This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God’s Word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you’ll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now let’s dive into today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
SPEAKER 01 :
He says, of this salvation, Peter writes, of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. The church, this new society, the salvation offered to anybody by faith in Jesus Christ is a graduate course in salvation for angelic beings. Angels don’t know about the grace of God. There was a whole group of angels who sinned and they were cast out of heaven and will never be given a second chance. So they were there for that. They saw that. But the idea that God would grant salvation, would grant fellowship, would grant intimacy, would grant relationship with human beings, and God continually pours out his grace to us, the angels sit back and go, wow. And one of the things they go wow about is they probably look at some of you and go, I don’t get these people. Here God has given so much to them, done so much for them, made so much available on their behalf, and they don’t use it. God says, pray and I’ll answer you. They don’t even pray. They worry and they kvetch and they call their friends and they look up on social media what to do, but they never talk to God. And yet God loves them still and forgives them still and is patient with them still. And it’s a graduate course on salvation by grace to the angelic beings. He’s showing in the classroom of the universe, God is the teacher, the angels are the audience, the illustration is the church. The subject is salvation by grace. So he mentions that in Ephesians. to the principalities and powers in heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom, that is in him, in Christ, we have boldness with confidence through faith in him. Do you remember what the writer of Hebrews says about how we should come before God? Seeing then that we have a great high priest, Hebrews chapter 4, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly. to the throne of grace, that we may be able to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Then also in Hebrews chapter 10, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Why do we come so timidly into his presence? Why don’t we come boldly? Well, what right do we have to come boldly? Because he said, come. He said, ask. And we’re told how? By the blood of Jesus Christ. If Jesus on the cross said, it’s finished, and God said, that’s enough, why do we think it’s not enough? We should be able to come boldly. Well, I don’t deserve it. That’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant. He made you worthy. He justified you, so we should come boldly. So in whom, verse 12, we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. Therefore, I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Remember I said that it would seem that some of these Ephesians were a let down, if not just feeling sorry for Paul that he had to go through imprisonment. And Paul says, don’t feel bad for me, man. He tells the Philippians, this is by the will of God. This is for the furtherance of the gospel. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. There’s something else before we finish out this letter, and by God’s grace, we will finish chapter 3 tonight. I say by God’s grace. But notice something in verse 11. It says, according to the, what are the two words? Eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you realize that God’s purpose will never be thwarted? It’ll never be thwarted. It will never be pushed aside. God will do what he said he would do. The question is, like Paul, will you allow yourself to be an instrument through which God moves? God’s going to fulfill his purpose with you or without you because he can do it and he will do it. But the glorious assignment we have is to say, here am I, send me. Remember your Old Testament. Remember the story when there was in the Persian court of Ahasuerus, there was a man, an evil man by the name of Haman, who signed a decree that all of the Jews in the empire should be killed on one day. And the reason he gave that order, and the king said it was okay to give that order, the reason he gave that order is because there was a man by the name of Mordecai who worked in the temple complex of Ahasuerus who refused to pay homage and bow to Haman when he would go into work in the morning. Mordecai just stood there. I’m not going to bow down to you. So Haman… didn’t like that, and he realized Mordecai was a Jew, and he said, let’s kill all the Jews in the empire. So Mordecai talks to Esther, his relative, and says, you got to do something. You got to go into the king and approach the king and put an end to this. And Esther says, man, uncle, you don’t understand protocol here. I can’t just go into the king’s chambers any time. I have to be invited. If I’m not invited, my head will come off or could come off. So you don’t understand how things work here in Washington. You know, I can’t just go in. And so Mordecai writes back to her and said, listen, who knows that you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this. But If you don’t step up and say something, deliverance will come from another quarter. God is going to deliver his people because he’s made promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s going to happen. The Jews aren’t going to be slaughtered. God will bring deliverance from another quarter, but you have the opportunity, Esther, to be used. Will you do it? Will you say, here am I, Lord, send me? So she finally wrote back and said, okay, pray for me. I’m going in. And God used her to do it. So according to his eternal purpose, he’s going to accomplish it. You and I have the great honor of being instruments through which he works. When Saul of Tarsus was on the Damascus road, first