How The Love of Jesus Abounds For You

Philippians is a letter from Paul the Apostle to one of the churches in the city of Philippi,

which was called Little Rome.

And he begins this letter by addressing them and then letting them know his prayer for

the church.

So today we'll read our sermon text, which is really verses 7 through 11, but I'd like

to read the entire prayer.

Philippians 1, verses 3 through 11.

Philippians 1:3–11

And I read this trusting that it is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient

word.

It's God's very own word for you, his people.

When I'm done reading, I'll say this is the word of the Lord and you can respond, thanks

be to God.

Paul prays this way in verse 3.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request

for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete

it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, in

as much as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are

partakers with me of grace.

For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

in this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,

that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere without offense till

the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness that are by Jesus Christ,

blessed to the glory and praise of God.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, it's truly a mystery.

How much you love us.

If it weren't for your word telling us so plainly, so clearly,

of the abounding love of Jesus for his church, we would have no way of even receiving this glorious truth.

We thank you, Lord, that you are so loving and in your love you have not been silent,

but you have been clear and you have spoken a strong word of assurance and abounding affection

that Jesus puts in his people.

And we pray today, Lord, that by the power of your Holy Spirit, ministering your word in the Bible to every true believer,

Lord, that you will strengthen our faith, that you will help us to receive even more of your love today.

Lord, for those here today who are still in darkness, who know nothing but emptiness on the inside,

I pray, Lord, that your abounding love will break through and capture them, Lord.

For your glory we ask.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, last week, the word was Philippians 1.6.

I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

And I stood up there and I told you that quote by Robert Murray Machine about assurance.

For every look you give to yourself, take ten looks at Christ.

And I need to confess that as I was preparing for this sermon today, I was struggling to do that.

Because I read this prayer of Paul and I just was so convicted.

I don't have this kind of affection for the church.

I don't have this longing in my heart.

I don't have this abounding love.

And I feel like I'm just the opposite.

So how am I going to not be a hypocrite and minister the truth of this prayer?

And very late last night, the Lord, again, washed over me with his grace.

I'm taking ten looks at myself and my shortcomings.

And with his help, I just need to receive the abounding love of Jesus once again myself.

And that's been my prayer for you as well, that you can receive it today.

If you look at Philippians 1.8, Paul says this love that fills his heart, notice who is the source of it.

In verse 8, it's the affection of Jesus Christ himself.

Paul didn't muster up or generate more love for the church.

It's the love that Jesus has had all along that he puts into Paul.

It's the affection of Jesus Christ.

And with that love in his heart, he prays, verse 9, this I pray that your love may abound still more and more.

You and I love because he first loved us and gave his son for us.

So, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, I want to show you today six glorious truths about how the love of Jesus abounds for you.

How the love of Jesus abounds for you.

First, the love of Jesus strengthens your faith beyond sight.

The love of Jesus is what strengthens our faith beyond our sight.

Christians are told to sharpen one another as iron sharpens iron.

And I want to talk to you about the love of Jesus strengthening and sharpening your faith like iron.

I know nothing about science, so I had to look this up.

How is iron even made?

I know that if you're driving toward Aspen, there's a place called Carbondale.

And just after that is Redstone.

And you can see old iron furnaces.

And what they do is they take the iron ore and they apply extreme heat to it, a heat furnace.

They just blast it with heat.

And that puts all the particles in motion.

But then they have to hammer the iron.

And the hammering, it makes those particles separate.

And it's removing the impurities that are mixed in.

So how do you make strong iron?

It's heat and hammering.

And look at what Paul in his life is experiencing.

You could say he's experiencing extreme heat spiritually.

And extreme hammering.

And as a result, it strengthens the faith and the love inside of him.

Why do we say spiritual heat?

Well, notice he talks about the chains he's wearing.

He's a man under persecution.

He's been arrested for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And in verse 7, he says, I have you in my heart.

And verse 8, he says, it's how greatly I long for you.

I long for you all.

So here's a man in chains, in prison.

Neglected, abandoned by the church in Rome.

Because people were preaching Christ for very selfish motives.

Neglecting Paul.

And he feels the heat of persecution.

A longing to be with the people of God.

You've been through a time without a church.

You've been through those seasons.

And it's one of the worst things to go through.

Growing up, my parents were missionaries in a very remote part of the world,

in northern Brazil.

We didn't really ever have a church from when I was 10 years old to 16.

