Filled with the Fullness of God

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June 16/2024 | Ephesians 3:14-21 | Expository Sermon by Shayne Poirier

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This sermon is from Grace Fellowship Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To access other sermons or to learn more about us, please visit our website at graceedmonton .ca.
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As we look at Ephesians chapter 3 this afternoon, I want to pose an interesting question to you.
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It's a question that you'll have to suspend disbelief for for a moment.
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Now if you were granted the opportunity to pray just one prayer, that would be forever immortalized in the pages of history, what would be that one recorded prayer?
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And what I mean by that, to set the stage, is that if a publisher were to come to you and say that we want you to compose one petition to God that would appear online on every
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Christian website, that would appear in every English, any dictionary for that matter, as an example of what prayer is, or in study
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Bibles as a model prayer, what prayer would you pray for the glory of God, and because it's being recorded, the benefit of your readers?
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It made me think, would you pray for the advancement of the gospel, for the deliverance of the nations?
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Would you pray for the end of all wars, the end of all hunger and famine? Or would you hone in your prayers a little bit and pray for the church, or even more honed in, this church, or just one
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Christian in all the world? Now while this might seem like an outlandish idea, there have been a number of saints throughout the history of the church whose prayers have to some extent been immortalized in the pages of church history, and you can read those in Christian biographies, you can read those in books on Christian spirituality, and you can read that in the life of at least one reformer, and one reformer
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I have in mind is the man Martin Luther. In 1540,
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Martin Luther had learned that his dear assistant, a man named
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Friedrich Miconius, I think a brother Sam in his German could probably correct me on the pronunciation, but Friedrich Miconius, he learned that he had become ill and was soon expected to die, and Miconius' disease was so severe that he didn't have the opportunity to go to his dearest friends and family to bid them goodbye, but instead wrote letters, and he wrote a letter to Martin Luther to let him know that he was on his deathbed and soon to expire, and when
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Martin Luther the reformer received this letter, he was so sad and so taken aback by it that he quickly wrote a response in another letter and sent it back to Miconius, and he wrote this, and if you know
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Martin Luther at all, you know his personality, you know that I can quote him with a smile on my face when we read what it was that he wrote and prayed, he said,
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I command you in the name of God to live, writing to Miconius, he said, because I still have need of you in reforming the churches, the
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Lord will never let me hear that you are dead, but he will permit you to outlive me, for this
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I am praying, and so Martin Luther prayed just that, oh Lord, he must live, he must live beyond even me, and adding to this prayer,
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Luther brazenly wrote this in his letter, he said, and again this is a Lutheranism if there ever was one, he said, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God, now that is certainly an unorthodox prayer,
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I don't want to hear that at prayer meeting on Thursdays, Lord, my will be done, and yet, in God's good grace, it was his joy
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I suppose to hear Luther's prayer and to grant his request, and so even though Miconius was as good as dead, he could no longer even speak, after Luther sent this letter and prayed his prayers,
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Miconius experienced a miraculous recovery, and before long he was back supporting the work of the reformation, and he did that for another six years, and interestingly enough, the
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Lord did not allow Miconius to die until Martin Luther went first, and it was only two months after Luther died, that Miconius then went to be into the joy of his master, and was reunited with his friend, makes me wonder if when he got there, he said to Luther, why would you pray that prayer, when we have this glory now to dwell in, now, if anyone were to have a famous recorded prayer as bold, and perhaps as bizarre as that, it would be
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Martin Luther, but if you were to be put in a similar opportunity, what would be your prayer, this afternoon as we wrap up Ephesians chapter three, we get to see one of Paul's immortalized prayers, written as if it were in eternal ink, in sacred scripture, and what is
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Paul praying for, as he writes this prayer down, that will be preserved for an eternity of eternities, what could be so important, that God would preserve it forever, in this text, we find the apostle
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Paul praying, for the spiritual increase of, I'm gonna use some of the language that I did, from a couple of weeks ago, for the spiritual increase, of the one new and true people of God, he has just revealed to them, their mysterious new identity, as the true
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Israel of God, as the one people of God, that had been grafted into the cultivated olive tree, and now as he prays for them, we discover his apostolic priorities, the priorities that make for, and if you see the title of our bulletin, this is the title of the sermon, that make for a powerful church, that is filled with all the fullness of God, and if someone were to describe our church, wouldn't it be an astounding and a wonderful thing, if we were to hear that we could be described that way, a church that is not only powerful and knowledgeable, but that is filled with all the fullness of God, that is my desire for us and for you, and here
