-
You can turn in your Bibles
-
to Ephesians 3.
-
Now we had left off in Ephesians 3:14.
-
We went down through v. 13.
-
We're going to pick things up,
-
and spend a number of weeks here
-
in the last half of Ephesians 3.
-
Let's read this.
-
We'll read from verse 14
to the end of the chapter.
-
"For this reason,
-
I bow my knees before the Father,
-
from whom every family in heaven
-
and on earth is named,
-
that according to the riches of His glory,
-
He may grant you to be strengthened
-
with power through His Spirit
-
in your inner being,
-
so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith,
-
that you being rooted and grounded in love
-
may have strength to comprehend
-
with all the saints what is the breadth
-
and length and height and depth
-
and to know the love of Christ
-
that surpasses knowledge,
-
that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God.
-
Now to Him who is able to
do far more abundantly
-
than all we ask or think,
-
according to the power at work within us,
-
to Him be glory in the church
-
and in Christ Jesus
-
throughout all generations
-
forever and ever. Amen."
-
"For this reason..."
-
Look at verse 14.
-
"For this reason..."
-
What's going on here? It's been awhile.
-
Remember with me.
-
Remember.
-
You've got your face there in your Bible.
-
You see, "For this reason..."
-
And if you go back up
to verse 1 of chapter 3,
-
you see that he started the same way.
-
"For this reason..."
-
Now, could it be that in both places
-
he's speaking about different things?
-
It could be.
-
I mean, you could be having a conversation
-
with somebody and you could say,
-
"For this reason so-and-so..."
-
And then later in the
conversation, you could say,
-
"For this reason..." and
you mean another reason.
-
And that's possible.
-
In both cases, verse 1, "For this reason,
-
I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus
on behalf of you Gentiles..."
-
Verse 14, "For this reason, I bow
my knees before the Father..."
-
In both cases, we might ask,
-
what's happening?
-
What reason?
-
Well, just remember this with me.
-
Back up in chapter 3:1,
-
most of your Bibles -
-
I recognize if you've got
the King James Version
-
it doesn't have this, but
most every other Bible
-
has that double dash
at the end of verse 1.
-
Now whether your Bible has it or doesn't,
-
obviously it doesn't show
up in the original Greek.
-
There's no double dash there to be found.
-
This is put here by the translators.
-
Why? Because they're
assuming that Paul digresses.
-
They're assuming what you have
-
from verse 2 to verse 13 is a parenthesis.
-
In other words, Paul was starting to say
-
what he says in verse 14.
-
"For this reason,
-
I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus..."
-
and he was going to say,
-
"...bow my knees before the Father."
-
But you know what?
-
In describing himself as a prisoner,
-
he recognized that -
-
you can see it in verse 13 -
-
he recognized the people might lose heart.
-
He recognized that he
himself being in prison
-
might create sorrow in their hearts.
-
And so, he digresses.
-
He digresses to basically show them,
-
look, this is your glory
that I'm in prison.
-
This is not a bad thing.
-
Don't get discouraged.
Don't be depressed.
-
Don't lose heart to the
fact that I'm doing this.
-
And you know what? We all do this.
-
We all at times are speaking to somebody,
-
and as we're speaking to them
-
and we're trying to say one thing,
-
a thought comes into our mind
-
that something I just said
needs to be clarified,
-
or something I just said
needs some extra light,
-
and we feel like we need
to abruptly interrupt
-
and stick it in there
before we keep going.
-
We do that.
-
And you know, one of the things is
-
we sometimes think that
because men are inspired,
-
that they can't do those kinds of things.
-
Because it's almost like we view
-
inspired writers as dictating
for the Spirit of God.
-
My mother used to be a legal secretary,
-
and she, back in the day -
-
this was before they have
all the recording ability,
-
she did shorthand.
-
Anybody remember shorthand?
-
She would have the attorney dictate to her
-
and she would write down in shorthand.
-
But that is not the way
Scripture comes to us.
-
Can we allow somebody
-
that's under the inspiration of the Spirit
-
to suddenly interrupt
their train of thought
-
and go in another direction?
-
I love this.
-
It shows the nature of
God-breathed Scripture.
-
Paul can be completely controlled
by the Spirit of God,
-
and yet, the Spirit isn't
just dictating to him
-
like he's some robot.
-
That's not what's happening.
-
Paul writes in such a way
-
that his own thinking, his own writing
-
are free and spontaneous,
-
and yet he is writing word-for-word
-
what God wants him to write.
-
That's what happens.
-
Here's an interruption in
Paul's train of thought.
-
And yet, the whole thing is
-
divinely conceived and controlled.
-
And so, what happens, you get to v. 14,
-
and now Paul's going to go back
-
to what he was originally wanting to say.
-
"For this reason..."
-
We ought to ask, "what reason?"
-
Now he says this:
-
"For this reason, I bow my knees
-
before the Father,
-
from whom every family in
heaven and on earth is named,
-
that according to the riches of His glory
He may grant you to be strengthened."
-
Now, it could be "for this
reason, I bow my knees."
-
Why? "Because I want you to have power."
-
It could be that.
-
But if you go back up to
3:1 when he first said it,
-
"For this reason..."
-
well, it's very likely pointing
to what he got done saying
-
at the end of chapter two.
-
It's likely his whole reasoning is this:
-
"For this reason..."
-
Because you Gentiles -
-
because that's been his
whole argument all along -
-
you Gentile Christians have been added
-
to the saints of God.
-
Because of your standing...
-
Go back to chapter 2.
-
Let's just run through this really fast.
-
Verse 13. "They were brought near."
-
Verse 16, "reconciled to God."
-
Verse 18, "given access to the Father."
-
Verse 19, "fellow citizens,"
-
"members of the household of God."
-
Verse 20, "on the apostolic foundation,
-
Christ Jesus Himself
being the cornerstone."
-
Verse 22, "built together...
-
dwelling place for God."
-
Paul bows his knees before the Father why?
