Filled with the Fullness of God

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This morning to pray for me because I'm reminded of what it says in 2 Corinthians where Paul, he says,

we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the glory may be of God and not of us.

And then later, Paul says a very interesting thing in relationship. He says, we are the aroma of life and death.

To those who are believing, we are the aroma of life. And to those who are dying, we are the aroma of death.

And then he says something. He says, and who is sufficient for these things?

I want you to turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

And we are in the process of looking at the prayer that Paul prays from Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 through 21.

Ephesians 3:14–21

I think it is perhaps if I were to choose one sermon that I could preach, I would have to decide in advance who was I preaching to.

If I were preaching to unbelievers, I would tell you that I would probably preach John 3.16.

If I only had one opportunity, it would be to preach John 3.16.

If I had one sermon to do for those who were believers, I would want to go to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 through 21.

Ephesians 3:14–21

I cannot think of a richer, more precious, more valuable, more significant passage of Scripture.

Now, given that pastors speak in hyperbole, bear with me, because all Scripture, what does it say?

Is profitable that the man of God may be completely furnished unto all good works.

And so, it's a hard thing to be able to say, and I confess it, that this is the one significant passage.

I don't mean to say that, but it is so rich to us.

Earlier this week, I was reading a book called To Tell the Truth by Will Metzger.

And it's a good book.

I wouldn't call it easy reading.

But Will was talking about the fact that he had been invited to go to a group, a college group,

and a large gathering of young people.

And at the very beginning of his series, and he was actually preaching at a retreat for a number of sessions.

And so, to start things off, he asked the question,

So, how many of you here this morning have confidence in your eternal destiny?

Now, we use that kind of question in evangelism, don't we?

If you were to die tonight, and God were to say,

Why should I let you into heaven?

What would you say?

We use something on the same flavor.

And he was amazed when, after he asked that question about how many of you have confidence in your eternal destiny,

all of those young people, it was a Christian gathering,

all of those young people raised their hands and said,

I've got confidence.

Well, then he asked a subsequent question.

He said,

And so, do you know what he did?

Beloved,

conversion that is genuine,

produces in us a growing affection for Christ,

and a desire to grow in godliness.

And where those two elements are deficient,

there is either a good cause for questioning an individual's birth certificate,

or there is good cause to question where in the process of spiritual growth is that believer.

I speak to you this morning as people who know Christ.

I make that assumption,

though I would believe there are some that are among us today that may have grown up in a Christian home.

You know all the vocabulary.

You got through Awana.

You know the verses.

You probably got a Timothy award.

But the truth of the matter is,

is that there is no affection for the Lord Jesus Christ,

or even a sense of the importance of growing in that.

And there's a large indifference to the matter of obedience.

You may not be saved.

Or this morning's message has direct application to your heart,

and it would be my plea and my prayer

that the Word of God would affect you,

and lead to change that is worthy.

Let me read the passage that we're going to be looking at there in verse 18 and 19.

Here is Paul.

Remember he says in verse 14,

For this cause I bow my knees.

He says, I'm going to pray.

This is what I'm going to pray for.

Works his way through.

And then in verse 18 and 19,

we actually come to the substance of what he is praying for.

And he says this.

He says that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

So let me begin by recognizing here that what we find in Paul's text is,

first of all, that it's important to have a purpose for prayer.

And when people pray, we do for a reason.

Listen, there's something we need.

There's something that is on our heart.

Often when I am in ministry,

one of the things that I remind myself of what it says in James chapter 1,

James 1 · chapter mention

it says,

If any man lack what?

Wisdom, let him ask of God.

And later on in James, it says,

You have not because you asked not.

And so we recognize that when we pray,

our prayers reflect what we believe is supremely important

or important to us at the moment.

And so there are times when in our prayer life,

we are just crying out and asking God for things that are a burden to our soul.

Other times we're just expressive and thankful.

And let me tell you that I think there is Bible illustration in the fact

that the starting place for most of our prayers in our relationship should be with,

Lord, I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you are my God and Savior

and that I, by your grace, have come into relationship with you.

