What God Is Doing in You (Ephesians 3:14-21)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.360 Let's turn our attention to God's word in Ephesians, Chapter Three, verses fourteen 2 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:13.750 through twenty. Ephesians three, versus fourteen through twenty one. Actually, that's 3 00:00:13.789 --> 00:00:19.469 on page nine hundred and seventy seven of the black bibles. Through the words 4 00:00:19.550 --> 00:00:24.219 of the Apostle of God, take them to heart. For this reason, 5 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:29.460 I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven on earth 6 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:34.020 is named, that, according to the riches of his glory, he may 7 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:38.369 grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit, in your inner being, 8 00:00:39.289 --> 00:00:42.689 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, 9 00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:47.250 being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend, with all 10 00:00:47.289 --> 00:00:50.079 the saints, what is the breadth and the length and the height and the 11 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:54.840 depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you 12 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:59.640 may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is 13 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:04.349 able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according 14 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:08.269 to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the Church 15 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:15.030 and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever. On men. 16 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:19.459 You maybe see. I hope that you're familiar with this verse, a 17 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:27.739 Verse Twenty and twenty one, these two verses, this word from the spirit 18 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:34.010 of God about the great power of God, particularly is it relates to prayer. 19 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:38.769 Verse Twenty, listen to get listen again to what it says. Now 20 00:01:40.010 --> 00:01:45.409 to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or 21 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:49.799 think, according to the power at work within us. To him be the 22 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:53.439 glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and 23 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:59.000 ever on men, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than 24 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:05.510 all we ask or think. I'll admit that I often think of this verse 25 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:13.069 in very silly and Mundane situations. I'm looking for my car keys and I 26 00:02:13.669 --> 00:02:15.860 pray and I ask to find them and then I find them and I say 27 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:21.819 wow, and he answered this and he's able to do far more abundantly than 28 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:25.979 even the things I ask or think to ask. Right, nothing wrong with 29 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:32.569 that. But in light of the things that we often pray for, listen 30 00:02:32.650 --> 00:02:39.250 to the things that Paul Prays for in Verses Fourteen through nineteen and then consider 31 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:44.210 what he says in verse twenty now to Him who is able to do far 32 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:49.360 more abundantly than all we ask and think. So what does Paul pray for 33 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:57.439 in versus fourteen through nineteen? Well, look at Verse Sixteen. He praised 34 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:01.469 that God may grant us to be strengthened with power through his spirit. In 35 00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:06.789 verse Seventeen, he asks that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 36 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:09.590 In verse a teen, he says that we would have the strength to comprehend, 37 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:13.259 with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and 38 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:16.300 depth to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. And he continues on 39 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:21.780 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And then he 40 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:29.169 says now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than then all 41 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:35.009 that we ask or think, that's an amazing thing to say. After may 42 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:39.490 you be filled with all the fullness of God. What else could there possibly 43 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:45.840 be asked for? What else could we possibly think of? What could we 44 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:52.960 desire more than that? What could be more remarkable, more spectacular, more 45 00:03:53.159 --> 00:04:00.069 mysterious, grand, glorious, powerful then to be filled with all the fullness 46 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:04.270 of God? And yet he still sees it fit to say now to him 47 00:04:04.270 --> 00:04:12.139 who is able to do far more abundantly, far more abundantly than all we 48 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:16.939 the all that we ask or think. What could even be included? I 49 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:20.259 don't know, but I think that's the point, right, more than we 50 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:24.889 can even think, more than we can say, more than we can ask. 51 00:04:25.490 --> 00:04:31.649 That is how bitch God's blessings are toward us. It's in that amazing 52 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:43.920 in one of the commentaries I'm reading Steve Bob, my friend and informer professor, 53 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.600 he gets he does his commentary and that the end of each section he 54 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:55.790 has this point where he has kind of applications. He starts off that section 55 00:04:55.910 --> 00:05:00.750 by saying, I'm a little hesitant to try to apply this because it's all 56 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:04.029 right there, that the applications are right here, right. These are the 57 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:09.899 things that Paul is praying for, right, the ways in which we would 58 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:14.300 be strengthened, the