Look with me please this morning as we turn once again to the book of Ephesians. Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus where we continue a portion of his letter that not only speaks words of encouragement to the congregation but also reveals what Paul is praying for. with regard to the congregation in this particular passage of his letter to the church. And we find within it an example of a prayer that should be for all of us with regard to the church, of our fellowship together both collectively and also the life that we've been called to lead individually. And so what I would like to do this morning for a moment is to look back to verse 15 where we were last Sunday and read through verse 23 as we are picking up the second half, if you will, of this prayer or this prayerful note that he has for the church. So if you would join me in looking on Ephesians chapter one, beginning with verse 15. Therefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you. Making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places 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 he put all things under his feet and gave him to behead over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in Well, when we think of this passage, especially looking in verses 19 and 20, as Paul has began in verse 18, talking about the hope of their calling, the riches of the glory of the inheritance, and then he speaks of the greatness of power. Now the greatness of power that he speaks that is within their grasp within their possession as a believer and as a Christian. It is a sad thing in life for a believer not to understand The power that God has provided for them in their life as a believer, as a Christian. There is a well-documented story of a small town in Texas. The name of that town was Itasca. Now Itasca dates back and it's settling to the early to mid-1800s. But just before World War II, this small town had a stunning tragedy happen to it. Their school caught on fire, and as a result, 263 children were lost. Now, small community as it was, just prior to World War II, they were devastated. It was a tragedy of such that everyone could say that there was probably not a family in that city, in that township, that was not affected by the loss of life in that school. Because World War II was about to begin, nothing was done. They were without school facilities whatsoever until after World War II was over. In the aftermath of the war, though, like many other towns, they began to grow, soldiers came back, things began to pick up, and they became in need of a schoolhouse once again. So this time around, they determined that they were going to build a school that would be the envy of all others with regard to safety for their township. And so one of the outstanding features, especially for this time in our history of that school, was they had put in and designed a sprinkler system for the school building itself. Their determination, of course, was that this tragedy was never going to happen again. In fact, so pleased and so proud of the architecture and the design and the construction that they would even take their honor students, their highest achievers, got the privilege of being tour guides for people who would come in and check out the building and the design, so much of a marvel that it was. Well, a few years after that, as the town continued to grow, the schoolhouse was no longer big enough for their enrollment. Good news, right? Good problem to have. And so as they began to make plans and actually enter into the construction phase of adding on to the school, they discovered something that was amazing. The sprinkler system, though it had been installed structurally, had never been connected to the water supply. For all those years they had been walking and coming to this building imagining that they had done something, and they had, and yet the sprinkler system was absolutely worthless because without power, without the water flow, it could do nothing. There is a strange situation here that Paul is addressing somewhat with regard to the church, and it becomes a problem for the heart of the church and even many believers today. And that is that you and I have the capacity and the wherewithal that we may have the best theological books that money can buy, that we can read. We might even adopt what are considered robust confessions of faith to guide our church and direct our church. We might sing Christ exalting songs. We may even be certain and discerning, if you will, that we attend biblically faithful churches. And yet. In spite of all of this, found within the church still are those who are living at the effect of disconnected lives, even as believers. Failing to understand and appropriate that which God has provided to them. It is there, but our utilization can often not be. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand. Paul's not addressing the Ephesians as if they need to be saved again. This is not about redoing their salvation or their relationship with God. It is about renewing it. It is not about salvation at all. It is about the believers' sanctification. For that is what he is desperately in need of. And for the Ephesians, that would be the challenge of the continuation of their lives. To try to understand this maybe a little bit more, one writer put it this way. As he spoke of his own weakness in his life, he said, I have failed at times to recognize and appreciate the total resources of God himself that are at my disposal. After all, I have His power, His power that He has given me to help me resist temptation. I have His power within me to help me overcome bad habits. I have grace added to abundant grace that enables me to cope with any situation. But how embarrassing it is that I would not appropriate that which God has existing within me and before me. This is, in a sense, I believe, what Paul