Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Ephesians 1:17-23

Anyone here ever been kicked out of an all you can eat buffet?

I’ve heard jokes and stories about it, but I don’t think I know anyone who’s ever really been kicked out of an all you can eat buffet.

ILL – You been here four hour, you go home. Sign say “all you can eat, not you eat all.” You scare my wife.

The truth is, at an all you can eat buffet, if its run well and organized, they will always have the food out and refilled. There are some places you may go to that aren’t run very well, and there’s never enough food out. But IF it’s done correctly, the food is there. You shouldn’t have to ask for anything because its already at your disposal.

When I was in high school, and some in college, I worked at a small grocery store. At this store, we didn’t keep anything in the back. What we had was on the shelf. When we ran out of something, or when it got low in number, we would order more. When it came in, it went directly to the shelf.

One day I had a lady asking about a product. I walked with her to shelf where the product was supposed to be, and there were none. I told her, “We have a truck coming in today, I bet it will be on that truck, if you want to check back later.” She was not satisfied with my answer, and said, “Could you just go look and see if there are any in the back?” I informed her that we do not keep stock in the back, and what we have is on the shelf; it’s not going to be back there. She continued to insist that I go look, “just double check for me.” Customer is always right...so I went and checked the back. Actually, I went and set down in the break room for a couple minutes and then went out and reassured her that after looking, I could confirm there was no extra stock in the back. That seemed to pacify her for the time being.

You are looking at what’s available, there’s no extra to be had.

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As we continue tonight to finish up the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, we will examine Paul’s prayer for the church within the letter a little bit closer than we did last week. In this prayer we will discover the great possessions we have in Christ, that which requires nothing extra than what we are given at salvation through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:17-23

17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

20 He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens— 21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.

We covered verses 17-19 last week, but I wanted to include them again this week to see the full picture of Paul’s prayer. The purpose behind the prayer is that God would reveal to the believer the incomprehensible, unending, and always available power that is found in Christ Jesus.

The people in Ephesus did not, and you and I do not have to search for something extra that we believe must exists in our Christian walk.

What we have available at our disposal is the full and complete power of the working of the Holy Spirit. What we need in our day to day as well as out times of struggle in our lives is already available to us and within us, if we are open to receive the revelation of such.

In our finite, fallen minds, though, we often struggle with that understanding. We lean heavily on the ability of our human nature and application of our human thought process to carry us in our spiritual walk. The problem arises when we find that in our human nature will fail us every time. Our fallen nature will have us turning to physical and temporal abilities and strengths instead of the spiritual and eternal power provided to us.

Then when we think on our spiritual strengths and power, we assume that God has something extra in the back that He is hiding from us. Believers become entangled in a journey to discover MORE of the power in their Christian walk; something special that the “ordinary” Christian does not possess. We might look at it as our Christianity divided into classification of the haves and the have nots. Those who have been blessed with extra power and spirit, while there are those who are not.

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Warren Wiersbe tells the story of how William Randolph Hearst once read of an extremely valuable piece of art, which he decided he must add to his extensive collection. He instructed his agent to scour the galleries of the world to find the masterpiece he was determined to have at any price. After many months of painstaking search, the agent reported that the piece already belonged to Mr. Hearst and had been stored in one of his warehouses for many years.

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All the power and strength we need in our Christian walk is already there,

it has been since the day you accepted God’s call to salvation and received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. What we need is not an extra blessing, but for God to allow us to see and understand the blessing, power, and strength are already there, if we will simply utilize them.

2 Peter 1:3

3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

To search for or seek after something extra, or a better way from God, is to deny the underlining essences of God’s truth in salvation.

In our minds, in our hearts, we cannot comprehend the vastness of the love and power of God. Our need is not for additional blessings, but insight, wisdom, and understanding concerning that which we already have.

You don’t need MORE of the Lord. You don’t need MORE Jesus. You just need to understand what you already have.

What is available is already on the shelf, there’s nothing being held in the back.

We talked about these first one’s last week, but again I want to look them more tonight.

Ephesians 1:17

17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

This spirit of wisdom, is given THROUGH the Holy Spirit, but is NOT the Holy Spirit. Paul is not praying for the people to receive some an additional spirit of God, but that the Holy Spirit indwelling the people would give them an attitude or a disposition toward the wisdom of God. Paul prays that God would give them an internal position that leans on the wisdom of God and the understanding of its limitless power. In other words, let them know how much they already possess.

