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The Importance of Spiritual Growth — Transcript

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0:00The words to which I should like to call
0:02your attention this morning are to be
0:04found in Paul's Epistle to the
0:05Ephesians,
0:07the third chapter and the 16th verse.
0:10The 16th verse in the third chapter of
0:13Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians,
0:16"That he would grant you according to
0:18the riches of his glory
0:21to be strengthened with might by his
0:24Spirit
0:25in the inner man."
0:27Let me again read to you this entire
0:29section from verse 14 to the end of the
0:32chapter.
0:33"For this cause
0:35I bow my knees unto the Father of our
0:38Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
0:41family in heaven and earth is named,
0:44that he would grant you according to the
0:48riches of his glory to be strengthened
0:51with might by his Spirit in the inner
0:54man,
0:55that Christ may dwell in your hearts by
0:59faith,
1:00that he being rooted and grounded in
1:03love,
1:04may be able to comprehend with all
1:06saints what is the breadth and length
1:08and depth and height,
1:11and to know the love of Christ which
1:14passeth knowledge,
1:15that he might be filled with all the
1:19fullness of God.
1:21Now unto him that is able to do
1:23exceedingly abundantly above all that we
1:25ask or think, according to the power
1:28that worketh in us,
1:30unto him be glory in the church by
1:32Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
1:36without end.
1:38Amen." But we are concerned particularly
1:42this morning again with the statement in
1:45this 16th verse.
1:48Here we saw last Sunday morning the
1:50Apostle
1:51begins to tell these Ephesians what
1:54exactly was the nature of his prayer for
1:57them. We've seen
1:59the importance he attaches to
2:02praying in the right way.
2:04You bow your knees when you go to God,
2:07not of necessity physically, but in
2:09spirit.
2:10We approach him with reverence and with
2:13godly fear.
2:15Assurance in prayer does not mean
2:17glibness. It doesn't mean
2:19aggressiveness.
2:20It doesn't mean a cock-sureness.
2:23No, it is characterized [clears throat]
2:25still by reverence and godly fear.
2:28Boldness is ever accompanied by humility
2:33when it is a true spiritual and
2:35Christian boldness. And then
2:37he tells us what it is he prays for
2:39them. And this is the first thing.
2:42That God might grant unto them according
2:45to the riches of his glory.
2:48To be strengthened with might by his
2:50spirit
2:52in the inner man.
2:54In other words, you see it's a spiritual
2:56prayer.
2:57He doesn't pray anything about their
2:59material position or his own.
3:02This we saw was the grand strategy of
3:04the Christian life.
3:06The Christian way of dealing with
3:08difficulties
3:09is not so much to look at them or to do
3:11anything about them directly.
3:14It is to build up this inner man.
3:17That's how the Christian overcomes and
3:19is made more than conqueror.
3:22He's not so much concerned about the
3:24infection as about his resistance.
3:27You remember we showed you the analogy
3:30in the physical realm and in the
3:32material realm.
3:34That is the best way of treating all
3:36diseases or of countering diseases and
3:39infections, build up
3:42your own resistance. All this modern
3:44emphasis upon vitamins and so on is just
3:47indicative of that. We need to keep
3:50ourselves in a fit state, and as we are
3:53fit, we can resist the various forces
3:56that are ever threatening to attack us
3:59and to make us sick.
4:00Now, that is the kind of strategy that
4:02the Apostle here announces, you see, in
4:05his prayer with regard to the spiritual
4:08conflict in which we find ourselves.
4:11It's spiritual and it is specific.
4:13And it all turns
4:15upon this remarkable doctrine concerning
4:19the inner man.
4:22And we indicated, you remember, that uh
4:26this inner man
4:28is the thing that differentiates the
4:30Christian from the non-Christian.
4:34The tragedy of the non-Christian is that
4:36he hasn't got an inner man.
4:39His life is entirely on the surface.
4:43And therefore, he is entirely influenced
4:45by the things that happen round and
4:46about him.
4:48He doesn't know of some inner citadel of
4:50the soul into which he can retire. He
4:53can't say with the great Apostle, in the
4:56fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians, you
4:57remember, "Though our outward man
4:59perish, yet the inward man is renewed
5:03day by day."
5:05He knows nothing about that.
5:07That is the final tragedy of not being a
5:09Christian.
5:11His life is entirely superficial.
5:14So that when he's taken ill or things go
5:16wrong, he has nothing to fall back upon.
5:19His world collapses. He is lost.
5:23But the Christian has this inner man.
5:26And the whole art of living the
5:28Christian life is the
5:30art of knowing that we have an inner man
5:33and the knowledge of how this inner man
5:36can be strengthened and made powerful.
5:38So, the Apostle, you see, is praying
5:42about that.
5:44And therefore, we last time indicated
5:47something of the nature of this inner
5:49man.
5:51Here is the mind, if you like, and the
5:54heart, and the
5:55will of the new man in Christ Jesus.
