Undismissable People

This recording is from Willow Creek Church in Wintersprings, Florida, where Dr. Pete Alanson is our senior pastor. Today's sermon is part 7 in the series on the Book of Ephesians titled Compelling People. I'm belonging to God's mystery community. This message is taken from Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 through 21 and is called Undismissable People, the making of compelling people. Now here's Pete with today's message. Our great Father, we do bow in your presence today as your children and we're glad that we're yours. We're so glad to be able to come on the first day of the week as you've called us and to come into your presence and to worship. To look up and to look at your grace and to be reminded that you're a Father who loves not a Father who condemns. And yet our God, how difficult it is some time to understand how you could be holy, holy, holy, seeing our unholiness and yet still call us children. And love ones and it is because of your love exhibited in Christ and what Jesus did on the cross so today as your people. We come to you at the foot of the cross, very, very aware that we come to you through the only mediation of Jesus and are so glad. That you love us, that you accept us and that you never, ever will leave us. Lord, there's people in this room today who love you, who felt that they have been abandoned, they feel like you have left. They feel that you don't care or that you are condemning them. Lord, we all have sin. This past week we all need you. So we come and confess our sins, we come and confess our need. Father, you know which one of us, and you know those who have had great pain and those who simply need you to lift us up to a new life of vision and hope and faith and of giving and of power. Well, we know that all good things and every perfect gift comes from you and so do you, we come today. And we ask that you would meet us at the very center of our need and that you teach us, you take your word today and apply it into our hearts. Holy Spirit, we ask that you would be the teacher and that we would be learners as you take your word and sovereignly apply it to our lives. Thank you that we could be here today to look into your word and we give you honor and praise in advance for all that you are and all that you will do as you teach us about your love today, for we pray in Jesus' name. If you have your Bibles, take them. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3, the very end of that letter. If you have been with us, you know we're studying through the book of Ephesians, God's letter to a very dynamic group of people who lived in Asia Minor and they were compelling people. They ended up transforming Asia Minor for Jesus Christ. They were not pushovers, they were an incredible group of people and we can too become compelling undismiscible people. Did you see that in the title of the sermon? Undismiscible people and some of you English majors are saying, I'm not sure that's a word, it's not. It's not. I made it up. I looked it up. I looked it up in a ten pound dictionary. It's not a word. But I like it and so I'm going to use it and I'm the pastor and that's it. So Paul is talking to these Ephesians about becoming undismiscible people, people who are compelling, people who simply cannot be dismissed out of hand and said, you don't matter. You're nothing. If you follow Jesus Christ and he dwells, here's the very big idea. Catch this. At the very beginning of the sermon, the very big idea is that if Christ is dwelling in our hearts, we will become undismiscible compelling people. John Updike, the author said this, he said, a healthy adult male consumes up to one and a half times his weight and other people's patience every year. I like that. It's true. I know it's true with some of you guys because I know and it's true of me. I know. But I'll tell you one thing. I know absolutely that compelling people consume at least up to one and a half times their weight in other people's patience. It's compelling because compelling people live for something. People who cannot be dismissed live for something bigger than themselves and they're not just going with the flow of modern culture and what's going on around us. They step in the path of everybody's, they sometimes step in front of somebody and say, wait a minute. You're like the way you're going is a mess. They risk a lot by saying, this is not good. This is better because people's lives are pretty much on a freight train track, aren't they? Going 80 miles an hour toward sex, stuff, status. And when somebody who's really a compelling person steps in the way and says, wait a minute, that's not the way to go. Man, you try their patience and they want to get you out of the way. Well, Paul is that way and we're going to become that kind of people. And you're going to try people and that'll be good. That will be good. I'm reading for, in preparation for Wednesday night, on Wednesday night, I teach the guys and we're doing a study on the father as a leader. There's so much in common with being a father and being a leader. So we're talking about that. I'm reading Oz Guinness's book, Character Counts. That book begins by saying, giving a quote from W.H. Auden, who said this. One of the troubles of our time is that we are all, I think, precocious as personalities and backward as characters. We're precocious as personalities and backward when it comes to character. You see, we live in a day and age in 21st century America filled with personalities. Don't we? We got personalities everywhere. And they're weird. They're all over the place. And these personalities, the standard of being mature and authentic is being out there with all of their weirdnesses. So, for instance, it's becoming very difficult for me to watch the news. Like, I've been struggling watching the news because of two major stories that are dominating right now. And they're all over the place. The first story is Ann and Nicole. Ann and Nicole is