is directing us with regard to the idea of utilizing the power. What an embarrassment it is, what a humiliation it is, or it should be, for us as believers, that here we are, a child of God, a believer, a follower of Christ, and yet we are woefully illiterate when it comes to His Word that, in fact, would equip us and help us know how to use those things that are imparted to us through the ministry of God's Holy Spirit. It is embarrassing as one moment on time in the famous Tournament of Roses parade. Those of you who have seen those many times out in California, it's my understanding on occasion, one of the floats broke down in the middle of the parade. It ran out of gas. Everything had been stopped until somebody could get a gas can out to the float. Now, if that wasn't embarrassing enough, the float was the float representing the Standard Oil Company. Ah, and thus we've compounded the embarrassment and the problem. And so it is with God's people too. So when Paul speaks of this idea of the fullness of Christ, he's not talking about the fact of what's not there. He's talking about recognizing and appreciating and using what is there. This becomes the problem. We have spoken before about the idea of people desiring some experience, some idea that they don't have, but Paul, once again, directs them to the fact of not what they don't possess, but what they do possess. In chapter 2, he will speak to them about who and what they are, not what they have been, but the here and the now. And so when we look to our text here as we pick up in verse 18 and verse 19, he speaks of the power that they are to enjoy. He uses that word. When he looks in verse 18, he says, in the latter part, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power, where? Toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. Paul's words for power in these verses are worthwhile for us to take a moment and remind ourselves. One of the common words that he uses here is dynamis. Dynamis is the word from which we get dynamite. It is used over a hundred times in the New Testament. You can well imagine that it is a stored dangerous power to be unleashed. He uses a word that is translated from the Greek for power, we see it in our translations, that is, energia, or energia. It is, of course, the word from which we get energy, if you recognize that syllable. And it suggests an inward propulsion. An inward propulsion. Something that's going on within, like an engine to a car, in the same way with us as believers. It is no accident that Paul uses those words when he tells the believers to work out There's salvation because he recognizes that the strength spiritually lies within heart and mind and will and spirit according to God's word. Thirdly, he uses the word for power that is mighty, kratos, which means ability to conquer. Ability to conquer. Now, that is an interesting word that Paul will use as it's translated in the book of Romans when he says, we are more than what? Conquerors in Christ. Once again, the tagline is not incidental. The idea that we are conquerors in Christ. Paul is talking about, I want you to know the fullness of Christ, so that you may realize and enjoy the power of Christ. And so when he presents this to us in picture, he's using these descriptive words to remind us of what he reveals to us as we see it here in these two verses. When we go back to verse 19 again, the greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power. Now, His mighty power to do what? In which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, the power of God, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Well, let's talk about that for a moment. The greatest display of God's power is certainly connected to that of Christ. It is not only the death, but even more so the resurrection of Christ. It is not just the sinless life, and not just the sacrificial death, but it is the fulfillment of this in the resurrection of Christ, so that He may take the place that Paul names in Ephesians, of sitting on the right hand of the Father. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, Paul famously wrote in God's word, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. So the power that he speaks of is a saving power. For the believer that Paul is speaking to, he's not suggesting that he needs to get saved because he's not doing well enough. He's saying because he is saved, he ought to be doing better. So it is a saving power that's already been applied to our hearts and our lives. And yet, Paul desires that we recognize that not only is it a power that brings salvation, but it is also the power that brings sanctification. Now, let's try to understand that for a moment. We can look, as it were, in Ephesians 3, verse 20, where Paul writes now to Him, who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, how? According to the power Now where's that power at? Paul says that's the power that works in us. He's not saying go to the store and buy it. He's saying it's here. It is a power that works in us such that we have a relationship with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ that not only can we ask, we should be asking. We should be asking. We should be pleading and praying. There's a tragedy that happens sometimes within the church, especially on the theological basis of the church, when we imagine that God is all and over all, and he'll remind us again that that's still the case. For Christ is the authority over all things. And we imagine, what's the use in praying? There's a huge use in praying, because the same God who's provided all these things has also provided the means by which you are to enjoy them. He has provided the means by which you will receive some measure of understanding of them. And a great part of that is indeed our prayer life, which we plead with God, we pray to Him, we ask of Him to do those things at times that would seem to be impossible things from the world's point of view. Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Where though? In Christ Jesus our Lord. The purpose and the principle of Christ sitting on the right hand of the Father is more than simply there to listen to us. He is, in fact, the means by which we can cry out to Him. Philippians 3, verse 10, Paul writes here that I may know Him. How may I know Him? I know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed, not to my death, but to His death. being conformed to his death, to understand all the more and desire to be sacrificed ourself, meaning that to know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being informed to his death is a means by which we receive and enjoy the power that helps us live before God the Father in Christ in a manner that we should. And what is that should? It is that which God has asked of us, required of us, and demonstrated before us in the life of Christ himself. We'll see that no more on display than what you see in Philippians in our Sunday morning Bible study as you come into chapter 2. You're going to find that Paul uses the very example of Christ. He will point him out that he reflects everything that God would desire of us and that you and I are to imitate and emulate in our own lives. This power that is in the Lord's exaltation, His lifting Him up. Let's return back to verse 20. Which He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 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. So now we have a passage of Scripture here in verse 20 and verse 21 that is almost too wonderful for you and I to be able to understand and even describe. Because the first thing he reminds us of is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power that is found in this. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, where Paul writes here, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. What is the mystery? As it's been revealed, God was manifested in the flesh, that is Jesus taking on human form, justified in the Holy Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in glory." Now, there's the short course, isn't it? Declaring to us who is Christ, what has Christ done, and declaring it, as he says in 1 Timothy 3, as the mystery of godliness. What an interesting phrase to apply that. It is, of course, declaring to us and understanding an example, not only the divine act of God, but the divine example that God has given us to reveal to us the mystery of godliness. How so? Because Christ has condescended from the throne of God, from heaven, and he's taken on a body of human flesh. He has taken on that body of human flesh so that he may live in a godly way that completes and pleases God. Because what he fulfills completely in the resurrection is not only to possess the body, but to live sinlessly in the body and to be the first fruits, as it were, in his death and in his resurrection. Such that it is the path that has been blazed for all of us to follow. Here's the difference. Christ beautifully, sinlessly, powerfully walked down that path. He comes down, He takes on the form of human flesh, He is both God and man, He has done everything that God would command of Him, sinlessly, perfectly, to the cross of crucifixion, where He does not die for His own sin, He becomes the sacrifice, the atoning sacrifice, the source of redemption for all of those whom God has given to Him, as Paul has already pointed out to us in Ephesians chapter 1. So we have all been received unto him because he has paid for us. And now he's about to explain to us that not only has he paid for us, but he owns us twice over. He owns us twice over. For he is there for our creation and he's there for our redemption. He becomes the firstfruits of people, as Paul puts it to us in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Later in verse 23, he writes, but each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ at his coming. So his resurrection is absolutely impossible to separate from our salvation and our hope in Christ. Because it is only in the resurrection that he becomes the first fruits of that which every one of us are to follow in. Now, I liken this when I say that Christ has done this. Christ has walked down this path and he's done it purposely. You and I are like children. Our greatest hope is to hang on to the Lord's hand. to keep upright, to keep walking. We want to stay stable. We want to stay on our feet. But oftentimes we stumble and we fall. Why? Because we have a body of flesh, but we are not both God and man. We possess. We possess the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. We possess a relationship with God, and yet we are not both God and man as Christ was. We fail. We fall short. We sin. The temptation in our mind, in our heart, and in our bodies gets the best of us. And therefore, that's the reason why God, in His love and His mercy and His ever-abundant grace, has provided a means that even in this life, as a child of God, He has provided, through His Son Jesus Christ, our Advocate with the Father, the means by which we will recognize our sin, because we possess the Holy Spirit, We can recognize our childlike sins, but if you want to be one who's truly sensitive, one who's truly aware of his sin, then grow in Christ. The more you grow in Christ and His Word and His Spirit, the more self-aware you are. Now, sadly, just like in the movies, our superheroes sometimes use their powers for good and sometimes they use them for bad. You know what happens when a believer uses his power for bad? It's when he studied up on sin so that he can accuse somebody else rather than accuse himself. You understand the difference? When we become professors of sin so that we have the ability to see everyone else's, but yet we rarely admit and confess our own? We fail to appreciate that verse where it