5:58He's the regenerate man.
6:00And those are the qualities that he
6:02manifests.
6:04Very well.
6:05Now, it's important that we start by
6:07realizing all that.
6:10If we don't realize that, well, there's
6:12no point in going any further.
6:14We have to start by knowing what this
6:17inner man represents, what it means, and
6:20further, we must be certain that we have
6:23an inner man.
6:26We must be able to talk to ourselves, as
6:29it were. We must be able to address this
6:31inner man.
6:33And that is, I think, one of the best
6:35definitions of the Christian.
6:38The Christian is a man who can talk to
6:40himself.
6:42You know, the natural man really can't
6:44do that.
6:46He's incapable of it because he hasn't
6:48got an inner man. But the Christian is a
6:50man who's able to talk to himself, about
6:52himself, and about whatever may be
6:54happening to him. We must know that we
6:56have an inner man.
6:59If we haven't an inner man, well, as I
7:01say, I don't see that we are Christians
7:03at all.
7:05Very well, but that isn't enough.
7:10The Apostle, you see, prays that this
7:13inner man may be strengthened with might
7:15by the Holy Spirit.
7:18And here, again, we come across a very
7:22big and a very vital principle in the
7:23Christian life.
7:26This prayer, you see, is offered for
7:29those who are already Christian.
7:33He is praying here for people whom he's
7:35been describing in the first and the
7:36second chapters, and he said some very
7:38remarkable things about them there. Here
7:41Here's the sort of thing he has said.
7:43"In whom he also
7:45trusted after that he heard the word of
7:48truth, the gospel
7:49of salvation, of your salvation. In whom
7:53also, after that he believed, he was
7:55sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
7:57which is the earnest of our inheritance
7:59until the redemption of the purchased
8:02possession."
8:03These people were already believers.
8:05They'd already had remarkable
8:07experiences, as we have seen.
8:10Not only that,
8:12the apostle has already offered a great
8:14prayer for them in that first chapter.
8:17He says that
8:19he ceases not to give thanks for them,
8:21making mention of them in his prayers,
8:23that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8:25the Father of glory, may give unto you
8:27the spirit of wisdom and of revelation
8:30in the knowledge of him. And then he has
8:33displayed this knowledge, and we've been
8:35dealing with it at the end of chapter 1
8:37and the whole of chapter 2.
8:39But still, you see, he's not satisfied.
8:43Still he goes on praying, and he lets
8:46them know that though he's in prison and
8:48doesn't see them
8:50and is far away from them, he's bowing
8:52his knees, he is praying in the presence
8:54of God, he's looking into God's face on
8:57their behalf, and he is praying that
9:00this inner man of of theirs
9:02may be strengthened with might
9:06by the spirit of God.
9:10We must never, I say, lose sight of this
9:12fact that this is a prayer for
9:14Christians.
9:16Why? Well, this is the important point.
9:20Because the experience of forgiveness
9:23and of salvation
9:27is merely the beginning of the Christian
9:29life.
9:32And we haven't arrived when we've
9:34experienced that. That's merely the
9:36beginning.
9:37It's merely the first step. That is
9:39simply to say that you've entered into
9:41the kingdom.
9:43But that is only the very merest
9:45beginning of it all.
9:47And the tragedy is that there are so
9:49many Christian people who stop at that.
9:51They're only concerned about their
9:53personal security and safety.
9:56They're simply concerned about being in
9:57the kingdom of God at all. They simply
10:00want to know that their sins are
10:01forgiven, that they won't go to hell,
10:03and that they have a prospect of going
10:04to heaven. And the moment they have this
10:07initial experience,
10:09they seem to rest upon it. They never
10:10grow. You never see any difference in
10:13them. If you see them 50 years later,
10:15they're exactly where they were. They
10:16think they've got everything.
10:19And there has been no indication
10:21whatsoever of any development.
10:26But you see that he is very far removed
10:28indeed from what we find here about the
10:30Christian.
10:33There are great and glorious
10:35possibilities for the Christian.
10:39Here is one of them immediately, that
10:41Christ may dwell in your hearts by
10:44faith.
10:46That they may come to know something
10:48about God's love in its breadth and
10:51length and depth and height.
10:54Indeed, that they might be filled with
10:57all the fullness of God.
11:01Now, that's possible for the Christian.
11:05And let me underline this.
11:09It is possible for all Christians.
11:13The Apostle isn't here writing a
11:15circular letter to apostles.
11:18He isn't concerned here only with some
11:20very exceptional persons. He is writing
11:23to the ordinary church members of the
11:25church at Ephesus. We don't know their
11:26names. We know nothing at all about
11:28them.
11:30These are people whom we describe, if
11:32there is such a term as ordinary
11:34Christians.
11:36Yet it is for these he's praying.
11:39And he prays that they may know all
11:42these things.
11:44Leading to that tremendous, almost
11:46incredible climax
11:48that he may be filled with all the
11:51fullness of God. Well now then,
11:55this is not only a possibility for all
11:57Christians.
