1 00:00:01,323 --> 00:00:09,143 Ephesians 4:1, 2 00:00:09,143 --> 00:00:14,914 "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, 3 00:00:14,914 --> 00:00:16,853 urge you to walk in a manner worthy 4 00:00:16,853 --> 00:00:22,933 of the calling to which you have been called 5 00:00:22,933 --> 00:00:27,443 with all humility..." 6 00:00:27,443 --> 00:00:29,012 It's bad when you have a child 7 00:00:29,012 --> 00:00:38,571 and you're in the middle of a row, right? 8 00:00:38,571 --> 00:00:40,963 Verse 2, "...with all humility 9 00:00:40,963 --> 00:00:44,795 and gentleness with patience, 10 00:00:44,795 --> 00:00:46,714 bearing with one another in love, 11 00:00:46,714 --> 00:00:50,723 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit 12 00:00:50,723 --> 00:00:52,444 in the bond of peace. 13 00:00:52,444 --> 00:00:54,273 There is one body and one Spirit, 14 00:00:54,273 --> 00:00:56,153 just as you were called to the one hope 15 00:00:56,153 --> 00:00:57,605 that belongs to your call; 16 00:00:57,605 --> 00:00:59,572 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 17 00:00:59,572 --> 00:01:01,444 one God and Father of all 18 00:01:01,444 --> 00:01:04,732 who is over all and through all and in all, 19 00:01:04,732 --> 00:01:07,482 but grace was given to each one of us 20 00:01:07,482 --> 00:01:09,694 according to the measure of Christ's gift. 21 00:01:09,694 --> 00:01:12,683 Therefore it says, 'When He ascended on high, 22 00:01:12,683 --> 00:01:14,233 He led a host of captives 23 00:01:14,233 --> 00:01:16,433 and He gave gifts to men.' 24 00:01:16,433 --> 00:01:18,381 In saying He ascended, what does it mean 25 00:01:18,381 --> 00:01:20,382 but that He had also descended 26 00:01:20,382 --> 00:01:26,263 into the lower regions of the earth." 27 00:01:26,263 --> 00:01:28,671 Or into the lower parts of the earth. 28 00:01:28,671 --> 00:01:30,713 "He who descended is the one 29 00:01:30,713 --> 00:01:32,822 who also ascended 30 00:01:32,822 --> 00:01:34,834 far above all the heavens 31 00:01:34,834 --> 00:01:37,662 that He might fill all things. 32 00:01:37,662 --> 00:01:42,593 And He gave the apostles, the prophets, 33 00:01:42,593 --> 00:01:45,834 the evangelists, the shepherds, 34 00:01:45,834 --> 00:01:49,774 and teachers to equip the saints 35 00:01:49,774 --> 00:01:51,808 for the work of ministry 36 00:01:51,808 --> 00:01:53,753 for building up the body of Christ 37 00:01:53,753 --> 00:01:56,024 until we all attain to the unity of the faith 38 00:01:56,024 --> 00:01:58,142 and of the knowledge of the Son of God 39 00:01:58,142 --> 00:01:59,943 to mature manhood, to the measure 40 00:01:59,943 --> 00:02:02,604 of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 41 00:02:02,604 --> 00:02:04,334 so that we may no longer be children 42 00:02:04,334 --> 00:02:06,125 tossed to and fro by the waves 43 00:02:06,125 --> 00:02:08,754 and carried about by every wind of doctrine, 44 00:02:08,754 --> 00:02:10,882 by human cunning, by craftiness 45 00:02:10,882 --> 00:02:12,914 in deceitful schemes. 46 00:02:12,914 --> 00:02:15,323 Rather, speaking the truth in love, 47 00:02:15,323 --> 00:02:16,953 we are to grow up in every way 48 00:02:16,953 --> 00:02:19,613 into Him who is the Head, into Christ, 49 00:02:19,613 --> 00:02:21,844 from whom the whole body 50 00:02:21,844 --> 00:02:23,942 joined and held together by every joint 51 00:02:23,942 --> 00:02:25,343 with which it is equipped 52 00:02:25,343 --> 00:02:27,224 when each part is working properly 53 00:02:27,224 --> 00:02:28,753 makes the body grow 54 00:02:28,753 --> 00:02:34,374 so that it builds itself up in love." 55 00:02:34,374 --> 00:02:36,283 Father, I ask You to help us 56 00:02:36,283 --> 00:02:40,767 right now at this time 57 00:02:40,767 --> 00:02:44,335 to begin to delve into these portions 58 00:02:44,335 --> 00:02:47,244 of this Ephesian letter 59 00:02:47,244 --> 00:02:50,223 that deals with our practice, 60 00:02:50,223 --> 00:02:52,715 our duty, our responsibility, 61 00:02:52,715 --> 00:02:57,303 our walk. 62 00:02:57,303 --> 00:03:00,205 Please help us, Lord. 63 00:03:00,205 --> 00:03:05,224 In Christ's name I pray, amen. 64 00:03:08,473 --> 00:03:12,404 We're transitioning. 65 00:03:12,404 --> 00:03:19,725 Over the last few weeks/months, 66 00:03:19,725 --> 00:03:23,465 we have looked at that prayer 67 00:03:23,465 --> 00:03:28,985 at the end of chapter 3:14-19. 68 00:03:28,985 --> 00:03:32,214 The doxology at the end, we read over that; 69 00:03:32,214 --> 00:03:35,523 didn't spend a huge amount of time. 70 00:03:35,523 --> 00:03:38,293 But this portion of Scripture there 71 00:03:38,293 --> 00:03:40,833 led us to the Song of Solomon 72 00:03:40,833 --> 00:03:45,623 because in the prayer here you have 73 00:03:45,623 --> 00:03:49,344 Paul praying that according to the riches of God's glory 74 00:03:49,344 --> 00:03:54,004 that we would be strengthened to comprehend 75 00:03:54,004 --> 00:03:57,002 something of this breadth and length 76 00:03:57,002 --> 00:04:00,993 and height and depth, 77 00:04:00,993 --> 00:04:03,884 to know this love of Christ. 78 00:04:03,884 --> 00:04:06,235 The last time we talked about being filled 79 00:04:06,235 --> 00:04:08,864 with all this fullness of God. 80 00:04:08,864 --> 00:04:12,001 We are the very dwelling place of God. 81 00:04:12,001 --> 00:04:18,334 We're the temple of this new dispensation. 82 00:04:18,334 --> 00:04:21,343 Brethren, the reality, 83 00:04:21,343 --> 00:04:24,383 those first three chapters of Ephesians, 84 00:04:24,383 --> 00:04:29,404 it is not likely that you will encounter 85 00:04:29,404 --> 00:04:34,293 more glorious doctrine than what you have there. 86 00:04:34,293 --> 00:04:35,903 You may say it's on par 87 00:04:35,903 --> 00:04:37,793 with some of the things found in Romans 88 00:04:37,793 --> 00:04:41,720 or certain other places in Scripture, 89 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,334 but as far as a package of the glories 90 00:04:44,334 --> 00:04:48,503 of what it means to be a Christian, 91 00:04:48,503 --> 00:04:51,812 nothing surpasses these three chapters. 92 00:04:51,812 --> 00:04:54,573 And the truth is that that prayer 93 00:04:54,573 --> 00:04:55,883 that we just came off of, 94 00:04:55,883 --> 00:04:58,974 I don't think you can invent a higher prayer 95 00:04:58,974 --> 00:05:03,582 that one Christian could pray for another than that. 96 00:05:03,582 --> 00:05:06,331 Of course, that took us into the Song of Solomon, 97 00:05:06,331 --> 00:05:10,922 which I think is correct. 98 00:05:10,922 --> 00:05:14,615 Those who have said it's the holy of holies among Scripture - 99 00:05:14,615 --> 00:05:18,263 it's like the sweetness of Christ's love there. 100 00:05:18,263 --> 00:05:22,204 This is just an absolutely spectacular prayer. 101 00:05:22,204 --> 00:05:24,984 One of the brothers I was praying with on Wednesday 102 00:05:24,984 --> 00:05:28,254 asked me if I would pray this prayer for him. 103 00:05:28,254 --> 00:05:30,343 And I would ask the same of all of you. 104 00:05:30,343 --> 00:05:33,283 In fact, I would encourage you to pray this for one another. 105 00:05:33,283 --> 00:05:35,973 Don't let this get away from you. 106 00:05:35,973 --> 00:05:38,295 (incomplete thought) 107 00:05:38,295 --> 00:05:42,505 And here's the thing, as we're transitioning, 108 00:05:42,505 --> 00:05:46,275 I feel like I need to say something. 109 00:05:46,275 --> 00:05:49,223 I've been told by some of you 110 00:05:49,223 --> 00:05:53,765 how the Lord has used the recent sermons, 111 00:05:53,765 --> 00:05:56,384 especially those out of the Song of Solomon. 112 00:05:56,384 --> 00:05:59,745 I've had some really encouraging feedback. 113 00:05:59,745 --> 00:06:06,894 And in fact, I heard more than once 114 00:06:06,894 --> 00:06:11,415 when I announced that I was bringing this thing to an end, 115 00:06:11,415 --> 00:06:19,065 there were some expressions of sadness about that. 116 00:06:19,065 --> 00:06:23,383 But here's the thing, 117 00:06:23,383 --> 00:06:27,255 when you look at chapter 4, 118 00:06:27,255 --> 00:06:32,383 "I therefore... 119 00:06:32,383 --> 00:06:36,391 a prisoner for the Lord..." 120 00:06:36,391 --> 00:06:38,423 In fact, you could kind of take 121 00:06:38,423 --> 00:06:41,660 some of that descriptive language out. 122 00:06:41,660 --> 00:06:44,464 He's basically saying this: 123 00:06:44,464 --> 00:06:46,395 After all these things I've said, 124 00:06:46,395 --> 00:06:51,674 therefore... I urge you to walk 125 00:06:51,674 --> 00:06:54,233 in a certain way. 126 00:06:54,233 --> 00:06:56,611 I urge you to walk in a manner 127 00:06:56,611 --> 00:07:00,202 worthy of your calling. 128 00:07:00,202 --> 00:07:02,464 Brethren, what we're dealing with - 129 00:07:02,464 --> 00:07:05,255 the word "therefore" at the beginning of chapter 4 130 00:07:05,255 --> 00:07:07,004 declares something. 