Paul's Threefold Prayer for Converts (02/11/2001)

Biblical Revelation and Inspiration

Let me Remind you that we have a new study down front with the others and if you missed any of the others or the old ones Are still here, but this is the next in our series. It looks like you're getting these about two weeks after I preach them.

So that's this should be two weeks ago. Because it still has a December date on it but this is the one that was on biblical revelation and the difference between I think the one last week was on revelation as well.

This one is more with a view towards Inspiration, which is a specific type of revelation. It has to do with the written word. That's what this is about. This has some very interesting historical information as well.

So I think you'll you'll really get some good information out of this study. So pick this up they're right down here on the pew beside the older studies this one's on biblical revelation this morning.

I'd like for you turn with me to Ephesians chapter 3 in verse 14, and I'm going to diverge from our systematic theology study today. We're not going to talk about Bibliology this morning. We'll Pick that up week after next.

Myron Golden will be here next Sunday morning to preach for us. So it'll be week after next when we continue our series. This morning I felt that I would Diverge so let's look at Ephesians 3 14. I think it's interesting that That the Sunday school class had a lot to do with this subject entirely a lot to do with it.

Paul's Threefold Prayer for His Converts

But This morning. I want to speak to you about the dimensions of God's love. Or you might say Paul's threefold prayer for his converts. Paul's threefold prayer For his converts, so let's pray and we'll begin with Ephesians 3 14 father.

We thank you so much for the way that this service has begun and for the anointed People who have brought us the music this morning and how your hand is upon their lives and how it speaks to our hearts and Prepares our hearts even more to hear the the written word and that your Holy Spirit might move in our hearts and Quicken that written word make it alive in our lives today.

And that is our prayer for this time and we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Let's start with Ephesians 3 14 and read this passage together down through the end of the chapter. And then we'll see what God has for us from this passage.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the father. This is how we know it's a prayer by the way He's he's about to pray a prayer for his converts. I Bow my knees for this cause. And to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

Isn't that a beautiful verse? The whole family that means I Assume since it says heaven and earth. That means the angels that did not fall that means His children all of God's children through all of the different Years of time since time started up into the present and on out into the future.

To the end of time all of God's family the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named in Verse 16 says that this begins to we see what he is praying for. He says that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory and you're gonna find it.

Three requests in this passage three prayer requests that he would grant According to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. That's one of the requests. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love.

That's another one May be able to comprehend with all Saints. What is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passes? Knowledge that you might be filled with all of the fullness of God and that's another one.

Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think According to the power that worketh in us and to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end.

Amen, isn't that beautiful? Poetic language in that last verse. Well, let's go back to the beginning of the passage starting the verse 14 and and discuss these three prayers three things that Paul asked of the father for his converts for the Saints and Probably for the Saints of all ages, wouldn't you say I?

Really want to focus on the third prayer request, but I do want to mention the first two. The first one is That he prays that we might be strengthened with might and you see this in verse 16 Towards the end.

He says to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man now this word Strengthened just keep that in mind. But it leads to the next word which is might that we might be strengthened with might.

I want us to take a little look at this word might in the Greek language. It is the word dunamis and It's a very powerful word in the Greek language and throughout the New Testament. I'm going to show you some other places where it's found in a moment.

It's going to surprise you where this word is found. But I want you to remember before we look at the other places where the word is found that Paul's prayer is simple. He says I pray father that all of my brothers and sisters Might be strengthened with whatever this dunamis is.

So this is not a request for a certain person. This is not a request for a certain person who may have a specific gift. This is a request for all Saints for every man and woman and boy and girl sitting in this room and all over throughout God's world as a matter of fact throughout all of The invisible places and the visible places and throughout all time and eternity.

This is a request that is for God's people that we might be strengthened With dunamis now, what is this dunamis? Well, the definition of the word is force or Miraculous power is the specific definition.

It has been translated in the New Testament and other verses as mighty works are wonderful works. And you've seen those verses before that is the word that those words come from. The word dunamis and this is what he is requesting that all of God's children might be strengthened with this.

Now we're not going to get into the study that's going on in Sunday school about the different gifts of the Spirit that are given we're talking about a a Specific general thing that all of God's children are supposed to have and this is Strength to be strengthened with this dunamis with might as it says in our English version.

Well dunamis comes from another Greek word Dunamis ah he which means to be able or to be possible. So whatever this power is it makes things be possible. That would not be possible without this power and so Let me show you an example of where this exact word is used.