-
To pray for this elect people.
-
"For this reason..."
because of your standing.
-
And I like this.
-
I mean, this causes me to think.
-
Do you recognize?
-
When Paul speaks to Christians
-
in the New Testament,
-
he is talking about how often
-
he thanks the Lord for them
-
and how unceasingly he prays for them.
-
When Paul found elect people of God,
-
he was constrained.
-
People who the Father loved.
-
He looks at them.
-
He recognized they're not
like the rest of the world.
-
They're beloved of God,
-
and it struck a chord in his own love.
-
Paul prayed for God's people.
-
You can't get away from that reality.
-
He prayed. He prayed.
-
Why? These people are
adopted by the Father.
-
Adopted through Jesus Christ.
-
Adopted as sons.
-
They're part of the family.
-
They're in.
-
These are God's people.
-
He's set His love on them.
-
And for Paul, that was powerful.
-
When he found true Christians,
-
it had a singular effect on
the angle of his knees.
-
And you notice: "I bow my knees."
-
It caused them to bend.
-
Now, here's the thing.
-
I know this.
-
I have desired since the very
beginning of this church
-
that we would have a praying church
-
because I'm absolutely convinced
-
that we need God, and praying
people lay hold on God,
-
and God responds to praying people.
-
God moves and things happen.
-
Prayer is absolutely essential
-
in the life of the church.
-
And what I find is this,
-
when you find prayers in Scripture,
-
they as much as anything
-
are great lessons in how the church
-
should be praying.
-
And so, I want us to
take this for what it is.
-
Paul.
-
He's praying. It's a prayer.
-
Well, not exactly.
-
He's telling us how he prays.
-
This isn't him actually praying
-
like Jesus in John 17.
-
This is him telling the
Ephesians how he prays,
-
his posture of prayer, and what he prays.
-
That's what's happening here.
-
Paul telling us how.
-
Massively instructive.
-
Why? Because Paul's under inspiration.
-
You know what the Spirit's doing here?
-
"Paul, tell them how you pray."
-
That is helpful.
-
Because you know, we
see a lot of people pray.
-
You come to the prayer meetings.
You hear people pray.
-
You get in small groups.
You hear people pray.
-
When we don't get into small groups,
-
but we all stay together,
-
we pass that microphone around,
-
voices come through the speakers.
-
Undoubtedly throughout your lives,
you hear people pray.
-
And we can ask the question,
-
are our prayers pleasing to God?
-
Are our prayers biblical?
-
Do our prayers resemble something
-
that would seem to be pleasing to God?
-
Maybe we say, well, if we pray,
-
doesn't that in itself please God?
-
But I'll tell you this, there's a place
-
definitely to learn how to pray.
-
Jesus taught His disciples,
"pray this way."
-
There's a place for being instructed.
-
There's a place for learning.
-
And I find this, when you find a prayer
-
that we know to be
inspired of the Holy Spirit,
-
under inspiration.
-
The Spirit was moving Paul
-
to tell these Ephesians how he prayed.
-
And it's going to do us well
-
to pay attention to this.
-
Do people pray according to the Spirit?
-
You know, you can hear somebody pray -
-
well, is that according to the Spirit?
-
Is that not according to the Spirit?
-
Well, we know this is.
-
If you ever want God just to
teach you how to pray, here it is.
-
We don't have to guess.
-
This is acceptable.
-
And brethren, you'll
notice what isn't here.
-
This jumps out at me.
-
What's not here?
-
Oh, how shallow it is when people
-
just simply pray,
-
"Lord, bless this, bless him,
-
bless her, bless that,
bless the other thing."
-
You notice Paul doesn't even
use that word "bless" once?
-
Now look, I'm certainly not saying
-
that you can't use that
term when you pray,
-
but oh, how often, praying for a blessing
-
is just a default word for
not knowing what to pray
-
and for shallow prayer.
-
In fact, if you go through Scripture
-
and you look at the specific prayers
-
that are given in Scripture,
-
how seldom - or never - do you find
-
that word "bless."
-
Of course, we want God's blessing!
-
But what sort of blessing?
-
Paul is specific. See him there.
-
See him there on bended knee.
-
What is he going to ask for?
-
What is it?
-
Hear him.
-
"Father..." can you see him?
-
Bended knee.
-
Where was he?
-
I don't know where he was.
-
He's in some kind of prison.
-
He was imprisoned.
-
You can imagine him in a prison cell.
-
You can imagine that a lot
of his time was spent there.
-
And what's he praying for?
-
Hear him. Hear him. Hear his words.
-
"Father, please, please..." what?
-
Bless them? Bless that?
-
Bless Thessalonica? Bless Philippi?
-
Bless the Romans?
-
Bless those at Jerusalem?
-
It's not that.
-
He's very specific.
-
And he says specifically
for these Ephesians,
-
on bowed, bended knee;
-
listen to his voice.
-
He says, "Father, please,
-
according to the riches of Your glory..."
-
Now, you can stop right there.
-
"Father..."
-
Not in some meager way.
-
Not in some off-handed way.
-
Not in some barely recognizable way.
-
Not in some way where we've got to
-
squint real hard to say,
-
did He answer or not?
-
But, "according to the
riches of Your glory."
-
What a powerful plea!
-
What an argument!
-
"Please, Father, please...
-
I'm asking You to answer.
-
Not in some barely recoginizable way.
-
Arise! Act consistent with
the riches of Your glory."
-
That is a way worth praying.
-
That's how you want to pray.
-
"Lord, please..."
-
Look, we're not like the lost people.
-
We're not like the pagans.
-
You're not like you
were when you were lost
-
and a nominal whatever-you-were.
-
Whether you were a lost Baptist,
-
a lost pagan, a lost nominal Catholic,
-
lost religious, lost unreligious.
-
The god you called upon
-
and the kind of prayers you had
-
and some little idol
-
or some small figment of your imagination,
-
listen, that is not the way
we've learned our Scripture.