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Paul shows us how that is, how it is that we can be filled with all the fullness of God, how it is that we should pray, but then not only that, but how we should live, and how we should think, and then how we should emphasize, what we should emphasize, as the chief end of our lives, so with our
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Bibles open to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14, let's look at this together, how is it that we can be filled with all the fullness of God, we'll begin by reading the first two verses, verse 14, for this reason
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Paul writes, I bow my knees before the father, from whom every family in heaven on earth is named,
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Paul begins Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14, by looping back to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 1, sometimes
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I'm guilty of this, that I will begin a sentence, and then I pause, and I go on a digression, and then
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I go oh yeah, and by the way where I was, let's get back to that, that's exactly what Paul has done here, you see in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 1, he says, for this reason
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I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, so Paul is in prison, he has this concern for the
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Gentiles, and at least if you have the ESV, there's a dash there, and he goes assuming, and he goes on to this digression, you'll see that in verse 14, he picks back up from verse 1, by saying again for this reason,
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I bow my knee, and so what we know, is that Paul's prayer here, in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 14, hinges upon what he has just been teaching, in Ephesians chapter 2, and specifically
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Ephesians chapter 2, and verses 11 through 22, you'll remember that we looked at that, two weeks ago, that we are all now,
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Jew and Gentile, one in Christ, that God has no second class citizens, there is no parenthetical church, you'll remember
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I used that saying last time, but just one true people of God, and not just one true people of God, but one true people of God, who are the temple of the living
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God, the dwelling place of God himself, one church, and it's upon this foundational truth, this is the launching pad, upon which
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Paul launches up his rocket, his eruption into prayer, and verse 14, he says that it is for this reason, that he bows his knee before the father, now when we read that, we immediately know, that Paul is speaking about prayer, because that's just been baked into us, that when one bends the knee, they're bending the knee for prayer, but in Paul's day, that actually wasn't the case, it wasn't a common thing, to speak about bended knee, as a reference to prayer, but actually, if you were a first century
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Jew, it was more common than not, more likely than not, you would pray standing, and we actually see this, in one of our
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Lord's parables, as he speaks about the Pharisees, and the tax collectors, in Luke chapter 18, you don't have to go there, but in that parable, he speaks about the
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Pharisee, who went into the temple, and in his pride, and in his self -righteousness, he stood there and prayed, now you might think, well that makes sense, he's proud, he's arrogant, he's self -righteous, of course he's going to stand and pray, but in that same parable, he speaks to the tax collector, who went in, and what did he go in with, but an attitude of repentance, and of shame, beating his breast, and yet scripture says, our
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Lord says in that parable, that he too stood in the temple, it was just a common practice, to stand in prayer, in first century
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Israel, and yet, when Paul speaks to this bended knee, this now speaks to a shifting of gears, there's a different kind of prayer, this is not an everyday, ordinary prayer, but in fact, there's a significant change, in the attitude of the individual, who's praying, and we see this pattern, throughout scripture,
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I'm going to mention chapters, and not verse numbers, because I don't want us to turn there, I'm just going to reference it, but Ephesians chapter 9, when
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Ezra the priest confessed, the sins of the nation to God, in an act of self humiliation, in an act of self abasement, he fell to his knees, and prayed, when
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Paul, you might remember in Acts chapter 20, when he was on the shore in Miletus, bidding goodbye, bidding farewell, to the
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Ephesian elders, what were they doing, but they were weeping, they were embracing each other, and when it came time to pray, they went to their knees to pray, or in Acts chapter 7, when
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Stephen was stoned, and as he cried out for the forgiveness, of those who were putting him to death, what did he do?
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But he went to his knees to pray, why was that? Because, while standing was the normal prayer posture, to go to one's knees, communicated a special fervency, in one's prayers, it was to come to God, with an urgent prayer, with a humble prayer, with an earnest prayer, and so 2 ,000 years, after this prayer was recorded for us, we can still hear
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Paul's tone of voice, it is an urgent prayer, offered in a spirit of reverence, to a holy
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God, and as is often the case, Paul is praying not for himself, but for someone else, and so here we find
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Paul, in fervent prayer, what could he be praying? And Paul, uses an expression, that we might not expect, in verse 15, from whom every family, in heaven on earth, is named, now what does that mean?