131 00:07:07,004 --> 00:07:09,713 It declares that we must move on. 132 00:07:09,713 --> 00:07:12,283 Paul has said all of this. 133 00:07:12,283 --> 00:07:17,503 He's hit us with probably the most spectacular prayer imaginable, 134 00:07:17,503 --> 00:07:21,564 and he doesn't leave us there. 135 00:07:21,564 --> 00:07:26,033 He didn't put a period at the end of that amen 136 00:07:26,033 --> 00:07:27,613 and say that's it. 137 00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:29,673 I'm done writing to the Ephesians. 138 00:07:29,673 --> 00:07:32,022 I've given them the glory. 139 00:07:32,022 --> 00:07:36,694 Now, they should be good. 140 00:07:36,694 --> 00:07:39,904 In fact, you know what he didn't think? 141 00:07:39,904 --> 00:07:43,984 He didn't think that, well, they ought to 142 00:07:43,984 --> 00:07:46,573 be able to take all that glorious stuff right there 143 00:07:46,573 --> 00:07:49,385 and figure it all out. 144 00:07:49,385 --> 00:07:51,131 He didn't think that. 145 00:07:51,131 --> 00:07:52,584 You know what he felt? 146 00:07:52,584 --> 00:07:56,652 He felt like he's only halfway done. 147 00:07:56,652 --> 00:07:58,744 There's still three more chapters to come. 148 00:07:58,744 --> 00:08:01,294 I mean, relatively speaking, this is halfway. 149 00:08:01,294 --> 00:08:02,691 You remember, originally, 150 00:08:02,691 --> 00:08:05,235 the chapter divisions weren't there. 151 00:08:05,235 --> 00:08:07,163 But when he came to this "therefore," 152 00:08:07,163 --> 00:08:13,002 it basically is in the center of this epistle. 153 00:08:13,002 --> 00:08:14,473 He's going on. 154 00:08:14,473 --> 00:08:17,463 And he's calling us to go on. 155 00:08:17,463 --> 00:08:20,452 That's the reality we're faced with. 156 00:08:20,452 --> 00:08:22,115 Therefore. 157 00:08:22,115 --> 00:08:25,744 "Therefore" at the beginning of chapter 4 158 00:08:25,744 --> 00:08:28,885 means that all of us need to take 159 00:08:28,885 --> 00:08:31,384 what we have been exposed to 160 00:08:31,384 --> 00:08:33,263 and we need to go somewhere with it. 161 00:08:33,263 --> 00:08:37,554 That's what the therefore is there for. 162 00:08:37,554 --> 00:08:39,774 We are not called, you notice, 163 00:08:39,774 --> 00:08:41,784 this is what I want us to feel - 164 00:08:41,784 --> 00:08:45,113 those of you that felt sad that we were moving on, 165 00:08:45,113 --> 00:08:47,502 I kind of felt that too. 166 00:08:47,502 --> 00:08:48,631 In fact, you know what? 167 00:08:48,631 --> 00:08:52,132 I was listening to Lloyd-Jones preach a sermon 168 00:08:52,132 --> 00:08:53,674 when I was out riding my bike. 169 00:08:53,674 --> 00:08:55,135 He said the same thing! 170 00:08:55,135 --> 00:08:57,941 He said he was almost in fact tempted 171 00:08:57,941 --> 00:09:01,616 to stop his series on Ephesians right here 172 00:09:01,616 --> 00:09:03,242 and go somewhere else in the Bible 173 00:09:03,242 --> 00:09:06,483 where he could get into the glory again. 174 00:09:06,483 --> 00:09:09,114 And I felt that too. 175 00:09:09,114 --> 00:09:10,843 I felt a certain sadness. 176 00:09:10,843 --> 00:09:13,962 But we shouldn't feel it. 177 00:09:13,962 --> 00:09:16,453 Paul wants us to go on. 178 00:09:16,453 --> 00:09:19,553 Therefore... we can't just sit, 179 00:09:19,553 --> 00:09:22,653 stop, and bask in that glory. 180 00:09:22,653 --> 00:09:27,022 Onward - that's the title of my message. 181 00:09:27,022 --> 00:09:28,543 Onward. 182 00:09:28,543 --> 00:09:30,961 Onward. We've got to go on from here. 183 00:09:30,961 --> 00:09:32,112 We've got to. 184 00:09:32,112 --> 00:09:34,010 That's what we're being called to do. 185 00:09:34,010 --> 00:09:36,392 That's where we're going to go from here on. 186 00:09:36,392 --> 00:09:37,633 Onward. 187 00:09:37,633 --> 00:09:42,973 Do you see, this "therefore," you see it. 188 00:09:42,973 --> 00:09:45,964 Second word in chapter 4. 189 00:09:45,964 --> 00:09:48,813 Therefore. 190 00:09:48,813 --> 00:09:52,345 It's not casually placed. 191 00:09:52,345 --> 00:09:54,858 This is pivotal. 192 00:09:54,858 --> 00:10:00,274 This is a word that is strategically placed 193 00:10:00,274 --> 00:10:02,159 and it joins. 194 00:10:02,159 --> 00:10:04,685 (incomplete thought) 195 00:10:04,685 --> 00:10:08,193 You know, in the first three chapters, 196 00:10:08,193 --> 00:10:10,584 I don't believe there was a single imperative. 197 00:10:10,584 --> 00:10:13,116 I don't believe that we were told to do anything. 198 00:10:13,116 --> 00:10:15,505 I don't think we were told to walk a certain way. 199 00:10:15,505 --> 00:10:17,166 It was all indicatives. 200 00:10:17,166 --> 00:10:19,276 It was facts. 201 00:10:19,276 --> 00:10:22,266 It was the experience of the Christian. 202 00:10:22,266 --> 00:10:25,945 It was meant to make us feel the glory, 203 00:10:25,945 --> 00:10:28,706 feel how lofty this is. 204 00:10:28,706 --> 00:10:31,085 (incomplete thought) 205 00:10:31,085 --> 00:10:33,446 What other letter in the Bible even talks about 206 00:10:33,446 --> 00:10:37,076 us being seated in the heavenly places with Christ? 207 00:10:37,076 --> 00:10:40,148 Or being filled with all the fullness of God? 208 00:10:40,148 --> 00:10:47,312 Such expressions, they blow us away. 209 00:10:47,312 --> 00:10:49,386 This is not a casually placed "therefore." 210 00:10:49,386 --> 00:10:51,185 It's like you're coming out of that, 211 00:10:51,185 --> 00:10:54,736 and now, he has three chapters - 212 00:10:54,736 --> 00:10:56,925 oh, there's going to be a lot more indicative. 213 00:10:56,925 --> 00:10:58,454 There's going to be more glory. 214 00:10:58,454 --> 00:11:00,446 There's going to be more to teach us, 215 00:11:00,446 --> 00:11:02,693 but what we're going to get now 216 00:11:02,693 --> 00:11:05,587 in rapid succession is instruction. 217 00:11:05,587 --> 00:11:09,876 Because that's true, therefore, live this way. 218 00:11:09,876 --> 00:11:11,195 Live in a certain way. 219 00:11:11,195 --> 00:11:16,257 Live in a way that reflects this truth, 220 00:11:16,257 --> 00:11:17,406 these glories. 221 00:11:17,406 --> 00:11:19,395 You know, you get the same kind of thing, 222 00:11:19,395 --> 00:11:20,775 have you ever noticed it? 223 00:11:20,775 --> 00:11:23,705 When you come to the end of Romans 12? 224 00:11:23,705 --> 00:11:28,285 You get twelve chapters of - 225 00:11:28,285 --> 00:11:30,826 you talk about extensive - 226 00:11:30,826 --> 00:11:34,054 the first three chapters of Ephesians 227 00:11:34,054 --> 00:11:38,217 aren't rivaled by anything but perhaps 228 00:11:38,217 --> 00:11:42,136 just the extensiveness of the presentation 229 00:11:42,136 --> 00:11:44,525 of the Gospel in the first twelve chapters 230 00:11:44,525 --> 00:11:45,714 of Romans. 231 00:11:45,714 --> 00:11:48,316 And now, after Paul is done with that, 232 00:11:48,316 --> 00:11:49,346 what does he say? 233 00:11:49,346 --> 00:11:52,046 "I appeal to you, therefore, 234 00:11:52,046 --> 00:11:53,475 by the mercies of God." 235 00:11:53,475 --> 00:11:54,545 What are the mercies? 236 00:11:54,545 --> 00:11:57,835 All that he described in the first twelve chapters. 237 00:11:57,835 --> 00:12:00,886 Therefore... I appeal to you 238 00:12:00,886 --> 00:12:04,464 on the basis of that Gospel, 239 00:12:04,464 --> 00:12:08,844 offer yourselves up as a living sacrifice to God. 240 00:12:08,844 --> 00:12:12,265 That is one of those instrumental, 241 00:12:12,265 --> 00:12:14,456 very specifically placed, 242 00:12:14,456 --> 00:12:16,683 pivotal "therefore's." 243 00:12:16,683 --> 00:12:18,513 Not just casually placed. 244 00:12:18,513 --> 00:12:23,534 Like our whole life practically swings 245 00:12:23,534 --> 00:12:26,685 on this kind of "therefore." 246 00:12:26,685 --> 00:12:29,956 There's a truth, a body of truth, 247 00:12:29,956 --> 00:12:33,036 that is supposed to lift us up to glory. 248 00:12:33,036 --> 00:12:35,014 We're supposed to experience 249 00:12:35,014 --> 00:12:36,605 the love of Christ, 250 00:12:36,605 --> 00:12:40,014 the indwelling of Christ in our hearts, 251 00:12:40,014 --> 00:12:42,177 the strengthening of the Spirit, 252 00:12:42,177 --> 00:12:45,446 the fullness of God filling us. 253 00:12:45,446 --> 00:12:47,506 These are experiences. 254 00:12:47,506 --> 00:12:48,885 These are realities. 255 00:12:48,885 --> 00:12:51,185 Seated in the heavenly places. 256 00:12:51,185 --> 00:12:54,186 And what are we supposed to do with it all? 257 00:12:54,186 --> 00:12:56,166 Are we supposed to sit in our communes, 258 00:12:56,166 --> 00:12:58,075 sit in our convents, 259 00:12:58,075 --> 00:12:59,695 sit in our monasteries, 260 00:12:59,695 --> 00:13:01,824 or sit within these four walls 261 00:13:01,824 --> 00:13:03,816 and bask in the glory forever? 262 00:13:03,816 --> 00:13:06,815 That is not what we're called to do 263 00:13:06,815 --> 00:13:08,306 in the Christian life. 264 00:13:08,306 --> 00:13:11,755 That's not it. 265 00:13:11,755 --> 00:13:13,785 No, we must go onward. 