IN CHRIST | Blessed in Christ | Ephesians 1:3-6 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Philip Anthony Mitchell (0:00)

I cried because I just struggled to just think about like the great lengths that God has gone through to demonstrate His love for you and just the hardness of the heart of man.

That man, even his words should be enough his.

I just, I could just lay out right here and go home. I just, I just.

I feel like the weight of this text, it just, it just brings me to tears. I don't fully understand it all. I don't fully comprehend it all, just the weight of the text we approach today, it just brings me to tears, it overwhelms me.

I'm not even sure my words can do it justice. That apart from a supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit, I'm not sure how we even understand it.

I feel like it's strong enough to just read and go home. If you are guests, we welcome you to 2819 where we are serious about the spread of the gospel and the multiplying of disciples. To all of our digital disciples watching live right now across America and around the world, we welcome you. You are an extended family wherever you are, cities all across the country and on continents, across the planet. And if you're in this room or in the overflow, you crept into this chat, you're not a follower of Christ.

We are in.

We too have a brand new series called In Christ. We are walking through the New Testament letter of Ephesians together.

Ephesians, it is, in my estimation, one of the most sound Christological documents ever recorded in the history of man and preserve for us in the New Testament. It exalts the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it exalts our position in Christ, not on the cross, but post the cross, and his ascension and his position right now seated at the right hand of the Father. When properly studied and read and understood, you cannot study Ephesians and come out of it and remain the same. It has the power to transform your identity in Christ and to shape you in identity and in faith and practice. I prophesy to you in faith that at the end of this series, all 20-something weeks, 30 weeks, the way I'm feeling right now, the couple months that we'll be here, I'm in no rush. I prophesy to you that if you sit in these sacred gatherings, you go home and you read for yourself and study, I promise you, you will leave this teaching a stronger disciple. You will leave this teaching with clearer identity. You will leave this teaching for some of you, a transformed man and a transformed woman. You will be a better husband and a better father, a better leader and a better parent. You will not be the same. I prophesy that to you. I hear sister shouting, amen. That ain't churchy. That means so let it be. That is, Lord, what I heard, I want that for myself.

I will text today, four short verses, probably some of the most profound in the New Testament. Ephesians 1, verses 3 through 6

Eternal God and ever-wise Father, what man, Lord, can do this text any justice? I acknowledge, Lord, that apart from the move of the Holy Spirit, no man can understand the unfathomable depths of these verses. The Spirit of the Living God, I pray you who authored these words through Paul, you would illuminate them in the eyes and in the minds of the brothers and sisters. You would stir up the heart of the unbeliever to believe. You would breathe right now on this holy assembly. Hallelujah, God! I pray, God, I plead and I appeal to you. You would do a serious work in the hearts of the brothers and sisters. When my words will fall short, I pray your grace will make up the difference in illumination and light by the power of the Spirit to each one as they need to see it. I pray for help in my frail humanity to communicate, Lord, these words that are beyond comprehension. Help me, Holy Spirit. I ask in the mighty and the majestic, I feel the Spirit, and the matchless name of our soon coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who receive, say, amen, and amen, and amen.

Thank you, Son.

One of the most powerful agents of revelation that we have in human communication is the feature we call the rhetorical question. That when utilized properly, the rhetorical question has the power to drive the human mind and the human heart to deep thought and deep meditation. When used correctly, the rhetorical question has the power to drive the human mind and human heart to a deep revelation, to bring that person's mind to a conclusive answer, some finished revelation in the person's mind. And of all of the rhetorical questions that have ever been asked in the history of mankind, there is no rhetorical question more consequential, more serious in its application than the rhetorical question that was asked by the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century AD of every single person across every generation when the Lord asked this powerful rhetorical question when he said, what will it profit a man to gain the entire world and then lose his soul? What will it profit you to gain the entire world and then lose your soul? What would it profit you to climb the corporate ladder, to get to the bag that you want to, to get everything your hearts desire and then in the end lose your soul? What would it profit somebody to have Elon Musk money or Jeff Bezos money or Arnaud Abel money, like any kind of money? What would it profit you to have all of that and then die in the end and be eternally separated from God in a conscious state of torment in damnation, fire and flame? What would it profit you to acquire all the things that your heart desires in this life, only to lose your soul in the end? The power of that rhetorical question. It brings the reader to the revelation that a life apart from Christ is futile. It brings the reader to a revelation that there is nothing in this life that's more valuable than Christ. It brings the revelation to the reader. Here it is right here. The answer to that question, what will it profit you to gain anything you want in this world, lose your soul? The answer to the question is nothing. That you can have all the money in this world, and if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. You can have all the relationships in this world, and if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. You can have all of the acclaim, all of the titles, all of the platforms. You can have all of the connections in life, and if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. You can acquire anything you think will make your heart feel satisfied, and if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. And the deeper revelation of the question is that if you don't have Christ, you have nothing. Speaking of material things is when the Lord said, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world? He's talking about material things. If the answer to the question is nothing, then the deeper revelation is there must be something we call blessings that's far greater than anything material that you can pursue in this life.