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Some liberal theologians, have used this to teach that, a doctrine of what they call, the universal fatherhood of God, meaning that God is the father, of a believer, and of unbeliever alike, and they've said that, see
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God is the father of everyone, but we know from, places like 1st John, that that just is not the case, that there are actually, two fathers in the world, there are those who are, children to the father, the devil, and those who are children, to the father
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God himself, this is not what Paul was after, but rather what this is, is a reference to, people from every generation, and every nationality, and every language, who now find themselves, in the one family of God, through Christ, with God, the
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God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as their father, and we see this because, it is the father who names them, that act of naming, if we see it for instance, in Genesis chapter 2, when
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Adam named all of the creatures, in the garden at creation, it is an act of royalty, and of fatherliness, and what
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God is doing here, is we see one new creation, out of the old, that God himself has named, one family of God, and that family is the church, and Paul prays for this family, in verse 16, that according to the riches, of his glory, he may grant you, to be strengthened with power, through his spirit, in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell, in your hearts, through faith, now we are going to look, at the subject matter, of Paul's prayers, and the first thing, we see him praying for, is that the church, this church family of God, would be strengthened, with power, already at length, we have heard
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Paul, preach on the immeasurable, riches of God, and I know at least, as a preacher, that you can begin to feel shy, when you repeat something, too many times, not only do
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I feel it, but then my wife will say, you know, you said that thing, three or four times, in the same sermon, you don't need to repeat yourself, that many times, it's always an encouragement, by the way,
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I should note, but here Paul, he repeats the same thing, twice in chapter one, the immeasurable, riches of God, and in Ephesians chapter two, he repeats it again, two times, and now this is the, the second time, that it's mentioned, in Ephesians chapter three, and this is why,
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Ephesians has been called, by some, you'll remember this, from our very first sermon, the believer's bank account, because in it, we find all the riches, of God, that lie at our disposal, at the disposal, of the believer,
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God wants us, through Paul, to be continually aware, of the inexhaustible wealth, of God's power, that is available, to every
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Christian, at every hour, and looking to the storehouse, of God's riches,
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Paul prays, that the whole church, he says in verse six, verse 16, excuse me, you, that is a plural you, all of you, in the southern
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US, all y 'all, that the whole church, would be strengthened, with power, through God's spirit, in the inner being,
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Paul's desire, for the Ephesian church, and the whole of God's family, across all generations, is that our
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Christian lives, would be characterized, not by a mere, external tidiness, you know that,
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I think that sometimes, as Christians, we suffice, we're satisfied, we're happy, when we say, well, my life is neat, and tidy, at least on the outside, at least what people see, looks orderly, but Paul wants, more than orderliness, not less than orderliness, but more than, not that we would just be, clean and proper, in our conduct, but that we would be characterized, by the power, of the
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Holy Spirit, in the inner man, not an external resilience, not a fake it, till you make it, kind of Christianity, but Paul is on his knees, that the whole church, would be marked by, an other worldly strength, and supernatural power, that is granted, through the
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Holy Spirit, alone in the inner man, and brethren, it is God's will, that we would possess, that true spirit enabled power, in our lives, power that is altogether, unknown by unbelievers, in the world around us, and yet power that is, more real than anything, that we can see, or touch in this room, more real than this pulpit, power from God, power for godly living, and power for godly speech, where do we need
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God's power? Power to resist temptation, to preach the gospel, effectually, to love and lead our families, to act in a wise, and prudent manner, in a foolish generation, power to read our
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Bibles, profitably, to pray consistently, power to expect, great things from God, and to do great things, for God, power to make much, of Christ in the world,
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Paul wants us, through his prayers, on bended knee, to have power, now, this phraseology, is not at all common, in our sometimes, stuffy reformed circles, maybe some of you are nervous, that I'm speaking so much, about having the power, of the
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Holy Spirit, but in this prayer, that we will read, and that we'll be remembered, for all of eternity, and that if Christ should tarry, we'll outlive all of us, the very first thing, that Paul prays for, in light of who we now are, in Christ, and of the riches, of God's glory, is that we would be filled, with God's power, and I ask you
