Good Morning Beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!
Thank you for joining us, we're so glad you're here.
The first 3 chapters of the book of Ephesians are theological, emphasizing the New Testament doctrine, whereas
the last 3 chapters of the book, are practical and focus on Christian behavior.
Perhaps, above all, this is a letter to the church at Ephesus, is one of encouragement and admonition,
written to remind believers of their immeasurable blessings in Jesus
Christ. I believe so that we will not only be thankful for those blessings, but that we will live our lives in such a manner, as to be worthy of them.
In preparing for this message, I began thinking about cause and effect. It reminded me of a chain of dominos.
We have been talking about the blessings we have in Christ – what are our three blessings?
Election (domino), adoption (domino), and living under the authority of
Christ (domino). In our last message, we discussed that because of our blessings,
we have the responsibility to bless others (domino) and we saw that the
blessings we have allow us to focus on God’s plan for our lives
(domino) and His purpose, which is worship (domino), rest in God’s
love because of the Holy Spirit that we receive when we believe
(domino); and 3) we are blessed to be instruments of blessing, not just
recipients (domino).Today, as our study of Ephesians continues, I want us to carry on with the cause and effect theory, or domino effect, to give us a chain of events. Up to this point we have
seen that we are blessed to bless others, however, the last part of chapter 1, verses 15-23, shows us the process that happens in our lives when we
know the truth and walk in it. As we know the truth and walk in it, we
trigger a wonderful "domino" reaction in our spiritual walk that draws us closer
to God and effects every single area of our lives.
These verses make up the majority of a powerful prayer by Paul for the
church, and because this book was meant to be circulatory, this would
be Paul’s prayer for any church. This prayer is what
Paul would pray for The Journey today if he were here. From this prayer,
we are going to see several "spiritual dominos" in our lives that can trigger a greater work of God in our lives. When these truths are embraced, they will unlock doors in your spiritual life
that would never have been opened to begin with.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for this time to pause and think about all that we have been given in Christ. All the wonderful blessings that remind us, that Jesus Christ is our everything. He is our Lord and Savior. Lord, we thank You for the love You have expressed for us, even unto death, still our love is not what it ought to be. Thank You for showing us how easy it is, in the midst of our self-centered lives, to leave our first love. Forgive us and restore that burning passion we had in the beginning, when we couldn't get enough of You.
Help us to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the truth, give us the confidence and boldness to proclaim the truth to others, who do not yet have a relationship with Christ. Prepare their hearts O' Lord, that we may plant the seeds of faith, for You to cultivate, water and nurture, that at the right time, they might grow. All for Your glory.
In Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: Domino Effect
Many Christians are frustrated trying to live a life that's never been defined for them. And stating the obvious, you cannot live, what you do not know and understand.
Obedience to God is the beginning of spiritual growth. (domino)After
all the talk of blessing in the first 14 verses, Paul in verse 15 gives
the church a compliment that launches him into a fantastic prayer. "For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints." It would be really easy to just skip by this commendation by Paul to the prayer that follows. But this
compliment lays the groundwork for the prayer that would follow.
In other words, if the Ephesian church and the Christians in it
were not living in faith and love, I don’t believe that Paul would have
or even could have prayed for them like he does in verses 16-20, if they
hadn’t been demonstrating faith and love as seen in verse 15.
Their
faith in God and love for others meant that they were living in
obedience to God. Faith and love are the ingredients for obedience
(domino). If we truly desire to live obediently to God, faith in God
and love toward others are the starting points. So, let’s define faith and
love.
There are many people that think faith is simply having trust. But faith goes far beyond trust, or
beyond just believing something is true, beyond reason, beyond the mind. Not
that faith is adverse to these things, but faith rises above simple
belief and reason. Faith is responsive, its not just declarative.
Think in terms of a calculator. You can have every faith in the calculator’s ability to solve
any math problem. However, no matter how strong your faith is, until you put your faith into action and press the buttons on the calculator, you will
never get the answer!
Open with me your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 1 as we examine these last nine verses 15 through 23. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you from this magnificent epistle, rich in truth and blessing, it is a very important portion of Scripture. Ephesians 1:15-23.
"For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
Verses 3 through 14, is essentially one long sentence, discussing what we have in Christ. It talks about the great concept of election, the great concept of redemption, and the
great truth of inheritance. In the past God elected us, He redeems us,
and in the future, gives us an inheritance. The amazing truths contained in these verses, are far beyond our human comprehension and understanding. Our finite minds cannot grasp the level of depth of these truths of God.
Faith is actively trusting in the Word of God. (domino). It does no good to know it’s true if I don’t in faith act on it. In verse 15, Paul commends their faith. Faith in God is the first characteristic of an obedient Christian. Also in verse 15 Paul complimented them about their love for Christians everywhere. What is love? Several times in the life of Jesus, He
commanded His followers to love one another. Love can be demonstrated in so many
different ways, the emotion of love is powerful. However, when Jesus
commanded us to love one another, He wasn’t simply being emotional. Love
is meant to be demonstrated practically and expressively.