things that would happen in us. It's all a very 59 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:20.259 plain but at the same time it's all very wonderful, isn't it? This 60 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:28.170 passage is really a continuation of something Paul began in Chapter Two, and I 61 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:30.529 want to point that out to you. Notice in verse fourteen it says for 62 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:34.490 this reason I pray. Well, what is the reason that it's built on? 63 00:05:34.649 --> 00:05:40.240 Well, it's a concluding thought. In Chapter Two, in Verses Nineteen 64 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:45.519 through twenty two, he says this. So then you are he's concluding and 65 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.199 he says so. Then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you 66 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:53.709 are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, of 67 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:58.709 God built on the found fundation of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself 68 00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:02.310 being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together, grows into 69 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:06.500 a Holy Temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built 70 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:13.899 together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit men. In the verses 71 00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:17.769 where between where I just stopped and where we picked up, in three fourteen, 72 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:21.610 he has a small digression which he talks about his ministry and how that 73 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:26.610 applies to this work that God is doing, building on the foundation of the 74 00:06:26.649 --> 00:06:30.970 Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone, and then he 75 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:34.879 picks this up again. Because of this work that God has done, because 76 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.959 you are you, you gentiles, are no longer strangers and aliens to the 77 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.959 promise and to the covenants and to the temple, but are being brought in 78 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:47.550 and made part of these things. For that reason, I now bow before 79 00:06:47.589 --> 00:06:53.430 the father from whom every family, Jew and Gentile and heaven and earth is 80 00:06:53.589 --> 00:06:58.629 named, and now I'm praying for something more than that. Right. This 81 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:01.220 is how Ephesians is from the beginning of the book up to this point, 82 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:05.019 and it continues on this way. There's this sort of end, this and 83 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:11.620 this and this and this. If this book isn't helping you to have a 84 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:16.089 bigger vision, a bigger perspective of what God is doing, you're missing the 85 00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:21.569 point. You're missing what he's saying here. There are ways in which we 86 00:07:21.730 --> 00:07:26.410 think about our world, things that we ask of God, ways in which 87 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:31.079 we frame our lives that are simply not in accord with scripture. They're not 88 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:36.120 in accord with the kinds of things he's saying here. What are the things 89 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:42.040 that he's saying here? What is Paul's grow up prayer for Christian growth? 90 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.230 Right, that's a common prayer. Right. Can I grow as a Christian? 91 00:07:46.269 --> 00:07:49.310 Can I be strengthened as a Christian? How does Paul Frame that? 92 00:07:50.149 --> 00:07:56.269 How does the spirit of God, speaking through his servant, want us to 93 00:07:56.389 --> 00:08:05.139 understand that request, that growth? That's amazing what he says. Well, 94 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:07.220 one thing he says is that, on the basis of this work that God 95 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:11.379 is done in bringing, through the preaching of the Gospel, the gentiles into 96 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:16.089 this House of God, God is going to continue this work in you. 97 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:20.529 Sometimes people think that becoming a Christian is about sort of doing something at the 98 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:26.649 beginning and then that's it, but it's about God doing something at the beginning 99 00:08:26.689 --> 00:08:31.199 and then God continuing to do something as he works in us. It's not 100 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.879 as though our regeneration is from God, but then the ongoing renewal in us 101 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.679 is not from God, or that our justification is from God, but our 102 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:45.149 sanctification isn't from God. No, it's all from God and that's why he 103 00:08:45.309 --> 00:08:48.230 called. He talks about it in Verse Sixteen. Is being granted something. 104 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:54.350 We are being a given a gift according to the riches of his glory. 105 00:08:54.429 --> 00:09:00.139 May He grant you with what, with strength, that you may be strengthened 106 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:07.259 with power through his spirit in your inner being. This is the work that 107 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:11.809 God desires to do in you, having made you a part of Christ, 108 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:16.450 to strengthen you. And a lot of times when we think about strength, 109 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:24.399 we think about bodily strength, or financial strength or job security. That's not 110 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:31.120 what he says. When Paul envisions a flourishing, lively, healthy Christian, 111 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:39.389 and praise that for these new Christians, these former pagans. What does he 112 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:41.590 ask? He says that grant you to be strengthened by his power, through 113 00:09:41.629 --> 00:09:46.389 his spirit, in your inner being, which is way of saying your your 114 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:52.470 your soul, the inward man, right as opposed to the outward man, 115 00:09:52.629 --> 00:09:58.740 the external man. He sees a need, he expresses a need for