Ephesians 3 | Wade Branch

Good morning everyone. It's a great day to see everyone

who's here. It's a great day to worship.

I'm thankful for the chance to lead our study today and we have

a wonderful set of passages and Ephesians chapter three that

we're going to study. I remember this is 1 continuous

letter that was written by Paul and we've had to break it up in

the study after study. And this overall book is broken

into two sections. This book was broken into.

The first section was to give teaching to the Ephesians.

We learned it was it was a letter that was going to be

broken into some teachings and and the other half of the

application. So we're finishing up the last

chapter of teaching that's going to ultimately remind Christians

of our spiritual blessings in Christ and we're finishing that

section today. The next section we're going to

get into is exhorting Christians to have a walk that is worthy of

the calling that we are called by.

And that's going to start in the next chapter.

This third chapter is going to be Paul's kind of second prayer,

and it's going to be a prayer for enablement for them to give

a quick overview of the outline of this book, if you have not

been with us already. The first chapter was talking

about our spiritual possession in Christ.

It is from the Father, from the Son, from the Spirit, and we

read it a beautiful prayer Paul had for them.

It was a prayer that I hope we all take.

And is that prayer that we will be enlightened, that the

understanding of our minds will be open, so we can see the

realities that God has for us? He reminded us in chapter two of

our spiritual position in Christ, that we are raised and

seated on the throne, that we are reconciled and set into the

temple. And now he's going to give us a

give a prayer for enablement, and we'll talk about the call to

walk. It's going to be OK.

So you got to get up now. You got to move, You got to

respond to this. We'll talk about that later.

OK, so let's get a running start from Ephesians chapter 2, verse

Ephesians 2:14

14, where we were kind of coming up to at the last point he was

saying for he himself, Speaking of Jesus is our peace, who has

made both one and has broken down the middle wall of

separation. We talked about in the Old

Testament how that middle wall separated the Gentiles from the

Jews, having abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the law

of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create and

himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that

he might reconcile them both to God and one body.

Through the cross. Therefore, therefore, thereby

putting to death the enmity, He came and preached peace to you

who are far off, and to those who are near.

For through him we have both have access by 1 Spirit to the

Father finishing up that last chapter.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners,

your fellow citizens, with the Saints and members of the

household of God having been built on the foundation of the

apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the

chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted

together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you

also are being built together for a dwelling place of God and

the Spirit. That was kind of the the last

thought he left off on. And he's going to continue with

a because of this. So he wanted to leave us with

the thought that we are being built together as a dwelling

place for God himself. That's a big deal for a group of

people who who maybe we're distracted with the week we had

before. Maybe you're just coming in here

trying to get your mind right for worship.

We have a great responsibility today.

We have a great honor today that we are being built for this

purpose. And what a great commitment we

should have to his body. OK, Ephesians, Chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

I'll admit to you Frank told me before I did this study.

He was like, man, this is a great chapter.

He said that donkey one time was talking to Lynnwood Smith about

these verses, And Linwood, while he was talking about it, just

started crying. These verses are beautiful.

And to be honest with you, that was intimidating for a speaker

like I I better have something good to say about these verses

that they'll bring up a man who's heard this his whole life

to tears. And so my prayer was that I

would have something to say that would do that, you know, to to

make it meaningful in the way that needs to be.

But that's my prayer changed because it's not about what I

have to say. God said it.

My prayer changed to that we will have hearts that will hear

God's work. That I will have a heart to hear

this for the beauty that it holds, for the power that God

intended it to hold for us as Christians, to the Ephesians.

And when he was trying to motivate and strengthen these

Ephesian brethren who may have been getting weak, who may have

needed that uplifting, here's what he had to say for this

reason. So because of the fact that

you're being built up together as a dwelling place for God here

in this place, for this reason, I pull the prisoner of Christ

Jesus for you, Gentiles, if you indeed you have heard of the

dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for

you. It's hard to break up Paul

sentences because he gives a lot of, he's throwing a lot of

information in there, but we're going to pause it right here.

He says because of this I pull the prisoner of Christ Jesus for

you Gentiles. Paul was remembered in prison in

Rome and somehow through all of his struggles, he sees that he

is not a prisoner of Rome. He doesn't say I'm a prisoner of

of this king at this time. He's not worried about that.