question he said is, Lord, who are you? Jesus said, I’m Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Second question, what do you want me to do? Every Christian asks and gets answered the first question. Who are you, Lord? They understand who Jesus is. They give their lives to him. But not every Christian gets around to asking, Lord, what do you want from my life? And when you do, man, that’s when the fun begins. That’s when the adventure begins. That’s when you ride the wave, and it’s an awesome wave to ride. So, get into the flow. Ask him. For this reason, now he’s back to the reason that he began chapter 3 with, for this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Now, you’ll notice that Paul begins a prayer here, which is interesting because he’s already prayed, like he does in a lot of his letters. He prays sort of at the beginning. He lets them know what he’s prayed for about them. He does it again. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if he really meant this literally, it would have been a fun sight to see Paul chained to a Roman guard saying, excuse me just a minute. And he has to stand up and then get down on his knees and start his prayer. But we do know that many of those soldiers chained to Paul did receive Christ, according to the book of Philippians in chapter 1 and chapter 4. He mentions that. So maybe Paul meant this figuratively. Maybe Paul meant this literally, to get down on my knees and pray. Which brings up a question. What is the proper posture for prayer today? Well, it’s a fair question. In Genesis chapter 18, Abraham stood before the Lord as he prayed. In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, King Jehoshaphat bowed before the Lord. In The book of Samuel, chapter 7, David sat before the Lord. Daniel, in chapter 6 of Daniel, three times knelt and bowed before the Lord, or knelt down before the Lord. So all of those are proper positions. You can kneel, you can stand, you can sit, you can bow. The position of the body doesn’t matter. The position of the heart matters.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching available to people searching for truth, purpose, and hope. And this month, we want to thank you with a pair of powerful resources to help you understand your identity in Christ and God’s design for your life and relationships. When you give, you’ll receive the Expound Ephesians 9 CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip’s book, Beyond the Summer of Love. Together, these resources explore the richness of the gospel, reveal your place in God’s family, and show how biblical truth brings strength, restoration, and lasting hope to your relationships. We’ll send both resources as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now let’s return to today’s teaching.
SPEAKER 01 :
I like to walk and pray. I like to take my mornings and walk. And while I walk, Pray, go through the little prayer app that’s on my phone for the Calvary requests that come through. Pray for the individuals that ask for prayer. Pray for my family. I like to do it when I walk. I like to do it when I drive. Sometimes the way people drive, I really do need to pray. Sometimes the way I drive, I need to pray, and I probably prompt the prayer of others as I drive. You could lay down and pray. I wouldn’t recommend it because you’ll be falling asleep probably if you do that. But I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. I wish I had time to get into that. I don’t think I really have much time except… Remember it says in Philippians that God has given him a name, the name which is above every name, the name of Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. So all of creation will be subsumed eventually under the lordship, rulership, and the name of Christ. Until then, we are part of the family that go by that name. And that name first crops up in the book of Acts, chapter 11, when Barnabas took Paul, brought him to Antioch, where they taught the people for a whole year. And it says, and they were first, believers were first called Christians at Antioch. Followers of Christ, little Christs. But one day, all of creation, because in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. All things were created by him, that is, by Christ. Then we get to Colossians chapter 1, and it says that in him all things that were made were created by him, and for him he is before all things, and in him all things consist. So one day all of creation will be subsumed under that name. Until then, we bear that name. So here’s his request. Number one, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, which are endless, to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. He prays that God will give them a strong spiritual life. The inner man is the inner you. It’s the real you. It’s the heart of you. You and I have two natures. Old nature, new nature. Before Christ, you were controlled, dominated by the flesh. Now that’s your old nature. You’ve come to Christ. You are, we are, we should be dominated by the Spirit. There’s a war against the flesh and the Spirit. He’s praying that you would be strengthened, dominated by spiritual impulses and the Spirit of God. You know, the analogy is often used and I’ve used it that your new nature is like a garden with fine plantings, fine flowers, all the things you like. The old nature are all the weeds that grow in the garden. I don’t know if your experience is like mine, but this rain that we’ve had, there are more weeds in my garden this year. that every day I have off that I can, I’m pulling up these crazy weeds. I didn’t plant those weeds. I didn’t ask for them to be there. But I planted some other plantings, and I find that those only grow by me nourishing them, nurturing them, and caring for them. I don’t have to do anything to the weeds. They just grow up naturally. I have to actually pull them out and