-
That's not the way we've
learned the God of Scripture.
-
He is not some small little idol,
-
some little statue to
be prayed to like that.
-
He's not like those Indian gods
-
that they have to carry around.
-
This God is the living God,
-
and He doesn't need to be carried.
-
And He can part Red Seas,
-
and when you pray to Him,
-
you should pray according
to the magnitude of His glory.
-
That's what Paul's doing.
-
Don't pray silly little prayers.
-
Look, that doesn't mean you
can't pray for the smallest things.
-
I remember Mueller. He would say -
-
you know in his day, I guess
they were the quill pens.
-
He said something about if a pen
-
needs to have the cartridge replaced
-
or whatever they called it in that day,
-
he said it's worth praying about.
-
Obviously, even praying
about small things,
-
we should blanket everything
in our lives in prayer.
-
But I'm just saying this,
-
we have a big God and we should pray
-
as though He is big; He is rich.
-
If you have something worth praying for;
-
if you have something you
think God should grant,
-
if there's some great
mountain in your way,
-
then if you're going to ask
God to do something,
-
ask Him for the best.
-
Ask Him for the biggest.
-
Ask Him according to the riches.
-
Brethren, I remember this,
-
I remember there being
something in my life
-
that I really desired to see happen.
-
And I saw a TV show
-
where that thing was granted to somebody.
-
I went to the Lord, and I said,
-
Lord, they can think that up
and put that on TV.
-
And that's not even real.
-
But they can imagine that.
-
The true God -
-
Lord, You ought to be able to do better
-
than Hollywood can do.
-
And certainly He can.
-
And certainly, He would have
us have that expectation.
-
Ask Him - how?
-
Ask Him according to His riches.
-
You know we've got a rich God!
-
Do you believe that when you go to pray?
-
"According to His riches."
-
Paul isn't messing around.
-
He goes to Him,
-
"Father, I'm asking for something.
-
Lord, according to the
riches of Your glory."
-
Riches!
-
Riches - His glory.
-
That's how we should pray.
-
Ask Him.
-
He doesn't say, "Oh well, you know...
-
Humility - if we're going to be humble.
-
we should never ask too much.
-
We should never ask anything too big."
-
Listen, what is humility? What is pride?
-
Pride is when we're stuck on ourselves.
-
Pride is when we see ourselves big.
-
But what's humility all about?
-
Humility is seeing ourselves small
-
and seeing God big.
-
And if you're going to
claim that God is big,
-
then act like it when you pray.
-
You see, seeing Him as big is not pride,
-
and acting as though
He's big is not pride.
-
You see, you insult Him
-
(incomplete thought)
-
when you have these small
expectations from Him.
-
Look what He does in Scripture.
-
He saved 3,000 people in a day.
-
You see, whether it's arguing with God
-
concerning Hollywood -
-
seriously, Lord?
-
Is Hollywood going to create better
-
fictitious stories, more glorious
-
than what You can do?
-
Are you going to allow that to happen?
-
But the other argument is:
-
Lord, are you simply going to have us
-
live off the history books?
-
The pages of Scripture that talk about
-
the great works of God in the past?
-
Lord, is that it?
-
Should we just content ourselves
-
that well, 3,000 people got saved in a day
-
back in the book of Acts,
-
but that can't happen anymore.
-
So we're not even
going to ask such things.
-
You know what our sister is asking
-
down in Saltillo?
-
She sent out a Whatsapp
message this morning
-
and she's praying that
God would save 20 people
-
in Santa Margarita
-
when our brother goes
there to preach today.
-
What think ye?
-
Impossible?
-
See, have we just grown
to expect very little?
-
Have we come to the place:
-
Well, God doesn't do that.
-
God doesn't part the Red Sea anymore.
-
God doesn't do those things.
-
We should have no expectation.
-
I'll tell you, if you were on
bended knee next to Paul
-
and you were listening to him praying;
-
you were in that prison cell with him,
-
you might be surprised at what he prayed.
-
You might be surprised at the vastness,
-
the size of his prayers.
-
Do things according to Your greatness
-
in my weakness.
-
Do you know we have a giving God?
-
I mean, when God talks about supplying
-
all of our need according to His riches
-
in glory in Christ Jesus,
-
have you thought about that?
-
(incomplete thought)
-
God will supply your needs
-
according to His riches.
-
Do you believe that?
-
Do you know how rich God is?
-
Do you pray like He is?
-
I'm not talking about just selfishly
-
trying to accumulate everything;
-
I'm not talking about fleshly
desires and covetousness.
-
I'm talking about being involved
in the Kingdom of Christ,
-
and really having a desire
for the glory of God,
-
and praying in that way.
-
(incomplete thought)
-
Listen, if He didn't spare His own Son,
-
how will He not what?
-
In Him, isn't He going to give us
-
every good thing?
-
I mean, don't we have
promises of a God who's giving?
-
Every good and perfect gift
-
comes down from the Father of lights.
-
No variableness. No shadow of turning.
-
Now that's important. He doesn't change.
-
He's giving.
-
You know, David - we heard
about him in the first hour.
-
He could cast himself on God's mercy.
-
Please don't hand me over to men.
-
But you hand me over to God,
-
because His mercies are great.
-
And that's why He was
praying for that son so long.
-
He knew God's mercies.
-
He prayed for that boy because he thought
-
there was a good possibility
-
that God in all of His
mercies would answer.
-
Now God didn't answer.
-
God didn't save that boy,
-
but you know what?
-
It shows what David thought about his God.
-
He recognized this is a God
-
whose tendencies are mercy.
-
Look, if you come to a
God who is infinite,
-
He is almighty, and His very character
-
is just spilling over with mercy,
-
and He's given us examples like this,
-
listen, let this resonate.
-
The Spirit of God recorded this -
-
Paul praying the way he prays,
-
so that it would be preserved for us,
-
so that we could learn from this.
-
How do you pray?
-
You come to a God like this.
