1 00:00:00,943 --> 00:00:06,007 Please open your Bibles to Ephesians 3. 2 00:00:06,007 --> 00:00:15,520 Look specifically at v. 19. 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,164 Go about halfway through the verse. 4 00:00:19,164 --> 00:00:22,783 In the English Standard Version, it reads this way: 5 00:00:22,783 --> 00:00:26,384 (after the comma) 6 00:00:26,384 --> 00:00:29,623 "...That you may be filled 7 00:00:29,623 --> 00:00:33,935 with all the fullness of God." 8 00:00:33,935 --> 00:00:37,648 "That you may be filled 9 00:00:37,648 --> 00:00:41,519 with all the fullness of God." 10 00:00:41,519 --> 00:00:45,729 Now that's what I want to deal with today. 11 00:00:45,729 --> 00:00:47,916 But let's back up to v. 14 12 00:00:47,916 --> 00:00:49,863 because I want to take this in context. 13 00:00:49,863 --> 00:00:52,874 We're going to read v. 14-21, 14 00:00:52,874 --> 00:00:56,167 but just know that last half of v. 19 15 00:00:56,167 --> 00:00:59,478 is very specifically where we're going to bring our attention. 16 00:00:59,478 --> 00:01:02,601 But I want you to see its setting, 17 00:01:02,601 --> 00:01:06,520 in the context here. 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,845 V. 14, "For this reason, I bow my knees 19 00:01:10,845 --> 00:01:14,815 before the Father from whom every family 20 00:01:14,815 --> 00:01:17,699 in heaven and on earth is named, 21 00:01:17,699 --> 00:01:20,099 that according to the riches of His glory 22 00:01:20,099 --> 00:01:22,286 He may grant you to be strengthened 23 00:01:22,286 --> 00:01:25,201 with power through His Spirit 24 00:01:25,201 --> 00:01:27,368 in your inner being 25 00:01:27,368 --> 00:01:28,769 (or in your inner man) 26 00:01:28,769 --> 00:01:32,810 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, 27 00:01:32,810 --> 00:01:34,974 that you being rooted and grounded in love 28 00:01:34,974 --> 00:01:36,881 may have the strength to comprehend 29 00:01:36,881 --> 00:01:39,239 with all the saints what is the breadth 30 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:41,991 and length and height and depth 31 00:01:41,991 --> 00:01:44,245 and to know the love of Christ 32 00:01:44,245 --> 00:01:47,323 that surpasses knowledge, 33 00:01:47,323 --> 00:01:49,105 that you may be filled 34 00:01:49,105 --> 00:01:51,263 with all the fullness of God. 35 00:01:51,263 --> 00:01:52,848 Now to Him who is able 36 00:01:52,848 --> 00:01:55,488 to do far more abundantly than all 37 00:01:55,488 --> 00:01:56,866 that we ask or think 38 00:01:56,866 --> 00:02:00,058 according to the power at work within us, 39 00:02:00,058 --> 00:02:02,708 to Him be glory in the church 40 00:02:02,708 --> 00:02:06,918 and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, 41 00:02:06,918 --> 00:02:10,009 forever and ever, amen." 42 00:02:10,009 --> 00:02:16,159 And so ends the first three 43 00:02:16,159 --> 00:02:21,559 theologically rich chapters, 44 00:02:21,559 --> 00:02:24,293 and then we break out into chapter 4 45 00:02:24,293 --> 00:02:26,907 where we are going to get all manner 46 00:02:26,907 --> 00:02:28,588 of practical instruction. 47 00:02:28,588 --> 00:02:31,433 Oh yes, there's doctrinal realities and truths 48 00:02:31,433 --> 00:02:34,966 and deep theological realities 49 00:02:34,966 --> 00:02:37,109 that we're going to be confronted with 50 00:02:37,109 --> 00:02:40,384 in these three chapters too, but it becomes 51 00:02:40,384 --> 00:02:42,204 full of imperatives. 52 00:02:42,204 --> 00:02:45,585 There's lots of instruction for how we live our life. 53 00:02:45,585 --> 00:02:51,760 And so this is really Paul's final words 54 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,214 in this massive, heavy theological 55 00:02:56,214 --> 00:02:58,926 introduction to this before we break out 56 00:02:58,926 --> 00:03:06,369 into all these practical realities of the Christian life. 57 00:03:06,369 --> 00:03:09,915 My objective this morning is simple. 58 00:03:09,915 --> 00:03:11,569 Straightforward. 59 00:03:11,569 --> 00:03:15,742 I want us to try to just grapple with: 60 00:03:15,742 --> 00:03:18,649 what does it mean to be filled 61 00:03:18,649 --> 00:03:21,511 with all the fullness of God? 62 00:03:21,511 --> 00:03:24,399 What is that? What does it look like? 63 00:03:24,399 --> 00:03:29,853 I want us to embrace this concept in Scripture. 64 00:03:29,853 --> 00:03:33,183 And you see it there. Look at it again. 65 00:03:33,183 --> 00:03:35,877 Last half of Ephesians 3:19. 66 00:03:35,877 --> 00:03:41,318 "...That you may be filled 67 00:03:41,318 --> 00:03:47,308 with all the fullness of God." 68 00:03:47,308 --> 00:03:52,828 So, several observations. 69 00:03:52,828 --> 00:03:55,015 I want us to think. 70 00:03:55,015 --> 00:03:57,989 One - here's an observation for you. 71 00:03:57,989 --> 00:04:00,583 You know, we've spent a number of weeks 72 00:04:00,583 --> 00:04:02,262 over in the Song of Solomon, 73 00:04:02,262 --> 00:04:05,238 so let's just kind of get back on track. 74 00:04:05,238 --> 00:04:08,753 Brethren, it's important to remind you 75 00:04:08,753 --> 00:04:12,665 of one of the great realities of this passage. 76 00:04:12,665 --> 00:04:15,989 This is a prayer. 77 00:04:15,989 --> 00:04:19,008 Well, it's not exactly a prayer. 78 00:04:19,008 --> 00:04:21,790 What I mean is this, 79 00:04:21,790 --> 00:04:24,090 Paul isn't actually praying here. 80 00:04:24,090 --> 00:04:25,761 When you pray, you speak to God. 81 00:04:25,761 --> 00:04:27,539 He's not speaking to God here. 82 00:04:27,539 --> 00:04:30,032 He's actually speaking to us. 83 00:04:30,032 --> 00:04:32,389 But what he's doing is he's telling us 84 00:04:32,389 --> 00:04:35,726 how he prays when he prays. 85 00:04:35,726 --> 00:04:37,571 You all see that. 86 00:04:37,571 --> 00:04:39,679 This is what he prays for. 87 00:04:39,679 --> 00:04:41,543 And he's instructing the Ephesians 88 00:04:41,543 --> 00:04:43,137 and he's instructing us. 89 00:04:43,137 --> 00:04:45,552 He's letting us into his prayer closet. 90 00:04:45,552 --> 00:04:47,288 He's saying when I'm in there, 91 00:04:47,288 --> 00:04:49,860 when I'm praying to God for you, 92 00:04:49,860 --> 00:04:52,966 this is what I pray for you. 93 00:04:52,966 --> 00:04:55,032 Here's another important reality. 94 00:04:55,032 --> 00:05:00,236 I find this essential. 95 00:05:00,236 --> 00:05:01,755 It's God-breathed. 96 00:05:01,755 --> 00:05:03,812 You say, yeah, we're reading the Bible. 97 00:05:03,812 --> 00:05:06,052 We recognize that. We understand that. 98 00:05:06,052 --> 00:05:08,480 No, sometimes you just have to sit back 99 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,044 and really let it soak into your brain 100 00:05:12,044 --> 00:05:15,462 that this is God-breathed 101 00:05:15,462 --> 00:05:16,889 and what that means 102 00:05:16,889 --> 00:05:19,739 is that when Paul is penning this, 103 00:05:19,739 --> 00:05:23,494 it's because God wants you to know this. 104 00:05:23,494 --> 00:05:25,374 You see what's happening here? 105 00:05:25,374 --> 00:05:27,270 The Holy Spirit says to Paul: 106 00:05:27,270 --> 00:05:31,368 Paul, let them into your prayer closet. 107 00:05:31,368 --> 00:05:33,888 I want them to follow you in there. 108 00:05:33,888 --> 00:05:35,084 Take them in there. 109 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:40,016 And you show them exactly how you pray for them. 110 00:05:40,016 --> 00:05:41,953 I want them to see that. 111 00:05:41,953 --> 00:05:43,518 That's important. 112 00:05:43,518 --> 00:05:47,258 Why? Because the Spirit of God 113 00:05:47,258 --> 00:05:50,099 would teach us that whatever it means 114 00:05:50,099 --> 00:05:53,185 to be filled with all the fullness of God, 115 00:05:53,185 --> 00:05:56,278 we know this, it's something we can pray for. 116 00:05:56,278 --> 00:05:58,087 It's something we should pray for. 117 00:05:58,087 --> 00:06:01,253 It's something that it's biblical to pray for. 118 00:06:01,253 --> 00:06:03,841 I would ask this: 119 00:06:03,841 --> 00:06:06,395 Brethren, we're not being faithful with Scripture 120 00:06:06,395 --> 00:06:09,104 if we're not affected by this - 121 00:06:09,104 --> 00:06:12,176 by this reality that God is teaching us 122 00:06:12,176 --> 00:06:15,768 something about prayer here. 123 00:06:15,768 --> 00:06:19,687 Lots of you have been in lots of church prayer meetings undoubtedly. 124 00:06:19,687 --> 00:06:21,315 How often do you hear that prayed? 125 00:06:21,315 --> 00:06:24,264 How often you do hear somebody in the prayer meeting praying: 126 00:06:24,264 --> 00:06:28,829 Father, fill them with all the fullness of God. 127 00:06:28,829 --> 00:06:30,061 We should pray that way. 128 00:06:30,061 --> 00:06:33,053 And I think one of the reasons we don't pray that way 129 00:06:33,053 --> 00:06:37,241 is probably because... what is that? 130 00:06:37,241 --> 00:06:39,453 It sounds lofty, 131 00:06:39,453 --> 00:06:41,640 but what is it? 132 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:43,311 I mean, typically when we pray, 133 00:06:43,311 --> 00:06:45,529 we're praying things that, to us, 134 00:06:45,529 --> 00:06:48,023 we can identify with, it's practical. 135 00:06:48,023 --> 00:06:50,649 Maybe we just can't identify with this. 136 00:06:50,649 --> 00:06:54,041 Maybe that's one of the reasons we don't pray this more. 137 00:06:54,041 --> 00:06:57,031 Something else I want you to notice. 138 00:06:57,031 --> 00:07:00,178 If you look at the end of v. 19, 139 00:07:00,178 --> 00:07:02,508 you know what you find there? 140 00:07:02,508 --> 00:07:05,120 A period. 141 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,854 Now, I know, there's no punctuation 142 00:07:07,854 --> 00:07:09,099 in the original Greek, 143 00:07:09,099 --> 00:07:13,078 but our translators properly recognize 144 00:07:13,078 --> 00:07:17,946 that these matters that Paul 145 00:07:17,946 --> 00:07:20,617 is articulating to us that he prays, 146 00:07:20,617 --> 00:07:21,976 that's the end. 147 00:07:21,976 --> 00:07:24,096 This is the last thing. 148 00:07:24,096 --> 00:07:26,840 This is where it ends. 149 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:28,746 Whatever it means to be filled 150 00:07:28,746 --> 00:07:30,404 with all the fullness of God, 151 00:07:30,404 --> 00:07:33,966 this is the climax of his prayer. 152 00:07:33,966 --> 00:07:37,369 There's no more to ask for beyond this. 153 00:07:37,369 --> 00:07:41,840 This is the end. 154 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,259 I want you to notice something else. 155 00:07:46,259 --> 00:07:49,527 When Paul prays that, 156 00:07:49,527 --> 00:07:51,817 that you might be filled 157 00:07:51,817 --> 00:07:55,544 with all the fullness of God, 158 00:07:55,544 --> 00:07:57,174 that's not just a random thought 159 00:07:57,174 --> 00:07:58,620 that comes out of nowhere. 