11:59It is the duty of all Christians to be
12:02in this position.
12:04Now let me tell you something, give you
12:07a word which was once uttered by
12:10the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
12:14This is how Mr. Spurgeon once put this
12:17point.
12:19He said, "There is a point in grace
12:23as much above the ordinary Christian
12:28as the ordinary Christian is above the
12:30worldling."
12:32Let me repeat that, it's so important.
12:35There is a point in grace, in other
12:37words, there is a point in the Christian
12:39life, in the development of the
12:41Christian,
12:43which is as much above the ordinary
12:46Christian
12:48as the ordinary Christian is above the
12:50worldling.
12:51Now that's a very striking and a very
12:53strong way of putting it.
12:55But it's absolutely right.
12:59We all know the difference in level
13:01between the non-Christian and the
13:03Christian.
13:04The Christian is here, the non-Christian
13:06is down there.
13:08A difference of level.
13:10Yes,
13:11but Mr. Spurgeon reminds us
13:14that there is this other position in the
13:16Christian life
13:18which is as much above this ordinary
13:20Christian level as this was above that.
13:24And of course, one must accept it.
13:28If we had really believed that Christ
13:30can dwell in our hearts,
13:34that we can know this love of God and of
13:37Christ in all its dimensions,
13:41that we may be filled with all the
13:43fullness of God.
13:47I think we'll agree at once that that is
13:49as much above the ordinary Christian
13:52level
13:54as that level is above the
13:56non-Christian. So, I ask my obvious
13:58question.
14:01Are we in this point to which Mr.
14:04Spurgeon refers?
14:09Do we conform to this description that
14:11the Apostle here gives
14:14of what is possible to the Christian?
14:18Is Christ dwelling in our hearts by
14:20faith?
14:22Have we looked
14:24into this great eternal cube of God's
14:27eternal love?
14:30Have we been staggered as we've looked
14:32at these dimensions?
14:36Do we know what is meant by being filled
14:39with all the fullness of God?
14:43The God who is able to do for us
14:46exceedingly abundantly above all that we
14:48can ask or think.
14:50Now then, here is the great question.
14:53Are we there?
14:55Have we reached that level, that height?
14:57Are we dwelling there, or are we down
14:59here on the ordinary Christian level?
15:03Very well, having answered that
15:04question, we obviously must go on to
15:06this question. If we feel we're just on
15:08this ordinary level, what I take it we
15:11all want to know is how can we get to
15:12this other level?
15:16And there is only one answer to that
15:18question, and that is the answer given
15:20by the Apostle's prayer,
15:23we must be strengthened with might by
15:26the spirit
15:28in the inner man.
15:31Now then, why does this inner man of
15:33ours need to be strengthened?
15:38There are certain obvious answers to
15:40that question.
15:42And they're very important because if we
15:44don't realize this,
15:47we shall never realize the need of being
15:48strengthened.
15:51There is this fatal danger, I say, of
15:53saying, "Ah, I've been converted. I rest
15:55upon my oars. I just now become an
15:57active worker. I rush into activities."
16:00And you find people doing that, and as I
16:02say, after 50 years, you find them
16:04exactly where they were at the
16:06beginning. They've never realized that
16:08anything more was possible. They think
16:10they've got everything. They're
16:11Christians.
16:14They've never realized the need of the
16:15inner man being strengthened. Why does
16:17he need to be strengthened? The first
16:18answer is that because at first he's
16:21only a babe.
16:24That's the New Testament term, isn't it?
16:27"I could not speak unto you as unto
16:30spirituals," says Paul, "but as unto a
16:32carnal,
16:34as unto babes in Christ."
16:38That's the scriptural teaching, that we
16:40are born, and we are born as babes. And
16:43a babe is only starting to live. He
16:45hasn't developed fully. He hasn't
16:47arrived.
16:48And he is one who needs to be
16:49strengthened.
16:52He is weak.
16:54He is ignorant.
16:56He is innocent of many things
16:59in the world that is round and about
17:02him.
17:03And he hasn't
17:05an immunity against the things that are
17:08liable to attack him.
17:10That is the characteristic of babyhood,
17:13isn't it, or of infancy always?
17:16That's why the child has to be protected
17:18always by the parents. Obviously, he
17:21doesn't know, he doesn't understand, he
17:23takes everybody at their face value, he
17:24takes the world as it is and he thinks
17:27it's marvelous. He doesn't know of its
17:29ugliness and the foul things that are in
17:31it. It's only as we grow, we begin to
17:34understand these things. Don't
17:35misunderstand me, I'm not saying that
17:37that baby is without sin or that he's
17:39innocent. I don't agree with
17:41Wordsworth's talk about this kind of
17:44immortality that is there and this
17:46perfection and then that the shades
17:48of the prison house begin to close upon
17:50the growing boy. I'm not saying that,
17:52but I'm saying this that a child because
17:55of his ignorance
17:58isn't aware of the dangers and therefore
18:01needs to be protected.
