We are Empowered

Good morning, everyone. My name is Nick. I'm Pastor for Discipleship here at St. Paul's.

! It's my joy to open the Word with you.

We've just had Chinese New Year, and many, many Chinese New Years ago in the 80s, there was a little girl

and she was given some red envelopes. She laid them all out on her bed, but one of them slipped down the back of her bed,

down the side of her bunk bed frame, and was lost, forgotten. Flash forward 40 years,

she was a single mum, battling debts and barely making ends meet, until one day when her old bed frame

finally broke under the weight of her two sons playing in their room, they pulled down the old

bed to throw it away, and wedged under a wooden slat, she found the red envelope.

It had been given to her by her grandfather, long passed away now. That year he'd sold his business,

and he'd done something special for his favourite grandchild. In the envelope wasn't cash,

but shares in a company he'd just been told about. He'd printed out all the details on this folded A4

page, put it in the envelope, it was all legally in her name. And at the time, he was very generous.

He put nearly three, just over $3,000 worth of shares in that envelope. 33,000 shares at 10 cents each.

40 years later, those shares were $290 each. That's what they were worth. Nearly $10 million. Without knowing it,

this family had been battling to stay afloat while being millionaires the whole time.

This mirrors the experience of many Christians who come to faith, and yet through their life feel like

the wallets of their strength to keep following Jesus are always emptier than they would like.

Today, Paul is going to show us where the red envelope of God's strength for his church is.

So far in Ephesians, Paul has been encouraging us to remember the riches that Christians have in Jesus,

in Christ, right now. We have eternity in front of us. God the Father, certain, safe, joyful, glorious,

with him forever. We have each other, the church. God's riches displayed in a family

of support and love. And we have his grace to us that while we were powerless to save ourselves or do

anything in our own strength, through Christ, God has saved us and empowers us to live for him

by the Holy Spirit. We have great hope in Christ. And if you're joining us online or you're in the room

with us and you don't yet follow Jesus, consider the blessings and love available to all people

in Christ. And last week we heard how Christ has destroyed the walls of hostility that divide humanity

on the cross. Jesus took the Roman punishment for an insurrectionist so that our rebellious lives

could be exchanged for his life of love for his enemies. But even after this exchange, Christians are

still prone to retaliation, divisions, fears of those unlike us, even racism. So where do we find the

strength to be a unified church, wrestling with sin and one another in a broken world?

When Christians experience the riches of Christ's love, God strengthens his people with power

to be his church and achieve his mission. Who is the church? This week we're focusing on the fact

that we are empowered. Heavenly Father, I pray that you will provide strength for your church through

your spirit to behold the love of Christ for them in such a way that they are empowered to display your

glory to our city as your church in powerful ways. Amen. Today I have three points. Why do we need to be

empowered? What does it mean to be empowered? And how do we get empowered? First, why do we need to be

empowered? I want to draw your attention to how Paul begins not just this passage but this chapter.

We didn't read it and there's a reason for it. Have a look at chapter one there, verse one there.

Paul starts, for this reason I, and then he gets completely distracted. He goes on this tangent

and he gets completely distracted. His train of thought gets broken. He was far away from these

people in Ephesus, writing this letter from a Roman jail cell and he knows that this church is worried

about him, about what the future might hold without him. Just as Paul shared the boundless riches of

Christ with them, God's plan is now to do the same thing through the church. The mission that was Paul's,

the mission of God in Ephesus is now in their hands. It's in the hands of the local church.

And Paul imagined them reading this letter. It's almost like he got to this point and then just

cast his mind to them and thought, I wonder if they're discouraged. Wondering how they're going to do

God's mission to face it without me. So how will Paul strengthen the church for their mission? Well,

the prayer that Steve just read out is Paul's answer. It's a prayer. Paul could have asked God to make

things easier for the Ephesians. He could have asked for more receptive hearts in their city to their

message or even to Christians in their midst. Even for himself to be released to go help them

in Ephesus. But instead, he prays for power from God to see immeasurably more done through them.

Verse 16, I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit

in your inner being. Paul knows of a power that God can give Christians that will fill them to the

measure of all the fullness of God. That's what Paul wants. More than his own freedom, more than changes

to the circumstances of the church. Real power from God to be his church. But Christian, you might be

asking a good question here. Isn't Christ dwelling in every Christian already? Yes. We are in Christ and

Christ is in us. At the very moment a Christian yields their life to Christ, he lives in them. So what

more do Christians have to draw on than the indwelling presence of Christ by the Holy Spirit?