266 00:13:13,785 --> 00:13:15,605 You know what the "therefore" does? 267 00:13:15,605 --> 00:13:19,826 It says, okay, therefore, 268 00:13:19,826 --> 00:13:21,395 you have all this. 269 00:13:21,395 --> 00:13:23,895 How does all this relate to daily life? 270 00:13:23,895 --> 00:13:25,855 What does this all mean practically? 271 00:13:25,855 --> 00:13:28,145 How do we apply this to living in this world, 272 00:13:28,145 --> 00:13:30,123 interacting with others? 273 00:13:30,123 --> 00:13:31,816 What the word "therefore" tells us 274 00:13:31,816 --> 00:13:33,315 is that we can't just sit down, 275 00:13:33,315 --> 00:13:37,006 camp on this prayer of Paul forever 276 00:13:37,006 --> 00:13:38,536 without going forward. 277 00:13:38,536 --> 00:13:40,424 Or, sit down, just enjoy the sweetness 278 00:13:40,424 --> 00:13:42,936 of the Song of Solomon perpetually. 279 00:13:42,936 --> 00:13:47,086 We can't do that with no forward advance. 280 00:13:47,086 --> 00:13:49,347 The reality is forward. 281 00:13:49,347 --> 00:13:50,770 Paul says "therefore." 282 00:13:50,770 --> 00:13:53,837 That means we're to go on 283 00:13:53,837 --> 00:13:57,576 in this practical life and living. 284 00:13:57,576 --> 00:14:01,067 The interesting thing is 285 00:14:01,067 --> 00:14:04,635 I was thinking about going up 286 00:14:04,635 --> 00:14:06,398 to the mountaintop. 287 00:14:06,398 --> 00:14:08,166 Look, I can tell you 288 00:14:08,166 --> 00:14:10,406 that dealing with this prayer 289 00:14:10,406 --> 00:14:12,938 and spending literally hours 290 00:14:12,938 --> 00:14:15,817 upon hours upon hours 291 00:14:15,817 --> 00:14:18,167 in the Song of Solomon - 292 00:14:18,167 --> 00:14:20,308 I was blown away. 293 00:14:20,308 --> 00:14:28,298 I mean, I was overcome repeatedly. 294 00:14:28,298 --> 00:14:31,127 And it's almost like the "therefore" 295 00:14:31,127 --> 00:14:37,506 says: okay, come down. 296 00:14:37,506 --> 00:14:41,068 Like come down out of your study. 297 00:14:41,068 --> 00:14:42,528 It's on the second floor, 298 00:14:42,528 --> 00:14:44,498 so it's kind of applicable. 299 00:14:44,498 --> 00:14:45,776 Come down. 300 00:14:45,776 --> 00:14:48,656 There's a time to soak that up 301 00:14:48,656 --> 00:14:50,118 and to be in that glory. 302 00:14:50,118 --> 00:14:52,279 There's a time to get up from that chair 303 00:14:52,279 --> 00:14:53,398 and come down. 304 00:14:53,398 --> 00:14:59,207 (incomplete thought) 305 00:14:59,207 --> 00:15:01,657 I think, again, I was riding my bike 306 00:15:01,657 --> 00:15:03,406 and I was listening to that message 307 00:15:03,406 --> 00:15:06,137 by Lloyd-Jones and I was just thinking. 308 00:15:06,137 --> 00:15:09,267 I think I got home and all of a sudden, 309 00:15:09,267 --> 00:15:12,468 my mind just swept through the entire Scriptures 310 00:15:12,468 --> 00:15:15,975 about all the times that God's people 311 00:15:15,975 --> 00:15:20,996 have basically been called to come down. 312 00:15:20,996 --> 00:15:24,035 I know that the Christian life in one sense 313 00:15:24,035 --> 00:15:28,345 is like continuously going up, 314 00:15:28,345 --> 00:15:29,447 climbing the mountain, 315 00:15:29,447 --> 00:15:30,849 where we desire to go higher 316 00:15:30,849 --> 00:15:32,045 and higher and higher. 317 00:15:32,045 --> 00:15:34,867 Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. 318 00:15:34,867 --> 00:15:35,968 We talk that way. 319 00:15:35,968 --> 00:15:37,676 And undoubtedly, there is a way, 320 00:15:37,676 --> 00:15:40,878 there is a perspective on the Christian life 321 00:15:40,878 --> 00:15:42,037 that is like that. 322 00:15:42,037 --> 00:15:45,598 It's like opening up into the fullness of day. 323 00:15:45,598 --> 00:15:48,017 You see that, where it gets brighter and brighter. 324 00:15:48,017 --> 00:15:51,007 Or we can think of it going higher and higher, 325 00:15:51,007 --> 00:15:52,746 but there is another sense 326 00:15:52,746 --> 00:15:55,469 in which the Christian life 327 00:15:55,469 --> 00:15:58,807 is a repetition of going up to the mountain 328 00:15:58,807 --> 00:16:01,947 and then being called to come down. 329 00:16:01,947 --> 00:16:05,567 And what I mean is, I repeatedly find 330 00:16:05,567 --> 00:16:09,205 God's people doing just exactly this. 331 00:16:09,205 --> 00:16:12,087 I would say this, the first three chapters of Ephesians 332 00:16:12,087 --> 00:16:13,976 are like a mountain. 333 00:16:13,976 --> 00:16:16,307 They just take you to heavenly places. 334 00:16:16,307 --> 00:16:20,416 You're going way up filled with all the fullness of God. 335 00:16:20,416 --> 00:16:22,547 Higher and higher and higher, 336 00:16:22,547 --> 00:16:24,377 knowing the love, 337 00:16:24,377 --> 00:16:27,436 having the ability, the power to comprehend 338 00:16:27,436 --> 00:16:31,977 this love of Christ. 339 00:16:31,977 --> 00:16:34,300 The flood of thoughts came rushing through 340 00:16:34,300 --> 00:16:37,296 about just these realities. 341 00:16:37,296 --> 00:16:42,718 You know, there's the time when the Lord - 342 00:16:42,718 --> 00:16:45,327 even the Lord Himself - 343 00:16:45,327 --> 00:16:46,979 where'd He go? 344 00:16:46,979 --> 00:16:51,397 He went up to the mountaintop. 345 00:16:51,397 --> 00:16:53,255 "In these days, He went out 346 00:16:53,255 --> 00:16:56,298 to the mountain to pray." 347 00:16:56,298 --> 00:16:57,767 And I think about Him there. 348 00:16:57,767 --> 00:17:02,177 "All night He continued in prayer to God." 349 00:17:02,177 --> 00:17:03,908 Communing. 350 00:17:03,908 --> 00:17:08,348 Coming close to the Lord. 351 00:17:08,348 --> 00:17:12,578 And then it says, "...and He came down." 352 00:17:12,578 --> 00:17:15,337 There's a time to come down. 353 00:17:15,337 --> 00:17:17,368 He came down and what did He do? 354 00:17:17,368 --> 00:17:18,840 You know what it says He did? 355 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,828 You can find this in the three synoptic Gospels 356 00:17:21,828 --> 00:17:24,149 where He went up to the mountain to pray. 357 00:17:24,149 --> 00:17:25,207 He came down. 358 00:17:25,207 --> 00:17:27,069 And Scripture specifically says, 359 00:17:27,069 --> 00:17:29,778 "He stood on a level place 360 00:17:29,778 --> 00:17:32,537 with a great crowd who came to hear Him 361 00:17:32,537 --> 00:17:34,288 and to be healed of their diseases 362 00:17:34,288 --> 00:17:37,667 and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured, 363 00:17:37,667 --> 00:17:40,129 and all the crowd sought to touch Him, 364 00:17:40,129 --> 00:17:42,578 for power came out from Him 365 00:17:42,578 --> 00:17:45,279 and healed them all." 366 00:17:45,279 --> 00:17:47,089 You see what happened? 367 00:17:47,089 --> 00:17:49,829 He's up on the mountain 368 00:17:49,829 --> 00:17:51,467 close to God, 369 00:17:51,467 --> 00:17:52,868 communing with God, 370 00:17:52,868 --> 00:17:54,729 praying to God, 371 00:17:54,729 --> 00:17:56,258 and then He comes down. 372 00:17:56,258 --> 00:17:58,199 And what happens? 373 00:17:58,199 --> 00:18:04,308 Out into the crowd to basically give. 374 00:18:04,308 --> 00:18:08,007 That's really it. To give. 375 00:18:08,007 --> 00:18:10,107 Going up on the mountaintop 376 00:18:10,107 --> 00:18:12,671 to be recharged, to draw close, 377 00:18:12,671 --> 00:18:15,697 to be refreshed, to be invigorated 378 00:18:15,697 --> 00:18:19,948 with the communion with His Father. 379 00:18:19,948 --> 00:18:22,188 And then He comes down. 380 00:18:22,188 --> 00:18:25,167 And you remember when the woman touched the hem? 381 00:18:25,167 --> 00:18:27,428 He said, "Virtue has gone out from Me." 382 00:18:27,428 --> 00:18:29,288 Do you realize what that's saying? 383 00:18:29,288 --> 00:18:34,217 It says that power came out from Him 384 00:18:34,217 --> 00:18:35,528 and healed them all. 385 00:18:35,528 --> 00:18:37,228 It cost Him something to heal. 386 00:18:37,228 --> 00:18:40,790 It came out of Him. 387 00:18:40,790 --> 00:18:42,646 Or I remember this, 388 00:18:42,646 --> 00:18:46,878 I remember old Don Johnson. 389 00:18:46,878 --> 00:18:50,008 He says that when he first got saved, 390 00:18:50,008 --> 00:18:52,109 he thought the Christian life 391 00:18:52,109 --> 00:18:56,287 was just one continuous baptism of the Spirit 392 00:18:56,287 --> 00:18:58,017 after another. 393 00:18:58,017 --> 00:19:00,016 And then you know what happened? 394 00:19:00,016 --> 00:19:05,038 God said to him, Don, come down. 395 00:19:05,038 --> 00:19:06,826 Onward. 396 00:19:06,826 --> 00:19:09,306 You've been exposed to the glory. 397 00:19:09,306 --> 00:19:11,767 You've been exposed to this 398 00:19:11,767 --> 00:19:14,997 which has overwhelmed your soul. 399 00:19:14,997 --> 00:19:17,630 Now, you need to know there's a reality. 400 00:19:17,630 --> 00:19:18,976 You need to come down. 401 00:19:18,976 --> 00:19:20,926 That's part of the Christian life, 402 00:19:20,926 --> 00:19:23,056 but that's not all of the Christian life. 403 00:19:23,056 --> 00:19:24,576 There's a "therefore." 