Turn with me to our Sunday school lesson. 1st Corinthians of about a week ago. 1st Corinthians chapter 12. Welcome come right in. We're in Ephesians Chapter 3 verse 14 and following we're talking about God's love this morning.

We have discovered that in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 16 and following that the Apostle Paul praised three prayers for all The Saints all the Christians in the world, especially his disciples. I think he's a little bit prejudiced there.

Don't you think he's talking about. I want my disciples to have this but it applies to all of us and the first request is found at the bottom of verse 16 where it says that they might Be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.

And this word might is the Greek word dunamis. Which means power and I'm about to show you another place in the Bible where this exact verse verse is used turn to 1st Corinthians 12 and Verse 10 and as I said, the scope of this message does not allow us to discuss the gifts of the Spirit.

We if you want to discuss that come to Sunday school because that's what brother Otis has been covering lately in Depth but merely to take a look at this word. Now. This is an specific use of this word.

But look what it says. To another the working of miracles the word miracles is the Greek word dunamis now. Most of you have been around me and known me for a very long and heard me teach the Bible. You know that it's my personal opinion that There are certain signs and wonders that the Apostles did there are certain signs and wonders that Moses was able to do.

That Elijah was able to do. That Jesus and the Apostles were able to do and the prophets the New Testament prophets as well were able to do and many times. These specific mighty wonders are designed by God to authenticate his message for example with Moses.

The law was about to come to this planet and so God Moses said but God why would they believe? That I've talked to you and I don't even know what to call you. I don't know who to tell them you are so they'll listen to me and Moses was having a problem.

He said you can give me all the law you want, but they won't accept it because it's just me and I stutter. I'm nobody God said tell him I am that I am sent you and I'll give you Aaron to help and so forth and You know He could throw his rod down and turns into a serpent and he could pick it up and it turns back into the rod and there.

Were some very interesting signs and wonders that were done that authenticated Moses as the messenger, but more importantly it authenticated the message. Same thing happened to authenticate Kate the office of the prophet with Elijah and Elisha the same thing happened to authenticate the giving of the New Testament the New Covenant with Jesus and the Apostles and so forth and.

But my point this morning is this that this word miracles is dunamis and it has to do with incredible power spiritual power. Now sometimes and I am planning to preach a message on this specific passage.

Very soon and it probably will end up being the week after Myron preaches. So we may postpone our bibliology another week because I want to get into this passage and preach on the gifts. Because we've been talking about it so much lately.

But suffice it to say that there are specific gifts that the Holy Spirit gives but there is a power That's behind these gifts and the father Regulates the energy of it in a sovereign way. In other words, he's in control of that people can't control it.

You can't turn these things on and off if they're real now. This word that's translated to working of miracles. You can take if you take these gifts probably as we think of it, especially today and we look at this.

We would say well, that's the most Awesome of the gifts because it could enable a person to literally do miracles which means to where the the laws of physics and the laws of nature would be. Set aside for a moment and some great thing could happen such as the parting of the Red Sea.

Something on that nature. The power that caused that to happen at the hand of Moses is the power we're discussing this morning. That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying you're going to be given a gift of miracles.

I'm not the one who gives those. So I can't say that. But I can say that Paul prayed that everyone in this room this morning would be strengthened with this Power that can cause those things. This is the power that it's speaking of now it is an enabling power and It is that he prays that we would be strengthened with this power in the inner man.

If you go on and study in the Word of God, what you find out is that. This is the very same power that we could call resurrection power. The power that was used that brought Jesus out of the grave is the same power that you have when it says that God worketh in you and.

So we need to be reminded this morning that Paul's prayer for his baby Christians even brand-new Christians. Was that they be strengthened on the inner man with this dunamis, which is the same power that causes all these things to happen.

You were supposed to have it so that God will cause what you're supposed to do to happen. And only he and you will know what that is, but I'll say this God has given you as a gift to this church. Because this church as a body cannot do what it's supposed to do and accomplish the will of God without you.

Being available to this power working for you to do whatever it is that God has for you to do. And it's up to him to determine what that is. But there's one power that will energize it and that comes from this Greek word dunamis dunamis.

Now, let's go on and see the next prayer that he prays. At the end of verse 16, it says that you might be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that she being rooted and Grounded in love to me the second prayer request that Paul has for his disciples.