He is a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles, because of the

message that he was preaching to the Gentiles, and primarily to

spread this gospel is why he's in prison and he has the the

place in his mind. He's decided in his mind he's

not going to be a prisoner man. He's going to be a prisoner of

Christ Jesus for the benefit of others.

Oh, that we could have a mind to look at our life's challenges

like Paul did. It's not about the affliction.

It's not about Rome that had him in prison.

It's not about what he was going through.

He could have looked at this imprisonment as the only thing

that was keeping him from doing what he really wanted to do.

God, I just want to preach the word.

Why am I stuck in prison? Of all the people in this world,

why am I the one who's in prison?

Why am I the one who's locked up to guards and can't go anywhere?

He could have had that mentality.

But you know what? He said.

I'm in here. I'm a prison preacher.

I'm going to share the word. I'm going to write letters.

I'm going to preach to the guards around me.

I'm going to do whatever I need to do.

May we may have, may we have that mindset in our own life

that we could look at an imprisonment as simply an

imprisonment for God, as whatever we're going through as

an opportunity to glorify God in our situation.

You know, and and Paul was at one point said he had no one

like minded to care for a certain set of brethren.

So it wasn't like Paul was just one in a million.

He was one of the few people that was doing this work.

He could, he could have looked at this differently.

He felt alone. He felt alone, maybe like you

do. But he had this mentality.

He says, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the

grace of God which was given to me for you, He's implying that

he knows these Ephesians know something about the God

dispensing a gift that was previously withheld from them

and now God is giving them this gift which is a of the grace of

God for you. How that by revelation he made

known to me the mystery. This word revelation just means

an opening it up and revealing to to make it known.

It's not a complicated idea it's it's making it clear how that by

opening up to them he made known to me the mystery as I have

briefly written already by which when you read you may understand

my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.

OK, so he's going to talk for a minute about this mystery and

and he used that word multiple times.

He's very specific about what he's about, what he's saying

here. This word mysterion in the Greek

has an interesting history and background.

Now, he's not saying a mystery in the sense that that it can't

be understood. Let's look into this word.

This word Mysterio was often used during this day and time to

discuss secret teachings. So there were things called

mystery religions in which you couldn't know what their

religion had to offer until you were initiated.

These mystery religions said, if you want to learn our special

enlightenment, our special knowledge, be initiated into our

what we call a cult and you'll be able to know what we know

today. They had, you know, in Ephesus

in this city. They had Diana or she was also

called Artemis who would have fit this bill.

The Greeks had their mystery religions of the Elysian and

Orphic. You had the Persians who had

myth, realism, Egyptian had Isis and therapists.

These religions were mystery religions.

And in the sense that you got to join us to know this spiritual

knowledge that we have that you don't.

And Paul here is being clear. He says we're writing to you so

that you can read, so that you can understand my knowledge in

the mystery of Christ, this is the difference in our religion.

God doesn't ask you to join to know, he says.

I want you to know so that you may join.

I want you to know what you're getting into.

I want you to have a head on your shoulders, that is, that is

circumspect, that is wise in his understanding.

And Paul wanted them to know this mystery because it used to

be a mystery. It's not a mystery anymore.

Paul's opening it up to them. He says it which in other ages

in time past was not made known to the sons of men as it has now

been been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and

prophets. In other ages we get so focused

on today we think a long time ago is 100 years ago, 200 years

ago. I think that's natural for every

generation. But if you look back, there were

people who lived for 900 years in the Old Testament.

We have thousands of years of history before Gio's even came

into this world. So the fact that sometimes we

get so caught up in here and now, I think it can be easy to

forget how many people, how many lives went through this world

without an understanding of what you and I know today.

This wasn't always revealed in other ages.

Think about the promises made to Abraham in the beginning, that

he would bless Abraham seed, that he would see the the this,

his generation would be like the stars in heaven, like the sand

by the sea. Think about Moses.

With the Israelites, all Moses went through in the wilderness.

Think about every story you can remember from the Old Testament,

every wonderful accounting of events.

