Living Under the Influence - Final Wrap-up (Ephesians 5:18)

Kootenai Church

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Well, good morning as we begin together, let's pray Our great

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God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ how thankful we are for your goodness kindness mercy and grace toward us

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That is new every morning That our sin has been taken by your son

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He has drunk The cup of the wrath of God and drained it to his very dregs on our behalf and in that great exchange that Paul speaks of in in 2nd

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Corinthians chapter 5 we have now received his righteousness the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and so we

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Can sit here this morning perfect in our union with the Messiah and And thus receive all of your great blessings toward us

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What an amazing reality to contemplate as we begin together this morning. Thank you for it We pray father for listening ears

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We pray for open hearts We pray that we would be attuned to the work of your spirit through you through his word in and through us for the glory of Christ alone, amen

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All right So When God saves us

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When God saves us he does not Immediately take us to be with him.

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Isn't that true? We can experientially you say yeah a yay and amen, right?

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That is true But instead what he does is he undertakes a task in us to completely

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Transform us so that we might Become experientially that which we are positionally

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That is perfect in Christ That is what he is about in us as believers now

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The task is not completed this side of the grave But we all make progress in that because God is committed to that reality

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That he is transforming us from the inside out to make us the new creations in Christ 2nd

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Corinthians 517 That means that there is no aspect of God's transforming work that is off -limits to him

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No area that he is not interested in He changes our thinking

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He changes our values He changes our desires Our goals our purpose our speech our behavior all of it

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God has set himself to come to doing a complete overhaul

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Praise God Because we need a complete overhaul and he does it over time

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He does it over time as We begin to take on the new family identity the new family identity as sons of the

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Living God and Joint heirs with Christ now the father accomplishes this transformation progressively as we said

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And he does it in this life by his Holy Spirit through the scriptures That's his mechanism

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And he finally and completely finishes it when he takes us to glory to be with him

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Open your Bibles to the fifth chapter of Ephesians beginning in verse 18

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We are returning this morning for a sixth and final time to this passage.

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So this is our sixth and final time in this text As we seek to draw out the life -changing truths

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Herein Let's read it Ephesians chapter 5 and beginning in verse 18 and do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation

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But be filled by the Spirit Speaking to one another in Psalms hymns and spiritual songs

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Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ to God Even the Father and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ Now through these six studies together

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We have organized it around a series of ten questions, and that's what we've been doing We've been asking and answering questions that arise from this text

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There were ten of them And so what I'll do is is just kind of briefly go through The first nine again that catches back up and then we'll undertake the tenth and final question for this morning together

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Okay, that's where we're going. So Briefly The first question we asked was why is this study so important?

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You remember that? Why is this study so important? and we said it's important because it takes us into the heart of the doctrine of sanctification and Our relationship to the third person of the triune

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Godhead the Holy Spirit It is impossible. We said to live as Christians without the spirits enablement

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And without understanding how the spirit enables us to live a God a life pleasing our life pleasing to God, right?

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Then nothing will but experience or the frustration will be our experience Okay, we will experience tremendous frustration and spiritual defeat unless we understand and then apply how the

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Spirit of God works this mysterious process of transformation That's why the study is important that's why we've undertook it that's why we've backed up to this place

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Even though the purpose of these the series is to deal with marriage and family which we will begin formally next week

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Only next week. So that's why it's important The second question we asked was why warn about wine?

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Remember that one why warn about wine? And the answer is is because drunkenness leads to a lifestyle of dissipation or debauchery, that's why and It is the dissipation or the debauchery that is brought on by a life given to wine.

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It is characteristic of spiritual Darkness, it's the characteristic spiritual darkness

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Versus and there's the contrast there You see it in verse 18 verses being filled by the

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Spirit which produces a life of moral excellence Moral excellence moral excellence that shows itself in the church the home and the community

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So it's these contrasting lifestyles debauchery moral excellence One belongs to the old man in union with Adam.

