Latin-American Reformed Seminary Ephesians

May 2018

Lecture 6
Ephesians 3: 14-21

Intro.

- In everything Paul has been saying

o In these first two chapters
 He has been driving home to his readers
 The vastness
o Of the salvation
 That they have received
in Christ.

o He has been giving us a picture

 That should overwhelm us
 At the grace of God
o Towards us,
 Especially when we
consider
 (as we saw at the
beginning of ch. 2)
 Just how little we
deserved any of this.
 By nature
 We’re children of wrath
o Liable to the judgment of God
against our sins,
 But by grace
o We are children of God
 And heirs of His eternal
Kingdom.

- It’s overwhelming.
o Reading Ephesians 1 and 2

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 Is like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant.

 It overwhelms us
 But that’s the point!
o Paul wants to captivate our
hearts
 With the wonder of the
Gospel.

- And in fact
o In writing this
 As we have just seen
 Paul himself
o Gets captivated by what he is
writing.

- In verse 1
o Of chapter 3
 Paul begins
 To tell his readers
o How he prays for them
 But he gets distracted
 As he considers
o The grace of God that has been
shown to him personally:
 A grace that had taken
him from the depths of
his living-death in a
pride-full Judaism to
the heights of being the
one given the privilege
of proclaiming the
universality of the
Gospel.

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I. What does it say?

- But now
o Paul comes back round
 To pick up
 Where he left of
o In verse 1.
o And he tells his readers
 How it is -
 In light of everything
o That he has just written -
 That he prays for them.

- And his prayer

o Is,
 Simply put,
 That the wonder of the Gospel
o That he has just explained
 Would grip his readers
 In the very depths of their beings.

o Paul’s prayer
 (verses 18, 19)
 Is that they would understand
o The vastness and completeness
 Of their salvation.

- Now, this prayer

o Is very similar
 To what Paul had said
 At the end of ch. 1:
o There Paul had told his readers

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 That his prayer for his

readers was

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,

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, and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us
who believe,

according to the working of his great might

(Ephesians 1:17-19)

- It is essentially the same prayer

o that we find here:
 A prayer
 That his readers
o Would truly know what they
had received in the Gospel,
 A prayer that they would
 Comprehend
o All that is theirs in Christ.
 That they would
o (verse 19)
 Know the love of Christ
that surpasses
knowledge.

- It’s essentially the same prayer,

o That Paul communicates
 At the end of ch. 1 and here at the end of ch. 3.

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o But this isn’t Paul

 Just being repetitive.

 Paul hasn’t forgotten what he had just

written,
o No,
 He is doing this
 For emphasis.

- That is a basic rule

o Of Biblical interpretation:
 Whenever we see repetition in Scripture
 It is there for emphasis.
o And that’s what’s happening
here.

- Paul tells his readers

o Twice
 That he is praying
 That the enormity of the Gospel
o Would grip their hearts
 Because this
comprehension of what
we have received
 By the grace of
God,
 Is vital for the healthy
Christian life.

- If we don’t understand
o The enormity
 Of what we have received

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 In and through Christ,

o And then we won’t understand totality
 Of the transformation
 That has come through Him,
o And we simply wont, then,
 Give Him the honor and glory that he is due
 As our Redeemer
o and we wont
 properly
 live in
response.

- If we don’t
o Properly understand
 The depths of our helplessness in our sin
 Then we will always think
o That there was something
deserving in us:
 Something that
warranted our
salvation.
 Now, it doesn’t have to
be much –
 “I’m a nice
person”
 “I always try to
do the right
thing”
o If we think that there was something
 Even something small
 That was virtuous in us,
o Then we will not understand
the totality of the gospel,

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 And we will believe that

we had some part to
play in our salvation
 And so we get
to retain a level
of control
 When it comes
to how we live
in response.

o If we think that there was something

 That we contributed
 To our salvation
 Then we will think of ourselves
o Somehow
 As partners with God in
salvation,
 And so we’ll
think we have
some room for
negotiation
 When it comes
to how we are
to respond
 And live in light
of our
salvation.

- Or,
o On the other hand,
 If we think that there is something lacking
 In what Christ has done for us.

