Our Great Savior, Part 1

as we come back to the book of ephesians that's a that's a delight for me i feel most comfortable when exposing a book of the new testament and uh i think the last time that i went through ephesians was a long time ago and uh it was it was the right time to take a look at it again since um i doubt that very many of you are even here you shouldn't live your christian life without an opportunity to study this incredible book i i want the theme to be for this week and certainly next week as we look at the same passage again christ is everything christ is everything it amazes me how the church churches church leaders can totally lose their focus on christ and wander off into all kinds of other subjects themes it's um it's very sad uh christ is everything i'm going to try to convey that to you today and our focus should always be on him in our personal lives and in our church life as well sometimes i i need to get out of the current environment that i'm in even the current theological environment or ecclesiological environment that i'm in and to do that i usually try to find some old books and go back a ways i i picked up a book that is titled the reformation of the church it includes articles from preachers who lived in the 17th century so it goes way back hundreds of years and it addresses the issue even then even that close to the reformation within 150 years or so of the reformation there was a need to call the church to another reformation and in that anthology of those writers from the 17th century ian murray wrote a forward my dear friend ian murray he wrote this in that same year 1964 and listen to what he said and i'm quoting at a time when the christian faith is commanding so little influence on the nation the church herself should be engaged with questions which affect her own life rather than the life of the masses of the people such a simple but profound insight when the church begins to focus on the masses of the people and what the people want it loses its influence it almost sounds counterintuitive church quote-unquote experts would tell you that if the church wants to reach the world we have to find out what the world wants when just the opposite is true the christian faith will always always lose its influence when it tries to accommodate the world you get the opposite results than what you hoped for in another statement it has become customary for us to act as though the gospel could progress on earth independently of the condition of the church and quote great statement we think that the character of the church plays apparently a minor role in reaching the world with the gospel in fact there are so many these days so busy trying to find out what the world wants that it's a very popular notion that the worst thing a church can do if it wants to reach the world is act like a church that is devil's lie for the church to reach the world it must refuse to be like the world it must refuse to define itself by what the world wants what unbelievers want what the unconverted desire the church has one obligation and that is to be what the lord of the church commands not focused on the culture but focused on christ not focused on passing social issues the desires of the devil's children but solely on the will of the lord only when churches are what christ wants them to be are they useful in the fulfillment of the great commission clearly churches have little influence in the world because they are trying to give the world what it wants rather than obey the lord who is the head of the church there is no text in the entire new testament that commands the church to give lost sinners what they want on the other hand the church is to obey the lord jesus christ to confront the culture as the church there is nothing in the new testament that caused the church to change social structures to be engaged in political efforts economic efforts the church that effectively reaches the lost is the church that is relentlessly devoted to being what the lord of the church commands his church to be if a church has little influence in the world don't ask what the world wants that's what the lord requires be the church it has always been our passion here to obey and honor and exalt the lord jesus christ we have no interest in what the children of the devil want a church to be that is irrelevant and furthermore beyond being irrelevant it invites the devil in in the reformation there was a principle that was articulated called the formal principle the formal principle was simply what the reformers identified as the truth that the word of god is the sole authority in the kingdom of god therefore in the church so the church is to be whatever the word of god tells it to be that is the formal principle we have only one divine revelation for the life of the church and that is holy scripture and when you get into the new testament epistles like ephesians and the rest of them you find that they are designed to make sure that every subsequent generation of christians and churches understands the will of the lord for their life and conduct that is true of the epistles in general but particularly true of ephesians early on in the ministry here i i wanted to dig into ephesians because it's so absolutely definitive as to the life of the church here is heaven's instruction book for the church to be the church there's not a word in it about what the world wants nothing about how to engage politically socially culturally it's all about how to follow the lord who is the head of the church how to be consumed with christ that's why the epistle begins essentially in verse three blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ everything is in christ everything it's all about our relationship to christ it's all about knowing him loving him adoring him declaring him and becoming like him that's what the church needs to be the more it's like the world the more it forfeits its influence the more it tampers with the world the more divisive it becomes the more cantankerous it becomes the more fractured it becomes the more exposed its weakness becomes it is a deadly danger for the church any church anywhere to be anything other than what the lord of the church has designed the church to be and we have all the information in the revelation of the new testament so as we look at the book of ephesians we're going to notice that in the first three chapters the emphasis is on doctrine that is what we believe and the last three chapters is the practical section how we behave and how we behave is predicated by what we believe so we're going to see first of all what we believe and how that impacts how we behave but we're going to jump above the text of ephesians in a prayer right there in chapter 1. this prayer you almost feel is a kind of interruption in the flow of paul's revelation for the church it's almost as if he can't he can't go another step unless he offers a prayer for the church he's writing to the church in ephesus it's been four years since he was there not only to the church in ephesus but ephesus was a major town in asia minor and there were other churches listed in revelation two and three