Ephesians Series Week #20 The Next Level to Paul s Prayer Ephesians 3: /24/2013

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1 I. Introduction and review Ephesians Series Week #20 The Next Level to Paul s Prayer Ephesians 3: /24/2013 A. Paul has prayed for the believers in Ephesus and those who have read his book B. He does not want them to lose heart and so he has intervened on their behalf, asking God for four things: 1. Inward power [3:16] 2. Inward presence [3:17a] 3. Inward perception [3:17b-19a] (to comprehend) 4. Inward provision [3:19b] C. There is a wonderful progression in this passage 1. The power that the Holy Spirit grants to us leads us into the presence of our Lord; 2. The presence of Christ in our lives leads us into an experiential knowledge of His love for us; 3. His love leads us into fulness of His essence, power, and boldness; 4. And this fulness explodes into more than we could ever ask, or even think to ask II. The key question: why do we need strengthening to experience the presence of Christ, the love of Christ and the Fullness, He promises? A. That you may be strengthened with power, through His Spirit, in the inner man Page 1 of 12

2 so that... [3:16] B. May be able (to have full strength) [3:18] C. According to the power that works within us, [3:20] D. Examples: 1. Dan. 10:17 2. Rev. 1:17 [Matt. 17:2] III. Personal testimonies: A. Consider: 1. Daniel Steele ( ): a. He became the first president of Syracuse University and later he became the Professor of Doctrinal Theology at Boston University b. In a letter to very close, personal friend that was not made public until after his death, he wrote: c.... almost every week and sometimes every day now a pressure of His great love comes down upon my heart in such measure as to make my whole being groan beneath the most insupportable plethora of joy. He has unlocked every apartment of my being, and filled and flooded them all with the light of His radiant presence. The inner spot has been touched and its flintiness has been melted in the presence of love divine, all love excelling, Jesus, the one, the altogether lovely. 2. Dwight L. Moody ( ) a. He was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Page 2 of 12

3 Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School), the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers. b. In 1871, Sarah Cooke and Mrs. Hawxhurst attended the church where 34-year-old D.L. Moody was pastor. Despite his earnestness and sincerity, these women were convinced that he lacked something important spiritual power. So, they sat in the front row and prayed. c. They shared their convictions with Moody and began praying with him for spiritual power. Moody s longing for God s power grew. d. While in New York on business, the Holy Spirit s power fell. Here is how Moody described it. One day, in the city of New York oh, what a day! I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for 14 years. I can only say that God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. e. Moody was sure that if God did not lift His hand, he would die. f. A few months later, in 1873, he planned a preaching trip to the British Isles. With him came his newfound friend and song leader, Ira Sankey. Moody began to preach; and something had changed. The sermons were not different, he noted. I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. Page 3 of 12

4 g. So great was the power that attended his work that some called it a third Great Awakening. For the next quarter century he traversed the English-speaking world. He preached to an estimated 100 million people, established colleges and schools, and left his imprint on 19th-century Evangelicalism. 3. George Whitfield, a/k/a George Whitefield a. an Anglican itinerant minister who helped spread the Great Awakening in both Great Britain and in the American colonies. b. He died in 1770 c. He was the best known 18 th century preacher in both Britain and the colonies d. After his death they found in one of his journals he had written: The freeness and richness of God s everlasting love broke in with such power upon my soul, that I was awed into silence and could not sleep. 4. Charles Haddon Spurgeon ( ) a. a British Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day. Page 4 of 12

5 b. He would select texts on which to preach which were very small or quite short c. Sermon on Luke 15:20e (1) Son decides to return (2) he rehearses what he will say to his father when he gets there (3) Before he can say any of the things he had planned, his father rushes to him, embraces him, and kisses him (4) Sermon of Spurgeon is about the kiss of the father and what its like to experience His love d. Spurgeon states: God s people do not always know the greatness of His love for them. Sometimes, however, it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Some of us know at times what it is to be almost too joyful to live! The love of God has been so overpoweringly experienced by us on some occasions, that we have almost had to ask for a stay of the delight because we could not endure any more. If the glory had not been veiled a little, we should have died of excess of rapture, or joy. Beloved, God has wondrous ways of opening His people s hearts to the manifestation of His grace. 5. Jonathan Edwards ( ) a. He was not just an early American preacher b. He is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and Page 5 of 12

6 original philosophical theologian, and one of America's greatest intellectuals. c. He wrote the famous sermon: Sinners in the hand of an angry God d. This account was found only after he died: e. Once, as I rode out in to the woods for my health in 1737, and having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly had been to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, and on that day I had a view that for me was extraordinary of the glory of the Son of God, as mediator between God and man, and His wonderful, great, pure and sweet grace and love, and His meek and gentle condescension to me. This grace that appeared to me was so calm and so sweet, it appeared great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared to me so inefforably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception, that I continued in this state as near as I can judge for an hour, which kept me the greater part of all the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be what I know not otherwise how to express emptied and annihilated, to lie in the dust, to be full of Christ alone, to love Him with a holy and pure love, to trust in Him, to live upon Him, to serve and follow Him, to be made perfectly pure with a devine and heavenly purity. I had several other times had views very much of the same Page 6 of 12