A kind of change that Paul imagines here isn't more of Christ in us, but a deeper knowledge, a

surpassing knowledge, verse 19, of just how loved they are by Christ, that once experienced gives them power.

There is more to experience of Christ and his love day by day as the Spirit provides. It's the love of

Christ experienced that Paul wants to show empowers the church. Paul fears that Christians in Ephesus will live

poor even amongst the riches of their salvation, like a mum with millions under the bed. Paul asks the Spirit

to give us an empowering experience when we remember the love of Christ for us that will strengthen our

discouraged hearts. Second, what does it mean to be empowered? We've used this illustration in a number

of ways, but this week I thought of it from the perspective of a dad with a young child, that's me,

and I remember one Easter weekend many years ago, we gave our middle child chocolate for the first time.

We told her she'd like it, but she wasn't excited. Even today, she has the character of someone who will

doubt first, especially what a parent says is true. She will doubt first, and then she will slowly lean

into maybe the truth, maybe the experience, maybe how things look. And to this one-year-old, the shiny

wrapper was far more exciting than what was inside. Our joy wasn't catching on. And we took a video of

all of this, and I remember ending the video because it was going so badly. She was almost too terrified

to eat it out of the pressure of how excited people were compared to how she was. But then she tasted it.

We have this photo of this moment. She has this smile. It's almost an aggressive bite into a piece of

chocolate. It's like, give me more of that. Oh, this is incredible. And also, I'm on camera. I've got a

smile. It's the funniest little photo. The moment she experienced that chocolate is good, she was

convinced. Experiencing the love of Christ is to take the reality of the riches, taste the reality

of the riches of God. And just like chocolate puts a whirlwind of energy in a toddler, so too does the

love of Christ put a power in the church. Many churches are hesitant to experience something that

might stir our emotions. Most on the North Shore trust emotions less than we do evidence, data, and truth.

But in Christianity, both the knowledge of God and the affections for God always go together.

There was a philosopher and a mathematician, an inventor, a real head knowledge guy,

his name was Blaise Pascal, many, many years ago. He was also a Christian. And when he died,

his coat was found to have a page of his diary, apparently this page, sewn into the fabric so that

any time he wanted, he could look back on something that happened to him, something that he had

experienced. And on there is a date and a title. The title is Fire.

Fire. Here's what he wrote. Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers

and the learned, certainty, security, feeling, joy, peace, and on and on the diary entry goes.

He had experienced the love of Christ that day for him so deeply, emotionally, physically,

that it changed his perspective on his entire life. And he wanted to remember how that day felt.

When the truth of the truth of the love of Christ grabbed him in this experience of wonder, awe, fear, and praise.

What experiences of the love of Christ have you had? What experiences of the love of Christ have we had together?

Think of the moments we've shared singing where it's like all of a sudden someone's turned up the volume

of our voices and our emotions are running high in the room.

Think of the tears that you might have shed maybe in someone's home with your Bibles open with someone

or sharing your testimony or hearing their testimony of God's love in Christ.

There are experiences of God that stir deep emotions.

And Paul knows we need experiences of the love of Christ to empower his church.

So as you discover more knowledge of the love of Christ for you,

you may have a Holy Spirit-empowered experience.

Now, this is really important.

Tim Keller uses a really helpful image here for us to understand this, the image of a kiss.

Imagine someone kisses you.

Woo!

You hope you are the reason that they want to kiss you, right?

But if you discover that they're only here for the kiss and that they can get it from another

and you just happen to be there, then that kiss loses all its meaning to you.

If you go after the kiss and not the person, then the kiss is nothing.

But if the kiss is about the person, then the kiss means everything.

So if you go after an experience of being deeply moved but do not go after God,

then your experience is nothing.

But if you experience deep affections as you go after the love of Christ for you,

then that experience means everything.

Keller says,

through the power of the Holy Spirit, information becomes sensation.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, information about the love Christ has for you

can become sensation.

We can't always hope to experience God's love in Christ with this emotional depth.

But together as God's church, we can ask God to strengthen us regularly in our midst.

These experiences can happen together or we can share them with one another when they happen,

when we are together.

And I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the Lord's holy people

to grasp how wide, how long and how high and how deep is the love of Christ.

The church are the glorious riches of Christ.

We've already heard that in Ephesians.

And they are the location where God's glory will be displayed in power through us.

There's no individualism in this passage at all.

Any experience of Christ's love on our own, shared together, can empower us together.

