A Prayer for Holy Week

April 9, 1995

Ephesians 3:14-21

Paul's letter to the Ephesians is a manual on the healthiness of life in God as it is intended to be lived. Here we can read about how God's great POWER will be released in those who believe. We are introduced to mysteries of GRACE and wonders of God's KINDNESS and the joys of LIFE.

But perhaps the highest privilege is FULLNESS. The greatest imperative in the entire letter is 5:18: "Be filled with the Spirit!" And the prayer here (3:14-21) is the heart of Paul's concern for the Ephesians, as well as certainly God's will for you and me. FULLNESS! But what KIND of fullness?

I. THE QUESTION IS NOT 'SHALL WE BE FILLED' BUT RATHER 'WITH WHAT SHALL WE BE FILLED?'

  1. Each one of us is a vessel that is full, for there is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. People are full of the stuff of life. People are full of their own importance or their own troubles. They are full of worry— they are full of advice— they are full of hot air— but they are FULL! In our culture it seems like the norm for people to be filled with the importance of self.

    We are so near to our culture that we are often blind to how all-encompassing that the fullness of SELF-WORSHIP is the "accepted way to live." There is totaloccupation with what "I" want! There is obsession with being true to "me." To suggest otherwise is equal to LUNACY and TREASON combined.

    IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE, A CONTRADICTION, BUT ONLY WHEN I AM FILLED WITH GOD MY REAL 'BEST SELF' CAN BE FORMED.

    This is what Jesus was talking about when he said:

    Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall find it.

  2. Whatever we are filled with shows. We need to be looking at:
    • RESERVOIRS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

      What are the things that fill up our day? Not that we ever need to say "This is important" Or even that we ENJOY it... but what are we DOING WITH OUR DAYS? We need to look at:

    • WELLSPRINGS OF ATTITUDES

      The way we usually ARE to other people. The "habits of the heart" We let ourselves take on a "usual" way of looking at things. They said of Joseph: "Here comes the Dreamer" We look at some people and say "Here comes a Complaint!@" "Here comes trouble" "Here comes LOVE!"

      We also need to look at:

    • FOUNTAINS OF THE SPIRIT

      The way we really ARE before God. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the seekers after God. Open, obedient, growing faith and love that is reflected in love for the Word, love for the place of prayer, love for the Church.

  3. "Fullness" is not usually a conscious choice:
    1. We "catch" the ways of society more than we deliberately choose. It isn't that we need to look for the devil under every rock ... the spirit of creeping secularism is much more subtle than that .. WE JUST NEED TO FORGET WHO WE ARE ... AND WHOSE WE ARE .. FOR A SHORT WHILE!
    2. Being "filled" is notusually seen as moral questions— or as "serious." But things "take up space" in our souls (if we can think of spiritual things "spatially"); many things "take up space" that might be used for better things. Fill your mind with junk ... and when the crunch comes up will come ... junk!
  4. "Fullness" and "capacity" are two different things. Remember, even a small vessel can grow, and eventually take on surprising proportions.

Which brings us to the main idea:

II. THE IDEA OF BEING FILLED WITH GOD!

  1. "Filled with all the fullness of God." All that God has to offer— doesn't mean that we have all of God that there is. The Universe does not "contain" God but rather is sustained by His word. But being filled with God means that all of us is permeated with God's Spirit.
  2. This is not a phrase to be lightly dismissed. "Oh, yes— this means ... entire sanctification!" (Or, "This means speaking in tongues!" Or "This means a certain "experience." The sanctifying experience is true - but in OUR context we may be saying: "We Nazarene's OWN this! We are on familiar territory! Two trips to the altar and we "have God's fullness."

    It is nice to have things packaged neatly, theologically— but God wants to relate to us in the reality of where we live and work— in the deep needs of our homes.

    There is real truth in the MESSAGE OF HOLINESS . . a reality to being filled with the Spirit of God that, while it defies complete description, IT IS CRUCIAL TO OUR SUCCESS AS CHRISTIANS.

    EITHER WE WILL SEEK TO BE FILLED WITH GOD, AND BELONG ENTIRELY TO HIM . . OR WE WILL FAIL!! And we

    1. will fall into outward sin, and go away from the church, or we
    2. will fall into the sin of pride - thinking that WE are the KEY .. that OUR WAY is a lock on salvation (a mass of legalism), or we
    3. will fall into the sin of false humility (antinomianism) and say: everyone has to sin every day anyway... it really doesn't make any difference how we live— what we are filled with.

III. THIS IS NOT JUST THEORY (THIS PRAYER OF PAUL FOR YOU AND ME) THE KEY TO FULLNESS IS KNOWING JESUS CHRIST

  1. FULLNESS MEANS THE INDWELLING CHRIST Verse 17 - Jesus, welcome, at home in you/me just now!
  2. FULLNESS MEANS THE EMPOWERING CHRIST Verse 18 - Enabling us to grasp God's love
  3. FULLNESS MEANS the ALL-SURPASSING CHRIST Verse 19) Both in CRISIS and on-going SURRENDER ; a      GRASPING FOR THE LOVE that enables us to make our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1,2)

CONCLUSION: You do not have the choice "Shall I be full?"

The question is: WILL YOU BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST?

#335 - His Way with Thee...