Those are history lessons. All those people, they didn't

know what you and I know today. They didn't know what Paul was

revealing to them. Think about Isaiah, Jeremiah,

Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, Jonah, Obadiah, Amos, Joel, Hosea,

NAIA, My back of Zephynaya, Hagai, Zachariah, Malachi, and

the list goes on. Who had lives, Who were

spreading the gospel or trying to teach a nation that was

rebellious to God? Come back to God.

This is what you've done wrong. Come back to him.

This is the God that wants you to repent and change your life.

All these prophets had their lives lived in faith, yet they

didn't know. But you and I know today who in

other ages was not made known to the sons of men that has now

been revealed by the Spirit God's Spirit revealed.

The scriptures inspired the scriptures to the apostles and

prophets and what you and I have today.

These prophets were not Privy to that.

The Gentiles should be fellow heirs.

This is what they did not know back then that the Gentiles

would be fellow heirs. We've already established you

and I are Gentiles. No one in this room can prove

that you were a Jew by by by your your lineage.

OK, They destroyed all his records.

We can't do it. You and I are called to be

fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in

Christ through the gospel. This is what was not made known

to them. They had, they were told this in

the Old Testament, but they didn't have a full picture.

And they thought about things like maybe an Isaiah, how it

said that he was going to be a light to the people in darkness,

that this Jesus that would come would be a light.

He was going to be good for the Gentiles, but they didn't really

grasp why. I mean, think about it once.

Once these people, these Jews, were taught that the Gentiles

are going to be brought in, they said OK, but they still have to

be circumcised. After they're baptized.

As Christians, they were still trying to hold the old law after

they were taught what was really supposed to happen.

Imagine how they thought about the Gentiles before they were

even taught. From some of the research I did,

there were some pretty intense views of the Gentiles.

Their merit may have been even certain groups of people who

said things like God made the Gentiles to fuel the fires of

hell. They had some pretty serious

views of the Gentiles where they didn't think they were on the

same level as the the rest of the Jews and it was always going

to be that way. The scriptures tell told them

about what would happen with the Gentiles, but not in full.

They're going to be met, fellow heirs.

They're going to be family members together of the same

body. Not of when the Jews come into

God's family. They're going to be coming in

and limousine through maybe the High Road and the Jews and the

Gentile was going to come in, you know, ball and chain into

this Kingdom. Maybe that's the mentality they

had, but that's not it. They're going to be the same

body. That's what the Church is today.

We are the body where Jew and Gentile, those who are

historically God's people and those who are not, are one in

Christ Jesus. You know what?

You know what else? We're partakers of His promise.

These Gentiles are going to get the same promise, this promise

that was promised to Abraham long ago of a blessing.

The Gentiles are going to get the same promise that the Jews

thought was only protected for them.

How? In Christ through the Gospel,

this gospel that we teach is how it all comes together.

It's how it all happens of which I became a minister.

A minister means a servant. That's another word for a

servant. Paul saying I became a servant

or a minister according to the gift of God-given to me by the

effective working of his power. Who walk?

Who willingly walks right into servitude?

Sure, we'll walk into a job if it's worth it or we get paid for

it. But who walks into servitude

willingly? This is back to the mentality

Paul has. He willingly became a servant

and he considered it according to the grace of the gift of God.

How did Paul see this? How is it that someone could

voluntarily give themselves, and to call it an honor?

Shame on me when I fail to see what an honor it is, what I'm

carrying with me when I seek to glorify, as the New Testament

calls it, a clay pot that's just holding treasure.

I am the clay pot. The treasure is the word of God.

Shame on me when I look to glorify the clay pot.

When I look to glorify myself, when I look to put myself first

in life, instead of putting attention to and giving glory to

God and putting his message at the forefront of my life because

it is a treasure. Paul willingly became a servant

and called it a gift because he knew the reality of what God

could do and what God's word had to bring the God of this world

effectively working his power in Paul.

To me, whom less than the least of all the Saints, this grace

was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, that I have

the ability of all these people. I'm the.

I consider myself to be the worst.

But I have all these people. I'm the one who gets to do this,

that I get to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches

of Christ. He when he says unsearchable, he

doesn't mean that you can't look through it.

You can't look into it, you can't stay out.

It's a mystery. We've already been told that the

mystery was revealed. So even though it's

unsearchable, it doesn't mean you can't look into it.

The word unsearchable means it's past finding out.