strength 116 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:05.019 in the internal part of us. Now, of course we need strengthen the 117 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:07.330 external part as well, and God provides that in our daily bread. But 118 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:13.289 our body is should the Lord Terry are going to die, they're going to 119 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:18.289 pass away, as will this world. It's wealth, that's power, it's 120 00:10:18.330 --> 00:10:22.639 kingdoms that will all go, even the bad bodies in heaven, The Sun 121 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.840 and the moon and the stars, the earths are said to be in scripture 122 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:31.519 to be dissolved, the sky being rolled up like a scroll. These kinds 123 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.870 of things, these external realities, are going to change. But something has 124 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:43.230 begun inwardly. That's a part of the new creation that's already here, and 125 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:46.350 God wants this, wants that to be strengthened in us, and that's why 126 00:10:46.429 --> 00:10:52.179 his apostle was praying for that, that we would be strengthened in our inner 127 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:58.700 man through his spirit, and this is made parallel with Christ dwelling in our 128 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:05.250 hearts. This is an amazing thing and it's worth asking so that we might 129 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:09.409 understand the work of God well. Which is it? Is it the Holy 130 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:13.450 Spirit who dwells in me, or is it Christ who dwells in me? 131 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:20.360 How am I to understand these things? One passage worth looking at in this 132 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:26.960 regard is Romans chapter eight, Romans eight versus nine. Through love and listen 133 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:31.279 to what Paul says. He says you, however, are not in the 134 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.669 flesh but are in the spirit, if in fact, the spirit of God 135 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:39.230 dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not 136 00:11:39.389 --> 00:11:45.230 belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is 137 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:50.179 dead because of sin, the spirit of is life because of righteousness. If 138 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:54.059 the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he 139 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:00.100 who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through 140 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:05.769 his spirit who dwells in you. So who dwells in you. Well, 141 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:09.929 the spirit of God dwells in you, the spirit of Christ dwells in you. 142 00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:13.570 Christ dwells in you, the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the 143 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:18.600 dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ, Jesus from the dead, 144 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.759 then will also give life to your mortal bodies. Eventually, the outward man 145 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.799 will be renewed, and will happen in accord with the principle that has already 146 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.830 begun. That's why we talk sometimes about the resurrection life. There is a 147 00:12:33.950 --> 00:12:37.870 bodily resurrection that we are waiting for on the day of glory, but it's 148 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:43.830 something that's already started. You, who have been buried with Christ, have 149 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:48.980 been raised up with him. That's how he talks in Romans Chapter Six. 150 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:54.019 If he raised Jesus, Christ from the dead in his mortal body, he 151 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:58.970 will also give life to your immortal bodies. And so the answer is yes. 152 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:03.889 When we think about the external works of God, there is a unity 153 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.250 in them, the unity than which we can speak of all a persons of 154 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:11.330 the Trinity, God dwelling in us. And isn't that the Great Covenant Promise? 155 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:16.879 I will be with you, I will be your God and you will 156 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:22.720 be my people. There is a unity in God and a unity in all 157 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.470 his works, and that's why Paul speaks in this way. Christ does dwell 158 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:33.350 in us because his spirit dwells in us. His spirit dwells in US because 159 00:13:33.470 --> 00:13:39.190 Christ dwells in us. The fullness of God is that with which we are 160 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:45.980 filled amazing things. So this is Paul's prayer. How does Paul think about 161 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:50.100 growing as a Christian? He prays that we would be strengthened with power through 162 00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:54.980 his spirit in our inner being. The Christ would dwell in our hearts through 163 00:13:54.019 --> 00:13:58.289 faith, and then, being rooted and grounded in this love of God, 164 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:05.610 something would happen. What is going to happen? Right? What is the 165 00:14:05.730 --> 00:14:09.370 thing that Paul thinks, but or not thinks, but what is the thing 166 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:13.919 Paul is praying for all at according to the will of God, that will 167 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:18.559 happen when we are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ? What he 168 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:26.029 says, I think, is surprising. He says that we may have strength 169 00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:33.909 to comprehend the love of Christ, see how it's just sort of swirling with 170 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:37.070 God, if I could put it that way, every aspect, every way 171 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:41.700 you turn this thing that you would call our salvation. Every way you look 172 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:46.019 at it, you see another aspect of God and his glory and His grace. 