But for all Christians is this that with Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith. You might be rooted and grounded in love and this love is agape which we cannot naturally have. It can only come from God.

And this is what Paul is requesting is that the father would cause it to be so. That in our lives we would be rooted and grounded in the very love of God. Which is totally different from them from the love of man.

The love of man has to do with the object of the love. If the object of the love is pleasing me then I love It it's not then I don't. But God's love has nothing to do with the object of the love. It has only to do with a lover and that's God.

God loves us because of him not because of us. That's why we in the depths of our sin can be saved by his love because his love does not respond to what we do. And are but only to who he is. Well, Paul says that only by God the Father.

Through the Holy Spirit as he works in your heart. Can you ever have an understanding of this love let alone be rooted and grounded in it? But his request is that would be rooted and grounded in this kind of love now rooted in the Greek is the word Ridso and it means rooted.

Okay, aren't you glad you came today? All right grounded is The word family. Oh. And you just came to hear a text and try to say that. But it means to lay a basis for It carries the idea of a foundation.

So he prays that you not might be rooted in the love of God. But that the foundation of your life would be built on the love of God not on the flesh. Or the love of the flesh or anything else the flesh has to offer but on this incredible thing called agape.

Which only God has and the only way we have it is that he gives it to us. From him directly from him. The Bible says God is love not that he has it but he is it and So he prays that we would be rooted and grounded now.

The Breadth, Length, Depth, and Height of Christ's Love

Let's come to the third request. This is really the message and this is awesome. And this could be five messages. For your sakes. I hope the Lord allows it to be one message done by dinner today. But look at verse 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints.

See that takes it from his disciples to us, doesn't it? And Beyond even to those we lead to the Lord and generations after that if the Lord Terry's May be able to comprehend with all Saints. What is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height?

His prayer is Oh Father. Help my babies in the Lord and help all Saints that ever live to able to comprehend to be able to comprehend something. To not just know about it. To not just teach of it and speak of it and have definitions of it, but to comprehend it.

What is the breadth of it the length of it the depth of it the height and to know the love of Christ. Which passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. It's been taught in hundreds of ways how to be spirit filled be filled not with wine.

Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. We're commanded so we're commanded to do something that we know very little of we're commanded to be filled with the Spirit. We don't always know what that means, but let me show you one aspect of it right here.

He ends verse 19 with this do these things comprehend this. So that you might be filled with the fullness of God. Can you think of a better definition than to be spirit filled and to be filled with the fullness of God?

If you could walk down the streets of Corsicana this Monday being filled with the fullness of God. You would change Corsicana and he says the way to do that is to comprehend something. Not to know about it not to study it not to think of it.

But to to to comprehend it to get into the depths of it to know it. To know it in and of yourself in essence and being and to experience. The breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the love of Christ that passes all knowledge.

What is the breadth of his love? His love is wide I'm gonna quote. Dr. Rocky Freeman here. He made a statement about the breadth of God's love that I remember once he said this we normally think of God's love.

We think of me. Now think about that. Isn't that true when you think of God's love? I think he loves me and you think he loves you and he does and we always think of God's love first in in the in I mode.

He loves me and that's wonderful. We're taught when we're brand-new baby Christians that Jesus loved you so much. He died for you. But that's not what John 3 16 says. Says he died for the world not for just you he died for his own.

Now look at this he says very clearly I I Love all of my children not just me but what we do when we think of God's love we bring it into a small little scope and we think of ourselves and we Don't realize that it goes out to all of his children as it speaks of in the first of this passage.

Look back up at chapter 3 and verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees and to the Father our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in heaven and in earth is named the family of God he loves his whole family and.

Sometimes it's kind of like we are God's child and we focus on his love for us so much. We forget that he loves his other kids. But that's what this passage is teaching so very clearly the breadth of his love it extends out to all of his entire Family throughout all of eternity throughout the places that are invisible in the places that are visible.

And that's how broad his love is. Do you know what this does for us look down? At chapter 4 just the first few verses. Realizing that there are no really really no chapter divisions in the original Greek of course in this letter.

There's not a division here, but it goes right on in and continues to talk about the same thing but the first thing that I learned from the breadth of God's love is that there is a basis here for not judging my brother and.

There's also a basis for not being selfish. It says in chapter 4 verse 1 therefore the prisoner of the Lord I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness and long-suffering forbearing one another in love.

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body. Now do you see that it goes right on from this concept of of he's saying that he wants us to comprehend God's love it goes right on and talks about unity in the church.