everywhere for how many weeks is Ann and Judge Larry. They'll give me wrong. He is a riot. Judge Larry is a riot. He'll have his own show. And as you've surmised, probably he did this to get his own show. He deserves to have his own show. He's a nutcase, the former cabbie from New York who's become a judge. He's just outrageous. He's a personality, but he doesn't have any character. And I'm sorry about Ann and Nicole and all that. It's a mess. The other story is Brittany. I mean that. Now, talk about it compellingly. By the way, don't you think she looks better with hair? Yeah, I do. That's my opinion in the matter. I like her with hair better. Nobody is ever going to include them in a history book of the United States, except maybe in consequential people. We have got personalities galore in our culture. Our media loves personalities. They don't love people with character. They don't exist. We are becoming a lightweight culture. I'm sorry. Politics both parties. You don't see many leaders anymore. You don't see many people with character anymore. And they're not compelling people. And they're so dismissive. So I'll just read God's Guinness's book and read these boring stories of George Washington and William Wilberforce. George Washington, of course, the father of our country who didn't want a second term. But he did it for the country because he was a mad at character. William Wilberforce has spent all of his life fighting to get rid of slavery in Britain and did it finally on his deathbed. It was passed Alexander Solson, Eatson, Abraham Lincoln, boring individuals like that. God is going to teach us today how we can become compelling people in this text. Three words I want you to keep in mind before I read the passage. Prayer, dwelling confidence. Prayer, dwelling confidence because Paul teaches us about how to become compelling people around those three words. Let's read the text and then we'll get started. Ephesians 3, 14 through 21, this is God's holy work. Paul says, for this reason, I deal before the father from whom his whole family and heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness of God. Without to him who is able to do a measurably more than we ask or think according to his power that is at work within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and forever. Amen. The very big idea is we become compelling persons with Christ's dwelling in our hearts through faith. Let's talk about that. First, let's talk about prayer because that's how Paul starts. He prays. And some of you have been with us for several weeks now. We've been trying to get to this prayer for three weeks. So let me give you the background because when Paul starts out and he says, for this reason I kneel before the father we have to ask the question, what's the reason he goes to prayer. Let's go to the next slide because in the next slide we see the reality that in Ephesians 2.10 remember way back then for we are his what's the word workmanship. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good work. See Paul is talking about how you the church are a piece of work. I've said that's shaking my head sometimes and you have to. We talk to each other. We walk out of the conversation. He's a piece of work. She's a piece of work. Wow you are. You are his workmanship. You are the master piece of God. Who was the you? The you was plural. The you was the church. You the church. You Christians. And so in the next text in Ephesians 2.19-22 we saw that what God was about building this people. What is filled with Jews and Gentiles? So you Gentiles can even be in God's family isn't that cool because of Jesus. You are no longer excluded because of Jesus you are brought in. The church is the new Israel of God. Does God have a plan for Israel in the future? Yeah I said, next week at the end of the age I said at the end of the age is going to be a huge influx of Jews that will come into the church. Right now he's primarily the only Gentiles. But we're built into this one temple. We're being built together into a dwelling by which God lives by his spirit. In the Old Testament what did they call a dwelling where God dwelt by his spirit? What did they call that building? I call it a temple. They called it the temple. See a temple is a place where God dwelt by his spirit. In the Old Testament in the temple of God was God limited to that temple or was the outside of that temple as well. You say a trick question. Not a whole. His spirit, his presence was in that temple and the chicana glory was that sense of, hey God is here but God cannot be confined to a temple. He cannot be confined to this world because God is bigger than this world. He's bigger than the universe. But God dwells in a temple and we saw that the church now is the new Israel. The church is the temple of God. You are the temple of God. This is the temple of God where he dwells by his spirit in each one of us. So where his workmanship he's creating a temple Ephesians 3.1 and because he is building this temple Paul says for this reason and he's going to pray for us but he gets sidetracked last week. We saw he got sidetracked this week. He brings it back and he says for this reason because you are the temple of God where God dwells by his spirit because this is why I'm praying. For this reason I kneel before the father from whom his whole family on heaven on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in the inner man. You and I cannot miss that we are the temple and that what Paul is praying is that God would dwell here in a powerful way. And he prays that that would happen because that's a supernatural thing. Those of you who watch TV a lot and watch and read the TV preachers a lot. You hear all kinds of stuff about the temple in Jerusalem, right? And how they're going to try to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem have you heard that? Well the Jews want to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Now here's my theological question for you