says, if not for the grace of God, there go I, that Paul gives us in Galatians. So we understand this power that God has given us is to be used and it's been utilized for our benefit, for our growth, for our sanctification, for our calling that he's placed on us. Paul has made no mistake when he tells us that we are to strive to do what? Walk worthy of the calling that he has given us. The difference is God, through his Son Jesus Christ, has not given us a book and said, go out there and do the best you can. No. God dwells in us. The Holy Spirit is with us, and He calls for us to be in Christ as He is in us. Hebrews 4, verse 15. The writer of Scripture says, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Now, two things are at work here. Number one, The Lord is not surprised by our failure. He is not shocked by our shortcoming. He has seen it all before. And so we have someone that we cry out to, that we seek God's face, we seek God in prayer, in what? In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we rely upon the fact that it is Christ, our High Priest, who will be the one who will advocate on our behalf. It is not as if that God does not know, but God desires to hear. He desires to hear the advocacy of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on behalf of those who belong to Him, whom God has given to Him, when they come to Him with what? When they come to Him with confession of sin, with absolute desire and effort made to repent of that sin. To do so is to take advantage and utilize the power that we all possess as believers. Romans chapter 8 and verse 34, Paul would ask this question, who is he who condemns? Who is the one who accuses? He says, it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. One of the things that is wonderful to think about is the Christ that is our Savior, the Christ that is our Advocate, the Christ that is our Intercessor, the Christ for whom God has brought to us such power and grace in our life as believers. He is not only the source, but He is the source and the dispenser of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We don't often think of it this way. We imagine that we are to summon the Holy Spirit, but my friend, the Holy Spirit can and will not give us anything or do anything within us that Christ has not directed Him to do so. The Holy Spirit says that He'll bring to our remembrance what? Christ. Bring to our remembrance Christ's teaching, Christ's actions, Christ's behavior, Christ's commands, so that we may understand all the more how we are to apply to them in our lives. Ultimately, The prayer that Paul brings forward to us, and we're reminded in verse 21, is that it is a recognition and a reminder that Christ is, in fact, over all things. Notice how Paul puts it. 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. So the exaltation here, is the fact that Christ is over all things, past, present, and eternal future. There is not a single thing that He does not possess the authority and the sovereignty over. That's the point. Now, that's one thing. But this is where I want you to begin to embrace. One of the things that is so tremendous about this knowledge of Christ can be summed up in the words of our Lord's own prayer in John chapter 17 and verse 24. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory which you have given me for you love me before the foundation of the world. I am struck by the words of Christ in John chapter 17 when we began to look, not only first of all, try to get over the fact that Christ loves us so much that not only has he lived, died, and been resurrected to sit on the right hand of the Father to intercede for us, but in his priestly prayer before God the Father, before he died and was resurrected, he said, I long to have these you've given me with me. But where does He want us with Him? Before God? Before the throne? In the most beautiful, most powerful thing that we could possibly see so that they may see His glory all the more compared to what they see now. To appreciate and understand what has been given, what has been provided in Christ. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 18, once again it's the Apostle Paul who's writing, to the church at Rome, and he gives the description of suffering to glory. He begins here by saying, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The glory that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 17. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. So what he describes to us in those verses is that along with all of creation, it is by God's divine will by His divine authority and plan that we have been both redeemed by God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ, we have also been given the measure of the ministry of God's Holy Spirit dwelling within our hearts and our lives. We have been provided the revelation of God's Word and God's command to hold in our hands and to read and to consume in our hearts and our lives. And he says that you are to remain here for the time that I have set aside and this is what I want you to do. I want you to suffer and to thrive in this life. Now, those two don't really go together for us, do they? But Paul makes no bones about it. It's not a question of if we suffer or if we have problems. In fact, the Scriptures promise us that we will. And he says, but it is determined that I desire that you thrive in it, that what you know in part you now groan for knowing more. He speaks of this all the way through verse 23 to our own existence, not simply the animals, not simply God's creation in and of itself, which he says is also groaning. Let me tell you something. We as stewards and the people of the world today almost form a religion with regard to climate change and ecological issues. Now, I want you to understand that I believe that just like Adam and Eve, we are to be good stewards of what God