And I am abundantly blessed.

I have more than I deserve.

And so as we look here at Paul's prayer,

we find that here is the apostle asking for what he believes

is absolutely most essential in the lives of those that he dearly loves.

His goal, in this case,

is for the believer to grasp the love of Christ

and to be filled with all the fullness of God.

And I made the statement last week that over and over again in pastoral ministry,

I found myself in various times comforting those who have been afflicted

or encouraging those who have been oppressed by the heartaches of life,

dealing with discouragement and despair,

brokenness, and at the heart of what I have often found myself desperately wishing I could do,

is I could put a pill in front of them and say,

take this, it will solve your problem.

We are a culture that depends very heavily on pills.

And so I would love to have a capsule that said,

love of Christ, take two, see me in the morning.

You know, it would work.

And Paul is praying and he says,

listen, I want these people that I love to grasp the love of Christ

and be filled with all the fullness of God.

I want us to recognize that here he is praying to grasp a profound thing.

As we unfold our text this morning,

we're going to see that Paul's prayer comes down to a request

that each believer would be able to comprehend

the richness of the love of Christ.

And so there are several things that draw our attention as we think about this.

And I want you to kind of put your mind into gear and follow along with me here.

For one thing, comprehending the love of Christ,

and that's what Paul is interested in,

involves more than just reciting a few verses from a children's song.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible told me so, right?

And we've got that one down.

Or Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.

What are they?

Red and yellow, black and white, they are...

Comprehending the love of Christ is more than understanding the words of a song

or reciting them.

The word that Paul uses here when he talks about comprehending

is a word that means to have a grip on something and understand it.

At the heart of our faith, and I want you to recognize this,

is the truth that God has revealed Himself to us,

and He wants us to understand who He is and what He's told us.

I want you to turn back in your Bible just for a moment to a passage in Deuteronomy

where that truth becomes undeniably clear.

Deuteronomy chapter 30, if you would go there just for a moment.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 11 through 14.

Deuteronomy 30:11–14

I'm going to skip from 11 to 14.

So let's just go to Deuteronomy chapter 30.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

And in verse 11 it says,

For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you,

neither is it far off.

We are going to preach this summer in the evening services

during the time that we do not have small group.

Pastor Saul and I are going to play tag team.

That's not like WWF or whatever else,

but we're going to tag team,

and we're going to preach on some theological truths.

One of them has to do with the clarity that God has

in communicating His Word to us.

We're going to talk about the Scriptures and God's intention

that it's understandable.

And so as you look at this passage,

here is Moses speaking to his children at the end of his life,

and he says,

Listen, let me tell you something about this book that you have.

It's not too hard.

It's not so complicated that you can't get it.

And then look at verse 14.

But the Word is very near you.

It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it.

I want you to recognize that God's intention is for us to understand His Word.

His desire and His delight is that we comprehend His Word

and that it makes a difference in our life.

Having said that, I want you to recognize that it does take work.

It does take work.

And I think about a passage over in Job,

and I want you to go there as well if you would.

Job chapter 42 verse 5.

Job 42:5

Job is a very interesting book that deals with the matter of human suffering.

And most of us, when we're going through suffering,

and I can tell you that every one of us will,

things are not going to go the way you want.

And you're going to find yourself asking the question on occasion,

Why me, Lord?

What have I ever done?

Right?

I mean, it's a great song.

But, you know, we're going to ask ourselves,

So what did I do?

I've been reading through the book of John repeatedly,

and I found myself again at that passage where,

Remember the man who was born blind,

and the disciples say to him,

All right, all right.

So who sinned?

Did he sin?

Or did his parents sin so this happened to him?

You see, we often think that things happen to us

just because of things we've done

or things that other people have done, etc.

And here is Job going through all this suffering.

Things aren't going well,

and he finds himself not only dealing with his suffering,

but he has good friends who show up,

and what do his good friends tell him?

You had it coming to you.

Now, that's a real good friend, isn't it?

You know, if you'd been a little better guy,

and the day list and bad things don't happen

unless you're a bad dude,

and so suffer, bud, and learn from it.

