Ephesians 3:14-19
When I was young, I used to think that people in the middle ages were not very intelligent, and that with the passing of time we have become more and more intelligent. In the middle ages superstition thrived because people did not know why there were eclipses or why there were earthquakes. In the middle ages people believed the earth was the center of the universe. Now we know better. The technology we take for granted would have been bewildering to people from the middle ages.
When I became a follower of Jesus and began to read the Bible, I remember one time when I was reading Paul’s letter to the church in Rome and thinking back to what I had once thought about people in the middle ages being less intelligent than we are today. I realized that Paul was as brilliant as anyone today. Five centuries before the Middle Ages, Paul had an intellect that would be recognized as brilliant in our modern world. We have not become more intelligent through the ages. We have accumulated more knowledge but we are not more intelligent.
The brilliance of Paul is amazing. He alone was able to see what others saw, that Jesus had died and risen from the dead, and help us see the implications of that. Paul created the theology of the church, and without Paul, Christian faith would be nothing more than a Jewish sect; the gospel would not have moved out into the world. This is why I think God pursued Paul as he did, because he needed Paul so the church could be taken beyond the Jews to the whole world Jesus died for.
Paul had a huge intellect but he was not dispassionate in the letters he wrote. When Paul wrote about the theology of the church, he was not operating only from his head. Paul was brilliant, but Paul also had a huge heart. When Paul wrote the theology of Romans 1-8, he could not contain himself and burst out with this powerful doxology: (Romans 8:31–39)
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When I preached from Romans a few years ago and came to this text, I called it an explosion of theological fireworks.
Paul was not able to talk about the theology of the church without becoming passionate and needing to burst out in praise and prayer. This is what also happens in Paul’s letter of Ephesians. Paul writes wonderfully about the theology of the church in the first couple chapters, then breaks in with a prayer that I have often used as a benediction at RIC. It is a beautiful prayer
Ephesians 3:14–19
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
At some other time I might parse this prayer and break it into its components, showing how brilliantly this prayer expresses the truth of our faith. But this morning I want to leave it to be admired in all its beautiful prose and instead want to talk about how Paul was able to come to such a deep appreciation of the love of Jesus. This will show us how this prayer can also lead us into a deeper appreciation of the love of Jesus.
Paul’s powerful heart prayed that the followers of Jesus in the church, in Ephesus and in other cities in the area, would know the breadth and depth of the love of Jesus. How did Paul himself develop such a deep understanding of the love of Jesus? Let me suggest three ways. The first is that Paul experienced the depth and breadth of the love of Jesus on the road to Damascus.
I talked about Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus on Easter and the week after so I don’t need to go into detail about that again. Paul deserved to die for having worked against the risen Lord, Jesus. Paul knew that. When Paul was blinded by the brilliance of Jesus in the noonday sun, (Acts 9:4–6)
4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
The voice spoke to him in Aramaic, his heart language, and called him by his Hebrew name, Saul. When an all-powerful, heavenly being knows your name, speaks to you in your mother tongue, and asks why you are persecuting him, it is not good news. Trouble lies ahead.
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
And then came the answer that cut him to his soul.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
This was the pivotal moment of Paul’s life. All his life dated to before or after this appearance and whenever Paul talked about this experience, three times alone as recorded in the Scriptures but certainly hundreds of times as he told his story to a new audience, he talked about the mercy of Jesus that spared him from death and the grace of Jesus that gave him the privilege of working with him to rescue the Gentiles.
When Paul wrote to his disciple, Timothy, about how the gospel is a bold expression of the grace of Jesus, he broke into his argument with his personal testimony. (1 Timothy 1:12–17)
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Paul was shown mercy and given grace and as he told Timothy his story, perhaps for the thousandth time, he broke into a benediction of praise to God who had shown him so much mercy and grace.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul wrote in Romans that we were once enemies of God. (Romans 5:10) You may not have persecuted followers of Jesus as Paul did, but you too were once a rebel who deserved to be killed. Even if you can’t remember a time when you were not a follower of Jesus, if your relationship with Jesus is more than a superficial one, you are aware of your selfish heart that chooses self above God. The best of us differs from Paul only in degree.
When we remember who we are apart from our relationship with Jesus, we are aware of the deep love of Jesus that came to us, when we did not deserve it, and brought us into his kingdom. Once we were blind, but now we have been found.
The Hebrew Testament tells Israel over and over again to remember when God rescued Israel from the pursuing army of Pharaoh and brought them safely across the Red Sea. That is the great, saving event of the Hebrew Bible.
