Title: Power to the People Scripture: Ephesians 1:19 - Intro Today: verse 19 of Ephesians 1. But for context, start in verse 17. Paul is praying for the Ephesian church: Ephesians 1:17-19 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength. Title: Power to the People! Prayer - Paul s prayer (vv. 17-19): is essential for two things. - 1. That the Father would send the Spirit in order to bring His people into epignosis (intimate, experiential, personal knowledge of Him). - 2. That the hearts of His people would be enlightened so that they would know - The second part of the prayer is a prayer for enlightenment for hearts to SEE literally the apostle Paul is praying that the eyes of hearts would be FLOODED WITH LIGHT. - The EYES of hearts, would be flooded with light. - This isn t a prayer for saving, this is a prayer for seeing. - That the EYES of hearts would be enlightened. - Because when you can t see, you can t walk. - A wrong persecutive skews everything. - If your eye sight is off, then everything is off because your perspective and perception is everything. - If your spiritual eye sight is off then you start seeing God wrong, seeing yourself wrong, seeing your life wrong, you purpose; people around you; the church; the world you see it all wrong. - "Perception is reality. - Many of us are believing a false reality, and the enemy LOVES IT. - He LOVES our false perception. Because a false perception means a false reality, and a false reality means that you miss EVERYTHING. - It appears this is what was happening in Ephesus. 1 of 8
- Their perception was darkened so they couldn t see properly. - And so Paul is praying that the light of God would FLOOD they eyes of their hearts, so that they could begin TO SEE again. - In verses 3-14 of this Chapter, Paul declared the most glorious truths and promises about who God is, and who we are in Him. - And now, in vv. 17-19 Paul is essentially praying that these promises would become a REALITY in the life of the believer that eyes would be enlighten so that hearts could SEE what is true. - And in our verse today, Paul is praying that they eyes of hearts would be flooded with light so that we can SEE "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe (v.19) - And the power is TOWARD us. - Literarily AT us and INTO us. - It is not just out THERE, it is RIGHT HERE. - And what kind of power is right HERE, coming AT us and into us? The kind that is immeasurably great. - This is not JUST power. This is GOD S Power. - The same power that rose Jesus from the dead. This is some serious power. - It s the POWER of God. But it s not JUST the power of God. It s the GREAT power of God. - But this is not just the GREAT power of God. - This is the IMMEASURABLY GREAT power of God. - The phrase means the kind of greatness that EXCEEDS normal greatness. - This is SUPERNATURAL power. - This is the kind of power that came when the Holy Spirit fell upon the early church in Acts 2 and gave them boldness to preach the gospel. - This is the kind of Holy Spirit power that was working through the early church when they prayed for people to be healed and they WERE. - Authority to drive out demons. - That raises the Christian up above the heavy weighty circumstances of the world. - Delivers people from life long addictions and subtle compromises. - Breaks chains and sets captives free. - But we often talk about THAT kind of power. That s like loud power. It s outward and obvious. - But what about the kind of power that can deliver someone from a lifetime of religious activity, and a dry relationship with God? - Practicing cultural churchianity, but never really Biblical Christianity? - This is not only outloud-blow-the-house-down kind of power. This is also quiet shake-yourfoundations, kind of power. 2 of 8
- This is the kind of power that can pull someone out of the sinking sand of complacency and comfort, and bring them onto the solid rock of faith and freedom. - This is the kind of power that disrupts false foundational ideas about God and ourselves, and replaces them with truth that yields abundant and fruitful life. - This is power to BELIEVE every promise that Paul preached in verses 3-14. - And it is THIS power that is coming at you and into you. - You are not VOID of power child of God. You are FULL of power. - You are powerless. You are powerful. - THIS is Reality. THIS is truth. - It is a false narrative that has created a false reality in you that says you are weak, your life is meaningless, and you will never be anything. - Jesus says today, You are ALREADY something. And you are more powerful than you KNOW. - And so Paul prays, NOT FOR NON-believers, but for BELIEVERS to be able to see. - These were people like US! And he is praying for THEIR hearts to be illuminated in order to see. - And just like them, WE need our hearts to be illuminated today. - Because let s be honest, you don t always FEEL like you have immeasurably great power working in you. - And yet THAT is the reality. But a false perception, creates a false REALITY. - And so like Paul prayed for the Ephesian church 2,000 years ago, somebody pray this for your neighbor, that the eyes of their heart would be flooded with light so that they can SEE again namely that they can see what is the immeasurably great power of God working TOWARD them and IN them. - This is power to know who you REALLY are. Power to know who God REALLY is. Power to believe and appropriate the promises of vv. 3-14. This is foundational power. - But there s MORE than a foundation to this power. - Having proper understanding of who God is and who we are is the foundation. And it is ESSENTIAL. But what is a foundation FOR??! - Having right understanding about who God is, and who are, is CRITICAL (it is the FOUNDATION). - And you cannot be careful enough about making sure that foundation is right. - But that foundation is for building on. - In other words: - This power has purpose. - Power always has a purpose. And this is eternal power with eternal purpose. 3 of 8