There were 35 of us gathered around Steve on Wednesday night

as we explored God's vision for St. Paul's Chatswood towards 2030.

And we shared big goals.

Steve's just shared the summary of those this morning.

We want to make a big impact in our city.

Not to be known, but for Christ's love for our city to be known.

We want to see him do incredible things.

And we can't do that unless God empowers us.

Just like the church in Ephesus couldn't do that unless God empowers them.

So Paul's huge goal for the Ephesian church and for us is that God will,

and another tangent it seems,

but God who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine,

will empower his church to glorify God throughout all generations forever and ever.

What it means to be empowered by God is for the church to regularly, purposefully pray

that God might strengthen them through his spirit as they experience the love of Christ.

So how do we get empowered?

There are many practical ways that we can pursue the love of Christ,

but let me give you four, and then we'll do one of them together.

First, yield.

Look at verse 14.

Paul's posture, he tells us, and he may have been as he dictated this letter,

is that he is on his knees.

Or he might have been saying,

I am doing this regularly.

I'm on my knees praying this prayer for you.

But in Paul's day, people didn't pray kneeling.

That might be what we see on TV or what you might have experienced

as a more traditional way of praying.

But no, in Paul's day, they stood to pray.

So it's important that we realise Paul's telling them this to show them something.

It's actually an act of submission.

God is our Father, and ours is a relationship of intimacy and love,

but also of authority.

To submit to God's authority to you,

to change you,

is an act of obedience.

You may not want God to change you.

You might not feel like you need changing.

Or to feel deep emotions.

But trust your Father.

Yield to Scripture,

and find out more,

and more,

and more about the love of Christ

for you.

And be open to the Spirit

to empower you,

and change you.

Yield,

and

meditate.

Look at verse 18 with me.

What do you notice about the verb there?

It doesn't say read

about the

depth and height and width

and of the love of Christ.

It says grasp.

Grasp.

That word literally means

wrestle

or

ambush.

It's a very

intense,

strong word.

What Paul's saying

is it's a wrestling

with

the truth

of the love of Christ

into your own heart.

An active,

reflective,

purposeful activity

that the Bible calls

meditation.

If you want to get a picture

of what this looks like

in the Bible,

Psalm 103

is really helpful.

It's a talking

to your soul

prayer.

prayer.

It's to yourself,

examining your own life,

beliefs and understanding

and desires

and loves

and comparing them

to God's perspective

of the world

and yourself

like a wrestling match

between your will

and the will of God.

Your priorities

and the priorities

of God.

And by the Spirit,

it's an experience

that can

happen to you.

You can grasp it

and even as you do,

you can be grasped

by it.

The disciple,

Peter,

he was ambushed

by God's word

in Acts 10.

Last week,

we were talking

about the topic

of unity

in the church

and one of the,

well,

the leader

of God's church,

Peter,

failed

immediately

when it came

to allowing

Gentiles

to be fully

a part

of the church,

non-Jews

to be fully

a part

of what God

was doing.

He knew

God loved them.

He knew

they should be

a part of the church

but he didn't live it.

He was ambushed

by a revelation

from God

and to accept

all people

in the church.

To grasp

the love

of God,

we reach out

and grasp

the pages

of scripture,

not just

to read it

but to always

meditate on it.

There is no,

and let me just

say here,

this is not

meditation

where you empty

everything out

of your mind

and sit

blank.

Christian

meditation

instead

is to fill

our minds

with God's

words

and reflect.

Seek to connect

with God

daily.

That's one

of our seven

rhythms of grace.

What it means

to live

in Chatswood

as his people,

regularly connecting

with God.

And here's a

starting point

if you've never

done this.

Read,

meditate

and pray.

Read the word

of God.

Give yourself

time

to wrestle

with what

you have read.

Meditate

on it

and pray.

Behold

the love

of Christ

in Scripture

and grasp

it in your

soul

as the

information

you read

becomes

sensation

by the

power

of the

Spirit.

And yes,

thirdly,

pray.

This passage

itself is a

prayer

and it's a

prayer for

experience.

And

it is not

the only

thing you

should pray

for.

but we

can

ask the

Spirit

to empower

us

as we

reflect

on the

love

of Christ

for us.

Hudson

Taylor,

who was

the

founding

missionary

of the

gospel

going into

China,

he prayed

every day

starting like

this.

It's actually

a longer

poem,

but the

start of

the poem

that he

wrote

in the

top of

his diary

was this,

Lord Jesus,

make thyself

to me

a living

bright

reality.