7 nature, which have had the same effect. f. [ ds.htm] 6. Blaise Pascal ( ) a. He was a Frenchman b. 17 th century mathematician (1) He helped lay the foundation for the theory of probability (2) He advanced our understanding of pressure and vacuums (3) He did significant work in the area of projective geometry (4) He invented one of the first mechanical calculators (5) He also was considered one of the finest writers of prose in the French language [on a level with Shakespierre in English] c. This was an entry in his journal which he had written out and sewn into his coat. Whenever he purchased a new coat he would take this out of his old coat and sew it into his new one. After his death they found it in his coat. d. In the year of grace 1654, Monday 23 rd November... from about half past ten in the evening to about half an hour after midnight fire... God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob... not of the philosophers or of the learned... certainty... joy... certainty... emotion... sight... joy... forgetfulness of the world and of all outside of God... the world has not known thee but I have known Page 7 of 12

8 thee... joy... joy... joy... tears of joy... my God will you leave me? Let me not ever be separated from You.... e. Here is one of the greatest prose writers in the French language and he can only write disjointed words or phrases, he is so overwhelmed... and maybe at such a loss to describe what is happening 7. Has such an experience ever happened in the Scripture? a. John in the Spirit as described in the Revelation b. I am convinced that the Apostle Paul described such an experience in II Cor. 12 (1) II Cor. 10 & 11 he describes his authority and his claim to apostleship (2) In chap 12 he describes an experience [12:1-5] IV. Is it possible for us to have these things that Paul prays for and that these men witnessed to in the accounts we have just considered A. Consider I John 1: Fellowship koinwni,a koinonia {koy-nohn-ee'-ah} a. We consider fellowship to be coffee and donuts and conversation, or a pot luck dinner and games or entertainment b. Meaning: 1) fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse c. Communion is an act or instance of sharing intimate fellowship or rapport Page 8 of 12

9 2. Walking with God, is how the Old Testament refers to this kind of communion with God a. Its not about walking, its about experience, sharing, learning, knowing 3. Walking with God is all about experiencing Him 4. But we must ask again, is this possible in our time a. And the answer is yes b. If so why are people not experiencing it and telling all of the rest of us about it and how to achieve it? 5. Most people who experience communion with God don t want to talk about these experiences. Why? 6. They are too personal or private a. It involves deep spiritual intimacy b. Like a married couple sharing their physical intimacy 7. These times are in a way, too holy and they don t want to profane them 8. They are embarrassed to reveal them to others 9. They worry that some might think we are crazy 10. Or others might think they are bragging 11. It may also be that they have trouble really describing it and not sounding foolish B. A second thing that we must understand that communion with God comes in degrees 1. As we will learn, you can only take so much and then you can t take Page 9 of 12

10 anymore 2. These personal accounts that I will be sharing with you are near the top of the scale 3. You have to work up to these levels C. We have spent all of this time speaking of the reality of communion with God, now I want us to turn to the dynamics of it D. How do we have communion with God? E. The Key to communion with God is meditation F. What is meditation? 1. Its not eastern meditation or transcendental meditation a. In that kind of meditation the goal is to learn that you are one with everything, including God b. It involves emptying yourself c. That is wrong, because it give Satan access d. And we are not one with everything 2. Biblical meditation has as its goal being one with God a. Learning Him b. Being in His presence c. Learning to se life from His perspective 3. Was it really practiced in the Scriptures? YES! a. Genesis 24:63 Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. Page 10 of 12

11 b. Joshua 1:8-9a "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? (1) God is speaking and instructing Joshua and the people who follow him c. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell [meditate] on these things. 4. David was a man who teaches us to meditate 5. Proof text on meditation: Psalm 1:1-3 1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. 6. David s instructions to those searching for God: Psalm 4:4 Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. 7. Psalm 77:6 I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders: 8. Psalm 77:12 I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Page 11 of 12

12 9. Psalm 119:15 I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. 10. Psalm 119:48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes. 11. Psalm 119:97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 12. Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. 13. Psalm 145:5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. G. Example from David s life: I Sam. 30: How did he strengthen himself 2. I am convinced that he did it through communion with God, launched through meditation H. What is meditation 1. Its not Bible study, and yet it incorporates Bible study techniques and goals 2. Its not prayer, but it involves communication with poignant together with communion with Him 3. Its in between these two, it incorporates both but is neither 4. Most of us miss it completely, our quiet time is spent in Bible study or devotions and then we go to prayer, but no meditation 5. It is hard work but very rewarding Page 12 of 12