Christ Changes Everything Pt. 2 — Ephesians 1-3

0:00 Good morning, everyone. Last time I forgot to give my book endorsement, so I'm gonna do that first before I forget. Some of you have already told you about this book. It's called person of interest, why Jesus still matters in a world that rejects the bible. This was written by a fellow that was an atheist initially.

0:21 And he is why he went to church with his wife and the preacher made a statement that just knocked his socks off, said that Jesus was the son of God. And he decided to get to the bottom of that. And he did. Fascinating book. He's a homicide detective, and he used his homicide skills to investigate the person of Jesus.

0:41 There's copies on the shelf in the back if you'd like to help yourself to one. As you know, we all love 10:00 start, but there's a downside to that. It means we don't finish on time. But no worry, I've taken Andy's approach. I only prepared for twenty minutes.

1:02 All right. All the irrelevant comments are out of the way. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for bringing us together here this morning. And we pray that you will help each of us in this hour what we need from you.

1:15 And we ask this in our lord Jesus name. Amen. There's a lot in here. And I have some great quotes and that I didn't know where to fit in. So I'm going to give them to you now.

1:32 They're not part of my message, but they're free so you can take them. I have a couple of my dad's Bibles, I was looking at some of them this week. Some of his notes that are in the Bibles, the Williamson Meng study bible. And this is in connection to a conversation I had with Andy yesterday about some of the really tasty portions of scripture. And at the beginning of the book of Ephesians, my dad wrote a little note, quote, so rich like concentrated fruitcake.

2:05 So rich. And the book of Ephesians is so rich. I caught... I often catch, but not always, some some of the radio preachers on WCRF during the week. And JD Greer had this to say one of the days this week, real faith grows out of seriously expressed doubt.

2:25 Real faith grows out of seriously expressed doubt. One of the chapters in the Bible that's not there but I kind of wish was there was Jonah five. I think Jonah ends leaving us hanging, I think Jonah had some real seriously expressed doubt that the conversation I think went on, we don't have it. Rosario Butterfield said, God specializes in the absurd. I heard part of her testimony this week, Nancy Lee...

3:02 Nancy... Nancy. Nancy. You all know Nancy. Wagamuth.

3:07 She was... It was an interview she had with Rosario, fascinating woman. She describes her conversion as a train wreck. If you haven't read her biography, you need to get it. She also said, God's comfort is power.

3:26 It's not meant merely to make us feel better. It's meant to make us more like Jesus. Fit those in wherever you think they fit in the message if they do. I'm going to borrow Andy's title, Christ Changes Everything. So this is Christ Changes Everything Part two.

4:30 It's not about us. It's about the Lord Jesus. Also, in one of my dad's Bibles that I was looking at, he made a reference to the fact that persons of the Trinity in chapter one are referred to over 70 times. He used the Living Bible and came up with 83, but that's the Living Bible. Paraphrase.

4:49 But still, the trinity is all through chapter one, a magnificent chapter. If I couldn't preach on chapter three, I'd want it to be chapter one. Chapter two, Denzel had that message that was pretty deep. I have to go back and listen to it again about life. We were dead, but now we have life in Christ.

5:06 We were raised up, united with him. Universal truth that Jews and Gentiles are now one. In the second... The end of chapter two, some of these truths are that we are all part of God's household. We are one family, one body.

5:26 Christ Jesus is the cornerstone. And together, we are growing into a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place, a dwelling of God in the spirit. It's a spiritual reality. Now open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter three. Some of the just remarkable verses in this chapter.

6:06 I wanna just share some highlights from verses nine through 12 in in context of this new body, this one body. Verse nine, there was new information giving. There was it was a mystery in the past, but now it's been revealed. Also in verse 10, the church is a vehicle for a celestial testimony. We are being watched by forces and people that we can't see, and we can be a testimony to them.

6:37 God's eternal plan is now disclosed. It wasn't an afterthought known before the foundations of the world. And in Christ, this is this is one of the amazing things. In Christ, we have the boldness and the confident access to approach the father. That was not present in the Old Testament.

6:59 Certainly there were some giants of the faith that had a personal relationship with God. Enoch is a fascinating character. But of course, Abraham and Moses and the others. But we, as individuals, can have a personal relationship with God. So picking up at verse 14, I will read the text and then I will share thoughts consecutively through the text.

8:41 But he was so overtaken with some of the magnificence of God's plan that we have, that he gave us and we have, verses two through 13, which are, of course, a gift and a wonderful thing to have and to know. But in verse 14, he begins his prayer. And I think we can deduct some things here. This is an attitude of humility. He bows his knees before the father.