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o If we concede
 That we were
 As Paul said
o In ch. 2
 “dead in our
transgressions and sins”
 Completely helpless
 And unable to do a single thing
o To save ourselves,
 And that Christ
 Has brought us up from the death of
our sins
o And given us life,
 But that there is some
elusive blessing
 Yet to be
obtained,
 Some blessing
 That Christ has
not obtained
for us,

 Then we will think

 That we are partners with Him in
salvation,
o And that we, in our power,
 Are to complete what
He had started.

- We are constantly tempted

o To try and contribute
 Something,
 Anything

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o To our salvation.

o The notion
 Of being completely helpless
 And completely reliant
o Is one that terrifies us.
o I think it’s why
 People can have such a hard time
 With the idea of growing old:
o The idea that you will again be
brought to a position of
dependence upon others.
o It’s hard.
 We like to be self-sufficient.
 Especially in this culture.
o We are programmed to believe
o That the successful life
 Is a self-reliant life:
 A life of independence
and freedom.

- But here
o What Paul is driving home
 By repeating these prayers
 Is that the Christian life
o Is a wholly dependent life.

o As much as we long
 To contribute something,
 Anything,
o Paul says
 That his prayer for his
readers

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 Is that we
would see the
totality of
Christ’s saving
work for us.
- That we would see
o (ch. 2)
 Just how far down we were in our sins.
 Just how helpless we were in our sins:
o Like corpses in our graves,
 Totally unable to bring
ourselves up out of
them,
o And that we would see
 (ch. 1)
 Just how completely we have been
blessed
o By God in Christ.
 To the extent
 That we are
now
 Co-heirs with
Christ,
 And are blessed
with
 “every spiritual
blessing in the
heavenly
places.”

- Paul says
o “I want that grip you,

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 Down in the very depths of your being.

 I don’t want this simply to be an
intellectual assent –
o I want you to stand dumb-
founded at this.
 I want you to truly
comprehend what I
have just written,
o And I want that to inform and direct
 How you respond to the culture
 In which you live.”

- That’s what he means

o When he says in verse 17
 That he prays
 That his readers would be strengthened
o “so that Christ may dwell in
[their] hearts through faith”

o We can read that

 And think
 “doesn’t that happen at the moment of
salvation”?
 Isn’t that what Paul means in Romans 8: 9
 When he says that anyone who does
not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in
them
o Does not belong to Christ?

o Or even just in this letter

 At the end of ch. 2
 When Paul drove home the point
o That one of the beautiful things

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 Of the Gospel
 Is that we
sinners
 Are not just
brought close
to God but are
 (2:22)
 “being built
together into a
dwelling place
for God by the
Spirit”?

- But what verse 17

o Is saying
 Is that Paul is praying
 That this would be a conscious reality
o For his readers.
o That their understanding of the
union that they have with God
 This intimate,
indwelling union
 Them in Christ
and Christ in
them,
 Would be definitive and directive
o In their lives.
o He is praying
 That they would understand
 That the intimate union
o They now have with God

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 Having been brought

from the depths of God
 And woven into
the family of
God,
 Would consciously inform how they live.

- You remember
o How Paul vividly applied this
 In 1 Corinthians 6
 As he addressed
o The rampant sexual immorality
 In Corinth?
o 1 Cor 6: 15 “Do you not know that your bodies are
members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of
Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute
becomes one body with her? For as it is written, ‘The
two will become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the
Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

 His point is that the indwelling of Christ

 In the believer,
o The intimacy of this union of
the Christian with Christ
 Means that where we
go, Christ goes
 So Christian, if
you enter a
brothel you are
taking Christ in
there with you.

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- That’s what he is saying here.

o He wants them to be mindful
 Of what it means
 For Christ to dwell in their hearts
through faith
o He wants this to be a conscious reality within them
 So that it would
 (1 Cor 6)
o Guard them against temptation,
 But also
 As he says in verse 17
o Be secured by it
o Rooted and grounded
 By this indwelling love
of God,
 That has come
through the
grace of God.

