Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter
1, continuing in this blessed epistle. I'd like to look at verses 19
and 20. Ephesians 1, verses 19 and 20. The apostle Paul is continuing
in his apostolic prayer for the saints
that are in Ephesus and also to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
It says, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward
who believe? According to the working of his
mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand, in the heavenly
places. Let's pray together. Our Father, again, thank you. Oh, for the mercy that you've
shown in permitting us, allowing us to hear the gospel again,
permitting us to preach the gospel again. I pray that you'd bless the blessed
and glorious gospel of God's grace in Christ and forgive us
of our sins for Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul has been praying
for the saints and he says in verse 18, praying for him, he says, that
the eyes of your understanding, that is the eyes of your new
heart. Again, as we considered last
time, remember he's speaking to believers, those that God
has given understanding. He's praying that the eyes of
your understanding, new eyes, a new eye and new ears of the
Lord, you might see, that you might hear spiritually and enter
in to what's being said. We considered last Sunday the
difference between the devils that believe and the natural
man that believes. There is a belief, a natural
belief It's a belief that demons have in the existence of God,
in the power of God. They believe that. They believe
that. But the thing that they don't
have, they don't have a new heart that loves it, that bows to what
they've been taught. I'd heard the gospel before. I believed. And I understood
the concept of it. Like I said, I understand the
concept of communism. I understand that. And I believe
that there is a thing called communism. But I don't have a
heart for it. I don't love it. I'm a capitalist. I don't believe in it. Demons
believe, but they don't believe until life. And Paul is praying
for those that God has given understanding, that the eyes
of your understanding, being enlightened, enlightened by the
Spirit of God, being taught, being reminded, being brought
back to our memory, what? Number one, of the sinfulness
of sin and what we are by nature. Only a believer knows that. Before
the Lord gave us eyes to see, number one, we knew nothing. Oh, we would admit, well, we've
probably done something. I'm sure we've done something
wrong. But to see something of this
exceeding sinfulness of sin. I've said before, you that know
Him, What do you think about the faithfulness of your prayer
life? I mean, let's just be honest.
What do you really think about it? You see what I'm saying?
Oh, wretched man that I am to see not only the sinfulness of
sin, but the insufficiency of our own righteousness. The more
we hear the gospel of God's free grace, the more we know, we're
convinced, the eyes of our understanding are enlightened, brightened,
illuminated more and more. To know, I could never stand before God
excepted in my own righteousness. All my righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. And then thirdly, the fullness
and the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer
and Savior. To read the Scriptures, it says
that the Father spoke of Him and said, this is my beloved
Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And I'm honest with you. I don't
know the depth. I do not know the depth of my
need. I know I have a need of Him,
but I don't know the depth of it. God does. And what a miracle
of God's grace it is that the Lord would call us, any of us,
out of darkness. The eyes of your understanding
being lightened, and that you may know what is the hope of
His calling. Be assured. Have some confidence
in. that the Lord has called us,
that the Lord who has given us life, the gift of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, and to
realize that the gift of God is without repentance. That means
God doesn't take it back. He who called us keeps us, sustains
us. And what is the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints? First of all, we know
this, we have an inheritance. Again, I don't know. I don't
know the depth of it. But I know according to the Word
of God that we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
and I can try to read that and enter into the depth of that,
and I can truthfully admit, Lord, these things are too high for
me. These things are too great for me, but blessed be God who
has promised that we have an inheritance. And not only do
we have an inheritance, that we are the Lord's inheritance. What is that we might know that
the eyes of our understanding be enlightened, that we may know
what is the hope, the confidence of His calling, and what the
riches of the glory, or what is the riches, or what the riches
of the glory of His grace are. Let me say it like that, you
might understand it. in the inheritance of the saints.
I know this, that the Father gave us to Him. We know that. We're an elect people. God has
chosen a people in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Paul the Apostle says we're bound to give thanks to God for you,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning. chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. So I
know this, that we're His gift, the Father's gift to the Son.
We are His inheritance. Secondly, I know we're His inheritance
because He bought us. He purchased us with His own
blood, laid down His life and bought that which had fallen. He redeemed it, paid the price
of it. paid the debt that was due to
the broken law of God, satisfied God's justice, honored God's
law. And then thirdly, we're His inheritance
by our willfulness. Willful bond slaves. God's people are not robots. We come willingly. Whosoever
will, let him come. When will I come? In the day
of His power. When He gives me a new heart,
when He gives me a heart to come to Him, when He gives me life,
until then, the reason I don't come is because I'm dead. I'm
spiritually dead. Dead men can't do anything but
be dead. That's all they can do. Command
a dead man to do something and he can't do it. Let's go to any
cemetery we want to tonight. Let's pick a cemetery. And we'll
go out there and we'll stand out in the middle of that cemetery
and we'll start calling out to those dead bones. Physically,
can those dead bones live? No. Why? They're dead. What's it going to take? for
those dead bones to have life. God's going to have to give them
life. That's the only way those bones is coming out of the ground.
