Christianity is not designed to appeal to the emotions. Emotions are designed to do this. They are to respond to the mind. And when your emotions get in front of your mind, you're going to run wild. And any brand of Christianity that appeals at the emotional level and bypasses the mind is only asking for trouble because it generates responses apart from truth.
Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. When you're shopping for a house and you enter a model home, you can be sure that the base price doesn't include the window treatments, furniture, upgraded appliances, all the extra features you'll see. But that is not the case when you enter the Christian life. It's a complete package with endless riches from the moment you're saved.
Nothing is missing. Still, you might not know what all those riches are or how to use them.
So what are the riches that come with being a Christian, the blessings you can take advantage of today? And how should those resources affect your decision-making, your goals, your relationships, really everything in your life? Take an inventory of your spiritual riches and learn how to harness the power of that amazing wealth in John MacArthur's series called Richer Than You Think. Here's John with to day's lesson. Take your Bible, if you will, and let's look at Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1, and we're examining verses 15 to 23 in our current study. and looking at the resources that the believer possesses in Christ. the resources of the believer.
Now, Paul's got three things in mind that he wants us to understand. three magnificent incomparable truths. One, that we would understand the greatness of his plan. 2. The greatness of his power.
3. The greatness of his person. Let's look at verse 18. First phrase. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
Now this introduces us to a very important thought. The word here in the Greek for understanding is the word cardios. From which we get Cardiac, the word means what? Heart. Literally, the Greek says, the eyes of your heart being enlightened.
Now we've got a problem with this term, so I have to explain it to you. Because for us, the heart refers to emotions. American culture has so designated the heart to refer to emotions. how we feel. But that is not the way the ancients looked at it, and that is not the way the Jews approached it at all.
Let me show you. The Jews spoke about feelings, not in terms of the heart, but by using the word splenkna, the Greek word, and the word translates bowels.
Okay.
Now, we have a different significance for that word. We don't think of that word today. We don't say to our wife, I love you with all my bowels. That just, you know.
Something definitely missing. and such a designation. But that is precisely the way the Hebrews would have spoken, and that is why that word appears so very, very frequently in the Bible. Why? Because the Hebrew always associated feelings with his But this Basically, his organs right here in his stomach.
We say we have a gut feeling. When you get nervous, you get an upset stomach. You get pain and anxiety right here. You feel things here. This is the area feeling.
You don't feel in your heart, you feel here. And the Hebrews saw things that way. For example, when in the Song of Solomon, when the bride and the bridegroom see one another, it says, My bowels were moved. In other words, there was a feeling of anticipation and excitement right in here. And it talks about that throughout the Old Testament.
Even in Psalm 22, Christ is dying on the cross, and he talks about his bowels, suffering agony, and pain. And in Lamentations 2:11, when Jeremiah is crying over the destruction of his people, it says, and he hurts in his inward organs, right in here, in the bowels. It even uses the word liver. My liver is distressed. Because this is where they feel it.
And in 1 John 3:17, even in the New Testament, it says, if you see somebody who has need, how could you shut up your bowels of compassion? See, they felt it right here in the stomach. And the heart, you see, to the Hebrew mind, did not mean feeling, it meant thinking. Thinking. That's why the word cardios can be translated either heart or understanding.
As a man thinketh in his what? Heart, so is he. Out of the abundance of the Heart? What? The mouth speaks.
The heart is the thinking process. The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked, and who can know it? It's the thinking, it's the will, the thinking, the understanding part. And that's true all through the scripture.
So Watch this. The organ of comprehension for the believer is the thinking process, not the emotions. God is not trying to appeal to the emotion. He's trying to appeal to the mind and the will and the thinking, and that's what the term cardios means. Christianity is not designed to appeal to the emotions.
Emotions are designed to do this. They are to respond to the mind. And when your emotions get in front of your mind, you're going to run wild. And any brand of Christianity that appeals at the emotional level and bypasses the mind is only asking for trouble. Because it generates responses apart from truth.