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Christian, is this your daily experience, would you say, absolutely, yes, my inner life, could best be described, with this one word, power, or with two words,
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God's power, or would you say, that your existence, is more readily defined, by the word, impotence, not power, but of weakness, and of struggle, and of succumbing, to temptations, and of sadness, and of neglect, of the good, and important things, of the
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Christian life, or are you somewhere, in between, as I was thinking on this,
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I thought this, this is not just, me trying to find, a fallen condition focus, in the text, that will help people to go, oh this is relevant for me, but this is real, have you ever thought, that perhaps many, who are in the visible church today, live like people, that Paul warned
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Timothy about, in 2nd Timothy chapter 3, and verse 5, where he wrote, that those people have, in his words, the appearance of godliness, but deny it's power, and he says to Timothy, avoid such people, what has become, of the church's power, in this world today, and why is it, that many of us act, as if we were meant, to live this
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Christian life, by the arm of the flesh only, perhaps it is because, we have altogether lost sight, of this great truth, that Paul has been, trying to hammer into our minds, in all three of these chapters, of Ephesians now, and is now praying, that we would fully grasp, we rejoice, that we were saved, by God's sovereign power, in Ephesians chapter 1 and 2, that not by our choice, but by his divine election, brought about, through his perfect power, we rejoiced in that power, we rejoiced in the unity, of the one body, by God's reconciling power, in Ephesians chapter 2 and 3, that God had the power, to break down, the dividing wall of hostility, and make the two,
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Jew and Gentile, one in Christ, but having admired, that power from afar, are we now meant, to live every day, in our own power,
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I think Ephesians chapter 3, all the way through chapter 6, shows us a life, that is lived every day, by God's power, through the indwelt spirit of God, and John MacArthur, tells a story,
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I think that parallels, the Christian experience, that many have today, in our world, he tells the story, of a man named,
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Julian Ellis Morris, who was an English eccentric, he was a very, very wealthy man, and yet, during the day, and it's interesting, there are so many stories, like this, that I can keep leaning on, perhaps we have a propensity, to this type of behavior, but yet, being a very wealthy man, first thing in the morning, he would wake up, he would get dressed, into his tattered clothes, the clothes that you'd expect, a poor drifter to wear, he would head out, with his bag of goods, and he would sell, razor blades, and shampoo, and soap, door to door, just going to every common house, as a door to door salesman, but his customers, would have been shocked, that when the work day was done, he would go back home, to a mansion, amongst the elite of England, he would put on, his proper attire, and then his chauffeur, would drive him, in his limousine, to one of the local restaurants, in his city, and if that wasn't enough, on days when he wanted, to switch it up, he would jump on a plane, and fly to Paris, land in Paris, have an elegant meal, an elegant French meal, and upon finishing up, get back in his plane, fly home, in time to go to bed, so he could sell his razor blades, the next day, and MacArthur says, many
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Christians live, something like Mr. Morris, spending their day by day lives, in apparent spiritual poverty, and only occasionally, enjoying the vast riches, of God's glory, many of us, spend our days, in apparent spiritual weakness, when we have
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God's, immeasurable power, available to us, at every moment, and brethren, this is not a hyper charismatic, stew that I'm trying to feed you, this is biblical
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Christianity, but many of us, have missed this, and we've been much poorer, for it, in the
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Old Testament, we read about, the Old Testament saints, in Psalm chapter 68, verse 35, where the
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Psalmist says, awesome is God, from his sanctuary, the God of Israel, he is the one, who gives power, and strength to his people, blessed be
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God, he gives strength, and power, to who, to his people, or in the
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New Testament, the Apostle Paul, speaking about, all of his labors, he says, for this
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I toil, struggling, uses the Greek word, kopiow, it means to sweat profusely,
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Paul is working hard, and yet he's struggling, with all his energy, that he,
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God, powerfully works within me, Paul tells us, in 1
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Corinthians 4, in verse 19, that power is the defining feature, of God's kingdom, in the lives of men, he says, but I will come to you soon, if the
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Lord wills, and I will find out, not only the talk, of these arrogant people, but their power, for the kingdom of God, does not consist, in talk, but what?
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In power. So brethren, how then do we avail ourselves, of this power?