- You see
o There are giants in the land.
 All around us
 There are temptation and trials
o There are powerful worldviews
 That run counter to the
gospel.
o There is a devil
 Who prowls around
 Like a roaring lion
o Seeking whomever he will
devour
 (1 Peter 5: 8)

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- We might not have

o The Temple of Artemis
 Towering over us
o We might not have
 Devotees of Artemis
 Rioting and chanting for two hours
o “Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians”
 (Acts 19)

o But we have plenty

 Of idols
 That come at us
o And try to intimidate us
 To follow them,
 Plenty of idols around us
 Whose devotees
o Try to shout us down
 And overwhelm us.

- But when we see

o That we the enormity
 Of the salvation
 That Christ has brought
o Then we see that we don’t need
to be afraid.

o When we see
 That everything we have
 We owe to Christ,
 Then we see
 That we are in the most secure position
o Possible.

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- If you contributed something.

o If you brought something to the table
 Either in obtaining your salvation
 Or in completing your salvation,
o Then you have something to be
afraid of.
o Like the spies
 You can look at the
giants around you
 And you can say with
the spies
 “The people are
greater and
taller than we
are.”
 The devil is far more
powerful than you are,
 And is well
skilled in
temptations
and trials,
 But when you see
 Your total dependence upon God
o In salvation
 You are able to say
o With Moses
 “Do not be in dread or
afraid of them. The
LORD your God who
goes before you will
himself fight for you”

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 Because as powerful as the devil is

o He is nothing more than a
creature
 And is therefore
subordinate to the
Creator.

- It is this knowledge
o This comprehension
 Of our utter weakness
 And God’s total power
o That roots and anchors us,
 So that we are unmoved
 When the storms of life
o Come and batter us.

o It is this knowledge
 That God is the one
 Who has sovereignly
o From all eternity
 Done all that is required
to save us from our sin
 And bring us to
Himself,
 To the point
that He Himself
dwells
o By His
Spirit
o Within
us,

o It is that knowledge

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 That anchors us
 In the face
o Of temptation and trial.

 It gives us the confidence

 That we if we did nothing to
o Obtain our salvation
 We can do nothing
o To lose our salvation:
 If God for all eternity
 Predestined us
for salvation
(ch. 1)
 Then there is nothing
that we or anyone else
can do
 To cause us to
lose that
salvation.

- You see
o Our helplessness in salvation
 Our utter dependency upon Another
 Is, in reality, not frightening -
o It’s liberating!
 It frees us from fear.
 It frees us from the
anxiety that there might
come something
against us that is so
powerful that we
cannot resist it.
o If we are wholly dependent upon God,

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 Then there simply is no enemy

 That is powerful enough
o To destroy us.

- You remember how Martin Luther put it?

o “Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth [i.e. The Lord of the Armies of Heaven] His
Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.”

- That’s Paul’s point in this letter:

o To drive home to his readers
 The enormity of the salvation
 That is ours in Christ,
o And to then see
 The world
 And our circumstances
o And our lives
 In the light of it.
- And that
o Is Paul’s point
 In this prayer:
 Praying to God
o That his readers might grasp
o Just what it is
 That he is saying to
them.

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 That this would be a

reality
 In their “inner
being” (v. 16)
o That
 “being rooted and
grounded in love,
[they/we] may have
strength to
comprehend with all
the saints what is the
breadth and length and
height and depth, and
to know [truly know
and understand] the
love of Christ that
surpasses knowledge,
[and be] filled with all
the fullness of God.”

II. What does it mean?

- But, just quickly, notice also
o That this prayer
 That we would comprehend
 Our joyful dependence upon God in
salvation,
 Teaches us also
 About our ongoing dependence upon
God,
o For growth and strength
 As Christians.

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- This prayer teaches us

o That despite
 All the imperatives
 That Paul is giving in this letter
o All the instruction and direction
 For how we need to act
 In the light of
our salvation,
o Despite all things
 Paul is telling
 And will go on to tell
 His readers
 To do,
- Despite all of that
o This prayer teaches us
 That this letter
 is not a call to
o Pull up your bootstraps.
 It is not simply a call
o To do better.

- Paul gives us instructions

o But it is important to see here
 That this is a prayer
 That God would do something,
o Not an exhortation that we
would do something.

