The Blessing of
Spiritual Stability
Book of Ephesians
3:14-21
Stability can be
defined as: Steadiness; stableness; firmness of character; strength
to stand without being moved or overthrown.
We live in a world
of hopelessness. This is another great reason why we cannot allow the
world to get into our places of worship.
Hopelessness is a
state of being desperate, being without hope of any kind.
As the Apostle Paul
continued to write such graceful words, guided by the Holy Spirit,
some people could look at his situation, in prison and awaiting
execution, and decide that there was not a great future in this thing
called being a Christian.
The Apostle Paul
understood the thoughts of such a people, but we must realize that
the benefits of having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ far outweighs the hopelessness of not knowing our Savior!
Another great thing
we will learn in this passage is that the church that prays together,
stays together!
The greatest prayer
in the Bible is the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in Chapter 17 of
the Book of John.
The model prayer,
the Lord teaches us in the Book of Matthew 6:9-13 may be the most
quoted prayer in the Scriptures but this prayer of Paul, guided by
the Holy Spirit may be the greatest prayer of the Church.
We should also
remember how the Lord Jesus Christ prayed for Peter.
Luk 22:31 And the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that
he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Jesus also prayed
for this lost world as we should. This world is ignorant of the truth
of God!
Luk_23:34 Then said
Jesus, Father, forgive them; "for they know not what they do".
When Satan has lost
any power, he held over us when we gave our heart to Jesus Christ,
then Satan still has a great desire to ruin the testimony of each
Christian.
The Lord Jesus
Christ prayed for the Church.
Here we will see
where the Apostle Paul prays for the Church.
It is in our best
interest for us all to pray not only for the Church but for each
other!
So, let’s hear
Paul's prayer for the Church.
*****Eph 3:14 For
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
If we bow in prayer
to anyone or anything other than our Father in Heaven we are
committing blasphemy.
Even the Lord Jesus
Christ bowed to His Father in Heaven!
We should also
realize that this phrase by Paul means we need to have the right
attitude of prayer.
There is no specific
bodily posture that is necessary for Spiritual worship! For some
kneeling may be impossible.
Kneeling denotes
humbleness and we must always be humble before our loving but very
powerful God!
Kneeling also
denotes a desperate need. There is a desperate need for the church to
be strong today and we also need to pray as Paul prayed for the
church.
We must also have an
attitude of submissiveness!
We must submit to
the Lord! If we cannot submit to the Lord, then we are not saved!
We can talk to God
anytime we so choose, when we have a prayerful attitude.
Even more times than
that, we will have a "cause" to go before the Lord.
When we have a
specific cause, then we must be willing to explain things very well
before the Lord. We can have unspoken request within a body of
believers but not when we have a specific request while in our
closet!
We cannot say to the
Lord, I have an unspoken prayer request even though He already knows!
We have a great need
for many things in our war with evil and the things of this world, so
one of our greatest needs is the "strength" to deal with
them.
We should notice
that this prayer of Paul was in the will of God. God wants His Church
to be strong against the evils of this world to do this we must be in
the will of God.
The safest place for
any of us is being in the will of God!
It is God who gave
birth to the Church and it is God who will see the Church succeed
until the time of the fulness of the Gentiles!
Notice Paul does not
just pray to a father but to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who came into this world to reveal the One true God to us!
Having "faith"
in anyone but the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ will yield no
results and no salvation!
We must be utterly
dependent on this God. Jehovah God of the Bible, the God that saves,
there is no other God!
The world may know a
god who is distant and unconcerned with humanity but because of the
Lord Jesus Christ we can know the true God who likes it up close and
personal and in fact will abide within each of us.
When Paul prayed to
the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he prayed to the God who could
hear his prayer and then also able to answer his prayer.
Our God is alive!
*****Eph 3:15 Of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
The truth of our God
is that He is the Father of every believer from the time of Adam, all
those who have trusted in the fulfillment of His promises!
There is the family
of angels who have trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ
rather than go after Lucifer and there are the "children of God"
who have placed their faith in the things of God.
Just think when we
get to Heaven, we will not only see the Lord Jesus but, we will see
Adam, and Abraham, and David and every Saint that is mentioned in the
Scriptures who have gone on Home, before us.
Joh 3:18 He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
They may have
carried the name Christian on Earth, but they carry the name "child
of God" in every location!
Paul knew that to
survive the evil in this world would require strength but not just
any strength but the strength of God, the Holy Spirit.