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I think first, we need to recognize, this is the power of God, it cannot be, as some have tried, to buy it, to acquire it, through human means, but it must come, by God, brought in by God alone,
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I love pointing this out, whenever we get the chance, to see it, but if you look at verse 14, you see that we see reference, to the
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Father, and then in verse 16, we see reference, to the Holy Spirit, and in verse 17, we see reference, to the
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Christ, the Son of God, a picture of the Trinity, I think that what
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Paul, is getting at, as he speaks about this power, coming through the Spirit, so that Christ may dwell, in your hearts, through faith, is that Paul is saying, that this power is available, only to those, who have placed their faith, in Jesus Christ, have been adopted, by the
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Father, and are filled, with the Holy Spirit, and with the Spirit of Christ, in us,
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Christ is seated, on the thrones, of our hearts, as it were, see when
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Paul says, in verse 17, so that Christ may dwell, in your hearts, through faith, that word dwell, he could have chosen, one of two different words, that were most appropriately, within his reach, he could have used, one
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Greek word, paroikos, that denotes, the inhabiting of a place, by a stranger, think a hotel room, it would be like, we went and stayed in Banff, for the weekend, you didn't move to Banff, you were there for a day or two, and then you came home,
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Paul could have used a term, like that, for dwell, that Christ could dwell, in our hearts, as a stranger, as it were, or option number two, he could have used, the
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Greek word, katokeo, which means, to settle down somewhere, to make a permanent residence, to move in, to do what my wife is doing, with our home, to make it her own, and she says, this is going to be our retirement villa, which word, do you think
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Paul would choose? Well he chose, katokeo, katokeo, excuse me, the one, who knows
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God's powers, the one, who does not treat Christ, as an indwelling stranger, but as the permanent owner, of that dwelling, you want to have, the power of God, we need to have
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Christ, seated on the thrones, of our hearts, and hearts in Paul's day, when we think of hearts, you hear that expression, to invite
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Jesus, into your heart, we think of that, as Christ coming, and sitting on the seat, of our emotions, that Christ is in the happy place, of our hearts, that's not what
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Paul, was getting at here, but the heart, was the control, center, of the life, and so what
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Paul means, is that to have Christ, dwell in our hearts, through faith, is to have
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Christ, in his rightful place, in our hearts, on his throne, one scholar writes, that the word selected, conveys that the heart, becomes the residence, of its master, and Lord, where he dwells, where he must rule, where he enters, not to cheer, and to soothe alone, but before all things else, to reign,
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Paul confirms this, we see it in Galatians 2 .20, when he says, I have been crucified, with Christ, and it is no longer,
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I who live, but Christ who lives, in me, here we see this Christ, dwelling in the heart of Paul, and what does that mean, and the life
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I now live, in the flesh, I live by faith, in the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me, to have
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Christ, dwelling in our hearts, is to live for Christ, it is to say,
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I am dead, and the life I now live, I live in Christ, and so is it biblical, to tell people, that we should invite
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Jesus, into our hearts, I think because of the context, and the way people understand that, absolutely not, but if you're going to tell people, that they must yield their all, to Jesus Christ, as king of their hearts, then
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I suppose, then we're heading, in the right direction, and with our hearts, yielded to Christ, as king like Paul, we should pray, for a greater and greater, infilling of that spirit,
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Hodge asks a question, if someone were to ask, or answers a question, I should say, if someone were to ask, so that Christ may dwell, in your hearts through faith, why would
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Paul pray, that Christ would dwell, in our hearts, is Christ not already, in our hearts, and Charles Hodge says, the indwelling of Christ, is a thing of degrees, that we can be more, or less submitted, to Christ's Lordship, in that hard attitude, and therefore, we must submit to him, and ask of him, just as Paul is, oh
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Lord, that you would fill me, more with Christ, oh that Christ, would have his rightful, place on the throne, of my heart, that I might have power, but there are more dimensions, than just this, in Paul's prayer, he prays that this new, church family would be, starting in verse 17b, the second half of verse 17, rooted in Christ's love, he says, halfway through verse 17, that you may, that you being rooted, and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled, with all the fullness of God, what does it mean, to be rooted in Christ's love, as Paul continues his prayer, he turns to this topic, now of love unto
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God, and the love of Christ, for the believer, and at the forefront, he relies on two metaphors, to speak of the love, of the church, of being rooted in, and of being grounded, or founded, picture the foundation of a building, founded in love, so he speaks in agricultural, and then in structural terms, and I like what
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John Stott, says in this, he says love, is to be the soil, in which the
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Christian life, is rooted, love is to be the foundation, on which our life is built, and just as we speak, about our own heart attitudes, our own love, emanating from us, to God, and to the world, are you rooted in love, would you say, does your whole life, grow as an offshoot, of the soil of love, in your heart, if I can put it that way, is the foundation of your life, built on Christ, yes, on his word, yes, and on love, grounded in love, love is the very identity, of the
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Christian, I don't think I need to repeat that, too many times, but in John chapter 13, in verse 35, as our
