8/10/25 - Taking up Residence
Notes
Transcript
Recap
Recap
Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus
Two weeks ago we spoke about what prayer is
and why it is so important
that we shouldn’t begin any project
even a good project
unless we’ve prayed first
because prayer is the beginning of discipleship
Prayer is the Beginning of Discipleship
Prayer is the Beginning of Discipleship
last week we spent a great deal of time talking about the need for the Spirit
and how we cannot do anything for Christ
unless we are connected to Christ
So Paul’s first request to the Lord
is to strengthen the church’s inner strength through the spirit of God
The First Prayer Request - Spiritual Strengthening
The First Prayer Request - Spiritual Strengthening
That leads us to the second request of God by Paul
The Second Prayer Request
The Second Prayer Request
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Before we can proceed
we need to establish the audience first
remember that Paul is writing to a church
a group of believers already
This is important because
Paul is not asking for salvation,
Paul is praying for the believers in the church
I’ve heard a lot of evangelists use the phrase
“I’ve received Jesus into my heart”
or they invite someone to receive Christ into their heart
Let me put a pin in your balloon
because that doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible
I understand the meaning behind it
and I don’t want to be legalistic about it
however, I also want to be correct and biblically accurate
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
It never says that Jesus is going to come into your heart
The verse only says that we need to believe in our heart
that Jesus came, died, and rose again for us.
It’s a metaphor for the deep recesses of our being.
Another verse that often gets thrown into this thought is John 1:12
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,
13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
These verse are the main culprit of the thought
that we can receive Jesus into our hearts.
There are some issues with this
First, Jesus was talking about the Jewish leadership
the people who did not receive Him in verse 11
They did not “receive”, “Welcome”, “accept” Jesus
or even properly acknowledge Him
Why?
because on our own, we are incapable of receiving Jesus
We’ve mentioned the Doctrine of Depravity before
meaning that everyone is a sinner
everyone is incapable of searching after God
all this is written in Romans
and that in order for someone to receive God
God first initiates the conversation
because we are all sinners, depraved
These verses actually teach that there are some
that even though they are depraved
have the ability to receive Jesus for who He is
This doesn’t mean that they become saved
but it does mean that welcome Him for who He truly is
that Jesus is God
That’s the whole posture and theme of the Gospel of John
to prove that Jesus was also fully God
Notice John 1:12
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,
You don’t just receive Jesus
you also have to believe in His name
In other words, welcoming Jesus
also has to include faith
That makes more sense according the Romans 10:9
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confession is agreeing with God
that we are a sinner
and acknowledging that Jesus is Lord
If that were the end of it
everyone would be saved
including the demons because they know that He the Lord
and they for sure know that they are sinners.
But that’s not the end of it
we must also believe in our heart
that God raised Him from the dead
so we have both action and belief
Then the rest of the Bible speaks about faith
which shows our belief
Even the Old Testament points to this
God makes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis
The covenant has three parts
A restored relationship with God
because the relationship was broken in the garden
when Adam and Eve committed the first sin
The second is the growth of Abrahams family into a nation
and the third is a nation for the family’s home.
The first part of the covenant - to be restored
involves three relationships
with God, with one another, and with creation.
All three of these relationships will be restored
Abraham and all his descendants are called to believe in these promises
despite all the problems that may stand in the way
It is these three promises that ultimately comes to fruition
when Jesus returns and the new heaven and the new earth are established
Abraham though, and the Old Testament patriarchs
are called to believe in these promises
not just on a head and heart level
but to act in faith that this promise will be fulfilled
There wasn’t anything that Abraham did
that allowed him to be righteous.
It was everything that Abraham did that showed He had faith,
which then was his righteousness
Meaning, it was Abraham’s actions in faith
in the belief of a promise
that gave him a right standing before God.
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.
4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
Big rabbit trail, so let’s bring it back and kill the rabbit
The point is that what Paul is not praying that the Ephesians should be saved
When he talks about the heart.
He is writing to a group of believers in a church
The key word to focus on in this next petition to the Lord
is the word Dwell
Dwelling
Dwelling
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Dwelling implies someone living, residing, abiding
there is both action and settling
It’s not enough to lock up Jesus into our lives
and place Him on the shelf like another idol
similar to the Hindu faith
Jesus needs to be residing, dwelling, taking up residence
again, another metaphor
but you get the idea
It’s not enough to tell me you love Jesus
prove to me and show me that you love Jesus
James says, faith without works is dead.
You say you have Jesus dwelling in you?
prove it.
Paul is praying that Jesus settles down in our lives
Paul wants Jesus to make a permanent home of us
Different from just visiting
or just generally hanging out
If you’ve ever been on vacation
and you stay in an air bnb,
or stay at a beach house
you feel like you are moving in.
We stayed at a beach house recently
It is supposed to be a vacation
but I felt like I was moving my entire house to get there
I not only had to bring our suitcase for clothes
but there are bags and coolers of food.
I also had to bring some cooking things
because you’re never sure what the house has
or you are so attached to your favorite spatula
that it has to go with you.