theological experts. Does God need another physical temple built in Jerusalem? Let me say no. Anybody say yes? Any of you bold enough to say yes? Because these people said no. Well I'll tell you there's a lot of guys on TV who are saying yes. You know right now I could read you this but by the way do you remember on October 8th 1990 that there was a guy Gertian Salmon a leader of the chairman of the temple mount faithful in Israel he let a procession up to the temple mount and they attempted to bring the third cornerstone the temple the cornerstone for the third temple right up there. And it sparked a Palestinian riot that drew worldwide attention 17 Arabs were killed right now Israel has prepared priests ready to walk into the temple once it's built they have their investments they have the temple furniture it's all there it's ready to go they're training the priest now. Because there are some in Israel that believe there needs to be another physical temple in Jerusalem and there are many Protestants in our extended family who think that prophecy teaches that there will be built another temple over there what's my take you ask thank you for asking. There isn't going to be with it might be another temple built over there it'll spark world war three trust me on that but is there a need for a temple no prophecy doesn't say there will be another temple there needs to be another temple the temple is fulfilled in the church you were the dwelling of God you are where his glory dwells we are. And at the end of the age when Israel floods into the church out of be great and glorious but it's not going to be into a new temple it's going to be into the church of Jesus Christ you need to catch something very very important I need to hear as well and that is we the church are the most important element that's going on in this world right now and you don't believe it. And the reason you don't believe it is because the media has been minimizing us for generations the media has been portrayed pastors as all wimpy father mule kees mash you name it you just pick him give me a good strong m16 carrying pastor you will not find him we're all wimps we're all in cuts a question that's why people ask me what I do I tell him I'm a national speaker to men's groups I fly everywhere and then I say and I'm a pastor of the best flock you'd ever imagined and they got to the pastor oh a minister they don't think highly of ministers they think you're nuts the bulk of our culture does and they think the church is an outmoded outdated institution it doesn't matter a bit Paul says you're the temple but God has built you matter the church matters I'm some of you think I'm not against the French I'm not against the French I just I'm reading status anxiety by Elaine de baton I think but he he says this he says we seem beholden to the affections of others to endure ourselves we have a status anxiety he says our ego our self conception could be pictured as a leaking balloon forever requiring the helium of external love to remain inflated and ever vulnerable to the smallest pinpricks of neglect I like what he says there he's right and we in the church have an inferiority complex let me tell you let me tell you what one author wrote he said this he said the church you see is not peripheral to the world the world is peripheral to the church the church is Christ body in which he speaks and acts by which he fills everything with his presence another said this never feudal is the work of the church for it is a product not of the mind of man but of the sovereign grace of God another said we exist for the purpose of serving as an agent for the salvation of people to the glory of God try in principalities and power stand amazed as they see the wisdom of God reflected in his masterpiece the church you're the masterpiece you're the temple this is where it's happened that's why Paul prays that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith in a powerful way that we would get over our inferiority complex and we would understand how important we are in in the world and Paul uses prayer as a side note here notice how he uses prayer to accomplish God's will he says God is building us into into a temple and I pray that you guys would be built into a temple when he talks about prayer he's using prayer to accomplish God's purpose is not his own that's the highest and best use of prayer to further how did Jesus teaches to pray remember the disciples prayer they will be done say together on earth as it is in heaven that's the highest and best use of prayer so pray to God for your needs I mean he hears us he loves us he cares for us but the prayers that he says absolutely I'm going to answer the prayers that are in the flow with his kingdom purposes those are what he's going to answer we illustrate it by saying that say somebody comes up to me and says Pete you you're a pastor you like to do good things for people right sure sometimes would you do something for me sure what is maybe he says listen I've got this crane out there with this wrecking ball on it that is so cool and I've always wanted to wreck a building and you're a pastor you like to do things for people when I come out and wreck your building that you're building out front because you like to do things for people right yeah can I wreck your building about that time what am I doing I'm looking for the walking tall guys guys with the blue shirts I'd say pin this guy down sit on his chest so I can give him a come to Jesus talk what are you nuts yes sure I mean of course I like to do things to help people but do you think I'm going to do what you want me to do that would take it away from the further and so this thing here some people think that's God's that's the way prayer works you see God is sort of this this mystical force up there who could be harness through prayer to do whatever you want him to do so we sort of conjure up God okay God I want this I want that I wanted to go my way God says I hear you I love you