Depending on the power of God, Ephesians 1:15-23

A few Sundays ago I preached a sermon from Ephesians 1:15-23 entitled Purpose, prayer, and power.

Last week we looked deeper at prayer, and this week we look deeper at what Paul calls the “immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.”

Let’s look again at our passage:

Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV)

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked 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 above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things 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.

In our first sermon I ended the message with 3 Things Christians do after they are saved:

Grow in your faith by growing in your knowledge of God Focus on your future riches and inheritance in Christ Depend daily on the power of God

The power of God has been demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus, by his place at the right hand of the Father, and by his position of authority and rule over the church and all things.

And this passages says in verse 23 that Jesus, the resurrected and reigning king over all things including the church is also in the church. Paul writes about the power of God as something more than just what we believe in.

The power of God is something that we experience. We experience it first when we are saved, and then Paul says that the power of God is a part of our new life in Christ.

This means that a host of things that are beyond your power to control, are not beyond God’s power. Your tongue, your temper, greed, lust, jealousy, and pride are various examples of things that people cannot control under their own strength. And yet, in Christ the power of God that has overcome death has also overcome evil. As a result, believers can depend on the power of God and the help of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation, the devil, and the pressure of the world and obey God

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of victory over worldliness, the flesh, and the devil—our three great adversaries.

And how do we experience victory?

3 Ways we experience God’s power and victory over the world, our flesh, and the devil.

First, let me define the world, our flesh, and the devil…

The world… The world constantly bombards us with its values. We get them from television, newspapers, films, the competitive world in which we earn our livings and from casual conversations.

James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 41.

Our flesh… in biblical language means the nature of sinful man untouched by the Holy Spirit. The flesh is a formidable enemy. It draws us to inactivity when we should be reading the Bible, praying, or performing good works. It locks us into sinful patterns of behavior when we should be living a Christlike life. How can we triumph over these strong forces? It is only by the power of God displayed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 41.

The Devil… Many people, even Christians, regard the devil almost as an invention or at least as one at whom we may laugh. But when Satan met our first parents in Eden it was no laughing matter. They had been created perfect with not even a disposition to evil. Yet when Satan appeared, so great were his power, wiles, and subtlety that it was only a short time before he had brought about the fall of both Eve and Adam. Thus did sin (and death, the consequence of sin) pass upon the race. No wonder Peter writes, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). No wonder Paul told the Ephesians, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:11). Lloyd-Jones says, “Because of these things we need to be enlightened with respect to the power of God working in us. Nothing else can enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil.”1

1 D. M. Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979), 420.

James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 41.

Submit to God and His Word

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We cannot resist Satan in our own strength. But if we first submit ourselves to God so that the power of God demonstrated in the exaltation of Christ above all rule and authority flows through us, the devil will flee from us as he fled from Christ at the conclusion of his temptation in the wilderness.

James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 42.

It’s not only submitting to God in the face of an attack from the enemy. It’s also submitting to him and following His Word… and not the ways of the world, and not following the desires of the flesh…

One of my spiritual heroes is a missionary named Hudson Taylor. I don’t have time to share all of his story with you… but, his story of learning to depend on the Lord is inspiring and convicting at the same time.

Hudson Taylor was the most widely used missionary in China's history. During his 51 years of service there, his China Inland Mission established 20 mission stations, brought 849 missionaries to the field (968 by 1911), trained some 700 Chinese workers, raised four million dollars by faith (following Mueller's example), and developed a witnessing Chinese church of 125,000. It has been said at least 35,000 were his own converts and that he baptized some 50,000. His gift for inspiring people to give themselves and their possessions to Christ was amazing.

But, Hudson’s path to being an instrument of God’s power began by first growing in his knowledge of God and learning to depend on God.

Hudson was raised in a Christian home, but as a teenager turned away from the ways of the Lord only to be captivated by a tract entitled “It is finished” when he was 17 years old. Apparently, at the same time he was reading the tract his mother was praying some 75 miles away for her sons salvation that day and had committed to pray for him until the Lord gave her release to move on with her day. She says she prayed for 10 hours until the Lord gave her a peace. 10 days later when reunited she was certain of his salvation before he even began to share what God had done in his life.