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Lord is speaking, about the very nature, of his disciples, he says, by this all people will know, that you are my disciples, by your love for one another, in John chapter, first John chapter four, and verse seven, the apostle
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John says, beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves, has been born of God, and knows
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God, anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love, now remember, meeting a brother,
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I trust he was a brother, a very sincere man, who said, he did not like it, whenever anyone said, if this, this, this, and this, describes your life, then you have good reason, to doubt that you are not a believer, he detested that, and immediately my mind, went to first John, in all the areas, in which
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John would seek, to bolster our confidence, in our confession, in our calling, in our standing with Christ, by giving us these tests, and what
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John is doing is this, brethren if you, have placed your faith in Christ, and you love, then you're headed in the right direction, but if you look at your life, and go,
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I don't see any evidence at all, of love, I don't see any rootedness, in love, any groundedness in love, that John is saying, anyone who does not love, does not know
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God, so Paul wants us to see, that love is the very essence, of the
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Christians attitude, toward God in the world, and yet I think again, if I can pick on our, stuffy reformed camp for a bit, that we emphasize so much, on knowledge, that love at times, takes a backseat, we need knowledge, to inform our love, but we don't need more knowledge, at the cost of love, if that makes sense, otherwise we are, in Paul's words, a noisy gong, and a clanging cymbal,
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I once heard our brother, Paul Washer, speak about this, how we can go for weeks, without thinking of, the great commandment, to love the
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Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor, as yourself, and he said, how would it change your life, if you were reminded of that, once, twice, three, four times a day, you would wake up in the morning, and say, the
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Lord has created me, to glorify him, and the chief way, to do that, is to love him, and to love my neighbor, we don't think,
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I think, in those contexts, I think sometimes, we get distracted, with the thought, that we need to achieve, political control, over the nations, or that we need to, win the culture wars, or some other marginal pursuit, but what is the great commandment, that God has given us, but to love him, to love him, with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, many of you need that reminder, to know him, yes, to read about him, yes, to pray to him, yes, to worship him, yes, and to love him, and then, to love one another, and I asked you, about the presence of power, in your life,
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I'm going to ask you, about the presence of love, in your life, is love for God, and love for neighbor, the controlling ethic, of your life, so that at every occasion, you are looking, for opportunities, to love
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God more, and to love neighbor better, or is this the furthest thing, from your mind,
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I think what Paul wants us, to do here, is to be sensitive, is being rooted, and grounded in love, to be sensitive, to the needs of others, almost like his prayer life,
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I mentioned this, at the onset, that when we study, Paul's prayers, do you realize, how many times, we find
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Paul, praying for Paul, almost never, and when he does, it's almost always, for the benefit of others, and a good example, is this, that when
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Paul, wrote in his letters, to pray for him, what was he praying for, that I may, preach the gospel, clearly, and boldly, as I ought to speak, pray for me, for open doors, of effective ministry, for who, for the welfare of others, we must be sensitive, like Paul, in his desire, to pray for the people, around him, we must be sensitive, to the needs around us, that we might manifest,
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Christian love, maybe that we might practice, I like that word better, practice
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Christian love, in any and every circumstance, and so, for some of us, brothers and sisters, the way that we are going to love, our neighbors well this week, is by being made a fool, for Christ's sake, by sharing the gospel, with those who will, take great joy, in pouring scorn, and ridicule upon us, but because we love their souls, we share the gospel with them, for others, it will be loving the lives, of the unborn, the preborn, whether it is standing outside, an abortion mill, appealing to mothers, who are going to take, the lives of their children, appealing to, elected representatives, fostering or adopting children, who would otherwise, be put to death, and some of you might think, that is an extreme idea, but I know that some of you, know this that I had, an invitation once, it was a sweet occasion, to preach at, the baby shower, of a child, who was spared from abortion, outside the
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Morgenthaler clinic, here in Edmonton, I'm not going to call it, the Morgenthaler clinic, the Morgenthaler mill, it's an abortion mill, and sisters there, faithfully stood with their signs, appealing to the mothers, do not take the lives, of your children, and one mother, heeded, that counsel, on that board, came to them, they made sure, that she was well cared for, that she had diapers, formula, clothing, everything she needed, and on the day, they had the baby shower,
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I had the esteemed privilege, of going to the baby shower, and preaching from Psalm 127, what is in Psalm 127, turn with me there for a moment, here
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I am on a digression, like Paul would be, but it was one of the most beautiful things, in all the world, verse three, behold children are a heritage from the
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Lord, the fruit of the womb, like arrows in the hand of a warrior, the children of one's youth, there is a world of youth, killing these blessings, and who is going to stand for them, blessed is the man, who fills his quiver with them, he shall not be put to shame, when he speaks with his enemies in the gate, for many of us, loving
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God and neighbor, will be nothing spectacular, but instead it will be the daily practice, of selflessly and sacrificially, serving our neighbors, in ways that they cannot understand, apart from a knowledge of Christ, and of the hope that is within us, and it makes me think oftentimes,