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The other belongs to the new man in union with Christ That's why

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Paul Uses wine. That's why he brings wine into the discussion

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Third question and the third question we looked at what is the filling of the Spirit? What is this bone the filling of the

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Spirit and you remember this one right in order to answer this question? We had to you know, kind of jump into the deep end of the pool of Greek grammar

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Do you remember that one we had to go into that the murky waters of Greek grammar and from it?

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We learned a few important things We learned that the Spirit is the means of our filling rather than the content of our filling that was very important for us

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We learned that the Spirit is the means for the filling not the content of the filling

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Furthermore, we learned that the verb be filled is a present passive imperative a present passive imperative

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And that means that Paul is commanding the Ephesian believers to allow themselves to be continually filled by the

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Spirit It's a command. It is something must do but what is it? They must do they must allow themselves

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Continually to be filled by the Spirit no matter where they are and no matter what they're doing

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One writer said to be filled by the Spirit is to live in a way that is fully influenced by the

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Spirit Willingly yielding ourselves to the Spirit's control

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Is to put ourselves Continually in a position in which the Spirit has free reign in our lives

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This is what it means to be being filled by the Spirit or literally for the present passive imperative

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Now that's the fourth question the fourth question How is the filling different from the

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Spirit's other ministries to the believer? So, how is the filling different from the other ministries of the

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Spirit provided to the believer We looked and noted that some of the spirits other ministries to the believers such as sealing

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Ephesians 1 13 indwelling 1st Corinthians 6 19 and spirit baptism 1st

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Corinthians 12 13 are bestowed upon the believer as a Gift at the moment of salvation and they are instantaneous and non -repeatable

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They are instantaneous realities. They are non -repeatable events. They come to all believers equally

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Totally fully at the moment that we place saving faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ Unlike unlike the the command here to be being filled in 518 there are no commands

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Associated with these other ministries of the Spirit No, no commands associated with them.

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It's not something we have to do Different here different here question 5

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This was a simple one who does the filling? Who does the filling and we noted there from first Ephesians chapter 1 verse 23 chapter 4 verse 10.

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It is Christ Christ does the filling? Okay, who does the filling

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Christ? Six the sixth question we looked at What is the content of the filling?

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What is the content of the filling? We noted that the content of the filling is the fullness of God.

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We traced that down. You'll remember we traced it down What is the fullness of God the fullness of God is the moral likeness of God?

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It is the moral likeness of God Which is most clearly expressed in the person of the

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Lord Jesus Christ Romans 8 29 we are being conformed to that image as We are filled by means of the

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Spirit. We grow in the likeness of Christ Thus grow in the fullness of God thus grow in the moral likeness of God most perfectly expressed

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In the Lord Jesus Christ, right? So we are becoming like Christ Becoming like Christ, that's the content

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Seven how how do I fulfill this command? Okay, I got it.

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It's a command something I have to do. But how how do I do it? There we went to the sister epistle.

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Remember this one Colossians chapter 3 in verse 16. We went over there Where Paul writes there to the church at Colossae to let the word of Christ Richly dwell within you and then he begins to talk up well in the same language psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and so forth

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And we concluded from that that we fulfill Paul's command to be filled

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By granting the Holy Spirit free and unhindered access to every nook and cranny of our lives

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Through the prayerful reading and study of the scriptures So, how do we do it we do it by granting the

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Spirit full and unhindered access to every aspect of our lives through the prayerful reading and study of the scriptures the spirit uses those same scriptures to shape the way we think and Respond to every situation in life.

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That's the process That's how we fulfill the command question eight we looked at Can the filling leak out remember that one?