160 00:07:58,620 --> 00:08:00,749 It's a sequence. 161 00:08:00,749 --> 00:08:06,182 It's the last item in a string of requests. 162 00:08:06,182 --> 00:08:08,054 And I want you to look at it. 163 00:08:08,054 --> 00:08:10,923 Just look at v. 16 164 00:08:10,923 --> 00:08:15,730 because this is where Paul's petitions 165 00:08:15,730 --> 00:08:18,467 for these Ephesians start. 166 00:08:18,467 --> 00:08:20,784 You see it in v. 14. 167 00:08:20,784 --> 00:08:24,916 He says, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father." 168 00:08:24,916 --> 00:08:27,629 So he's telling us, he's showing us 169 00:08:27,629 --> 00:08:29,134 that this is prayer. 170 00:08:29,134 --> 00:08:32,293 And then he gives us a little bit of a description of the Father. 171 00:08:32,293 --> 00:08:36,645 "From whom..." really the whole family 172 00:08:36,645 --> 00:08:38,695 "in heaven and on earth is named." 173 00:08:38,695 --> 00:08:40,824 And then in v. 16, he tells us 174 00:08:40,824 --> 00:08:43,352 what he's bending the knee for; 175 00:08:43,352 --> 00:08:44,530 what he's praying for. 176 00:08:44,530 --> 00:08:47,847 "That..." Now did you catch that? 177 00:08:47,847 --> 00:08:50,558 Did you catch that word right there? 178 00:08:50,558 --> 00:08:53,364 Because this isn't the only time that shows up 179 00:08:53,364 --> 00:08:55,449 in the next three verses. 180 00:08:55,449 --> 00:08:56,902 It shows up again and again. 181 00:08:56,902 --> 00:09:00,227 It's repeated. "That." 182 00:09:00,227 --> 00:09:01,774 You know what that is? 183 00:09:01,774 --> 00:09:04,735 You know what that word means to us? 184 00:09:04,735 --> 00:09:12,397 It carries the meaning of: in order that. 185 00:09:12,397 --> 00:09:18,239 I am praying in order that you might have this, 186 00:09:18,239 --> 00:09:21,623 in order that it might lead to this, 187 00:09:21,623 --> 00:09:23,863 in order that... and you're going to see that. 188 00:09:23,863 --> 00:09:25,662 If you just look for the word "that." 189 00:09:25,662 --> 00:09:27,113 Whatever translation you have, 190 00:09:27,113 --> 00:09:29,118 look for the word "that." 191 00:09:29,118 --> 00:09:31,223 Because it keeps coming up. 192 00:09:31,223 --> 00:09:34,489 It's like one things leads into the next. 193 00:09:34,489 --> 00:09:37,074 One thing begets the next. 194 00:09:37,074 --> 00:09:38,931 Just watch. 195 00:09:38,931 --> 00:09:41,752 "That according to the riches of His glory 196 00:09:41,752 --> 00:09:43,420 He may grant you to be strengthened 197 00:09:43,420 --> 00:09:45,046 with power through His Spirit 198 00:09:45,046 --> 00:09:46,806 in your inner man..." 199 00:09:46,806 --> 00:09:47,882 There it is again. 200 00:09:47,882 --> 00:09:52,363 "...So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, 201 00:09:52,363 --> 00:09:56,160 that you being rooted and grounded in love 202 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,265 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints 203 00:09:58,265 --> 00:10:00,560 what is the breadth and length and height and depth 204 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,167 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge 205 00:10:03,167 --> 00:10:07,034 that you may be filled 206 00:10:07,034 --> 00:10:10,240 with all the fullness of God." 207 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,484 You see, one thing leads to another. 208 00:10:14,484 --> 00:10:16,181 It's like they're building. 209 00:10:16,181 --> 00:10:21,768 It's a progression. 210 00:10:21,768 --> 00:10:23,874 So that when we get to being filled 211 00:10:23,874 --> 00:10:25,332 with all the fullness of God, 212 00:10:25,332 --> 00:10:26,645 that's the end. 213 00:10:26,645 --> 00:10:27,958 That's the culmination. 214 00:10:27,958 --> 00:10:30,780 You see, all these things are snowballing. 215 00:10:30,780 --> 00:10:32,976 They're coming together. 216 00:10:32,976 --> 00:10:34,903 One thing leading to another. 217 00:10:34,903 --> 00:10:36,780 And this - this is the end. 218 00:10:36,780 --> 00:10:38,881 This is the climax of the mountain 219 00:10:38,881 --> 00:10:40,403 of Christian experience. 220 00:10:40,403 --> 00:10:44,254 Listen, brethren, even knowing 221 00:10:44,254 --> 00:10:47,110 the love of Christ that passes knowledge, 222 00:10:47,110 --> 00:10:49,474 as great as that is, 223 00:10:49,474 --> 00:10:51,840 notice what he says. 224 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,028 He wants us to know the breadth 225 00:10:54,028 --> 00:10:55,525 and length and height and depth 226 00:10:55,525 --> 00:10:58,498 and to have some knowledge 227 00:10:58,498 --> 00:11:00,482 of this love of Christ 228 00:11:00,482 --> 00:11:03,727 that passes, surpasses knowledge. 229 00:11:03,727 --> 00:11:04,653 Why? 230 00:11:04,653 --> 00:11:06,778 So that... 231 00:11:06,778 --> 00:11:08,247 See, that's not the end. 232 00:11:08,247 --> 00:11:09,930 That's great! That's glorious! 233 00:11:09,930 --> 00:11:12,619 But that's not the end. 234 00:11:12,619 --> 00:11:15,305 The end is further. 235 00:11:15,305 --> 00:11:17,775 Further on. Onward. 236 00:11:17,775 --> 00:11:20,527 He's taking us deeper and deeper. 237 00:11:20,527 --> 00:11:22,239 Yes, that's great - 238 00:11:22,239 --> 00:11:23,939 Christ dwelling in your hearts. 239 00:11:23,939 --> 00:11:26,904 That's good. That's great. That's glorious! 240 00:11:26,904 --> 00:11:28,762 Being rooted and grounded in love. 241 00:11:28,762 --> 00:11:32,482 You may have the strength to comprehend. 242 00:11:32,482 --> 00:11:35,223 Yes, that comprehension - great! 243 00:11:35,223 --> 00:11:38,601 To dive into the love of Christ - beautiful! 244 00:11:38,601 --> 00:11:40,738 That is growth. That is maturity. 245 00:11:40,738 --> 00:11:44,691 But it's taking us, it's even so that 246 00:11:44,691 --> 00:11:48,855 some other reality may fully blossom 247 00:11:48,855 --> 00:11:50,960 and take shape in your life. 248 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:52,447 That's what's happening here. 249 00:11:52,447 --> 00:11:54,129 "In order that... 250 00:11:54,129 --> 00:11:59,672 you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 251 00:11:59,672 --> 00:12:01,204 And the thing is, 252 00:12:01,204 --> 00:12:04,398 you know what doesn't happen? 253 00:12:04,398 --> 00:12:07,918 You don't get: In order that 254 00:12:07,918 --> 00:12:13,051 you may be filled with all the fullness of God 255 00:12:13,051 --> 00:12:16,012 in order that... something else may happen. 256 00:12:16,012 --> 00:12:19,478 No. Period. 257 00:12:19,478 --> 00:12:23,075 And what he's praying for is done. 258 00:12:23,075 --> 00:12:24,670 Now he goes into a doxology. 259 00:12:24,670 --> 00:12:26,526 He just explodes. 260 00:12:26,526 --> 00:12:30,285 He's so worked up, it's just: 261 00:12:30,285 --> 00:12:32,645 To Him who is able to do exceedingly 262 00:12:32,645 --> 00:12:35,139 abundantly beyond what we ask or think. 263 00:12:35,139 --> 00:12:37,337 It's just glory to Him in the church 264 00:12:37,337 --> 00:12:40,475 and in Christ Jesus. 265 00:12:40,475 --> 00:12:42,632 He just explodes in worship then, 266 00:12:42,632 --> 00:12:44,083 which is what we should do 267 00:12:44,083 --> 00:12:46,048 if we really are recognizing. 268 00:12:46,048 --> 00:12:49,658 But let me just ask you a question. 269 00:12:49,658 --> 00:12:55,384 Brethren, if I prayed, 270 00:12:55,384 --> 00:12:56,784 if I said, hold it, brethren. 271 00:12:56,784 --> 00:12:58,416 I want to pray for you. 272 00:12:58,416 --> 00:13:00,427 And I prayed for you: 273 00:13:00,427 --> 00:13:06,093 Father, please, give these brethren 274 00:13:06,093 --> 00:13:11,911 the strength to comprehend the love of Your Son. 275 00:13:11,911 --> 00:13:15,158 And then I said, wait, I want to ask 276 00:13:15,158 --> 00:13:17,985 something else for you to. 277 00:13:17,985 --> 00:13:23,204 Lord, I pray that they would be filled 278 00:13:23,204 --> 00:13:27,088 with all the fullness of God. 279 00:13:27,088 --> 00:13:29,869 Would that seem anticlimactic to you? 280 00:13:29,869 --> 00:13:32,165 Like, oh man, that just took the breath 281 00:13:32,165 --> 00:13:34,395 right out of that prayer. 282 00:13:34,395 --> 00:13:36,801 Or would it actually feel like: 283 00:13:36,801 --> 00:13:39,010 Wow, he even went higher. 284 00:13:39,010 --> 00:13:40,689 I know what it feels like to me. 285 00:13:40,689 --> 00:13:47,191 It feels like that's higher. 286 00:13:47,191 --> 00:13:48,703 Brethren, the reality is 287 00:13:48,703 --> 00:13:51,859 think about what that means. 288 00:13:51,859 --> 00:13:56,968 It would be one thing to say that we're full of God. 289 00:13:56,968 --> 00:13:59,005 (incomplete thought) 290 00:13:59,005 --> 00:14:02,971 Be filled with the fullness of God. 291 00:14:02,971 --> 00:14:05,545 The fullness. Being filled with God. 292 00:14:05,545 --> 00:14:07,025 No, he doesn't stop there. 293 00:14:07,025 --> 00:14:11,468 Being filled with the fullness of God. 294 00:14:11,468 --> 00:14:13,477 What? 295 00:14:13,477 --> 00:14:15,637 We would never invent that. 296 00:14:15,637 --> 00:14:17,493 No, he goes further. 297 00:14:17,493 --> 00:14:22,624 Filled with all the fullness of God. 298 00:14:22,624 --> 00:14:25,780 The reality is that if you just really dwell on it, 299 00:14:25,780 --> 00:14:28,487 it confounds the understanding. 300 00:14:28,487 --> 00:14:30,547 The truth is quite honestly 301 00:14:30,547 --> 00:14:34,191 it sounds like too much. 302 00:14:34,191 --> 00:14:37,843 It sounds like it must not be true. 303 00:14:37,843 --> 00:14:39,398 But here's Paul praying it. 304 00:14:39,398 --> 00:14:40,937 That's what I want you to grasp. 305 00:14:40,937 --> 00:14:41,857 He's praying it. 306 00:14:41,857 --> 00:14:43,463 He's praying it for the Ephesians, 307 00:14:43,463 --> 00:14:45,569 and if he prays it for the Ephesians, 308 00:14:45,569 --> 00:14:48,418 brethren, Scripture's profitable 309 00:14:48,418 --> 00:14:50,490 for the man of God whether you're at Ephesus 310 00:14:50,490 --> 00:14:53,130 or whether you're at San Antonio. 311 00:14:53,130 --> 00:14:56,872 This is for us. 312 00:14:56,872 --> 00:14:59,969 And you see what Paul's doing. 313 00:14:59,969 --> 00:15:01,739 This is a prayer. 314 00:15:01,739 --> 00:15:07,878 Father, according to the riches of Your glory, 315 00:15:07,878 --> 00:15:16,915 fill these people with all Your fullness. 316 00:15:16,915 --> 00:15:18,945 What is that? 317 00:15:18,945 --> 00:15:20,684 It's obvious he wants us to have it. 318 00:15:20,684 --> 00:15:23,026 It's obvious he wants us to be a partaker of it. 319 00:15:23,026 --> 00:15:25,252 It's obvious he wants us to enjoy it, 320 00:15:25,252 --> 00:15:26,437 experience it. 321 00:15:26,437 --> 00:15:28,615 He wants God to grant it to us 322 00:15:28,615 --> 00:15:31,616 according to the riches of His glory. 