and I'm going to answer the prayers further my kingdom in your life and on earth I'm not going to give you ever what Pat Morley says it is the grace of God that he doesn't give us everything we want so in the midst of your suffering and pain and difficulty and trials yeah bring it all to him and say Lord your will be done on earth as it isn't heaven do in and through my pain and suffering not what I think ought to be done but what you want to be done that's the highest and best use of prayer and that's why Paul is praying in concert with God concert with God there's one more detail I got to bring up to you about this prayer says I bow my knees before I kneel before the father from whom his whole family and heaven on earth the rises name everybody has a true parentage in God God is a creator of everybody so he's in that sense the father Paul says I kneel before God what was the common Jewish way of praying nobody know the common what's the Catholic way of praying if you raise Catholic kneeling what was the common Jewish way of praying in the first century most common way was standing with your hands outstretched like this just asking for God's blessing and I you know I'm a Presbyterian pastor I didn't even think I could get my hands up this high what was what was the common what was the other common Jewish way of praying when things were really bad now I feel very awkward before you all want you to know but the kneeling the kneeling was done it's interesting as you trace it in scripture it seems like there's standing for common prayer kneeling when things were really intense in the garden of Gethsemane where is Jesus on his knees when Stephen in the book of Acts is about ready to be stoned to death for his testimony of Jesus and they're throwing rocks at him and he and he says God let this trespass not be held against it where is he he's on his knees where is Paul when he earnestly wants us as the church to be the temple when he prays earn it when something is so intense you tend to go down on your knees because you realize how helpless you are and you need God's power you go to your knees and Paul is right there praying in verse 16 that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit and the inner being Paul was intense that we would be strengthened by God's spirit in our inner man in our inner person I don't like the NIV it's too tank the original text ought to read like the NASV or the ESV that says I pray according to the riches of his grace according to the riches of his grace not out of because when you take out of your diminished and God has never diminished when he gives us anything if I I love grapefruit what if what if I owned a 10,000 acres of grapefruit how many grapefruit would that be a lot and okay but say you come to me and you say peak and I have one grapefruit I take that one grapefruit because I'm a generous guy and I give it to you am I diminished I am good the first service a couple of days yes I am now I want you to understand that if I didn't give you one it would be selfish and I'd be tight and all that kind of stuff but if I give you one one thing out of what I possess to some extent I'm diminished my wealth is diminished even though it's it's infinitesimal I admit that but see the phrase Paul chooses the phrase very carefully he says according to the riches of God God gives to us not out of in the sense that he's diminished when he gives to us he's not diminished he gives to us in consonants with according to his grace and power and he is never diminished so you know I can ask you for anything we want according to his will he'll do it and when he gives us he's not diminished in the least bit because he's infinite without limits and that's why he kneels to God notice he doesn't call God the big guy upstairs he says I kneel before the Father intimacy deep respect because God is the Father the powerful creator of all who is infinite prayer Paul prays this is how we come become compelling people that God's power the word comes from the Greek word dynamite God's dynamite power would be in our life so that we would be well so over 17 so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith and rooted and established in let's see the prayer for power is so that Christ could dwell in your hearts and he'd be alive and some of you're saying Christ dwells in my heart I'm a Christian yeah but Charles Hodge the theologian said but the dwelling of God is by degrees he wants Christ to dwell in your heart but be absolutely free there's two two Greek words that talk about dwelling one says to dwell temporary like at a hotel the other Greek word is a word that means to be there permanently and to feel free at home which word do you think is the word to Paul uses second he says I pray for the supernatural empowering so that Christ would be totally at home in your life wildly free in you totally comfortable in your heart because you're the temple of the Holy Spirit I pray that Christ would not just be in there sort of in the back room but that he would be filling some of you know that my oldest son was married last December he's in that back room back there with the young couple's class and it's great what we we wondered when we thought it was getting serious if Ali was going to work you know she's going to fit our family it's all about me I was wondering is she going to really fit oh we love her it's so good but I knew when they were starting to get serious I knew after about the third four time it was going to work because it was about the third or four time that she started going through her cupboards she didn't ask for a glass she went and found a glass she didn't ask she could go into the refrigerator she went to the refrigerator she found the pantry and started going through it I said this is cool it's going to work she's just such a part of our family we love it she's free and that's what Christ wants to be dwelling in our heart free to go into other area and what happens if we if we allow him to be