404 00:19:24,576 --> 00:19:26,946 You have that, therefore, 405 00:19:26,946 --> 00:19:29,737 Don, there is a world 406 00:19:29,737 --> 00:19:32,327 that is looking for your light. 407 00:19:32,327 --> 00:19:35,566 We are the lights of the world. 408 00:19:35,566 --> 00:19:36,747 Come down. 409 00:19:36,747 --> 00:19:38,127 You have life to live. 410 00:19:38,127 --> 00:19:39,987 Or, I was thinking about Moses. 411 00:19:39,987 --> 00:19:41,709 You think about Moses. 412 00:19:41,709 --> 00:19:43,515 It says he went to Mount Sinai. 413 00:19:43,515 --> 00:19:45,737 Again, here's a mountain again. 414 00:19:45,737 --> 00:19:47,428 He goes to the mountain 415 00:19:47,428 --> 00:19:49,586 and what does he see? 416 00:19:49,586 --> 00:19:51,477 He sees a bush that's burning. 417 00:19:51,477 --> 00:19:53,347 Okay, he's getting exposed 418 00:19:53,347 --> 00:19:55,451 to the supernatural. 419 00:19:55,451 --> 00:19:57,987 He's getting exposed to a manifestation of God. 420 00:19:57,987 --> 00:20:02,846 "Moses, take your shoes off. 421 00:20:02,846 --> 00:20:05,318 The ground upon which you are standing 422 00:20:05,318 --> 00:20:08,087 is holy ground." 423 00:20:08,087 --> 00:20:11,369 I mean, you can be sure, 424 00:20:11,369 --> 00:20:14,595 he fell on his face. 425 00:20:14,595 --> 00:20:19,017 "I am the God of your fathers, 426 00:20:19,017 --> 00:20:25,466 of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob." 427 00:20:25,466 --> 00:20:28,638 He revealed Himself to Moses: 428 00:20:28,638 --> 00:20:32,747 "I AM WHO I AM." 429 00:20:32,747 --> 00:20:34,386 And he had the experience, 430 00:20:34,386 --> 00:20:37,357 how are they going to know that I was sent by You? 431 00:20:37,357 --> 00:20:39,445 And he's throwing his staff on the ground, 432 00:20:39,445 --> 00:20:41,417 it's becoming a snake. 433 00:20:41,417 --> 00:20:43,675 He puts his hand in there. It's leprous. 434 00:20:43,675 --> 00:20:45,287 Back in and now it's not. 435 00:20:45,287 --> 00:20:47,496 He was told if they don't believe those two, 436 00:20:47,496 --> 00:20:51,247 you're going to turn the Nile to blood. 437 00:20:51,247 --> 00:20:54,056 But you know what? 438 00:20:54,056 --> 00:20:56,316 You know what God said to him? 439 00:20:56,316 --> 00:20:58,125 After all that? 440 00:20:58,125 --> 00:21:02,097 "Now therefore go." 441 00:21:02,097 --> 00:21:03,997 You can't stay here. 442 00:21:03,997 --> 00:21:05,556 You can't stay in all the glory 443 00:21:05,556 --> 00:21:07,216 of the fire and the revelation, 444 00:21:07,216 --> 00:21:09,535 and Me speaking to you directly like this 445 00:21:09,535 --> 00:21:11,337 and standing on the holy ground. 446 00:21:11,337 --> 00:21:12,688 Now it's time to go. 447 00:21:12,688 --> 00:21:16,166 Now you've got to go to the people. 448 00:21:16,166 --> 00:21:18,976 Or you think of Moses on another occasion. 449 00:21:18,976 --> 00:21:23,317 I think of the time in Exodus 34. 450 00:21:23,317 --> 00:21:25,047 God said, "Be ready by the morning. 451 00:21:25,047 --> 00:21:26,926 Come up in the morning to Mount Sinai." 452 00:21:26,926 --> 00:21:28,485 Here's the same mountain again. 453 00:21:28,485 --> 00:21:29,876 Here's Moses going back up. 454 00:21:29,876 --> 00:21:31,286 "Present yourself there to Me 455 00:21:31,286 --> 00:21:32,675 on the top of the mountain." 456 00:21:32,675 --> 00:21:34,525 And you remember what Moses said? 457 00:21:34,525 --> 00:21:37,887 Again, he's going back. He's going close. 458 00:21:37,887 --> 00:21:41,737 Close into the glory. 459 00:21:41,737 --> 00:21:45,344 "Show me Your glory." 460 00:21:45,344 --> 00:21:49,065 And God, I mean, you have such things said 461 00:21:49,065 --> 00:21:52,074 we can just read over this. 462 00:21:52,074 --> 00:21:53,956 He said, "I will make all My goodness 463 00:21:53,956 --> 00:21:56,317 pass before you." 464 00:21:56,317 --> 00:21:58,906 It says, "the Lord descended in the cloud 465 00:21:58,906 --> 00:22:01,096 and stood with Him there." 466 00:22:01,096 --> 00:22:02,237 What was that like? 467 00:22:02,237 --> 00:22:03,917 He stood with him there. 468 00:22:03,917 --> 00:22:06,295 "...And proclaimed the name of the Lord. 469 00:22:06,295 --> 00:22:08,065 The Lord passed before him 470 00:22:08,065 --> 00:22:10,465 and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, 471 00:22:10,465 --> 00:22:12,706 a God merciful and gracious, 472 00:22:12,706 --> 00:22:13,668 slow to anger, 473 00:22:13,668 --> 00:22:17,045 abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 474 00:22:17,045 --> 00:22:19,616 keeping steadfast love for thousands, 475 00:22:19,616 --> 00:22:22,938 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, 476 00:22:22,938 --> 00:22:25,616 but who will by no means clear the guilty.'" 477 00:22:25,616 --> 00:22:29,878 And he goes on, "When Moses came down..." 478 00:22:29,878 --> 00:22:31,105 There it is. 479 00:22:31,105 --> 00:22:33,018 He had to come down again. 480 00:22:33,018 --> 00:22:34,806 Down away from the glory. 481 00:22:34,806 --> 00:22:38,296 Down to do what? To go among the people. 482 00:22:38,296 --> 00:22:41,427 "He came down from the mountain," it says. 483 00:22:41,427 --> 00:22:45,547 And here's the thing, 484 00:22:45,547 --> 00:22:50,567 he didn't know something about himself. 485 00:22:50,567 --> 00:22:53,204 Do you remember what it was? 486 00:22:53,204 --> 00:22:59,319 He didn't know that his face was shining. 487 00:22:59,319 --> 00:23:01,668 "His face shone because..." 488 00:23:01,668 --> 00:23:03,307 isn't this amazing? 489 00:23:03,307 --> 00:23:07,266 "His face shone because he had been 490 00:23:07,266 --> 00:23:12,328 talking with God." 491 00:23:12,328 --> 00:23:14,477 You see, that's what happens. 492 00:23:14,477 --> 00:23:19,308 There's a time to go down 493 00:23:19,308 --> 00:23:22,098 with the glory on your face. 494 00:23:22,098 --> 00:23:24,046 You think of Elijah. 495 00:23:24,046 --> 00:23:25,957 Mount Carmel. 496 00:23:25,957 --> 00:23:27,886 Up on that mountain he goes. 497 00:23:27,886 --> 00:23:31,976 Fire fell that the people might know 498 00:23:31,976 --> 00:23:35,467 that God is God and Baal is not God. 499 00:23:35,467 --> 00:23:37,087 And they repaired the altar 500 00:23:37,087 --> 00:23:38,886 and all those prophets of Baal 501 00:23:38,886 --> 00:23:41,098 were put to death. 502 00:23:41,098 --> 00:23:42,806 And there on that mountaintop, 503 00:23:42,806 --> 00:23:45,237 he got down, it says, on his face 504 00:23:45,237 --> 00:23:48,267 and he put his face between his knees 505 00:23:48,267 --> 00:23:51,326 and rain came after how long? 506 00:23:51,326 --> 00:23:54,628 Years without a drop of rain in that land. 507 00:23:54,628 --> 00:23:58,877 Again, God came in miraculous power. 508 00:23:58,877 --> 00:24:00,485 Elijah was vindicated. 509 00:24:00,485 --> 00:24:04,855 The people knew who the true God was. 510 00:24:04,855 --> 00:24:09,716 But it says the hand of the Lord was on Elijah 511 00:24:09,716 --> 00:24:12,326 and then he came down. 512 00:24:12,326 --> 00:24:17,177 You've got Jezebel's to deal with. 513 00:24:17,177 --> 00:24:19,698 I think of the Mount of Transfiguration. 514 00:24:19,698 --> 00:24:21,636 There's a mountain. 515 00:24:21,636 --> 00:24:24,697 They went up on that mountain. 516 00:24:24,697 --> 00:24:28,386 And you remember Peter, 517 00:24:28,386 --> 00:24:31,436 he said, "Lord, do You want me 518 00:24:31,436 --> 00:24:35,057 to pitch some tents here?" 519 00:24:35,057 --> 00:24:36,797 You think that was glorious? 520 00:24:36,797 --> 00:24:39,296 Jesus being transfigured before them? 521 00:24:39,296 --> 00:24:42,747 They're actually seeing Moses and Elijah like we heard? 522 00:24:42,747 --> 00:24:45,826 That was really Elijah - 523 00:24:45,826 --> 00:24:47,656 not just one that came in the spirit 524 00:24:47,656 --> 00:24:48,867 and power of him. 525 00:24:48,867 --> 00:24:51,197 That was the Tishbite. 526 00:24:51,197 --> 00:24:53,558 John wasn't the Tishbite. 527 00:24:53,558 --> 00:24:55,876 John was Malachi's Elijah, 528 00:24:55,876 --> 00:25:00,208 but this is the Tishbite. This is Moses. 529 00:25:00,208 --> 00:25:03,645 But I guarantee, they weren't at the center of attention. 530 00:25:03,645 --> 00:25:07,526 Jesus is manifest - a voice - 531 00:25:07,526 --> 00:25:11,446 the Father is speaking. 532 00:25:11,446 --> 00:25:12,646 You can imagine, 533 00:25:12,646 --> 00:25:15,267 that's a place that you want to stay. 534 00:25:15,267 --> 00:25:18,297 His face shone like the sun. 535 00:25:18,297 --> 00:25:19,785 You know what Peter said? 536 00:25:19,785 --> 00:25:23,426 "Lord, it is good that we are here." 537 00:25:23,426 --> 00:25:24,676 You know what? 538 00:25:24,676 --> 00:25:26,676 When we were in the Song of Solomon, 539 00:25:26,676 --> 00:25:27,675 I could say that. 540 00:25:27,675 --> 00:25:30,437 It is good that we are here. 541 00:25:30,437 --> 00:25:31,266 But guess what? 542 00:25:31,266 --> 00:25:32,995 The hour came: 543 00:25:32,995 --> 00:25:35,528 Gentlemen, it's not time for pitching tents. 