Connected In Christ, Pt.2
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Intro; One of the saddest commentaries of the “church” of our day is the lack of its spiritual power. Churches today have wonderful facilities, great networking technology, staff and finances, but struggle in spiritual growth and power. Paul recognized even in the early days of the church that a lack of spiritual growth and power was a problem as well. So he prayed for the church at Ephesus to maintain their love for the Lord and one another and to increase their faith.
The family of God who has been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”, should not be living like spiritual paupers! Remember that the “church” is the “summoned ones” by God to give Him glory in the earth.
Ephesians 1:22–23 (NKJV)
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Tonight I want to talk about being “Connected In the Fullness of Christ”
Text; Eph. 1:15-23
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul prayed for the spiritual wealth of Christ to be readily used by His church that we become the fullness of Him [salt and light] to a dark and confused world.
Do you know that our job as the church is to introduce the world to Jesus Christ by living in a way that shows the world a clear picture of who He is and the hope of kingdom! Paul gives the church in our text tonight three ways to be Connected In the Fullness of Christ.
1. The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation; 17
1. The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation; 17
Paul prayed for the church to get to know God better. To do that we must be occupied with nourishing that intimacy with Him as we would with our spouse or family.
Knowledge- obtaining facts, to recognize and understand, comprehension [Many people know a lot of facts about God/bible but yet don’t truly have a knowledge of God]
Knowledge of God is more than the facts about Him, it is experiencing the facts about God in a personal relationship with Him that grows deeper each day! That’s where the spirit of wisdom and revelation come in.
Spirit of Wisdom is effectively applying divine truth/knowledge of God to the twists, turns, and trials of everyday life.
The spirit of discernment gives one the ability to know right from wrong
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The spirit of wisdom enables the believer to walk in divine truth and the knowledge of God.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Spirit of Revelation is unveiling and uncovering the deep things of God.
There are too many surface christians in the church where their roots don’t go deep enough to hold them to the firm foundation of truth when the storms of life come.
The Holy Spirit of revelation indwells every believer, but the believer must have a desire to know more about God if he is going to have greater knowledge of Him.
We must have a spirit that drives after God, seeks to know God, and hungers and thirsts after God above all else!
Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.
Theodore Roosevelt
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation are essential to the Knowledge of God that connects the believer to the fullness of Christ. It must be the church’s desire to grow in the knowledge of God that we can effectively worship, serve and reflect His Person to a lost world.
2. Eyes of Understanding; 18
2. Eyes of Understanding; 18
Eyes are what we use to see things with [forms, colors, shapes]. They are the power center of our vision.
Understanding is all about comprehension of something. This is more than just knowledge of something, but to trust it as well, which includes the heart!
Enlightened is to be illuminated [the light to come on]
Paul is saying that God has revealed Himself in the scriptures but we need “Holy Spirit Glasses” to understand them accurately. Turn to [1 Cor. 2:9-16]
18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.
18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Paul wants the believer to have the eyes of our hearts opened to know the full value of our faith in Christ.
3. Available Power; 19
3. Available Power; 19
Power [dynamis] strength, ability [His power towards us will help us daily to cope with worry, fears, insecurities, sickness, doubt, etc..]
Power [kratos] control or to rule over [In this case is reveals God’s power over death, Resurrection Power [20-21]
God gives His children the strength and ability in the Holy Spirit to be more than conquerors to overcome the world, and the assurance that when we draw our last breath in death here, we will open them in eternity with Him in heaven!
[Illus.] In Esther 5, we see Esther living on the edge of death. It could come by the proclamation of Haman signed by the king that would extinguish the Jews or even from her presenting herself before the king without being summoned. But after prayer and fasting, Esther approached the king.
1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.
2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.
Esther found favor in the sight the king and from that day forward the power of the throne was directed towards her and her people.
If Esther found favor in the sight of an earthly king, how much more will the power of God’s throne be directed towards His children whom he loves?
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Close;
Too many Christians have not really read the “bank book of life’ the Bible, to find the vast spiritual wealth that God has placed in our account through Jesus Christ.
They are like the late great newspaper baron, William Randolph Hearst, who invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world. One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own, so he sent his agents abroad to find these articles. After months of searching and investigation, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures. They were in one of Mr. Hearst’s own warehouses. Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned! Had he just read the catalogue of his treasures, he would have saved himself a great deal of time, money and trouble.
If we would just read the catalogue of treasure we have in Scripture, we would be “Connected in the Fullness of Christ!”