It talks about the fact that there is one body. It talks about the fact of this lowliness and meekness and this servant attitude that the Lord Jesus had. That we are all supposed to have towards one another.

It all begins by realizing the breadth of God's love that he loves the one sitting next to you as much as he loves you. Well, it's hard for us to remember because because don't aren't you like me in the sense?

Don't you feel like you're really God's favorite child? Don't you. Okay, you don't raise your hands. Sit on your hands, but you know you feel that way. But we have to be careful when we come together and realize that God yes God does feel like you're his only favorite child.

He really does think that about me, but he does about you, too. He thinks that about all of us and so we have to broaden our understanding of God's love. First of all, it becomes a basis for not judging thy brother.

Romans 14 9 says this. For this in Jesus Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. But why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou set it not what your brother's doing?

You just try to erase it by talking about him for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. We don't need to help each other in this area.

We don't need to help each other give an account for our weaknesses. We will do that ourselves as we each stand before Jesus Christ at the judgment seat of Christ. So then let every one of us. We shall give account of himself to God.

Let us not therefore judge one another anymore because he is the judge that's the gist of this. But judge this rather that no man put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother's way. You know that sometimes when we focus on the negatives and we always do it from a good heart because since we're God's favorite God Is using us to correct everyone else.

Cause them all to be like me if if I'm his favorite then if you can be more like me He'll you know, he might like you a little bit more later, too so. So it's my job to judge those things and to correct them and you know.

What happens the more we grow in the Lord first of all, you find out you can't correct. Does anyone in here ever tried to change an adult. You know, you struggle moms with the kids. That's not easy, but you try to change an adult man.

You ladies here try to change a man. Man, have you ever tried to change that wife? Or any woman. Adults don't change except by the Holy Spirit. God is changing us. He's in that business and it's the Holy Spirit's ministry.

It is his ministry to do that work and he does do that work and it shows a lack of faith in him and his work when we try to do it and So the Lord says one thing that will help us is to understand the breadth of God's love.

God loves the person sitting next to you as much as he loves you. So if he's worked in your life to bring you to this great state where you are today He loves him that much too. He's gonna bring them to a state where he wants him to be and He will do that work.

Now. We're there to encourage and to edify. We're there to build one another. By the Holy Spirit within us to do that work and so that we do work together with God. I'm not saying we don't. But we need to be very careful that we don't do God's work.

For him the part that he wants to do and will do and so this breadth of his love it Reassures us that God is working in the other. He's working in the other brother and sister. It's usually not on our timetable.

Is it we want the others to get up to this level now? God says I'll get them there. But when I get them there, they'll stay they're not gonna go back. They'll stay there. It may take longer. But it's the right way and it reassures us God the breadth of God's love reassures us that he is doing this work in Our brothers and sisters if you look in Romans 14 verse 4, it says who art thou that judges another man's servant?

No. To his own master. He standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up as a matter of fact for God is able to make him stand. The gist of this little word is that why are we going to judge the brother or sister when they don't work for me?

They work for God. They're not my servant. They're God's and so God is the one who should correct them. Now I will say once again, unless I know that it's difficult to communicate I'm speaking on this passage.

So I'm not trying to negate other passages that teach that we're supposed to edify and encourage one another because God will use us to That end but usually it will be in the more of a positive way and our human nature sometimes tends to be the more negative style.

And I don't think that's there for us. I think we should let the Holy Spirit if he wants to whoop one of our brothers and sister to get a good whooping. You moms have you ever had a situation where one of your siblings?

Took it upon themselves to spank one of the other ones. Does that work very well? You leave them home tell the older one now you take care of these. I'm going to the store you come back. What do you have screaming hollering?

Now? I haven't learned this in my home. I've studied your homes. That's how I know this. Because that sibling tried to whoop the other sibling. Doesn't work. That's mom and dad's job. You see now. I hope Ben's not listening Paul.

You might get in trouble next time. So you stay you hear what dad said back off? But anyway, we can see a pretty good illustration there for us. Why do we judge another man's servant not our servant? Now.

It's interesting another thought this brings is that this understanding of the breadth of God's love Would also be a basis to attack selfishness in my own life. And I'll show you what I mean by that if you if you're still there in Romans 14, you can look at verse 7.

For none of us liveth to himself. No man dieth to himself for whether we live or whether We live unto the Lord whether we die. We die unto the Lord whether we live therefore die. We are the Lord's and so it's sometimes we think we're a mountain.