Go ahead. But you're never going to

understand fully. You're never going to grasp the

depth. You're never going to see it all

in this life. It's incomprehensible.

Not that we shouldn't look into these blessings, not that we

shouldn't look into these riches, but whatever we do to

look into them, it's never going to scratch the surface.

We will never be able to fathom what has been given.

Sometimes I feel pretty bad that my mind can't fully appreciate

this. I want to fully appreciate what

God has done for us, and I want to fully appreciate these

riches. But he's going to tell us in a

little bit. That's kind of the point.

This life. You can't fully appreciate it.

That's how awesome it is. That's the point.

And to make all see this is Paul's goal, to make all see.

What is the fellowship of the mystery?

Do I want everyone to see this? Do you want everyone to see

this? If this is that, great, that is

unfathomable. This beyond our ability to

comprehend it. Do you want to see, You want all

to see it? Look, I know there are things

that distract us, that discourage us, that distort our

focus. But that's why we're in this

book, to get that focus, that goal back, that intentionality

back. I want you to put yourself on

the edge of eternity, looking into the most beautiful home you

could ever imagine. All of your life's work is done.

You're standing on the edge of eternity looking in, and you

have all these wonderful blessings.

But did you in your life want to make all see?

There's going to be a time where our chance to tell people is

gone, where our chance is over. We had our shot to tell people

and where we may ever want to look back and try to do it over

again. But we can't.

This is our one shot, Paul said. I want to make all see.

He later says I'm innocent of the blood of all men because I

try to make everyone see what is the fellowship of the mystery?

There's fellowship in this mystery.

There's a fellowship that we all have.

As brothers and sisters that we are sharing the best thing that

anyone's ever thought of, there is no better thing in this world

to think about than the mystery that has been revealed to us,

where the Gentiles get to be saved in a part of God's family

which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who

created all things through Jesus Christ.

This message was hidden for a time.

Why? Why was this hidden to the

intent that now the manifold wisdom of God, the word

manifold, just means variegated. It's many colored, it's many

faceted. That this many colored wisdom of

God might be made known by the church to the principalities and

powers in heavenly places. This has a purpose.

Who it's going to, Who's going to do it and who's going to

receive it? And it's interesting.

The purpose is that God's wisdom is going to be shown.

God's wisdom was it was hidden. For a time.

There were people who wanted to see that, but it was hidden.

It was hidden. But now there's a group that's

going to share it. Who is that?

It's us. We're the group that gets to

share this hidden wisdom of God. We're going to show this hidden

wisdom of God to who? To the principalities and powers

in the heavenly places. That's interesting.

So what's the deal with these principalities and powers in

heavenly places? Basically, the church is showing

and proving God's wisdom to the angels.

That's interesting. I don't have all the answers.

The Bible doesn't give us all the answers, but somehow you and

I are teaching angels or showing angels, or proving something to

angels. If you go to Luke chapter 15

Luke 15:10

verse 10, part of the other hints that we know that this is

going on, something's going on. And Luke 15, verse 10, it says

Luke 15:10

likewise. I say to you, there is joy in

the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner who repents.

You know what that tells me? Angels are aware of what's going

on here. That's interesting.

We're not going to do an exhaustive study because there's

not a We don't know everything. But angels are somehow aware of

what's going on here. Think about that for a second.

That's your Our eyes are always here.

Sometimes we need to look up. First Corinthians are 11.

Verse 10 gives us another clue. For this reason, the woman ought

to have a symbol of authority on her head.

That's a discussion about something women get to do

regarding her own physical makeup.

You can study into that chapter if you wanted to Low.

But he says because of the angels.

He doesn't give us much more than that.

But there's this reason in the background going on that we

don't always see. And first, Peter one verse 10

says this of this salvation. The profits have inquired and

searched carefully. It's very similar to the the

grain of the the grain of thought we're in here.

These prophets inquired and searched carefully, who

prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching

what what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, who is in them

was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of

Christ and the glories that would follow these prophets.

The when, how? What's going to happen to them?

It was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were

ministering the things which have now been reported to you

through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy

Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look

into. You know what you are listening

to right now? Angels have wanted to like, get

they want to see, they want to see.

What's this all about? That begs the question.

Wood said this the angels desire may be indicative of the fact

that the angels for whom no provision for salvation has been

made are outside the realm of redemption.