323 00:15:31,616 --> 00:15:34,671 And you know the question I have is 324 00:15:34,671 --> 00:15:37,371 what does that even mean? 325 00:15:37,371 --> 00:15:39,172 What does it look like? 326 00:15:39,172 --> 00:15:41,227 I don't think any of us have any problem 327 00:15:41,227 --> 00:15:43,521 recognizing that it sounds wonderful. 328 00:15:43,521 --> 00:15:45,716 It sounds glorious. 329 00:15:45,716 --> 00:15:48,848 But what is this? 330 00:15:48,848 --> 00:15:50,447 What does that look like? 331 00:15:50,447 --> 00:15:51,747 Look at it again. 332 00:15:51,747 --> 00:15:53,304 Ephesians 3:19. 333 00:15:53,304 --> 00:15:55,171 Second half of the verse. 334 00:15:55,171 --> 00:16:00,387 "That you may be filled 335 00:16:00,387 --> 00:16:05,886 with all the fullness of God." 336 00:16:05,886 --> 00:16:12,089 How do we communicate that? 337 00:16:12,089 --> 00:16:14,782 Let's say one of your children asks you. 338 00:16:14,782 --> 00:16:16,609 Daddy, what is that? 339 00:16:16,609 --> 00:16:22,869 Mommy... or somebody from outside the church. 340 00:16:22,869 --> 00:16:24,071 Somebody you work with 341 00:16:24,071 --> 00:16:26,811 or somebody in the family. 342 00:16:26,811 --> 00:16:30,545 What is that? 343 00:16:30,545 --> 00:16:32,872 What do you say? 344 00:16:32,872 --> 00:16:35,231 And I guess the question is too, 345 00:16:35,231 --> 00:16:38,243 I think there's a place just to say: 346 00:16:38,243 --> 00:16:40,651 do I know what this is 347 00:16:40,651 --> 00:16:45,997 because I've experienced it? 348 00:16:45,997 --> 00:16:48,656 I mean, yeah, I might look at times of revival, 349 00:16:48,656 --> 00:16:58,786 or you can go grab some book 350 00:16:58,786 --> 00:17:00,703 about the infilling of the Spirit 351 00:17:00,703 --> 00:17:03,382 and you can see examples throughout history 352 00:17:03,382 --> 00:17:05,748 where people had marvelous experiences. 353 00:17:05,748 --> 00:17:08,350 Is that what it is? 354 00:17:08,350 --> 00:17:10,638 What is this? 355 00:17:10,638 --> 00:17:14,972 And so, as I'm running through my mind 356 00:17:14,972 --> 00:17:17,804 I'm just throwing some thoughts out 357 00:17:17,804 --> 00:17:20,411 about how we think about this. 358 00:17:20,411 --> 00:17:22,094 Here's one way to think about it. 359 00:17:22,094 --> 00:17:26,132 We could just chalk this up to: 360 00:17:26,132 --> 00:17:29,851 well, that's kind of the sort of stuff 361 00:17:29,851 --> 00:17:32,610 we expect in the Bible, right? 362 00:17:32,610 --> 00:17:35,186 Religious sounding words that have to do with God 363 00:17:35,186 --> 00:17:36,334 and they sound glorious 364 00:17:36,334 --> 00:17:39,145 and sometimes things are deep and difficult 365 00:17:39,145 --> 00:17:41,821 and we hardly understand them. 366 00:17:41,821 --> 00:17:45,416 It's hard to bring them practically into my life. 367 00:17:45,416 --> 00:17:47,519 They seem to have little to do 368 00:17:47,519 --> 00:17:52,710 with my normal every day life. 369 00:17:52,710 --> 00:17:56,637 But here's the thing I'm convinced of, 370 00:17:56,637 --> 00:17:58,317 the more I study the Apostle Paul, 371 00:17:58,317 --> 00:18:00,518 if anybody's practical, he is. 372 00:18:00,518 --> 00:18:06,124 And if anybody's logical, he is. 373 00:18:06,124 --> 00:18:07,572 And one of the things I recognize 374 00:18:07,572 --> 00:18:08,929 about the Ephesian church, 375 00:18:08,929 --> 00:18:11,170 they weren't made up of a bunch of theologians. 376 00:18:11,170 --> 00:18:14,404 They were made up of people just like you and me. 377 00:18:14,404 --> 00:18:17,014 Nothing unusual. 378 00:18:17,014 --> 00:18:19,241 Nothing spectacular. 379 00:18:19,241 --> 00:18:23,109 They were made up of saved sinners just like us. 380 00:18:23,109 --> 00:18:24,153 Not theologians. 381 00:18:24,153 --> 00:18:25,983 Not a bunch of people with high IQ's. 382 00:18:25,983 --> 00:18:27,598 These were people that were being saved 383 00:18:27,598 --> 00:18:28,670 out of the occult. 384 00:18:28,670 --> 00:18:30,080 These were people being saved 385 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:31,618 out of all manner of background. 386 00:18:31,618 --> 00:18:35,454 You know the situation at Ephesus there. 387 00:18:35,454 --> 00:18:39,530 So, what else? 388 00:18:39,530 --> 00:18:41,881 I thought this. 389 00:18:41,881 --> 00:18:44,132 Perhaps we could view this like this. 390 00:18:44,132 --> 00:18:46,200 You know what this is? 391 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,578 This is like the highest in the Christian experience. 392 00:18:50,578 --> 00:18:51,888 It's like way up there. 393 00:18:51,888 --> 00:18:52,962 But you know what? 394 00:18:52,962 --> 00:18:55,209 I kind of live down here in the lower regions 395 00:18:55,209 --> 00:18:57,935 so I'm just not going to concern myself with it. 396 00:18:57,935 --> 00:19:00,635 Because whatever it is, I don't think I've experienced it. 397 00:19:00,635 --> 00:19:02,583 And I know what I am experiencing, 398 00:19:02,583 --> 00:19:05,794 and that just seems like it's kind of up there. 399 00:19:05,794 --> 00:19:08,290 We could take that approach. 400 00:19:08,290 --> 00:19:11,330 Or, we could just take the approach 401 00:19:11,330 --> 00:19:15,145 that maybe it's so high, it's just impossible. 402 00:19:15,145 --> 00:19:16,871 I can't reach it now 403 00:19:16,871 --> 00:19:18,822 and I don't know if I ever will. 404 00:19:18,822 --> 00:19:20,500 It's unreachable. 405 00:19:20,500 --> 00:19:24,775 So even if there is such a thing, it's up there. 406 00:19:24,775 --> 00:19:28,702 Plus, I don't even know how to lay hold on it. 407 00:19:28,702 --> 00:19:30,230 It's out of my reach. 408 00:19:30,230 --> 00:19:33,430 And I don't feel like I even have the machinery 409 00:19:33,430 --> 00:19:36,943 or the know-how to know what is even involved 410 00:19:36,943 --> 00:19:40,051 to make that happen. 411 00:19:40,051 --> 00:19:45,400 Or, we could basically look at it this way. 412 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,794 We could just convince ourselves 413 00:19:47,794 --> 00:19:53,822 that if we're Christians, we already have this. 414 00:19:53,822 --> 00:19:56,003 That's just true of all of us. 415 00:19:56,003 --> 00:19:57,206 It's just something true. 416 00:19:57,206 --> 00:19:59,790 It's kind of like the forensic aspect 417 00:19:59,790 --> 00:20:01,101 of our Christianity. 418 00:20:01,101 --> 00:20:03,325 You know, where we're justified by faith. 419 00:20:03,325 --> 00:20:05,149 We don't feel that. 420 00:20:05,149 --> 00:20:07,522 It's not experiential. 421 00:20:07,522 --> 00:20:09,440 Oh, regeneration is, 422 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,605 but justification? It's a legal reality. 423 00:20:12,605 --> 00:20:14,926 Maybe it's kind of like that. 424 00:20:14,926 --> 00:20:17,240 Maybe it's something that, 425 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,236 well, it happens to us. 426 00:20:19,236 --> 00:20:21,950 It's part of the reality of being a Christian, 427 00:20:21,950 --> 00:20:24,919 but we just don't really feel it. 428 00:20:24,919 --> 00:20:26,449 And you know what? We can go away 429 00:20:26,449 --> 00:20:32,069 feeling like words hardly have any meaning. 430 00:20:32,069 --> 00:20:34,324 You know what I mean by that? 431 00:20:34,324 --> 00:20:36,482 Look, if I told you, 432 00:20:36,482 --> 00:20:42,889 hey, I got a car I want to give you. 433 00:20:42,889 --> 00:20:45,481 And it's out here in the parking lot. 434 00:20:45,481 --> 00:20:53,536 And it's filled with all the fullness of glory. 435 00:20:53,536 --> 00:20:57,511 And you go out and it's like a dented up 15 year old car. 436 00:20:57,511 --> 00:20:59,763 And it's like, well, you know, 437 00:20:59,763 --> 00:21:03,111 I suppose that could be 438 00:21:03,111 --> 00:21:05,223 what he's talking about. 439 00:21:05,223 --> 00:21:09,371 But you'd have to admit 440 00:21:09,371 --> 00:21:12,541 he used pretty glorious language 441 00:21:12,541 --> 00:21:15,765 and the actual experience... (incomplete thought). 442 00:21:15,765 --> 00:21:17,780 Because this sounds glorious. 443 00:21:17,780 --> 00:21:19,844 Filled with all the fullness of God. 444 00:21:19,844 --> 00:21:21,097 That sounds glorious. 445 00:21:21,097 --> 00:21:22,299 And the truth is, 446 00:21:22,299 --> 00:21:28,662 (incomplete thought), 447 00:21:28,662 --> 00:21:30,923 if we were going to say, hey, 448 00:21:30,923 --> 00:21:33,202 are you experiencing that kind of thing? 449 00:21:33,202 --> 00:21:34,737 Are you experiencing something 450 00:21:34,737 --> 00:21:36,524 that resonates with that kind of glory 451 00:21:36,524 --> 00:21:38,715 in your life right now? 452 00:21:38,715 --> 00:21:39,928 I mean, maybe you'd say, 453 00:21:39,928 --> 00:21:42,877 well, I don't know. 454 00:21:42,877 --> 00:21:44,750 Those words sound wonderful, 455 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:47,166 but my experience maybe doesn't resonate 456 00:21:47,166 --> 00:21:50,559 on par with those words. 457 00:21:50,559 --> 00:21:51,926 Or maybe it's not meant to. 458 00:21:51,926 --> 00:21:55,279 Maybe it's just hyperbole. 459 00:21:55,279 --> 00:21:57,275 It's just over-the-top talk. 460 00:21:57,275 --> 00:21:59,441 It's something of an exaggeration. 461 00:21:59,441 --> 00:22:05,105 I don't buy that for a second. It's Scripture. 462 00:22:05,105 --> 00:22:07,546 But here's the reality, 463 00:22:07,546 --> 00:22:12,038 we often look at the Apostle Paul. 464 00:22:12,038 --> 00:22:13,552 You know this, 465 00:22:13,552 --> 00:22:15,565 Charles Leiter - he tries to write a book 466 00:22:15,565 --> 00:22:18,276 about what the Apostle Paul says 467 00:22:18,276 --> 00:22:20,066 true Christianity looks like 468 00:22:20,066 --> 00:22:24,815 and people accuse him of over-realized soteriology. 469 00:22:24,815 --> 00:22:29,801 And his book quotes Paul everywhere. 470 00:22:29,801 --> 00:22:32,403 What am I saying there? I'm saying this. 471 00:22:32,403 --> 00:22:34,836 If you simply go to Scripture - 472 00:22:34,836 --> 00:22:36,219 I mean, you step away from 473 00:22:36,219 --> 00:22:37,615 your own experience, 474 00:22:37,615 --> 00:22:39,626 and you simply go to Scripture 475 00:22:39,626 --> 00:22:42,674 and you try to define the Christian life 476 00:22:42,674 --> 00:22:44,146 by the Apostle Paul, 477 00:22:44,146 --> 00:22:45,935 you know what picture you get? 478 00:22:45,935 --> 00:22:48,522 Incredibly victorious. 479 00:22:48,522 --> 00:22:50,370 Incredibly glorious. 480 00:22:50,370 --> 00:22:52,187 Maybe we just become used to that. 481 00:22:52,187 --> 00:22:55,087 You know, that Paul talks in a way 482 00:22:55,087 --> 00:22:58,014 that quite honestly, if he was in my shoes 483 00:22:58,014 --> 00:23:02,167 I don't always feel like I'm living up to where Paul's at. 484 00:23:02,167 --> 00:23:03,820 Or maybe it's just mystical. 