deprive them of life. That’s how my old nature is. I have to weed out certain activities, certain impulses, deprive it of oxygen, deprive it of life, and nurture the inner man. Paul’s prayer, that you would be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height. Here’s a quick question. You’ll notice we’re nearing the end of the chapter and we’re almost out of time, so I think we’re going to make it, but let me ask you this question. He prays for believers in Ephesus… In verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts. Why would he pray that? Does not Christ already dwell in their hearts by faith? If they’re believers, is he in their hearts, yes or no? Yes. Yet, Paul prays that he would dwell in their hearts by faith. Why? The word that he uses for dwell is a compound word That means to dwell down. And it would be translated in English, settle down and make himself at home. So he’s praying for those who have received Christ. They’re formally baptized into the body of Christ. They’re believers. Jesus lives in them. But he says, I pray that Jesus wouldn’t just live in you. but he’d feel at home in your heart. He’d settle down and make himself at home. That’s a question for you. Yes, he’s in your heart, but does he, do you make him feel at home? Do you think with some of the things you see or do or say that he might, if he were with you, and he is, say, you know, you’re not making me feel the love here. I don’t really feel at home with what you’re doing. There’s a great little booklet. I’ll recommend it to you and then I’ll move on, finish this chapter. It’s a little booklet. Every Christian should have it and read it. It’s an old one called My Heart, Christ’s Home. You can get it online. You can download it on Kindle or your iPad or your iPhone. My Heart, Christ’s Home. The author is Munger. I think it’s Robert Munger, M-U-N-G-E-R. Read the that little booklet. It’s all about this concept, how Jesus comes into a person’s life. It’s like inviting him into your house. He goes to the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the dining room, sees what you’re eating, what you’re watching, and it’s a fascinating little short booklet, like a tract almost, worth the read. My heart cries to him that he would settle down and make himself at home. that you being rooted and grounded, your roots will go down in love, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints the width, length, depth, and height. Now watch this. And to know the love of God which passes knowledge. Well, how is that possible? Why would Paul say, I pray that you would know what is unknowable? The love of God passes knowledge. I pray that you’d know that. I pray that you would fathom the unfathomable, discern the undiscernible, comprehend the incomprehensible, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Here’s how. You may not know it intellectually. You and I cannot grasp. I cannot fathom knowledge. I blow a fuse when I start realizing that eternal God thinks about me and loves me, and I’m part of his great plan. It’s like, does not compute. But the word know here, used here, means not to know intellectually, but to know by experience. And when will you fully know by experience the fullness of the love of God? You’re starting to get a little hint of it now, but you’ll eventually realize it in glory. It’ll be your ultimate experience. You’re getting a taste, a foretaste. You’ll have the ultimate experience. 1 John 3, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us. It does not appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is. There’s coming a day when our limited knowledge and understanding will be filled in. In fact, speaking of that, that you would know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now he closes with a benediction. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory. in the church, by Christ Jesus, to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. That ends the first part of the book. Second part is coming up, the walk of the believer. He’s told us who we are and what we have. We’re sitting in heavenly places. Now he’s going to tell us, get up and walk. That’ll be chapter four. But he closes this chapter with a doxology. It’s just like Paul starts thinking about it, going, man, God’s love is awesome. It’s staggering. And so he ends with this. Now to him, and I’m going to put it up in triangle form. We’re going to close with this. Kind of look at it this way. I did it in stages. To him who is able to do, he is able to do all we ask or think. He is able to do above all we ask or think. He is able to do abundantly above all we ask or think. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Anything too hard for God? No, God can do it. God can do it more than that. God can do it more than that. God can do it exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. Not just accordingly, but above it. So God’s power is unlimited, and all of this is based on that. The God who created everything, the God who created new life in you, is going to walk you through this life all the way into glory. And you’ll know what you don’t fully grasp right now. You’re getting a taste of it. So am I. But we’re all growing, we’re all moving, and one day we’ll get the fullness.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God’s Word with people around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it’s needed most. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you the Expound Ephesians 9 CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip’s book, Beyond the Summer of Love. These resources will help you understand your identity in Christ and see how God’s design brings strength and restoration to your relationships. Give today at connectwithskip.com or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
SPEAKER 02 :
Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