When the Holy Spirit works on the believer's mind, he enriches that mind to understand divine truth that is deep and profound and thus to relate it to life. And that's exactly what Paul meant when he said to the Colossians in chapter 3, verse 16: You don't need human philosophy, you don't need human wisdom, you don't need legalism, asceticism, mysticism. This is what you need. You let the word of Christ dwell in you. What?
Richly. Class is 360. That's the whole point. And I'll tell you something. If the Holy Spirit doesn't quicken the truth, It doesn't have the same effect.
That's why Paul is praying, God, do this in their hearts. They know it. Maybe it's there in skeletal form. Oh, God, by your spirit, drive it deep in their understanding. I'll give you a good illustration of it: Luke 24.
And it's just, you don't have to turn to it. I'll just remind you of it. The disciples on the Emmaus Road, remember they're walking along, Jesus is right beside them. And they've been with Jesus for three years, and what happened? They didn't know him, right?
They knew him, but they didn't know him. I mean they knew, but they didn't know. They had all the information, there he was, but they didn't know. And finally, it says in verse thirty-one. And their eyes were opened.
and they recognized him. And he vanished. out of their sight. And then this comment, they said one to another, I love this. Did not our heart What's that mean?
Our minds. Our wills burn within us. while he talked with us along the way and opened to us the scripture. You see, to have the scripture. To have the information.
Doesn't make your heart burn. It's when the Christ of God takes it and drives it deep in the heart that their hearts burned. And the same is true now. Christ is not here, but His Spirit is here. And His Spirit comes to us who possess the Word, and He makes it burn in our minds.
That's his work. That's the eyes of your heart being enlightened. See. And what does he want us to understand when we're enlightened? The first thing I told you: the greatness of his plan.
Look at it in verse 18. that you may know what is the hope of his calling. and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. I don't know what else to say about that, folks, except that that says everything there is in the whole Bible, and I'm not going to start from the beginning to the end and tell you all of it. He just says, I hope they understand what you've got planned for them.
I hope they understand what it means that you elected them and redeemed them and promised them an inheritance. I hope they understand what it means to have been called from before the foundation of the world, chapter 1 verse 4, chosen in him, to have been redeemed in order to inherit all that there is in the kingdom of God that God could conceive for his children. Do you understand the plan, man? I mean, do you understand what's going on? That's what Paul's praying.
Oh God, may they understand that this is not some afterthought in human existence. This is the master plan of the eternal God forever and ever and ever. And you've been master planned into it from before the world began. That, beloved, is your identity. And Paul knows well that when you understand that, you'll be more apt.
to act like it.
So he says, I pray that they would understand with their minds the eternal destiny of the Christian. Ordained in eternity past, possessed in time, and anchored in the eternity yet to come. And Paul wants us to understand: do you know what it ultimately means to me? All I ever think about is this.
Some day I will be like whom? Jesus Christ. That to me is inconceivable. That I would be conformed to the image of his Son. that I would be like him when I see him as he is.
That I would be a joint heir with Christ. That's God's plan. the greatness of his plan, And not only is it a great plan, but it's a rich plan. Look at verse 18, he just tells you what's involved. The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
We're saints, we're the haggias, we're the holy ones. Made holy in Jesus Christ. And there is an inheritance. Not only an inheritance, but the glory of it is of his inheritance. And not only that, but the riches of the glory of his inheritance.
What does that mean? That just means that whatever God's got for us, there aren't words to describe it. It's too much. It's just as if Paul says it just goes on and on: the inheritance, the glory of the inheritance, the riches of the glory of the inheritance. You never hit bottom.
It's a marvelous magnitude of the blessings of salvation that He wants us to understand. You know, when you get an understanding of this, you realize all of a sudden who you are. You are a child of God, and that's the beginning and the end of everything. And then nothing more to seek. I mean, this is it, folks.
What else are you going to ask for besides the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints?