In the same way, we are to remember, over and over again, how we were rescued by Jesus. We need to remember the many ways God has worked in our lives, the many times he has provided us with what we need, the many experiences we have had of his comfort and peace.
Paul knew the depth and breadth of the love of Jesus because of the grace that was shown to him when he was rescued on the road to Damascus. And, secondly, Paul knew the depth and breadth of the love of Jesus because of the presence of Jesus in all his suffering.
This is not a popular truth because only mentally unstable people want to suffer. We prefer the triumphant gospel, that we will move on with Jesus from victory to victory. But that is not how the Kingdom of God advances and that is not the reality of the world we live in. We live in a world full of suffering.
What was the path of Jesus to his risen, exalted state? Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified. Jesus was defeated, and out of the ashes of that defeat Jesus rose from the dead to be exalted.
We in the church would like to advance without paying the price. We want growth in Christ to come without pain. We want to coast to heaven.
John Fischer wrote a song with this chorus, “Everyone wants to get to heaven, Lord. Nobody wants to die.” Here are verses from that song:
You want to have wisdom
Without making mistakes
You want to have money
Without the work that it takes
You want to be loved
But you don’t want the heartaches.
You want to be forgiven
Without taking the blame
You want to eat forbidden fruit
Without leaving a stain
You want the glory
But you don’t want the shame.
You want to be a winner
Without taking a loss
You want to be a disciple
Without counting the cost
You want to follow Jesus
But you don’t want to go to the cross.
If our focus is on triumphant living, seeking victory after victory, we will end up with a superficial faith and a weak appreciation for the love of Jesus. This is not the way Paul traveled.
In defending himself against the triumphalism of the super-apostles who arrived in Corinth after he left, he wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:23–29:
I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
This did not cause Paul to doubt that Jesus had called him to take the gospel to the Gentile world. On the contrary, these experiences strengthened his faith
2 Corinthians 1:8–10
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
For some people, suffering leads to discouragement and despair. There are some people who are defeated by suffering. But what I have observed is that people who surrender to Jesus are strengthened by suffering and are led to a greater faith in Jesus. Paul suffered in a way I hope none of us suffer but his suffering led him to a strong faith and great hope.
Jesus was in the home of Simon the Pharisee when a prostitute came, washed his feet with her tears, and anointed them with perfume. Simon was critical of this action but Jesus told him: (Luke 7:44–47)
“Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
A life without suffering is a life that does not really need Jesus. Simon did not really need Jesus but the prostitute did. Suffering helps us see how much we really need Jesus. Suffering moves us from a convenient relationship with Jesus to a desperate need for him.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader in the US in the 1960s. He learned from Mahatma Ghandi the principal of nonviolent resistance and led the opposition to racism in the south of the US. His father was a well-known Baptist preacher and he inherited his faith from his father. But as a young, twenty-six old preacher, he was called to lead the struggle against racism. He was immediately arrested and thrown into jail, for driving 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. After he was released, he received a phone call at home, “Nigger, we are tired of you and your mess now. And if you aren’t out of this town in three days, we’re going to blow your brains out, and blow up your house.”
This crisis led King to a deeper surrender to Jesus. Here is how King talked about this experience in a sermon:
And I sat at that table thinking about that little girl (his newborn daughter) and thinking about the fact that she could be taken away from me any minute. And I started thinking about a dedicated, devoted and loyal wife, who was over there asleep … And I got to the point that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was weak…
And I discovered then that religion had to become real to me, and I had to know God for myself. And I bowed down over that cup of coffee. I never will forget it … I prayed a prayer, and I prayed out loud that night. I said, ‘Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. I think I’m right. I think the cause that we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now. I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage.’
… And it seemed at that moment that I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo I will be with you, even until the end of the world.’ … I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No never alone. No never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.
Three days later a bomb exploded on the front porch of King’s home, filling the house with smoke and broken glass but injuring no one. King took it calmly: ‘My religious experience a few nights before had given me the strength to face it.’
Paul received the call of God to go to Macedonia where he faced a jail cell and a whip. But he faced it with faith because he knew he had been called by Jesus to go there.
Holding on to Jesus in the midst of suffering is what builds our faith and helps us to experience the love of Jesus at a far deeper level. And that helps us to persevere.
I talked once with a woman who had been held captive for an extended period of time and she told me her experiences with Jesus during her captivity were the sweetest experiences of her life.