-
Do you not hear Newton?
-
"Large petitions with thee bring."
-
Why?
-
Why? Because you're coming to a King.
-
His grace and power are such
-
you can never ask too much.
-
That's the kind of God we're coming to.
-
Listen, if you go before King David -
-
we heard about him -
-
or King Solomon in all of
his riches and his glory;
-
or you go before Caesar,
-
or you before Pharaoh,
-
or you go before President Trump
-
and you ask for a piece of bubble gum.
-
And you know what? We can think,
-
well, that's ridiculous, but that's how
-
a lot of our prayers are.
-
Paul's not messing around.
-
He's coming before the King of Kings.
-
And he is appealing -
that is a way to appeal -
-
God, please, don't give to me
-
like the false gods give.
-
Don't give to me like the demons give.
-
Don't give to me like the non-gods give.
-
You remember those prophets of Baal
-
up on Mount Carmel?
-
Slicing and cutting themselves
-
and jumping around, and the prophet says,
-
"Well, maybe he's gone on a trip.
-
Maybe he's relieving himself.
-
Maybe he's this or that..."
-
Listen, when you pray,
-
you don't want it to be like that.
-
We want to pray to this God
-
and we want response
-
according to the riches,
-
according to those.
-
How rich is God?
-
I mean, if we look and we say,
-
"Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
-
why? He's blessed us with every
-
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
-
If we're looking at this,
-
He says He blesses us.
-
He has given us promise of blessing.
-
He does things like parts the Red Seas.
-
He wants us recounting His great works.
-
Why? So that our faith would
increase, increase, increase.
-
So that when we come to Him,
-
we would not have little faith,
-
and we would not ask for little things,
-
and we'd not ask for bubble gum.
-
Don't do that. Don't pray that way.
-
We need to pray big prayers.
-
Jesus said it!
-
If you've got faith the
size of a mustard seed,
-
what can you not do?
-
That's the issue.
-
How do we pray?
-
We need to pray.
-
We need to pray big prayers.
-
We need to pray according to God's riches.
-
His riches in glory.
-
He is a giving God.
-
Don't pray to Him as though
-
He is some little god.
-
And listen, you're praying to Him
-
as though He is a little god,
-
if you pray to Him and then walk away
-
not expecting a response.
-
Listen, if you come
into the prayer meeting,
-
and the only reason you pray things
-
is because it was brought
up as a prayer request,
-
and you just prayed it
-
because other people were listening,
-
but you have no expectation -
-
then stop. Stop!
-
You're praying to Him like what?
-
That's an insult.
-
Pray what you believe you need.
-
Pray what you believe is
going to be to His glory.
-
Pray what your children need to be saved,
-
what your relatives need to be saved,
-
what the church needs to not fall away.
-
Pray big!
-
Don't pray like He's some
little incompetent god.
-
Don't pray to Him in a way
-
that's going to insult Him.
-
Now, Geoffrey Thomas was
just with us a few weeks back.
-
And he said that he used to think
-
that the Holy Spirit was
the forgotten member
-
of the Trinity.
-
And he said he's not convinced
that's the case anymore.
-
He now believes God the Father is.
-
I think he is exactly right.
-
The forgotten member of the Trinity.
-
I'm saying among the three -
-
you know we live in an age
-
when the Holy Spirit is
getting a lot of attention.
-
What's happened to the Father?
-
Some Christian circles, it seems like
-
it starts and ends with Jesus.
-
But you will notice that Paul
-
is bending his knee before the Father.
-
The Father.
-
What I want you to think about here
-
is the Father for a second.
-
Now, you know, I went through
-
from Ephesians 1:1 to Ephesians 3:14.
-
I counted how many times
the Father was referenced,
-
how many times Jesus was referenced,
-
and how many times the
Holy Spirit was referenced.
-
Can you guess?
-
Make a wild guess.
-
If you were to imagine how much
-
each of them proportionately -
-
do you have any idea?
-
Equal?
-
The Father and the Son are about equal
-
in their references.
-
The Spirit much less.
-
But here's the thing,
-
in the first chapter and a half,
-
the references to Jesus Christ
-
are by far references that identify
-
some aspect of the Father.
-
It's not until you get to chapter 2:13
-
or thereabouts,
-
that Christ's involvement
in our redemption
-
is really spelled out for us.
-
I want you to think about the Father.
-
Just go through - quick survey.
-
Ephesians 1.
-
You see, this is very characteristic.
-
Ephesians 1:1, "Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus, by the will of God."
-
Well, Christ is in there,
-
but how is He in there?
-
He's in there only by way
of identifying the Father.
-
Paul is an apostle of Christ,
-
but the active member of the Godhead
-
that is making this happen is indeed
-
the will of God.
-
This is the Father.
-
You see as we move through here,
-
verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ."
-
There again, you have
the Lord Jesus Christ,
-
but why is His name there?
-
His name is there simply to describe,
-
to give identity to who the Father is.
-
But it's the Father who is active.
-
It is the Father who is moving.
-
It is the Father who is giving.
-
It is the Father who is choosing.
-
It is the Father adopting.
It is the Father predestinating.
-
It is the Father's will.
-
Again and again and again we see this.
-
Look,"blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-
He it is who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing.
-
For even as He chose us..."
-
It's the Father.
-
Verse 5, "He predestined us."
-
It's the Father.
-
Verse 6, "To the praise of His..."
-
This is the Father.
-
"...With which He has
blessed us in the Beloved."
-
That's in Christ.
-
Verse 9, it's the Father
making known to us
-
the mystery of His will
-
according to His purpose.
-
It's the Father's purpose
which He set forth in Christ.
-
If it was Christ there, you don't say,
-
"which He set forth in Christ,"
-
but "which He set forth in Himself."
-
But that's not it. It's God.
-
Verse 11, "In Him (in Christ),
-
we have obtained an inheritance
-
having been predestined according to
-
the purpose of [the Father],
-
Him who works all things according to
-
the counsel of His will
-
so that we who were
the first to hope in Christ
-
might be to the praise of His glory."
