Focusing on Truth – a Study in Ephesians
Lesson Seven: “The Domino Effect”
Subtitle: Truths that Trigger God’s Work
Ephesians 1:15-20
Note: As I preached this message, I used dominos in the following ways:
1) I had the ushers hand one to every adult and teen in the service.
2) I illustrated what I was talking about, setting up a table that I continued building a domino chain throughout my message. It was during the invitation that I knocked the chain over. Every time you see the word “domino,” place a new domino in the chain.
3) The domino played part of the invitation.
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Dominos – as a kid I loved playing with Dominos. Setting them up, snaking them throughout our linoleum kitchen, and then seeing if they would fall in the proper order. Dominos teach us science, about processes, sequences, and the way things work. Regarding sequences, we learn from dominos that:
1) You have to have a starting point and ending point.
2) You don’t start in the middle.
3) You have to make sure there is enough space between each domino to cause an effective chain reaction.
4) To pull out a few dominos is to ruin the chain.
Dominos teaches about cause and effect, about the power of orderly systems, and about the impact of a chain of events.
Ephesians 1 has been very much like a chain of dominos. (domino) We spent weeks talking about the blessings we have in Christ – what are our three blessings? Election (domino), adoption (domino), and living under the authority of Christ (domino). Last week, we learned that because of these blessings, we have the responsibility to bless others (domino) – we saw that the blessings we have allow us 1) to focus on God’s plan for our lives (domino) and His purpose, which is worship (domino); 2) rest in God’s love because of the Holy Spirit that we receive when we believe (domino); and 3) we are blessed to be instruments of blessing, not just recipients (domino).
Today, I want to carry as Ephesians continues to give us a chain of events. Quite simply, up to this point we have seen that we are blessed to bless others, but the last part of chapter 1 – vs. 15-23, shows us the process that happens in our lives when we know the truth and walk in it. As we know the truth and walk in it, we trigger a wonderful reaction in our spiritual walk that draws us closer to God and effects every single area of our lives. Today we are going look at “Truths that Trigger God’s Work.”
We’ve already read Ephesians 1:15-20. These verses make up the majority of a powerful prayer by Paul for the church – and because this book was meant to be circulatory, this would be Paul’s prayer for any church – ours included. This prayer is what Paul would pray for The Journey today if he were here. From this prayer, we are going to see several “trigger” points – dominos – in our spiritual lives that can trigger a greater work of God in our lives. These truths, when embraced, will unlock doors in your spiritual life that would never have been opened to begin with. For our time today, let’s call each point a “truth that triggers” – these truths trigger the greater work of God in our lives.
The first truth that triggers is:
1) My obedience to God is the beginning of my spiritual growth. (domino)
After all the talk of blessing in the first 14 verses, Paul in verse 15 gives the church a compliment that launches him into a fantastic prayer. Read vs. 15 – “I heard of your strong faith and love for Christians everywhere.” It would be really easy to just skip by this compliment/commendation by Paul to the prayer that follows. But this compliment lays the groundwork for the prayer that follows in verses 16-20. In other words, if the Ephesian church and the Christians in it were not living in faith and love, I don’t believe that Paul would have or even could have prayed for them like he did in verses 16-20 if they hadn’t been demonstrating faith and love as seen in verse 15.
Their faith in God and love for others meant that they were living in obedience to God. Faith and love are the ingredients for obedience (domino). If you and I desire to live obediently to God, faith in God and love toward others are the starting points. Let’s define faith and love.
Some people think faith is simply trust. But faith goes well beyond trust, or beyond believing something is true, beyond reason, beyond the mind. Not that faith is adverse to these things, but faith rises above simple belief and reason. Faith is responsive – not just declarative. This is my calculator. I have every faith in my calculator’s ability to solve any math problem. However, no matter how strong my faith is, I will never get the answer until I put my faith into action and press the buttons on the calculator.
Our Bibles are the same way – “Thou shalt not lie” - it does no good to know it’s true if I don’t in faith act as on it.