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I think people don't ask, for the hope that is within us, because we're not demonstrating love, we're living for ourselves, just like the rest of the world,
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I have this, this, this, this, and this, to get done today, and so we are not attentive, to the needs of those around us, and for all of us, it is giving the very best of our lives to God, who is the supreme object, of our love and affection, loving
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God supremely in our homes, in our workplaces, in our church, in the world, and I fear, that at times in my own ministry,
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I have not emphasized this enough, and I'm trying to correct that, the Lord has called us, to a relationship of love with Him, and of loving those around us, and how do we find the source, the power source, of that love, well
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He answers that in the next verse, that being rooted and grounded in love, in verse 18, may have strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled, with all the fullness of God, the only way that we can love our
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God, and our neighbors, is by knowing first, the love of God, that has been poured into our hearts, through the
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Holy Spirit, and I think some of you, many of you, would appreciate the way he says this, in verse 18, may comprehend with all the saints, what he is that love, there's some of us, that are little in love, we're low in love, we don't feel like, we're loving other people well, we don't feel like, we experience the love of Christ properly, and could it be, that it is because we are, neglecting the assembly of the saints, he says, that we might experience this love, with all the saints, now one commentator, he writes something that, frames it better than I could, he said, the isolated
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Christian, can indeed know something, of the love of Jesus, but his grasp of it, is bound to be limited, by his limited experience, it needs the whole people of God, to understand the whole love of God, all the saints together,
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Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old, black and white, with all their very backgrounds, and experiences, the full love of God, can never be experienced, outside of the context, of God's family, the church, and one of the chief reasons, is because that church, is an expression of God's love to us,
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I hope you feel that, when you come here on the Lord's day, and when you come here on Sundays, that there is no other place,
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I would rather be in this world, than with these people, why?
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Because they are a gift, to us, from a loving God, and we see the dimensions, of Christ's love, what is the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the depth,
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I call this, the four dimensional love of Christ, three dimensional isn't enough, it's four dimensional, the height, the depth, to go there sorry, the breadth, the length, the height, and depth, and what this, what
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Paul is seeking to do here, is to convey, the absolute, the complete, the exhaustive, love, toward, the believers, that the
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Lord wants us, to be rooted, and grounded in love, that we would live, lifestyles of love, yes, but that we would be rooted, and grounded, just as well, more so in fact, in the love, of Christ, that he has, for us, individually, this week
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I was reading, John chapter 10, and it really, struck, a chord with me, on the
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Lord's love, for us individually, in John chapter 10, in verse 3, as Paul is talking about, about being, sorry
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John, Jesus, our Lord Jesus, speaking about being, the good shepherd, in verse 3, he speaks to this, he says, to him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep, by name, and leads them out, sometimes, maybe we think, that when
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God, extends his love to us, he sees us, as an amorphous blob, just a conglomerate, a mosaic, of people, that form a bigger image, when we look at a mosaic, we rarely ever, examine one of the tiles, but that God just loves us, for the big picture, but that's not, what the
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Lord Jesus says here, is it? But, to him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep, by name, that the
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Lord, knows you, and that he loves you, and that he loves you, completely, four dimensionally, in every direction, and this love, as Paul would say it, probably, unironically,
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I think, he's playing with words here, just to, to capture our attention, that we would know, the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge, that this love, for God, of God, for you, in Christ Jesus, is so great, that you can make it, your life's study, for an eternity, and it would be like, chasing the wind, trying to catch it, with a butterfly net, you're more likely, to catch the wind, in a butterfly net, than to fully conceive, of the love of God, for you, individually, specifically, and by name,
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Calvin says, the love of Christ, is held out to us, as the subject, which ought to occupy, our daily, and nightly meditations, in which we ought to be,
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I love this expression, wholly plunged, diving headlong, into the love of God, he who is in possession, of this alone,
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Calvin says, has enough, beyond it, there is nothing solid, nothing useful, nothing in short, that is proper or sound, though you survey, the heaven and the earth, and the sea, you will never go beyond, this without overstepping, the lawful boundary, of wisdom, and if we were to become, scholars of God's love, we would never exhaust it, and this love, if someone were to say, prove it, prove, verifiably, that God would love me, in such a way, as we speak about, this four dimensional, love of God, is it not most clearly seen, in the cross, in the cross of Christ, now
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Augustine said, something quite humorous, he said, that the height, and the depth, and the breadth, and the width, he said, that forms a cross, this is speaking to the cross,
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I think Augustine is going too far, but as I said, as I tried not to preach my sermon, early during the songs, is