I John 3:18 teaches us, "Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
Love is an active expression of an inward emotion, (domino). Love and faith together make up the ingredients for obedience. The Ephesian church was made up of obedient Christians who were growing in their faith toward God and love for each other! Living in obedience unlocks a spiritual door that wouldn’t have been open
otherwise. Because of their obedience, Paul prays and asks God for some
of the most incredible things one could ask for on behalf of someone
else, and it is all because of their faith
and love: the ingredients for obedience. Their faith and love, in obedience to God's Word, unlocked some spiritual doors that would not have been opened
otherwise.
Beloved, every day, we are given opportunities to demonstrate our faith and love, our
obedience to God by actively trusting Him and loving others. The truths that
we read in the Bible give us immediate opportunities to obey: Love our wives (domino), Honor our husbands (domino), Obey our parents (domino), Love our neighbors (domino), Read our Bible (domino), Pray (domino) and Fast (domino).
This list is certain not exhaustive, they are just a few simple truths in which we can demonstrate our faith and
love in right now. If we would begin to do the simplistics of things that
God wants us to do and live lives of obedience, we would begin
to see other spiritual doors open up to us.
Tragically, far too many
Christians whose growth is stunted and can never move forward because
they refuse to grow in their faith, or obey even the smallest things
that God has commanded, and they refuse to grow in their love toward
others.Even further, there are Christians whose lives are going
wrong and messed up on so many levels, and they are mad at God, the
world, me, and everyone else, and yet these same people have flat out
refused to take the smallest steps of faith and love that God wants them
to take. Faith and love are not just talk, they are action, and they
are the necessary ingredients for obedience.
Obedience is the beginning step
of our Christian walk. We do not progress spiritually if we
don’t obey God, in fact, quite the opposite is true, we’ll only digress. However, if we do obey, there is another
truth that we activate. My obedience and prayer can activate an enhancement of the Spirit’s ministry in me (domino). Because
of their obedience, Paul prays the first of two incredible prayers in
the book of Ephesians, and he begins by asking for an increase in the
ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives and church.
Verses 16 and 17 say, "do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."
Before we can talk about the increase of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives,
notice in verse 16 that Paul sets an example by doing something we
don’t do enough. He prays specifically for their "spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge." We call this "specificity." If we don’t pray for
something specifically, God might not give it. We need to be people who
pray specific prayers (domino) - not "God bless everyone" – that’s too generic and unanswerable. That reality is, God won’t bless everyone. However, specific
prayers that are brought before God, God will answered! It may be yes, no, not now.
Let this be an example to all of us to pray for others and ourselves specifically.
I'm sure you recall in our last message, in verse 13, we learned that when we believe in Christ, we immediately receive the
Holy Spirit. So every believer, every Christian has the Spirit inside. In verses 17 and forward, explains that the ministry of the Holy
Spirit is not a "one size fits all" ministry, or even
an "equal opportunity" ministry. So Paul prays for the enhancement of the
Spirit’s ministry as we live obediently.Although different Bible
versions interpret it differently, it is easy to see that Paul meant the
Holy Spirit because he has been referring to the Trinity consistently. This verse speaks of the expanding of the role of
the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of a Christian. Paul is actually
using a title that Isaiah the prophet used in Isaiah 11:2. Just as God the Father and Jesus have many names that describe the way they relate to mankind, so does God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus calls Him the "Spirit of truth," in John 15:26. Paul calls Him the "Spirit of Power, Love, Self-Discipline" in II Timothy 1:7. And in Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah calls Him the "Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the Lord."
So here, in Ephesians 1:17, Paul prays for the expanding ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of
the Ephesian believers. This ministry is one where the Holy Spirit
becomes the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, where He gives us wisdom
to live and make proper decisions; where we receive a greater
understanding of God and how He loves us and works in our lives; and
where God reveals Himself to us more and more. What is wisdom? It's God given
discernment. What is revelation? That's God revealing Himself. We have the ability to
grow spiritually, mentally and emotionally because the Spirit guides us
by giving us greater wisdom, by speaking to us through the Scriptures,
through others, and through the witness inside of us.
Wisdom and revelation is something God wants us to grow in (domino). Remember the words of our Lord Jesus in John 15:26, "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify about Me,"
And, in John 16:13-15, Jesus says "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will
guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but
whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to
come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you."
God wants us to have a better understanding of what we are to do with
our lives (domino)! God wants us to hear His voice in our hearts
(domino) and as we read the Bible (domino)! God desires to expand His
ministry inside of us! And God does this through the Holy Spirit, who
guides, counsels, gives gifts to, enlightens, encourages, convicts,
empowers and more.
But too many Christians simply relegate the Spirit’s role to being
only a conscience. The only time you feel the presence of the Holy
Spirit is when you get involved with sin. That would be similar to a
parent who only interacts with their children when they correct them! Beloved, that
is so limiting to what God can do, and it is what is referred to as "quenching" the Holy Spirit.
In Closing...
When the word "quench" or "stifle" is used, it carries the idea of putting out a fire. The Holy Spirit is like a fire dwelling inside each and every believer. The Holy Spirit longs to express Himself through our actions and attitudes. He desires
to minister to us in areas of wisdom and understanding and revelation
that we don’t yet know. However, we can quench the Spirit, put out the fire
by not walking in obedience or not desiring to grow.
It is my prayer
that everyone gathered with us today allow the Spirit to increase His ministry, and do nothing to stifle it.
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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