By the Book: Ephesians
Part 5: Eph 3:14 – 4:3
-Introduction
-Last week: Eph 3:1-13 – Paul’s insight into the Gospel; His humility, thankfulness and
stewardship in/for the grace of God; God’s wisdom and eternal purpose in Christ and the
church
-How could we possibly bring out the importance of these topics any more than with
the words, “the eternal purpose of God?”
-His eternal purpose was realized in Christ and the church plays an integral role in it.
-So, I’ll begin this lesson as I ended the one last week: “What place and purpose do you
allow Jesus and his church to have in your life?”
-Ephesians 3:14-21 – Paul’s Prayer
-It seems that—when thinking of this great plan of the Great God of Heaven—Paul was driven
to his knees—“For this reason I bow my knees…” (3:14).
-“The prayer in 3:14-21 is a request for God to empower the church to fulfill its God-given
mission” (Jay Lockhart , Ephesians and Philippians , Truth for Today Commentary; Searcy:
Resource, 2009, 172).
-Paul’s three-part petition: [Each marked by “that,” hinah , vv 16, 17b, 19b; ‘in order that
(denoting the purpose or the result)’ (Strong)]
1. God’s Help in Empowering the Ephesians to Fulfill Their Mission (vv 16-17a)
-Keep in mind, Paul gives these words during the time of the miraculous gifts of the
Spirit (Eph 1:13-14) so that help could have been manifested in different ways than today.
-But, we should not think of our God as a distant, hands-off Deity. We still have the avenue
of prayer; the completed, inspired Word of God and his providential care.
-But notice, our faith is not to reside on the surface. It is not to be shallow nor temporary.
it is not to be a part-time interest or a hobby-like aspect of life that we pick up at times
and put down at others. It is to reach to our depths and govern our lives.
-Col 3:10, Eph 4:23, 2 Cor 4:16
2. Strength to Comprehend and Know
-We are to be “rooted and grounded in love.” (See Col 2:7.)
-We need to contemplate God’s love for us—the love of Christ in dying for us—the love
we are to have for others in reaching out to a lost and dying world with the Gospel.
-“ Breadth – Divine love for man is broader than the human race. No one is excluded.
Length – There is no limit on how far divine love will reach.
Height – Divine love elevates the Christian to be a part of the family of God and to
have the hope of heaven.
Depth – Divine love reaches down into the mire of sin to recover the lost” ( ibid., 176).
-Yes, when it comes to faith there are responsibilities and requirements. Yes, there are
commitments that we must make to God. Yes, there are church services to attend. While
proper faith does not try to exclude or neglect these things, proper faith goes much farther.
-v 19 – We can comprehend the fact Christ loves us; but, we cannot fully comprehend its
fullness. It surpasses our limitations.
-surpasses – Same word Paul used in 1:19 and 2:7 – “exceeding.”

3. Be Filled with the Fullness of God
-Similar to Paul’s previous statement about knowing the love which surpasses knowledge,
Paul wanted the Ephesians to be filled to an unreachable degree.
-We cannot be the fullness of God. As I said last week, there is a BIG difference between
God and us. Yet, that should be our overall aim and goal—to continue to grow toward him.
-When we think about Paul’s petitions for the Ephesians—and, by implication, us—does it make
us re-think our ideas of and approach to faith in our lives? Overall, hasn’t faith been degraded
and relegated to a much lower level than it should hold? We need to wake up and renew our
view, understanding, desire and application of faith in our lives!!!
-Eph 3:20-21 – What encouraging words! We are not in this alone. We have help.
-We cannot “out-ask” or “out-think” our God.
-We are part of the Lord’s church—part of the eternal purpose of God. We are to be at work!
-1 Cor 3:6
-Ephesians 4:1 – Walk Worthy
-With chapter 4, we now enter into the practical applications portion of the letter.
-Based upon all these magnificent blessings offered in Christ and the privilege of being a part
of the Lord’s church and work—the eternal purpose of God—and with his help…walk worthy.
-Think about this for a moment…this appeal is coming from a man who is a prisoner because
of his service to the Lord. This appeal carries weight,
-“When a man by faith enters into Christ Jesus (Gal 3:26), he accepts the call of God to live
the life of Jesus Christ, to obey the will of God, and walk according to the precepts he
laid down. [The true grace in the heart must show itself by true devotion to the Lord in the
life]” (Lipscomb, Shepherd, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians , 70).
-Now, let’s keep this in the context of the eternal purpose of God .
-Our approach to the church—to our faith—will either make us a part of carrying out
that purpose or it will hinder that purpose. Which is it?
-Now, we could get into a number of specific applications yet that is something that each of
us ultimately has to do individually—2 Cor 13:5. But, let’s think of it in these ways:
-If a person applied your dedication to faith to their efforts on a sports team, would he/she
be a starter on the team…or even on the team at all?
-If a person applied your dedication to faith to their approach to school, would he/she meet
the expectations of parents? What grades would he/she be getting?
-If a person applied your habit of attending services of the church to his/her attendance
record at work, would he/she still have a job?
-Obviously, you can see where I’m going with this and the examples could continue.
-What do we do “religiously?”—faith, worship, service (work) of the church or
something else?
-I’m not saying these things simply to try to criticize, rebuke or make you feel bad. I’m saying
these things because they matter! We must walk worthy of our calling. Are you?
-Our calling – Invitation