Along with this wisdom, Paul prays for revelation. The spirit of revelation, again is not an additional spiritual blessing, but the revealing by the Holy Spirit the things that are available to us. If I don’t know the resources and tools that I have at my disposal, even though they may have been there all along, I won’t have the wisdom to use them.

In this prayer,

Paul asks that God would give the people the revelation and wisdom concerning three things;

a clear understanding of the greatness of God’s plan, the greatness of God’s power, and the greatness of His person.

Ephesians 1:18

18 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

I. Understanding the Greatness of God’s plan

Some translations of this verse read “the eyes of your heart,” while the Holman Christian Standard reads, “the perception of your mind.” In either case, the heart or the mind are the seat or center of knowledge, understanding, thinking, and wisdom.

What Paul desires is for that seat of understanding to see the plan of God which overrules the emotions of man.

He wants them to see the truth behind salvation, redemption, forgiveness, inheritance, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit – that which he discussed in verses 3-14.

Paul asks that God would reveal that great truth of His plan from eternity past, the master plan to redeem mankind back to Himself through adoption.

You were not an afterthought, your salvation, your sealing was not an afterthought for God.

This was all part of the eternal plan established before you ever had the opportunity to even choose to follow Gods call.

Understanding that allows us to understand WHO we are in Christ.

Understanding that our very lives are anchored in eternity allows us to have the proper perspective and motivation for today.

Our citizenship is not here, our citizenship is in heaven. Understanding that from God’s eternal perspective, changes our very perspective.

The first thing Paul prays for is that the church would have their heart and mind enlightened to greatness of God’s plan. Second Paul prays that the church would have an;

II. Understanding the Greatness of God’s Power

Ephesians 1:19-20 (New American Standard Bible 1995)

19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

Paul uses four synonyms the show the greatness of God’s power.

First is the actual word,

Power.

Power is translated from the Greek word dunamis which is where we get our English word for dynamite. The full power of God indwells us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not a portion, this is not a piece of the power of God, but the entire thing. We do not need to seek additional power or resources; we simply need to have that power revealed to us.

Second, Paul uses the word

WORKING

; “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might” The Greek word here is energeia, which is where we get the English word energy. Paul prays the church would have the energizing force of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to live for the Lord. We need this because the energy to do so is not always present. It is sometimes easier for us to allow our default fallen nature to take the reins, than it is to live for God. Therefore, we need the WORKING of the Holy Spirit, the energy to do so.

Third, Paul uses the word

STRENGTH

; “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.” Once we receive the power and the energy, Paul prays we will receive the strength. In our Christian walk, it is sometimes all we can do to keep our heads above water; we need the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit to not only keep us afloat, but to move us in the right direction. Our strength is found in our weakness, because it is only then that we rely on the strength of the Holy Spirit to do the heavy lifting.

The final synonym Paul uses is the word

MIGHT.

Ephesians 1:19 (New American Standard Bible 1995)

19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.

The Holman Christian Standard, the King James, and a couple other translations either leave off the word MIGHT, or combine it with power, making it MIGHTY POWER. The word in the Greek carries the idea of an endowed, inherent, or built-in ability. The might of God is inherent in the believer. The might of God is built-in to the life of the believer. There is not need to seek it from other sources, you are endowed with that might.

Paul doesn’t pray for the power, strength, working, or might to be GIVEN to the church, but that by divine ability, it is made AWARE to the believer.

This power, the same power possessed by the believer, is the power that rose the Messiah from the dead.

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Thirdly, Paul prays the church will have:

III. The Understanding of the Greatness of God’s Person

Ephesians 1:20-23 (New American Standard Bible 1995)

20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

When we become discouraged in our Christian walk, we must remember and have the understanding of the Spirit that dwells within. It was this same Spirit that was able to conquer the grave, raising Jesus from the dead. He was set above all powers of the earth, both now and in eternity.

Spiritual warfare is a matter of great importance in scripture. Our daily conflict is with Satan and his fallen angels. They desire to put a stop to our walk in Christ. They desire to destroy our joy, our peace, and our hope. Satan has tried to thwart God’s eternal plan since the beginning. But

Jesus is far above all, everyone, and everything.

He is above Satan’s power and world system. He is above all names, titles, ranks, and powers. All things are subject to Him and under His authority.

Most importantly,

the Father made Christ as head of the church and the fulness of it.

The church is the fullness or complement of Christ. “As a head must have a body to manifest the glory of the head, so the Lord must have the church to manifest His glory.”

God has chosen us, the church, to display His power and majesty.

The purpose of Paul’s prayer is so that we might comprehend our security in Christ, and that our eternal inheritance is immutable. The power we possess should direct our daily living.