-
He is the one who gives the Holy Spirit.
-
He is the one if you go to verse 15,
-
"For this reason, because I've heard
-
of your faith in the Lord Jesus
-
and your love toward all the saints,
-
I do not cease to give thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
-
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
-
the Father of glory,
-
may give you the Spirit of wisdom."
-
See, it's the Father who is giving this.
-
It's the Father who opens their eyes,
-
enlightens them, gives them
-
a knowledge of these things.
-
Verse 20, or the end of 19,
-
"According to the working
of His great might
-
that He worked in Christ when He raised
-
Him from the dead."
-
It's the Father who raised
Christ from the dead.
-
It's the Father who is
working His great might
-
in the people of God.
-
You keep going through here.
-
Verse 2:4, "But God
being rich in mercy..."
-
There's the Father again.
-
"Because of the great love
with which He loved us
-
even when we were dead in our trespasses,
-
made us alive together with Christ."
-
God is doing this.
-
God raises us up.
-
It's God's love; it's God's mercy.
-
It's God who seats us with Him
-
"so that in the coming ages," verse 2:7,
-
"He (God the Father) might show
-
the immeasurable riches
of His grace in kindness
-
toward us in Christ Jesus."
-
Verse 10, "We are His workmanship,
-
created in Christ Jesus for good works
-
which He prepared beforehand
-
that we should walk in them."
-
What I want you to get a feeling for
-
is you do not want to forget Him,
-
and I think that even in our
song selections in this church -
-
I went through our song list today.
-
It is hard to find songs
that are about the Father.
-
Very hard - I mean in our song list.
-
Why is that?
-
Well, look, there is a reason
-
that we look to the cross.
-
There's a reason we want
to preach the cross.
-
There's a reason that
we want to think about
-
the redemption that
we have in Jesus Christ,
-
but you know what you
don't want to forget?
-
You don't want to forget
that Jesus taught us
-
that when we pray,
we should pray this way:
-
"Our Father, who art in Heaven..."
-
We should look to God.
-
God the Father is the One before whom
-
Paul is bending his knee.
-
And you remember, it
is the riches of His glory.
-
He is the one that gives
these spiritual blessings
-
in the heavenly places.
-
He chose us in Christ
-
before the foundation of the world.
-
He adopted us as sons in Christ Jesus.
-
It is Him. It is His love.
-
But God, being rich in mercy,
-
because of the great love
with which He loved us,
-
He raised us up with Christ.
-
He seated us with Christ.
-
It is His blessings that are poured out.
-
It is not by our works,
-
it is the gift of God that we are saved,
-
by grace, through faith.
-
Remember this.
-
The Father - the part
that He plays in this.
-
It is the Father who so loved the world,
-
that He gave us His only begotten Son.
-
We don't want to forget the Father.
-
It is His plan. It is His purpose.
-
According to His purpose -
-
how often do you see that in this book?
-
The Father.
-
The Father.
-
Listen, do you know?
-
Some of you have heard this.
-
Every single time
-
that the Lord Jesus Christ addressed God,
-
He called Him Father.
-
Every single time.
-
Now there were times that He talked
-
to other people about God
-
and He called Him God.
-
My Father, My God; your Father, your God.
-
Or, that's probably backwards,
-
but there are times He used that language.
-
But when He addressed His Father in prayer
-
He called Him "Father"
-
every single time, except -
-
do you know when the exception was?
-
On the cross.
-
During the hours of darkness,
-
"My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?"
-
Quoting right out of Psalm 22.
-
What's my point?
-
Sometimes I sit in the prayer meetings,
-
and I will hear a brother or a sister -
-
usually it's brothers -
-
and they pray and they call our Father,
-
they call Him "God" almost exclusively
-
or the majority of the time.
-
And I wonder why.
-
Why?
-
Brethren, you've received
the Spirit of adoption
-
by which we cry what?
-
"Abba, Father."
-
It's beyond me why Christians want to pray
-
and consistently call God "God."
-
We have a God who invites us
-
to call Him "Father."
-
In fact, He gave us a Spirit
that would compel us
-
to pray that way.
-
Don't be cold and distant
in addressing Him.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Listen, you're coming before one who says,
-
"I want you to call Me Father.
-
Why? Because I am your Father."
-
You think about a little
child coming to a Father,
-
how much more
-
will your heavenly Father give
good things to them that ask,
-
including the Spirit.
-
We're coming to Him
-
according to the riches of His glory
-
and He's your Father.
-
Now that is good news.
-
That bodes well for your prayer life.
-
Does it not?
-
What purpose does Paul
cry out to the Father?
-
To ask for a better car?
-
Husband? Wife? More money?
-
Look, I'm not saying you
can't pray for those things.
-
But I would have you notice this.
-
Paul doesn't pray for himself once here.
-
Not once.
-
None of those things.
-
Take notice.
-
Notice, Paul is praying,
-
but he's not praying for himself.
-
Brothers and sisters,
-
how desperately, desperately we need
-
men and women in the church like this.
-
Paul is interceding.
-
Interceding is what you call it
-
when you bow your knees to God
-
for the sake of others
-
and not for yourselves.
-
How we need intercessors in the church.
-
And I'm concerned!
-
I'm concerned.
-
When I got saved,
-
honestly, I hungered
-
to have time with the Lord.
-
The first three years
of my Christian life,
-
I was able outside of work,
-
and even times at work
-
during breaks and lunch -
-
I wasn't married.
-
I was able to give my life to
communion with the Lord.
-
And I moved down here to Texas,
-
lived with John Sytsma,
-
a very business oriented family.
-
And things were working at a pace
-
that I just felt like,
-
John was very much given to devotions
-
in the morning and before
the family got together.
-
And I like to walk in the evenings
-
and be out in the field
-
and away from the heat.
-
And John's schedule and mine
-
were a little bit different,
-
and I remember just panting after
-
having that time back.
-
And I recognized that I
needed to move separate
-
so that I could get back
into my own schedule.
-
And I longed for that.
-
And I guess my sense was that
-
well, that's how it
is with all Christians.
-
We don't live by bread alone,
-
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.
-
We want to abide in Christ
-
and we love walking with Him
-
and meeting with Him
-
and there's things to confess
-
and there's worship
-
and just getting to meditate before Him
-
and praying and interceding
-
for the sake of others.
-
I just assumed that.
-
And then I got married,
-
and my wife basically lived that way
-
day after day.
-
I guess my assumption has largely been:
-
well, of course, that's
how Christians live.
-
I am, I don't now,
-
I guess I'm kind of baffled
-
by the frequency at which I hear
-
that people in this church
-
have a real difficult time maintaining
-
just a consistent intimacy with the Lord.
-
And I guess my concern is this,
-
I'm not sure what lies
behind this difficulty.
-
Is it immaturity?
-
Is it worldliness?
-
Is it busyness?
-
Is it just that there's no hunger there?
-
I know this,
-
intercessors don't come
-
from marginally spiritual people.
-
Why?
-
Because interceding requires love
-
and a level of maturity
-
and a lack of selfishness.
-
Selfish people -
-
their prayers are all about themselves.
-
Very little worship.
-
Very little confession.
-
But a lot of give me,
give me, give me, give me.
-
Now I know there are prayer
warriors in this church.
-
I know there are.
-
I know there are some of you,
-
your walk is close to the Lord.
-
I want there to be more.
-
I want this to characterize
the church as a whole.
-
Intercessors.
-
We desperately, desperately need this.
-
And if people can barely manage
-
to find their way into the
secret place of prayer each day,
-
I know this,
-
you're not interceding for anybody.
-
It's not happening.
-
Where do intercessors come from?
-
They come from people that live
-
in the presence of God.
-
You think about it.
-
Paul - you can imagine
the guard walking by.
-
The guards talking to each other,
-
"What's the guy doing in there?
-
Every time we walk by
there, he's on his face."
-
He wasn't idle.
He wasn't wasting his time.
-
He wasn't wasting his time in prison.
-
He was crying; he was bending his knee.
-
He was pleading, he was crying out
-
for the sake of others.
-
You find in just about every
single one of his epistles,
-
he cried out for people;
-
he called upon them.
-
Where do intercessors come from?
-
People who don't live by bread alone.
-
People who are desperate.
-
People who are abiding in the Lord.
-
People who are talking to Him
-
and walking with Him.
-
Now where does it come from?
-
That somebody says, "for this reason"?
-
I know them to be a Christian.
-
For that reason, I'm on my knees for them.
-
They're beloved of God.
-
Something is released in my heart.
-
I need to pray for them.
-
I'm thinking about other
people all the time.
-
I'm thinking about their needs.
-
I'm thinking about them glorifying God.
-
Where do intercessors come from?
-
Intercessors - not
marginally spiritual people.
-
You know, if we don't have intercession
-
happening commonplace in your life -
-
I'm not just talking about in the church.
-
If intercession is not happening
-
as a commonplace thing in your life,
-
one of the great manifestations
-
of sacrificial love is missing.
-
And listen, that's important.
-
Sacrificial love. You
think about Judgment Day.
-
Jesus talks about what you did for others.
-
"I was in prison, and you visited Me."
-
You know, one of the ways you can visit
-
people in prison is by praying.
-
The thing is as long as
you have life and breath
-
and you have consciousness,
you can pray for people.
-
We need it.
-
We need this desperately.
-
Where are the men and women?
-
I know we've got some. I know.
-
But oh God, help us to have more
-
men and women who live
in the presence of God
-
on bended knee
-
whose voices are familiar to the Father;
-
whose voices go up
-
in familiarity to the Father
-
on the behalf of others.
-
I mean, you can imagine,
-
God from God's perspective,
-
"There's his voice again...
-
and sure enough, he's asking for a job,
-
he's asking for a wife,
-
he's asking for a raise, he's asking..."
-
Those who God hears his voice,
-
"Lord, help so-and-so...
-
Lord, according to the
riches of Your glory,
-
please strengthen that brother
-
down there in Mexico.
-
Please, Lord, open that
door for that brother
-
that's trying to get from Costa Rica.
-
Lord..."
-
How often is the Lord hearing that voice?
-
"Lord, I'm not here to
pray for my own needs.
-
You know I have them,
-
but Lord, Brother Matt
needs Your help today.
-
He needs Your help.
-
Johannes, Lord, remember Johannes."
-
Those who can't sit
comfortably reading the book
-
or fiddling with their phone
-
because they're feeling a burden
-
for Andy and Rebecca.
-
Those of you that weren't
here on Wednesday,
-
Trevor Johnson wrote, I think,
-
one of the most powerful
missionary letters
-
that he's ever written.
-
Men and women not constantly asking
-
for their own needs.
-
The church needs intercessors.
-
We desperately need them.
-
Why?
-
Because God answers prayer!
-
Listen, I'm telling you this.
-
I know this for a fact.
-
I'm so convinced.
-
I've seen it over and over and over again.
-
God answers prayer.
-
And when people are praying for you,
-
things happen in your life
that would not happen
-
if they weren't praying for you.
-
Mark it down!
-
The elders in this church preach
-
or perform or oversee better
-
when people are praying for them
-
than when they're not praying for them.
-
That is a reality.
-
People live more holy lives.
-
People live closer to God.
-
People are more prayerful.
-
People are more loving and charitable
-
and kind and tender and forgiving
-
when people are praying for one another
-
than when they're not
praying for one another.
-
That is a fact.
-
I'll tell you, I was thinking about
-
our brother coming here
on a week from Wednesday
-
and sharing his needs.
-
If I was on a foreign mission field,
-
I would want to visit as
many churches as I could,
-
and I would tell the people,
look, I'm not here for your money.
-
I'm just appealing, if there is one person
-
or two people or three
people in this church
-
that are prayer warriors
-
and you have any burden for India,
-
I plead with you, pray.
-
And if on Judgment Day, it can be found
-
there were three people
in that church over there,
-
and there were two people
in that church over there,
-
and five in that church over there,
and they held that rope.
-
Not because they were sending
me all their dollars all the time,
-
but they prayed for me.
-
They prayed for me all the time.
-
Prayer meetings did not
go by in that church
-
they weren't praying for me.
-
And oftentimes, every
single day of the week,
-
they were holding me up.
-
We need this.
-
When we pray for one another,
-
I'm telling you, we end up doing things
-
that would not happen
-
if people weren't praying for us.
-
This is the reality.
-
Bending our knees to the Father
-
on behalf of others.
-
We are the priesthood, brethren.
-
Have you never read that?
-
That fire was not to go out on that altar.
-
And if that was the symbol,
-
if that was the hyperbole,
-
if that was the metaphor,
-
we are the true priesthood.
-
Don't let the fire go out.
-
And I want to end with this.
-
This is one of the few places
-
in Scripture where
we are specifically told -
-
it's one of the few places
in the New Testament
-
where we are specifically
told the posture.
-
This is the only place, I believe,
-
that Paul tells us his posture in prayer.
-
And I just want us to think for a moment.
-
Paul bowed his knee.
-
We used to sing out at Community,
-
"Oh, come let us worship and bow down."
-
Anybody remember that one?
-
"Oh, come let us worship and bow down.
-
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker."
-
Worship. Worship.
-
Come, let us bow down.
-
You know what I find in Scripture?
-
I actually find that even though Paul
-
doesn't reference this
much but this one time
-
about his posture,
-
I find that posture in prayer
-
is something that is an interesting study.
-
You can go find men
-
who fell on their faces before God.
-
Do you remember two who often were found
-
falling on their faces?
-
Moses and Aaron.
-
And you know what's interesting
about those two guys?
-
They were falling on their faces
-
for others as well;
-
not for their own needs.
-
They weren't just falling on their faces
-
for the needs of others.
-
They were falling on their faces
-
that God wouldn't destroy others.
-
Repeatedly, they were on their faces.
-
Remember Joshua - he came face-to-face
-
with the Angel of the Lord?
-
He found himself on his face.
-
Luke's account of the leper
-
that came to Jesus Christ?
-
It's said that he fell on his face.
-
Why do people fall on their face?
-
You can't go any lower than that.
-
I mean, if you were trying
to go low before somebody,
-
there's no lower you can get.
-
We're not talking bended knee here.
-
We're talking totally
-
as low as you can go on your face.
-
Maybe your knees are bent,
-
maybe you're prostrate.
-
What is that a picture of?
-
Certainly, it's a picture of
extreme submission.
-
It's the lowest expressing unworthiness,
-
inadequacy.
-
You think about bowing the knee.
-
Come, let us worship and bow down.
-
Or what does Scripture say?
-
There is a day coming
when every knee shall bow.
-
God has given Jesus Christ a name
-
that is above every name,
-
so that at the name of Jesus,
-
every knee should bow
-
in heaven, on earth, under the earth,
-
and every tongue confess
-
that Jesus Christ is Lord
-
to the glory of the Father.
-
That is a picture of submission.
-
It's a picture of reverence,
-
worship, allegiance.
-
Kneeling. Bowing.
-
How about lifting up eyes?
-
I was just singing Psalm 5 the other day.
-
That was another one
we often used to sing.
-
"Oh Lord, in the morning,
-
will I direct my prayer unto Thee..."
-
And the way the KJV has it,
-
"and will look up."
-
You know, there's twice when Jesus prays,
-
and it said He looked up to heaven.
-
And you think about it.
-
The tax collector there in Luke 18
-
when he prayed, he wouldn't dare look up.
-
He looked down.
-
But Scripture also speaks about,
-
Psalm 123, "To you, I lift up my eyes,
-
O, You who are enthroned in the heavens."
-
(incomplete thought)
-
I just want us to think about our posture.
-
Why? Because I hope you don't run
-
into God's presence just careless
-
and without thought.
-
We should think. Think.
-
Who are you coming to?
-
We're coming before a King.
-
No carelessness. What did God say?
-
"I am a great King,
says the Lord of Hosts,
-
My name will be feared
among the nations."
-
I'll ltell you this, your posture -
-
we don't want to be legalistic -
-
but you know what posture often does?
-
It's an expression to the
attitude of your heart.
-
And people who just flippantly,
-
carelessly run into God's presence,
-
that's not good.
-
Scripture shows men on their face,
-
those bowing,
-
eyes raised up,
-
arms raised - have you ever read that
-
in 1 Timothy 2?
-
And you know what? It's interesting.
-
"With holy hands..."
-
That's interesting because
you find in Isaiah
-
that they lifted their hands,
-
but God said their hands
-
were covered with blood.
-
See, what does it mean
when you raise your hands?
-
It's a picture - holy hands. Clean.
-
It seems to have the idea of:
-
there's a clean slate.
-
I've confessed my sin.
-
I don't know of anything between.
-
I'm walking in this
righteousness of Christ
-
and in the power of His resurrection.
-
As far as I know, there's
nothing outstanding.
-
But I'll tell you this,
-
there are times I lay in bed
-
and I raise my arms
-
and I'm not thinking about
-
the cleanliness of my hands.
-
I'm just thinking,
-
like if I get done preaching
and I come down
-
and one of the little children comes up
-
and they're raising their hands.
-
What are you going to do?
-
Are there any of you who would
just swat those hands away?
-
No, you're going to pick the child up.
-
I mean if little James Luciano runs up
-
with his arms up, I'm not going to just
-
scowl at him and say, "what do you want?"
-
You grab the child. You pick them up.