And I just remember getting to Oklahoma where I met my wife.

And I didn't really care what church it was.

It's a church.

There are Christians here that believe in Jesus Christ.

I'm with my family.

And I remember that feeling of,

this is what I've been missing out on for all these years.

And Paul longs for that because he's isolated.

It's the worst kind of imprisonment.

It's solitary confinement.

And he's in chains longing to be with the church.

That's the heat that God is lovingly applying to Paul's life.

What about the hammering?

Paul's getting hammered.

He's got the Praetorian Guard, the elite Roman guards all around him.

And even in this position of being a prisoner,

he is having to defend the gospel.

He's getting accused.

He's getting attacked.

He's having his own faith questioned and challenged,

not to mention the spiritual hammering he's receiving.

Satan accusing him.

Satan provoking him.

He's missing out on taking the Lord's Supper with God's people.

He's missing out on someone else ministering the Word of God

to remind him and to help him rest in the truth of the gospel.

He's under extreme hammering.

I told you I want to encourage you that the love of Jesus

strengthens your faith beyond your sight.

This was true for Paul.

It's against all visible evidence.

There's no earthly reason that Paul had to hope.

And yet he says,

I pray for you with confidence that God will finish what he started in his church.

He says that this heat and hammering, so to speak,

it produced two things.

A confirmation in verse 7 and confidence in verse 6.

So as he's being attacked and having to defend the gospel,

God is giving him confirmations that this gospel prevails.

In verse 7, it reminds me of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4.18.

We do not look at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary,

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

And God is building this strong faith into him on the world that is unseen.

Jesus Christ on the throne,

extending his kingdom over all the earth,

through all the cities,

through all the peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues,

from the islands to the coastlands,

believing in the advance of Jesus and his gospel.

And he wrote,

you are partakers with me of grace.

In his chains, longing to be with the church,

he's reminded,

this is what we have in common.

This is what I truly long for.

It's not just the friendship.

It's not just the softball,

or these other things that are wonderful blessings,

or the hobbies, or the great food.

It's not just that.

It's the partaking of Christ's grace together.

Father, that's what I really long for and miss.

James Montgomery Boyce,

a wonderful pastor,

he had shared this thing he got to witness at a conference

for a lot of pastors from all over the world

that was held in Europe years ago, decades ago.

And he just remembered, you know,

as people are coming into this conference center,

there is this guy from Africa

that looked very distinctive.

He had the tattoos on his face,

and he had scars from being in wars.

And he was a partaker of this grace

that Paul's talking about,

sitting there with all these other pastors

from all these other nations.

Well, at one point in the conference,

these two believers from Central America

came up and told their testimony.

One of them shared how he was one

with a spear in his hand

who had killed innocent people,

including missionaries,

who had come to bring them the gospel.

And God broke him down,

tore his heart open,

and flooded him with grace.

And as these men from Central America

are telling their story,

when that session ended,

everybody's going off for the next event.

This man,

before it was even announced

that you are dismissed,

from Africa,

who had the scars on his face,

came running down the stairs,

running down the aisle,

and he wrapped his arms around

this brother from Central America.

And he said something to the effect

that I am you.

He means,

I know this grace you're talking about.

I'm an enemy of God.

I'm a partaker of grace with you.

And he wouldn't let him go,

and he hugged him for so long.

That's what it means to be a partaker of grace.

You know, just like Paul,

I'm the chief of sinners.

And we have Christ, Jesus,

as our Savior.

And He is the King.

We serve willingly in His army.

And it's such a joy.

And that's why Paul writes,

it's correct.

It's in alignment with God's moral law.

It's righteous.

Verse 6,

for me to be confident

that God will complete His work.

Romans 5, 9-11 says,

much more will we,

having now been justified by His blood,

we can know that we shall be saved

from wrath through Him.

For if we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God

through the death of His Son.

Much more than having been reconciled,

shall we be saved by His life.

And not only that,

but we also rejoice in God

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received

the reconciliation.

The love of Jesus

strengthens your faith

beyond sight.

Do you see, church,

how the love of Jesus

abounds for you too,

you who are a partaker

of His grace?

I don't know what you're going through,

what's in your sight right now.

Maybe some of you feel like

God is putting you through

heat and hammering.

And I pray that you will not

bear that burden alone.

Paul's laying out his heart

to the church here,

so they can also pray for him.

