Every generation of Christians clings to the promise that God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,” but what happens when He doesn’t? This sermon explores the story behind Ephesians 3:20 and what we will need to not lose heart in the face of suffering.
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I can still remember the first time it captured my all. I was sitting at a little white desk by a window in my bedroom, and I was reading the introduction to a book that promised everything I wanted:
“Would you like to experience life to the full?” the author asked. “Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’” (2)
“You may have been frustrated in your Christian experience because you know God has a more abundant life for you . . .” (3)
“Let the Spirit of God bring you into an intimate relationship with the God of the Universe ‘who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.’” (4)
“Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think . . .” (5)
It was those words, that verse, that captured not only my mind but my heart that day, and it spoke to me even louder and clearer from other Bible translations:
God is able “to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think,” it says in the New Living Translation.
God is able “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” it reads in the New International Version.
God is able! God is able!
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If you, like I, went to camp meetings in the 1990s, you may have stood beside hundreds of other lovers of Jesus, and in the spirit of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, you may have clapped your way through their song as you sang:
God is able
God is able
To deliver from the fire
He will rescue those who serve Him
When the flames are burning higher (6)
If you don’t remember that song, maybe you’re from a previous generation to mine, and you remember piling into a car with friends and heading to the beach or mountains with a guitar. There, sitting around a campfire, you may have sung the 1960s equivalent:
He’s able, He’s able
I know He’s able
I know my Lord is able
To carry me through (7)
If neither of those songs is ringing a bell for you, maybe that’s because you landed on planet earth in the 21st century. If so, the promise of Ephesians 3:20 may have been burned into your being as you raised your hands with Hillsong and sang:
God is able
He will never fail
He is almighty God
Greater than all we seek
Greater than all we ask (8)
Every generation of Christians, it seems, clings to this promise that God is able. Indeed, this characteristic of God, the power of God, is far more than an attribute; it’s an attribute we claim!
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But what happens when “God who is able” doesn’t do what He is able to do? What happens when He doesn’t deliver from the fire? When the captives aren’t set free, the lame don’t walk, the blind don’t see? What happens when we seemingly ask greater of God than He is willing to do?
Perhaps the best way to keep this real this morning, is by asking some other questions:
Who of us are, right now, not asking something of God, because although we believe He can do it, we don’t actually think He will? Who of us are, right now, questioning other attributes of God – like is He Just, or even True? – because He hasn’t done something that we thought He would?
When God has the ability, the power to do something, but He doesn’t do it, the reality is that it can deeply challenge our faith, and I believe this was precisely Paul’s concern when he wrote Ephesians 3:20.
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I have to confess that it wasn’t until I was recently studying Ephesians that I ever considered the context of this verse. Until then, I had always used this verse like I had always seen or heard it used, simply as a proof text of what God is capable of.
While there’s probably nothing wrong with that in this instance, what I learnt from my study is that the context of this verse gives us a much deeper insight into its application, and that’s why this morning we’re first going to reflect on the story behind the verse – the story of Paul and the Ephesians – before we reflect on its significance for us today.
To kick us off, can anyone tell us where the apostle Paul was when he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus?
– Rome
And what was he doing there?
– He was a prisoner
Okay, so as you may already know, God called Paul, at the time Saul, to share the good news of Jesus with both Jews and Gentiles. (Acts 9:15) In the process of sharing Jesus, however, Paul offended many Jews, and one day, after being falsely accused of creating a riot at the temple in Jerusalem, Paul was put into prison by the Romans. (Acts 21:17-23:11)
When the Romans then heard that the Jews were plotting to kill Paul, they took him from Jerusalem to Caesarea. There they kept Paul in prison for two years because although they didn’t think he was guilty, the governor was more concerned with keeping the Jews onside than keeping Paul onside. (Acts 23:12-24:27)
When that governor was succeeded by a new governor, the Jews again sought to have Paul tried, but when Paul was asked if he was willing to be tried in Jerusalem, Paul, as a Roman citizen, appealed to Caesar. It was for this reason that Paul was shipped to Rome where we find him writing his letter to the Ephesians. (Acts 25:1-28:30)
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Something else you may already know is that Paul wasn’t daunted by any of this. Acts 9 tells us that God was clear from the get-go that Paul would suffer for His name, and when the prophet Agabus foretold that the Jews in Jerusalem would hand Paul over to the Gentiles, Paul said he was ready to not only be bound but to even die for Jesus. (Acts 9:16, 21:10-14)
Just because Paul was ready to die for Jesus, however, that didn’t mean the church in Ephesus, a church Paul had planted, a church full of new converts, was ready for their beloved leader to die, and we see something of their feelings about this at Paul’s farewell. When Paul left Ephesus, he called the elders together to say goodbye to them, and Acts 20 tells us that all the elders:
“began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.” (Acts 20:36-37)
That was now five years previous but what’s clear from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is that he still deeply cares for this church and he is concerned about how they will deal with his imprisonment. He seems to know that his suffering will challenge their faith – that it will challenge their belief in the “God who is able,” and that may have been for good reason . . .
You see more than any other New Testament church, the church in Ephesus had seen God perform “extraordinary miracles.” (Act 19:11) When Paul had laid his hands on some of them, they had begun speaking in tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:1-7) When handkerchiefs and aprons that had merely touched Paul’s skin had been taken to the sick and demon-possessed, they had been healed or delivered. (Acts 19:12)
If God had used His power to deliver so many of the Ephesians, why wouldn’t God now use His power to deliver Paul? Why would God allow Paul to be kept as a prisoner when He could physically free Paul so Paul could help spiritually free others?!