18:03And that is true
18:05of the new man in Christ Jesus. Doesn't
18:08matter how old a man is when he's
18:09converted, he's a babe in Christ.
18:12He feels at first everything is solved.
18:15I'll never have another difficulty and
18:17often the evangelists are responsible
18:18for his thinking that. They give him
18:20that impression. And here he is in his
18:22utter innocence, there's never going to
18:24be another cloud in the whole of his
18:25life.
18:27But alas, the clouds come, difficulties
18:31arise, problems
18:33come across his path and he's bewildered
18:35and often he falls. He may even slide
18:38back. He becomes a backslider. It's
18:40because he was a babe and because he
18:42didn't know.
18:44The babe needs to be strengthened.
18:46So you see it is
18:48that the Apostle John in his first
18:50epistle talks about little children,
18:52young men, fathers.
18:55There are these gradations in the
18:57Christian life. There is this process of
19:00growth and of development.
19:04But a second reason for the need of this
19:07strengthening is this.
19:10The devil.
19:14The adversary.
19:16the accuser of the brethren
19:20And oh, the man who hasn't yet realized
19:25that he is confronted with this power is
19:27the merest tyro in the Christian life.
19:31Listen to this Apostle saying it in the
19:33last chapter of this very Epistle.
19:35We wrestle not against flesh and blood.
19:39That's not our problem.
19:41The problem is not simply that we have a
19:44certain struggle against our own flesh
19:47and blood, that the body that we're in,
19:49there are problems there. It isn't
19:51merely other men. The whole problem, he
19:54says, is the principalities and powers,
19:57the rulers of the darkness of this
19:59world, the spiritual wickedness in the
20:02heavenly places.
20:04And it's because of this that the inner
20:06man needs to be strengthened because
20:08[snorts]
20:09this power is not only great in might,
20:14it is great in subtlety and great in
20:18cunning.
20:21The same Apostle tells the Corinthians
20:23in the second chapter in the second
20:25Epistle chapter 12
20:28that this enemy
20:29is so powerful that he's able to
20:32transform himself into an angel of
20:34light.
20:36He can come and quote scripture. He can
20:37reason with you. He can put up a human
20:40sin cases and he can present you with a
20:42form of truth and it sounds perfectly
20:44all right and perfectly Christian, but
20:46it's wrong.
20:48And he leads you astray and you enter
20:50into snares and down you go.
20:53Now, here is a very powerful reason for
20:56the need of strengthening
20:58with might by the spirit in the inner
21:00man.
21:03Because the devil
21:06always makes a very special target of
21:09this inner man.
21:12And you know, I've often met people in
21:14trouble and in difficulties in their
21:16spiritual life
21:18because they hadn't realized that.
21:21They seem to think that the only sins
21:23are the sins of the flesh.
21:26They were watching against those and
21:28they'd got to a point in which they
21:29didn't trouble them at all and thinking
21:31that that was the only line on which the
21:33devil can attack, they were they were
21:35aware of the fact that he with his great
21:36subtlety and thus as I say as an angel
21:39of light, he makes his direct attack
21:41upon the inner man
21:43and insinuates his thoughts and ideas
21:45and his innuendos and suggestions.
21:49And they were not aware at all of this
21:50and suddenly they find themselves
21:53unhappy and wretched and lost as it were
21:56and wondering whether they've ever been
21:57Christians at all.
21:59What's happened? Oh, it was that the
22:01devil with his subtlety had ignored the
22:02outer man altogether and had simply
22:05concentrated all his attention upon the
22:07inner man.
22:09That is why you see that statement in
22:12the Old Testament is so true.
22:14Keep thy heart with all diligence for
22:17out of it are the issues of life.
22:20The devil.
22:22And then thirdly, another reason for the
22:26need of strengthening of the inner man
22:27is this.
22:31The very greatness of that which is
22:34offered to us and that which is possible
22:36to us.
22:38Here you see is the possibility that
22:40Christ
22:42may dwell in our hearts by faith. That
22:46we may know this love of God and that we
22:48may be filled with
22:51all the fullness of God.
22:55Now, I say the very greatness of the
22:58thing that is offered to us demands that
23:01we be strengthened in order to receive
23:03it, lest we might be shattered by it.
23:07Now, this is a very important point, so
23:09I'd like to put it to you in this form.
23:14It's a point that is often
23:15misunderstood.
23:17Or at any rate, people don't appreciate
23:18its significance.
23:21Let me give you an example or an
23:22illustration of what I regard as a
23:24complete failure to understand this
23:26point.
23:27>> [clears throat]
23:29>> I'm going to read to you some words uh
23:30written by the saintly
23:33Bishop Handley Moule.
23:36He puts it like this.
23:38"And why do we need a supreme empowering
23:42just in order to receive our life and
23:45our light?"
23:47He says, "This is odd."