And that you will remember,

God is working in you

an iron-strong faith,

because it's not rooted

in anything you bring to God.

It's rooted in the covenant faithfulness,

the steadfast love

of the Lord

for you, His people.

His abounding love

through Jesus Christ

to His church.

Well, the second truth

in this passage

is that though your outer man

is crumbling,

the love of Jesus

sustains your inner man.

Though the outer man

is crumbling,

the love of Jesus

sustains your inner man.

Now, this point,

it has to be inferred,

but I want you to look

at verse 8.

In verse 8,

Paul says,

God is my witness

how greatly

I long for you all

with the affection

of Jesus Christ.

In verse 7,

he says,

I have you in my heart.

The Greek word here

for heart,

it really refers

to the seat

of reflection

and thought.

So God has put the church

in my reflection.

And when he says next

in verse 8,

that I long for you

with all the affection

of Jesus Christ,

the word here

is the inner words

of Jesus.

The inner parts,

the seat of emotions

are stirred up in Paul.

So he's very in tune

with his inner man,

his heart,

his affections,

his inner being.

It's being sustained

by the abounding love

of Jesus.

And we do know

from the book of Acts

and especially

2 Corinthians,

what was going on

in Paul's outer man

because this is

a prison epistle.

Paul by this time

would be a very old man,

most likely in his,

well, I won't even say it

because I just said very old

so I don't want to make

anyone feel bad,

but probably early 60s,

which today it's a little

different than back then.

But you know,

the life expectancy

in the first century

Roman society

was age 25.

If anyone's around 25 here,

you'd be middle-aged in Rome.

And so for Paul

to be in his early 60s,

he was called,

in Philippians 1, 9,

he actually called himself

aged.

We know that he wrote

the letter to the Galatians

with large letters

so that it could be proof

it was his own handwriting

because he had failing eyesight.

And that was an early book.

How bad are his eyes now?

In 2 Corinthians,

we read that Paul

was beaten with rods

three times.

Some of us have gotten injured

brushing your teeth

or something like that

you throw out

a part of your back.

Imagine the ligaments

and the muscles

without physical therapy,

without medicine

that we have today.

A beating like that

three times with rods

on the body

of an old minister.

On top of that,

his skin and muscles

and tendons

were lashed

five times.

He wrote of having

an ongoing thorn

in the flesh.

Most likely,

according to his letter

to the Corinthians,

the second one,

he said that he fought

with wild beasts.

Maybe like you'd picture

a gladiator,

but here it's an old minister

with bad eyesight

being thrown

to the wild beasts

and God sparing his life.

He summarized it as,

I daily face death.

That's what's going on

with Paul and the outer man.

But to the Philippians,

they don't need him

to rehearse

any of those credentials.

They know,

they respect him,

they love him.

He simply says,

in two words,

my chains.

That's how I'm doing physically.

And still,

in verse 8,

because of the affection

of Jesus Christ

for me

and in me,

in my inner man,

I long for you,

church,

in my heart.

It's the affection

of Jesus Christ

who loved us

and washed us

from our sins

in his own blood.

Revelation 1.5.

Paul's confidence

is in the inner man

sustained

by the affection

of Jesus Christ,

according to Romans 8.38.

He says,

I'm persuaded

that neither

death nor life,

nor angels,

nor principalities,

nor powers,

nor things present,

nor things to come,

nor height,

nor depth,

nor any other

created thing

shall be able

to separate us

from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord.

That's what sustains us

in the inner being.

And his message

to all the churches

and to you and me today,

2 Corinthians 4.16,

therefore,

we who are partakers

of grace,

we do not lose heart.

Even though our outward man

is perishing,

yet the inward man

is being renewed

day by day

for our light affliction,

which is but for a moment,

is working for us

a more exceeding

and eternal weight

of glory.

Though your outer man

is crumbling,

the love of Jesus

sustains the inner being

of every true believer.

Some of you

are living with

chronic pain

and all the problems

that raises.

When you don't get

enough sleep,

it affects everything

in your life,

doesn't it?

The inner man

will be sustained

by Jesus Christ.

and one day

you'll receive

a glorified body

just as Jesus

in his glorified body

will never perish.

You'll receive

this same body

that's crumbling

all around you.

It will be resurrected

and made perfect

and you'll get a walk

with Jesus Christ

and follow the Lamb

wherever he leads you

one day.

So trust him.

By faith,

he will sustain

your soul,

your inner being

until that day.

