The Anatomy of the Church: Internal Systems (Ephesians 3)
This sermon offers a focused look at the inner workings of the church, drawing on the metaphor of the body of Christ. It invites listeners to consider what truly gives the church life, moving beyond outward appearances to the core spiritual realities.
This sermon explores the church's vital "internal systems" — the spiritual attitudes, motives, and convictions that lead to heart transformation. It emphasizes faith and obedience as foundational, showing how genuine belief in God manifests in a life of willing submission to His commands.
Overview
The sermon continues a study on the anatomy of the church, using the metaphor of the body of Christ. It asserts that while cultures and styles may change, God's design for the church's function, clearly revealed in Scripture, remains fixed. The preacher illustrates the chaos that results from deviating from God's plan with a humorous anecdote about a frozen chicken.
Having previously discussed the church's 'skeleton'—its fixed, non-negotiable doctrines and structures—the sermon now focuses on the 'internal systems.' This involves the spiritual attitudes, motives, and convictions of believers, highlighting that true spiritual work transforms the heart rather than merely conforming individuals externally, contrasting this with legalism.
The sermon delves into Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, where he prays for believers to be strengthened with power in the 'inner man' through the Spirit, so Christ may settle down in their hearts. This inner cleansing allows them to be rooted in Christ's love, filled with God's fullness, and empowered to do beyond what they ask or think, ultimately bringing glory to God.
Finally, the sermon introduces two essential heart attitudes: faith and obedience. It explains that faith is foundational, involving believing God and His promises, which then becomes a shield against temptation. Obedience is presented as faith's perfect companion, beginning at salvation with a commitment to follow Christ, and continuing as a life purpose that brings blessing and reveals true spiritual condition.
Key points
- The church's character and God's design for its function are clearly revealed in Scripture and are non-negotiable.
- The metaphor of the church as the body of Christ helps understand its essential elements, divided into skeleton, internal systems, muscles, and flesh.
- The "skeleton" represents fixed, rigid elements like the honor of God, exaltation of Christ, holiness, proclamation of truth, and submission to spiritual authority.
- The "internal systems" refer to the spiritual attitudes, motives, and convictions within believers' hearts, essential for the church's life.
- True spiritual work focuses on heart transformation, not external conformity, as exemplified by Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3.
- The Word of God is the only efficient tool for deep heart work, piercing to dissect thoughts and intentions.
- Faith and obedience are presented as the two foundational heart attitudes, inseparable companions in Christian living, beginning at salvation.
In John MacArthur's words
“Controlling can be done a lot of ways, but change can only be done one way, and that’s by heart work, working on the heart, and then that takes care of the outside.”
“The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
“Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Outline
- I. The Church's Design and the Body Metaphor
- A. God's Design for the Church is Clear and Fixed
- B. The Church as the Body of Christ: An Anatomy Study
- 1. The Skeleton: Fixed, Non-Negotiable Elements
- a. Honor of God
- b. Exaltation of Jesus Christ
- c. Presence of Holiness
- d. Proclamation of Truth
- e. Submission to Spiritual Authority
- 2. The Internal Systems: Spiritual Attitudes, Motives, Convictions
- a. The Need for Heart Transformation, Not External Conformity (Legalism)
- II. Paul's Prayer for the Inner Man (Ephesians 3:14-21)
- A. Praying to the Father, Creator of Every Family (v. 14-15)
- B. The Content of the Prayer: Strengthening the Inner Man (v. 16-19)
- 1. Strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man
- 2. Christ settling down in hearts for a complete cleansing
- 3. Rooted and grounded in love, knowing Christ’s love
- 4. Filled with all the fullness of God
- C. The Result: Glory to God (v. 20-21)
- III. The Primacy of the Heart in Scripture
- A. Israel’s Stubborn and Unrepentant Heart (Romans 2:5, 29)
- B. The Word of God as the Efficient Tool for Heart Work (Hebrews 4:12)
- C. Drawing Near God with a Sincere Heart (Hebrews 10:22)