*****Eph 3:16 That
he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
The Lord Jesus
Christ indicated that after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit(Holy Ghost)
would begin a new ministry to believers in the Church Age, that was
unlike the Old Testament Ages.
Joh 14:16 And I
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will
not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
In the Old
Testament, except for a few instances, (Joshua, David and a few
others) the Holy Spirit was with the Old Testament Saints, but He was
not "within" the Old Testament Saints.
In the New Testament
Saint, the Holy Spirit will live within each believer, as a gift from
God and He will never leave that believer!
2Co 1:21 Now he
which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is
God;
2Co 1:22 Who hath
also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
1Th 4:8 He
therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also
given unto us his holy Spirit
1Jn 4:13 Hereby
know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us
of his Spirit.
This event takes
place at salvation!
Eph 1:13 In whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.
When we have
strength that we do not understand. it is because we are endowed with
God the Holy Spirit!
1Co_6:19 What? know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Being endowed with
the "gift" of the Holy Spirit at "salvation"
shows the ownership of God!
This strength is
needed not for some miracle like as the time of the Apostles, but
this strength is needed by our inner man to take control of our flesh
in the name of the Lord!
The glory of God is
in Himself and no one can match the resources of God! The strength
mentioned here is would be spiritual firmness against the evils of
this world.
As Christians we
must be "tough" in a Spiritual sense. We must have the
energy to come face to face with this world and win!
We win because we
are on the "Winning Side"!
Without this
strength we could not overcome this body of flesh and we would be
wide open to being made useless to God.
Without this
strength we would never be able to lay claim to the blessings of God.
Without this
strength we would fear everything that the natural man fears!
How do we know God
will answer our prayer, He lives within us and the riches of God's
glory are in His Son Jesus Christ?
It says, who do you
love? If you truly love the Lord, you will able to receive the riches
of God's glory!
2Co 12:9 And he
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10 Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak,
then am I strong.
God's "Grace"
is sufficient because within us, lies the greatest power in all the
universe!
*****Eph 3:17 That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in love,
The key to be a
Christian is for Jesus Christ to dwell in our heart, "by faith".
We receive the
absolute fulness of God into our own spirit with that thing called
"faith"!
When we go forth
filled with God there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. There is no
battle with evil that we cannot win and there is no evil that can
break us down!
A.W. Tozer said, "A
man who is intimate with God is not intimidated by man"
When Jesus Christ
dwells in our heart then He will rule, and that word dwell means to
set up a permanent residence and not a temporary dwelling.
Jesus Christ not
only lives within our heart, but He makes us aware of it!
When the entire body
of believers of any congregation have such an intimate relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ, that church will be a force in the
community where it resides.
Just as the mighty
oak tree is rooted to withstand the nature of this world, each
Christian must be deeply rooted in Jesus Christ and each member of
each congregation must be deeply rooted in that Church to grow as a
weapon in the army of God.
In electrical work,
a system of electricity must be bonded, grounded, to make a sure
connection, to provide the system to work properly and for the safety
of those things that are handled by those who use them.
As Christians we
must be bonded to Jesus Christ with a sure connection that will
endure forever.
The Love of Christ
is that sure connection and it works both ways.
Joh 17:20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me.
Joh 17:22 And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me.
When we look real
hard at this prayer of Paul for the Church it was much like the
Prayer the Lord Jesus prayed for the church!
When we understand
that we have the entire Holy Trinity living within us and through
"faith" that power is available to us, we should be able to
notice the difference in our actions because it will be God working
within us!
We do all these
things so as Christians we have the same understanding of the Word of
God, God's love letter to everyone who will believe in "faith"!
*****Eph 3:18 May
be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be
filled with all the fulness of God.
That word "able"
means having sufficient knowledge of God to make the right decisions
for the good of the Church.
Having a full
understanding of the Spiritual things of God!
God explains His
plan repeatedly in most any part of the Scriptures and it this plan
that must be down in the inner part of each believer, so each
believer can act on this knowledge in this physical world.
These things can
only begin once we have the Lord Jesus Christ living in our heart.
We should
understand, just because God wanted to, He has done so much for us
while we were His enemies, that we just cannot comprehend it all!
God's love for is
such a quantity that it cannot be measured!
Job 11:7 Canst thou
by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto
perfection?
Job 11:8 It is as
high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou
know?
Job 11:9 The
measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
One of our greatest
prayers should be for God to increase our understanding of Him!
The more we
understand, the simpler it will be for us to be an outreach to teach
God's plan to others and as a body of believers we should all be on
the same page.