173 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:52.970 To him, who is able to do far more abundantly than this. 174 00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:58.289 Be All the glory. He roots us in love, not so that we 175 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:03.330 can be separated from him and go be busy doing other things. He roots 176 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:07.279 and grounds us in the love of Christ so that we can know more of 177 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.200 the love of Christ. We don't come into the knowledge and fellowship with Jesus 178 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:18.279 so that we can have something else. We come into the knowledge and fellowship 179 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.360 with our Savior, Jesus Christ, so that we can have more of him. 180 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:28.149 As the dear pants after water, so my soul pants after you, 181 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:33.110 the psalmist says. I think of songs, a song of songs, Song 182 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:37.779 of Solomon, this language of just wanting to belong, to be loved and 183 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:43.700 to be caught up in love. That's what this is about. That's what 184 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:50.370 the Christian life is about. It's about being caught up in knowing and belonging 185 00:15:50.690 --> 00:16:00.090 and living in the fullness of God, who is love. When God does 186 00:16:00.250 --> 00:16:04.200 this work of love in us, through the sun and through the spirit, 187 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:11.480 it leads to our ability to comprehend something that we could not comprehend without it 188 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:15.159 takes strength to comprehend. Isn't that a remarkable thing to think about? It 189 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:22.950 takes strength to comprehend these amazing things. They're not light things, they're not 190 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:29.669 small things, they are mysterious and wonderful things, things beyond our imagination, 191 00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:33.059 things that we can even begin to think of, and yet here they are. 192 00:16:34.580 --> 00:16:38.580 How do we come about understanding them? How do we come come about 193 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:47.490 understanding something that is he says in Verse Nineteen Surpasses Knowledge. Strength of God. 194 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:49.690 I don't know what else to say. And that's what he says. 195 00:16:55.610 --> 00:17:02.200 You see, how Grand Faull's prayers for Christian growth and strength. He has 196 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.240 a vision for what God is doing that is, I think, much bigger 197 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:14.400 than most of us, and I think me included, we really live in 198 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:21.150 in a regular basis. But we can grow in that individually and together as 199 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:26.589 a church, coming to understand more and more these things. How because they're 200 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:30.339 written for us right here. We can go to God's word as it is 201 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:34.819 given to us and come to understand these things more and more. Because this 202 00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:41.099 prayer that Paul Prais is something we can all pray, something that we can 203 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:47.289 all ask God for. We don't have to make this stuff up and wonder 204 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:53.410 about some kind of fantastic thing. It's right here, given for us to 205 00:17:53.569 --> 00:17:59.279 seek the Lord in. We of course, need to be a people that 206 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:04.000 are busy about doing the things of love, a loving one another, of 207 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:08.599 serving God and all of these things, but we ought never to do them 208 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:14.269 in a way that is separated from God and the grace that he gives to 209 00:18:14.390 --> 00:18:19.470 us in Jesus, because apart from him we have nothing. Apart from him. 210 00:18:19.509 --> 00:18:23.509 You remember, as he says in chapter two, you were dead in 211 00:18:23.589 --> 00:18:29.619 your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this 212 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:33.059 world, following the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that 213 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:37.619 is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians paints a picture that 214 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:42.089 reminds us there is a war at hand, a war between the Prince of 215 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:47.890 darkness and the Prince of Light. There is a winner of this war, 216 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:52.410 and we already know who that is, the resurrected, glorious lamb of God. 217 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:56.920 But that battle still, all, is ongoing, and we need to 218 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:03.279 pray for spiritual strength and, as we will see in chapter six, Paul 219 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.680 will talk about this more when he tells us to be strong in the Lord 220 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.750 and in the might of in the strength of his might. That's how we 221 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:18.589 find strength to love and to live for him. He'll go on to say, 222 00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:22.710 put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand 223 00:19:22.750 --> 00:19:30.059 against the schemes of the devil. The Lord knows, as the Lord knows, 224 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:36.819 that the struggles that you have, the temptations you have, the inabilities 225 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:41.170 you have, the weaknesses that you have, he knows that you need strength, 226 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:48.970 strength to fight, strength to fight even the devil himself. But here 227 00:19:49.009 --> 00:19:55.079 he promises you that strength. You don't have to go out and fight by 228 00:19:55.160 --> 00:20:00.400 your own power, but you can fight and you can live in the glory 229 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:07.990 of God and according to his might. I want to end by reading to 230 00:20:07.029 --> 00:20:15.470 you a