23:48"Fancy saying that we need to be
23:50strengthened to receive Jesus Christ,
23:53who is our life and our light?"
23:56He says,
23:57"Does the hungry wanderer need power in
24:01order to eat the food without which he
24:03will soon sink?
24:05Does the bewildered mariner need power
24:08to welcome onto his deck the pilot who
24:11alone can steer him to the heaven of his
24:13desire? No."
24:16No, he says he doesn't.
24:18The thing he says is monstrous. Now, you
24:20notice his argument.
24:24Here, he says here's something that
24:26sounds all wrong to us.
24:28Paul prays that we may be strengthened
24:30with might by his spirit in the inner
24:32man, that we may receive Christ. But he
24:35says, "Christ is our strength."
24:38"How do I need strength in order to take
24:40strength?"
24:41It sounds monstrous. He says, "Here's a
24:43man who's been wandering in a
24:45wilderness. Does he need strength to eat
24:49the food, the food that is going to give
24:51him strength?
24:53Or does that mariner that is lost, as it
24:55were, on the ocean in his ship. Does he
24:57need strength to receive the pilot who,
25:00coming on board, knows the way and can
25:02direct him into his heaven? No, he says,
25:04the thing is impossible.
25:07So, then he goes on to say that it must
25:09mean this.
25:12That because of our sinful nature that
25:15is still in us,
25:18there is a tendency within us to dread
25:21the power of Christ coming into us and
25:23to be afraid of it and to wonder what it
25:26might do to us. Now, that is a perfectly
25:28true statement, but I am rejecting it in
25:30total as an exposition of this
25:33particular verse.
25:35He says that we need to be strengthened
25:37because, left to ourselves,
25:40we are afraid to receive Christ.
25:44Now, it seems to me that there's a very
25:46definite fallacy there, and a fallacy
25:47even in terms of his own illustrations.
25:53He asks the question, does a man that
25:55has been without food for long
25:59need strength in order to take that food
26:01which is going to give him strength?
26:04He says, no. I venture to suggest, with
26:07great respect, that the answer may be
26:09yes.
26:10In this way, isn't it? You've often read
26:13about people during the last war.
26:15Men were torpedoed, perhaps, and who
26:17spent days and days on rafts or in boats
26:22upon the ocean, or men who'd been in
26:24concentration camps and had been
26:26submitted to starvation.
26:28They suddenly are given liberty. They're
26:30found by somebody.
26:32And, of course, one's tendency is to put
26:34them down at a table and put a great
26:36square meal before them.
26:38Well, if you do that, you may very well
26:39kill them.
26:42If you give such a man a great meal of
26:45meat and vegetables and so on, it may
26:47very well kill him. Why? Well, because
26:49he isn't strong enough to take it.
26:52Before he is in a fit condition to take
26:55that strong meal, you've got to regain
26:58his strength. You may have to inject
27:00glucose into his veins, into his blood.
27:02You may have to give him various
27:04extracts. You may have to then come on
27:07to a very lightly boiled egg, which has
27:09got very little nutriment in it, but
27:11just something, something light. It's
27:13not too much for him. A man who's weak
27:15and exhausted, he simply cannot take
27:17food. It's a danger for him to do so.
27:21So that you see, in terms of his very
27:23argument, it seems to me
27:27that that whole position is quite wrong,
27:30and certainly misses the spiritual
27:33intent of the Apostle's prayer at this
27:35point.
27:38No, the thing that we are going to
27:40receive is so potent, so mighty, so
27:44strong
27:46that we need to be strengthened before
27:49we can receive it. Now, let me give you
27:50another argument, another analogy.
27:54Take what the author of the Epistle to
27:56the Hebrews says in the fifth chapter of
27:58his Epistle.
28:01He says, "Hitherto I have not fed you
28:03with strong meat."
28:06He had fed them only with milk. Why?
28:09Well, he said, "You were not able to
28:10take it."
28:11You were not strong enough to take it.
28:14He says, "Strong meat is for people who
28:16are adult, who have grown and have
28:18developed." If you give a little child
28:20this red meat, this strong meat,
28:24it'll give him acute indigestion. It may
28:26cause him great sickness and illness.
28:28Again, it may be the means of killing
28:29him.
28:31You don't give strong meat to babes. You
28:33give milk to babes.
28:35Strong meat is only appropriate to those
28:37whose senses have been exercised by use,
28:40who've developed, who are strong enough
28:42to take it. Indeed, the Apostle Paul has
28:44said exactly the same unto the
28:47Corinthians in the first epistle.
28:50He says, "Howbeit we speak wisdom
28:52amongst them that are perfect."
28:55He said, "I didn't speak that wisdom to
28:56you.
28:57You were yet carnal, you were babes, and
29:00I gave you the food that was appropriate
29:01to you, but you need something to happen
29:03to you before you can receive this. You
29:06need to be strengthened."
