In this sermon, the speaker shares a story about a hardworking mother who sacrificed to send her son to college. When the mother visits her son's room at college, she notices the pictures hanging on the walls and realizes they reflect the condition of her son's heart. The speaker emphasizes the importance of examining ourselves in light of scripture to see if Jesus Christ truly reigns in our lives. The sermon also highlights the significance of our choices and the impact they have on others, as well as the immeasurable love of God that should motivate us to give up anything for Jesus Christ.

Turning for our scripture reading this morning to the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Epistle to the Ephesians. And this morning we are reading that remarkable prayer of the Apostle Paul, which occurs in these words from the 14th verse on to the end of the chapter. I'm reading from verse 11, Epistle to the Ephesians, the third chapter, verse 11. According to the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. May the Lord bless this amazing portion from his own precious and infallible word to all of our hearts. This morning I'm turning to the scripture that we read, the epistle to the Ephesians, the third chapter, verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. The epistle to the Ephesians, the third chapter, verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. I want you to think of this message this morning as the longing of my own heart for you, and I hope the longing of your hearts for me, for Mrs. Rowe, for us as we launch out into a new field of service. And I'm sure that if we can, by the grace of God, understand something of the message that lies within the words that are before us, then we might well go on rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the outstanding prayers found in Holy Scripture, and as you take it up from the very first word and carry on to the end, you stand astonished as you think of this man, the Apostle Paul. At the time that he was in prison writing this epistle, the love of his heart went out to these people to whom he was writing. And so might we all have that love in our hearts for those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to cherish each other in these days and cherish the love and appreciation of the Lord's people so that we may gather to our hearts a rich encouragement from those who are of like mind in the things of the Lord. If we were to go into something of the experience through which the Apostle Paul had been, when in Ephesus, you can understand something of the fury which he saw as is given in the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. And you remember there in that city where the great goddess Diana was worshipped, and where the thousands of people addressed her as a goddess, and the whole city was in tumult because of the entry into their city of a new mission, a new word, the ministry of the Apostle Paul. And as I read to you just a few words from this 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, carrying on from the disturbance which is given in the first 16 verses, and then you come to the 17th verse, and this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus. And fear fell on all them, on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Verse 20, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. And because of the astonishing success of the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in an idolatrous city, the enemies of the Lord were aroused to oppose this ministry of the gospel through the Apostle Paul. And as you go on from there, you notice what it says, how Demetrius, the one who sold shrines, silver shrines, and made his money out of them, he says, Sir, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands, so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! And the whole city was filled with confusion. And you find in verse 34, But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how the city of the Ephesians is worshipped? Are worshippers of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? And so on you read in that chapter, you read it at your leisure if you will. Now the thought that comes to my mind in connection with this, the great goddess Diana, in that city where many were devoted to this false goddess, the apostle Paul, by the grace of God, had been able to gather together those who were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he writes to them, And one of the deep longings of his heart is this, Not that their hearts and minds shall be occupied with the things about them, or with the things of that city, with all its wickedness, with all its idolatry. It is but that Christ may dwell in your hearts. That was the longing of the apostle, that Christ may dwell in your hearts. And as we look about the world in which we live, with all its many attractions, its lurid attractions, with all its enticements to the young people of our day, to the older people too, when we think of all these things, we think of all the possibility of some great world cataclysm bursting over the world, there is just one center in which you and I can destabilize, and that is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the great longing of the apostle was, that Christ may dwell in your hearts. And this should be our longing for each other, that there should be one ever kept preeminent in our hearts and in our affections, and that one is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How we love to think of this great apostle. He described himself as less than the least of all saints. He knew so much about the Savior that he could only think very little of himself. The more we know of the Lord Jesus Christ, the less we shall be thinking of ourselves. We have no greatness of our own. We have no glory of our own. Our only glory is in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who loved us, the one who gave himself for us. But you will find that in the eighth verse, he says, unto me whom I am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. And so this man who considers himself less than the least of all