It's a joy for me to be here again in the pulpit to share with you the truths of the scriptures. God has given us life and the ability to be here this evening once more. We don't know how long we will be here until it's coming, but until he does come we have been called to be obedient to his word. It should be always our prayer with the psalmist. To be all our days in the house of the Lord contemplating his beauty. It has been my prayer for a long time and my desire and sometimes we can't always make it but it's a joy to be here. I want us to open the scriptures in Ephesians. He said, I hope I can still read with our glasses. We're going to read in chapter 3 of Ephesians 14 through 20. When you're there, you can stand with me as we read the word of God. Por esta causa doblo yo mis rodillas ante el Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, de quien toma nombre toda familia en los cielos y en la tierra, para que os de conforme a la riqueza de su gloria el ser fortalecidos con poder en el hombre interior por el Espíritu, para que Habite Cristo por la fe en vuestros corazones a fin de que, arraigados y cimentados en amor, seas plenamente capaces de comprender con todos los santos cual sea la anchura, la longitud, la profundidad y la altura, y de conocer el amor de Cristo que excede a todo conocimiento para que seas lleno de toda la Amen. Ephesians 3, 14 through 21. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. not to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. God, Father, we thank you again, Lord. We come to you, Father, this afternoon, always trusting in your power, goodness, and love for each one of us. We wait, Lord, and we ask that You be illuminating our minds for a better understanding of Your Word, Lord. We know that if it were not for the Holy Spirit working in us in vain, we would speak here all afternoon of these words. But we trust and believe that the Holy Spirit illuminates them so that we can have an understanding of Your love and Your goodness, Father. Te pedimos en esta mañana, Señor, que sea usted, que su palabra sea bendecida, y que sea usted bendiciendo cada corazón para que puedan atesorar lo que aquí vamos a leer. En el nombre de Cristo Jesús te lo pedimos, te damos gracias, amén y amén. Amén. La iglesia debe de ser, debe... The church should discipline herself to know more of the love of God. This love that is beyond all knowledge. That we would be full of the fullness of God. What I want to speak of this evening is the goal of the Christian or the desire of the Christian life. Before we get to the text, I thought it would be good to talk about some things that we have read in the text. I want to speak of some things we read here in the text, like you know, but I want to remind you of what we'll be speaking of. We know that when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, God has given us His Spirit. And Christ lives in us. When we speak of the knowledge, we're speaking of this, what Paul is speaking of. And the church has been called to grow spiritually. To have a style of life. The life of the church should be constantly growing. And what Paul affirms, even in this letter, is that we have a standard to live by. And that standard is Christ himself. He is the model of the church. He's the example of the church. He's perfect. And that perfection we follow. And even though there's a form that Paul says we're fulfilled, we're complete. That we're, even though we're imperfect, and we are perfect by the sacrifice of Christ. But there's a growth in our spiritual life that God gives. As God gives His gifts to each one that He desires. He does that through the Holy Spirit. I want to start with the text quickly. I want to mention a few words here in the text this evening. Paul says in verse 14, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father. Paul mentions the same word and the same thing in chapter 3 verse 1. Where he says, for this reason, I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus. And he continues to speak of the ministry that's been given to him. And a knowledge and a ministry that's only revealed in Christ. He mentions a mystery that wasn't revealed before. But in the last days, God has revealed it through the apostles and prophets. The mystery was the Gentile inclusion in the church. That the Gentiles would be redeemed. And Paul was given the ministry of the gospel to the Gentiles. So, Paul says in verse 14, the same phrase, for this reason I, Bow my knees before the Father. This position or this idea of bowing our knee before the Father I want to mention. This reveals the attitude, the submission, the reverence and passion for the things of God. It's not a text saying you have to pray like this. But it does show us the reverence that Paul has for God. The reverence and passion he has for God. That reverence should always be in us. In what way are we reverent to the Lord Jesus? What is our reverence? What is our passion? It should always be in our hearts. Aligned with what we're asking of the Lord. In verse 5 it says, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. It's not speaking about the paternity on this earth. The paternity, universal paternity of God. Or Christ going with all people. This refers to the Church of Christ. The church throughout all ages, the universal church of Christ, from every tribe and place on the earth. now people who live with us on the earth, and everyone who will share the heavens with us in Christ Jesus. And in that, everyone takes upon them the name of the Father. In the next text, Paul speaks of the cause. He says it this way, that according to the riches of his glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. Paul is speaking of