- It is power connected the glorious foundational truths of vv. 13-14, but it is beyond that too because in Chapter 3, Paul will show us that this power is not JUST for the foundation. It s for the house, if you will, and the HOUSE is for the whole world. YOUR world. - Having a good foundation gives us a good footing. It keeps us GROUNDED. And WE get to stand on that foundation. - Foundation are for OUR benefit, so to speak. But houses houses are not just for us. Houses are for the benefit of everyone around. - I Chapter 3 Paul will show us that this same power that we have in us is actually working to ACCOMPLISH something BEYOND us. He will say in Eph. 3:20 Now to Him who is able to DO exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think according to the POWER that works in you. (Ephesians 3:20) - Now to him he is able to DO. It is action. Now to him who is able to DO exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think through the power in you. - The power has a purpose to do", and the purpose is bigger than you. - This is power to SAVE PEOPLE in Eph. 3. Power to CHANGE lives. Power to bring NEW life to people far from God, and ABUNDANT life to those who are already with God. - The purpose of the power is not just for us to intimately know Jesus and the the reality of His promises. It is for us to be able to bring others into the same. - Christian did you know that you have POWER? - I know you may feel insecure, but you are powerful. - Some of you have been Christians for decades (attending Bible studies, maybe even leading Bible studies), but you feel inadequate. - You have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Everything the Father has is yours. - You may FEEL like you don t have what you need. But you do! But maybe you can t SEE IT. You re like the church in Ephesus. You need to be FLOODED with light because you are not SEEING properly. But you DO have it. - The church in Ephesus was less than 10 years old - And YET, they had EVERYTHING that they needed because they had the POWER. They just couldn t see it. - And Paul is praying that their eyes of the core of their being would be flooded with light so that they can see again what was ALREADY true about them That they HAD immeasurably great power coming AT them, and INTO them. - Don t tell me you re not smart enough. Yes you are. You ve got power. - You re not gifted enough. Yes you are. You ve got power. - - Not eloquent enough. You don t need eloquence. You need power. - Paul said that he came NOT with eloquence of speech, but with a DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT S POWER. 4 of 8
- If bad speaking skills combined with the power of the Spirit was enough for the Apostle Paul, then it is enough for us. - Not old enough or mature enough - I don t care how young you are. You ve got POWER. - Not young enough - It doesn t matter how old you are. You have POWER. - 1960s: POWER TO THE PEOPLE - God is NOT saying today GIVE THE POWER TO MY PEOPLE. He s saying, I ALREADY GAVE THE POWER TO MY PEOPLE. Power to bring some change! - You were SENT there. Where are you right now? You were SENT there. - You are an AMBASSADOR for Christ, child of God. You were CHOSEN by God. Handpicked. - God didn t give you that gift so you could be successful. He gave you that gift so you could be influential. - I know it s hard to see. I know it seems far away. I know you may have forgotten, but let the light in to remind you today. - God hasn t just given you ability for no reason. He has given you authority for a purpose. - He hasn t just given you PROWESS. He has given you POWER. - And it s not earthy power for earthy purpose. It is eternal power for eternal purpose. - And the purpose is UPWARD, INWARD, and OUTWARD. And Paul is saying REMEMBER church. REMEMBER who God is. Remember who you are, and remember why you are here and remember that God s promises have PURPOSE. - This word know in verse 18 - I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know (v. 18a) - The word know isn t the same root word as gnosis. This isn t talking about experiential knowledge. - It s not talking about knowledge at all. It s talking about acknowledge. To ACKNOWLEDGE. - To acknowledge doesn t mean that you learn something knew. - The acknowledge means that you remember what s true. - To remember. - In other words: God help them to REMEMBER what is true. Church, don t forget was is true. 5 of 8