has given us. But I want you to know, even the trees and the animals are anxiously awaiting for God's kingdom to be restored. Not this pitiful stuff we're doing. That's their suffering. And for you and I, it becomes the same, whether the difficulties of our life, whether it be physically, whether it be politically, whether it be geographically. Paul is saying, yes, let us groan, let us cry out to God, looking forward to the return, looking forward to the fulfilling of his kingdom of God. Looking forward to that number that nobody knows about. Nobody even knows where they live. Nobody knows their names. But there is a number that God is redeeming unto himself that are his church. Oh, we'll get to that in just a moment. That are a part of his kingdom. And we all long for the day that that roster is filled. For the Bible promises it in that day. In that day. Our return. Because It is not within our purview to determine it. It is solely within the power of God. We turn back to our text again because it reminds us He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body. the fullness of him who fills all in all. Well, let's remind ourselves of a passage of scripture that is incredibly important with regard to this subject. In Colossians chapter 1, beginning in verse 15, where the Bible says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, where the thrones, the millions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. So we are reminded again that Christ was already creator of everything. And we now see that everything is twice His. Because He made it and He bought it. So when we think in these terms, it becomes that much more important that we appreciate the specific meaning and the implications of what it means when the Bible says that Jesus is the head of the church. What does that mean? Well, the Bible describes that we, as his children, believers, as he is the head of the church, we are the body. We are the body. Now, we understand the common sense application of that when we think about the importance of the body to the head. I was always fascinated years ago when there were certain people who as they were approaching death had left instructions because they were confident in the day that someday that we would be able to create bodies and then attach heads that once lived back on top of them. And so they had their heads with their brains frozen. And so the determination was that when technology caught up with all of this, that they'd be able to form these bodies, which by the way, it's getting pretty scary as it is. And the idea that somehow that the living part of their brain, memory, concepts, all these things could somehow be reattached, that it become a living thing with them in it. Now, there's a scary form of logic to that because we recognize that our body is, to some degree, understood that the head to the body is absolutely important. My fingers are not just hanging off my hand. Someday they might. The Lord lets me live long enough. But they are an extension of me. Me is right here. In the thinking, in the planning, in the understanding, in the thought process. A bridegroom. is not complete without a bride. The vine is not complete without branches. The shepherd is not complete without sheep. Now, what I want us to wrap our mind around, and maybe you thought it this way, maybe it doesn't mean as much to you as it does to me, but I want you to try this on for size. I want you to think about this. In light of this, fathom the depth of our Lord's love for us. Because the Bible directs us to understand that as Christ is head of the church and we are the body, it is telling us that from day one of eternity, that we'll never find on the calendar. God has determined that Christ is not complete without us. We are spoken of in God's Word to be in Christ and Christ in us. But by virtue of God's determination and plan, He has presented to us in Scripture that His only begotten Son is not complete without us. We are the body to Him as head. What an incredible thing. We just keep thinking we're signing up for something. We keep thinking that somehow we've been included on something. But the fact of the matter is, if you'll allow the illustration here, what is happening here in some sci-fi picture, spiritually, is we now have the head of the church. And for everything that makes up the body, if you will, of Christ and the church, is being added to it every day. Wasn't that the great miracle, the New Testament church in the book of Acts? Luke wrote to us that people were being saved and added to the church daily, and I've got no reports that it stopped. I don't know where the pinky is or whether it's been found yet, but it will. Every single part of the body of Christ as the church, God has promised that He is the head of it. and He will rule and reign over it. And there will be a day as the body, the church, continues to take its shape and its form until it is finally complete and we will be ushered into an existence before God where the body of Christ, the church, will conduct itself in a manner that is absolutely pleasing and honoring and glorifying to God. We will be with Him where He is so that we may see for the first time truly the glory. It's what Christ said, I want them to be here with me so that they can see my glory. Hebrews, as we read this morning, says we see, we see in part. We see in part. But we cannot begin to imagine the fullness of all this. We see Christ, yes. Paul says we see Him all right, we see Him in His sinless life, we see Him crucified and risen again, firstfruits on our behalf, sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. Now when I say we see it, we don't see it with our physical eyes such that we can look up in the sky at night and find it like we find the stars. But in fact we do see it in our understanding of what God has revealed to us. and the gift of our