• Faith is actively trusting in the Word of God. (domino)
Not too long ago, Ed and I were in a boat fishing with Rod. Fishing is a great time for conversation and each of us was proclaiming our growing faith and devotion to God. As we were discussing our faith, my baseball hat blew into the water. So I stood up, calmly stepped onto the water, walked over to my hat, picked it up off the water, and walked backed to the boat. Rod looked astonished that I could walk on water, and just praised God for my faith. As he was talking, Ed’s hat blew into the water. He also very calmly stepped out of the boat, onto the water, walked over to his hat, picked it up off the water, and walked backed and go into the boat. To see the expression on Rod’s face – he was overwhelmed at how spiritual Ed and I were to walk on the water as we did. So Rod said, “If you guys can do it, so can I", and he "helped" his hat blow into the water. He very calmly stepped out of the boat and was immediately in swimming mode. As he fought his way sopping wet back into the boat, Ed turned to me and said, "I think we should have told him about the sand bar on this side of the boat."
Here in Ephesians 1:15, Paul commends their faith. Faith in God is the first characteristic of an obedient Christian.
But Paul also complimented them about their love for Christians everywhere in vs. 15. What is love? Several times in the life of Jesus, He commanded His followers (that’s us) to love one another (John 15:17 on screen). Love can be demonstrated in so many different ways – and the emotion of love is powerful. But when Jesus commanded us to love one another, it wasn’t simply being emotional. Love is meant to be demonstrated practically and expressively – look at I John 3:18 (on sheets-let’s read it together) “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” Real love towards each other is demonstrated expressively, not just emotionally.
• Love is an active expression of an inward emotion. (domino)
Love and faith together make up the ingredients for obedience.
The Ephesian church was made up of obedient Christians who were growing in their faith toward God and love for each other! First they were saying it anyway – now they were “doing it anyway” – turn to the person next to you and say, “If God says do it, even though I don’t like you sometimes, I should do it anyway” – because doing it anyway, living in obedience unlocks a spiritual door that wouldn’t have been open otherwise. Because of their obedience, Paul prays and asks God for some of the most incredible things one could ask for on behalf of someone else – we’ll read it in a moment, and it is all because of their faith and love – the ingredients for obedience. Their faith and love triggered and unlocked some spiritual doors that would not have been opened otherwise.
Let’s fast forward to the 21st century, to Rochester, NH to The Journey. Every day, we have opportunities to demonstrate our faith and love – our obedience – by actively trusting God and loving others. The truths that we read in the Bible give us immediate opportunities to obey:
• Love our wives (domino)
• Honor our husbands (domino)
• Obey our parents (domino)
• Love our neighbors (domino)
• Read the Bible (domino)
• Pray (domino)
• Fast (domino)
These are some simple truths that we can demonstrate our faith and love in right now. If we would simply begin to do the simple things that God wants us to do and live lives of simple obedience, we would begin to see other spiritual doors open up to us. Tragically, we have too many Christians whose growth is stunted and can never move forward because they refuse to grow in their faith, obeying even the smallest things that God has commanded, and they refuse to grow in their love toward others.
Even further, we have Christians whose lives are going wrong and messed up on so many levels, and they are mad at God, the world, me, and everyone else, and yet these same people have flat out refused to take the smallest steps of faith and love that God wants them to take. Faith and love are not just talk – they are action, and they are the ingredients for obedience.
Obedience is the beginning step of our Christian walk. We simply do not progress spiritually if we don’t obey, we’ll only digress. But if we do obey, there is another truth we can trigger.
2) My obedience and prayer triggers an enhancement of the Spirit’s ministry in me (domino).
Because of their obedience, Paul prays the first of two incredible prayers in the book of Ephesians, and he begins by asking for an increase in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives and church – read 16-17.
Before we talk about the increase of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives, notice in verse 16 that Paul sets an example by doing something we don’t do enough – he prays specifically for their spiritual wisdom and understanding – we call this “specificity.” If we don’t pray for something specifically, God might not give it. We need to be people who pray specific prayers (domino) - not “God bless everyone” – that’s too unspecific and unanswerable. God won’t bless everyone. But specific prayers that are brought before God, God will answer (yes, no, not yet). Let this be an example to us to pray specifically.
But Paul prays specifically for God to give them “spiritual wisdom and understanding…” or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Now in the NLT it reads “spiritual wisdom” and I understand why, but the reference is to the “Spirit of wisdom and understanding or revelation.” Some of you are wondering, “what in the world is the spirit of wisdom and understanding”? Let me clarify.