they also would have received this letter he starts out with that amazing set of blessings spiritual blessings in christ and then before he starts to go into some more detail about the church and what it believes and how it behaves he raises a prayer starting in verse 15. so look at it with me this is a prayer for the church for this reason i too having heard of the faith in the lord jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him i pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened and you will know what is the hope of his calling what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is this surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe these are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all that is just filled with christ-centered truth and paul's prayer is that the church would focus on fully understanding what is theirs in christ every faithful pastor should be leading his church into the deep knowledge of christ every faithful pastor must live in the constant expression of a desire to see the church filled with the wisdom and knowledge that comes with a deep revelation of christ this is the church being the church being christ-centered certainly this is my prayer for grace church so let's look at that prayer at least by way of an introduction this morning verse 15. for this reason we'll stop there what reason what prompts this intercession what prompts this gratitude and this request for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of christ for this reason what is the reason the reason is because of the incomparable blessings of christ listed from verse 3 through 14. now if you weren't here when we went through that you can download the messages it's beyond comprehension how rich the blessings and the promises are in christ that have been granted to every true believer on the basis that we have as verse 3 says been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places on the basis that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world on the basis that he chose us that we would one day eternally be holy and blameless before him because in love he predestined us to adoption as sons because in verse 7 we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses because in all wisdom and insight he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose verse 10 of summing up everything in christ things in heaven and things on earth that is he's even given us the end of history that all resolves in christ because verse 11 we have obtained an inheritance to which we were predestined according to his divine purpose because having believed verse 13 we were sealed with the holy spirit of promise and nothing can ever alter that future fulfillment because because because of all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies for this reason i'm praying that you would have a spirit of wisdom and knowledge in the revelation of him wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him what is paul's desire for a church that they would know christ that they would know him deeply profoundly that's why paul in colossians 3 16 says let the word of christ dwell in you richly richly now he knows he's writing to a true church because if you look at verse 15 he says i too having heard of the faith in the lord jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints why does he mention those because those are the evidences of true salvation faith in the lord jesus christ and manifest love for the saints how did he know about this how did he know that the ephesian church was doing so well after four years well he says he heard he heard about it how would he have heard about it he's a prisoner in rome he hasn't seen him in four years he's incarcerated but prisoners could receive letters and they could receive visitors and over the period of time of his imprisonment he had received both letters and visitors and the testimonies were always the same it was about the faith of the people in ephesus and it was about their love for the saints these are evidences of a true church paul says the same thing to the thessalonian church as he opens that letter first thessalonians 1 2 3 and 4 he says i know your work of faith and labor of love faith and love trusting in christ loving the saints this is the mark of a true church that's what a church is that's how you know it's a real church of redeemed people because their faith is in christ and they manifest the transformation by loving [Music] all the saints so we know then that this is a true church this is a church that believes and loves and because it is a true church paul can pray for them that they would understand all that belongs to them and i just have to say there are churches with with real christians in them who have no clue what is theirs in christ they're cheated of that because they're not taught the word of god their thoughts and their interests are all over everywhere when they ought to be focused solely and totally on christ it's when you gaze at christ second corinthians 3 18 it's when you gaze at christ that you're changed into his image from one level of glory to the next so my prayer paul says for you [Music] is that god the god of our lord jesus christ the god who is one in nature with the lord jesus christ the god who is the father of glory the source of all glory and the end of all glory may give you a spirit of wisdom i give you a spirit of wisdom what does the spirit of wisdom mean well spirit here is used in the sense of perspective disposition attitude this is the way you need to direct your mind and your thoughts i want god to give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him that that is what every pastor should be praying for every church that they would be lost in wonder love and praise for christ it's only then that the church becomes the church and becoming the church is how it influences the world becoming like the world is how it loses its influence paul is saying i want you believers to fully grasp all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies that are in christ that we saw listed in that opening section so what does a pastor pray for for his people full wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of christ peter writes in second peter 1 3 essentially the same thing he says this way seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence the riches of god's grace which peter says all the things that pertain to life and godliness become ours through the true knowledge of christ the more you know of christ the more you comprehend the more you grasp the more you enjoy the fullness of your riches in him i want you to know the fullness of your riches in christ i want you to know christ everything about him all spiritual blessings chapter one verse three all spiritual blessings every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies every single spiritual blessing that heaven has is deposited in the lives of those who know christ do you understand that you understand the fullness of that that's where your preoccupation should be that you become so much like christ that you radiate his glory that's how the church