Oh, how the love

of Jesus,

it abounds for you

and me

just as it did

for Paul.

The third truth

I see in this passage

is that

the love of Jesus,

it flows

through you,

through Paul,

through a Christian

to his church.

The love of Jesus

doesn't come to a life

and stay like a pond

that gets stale

and stagnant.

The love of Jesus,

it's living waters

that flow through

a believer

like Paul

and like you

and like me.

It flows through you

to his church

and to everyone

who believe.

Notice in verse 9

he says,

this I pray

that your love,

the affection

of Jesus in you

may abound

still more and more.

Do you remember

how John the Baptist

spoke of Jesus Christ?

He said,

He, Jesus Christ,

must increase.

How does that happen?

As I decrease.

What Paul is saying is

the love of Jesus

increasing in you

abounds more

and more and more.

It goes from good

to better

to great.

Excellent.

The love of Jesus

is not decreasing.

It's not a diminishing returns.

It's a never ending supply

of the affection,

the love of Jesus

poured through

his believers.

And it increases

still more

and still more

and still more

every day

by his grace.

I've had to think

a lot about

this relationship

of how

the love of Jesus

flows through us

in such a way

that God gets

all the glory

and we don't touch

any of the glory.

but yet it's

through his people.

I don't know

that I'll get it

quite right today

but what was helpful

as an illustration

to me

came from one

of the commentaries.

All good works

depend on God

filling you

with his love.

So the love of God

is like the pressure

behind anything loving

that you will do.

And the love of God

flowing through

a life

that is increasingly

free

of two things

evidences itself

for God's glory

as fruit,

the fruits of righteousness.

So the illustration

it's from the field

of electricity.

Something I also

don't know anything about.

But he says that

when you're running

an electrical current

through a wire

or through a system

you can have two things.

You can have resistors

and condensers.

Resistors

impede the flow.

They're blocks

that are blocking

the flow of electricity.

And then condensers

are holding on

to the flow of electricity

for their own use.

So if the pressure

or the currency

flowing through this channel

is the love of God,

as God sanctifies me,

he's removing things

in my life

that are resistors

to his love

flowing through me

to his church.

And he's also

convicting me

and causing me

to repent

and give up

other things

that might be condensers

where I'm holding on

and some of the love

he's shown me

that's intended

for his church

but I was holding on

to it for my own purposes.

He says,

I pray

that your love

may abound

still more

and more

and more

and more

so the Spirit's

making you

a better

and better channel

of his love

flowing through you

for his church.

He says that

this is a type of love

that flows through you

that abounds

more and more

in knowledge

and all discernment.

Verse 10,

that you may approve

the things

that are excellent.

So it's a love

that is a discerning love.

It's a love

that is informed

and given

by the Holy Spirit

to help you understand

how God designed

for love to operate.

The word discern

is used also

for testing money

or a currency

to see if it's counterfeit.

It was used

in the ancient world

to describe

political testing

to see if a candidate

is credible

and commendable

for a political office.

So this love of Christ

is a divine love

governed by

biblical principles

based on the knowledge

of God's word.

It's a love

that is according

to knowledge.

It's a knowledge

that describes

a spiritual,

relational knowing

of God.

Knowing truth.

Knowing sound doctrine.

And you only can do that

through the study

of God's word

with his people

by the help

of the Holy Spirit.

It reminds me

of what he wrote

in Romans 12,

Romans 12:2

verse 2.

The purpose

of God's ministry

of the word

and growing us

in knowledge

is that we will

be transformed

by the renewing

of our minds

so that we can

test and approve

what is God's will.

His good,

pleasing,

and perfect will.

So the love of Jesus,

it flows

through true believers

to his church.

And it does so

as we grow

in our knowledge

of God

through his word

by the help

of the Spirit.

You see how loving

Jesus is

that he transforms

you and me.

He makes his love

to abound.

He removes resistors

and condensers

so that we can be

an even more

suitable vessel

of his love

as it flows.

The fourth truth

I see here

in verse 10

is that the love

of Jesus

in you

proclaims

he is your king.

The love of Jesus

in you

proclaims

he is your king.

In verse 10

he says,

I pray that you

may be sincere

and without offense

till the day

of Jesus Christ.

And all of this

in verse 11

is for the glory

and the praise

of God.

So,

as God purifies

his church,

as the church

is sincere

without offense,

God is praised

and glorified.