485 00:23:03,820 --> 00:23:05,502 You know what it says in the Proverbs? 486 00:23:05,502 --> 00:23:08,272 It says it's the glory of God to conceal a thing. 487 00:23:08,272 --> 00:23:10,191 So maybe that's what we've got going here. 488 00:23:10,191 --> 00:23:11,571 Maybe we've just got a concept 489 00:23:11,571 --> 00:23:13,586 that God has kind of hidden. 490 00:23:13,586 --> 00:23:16,186 It's meant to be mysterious. 491 00:23:16,186 --> 00:23:18,363 Obscure. 492 00:23:18,363 --> 00:23:19,584 Ambiguous. 493 00:23:19,584 --> 00:23:22,964 Like something we're really not supposed to ever figure out. 494 00:23:22,964 --> 00:23:25,500 Well, look, even when God conceals something 495 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:28,910 I would say He still intends for us to dig and find it. 496 00:23:28,910 --> 00:23:30,750 If we look for it as for hidden treasure, 497 00:23:30,750 --> 00:23:34,235 He gives us promises that we're going to discover. 498 00:23:34,235 --> 00:23:35,366 So I don't buy that either, 499 00:23:35,366 --> 00:23:36,720 that it's just mystical 500 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,394 and it's beyond our ability. 501 00:23:40,394 --> 00:23:42,540 But I would ask this question: 502 00:23:42,540 --> 00:23:45,994 Okay, if this is within our reach, 503 00:23:45,994 --> 00:23:47,974 who has it? 504 00:23:47,974 --> 00:23:49,966 I mean, who's experiencing this? 505 00:23:49,966 --> 00:23:52,961 I am filled experientially - 506 00:23:52,961 --> 00:23:55,173 I am filled with all the fullness of God 507 00:23:55,173 --> 00:23:58,528 and I feel it and it's my experience. 508 00:23:58,528 --> 00:24:00,441 Are you ready to raise your hand and say: 509 00:24:00,441 --> 00:24:03,295 Yep! I do. 510 00:24:03,295 --> 00:24:05,421 And maybe you can raise your hand and say that. 511 00:24:05,421 --> 00:24:07,725 Maybe you should. Maybe we all should 512 00:24:07,725 --> 00:24:10,013 be able to do that. 513 00:24:10,013 --> 00:24:15,127 But, I guess the question I have is 514 00:24:15,127 --> 00:24:18,161 are we experiencing it and we don't know it? 515 00:24:18,161 --> 00:24:20,211 Could something as great as being filled 516 00:24:20,211 --> 00:24:22,039 with all the fullness of God be something 517 00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:23,877 that we're actually experiencing, 518 00:24:23,877 --> 00:24:28,205 but perhaps we don't know it? 519 00:24:28,205 --> 00:24:30,269 I mean, how do we experience this? 520 00:24:30,269 --> 00:24:33,044 What does it feel like? 521 00:24:33,044 --> 00:24:36,125 How do we obtain it? 522 00:24:36,125 --> 00:24:37,525 What's happening? 523 00:24:37,525 --> 00:24:39,669 These are the questions I'm asking 524 00:24:39,669 --> 00:24:41,696 when I come to something like this. 525 00:24:41,696 --> 00:24:43,915 Look, I've been reading this portion of Scripture 526 00:24:43,915 --> 00:24:45,800 over and over and over as I've been preaching 527 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:46,917 through this whole section, 528 00:24:46,917 --> 00:24:50,760 and you get to that, and it sounds glorious! 529 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:52,313 It's like all through my Christian life, 530 00:24:52,313 --> 00:24:53,277 I come to those: 531 00:24:53,277 --> 00:24:55,170 "filled with all the fullness of God" 532 00:24:55,170 --> 00:24:57,380 and it's like whoa! 533 00:24:57,380 --> 00:24:58,525 What is that? 534 00:24:58,525 --> 00:25:00,806 I mean, it's glorious 535 00:25:00,806 --> 00:25:03,332 and it's like I want that, 536 00:25:03,332 --> 00:25:07,017 but what is it I really want? 537 00:25:07,017 --> 00:25:08,642 So what's the meaning? 538 00:25:08,642 --> 00:25:11,914 Let's just try to tap into that. 539 00:25:11,914 --> 00:25:13,529 This isn't going to be exhaustive, 540 00:25:13,529 --> 00:25:15,004 but as I thought through it, 541 00:25:15,004 --> 00:25:17,335 I went different places in Scripture 542 00:25:17,335 --> 00:25:22,856 just trying to feel for perhaps 543 00:25:22,856 --> 00:25:25,324 what we're dealing with. 544 00:25:25,324 --> 00:25:28,911 You can tell me after we look at these different things 545 00:25:28,911 --> 00:25:34,284 whether you feel like there are massively 546 00:25:34,284 --> 00:25:38,104 practical and applicable other portions of Scripture 547 00:25:38,104 --> 00:25:39,582 that apply here. 548 00:25:39,582 --> 00:25:43,241 But these are the ones that just seemed 549 00:25:43,241 --> 00:25:46,661 to resonate with me as I was contemplating this. 550 00:25:46,661 --> 00:25:55,865 Brethren, here's the first thing I want you to notice: 551 00:25:55,865 --> 00:25:59,743 When you talk this way - 552 00:25:59,743 --> 00:26:05,751 "be filled with all the fullness of God" - 553 00:26:05,751 --> 00:26:09,620 you need to remember something. 554 00:26:09,620 --> 00:26:12,742 There's a context here. 555 00:26:12,742 --> 00:26:21,221 Now, go back to the end of chapter 2. 556 00:26:21,221 --> 00:26:24,566 In v. 19, Paul said this: 557 00:26:24,566 --> 00:26:26,405 "You're no longer strangers and aliens." 558 00:26:26,405 --> 00:26:29,247 Why? "We have access in one Spirit to the Father. 559 00:26:29,247 --> 00:26:31,590 So then, you're no longer strangers and aliens. 560 00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:33,395 You're fellow citizens with the saints, 561 00:26:33,395 --> 00:26:35,096 members of the household of God 562 00:26:35,096 --> 00:26:37,521 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 563 00:26:37,521 --> 00:26:39,997 Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone." 564 00:26:39,997 --> 00:26:45,181 Now notice this, v. 21-22. 565 00:26:45,181 --> 00:26:48,883 "In whom the whole structure 566 00:26:48,883 --> 00:26:50,551 being joined together grows 567 00:26:50,551 --> 00:26:55,084 into a holy temple in the Lord. 568 00:26:55,084 --> 00:27:01,129 In Him, you also are being built together 569 00:27:01,129 --> 00:27:05,309 into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." 570 00:27:05,309 --> 00:27:08,689 And you want to catch that thought right there. 571 00:27:08,689 --> 00:27:10,236 Why? 572 00:27:10,236 --> 00:27:17,866 Because Paul has in mind a temple. 573 00:27:17,866 --> 00:27:20,573 A dwelling place for God. 574 00:27:20,573 --> 00:27:24,257 Now you think about the concept in 3:19. 575 00:27:24,257 --> 00:27:27,734 Being filled with all the fullness of God. 576 00:27:27,734 --> 00:27:31,024 What was unique about the temple? 577 00:27:31,024 --> 00:27:34,076 Look, one of the places I often think about 578 00:27:34,076 --> 00:27:35,514 when I think of the temple 579 00:27:35,514 --> 00:27:37,795 is when that temple was being dedicated 580 00:27:37,795 --> 00:27:38,899 by Solomon. 581 00:27:38,899 --> 00:27:41,109 And the glory of God filled it. 582 00:27:41,109 --> 00:27:44,425 And the priests had to run from that place. 583 00:27:44,425 --> 00:27:45,375 Why? 584 00:27:45,375 --> 00:27:49,738 The fullness of this glory inhabited. 585 00:27:49,738 --> 00:27:56,228 Now, remember something. 586 00:27:56,228 --> 00:27:59,621 When you hit chapter 3, 587 00:27:59,621 --> 00:28:01,320 remember the words there? 588 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,470 "For this reason..." 589 00:28:04,470 --> 00:28:07,328 And most of us at the end of v. 1 590 00:28:07,328 --> 00:28:09,043 have the double-dash. 591 00:28:09,043 --> 00:28:10,749 Why? What does that mean? 592 00:28:10,749 --> 00:28:12,629 It means that there was a digression. 593 00:28:12,629 --> 00:28:14,249 You remember this? 594 00:28:14,249 --> 00:28:15,602 When we looked at this? 595 00:28:15,602 --> 00:28:19,463 Paul was ready to dive straight in. 596 00:28:19,463 --> 00:28:24,267 He told them, you are the temple of God. 597 00:28:24,267 --> 00:28:27,067 You are the dwelling place of God. 598 00:28:27,067 --> 00:28:29,292 And he was ready to jump in right then 599 00:28:29,292 --> 00:28:31,703 and said, for this reason, 600 00:28:31,703 --> 00:28:35,414 I bow my knees before the Father 601 00:28:35,414 --> 00:28:37,767 and pray the way I do. 602 00:28:37,767 --> 00:28:39,066 But he digressed. 603 00:28:39,066 --> 00:28:40,684 There was a little parenthesis 604 00:28:40,684 --> 00:28:43,580 because he said something. 605 00:28:43,580 --> 00:28:47,448 He called himself a prisoner for the Lord. 606 00:28:47,448 --> 00:28:50,629 And he recognized - and you see it in v. 13 - 607 00:28:50,629 --> 00:28:53,901 he recognized that they might be discouraged. 608 00:28:53,901 --> 00:28:55,897 And he said "I ask you not to lose heart 609 00:28:55,897 --> 00:28:58,095 over what I am suffering for you." 610 00:28:58,095 --> 00:29:05,068 Basically, v. 2-13 were a pastoral aside. 611 00:29:05,068 --> 00:29:06,846 But take that out. 612 00:29:06,846 --> 00:29:11,922 Take that out and watch the flow. 613 00:29:11,922 --> 00:29:14,710 The flow is basically this: 614 00:29:14,710 --> 00:29:17,186 You are being built together 615 00:29:17,186 --> 00:29:21,348 into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 616 00:29:21,348 --> 00:29:25,140 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father 617 00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:27,739 from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named 618 00:29:27,739 --> 00:29:29,685 that according to the riches of His glory 619 00:29:29,685 --> 00:29:31,839 He may grant you to be strengthened 620 00:29:31,839 --> 00:29:33,317 with power through His Spirit 621 00:29:33,317 --> 00:29:35,452 in your inner being. 622 00:29:35,452 --> 00:29:36,627 Why? 623 00:29:36,627 --> 00:29:39,291 Why would we be strengthened inside? 624 00:29:39,291 --> 00:29:41,710 So that Christ may dwell. 625 00:29:41,710 --> 00:29:43,422 You see that dwelling place? 626 00:29:43,422 --> 00:29:48,214 That idea of dwelling is very much on his mind. 627 00:29:48,214 --> 00:29:50,693 Christ dwelling in you by faith. 628 00:29:50,693 --> 00:29:52,969 Being rooted and grounded in love 629 00:29:52,969 --> 00:29:56,409 you might have this ability to comprehend 630 00:29:56,409 --> 00:29:58,106 this love of Christ; 631 00:29:58,106 --> 00:30:01,444 that you be filled with all the fullness of God. 632 00:30:01,444 --> 00:30:03,826 This is the temple imagery here. 633 00:30:03,826 --> 00:30:05,293 And you don't want to miss that. 634 00:30:05,293 --> 00:30:07,926 Brethren, this is key. 635 00:30:07,926 --> 00:30:11,278 This is essential. 636 00:30:11,278 --> 00:30:14,836 Hear me. 637 00:30:14,836 --> 00:30:19,289 You know what? When you're in the Old Testament, 638 00:30:19,289 --> 00:30:23,203 Nadab and Abihu. 639 00:30:23,203 --> 00:30:25,961 Where were they killed? 640 00:30:25,961 --> 00:30:27,350 I'll tell you where they were killed. 