And at the end of the day,

God shows up on the scene.

Does God explain to Job why he's suffering?

What's the answer?

Nope.

Let me say that again slowly.

Nope.

And we come to Job chapter 42, verse 5.

Job 42:5

I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now mine eye sees you.

Remember, the point that I wanted to make

is that God's Word is there for us to understand,

but I've got to tell you that it does take some work.

And the idea that it's just like,

we can all lie around and spend our days in carelessness

and want and pleasure

and think that we're going to understand the Word.

It doesn't work that way.

And so here we find Job going through the process of suffering,

and then he's crying out to God,

what am I doing?

What do I need to learn?

And God says, hey, let me tell you who I am.

And all that he does, really, is reveal his creative power.

That's what he does.

By the way, were you there when I did thus and so,

or thus and so, and thus and so?

And Job finally comes to the point of saying,

you know what, I get it.

You're awesome.

You're wonderful.

Now, in more specific terms to our lesson today,

God wants us to grasp the scope of his love

and its incredible value.

At the heart of what we find the Apostle Paul praying,

and by the way, when the Apostle Paul penned these words,

because we understand from our grasp of the doctrine of Scripture,

these words were not something that Paul thought up on his own.

Why do we have these Scriptures?

All Scripture is given to us by inspiration.

The Spirit of God instructed Paul to write these words,

and they give to us some indication of what God has in mind.

And here is Paul praying,

I want you believers to understand the scope of the love of God

and its incredible value.

And so as we look at these four words that we find here in the passage,

I want to make an appeal to you that they were not designed for speed reading,

nor were they designed for speed thinking.

There in verse 18 it says,

that you would comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length

and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ.

Each word is important.

And the Spirit of God intends for each of these words to be meditated upon

and given careful consideration

and allow the depth and the beauty of what is expressed in these words

to then encourage us in understanding the scope and breadth,

the depth, the beauty,

of the all-surpassing love of Christ for us.

Let's think about the four things that he says.

He says, I want you to understand the breadth of the love of Christ.

What is the breadth of His love?

Turn over in your Bible, if you would, just for a moment,

over to a passage in Revelation chapter 5, verse 9,

Revelation 5:9

and I want you to stop and think what eternity is going to be like,

and one of the settings or scenes that you and I are going to enjoy.

Revelation chapter 5, verse 9.

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song.

By the way, sidebar, my hearing is going,

so one of the things that if you see me doing it occasionally,

don't think I've gone off,

just understand that probably at the point I need hearing aids,

they're all shot out,

but I like to, embarrassing thing to do,

but I like to cup my ears, my ears with my hands.

Do you know what that does?

That kind of amplifies the beauty of hearing people sing,

and there's something about listening to the people of Christ

sing the glory of Christ.

It is just beautiful.

And here is John.

He says,

And they sang a new song,

saying,

Do you understand how broad His love is?

The other day I was filling out a form,

actually,

at the Social Security Administration,

or whatever it was,

and I had to identify my ethnicity.

And now they have one little box,

refused.

Well, I thought,

Oh, don't be that way,

so I checked off white.

You know?

And I think,

You know,

every tribe and nation,

do you realize that?

One of the things that I take pleasure in

when I pray for our different missionaries,

I was praying for Mark Furman this morning

and his ministry in China and India.

I like,

I find pleasure,

as I grow in understanding the scope of ministry,

I find pleasure in praying for people around the world.

It reminds me,

They're all over the place.

They're in China.

They're in Japan.

They're in Africa.

They're in India.

They're in America.

They're in Ecuador.

All over the world,

there are people who,

by the grace of God,

have come to be part of the family of God,

and that's the breadth of His love.

I want you to think with me now

about the length of His love.

And in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 3,

Jeremiah 31:3

it says this,

I have loved you with an everlasting love.

When did God start loving you?

You know,

when I look at myself in the mirror,

I got to tell you,

I'm not like that,

I'm not what I ought to be,

but I'm not like that wicked witch

or whatever woman

who has looked at herself in the mirror

and said,

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

who's the fairest of them all, right?