When we add all
these things up, being rooted and grounded, deeply fixed, firmly
established in His love, and with one another as He commands, we will
also have an amount of "love" that we cannot even fathom!
In fact, this
applies to all the things of God!
1Co 2:9 But as it
is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
It is obvious, that
to understand these things, we must have a close and prosperous and
very personal relationship with the Holy Spirit that lives within
each of us!
We should also
understand that only a very small but a very important part of the
words of Christ have been preserved, the rest we will learn when we
get to Heaven.
Joh_21:25 And there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should
be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The vastness of the
love and knowledge of the Lord just simply cannot be measured!
The ultimate goal
for each believer is to reach the fulness of God, which is
perfection!
Mat 5:48 Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
It is only those who
are perfect that will dwell with God throughout eternity!
There is nothing
that anyone can add to these words! For anyone to detract from this
truth, would be an attempt change the truth of God!
Rom 8:29 For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
It is extremely
important that we take on the image of Jesus Christ!
Mat 11:27 All
things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the
Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
To be the image of
Christ is so important that it could be said to be the theme of the
New Testament and it is!
Rom 15:13 Now the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Rom 15:14 And I
myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full
of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one
another.
Col 1:9 For this
cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his
will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Col 1:10 That ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in
every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Col 1:11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto
all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
We should surely
understand that it is not only the Holy Ghost that lives within us,
but the entire Holy Trinity abides within each believer.
The fulness of God
is the Triune God!
Joh 14:16 And I
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever;
First the Comforter,
the Holy Spirit.
Joh 14:23 Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him.
Then the Lord Jesus,
the Son and His Father, who is also our Father!
To be saved we must
pray to the Lord Jesus Christ that He would move into our Heart.
We must pray to be
strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
Now we see we must
pray for the fulness of God to move into our soul!
We are to constantly
pray for all these things and the Lord Jesus has already said the
Comforter will never leave us, nor would He ever forsake us.
This means the Holy
Spirit will never leave us for any reason and this means we cannot
lose the gift of salvation that God has freely given to us!
We can miss so many
things when we do not study the Scriptures!
So, who can
truthfully do all these things?
*****Eph 3:20 Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.
It is our "faith"
that limits the blessings of God and not that He is able to go far
beyond our request!
God simply says, we
limit our own blessings for a lack of "faith"!
Jas_4:2 Ye lust,
and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye
fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
We limit our own
blessings, but God has no limit to His power!
God is able to go
far beyond what we ask of Him!
Jer 32:17 Ah Lord
GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great
power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Jer 32:27 Behold, I
am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for
me?
God said if we had
enough "faith" we could move a tree:
Luk_17:6 And the
Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say
unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou
planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
In fact, God said if
we had enough faith we could move a mountain:
Mat 17:20 And Jesus
said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you,
If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you.
As much as we talk
about our faith, the only faith we have is the faith that God gave us
to be saved and we must increase our "faith" as we know
more about our Savior!
Rom_12:3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not
to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith.
We ought to be
begging God to increase our "faith"!
Jesus said we lacked
much fasting in our prayer life.
We must give up
something for God to give up something to us!
Food and water
sustain our life so, to fast shows God, we are willing to trust Him
for our life.
So as Paul closes
out this passage, he makes us aware that God is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all we ask.
The most important
thing we can do for ourselves is to live our lives so that we know
our prayer will reach into the throne room of God.
God can go far
beyond what we ask and believe it or not, God can go far beyond even
what we think, but God will only give us what we need to remain in
His will even if we ask in the greatest "faith". Sometimes
God's best answer to our request is "No"!
We know that God
first created each us from the elements of the soil, but God could
just as well have used stones!
Luk 3:8 Bring forth
therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within
yourselves, we have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That
God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
God can even fulfill
promises that are humanly impossible!
Rom 4:21 And being
fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to
perform.
God can subdue all
things to Himself!
Php 3:21 Who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself.
God can save us to
the uttermost!
Heb 7:25 Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
That power that
works within us is the Holy Spirit and it is from Him where this
power comes from according to this Scripture and God will never lie
to us!
Above all we must
remember that God will only do these things if they bring Him the
Glory, as it should be!
How long is God to
be glorified? Throughout all Ages, world without end!
God lives in
infinity and we will soon join Him there!
As these days pass
by, let's do our best not to limit the power of God in our lives.
We need to pray that
God will increase our faith and realize that if it is important
enough to us then we also need to fast!
Amen.
Let's Pray!