free and it's a supernatural thing I'm not going to give you three steps to this it's a supernatural thing that's why Paul prays on his knees for this he says if you allow Christ to be free in your life like this you will be rooted and grounded in love why two metaphors rooted and grounded it rooted for you who are of green thumbs that are into botanical stuff right rooted you will go deep remember when they were ripping these trees out there I told you that they started ripping and I hated that because when they take these big old pine trees out there were 30-40 feet high the root went down 8-10-12 feet if Christ is dwelling in your heart you will be rooted and grounded in love for you in the construction he will build a foundation that is deep and strong and that in this muddy place called Florida is not going to get washed away you will be rooted and grounded in love why because you see everything negative was done on the cross he's not going to come to you and say Danny come on just get a little better and I'll love you a little more it'll be cool hey would you just would you just please would you just please stop doing this do this and I will be closer I'll love you more would you he's not going to having gone to the cross and coming out of the grave he's not going to come over to your house and start picking on you what's he going to do he's going to he's going to root you deeper in love he's going to be telling you not about condemnation because there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ he's going to continue to tell you about his love that is unconditional that is so big you can't even imagine it and if you are hearing condemnation and you think it's the Lord I'm telling you you're listening to the wrong person the person you ought to be listening to is in the back room and the person you're listening to is in the living room and you have to get rid of that person in the back back room and start listening to Jesus because he's going to root and ground you in love because he went to the cross and rose again everything's taken care of him and that's why he can be freely dominant in our life sometimes we think God is close that's scary the Belgium confession says for neither in heaven or among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does and when you get that you will be filled to all the fullness of God fullness fullness fullness and you will be a compelling we become undismisable compelling people when Christ's love is so powerful in our heart that we're not listening to the voices out there about our how bad we are or about the voices out there about performance but we're saying I cannot believe this is absolutely correct and we are built up by his gracious love Christ is dwelling our hearts and therefore we have confidence somebody think I'm absolutely nuts right now because I sound a little bit too enthusiastic I sound a little too charismatic hey I quoted the Belgium confession that was a reformed confession you say you seem a little weird right now a little fanatical that's why Paul was on his knees my wife and I just saw the movie United 93 I mean you ought to see it if you've forgotten I love the Odyssey United 93 that is religious fanaticism this is the normal Christian life where Jesus Christ is unleashed in hearts in love this is what makes a compelling person and lest you and I think that God can't do this Paul says now to him who's able to do it seeding abundantly beyond all that we can ask I coined my own word I'm dismissible not a word Paul I do it because Paul did it and right here he says now to him who's able to do the NIV says immeasurably more than we can all ask or imagine that's boring and that's not a good translation the translation that's better is something like super abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think it's such an awkward phrase sort of like undismissible that it communicates lest you think God can't do this in you I want you to understand he is able to do exceeding abundantly super abundantly beyond anything you can ask or think all our prayers for God's will to be done in our life undershoot his ability I'm not giving you up to his true with me and I don't want to be a compelling person don't you you know w h odds words one of the troubles over time so we all we're preoccupied with personalities and not character God can build character when he's at authentically loose in our life this this world wants you to be authentic in this way okay they they if you will just be weird and vulnerable you are viewed by our culture as a mature person because you're weird as they can be but at least you're honest about it tired of weird people our culture is filled with them I want some really authentic people like Paul who could say you know I am the least of least of all apostles the least of all the Christians I've messed up more than you could ever imagine the Christ has been unleashed now I'm not not as weird as I used to be because he's making me different so go out this week and pray this prayer who knows the person in the back room might come up to the front and you might hear start hearing stuff you need to hear and you might be filled up and then you'll get in somebody's way try their patience and won't that be cool because you're a compelling person now we can't dismiss you you take it to heart let's pray Lord Jesus we thank you that we as your people live in the midst of mystery and we ask that now you would move into our hearts in a powerful way and dwell there yes you're there but feel it home take over live with power you love everyone in this room so much that you went to the cross for them unleash yourself in them as we pray in your holy name stand with me for the benediction please and now unto him who is able to do exceeding super abundantly beyond all that you can ask her I think according to his power that is at work within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and forever go out there this week be compelling amen