9:11 Whether that's symbolic or real, it shows an attitude of reverence and honor. He uses the term father, the name father, that shows an acknowledgment of dependence and perhaps a celebration of relationship. I think that thoughts developed a little bit in verse 15, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. God created the family. Adam and Eve, of course, were the first family.

9:47 God is the father of all creation, not just the father of the redeemed, and he cares for all of us. In verse... In James one seventeen, we read about the Father who gives us gracious and appropriate gifts. Father of lights gives us gracious and appropriate gifts. He knows what we need and when we need it.

10:09 Or Psalm 2seven 10, David's psalm that even though his father or mother might forsake him, the Lord never will. But regardless of just who this refers to, Paul is talking to a personal being, God Himself. And his prayer, he gets to the meat of his prayer in verse 16, which has five, the way I look at it, five significant components. The first one is that He would grant you. Second one, according to the riches of His glory.

10:53 Third, to be strengthened. Fourth, power of the Holy Spirit. And fifth, the inner man. So let's briefly examine each each of these. That God would grant you, and my response to that would be, and He does.

11:15 He wants to give to you great things. Second Peter one talks about the great and precious promises that enable us to... Give us everything we need for life and godliness. God wants to give to us and work in us. I appreciate the old quote of D.

11:37 L. Moody, The world has yet to see what God do a person committed to Him. God wants to work through us. He wants to give us what we need. Secondly, according to the riches of His glory.

11:58 This is not merely from that storehouse of His riches, but in, I think, in similarity too. There'll never be a sourcing problem or a supply chain problem with God. And he doesn't give stingily. If you need He's going to give you abundantly. And then we'll see that at the end of the chapter and also in other scriptures.

12:25 He likes to lavish upon us what we need and even some things we don't need. To be strengthened literally means be strong, to overcome resistance. We, all of us who are adults, know that adulting is hard and I guess pretty much we all are adults. If I can pick on Andy Morris for a second. There's a flashback to prayer meeting about twenty years ago, twenty five years ago.

13:02 And he's a friend of mine, I can do this. He said pray for me. I'm under a lot of stress. I think he was 15. And you probably were.

13:11 I mean, we prayed for you. But we as Christians need strength, and it's not our strength. It's the power through the spirit. And the word that's translated power there is a word that gives us the English word dynamite. Power through the spirit.

13:35 And that power from the spirit is at work in the inner man. The real you. Whether it's the soul or the spirit, it's the real you. Those verses in Romans 12 or Colossians three come to mind about the mind being transformed or the mind being set on things above. Jesus, during his ministry, said, don't fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul.

14:12 We need the inner man to be strengthened by the power through the spirit. And I think verse 17 gets to the heart of that. Our inner man needs daily renewal, two Corinthians four sixteen. I love the way Paul puts it there. He talks about the outward man is decaying, but the inward man is being renewed daily.

14:43 Our spiritual life is real work, and it requires the help of the Spirit. Appreciate a remark Chris Reuter has made over the years, and it goes something like this: Christianity is not a crutch. And people heckle him for using Christianity as a crutch. Christianity is not a crutch. It's a new life.

15:06 It's a whole new life. In regards to the role of the spirit, Uncle Dave, some of you could probably finish this quote, It's not how much you have of the spirit, it's how much the Spirit has of you. Not how much you think you have of the Spirit, it's how much the Spirit has of you. So in verse 17 we see the purpose of the strengthening of the spirit so that Christ may dwell in your hearts. I'm going to read some verses from John 16 to talk about some really important things.

15:46 John sixteen:seven, thirteen and fourteen. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, their helper shall not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will disclose to you what is to come.

16:55 The Son returns to the Father, highly exalted. Look, he says the sight is glorious. We see that in Ephesians one and also Hebrews one. Then the Father sends the Spirit, and the Spirit instructs us of Christ. So we need the Spirit's help to understand and appreciate Christ fully so that Christ may dwell in your hearts.

17:18 Dwelling here is different from the dwelling that we get from our union with Christ and salvation. You can be saved. This is an incongruity, but it happens often. You can be saved but not walking with the Lord. You can be saved but not walking with the Lord.

17:38 To dwell here means that Christ is well, that Christ might finally settle down and feel completely at home in your hearts. Is Christ completely at home in your life? Or is he a welcome hope he's not a guest because he's he's a close friend be that. That's the thought here, that Christ may dwell in your hearts. Another one said, If we make room for the Holy Spirit, He will make room for the Lord Jesus.