- D. The Manifestation of a Pure Heart: Loving God (Deuteronomy 13:3, 30:6; Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, 33, Luke 10:27)
- IV. Essential Heart Attitudes: Faith and Obedience
- A. Faith: Believing God
- 1. The just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38)
- 2. Faith as a shield against temptation
- B. Obedience: Submitting to God's Word
- 1. Teaching disciples to observe all Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20)
- 2. Keeping Christ’s commandments demonstrates love (John 8:31; 1 John 2)
- 3. Salvation as an Act of Obedience (1 Peter 1:22-23)
- 4. Chosen and Saved Unto Obedience (1 Peter 1:1-2)
- a. Chosen by God’s foreknowledge
- b. Sanctified by the Spirit’s work
- c. In order to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood (Exodus 24)
- 5. Obedient from the Heart (Romans 6:16-18)
- 6. Doers of the Word, Not Merely Hearers (James 1:22-25)
- V. Conclusion: Introduction to Humility
Scripture references
- 2 Corinthians
- Ephesians 3:14
- Ephesians 3:16
- Ephesians 6:6
- Ephesians 3:17
- 1 Corinthians 6
- Ephesians 3:19
- Ephesians 3:20
- Ephesians 3:21
- Romans 2:5
- Romans 2:29
- Hebrews 4:12
- Hebrews 10:22
- Deuteronomy 13:3
- Deuteronomy 30:6
- Matthew 22:37
- Mark 12:30
- Mark 12:33
- Luke 10:27
- Habakkuk 2:4
- Romans 1:17
- Galatians 3:11
- Hebrews 10:38
- Galatians 2
- Matthew 28:20
- John 8:31
- 1 John 2
- 1 Peter 1:22
- 1 Peter 1:23
- John 3
- 1 Peter 1:1
- 1 Peter 1:2
- Hebrews 12:24
- Exodus 24:3
- Exodus 24:4
- Exodus 24:6
- Exodus 24:8
- Ephesians 2:10
- Romans 6:17
- Romans 6:16
- Romans 6:18
- Matthew 7
- James 1:22
- James 1:23
- James 1:25
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 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,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Insights
The character of the church endures, even as cultures and styles may change.
True spiritual work transforms the heart, rather than merely adjusting external behaviors.
Christ can fully settle and be at rest in a life where sin is actively dealt with.
Questions & answers
What is the sermon's main focus regarding the church?
The sermon focuses on the church's "internal systems," emphasizing the spiritual attitudes, motives, and convictions of believers rather than just external conformity. It argues that the church's vitality comes from within, through transformed hearts.
How does the sermon define "internal systems" in relation to the church?
The internal systems are the spiritual attitudes, motives, and convictions that must be present in believers for the church to be what God intends. They are the inner workings of faith and obedience that maintain the church's life, analogous to a body's life-sustaining systems.
Why does the preacher emphasize heart transformation over external conformity?
The preacher asserts that controlling people externally, or legalism, does not accomplish God's work. Instead, the mission of the church is to see hearts transformed, because lasting change can only happen through inner work, which then naturally affects outward behavior.
What does Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 teach about the inner man?
Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 asks God to strengthen believers with power through His Spirit in the inner man. This strengthening allows Christ to settle down in their hearts, dealing with sin so Christ is at rest, leading to a life rooted in His love and filled with God's fullness.
What is the relationship between faith and obedience as described in the sermon?
Faith is the foundational heart attitude of believing God, which enables resistance to temptation. Obedience is faith's perfect companion, signifying submission to God's commands. These two attitudes are presented as inseparable and are both essential components of salvation and ongoing Christian living.
What does it mean to be "sprinkled with His blood" in 1 Peter 1:2?
Drawing from Exodus 24, being "sprinkled with His blood" symbolizes a covenant of obedience made at salvation. Just as blood sealed the covenant between God and Israel, Christ's blood seals the new covenant where God offers grace, and believers commit to follow and obey Him.
Flashcards
Turn your pastor's sermon into notes like this
Record at church or paste a YouTube link. Sermon Notes gives you summaries, scriptures, flashcards, and a daily devotional from your own sermons.
More from John MacArthur
Related on similar themes
Source
Unofficial AI summary for study purposes. Watch the full sermon on Grace to You. Sermon Insights is not affiliated with or endorsed by the pastor or church.