little bit from Ezekiel, Ezekiel, chapter forty three. I want 231 00:20:15.509 --> 00:20:22.460 to read here because here the Prophet of the Lord is given a vision of 232 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:29.099 the very things that Paul is talking about in Ephesians. Remember, he is 233 00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:34.579 said that we are the Temple of God, the Temple in which God is 234 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:41.529 dwelling in, Christ is dwelling in. This is the result of a plan 235 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:45.410 that as we have considered and from other parts of Ephesians, that has been 236 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.210 in place for a long time. And here, a long time ago in 237 00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:55.440 the Old Testament, Ezekiel speaks of this cut day that will come. A 238 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:03.039 time had happened when the temple, the physical temple in Israel, was abandoned 239 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:10.309 by God. Why? Because the people were disobedient. The people are idolatrous. 240 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:15.150 The people were eventually exiled out of the nation, vomited out of out 241 00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:19.220 of the Holy Land. Ezekiel talks about that at the beginning of the book 242 00:21:19.259 --> 00:21:25.660 and he has this vision, terrifying vision, of the spirit of God lifting 243 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:30.420 up and leaving. This is the opposite of I will be your God and 244 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:33.890 you will be my people. This is God saying I will not be your 245 00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:40.490 God and you will not be my people. Why? Because of their disobedience. 246 00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:44.289 But then in Ezekiel forty three, we have these promises about a new 247 00:21:44.450 --> 00:21:45.890 covenant that he will make and think the things he will do, and he 248 00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:52.559 says this. Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east, 249 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.119 and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the 250 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:00.119 east. Remember what Paul says in Ephesians about all these things according to the 251 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:04.349 riches of his glory, so Ezekiel says. And behold, the glory of 252 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:07.910 God of Israel was coming from the east, and the sound of his coming 253 00:22:08.069 --> 00:22:11.430 was like a rush of many or the sound of many waters, and the 254 00:22:11.630 --> 00:22:17.339 earth shown with his glory, And the Vision I saw was just like the 255 00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:21.220 vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just 256 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:25.980 like the vision that I had seen at the chebar canal. And I fell 257 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:30.049 on my face as the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate 258 00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:34.450 facing east. The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court 259 00:22:34.490 --> 00:22:41.130 and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. While the man 260 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:44.400 was standing beside me, I heard one speak to me out of the temple, 261 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.519 and he said to me, son of men, this is the place 262 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:52.119 of my throne and the place of the souls of my feet, where I 263 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:56.880 will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the House 264 00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:02.109 of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, 265 00:23:02.670 --> 00:23:06.109 nor their wharring and by their dead bodies of their kings at their high 266 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:10.750 places, by setting their threshold, by my threshold and their doorposts beside my 267 00:23:10.910 --> 00:23:15.019 doorposts, only a wall between me, and with only a wall in between 268 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.819 me and them, they have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they 269 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:23.380 have committed, so that I have consumed them in my anger. Now let 270 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:27.009 them put away their horring and their dead bodies and their of their kings far 271 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:34.529 from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. God says, 272 00:23:36.089 --> 00:23:40.569 I have come, I have come in glory, I've come in power, 273 00:23:40.849 --> 00:23:45.599 and now respond with repentance and put away these things. And that's what Paul 274 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:49.680 is saying to the Ephesians. The glory of God, the spirit of God, 275 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:56.150 Christ himself has descended down into you, the Temple of the Lord, 276 00:23:56.670 --> 00:24:00.869 you who once walked in these ways, that Israel was walking. Here is 277 00:24:02.430 --> 00:24:06.390 the Prophet condemns them, you who once walked in these ways and we're dead 278 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:11.579 in your trespasses and sins no longer. Now walk according to the newness of 279 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.500 life, the resurrection, the things that are come, the new creation. 280 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:23.569 So that's Paul's prayer for Christian growth. What a boring word describe, or 281 00:24:23.690 --> 00:24:29.210 boring way to describe the things that are described here in Ephesians for us. 282 00:24:29.250 --> 00:24:37.890 Let's think about this more, let's come to understand this more, even things 283 00:24:37.930 --> 00:24:45.079 that surpass our knowledge. Let's learn to look to this God father's son and 284 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:48.359 Holy Spirit and the grace that he has poured out on us. When we 285 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:53.430 look for the things that we need, when we pray for our daily bread, 286 00:24:53.990 --> 00:24:56.910 when we pray for the things and the needs that we have in this 287 00:24:57.150 --> 00:25:02.549 life, let us look to him who is able to do far more abundantly 288 00:25:03.269 --> 00:25:07.779 than all we ask or think, according to the power that is work at 289 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:10.700 work in us. Let us pray