As God began to call Hudson to China he began making changes to his life so he would be ready for the circumstances when he got there. He started exercising and exchanged his feather bed for a hard mattress. He distributed tracts and held cottage meetings. With the aid of a copy of Luke's Gospel in the Mandarin dialect, he studied the Chinese language. He borrowed a book on China from a Congregational minister and began the study of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

In November, 1851, Hudson moved his lodging to a noisy suburb of Darinside, a neighborhood on the edge of town. Here he began a rigorous regime of saving and self-denial, spending spare time as a self-appointed medical missionary in cheerless streets where low wages, ever large families and gin produced brutalized husbands and wives and sickly children. Here he set up a test situation regarding his salary. His employer had asked Hudson to remind him when his salary became due. Taylor did not do this. One day in a poor home with evidently starving children, he prayed for them but had no peace until he gave the family all he had even down to his last coin. He went home happy in heart and the next day the postman brought a letter with enough money to make a 400% profit for only a twelve hour investment. He was convinced that money given in Christ's name was a loan which God would repay...and He did! One night about 10 p.m. on the day his rent was due (and his pockets were empty), his employer came by with his back wages. Experiences like these prepared him for his future life of faith.

Hudson learned early in his faith that when God calls He provides… but he also learned that

"An easy, non-self-denying life will never be one of power.” Hudson Taylor

Which leads me to the next point…

Self Denial (Sacrifice)

Jesus said, in Luke 9:23–27 (ESV)

23 …”If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

The idea of denying yourself and taking up your cross are essential to our understanding of Christianity.. and yet I have found that we know that following Christ means sacrifice, denial, and maybe even suffering… but

It’s one thing to know that self denial and sacrifice are the way to experience the power of God, it’s an altogether different thing to do it.

Self-denial or sacrifice is not going without a $7 coffee…

“The Greek verb translated here as “to deny” is aparneomai. Although this word can simply mean to deny the truth of a statement, it almost always has overtones of association or connection to a person. Denial in the New Testament is the intentional disassociation from relationship with a particular person. Another translation, then, might be to “disown” or “renounce.” For example, this is the verb used when Peter “denies” Jesus. He denies that he knows Jesus or has any association with him.” (TGC Article)

Self denial is to renounce your allegiance to yourself and pledge it God.

“Self-denial, then, is intentional disowning of the self, or stepping away from relationship with the self as primary. Jesus is not making a statement about whether the self is bad, but about who we are most closely associated with. Who is our primary allegiance to—him, or ourselves?” (TGC Article)

Crucifixion was reserved specifically for offenders who had rebelled against authority. To “take up one’s cross” referred to the practice of forcing a condemned person to carry the cross beam to his execution site. This showed that although he had rebelled against authority, the condemned person was now so completely conquered that his last act in life would be to carry the instrument of his demise to the place of his death. It was a show of complete and utter submission. A call to bear one’s cross as part of following Jesus, then, is a call to be as submitted to Christ as the condemned criminal was to his death.

Therefore, when Jesus calls for self-denial and cross-bearing, he’s claiming authority. Following Christ means disowning the self and giving allegiance to him instead. And it means giving him allegiance down to the very depths of our being.

Hudson Taylor also said,

"Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing. There are not two Christs—an easygoing one for easygoing Christians, and a suffering, toiling one for exceptional believers. There is only one Christ. Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus to bear much fruit?” Hudson Taylor

And I would say the third way that we experience God’s power is through suffering.

Suffering

There are many ways that Christians can and do suffer… and suffering is one of the major themes of the book of 2 Corinthians. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:8–10 (ESV), “8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

Christians can suffer mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually… and it is through these various types of suffering that we learn to depend on God and His power.

There is a dependence on the Lord that can only be learned through suffering.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul says that God says that his grace is enough for us in our weakest of moments… that it’s in those moments of suffering and difficulty for the Lord that we see God’s power in our own lives, and it’s when others see his power in our lives as well.

Through suffering God grows us as individuals, brings us closer as a community, and prepares us for what’s ahead.

God will grow and mature you through your suffering for His sake.

God will bring us closer to those who suffer with for Christ.

God will prepare us for future ministry and missions.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV) says, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

God makes us more useful and glorifying through suffering.

I’d like to introduce to you a modern hero, George Osborn. My hope is that one day my relationship with George catches up with my affection for him. We haven’t spent much time together, but in the time we had last November the Lord used him immensely in my life.

George I’d like to ask a few questions related to the sermon topic today…

You have planted Hope Church Kensington in Liverpool, England. Tell me when that happened and how God called you to plant the church? I’ve listed out some ways that we experience God’s power, can you share a few ways that you have experienced God’s power in your personal life, family life, and in Hope Church? What are some ways that you have seen God’s power made perfect in weakness?

Resources Quotes:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/deny-yourself-cross/