saints, his mind is occupied with the unsearchable riches of Christ. And I'm sure that if your heart is occupied with the unsearchable riches of Christ, you will have a very lowly appreciation of yourself. Because we ought to be willing to lose ourselves in the ocean of God's great love, that fathomless love, that love that drew you from the depths of sin and despair and hopelessness into the high level of holy communion with God. And he wants that you and I shall live with this as the deep longing of our hearts, that we may live to his glory. And so this portion from the 14th verse on is the prayer. He says, for this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful if you and I could, in thought, in vision, kneel with the Apostle Paul in this prayer. And then we could make it ours, the desire in it, the purpose in it, the longing in it, the depth in it, the spirituality in it, and make it ours, so that our lives may be lived in true conformity to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For this cause, that takes you back over the early part of the epistle. It is a fresh emphasis upon what the Lord Jesus Christ is. The Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of his redemption, in the glory of his resurrection, in all the many, many glories added to his all-worthy name. And for this cause, he says, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so may we, in our own hearts this morning, bow before our God with this deep longing that we shall enter into what this prayer brings out and presents to your mind for your understanding and for your heart's acceptance, that your life shall go out and be lived to his praise. So that here is the petition that he would grant you. And that is that God who forgives according to the riches of his grace, he makes known to the forgiven the riches of his glory. Once your sins are forgiven, that is only the beginning of the rich experience which awaits you in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the unfoldings of his glory. Or may I ask you as believers this morning, you have already begun with Jesus Christ, but have you gone on with him? You have already entered into what it means to say, yes I know that my sins are forgiven, but have you gone on into the rich unfoldings of the grace and the love of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Sometimes that is the reason why Christians hold back is because they just seem to start in the Christian pathway and then they hold back from all that God has for them and they think there's not much in it. It isn't that there isn't much in the Christian life, it is because you have not devoted yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is that you have not, as it were, handed yourself completely over to him. It is only as you do that that you can enter into all the riches of his grace, the fullness of his blessing, which is ours in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You notice as this scripture goes on it says, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. Now it is the inner man which is of concern to you and to me. Sometimes we try to change the exterior of our lives, to present something which is presentable to the world, but that isn't what the Lord wants. He is not satisfied with your exterior or your external devotion. He wants to deal with the inner man, your own heart, because it is there where God wants to deal with and it is there where he wants to reside, to live, that his life may be lived out in your life to his own glory. And so, this morning, let us think of this scripture as God speaking to your heart and mine regarding the inner man, the inner life, that is your will, your motive, your choice. Are we sound as far as these are concerned? Are we living in the will of God? Is our motive pure? Have we made the correct choice? Are we ever choosing Jesus Christ? We need to. Notice in this scripture, there is so much here, but will you notice that the sphere of strengthening is the inner man, that is into the rational, the moral man, the man who lives inside, not the man that is seen by the world or the woman that is seen by the world, but inside what you really are, into the inner man, the rational, the moral man, the spiritual man, may come this inner strengthening by the power of God. In 1 Peter 3 and 4, it is spoken of as the hidden man of the heart. The hidden man of the heart may not be seen by anybody in Victoria, but that hidden man of the heart is seen by God himself, and he is very much concerned this morning as to the hidden man of the heart as far as you are concerned. Will you take it, friends, this morning that the Lord God Almighty is more interested in you as an individual than in the vast universe about us. We think of the universe with all its grandeur, its glory, but that is as nothing compared with your value in the sight of a holy God. It costs the life blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary to save your never-dying soul. And then notice, will you, the means of this strengthening. It isn't something that I can do. It is to be strengthened by His Spirit. The power of God, the Holy Spirit, is for you. How we love to think of this strengthening is recorded in the Word of God. And what is the greatness, what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us, Ward, who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead? Is that the power that I can experience? Yes, that is the power you can experience by the grace of God according to His resurrection power. That's the measure of the strengthening for you and for me. How we love to think according to the riches of His glory. It just seemed as though the Holy Spirit of God gathered all the riches of human language together in order to tell out the fullness of His own heart for you as a believer. Oh, I am sure of this, that if you could understand how rich, how deep, how eternal the love of God is for you, for Jesus Christ, everything that you have or are or ever shall be belongs to Him, the One who died on Calvary giving His precious blood that you might be cleansed from all sin in your life. Oh, hand it over to Him that He may