- Now
o As we said when we looked
 At the prayer in ch. 1
 God uses means
o To do this:

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 He strengthens us and
sanctifies us
 Through His
Word
 As it is read and
preached,
 Through the
prayers of God’s
people
 Through the
sacraments,
 Through
fellowship,
 Through
reading
challenging
books,
 And listening to
lectures,
- But, what this prayer teaches us
o Is that all of it
 Is useless
 Unless God
 Works to show us more
o And more of our salvation
 And strengthen our
faith
 In the knowledge of
that salvation.
o We are dependent on God
 To enlighten us in the knowledge of Christ
 When we first become Christians:

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o We are blind, dead in our sin

 And so we need God
 To enlighten us,
 And show us
Jesus,
o But understand
 We never get past that.
 We never stop being dependent.
- Right?
o That’s why Jesus
 Describes us as sheep:
 Domesticated sheep
o Are about
 The most dependent
creatures
 That you can
imagine.
o Wholly dependent upon their
shepherd
 To lead, and feed and
protect them.
o Or, why
 In Matthew 18
 Describes His disciples
o As little children.
 Not as a picture of sweetness and
innocence
o But as a picture of vulnerability:
 A little child
 Is absolutely
dependent
upon their

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parents for
everything.
- William Barclay
o “The child is instinctively dependent, and just as
instinctively he trusts his parents that his needs will be
met.
 When we are children, we cannot buy our own
food or our own clothes, or maintain our own
home;
 yet we never doubt that we will be
clothed and fed, and that there will be
shelter and warmth and comfort
waiting for us when we come home.
 When we are children we set out on a journey
with no means of paying the fare, and with no
idea of how to get to our journey’s end,
 and yet it never enters our heads to
doubt that our parents will bring us
safely there.”
- And we never stop
o Being that dependent.
 Just as we needed God
 To show us Jesus
o When we were saved,
 So we need God
 To show us more of Jesus
o Throughout our lives.
 We need Him
o To work through His ordinary
means of grace:

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 Through the reading

and preaching of
Scripture
 Through the
sacraments,
 Through prayer
 To show us
more of Jesus,
 That we might
grasp more fully
 All that we have
received in
Him.

- And so while its important

o To discipline ourselves
 For godliness
 (1 Timothy 4; 1 Cor 9)
o To “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”
 (Phil. 2: 12)
o We must also
 Humble ourselves
 For godliness,
o Depending upon God
 To show us more and
more of all that is ours
in Christ.

- And what that means

o Is that a Christians is strongest
 When he is on his knees.

o We are strongest

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 Against the temptations of the flesh, the world

and the devil,
 Against the intimidations and threatening’s
 Of the idols that surround us,
o When we are on our knees
 In prayer to God.
- B.B.Warfield
o The 19th Century Princeton theologian
 Once wrote in his pamphlet “the Religious Life
of Theological Students” (Which you should all
read if you haven’t already)
 “Sometimes we hear it said that ten
minutes on your knees will give you a
truer, deeper, more operative
knowledge of God, than ten hours over
your books.
o ‘What!’ is the appropriate
response,
 ‘than ten hours over
your books, on your
knees?’
o Why should you turn from God
when you turn to your books,
 Or feel that you must
turn from your books in
order to turn to God?”
- Pray with your books open.
o Study, apply
 But do it
 In dependence
o Upon the Holy Spirit
 To enlighten your eyes

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 In the
knowledge of
God.

- You want to stand firm

o And live a life for the glory of God?
 Then pray this prayer
 For yourselves.

- This should be our prayer

o For our selves.
o It should be our prayer
 For one another
 It should be how you pray
 For your class
 It should be how you pray
o For your preacher.

- If you want to grow

o In your knowledge of your salvation.
 If you want to stand firm
 Against the pressures
o Of an increasingly hostile
society,
 If you want your church
 To stand
o While around us many crumble
 In the face of storms of
opposition and conflict,
 If you want to see
 The worship of your church
o Deepened and enriched
 If you want to see

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 Your children
o And grandchildren
 Walk with the Lord all
the days of their lives,
 Even
outstripping
you in their
faith,
 If you want to see
 The church in Latin America
o Reformed and revived,
 Then the most important thing you can do is
pray.
 The most important thing you can do
o Is pray
 That the vastness and
completeness of the
salvation that we have
received in Christ
 Would grip us in the
very seat of our being,
 And would drive us on
 In a conscious,
intentional
pursuit of the
glory of Christ.

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