29:08And of course, all this is
29:11fully substantiated by what we can read
29:14in the experiences of many saints of
29:17God.
29:20I've often reminded you of that
29:22experience that came to D. L. Moody
29:25as he was walking down Wall Street in
29:27New York City one afternoon.
29:31Suddenly,
29:33the Holy Ghost came upon him.
29:36He was baptized with the Holy Ghost. And
29:40you remember what he tells us.
29:42He says it was so tremendous, it was so
29:45glorious,
29:47that he really began to wonder whether
29:49he could stand it, and in the end he
29:50cried out to God to hold his hand lest
29:54he should collapse on the street, and
29:56later in his room.
29:58What was it? The transcendence of the
30:00glory.
30:02When Christ enters the heart, the glory
30:05is such, the power is such, that the
30:07very physical frame seems to collapse
30:09beneath it, and the whole man is
30:11trembling and shaking. You find the same
30:14thing in the experiences of people like
30:16Jonathan Edwards and David Brainerd.
30:19They've all testified to this.
30:21You see, when Christ comes and dwells in
30:24the heart by faith, and when we are
30:25filled with the whole fullness of God,
30:28YOU NEED TO BE STRONG TO TAKE IT AND TO
30:30contain it. It's a kind of shattering
30:32experience.
30:34So, the apostle prays that they may be
30:37strengthened with might by the spirit.
30:41In the inner man.
30:43Oh, there are many analogies that show
30:45this.
30:46You can find it in the world of
30:48electricity and so on.
30:50If you put some powerful electric force
30:52into a container, well, you've got to be
30:54very sure that the walls of the
30:56container are reinforced, that they can
30:58stand it. You wouldn't put that into a
31:00paper wall or into a wall made of wood.
31:02You need something really powerful
31:04because of the energy, the power that is
31:06there. That's the thing the apostle is
31:08praying for.
31:11That we be strengthened with might by
31:14the spirit
31:15in the inner man.
31:20How then does this weakness of the inner
31:23man show itself? Let me point it out to
31:25you in detail.
31:28The inner man, I say, needs to be
31:30strengthened because he's a babe,
31:32because of that powerful enemy, and
31:35because of this transcendent glory that
31:37is to come in. How does the weakness
31:39show itself? Well, like this. Take the
31:41mind first.
31:45The mind, in a spiritual sense, needs to
31:48be strengthened
31:51because we are assailed by doubts.
31:55Some of the greatest saints have told us
31:57that they have been assailed by doubts
31:59at the end of their lives.
32:02They haven't believed the doubts, but
32:04the doubts have presented themselves,
32:06and they have shaken them for a while.
32:08Doubts come.
32:10That's a trouble in the mind, and the
32:11mind needs to be strengthened against
32:13doubt. Then depression.
32:17It's a very difficult thing to define
32:18that.
32:20But, uh you may wake up in the morning
32:22and find your mind in a depressed
32:24condition.
32:26The mind that may have been working
32:27perfectly yesterday
32:29doesn't seem to be functioning today.
32:32And there's a kind of dullness and
32:33slowness and inability about it. The
32:35mind, you see, needs to be strengthened
32:37in the same way we are troubled perhaps
32:39by evil thoughts that come and attack
32:42the mind. Where do they come from? They
32:44seem to be thrown at you. Paul talks
32:46about the fiery darts of the wicked one
32:48thrown at us, and he throws them into
32:50the mind. When you wake up in the
32:52morning, they start before you started
32:53thinking.
32:55So, the mind needs to be strengthened.
32:57Then, another one.
32:58Uh wandering thoughts.
33:02Now, don't we all know about this?
33:05You can read light literature or your
33:08newspaper, and you have no difficulty in
33:10concentrating at all. But, then you try
33:11to read the Bible, and your mind goes
33:13everywhere. And you can't bring your
33:14mind back to it. You're looking at
33:16words, you're reading a verse, but your
33:17mind's over there. Wandering thoughts.
33:20Difficulty about concentration upon the
33:22truth.
33:26And then we need to be strengthened in
33:28the mind in this way.
33:33While the gospel of the Lord Jesus
33:35Christ is in one sense
33:38gloriously simple,
33:42there is another sense in which it is
33:44true to say that it is the profoundest
33:45truth in the world.
33:49This Epistle to the Ephesians is not
33:51simple.
33:53You can't read this and run at the same
33:56time. You can't gallop through this. You
33:58can't sort of just walk through the
34:01Epistle to the Ephesians. No, no. There
34:04is profound truth. Here there is subtle
34:06argument.
34:07There are immensities and infinities to
34:09quote Thomas Carlyle, and you can't take
34:11these things at a run. And people,
34:14born-again Christian people, they come
34:16and read the Epistle to the Ephesians,
34:18and they say, "I don't know what it's
34:18talking about. What is this?" The mind
34:20needs to be strengthened.
34:22You've got to apprehend truth.