influences the world by muting that or hiding that and trying to act like the world makes the church not only irrelevant but ungodly listen to what we have in christ just a few passages john 1 14 and 16 and the word speaking of christ became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory glory as of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth for of his fullness we have all received in grace upon grace he's full of grace and truth and in him we receive grace and truth grace upon grace upon grace upon grace do you know christ in that depth so that you comprehend all that is yours in him john 15 5 jesus said i'm the vine you're the branches he who abides in me and i in him bears much fruit much spiritual fruit it's when you look at christ that you find all your spiritual blessings colossians 3 11 says christ is all christ is all he's everything romans 13 14 then says put on the lord jesus christ put on christ wear christ as it would be no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts be consumed with becoming like christ listen to first corinthians 1 verse 30 by his doing you are in christ jesus and i love this who became to us wisdom from god and righteousness and sanctification and redemption it's paul's way of saying everything is in christ what more could you want than wisdom from god righteousness holiness and to be redeemed it's all in christ later in 1st corinthians 3 listen to what paul says all things belong to you and you belong to christ and christ belongs to god or to reverse it god is the one who possesses all things christ being god possesses all things christ living in you makes you the possessor of all things all things belong to you all things that pertain to life and godliness all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies paul in philippians 1 11 puts it this way you've been filled with the fruit of righteousness you've been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through jesus christ to the glory and praise of god to the philippians in chapter three paul beginning to understand the depth of these spiritual blessings and riches said this i count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing christ jesus my lord i count them but rubbish that's the word for garbage so that i may gain christ everything in this world is garbage except christ i'm glad to give it all up all the rubbish for christ this is how the church should live we should live with this consuming preoccupation with the person of jesus christ the old testament he's anticipated in the new testament he's revealed and he is the revelation of god that is the most clear revelation god spoke in time past through the prophets and the writers of the old testament in these last days he's spoken unto us by his son god is on display in christ no christ is to know all the riches of heaven that are yours because you are his churches struggle with this they get caught up they get seduced away from christ turn to colossians 2 and i'll give you an illustration of this colossians 2 verse 2 the end of verse 2 says christ himself and then verse 3 says in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in christ they're all in christ that's why back up to the end of chapter 1. paul says here's the goal of my ministry we proclaim him that is christ admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in christ for this purpose also i labor striving according to his power which mightily works within me i have one objective in my life and that is to bring people to christ and then once they've been brought to christ to admonish them and teach them with all heavenly wisdom so they may be complete in christ christ is everything to him go back in that same chapter to verse 15. christ is the image of the invisible god the premier one of all who've ever been born by him all things were created he's the creator both in the heavens and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him he is before all things and in him all things hold together he he was before anything was created he was the creator of everything created and he is the one who sustains everything he is what holds it together when science says there's a quantum leap something over here in this atomic sub-particle goes out of existence and comes into existence over here but never traverses the space in between that's called the quantum leap and it's inexplicable how can something go out of existence here come into existence here and never pass between the two and that is where christ is he is the one who holds everything together he is the undiscoverable one at least in a microscope he is the head of the body the church verse 18. he is the beginning again the premier one the firstborn from the dead of all who have risen from the dead he is the premier one he is the one in the end of verse 18 to have first place in everything that's so simple he should be the consuming preoccupation of the church for it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him everything is in christ christ is everything that's why in ephesians paul said i pray that god would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him everything is about knowing christ and so at the end of that first chapter paul says that's my goal in ministry is to proclaim him proclaim him i hear a lot of things from a lot of so-called preachers these days i say this too often i say why doesn't anyone ever talk about christ why we proclaim him completeness is in him well look what happened to the colossians go over to chapter 2. verse 8 see to it that no one takes you captive in later usages in greek that verb was used for kidnapping see to it that no one kidnaps you through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to christ don't let any human philosophy ideology empty deception elementary principles of the world take your focus off christ it seems to me that in the current form of evangelicalism whatever form that is is it morphs there is a consuming preoccupation with everything but christ there will be an endless seduction effort made at the church from human minds philosophical psychological social religious political to take the church captive to kidnap the church with vain deceit in the traditions of men traditions of men is a very obvious thing just human ideas that's where philosophy comes from and philosophy is empty deceit elementary principles that is a very interesting phrase it basically means abc's baby talk now i know that when you think about the world you think there's a certain degree of sophistication in the world and on some level there is there certainly is from the hard sciences and things like that mathematics and so forth but when it comes to philosophy which is a way to understand the world while ignoring god or rejecting god you get nothing but empty deception and you get nothing but human ideas passed down from one person to another person and in reality human philosophy is simplistic simple is good simple means it's not complicated simplistic is a bad word if somebody says you're simplistic that means you are not giving a reasonable response simplistic is to underestimate the reality of