be glorified in your life. And then in that same verse 17 you find it speaks of the indwelling Christ. And this is the thought that may dwell in your hearts. How rich is this thought for you and for me that Christ may dwell in your hearts. Do you realize this that God is closer to you as a believer than He was to Adam as he walked in the Garden of Eden? God is closer to you this morning as a believer than Jesus Christ was to the apostles when He lived amongst them here on earth. Sometimes we say Christ is the master of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation. But He wants to come closer to you than that. It is not enough for Him to, as it were, dwell in your home. He wants to dwell in your heart. And that is what is possible. Well, what does it mean Christ may dwell in your hearts? You go back to the original and you find that it means this that Christ may make His home in your hearts. He wants to make His home in your hearts. He came to the two disciples who had journeyed with Him from Emmaus to Emmaus. And you will find this that as He journeyed with them and talked with them they said afterwards He has talked with us by the way and has He opened to us the scriptures. But you remember that as they drew near to the home to which they were going He seemed as though He would have gone further and they constrained Him to come in. They said abide with us. And He came in and He dwelt with them there. But the Lord Jesus Christ is nearer to you in their home physically but when He comes to you He comes into your home spiritually He comes to make your heart the habitation that He loves to abide in. Just think of that. A sinner saved by grace becoming the habitation of our glorious Lord by His Holy Spirit and He wants that you shall enter into the experience of this. So you notice in Ephesians 2 and 22 that word together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Supposing that every Christian this morning yielded heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ and said Lord Jesus I want that thou shall reign upon the throne of my heart so that out from my life thou will reveal thyself to others thou will speak to others and you know Christian friend that's what the Lord Jesus Christ wants to do with you. You haven't been saved from going down to hell and saved for heaven as I've said many times. It isn't that alone though that is glorious He wants that your life shall be a saved life now. Saved from the very power of sin the grip of sin the power of the devil to go out into this great world to live gloriously as those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God whose life shall exhibit the second person of the glorious Trinity the Lord Jesus. He wants you for that very purpose that in this world with all its sin and shame there shall be at least one in this community and one in that community one in that office one in that workshop who shall live out clear cut to the glory of God. What a privilege it is for you and for me to live for Him in these days. Trying days tumultuous days but oh may God grant that the peace of God may so dwell in your heart that men and women shall know that Jesus Christ is the reality to you and living in that way God shall be glorified in your life and we know this that as Christ abides in your life He will be continually strengthening you no power in all hell can drag the soul down to defeat when that soul is conscious of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God and living with one desire in His heart and that is He shall be glorified in your life and that is notice the scripture we will come unto Him is the word we will come unto Him and make our abode with Him. Isn't that lovely? Think of the triune God speaking in this way the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit we shall come unto Him and make our abode with Him in His holiness in His purity in His peace in His cleansing love in all this He wants to come into your heart and reign there to His own glory We can understand in a measure how it is that the life of the parents dwells in the child the fathers and mothers who are here you think of your child and you are dwelling in that child by the very life you have imparted to that child but that was the natural birth but when we are born again of God's Holy Spirit it is a new life a divine life that has been imparted it is the life of Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit imparted to you and so He dwells in your heart this morning He shares His very life with you as you have been born again of God's Holy Spirit the scriptures emphasize that Christ in you notice this scripture from Colossians 1 and 27 the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory how different from the crying rabble in the city of Ephesus great as Diana of the Ephesians and their minds were directed to the great image but this morning we are thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory who died upon the cross of shame for you and for me now exalted to the right hand of the Father and yet indwelling your heart and mine and so sharing His love and His life with you and with me then you remember the scripture greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world it isn't some theory that occupies our minds merely it isn't a set of doctrines that occupies our minds only it isn't that it's the person who makes the doctrine real who has come to make His abode in our hearts He's the one who makes the Christian life real and worthwhile to all those who will trust Him but how can one who lived nineteen centuries ago indwell your heart you see I don't find it very easy to understand that that Christ may dwell in your hearts you know in the epistle to the Galatians there's a scripture there and there a wonderful scripture notice the contrast here Galatians five and eighteen but if ye be led of the spirit ye are not under the law now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envying murders drunkenness revelings and such like of which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God these things these thoughts these desires these actions which fill the heart indicate very