34:23>> [clears throat]
34:24>> And we cannot apprehend truth and
34:27realize what it means and what it's
34:29telling us unless our minds are
34:31strengthened.
34:34Now, I know that there are many
34:35Christians who don't know that and they
34:37don't realize that at all.
34:40And not only do they not know that, they
34:42don't want to know that.
34:47These are the Christians who say, "Oh,
34:48well, of course, I I haven't got the
34:50time to read these things. I'm a simple
34:52Christian. I'm a plain man. I can give
34:54my witness and my testimony. I can do
34:55practical work. But, you know, I I I I I
34:57really can't. I haven't got the time. I
35:00These things are too hard I I I can't
35:02grapple with them. I I'm not concerned
35:03about doctrine and things like that. I'm
35:06a simple man and I believe in the simple
35:07gospel."
35:10But, my dear friend, you've no right to
35:12speak like that.
35:14And though you don't realize it and may
35:16say that you believe the Bible from
35:18cover to cover, that the plain truth
35:20about you is that you don't.
35:23If you are making no real effort to
35:25understand the Epistle to the Ephesians
35:28or all this mighty word in this New
35:30Testament, I say you're guilty of sin.
35:35This was written to ordinary Christians.
35:39We are all meant to understand these
35:41things. And we have no right to contract
35:43out of it and say, "I want a simple
35:45message, a plain gospel. I can't be
35:48bothered. It means too much of an effort
35:49and my mind is tired and I'm busy with
35:51affairs and my business is in trouble
35:53and so on and so forth. I really can't
35:55do it. And I'll go somewhere else where
35:57I have some a simple, plain message."
36:02That I say is to deny the scripture.
36:07The Apostle Paul prays that the minds of
36:10these Ephesians might be strengthened in
36:13order that they might realize these
36:15higher possibilities and experience them
36:17and rejoice in them and so bear their
36:20witness and their testimony to the glory
36:23of God.
36:24The intellectual lethargy of many
36:27Christians today is undoubtedly their
36:29greatest sin.
36:31They never grow in knowledge. They end
36:34where they began. They're always talking
36:36about their experiences. They've never
36:38entered into these riches. They've never
36:40gone up to this mountain top and breathe
36:43the pure air of God's holy truth.
36:47They're content with the ordinary level.
36:49They don't believe in the other because
36:51it demands effort.
36:53And intellectual effort.
36:56But in exactly the same way the heart
36:57needs to be strengthened.
37:00Because we're attacked by fears.
37:05By our imaginations.
37:10We are subject to discouragement.
37:14We tend to indulge in evil forebodings.
37:19Even when everything is going well with
37:21us, our hearts begin to say, "Oh, it's
37:23all right at the moment, but you never
37:24know what's coming." And immediately
37:26you're depressed.
37:28You put yourself into trouble. Haven't
37:30we all experienced that?
37:32How treacherous the heart can be.
37:35It can conjure up possibilities and we
37:38go and meet them.
37:39What if this happens? What if that
37:41happens? What if this child dies? What
37:43if I lose my loved one? And so on. And
37:45we can make ourselves wretched.
37:47Nothing's happening, but we're only
37:49imagining what we'd be like if it did
37:50happen. The heart.
37:56Thus these fears and forebodings and
37:58discouragements
38:00and evil imaginations often play havoc
38:03with the Christian.
38:04And there are some Christians whose
38:06whole course is bound in shadows and in
38:09miseries
38:10because they've never realized the need
38:12of having their hearts strengthened by
38:14the Holy Spirit. And in the same way,
38:16the will needs to be strengthened.
38:19Our wills are feeble and irresolute as
38:22the result of sin and the fall.
38:25Yes, we say there it is. I'm going to do
38:27that and we really want to.
38:29And then at the last moment we are
38:31afraid. We don't. We stop. There I agree
38:34with Bishop Moule 100%. This failure of
38:37the will, what if I do, what will happen
38:39and so on, and the will is paralyzed or
38:41made irresolute and we fail to do the
38:43thing that we know we should do.
38:46How often do we fail at the very last
38:49moment?
38:50Well, there it is.
38:54You see, the moment you begin to look
38:56into this inner man and to analyze him,
38:59you see that he's very weak. He's very
39:01feeble.
39:03He needs to be strengthened.
39:06Do you know, my friends, were it not
39:08that we've got the prayer of the Apostle
39:09here, which we can offer for ourselves,
39:13we should every one of us fail and
39:15falter.
39:17How often have we all failed and
39:19faltered?
39:21In mind or in heart or in will.
39:25And if we were left to ourselves, I say,
39:28there would be no hope for us.
39:30And there'd be nobody to recommend the
39:31gospel.
39:33But thank God there is this way of
39:35strengthening.
39:38And the Apostle puts it here so
39:39perfectly for us.
39:42So that however weak you may feel
39:44yourself at this moment, however much
39:46you may have failed, this is the way.
39:50The Apostle's prayer is that he
39:53Who is he?