I don't do that.

But,

I look at myself and think,

jeez.

You know,

and here's the truth.

I was sitting down here this morning,

sitting right there,

meditating and praying about the sermon,

and I found myself struggling

with that age-old battle

that takes place in my life.

And the remedy

was to remind myself

of the unfailing,

unconditional,

never-changing love of Christ.

And do you know what the Scripture says?

I have loved you with an everlasting love.

I can tell when people

are not convinced

of that significance.

Do you know what's a giveaway?

When people are not convinced

of the everlasting,

absolute,

certain love of Christ,

they're self-consumed,

they're unhappy,

they're insecure,

and they're pretty irritable

with other people.

Do you know why?

Because the false god

that they worship

invariably is insecure.

And here is Paul saying,

I want you to understand

the length.

How far does his love go?

It started from everlasting.

And over there

in Revelation chapter 13,

Revelation 13:8

verse 8,

and again in 17,

verse 8,

we find a very similar statement

in which John speaks

about the fact

that our names were written

in the book of life

before what?

Help me here.

When was your name

written in the book?

Was it when you decided

to trust in Jesus?

Is that when it was written?

No.

It was written before the what?

The foundation of the world.

Beloved,

I take comfort

in knowing that.

I like the fact,

and this morning

as I was listening

to the songs

that we were singing together,

I was just kind of

matching up

some of the scriptures

that bear on those passages.

And let me tell you

what it does for me.

It amplifies my appreciation

for the music

that we sing.

And I was thinking

about what it says

that he has his hand

and on his hand

is my name.

My name.

And someday, beloved,

we are going to meet

the one who has loved us

from eternity past.

And that's going to be

pretty good, isn't it?

That's going to be something

that is going to lift up

our hearts and,

oh man,

I can't tell you

how sweet that day

is going to be.

I remember the last time

I traveled to India,

I was gone for

who knows how long

it seemed like

an incredibly long time.

And I remember

getting off the,

as I was,

this is something

that happens in my heart.

When my body starts

turning towards coming home,

guess what happens

to my thinking?

It kind of zeros in

down on my honey.

Okay?

And I was over there

in Bangalore

and when I walked

into the airport,

I was thinking,

I am going home

to see Judith.

And the closer I got,

guess what?

the more focused

my thinking was.

Beloved,

the day is coming

when we are going

to see Jesus

and can I tell you something?

If your heart

does not long

for the day

that you will see Him,

I would ask you

a question,

what's happened?

Or maybe you don't know Him.

I want you to recognize

there's another statement

that Paul makes there.

He talks about the height.

There in the passage,

He says that you would

understand the breadth

and the length

and then He says height.

And I stop and recognize

that that is a reference

to the exaltation,

the height to which

He has lifted us.

I'm awestruck

when I stop

and consider

that His love

has rescued

wounded,

rebellious,

bitter enemies

of the cross

and He has made

those same people

His own.

And you know what?

His love

will bring us home

to glory

and to perfect union

with Him.

I think about a passage

and there are many

that would bear

on this subject,

but turn over

in your Bible

to John chapter 17

John 17:24

verse 24 and 26.

This is Jesus

in His high priestly prayer

as He prays

for believers

and here's what He says

in verse 24.

He says,

Listen,

Father,

I desire that they also

whom You have given Me

may be with Me

where I am.

Yeah,

I love Jesus,

but I don't really care

to be around Him.

Huh?

No.

Jesus says,

I love them,

I love them,

I love them,

I want them

to be where I am.

To see My glory

that You have given Me

because,

listen to this,

because You loved Me

before the foundation

of the world.

Do you see the connectedness

between this whole issue?

Jesus wants us

to have communion

and intimacy,

but the heart of it,

He says,

it's because You've loved Me.

Then look at verse 26.

I made known to them

Your name

and I will continue

to make it known.

Now follow the remainder

of the verse

because it is poignant

that the love

with which You have loved Me

may be in them

and I in them.