Somebody come and say, Well, I think there might be a little more out there. We better seek. There's no more. Believers must understand their resources. That's the beginning.
What a plan, and we're a part of it. Secondly, Paul prays that we not only understand the greatness of his plan, but the greatness of his power. The greatness of his power. Verse 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power?
Now this is really kind of humorous. The Holy Spirit wrote this, but he always used the human agent. And Paul here is trying to describe how powerful we are, and he just throws in every word he can think of. In fact, there are four different words for power in verse 19 alone. Four different Greek words for power.
First, you see the word power. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power? That's dunamis, from which we get the English word what? Dynamite. Then there is the, it says, power toward us who believe according to the working.
Notice this power is only for those who believe. It's for all those who are saved. There's no more power to get. It bothers me so much when people seek more power, more power, I want more power. There's no more to get, folks.
The greatness, the exceeding greatness of His power is toward us who believe. Not who believe plus have a vision, who believe plus keep certain rules, who believe plus do this. It's just to those who believe. Then he goes on to say, according to the working, and he used another word, the word energeia, which is the base of our word energy. And then he goes on to say, according to the working of his mighty, and the word mighty is kretas.
Another word that could be translated power is sometimes translated dominion. And then he ends with another word, power, which is iskus, which isn't the same as the other words. The first word, dunamis, means inherent power. The second word, energeia, means operative power. The third word, kretas, means ultimate power.
The fourth word, iskus, means endowed power. And what Paul is saying is there's power, power, every way you cut it. And it's yours. And then it just bothered me to hear some Christians saying, well. I don't know if I have the power to do that.
Paul would say, That's why I'm praying for you, friend. But you'll know that. We have power. Inconceivable, exceeding great power. We have power to evangelize.
People say, well, I'm afraid I don't have power to witness for Christ. You have the power to evangelize. Listen, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God under what? Salvation. You have that power.
You have the power to evangelize. The Apostle Paul went into Thessalonica in chapter 1, and he says, Our gospel came not in word only, but also in what? Power and assurance. Power for evangelism. Secondly, God has given to us power to suffer.
And endure it victoriously. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, we have this treasure in earthly vessels that the excellency of the power may not be of us, but of God. Therefore, he says, we may be distressed, but we're never cast down. And he goes on to say all of those things. And finally, he sums it up by saying, we may bear in our body the dying of Jesus all the time, but we also know what it is to have that resurrection life.
Power to evangelize, power to suffer. Power to do God's will. People fear they don't have the energy, the resource to do God's will. In Philippians 2:13, it says, It is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. The power's there.
Coward to serve. Colossians 1.29, Paul says, it's his power working in me mightily. as I labor. You say, I don't know if I had that power. Yes, you do.
Acts 1:8 says. But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and the Holy Spirit came upon you when? When you're saved. You have the power. In fact, you've got so much power, you're dangerous.
Ephesians 3.20 says, Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that works where. In us. Incredible. Incredible. Power.
Do you understand that? Don't go running around looking for something more. That's an affront to the gracious, total love of God who in Christ has given us everything. Everything. In fact, he wants us to get a good understanding of this power, so he gives an illustration in verse 20.
It's the same power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies. He says, Look, you may question the power of God, but look at this: it's the same power that raised Jesus and took Him to His coronation. And in case you're worried about whether or not God is going to be able to come off with His promise, whether or not God's going to get you out of the mess here to the glory there, just remember He did it in Christ and He'll do it to you because the power is still the same. That's really what he's saying. The whole message here is not so much that we understand the power for service as we understand the power for his keeping.
is securing us and fulfilling the marvelous hope that is ours in Christ. I suppose all of us doubt now and then. And wonder whether God's gonna really be able to pull it off. He pulled it off with Christ. He raised him out of the grave.
He splattered the bands of death. He shattered the chains, and Christ came bursting forth alive. And he drew him to his side at heaven and crowned him king of kings and lord of lords and majesty forever. And he'll do the very same thing for you. The Bible says he'll raise you out of the grave and you will sit with him in the Father's throne.