Lord Jesus,

make yourself

to me

a living

bright

reality.

God

can make

us more

receptive

to the

bright love

of Jesus

through

his Spirit.

Praying

in step

with this

passage

is like

asking God

to change

us

as if

we're

a normal

boring

piece

of A4

paper

like this.

Change

us into

a

photosensitive

chemically

treated

piece of

paper,

receptive

and ready

to receive

the light

of Christ,

seen in

his word

and heard

in the

church,

experienced

in Christian

friendships,

and then

have it

come to

life on

us,

like a

photo

instead of

a blank

white

page.

Pray for

God to

give you

an

experience

of the

love

of

Christ.

And then

fourthly,

together.

If you want

to know

the love

of Christ

deeply,

you need

to be

deeply

involved

in the

church

community.

the

promised

power

of this

passage

involves

other

Christians.

God

pours

out

his

power

over

the

church

together

with

all the

Lord's

holy

people.

This

whole

letter

is all

about

the

church

and

it's

evidence

enough

for any

Christian

to dig

roots

and

foundations

in a

church.

And if

we take

our lead

from this

passage,

together

as God's

church,

we can

grasp

the love

of Christ

deeper

together.

So let's

do it.

Let's

explore the

love of

Christ

together

now and

answer

this

question.

How

wide

and

long

and

high

and

deep

is the

love of

Christ?

for you.

How

wide

is the

love of

God

for you?

Jesus

said,

when I

am lifted

up at

the cross,

I will

draw all

people

to

myself.

All

people

can come

to Jesus.

His

love

reaches to

all people

of every

nation.

His

love is

to all

nations.

And

Isaiah

1.18

says,

though your

sins be

as scarlet,

you shall

be whiter

than snow.

This

vivid image

of scarlet

to white

or red

to white

is actually

about

blood.

Even

if you've

killed,

you can

be forgiven

no matter

what you've

done.

That is

how wide

the love

of Christ

is for

you.

How long

is the

love of

God?

Revelation

13.8

says that

Christ was

ready to

die for

you before

the universe

was made.

In

eternity

past,

God had

a plan

for you.

And

Jesus

said,

I give

them

eternal

life and

no one

can pluck

them out

of my

hand.

Jesus

will

never

let

go

of

the

ones

he

loves.

And

Philippians

1.16

says,

the one

who began

a good

work in

you

will

bring

it

to

completion.

His

love

is with

you

every

step

you

take.

God's

love

is that

long.

How deep

is the

love of

God

for you?

How deep

is his

love?

The

depth

of

Christ's

love

is seen

in how

far he

will go

to show

you.

What did

it cost

you?

What does

it cost

anyone

for God

to love

you?

Nothing.

What did

it cost

God to

show you

his love?

Everything.

Death of

his son

on a

cross.

Jesus

died your

death and

went to

hell for

you,

as Peter

taught.

Christ's

love is

as deep

as deep

can go.

God's

love is

that

deep.

And

our

high

is the

love of

Christ

for you.

John 17,

Jesus

prays,

Father,

I want

them to

have the

glory

that we

have.

Christ

loves us

up into

the status

and riches

and glory

that he

has with

God the

Father.

And

John,

in 1

John,

says,

we will

be like

him and

we will

see him

as he

is.

God

lifts us

into holiness

and nearness

with the

highest

king.

That's

how high

the love

of Christ

is for

you.

The love

of Christ

is the

red

envelope

of the

Christian.

But is

it lost

under your

bed?

God

or are

you

experiencing

the love

of Christ

each

day?

Yield

yourself

to

Christ

and

connect

with

him

daily

in

the

word

and

meditate

on

it.

Seek

to

grasp

Christ's

love

for you

and pray

that the

spirit

would move

you

deeply,

even

knock

you

off

your

feet

onto

your

knees

like

Paul

and

prioritize

being

together,

seeking

the love

of Christ

with the

church.

Where do

we find

strength

to be

united

church?

Wrestling

with sin

and one

another

in a

broken

world?

In

the love

of Christ

for us.

God

empowers

his people

to be

his church

as we

behold

the love

of Christ.

Who is

the church?

We are

empowered.

And what

are we

empowered

to do?

Well,

you have

to join

us in

Ephesians

4 from

next week

on.

We need

the power

of God

working

within us

to experience

the love

of Christ,

to do

more in

God's

mission

than we

can ask

for or

even

imagine.