Right now

the kingdom

of God

is ministered

over his people

spiritually

by faith,

not by sight.

And so it's

through the lives

and through the love

of Christ

in his church

that he shows

here's my kingdom.

Here's a place

where I rule.

And when Jesus Christ

comes on that

great day,

his church

bears witness

in word

and in our lives

his transforming us

that he is

the king of kings.

He says,

I pray that you

may be sincere.

The word sincere,

it means that

it's not

been patched together

by your own efforts.

Sincere,

even in the English,

the root here

is without wax.

Sin means without

and then sire

is wax.

And so

if you go to

a museum

you can see

these pieces of pottery

from all over the world

in all different

time periods.

The ones that last

were cheaper

because they're very thick.

The most expensive

pottery

is very thin pottery

and it's very rare

to find a piece

that didn't just crumble

over the decades

and centuries.

And the thinner

a piece of pottery was

the more likely

it would be to break.

So when a very expensive

thin piece of pottery

was made

and it would

accidentally break

or crack

they would

take it and fill wax in

to make it as smooth

as they could

and then paint over it

and still try to sell it

at full price.

So to be sincere

is to be

hiding something

that when it gets

exposed

in the heat

the wax would melt away

and you can see

what it was

or they would hold it up

to the light

and you can see

the light coming

through the wax.

And he's saying

that I pray

that you may be sincere

that when your life

gets held up

to the light of Christ

yes you're a broken vessel

but it won't be an offense

to the name of Jesus.

It'll be a testament

that God took

those parts of you

that are cracks

and broken

and he filled them solid.

There's nothing man's

trying to put in there

and cover up.

This is a true work of God.

You're bearing witness

he is your king.

It reminds me of Jude 1.21

where he prays

that they will keep themselves

in the love of God

looking for the mercy

of our Lord Jesus Christ

unto eternal life.

So your love of Jesus in you

proclaims that he is your king.

Here's where I want to try

to be extra careful.

Jesus was the king

of the criminal

on the cross.

He met the one condition

to have eternal life

which was to believe.

Do you see

your good works

they add nothing

to your standing

with God.

I love how our confession

makes really careful statements

that clarify errors

we could go

in numerous directions.

listen to these words

about the good works

that God does

in the life

of his people

making us sincere

without offense.

These good works

done in obedience

to God's commandments

are the fruits

and evidences

of a true

and lively faith

and by them

believers manifest

their thankfulness

strengthen their assurance

edify their brethren

adorn the profession

of the gospel

stop the mouths

of adversaries

and glorify God

whose workmanship

they are

created

in Christ Jesus

thereunto

that having their fruit

unto holiness

they may have

the end

eternal life.

