For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
--Ephesians 3:14-21
First, Paul tells us that he kneels before the Father. Imagine him kneeling in there. Kneeling is a posture of submission. We have special cushions for kneeling in submission to God in prayer, yet Paul kneeled there on that stone floor.
Paul’s word choices here are intentional…he refers to God as Father and to all of the families under heaven and earth. It is important that you see our church as family. We are a family. And just as Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus (and in many other surrounding areas), we should also pray for our church…our extended family.
And in every family, there must be a certain amount of patience and understanding. We are all different and yet we must love one another, be kind to one another, confront each other when it’s necessary, and forgive each other. No family is perfect, but we are all important.
And, as I mentioned early, God is described as our Father. When we describe the Trinity we say “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. God the Father is spirit, the Holy Spirit is spirit, and Jesus (the Son) was fully human and fully God—he is a physical being. But we need to understand that Jesus is the only member of the Trinity who had a human body. God is spirit. He is not an old white man with a long white beard…or, as many younger people may think, he is not an old black man in a white suit with the voice of Morgan Freeman. He is spirit.
So…why do we call him Father? Well, there are many who have begun to refer to God as Mother…or they alternate between both. However, I struggle with this. The Bible tells us that Jesus is God’s son. Jesus had a mother—Mary. Jesus refers to him as Father. Many references in the New Testament refer to God as the Father. So, I believe that God intends for us to see him as a Father. Dad. Daddy.
Now, for people who did not have a good father figure in their lives, sometimes this reference is difficult. But keep in mind that God is the perfect father. He has none of the faults that our human fathers have. And just as a perfect father would love his children unconditionally, God also loves us in this way.
The prayer that Paul prays focuses on strengthening the young church with the power of the Holy Spirit. He prays that God will strengthen them “with power through his Spirit in their inner being”. He prays that “Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith”. And he prays that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Next Paul describes the power of the Holy Spirit: He says that the Holy Spirit is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
The Holy Spirit! The same Holy Spirit that lives within us today!
We talked last week about the splitting of the veil in the temple that symbolized God’s presence leaving the confinement of the Holy of Holies. God is with us…his church. But the Holy Spirit did not make himself known to the people until after Jesus ascension.
We celebrate this momentous occasion! It is called Pentecost.
(Famous painting by Jean Restout II in the Louvre. 15 ft by 26 ft. The “Pentecost” was originally a much larger artwork. It was wider and had an arched top displaying a dove symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit. From this dove once radiated golden shafts of light that streamed down upon the apostles.)
Jesus told his followers when he was preparing to ascend into heaven that another was coming…a helper, the Holy Spirit. Here is what the book of Acts tells us about that day.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4)
Yes, the gift of tongues is real. I don’t have it so don’t ask me to do it! Nor do I have the ability to translate tongues—but there are also those with that gift.
The point is…the Holy Spirit came to us and gives us special power. In Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth, he tells them about these special gifts.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)
And Paul tells us in our scripture reading this morning that the Holy Spirit is able to do immeasurable more than all we can ask or imagine.
Yet…are we allowing the Holy Spirit to give us this power in our lives? How can we access this amazing power of the Holy Spirit…this power that is living within us.
I believe that there are four things that we can do. And I got these four things from the work of John Piper. He’s a theologian and pastor that I respect. I learn from him and many other theologians on a regular basis.
First, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word.
Do you realize that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he responded to each temptation with scripture? There is POWER is scripture, folks. Yet, how can we defend ourselves with scripture if we don’t know any?
The bible is, by far, the bestselling book of all time. If you think about Bibles in your home, how many can you count in your head? I don’t even know how many we have—multiple translations from multiple events and occasions. We probably have more than 20.
Yet, when was the last time you read this best seller? When was the last time that you sat down in a quiet place and immersed yourself in God’s Word? And, even if you wanted to, it is often difficult to know where to even start!
It is not a normal book. It’s a library! A book full of books. Some of them are historical records, some are poems, some are songs, and some of them are prophecy.
I recommend starting with James. There are lots of recommended lists for “how to” read the Bible. Pick one and jump in. God will guide you.
The Bible is the primary way that God talks to us. He provided us with His Word. Read the Bible with the expectation that God will talk to you personally through the words that you read.
Secondly, we need to trust God.
Believe that the Bible is the truth and that God still speaks to us today through its enduring words. Know that you can trust that the Bible was written through the authority of God and inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. The writers of the scriptures were instruments that God used to pen His words. They were tools.
The Bible was written by men but inspired by God. Read it. Meditate on it. Believe it. And trust in its truth.
Faith is critical to our lives as Christians. Just ask the many who were healed and told by Jesus, “Your faith has healed you.” “Your faith has made you well.”
The third thing we need to do is pray.
Prayer is another primary way that God talks to us. Yes, I know that we think of this as our primary way to talk to God, but we also need to take time in our prayers to just be still and listen.
And sometimes we are also called to fast. Fasting was used throughout Biblical times to speak to and hear from God. It is still a powerful tool today. In fact, John Wesley fasted every Wednesday and Friday…and he required his Pastors to do the same. It is important to know your physical limitations, talk with your doctor, and drink plenty of water when you fast.
But regardless of HOW you pray, know that God hears and answers prayer. That’s whether you pray constantly throughout the day in your mind, whether you pray aloud with your family, or whether you kneel and pray quietly. The Holy Spirit living within you makes sure that God knows your prayers before you even ask. In fact, the book of Romans tells us that the Holy Spirit knows what to pray for us even when we ourselves don’t know what to pray for.
Pray. Be intentional about it. Talk to God, your Father who loves you, and know he will answer. He won’t always answer in the way we think is best. But what do we know? Trust in his answers.
And finally, we need to be responsive to the nudging of the Holy Spirit.
If we want to take advantage of the power that we are offered through the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to do what the Holy Spirit prompts us to do. And it’s not always easy.
Have you felt the Holy Spirit urging you to visit someone, urging you to make a call, urging you to get involved in…something? All too often we ignore that prompting of the Holy Spirit because we don’t understand, or we’re scared, or we’re too proud.
When we resist the Holy Spirit, we are giving up this amazing power that God promises us.
Sometimes I think it is unintentional. I think we can get so caught up in this world that we don’t even understand when God is trying to get our attention. But I will promise you that if you read God’s Word, if you pray earnestly and often, and if you believe…God and the Holy Spirit will find how to talk to you in a way that you understand.
When I work with youth, I encourage them to look for God Sightings. They begin noticing how God works in the world around them and before long they see how He is working in their own life. I encourage you to do the same.
Let’s use some of this mighty power that is right here within us to do amazing things for God in our community and in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment