Praying Through
Ephesians 3:13-19
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
10 August, 2008 AM
I.
Introduction (Ephesians
3:14)
A.
The theme this month is
Bow the Knee as Disciples – The need to become like our Master – like
Jesus
B.
That is what a disciple is – a
follower, a copy of Jesus Christ!
C.
Discipleship is not something
for a select few, but for all believers
D.
Discipleship begins with
change
1.
From physical emphasis, to
spiritual
2.
Not to the outer man, but in
the inner man!
E.
The apostle Paul prays for
five things in the live of every believer that would revolutionise their lives
if they were allowed to take effect
1.
For Strength in the Inner Man
2.
That Christ would dwell in our
hearts by faith
3.
That We would be rooted &
grounded in love
4.
That We would comprehend the
love of Christ
5.
That We would be filled with
the fullness of God!
F.
He is praying for to not miss
the most important parts of our Christianity
1.
Not our health, or our
accomplishments
2.
But our relationship with
Jesus Christ
3.
Every one of the five requests
build on each other – necessary for the next request to come true
II.
Background -
God Seeks to Dwell In Us
A.
I think this is amazing!
1.
That God thinks of us more
than of heaven!
2.
That He would rather dwell
in a tent in a desert than live by the crystal sea!
3.
That He would desire to
not just visit a sinner like me on occasion, but would trade all of heaven for
the chance to “dwell in my heart!”
4.
Listen to these
Scriptures:
a.
1Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye
not that ye are the
b.
1Corinthians 6:19 “What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
c.
John 14:23
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him.”
d.
John 14:16-18 “And I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
B.
It all goes way back to
Creation
1.
God preferred the Garden
of Eden (Gen 3:8)
2.
Then came Adam’s sin and
mankind was separated from God by our sin – God was now separate – but it wasn’t
what He wanted
3.
So He taught Enoch how to
walk with Him (Gen 5:22-24)
4.
And He taught Noah how to
walk with Him(Gen 6:9)
5.
But always “on the
outside” – along side
6.
But then a wonderful thing
happened. God brought the Israelites out of
7.
God was always “there”,
but that Tabernacle was to remind them of His presence. And it was there so that
they would actually live like He was there
8.
But His people didn’t live
like He was there, and they constantly forgot Him, neglected Him! Constantly had
to be brought back from the bondage of their sins!
C.
Then came Jesus!
1.
Our Emmanuel – God with us
(Mt 1:23; John 1:14)
2.
But he didn’t just want to
live “among us” but actually “IN us”
3.
What
Pre-eminence means: Jesus is first, AND the last. He is highest, above all
others, without equal, and the ONLY
best in your life. He is before
anything else: before breakfast, before school, before bills, before pleasure,
before worry!
And He rules! Not your friends,
Mother, Dad, or your employer! Not your girlfriend or your buddies! Jesus is not
just at the Top… He is Lord!
D.
The Problem
1.
Just as it was in the Old
Testament, the people made other gods, other loves their focus. Their hearts
were filled with this world, instead of God
2.
So it is with us!
3.
Christ is in us, but just
as little as possible
4.
And the problem is serious
a.
How often do Christians
feel alone? Like “God is not there”?
b.
How rarely do believers
actually “walk” with God?
c.
Why are modern Christians
experiencing so many emotional and spiritual defeats when according to God, we
are more than conquerors?
d.
The modern “Christian”
waits for an experience, a miraculous event before sensing the very presence of
the Lord in their lives, and so are easily deceived by a miracle working devil
e.
To them, they don’t serve
God from their spirit, but only from their flesh, or with their feelings
5.
There still is a “still
small voice” that seeks the microphone of your heart – not wanting to only speak
to you from the outside
6.
The question is HOW to
move Him back to the centre of our lives
7.
THAT is why
a.
Because we, like the
Ephesian church, could learn all the Bible truths, and still, stubbornly push
Jesus to the sides of our lives – keep Him only for Sundays
b.
You cannot get any closer
to someone than to be in their heart (Philp 1:7)
c.
The Lord Jesus desires to
be in our heart (1Sam 16:7) – He has His eye, not on our house, or our car, or
our brain, but His longing is to be in our heart!
d.
“That he may dwell;” not that
He may call upon you sometimes, as a casual visitor enters into a house and
tarries for a night, and then leaves the next morning!
e.
But that He may dwell; that
Jesus may become the Lord and only occupying Tenant of your inmost being, never
more to go out.
f.
Did you know that your heart
is the best room of your life? Christ does not seek to be in your thoughts
alone, but in your affections; not merely in the mind’s meditations, but in the
heart’s emotions.
III.
Message – Moving Jesus Back Into the Heart!
A.
It starts in the heart with Salvation
– getting born again! Salvation is a Heart Operation – not just a mind thing!
All of the Christian life is a heart thing!
1.
The opening of the heart
(Acts 16:14)
2.
Belief from the heart
(Acts 8:35-37; Romans 10:9,10)
3.
Our relationship with
Jesus is not a mental agreement (James 2:19) – too many people, most, are only
mental believers – and their lives prove it!
4.
So, the heart is where
everything that is eternal begins!
5.
We got washed, cleansed,
sanctified – so colean!
6.
But rarely does it stay
that way
B.
See that SIN has crept back in after the heart was so
thoroughly cleaned up by Jesus at salvation.
Sin Has a Way of Creeping Back In (Ex 32:1-6, 30-31)
1.
All the
2.
Redemption – a picture of
salvation from sin
3.
One year later, when God
had the Tabernacle made, it was placed right in the very centre of the people –
at the heart – not on the fringe, or the outer edge
4.
That is where God wanted
to be - where He had always wanted to be!
5.
But the people invited
other loves, other gods into their hearts at the same time – music,
entertainment, flesh, money, gold, girls, guys, the occult
6.
Some of you have no qualms
about what you do outside of
7.
God does not share His
space with anyone… and so moved
8.
He didn’t leave – He will
C.
Invite the Lord, not to save you again, but to take over
again, all the way from the heart
– to fill up our heart with HIMSELF (Exodus
33:1-11)
1.
There are battles ahead
that need His help
2.
Without Him, they will not
be won
3.
And worse than that, He is
more to be worried about than any other battle we may be in!!!
4.
Humble yourself.
a.
It will cost you some
humiliation – getting back real
b.
The greatest and hardest
act of a Christian!
c.
Quit trying to cover up
reality with ornaments (makeup, expensive clothes, fancy home and car, ear rings
and jewellery) – all of those things usually cover up a very lonely and empty
heart!
5.
Accept that your heart is NOT Christ’s normal dwelling place.
a.
It means accepting the
fact that Jesus has actually been moved aside to make room for demonic gods
b.
The entire
c.
King Saul tried to fake
that God was still active in him, but was a fraud (1Sam 15). He put on a show in
front of everyone that in spite of his disobedience to God’s commands, God was
still with him – which was a lie!
d.
For most people, Jesus is
a thought, a sermon, a word on a page – not a person living, and dwelling in our
affections and our loves!
6.
Make the effort to get close to Christ again
(Ex 33:7)
a.
It means making every
effort to make Him comfortable in you
b.
Get His word saturated in
you (
c.
Go the extra mile in
getting to meetings – Convenience Christianity is an empty Christianity
d.
Invite the Lord back into
the best part of your life – back into your heart (2Cor 6:16-18; James 4:8)
1)
Make Your Heart a proper
2)
Love the Lord with all thy
heart
7.
Start worshipping like you should have been all along
– even though it may not feel the same as it did when you first got saved (Ex
33:8-10)
8.
All by Faith,
not by feeling, or by sight! Trust God’s word that it will happen as it is
written! Every experience of Jesus in your life happens only by obedient faith
(Eph 3:17 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”)
a.
The proof of His presence is
shown by what you love
1)
Whatever is the centre of your
heart will show
2)
Sports, laziness, girls,
materialism, guys, worries, fears, food
3)
Or Jesus!
b.
Jesus challenged His disciples
to live by faith, by obedience to God’s word, instead of obedience to feelings
c.
The feelings come, but only
after Jesus reigns! Is pre-eminent!
IV.
Conclusion
A.
God thinks of us more than
of heaven! He would rather dwell in a tent in a desert than live by the crystal
sea! He would desire to not just visit a sinner like me on occasion, but would
trade all of heaven for the chance to “dwell in my heart!”
B.
People have a way of
naturally living like God is not there - they constantly forget Him, neglect
Him! They make other gods, other loves their focus. Their hearts get filled with
this world, instead of God, and so CONSTANTLY have to be brought back from the
bondage of their sins!
C.
But
1.
It starts in the heart
with Salvation – getting born again!
2.
See that SIN has crept
back in after the heart was so thoroughly cleaned up by Jesus at salvation
3.
Invite the Lord, not to
save you again, but to take over again, all the way from the heart – to fill up
our heart with HIMSELF
a.
It will cost you some
humiliation – getting back real
b.
It means accepting the
fact that Jesus has actually been moved aside to make room for demonic gods
c.
It means making every
effort to make Him comfortable in you
Craig Ledbetter | Pastor |