544 00:25:35,528 --> 00:25:37,317 We're going down. 545 00:25:37,317 --> 00:25:39,197 We're going down to the bottom. 546 00:25:39,197 --> 00:25:41,505 We're going down to the people. 547 00:25:41,505 --> 00:25:44,746 There's a time to come down. 548 00:25:44,746 --> 00:25:46,746 Or, again, I thought about the upper room. 549 00:25:46,746 --> 00:25:48,088 Okay, that's not a mountain. 550 00:25:48,088 --> 00:25:49,449 That's more like my office. 551 00:25:49,449 --> 00:25:50,691 It's up on the 2nd floor. 552 00:25:50,691 --> 00:25:54,477 But you remember what happened in the upper room. 553 00:25:54,477 --> 00:25:57,616 "They went up to the upper room where they were staying. 554 00:25:57,616 --> 00:25:59,346 Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, 555 00:25:59,346 --> 00:26:01,148 Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, 556 00:26:01,148 --> 00:26:02,807 James the son of Alphaeus 557 00:26:02,807 --> 00:26:04,067 and Simon the Zealot 558 00:26:04,067 --> 00:26:05,997 and Judas the son of James, 559 00:26:05,997 --> 00:26:07,365 all these were in one accord 560 00:26:07,365 --> 00:26:09,587 and they're devoting themselves to prayer." 561 00:26:09,587 --> 00:26:11,595 And you know what happened in Acts 2. 562 00:26:11,595 --> 00:26:13,345 "Suddenly, there came from heaven 563 00:26:13,345 --> 00:26:15,097 a sound like a mighty rushing wind. 564 00:26:15,097 --> 00:26:17,658 It filled the entire house where they were sitting 565 00:26:17,658 --> 00:26:19,977 and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them 566 00:26:19,977 --> 00:26:22,598 and rested on each one of them 567 00:26:22,598 --> 00:26:25,467 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." 568 00:26:25,467 --> 00:26:26,698 But guess what? 569 00:26:26,698 --> 00:26:28,448 You don't just sit there 570 00:26:28,448 --> 00:26:30,766 amidst the people of God 571 00:26:30,766 --> 00:26:33,066 soaking up the glory, 572 00:26:33,066 --> 00:26:36,036 enjoying the divided flames over each other's head. 573 00:26:36,036 --> 00:26:38,829 "Oh, isn't that neat?" 574 00:26:38,829 --> 00:26:41,957 And I don't think they were thinking that. 575 00:26:41,957 --> 00:26:44,177 They were thinking not: this is neat. 576 00:26:44,177 --> 00:26:45,679 This is glorious. 577 00:26:45,679 --> 00:26:47,616 They were blown away. 578 00:26:47,616 --> 00:26:49,568 They're saying Jesus told us to wait. 579 00:26:49,568 --> 00:26:52,067 I'll guarantee, they had no doubts in their mind 580 00:26:52,067 --> 00:26:54,159 that this is what they had been waiting for 581 00:26:54,159 --> 00:26:55,367 because when it came, 582 00:26:55,367 --> 00:26:57,979 it came like a mighty rushing wind 583 00:26:57,979 --> 00:26:59,987 and they were filled with the Spirit. 584 00:26:59,987 --> 00:27:01,037 But guess what? 585 00:27:01,037 --> 00:27:02,788 When you're filled with the Spirit, 586 00:27:02,788 --> 00:27:04,389 when you've had this revelation, 587 00:27:04,389 --> 00:27:05,917 when you've had this experience, 588 00:27:05,917 --> 00:27:09,167 it's not time to sit in the upper room. 589 00:27:09,167 --> 00:27:12,088 It's time to come down. 590 00:27:12,088 --> 00:27:16,635 There's a "therefore" in our lives. 591 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:20,256 How many times throughout Scripture 592 00:27:20,256 --> 00:27:22,946 they're called into the glory, 593 00:27:22,946 --> 00:27:25,479 but then you come down. 594 00:27:25,479 --> 00:27:29,378 Therefore, they must come down. 595 00:27:29,378 --> 00:27:31,238 And see, here's the thing. 596 00:27:31,238 --> 00:27:35,768 The mountaintop is necessary. 597 00:27:35,768 --> 00:27:38,627 It's necessary. 598 00:27:38,627 --> 00:27:39,608 Why? 599 00:27:39,608 --> 00:27:43,091 Because when I'm near the Lord, 600 00:27:43,091 --> 00:27:47,914 remember Christ: that you might have 601 00:27:47,914 --> 00:27:52,552 this Spirit strengthening you in your inner man 602 00:27:52,552 --> 00:27:56,593 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 603 00:27:56,593 --> 00:28:00,983 And this knowledge that's knowing Christ - 604 00:28:00,983 --> 00:28:03,513 a knowledge that surpasses knowledge, 605 00:28:03,513 --> 00:28:06,784 surpasses your understanding; 606 00:28:06,784 --> 00:28:09,872 filled with all this fullness of God. 607 00:28:09,872 --> 00:28:13,362 Brethren, I can tell you this, 608 00:28:13,362 --> 00:28:16,752 that when you're impacted, 609 00:28:16,752 --> 00:28:18,774 you're taken up into the high places 610 00:28:18,774 --> 00:28:20,903 and allowed to walk - 611 00:28:20,903 --> 00:28:23,802 the Song of Solomon - 612 00:28:23,802 --> 00:28:28,465 the sweetness of Christ... 613 00:28:28,465 --> 00:28:32,413 When we have a consciousness of His presence, 614 00:28:32,413 --> 00:28:34,745 do you know what tends to happen? 615 00:28:34,745 --> 00:28:41,111 It douses your desire for the world. 616 00:28:41,111 --> 00:28:45,473 Look, drawing close to the Lord 617 00:28:45,473 --> 00:28:48,681 does something to your desires 618 00:28:48,681 --> 00:28:54,415 for your idols, for distractions, 619 00:28:54,415 --> 00:28:57,815 your appetite for sin. 620 00:28:57,815 --> 00:28:59,405 I mean, when you actually feel: 621 00:28:59,405 --> 00:29:03,184 Oh, my emptiness has been replaced. 622 00:29:03,184 --> 00:29:06,412 I've been filled with all the fullness of God. 623 00:29:06,412 --> 00:29:09,216 I'm seeing something of the love of Christ 624 00:29:09,216 --> 00:29:14,895 and Him pouring out His life's blood for me. 625 00:29:14,895 --> 00:29:17,435 And I've got a sense of His presence. 626 00:29:17,435 --> 00:29:20,194 I've got a sense of: He desires, He calls me, 627 00:29:20,194 --> 00:29:21,965 "Come away, My love." 628 00:29:21,965 --> 00:29:24,544 How many times did we hear that out of the Song? 629 00:29:24,544 --> 00:29:25,713 "Come away." 630 00:29:25,713 --> 00:29:27,963 And you get melted by that. 631 00:29:27,963 --> 00:29:31,775 Does that make you want to run out a view pornography? 632 00:29:31,775 --> 00:29:33,292 You see, it doesn't. 633 00:29:33,292 --> 00:29:39,044 What it does is it fits us to walk worthy 634 00:29:39,044 --> 00:29:41,372 of the calling to which we've been called. 635 00:29:41,372 --> 00:29:43,262 It prepares us. 636 00:29:43,262 --> 00:29:44,434 We need the glories. 637 00:29:44,434 --> 00:29:47,564 We need the heights of this sort of doctrine. 638 00:29:47,564 --> 00:29:48,716 We need to know it. 639 00:29:48,716 --> 00:29:50,935 We need to deeply experience it. 640 00:29:50,935 --> 00:29:53,245 Because what? That stimulates 641 00:29:53,245 --> 00:29:55,646 and promotes and encourages us 642 00:29:55,646 --> 00:29:57,746 to what? Work out our salvation 643 00:29:57,746 --> 00:29:59,243 with fear and trembling. 644 00:29:59,243 --> 00:30:02,667 To work out our salvation with a sweetness; 645 00:30:02,667 --> 00:30:04,097 to work out our salvation 646 00:30:04,097 --> 00:30:05,806 with a hatred for sin, 647 00:30:05,806 --> 00:30:08,267 with a disdain for it. 648 00:30:08,267 --> 00:30:11,157 I mean, you get lifted up into the heavenlies 649 00:30:11,157 --> 00:30:12,387 and you taste of that 650 00:30:12,387 --> 00:30:15,006 and you come back to the things of this world 651 00:30:15,006 --> 00:30:23,117 and it's like, it just feels so empty. 652 00:30:23,117 --> 00:30:26,246 Doctrine. That's why. 653 00:30:26,246 --> 00:30:27,702 That's why it must come first. 654 00:30:27,702 --> 00:30:29,371 That's why we have three chapters 655 00:30:29,371 --> 00:30:31,532 rich in this doctrine. 656 00:30:31,532 --> 00:30:33,243 The doctrine must always come first. 657 00:30:33,243 --> 00:30:37,061 It must always be that which lifts us up to the mountain. 658 00:30:37,061 --> 00:30:40,671 But we can't just stop there and lay down. 659 00:30:40,671 --> 00:30:42,441 It's onward. There's a "therefore." 660 00:30:42,441 --> 00:30:44,413 Failure to understand the meaning 661 00:30:44,413 --> 00:30:46,940 of this word "therefore" will confound 662 00:30:46,940 --> 00:30:49,862 everything about how we live the Christian life. 663 00:30:49,862 --> 00:30:51,912 Doctrine. Doctrine. 664 00:30:51,912 --> 00:30:53,211 First three chapters. 665 00:30:53,211 --> 00:30:54,342 Practice. 666 00:30:54,342 --> 00:30:57,101 They are joined by a "therefore." 667 00:30:57,101 --> 00:30:59,383 One flows out of the other. 668 00:30:59,383 --> 00:31:01,873 One is inspired by the other. 669 00:31:01,873 --> 00:31:03,742 That's what "therefore" means. 670 00:31:03,742 --> 00:31:05,752 It's the conclusion. It's the result. 671 00:31:05,752 --> 00:31:08,403 It's the inference we should draw. 672 00:31:08,403 --> 00:31:10,464 It's where it ought to take us. 673 00:31:10,464 --> 00:31:13,023 It's the logical conclusion. 