this is a summary

of what scripture

teaches

for example

Ephesians 2.10

for we are

his workmanship

he is the one

beginning the work

and completing the work

in his people

we are created

in Christ Jesus

for good works

which God has prepared

beforehand

that we should walk

in them

we don't go out

trying to find

good works

to do

to make ourselves

more good

you are in Christ

you are a new creation

he already has prepared

those things

you will do

so then when you

when you realize

look God used me

as a channel

of his love

you give him

all the glory

God already knew

this was going

to be a way

he would use me

praise the Lord

he gets all the glory

I get none

as it should be

Hebrews 6.11

we desire

each one of you

to show

the same earnestness

to have the full

assurance of hope

until the end

so that you

may not be

sluggish

but imitators

of those

who through faith

and patience

inherit the promises

well where does

the patience

and where does

the faith

and the strength

and the energy

to endure

where does that

even come from

that comes from

the Lord Jesus Christ

it's his

abounding love

that he puts

in his people

so the love

of Jesus in you

it proclaims

he is working

in my life

oh how the love

of Jesus

abounds for you

and me

the fifth truth

here is that

the abounding

love of Jesus

it does fill

his people

with the fruits

of righteousness

look at verse 11

being filled

with the fruits

of righteousness

which are

by Jesus Christ

to the glory

and praise

of God

notice he says

in verse 11

you Christian

are being filled

with

it's happening

to you

in the passive

tense

in the fruits

of righteousness

it's not something

you make up

or I make up

it's what God

has already shown

in the Bible

to be pleasing

to him

our confession

says again

in another paragraph

our ability

to do good works

is not at all

of ourselves

but wholly

from the spirit

of Christ

who enables you

to do good work

besides the graces

you have already

received

there is also

necessary

an actual

influence

of the same

Holy Spirit

to work in you

to make you

to will

and to do

of his good pleasure

yet you are not

bound to perform

any duty

unless upon

a special

motion

of the spirit

he will stir you up

he will

he will cause you

to be overflowing

with the love of Christ

to do

that thing

he is calling you

to do

he will sustain

you in obedience

not under the principle

of works

adding anything

to your salvation

but all Christians

ought to be diligent

in the stirring up

of the grace of God

that is in you

you bring yourself

to be with God's people

you sit under the ministry

of his word

you come by faith

week after week

to take the Lord's supper

and you trust

he will stir up

this love

inside of you

it begins with him

and he will use

the means he's ordained

to sustain it

in his people

as well

2 Corinthians 3 5

in ourselves

we are not able

to claim

anything for ourselves

the power to do

what we do

comes from God

the best summary

of all

it's really

it's really

the kernel

that everything else

is opening up

and fleshing out

it's from the words

of Jesus himself

John 15 5

whoever abides in me

and I in him

he it is

that bears much fruit

apart from me

you can do

nothing

not even a little

but as the abounding

love of Jesus

dwells in you

and teaches you

to abide in him

he does

bring into your life

fruits

of righteousness

well the sixth

and final truth here

is back to verse 9

and it's that

the love of Jesus

it abounds

still more

and more

in you

verse 9 says

this I pray

that your love

the same love

Paul has

the affection

of Jesus Christ

may abound

still more

and more

Paul has used

that phrase

in other places

one is

Romans 5 20

God gave his law

that your sins

might abound

in other words

it needs to be

abundantly clear

that you fall short

of God's glory

your sins need to be

heavy upon you

to drive you

to the Savior

in repentance

and faith

again and again

and again

his law

exposes your need

of the Savior

but Paul wrote

in Romans 5 20

where sin

abounded

grace abounded

much more

the love

of Jesus

abounds

more and more

in you

I read of

Lawrence of Arabia

and this story

illustrates so perfectly

the abounding love

of Jesus

for his people

these folks

he had met

in Arabia

in the Middle East

they had the opportunity

to travel back

with him

and they went

to Paris

and in Paris

he tried to take them

to see all these

tourist sites

you know

the great feats

of architecture

and culture

but the thing

that they were

most impressed by

was in the hotel room

how you can

turn on a faucet

and water

just continues

to flow

endlessly

and the shower

the sink

the water

just with a faucet

never stops flowing

and so when it was

time for these

visitors from Arabia

to travel back

to their country

he was waiting

for them

and he couldn't

find them

so he went up

to check in their room

and they were

trying to unscrew

the faucet

out of the wall

they wanted to take

this magic faucet

back with them

to Arabia

they say

we live in the desert

and what we lack

is water

and finally

we found an invention

from this little

invention

flows water

without end

if we think about that

that's often how we

try to live

the Christian life

isn't it

I'm just going to

carry the faucet

around with me

and the supply

of water

that will come

endlessly out of

this faucet

in this illustration

it begins with

the rainfall

and the snow

on the Alps

the glorious

green mountains

and from there

it fills the rivers

and it flows

to the ocean

and that cycle

will never end

the rain

and the snow

covering these mountains

flowing

keeping these rivers

full

it will always supply

so that every faucet

that is tied

into this entire

system of water

without end

it will never run dry

the love of Jesus

abounds

still more

and more

in you

it will never

run out

the supply

is endless

why do you think

God made the rain cycle

why do you think

he made our bodies

to need water

many times a day

it's to teach us

he is the living water

and he abounds

to you

and to me

still more

and more tomorrow

than today

and even more

the next day

than today

if that's possible

and for all eternity

his love

abounds

because God

is love

you see church

how the love

of Jesus

it abounds

for you and me

let's rest

in this truth

let's soak him up

and praise him

for his

all sufficient

love for his people

again today

oh Lord

we praise you

we are such

broken vessels

Lord

but inside

these vessels

you put

the most glorious

treasure

you've allowed us

to have fellowship

and communion

and be partakers

of grace

and to abide

with Jesus Christ

and God

the holy God

our creator

Lord

may your

love

produce in us

the fruits of righteousness

so that you will be glorified

and that

as a congregation

you will find us

to be sincere

without offense

to your name

until the day of Christ

for each one of us

please preserve us

Lord

in holiness

for your sake

we ask

amen