Paul finishes Ephesians 4 with: [30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
A lot of times
Jesus Christ wouldn’t be comfortable going some of the places you go, listening
to some of the conversations you have, says Richard Jordan.
You see what
a sanctifying, what a setting apart, what a cleansing effect it would have in
your life to realize that all of the thoughts and all of the attitudes and
actions you take, He’s sitting there in the living room with you, dwelling
there?
How do you do
that? By faith. What is it that activates God’s Word in your life? I
Thessalonians 2:13: [13] For this cause also thank we God without
ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God,
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
The first
thing you have to do is settle the authority of God’s Word and when you receive
it that way, it will “effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Romans 5:2: [2]
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
You have
access to bring it into your life and put it to work when you believe what God’s
Word says.
So, you’ve
been strengthened by His Spirit in your inner man. You’ve looked at the
Scripture, you’ve gotten into the Word of God, you’ve found it, and now you’re
believing it, and what happens? It activates the indwelling life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul said, “Now whose life is it? It’s His life.”
Ephesians
3:17: [17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love,
Notice, he’s
assuming that you’re rooted and grounded in love. How does that happen? When
Christ’s dwelling in your heart.
Colossians 2:6:
[6] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him:
[7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have
been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
That’s how
complicated the Christian life is. If you understand how you got saved (It’s
not I, it’s Christ), you don’t get saved and then God says, “Now here’s a race
course I want you to run to show me what a good deal I got.”
The Christian
life is an impossibility for you to live; only Christ can live His life. You
just get out of the way and let Him do it and when you walk by faith in what
His Word says He does it.
Romans 8: [38]
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You see how
there’s a persuasion? I’ve thought about it, I’ve calculated it, and here’s my
conclusion “that neither death, nor life, nor angels . . . ”
You learn in
the Christian life to never think, “I’m doing it.” It scares me to hear people say,
“Well, I’m walking . . .” I’d be scared to say that about myself. Because, “Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
When could you ever boast that you’ve arrived? Well, every time you do, be sure that that boast demonstrates that you’ve haven’t, because it’s your Achilles Heel.
But in
Christ . . . Oh, in Christ it’s all different, isn’t it? You know how I’ve
arrived? I’ve arrived in Him. He’s the issue. That’s what Paul’s talking about
back here.
God wants you
to be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the “breadth and the length
and the height and the depth.” When you can comprehend those four dimensions,
then you can KNOW the love of Christ.
He says, “I
want you to be able to wrap your mind around it. Get a grip on it. Understand it.
It won’t work if you don’t know something.”
God says, “I
want your mind to comprehend the greatness, the vastness of what God’s doing,”
and when you can comprehend the vastness of what God is doing (this great cosmic
plan He has in His Son that He’s made you a part of), you’ll know the greatness
of His love for you. And when you know that, “that you might be filled with all
the fulness of God.”
You can take
that verse two ways. You have Christ in you the hope of glory, then you have
God the Holy Spirit in you. So you have the fulness of the Godhead in you.
Years ago,
and I say this reverently, a preacher Down South used to say, “God the Father was the brains of the godhead. God the Holy Spirit was the workhorse of the
godhead and God the Son was the showboat of the godhead.”
Take that
with a grain of salt but understand, who does God the Father have all His
preeminence in? The Lord Jesus Christ. Who is the Word, the expression, the chief
speaker of the godhead? Jesus Christ.
Philippians
2: [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name:
So, where
does the fullness of God really reside? Colossians 2: [9] Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
In essence,
He’s telling you be filled with all the fullness of what God has given you and
God has made you in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, the goal
of all of this is to get to know something that will result in God being
filled, being controlled. The result of all this if for you to know something
that will result in God controlling your life. With it being His will, His Word,
His life working through you.
Paul knew
that to get that was going to take, not just knowing that, but it’s going to
take prayer. It’s going to take personal accountability for your life to be brought
in line with God’s will. The result is Ephesians 3:20: [20] Now unto him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
You ask
things and you think things and God says, “You haven’t got a clue about what
you’re talking about; better get in the Book.”
“According to
the power that worketh in us.” That’s what it all leads to. The power that
works in us. You see, today God’s chose to demonstrate His power, His working
in and through the lives of Believers.
God
intervenes in your life today through your inner man and then through your
inner man. Galatians 2: 20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me.
[21] I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
That life in
me lives out through that body of flesh to perform good works. The good works
come not because I’m trying to get something, but because of who I am inside.
He’s designed it that His Word works IN and THROUGH Believers, through the working
of His Word and that’s the key.
That’s why
Paul says all that victory stuff and then he says, “I’m in jail.” He’s not talking
about changing his circumstances. He’s still in jail. But he says, “The word of
God is not bound. I suffer trouble, but God’s word isn’t bound.”
That’s what
we need, folks. To be strengthened by His Spirit so that we have that victorious
life of Christ in the details of our life, so that Christ is at home in our life,
so that His love will dominate our life, and out of that flows the very
character of God, and thus God’s glorified.
It’s not
enough just to sit and take it in. Paul said, “I don’t want you to just know
all this stuff.” God wants to release the power of all that through you as an
individual in your home, in your life, in your family, in your community, to
give you the spiritual victory that he’s given you in Christ in the experiences
of your life, in order that other people around you can see who He is, that He genuinely
can save sinners like you, that He might be glorified.
Paul prayed for them, “I want you to get turned on to this,” and the way you flip the switch of all that you are in Christ is prayer. That’s why it’s that vital and that important.