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Can the filling leak out? The answer was no

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No unambiguously, no However, however we can and often do

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Obstruct his work in us of fully Influencing us into the likeness of Christ by giving in to various sin patterns

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And we noted three of them in particular here. You remember this the sin of self -reliance

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We talked about that the sin of self -reliance that is raising other any other authority source including our own opinion

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Above the scriptures if we raise any other authority source above the Word of God, then we have given into the sin of self -reliance

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That hinders the work of the Spirit in us We also have the sin of self exaltation that was the second obstacle self exaltation in other words thinking more highly of ourselves in relation to other members of the body of Christ Because we have forgotten that at the foot of the cross the ground is level

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That we all come before Christ in the same way and in the same need we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone

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Everyone everyone from the from the highest the most distinguished members of society to the lowest

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Imaginable we all come in the same way We all come in the same way Salvation is a gift of God.

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It is not the result of our works or our status Nor our social achievement nor our economic standing nor our intellectual levels

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None of it. None of it matters So therefore we must not think more highly of ourselves and we ought to think as Paul would say and when we do

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We're giving in to the sin of self exaltation. I mean in other words, you know, why wouldn't

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God want to save me? I'm a pretty good person self exaltation

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It hinders the work of the Spirit Third we said self -will that was the third one.

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We looked at self -will Self -reliance self -exaltation self -will self -will we've said is resisting the

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Spirit's work in us Resisting the Spirit's work in us by living on the same moral plane as those who are still lost in darkness

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This is what Paul speaks of in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 Verses 22 and 23 of chapter 4 and so forth

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So when the believer lives on the same moral plane as those who are still lost in darkness That is the exercise of self -will that hinders the work of the

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Spirit It's hanging on to that which was crucified with Christ and dragging it forward into the new life

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That inhibits the work of the Spirit nine This was last week is the filling of the

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Spirit visible We ask that is the filling of the

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Spirit visible and we noted there that while the actual work of the

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Holy Spirit and conforming us to the image of Christ is Invisible the result of it or not

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The results are not we noted it back to grammar again that the verb be filled

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Play rot. Oh is followed in verses 19 21. So we're back nose into the text with five participles by participles speaking singing

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Making melody giving thanks and being subject. Those are the five and it is these five

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Participles that derive their their force from the lead verb in verse 18 That described the result of the spirits filling not the means to achieve it

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These speak of the result of this of being filled by the Spirit not the means to be to be filled by the Spirit We noted from Daniel Wallace and his

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Greek grammar Excellent. Very very excellent intermediate Greek grammar Quote the following the way in which one measures his or her success in filling the command of 518 is by the

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By the participles that follow this is how we measure our success This is how it's observable the first four

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Speaking singing making melody giving. Thanks. We noted they all occur in the realm of the public gathering of the church

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These all speak of the realm of the public gathering in the church. They're speaking about what's happening here and now this is how we

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Express being filled by the Spirit with one another as we speak and sing to one another as well as verically to God so we looked last week remember at the

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Horizontal aspect of this and the discipling ministry of song and we looked at the vertical aspect of worship in song the fifth participle in verse 21

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Being subject to Serves as a bridge This is the bridge that leads us into the topic of the spirit -filled home.

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It leads us into 22 and following Just a tip of the hand a bit looking ahead to verse 22.

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You'll notice that There is no verb in verse 22. It's it's literally says wives to your own husbands as to the

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Lord The idea of being in submission to is carried forward From verse 21.

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So can you see the results of a congregation that is being filled by the Spirit? Absolutely Absolutely, you can what is the congregation that is being filled by the

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Spirit look like they sing together they pray together They relate to one another in their homes in a way that emulates

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Christ That's what it looks like There's a very very practical ways to gauge both individually and corporately

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Are we being filled by the Spirit? Is that a reality in our lives?

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Are there areas that we need to strive even more for and I'm sure there are for all of us for all of us

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That takes us to The tenth and final question. That's what

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I want to look out with you this morning the tenth and final question and here it is Where do

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I find the strength to obey? Where do

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I find the strength to obey? I cannot do this by myself

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Where do I find it? again quoting from Daniel Wallace in his

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Book every time I quote him I say, oh, it's an excellent little book. It's not little and it is excellent.

