move him. Let the foundation of your faith be so solid that the winds of the storms you face will not make you waver.

Have faith that Christ is with you and that whatever He places before you, His power will overcome and accomplish.

Have Faith and let Christ work in you.

God Bless,

Robert