clearly as to who indwells that heart it is what the life gives out that spells who reigns within but you pass from that dreadful contemplation to this thought but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness self-control against such there is no law and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit and so when this is seen in the life of the fruit of the spirit in love joy and peace and so on it is exhibiting to the world as to who lives in that heart and so as you go to the word of God you can soon arrive at the conclusion as to whether the Lord Jesus Christ is reigning supreme in your life or whether he is not and to examine yourself in the light of this scripture will soon reveal to your own heart how possible it is by the Holy Spirit of God for the Lord Jesus Christ to reign in our lives you know what you give your mind to contemplate shows clearly as to who indwells your heart and life and as you contemplate that you think of for instance you sit before the radio one person will turn on one kind of a program another person will turn on another kind of a program but by the program they choose their telling all around who indwells their hearts the desires of their hearts their choice is the interpretation of the heart let us be careful as to what we choose in this world because there are people watching you wherever you go people are watching you watching the choice you make and may they always know that you are choosing that which is highest and best you remember the scripture which emphasizes this same thought whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are the good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things it is our thought life which is indicative as to the one who indwells our hearts let us be careful Christian friends that we only choose those things which glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ how can the Lord Jesus Christ indwell our hearts and live in our hearts as His word occupies your mind how much time do we give to the word of God His word is the unfolding of His will to your heart and to your life and to the extent that we receive His word and His word fills our minds and our heart's desires then it is that we shall give place to His will in our lives and we shall enthrone Him in our minds and in our lives that He may be glorified in all I'd like to put it another way here is one book here is another this book is full of the things that are undesirable for your mind and heart filled with foolishness lustfulness selfishness wickedness here is a book filled with purity nobility truth most enduring one chooses this another chooses that by the choice of that it proclaims who indwells the heart by the choice of that it also proclaims who indwells the heart especially when you take this to your heart with a desire to live it out oh how grand it is for men and women to be able to take the word of God and say Lord lead me into its precious truths unfold this scripture to my heart that I may go out and live it to men and women who are needing it everywhere you know there's a scripture maybe you're not very familiar with it but I'm going to turn to it even though briefly it's found in the book of Ezekiel and as we turn to it just for a moment the eighth chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy if you have it handy there Ezekiel the eighth chapter and the twelfth verse I'd like to read the entire section but it won't take time sometime you'll read this portion through but notice what it says in verse twelve of Ezekiel eight then said he unto me son of man thou hast seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark every man in the chambers of his imagery for they say the Lord seeth us not the Lord hath forsaken the earth go on and read the rest of it notice what it says every man in the chambers of his imagery may I ask you how would we like the chambers of our imagery to be revealed to the world to put on some great canvas for the world to see the things that occupy our minds deep down in our thinking the pictures that are there do we cultivate the pictures which are unclean unholy undesirable if we do then we are proclaiming to ourselves at any rate as to who in dwells the heart on the other hand your mind can be occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and he can ever become to you the chiefest among ten thousand and the altogether lovely and as he becomes all that to you then you can go on to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ what a wonderful scripture this is in that connection 2 Corinthians 6 and 16 ye are the temple of the living God as God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people these are scriptures we might well fasten in our minds an illustration of this is in my mind this morning and I give this out for the young people who are here for everyone I've told it before maybe some years ago of the hard working mother at home who worked in those days at the wash tub to make it possible for her son to go to college and she sent him off to college and she worked laboriously hard to make it possible for him to go after he had been there some time this mother saved her pants determined that she would go to the college to see her boy she went to the college but it happened that he was out he wasn't around and so one of the other students said well I'll take you to his room and you can wait for him there she went to the room and when she went into the room she just looked round that quick understanding of a keen minded mother she saw the pictures hanging on the walls she knew in a moment that those pictures were indicative of the inner condition of her boy's heart wretched pictures wicked pictures but soon she heard the quick step of her son along the corridor and she hastened to the window to look out of the window and as her boy entered the room she said what a wonderful view you have from your room son yes I have mother she hid from him that she had seen all this and then she began to tell of the wonderful picture from the window of his room but that mother went home with a broken heart she prayed what can I do what can I do for my boy those