something so i was at camp this week with a thousand teenagers over in new mexico and the seniors from grace church got together and wanted to have a question and answer session it was wonderful i loved doing it uh perhaps the most telling question came from these are high school seniors they said what do i what do we need to know facing university facing college um going forward what what protections should we have and i said you need two things two things without which you will be a victim of the world number one you need conviction you need conviction you have to have some non-negotiables you have to have some hills you die on and you have to know why and you have to be able to substantiate those in the word of god and in your own conscience without convictions you are a cork in the surf you'll end up wherever they take you you need convictions and what a blessing to have been for most of them brought up in the influences of grace community church where they have those convictions from those who surround them here and from many of them their own families you have to have convictions your convictions are the immovable pillars of your character they're the structure because what they're going to want to do in the university is crush those convictions because they're biblical convictions and they're true and the world is ungodly and the world is run by satan who's a liar they're going to attack you with lies and they're going to attack your convictions about god about man about sin about righteousness about conduct about morality about everything you have to have convictions second thing you have to have is critical thinking critical thinking and i think for this particular period of history this is what is most under attack and let me tell you how to look at that universities these days certainly in the humanities side of things universities these days are concerned about ideologies you hear a lot about that an ideology what do they mean by an ideology it's just another word for a philosophy but ideologies in the current climate are seductive and attractive to people because they are mindless they are mindless here's how an ideology works what's wrong in america white privilege what's wrong in america systemic racism what's wrong in america abuse of women they want you to buy into the fact that everything that's wrong in america can be explained by an ideology they don't want you to think critically about it what's wrong in america some people have money and others don't what's wrong in america corporations are getting rich and people are being abused what's wrong in america it can be reduced to an ideology a simple single idea this is stupidity and universities are really bent on teaching people to be stupid this is infantile you can't say what's wrong in america and systemic racism no matter what it is if the bus doesn't show up on your corner on time well it's systemic racism if you have mold on your bread wow systemic racism that's the stupidity of that over simplification of everything that is easy for people to suck up and be seduced by because it's a one-size-fits-all answer to everything and you can put your brain in a bag and bury it you have to think critically you have to understand for example give you an illustration in the united states 99.9 of the population survives covet that's a fact you can't mesh that up with the behavior they're requiring how about this one get vaccinated and you're saying to yourself well let's see they lied about russia the fbi lies cia lies the national health organization lies the world health organization lies the cdc lies the director of all of this lies because he says something different every time he opens his mouth the politicians lie they lied about an incident in chicago they're just lies and lies and lies and lies and lies and then they say to you be vaccinated it's good for you i know why people aren't getting vaccinated because people don't believe they're being told the truth simple since the old aesop's fable about the boy cried woeful full full there never was a wolf and when there was a wolf nobody showed up you can't keep lying and then expect people to believe you you have to think critically and thoughtfully and carefully you have to realize cdc reports death rate from the normal flu last year was 99 lower oh really what happened to the flu where did it go it went into the coven statistic the chaos of deception and lies forces you if you want to navigate the world in which you live to think critically are there things wrong with capitalism capitalism can be abused just like socialism is abused anything can be abused because sinners are engaged in it any kind of relationships any any kind of anything in human relationships is going to have good bad and indifferent but what they want you to do is accept the buy the package and shut down alternative discussions that's why they cancel culture because they want you to buy the ideology they don't want you to think critically but we think critically because we think biblically and we have the mind of christ first corinthians 2 16 you have the mind of christ i don't want to get caught up in philosophy which is another term for human wisdom i don't want to get caught up in empty deception i don't want to get caught up in something just passed down from person to person and tradition and i certainly want to get above the stupid level of the abcs you can't reduce me to some simplistic human wisdom is infantile compared to divine wisdom so look at verse 9 colossians 2. look we don't pay any attention to that but we pay attention to christ for in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form and in him you have been made what complete everything we need is in christ first corinthians 2 16 we have the mind of christ we have the mind of christ so i told those high school students convictions critical thinking think like christian think like christ think biblically don't be kidnapped by lies well that is the introduction next week we'll come back to this passage and i want to show you that paul prays that we would understand the greatness of in regard to christ the greatness of his plan the greatness of his power and the greatness of his person that's for next sunday father we're grateful beyond comprehension for all that is ours in christ and may the word of christ dwell in us richly help us to search deeply into the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are all hidden in him don't let us get seduced don't let us get kidnapped by human philosophy deception human philosophy human tradition [Music] simplistic ideas designed to deceive may we think biblically grant us wisdom grant us [Music] full understanding of the revelation that gives us the knowledge of christ help us to think like him as we allow his word to dwell in us richly and are changed into his image from one level of glory to the next that's our prayer in his name amen you

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 110,265

Rating: 4.9341335 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: sO2gSY00qZI

Length: 46min 15sec (2775 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 17 2021