Sermon for 4/19/2009 on Ephesians 3:2-9
The Unsearchable Riches of Christ- Ephesians 3:8
Introduction:
When asked if I was a preacher (pastor) I would say, “That’s what they tell me.” Or “Unfortunately, Yes.” I don’t say that anymore
WBTU:
A. I feel it is a great privilege to be allowed to preach the gospel. In 2008 I was out of the pulpit for less than 6 months. Since 1995 I had been preaching and teaching non stop. When I was out for those 6 months, it gave me a new perspective.
1. (Jer 20:9 NIV) But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
2. (1 Cor 9:16 NIV) Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
B. It is a delight to be able to preach and teach. It is good news!
C. The angels are not going to come down from heaven and tell the news. It is up to us!
D. Young men, if you have the love of Jesus Christ in you, strive to be a preacher. It does not come from a great speaking ability or from a delightfully obnoxious personality, it comes from the Lord. Preachers are taking a lot of hits in our day.
E. (Luke 10:2 NIV) He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
F. We see here that Paul was thankful for the privilege of preaching, but it greatly humbled him. Vs. 8- I am the least of all God’s people. In other places he says that he is the least of the apostles and does not even deserve to be called an apostle, because he persecuted the church. In another verse he says that he is the worst of sinners.
G. I do not believe that is all there is to this. To preach the gospel is a humbling experience. I mourn my weaknesses. The further I go with the Lord, the more I realize how weak and unworthy I am.
I. If we want to be more humble, try some hard work for the Lord. If we want to know our unworthiness, attempt something great for Jesus. Those who have been to the battlefront and know the horrors of spiritual warfare know that they are nothing.
J. Preacher, you should do this or that. Throw away those notes and just get down among the people and holler at them. Good for some! Not for me! Charles Spurgeon, who gave me many of these thoughts this morning, was a great preacher. He would study all week and then get up and preach with almost no notes and deliver the most beautiful sermons in the English language. Good for him! Who did this? The Lord! And the Lord took a shy boy and now I am a preacher. Am I the best? No! That is not the point.
K. (Rom 10:16 NIV) Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"(Rom 10:17 NIV) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Have people respond to the message. Are they responding to me or to the Lord? It is a humbling experience.
L. I covet your prayers!
Thesis: This morning we are going to talk about the who, the what and the why of Ephesians 3:8.
For instances:
I. The Who- The unsearchable riches of who?
A. I love Easter. Why? Because I get to talk about Jesus.
B. (Gen 3:15 NIV) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
C. After several thousands of years, the Christ came. (Gal 4:4 NIV) when the time had fully come, God sent his Son.
E. Over 30 years he lived on earth. Over 3 of his last years were spent in ministry. (John 1:14) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
G. (Phil 2:5 NIV) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus :( Phil 2:6 NIV) who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (Phil 2:7 NIV) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Phil 2:8 NIV) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
Man of Sorrows, what a name For the Son of God who came Ruined Sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah, what a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood- Sealed my pardon with His blood: hallelujah, what a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless we, Spotless Lamb of God was He; Full Atonement! Can it be? Hallelujah…
J. (Phil 2:9 NIV) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, (Phil 2:10 NIV) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (Phil 2:11 NIV) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
K. (Rom 8:34 NIV) Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
L. (Acts 17:31 NIV) For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
II. The What- The What of Christ? The unsearchable riches.
A. Amplified says here- the unending, boundless, fathomless, incalculable and inexhaustible riches of Christ.
B. The riches of the character of Christ are fathomless.
1. After examining Christ’s character, (Luke 23:4) Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
2. These riches have been searched into by adoring disciples. Our example is He.
C. The riches of the truth of Christ are inexhaustible. Christ is the Truth and the Light of the world. Two classes of people deny:
1. The world has outgrown Christianity. This is new millennia.
2. Satisfied that they know everything. The truth project!
D. The riches of love of Christ are boundless. (Eph 3:18) may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ
E. The riches of the blessings given by Christ are unending. We can take these riches with us through death and into eternity. In heaven they will be multiplied.
III. The Why- Why preach the unsearchable (unending) riches of Christ?
A. Messenger comes and tells about his master’s riches. So what? “But all this he wants to give to you, and whoever wants to be rich through him, can do so now!”
B. We have a rich friend, a rich brother, who says, “All I have is yours.” I will not desire to be independent of him, especially when I am in great need. I will live upon him and be satisfied.
C. (Col 3:11 NIV) Christ is all. You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all. Seeking You as a precious jewel, Lord to give up I’d be a fool; You are my all in all. Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, Rising again I bless Your name; You are my all in all. When I fall down, you pick me up; When I am dry, you fill my cup; You are my all in all.
D. How rich we are to have Christ as our Friend! (1 Cor 3:21 NIV) So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, (1 Cor 3:22 NIV) whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, (1 Cor 3:23 NIV) and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
E. How foolish to refuse Christ! (Mat 13:22 NIV) The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
F. Don’t worry about this life, follow after Christ with all your heart and soul and he will satisfy your desires. (Psa 37:4 NIV) Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psa 145:19 NIV) He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
G. He’s all I need, I need not turn to any other, For He’s a friend I can depend, closer than a brother; On this friend I can rely to be my strength as life goes by, He’s the Lord of all, He’s all I need.
H. It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat.
I. Imagine that we have up here all the food that you could eat. Starving for days you would be up here in no time eating. Something worse than starvation deaths happen every day. People die without eating of the bread of life. Jesus Christ is here and he wants to feed you so that you do not die.
J. (Isa 55:1 NIV) "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come; buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isa 55:2 NIV) Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. (Isa 55:3 NIV) Give ear and come to me; hear me that your soul may live.