And it says just No reason to be insecure because the same power that raised Christ and brought him to his coronation will do the same for you.
So he says, I hope God, that you'll help them. By your spirit, to understand the greatness of the plan and the greatness of the power that will make the plan happen. And then he says thirdly, That they'll understand the greatness. of his person. His person.
And he goes on to talk about Christ in verse 21. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come, and doth put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. He just moves from talking about the resurrection and the coronation of Christ into talking about the majesty. His might is matched by his majesty. You know, it's so important that we know who it is that's in us.
We have Christ. Christ secures us. Christ empowers us. Christ makes the promises of God, yea, and amen. It is Christ who holds us.
You don't have anything to fear, nothing to lose. Everything is possible. Nothing more to seek. It's Christ here. What could be more?
He giveth not the Spirit by measure. Paul said to Timothy, Timothy was getting kind of timid and he was getting kind of beaten down. He was getting discouraged in his ministry. And some of the people were hassling him because he was young. And some of them were hassling him about his doctrine.
And some Ephesian errorists were confusing him. And people were stringing out genealogies. And Timothy was kind of petering out of his ministry. And so. He was getting a little bit discouraged, and Paul says, Listen, fella, you better fan the flame a little bit, man.
You better stir up the gift of God that's in you. You better get the act back together. Take a little wine, get your stomach organized, get your gift organized. And then he says, Above all, do this, 2 Timothy 2:8. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David, risen from the dead.
What does that mean? He's saying, remember the greatness of the person who lives within you. Born of the seed of David, that's his humanness. He understands, he is sympathetic. Risen from the dead, that's his deity.
He is enabling and powerful enough to accomplish all his goodwill through you. Remember who he is, and remember, he's in you. That's the essence of it. And I tell you, that's what every Christian ought to focus on. That's why the Bible says to gaze into the glory of the Lord and to be changed into his image by the Holy Spirit.
If we focus less on our psychological problems, less on our little spiritual problems, less on the little ditties that we do, and more on the person of Jesus Christ, and understood more his power and understood how it is that he is in us, we would be free from a lot of the hang-ups. It bothers me so much that we read so many books on all the peripheral things and so few on Jesus Christ. When's the last time you read a book about Jesus Christ? Who he is? His might matches his majesty.
So he says, Oh God, may they understand his person. He is far, verse 21, far above all principality, arche, and power, exusia. Arche is the word for the first leader, exusia is the one for the second leader with delegated authority. He says, I don't care whether they're good or bad angels, principalities, and powers and dominions and all these other things, those are all names of angels. All titles and ranks of angels.
He's far above all the angels. He is above every name that is named, which means every person in the universe, anyone with any identity, is under him. In this age and in the age to come, and he has put all under his feet. Gave him to be the head over all things to the church. And the church, which is his body, is nothing more than the fullness of him that filleth all.
Beloved, we are filled with him. That's what he's saying. Incredible slide. We are filled with His fullness. And I'm telling you, as you get a grip on The greatness of the plan.
and the greatness of the power. All made possible by the greatness of the person. It's going to change the way you live. It has to. Nothing.
Supersedes Jesus Christ. There's no greater power. No one can ever change anything that He's planned because no one has greater power. No one can love you more. No one can ever do more because he's impotent compared to Christ.
No one can ever love you more because he is loved by nature. And so we're securing him. Great truth. Hebrews 1 tells us he's above the angels. Philippians 2 tells us he's above every name that is named, so that every knee should bow of things in the earth and under the earth.
Paul reminds us here. That he is the one who is head over everything, even the church. Which is the fullness of him that filleth all in all. That last verse. If we had the time, we could spend hours studying.
Do you realize that you are the fullness of Christ in the world? He's chosen to radiate himself through you.
So we made a great plan. And so he energizes the plan. And so he dwells within us. to bring the plan. to fulfilment.