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But anyway Wallace notes there in his grammar that he knows the progressive difficulty.

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I thought this was insightful. So I'm sharing it with you He knows the progressive difficulty of going from speaking

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God's Word in song To being thankful for all things to being submissive to one another there's there's a continuum there

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And they're not all equally Easy they actually become increasingly more difficult

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He writes and there's a quote from him such progression would of course

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Immediately suggest that this feeling is not instantaneous and absolute

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But passive progressive and relative, okay, let me read it to you again he says that such progression from speaking

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God's Word to one another in song to being thankful for all things to being submissive to one another's or noting the the increase in difficulty

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This such progression would of course immediately suggest that this feeling is not instantaneous and absolute but progressive and relative

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It is progressive and it is relative what that means is we are all on a continuum of growth and everybody's not the same place

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And some maybe have made more progress in one area than in another and vice versa

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So in other words being filled by the Spirit is not like flipping on a light switch It's not like flipping on a light switch

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It occurs over time It occurs over time by the diligent exertion of effort on the part of the believer we play a real role in this a real role in this and There are times in all of our lives when we find ourselves not being particularly diligent

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We can affirm this it happens to all of us We're not expending very much effort in the prayerful

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Reading and study and application of the scriptures, which is the means by which we are filled by the

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Spirit, right? Remember we said that so We're just honest with each other.

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We don't all pursue it all the time with the same level of intensity So what we do

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What do we do when we find ourselves that way is the answer to dig down deep pull ourselves up by the bootstraps

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Try harder, is it sheer willpower? Is that what we're lacking?

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We just need them Muscle up some Christianity here or or As God provided a means of grace that will help us in time of need

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Yes, he has Indeed he has God has provided to us a

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Variety of means of grace And they all flow out of the gospel

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They all flow out from the gospel because it is in the gospel that the greatest

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Density of God's power in the entire universe is found That is the greatest place of density of the power of Almighty God is found in the gospel

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That's exactly what he says in Romans 1 16 I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God For salvation to everyone who believes for everyone who believes where do we find the power?

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We find it in the gospel and nowhere else. Let's talk about this.

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This means of grace in the gospel How do we find the power to fulfill the command?

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It begins by preaching the gospel to ourselves Okay, that's probably terminology that you've at least become

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Acquainted with you've heard it before you need to preach the gospel to yourself. Well, yeah, actually you do

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Actually you do What I'm gonna do here is Spend a few minutes just talking about what is this gospel that we need to preach to ourselves?

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What does that mean? What it means is to be to remind ourselves of the truths of this gospel

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Why? Because we're forgetful people We're just flat forgetful people.

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We're also at various times and places people of little faith So we tend to doubt the power of this gospel and we need to be reminded we need to be reminded so Let's do this turn back to chapter 1 of Ephesians.

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We'll spend an entire time here in Ephesians Okay, can it be done from other places? Of course But Ephesians is a great spot preach the gospel to yourself first Remind yourself that God the

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Father loves us and has chosen us to be holy and blameless

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God the Father loves us and has chosen us to be holy and blameless

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We need to remember that 1st Corinthians are sorry Ephesians Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4

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Where Paul writes just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world

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That we would be holy and blameless before him That we would be holy and blameless before him chapter 2 verse 4

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But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us

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Even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ. We can't forget that We dare not forget that We need to remind ourselves of that Regular right great great way to begin a day

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Just as you wake up just remind yourself of this reality Second God the

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Father has united us with Christ He has united us with Christ and adopted us as sons to share the family likeness and inheritance back to chapter 1 again

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He's united us with Christ and he's adopted us as sons That we might share the family likeness that we might share the inheritance

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Chapter 1 verses 5 and 6 in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself

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According to the kind intention of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestows on us in the beloved verse 11 also we having obtained an inheritance