salvation. Paul writes to the Ephesians, his blessed brothers and sisters in church, and he said, listen, I want you to think again. I want you to think again and again and again about what God the Father has given you. I want you to think of this as Paul is writing to the Ephesian elders and the Ephesian congregation. This letter will find itself read of the churches that have been founded here, the New Testament church in the early days, in the infancy, if you will, of the existence or the identification of the church. And here we stand, thousands of years after all of that. Paul is unloading. This revealed word to the Ephesians. And my goodness, I can only imagine with the ministry of God's Holy Spirit, how is it that an Ephesian convert begins to contemplate all that what Paul is giving him. Amazing. You know what's even more amazing? That here we stand in the year 2025. And yet, it is not simply possible, it happens, that we sit here and read these verses and these pages of God's revealed word, letters that were sent to congregations who were hanging on every word, and we will flip through it without a second thought. Is that possible? Is it possible that we rejoice that we're saved because we're counting on the fact that there's a place for us in heaven? and yet failing to even begin to plumb the depths of what a relationship with God truly is? To imagine ourselves never getting out of the cradle, spiritually, of our life in Christ? Never wanting to crawl, never wanting to speak, never wanting to walk, let alone run, and oh my goodness, work? No. And yet the Bible would tell us that those who seek all of those things, will not only appreciate and appropriate the power that God has possessed them with, but in fact, they will have a greater joy, a greater sense of comfort, and a greater sense of peace as they groan and wait for the return of Christ. This was Paul's prayer and intention for the church at Ephesus. And I believe it is God's intention for us, too, through His Son, Jesus Christ, that we would just not wander through this life aimlessly, imagining that we're simply subject to the whims and the ways of the world that is around us, but that we would understand that we are the children of God. We are the body of Christ, a body of which Christ is the head of, the creator and the sustainer of all things. And let us cry out to him and let us seek not simply to understand but to receive that which he desires to do in our lives and in the lives of others. One that will include both the suffering, the trouble and the tribulation, and also the joy and the comfort. of the promise of His Word that tells us that there is a sweet moment here, and the sweetest moment here cannot compare to every day up there. The most difficult trouble and trial that we endure, and this is saying something because it's relative to where everybody sits here today. I understand that. But the Scripture plainly says that that which we endure today cannot, cannot touch in its intensity the glory and the goodness that awaits us. They cannot be compared. Now in our most painful days, that's a tough, that's a tough word of comfort. It's even tougher when we haven't been reading it ourselves. It's even tougher when we haven't prayed daily, seeking to understand and appreciate it more. It's tougher still when we cannot appreciate the sovereignty and the authority of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, over all things. I want you to understand something today. It is not my intent. In fact, I think it is disingenuous for anyone to stand up here and tell you that a life in Christ is an easy life. That to walk in holiness and godliness, to work on our sanctification, is just the greatest, most pleasurable joy of our daily routine. That is not what the Scriptures tell us. It is not what the scriptures show us. Let me tell you something. Being a follower of Christ is not for wimps. It requires strength. It requires submission. It requires discipline. It requires work. But my friend, what a lie of Satan. There is no other relationship in our lives that doesn't require work. Most of the times, those relationships that we have don't work because we won't. Even when we put the greatest application to it, our only hope that it is successful at the end is the fact that everyone involved belongs to Christ. And you say, well, that's with everybody else. Indeed. Now let's talk about your relationship with the Lord Himself. It requires work too. Is he demanding? Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh no, my burden. The burden is easy in life. That's what he said in Matthew, right? It's easy in life compared to being in this life under the burden without God. That's the difference. But is it worth it? Absolutely. Absolutely. God blesses us every day along the way and He promises us that that's nothing more than a down payment of what's still coming. Everything else we have in this life has built into it diminishing returns. Did you know that? Diminishing returns. Whether it be the physical nature of our body, That the Bible says it's decaying? I don't need to tell most of you that, right? We have our own tales to tell with regard to that. Everything that exists in this life, empires, civilizations, countries, boundaries, all those things never last. They're always being changed, always being moved. Somebody starts a war, somebody decides they want to rule the world. Somebody decides they have the answer for all economic problems and instead they just blow the place up. None of these things have any lasting effect. That's the reason why the scripture says they're temporary. But that which we have with God is not. It is the hope of all eternity. And when I say it is the hope, I do not mean that as a wish. It is the promise of all eternity. May we know it. And as Paul is pleading and praying for the church at Ephesus, may we know it better.