One of these days they will. Yeah. Those that died in the
faith are going to meet the Lord in the air. Those that didn't
die in the faith are going to meet the Lord in judgment. But
they're coming out of that ground. I can tell you this. But humanly
speaking, can a dead man give himself life? No. There's nothing there. And men
tell men, all you have to do is, they're dead. You're appealing
to a dead man, a dead woman. They cannot do anything. So the
apostle Paul now continues to pray, praying that the eyes of
their understanding be enlightened. And he says in verse 19, and
what is, this is what he's praying that they might know. what is
the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according
to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places. God Almighty exhibited His power
in creation. He spoke, and it was. God said, let there be light,
and there was light. He spoke to the earth, and there
was land. He spoke to the heavens, and
they were, and the stars, and the birds, and the fish. And
the scripture says, and He sustains all things by the word of His
power. But here the apostle is speaking
of his power to usward who believe. God Almighty is able. I know he's able. You remember
that leper that came to the Lord and he said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. And the Lord said, I will. Be thou clean. And he was clean.
God spoke to a leper and cleansed him. I know that he's able. I know that he can, if he will. But here, the apostle is speaking
under the inspiration of God's Spirit, and he's speaking of
the exceeding greatness of his power to usward. to impart life,
to remove a heart of stone, to grant faith. Man doesn't have
the power to get rid of a cold, much less to get rid of a heart
of sin, to dethrone sin, to speak to himself and dethrone, behead,
Take away the power of his old nature. Just make himself to
be what he doesn't want to be anymore. Doesn't have power to
do that. Doesn't have will to do that. It takes life himself. The Lord said, I'm the way. I'm
the truth. I'm the life. You see, men think that they
have the power to impart life. They don't have life. God is
life. Death can't call life into existence. Only the Lord who formed man
in the belly the first time can birth a man from above. You must
be born again. God must give life. I know this. The Lord has set forth that he's
pleased to use the means of the preaching of the gospel. He uses
preachers. Calls preachers, gives a preacher.
He calls him. Mr. Spurgeon, I've told you this
before. I love this. He's got a book called Lectures
to My Students. And he was given the qualifications
of a preacher. First qualification is God saves
him. Makes sense, doesn't it? First thing God does when He
calls a preacher is He saves him. And He teaches him the gospel
of God's free grace. Those that God calls, God teaches
the gospel. Then He gifts the man to preach
the gospel. To be able to communicate the
gospel. And then the Spirit of God must
bless. The gospel is the power of God. It's the means that God uses
to call His sheep out of darkness. But I'm telling you, I've told
you this before, I heard Brother Henry say one time, he said,
a man can stand up and preach the gospel and it'd be the truth,
it's the gospel. and set forth as clearly as anybody
has ever preached the gospel before. But if God doesn't bless
it, it's just words to men. It's just words. They hear them,
and they don't hear them. They're like that wayside hearer.
Like the birds that come, the seed that's sown, the sower that
sows, and the birds come, they get the seed, they're gone. It's
not there. It's just words. God Almighty gives life, and
He gives life through the preaching of the gospel. Paul says that
you might know what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us
who believe. That God would give life, it
is God that worketh in you both to will and do of His good pleasure. How much power does it take to
save a sinner? How much power does it take?
Well, here's what the scripture says. Verse 20. I'll read verse 19
again. And what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe according to the working of His
mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places." Do you see how this truth right
here ought to Unless God gives a new heart, it won't. But how
it ought to put a man in the dust in thinking that he has
the ability to do something. My friend, if we know him, we
know him by grace. And we know him by power, the
exceeding greatness of his power. Same power that he wrought or
that word is showed forth in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.
How much power does it take to save a sinner? The same power
that it took to raise Christ from the dead. We're speaking of power. Regeneration is a miracle of
God's grace. That power that dethrones Satan,
that sets the captive free. I don't even know the depth of
my captivity before he called me out of darkness. I thought
I was doing fine. I mean, I was doing fine. I'm just as good as anybody else.
In fact, I'm probably a little bit better than most of you.