641 00:30:27,350 --> 00:30:28,527 They were killed in the tabernacle 642 00:30:28,527 --> 00:30:32,763 and they were offering strange fire and they dropped dead. 643 00:30:32,763 --> 00:30:36,290 That's where God's glory showed up. 644 00:30:36,290 --> 00:30:39,858 Or think about this - think about Uzzah. 645 00:30:39,858 --> 00:30:43,129 Uzzah died doing what? 646 00:30:43,129 --> 00:30:45,394 What did he touch? 647 00:30:45,394 --> 00:30:46,404 The ark. 648 00:30:46,404 --> 00:30:50,058 The primary piece of furniture from the temple. 649 00:30:50,058 --> 00:30:52,239 He touched it. He died. 650 00:30:52,239 --> 00:30:54,396 Nadab and Abihu are in that tabernacle. 651 00:30:54,396 --> 00:30:56,308 They're offering strange fire. 652 00:30:56,308 --> 00:30:58,603 They died. 653 00:30:58,603 --> 00:31:00,961 Think with me. 654 00:31:00,961 --> 00:31:03,169 When you come into the New Testament, 655 00:31:03,169 --> 00:31:06,285 and Ananias and Sapphira died, 656 00:31:06,285 --> 00:31:09,893 where were they? 657 00:31:09,893 --> 00:31:14,862 You know where they were? 658 00:31:14,862 --> 00:31:18,278 They were where the church was meeting. 659 00:31:18,278 --> 00:31:20,987 There's a shift. 660 00:31:20,987 --> 00:31:25,158 The place of God's presence in the Old Testament: 661 00:31:25,158 --> 00:31:27,175 the temple. 662 00:31:27,175 --> 00:31:33,130 The place of God's presence in the New Testament: 663 00:31:33,130 --> 00:31:35,301 the church. 664 00:31:35,301 --> 00:31:37,510 Now think with me. 665 00:31:37,510 --> 00:31:39,209 Do you know there when Solomon 666 00:31:39,209 --> 00:31:41,838 was dedicating the temple? 667 00:31:41,838 --> 00:31:43,686 And what happened? 668 00:31:43,686 --> 00:31:46,696 The presence of God was there 669 00:31:46,696 --> 00:31:49,910 and the priests ran from the place. 670 00:31:49,910 --> 00:31:52,715 But what does it say in the book of Acts 671 00:31:52,715 --> 00:31:56,176 when Ananias and Sapphira were put to death? 672 00:31:56,176 --> 00:32:00,370 Where were people running from then? 673 00:32:00,370 --> 00:32:07,192 KJV - No man durst join himself to them. 674 00:32:07,192 --> 00:32:12,759 That is the place that became fearful then. 675 00:32:12,759 --> 00:32:17,309 In the Old Testament, over the tabernacle, 676 00:32:17,309 --> 00:32:19,613 a pillar of fire. 677 00:32:19,613 --> 00:32:21,446 The dedication of the temple - 678 00:32:21,446 --> 00:32:24,305 fire came from heaven. 679 00:32:24,305 --> 00:32:26,313 Come into the book of Acts, 680 00:32:26,313 --> 00:32:31,902 the fire is over the head of the 120 in the upper room. 681 00:32:31,902 --> 00:32:34,123 There's a shift. 682 00:32:34,123 --> 00:32:36,292 Do you see that shift? 683 00:32:36,292 --> 00:32:38,862 You see, in the Old Testament, 684 00:32:38,862 --> 00:32:41,281 what was the temple? 685 00:32:41,281 --> 00:32:46,046 The temple was the place where God dwelled. 686 00:32:46,046 --> 00:32:48,988 One thing have I desired of the Lord, 687 00:32:48,988 --> 00:32:51,421 and that will I seek after, 688 00:32:51,421 --> 00:32:54,841 that I may dwell where? 689 00:32:54,841 --> 00:32:57,056 He wanted to dwell in the temple 690 00:32:57,056 --> 00:32:59,662 that he might see the face of God. 691 00:32:59,662 --> 00:33:00,828 Why there? 692 00:33:00,828 --> 00:33:03,699 Because that's where God met with men. 693 00:33:03,699 --> 00:33:05,632 But when you come to the New Testament, 694 00:33:05,632 --> 00:33:07,422 it's not like that anymore. 695 00:33:07,422 --> 00:33:08,794 Brethren, brethren! 696 00:33:08,794 --> 00:33:12,388 What happened in the old dispensation? 697 00:33:12,388 --> 00:33:13,820 What happened? 698 00:33:13,820 --> 00:33:15,504 The place shook. 699 00:33:15,504 --> 00:33:16,684 The temple. 700 00:33:16,684 --> 00:33:18,369 The curtain was torn in two. 701 00:33:18,369 --> 00:33:20,173 You come into the New Testament, 702 00:33:20,173 --> 00:33:21,877 you get fully engaged 703 00:33:21,877 --> 00:33:24,586 under this new covenant. 704 00:33:24,586 --> 00:33:29,438 Now, what shakes? 705 00:33:29,438 --> 00:33:32,711 Not the temple. 706 00:33:32,711 --> 00:33:36,729 The prayer meeting. Acts 4. 707 00:33:36,729 --> 00:33:40,294 That's the places that God shakes now. 708 00:33:40,294 --> 00:33:42,420 Because that's where God's people are. 709 00:33:42,420 --> 00:33:45,755 You see, you've got to capture that imagery 710 00:33:45,755 --> 00:33:47,366 from the end of chapter 2 711 00:33:47,366 --> 00:33:49,295 if you really want to get an idea 712 00:33:49,295 --> 00:33:51,304 about the fact that Paul is praying 713 00:33:51,304 --> 00:33:55,488 that the Spirit of God would strengthen you - 714 00:33:55,488 --> 00:33:57,168 or that God would strengthen you 715 00:33:57,168 --> 00:34:00,181 through His Spirit in your inner being 716 00:34:00,181 --> 00:34:03,398 that Christ might dwell in your hearts by faith. 717 00:34:03,398 --> 00:34:05,514 And he moves on through this. 718 00:34:05,514 --> 00:34:07,586 And that you might be filled 719 00:34:07,586 --> 00:34:09,820 with all the fullness of God. 720 00:34:09,820 --> 00:34:12,061 This is a picture of the temple. 721 00:34:12,061 --> 00:34:14,297 John was dealing with it in the first hour. 722 00:34:14,297 --> 00:34:17,202 Your body's are temples of the Holy Spirit. 723 00:34:17,202 --> 00:34:20,300 This idea that God dwells in us. 724 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:22,832 God dwells with His people now. 725 00:34:22,832 --> 00:34:24,971 He meets with His people now. 726 00:34:24,971 --> 00:34:27,084 This is all temple language. 727 00:34:27,084 --> 00:34:30,729 God's people are the primary contact points 728 00:34:30,729 --> 00:34:33,495 for God in this world. 729 00:34:33,495 --> 00:34:36,120 It is in us that He manifests Himself 730 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:37,949 most uniquely. 731 00:34:37,949 --> 00:34:39,173 Listen to this. 732 00:34:39,173 --> 00:34:41,449 We can cross over texts like this, 733 00:34:41,449 --> 00:34:43,384 but you don't want to miss this. 734 00:34:43,384 --> 00:34:49,713 When you think of the New Testament church, 735 00:34:49,713 --> 00:34:51,473 Christ said this: 736 00:34:51,473 --> 00:34:54,852 "If anyone loves Me, 737 00:34:54,852 --> 00:34:57,434 He will keep My Word and My Father will love him, 738 00:34:57,434 --> 00:34:59,326 and We will come to Him 739 00:34:59,326 --> 00:35:05,249 and make Our home with him." 740 00:35:05,249 --> 00:35:07,291 Now hear me. God is everywhere. 741 00:35:07,291 --> 00:35:09,758 Even when Solomon dedicated that temple 742 00:35:09,758 --> 00:35:12,854 he said, "Heaven and the highest heavens cannot contain You. 743 00:35:12,854 --> 00:35:15,856 How much less this house that I've built for You." 744 00:35:15,856 --> 00:35:17,350 But nothing can contain Him. 745 00:35:17,350 --> 00:35:19,584 When we talk about God dwelling somewhere 746 00:35:19,584 --> 00:35:26,574 what we mean is that that is where God manifests Himself. 747 00:35:26,574 --> 00:35:28,567 That's where He shows up. 748 00:35:28,567 --> 00:35:30,609 That's where He appears. 749 00:35:30,609 --> 00:35:33,950 Now, of course, the temple wasn't the only place that God was, 750 00:35:33,950 --> 00:35:37,928 any more than the church is the only place that God is. 751 00:35:37,928 --> 00:35:39,675 But my point is this, 752 00:35:39,675 --> 00:35:42,565 when we think about being filled with all the fullness of God, 753 00:35:42,565 --> 00:35:47,318 we need to recognize this for what it is. 754 00:35:47,318 --> 00:35:48,944 It is temple language, 755 00:35:48,944 --> 00:35:50,568 and when we're talking temple, 756 00:35:50,568 --> 00:35:54,222 we mean that in all the places in this world 757 00:35:54,222 --> 00:35:58,172 there is one place that is unique 758 00:35:58,172 --> 00:36:05,174 above all other places where God shows up. 759 00:36:05,176 --> 00:36:11,298 May God give us an expectation there. 760 00:36:11,298 --> 00:36:13,734 We need an expectation. 761 00:36:13,734 --> 00:36:17,904 We need to not give God rest. 762 00:36:17,904 --> 00:36:22,629 Tozer said it. 763 00:36:22,629 --> 00:36:26,714 When there stops being something mysterious 764 00:36:26,714 --> 00:36:30,362 about the church, she's lost her power. 765 00:36:30,362 --> 00:36:34,089 Why? Because this is the place God's supposed to show up. 766 00:36:34,089 --> 00:36:38,168 (incomplete thought) 767 00:36:38,168 --> 00:36:41,447 It's not like we want people to drop dead, 768 00:36:41,447 --> 00:36:47,350 but I'll tell you, brethren, when our church first started, 769 00:36:47,350 --> 00:36:49,764 we had one person after another dying. 770 00:36:49,764 --> 00:36:51,453 People that came into this church 771 00:36:51,453 --> 00:36:54,494 that made false professions - God killed them. 772 00:36:54,494 --> 00:36:57,928 We had some preacher from the East side come 773 00:36:57,928 --> 00:37:01,699 and try to take our money, and God killed him. 774 00:37:01,699 --> 00:37:04,269 You could say, well, is that really what happened? 775 00:37:04,269 --> 00:37:05,902 Well, if God's in control of death, 776 00:37:05,902 --> 00:37:10,633 and we had one after another take place... 777 00:37:10,633 --> 00:37:13,312 There should be something mysterious in the church. 778 00:37:13,312 --> 00:37:17,295 A sense of the presence of God in our midst. 779 00:37:17,295 --> 00:37:18,838 May God give us more of that. 780 00:37:18,838 --> 00:37:20,352 But here's another thing, 781 00:37:20,352 --> 00:37:23,265 you've got this temple connection 782 00:37:23,265 --> 00:37:25,972 from the end of chapter 2, 783 00:37:25,972 --> 00:37:28,239 but then there's this. 784 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:33,869 Many of you know if there is 785 00:37:33,869 --> 00:37:39,168 a synoptic book to Ephesus 786 00:37:39,168 --> 00:37:42,008 it would be Colossians. 787 00:37:42,013 --> 00:37:45,598 You often find the same kind of verbiage - 788 00:37:45,598 --> 00:37:47,950 not exactly spelled out the same way, 789 00:37:47,950 --> 00:37:50,598 but you often find similar ideas 790 00:37:50,598 --> 00:37:53,008 in the letter to the Colossians. 791 00:37:53,008 --> 00:37:55,801 There's something similar. Let's turn over there. 792 00:37:55,801 --> 00:37:59,835 This may help us as well. 793 00:37:59,835 --> 00:38:07,163 I'm going to cross reference with Colossians 2. 794 00:38:07,163 --> 00:38:16,626 Look with me at v. 9. 795 00:38:16,626 --> 00:38:20,028 This is the closest thing we find in the Colossian letter 796 00:38:20,028 --> 00:38:24,957 to what we have happening over there in Ephesians 3. 797 00:38:24,957 --> 00:38:27,234 And you'll notice similarities, 798 00:38:27,234 --> 00:38:30,428 similar words, and yet, 799 00:38:30,428 --> 00:38:33,678 some profound differences. 800 00:38:33,678 --> 00:38:38,975 "For in Him..." that's Christ from the end of v. 8. 801 00:38:38,975 --> 00:38:48,241 "In Christ, the whole fullness of deity..." 802 00:38:48,241 --> 00:38:53,037 Or, it's "all the fullness of the Godhead." 