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Having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will

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We have been united with Christ We have been adopted the sons of the

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Living God third Christ the Son has shed his own blood to purchase our redemption and it set us free from the power and the penalty of sin

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Christ has shed his own blood. He has purchased our redemption and he has set us free from the power and penalty of Sin, it no longer rules over us from at six

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But here in in Ephesians look at verse or verse 7 of chapter 1 in him

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That is in Christ In union with him we have redemption through his blood

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The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace chapter 2 verses 5 and 6

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Even when we were dead in our transgressions Made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus fourth fourth

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The Holy Spirit has been given to us to ensure That our status as forgiven sons never falters

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No matter whether we are having a good day or a bad day Our status as sons of the

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Living God does never Falters it never falters. It's not improved when we have a really good day, and it is not diminished when we don't

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We see that in chapter 1 verses 13 and 14 in him

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You also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation Having also believed you were sealed in him with the

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Holy Spirit of promise Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory

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Praise of his glory now while our love for Christ may wobble

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His love for us never changes His love for us never changes the father loves us with the same passion and Perfection that he has for his own dear son

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God the father is passionate about you If you are in union with his son with the very same passion that he has for his own son

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He now has for you fifth

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Because the father has placed us in union with Christ. We're also united with all the other believers in Christ We are placed in union with Christ I'm I'm in union with Christ.

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You're in union with Christ. We are thus in union with each other. That's 213

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We are now members of the family of God verse 13 chapter 2

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But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ We have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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We are all brought near to God through the blood of Christ Then we are thus Brought near to each to each other

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Or brought near to each other It is in the local fellowship. We've noted that we share the same indwelling

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Holy Spirit verse 18 For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the father

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That makes us members of one another It's just a common destiny a common purpose

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What is it? It is to build up the local body of Christ chapter 4 beginning in verse 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

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Son of God to a mature man to the Measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ as a result

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We are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine and by the trickery

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Of men by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love

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Speaking the truth in love He'll elaborate on that in the next chapter won't he how we can do it in song speaking the truth in love

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We are to grow up in all aspects Into him who is the head even Christ from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies

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According to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself

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In love we are saved for a purpose for a purpose

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We Congregate for a purpose and the purpose is to encourage one another in our growth in the likeness of Christ You can't grow in the likeness of Christ all by yourself.

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There's no such thing as a lone wolf Christian The strength of the wolf is the pack

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The strength of the pack is the wolf we are needed by each other

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Thus all the one and others That litter the New Testament preaching the gospel to yourself this is a important means important means of The power needed to fulfill the command to be filled by the

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Spirit. Okay, you need the gospel regularly Comprehensively deeply and we need it with each other

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Other Means of grace Other are there other? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's not one -dimensional

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Okay, look around right? He displays his creation in a variety of colors and textures.

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He is not one -dimensional So are there other means of grace you bet there are private prayer private prayer

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That is a means of grace There's a means to draw near to God in Christ as the

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Spirit works Again, we'll use Ephesians to illustrate this

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But looking at chapter 1 there are two Prayers that Paul records in the book of Ephesians 1 in chapter 1 and 1 in chapter 3 1 in chapter 1 1 in chapter 3

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And the one in chapter 1 begins in verse 15 and runs through verse 23 and this is

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Paul's Intercession on behalf of the Ephesian believers if I could say it this way that the lights would go on for them

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That the lights would go on for this reason I too Having heard of the faith in the

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Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the Saints Do not cease giving.

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Thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the

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Father of glory may give to you a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him.

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I Pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling?

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What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe?