the cause of his prayer. Paul is saying, I want the best for the Church and for the universal Church of Christ. He wants the Church to grow as the Church should grow. Que la iglesia en realidad pueda experimentar lo que es la gloria de Dios. So that the church will know what the glory of God is. Dice, sigue diciendo el texto. The text continues. Ser fortalecido en el poder del hombre interior. That he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. Before we leave this text, I want to mention something. The word here, the phrase, the richest of His glory, it's mentioned more than four times in the book of Ephesians. And one of these is in the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His grace. We find that in Ephesians 1.7. We find in chapter 4, verse 1, that He is rich in mercy. In 1.18, He says that you would know the riches of his glorious inheritance and the saints. We could speak much on the word riches that Paul is mentioning here. to hear these texts come together. We find that God is the fountain of unlimited power, of goodness, of mercy, of love, grace, wisdom, knowledge, and glory. He is everything. In Him we find everything we need for life and godliness. He is, as we say, a never-ending fountain. There is enough grace in Him for all sin. It doesn't matter what we've come through in our life anterior, or the circumstances we've come through in sin. We find him to be a fountain that's unlimited. He is rich in every one of our needs. There's something else that we should know of God that we've mentioned. And as we learn about His nature in this part of God, We should be marveled to have a God. Completely perfect in all things. I see with clarity that Paul had this thought of God. I remind you of a text that Paul busts out in praise, in Romans 11.33. He says, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments! How inscrutable His ways! Do you see why Paul has such a high thought of God? That makes God? And that God is sufficient for all our needs. God should be all for the church. As Paul had in his mind, we don't need anything else. The world could give him nothing else. There wasn't more value in the things out in the world. Everything we need for life is in Christ. Not only in this age, but also in the age to come. So Paul says in Galatians 2.20, we are crucified with Christ. I don't live more. For I've been crucified with Christ, no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live, I live in the I can't remember the word, sorry. If I've been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. In the life I live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God. He says, I don't live more. What he is assuming. He is dead to the offer of the world. He doesn't need anything more than the world can offer. He's no longer dominated by the temptations of the world. He has found the fountain of life that is greater than anything the world has to offer. That should be the thought of every Christian, that Christ is enough. That's everything we need. In life or death, Christ is all we need. We should be encouraged every day by Christ alone. The text says, to grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. This is the cause of Paul's prayer, church. It's a way that Paul reminds us of our debilities. We're incapable of going forward in our own strength. We cannot by ourselves walk. We need the grace of God. We need the grace of God that brought us from death to life. It's the same grace that the church needs to persevere to the end. That is our trust in Christ Jesus. That he not only saved us, but he caused us to persevere to the end. The idea of Paul here in the other verses is that we can grow spiritually. The verse that we mentioned before in chapter 4, verse 13. It says, until we all obtain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is the goal set before us. Only by the help of God, like we said, can we persevere to that goal. While we're still on the earth, we cannot fulfill that. No. However, we have in our mind that one day we will reach that. We should be careful. Faithful. Put in practice our knowledge that we have of God. Because knowledge without practice is vain. And it makes vanity rule the heart. Paul shows the debility in our own nature in this verse. That's why he says that we would be strengthened in our inner being. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, while this natural body is wasting away, Our interior is being renovated. This is the truth of God's Word. And even though we're getting older, it doesn't mean we're going to have a greater knowledge of God just because we get older. Our knowledge should grow constantly. And through that spiritual growth, the strength that God gives, it's like it says in verse 17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The power of the Holy Spirit, the strength of the Holy Spirit. And Christ's habitating in us strengthens us every day to live in this world. I'm going to read a text from Paul in Philippians chapter 4. In Philippians 4.13. We're going to read from verse 11. Abundancia en todo y por todo estoy enseñado. Así para estar saciado como para tener necesidad. Así para tener abundancia como para parecer necesidad. Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. It says in chapter 4, verse 11 to 13, not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to be abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. With the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the strength of the Holy Spirit, without those things it's impossible that we would speak like this. That we could live in the same way when we have need or when we have abundance. So Paul says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He can do it through the power God gives him. The scripture says, apart from God, we can do nothing. That power of God causes us to be strong in needs, in persecutions, and even the death. In the case of Paul, To go to death even for the cause of the gospel. How can we go without complaining to death? Only when we're strengthened by the Holy Spirit. I say this because one way or another we're going to leave this earth. One day to the next we're going to confront death. We need to pray that the Lord would strengthen us for that day. We've read many testimonies of people who are greatly feared on their death. Some are complaining. And others without complaining, even of the fear of God. Most men who complain in death haven't grasped the depth of the knowledge of God. As we're children, we're going to have very many struggles in this world. Remember Paul speaking to the Galatians. Let's read really quick Galatians 4.19. It's my little children for whom I again in anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. What's going on with this church? They're causing pain to Paul. This happens in all the churches when a church doesn't want to grow spiritually. It causes pain, not only to the pastor, but to God himself. Paul with a heart full of love and peace and patience. He writes them in a loving way. Little children. He says, for whom I'm again in anguish. Childhood. Until what? Until Christ is formed in you. That is the spiritual growth. Remember in 4.13 of Ephesians, until we reach the full stature of Christ, Christ should be formed in the heart of every Christian. The goodness, patience, humility, love, and all many things. So we mention the attributes of God. It's the formation of Christ in the heart of each believer. Christ strengthens us by His Holy Spirit. So that men will preach with all authority in the gospel. That they're not scared to shut their mouth. By the opposition of the world. You remember 2 Timothy 1, 7 and 8. He says God's not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and self-control. This love and self-control only comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. We said a moment ago, to live this style of life, we need the grace of God. And God, through the Holy Spirit, shows His grace, strengthening our daily lives to be able to be in front, to stand firm and obey the Word of God. Continuing the text. It says that you being rooted and grounded in love Because of the obedience of Christ, we can love one another. and that we would be perfected in love. God wants us as a church to love one another. As Ephesians 4.32 says, Be kind to one another and tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. The practice of the knowledge that before was given to us should be a practice in the church. God wants us to be perfect in love and in unity. Look what it says in John 17. John 17, 22 and 23. Dice... Dice, la gloria que me diste yo las he dado para que sean uno, así como nosotros somos unos. Yo en ellos, y tú en mí, para que seamos perfectos en unidad, para que el mundo conozca que tú me enviaste y que los he amado, y ellos como... Ah, perdón, los he amado a ellos como también The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, and I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me. I love how it draws my attention that Christ in the High Priestly Prayer here speaks of perfection. That we would be in a perfect union in love. As Christ loved us, we should love one another. That is the calling of the Church. You might say, well, I don't have a problem with anyone. I love everybody in the whole world. Yes, but we should grow in love. We haven't arrived. We're not perfect in unity. But we have a spiritual growth so that the world would know. What should there be in the church? The text that we've read tells us clearly, so they can see the glory of Jesus Christ, through the work of God and the church, that the world sees the glory of God. And us, in such a way, helped by the Spirit of God, Spirit of God, we're responsible for glorifying God in the Church. God desires to be glorified, and us obeying His Word, and the growth that we have every day. It says in verse 18, It says, and have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth. And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Remember a text in Ephesians 1. The prayer of Paul for the church. So they would be illuminated by the Holy Spirit. That's the prayer of Paul. It's almost parallel to this one. In the middle of the church. The love of Paul for the church and their growth. The church needs to know what they've learned and put into practice. Us without the help of the Holy Spirit. It's impossible that we would understand everything we read. Even though the church in Ephesus had been taught by Paul himself, Paul prays that they would have the knowledge and be illuminated. Remember, we have the fallen nature of Adam. And it says, in that nature, no one knows the Lord. No one can understand God. Even though we have a new nature because of Christ, we still have the same nature of Adam. The prayer from Paul is that we would have this knowledge of what we hear of Christ. If God doesn't bless His Word, we continue the same. We are the same that we came. But when God blesses His Word, opens our understanding. Or mine. We can treasure the word that's given to us. It's the Holy Spirit that causes us to remember the things of God. We many times hear the words through the preaching. And many times we don't understand. But many times when we're studying at home, or we hear a song, Or anything that refers to the Word of God. We're reminded of the sermon that we heard at church. And sometimes we understand clearly what he's speaking of. Many