Jesus is praying

before the cross

and He says,

listen,

here's what I'm asking

that You would do

for these

dear,

dear

disciples

and those

who follow

in belief

in the centuries

to come.

that the love

with which You

have loved Me

may be

in them.

Oh, Jesus,

I would like

to win the lottery.

Pfft!

Oh, Jesus,

I would like

better health.

Oh, Jesus,

I need different

neighbors.

Oh, Jesus,

no,

that the love

with which You

have loved Me

may be in them.

Let's go to

one other piece

and I have

to tell you

that I've asked

myself over

and over again

this week,

why was this

last?

The depth.

I think the

matter of height

and depth

stand close

together

and give us

some

depth

of thinking

that deserves

attention.

I can't

help but think

I appreciate

Pastor Ken

mentioning the

man who

recited Isaiah

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

chapter 53

and I have

in my notes

I have referenced

Isaiah chapter 53

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

where it talks

about the Lord

Jesus and His

suffering for us.

And I'm reminded

of what Jesus

did in order

to save you

and to save me.

It is the most

incredible,

the most

unbelievable thing

of all of

human history

that God

would send

His own

Son

to take

upon Himself

human flesh

to die

in our place

and to rise

again

so that

those who

believe in Him

might have

an intimate

relationship

with the

Lord of glory.

I think

back over

to Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and you

remember

where Paul

is writing

to the church

at Philippi

and he is

dealing with

the struggle

that church

is having

with attitudes

and relationships

with one another

and he says

let this mind

be in you

which was also

in Christ Jesus.

