PAUL’S “DEFAULT SETTING”

Ephesians 3:14-19 (KJV)

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

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 passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

If I may, I want to refresh your minds about what has happened thus far in this chapter.

Paul has been captured and placed in prison in Rome and it is because of the mystery that he revealed in Ephesians chapter two, the nature of the New Testament church.

The cause of his imprisonment was just but the risk that believers would faint out of the way because of it was still very real. So Paul had offered to them practical reasons they ought not to faint:

• ·   He was only a man, not to focus of their faith
• ·   His message was not bound even though he was and
• ·God’s will had been accomplished through it all

In a sense each of these reasons is an appeal to logic.

Paul admitted as much when, in verses 13, he said, “Wherefore I desire…”

·   He knew he could not demand or command them to not faint.

·   He knew that he could not insist they not faint

·   He knew he could not “logic them” strong in the faith

So Paul did what Paul was so very apt to do, he prayed.

I am calling prayer, Paul’s Default Setting.

Notice with me,

I. HOW HE PRAYED

Vs 14

I bow my knees…

I don’t want to make more of this than I should but neither do I want to ignore it.

John Gill says, “…the gesture he used in prayer was bowing the knees; a man is not tied to any particular gesture or posture in prayer, the main thing is the heart; mere postures and gestures are insignificant things with God; though where the mind is affected, the body will be moved; and this gesture may be expressive of reverence, humility, and submission in prayer…”

I am in complete agreement that no one should feel “tied” to any one posture while praying.

·   King David prayed while lying in his bed

·   Joseph prayed, if you will, while wrestling the angel of God

·   Nehemiah breathed a word of prayer while standing before the king of Babylon

There have been genuine and, I am sure, effective prayers while fighting in a foxhole.

Some mothers I am sure offered effectual fervent prayers while tending to their ill little baby.

I have prayed:

·   While staring intently at a bead of molten medal under a welding hood.

·   While sitting in a doctor’s reception room as my wife had our newborn in for a check up. I sat out there because I was so burdened and depressed I could not muster the energy to walk any further.

I have prayed:

·   At the bedside of a loved one while we watched their life ebb away from them

The posture of the body is in no sense an essential in prayer.

It is just not.

But I also agree with Gill when he writes, “… though where the mind is affected, the body will be moved; and this gesture may be expressive of reverence, humility, and submission in prayer…”

I do not believe that we have to pray on our knees but I would challenge the person who will not pray on their knees.

The Hebrew word for bowing the knees in the Old Testament, barak.

It is usually translated, “blessed” or “to bless another.”

It conveys the concept of offering respect for the one before whom we bow the knee.

Can anyone today recognize that, as our society displays less and less reverence for God, Christians seem to place less and less importance on a physical demonstration of their faith?

I am not telling you that you have to kneel when you pray.

But I am saying that we ought to kneel to pray at least sometimes.

II. TO WHOM HE PRAYED

Ephesians 3:14-15 (KJV)

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Did you know that there is a whole “thing” that is debated about to which one of the Person’s of the Godhead we should direct our prayers?

There are literally those who consider it heresy to pray to anyone of the Godhead except the Father.

My understanding of prayer is that we may and ought to pray to each of the three Persons of the Godhead, depending upon the subject of our prayer:

·   God the Father planned our salvation

·   God the Son paid for our salvation and

·   God the Holy Spirit performs our salvation

Therefore in the strictest sense,

·   When my prayer concerns matters of eternity I pray to the Father

·   When my prayer concerns matter of purity I pray to the Son and

·   When my prayer concerns matters of security I pray to the Holy Spirit

But in the most practical sense I appeal to Romans 8:26 (KJV)

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

I take it as truth that “we know not what we should pray for as we ought” and I just pray, asking God’s Spirit to direct my prayer where it ought to go.

Paul describes God the Father very particularly.

He is

A. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

The God Paul prayed to is not the god Muslims pray to.

Muslims claim that Allah can have no Son.

Don’t let:

·   The compromisers and

·   The compassionate and

·   The calloused and

·   The cowardly

In some way pressure you into thinking we can get along with Islam because it is just a different way to worship the same God.

Rick Warren’s[1] compromise with Islam is only a precursor to a myriad of others compromising their Christian faith in exactly the same way.[2]

The god of Islam and the God of Apostle Paul are not the same Gods.

·   Allah had no son

·   Paul prayed to “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

B. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named

So, while the god of Islam and the God of Paul are not the same, the God of Paul is the God who saves people throughout the whole world.