ways the Spirit works. It's God working through the preaching of His Word. The Word of God is a blessing to the church. We cannot grow by ourselves. It's the need that we have to pray and ask the Spirit to give us a great knowledge of God. To know the riches of God. So that we would be able to comprehend with all the saints. When it speaks of all the saints, it's speaking of a collective way of the church, universal church. He doesn't want just the apostle to grow, the pastor. He wants the church to grow. Everyone to grow that we might know. So that we would be capable of understanding with all the saints, what's the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth, to know the love of Christ. This is the capacity we have through the teachings of the apostles. Through the teaching of the apostles, we're blessed through the Holy Spirit. We could be capable of understanding the greatness of God, the love of God, what great love God has shown us. It's immeasurable, the love of God. It's something we can't even imagine. That He would send His own Son to die for us. To show love for someone like you and like me. If we remember, where were we taken out of? Of, of, of a stinky place, from a stinky place. And He didn't just pull us out of there, but He continues to take people out of there like sinners like us. And even though we're renovated, it doesn't mean we're without sin. We continually sin. But God shows His love. My children, says, if we sin, you have an advocate with the Father, says John. He doesn't just take us out and save us, He keeps us until the end. It says, He who began a good work, the work in us, will bring it to completion. He is working in our lives. It's the daily work in our lives. We're not perfect, but God is perfecting His church. And this is us. We should praise God. For our growth happens every day. That through faith Christ dwells in us. So we can understand the great love of Christ Jesus. I understand in such a way. We don't understand all things in the word. We don't understand how God can work in someone like us. We don't understand sometimes how the scriptures can say, Jacob I loved you so I hated. But God has shown his great love for us. He even shows his love for ones that are even in the world today. He says, he brings the rain on everyone. He brings the sun up on everyone. He says, by the mercy of God, we're here. God shows his love. No one who is powerful. Not to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we can ask or think, according to the power at work within us. God knows our lives. God is omnipresent. He gives strength in the time that He wants to give it. He acts in our way in an unprecedented way. Even though we ask for certain things or we say we have a need of certain things, He knows more of us and more of our future. We don't always ask rightly for things. But Him and His love gives us what we need. It says in the book of James, if we need wisdom, ask God. He'll give it abundantly. That is the God we have. That is the greatness of the God we have. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, amen. Doing this, us growing in our spiritual lives, We bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ. And Christ has been glorified in us. Says in another text, everyone who's called by my name, the glory, my own glory, I formed them and I made them. God will always have his glory. With us or without us, but he chose his church to be glorified his name. I finish the text this evening, brothers, trusting that we should grow. There's a mutual growth that we should always have. God has set the standard before us, encouraging each one of us to grow in the growth of Christ in the Church. We trust in God for all things and what's to come. God's been faithful. He's always faithful in His promises. We should always trust in Christ and ask God to reveal Himself to us. Let's pray. Gracias por tu amor y tu bondad siempre, padre. Tú eres rico en misericordia. Tenemos esa fuente inagotable de todo conocimiento, de poder y sabiduría. Todo lo que necesitamos está en usted, padre. Solo es que tengamos la actitud, la humillación de venir a usted, conociendo, padre, que separado de usted nada podemos hacer. Que no podemos lograr cosa alguna separado de usted, que todo lo que podemos hacer es porque estamos en Cristo Jesús. Gracias te damos, Padre, en el nombre de Cristo Jesús. Amen. Amen. Thank you, brother. Muchas gracias, hermano. What a great reminder. Many times, que gran recuerdo, muchas veces we pray for needs. Oramos por necesidades. We should. We should pray for needs. Debemos. Debemos orar por necesidades. You have a need, go to God. Tienes una necesidad, vayas a Dios. He is capable. Él es capaz. He can meet every need. Puedo cumplir todas las necesidades. But when is the last time our motivation has been go to God for godliness? Pero cuando es nuestra motivación ir a Dios por piedad? God, just make me godly. So let me ask this piedoso. Make me a stranger to this world. Make me love the world less. And love Christ more. Let me grow weary to the world. Déjame crecer mi cansancio del mundo. And grow in my love for the word. Y crecer mi crecimiento por la palabra. Let me get passionate about the word. Déjame ser apasionado por la palabra. Let me hang on every word. Déjame colgar en todas las palabras. The text says he is able. The text says he is able to make us abound in those things. To make us abound in those things. I love how Paul says that here in the text, I love how Paul says in the text, that he would do that in your inner being. That he would make a change in your heart. That he would make a change in your heart. Thank you brother for encouragement this season. Gracias hermano por animo esta tarde.