- Paul had insight into something that was happening in Ephesus, and I believe that it is NO MISTAKE that we, as a church, are in THIS section of THIS book right now. - God: Child, remember. Do not forget. - Paul is writing to this church to pray for them. But 30 years later Jesus will write to this same church to rebuke them. - I don t want to have Jesus write me a letter 30 years from now telling me the same thing that Paul is trying to tell me today. - Revelation 2:1-5 I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. - Jesus is saying: I love you church. You re doing some good stuff. But there s this one thing this REALLY important thing, that you have entirely forgotten about. - You have pursued some good things. But you have left the best thing. You have left your first love. And unless you repent you will bring destruction upon yourself. - REMEMBER and REPENT. - Remember from where you have fallen, he says, and return to your first love. - Remember that I didn t save you to DO stuff first. I saved you to be WITH ME, and then from THAT PLACE everything else will flow. - To repent literally means to change course. To turn away from destruction. - It is a repentance of the heart. - Remember from where your heart has fallen. Return there. - Repentance is turning from and re-turning to. This is not a repentance for salvation. This is repentance for relationship. - Even just a year of traveling a few degrees off, will lead you to an undesirable and unintended destination. - If you ve been sowing to the things of the world, it will ONLY reap corruption. But sowing to the things of the spirit will always reap everlasting life. - You are not here so that you can build a comfortable career that will bring temporary satisfaction and earthy wealth. - You re are here so that God can use your life to build houses of hope that will bring eternal satisfaction and spiritual wealth, to those around you. - THAT IS what God has planned for your life. - When Jesus said, GO into all the world, and make disciples of every nation, he was talking to you. He was talking to me. 6 of 8
- WE are a SENT people. You have been sent! - And you carry in you the presence of the living God. And God s presence is what the world needs, because it is in His presence were we find life, hope, comfort, and every eternally good thing. - And the world is in desperate need of what you have WHO you have living inside of you. - And somebody needs to tell them that they can be delivered from the domain of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the beloved Son. - Romans 10:14-15 And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? - But you have been SENT. Jesus sent you. - Let go of the distractions that are preventing you, and wake up to the complacency that has lulled you to sleep. - It is in the fallenness of our humanity that when we are comfortable, we begin to drift. - It is in the fallenness of our humanity to be distracted by lesser things. But God s KINDNESS is drawing you back to the BEST thing today. - Turn back toward God. Remember from where you have fallen. Remember from where you have drifted and turn back. - For many, FEAR that is causing us to resist. - Fear of the unknown. Fear of a life of faith. Even Fear of God s Spirit. - It s FEAR that is keeping your heart closed off to fully receiving the love of the Father. - from receiving the fullness of the power and gifts that God has for you. - from seeing how powerful God is wanting to be through you. - Causing you to settle for the east bank of the Jordan like the half tribe of Manasseh, when just right over the river, God has a whole promised land of abundant life flowing with milk and honey waiting for you. - It was FEAR that made the other disciples stay in the boat when Peter alone got to walk on water. - And FEAR that eventually caused Peter to begin to sink when he saw the waves. - FEAR is the great enemy of faith. - God has not given you a Spirit of fear. He has given you a Spirit of Power. (2 Timothy 1:7) - You are not being prevented from danger. You are being prevented from greatness. You are being kept from living in the promised land of true abundant life. - You are wearing a seatbelt that you think is keeping you safe, but it s not a seatbelt - Fear is not the safeguard. Fear is the bondage. God is the safeguard. And God wants to set you free today, if you re willing to let him. 7 of 8
- Let his love in so that it can drive out fear today. - The remedy for fear is love and trust. It is the LOVE of God that drives out fear. - And trust. - But Lord, what s going to happen if I surrender everything to you and give up control? - I ll tell you what s going to happen: Your TRUSTWORTHY FATHER is going to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. - Some are just outright believing lies. - - Lies need to be fought with truth. So pray Lord speak truth to me. But ALSO PARTNER with God today in truth today. - Is there an avenue that the lies are entering by? Shut it down - Partner with God in beginning to intake what is true. - Some making little compromises. Little sins. Doesn t seem like a big deal. But over time they have erected a mountain of separation between you and God. - You know what they are. And today repentance can be the most beautiful word you have ever heard. - REPENTANCE ALWAYS BRINGS REFRESHING. - God lovingly invites you to repent today FOR YOUR GOOD. - God wants to move in and through your life - Right now the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro throughout the earth to show himself mighty on behalf of those who s hearts are loyal to him. - You don t need to be trained first, or get your affairs in oder. You don t need more experience. - You don t have to hear another sermon about stepping out in faith. You don t need to hear another exhortation about returning to your first love. - You just need to remember, repent, surrender, trust today. - Oh, that God would light up our hearts so that we can remember the immeasurable greatness of his power that is already at work within us, for our good, for God s glory, and for the good of every person in our proximity. 8 of 8