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These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Christ when he raised him

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From the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion in every name that is named not only in this age

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But also in the one to come And he put all things and subjection under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church

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Which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all The general thrust of Paul's prayer here and notice it's private prayer, but it's prayer on behalf of others

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The general thrust of the prayer his is that the Ephesians would have their hearts and their heads in their hands shaped by what

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The truth of what God has done for them Right three two verses three to fourteen that just precede this prayer is where Paul spells out

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You know this incredible theology about what God has done for them in Christ and then he turns to pray and what he prays is

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That not that God would do something new for them Not that he would grant them some additional spiritual blessing

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But notice that they would fully grasp the implications of what he has already done That's the significance that the lights would go on Having the lights go on with regard to the spiritual blessings in Christ is not a one -time event

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It's the continual discovery And reacquaintance as we pray and meditate upon his word in the in in light of the circumstances of our life

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Our life circumstances are constantly changing and as they change in that Very colored hue of our life we have additional opportunity to meditate upon and reacquaint ourselves with the truth that Paul has laid out here in chapter 1 verses 3 to 14

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Another way we could think about this is the common prayer request for grace Right lord, please extend your grace to so -and -so that's kind of a common type of prayer request

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And properly understood when that when that prayer request is voiced We are not asking God to dispense grace like some spiritual pixie dust

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Like just throw a little more grace onto somebody All right, that's actually a nonsense idea

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Actually if we understand what we are asking we are asking God to aid the believer in comprehending the grace already given in the gospel

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And their need to increasingly rely on that grace that's what we're praying for If you ask me

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Once I tell you this you probably most of you will never ask me to pray for you again If you ask me to pray for you, that will be my prayer for you

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I will pray that God will help you to see understand believe your vast riches in Christ and that as you

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More and more comprehend that reality you will be better suited to deal with life's adversity.

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Whatever that adversity is No, I'm saying I'll never pray for God to heal you.

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No, I'm not saying that but that will never be my primary prayer That will never be my primary prayer why because physical healing is temporal at best

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At best chapter three is this other prayer which also

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Can and should inform the way we pray right why does Paul include these includes them for structural value

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Teach me to pray. Okay Here's a couple really lengthy passages to instruct you in how to pray so chapter 3 verses

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Beginning in verse 14 to the end of the chapter for this reason. I bow my knees before the father From whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name

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That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man

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So that christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you Being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints

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What is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of christ which surpasses knowledge?

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That you may be filled up to all the fullness of god Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think

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According to the power that works within us to him be the glory in the church And in christ jesus to all generations forever and ever.

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Amen amen This is paul's intercession that they would experience god's transformative power

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The first prayer was that the lights would go on they'd realize There are tremendous riches they have in by union in christ

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This is that they would experience the transformative power of god through the gospel of christ

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Look at verse 17 first part again. So that I mean I'm, not trying to unpack this whole prayer believe me, but notice in verse 17 the first part so that christ may dwell in your hearts through faith

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This is kind of the gist of this To understand what it means it's probably helpful just to at least note that the the

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The verb here to dwell has the idea to to settle down To settle down somewhere.

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It's it speaks about a permanence rather than a temporary abode In fact it this this idea of the permanent nature here we can find it over and we're not going to turn there

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But in colossians 2 9 same word used there to speak of the fullness of the divine nature dwelling in christ

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Not temporarily dwelling in christ. It has a permanent abode in christ That's what paul's praying here so that christ may permanently dwell in your hearts through faith

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Now d .a. Carson Name known to some of you very fine new testament scholar is a wonderful book.

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I commend it to you a wonderful book It's called a call to spiritual reformation a call to spiritual reformation and he

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Um spends a lot of time in that book unpacking both these prayers and ephesians He looks at the prayers of the apostle paul and these are two large ones.