674 00:31:13,023 --> 00:31:14,564 It goes somewhere. 675 00:31:14,564 --> 00:31:17,451 Onward. Onward. 676 00:31:17,451 --> 00:31:20,161 We can't divide them separate 677 00:31:20,161 --> 00:31:23,524 and leave them as two dysfunctional 678 00:31:23,524 --> 00:31:25,693 or disconnected parts. 679 00:31:25,693 --> 00:31:27,642 They're integral to each other. 680 00:31:27,642 --> 00:31:28,673 They're joined. 681 00:31:28,673 --> 00:31:30,022 They must not be divided. 682 00:31:30,022 --> 00:31:32,471 The mountaintop of doctrinal revelation 683 00:31:32,471 --> 00:31:34,113 in the experience that we found 684 00:31:34,113 --> 00:31:35,663 in those first three chapters 685 00:31:35,663 --> 00:31:39,402 joined afterward by this Christian practice - 686 00:31:39,402 --> 00:31:42,983 the outworking. 687 00:31:42,983 --> 00:31:46,101 That's what "therefore" is all about. 688 00:31:46,101 --> 00:31:48,903 And you just think about this. 689 00:31:48,903 --> 00:31:50,523 Just think about what happens 690 00:31:50,523 --> 00:31:52,363 if we build our tents 691 00:31:52,363 --> 00:31:54,901 up on the Mount of Transfiguration 692 00:31:54,901 --> 00:31:58,118 and we never come down. 693 00:31:58,118 --> 00:32:00,023 It's just, you know what, our whole life 694 00:32:00,023 --> 00:32:02,434 just needs to be: we're going to soak it all up. 695 00:32:02,434 --> 00:32:04,014 We're going to spend our time 696 00:32:04,014 --> 00:32:06,523 with our nose in our Bibles trying to find the glory. 697 00:32:06,523 --> 00:32:11,542 And we never come down. 698 00:32:11,542 --> 00:32:12,632 Then what happens? 699 00:32:12,632 --> 00:32:14,842 The world never sees our Christianity. 700 00:32:14,842 --> 00:32:17,690 But think about what happens. 701 00:32:17,690 --> 00:32:19,922 Think about what Christianity is like 702 00:32:19,922 --> 00:32:22,643 if we never go to the mountaintop 703 00:32:22,643 --> 00:32:25,841 and we just kind of dive in, 704 00:32:25,841 --> 00:32:27,873 try to live out the Christian life 705 00:32:27,873 --> 00:32:29,903 without experiencing the glories 706 00:32:29,903 --> 00:32:31,921 and the doctrine and the power of God. 707 00:32:31,921 --> 00:32:38,314 What does that look like? 708 00:32:38,314 --> 00:32:41,161 But here's the thing, 709 00:32:41,161 --> 00:32:50,632 it's not like it's okay, 710 00:32:50,632 --> 00:32:51,909 well, we've done that. 711 00:32:51,909 --> 00:32:54,202 We've done the first three chapters. 712 00:32:54,202 --> 00:32:56,222 Yes, we've been up to the mountaintop. 713 00:32:56,222 --> 00:32:57,782 Okay, we see the "therefore." 714 00:32:57,782 --> 00:33:00,781 We recognize we need to come down. 715 00:33:00,781 --> 00:33:02,941 We spent time there in the Song of Solomon 716 00:33:02,941 --> 00:33:04,970 and we basked in the glory of that. 717 00:33:04,970 --> 00:33:06,504 So now, let us come down 718 00:33:06,504 --> 00:33:09,331 and live in the lowlands. 719 00:33:09,331 --> 00:33:12,584 No. 720 00:33:12,584 --> 00:33:15,812 Yes, we must come down. 721 00:33:15,812 --> 00:33:18,333 We must plant our feet in the world 722 00:33:18,333 --> 00:33:20,801 and do what Jesus said: 723 00:33:20,801 --> 00:33:25,353 let our light so shine before others 724 00:33:25,353 --> 00:33:26,913 that they may see our good works 725 00:33:26,913 --> 00:33:29,053 and glorify our Father who is in heaven. 726 00:33:29,053 --> 00:33:33,542 But the thing that we have to remember is this: 727 00:33:33,542 --> 00:33:41,752 If you forget the speed at which a person reads, 728 00:33:41,752 --> 00:33:45,183 you're going to miss something very important. 729 00:33:45,183 --> 00:33:46,943 You say, what do you mean? 730 00:33:46,943 --> 00:33:48,372 I mean this. 731 00:33:48,372 --> 00:33:54,303 Yesterday, I took my phone, 732 00:33:54,303 --> 00:33:57,282 hit the stopwatch, hit go. 733 00:33:57,282 --> 00:34:01,044 I read the first three chapters of Ephesians. 734 00:34:01,044 --> 00:34:03,493 Guess how long it took me to read it? 735 00:34:03,493 --> 00:34:05,961 Just guess. 736 00:34:05,961 --> 00:34:09,676 6 minutes, 44 seconds. 737 00:34:09,676 --> 00:34:14,101 You say, so what? 738 00:34:14,101 --> 00:34:16,502 But here's the thing, 739 00:34:16,502 --> 00:34:18,001 at normal reading speed - 740 00:34:18,001 --> 00:34:20,203 I wasn't trying to speed read or anything, 741 00:34:20,203 --> 00:34:21,900 I read it out loud the way 742 00:34:21,900 --> 00:34:24,282 I would read Scripture to you all 743 00:34:24,282 --> 00:34:26,553 when we're reading it before the sermon 744 00:34:26,553 --> 00:34:30,191 or as we're ushering into the sermon. 745 00:34:30,191 --> 00:34:34,551 At normal reading speed, 746 00:34:34,551 --> 00:34:37,322 most average readers, 747 00:34:37,322 --> 00:34:40,142 you can clear the whole book in 15 minutes 748 00:34:40,142 --> 00:34:42,542 if you don't stop to ponder and meditate 749 00:34:42,542 --> 00:34:43,811 which you should do, 750 00:34:43,811 --> 00:34:45,771 but I'm just saying if your objective 751 00:34:45,771 --> 00:34:48,009 was basically to read it all the way through - 752 00:34:48,009 --> 00:34:50,651 even thoughtfully - 753 00:34:50,651 --> 00:34:52,859 20 minutes. 754 00:34:52,859 --> 00:34:54,301 What does that mean? 755 00:34:54,301 --> 00:34:56,512 I'll tell you what it means. 756 00:34:56,512 --> 00:34:58,510 It means that even when you're at 757 00:34:58,510 --> 00:35:01,982 the close of the letter 758 00:35:01,982 --> 00:35:05,372 in Ephesians 6 759 00:35:05,372 --> 00:35:07,261 dealing with girding yourself 760 00:35:07,261 --> 00:35:10,923 with all the armor of God, 761 00:35:10,923 --> 00:35:18,430 it was only 7, 8, 10 minutes ago 762 00:35:18,430 --> 00:35:20,072 you were just finishing up 763 00:35:20,072 --> 00:35:25,281 all the glorious truths we've been looking at for months. 764 00:35:25,281 --> 00:35:28,001 Brethren, I'll tell you this, 765 00:35:28,001 --> 00:35:31,571 I believe that one of the most dangerous things 766 00:35:31,571 --> 00:35:34,122 about expositional preaching 767 00:35:34,122 --> 00:35:38,973 is found right here. 768 00:35:38,973 --> 00:35:43,522 The assumption is that these glorious truths 769 00:35:43,522 --> 00:35:47,412 would be fresh in the minds of the readers 770 00:35:47,412 --> 00:35:52,062 all the way through this practical part. 771 00:35:52,062 --> 00:35:54,861 Now right now, it is. 772 00:35:54,861 --> 00:35:57,202 Because we were so recently there. 773 00:35:57,202 --> 00:35:58,190 But you know what? 774 00:35:58,190 --> 00:36:00,282 If this doesn't get preached in such a way 775 00:36:00,282 --> 00:36:03,050 to bring us back to these realities (incomplete thought), 776 00:36:03,050 --> 00:36:04,272 must we come down? 777 00:36:04,272 --> 00:36:05,742 Yes, we must come down. 778 00:36:05,742 --> 00:36:08,452 But the reality is we need to return back there 779 00:36:08,452 --> 00:36:10,453 again and again and again. 780 00:36:10,453 --> 00:36:13,261 You see, our life needs to be a recurring: 781 00:36:13,261 --> 00:36:15,452 Go to the mountaintop daily. 782 00:36:15,452 --> 00:36:18,023 Go! We need to go back to these truths, 783 00:36:18,023 --> 00:36:19,541 back to these realities, 784 00:36:19,541 --> 00:36:21,271 back to this experience, 785 00:36:21,271 --> 00:36:23,112 back to this love, 786 00:36:23,112 --> 00:36:24,601 back to this fullness - 787 00:36:24,601 --> 00:36:27,193 being filled with all the fullness of God. 788 00:36:27,193 --> 00:36:29,403 Back and forth daily. 789 00:36:29,403 --> 00:36:31,412 Going up to the mountaintop. 790 00:36:31,412 --> 00:36:34,083 Going up there where Christ went to pray. 791 00:36:34,083 --> 00:36:35,341 This is essential. 792 00:36:35,341 --> 00:36:38,122 Because if you try to live out the duty 793 00:36:38,122 --> 00:36:39,362 of the Christian life 794 00:36:39,362 --> 00:36:40,965 without going back there 795 00:36:40,965 --> 00:36:43,382 again and again and again 796 00:36:43,382 --> 00:36:44,972 and living in those realities - 797 00:36:44,972 --> 00:36:47,080 it doesn't need to come from the first three 798 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:48,172 chapters of Ephesians, 799 00:36:48,172 --> 00:36:50,632 it may come right out of the pages of the Gospel. 800 00:36:50,632 --> 00:36:52,859 It may come out of the first part of Romans 801 00:36:52,859 --> 00:36:54,970 or the first part of any of those epistles. 802 00:36:54,970 --> 00:36:57,032 It may come from Isaiah 53 - 803 00:36:57,032 --> 00:36:58,552 wherever you're reading, 804 00:36:58,552 --> 00:37:00,283 but we need to go back 805 00:37:00,283 --> 00:37:02,481 and we need to go back to see the glory 806 00:37:02,481 --> 00:37:03,974 and stay there long enough 807 00:37:03,974 --> 00:37:05,633 until God shows it to us 808 00:37:05,633 --> 00:37:06,875 and opens our eyes 809 00:37:06,875 --> 00:37:08,572 and the scales come off. 810 00:37:08,572 --> 00:37:13,109 This is essential. 