·   A Muslim is not my brother, but a Pakistani can be

·   A Muslim is not my brother, but an Iranian can be

·   A Muslim is not my brother, but an Iraqi can be

·   A Muslim is not my brother, but a Turk can be

You see, my family is made up of people from around the globe. Anyone who has named the name of Christ as Saviour.

And finally notice with me

III. FOR WHAT HE PRAYED

Ephesians 3:16-19 (KJV)

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

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 passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Remember the motivation for this prayer.

Ephesians 3:13-14 (KJV)

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

He desires that they not faint

So he prays…

A. That they would be strengthened with God’s might

Ephesians 3:16 (KJV)

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

I notice first that the habitation of the strength that will keep us from fainting is in the inner man and not the outer man.

It’s not a show.

It’s not how you look on the outside

I notice secondly that the source of the strength is by His Spirit.

·   It doesn’t come from how we behave.

·   It comes from whom. God’s Spirit has made us to be.

I am not a Calvinist is the least, but I think the Calvinists have it right in their final affirmation of faith which is The Perseverance of the Saints

The saved person perseveres until the end. He doesn’t faint because the nature of the Holy Spirit has created him in such a way that he can’t faint.

Then he prayed

B. That Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith

Ephesians 3:17 (KJV)

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…

Let me throw out a couple of terms right now:

·   Positional and

·   Experiential

Paul, we know, wrote this letter to a church filled with saved people. He said so in chapter’s one and two.

So positionally Christ already dwelt in their hearts by faith.

He was there, He would never leave them and He promised it to be so.

But experientially they might not sense His presence.

Have you ever been there?

You know the promise of the Bible. You know that you got saved. You know that God keeps His promises so you know you will go to heaven when you die. But at that very moment, you feel like He is a million miles away.

Can you see how these Christians, upon learning of Paul’s imprisonment might have felt like Christ was a million miles away?

Paul’s prayer for them is that they would sense experientially what they all knew was true postionally.

Finally Paul prayed

C. That they might be filled with all the fullness of God

Ephesians 3:17b-19 (KJV)

that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

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 passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

I see in these verses a progression.

It reminds me of filling a vessel or a bowl.

·   You are rooted in love and then

·   You are grounded in love and then

·   You comprehend what all the saints do about

·   The breadth and the

·   Length and the

·   Depth and the

·   Height after that

·   You know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge

Until you are finally

·   filled with all the fulness of God.

I don’t think it happens over night.

It probably has to happen over a lifetime.

But it is this filling with the fullness of God that enables you to not faint in tribulation.

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[1] Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven philosophy has permeated churches, especially the Southern Baptists but, unfortunately, including a great many Independent Baptist churches. What this means is that, though these churches would likely not now buy into Warren’s “Chrislam” since they have bought into some of Warren’s teachings it is very likely future generations will buy into more of it – Chrislam included

[2] http://www.exposingchrislam.com/, accessed August 13, 2016

WHY NOT FAINT

Ephesians 3:8-13 (KJV)

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

By way of introducing tonight’s message allow me to remind you of the context of the verses 1-7 of Ephesians 3.

Paul had given the believers in Ephesus the causes of his imprisonment in Rome. He summed it all by saying that he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

Everything that had happened to him had happened in the will of God and for the glory of Jesus Christ.

From there is gave some details, listing at least three reasons he was a prisoner

·   Because of his calling to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles

·   Because of his understanding that their was no difference between Jews and Gentiles and

·   Because of his message that the two were to be one body in a local church

Now he is a prisoner.

The causes of his imprisonment is just but the risk that the Christians would be embarrassed by it was also real.

·   Can you see someone maybe trying to disassociate themselves from him?

·   Can you see someone wondering if the gospel was worth it?

·   Can you see someone shrinking back from their faith for fear they would be in jail next?

Paul must have seen it as a real possibility. So he writes, in vs 13, Ephesians 3:13 (KJV)

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

I want to give you tonight Paul’s three reasons not to give up or faint, even when you think things don’t look so good…

  

I. BECAUSE PAUL IS THE "LEAST OF ALL SAINTS"

Vs 8

There was no reason to think more highly of him than ye ought.

·   He had an amazing ministry and

·   He was amazingly used of the Lord but

·   He was, after all, just a man

Isn’t it true that we make way too much of men?

One of the most successful online businesses right now is buying and reselling celebrity posters. 

Kids tack them up in their rooms like idols to be worshipped at bedtime and while waking up.

Some adults have the names, weights, ages, college attended, physical stats of dozens of professional athletes.