803 00:38:53,037 --> 00:38:56,448 Filled with all the fullness of God. 804 00:38:56,448 --> 00:38:59,897 This is filled with all the fullness 805 00:38:59,897 --> 00:39:02,832 of the Godhead. 806 00:39:02,832 --> 00:39:07,504 It's the same idea here. 807 00:39:07,504 --> 00:39:12,963 But, you see what's happening. 808 00:39:12,963 --> 00:39:17,712 "In Him, the whole fullness of deity," 809 00:39:17,712 --> 00:39:22,313 or, "all the fullness of Godhead 810 00:39:22,313 --> 00:39:27,585 dwells bodily" in Him. 811 00:39:27,585 --> 00:39:29,640 And then notice v. 10. 812 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,179 "You have been filled..." 813 00:39:32,179 --> 00:39:33,559 So we've got this idea 814 00:39:33,559 --> 00:39:36,207 of all the fullness of Godhead 815 00:39:36,207 --> 00:39:38,045 and being filled, 816 00:39:38,045 --> 00:39:40,507 just like we do over there in Ephesians. 817 00:39:40,507 --> 00:39:43,641 But here it's different. 818 00:39:43,641 --> 00:39:44,562 You've been filled. 819 00:39:44,562 --> 00:39:47,201 It doesn't actually say what we are filled with, 820 00:39:47,201 --> 00:39:48,971 but it's in the same context 821 00:39:48,971 --> 00:39:52,141 with this reality that Jesus Christ - 822 00:39:52,141 --> 00:39:59,412 in Him all this fullness of Godhead dwells bodily. 823 00:39:59,412 --> 00:40:03,406 You have been filled. 824 00:40:03,406 --> 00:40:07,515 And what I really want to pick up here is just those last two words: 825 00:40:07,515 --> 00:40:09,351 "in Him." 826 00:40:09,351 --> 00:40:16,857 You have been filled in Him. 827 00:40:16,857 --> 00:40:19,917 Union. That's the key. 828 00:40:19,917 --> 00:40:21,743 Well, how are we filled? 829 00:40:21,743 --> 00:40:23,307 I believe what's implied here 830 00:40:23,307 --> 00:40:25,789 is we're being filled with all the fullness of God. 831 00:40:25,789 --> 00:40:28,036 I mean, you can compare Scripture with Scripture. 832 00:40:28,036 --> 00:40:29,242 Ephesians and this. 833 00:40:29,242 --> 00:40:32,891 This is what's in Paul's mind here. 834 00:40:32,891 --> 00:40:36,571 What he sees is us being filled. With what? 835 00:40:36,571 --> 00:40:40,242 With all the fullness of God. 836 00:40:40,242 --> 00:40:43,334 But it's not separate from Christ. 837 00:40:43,334 --> 00:40:45,492 It's never separate from Christ. 838 00:40:45,492 --> 00:40:46,922 It's in Him. 839 00:40:46,922 --> 00:40:50,666 And see, in Him, and all of this fullness 840 00:40:50,666 --> 00:40:53,496 of Godhead is in Him bodily. 841 00:40:53,496 --> 00:40:56,234 And it's like Jesus told us, 842 00:40:56,234 --> 00:40:58,951 "I am the Vine. You are the branches." 843 00:40:58,951 --> 00:41:00,970 And we're connected. It's in Him. 844 00:41:00,970 --> 00:41:02,919 Union. He's the source. 845 00:41:02,919 --> 00:41:05,012 From Him, all the fullness of life 846 00:41:05,012 --> 00:41:06,935 and all the fullness of this Godhead, 847 00:41:06,935 --> 00:41:09,046 all the fullness of this reality 848 00:41:09,046 --> 00:41:11,092 flows out of Him. 849 00:41:11,092 --> 00:41:13,730 It flows into the branches as well. 850 00:41:13,730 --> 00:41:15,333 All the fullness. 851 00:41:15,333 --> 00:41:20,337 There's this vital union between Vine and branch. 852 00:41:20,337 --> 00:41:22,518 This is critical. 853 00:41:22,518 --> 00:41:25,938 Because all the time, 854 00:41:25,938 --> 00:41:29,845 people want to feel full 855 00:41:29,845 --> 00:41:31,545 of some religious experience. 856 00:41:31,545 --> 00:41:33,059 They want to feel full of God. 857 00:41:33,059 --> 00:41:37,425 And they don't think they need to be a Christian. 858 00:41:37,425 --> 00:41:39,455 You know, people want to go out into nature 859 00:41:39,455 --> 00:41:41,559 and they're just looking for God 860 00:41:41,559 --> 00:41:43,356 or they want to get into yoga 861 00:41:43,356 --> 00:41:44,794 or some kind of meditation. 862 00:41:44,794 --> 00:41:46,371 When I was in high school, 863 00:41:46,371 --> 00:41:48,207 I had a friend 864 00:41:48,207 --> 00:41:52,256 and his mom got terminal cancer. 865 00:41:52,256 --> 00:41:53,871 Now, I wasn't saved at the time, 866 00:41:53,871 --> 00:41:55,750 but I often think about that. 867 00:41:55,750 --> 00:42:01,667 She and her husband - 868 00:42:01,667 --> 00:42:02,901 she's dying. 869 00:42:02,901 --> 00:42:06,241 She only has weeks, months to live. 870 00:42:06,241 --> 00:42:08,521 They bought plane tickets and they flew 871 00:42:08,521 --> 00:42:11,369 from Michigan out to California. 872 00:42:11,369 --> 00:42:13,507 And they went up to the mountains somewhere 873 00:42:13,507 --> 00:42:15,849 where there was some guru. 874 00:42:15,849 --> 00:42:17,415 It's like she knew she was dying 875 00:42:17,415 --> 00:42:19,302 and her conscience, like John was talking about, 876 00:42:19,302 --> 00:42:20,958 she had a conscience and her conscience 877 00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:23,263 was accusing her: Guilty! Guilty! 878 00:42:23,263 --> 00:42:24,902 She knew she wasn't ready to die. 879 00:42:24,902 --> 00:42:26,768 And so where did she go look? 880 00:42:26,768 --> 00:42:30,575 On a mountain in California. 881 00:42:30,575 --> 00:42:35,964 You don't want to miss this truth. 882 00:42:35,964 --> 00:42:41,230 Jesus said: no one - 883 00:42:41,230 --> 00:42:46,748 no one knows the Father 884 00:42:46,748 --> 00:42:49,491 except the Son 885 00:42:49,491 --> 00:42:52,700 and to whomever the Son 886 00:42:52,700 --> 00:42:55,211 is pleased to reveal Him. 887 00:42:55,211 --> 00:42:56,486 That's it. 888 00:42:56,486 --> 00:42:59,904 There's no fullness; 889 00:42:59,904 --> 00:43:01,491 there's no being filled 890 00:43:01,491 --> 00:43:05,842 with the fullness of God at all 891 00:43:05,842 --> 00:43:08,234 aside from in Christ. 892 00:43:08,234 --> 00:43:10,768 Here's something else. 893 00:43:10,768 --> 00:43:12,806 The term "filled," - 894 00:43:12,806 --> 00:43:17,656 go back to Ephesians. 895 00:43:17,656 --> 00:43:21,474 Ephesians 3:19. 896 00:43:21,474 --> 00:43:23,651 "That you may be filled 897 00:43:23,651 --> 00:43:25,420 with all the fullness of God." 898 00:43:25,420 --> 00:43:31,756 Now, here's something I want you to think about. 899 00:43:31,756 --> 00:43:34,785 Sometimes when we hear that idea of filled 900 00:43:34,785 --> 00:43:39,405 we can think like water. 901 00:43:39,405 --> 00:43:41,136 Okay, you look at this and you'd say 902 00:43:41,136 --> 00:43:43,344 up to here it's filled. 903 00:43:43,344 --> 00:43:46,202 This part's empty. 904 00:43:46,202 --> 00:43:50,591 So, you know, I could go to the water faucet 905 00:43:50,591 --> 00:43:52,736 and fill it the rest of the way 906 00:43:52,736 --> 00:43:55,806 and we would say it's filled. 907 00:43:55,806 --> 00:43:57,960 You don't want to think like that. 908 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:01,046 Because, although the term filled 909 00:44:01,046 --> 00:44:02,617 can be used that way, 910 00:44:02,617 --> 00:44:06,045 that's not typically how it's used in Scripture. 911 00:44:06,045 --> 00:44:10,769 Just listen to these examples. 912 00:44:10,769 --> 00:44:14,997 "The disciples were filled with joy 913 00:44:14,997 --> 00:44:19,721 and with the Holy Spirit." 914 00:44:19,721 --> 00:44:22,112 Colossians 1:9 talks about being filled 915 00:44:22,112 --> 00:44:24,531 with the knowledge of God's will. 916 00:44:24,531 --> 00:44:30,602 John 16:6, "Sorrow has filled their hearts." 917 00:44:30,602 --> 00:44:33,748 Or Acts 5:28, "you have filled Jerusalem 918 00:44:33,748 --> 00:44:34,903 with all your teaching." 919 00:44:34,903 --> 00:44:36,165 Just think right there. 920 00:44:36,165 --> 00:44:39,953 We've got sorrow, joy, 921 00:44:39,953 --> 00:44:44,178 the Holy Spirit, teaching. 922 00:44:44,178 --> 00:44:47,133 Paul says, "I'm filled with comfort." 923 00:44:47,133 --> 00:44:49,850 Philippians: Filled with the fruit of righteousness. 924 00:44:49,850 --> 00:44:52,056 Now here's what I want you to see 925 00:44:52,056 --> 00:44:53,906 about the term "filled" in Scripture. 926 00:44:53,906 --> 00:45:00,693 It carries the idea of being 927 00:45:00,693 --> 00:45:04,215 permeated by an influence. 928 00:45:04,215 --> 00:45:06,062 What I mean is this. 929 00:45:06,062 --> 00:45:09,107 If I went and filled this all the way up to here, 930 00:45:09,107 --> 00:45:10,295 you would say, 931 00:45:10,295 --> 00:45:13,680 yep, that's filled with the fullness of water. 932 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:15,079 I mean, it's filled up. 933 00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:17,175 And I would say is there any room for any more? 934 00:45:17,175 --> 00:45:19,603 And we'd say no. 935 00:45:19,603 --> 00:45:22,410 Technically speaking, could we put it under pressure 936 00:45:22,410 --> 00:45:24,296 and squeeze a little more in there? 937 00:45:24,296 --> 00:45:27,034 Well, we could, but it's filled. 938 00:45:27,034 --> 00:45:30,185 But see, when we talk about joy or sorrow 939 00:45:30,185 --> 00:45:32,079 or teaching or comfort, 940 00:45:32,079 --> 00:45:33,756 that's not what we mean. 941 00:45:33,756 --> 00:45:39,458 If somebody says I am filled with sorrow, 942 00:45:39,458 --> 00:45:41,486 that doesn't necessarily mean 943 00:45:41,486 --> 00:45:43,991 that they can't be taken to deeper levels 944 00:45:43,991 --> 00:45:46,801 and depths of sorrow. 945 00:45:46,801 --> 00:45:48,460 Nor is that the case with: 946 00:45:48,460 --> 00:45:51,082 you've filled Jerusalem with your teaching. 947 00:45:51,082 --> 00:45:52,913 Well, does that mean that everybody 948 00:45:52,913 --> 00:45:54,990 has been exposed to the teaching in Jerusalem? 949 00:45:54,990 --> 00:45:57,106 It just means it's in a lot of places. 950 00:45:57,106 --> 00:45:58,704 If somebody's filled with comfort 951 00:45:58,704 --> 00:45:59,860 or they're filled with joy, 952 00:45:59,860 --> 00:46:02,252 that doesn't mean that they couldn't be more comforted. 953 00:46:02,252 --> 00:46:04,199 It's that kind of thing. 954 00:46:04,199 --> 00:46:05,453 I want you to feel this. 955 00:46:05,453 --> 00:46:07,443 When we're talking about being filled 956 00:46:07,443 --> 00:46:08,848 with the fullness of God, 957 00:46:08,848 --> 00:46:12,936 it doesn't mean that you have 958 00:46:12,936 --> 00:46:15,152 all that you can have 959 00:46:15,152 --> 00:46:16,946 and there's no room for more. 960 00:46:16,946 --> 00:46:19,682 In fact, what we absolutely know 961 00:46:19,682 --> 00:46:22,407 is whatever condition the Ephesians were in 962 00:46:22,407 --> 00:46:24,304 Paul was definitely praying 963 00:46:24,304 --> 00:46:27,519 that they would have more; 964 00:46:27,519 --> 00:46:28,811 that they would have this. 965 00:46:28,811 --> 00:46:29,886 He's praying. 