filthy wretched pictures on the wall were indicative of her boy's heart she prayed the lord and then she hunted everywhere until she found a wonderful picture of Hoffman's head of Christ she purchased it and then when the Easter time came she packed it away in a little hamper and she put food stuffs and socks and things she knew her boy would like and sent it off to him she didn't get a reply but sometime later she said I'm going to that college to see how my boy is getting on and she went to the college this time the boy was waiting for her took her into his room somewhat proudly she looked in the main place of his room was Hoffman's head of Christ that mother said son there's a change a change in your room and he looked at her he said yes mother there had to be when he came in and young people if you want the Lord Jesus Christ to be preeminent in your life there will have to be a change when he comes in the Lord Jesus Christ in all his holiness his love his grace can't tolerate the things which are so contrary to purity and righteousness and godliness the Lord Jesus Christ wants no lesser place than the throne of your hearts what can you give him instead of that can you offer him some secondary place no sir there's only one place for your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that's the throne of your hearts you know you may build up what this world has to offer you may have an increasing banking account you may have robust health you may have all these things but if you haven't got Christ you're poor and so this morning as you think of the Lord Jesus Christ giving his life for you upon the cross of Calvary will you not in the quiet of your own heart say yes Lord all to the Jesus I surrender all to him I freely give will you do it he wants nothing less than that that Christ may dwell in your hearts and the life proclaims it does your life proclaim it how does he come he comes into your heart as the Christ of Calvary that you may live a crucified life a life crucified to the world to the flesh and the devil forsaking sin he comes into reigning your life as the Christ of the resurrection that he may impart power and victory that your life may be lived to his glory he comes as the Christ of intercession that you may know that moment by moment he never forgets you he intercedes for you he knows your every weakness your every failing your every defeat and he enfolds you to his own great heart of love in his intercession that you may be born upheld in his sovereign power that you may go out in a strength which astonishes those you work with astonishes them because they know not the one who holds you fast and holds you steadfast and then he comes into your heart this morning and would reign in your heart and life as the one who is coming again for thank God we believe in his glorious return that the Christ of Calvary and the Christ of the resurrection morning is coming back again and he whose right it is to reign will reign and he wants to reign now in your heart so that your mind shall be set on the one who is coming again with a great sense of anticipation of the first look into his glorious face so that day by day your soul is animated and sustained and upborn by the fact that Jesus Christ is to you the unfailing living bright reality that your life shall be filled with a great sacrificial love all young people be willing to let the things go that hold you away from Jesus Christ let the Holy Spirit of God snap the fetter of any sin or anything that holds you back from him but that your life may be lived out launched out on the ocean of the fathomless love of ocean of his grace and his love that your life shall be lived to his praise so that you shall have the joy one day of looking into the face of the one who loved you and gave himself to you and that you may hear him say well done well done good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ye being rooted and founded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God astonishing isn't it our Heavenly Father we praise thee for thy matchless grace we thank thee for thy wonder working towards men and women oh Lord Jesus just gather us afresh to thine own loving heart that our lives may indeed may be lived out to thy praise that the fullness of this scripture may be lived out in full measure in our own lives to thy glory now while every head is bowed in prayer I want to ask this question are there those this morning who say yes I gladly take those words to my heart all to Jesus I surrender with the desire that Christ may have his rightful place in my life that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith that is in simple faith I receive him as Savior I shall also crown him as Lord crown him as the Lord of your life are there those this morning who say yes this morning I do by the grace of God yield to him his rightful place of preeminence in my own heart and life that he may be glorified in my life are there those who will say that is my desire that is my determination thank you I see that are there others who will lift hands to say that anyone as this is the desire that the Lord is implanted in your heart to yield afresh to him that he may have his own way in your life to his glory are there others who will lift hand and say yes this is the expression of my heart's desire are there others before we have prayer are there others who say yes this is the deep longing of my heart that my life may show forth his praise are there others thank you thank you now this is something between your own heart and the Lord are you satisfied with the past what has the Lord in mind for you for the future are there others just before we have prayer is there another our Heavenly Father we would commit ourselves now into thy care and keeping we know not what the future hath of marvel or surprise but sure we are that in thy perfect will our lives can be lived out to thy glory so bless us everyone in the name of the Lord Jesus we ask it amen now we're going to turn to that concluding hymn 888 82 882 882 I hear the words of love I gaze upon the blood I see the mighty sacrifice and I have peace with God I have peace with God I have