In other words

hey, hey, hey

think the way

Jesus thought

and having

said that

he says

alright

let me help you

with that

let me talk

about what

Jesus did

he had

every right

to view

himself as

co-equal

with the

Father

rightfully so

and yet

he willingly

humbled himself

and took upon

himself

human form

and not only

that but he

obeyed the

Father and was

willing to go

to the cross

for you

that's depth

that's depth

now I want

to tell you

that these

four dimensions

of his love

are designed

to serve

as prompters

and the deeper

you think

about his love

the more blessed

you are going

to be

let me say

that again

slowly

and I don't

have it on

a header

over the board

but let me

just say this

these four

dimensions

you have them

there in front

of you

it speaks

about his

breadth

and length

and width

and depth

and I want

you to

height and depth

and I want

you to understand

that these

four are

prompters

they're designed

to help you

think carefully

and accurately

about the subject

of the love

of Christ

see it's one

thing to memorize

the little song

and sing it

I appreciate

Tim Bauer

bailing me out

last week

when we

I found myself

wanting the words

to a song

and Tim

kindly recited

them

his love

never gives up

right

you know

never walks

out on me

his love

never fails

and here

when Paul

says

hey listen

I want you

to think

about

the breadth

of his love

the intention

is that we

massage that

a little bit

and squeeze it

and figure out

what it means

to us

personally

in the frame

of scripture

let me say

this carefully

to think about

it

and not think

about it

in the frame

of scripture

is at best

very dangerous

now why would

I say

that

I don't

know

should

pastor

say

such a

thing

apart

from the

counsel

and instruction

of the word

of God

my thinking

is very

flawed

would you

agree with

that

the heart

is deceitful

what

and desperately

wicked

who can

know it

left to

my own

devices

I go

left of

center

every time

I can't

tell you

how often

the scriptures

help me

think

properly

so I want

you to

recognize

that these

verses

are given

to us

to help

us think

carefully

and it's

not just

a matter

of singing

Jesus

loves me

this

I know

it's

going

further

than that

you can

sing

that song

until the

cows come

home

and be

very

very

fruitless

as a

believer

do you

understand

that

it's

another

thing

I would

encourage

you to

do this

it's

another

thing

to

memorize

Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14–19

chapter 3

verse 14

through 19

but I've

had people

come in

and sit

in my

office

and they

have

accomplished

my

counseling

assignment

and they

have

memorized

the

passage

and they

rattled

it

off

but they

are

still

self

consumed

and

unhappy

do you

know what

every good

Jew would

do

morning and

evening

as you

might

know

they would

recite

the

Shema

hear

O Israel

the Lord

our God

the Lord

is one

and you

shall love

the Lord

your God

with all

your heart

they said

it in the

morning

and by the

way

if you

want to

go on

the web

it's

always

entertaining

to kind

of say

so what

was that

like

and there's

actually

rabbinical

instruction

on when

to say

the Shema

to get

the most

value

from your

obedience

in fact

if you

say it

after sunrise

it's a good

thing but it

doesn't count

as many

points as

if you

say it

before sunrise

and if

you really

want to

die as

a good

good Jew

you need

to have

the very

last thing

you say

being the

Shema

hear

oh

Israel

the Lord

our God

the Lord

is one

people don't

go to heaven

because they

say the

Shema

nor do they

go to heaven

because they

know

Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14–19

chapter 3

verse 14

through 19

by heart

what the

father wants

us to do

is to

meditate

upon this

Bible truth

with the

enabling of

the spirit

of God

and be

affected by

it

so

let me

play it

out for

you in

practical

terms

grasping

his love

takes the

spirit's

power

and

persistent

effort

there's

no

accident

for the

reason

that Paul

prays

as he

does

and I

want to

kind of

spell

something

out for

you here

a little

bit

in our

study of

Ephesians

we commented

on the

fact at

the very

beginning

that the

first three

chapters

are

informative

of the

glory of

Christ

in our

redemption

and the

wonderful work

of God

in saving

us

the last

three chapters

are about

our behavior

okay

and it's

very important

to recognize

that in

scripture

as it should

be in

parenting

we talk

about who

God is

and what

he's done

for us

before we

talk about

how we

should behave

towards him

and so

as we

look at

this passage

in

Ephesians

we're

at the

point

the pivot

point

and the

pivot

point

in particular

is understanding

comprehending

the love

of Christ

because

out of

that

will flow

all of

our

obedience

and the

fruitful

joy that

comes with

it

so it

makes

sense

then to

pray that

Paul would

ask for

the Spirit's

help and

you should

do the

same

I would

encourage

you

let me

have you

look up

just for a

minute

look at

me

please

you should

pray

regularly

you should

pray

regularly

that the

Spirit of

God would

help you

grow in

understanding

the love

of Christ

I'm not

going to

ask you

to raise

your hand

and say

when did

you pray

that last

but I

would move

that up

your prayer

list

I have

a natural

deficiency

to

understanding

the love

of Christ

and let me

tell you

something

understanding

the love

of Christ

is the

genesis

of loving