You know, I'm a whole lot better than this, and I'm more kind
than this. But as I've said, when you're
comparing a worm to a worm, you're still a worm. You're still a
maggot. You're still less than nothing. But to dethrone Satan,
what's it going to take to take the possessions of a strong man?
A stronger man. That's what the Lord said. That power that forms Christ
in the soul. I don't even know, Neil, what
that means. I mean, I know somewhat. I know it's to know Him, I know
it's to perceive Him by grace, and it's to have a heart that
bows to Him. I understand that. But to form
Christ until Christ be formed in you? Again, these things are so wonderful,
I don't even know how to say them. What power does it take? It's the exceeding greatness
of His power. That same power that spoke and
raised Christ as He is the mediator, the God-man. As God, he raised
himself from the dead. That's what he said. That's what
the Lord said. He said, I have power to lay down my life. I
have power to raise it back again. But in his submission, in his
humility to his father as our representative, he humbled himself,
made himself of no reputation. How was he going to come out
of that grave? His father was going to have to raise him. Why
did He raise Him? He accepted Him. He was pleased
with Him. Raised Him as the representative
of all that He died for, all that was chosen in Him. He lived
for Him, died for Him, buried for Him, and God raised Him from
the dead. Accepted Him and all in Him. Accepted, that's what the Scripture
says, in the Beloved. And the scripture says, and set
him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. I try to respectfully consider
these scriptures and consider the honor that's given. And again, I fail miserably,
I know I do. to give Him the honor that is
due, that is to be rendered unto Him. We were singing that song
just then, Gary. Praise Him, praise Him. And I was singing
that and I was thinking, Lord, help me here. Don't let these
be just words to me. Don't let this just be a fleeting
moment. I've sung this song before and
I understand the words. Lord, give me a heart for this.
Lord, give me a heart that truly adores You. I have a heart that
wants to. I know that. I have a heart that
I know will one day. I desire to. Set Him at His own
right hand in the heavenly places. There is a man, the God-man,
there's a man seated in heaven who is the King of heaven. There's a man, the man Christ
Jesus that pleased God. And God has exalted Him and given
Him a name above every name. At the name of Jesus, every knee's
gonna bow, every tongue's gonna confess. You're the Lord. To the glory of God. Raised Him
from the dead. Did God's will upon the earth.
And God accepted it. And Almighty God who saw, beheld,
every thought, every attitude, heard every word, saw every action,
said, I'm well pleased. Blessed be His name. And there
He rests, seated, that's what He said. Set Him at His own right
hand. No more work to be done. Redeemed
us. by power and grace robed us in
His righteousness. And He ceases from His labors
and we cease from ours in Him. While we're in this earth, we're
going to do what we can. I think about that woman that
had that alabaster box. God's people are faithful people.
They don't do what they do in order to be accepted. They're
accepted in the beloved. But they do all that they can
for the glory of God. I know that's right, because
the Lord said of that woman with the alabaster box, when the disciples
got to riding her pretty hard for breaking that box, why wasn't
that sold? 300 pence was a year's wages. That could have been sold,
given to the poor. And the Lord says she's done
what she could. you leave her alone. As long as this gospel is preached,
it's going to be a memorial to her for what she did. We do what
we can. We come together and we preach
the gospel. We know that God Almighty alone
can bless it and must bless it to the salvation of His people.
I want to prepare. It takes the power of God. It takes the power and the grace
of God for me to desire to make preparation to preach. It takes
the power of God for you to want to hear. The only reason you're
here tonight is because of the exceeding greatness of His power
that He wrought in Christ. when He raised Him from the dead
and sat Him at His own right hand. There the Lord Jesus Christ
has entered in as the forerunner of His people. And as the Scriptures
has set forth that He has been raised from the dead and has
sat down in heaven, His entrance into heaven is the guarantee
that all chosen in him are gonna be there too. One of these days,
beloved, he's gonna present his bride spotless before his father. The father who chose him in Christ
gave him to him to be responsible, to redeem her, to robe her in
righteousness, to cleanse her from all her sin in His precious
blood. He's going to present her without
stain and without blemish before Him in love. That divine power to us who believe
is the thing I know. Three quick words. Number one,
it's by grace. It's by grace, His exceeding
power to us. Is He able? Yes, He is. He's
able. But He said, I'm going to have
mercy on whom I have mercy. And I tell you what I say, Lord,
have mercy on me. It's irresistible. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out." It's glorious because He's the glorious
God. And that exceeding power is eternal. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they're never going to perish. The exceeding greatness
of His power. same power that raised Christ
from the dead and set him at the right hand of the majesty
on high, the same power to regenerate a sinner. Lord, move in power
this evening for Christ's sake.