Maybe they're angels who are curious for their own who when

they rebelled against God and fell from from good graces in

heaven because of their own rebellion.

Maybe these angels are curious. For can our fellow angels get

this salvation? Maybe that's what they're

curious about. Hebrews 2 verse 16 tells us no.

Hebrews 2:16

For indeed he who he who for him deed, he does not give aid to

angels, but he does give aid to the seat of Abraham.

So angels aren't getting the same blessings from Jesus that

we are. And Glenn Osborne said this in

his commentary, How fortunate are we to be the objects of

God's unmerited love? Sure.

You know, angels are probably not all together like us.

OK? You know, they they're heavenly

beings. And I would probably equate

angels, since they are in God's presence in some way to be like

someone who, when Jesus said these people are are going to

be, they're committing an unforgivable sin.

When people see one of God's miracles here on earth and they

say, oh, that's the power of the devil, the Bible says there's

nothing we could do for that person.

They're going to say God's work is the work of the devil.

There's nothing we can do here. If they're angels who sinned in

heaven, I compare that to them in my mind, to people who would

be in God's presence, see his glory, and rebel against it

anyway. So they're a little bit

different than us before we give God, oh God, you're so evil to

you're you're so hard on these angels.

They saw things maybe that we don't get to see.

But how fortunate are we to be the objects of God's emeritted

favor? What if God looked at us with no

grace? What if God didn't give us a

chance, but he did? How fortunate are we?

And angels desire to look into what we get to see and be.

So it's to be made known by the Church to the principalities and

powers in the heavenly places. I've heard it described as kind

of a graduate course for angels. Angels have been in God's

presence. They get to see God for all he

is, but there's stuff today they don't even know about.

And getting to watch us, they get sort of a graduate course.

Interesting thought, but the point is the Church teaches the

physical world. Here we teach people, but we're

also involved somehow in teaching angels powerful,

powerful thoughts. Verse 11 According to the

eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our

Lord, in Him we have boldness and access with confidence

through faith in Him. We've already established in

this letter that this was all part of God's plan the whole

time. It wasn't Plan B, it was His

eternal purpose through Jesus our Lord, and we have boldness

and access with confidence through faith in Him.

God didn't use this word by accident.

He wants us to access him with confidence, not with timidity,

not with doubt, not with angst, not timidly.

Sometimes our world gets so consumed with self that even our

own failures look bigger than God.

So like when? Like if if we really think that

our failures are bigger than God, that's arrogance.

God is so much greater. Maybe we not look at any of our

past as greater than God's grace, but then when we repent

and change our lives, we have confidence through faith in Him.

God didn't stutter when you use that word, confidence.

He intends for you to be confident before His throne.

He intends for you to come before His throne with boldness

through faith in Him. Therefore, because of all this,

therefore, Paul says, I ask that you do not lose heart and my

tribulations for you, which is your glory because of all this.

Look at all this great stuff that's happening.

Look at your responsibility and the privilege you have to do

these wonderful things to be a part of these wonderful things,

he says. Don't don't worry about me,

Don't get discouraged. Don't lose heart.

And my tribulations, things I'm suffering for you, which is your

glory. Paul's suffering has resulted in

them getting the gospel. They get to glory because of

that. They are receiving glory because

of Paul's suffering. So he says don't worry about it.

My suffering is worth it for your benefit.

Again, what a mentality. For this reason, I bow my knees

to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's a it's a physical and an internal disposition.

I bow before gone for this prayer he's going to describe.

I bowed before this God in prayer from whom the whole

family and heaven on earth is named.

We all come from God. We are named from his initial

lineage. God created this all.

I bow my knees that he would grant you according to the

riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might.

There it is. We're starting to see that vein.

Paul is trying to teach them things of the beauty of their

reality so they will be strengthened, not just

strengthen, strengthen with might.

He wants them to be strong people, not couch potato.

Christians, Strong Christians, Christians.

They have a reason to live. Christians who have a reason to

be in the fight. Christians who are ready to do

his work with might, to be strengthened with might through

his spirit and the inner man. God's word teaches us and we

draw strength from God in our inner man, one person said.

I'll get there in just a second. He says strengthen in the inner

man that Christ may dwell in your heart.