Then there are all the towels, beach ware,
beach chairs, floaties, sunscreen, sunburn lotion
medicines, linens, pillows.
By the way, beach houses aren’t exactly built on the ground
Usually there are stairs involved
So I’m carrying all this stuff up 15 feet in the air.
And by the time I get all the stuff in and unpacked
it’s time to pack it all up and head back home
It’s a temporary stay
Even moving into an apartment
or a college dorm
or a rental house
You may be living there for a while
but it’s not your home to do with like you want to.
You can’t just change the color of the walls
or remodel the kitchen.
But when you move into your home
now everything you own goes into the home
you make it your own
you begin to set down some roots
you get to know the neighbors
You can paint, change the carpet
move a sink, change the plugs
whatever you want to do
because it is now your home.
That’s what Paul is trying to describe to the Ephesians about Jesus
He doesn’t want to just visit
He doesn’t want to just rent a space
He wants to come in and make some changes
especially to clean it up
and make your life His home
and dwell there.
When you go to pick a home out
there are a lot of factors that are involved sometimes
the biggest is often cost.
What can I afford?
Here’s the thing about real estate
many of you know this already
I could put a double wide trailer in the middle of a field
and get one price
but if I put that same double wide trailer on the beach
I can get ten times the amount for it
It doesn’t matter about the square footage
The internet says that
the average price for a home in Rocky Point
is roughly $209 per square foot
the average price for a home on Wrightsville Beach
is $1200 per square foot.
Using round numbers
A modest 1000 square foot home in Rocky point
would cost about $209,000
where the same home on Wrightsville Beach
would be 1.2 million dollars.
It’s the same house,
the same wood, the same style, the same everything
What’s the difference between the two?
the great real estate phrase
location, location, location
Location, Location, Location
Location, Location, Location
This is more than a real estate phrase
even though it probably started there
it really means that there is a strategic positioning of a house,
or of where we place Jesus in our lives
Where is it that Jesus wants to dwell?
In our hearts.
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Location is in the heart
Why the heart?
Art, you just said that the heart is just a metaphor
and I still stand by that.
This location in scripture is more than just a single place
The heart represents the very center of a person’s being
it is the center of your personality
it the most strategic place that Jesus can dwell in our lives.
The heart includes more than just emotions
Too many people have said
I just don’t feel like Jesus is with me
I don’t feel Jesus anymore
First, Jesus isn’t a feeling, He is God
He is a person
There are times when I am away from my wife
that I can’t physically feel her
but I always have feelings for her
and when I do something that might effect her
even while I’m away from her
I can still feel her presence.
In other words
don’t always look for the signs and wonders
the physical things in life
the hair on your arm to rise up
or the gut feeling you have on the inside
It’s not always a feeling that you get.
It is knowing that Jesus is always there
because He said He would be.
Having Jesus dwell in our hearts
also involves the mind
That doesn’t just mean an intellectual belief
Again, even the demons believe
It’s more than that
It also includes your will.
more to the point
it involves a surrender of your will
and placing Jesus will in place of your own.
It is possible to to have Jesus in our mind
and in our intellect
but still not be able to say as Paul did
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So don’t get hung up on the word heart
except to understand it means m
ore than the organ that pumps blood
or the place where all the “feels” comes from
or a box that holds chocolates once a year.
There’s a relatively new thing happening in the world
it started with the elements of haunted houses, video games
fun houses, scavenger hunts, and even interactive theater
No one really knows where the escape room really began
but in 2003 it became popularized at a convention called GenCon
GenCon is an annual convention dedicated to table top games
The convention takes place in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
that’s where the Gen in GenCon comes from
one year, the inventors of Dungeons and Dragons
created a live-action team-based game
where players explored a physical space
and cooperatively solved mental and physical puzzles
to accomplish a goal in a limited amount of time.
This and other types of these events
made way for the invention of the escape room
The Escape Rooms, although differently themed
all have the same goal
work together to get out of the room, escape.
in other words, find the door that goes out.
Sometimes this is relatively simple
and other times it requires some pretty incredible ingenuity
And there is a timer
meaning that there is time limit
so someone isn’t spending all eternity trying to escape.
Jesus isn’t trying to escape our hearts
but He is trying to get in
and even in some cases trying to stay at the center.
In order for Jesus to get in
there needs to be a doorway.
The Doorway
The Doorway
And what is that doorway?
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Paul relays this same message in Romans
when he speaks about the righteousness of God
Faith in Jesus is how we have the righteousness
the right standing before God
22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
We believe in Jesus
and follow through with faith in Jesus
the rest of the verse should sound familiar
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
Notice the semi-colon following the verse
Because the verse thought continues to the next
24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul is making a point in Romans
First He explains that both Jews and Gentiles
are both sinners.
He then explains that the law is not a way to justify righteousness
as many of the Jews would try to do,
That the law is actually a way to show a person
that they have sinned.
That they are unclean.
20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Paul now explains that justification
or righteousness
a right standing before God
is only through faith in Jesus Christ
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.
