Welcome to Mill Creek Church in Belleville, Texas, where our worship service is in progress. Today, Pastor Monty Byrd continues with his sermon series on the Book of Ephesians. And now, Pastor Byrd. Join me in prayer, please. Father, we just thank you for this joyful time of the season. When we can come together as brothers and sisters in Christ and celebrate the advent. I just pray that as we open up your word this morning, that we may experience the joy of your word, that we'd take it and embrace it, that your spirit would speak to us and that you'd continue to mold us and shape us in Jesus name. Amen. Well, turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians, the third chapter, as we continue our study of Paul's prayer in this chapter. And as has been our habit, as we've been studying the prayer, we'll read it in its entirety first, which begins at verse 14. It ends in verse 21. It reads, For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through His Spirit, that He may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love. and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. And as we are at the end of Paul's prayer, we find ourselves in the doxology in verse 20 through 21. And if you remember from last week, the definition of a doxology is an expressive praise to God. And the doxology in this prayer is the 20th and 21st verse where Paul breaks out in praise in his prayer when he said, now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen. Last week, we studied the beginning of verse 20. And in verse 20, we studied the part where Paul wrote, now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think. And I made a statement in last week's sermon that bears repeating, the doxology of this prayer tells us a lot about Paul's theology. And in the doxology in this particular part, that God is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think, Paul's theology tells us that he believes in a God who does not have limits and a God who operates differently than how we operate or how we think. And when one truly believes in a God without limits, We act differently. We petition him more frequently. We ask of him to solve the great problems in our life. We ask repeatedly. And in fact, later on in Ephesians, Paul reflects this belief in Ephesians chapter six, verse 18, It reads, pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request. And stay alert with all perseverance in intercession for all the saints. In other words, when we believe in a God that does not have limits, we engage Him frequently in a healthy prayer life. And this brings us to an important question when we think about a God that does not have limits. If God does not have limits, if God is all powerful, how does he work? How does a most powerful God work? First of all, let's look at the answer to that question individually. And I'm going to quote a verse that you and I are all very familiar with, Romans 8.28. In Romans 8.28, 29 and 30, it reads, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called. And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified. Now I want to point out two particular phrases in these verses in Romans 8, 28. First of all, we see a God at work in verse 28. It says that we know all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. In other words, if you have been called by the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have been brought out of darkness into light, God is at work in your life. He is always at work. And just as I mentioned last week, that has a range And that range is from either chastisement, when we get off the path of God, God is at work chastising us to bring us back into obedience, or it is in the realm of sanctification as he moves us into holiness, as we progress in our holiness. And in fact, if you look at verse 29, the second thing that I wanted to point out is, for those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed, to be conformed to the image of his son. The power of God in our life rests on the fact that he is conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. And you see it here doctrinally at the end of these verses when it said that those he predestined he also called, and those he called he also justified, and those he justified he also glorified. If you think about your salvation in the correct way, it revolves around the doctrinal words of justification, sanctification, and glorification. He called us out of darkness into light, and He justified us through the shedding of His blood. In other words, through the blood covering of Jesus Christ, God looks at us through the holy and righteous lens of Jesus Christ. We're justified, just as if I'd never sinned. We always use that as a phrase to explain the doctrinal words of justification. But it doesn't stop there, because if you think about in Romans 8, 28, it says that we are being conformed. Now, if I am being conformed, It means that God is moving me to look like Jesus Christ. That's our sanctification. That's our progression in holiness. Our salvation isn't a static idea. It is dynamic and he is moving us to look like the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally, when you look at the end of verse 30 there in Romans eight, it says that we will be glorified. In other words, when God calls us home or he comes back, we will stand before our father and we will be glorified. We will be completely perfected by the power of God. So this idea of looking at your salvation as some binary event where, yo, yes, I'm going to heaven, I'm saved, and that's kind of it. That's not the salvation story. The salvation story is that God is at work. He's at work in our life. He is moving us and he's moving us either through chastisement or sanctification. And it's all so that you and I will be conformed to his image. He is at work. That's not all that he's at work in. He works in us individually. He also works collectively. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12. First Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse 12, it reads, for just as the body is one and has many parts and all the parts of that body, though many are one body, so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all given one spirit to drink. And indeed the body is not one part, but many. God is at work. It says in the doxology that he is working in us. In other words, through his spirit and collectively. Collectively, we are here today as brothers and sisters in Christ, joint heirs with Jesus, all called into the same body. And we've all been given different gifts to exercise those gifts in the body. And he is at work, not only individually, but he's at work collectively in his church. And I think that is an idea. that doesn't get enough attention. Too many times people are looking at churches as, well, I go and I get my attendance and I've got my attendance and I'm a solo Christian and then I go to my car and I go home and then either Wednesday night or the following Sunday night, I'm going to come back and that's all that God expects to me. You're here for a purpose, not only individually, but you're here for a purpose collectively. When you receive the spirit of God at salvation, you have been given a gift. We've all been given gifts. And the purpose of that gift is to build up the body of Christ. Christianity is not a solo sport. Christianity is a team sport. And we need to look at our church, our individual church, our local church, is the way that God ministers to our community through the body of Christ as we gather here today as brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're here, we're together. We've been given a gift to exercise within the body of Christ. And that is through the indwelling of the spirit. And in fact, if you look at verse 13 in 1 Corinthians 12, it says, for we were all baptized by one spirit into one body. That's the commonality of us. We all have a commonality and that's the spirit of God. You look at any organization, any organization, there is a common thread. Even worldly organizations, there's a common thread. Years ago, when I used to have my office in Houston, I was part of Rotary. What's the theme of Rotary? Well, everybody's a business owner. But then there's other organizations. There's motorcycle clubs. There's fishing clubs. There's all these types of things that you can join. You can be a member of a book club. You can be a member of a garden club. There's a common theme. But what sets the church apart is that our common theme is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that's been given to us as a gift through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. And we have fellowship in unity through the Spirit. And the power is through the Spirit. And it was first given to us as a promise by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If you look at John 14, starting in verse 15, Christ says, if you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever. He is the spirit of truth. The world is unable to see him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him because he remains with you and will be with you. Inside of each of us as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the eternal dwelling of the spirit of God. Now that's a wonderful thing. And we need to look at our life that way. If you start looking at your salvation in the light of the indwelling of the Spirit, I will guarantee you that you will conduct your life in a different manner. Jesus just isn't somebody you leave at the door when you're in a place that you don't belong. It doesn't work that way. He is with you. And you can either walk with Him or you can grieve Him. But we've got Him. You've got Him for the rest of your life if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't leave Him at the door. You can't forget about Him. He's there. He will chastise you. He will encourage you. And you can have fellowship with other believers through that unity in the Spirit. It's a promise, but not only is it a promise, it is a necessary component of our salvation. You cannot be saved without the Spirit. And in fact, if you look at Romans 8, 9, Paul wrote, you, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Doesn't belong. Now, if you think about that just for a moment, if you've got the Spirit, you are going to be tethered to the truth of God and to the ways of God. He may let you have a little bit of rope, but he's not gonna let you go. And I'm so concerned about people that say, well, I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I walked the aisle, I made a decision, and they've made their decision 20 or 30 years ago, and their life doesn't reflect any holiness in their life. That's not a believer. If you look at what the gospel says about salvation, the gospel says that if we profess the Lord Jesus Christ, we will bear fruit. And in fact, Jesus Christ in John 15 verse five says, I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit. Because you can do nothing without me. You can do nothing without me. He says that if you don't produce fruit, what does he do? You're thrown into the fire. Our faithfulness, our fruit is not evident of our intellect. It's not reflecting our logic, our self-righteousness. The fruit in our life reflects the indwelling of the Spirit. Turn with me to Galatians 5. In Galatians 5 verse 16, Paul wrote, I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the spirit and the spirit desires what is against the flesh. These are opposed to each other so that you don't do what you want. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things as I warned you before that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love. joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. That's the fruit. That's the fruit. Is that when we have the indwelling of the Spirit, which is a gift, it's a gift. But when we have the indwelling of the Spirit, the Spirit molds us and shapes us. The Spirit changes our appetite. We don't desire the things of the world like we once did. We desire the things of God. We also have clarity because the Spirit is the Spirit of truth that we're able to look at the things of the world and we recognize that those just end in heartache and despair. That's the power that works in us. And when that power that is working in us operates in our life, we recognize that God does not have limits, that God doesn't have limits. Now we're gonna take a little bit brief aside over the next couple of weeks, and we're going to talk about the power of the Spirit. because I think this is so important. And the thing that I think that's neat about this and this doxology, this isn't just something that Paul decided that, man, this would sound good at the end of the prayer. I think I'll write this. This is an expression