Through faith. We learn from Galatians chapter

four that Paul would Christ to be formed in them.

What does it mean for Christ to be formed inside of someone

except when our lives promote and give evidence of the mind of

Christ inside of us? So he's saying he wants Christ

to dwell in our hearts. We know that it's a it's a mind

thing that makes its way out in action, in our in our heart that

Christ would live inside of us through faith.

And it's through faith because we may have faith in God and His

word because his word is trustworthy where it's been

tested. We don't have to go into all

that God's word has produces faith because it's trustworthy

where tested. But there are things you cannot

do a scientific test to figure out, and that requires faith for

what is yet to be tested. He wants Christ to dwell in our

hearts through faith. Sometimes we overcomplicate it.

One man said this. You have your Bible, you have

your knees use them. Sometimes we don't need to

overcomplicate it. The Christ would dwell in our

heart through faith that you being rooted and grounded in

love. So he's he's praying this prayer

for them that they would be strengthened and that they will

be rooted. Being rooted means a a tree is

holding on to something that can't be moved.

And God, we are holding on to something that cannot be moved,

that cannot be shaken. He wants them to be rooted,

strong and grounded in love. Being grounded simply means

basically the same thing as being rooted.

You're attached to the ground. The ground is going to give you

security strength and it cannot be moved.

Nobody moves the ground. That's why they put anchors in

the ground, because you can't move the ground.

But he wants them to be grounded in God.

How? In love, in love, you know,

that's very specific. He says that he didn't say in

fear. There's there's a place in the

Christian life for a reverential fear that we would see God's

greatness and his power and and tremble before him like Moses

did his greatness. But it's interesting he didn't

say that's what he wants them to be grounded in.

You know, if I told all of you, I'm going to go for another 3

1/2 four hours. I want to talk and I have pulled

out a gun. None of you are going to leave.

But the second, if I were to say I got to go do something, I'll

be right back. All of you would bolt.

Fear is a very temporary is a very specific kind of

motivation. Now, if I told you all I really

need you right now and I'm asking you to do this for me as

someone who loves you, would you please stay here for three,

eight, 3, 1/2 more hours? Most of you would probably stay.

Fear will keep people somewhere until that threat, whether

reality or imperception, is lifted and the reality is in our

faith. There may be times where you've

been motivated by fear. Your fear will only hold you

somewhere as long as you see that threat as imminent.

Once you see or think that God's not a threat anymore and that's

sane, can deceive us, you can make us, we told them in the

garden, Is God really going to do that to you?

Our minds can be twisted to think that God's not there all

the time and as powerful as he is and as present as he is, And

so it's only a matter of time until our minds don't see God as

someone to be feared. And where you say, OK, I could,

I could go now, I could do this God.

I'm not thinking about God right now.

Fear will only last our face so long without love because love

will ground us. If you've seen people try to

pull a a tree out with a truck, there's these videos all over

the place. Because people try all kinds of

things to remove a stump and people will hook their truck up

to a tree and drive away with all those.

All those horsepower and the truck will break apart a lot of

times before the tree does. If you are grounded in love,

people aren't going to have to, aren't going to be able to pull

you away from God. They're not going to be able to

deceive you, to think of God's not really here right now.

You can do this because you're going to be grounded in love and

rooted to where no one can rip us away and no one can deceive

us into leaving him. He wants us to be rooted and

grounded in love. That you be able, this is, this

is just beautiful that you may be able to comprehend.

So to comprehend this, we have to be grounded in love.

To comprehend what to may be able to comprehend with all the

Saints. Saints just means God's people.

It's faithful people. What is the width and the length

and the depth and the height. He's saying this the massiveness

of this thing of what? To know the love of Christ,

which passes knowledge. There it is again.

It's past finding out you can't fully grasp, but you can know

it, he says. If you are grounded in love, you

will be able to comprehend. You may not fully grasp it, but

you will know the love of Christ, which passes the

knowledge that we have, that you may be filled with all the

fullness of God. That's part of the issue with

being teacher or preacher. Knowledge won't give you things.

Knowledge. Living inside of you and

creating a change will. I can't say things up here.

They're going to give you the right knowledge.