39:55Well, he's the Father to whom he's just
39:57been referring. The Father of our Lord
40:00Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in
40:03heaven and in earth is named, that he
40:08It's all right.
40:11I can be reinforced by God.
40:15I can't do it. I can't put iron into the
40:18walls of my soul to receive Christ. Do
40:21as I will, I fail. But here is strength
40:23from God. He, and then you notice the
40:26next may grant you.
40:31What a blessed word that is, that word
40:33grant.
40:34We are familiar with it.
40:36Ah, yes, he said, he makes me a grant.
40:38He gives me this. Free gift, you see.
40:41You don't have to earn it. You don't
40:42have to purchase it. It's a free gift of
40:44God. You simply ask for it and receive
40:46it.
40:47That he may grant you.
40:49The feeblest saint can just lift up his
40:52face when he can't stand on his feet. He
40:54just looks and says, "Lord, have mercy
40:57upon me." And God will strengthen him.
40:59He will grant you.
41:03And then you see, in order to impress it
41:05upon us, he says, "He will grant you
41:07according to the riches of his glory."
41:15Forgive me for rushing through these
41:17phrases as I do.
41:19I apologize for going through this
41:21epistle so quickly.
41:24Fancy rushing a phrase like this at the
41:26end of a sermon. According to the riches
41:30of his glory.
41:32What are you talking about? What is the
41:33glory of God? Well, it's the sum, the
41:35summation of all the attributes of God.
41:38His might, his majesty, his holiness,
41:42his purity, his righteousness, HIS
41:44JUSTICE. GOD IN THE TOTALITY OF HIS
41:47BEING, THE GLORY OF GOD. And it is
41:50according to the riches, the fullness of
41:53that glory.
41:55That God
41:58is able to do what? Well, to strengthen
42:00us with might. And that's the might
42:03according to the riches of his glory. TO
42:06STRENGTHEN US WITH POWER.
42:12By his spirit.
42:15It is the special function of the Holy
42:18Spirit to do this. He is given to us.
42:22He is sent to us to do this
42:25very thing.
42:28It was the same Holy Spirit that
42:30convicted us of sin, that gave us the
42:33gift of faith, that enabled us to
42:35believe. We could never have believed
42:37without him. It's he who enables us all.
42:40The natural man receiveth not. God has
42:43given unto us of his spirit, and by the
42:45spirit we do believe. We are spiritual
42:47men.
42:49Well, that same spirit can do this for
42:52us also.
42:55You notice how Paul put it there in that
42:57fourth chapter of the Epistle to the
42:58Philippians.
43:00In verses 6 and 7, he said, "In nothing
43:03be anxious."
43:06You see, when things go wrong, we tend
43:07to become anxious, don't we? Well, well,
43:09in our thoughts and in our minds. In
43:12nothing be anxious. Well, what then?
43:13What can I do? How can I get rid of
43:15anxiety? In all things with prayer and
43:18supplication and thanksgiving. Because
43:21you realize who God is and what he's
43:23ready to do in the riches of his glory.
43:26With prayer and supplication and
43:27thanksgiving, let your request be made
43:30known unto God. And what happens? Oh,
43:33the peace of God that passeth all
43:36understanding shall keep your hearts and
43:39minds
43:41in Christ Jesus. The circumstances are
43:45not changed. They remain exactly what
43:47they were. Well, what's happened?
43:48Where'd you get your peace from? Oh, the
43:50Holy Spirit has strengthened your heart.
43:53He's strengthened your mind, so you can
43:55resist the power.
43:57And you're safe.
44:00That is the prayer that the apostle
44:02offers.
44:06I trust I've made the doctrine clear to
44:08you.
44:10We are living in days when we are
44:11constantly talking about reinforcing
44:13things.
44:15They reinforce concrete today, don't
44:17they? Ferro-concrete.
44:19Concrete's very strong. Put some iron
44:21into it, it'll be stronger still. And as
44:23you put up your massive buildings, you
44:25need something to support and to hold
44:27the weight and all that's going to be
44:28put in. Very well, reinforced concrete.
44:31Reinforce this and that.
44:35That's the principle.
44:38If you and I are to contain the Lord
44:41Jesus Christ within us,
44:45and to be filled with all the fullness
44:48of God,
44:50we must be reinforced in the inner man
44:55by the Holy Spirit.
44:58And
45:00if we realize that these are
45:02possibilities for us and desire them,
45:05and we ask God thus, according to the
45:09riches of his glory, to reinforce us by
45:12his spirit,
45:14he has promised to do it.
45:17And Christ
45:20will dwell in our hearts by faith.
45:23Beloved Christian people,
45:27are you as much above the level of the
45:31ordinary Christian
45:33as the ordinary Christian is above the
45:36level of the man who isn't a Christian
45:38at all?
45:40That's the wondrous,
45:43glorious possibility
45:46that is there for us every one at this
45:48moment
45:50in Jesus Christ by the grace of God.
45:54Amen.

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