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Christ's love, not seen most clearly, in this, that love has no greater, than this, that he would lay down his life, and not just for a friend, but for his enemies, that we would meditate much, on the cross of Christ, and see his love for us, in that cross, that Christ went to the cross, to die for sinners, to die for you, and to give you eternal life, when you deserved eternal destruction, there is no greater expression of love, and when we are filled, with this love, when we have some semblance, of the knowledge, of this unknowable love,
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Paul says at the end of verse 19, then we will be filled, with all the fullness, of God, one commentator says, this is
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God's ultimate purpose, for our lives, to be filled, with all the fullness of God, now what does that mean,
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Calvin says, everything necessary, for perfection with God, another says,
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God's moral excellence, perfection and power, another says, to attain the fullness of love, in other words, to be filled, with the fullness of God, is to be like Christ, to be filled, with the fullness of Christ, and to be like Him, what is it, that completes us as Christians, is it supernatural gifts, is it great usefulness, is it a knowledge, filled with knowledge, spoke with a man yesterday, and I'm pretty much included, that for him, to be filled, with the fullness of God, is to exercise healing gifts,
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I could address it at any moment, but what does Paul say, what does God say, it is to be grounded, in the knowledge, of the love of Jesus Christ, for you, the sinner, oh that the
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Lord would fill us, with the fullness of God, through the knowledge of Christ, love for us, and then, with that knowledge,
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Paul continues, he concludes in verses 20 and 21, with the external, sorry, eternal, exaltation, of God, my third point, now to Him, who is able to do far more abundantly, than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory, in the church, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever, and ever,
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Amen. Paul again highlights, the powerful working of God, in the
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Christian, that there is no limit, to this power, and it's not limited, even by our imagination, or our expectation, that we ought to trust, in the power of God, and we ought to pray, for the power of God, and expect that He will do, far more abundantly, than we ask or think, and what's interesting, about verses 20 and 21, when you look at the scholarship on it, is that this was likely, a doxological song, so here we see, if you can say it this way, we see one of the, what
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Paul later speaks of, in Ephesians 5, as the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of the church, here we see, perhaps this was a hymn, or a spiritual song, of the church, and it's fascinating, to look at the syllables, and the way that it, reflects other songs, in scripture, and one example would be,
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Revelation chapter 5, we don't have to go there, but there they were saying, before the Lord, to him who sits on the throne, and the
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Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and might, forever and ever, and the four living creatures, said amen, and the elders fell down, and worshipped, one commentator says, this helps us to understand, what
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Paul had in mind, when he spoke about the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, this is what the songs, were like, for the early church, and the apostles, they were not songs, about how, when oceans rise,
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I will rest upon your embrace, but they were singing, about God, and his glory, that God was the chief, study of their hymnody, that they were speaking, about the super, and singing about the super, abundant power of God, the power of God, that is at work in us, through the gospel, the glories of God, in the church, and in the incarnate
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Christ, here we find, a singing church, comprised of Jews, and Gentiles, who are obsessed, with one thing, in their singing, the glory, of the triune
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God, who saved them, from their sins, by his great power, Zechariah promised this, this is one of those texts, that we look back at, when we look, how
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God had always intended, to make the two groups one, in Zechariah 2, in verse 10, sing and rejoice,
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O daughter of Zion, for behold I come, and I will dwell, in your midst, declares the
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Lord, don't you see, a lot of similarities, between this, and the second half, of Ephesians 2, and many nations, shall join themselves, to the
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Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell, in your midst, and you shall know, the
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Lord of hosts, has sent me, many nations are joining,
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Jew and Gentile, together, the Lord is in their midst, and what are they doing, but they're singing, the glories, of God, and in verse 21, he says, to him be glory, in the church, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, this is, the only place, in all the doxologies, of the
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Bible, that expresses God's glory, in the church, as one writer puts it, the glory, is
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God's, but his radiant presence, resides, in the church, alongside, and through,
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Jesus Christ, and see this with me, that this is not, God's glory, and in the church, for this dispensation only,
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God's glory, in this church, as a parenthesis, in God's plan, but God will be glorified, in his church, and in Christ, throughout all generations, forever, and ever, and ever, to belong to the church, is so good, it is out of this world, and we are, as this church, to exist with one, overarching obsession, in our living by the power, of the
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Holy Spirit, and in our loving God, and in our receiving, that love of God, we are to be obsessed, overcome with, compelled by, with the impulsion, compulsion, to glorify, the
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Lord, our God, forever, so when the time came, for Paul to write, to the
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Ephesians, and to write out his prayer, he prayed that, that we would be filled, with all the fullness of God, the fullness of his powerful spirit, the fullness of his love, and the fullness, of his glory, in our lives, and I think, my prayer, is that Paul's prayer, would be answered, in this generation, and in this church.
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Amen. Let's pray. Thank you for listening, to another sermon, from Grace Fellowship Church.
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