It is, I have to tell you, a little bit obsessive looking to those of us who have little interest in sports.

We make too much of actors and singers

Holding nationwide wakes when someone like Prince accidentally kills himself through misuse of drugs.

We make too much of athletes

Expecting them to live up to a moral code simply because our kids see them as role models.

We make too much of politicians

Viewing them as the answer of our country’s woes.

I have been listening to a series of podcasts on the presidents of the United States.

One of the things that has impressed me is just how corrupt some of them have been, and just how little damage they have really done.

We think we are doomed because our current choices are so bad.

Did you know Martha Washington thought the same thing when it looked like Jefferson would be President?

·   Chester Arthur was a corrupt money-grubber

·   Warren Harding was a vile womanizer

·   James Polk provoked the Mexican-American War to steal Texas from them[1]

Harding died just two years into his first term but in just that short time his administration was so filled with scandals that two high ranking officials committed suicide and one left the country under threat of legal action.

Harding, who was married, had a mistress who was investigated for influencing Harding in favor of the Germans during WWI.

When he ran for president, the Republican Party paid his mistress and her husband a huge sum of money and sent them on an all expense paid trip to Japan so they would be out of the country until after the election.

And the reason the party nominated Harding was because he had fewer skeletons in the closet than any of the other possible nominees!

And our country still survived and we are still patriotic.

I think we will survive this election too.

Paul’s first point was that we shouldn’t faint because he was in prison.

He was after all, just one man.

Don’t let the failure and falling of a spiritual hero turn you away from Jesus Christ.

·   So what if a preacher sins

·   So what a television evangelist was an embezzler

·   So what if Joel Osteen doesn’t want to talk about hell and Billy Graham believes hell is not literal

They are, after all, only men.

Secondly, Paul said we should not faint 

II. BECAUSE OF THE MANY PEOPLE HIS MESSAGE REACHED

Ephesians 3:8-10 (KJV)

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

He may have gone to prison but his message had gone around the world.

I see at least three audiences Paul brings to our attention:

A. Gentiles

Vs 8

that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ

This was the original call of Christ to Paul,

Acts 9:15 (KJV)

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

It went further to,

B. All Men

Vs 9

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery

Ananias was told that Paul’s ministry would be to

·   Gentiles

·   Kings and the

·   Children of Israel

Paul personally influenced the regions of

·   Israel

·   Asia Minor

·   Italy

And likely

·   Spain and the

·   British Isles

Plus the letters he wrote while in prison have been an influence for 2000 years and all around the world.

That is nothing to be ashamed of.

Paul even brings to our attention

C. Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places

Vs 10

…now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known 

Because of its supernatural element, it even influences the angels.

Paul’s imprisonment should be no reason for anyone to faith

·   Because he is just a man

·   Because his message had a powerful reach and

III. BECAUSE THIS ALL HAS WORKED OUT ACCORDING TO GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE

Ephesians 3:11-13 (KJV)

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

My head keeps going to a similar passage,

Philippians 1:12-18 (KJV)

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Can’t you see someone absolutely panicking when they heard that Paul had been captured in Rome?

Over the course of the next couple of years, the word kept getting worse and worse:

·   Someone had conspired to kill him

·   Festus had kept him in jail waiting for a bribe

·   Paul had been remanded to Rome

·   His ship sank in a storm

·   Paul had been sentenced to death

People weren’t any different then than they are now:

·   Someone was crying all the time

·   Someone was fretting that Christianity would die out of existence

·   Someone was working out how to spin the bad news to make it seem better than it was

Paul’s own take was that this was all the plan of God and it was working out exactly as God had planned it.

I am confident that the same it true right now.

Conclusion

I want to finish tonight by looking once again at verse 13,

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

How do you command another person’s emotions?

Paul could not require them to stay positive, upbeat and focused on the spiritual in the midst of a storm.

But he could ask it of them.

Things look a bit bad these days don’t they?

·   Islam is growing

·   Atheism is raping up

·   Anger against Christians is flaring

·   The politicians are becoming mean spirited.

·   Churches are turning from the faith

I want to ask you not to faint.

My desire is that you:

·   Stay strong in the Lord and

·   Grow stronger through His grace

·   Some people are given more to worry and fret.

·   Some people tend to let things roll off of them like water

But all of us can keep on an not faint if we:

·   Keep our faith in Christ and not men

·   Recognize that God is working in our world right now and

·   Remember that the worst looking of things can work out for the good of the gospel.

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[1] At least that was the opinion of General Winfield Scott and later of President U.S. Grant. (Based on the word of President Grant in his Memoirs.)