Christ

do you

follow that

it's the

way it

happens

you understand

the love

of Christ

and that

nurtures

and stimulates

and encourages

you to grow

in your love

for Christ

now you're

sitting there

with a heart

that's stone

clothed

towards Jesus

one of two

things is

going on

you don't

know him

or you've

allowed the

world and

the issues

of life

to creep

in and

rob you

of the

supremacy

of the

joy

of loving

the lover

of your

soul

and the

starting point

is prayer

it also

makes sense

to not only

pray

but to spend

more time

in the word

I am

flummoxed

that's a new

word for you

to look up

I suppose

flummoxed

I'm kind

of stumped

okay

at the

many people

who tell me

that they

love Jesus

but they

never crack

the book

and read

about him

or find

out what

he has

to say

or care

about being

with him

in prayer

what kind

of relationship

do you have

with someone

else that you

really don't

care about

talking with

or listening

to

you're fooling

yourself

let me

close off

by

mashing

the

accelerator

to the

floor

comprehending

his love

leads to

his fullness

Ephesians

Ephesians 3:19

chapter 3

verse 19

it says

and to know

the love

of Christ

so how can

you know

something that

surpasses

knowledge

it's saying

hey

it's out

there

wrap your

arms around

it

know the

love of

Christ

that surpasses

knowledge

that you

may be

filled

with all

the fullness

of God

that is

that is

just kind

of like

that is

it's like

putting it

all together

so what do

you want

in life

I want

the fullness

of God

well what do

you really

want

I want

the fullness

of God

what would

you be

willing to

sacrifice

anything and

everything for

I will

sacrifice

for the

fullness

of God

let me say

in relationship

that

one

grasping

his love

is the

fruit of

faith

there's some

of you sitting

here that

really don't

know

how deep

and how

wonderful

the love

of Christ

is

and you

have been

slogging

your way

through

life

you know

what

John said

in 1st John

John 4:7

chapter 4

verse 7

he says

love is of

God

so where

does it

come from

that you

miserable

broken

ruined

sinner

should come

to begin

to love

God

it is

the work

of the

spirit

that's

gotten

a hold

of your

life

and is

drawing

you

into

relationship

and is

giving

you

that

desire

secondly

fully

grasping

his love

gives us

his fullness

I wish

for time

I had

more time

we'll deal

with it

another point

so this

morning

I speak

to you

this here

in this

place

recognizing

that

one of

two things

is true

you may

be here

and you

do not

know

Christ

now

you may

know all

the rules

you may

even know

the vocabulary

but you

have never

had an

interest

and an

affection

for the

Lord of

glory

who occupies

the praises

of eternity

and I

gotta tell

you

love

for

Christ

comes

through

his

grace

and this

morning

as you

stand

or sit

here

I would

appeal

to you

if there

is a

lack

of

interest

in

Christ

and

no

affection

for

him

you

should

turn

over

the birth

certificate

and say

yes

when

did I

really

come

to know

Christ

and where

is the

evidence

of his

grace

today

may be

the day

also

that you

as a

believer

need to

rededicate

yourself

to growing

in his

love

and how

are you

going to

do that

well

we don't

rededicate

ourselves

to anything

that we

are fully

persuaded

that we're

doing pretty

well at

do you

follow what

I'm

saying

but if

you're

sitting

here

and

your

love

has

grown

cold

then I

would

plead

with you

that with

humility

and

brokenness

you

begin

praying

Lord

now listen

I think

what we

say in

prayer

is pretty

important

Lord

I want

you to

do

whatever

you

think

necessary

to

encourage

me

to

persistently

grow

in my

love

for

you

I

want

to

grow

in

love

I'm

going to

pray

for

that

I

don't

care

what

the

cost

let's

close

in

prayer

precious

father

this

morning

our

hearts

revel

in

the

glory

of

Christ

we

look

forward

to

the

day

that

we

are

going

to

see

the

lover

of

our

soul

and

be

satisfied

and

I

have

no

doubt

that

there

are

some

here

this

morning

that

do

not

know

Christ

and

there

are

others

here

whose

lives

and

hearts

have

grown

cold

it's

been

years

since

they've

really

had

warm

affections

for

the

Lord

Jesus

they're

unhappy

they're

discontent

they're

embittered

they're

disobedient

and

Christ

bids

them

pray

to have

that love

rekindled

by the

spirit

of

God

that

their

obedience

would

be

willing

that

their

walk

would

be

holy

there

are

some

here

today

that

do

not

know

Christ

and

this

morning

father

I

would

plead

with

you

that

in

your

grace

you

would

draw

them

to

the

cross

and

we

ask

this

for

the

glory

of

Christ

amen

let's

stand

together

as

we

close

in

singing

and

I'm

going

to

ask

that

if

you're

!

here

this

!

morning

we

will

glory

in

my

Redeemer

whose

priceless

blood

has

ransomed

me

mine

was

the

sin

that

drove

the

bitterness

and

hung

him

on

that

judgment

tree

I

will

glory

in

my

Redeemer

who

crushed

the

power

of

sin

death

my

holy

Savior

before

before

the

holy

child

the

lamb

who

is

my

righteous

man

the

lamb

who

is

my

righteous

man

I

will

glory

in

my

Redeemer

my

life

be

bought

my

love

he

owes

I

have

no

longings

for

another

I'm

satisfied

with

him

alone

I

will

glory

in

my

Redeemer

His

faithfulness

my

standing

place

though

close

on

I

lead

and

rush

upon

me

my

feet

are

firm

held

by

His