18:14 If we're not willing to receive from the Lord, the spirit might not give us what we need, but the Lord wants to give us there. We saw that in verse 16, that he would grant you. So this dwelling, this relationship here with the Lord is a it's not oppositional so much as it is relational. And we, all of us who are married, can understand perhaps that you can be married but not always be in perfect fellowship. And in the same with the Lord, we can be a believer, but we're not always in good fellowship, sweet fellowship with him.

19:00 Me turn over to Colossians three for a couple of verses I thought were just helpful for this. Colossians three fifteen, 16, and 17. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness into your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to the Father.

19:47 Controlled hearts, full hearts, thankful hearts. Thankfulness is mentioned in all three of those verses. Through faith. Faith is a trigger mechanism. Hebrews eleven six, we won't turn there, but...

20:12 And Hebrews eleven five talks about Enoch and the relationship Enoch had with God and and the result. God took him directly home without dying. But without faith, it is impossible to please God. We walk by faith, not by sight. The person...

20:30 The human being most responsible for your Christian walk is you. We need to occupy ourselves with the right things the right way. So Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. We need to believe that He will do that. Maybe that's where J.

20:51 D. Greers fit in as we have our doubts through life. Real faith grows out of a seriously expressed doubt. There's a lot of challenges and frustrations and griefs in life, but God is faithful. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you, being rooted and grounded in love This is a mixed metaphor, and I love mixed metaphors.

21:21 The rooted is kind of a agricultural concept, being securely settled and perhaps nourished by the roots. And grounded more is a the idea foundation, a solid footing. So one of the results of Christ dwelling in our hearts is that we're going to be nourished and stable in the area of love. Love for one another, love for the church, love for him. Moving on to verse 18, so that we might be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the...

22:48 It's an experiential knowledge. To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. Say that five times fast. Sure. And that reminds me of the peace that surpasses all comprehension in Philippians four.

23:10 God is always doing over and above what we can ask or think. But even when our intimacy with Christ is full and real, there's always more of Him to learn and to appreciate. The fullness of God. That's a pretty mind stretching remark. I would simplify that, or I would define it simply as the fullness of God is Christ.

23:51 Christ is the fullness of God. Of course, as the Son of God, fully fully God. He is the fullness of God. But as we see His work and we see His example, that is what we... As we grow in it, we too will grow more and more in the fullness of God.

24:12 John one fourteen and eighteen, you know, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. No one has seen God as any time, but the only begotten son who came from God has explained to him. And, of course, those verses in Colossians chapter two. Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in him.

24:41 The end of verse, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. That's like the goal. It's not so much the reality yet, but it is the goal to be filled up to all the fullness of God. Okay, let's look a little bit at these last two verses. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us.

25:17 This Ephesians study has been exceedingly abundant. I think it's been a real blessing to me. God is at work in us, and we have the opportunity to, be a testimony for Him. Nancy Wagamuth also told a story a little bit of her growing up years this week I caught her. It was about, her parents.

25:45 Her parents had a ministry in the home And they would... They invited hundreds of people into their home over the years for for a meal and for Christian conversation and testimony. Most of them were unsaved when they came, but many of them got saved. She just... She said hundreds, and I think she said thousands of people came to faith in their home over the years.

26:08 They used that as their ministry. For me, that's an exceedingly, abundantly fruitful ministry. When she was dating the man who was now her husband, she took him to her family home because she wanted to show it to them. They know there was someone else owned it now, but they wanted to stop by and see it. And the occupant of the home said to her, so many people stop by this house and tell us this is where they met Jesus.

26:37 Can you imagine that kind of a fruitful ministry and testimony? What is the exceedingly, abundantly work that you are trusting God to do in your life? What am I trusting Him to do in my life? And of course, Now before I move to verse 21, let me read something else I found in my dad's bible, which is also in Bill McDonald's commentary. I don't know if he got it there too, but it has to do with above all.

27:41 And somebody came to him once with really an audacious request. And guess what? He fulfilled it because he could. And I know that God will do amazing things in us if we are willing ask, if we are willing to trust, and if we are willing to be available. And I liked how this chapter closes.

28:52 Father, we do give you thanks for for your word. We thank you for the fact that you have provided a savior for us and even and in that salvation, you have continued to work in and through us. You give us all things we need for life and godliness. Help us to avail ourselves of them. Help us, father, to understand the importance of letting Christ dwell in our hearts, to be comfortable there, to be a companion in the things that we do.

29:26 For indeed, we have mentioned in brief of the glorious things that you have done through people that have been yielded to you and available. And we pray that as we as a body go forward that you'll help us to keep growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, our love for one another. May we just do it all for the glory of the Lord Jesus. And we pray these things in his name. Amen.