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Given this context, it may come as no surprise that we find Paul in Ephesians 3:13 asking the Ephesians to “not lose heart” or “become discouraged” over his sufferings. The word that Paul actually used in his letter was ekkakeo which means to be “utterly spiritless” or “wearied out” or “exhausted,” and these word pictures give us even more insight into Paul’s concern.
We also see Paul’s concern for the Ephesians in verse 14 where he seems to realise that they’re going to need more than his asking to hold onto their faith; they’re going to need his prayer. And before he goes on to pray, he notes that he’s not praying standing, as he might have done as a Jewish Christian; or sitting, which he might have done to be comfortable; he’s down on his knees.
As we might now also expect, Paul then prays not for himself and not for something external. Not that God will deliver him like He delivered Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. No, he prays for the Ephesians and he prays for something internal. He prays that God will give them the strength they will need – power through His Spirit in their inner being . . .
14 For this reason (Paul says) I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Wow. Did you get all that? If you did, you’re way ahead of me. I think my head was still spinning after I’d read it a dozen times! 🙂 But after I’d waded through this prayer word by word, phrase by phrase, I realised that it includes everything Paul thought the Ephesians would need to keep the faith. And because this is everything that I think we too will need, we’re going to break it down!
Outcome 1 – Christ dwelling in our hearts
In short, Paul prays for three specific outcomes in this passage, and each one builds on the one before it. The first is that Christ would dwell in – that is, permanently live in, never leave – the hearts of the Ephesians. We find this in verses 16 and 17 where Paul prays that God would strengthen the Ephesians with power through His Spirit in the inner self; that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith.
At first glance, this could look like Paul is praying for two different things, but the second depends upon the first. For Christ to live permanently in our hearts through faith, the long story short is that we will need supernatural strength. It’s that simple. We will never be able to do this on our own, especially in the midst of suffering!
Is anyone else ironically encouraged by this? 🙂 When I was reminded that I can’t do “faith” on my own, that I will never be able to answer all my questions or get rid of all my doubts, that I will only be able to keep the faith if God enables me to, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
But something else I was reminded is that I need to be more intentional about prayer – about praying for myself and others. For Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith, we will need to be praying for one another!
And what will happen when we do? We will be able to attain Outcome 2!
Outcome 2 – Comprehending and experiencing Christ’s love
The second outcome that Paul prays for in this passage is found in verses 18 and 19. Here Paul asks that the Ephesians will be able to comprehend the width, length, height and depth of Christ’s love, and to know – or more accurately, experience – the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.
Now did you happen to notice the word “able” in verse 18? That Paul prayed that the Ephesians “would be able to” comprehend the extent of Christ’s love? This phrase actually means “have the strength to,” and it begs the question: why would we need “strength” to comprehend the extent of Christ’s love?
Of course, the first answer is that Christ’s love is so vast, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. But might it also be that it can be very difficult, even seemingly impossible at times, to comprehend the extent of Christ’s love in the midst of suffering?
Do you know, when I was writing this sermon, I began to weep at this point because it’s so real, right? When our faith has grown to the point where it’s sprouted out of the ground but it’s no longer protected by what’s around it so it’s copping the full brunt of scorching heat or beating rain or howling wind, it can be extremely difficult to even believe God is Love.
That’s why Outcome 2 has to be built on Outcome 1. It will only be as we are rooted and grounded in love, verse 17 says, as Christ nurtures and sustains us, that we will be able to comprehend and experience the extent of His love.
And what will happen when do? We will be able to attain Outcome 3!
Outcome 3 – Being filled to the fullness of God
According to verse 19, the third outcome that Paul prays for in this passage is that the Ephesians will be filled to all the fullness of God. This outcome, the final in this prayer, is generally believed to mean spiritual perfection but based on its meaning in the next chapter, it can be thought of as spiritual maturity.
In Ephesians 4, Paul says that the reason God gives ministry gifts to the church is so we can mature “to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13) And when this happens, he says, we will no longer be tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind, and the same principle applies in Ephesians 3. (Ephesians 4:14-16)
As Christ dwells in our hearts through faith . . . as we come to comprehend and experience the extent of His love . . . we will grow like the tree planted by the water that doesn’t fear when heat comes or get anxious in the drought. Our leaves will remain green, even in the midst of suffering, and we will not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8) We will not lose heart!
Like to think this could be possible? Listen to how Paul finishes his prayer for the Ephesians:
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
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Friends, although Ephesians 3:20 is usually used to tell us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or seek externally, the context of this promise tells us that God is also able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or seek internally. So if God doesn’t do what He is able to do in our external situation, the promise is that He can and will go above and beyond to strengthen our internal situation! 🙂
[Testimony about the power of Christ’s Love]
Can anyone else attest to the power of Christ’s love? I know I can. Does it mean that I never have questions or doubts? I’ve already told you that I still do. Does it mean that I never feel afraid or get anxious? I definitely haven’t “arrived” yet. But in Christ, I always have hope.
That’s why I want to share one more song with you this morning, and whether you do or don’t relate to the lyrics right now, I’m praying you will never forget them. Someone else might need you to share this song with them one day! (9)
Notes
(1) This sermon was originally preached at Oasis Christian Center, Vancouver, Washington.
(2) Henry T Blackaby and Claude V King, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God (Nashville: B&H, 2008) 2.
(3) Ibid, 4.
(4) Ibid, 6.
(5) Ephesians 3:20, New King James Version.
(6) Charles Allen, “God is Able,” Only to Him, Brooklyn Tabernacle Music, 1992.
(7) Paul E Paino, “He’s Able,” John W Peterson Music Co, 1958.
(8) Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan, “God is Able,” Forever Reign, Hillsong Music, 2012.
(9) Steven Curtis Chapman, “Don’t Lose Heart.” YouTube, uploaded by Kingdom Lyrics, 27 July 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM-7rBptd1Y.