No wonder Paul says. We are. Who pairs Nikkei. Super Conquerors. In Christ.
No wonder he says later in Ephesians at the close of the book in 6:12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and so forth and so forth. And all we need to do is take the armor of God. And then backing up to verse 10, he says, Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. It's all available to us He needs us, beloved, to be His fullness in this world.
John Calvin wrote these words. This is the highest honor of the church. That until he is united to us, the Son of God reckons himself in some measure imperfect. what consolation it is for us to learn that not until we are in His presence does He possess all His parts, or does He wish to be regarded as complete. What a fabulous thing.
He is in us now, and in that sense, he is scattered. And one day when we go to be with him, he will be united. Paul prays that we'll understand it. That's what I pray for you. Let's bow together.
My prayer, Father, for these people and for myself as well. is not that we would find something more. That's Foolish, there is nothing more. but that we would understand the everything we already have. And I pray with the Apostle Paul, O God, may these dear people Your people.
that they may live with a secure faith. That literally transforms their life to the praise of your glory. We offer ourselves. as an act of worship. to you.
to so live that you are made manifest through us. and receive all the glory. In Jesus' name. Amen. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
John's current series is titled Richer Than You Think.
Now, back to something John said in today's lesson. He asked something like, when was the last time you read a good book on Jesus Christ? Of course, you might be thinking, well, I study the Bible regularly. What more do I need to understand who Jesus is?
Well, here were some of John's thoughts on that.
Well, of course, that is the book on The Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible. The Old Testament is about him. As he said himself on the road to Emmaus, that he went to Moses and the prophets and the holy writings, which were the three categories that made up the Old Testament, and spoke to those disciples concerning himself from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is about him. He's the theme.
He said, search the scriptures, for they are they that speak of me. And he was referring to the Old Testament. But the focus on Christ is in the Gospels, the four Gospels, and then of course the rest of the New Testament explains the meaning of his life and work in all its fullness and his richness, and ends up with his second coming and eternal reign and glory. But while all of Scripture Focuses on this main person, the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly the Gospels. Tell The most powerful, wonderful, magnificent story ever told: the story of Christ.
I've always loved the Gospels. They are my favorite part of the Bible, and probably that's true with you if you have studied them diligently, because nothing competes with the glory of Christ. No one comes close. But one of the things that I've always wanted to do was to take the four Gospels, four separate accounts, and harmonize them together into one narrative. Critics say, well, they don't agree with each other.
They're disagreeing with each other at certain points. That's absolutely not true. They're in perfect agreement because there's one author, the Holy Spirit. I blended all four Gospels together so that it reads as one narrative story with every part of the four Gospels blended in. The title of the book is One Perfect Life.
On each page, there are some selected notes from the MacArthur Study Bible to explain some of the things that you'll find helpful. One perfect life, you need to have one of these. It's reading for the rest of your life on that one perfect life. That's right, friend. There is no more glorious or compelling story than the story of Christ.
And this book, a one-volume biography of Christ, Including everything Scripture says about Christ in chronological order, makes for absorbing devotional reading and helpful sermon prep or encouraging discussion with a small group. To get your copy of One Perfect Life, contact us today. You can order One Perfect Life at our website, gty.org. or purchase your copy by calling 800-55 GRACE. The cost is $17 in hardcover and shipping is free.
Again, this book weaves all four Gospel accounts, plus the references to Christ in the Old Testament, into one continuous narrative. It brings the story of Christ alive in a fresh way, with helpful footnotes throughout. To order One Perfect Life, go to gty.org or call us at 80055 GRACE. And thanks for remembering that it's friends like you who make this daily radio broadcast possible in communities like yours across the globe. Your gifts help us take God's Word to spiritually hungry families and churches, many of whom don't have access to solid biblical teaching.
To send a tax-deductible gift, you can write to Grace2U. Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. or call us at 8005 GRACE. And now, for the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378.
And be back tomorrow as we continue John MacArthur's study, Richer Than You Think, with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