Because I've had knowledge and I've used it and and I've made

mistakes and there are things that my my heart knew at one

time that it has drifted away because I didn't stay in that

thing. Just knowing something will

always last on your heart. It passes beyond what I can tell

you and give you knowledge about.

Or I can try to get knowledge about is beyond knowledge that

you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

What a statement that we could be filled with all the fullness

of God. How do I, how do I even describe

that he was describing the dimensions in width and height

and depth? How wide is God's love?

It's wide enough to include every person who would come to

him. How long is God's love?

It's long enough to last through all eternity.

How deep is God's love? It's deep enough to reach the

worst Sinner, to reach into the lowest places to save.

How high does God's love go? It's high enough to take us to

heaven, to know the love of Christ with Pat, which passes

knowledge. This knowledge gives us a sense

of groundedness. And you know, I think about the

ancient religions as you study. If you look at ancient religions

like the Native Americans, they would make sacrifices to a God

where they didn't really know where they stood.

They'd be reeling because they're in a famine, they're in

a drought. What do we do?

We got to make a sacrifice. It would make human sacrifices

on their altars because they didn't know where they stood

during the Old Testament. God, I told you all the prophets

God was teaching through them to say This is why I'm upset at you

Change and I will take care of you.

God has always been clear with his people.

He's given them a sense of groundedness to know where we

stand with him. How great is that?

That we don't have to wonder and worry about where we stand, but

then we can know where we stand. We can know the love of Christ,

which passes knowledge. Part of the question is if God's

fullness is to fill us, are we ready to make room, to empty

ourself, To make room for God's fullness?

I have to empty myself. John said it this way.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who comes from above is all. And Are you ready?

Even today? Like I said, it's we forget

stuff. You may have known it at one

point. Are you ready today to empty

yourself, to be filled with the fullness of God, beyond self,

beyond selfishness, beyond anything else that might stand

in our way, even me, even you? Now to him finishing up these

last verses. Now to him who is able to do

exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, he didn't

have to use all of these. Repetitive.

Seemingly. Yeah, we get the point

exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask her Think.

But he did, because he's making a point He's able to do.

Above all that we ask her Think You know how awesome that is.

That means there's hope, because you haven't seen, nor have I,

how great the things are God has planned for us.

How many billions of people have walked this earth?

How many millions have followed him with sincerity of heart, And

none of them, none of us have ever come close, because it's

exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ever ask God

for or beg God for on our knees when we're struggling.

It's above all of that. Anything we could ever think

it's above that he only has one response according to the power

that works in us. To him, the glory in the church

by Christ Jesus, to all generations, forever and ever.

Amen. And that's the only thing there

is left to say. May we glorify him this morning

because of the wonderful things that we can't even grasp our

minds around today in this place.

But the church is a people. It's not a place.

When I leave here today, When you leave here today, what are

your motivations? Why are you alive?

Why do you get up in the morning?

What gives you peace at night to him be glory here and wherever

we go? Because he is worthy of all

praise. That's the lesson today.

And if you have not been added to this glorious body, who he

said was once a mystery, you have a chance to see it now.

How could you not want to? How could you not see this and

want to follow him? We learned that today that he

wants us to have faith. Well, faith's not complicated.

You have to hear the Bible says to have faith.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

We hear, we believe, we repent. We have to follow God if we want

Christ to dwell in us. That means repenting to change

our life. Because I sure didn't come in

and go, Hey, Jesus, I'm doing the same thing you're doing.

I'll just go with you. No, he said.

You better. You better change everything

you've ever thought, everything you may have ever done.

We're repenting, confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,

that we can be saved by no other name, the name of Jesus and the

blood of Jesus, that we be baptized.

Not because we're doing some great work to to save ourselves,

but because we are submitting. When you're baptized, you get

lunged underneath the water and buried in that water to rise and

walk a newness of life. If you've already been added to

the Church, what a wonderful thing.

But if you've done that, and you need to make something right, if

you need the prayers of the church, that's why we're here

together. We're ready to support take care

of one of either case while we stand and what we say.

We thank you for listening to our podcast put on by the Church

of Christ at 2215 Plans Rd. in Bakersfield.

If you would like any additional information or you would like to

receive a free Bible correspondence course by mail,

please e-mail us at [email protected].

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Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Please make plans to join us.

We would love for you to be our honored guest.