966 00:46:29,886 --> 00:46:32,221 He's not just saying, well, this is a useless prayer 967 00:46:32,221 --> 00:46:33,972 because you already have all that you can have, 968 00:46:33,972 --> 00:46:35,992 so there's no sense to pray this. 969 00:46:35,992 --> 00:46:38,160 No, he's praying it because he recognizes 970 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:40,649 they can go further in, deeper in. 971 00:46:40,649 --> 00:46:43,545 They can know this and experience this 972 00:46:43,545 --> 00:46:46,447 in a greater way. 973 00:46:46,447 --> 00:46:49,491 Brethren, what I want you to feel here is this: 974 00:46:49,491 --> 00:46:53,109 This thing can blossom. 975 00:46:53,109 --> 00:46:54,483 This thing can grow. 976 00:46:54,483 --> 00:46:56,882 This thing can flower into something 977 00:46:56,882 --> 00:47:00,745 far more wonderful than it already is. 978 00:47:00,745 --> 00:47:03,794 Okay, let's look at something else. 979 00:47:03,794 --> 00:47:08,616 Look at chapter 3. 980 00:47:08,616 --> 00:47:10,535 What we really need to grasp 981 00:47:10,535 --> 00:47:12,638 is the connection between 982 00:47:12,638 --> 00:47:18,437 being filled with the fullness of God 983 00:47:18,437 --> 00:47:22,424 and the things that Paul said 984 00:47:22,424 --> 00:47:26,009 right before this, immediately before this. 985 00:47:26,009 --> 00:47:29,202 Because here's what jumped out at me. 986 00:47:29,202 --> 00:47:31,163 As I was just pondering this, 987 00:47:31,163 --> 00:47:34,983 I thought, you know what's interesting to me, 988 00:47:34,983 --> 00:47:39,849 when I think about being filled, 989 00:47:39,849 --> 00:47:43,417 I'm thinking it's something that happens inside me. 990 00:47:43,417 --> 00:47:46,606 Right? I mean, filled. 991 00:47:46,606 --> 00:47:48,323 You fill something on the inside. 992 00:47:48,323 --> 00:47:50,719 Not on the outside. 993 00:47:50,719 --> 00:47:54,904 When somebody throws you into the ocean, 994 00:47:54,904 --> 00:47:58,145 you don't say I'm filled with water. 995 00:47:58,145 --> 00:47:59,972 No, I'm drowning in this water. 996 00:47:59,972 --> 00:48:01,269 I'm immersed in this water. 997 00:48:01,269 --> 00:48:02,652 I'm submersed in this water. 998 00:48:02,652 --> 00:48:04,608 You don't say I'm filled with water. 999 00:48:04,608 --> 00:48:07,136 Now, you would say that maybe 1000 00:48:07,136 --> 00:48:08,679 if you gulped in a bunch, 1001 00:48:08,679 --> 00:48:10,926 but now that water is where? 1002 00:48:10,926 --> 00:48:12,232 It's inside. 1003 00:48:12,232 --> 00:48:13,638 You see, that's the idea, 1004 00:48:13,638 --> 00:48:15,974 being filled - it's the idea of inside. 1005 00:48:15,974 --> 00:48:19,583 And I just went back to v. 16 1006 00:48:19,583 --> 00:48:23,795 and I started thinking. 1007 00:48:23,795 --> 00:48:26,889 "That according to the riches of God's glory 1008 00:48:26,889 --> 00:48:29,052 He may grant you to be strengthened 1009 00:48:29,052 --> 00:48:32,656 with power through His Spirit 1010 00:48:32,656 --> 00:48:36,865 in your inner man." 1011 00:48:36,865 --> 00:48:41,087 I'm thinking this all is snow-balling. 1012 00:48:41,087 --> 00:48:44,687 It's that, so that that, so that that. 1013 00:48:44,687 --> 00:48:47,957 One thing is progressing into the next here. 1014 00:48:47,957 --> 00:48:49,938 One thing begets the next. 1015 00:48:49,938 --> 00:48:52,729 And I'm recognizing - 1016 00:48:52,729 --> 00:48:56,455 maybe it should be obvious to us, 1017 00:48:56,455 --> 00:48:59,636 but it's like the Christian life is lived 1018 00:48:59,636 --> 00:49:01,405 on the inside. 1019 00:49:01,405 --> 00:49:03,547 It's the inner man. 1020 00:49:03,547 --> 00:49:06,958 You see, it's like there's this temple, 1021 00:49:06,958 --> 00:49:08,951 and God's going to come in, 1022 00:49:08,951 --> 00:49:09,932 but you know what? 1023 00:49:09,932 --> 00:49:11,870 The Spirit better strengthen you 1024 00:49:11,870 --> 00:49:14,289 in your inner man or you can't contain this. 1025 00:49:14,289 --> 00:49:15,955 That's basically what's happening. 1026 00:49:15,955 --> 00:49:17,966 He's praying: 1027 00:49:17,966 --> 00:49:20,394 May that Spirit 1028 00:49:20,394 --> 00:49:22,859 strengthen you in your inner man. 1029 00:49:22,859 --> 00:49:25,246 Why? Because Christ is coming in. 1030 00:49:25,246 --> 00:49:26,957 And where's He coming? 1031 00:49:26,957 --> 00:49:30,680 That He may dwell where? 1032 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:32,525 Where? 1033 00:49:32,525 --> 00:49:33,967 What's next? 1034 00:49:33,967 --> 00:49:35,158 "In your hearts." 1035 00:49:35,158 --> 00:49:37,129 Where's the heart? 1036 00:49:37,129 --> 00:49:39,412 You see, the heart is kind of an ambiguous term. 1037 00:49:39,412 --> 00:49:44,055 It can have all manner of latitude of meaning. 1038 00:49:44,055 --> 00:49:45,967 But typically, when you think about the heart, 1039 00:49:45,967 --> 00:49:47,791 you're thinking about the inside. 1040 00:49:47,791 --> 00:49:49,755 The inner man is strengthened 1041 00:49:49,755 --> 00:49:52,249 so that Christ might dwell. 1042 00:49:52,249 --> 00:49:55,323 What's the heart? 1043 00:49:55,323 --> 00:49:58,106 We believe with the heart Scripture says. 1044 00:49:58,106 --> 00:49:59,404 It's where we think. 1045 00:49:59,404 --> 00:50:00,658 It's where we feel. 1046 00:50:00,658 --> 00:50:03,768 It's perhaps where the emotions are. 1047 00:50:03,768 --> 00:50:05,445 It's not disconnected 1048 00:50:05,445 --> 00:50:07,680 from where thinking and thought 1049 00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:10,385 and knowledge occurs. 1050 00:50:10,385 --> 00:50:12,968 But then you keep moving through here. 1051 00:50:12,968 --> 00:50:15,790 "That you being rooted and grounded in love 1052 00:50:15,790 --> 00:50:18,925 may have strength to comprehend." 1053 00:50:18,925 --> 00:50:21,207 See, now we're dealing with comprehension. 1054 00:50:21,207 --> 00:50:24,391 We've got the inner man. 1055 00:50:24,391 --> 00:50:27,035 We've got Christ in the heart. 1056 00:50:27,035 --> 00:50:31,483 We've got comprehension in the brain. 1057 00:50:31,483 --> 00:50:36,234 See, and this is all snow-balling. 1058 00:50:36,234 --> 00:50:39,698 Comprehension in the brain, so that what? 1059 00:50:39,698 --> 00:50:43,310 We might know the love of Christ. 1060 00:50:43,310 --> 00:50:45,498 You've got knowledge. 1061 00:50:45,498 --> 00:50:48,157 "...Which surpasses knowledge, 1062 00:50:48,157 --> 00:50:52,821 so that..." or "that," 1063 00:50:52,821 --> 00:50:56,570 "in order that you may be filled 1064 00:50:56,570 --> 00:51:01,871 with all the fullness of God." 1065 00:51:01,871 --> 00:51:04,274 Listen, when we think of being filled 1066 00:51:04,274 --> 00:51:06,683 with all the fullness of God, 1067 00:51:06,683 --> 00:51:08,142 I don't know what you think. 1068 00:51:08,142 --> 00:51:09,474 But we don't want to think strange things 1069 00:51:09,474 --> 00:51:12,026 like your eyes glow or that there's a halo over your head. 1070 00:51:12,026 --> 00:51:14,378 What you need to recognize is this: 1071 00:51:14,378 --> 00:51:16,752 This has to do with the inner workings 1072 00:51:16,752 --> 00:51:18,278 of the Christian. 1073 00:51:18,278 --> 00:51:22,402 What this is talking about is this: 1074 00:51:22,402 --> 00:51:25,094 To be filled with all the fullness of God 1075 00:51:25,094 --> 00:51:28,799 means that God has moved in 1076 00:51:28,799 --> 00:51:31,143 to your mind, 1077 00:51:31,143 --> 00:51:32,768 to your will, 1078 00:51:32,768 --> 00:51:34,253 to your affections, 1079 00:51:34,253 --> 00:51:35,679 to your thoughts, 1080 00:51:35,679 --> 00:51:36,987 your knowledge, 1081 00:51:36,987 --> 00:51:38,524 your comprehension, 1082 00:51:38,524 --> 00:51:40,501 your memory. 1083 00:51:40,501 --> 00:51:43,172 He's at work inside. 1084 00:51:43,172 --> 00:51:47,660 The inner man is under the power, 1085 00:51:47,660 --> 00:51:50,105 the transformational power 1086 00:51:50,105 --> 00:51:52,355 of this influence of God. 1087 00:51:52,355 --> 00:51:54,927 He's causing us to will - doesn't Scripture say that? 1088 00:51:54,927 --> 00:51:57,263 He causes us to will and to do. 1089 00:51:57,263 --> 00:51:59,070 Doesn't Scripture talk about us 1090 00:51:59,070 --> 00:52:02,379 hungering and thirsting after righteousness? 1091 00:52:02,379 --> 00:52:03,625 It does that. 1092 00:52:03,625 --> 00:52:06,381 Aren't we told something about our consciences? 1093 00:52:06,381 --> 00:52:08,855 Our consciences become alive to God. 1094 00:52:08,855 --> 00:52:11,975 His Word. 1095 00:52:11,975 --> 00:52:13,961 His Word. 1096 00:52:13,961 --> 00:52:18,298 I've hidden His Word in my heart 1097 00:52:18,298 --> 00:52:20,264 that I might not sin against Him. 1098 00:52:20,264 --> 00:52:23,426 You see, what's happening on the inside 1099 00:52:23,426 --> 00:52:27,884 is His person - God's person - 1100 00:52:27,884 --> 00:52:29,510 is in our affections. 1101 00:52:29,510 --> 00:52:33,033 His Son is the focal point of our faith. 1102 00:52:33,033 --> 00:52:38,144 His love moves us and constrains us. 1103 00:52:38,144 --> 00:52:40,698 We think about it. We view the cross. 1104 00:52:40,698 --> 00:52:43,570 The love - the breadth, the length, 1105 00:52:43,570 --> 00:52:46,982 the height, the depth. 1106 00:52:46,982 --> 00:52:49,861 And it's influencing us where? 1107 00:52:49,861 --> 00:52:51,212 On the inside. 1108 00:52:51,212 --> 00:52:52,753 It influences our thoughts. 1109 00:52:52,753 --> 00:52:54,085 It influences our love. 1110 00:52:54,085 --> 00:52:56,359 It influences our thinking, 1111 00:52:56,359 --> 00:52:57,593 our comprehension, 1112 00:52:57,593 --> 00:53:00,550 our joys, our hunger, our thirst, 1113 00:53:00,550 --> 00:53:03,790 our affections, our feelings, 1114 00:53:03,790 --> 00:53:05,145 our emotions. 1115 00:53:05,145 --> 00:53:06,428 We're moved on. 1116 00:53:06,428 --> 00:53:09,430 The conscience is wired to the Word of God. 1117 00:53:09,430 --> 00:53:11,411 That Word of God resonates in us. 1118 00:53:11,411 --> 00:53:13,848 His sheep hear His voice. 1119 00:53:13,848 --> 00:53:16,202 There's such things happening within us. 1120 00:53:16,202 --> 00:53:17,997 Brethren, this is it. 1121 00:53:17,997 --> 00:53:21,607 This is what we're talking about here. 1122 00:53:21,607 --> 00:53:24,874 We're talking about what happens on the inside. 1123 00:53:24,874 --> 00:53:27,816 You know one of the things that happens? 1124 00:53:27,816 --> 00:53:30,879 This kind of language, 1125 00:53:30,879 --> 00:53:35,587 it'll resonate with a brand new Christian. 1126 00:53:35,587 --> 00:53:37,283 But you know what? We forget. 1127 00:53:37,283 --> 00:53:41,777 We forget how dark we were in the inner man. 1128 00:53:41,777 --> 00:53:46,205 We forget how our thoughts were not on God. 1129 00:53:46,205 --> 00:53:48,968 And our faith was not in Christ. 