The Strengthening of the Spirit

Read Philippians 1:18b-21

LONG TRIP AND TAHOE ILLUSTRATION

Focus on the wording of Philippians 1:19, particularly “Supply”, and THEN go to Ephesians 3:14-21

The Strengthening of the Inner Man (v16)

Strengthening your core and back are important to progress in lifting heavy weights. Galatians 3:3 “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

Many spend all of their time investing in the outer man while totally ignoring the condition of their souls.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Many never experience the strengthening of the Spirit because they have never yielded to Him, but instead the grieve Him.

Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

We grieve Him by harboring sin in our lives. By resting in our works or living in the flesh we grieve Him. To witness the power of the Spirit working within our lives we must yield to Him!

How does the Spirit strengthen the inner man?

The Word of God

“The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “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.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

The preaching of the Word is not a powerless human explanation of the biblical text, for the Spirit accompanies it so that God’s Word achieves its purposes.

Prayer

James 5:16-18 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.:

Prayer is not just throwing words at the wind and hoping that they stick to some magic force, but prayer is a physical sermon in which you openly declare that you stand in need of the grace of God and rest in His all sufficient provision.

The Ordinances of the Church

To an outside observer, they do not seem special at all. After all, they make use of rather common things such as human speech, bread, wine, and water. But by faith and the work of the Spirit, these common elements are used to do an uncommon work — the confirmation of our trust in Jesus and the strengthening of our wills to flee from sin and rest in Christ alone.

1 Corinthians 10:16 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”

This is referring to our very fellowship and participation with Christ as we participate in the Lord’s table. The Greek word translated “participation” is koin nia, a word that refers to intimate fellowship with someone.

Christ is spiritually present at the Lord’s Supper. When we partake of the bread and cup, we have intimate communion with Him.

The Lord’s Supper, in other words, seals this truth to our hearts. It is an external, physical confirmation that I belong to Christ and that Christ has given himself to me. In the beautiful words of Heidelberg Catechism 1:

“What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, not to myself, but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins, and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil, and that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.”

Within this passage you will notice 3 “hinas” which is the Greek word for “that”. What Paul is praying for the Church of Ephesus is that they might grow for the glory of God, but it isn’t that you can choose a random spot of growth, no, you must begin in v16 to progress anymore. This is like a four tiered fountain, when the first bowl fills up it then spills over into the next bowl and so on. As you and I yield our lives to the Holy Spirit we will then find the Indwelling of Christ in v17

The Indwelling of Christ (v17a)

I know what you’re wondering, “Does this mean that if I am not totally surrendered then I don’t have Christ living in me?” No, that’s not what Paul is saying. For us to understand this text we must look at the word, “dwell” which comes from the Greek word “katoikeo”. This word means to make one’s self at home.

Difference in our first house before and after Ragan moved in

Is Christ at home within you or is it a constant fight? Is there peace or warfare? This is truly what we find to be the case here. When our heart are surrendered to the Spirit our hearts become a place where Christ makes Himself at home. This dwelling is not in some deep dark corner but it is within our hearts. This is in connection with the phrase “inner being” in v16. Our hearts, or inner being, are not some phsycological phenomenon, but it is truly who we are. It is our thoughts, actions, and so on. And this presence of Christ within you and I is built up in the faith strengthening work of the Spirit.

Is the Lord at home in your house? Is He present in the library or TV room of your heart where all of your thoughts are, do you think of Him often? Does He lounge with you on the couch? Do you find your rest and communion in Him? Is He present in the kitchen? Are you feasting upon His grace day by day or is their so much junk, or so many battles, or your so busy with everything else in this world that He isn’t treated like He lives there but He is just like a guest who we forgot and left on the couch? Is Christ at home in your life? Does He have access to every nook and crany of your life? Even the hidden closet where you hide all of your issues?

When Ragan moved into our first house the smell drastically changed. And when Christ is at home within you the fragrance of loving grace is made a sweet savor in your life. You will notice it, which leads us to our third point.

Knowing Incomprehensible Love (v17b-19a)

Ella likes to dance. Louis Armstrong was once asked to explain jazz music and he replied, “If you go to ask, then you ain’t got it.”

You know, love is the same way. You can’t explain it but when you experience it you know exactly what it is.

If we are to live a life where it is obvious we know Christ we must be fortified in His love. Paul goes on to pray that they are rooted and grounded in love! So what we find is that when Christ freely reigns within our heart and lives we will flourish when we realize that our identity and security comes from the depths of God’s love and as we begin to sit back as He begins to reveal more and more and more and more of His love to us we find ourselves baffeled at the limitless, unexplicable, unceasing love of Christ!

And all of Pauline theology really points to this one glorious and magnificent truth: That the reality of the limitless love of Christ is to overwhelming penetrate our hearts beyond simply knowing some academic truths but it is to seeps down into our hearts! And when that happens then we move on to the next point

The Incredible Fullness of God (v19b)

When we are overwhelmingly flooded with the tsunami of grace that is found in Christ we will find our lives full of the fullness of God. Now, this does not mean that we become God and God becomes us. Let me put it this way: If I take a cup to a pond and scoop up a cupfull of that water it will be obvious that I could never fit all of that water in my cup, but I have all of the attributes of that water in my cup. What Paul is expressing is that when you and I resign from being the boss and we yield to the Spirit who strengthens us, it is then that we will realize our true idenities in Christ and from there on He will reveal more and more and more to us and as we fellowship and enjoy Him He will begin to flow out from us. This is the great bridge of the book of Ephesians! This is theology in our hearts and Biblical truth in shoe leather!

Notice the significance of this text: In v16 we see the Spirit in us, in v17 we see Christ within us, and in v19 we see that we are filled with God. When someone as marvelously huge as the Triune God is within you, the world will see it! This fullness of God means that His attributes will show through you. Galatians 5 tells us that it will look like this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

All of this truly leads up to where we addressed in the beginning. Look at v20-21

The Performance of God for the Praise of God (v20-21)

As Paul begins to wrap up his prayer he begins to essentially praise God and brings the Ephesians to attention of the fact that God is capable of doing all of this through you. Paul uses four really interesting words here “able- Dynamai” “exceeding abundantly- hyperikperrisou”, “power-dynamis”, and “work-energeo”. This is such an explosively powerful and beautiful text! In our hearts we wish to glorify our God, we wish to praise Him, we wish to honor Him, we wish to glorify HIm, but we feel like that’s just not something we’re able to do because that’s only for the really successful, or the really impressive, or the really talented. But no! We find here that God is capable of doing more than you can even begin to ask or even think! So I want to ask you a very simply question this morning: How much do you wish to do for the glory of God? This ability is not one found within our flesh, but it is within the power that is in us, which is the Holy Spirit of God!

I’m telling you I have lived this!

Why? Why would God take someone from Spartanburg, SC, or Hillsborough, NC and invest in them, and love them, and teach them, and be with them? Why would God do that? v21 tells us, “Unto Him be glory” Can you believe that God wants to use someone like you and me for His glory?