-
And sometimes the raising of hands
-
is just trying to get as close to Him,
-
"Lord, I want more of You.
-
Just touch me.
-
Pick me up."
-
Or you think about sitting.
-
2 Samuel 7,
-
after God pronounced
all the blessings on David.
-
David went to the house of the Lord
-
and he sat and God spoke to Him.
-
Jehoshaphat - we find where he stood
-
in the assembly of Judah
when he was praying.
-
Standing - that's kind of like
-
if you stand before a dignitary,
-
that's a posture of boldness.
-
Sometimes it's more of a cultural thing.
-
In Romania, they stand -
-
sometimes we stand when
the Scriptures are read.
-
You know, when Kevin's here,
he'll have us all stand.
-
Or Chello had us all stand.
-
But you know in Romania,
-
I think they sit when they read Scripture,
-
but they stand when they pray.
-
Now they may not know why they do that
-
other than it's just traditional,
-
but I don't want us to do things
-
just because it's traditional, legalistic,
-
or any other thing.
-
But I want us to be thinking.
-
Don't be careless.
-
You're going before a great King.
-
Think.
-
Yes, we're children,
-
and we can go into His
presence immediately
-
when we need to.
-
And we can go in as
children before a Father.
-
But you know, fathers demand reverence.
-
Be reverent.
-
Be thoughtful.
-
Think about praying.
-
Think about your prayers.
-
Pray.
-
You know, how many children in the church
-
actually ever stumble upon parents
-
on their knees?
-
How many of you are bending your knees?
-
How many pray on your face?
-
I remember Whitefield.
-
Whitefield would pray on bended knee
-
and read his Bible,
-
have his Matthew Henry commetary open.
-
I'm not saying you have to do that.
-
But see, it comes from
an attitude of heart.
-
Pray. Pray.
-
I've been reading -
-
my wife went through my books
-
when I was in Ecuador,
-
and she took a bunch of them
-
she wants to take to Half Price,
-
and so I was looking at the
two-volume Cotton Mather,
-
"Great Works of Christ in America,"
-
and I thought, oh, you're taking those?
-
And so I grabbed them out
-
and I've been reading.
-
And I'm reading through
a section right now
-
on the last testimonies
of all sorts of people
-
who were being executed.
-
You know they put people
to death for adultery?
-
We were just talking about that
-
at the men's Grace House the other day.
-
They put people to death
-
for adultery in those days.
-
They put people to
death for bestiality,
-
and for murder, for witchcraft.
-
A woman was consulting with a demon
-
and they executed her.
-
And you know, I was reading
-
about all these different accounts,
-
and when they would take these people
-
to the gallows,
-
they would give them opportunity to speak,
-
and they had a lot of last words.
-
And you know what I found
again and again and again?
-
These people who were moments away
-
from facing God,
stepping out into eternity,
-
they said if only I would have
started that day in prayer,
-
they said, I think God would have kept me
-
from doing what I did.
-
Now look, aside from whether
they were lost or saved,
-
that's not really the issue,
-
but it's amazing how often -
-
I saw it over and over -
-
how often they attributed,
-
"Oh, if only I had sought God that day,
-
I would probably not have
slit my wife's throat,"
-
which is what one of them did in a rage.
-
And I just thought about that.
-
We have a God who answers prayer.
-
And I'm not talking about
just starting your day
-
by praying for yourself.
-
Oh, what things might you have avoided
-
during any given day,
-
if you would have started your day
-
on your knees before the Lord?
-
But brethren, how many
of your brothers and sisters
-
might not have done what they did
-
on any given day if you had
-
started your day by praying for them?
-
I hope there's enough care,
-
enough concern.
-
We need more of the heart of Paul
-
who unceasingly prayed for people.
-
He didn't see other churches
-
as competitors or something,
-
or people not to pray for.
-
We don't want to them blessed.
-
Everywhere where there was somebody
-
that God had bestowed His love on,
-
his heart, his affection went out there.
-
He made great sacrifices.
-
That's something, no matter
what your gifts are,
-
no matter where you are,
-
no matter what your condition,
no matter what your health,
-
no matter what your age,
-
you can pray for others.
-
You can pray.
-
Provided you have the Holy Spirit,
-
provided you're one of Christ's,
-
you have access
-
and you can pray for others.
-
We need intercessors.
-
This is my great appeal today.
-
Pray for others.
-
Pray. Pray. Pray.
-
Be as Paul was and pray big!
-
And pray according to
the riches of His glory.
-
Don't pray meager prayers.
-
Don't pray like He's an incompetent god
-
or a small god.
-
We have a great God.
-
You're coming before a great King.
-
Go before Him in reverence.
-
Go before Him on bended knees.
-
And lift up others.
-
Father, I pray that You would do this.
-
I pray, Lord, more, more,
-
more intercessors.
-
Give us a church of intercessors.
-
Lord, those who are already intercessors,
-
I pray for them.
-
Oh Father, You say when
we do things for others -
-
there it is in Isaiah 58 -
-
when we call, You'll say, "here I am."
-
And I pray for those who are intercessors.
-
They love others.
-
And they pour themselves out.
-
Lord, remember them in all of their needs.
-
Give us a church of intercessors.
-
Give us that.
-
Lord, I believe You have
to a great degree,
-
but more, more, more.
-
Encouarge, stir, stoke the fire of prayer;
-
the fire for intimacy;
-
the hunger - make Your children hungry
-
for communion with You;
-
hungry for intimacy;
-
hungry to show their love.
-
Lord, give us to love what You love,
-
and we know where You set Your love
-
on certain individuals,
-
You would have us to love
them as You love them.
-
And love for the brethren
-
is so characteristic of what it is
-
to be a child of God,
-
and I pray that that love would permeate -
-
the love of intercession.
-
Lord, forgive us for selfishness.
-
Lord, we know there's too much of it
-
in each one of us.
-
We pray that You'd kill it.
-
Kill it. Kill it.
-
We pray in Christ's name, Amen.