22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
This is both the beginning and the continuation of being a believer
we begin our journey with Jesus by believing in faith
and we continue our journey through life in faith
The preacher Martin Lloyd Jones describes
the beginning of a relationship with Jesus
and the continuation of the relationship with Jesus this way.
There is a difference between a first falling in love with the one who becomes your wife,
and living with your wife in a state of love through the years.
That first ecstatic excitement does not continue;
but it does not mean that there is less love.
There is less excitement in the connection with it,
there is less fuss and less of the demonstrative element,
but it does not mean that the love diminishes.
It may well mean the exact opposite, that is a deeper love.
This is the difference between initial salvation
and the dwelling of Jesus in your heart.
The dwelling is a greater love, a greater intimacy,
a greater knowledge, a deeper fellowship;
but it isn’t accompanied by the thrilling element
which the first experience of the power of the Spirit brings.
Faith as defined by scripture is
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
We’ve been through this before
but what is faith as a believer?
It’s the difference between knowing Christ “for” you
and knowing Christ “in” you.
In the beginning of our relationship with Christ
We know a lot about Christ
We know the history of being born in Bethlehem
We know His teachings
We know He rose from the grave for us
He died for our sins
We look for what Christ has done for us
But at some point in our maturity in discipleship
It’s not longer what has Christ done for me
but now what is Christ doing in me
and eventually what is Christ doing through me.
That happens with faith.
It’s one thing to say I believe in God
and to say I would even die for my faith
because Jesus has paved the way for us in heaven for eternity
It’s another thing to step into the fiery furnace
or to walk in the lions den
or to step into a group of people you know hate you
and begin to share the Word of God
knowing that at some point you will be killed
because Jesus has moved from objective to subjective
In other words when we begin to take this faith thing for a spin
Lord, I don’t know how I’m getting through this
I don’t know how this is all going to fall into place
but You do, and You told me to keep walking
so I’m going to walk into the furnace
I’m going to walk into the lions den
I’m going to walk into the synagogue
and let You do You through me.
Jesus wants to dwell in our hearts
He doesn’t just want to rent space
He doesn’t want to temporarily spend some time there
He wants to settle down
make some changes
clean things up.
There are two other types of dwellers in the world
There are squatters and there are those that have been evicted.
Squatting and Eviction
Squatting and Eviction
A squatter is someone that is taking up residence
But they are doing so illegally
They are taking up the space
but they don’t have a lease
or they don’t own the place
There are those people that treat Jesus this way
He’s welcome to be there in my heart
but I own the place
I have the lease
He can stay as long as He doesn’t cause any trouble.
Can I tell you that it doesn’t work out well!
Jesus isn’t interested in renting property in our hearts
He wants to own our beings.
Seeing as how He paid for our whole being on the cross
It’s probably not a great idea
to tell God He can’t have the space
after paying for it.
But that’s how we treat Jesus sometimes.
I’m yours, until it conflicts with my principles
I’m yours until you mess up my plans
my social life, my priorities, my fun
and especially don’t mess up what I believe
Jesus isn’t going to squat in a place He isn’t welcome
even after becoming a believer
notice that Paul talks about Jesus wanting to dwell there
which might imply that we can kick Jesus to the curb
Do we lose our salvation?
Not what I read in the Bible
Can we lose our way?
absolutely
Look at Revelation 3 with me for a moment
this is the end times
The apostle John is writing to seven churches
not lost people, but churches
Notice what John has to say about Jesus and where He is
14 “Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation:
15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.
20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
21 “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
22 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Don’t miss this
The church is lukewarm
they used to be on fire fore Jesus
but they became comfortable
they were rich, wealthy, and need nothing
Jesus advises them to buy gold refined by fire
that means to do something worthwhile
we know that because of the works that will be tested in the end
12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.
Buy clothes and get some eye drops
because they don’t even realize, nor care
that they are exposing themselves to the world
and can’t see that they are.
And the kicker is
they evicted Jesus in the process
20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
He is standing outside the door of the church
and He is knocking to get back in.
Jesus is knocking to get back into the church!
This isn’t evangelistic
This is removing the main thing from the main thing
He no longer is dwelling, living, putting down roots
No. Jesus is put out of the church
The good news is
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.
He’s still giving a chance to this church
Jesus is still knocking
and allowing them opportunity to repent
He’s giving time to fix things
to allow Jesus to come back in and dwell there
Paul is praying that this church will allow Jesus to dwell in their hearts.
It’s almost prophetic in a way
Look at what happens to this church in the end
1 “Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.
3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Somehow this church in Ephesus has abandoned their first love
they got so caught up in the work of the ministry
that they did it on their own power.
Jesus is going to give them a chance to repent as well
but if they don’t
He is going to remove their lampstand.
In other words
He will let the church die out.
Because if as a church
we are doing things in our own power
why would we need Jesus?
We might as well be a rotary club
Our job both corporately and individually
is to have faith in Jesus
and allow Him to dwell within each one of us
and to dwell within the corporate body of Christ.
So that we can grow and mature
and allow Him to use us
to bear fruit for Him and for others
to accomplish greater things than even He did on His own.
To Glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.
