Fulness
Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town. June 2024

Eph 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
Eph 1:16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Eph 1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
Eph 1:20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Eph 1:22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
“And all things He put in subjection under His feet, and Him He gave as head over all things to the Church, which is of such a nature as to be His body, the fulness of the One who constantly is filling all things with all things.” Wuest’s translation.

Fulness can be experienced in Christ in the following categories:
1. Faith: Paul heard of the faith and love the Ephesians had for all the saints. They protected him from angry mobs and also supported his ministry to the point that they wept when they saw him for the last time in Acts 20. He sent his protégé Timothy to the Ephesian Church where he served faithfully till his martyrdom at the hands of pagans who conducted an idolatrous procession called “Catagogian.”
Timothy severely rebuked the crowd and blocked their way. They responded by beating him with clubs. He died two days later of his injuries. (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, p. 10, Bridge-Logos, Orlando, Florida, USA)
2. Love. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life. However, we also show our love for Jesus by obeying His commands:
Mat 22:37 Jesus said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Joh 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Joh 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

3. Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
We need the Spirit of wisdom and understanding:
Isa 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

4. Hope of our calling
Calling is for every believer. We can all make our calling and election sure by appropriating the following passage in our lives by the help of the Holy Spirit:
2Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
2Pe 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
2Pe 1:6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
2Pe 1:7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
2Pe 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

5. Wealth of glory of inheritance in the saints
God sees wealth differently: we need to see value versus one dimensional materialism. Humility has a high value in heaven, and pride and arrogance have no place in God’s presence. A simple principle is to see what the world values and do just the opposite!
In the last days, men will be lovers of self and pleasure rather than lovers of God. It is clear that in this current age, people place themselves first dan God last on the agenda. There is a raising of a standard in the church against this evil that idolizes the temple versus the Lord of the temple.
A gym advert recently read: “Your body is a temple, worship it.” What is the purpose of a temple? To serve as a place of worship for the God of the temple. If we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should worship God in Spirit and Truth and lift up Jesus as the Lord of the temple, following His ways and preparing His church for His return for the great wedding feast of the Lamb!
We are called to be confirmed to His image, to share the love and good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, making disciples in His name, baptising them and teaching them all Jesus told us. Matthre28 and Mark 16 are still the commissioning scriptures and John 13 with Matthew 22 gives us the command to love God and people. We are commissioned to go and make disciples of all nations; we are commanded to love God and humanity till He comes!

6. Power
The power referred to here is the resurrection power of Jesus when God the Father rose Him from the dead. Jesus had just shed His blood for the remission of the sins of all forever. He had fulfilled his earthly calling and finished what God had given Him to do. At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah had appeared to Jesus and reminded him of his decease which he was to accomplish.
Have a look at the power released when Jesus died on the cross:
Mat 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Mat 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Mat 27:53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Mat 27:54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Mat 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Mat 28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
Mat 28:4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
Mat 28:5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
Mat 28:6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Mat 28:7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
Mat 28:8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
Mat 28:9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

7. Authority. The unquestionable authority in the name of Jesus is seen throughout the subsequent New Testament accounts of the early church, and throughout the ages of Christianity through this present age. At the name of Jesus, we are seeing miracles and even resurrection of the dead too. We are seeing demons being cast out of lives and the fruit of righteousness and love in the saints all over the world where the Gospel of Jesus and the message of the cross is unashamedly preached.

8. Lordship of the Head of the Church, the Body of Christ
Php 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
Php 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
Php 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

9. Constant fulness in His Church, His Body
“Minister from the overflow.” Jesus is the fulness – the One who is: “constantly filling all things with all things.” Ephesians 1:23
You can only experience the fulness of Christ in His Body, the Church. People who say they don’t need a church are lying and are mistakenly missing out on fulness. Claiming you have fullness without any other believers is a false teaching taught by Satan to being disunity and elevate self above Christ, just like Lucifer did when he attempted to exalt his himself above God’s throne. His pride ejected him from the heavenly realm. He is operating in the lower realms and atmosphere of sphere of trespasses and sins, in the cravings of the sinful nature.
There are many Christian spectators that are not involved in church, they choose what they want to hear and where they submit and to what degree. This is the deception of the present age of Christianity, thinking that you don’t need to belong to a local church.
Watching sport on TV doesn’t make you a sportsman or part of a team. You have to practise together and commit to each other in order to play sport together. You need to know for which team you are playing and who your enemy is!
Team sports is a great teacher and builder of character. Together Everyone Achieves More. The total is worth more than the individual parts alone. The concept of synergy as seen in two horses drawing a carriage far heavier than they could individually. Amplitude works the same in frequencies that coincide.
God commands a blessing where there is unity. Psalms 133.

When I have to do a great exploit for God that is above what I am able to do, I look for a believer that can agree with me.

Mat 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Operating from an accurate local church, that also aligns itself with Christianity ensures that we operate in fulness of Christ who is the Head of His body the church. Let’s find some agreement with Christians and work through the issue and pain points for the sake of unity and to allow the Lord to fill all things with all things! What is empty in your life right now? Pray with a believer in agreement and ask Jesus to fill it!