of praise. Why is that? If you think about this expression of praise at the end of this particular prayer, It is so genuine in Paul's life. Because think about Paul's testimony. He was a persecutor of the church. He held everybody's coats while Stephen was stoned. But yet God in his graciousness called him, transformed him, put him in ministry. And God used him in a mighty way. So as Paul breaks out in praise, it's somewhat of a testimony of the power of God in Paul's own life. Paul is talking about the power that he has seen in his own life. That is why testimonies are so important. Because we need to express our testimony and give our testimony when the Spirit is doing something in our life. Because it encourages your fellow brothers and sisters in their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be looking for the Spirit at work in their life. And I'm here to tell you this morning that the Spirit is at work right now in your life. In each individual person's life in this room, He is at work because that's what He said He would do, that He would be at work. And when we recognize that He's at work, then we can start wondering, what does He want to accomplish? What does He want to accomplish? I've given my own personal testimony about how I fought the pulpit. I didn't want to do this. Didn't want to do it at all. I ran from it. I was called to it. I didn't want to do it. Now you can't beat me out of here. Because I experienced the joy because that's what God wanted me to do. And I don't care where you're at in life. You may say, well, I'm not called to preach. I'm not called to teach Sunday school. You're called to do something. And when you follow him in holiness, and when you follow him in obedience, I'm going to tell you, you will experience a joy that you've never experienced before. When you start letting go of the things of this world, and you start grabbing hold of the things of God, your life is suddenly right. You're satisfied. You find a satisfaction that you've never felt before. You're at peace. You found a peace that you've never experienced before. You can't find that. unless you are in the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 127 reads, unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain. Unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. In vain, you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food. Yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves. We can labor or toil all that we want, but unless we focus on the truth of Jesus Christ and lean on the indwelling of the Spirit, we will not find the power in the doxology that Paul is referring to. I remember when I was in college and I first surrendered to preach and did not fulfill that until 10 years later. All of a sudden I found myself around a bunch of young preachers. And there's one thing that I noticed about that as I looked back later on. There wasn't a preacher one as a preacher kid that said, you know, I want to go to a small town and be pastor of a small church. didn't work that way. Everybody thought that God was calling them to be the next Billy Graham, that they were going to be a part of this huge church. Kathy and I had a friend who said God called him to minister to the wealthy. And you know, I learned that the hard way. I learned that the hard way. And if you know anything about the history of our church, at one point, we were over at Concordia Hall, a local hall that we rented out here in town. And when we decided to go forward and build this building, there were 12 of us. And in fact, one of the persons that voted for that said, I'm voting yes, but this makes no logical sense whatsoever. But God has different plans. And when you are at rest, when you come to the point to where you're at rest in your life, you're at exactly the right spot where God wants you right now. And when you rest in the power of the Spirit, and when you sit there and you recognize it, well, God's either chastening me or I'm in the sanctification process. What does God want me to learn through this? I need to seek the will of the Father. When you start reorienting your life, not for what you wanna do, but what the Spirit wants to do through you, that's when you have peace. That's when you have peace. And that's when you see God work. And as the story of this church goes on, after we started that, how God finished that was a miraculous tale because God was at work. And the thing about God being at work is when we allow God to work in our life, when we seek the power of God, there's only one person that gets the glory and that's God. because we recognize that He's done above and beyond all that we can ask or think. We recognize that we couldn't do that, that we couldn't finagle that, that it's just God. So as we move forward and as we continue to study the power of the Spirit, I hope that we all rest not only in the spirit, but we look at the spirit and we ask ourselves, what is God doing in my life at this particular moment? Join me in prayer, please. Father, we just thank you so much. We thank you for our salvation. We thank you that in spite of ourselves, that you called us out of darkness, that you called us into light, that you adopted us through your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that you're transforming us. We thank you, Lord, that we can stand before your throne with all boldness through the blood carving of Christ. We thank you that we can have joy and peace and that we can read your word and discern the truth of your word through the power of the spirit. I pray if there's someone listening, They've never truly turned over their life to you. That today they confess their sins and they'd embrace you. They'd ask for forgiveness. They'd repent and they'd turn to you. Lord, we just praise you for all things in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for joining us as Pastor Bird continues this sermon series. If you wish to hear more, you may find him at millcreekchurch.org or go to sermonaudio.com slash millcreekchurch. Prayer requests may also be left at millcreekchurch.org. Our church services are as follows. Sunday morning Bible study is at 9 a.m., followed by our worship service at 10 a.m. We have Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible study, and they are at 6.30 p.m. For more information and our mission statement, please visit our website millcreekchurch.org.