Sometimes we think we're an island and Yet God tells us that's not what we were put here. We're not put here just to be unto Ourselves. Another good verse along these lines of 2nd Corinthians 5 14 for the love of Christ Constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we're all dead.

We count ourselves as Crucified crucify. The self-life is what the teaching is and that he died for all that day. Which lives should not henceforth forth live unto themselves. But unto him which died for them and rose again.

If we understand the breadth of God's love it will cause us to be less selfish. Philippians 2 4 says look not every man on his own things. Boy, that'd be a good one to put on our iceboxes, wouldn't it?

But every man also on the things of others. You see we look about us this morning and we look at the brother and we say I didn't really realize God loved you as Much as he does me, but I'm learning that this morning.

I don't like the way it feels, but I will get used to it. And that's what God is saying. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which also is in Christ Jesus.

What kind of mind did Jesus have. Well who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God. But he made himself of no reputation. He took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

Why. Because of the breadth of his love. So we see the breadth of God's love. We're also supposed to comprehend the length of it. What is the length of God's love teach us? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 7.

God's love to you individually now and what we're also remembering is to our brothers and sisters sitting around us the length of his love. Doesn't ever begin. Doesn't have a beginning point. Because from our vantage point we have to say it starts we'll use that word, but it's an incorrect word but we have to say it starts in eternity past if you go back to a time before anything was a time before there was even an angel and.

And You go back to that time. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 7 goes back to such a time because it says the Lord did not set his love upon you. The word set Is in the past perfect. When and when you put perfect in the grammar what it means is a one-time act never to be repeated.

So the grammar tells us that this is something that was set Back in eternity never to be done again because it doesn't need to be done again because it is true. And that is where God set his love upon you.

So he says the Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people. You can extrapolate that out to our own lives and say God didn't choose us because we're stronger than anyone else.

He didn't choose us because we're better. He didn't choose us because we're smarter. He didn't choose us because we had more faith. Because we didn't have any faith the flesh has zero faith. If you have any faith today is because God gave it to you as a gift.

So he didn't save us upon anything in and of us goes back to a goth a love is. The goth a love based on the object of the love. No. It's based on the one doing the love and that's God so it had nothing to do with us.

It had all to do with him and it started in eternity past. Past where he set his love upon us and he says well if it's not because of stuff. We did if it's not because we were good or faithful. Why was it he says because the Lord loved you.

Now we can't understand that. We we find it difficult to contemplate the fact that he loved us before the worlds were that he knew us individually those who are his you go back up to vision Ephesians 3 and 15 where it's talking about the family of God.

He knows he knows who his family is. There are those who will spend eternity in hell With Satan and his angels and they are not part of God's family. So he's not talking about those but those who are part of God's family if you get out to Eternity future and you look back.

It'll be easy to see who they were don't try to tell who they are now because you're not God. We're to witness and love everyone and to give God's love to everyone that we cross their path as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Because we don't know. But you get out there you'll know. You'll look back. You'll see you know how you'll know because you'll look around and everybody there that's them. God's family. Well from that vantage point allow yourselves to not use the human viewpoint for just a moment.

But let's look at the divine viewpoint and go back to a place where there is no time. Where the eternal I am is there? He is not bound by time. He's not bound by our conventions and He is the father and he does know who his children are and he already loves them.

Isn't that amazing? He's loved you from that time. So doesn't that help you to understand that is not based on the stuff you're doing next week. His love doesn't rise and fall with what you do and you know.

What else doesn't rise and fall for your brother either and that's why we're not supposed to judge him. It's not based on what he's doing or not doing, right? We don't have to help him be loved more by God.

Because God has an eternal love the length of God's love goes back to a place where there's no starting point. It's always been as long as God has been his love for you individually if you're part of his family today.

Has been forever. I'll tell you this you may be sitting here today saying well, I'm not part of his family. Does that mean he'll never love me or he doesn't love me? Are you concerned about that if you are you know what there's a reason it's because he's chasing you.

He's after you and you know what he teaches us. He's not gonna let you go. If you're here today and you've never received Jesus as your own He's after you you might tell him no today. You know what? You'll be thinking about it.

And he'll chase you down. He says that he's like a groom. He's like the bridegroom. It works kind of like the man. Finds the one he loves and she has no clue yet. She doesn't love him and he looked at him.