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So he spends a fair amount of time with that In that book he gives what I think is a helpful analogy

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And I think it goes a long way to unlocking the idea of what paul's talking about here where the christ dwells permanently in our hearts through faith

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So he talks about a young couple a young couple buys a house for the first time And uh the house they buy typically needs work right it needs work usually it needs paint

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Perhaps flooring maybe a bathroom remodel or a kitchen remodel. It needs electrical work It needs plumbing probably needs some landscaping, you know, the typical flop house that most young couples start with now

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He knows that the moment they close escrow the house is theirs The house is theirs

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And they begin to live in it But it's a long way from truly becoming their home

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It still doesn't get the feeling it's my house, right? Yeah, I live here and every month

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I get reminded But it doesn't feel like my house yet over the course of time they make the necessary repairs and the

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Remodels and and one day they realize that they have a home in which they are now very comfortable living

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It is now they're settled down it's permanence to it it's their house he says and i'm quoting him now here

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He says in a similar way When christ first takes up residence in us, he finds the moral equivalent of mounds of trash black and silver wallpaper and a leaking roof

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He sets about turning this residence into a place appropriate for him a home which makes him comfortable

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There is a lot of cleaning to do quite a few repairs and some much needed expansion

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Make no mistake when christ first moves into our lives. He finds us in very bad repair

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It takes a great deal of power to change us And that is why paul prays for power it takes the power of god

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To transform wicked sinners into the likeness of christ

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Children of the living god it is not easily accomplished Therefore you and I need god's inexhaustible power to be holy

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We need it We need his power to think We need his power to act.

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We need his power to speak in ways that are pleasing to him We need his power to strengthen our moral resolve the humble our proud hearts

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We need the supernatural power to serve others instead of ourselves To obediently trust him through all the trials and temptations of life.

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We need the power of god It is this spiritual strength that's essential to living out the ethical admonitions that follow beginning in chapter four

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Abandoning the former darkened way of living Replacing it with god's righteous living and according to chapter six all the while doing battle with the forces of darkness that are arrayed against us this transformation

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Occurs on a battlefield and that is being actively opposed by the forces of darkness

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It's not a simple matter not at all requires Massive dose the power of god other means of grace quickly

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Okay One -to -one bible reading let me let me commend that to you one -to -one bible reading

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In other words getting together with friends or family or your spouse or whatever Pardon me and reading the scriptures together

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It's a means of grace It is a means of grace Romans 10 17 faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of christ

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It strengthens and accelerates Our growth in christ reading good christian books with other people

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Reading good christian books with other people and talking about them discussing what you have read is a means of grace

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The public worship of the church for sure Is a means of grace as we pray together sing together

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Hear the preaching of the word. It's a means of grace Baptism and communion are means of grace.

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There are symbols of the gospel and commands to be obeyed Symbols of the gospel and commands to be obeyed.

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They are a means of grace Practicing the one another's

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Practicing the one another's I think if I remember right there are 17 of them So that's a lot

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But as we practice the one another's That is a means in which we grow in grace

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Serving others Right counting others more important than ourselves mark 10 45 or even the son of man did not come to be served but to Serve give his life a ransom for many.

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So if the king came to serve we as citizens of the king could and should expect nothing, but That's our life too called to serve

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And last and finally sharing the gospel Okay, by the way, this is not an exhaustive list. This is a representative list

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But sharing the gospel with others telling people what jesus has done serves to strengthen our own both understanding and commitment to the gospel

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The very act of evangelism is a means of grace for the believer. So With all of that I have one minute left, which is just enough time to pray and send you on your way

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So father, thank you Thank you for this six -week study together in the work of your spirit

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We're very grateful for the truth of the scriptures. We're grateful father that That your spirit works through the scriptures in our lives and that you have never satisfied and never done

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You are a gentle god But you are persistent And so I pray for each and every one of us that we would lean in as it were that we would apply ourselves to the truth

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And that we would rejoice together In the transformation that that is occurring father help us to to look to For evidence of grace in one another and then to point them out not not as a way to flatter

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But as merely a means to encourage one another Sometimes when we're in the midst of it, it's hard to see it ourselves

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And so what a blessing to have someone come and say I see christ at work in you in this particular area

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So father help us to have that kind of an eye For the body we pray in jesus name.