Last week in verse 13, we learned that when we believe in Christ, we immediately receive the Holy Spirit. So every believer, every Christian has the Spirit inside. This week, verses 17 and forward explain that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not a sterile one, or a “one size fits all” ministry, or even an “equal opportunity” ministry. Paul prays for the enhancement of the Spirit’s ministry as we live obediently.
Although different Bible versions interpret it differently, it is easy to see that Paul meant the Holy Spirit because he has been referring to the Trinity consistently (just like in vs 17). This verse speaks of the expanding of the role of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of a Christian. Paul is actually using a title that Isaiah the prophet used in Isaiah 11:2. Just as God the Father and Jesus have many names that describe the way they relate to mankind, so does God the Holy Spirit.
o Jesus called Him the “Spirit of Truth” – John 15:26
o Paul called Him the “Spirit of Power, Love, Self-Discipline” – 2 Timothy 1:7
o Isaiah called Him the “Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the Lord – Isaiah 11:1
So here in Ephesians 1:17, Paul prays for the expanding ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Ephesian believers. This ministry is one where the Holy Spirit becomes the Spirit of wisdom and revelation – where He gives us wisdom to live and make proper decisions; where we receive a greater understanding of God and how He loves us and works in our lives; and where God reveals Himself to us more and more. What is wisdom? God given discernment. Revelation? God revealing Himself.We have the ability to grow spiritually, mentally and emotionally because the Spirit guides us by giving us greater wisdom, by speaking to us through the Bible, through others, through the witness inside of us.
Wisdom and revelation is something God wants us to grow in (domino). Look on your sheets at John 15:26 - But I will send you the Counselor[a]--the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me. And on the screen, look at John 16:13-15 says (read it). God wants us to have a better understanding of what we are to do with our lives (domino)! God wants us to hear His voice in our hearts (domino) and as we read the Bible (domino)! God desires to expand His ministry inside of us! And God does this through the Holy Spirit, who guides, counsels, gives gifts to, enlightens, encourages, convicts, empowers and more.
But too many Christians simply relegate the Spirit’s role to being only a conscience. The only time you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit is when you get involved with sin. That would be similar to a parent who only interact with her children when she corrects them! That is so limiting to what God can do, and it is called “quenching” or “stifling” the Holy Spirit. Let’s read together I Thessalonians 5:19 on your sheet – “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.”
When I was four years old, my sister who was 7, would tease me all the time. One night, she started chasing me around the house with a lighter (my parents were smokers). To get away from her, I crawled underneath my parents bed, at which point she proceeded to take the lighter and stick it under the bed as well. Because it was an older mattress, it almost immediately caught fire, with me under it! My brother Ray pulled me out to safety, but the firemen came and put out the fire – they quenched it, stifled it. When the word “quench” or “stifle” is used, it carries the idea of putting out a fire. The NIV actually reads, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”
We sang this morning the song “Revival Fire Fall” – we are praying for an increased ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our church. The Holy Spirit is like a fire dwelling in each one of the believers. He wants to express Himself through our actions and attitudes. He desires to minister to us in areas of wisdom and understanding and revelation like we don’t yet know. But we can quench the Spirit, put out the fire by not walking in obedience or not desiring to grow. It is my prayer that we allow the Spirit to increase His ministry, and not stifle it.
What domino effect is playing out in your life right now? Take out your domino. Hold it up. That domino represents a truth in your life that if you know you need to act on that you haven’t yet, that prevents God from working in your life further. If you will obey that truth, it will trigger a deeper work of God in your life. The question is, will you respond?
o Christian – the Spirit is revealing what this trigger truth is right now that you need to walk in. Will you do it? I challenge you today to commit this moment to God in decision, and respond to the truth you need to.
o Maybe you are a Christian walking in obedience – the truth that will trigger God’s work in your life is for you to pray specifically for an increased work of the Spirit. Will you take that step today.
o Non-Christian – every chain has a beginning. The starting point is believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. (carry on)
Imagine the influence an entire church acting on the truths they know could have – what it would trigger in their midst, and in their community! Will people hear about our “strong faith and love toward Christians everywhere”?
- Come to the altar of decision.
- Lay down your domino.
- Pray and ask God to step in the truth that He has revealed to you today, that your domino represents.
- Pick up your domino – write the date on the back – keep it as a reminder that made a decision to obey God in the truth He revealed to you today.