811 00:37:13,109 --> 00:37:17,382 Remember how fast an average reader 812 00:37:17,382 --> 00:37:19,672 would read this book 813 00:37:19,672 --> 00:37:21,872 and how closely tied together 814 00:37:21,872 --> 00:37:23,861 what comes before the "therefore" 815 00:37:23,861 --> 00:37:27,497 would be tied with what comes after it. 816 00:37:27,497 --> 00:37:28,791 It's essential. 817 00:37:28,791 --> 00:37:31,812 There is that essential reality 818 00:37:31,812 --> 00:37:36,033 that we are drawing these two things together - 819 00:37:36,033 --> 00:37:38,713 what comes before, what comes after. 820 00:37:38,713 --> 00:37:43,403 We must not lose the force 821 00:37:43,403 --> 00:37:46,013 of the term "therefore." 822 00:37:46,013 --> 00:37:52,372 Therefore means - like in Romans - 823 00:37:52,372 --> 00:37:59,023 because of the mercies of God, 824 00:37:59,023 --> 00:38:01,660 therefore, offer your life 825 00:38:01,660 --> 00:38:04,142 a living sacrifice. 826 00:38:04,142 --> 00:38:06,332 But you see if you forget the mercies, 827 00:38:06,332 --> 00:38:08,343 the "therefore" loses all its power. 828 00:38:08,343 --> 00:38:10,641 You have to remember what the mercies are. 829 00:38:10,641 --> 00:38:12,242 Same thing's happening here. 830 00:38:12,242 --> 00:38:15,232 "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, 831 00:38:15,232 --> 00:38:18,482 urge you to walk..." 832 00:38:18,482 --> 00:38:20,351 But you see, the urge - 833 00:38:20,351 --> 00:38:24,512 the urgency is lost if you forget 834 00:38:24,512 --> 00:38:27,401 what that "therefore" means. 835 00:38:27,401 --> 00:38:30,071 Don't let that word pass. 836 00:38:30,071 --> 00:38:31,771 This is the fire. 837 00:38:31,771 --> 00:38:35,160 This is where the power comes from. 838 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,051 We need God to speak. 839 00:38:37,051 --> 00:38:39,822 We need God to change us. 840 00:38:39,822 --> 00:38:42,531 That's the reality. 841 00:38:42,531 --> 00:38:44,341 Don't lose the force 842 00:38:44,341 --> 00:38:46,652 of the term "therefore." 843 00:38:46,652 --> 00:38:49,381 This means we've got to go 844 00:38:49,381 --> 00:38:52,021 back to the mountaintop daily. 845 00:38:52,021 --> 00:38:53,912 We can't say: well, we've been there 846 00:38:53,912 --> 00:38:56,082 all these months, now it's time to come down. 847 00:38:56,082 --> 00:38:57,212 We'll just stay down. 848 00:38:57,212 --> 00:38:58,291 Yes, we come down. 849 00:38:58,291 --> 00:38:59,409 Yes, we must come down. 850 00:38:59,409 --> 00:39:01,252 Yes, come down from the upper room. 851 00:39:01,252 --> 00:39:02,510 Yes, come down from Sinai. 852 00:39:02,510 --> 00:39:05,532 Yes, come down from the Mount of Transfiguration. 853 00:39:05,532 --> 00:39:07,313 Because there's a world out there 854 00:39:07,313 --> 00:39:09,182 that needs us. 855 00:39:09,182 --> 00:39:10,252 But then you go back. 856 00:39:10,252 --> 00:39:11,493 You go back to the glory. 857 00:39:11,493 --> 00:39:13,012 You go back again and again. 858 00:39:13,012 --> 00:39:17,781 We must go back. 859 00:39:17,781 --> 00:39:19,409 Just a final exhortation. 860 00:39:19,409 --> 00:39:22,131 The question is, brethren, 861 00:39:22,131 --> 00:39:23,580 do we? 862 00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:25,820 Do we? 863 00:39:25,820 --> 00:39:29,190 Do you go back to the glories 864 00:39:29,190 --> 00:39:31,922 of like the Song of Solomon daily? 865 00:39:31,922 --> 00:39:34,350 Are you preaching the Gospel to yourself daily? 866 00:39:34,350 --> 00:39:36,622 Are you mindful of the glories? 867 00:39:36,622 --> 00:39:38,680 Do you think about being filled 868 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,010 with the fullness of God? 869 00:39:40,010 --> 00:39:41,512 Do you think about being filled 870 00:39:41,512 --> 00:39:42,788 with the Spirit of God? 871 00:39:42,788 --> 00:39:45,050 Do you think about the realities in Scripture 872 00:39:45,050 --> 00:39:47,121 that we can pray for more of the Spirit? 873 00:39:47,121 --> 00:39:49,390 Jesus taught us we should pray for the Spirit. 874 00:39:49,390 --> 00:39:52,571 If we then being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, 875 00:39:52,571 --> 00:39:54,943 we're told, how much more is our Father in heaven 876 00:39:54,943 --> 00:39:56,992 going to give the Spirit to those that ask? 877 00:39:56,992 --> 00:39:59,488 We have these realities. 878 00:39:59,488 --> 00:40:02,613 We are told that the works that Jesus does - 879 00:40:02,613 --> 00:40:04,232 if we're believers in Him, 880 00:40:04,232 --> 00:40:05,902 that the works that He does, 881 00:40:05,902 --> 00:40:08,452 we will do too and greater works 882 00:40:08,452 --> 00:40:11,581 because He is going to His Father. 883 00:40:11,581 --> 00:40:13,522 But you know what? 884 00:40:13,522 --> 00:40:15,531 You will not do that 885 00:40:15,531 --> 00:40:17,790 unless you have been to the mountaintop 886 00:40:17,790 --> 00:40:19,321 like He was. 887 00:40:19,321 --> 00:40:21,653 Back up we must go. 888 00:40:21,653 --> 00:40:22,940 Back up. 889 00:40:22,940 --> 00:40:24,842 Because you know what happens? 890 00:40:24,842 --> 00:40:28,175 You try to dive into these duties. 891 00:40:28,175 --> 00:40:29,852 You've got all these things to do. 892 00:40:29,852 --> 00:40:31,882 Oh, well, it says I need to work with my hands 893 00:40:31,882 --> 00:40:33,784 and it says I need to walk in a certain way 894 00:40:33,784 --> 00:40:36,291 and it says I need to be doing these different things 895 00:40:36,291 --> 00:40:37,771 and I need to control my mouth 896 00:40:37,771 --> 00:40:39,082 and I need to use it a certain way 897 00:40:39,082 --> 00:40:40,441 and I need to be involved in singing 898 00:40:40,441 --> 00:40:41,703 and I need to love my husband, 899 00:40:41,703 --> 00:40:42,973 love my wife, 900 00:40:42,973 --> 00:40:44,562 and submit to my husband, 901 00:40:44,562 --> 00:40:45,592 and I've got children 902 00:40:45,592 --> 00:40:46,863 and I shouldn't do this 903 00:40:46,863 --> 00:40:48,002 and I shouldn't do that, 904 00:40:48,002 --> 00:40:50,396 and all this instruction. 905 00:40:50,396 --> 00:40:52,646 I'll tell you what, 906 00:40:52,646 --> 00:40:54,613 you lose sight of the mountaintop, 907 00:40:54,613 --> 00:40:56,292 you lose sight of the glory up there 908 00:40:56,292 --> 00:40:57,681 and you know what's going to happen? 909 00:40:57,681 --> 00:40:59,224 You will become like Martha, 910 00:40:59,224 --> 00:41:01,470 just distracted and disturbed 911 00:41:01,470 --> 00:41:05,643 and agitated by all manner of different things, 912 00:41:05,643 --> 00:41:08,373 and there's Mary. 913 00:41:08,373 --> 00:41:11,644 "Martha, Martha..." 914 00:41:11,644 --> 00:41:13,582 You see, we can be distracted 915 00:41:13,582 --> 00:41:14,802 of what really matters. 916 00:41:14,802 --> 00:41:17,064 "You're anxious and troubled about many things. 917 00:41:17,064 --> 00:41:18,472 One thing is necessary..." 918 00:41:18,472 --> 00:41:21,424 Is it necessary to come down? You better believe it. 919 00:41:21,424 --> 00:41:23,286 But is it necessary to sit at His feet? 920 00:41:23,286 --> 00:41:24,882 That is the thing that is needful 921 00:41:24,882 --> 00:41:27,914 to charge you to live this life, 922 00:41:27,914 --> 00:41:29,641 to prepare you to live this life 923 00:41:29,641 --> 00:41:30,814 and all our activities 924 00:41:30,814 --> 00:41:32,274 and all our responsibilities, 925 00:41:32,274 --> 00:41:34,041 in all the work that lies before us - 926 00:41:34,041 --> 00:41:35,343 and there is work! 927 00:41:35,343 --> 00:41:37,312 We must work while it's day. 928 00:41:37,312 --> 00:41:38,813 But we need men and women 929 00:41:38,813 --> 00:41:42,563 who fight to get back to the mountaintop. 930 00:41:42,563 --> 00:41:45,264 And that means you have to make decisions in your life 931 00:41:45,264 --> 00:41:46,783 to make certain that you get there. 932 00:41:46,783 --> 00:41:48,113 You need to put the cell phone down, 933 00:41:48,113 --> 00:41:49,885 the iPad down, the computer down, 934 00:41:49,885 --> 00:41:52,023 turn off the TV, turn off the movie, 935 00:41:52,023 --> 00:41:55,540 turn off this world and go back there. 936 00:41:55,540 --> 00:41:58,383 We need to go back there and come down 937 00:41:58,383 --> 00:42:01,342 and go back there and then come down. 938 00:42:01,342 --> 00:42:04,531 That is absolutely essential. 939 00:42:04,531 --> 00:42:06,242 The mountaintop calls us. 940 00:42:06,242 --> 00:42:08,900 May God help us not to be content 941 00:42:08,900 --> 00:42:10,963 with a bunch of religious activity. 942 00:42:10,963 --> 00:42:12,392 It's on the mountaintop 943 00:42:12,392 --> 00:42:15,412 that Moses beheld His glory. 