A man, whose wife was suffering from a brain tumor, kept a blog. On the morning they were awaiting news of the tumor that had been taken from his wife’s brain, he wrote this:
Tomorrow. Meeting with the team for the pathology report. What to think? What to pray? What dear Lord, what???
I’ve been mulling all day over which Scripture verse best describes where we are on this. Psalm 23:1 reminds us “The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.” So true. Romans 8:38-39 keeps us centered on the truth that nothing in all of creation will ever separate us from the love of God. Also very true. I Peter 5:7 tells us to “cast all your burdens on Him because He cares for you.” We have certainly lived and experienced that for the past 3 weeks.
Instead I want to invite everyone to join us in praying one single verse. Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” We started this by looking to Jesus and we intend to keep our focus on Him every step of the way. Tomorrow is only the next stage in that journey. We choose to fix our eyes only on Jesus, trusting that He will give all the strength we need and all the comfort we require. And therefore all of the glory will be His.
So bring on that pathology report tomorrow. There is nothing it can say that will make us question our faith in our powerful and sovereign God. There is not one piece of it that could ever make God love us any more or any less. There is no statement in that report that God will not use, redeem and make perfect for the sake of the Kingdom. Satan may try to throw some punches. That’s ok. I already know who will win this fight. The victory is already certain.
So bring it on tomorrow. Our prayer warriors are all lined up on their knees going to battle. Tomorrow is all for your honor and glory Lord Jesus.
The report came back and the tumor was malignant with an extremely aggressive cancer. As I read this collection of blog posts that ended after three and a half years of suffering with his wife’s death, I was blown away by the intensity of this man’s faith, and his wife’s faith. Their love for Jesus did not diminish but increased as they experienced the love of Jesus in the midst of this battle.
We wish we could grow in the love of Jesus by sipping tea with friends or by singing praise choruses in church, but that is not how it works. We grow most in times of difficulty, which led James, the brother of Jesus, to begin his letter to the church with this: James 1:2–3
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
And then seven verses later he wrote: James 1:12
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Paul experienced the depth and breadth of the love of Jesus in the grace he experienced on the road to Damascus and in the presence of Jesus through all the suffering of his life. A final lesson is that Paul’s experience of the love of Jesus increased as Paul became less full of himself and more full of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist charted the way for us when he said about Jesus, (John 3:30 )
30 He must become greater; I must become less.
We are so full of ourselves. We think about how we look. We think about how people view us. We think about who likes us and who does not like us. We hide who we are so more people will like us. We think in every situation about how what happens will affect us. Our mood goes up or down based on how things are working out for us. We think about our career, our comfort, our future.
But as we grow in our relationship with Christ, as we pass through difficult times and discover how deeply we are loved by Jesus, we become less filled with ourselves and more filled with Jesus.
Paul wrote from prison to the Philippians: (Philippians 1:20–22)
20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Paul wrote of his single-minded pursuit of Jesus in Philippians 3:12–14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
And toward the end of his life, he wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:6–8 )
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
My mother was critical of my faith and told me often, “Don’t use Jesus as a crutch. Stand up on your own feet.” But what she failed to understand is that we are all limping and when we understand that and find our strength in Jesus, then we are strong.
This is what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I pray for you, as Paul prayed for the early followers of Jesus, (Ephesians 3:16–19)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
We live in a world of suffering. When suffering comes to us, when it becomes personal, it comes as a shock. Life events are coming that will hurt. They will be painful. They will make you feel like you cannot go on, that you will break in two. There is nothing beautiful about suffering. You will not dance a happy dance, rejoicing that a trial has come, but in the midst of the pain and suffering, there will be reason to rejoice, as James told us to do, because we know that through this suffering, as we hold on to Jesus, Jesus will be present with us, our faith will grow, and we will have deeper, more intimate appreciation for how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
We sing sometimes Chris Rice’s song, “Come to Jesus,” that has this lyric:
And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on glory’s side
Jesus said: (Matthew 5:4, 10–12)
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Those who mourn and those who are persecuted are not blessed because there is anything good in pain and suffering. They are blessed because we are headed to a world where there is no pain and suffering and because God is making good come out of all the evil in the world.
We can laugh and rejoice in the present suffering of the world because the love of Jesus is wider and deeper than all of the suffering of the world.
So hold on to Jesus. If you are facing trials now, don’t stop holding on to Jesus. When trials come to you in the future, no matter how much it hurts, hold on to Jesus as if your life depends on it.
******************
Benediction:
Hebrews 12:1–3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