1130 00:53:48,968 --> 00:53:50,604 And the operations of the Spirit 1131 00:53:50,604 --> 00:53:52,309 were not at work. 1132 00:53:52,309 --> 00:53:57,760 And the Spirit was not forming love - 1133 00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:00,674 not true love - and joy 1134 00:54:00,674 --> 00:54:04,467 and the things of Christ 1135 00:54:04,467 --> 00:54:08,072 and the death of Christ, 1136 00:54:08,072 --> 00:54:10,724 the things of God. 1137 00:54:10,724 --> 00:54:12,678 Our consciences were seared 1138 00:54:12,678 --> 00:54:13,908 and they were dead. 1139 00:54:13,908 --> 00:54:15,150 We loved sin. 1140 00:54:15,150 --> 00:54:17,249 The things we hungered and thirsted for 1141 00:54:17,249 --> 00:54:19,040 were wretched and debauched. 1142 00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:20,507 We forget that. 1143 00:54:20,507 --> 00:54:23,993 We forget this is altogether glorious - 1144 00:54:23,993 --> 00:54:26,541 the transformation occupation 1145 00:54:26,541 --> 00:54:29,974 of God inside the Christian. 1146 00:54:29,974 --> 00:54:31,084 What we are becoming 1147 00:54:31,084 --> 00:54:33,813 is absolutely glorious and supernatural. 1148 00:54:33,813 --> 00:54:37,605 Brethren, one of the big reasons 1149 00:54:37,605 --> 00:54:40,872 that Paul speaks so gloriously, 1150 00:54:40,872 --> 00:54:43,133 is because it really is that glorious. 1151 00:54:43,133 --> 00:54:46,106 Our problem is not that we're not living 1152 00:54:46,106 --> 00:54:57,452 at the height that Paul would describe for us. 1153 00:54:57,452 --> 00:55:00,586 The thing is, oftentimes, yes, there's higher. 1154 00:55:00,586 --> 00:55:02,313 It's just like with this idea 1155 00:55:02,313 --> 00:55:04,988 of being filled with joy. 1156 00:55:04,988 --> 00:55:06,770 You can be filled with more joy. 1157 00:55:06,770 --> 00:55:09,557 We can be filled with greater manifestations. 1158 00:55:09,557 --> 00:55:12,369 Obviously, he's praying that that would happen. 1159 00:55:12,369 --> 00:55:15,527 He calls us further in all the time. 1160 00:55:15,527 --> 00:55:17,390 But you know what Paul constantly 1161 00:55:17,390 --> 00:55:18,601 is doing as well? 1162 00:55:18,601 --> 00:55:21,043 He's just reminding Christians of who they are, 1163 00:55:21,043 --> 00:55:22,193 what they are, 1164 00:55:22,193 --> 00:55:23,669 what is real about them. 1165 00:55:23,669 --> 00:55:26,008 Because the thing is we tend to have 1166 00:55:26,008 --> 00:55:27,567 clouded vision. 1167 00:55:27,567 --> 00:55:29,600 We tend to not see the glories 1168 00:55:29,600 --> 00:55:31,809 sometimes for what they really are. 1169 00:55:31,809 --> 00:55:33,433 But brethren, I'll tell you this, 1170 00:55:33,433 --> 00:55:36,266 just to have a brain that wakes up in the morning 1171 00:55:36,266 --> 00:55:39,219 and begins to think of God and Christ 1172 00:55:39,219 --> 00:55:41,295 almost before anything else, 1173 00:55:41,295 --> 00:55:42,935 what's that? 1174 00:55:42,935 --> 00:55:45,732 That's not what you did in your dark days. 1175 00:55:45,732 --> 00:55:47,687 That's not what you did in your lost days. 1176 00:55:47,687 --> 00:55:49,879 You woke up and you were thinking about getting money, 1177 00:55:49,879 --> 00:55:50,946 you were thinking about sex, 1178 00:55:50,946 --> 00:55:52,480 you were thinking about hanging out with the guys, 1179 00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:57,205 you were thinking about whatever. 1180 00:55:57,205 --> 00:55:58,961 You woke up thinking about those things. 1181 00:55:58,961 --> 00:56:00,754 You went to sleep thinking about those things. 1182 00:56:00,754 --> 00:56:03,909 You went to sleep constructing 1183 00:56:03,909 --> 00:56:07,079 some kind of plan to accomplish 1184 00:56:07,079 --> 00:56:08,882 the things in your life that you felt like 1185 00:56:08,882 --> 00:56:10,086 you needed to accomplish, 1186 00:56:10,086 --> 00:56:11,544 and they didn't include God. 1187 00:56:11,544 --> 00:56:16,949 Well, they may have had a religion in there. 1188 00:56:16,949 --> 00:56:18,676 Brethren, I'll tell you this. 1189 00:56:18,676 --> 00:56:20,096 This is everything. 1190 00:56:20,096 --> 00:56:24,758 This is what salvation is all about. 1191 00:56:24,758 --> 00:56:27,323 This is what a perfect man is. 1192 00:56:27,323 --> 00:56:30,894 This is the highest achievement of mankind. 1193 00:56:30,894 --> 00:56:32,687 This is what God saved us for. 1194 00:56:32,687 --> 00:56:36,495 God has saved us to take up residency within man 1195 00:56:36,495 --> 00:56:39,553 to basically fill man, 1196 00:56:39,553 --> 00:56:41,604 for man to be God's temple. 1197 00:56:41,604 --> 00:56:43,220 This is the significance. 1198 00:56:43,220 --> 00:56:45,886 A dwelling place for God. 1199 00:56:45,886 --> 00:56:48,388 God in us. 1200 00:56:48,388 --> 00:56:50,730 And then look at the doxology. 1201 00:56:50,730 --> 00:56:54,555 "Now to Him who is able 1202 00:56:54,555 --> 00:56:56,793 to do far more abundantly 1203 00:56:56,793 --> 00:56:58,683 than all we ask or think..." 1204 00:56:58,683 --> 00:57:01,235 You know one of the problems when we quote that? 1205 00:57:01,235 --> 00:57:03,079 And I know I'm guilty of this all the time. 1206 00:57:03,079 --> 00:57:06,175 I like that. I like that text. 1207 00:57:06,175 --> 00:57:08,034 And I often think about it 1208 00:57:08,034 --> 00:57:10,070 when I'm praying. 1209 00:57:10,070 --> 00:57:12,086 And it's not that it's totally disconnected 1210 00:57:12,086 --> 00:57:13,535 from what goes before, 1211 00:57:13,535 --> 00:57:16,008 but what you don't want to miss 1212 00:57:16,008 --> 00:57:20,164 is that when he's talking about asking, 1213 00:57:20,164 --> 00:57:21,819 what do you think he's got on his mind? 1214 00:57:21,819 --> 00:57:24,034 He's just been asking for a bunch of things. 1215 00:57:24,034 --> 00:57:28,174 Sometimes we quote this in a prayer meeting 1216 00:57:28,174 --> 00:57:30,202 and we're asking for all manner of things, 1217 00:57:30,202 --> 00:57:34,007 but if you want to be pinpoint accurate, 1218 00:57:34,007 --> 00:57:36,927 you need to recognize what's on his mind 1219 00:57:36,927 --> 00:57:41,031 is this: what's going on inside God's people. 1220 00:57:41,031 --> 00:57:42,610 And when he talks about praying 1221 00:57:42,610 --> 00:57:44,703 and he talks about thinking and asking, 1222 00:57:44,703 --> 00:57:46,838 and God able to do exceedingly 1223 00:57:46,838 --> 00:57:48,740 abundantly beyond this, 1224 00:57:48,740 --> 00:57:51,228 he's talking about these very things. 1225 00:57:51,228 --> 00:57:54,102 He's talking about God at work in His people. 1226 00:57:54,102 --> 00:57:57,611 People - the church of God. His temple. 1227 00:57:57,611 --> 00:58:00,563 And that God would come in in such power 1228 00:58:00,563 --> 00:58:04,640 and strength and Christ would settle down, 1229 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:06,337 deeply dwell. 1230 00:58:06,337 --> 00:58:09,991 That we would have strength to comprehend 1231 00:58:09,991 --> 00:58:12,471 the things that surpass knowledge 1232 00:58:12,471 --> 00:58:14,161 that have to do with Christ 1233 00:58:14,161 --> 00:58:16,921 and the love of God in the cross. 1234 00:58:16,921 --> 00:58:19,662 Being filled with all this fullness of God. 1235 00:58:19,662 --> 00:58:21,255 That's what he's got in mind. 1236 00:58:21,255 --> 00:58:23,318 And when he talks about: God is able 1237 00:58:23,318 --> 00:58:25,342 to do exceedingly, abundantly - 1238 00:58:25,342 --> 00:58:28,671 he's saying beyond what I'm asking for you. 1239 00:58:28,671 --> 00:58:32,317 And you know what else we don't tend to include? 1240 00:58:32,317 --> 00:58:35,077 Is what's said next: 1241 00:58:35,077 --> 00:58:40,192 "According to the power at work within you." 1242 00:58:40,192 --> 00:58:41,264 You see? 1243 00:58:41,264 --> 00:58:45,046 That's exactly what he's thinking about. 1244 00:58:45,046 --> 00:58:49,535 God able to do these wonderful things 1245 00:58:49,535 --> 00:58:54,583 all in accord with this power of God 1246 00:58:54,583 --> 00:58:56,987 at work within you. 1247 00:58:56,987 --> 00:58:58,958 When you quote that, 1248 00:58:58,958 --> 00:59:01,103 you don't have to always bring it out, 1249 00:59:01,103 --> 00:59:03,094 because I would say God being able to do 1250 00:59:03,094 --> 00:59:05,416 exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we ask or think, 1251 00:59:05,416 --> 00:59:07,299 that has application in other places. 1252 00:59:07,299 --> 00:59:08,817 But you don't want to forget 1253 00:59:08,817 --> 00:59:12,222 that here when Paul gives it, 1254 00:59:12,222 --> 00:59:15,861 he's got in mind a power 1255 00:59:15,861 --> 00:59:19,345 at work within us. 1256 00:59:19,345 --> 00:59:24,491 And he seems by that expression to think 1257 00:59:24,491 --> 00:59:27,057 something pretty glorious 1258 00:59:27,057 --> 00:59:28,939 is happening within us. 1259 00:59:28,939 --> 00:59:33,253 "To Him be glory..." 1260 00:59:33,253 --> 00:59:34,498 Where? 1261 00:59:34,498 --> 00:59:37,055 Over there at the temple? 1262 00:59:37,055 --> 00:59:39,481 "...Glory in the church." 1263 00:59:39,481 --> 00:59:40,996 You see? That's it. 1264 00:59:40,996 --> 00:59:42,063 That's it. 1265 00:59:42,063 --> 00:59:43,469 New covenant. 1266 00:59:43,469 --> 00:59:44,965 New Testament. 1267 00:59:44,965 --> 00:59:47,558 Where is the glory? 1268 00:59:47,558 --> 00:59:50,349 Yeah, it may not seem like it to the world. 1269 00:59:50,349 --> 00:59:53,292 That warehouse over there on Hedges St. 1270 00:59:53,292 --> 00:59:55,091 But I'll tell you, if you've got eyes to see, 1271 00:59:55,091 --> 00:59:57,266 this is where the glory is. 1272 00:59:57,266 --> 01:00:00,184 And other places where God's people are gathered. 1273 01:00:00,184 --> 01:00:02,961 This is where the glory is today. 1274 01:00:02,961 --> 01:00:05,371 May God make it so! 1275 01:00:05,371 --> 01:00:09,456 May God make such wonderful things happen 1276 01:00:09,456 --> 01:00:12,112 that we sit up and take notice 1277 01:00:12,112 --> 01:00:16,122 and say yes! It is so! 1278 01:00:16,122 --> 01:00:18,612 I mean, wouldn't you think 1279 01:00:18,612 --> 01:00:21,488 that whatever some of their greatest experiences were 1280 01:00:21,488 --> 01:00:23,233 in the Old Testament with regards 1281 01:00:23,233 --> 01:00:25,111 to that Old Testament temple, 1282 01:00:25,111 --> 01:00:27,598 shouldn't we expect that if this is the reality - 1283 01:00:27,598 --> 01:00:28,789 that was only the shadow - 1284 01:00:28,789 --> 01:00:29,889 this is the fulfillment, 1285 01:00:29,889 --> 01:00:33,008 wouldn't we expect greater things now? 1286 01:00:33,008 --> 01:00:35,133 I would. 1287 01:00:35,133 --> 01:00:43,311 Father, may it be so. 1288 01:00:43,311 --> 01:00:49,411 To Him, glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 1289 01:00:49,411 --> 01:00:51,178 throughout all generations 1290 01:00:51,178 --> 01:00:54,729 forever and ever, amen.