944 00:42:15,412 --> 00:42:16,912 And it's on the mountaintop 945 00:42:16,912 --> 00:42:18,772 that as he communed with the Lord, 946 00:42:18,772 --> 00:42:22,620 that glow came to be upon his face. 947 00:42:22,620 --> 00:42:24,502 And don't think that has nothing to do 948 00:42:24,502 --> 00:42:26,084 with the New Testament believer, 949 00:42:26,084 --> 00:42:29,250 because the Apostle Paul looked at that very example 950 00:42:29,250 --> 00:42:30,931 and said let me tell you something, 951 00:42:30,931 --> 00:42:33,341 that is what it is to be a Christian. 952 00:42:33,341 --> 00:42:36,584 That is exactly what it is to be the Christian. 953 00:42:36,584 --> 00:42:38,000 What happens? 954 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:39,772 What happens when we see the glory? 955 00:42:39,772 --> 00:42:41,512 What happens when we go back 956 00:42:41,512 --> 00:42:43,043 face-to-face with God? 957 00:42:43,043 --> 00:42:44,412 What happens? 958 00:42:44,412 --> 00:42:45,792 I'll tell you what happens. 959 00:42:45,792 --> 00:42:47,714 The same thing that happened to Moses 960 00:42:47,714 --> 00:42:49,152 will happen to us. 961 00:42:49,152 --> 00:42:52,440 This is what 2 Corinthians 3 is all about - 962 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,242 the glory gets on us. 963 00:42:55,242 --> 00:42:56,942 God burns into our hearts 964 00:42:56,942 --> 00:42:59,163 and upon our faces 965 00:42:59,163 --> 00:43:01,374 the image of the Son of God. 966 00:43:01,374 --> 00:43:03,143 And when we go down from the mountain 967 00:43:03,143 --> 00:43:04,672 and out into the world, 968 00:43:04,672 --> 00:43:05,683 what happens? 969 00:43:05,683 --> 00:43:07,972 The world sees the glory. 970 00:43:07,972 --> 00:43:09,593 "We all..." 971 00:43:09,593 --> 00:43:12,312 You see, the veil has been taken off. 972 00:43:12,312 --> 00:43:13,333 What does that mean? 973 00:43:13,333 --> 00:43:15,024 Nothing stands in the way anymore. 974 00:43:15,024 --> 00:43:17,092 Do you realize what that means, Christian? 975 00:43:17,092 --> 00:43:19,844 It means that you are one of the select few 976 00:43:19,844 --> 00:43:21,023 on the face of the earth 977 00:43:21,023 --> 00:43:23,845 that has had the veil taken off. 978 00:43:23,845 --> 00:43:27,171 Which means, God has put you 979 00:43:27,171 --> 00:43:32,763 in a place to be emblazoned by His glory 980 00:43:32,763 --> 00:43:35,392 if you will but expose yourself to it. 981 00:43:35,392 --> 00:43:36,613 The veil is gone. 982 00:43:36,613 --> 00:43:38,993 "We all with unveiled face 983 00:43:38,993 --> 00:43:43,164 beholding the glory of the Lord." 984 00:43:43,164 --> 00:43:45,514 He's been talking about Moses 985 00:43:45,514 --> 00:43:47,005 being exposed to the glory 986 00:43:47,005 --> 00:43:49,485 and having that glory on his face. 987 00:43:49,485 --> 00:43:52,325 "We... are being transformed 988 00:43:52,325 --> 00:43:55,124 into the same image from one degree of glory to another, 989 00:43:55,124 --> 00:43:56,822 for this comes from the Lord 990 00:43:56,822 --> 00:43:58,956 who is the Spirit." 991 00:43:58,956 --> 00:44:00,925 We come down from the mountain. 992 00:44:00,925 --> 00:44:02,824 And you know what, the onlooking world 993 00:44:02,824 --> 00:44:04,885 will see the glory. 994 00:44:04,885 --> 00:44:08,094 The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 995 00:44:08,094 --> 00:44:12,672 etched into us, into our character, 996 00:44:12,672 --> 00:44:15,993 into our person. 997 00:44:15,993 --> 00:44:21,734 Look, there's something, 998 00:44:21,734 --> 00:44:26,971 when you hear - when I was saying to you 999 00:44:26,971 --> 00:44:30,864 that this is Christ in the Song of Solomon: 1000 00:44:30,864 --> 00:44:36,234 "Come away, come away..." 1001 00:44:36,234 --> 00:44:38,966 And you hear that and it sounded sweet. 1002 00:44:38,966 --> 00:44:41,253 But you see, you don't want to stop there. 1003 00:44:41,253 --> 00:44:45,424 You actually do want to go away with Him. 1004 00:44:45,424 --> 00:44:47,744 And then come down. 1005 00:44:47,744 --> 00:44:51,765 Go to the Mount of Transfiguration. 1006 00:44:51,765 --> 00:44:53,904 See the glory break through 1007 00:44:53,904 --> 00:44:55,595 so that you see He's way beyond 1008 00:44:55,595 --> 00:44:58,834 just a mere man. 1009 00:44:58,834 --> 00:45:02,764 You behold the glory. 1010 00:45:02,764 --> 00:45:09,874 It's being like Christ that turns the world upside down. 1011 00:45:09,874 --> 00:45:11,545 The thing is if we try to go on 1012 00:45:11,545 --> 00:45:15,122 to chapter 4, 5, and 6 of Ephesians 1013 00:45:15,122 --> 00:45:17,925 and we lose sight of that term "therefore" 1014 00:45:17,925 --> 00:45:19,555 and forget its significance 1015 00:45:19,555 --> 00:45:23,964 in the fact that it joins what went before 1016 00:45:23,964 --> 00:45:27,694 with what's coming after, 1017 00:45:27,694 --> 00:45:28,945 then you know what - 1018 00:45:28,945 --> 00:45:30,255 you know what will happen? 1019 00:45:30,255 --> 00:45:31,886 You try to be dutiful 1020 00:45:31,886 --> 00:45:33,546 and you try to do 1021 00:45:33,546 --> 00:45:36,025 and you try to work 1022 00:45:36,025 --> 00:45:38,806 without the image of Christ being emblazoned 1023 00:45:38,806 --> 00:45:40,053 into your soul, 1024 00:45:40,053 --> 00:45:41,383 you know what you'll be? 1025 00:45:41,383 --> 00:45:45,293 You'll just be hollow religionists. 1026 00:45:45,293 --> 00:45:47,024 It's a form of godliness, 1027 00:45:47,024 --> 00:45:49,116 but it lacks the power. 1028 00:45:49,116 --> 00:45:55,655 The power comes from a close intimacy 1029 00:45:55,655 --> 00:45:57,805 with Christ. 1030 00:45:57,805 --> 00:46:00,593 It's just a bunch of smoke. 1031 00:46:00,593 --> 00:46:01,665 We don't want that. 1032 00:46:01,665 --> 00:46:05,103 Burning. Shining. 1033 00:46:05,103 --> 00:46:08,424 Oh, that's the description that was given to John the Baptist. 1034 00:46:08,424 --> 00:46:09,586 We need to come back 1035 00:46:09,586 --> 00:46:12,224 and adorn ourselves with the doctrine. 1036 00:46:12,224 --> 00:46:13,385 Have you ever read that? 1037 00:46:13,385 --> 00:46:15,454 That we are to adorn ourselves 1038 00:46:15,454 --> 00:46:17,033 with the doctrine. 1039 00:46:17,033 --> 00:46:19,025 That's what Paul's calling for. 1040 00:46:19,025 --> 00:46:23,545 Go to the glories of Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 1041 00:46:23,545 --> 00:46:26,335 and robe yourself with it. 1042 00:46:26,335 --> 00:46:27,736 Wear it. 1043 00:46:27,736 --> 00:46:29,683 Put it on. 1044 00:46:29,683 --> 00:46:35,984 Oh God, may He wash our souls 1045 00:46:35,984 --> 00:46:37,584 in the wonder of all this, 1046 00:46:37,584 --> 00:46:41,472 in the love of the cross. 1047 00:46:41,472 --> 00:46:48,102 God, fill us. Fill us with all the fullness of God 1048 00:46:48,102 --> 00:46:49,865 according to the riches of His glory 1049 00:46:49,865 --> 00:46:51,334 like He promises there. 1050 00:46:51,334 --> 00:46:53,264 Do that! 1051 00:46:53,264 --> 00:46:55,642 Strengthen us by Your Spirit 1052 00:46:55,642 --> 00:46:59,134 that Christ might dwell deeply. 1053 00:46:59,134 --> 00:47:02,655 Remember that word? To settle down deeply. 1054 00:47:02,655 --> 00:47:05,235 We desperately need churches 1055 00:47:05,235 --> 00:47:08,034 full of people who are - like Carey said - 1056 00:47:08,034 --> 00:47:10,984 attempting great things for God, 1057 00:47:10,984 --> 00:47:13,584 but we need people who are desperate 1058 00:47:13,584 --> 00:47:15,594 to know the living God, 1059 00:47:15,594 --> 00:47:19,145 to know Him, to know the power of His resurrection, 1060 00:47:19,145 --> 00:47:22,294 the power of His work in His people. 1061 00:47:22,294 --> 00:47:24,895 Let us go back there, brethren. 1062 00:47:24,895 --> 00:47:27,313 As we break forth now 1063 00:47:27,313 --> 00:47:29,383 into these three chapters, 1064 00:47:29,383 --> 00:47:32,403 live at the mountaintop, 1065 00:47:32,403 --> 00:47:34,563 and then come down. 1066 00:47:34,563 --> 00:47:37,473 Therefore, come down. 1067 00:47:37,473 --> 00:47:40,005 And then we must go back. 1068 00:47:40,005 --> 00:47:41,903 And then come down. 1069 00:47:41,903 --> 00:47:43,714 There's a dark world. 1070 00:47:43,714 --> 00:47:45,525 There's a dark world. 1071 00:47:45,525 --> 00:47:47,763 And the last thing I want 1072 00:47:47,763 --> 00:47:50,281 as we transition is to say, 1073 00:47:50,281 --> 00:47:52,054 we can leave that behind. 1074 00:47:52,054 --> 00:47:54,655 Now we turn to the practical realities. 1075 00:47:54,655 --> 00:47:56,444 No. 1076 00:47:56,444 --> 00:48:00,065 If you read this letter from end to end 1077 00:48:00,065 --> 00:48:01,722 at a normal speed, 1078 00:48:01,722 --> 00:48:06,184 you know that that is not what God intended. 1079 00:48:06,184 --> 00:48:10,835 God intends you to be constantly thinking 1080 00:48:10,835 --> 00:48:14,096 about that "therefore" all the way through 1081 00:48:14,096 --> 00:48:16,254 and motivated by the realities 1082 00:48:16,254 --> 00:48:19,425 behind why that word is there. 1083 00:48:19,425 --> 00:48:22,132 May God help us. Amen.