Well, good morning. It is truly an honor to be here. This place is dear to my heart for different reasons, but one in particular, two years ago, in a couple weeks, we had my youngest son's memorial service here. I don't think I've been here since. I didn't think it would affect me, so hold on just a minute. Forgive me, I didn't expect this. So I am honored to be here. I am truly, this place is dear to me for obvious reasons. The Brotherhood is even the cherry on top. The fellowship of Corey and Pastor Phil, and I know Mr. Pepper's over here, and so I'm truly amongst the brethren, and I'm truly blessed to be here. The joy to know that there's a place like this so close. This is 12 minutes from my house So it's kind of fun, you know, and so I'm very honored to be here. I trust that the word that I have is From your Heavenly Father to you through me. I trust it is It's found in the book of Ephesians Chapter 3 And as you know from any time of being a Christian and going through the New Testament, as I know you do here. You know from the book of Ephesians, it's filled with such lofty doctrine, especially the first three chapters. And the doctrine that Paul lays out in those first three chapters is written to encourage believers to stay the course. no matter the waves that come against us. And as it says in chapter 4 verse 1, it's to walk in a manner worthy of the calling. And you must know what your calling is. And the calling is the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, the lofty heavenly doctrines, like election, predestination to adoption, being sealed in the Spirit. Those are the heavenly doctrines that are true of every single believer. And so one of the things Ephesians does as he lays out these doctrines, as he lays the basis for the unity of the faith, Any believer in Christ Jesus, whether they're saved one moment or 80 years, whether they're in Russia or the United States, they are all equally chosen by God, predestined to adoption, and sealed by the Spirit. There's no elites, and there's no second blessing, have this and those who have less of Christ in the church. Based on Ephesians and the doctrine he lays out in those first three chapters, we are all at that level of extraordinarily blessed in the heavenlies. And there is nobody of any lesser. What is lesser is the knowledge of it. What is lesser is your knowledge compared to your neighbor. Your neighbor who's been walking with the Lord faithfully has a greater knowledge than the one just saved, but what is equal of both of them is what is their possession in Christ. They are equally the richest people in the universe because of Jesus Christ. And so it's interesting that in the first three chapters of Ephesians, There's only one imperative found in those first three chapters, and it's 2.11, and it's really insignificant, really, in a sense. He calls them to remember. He calls them to remember that you were once Gentiles. You were once separated from the people of God. That's the only imperative in those three chapters. What does that mean? It means the rest of Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 is all indicatives. It's all information. That is true. It's all reality that is ours. There's no exhortation to do anything in the first three chapters. You don't do anything. You just receive, okay? And so what we're looking at today is Paul has, through the Holy Spirit's movement in his life, he wrote two prayers for us. for every subsequent generation since the first century to read how a man of God moved by the Spirit prayed for church. And therefore, I want us to see and learn just what he's prayed for, how we should then pray, but then also how we should maybe live in light of that prayer. Now if you look at this, please, if you notice in chapter one, just quickly, in verse 18 and 19, you're gonna notice three whats. He wants to inform us of what is already ours as Christians. Look at verse 18. It says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know, notice verse 18, what is the hope of his calling? Oh, by the way, I'm using the New American Standard, and I was told it's the one that Jesus used, so I hope that's the one you're using. If not, I'll pray for your sin-sick, shriveled-up souls. Sorry, Corey. Secondly, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? The third in verse 19, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe? And he goes on to say the power that raised Jesus from the dead is what is at our disposal. Can you imagine? At our disposal, for our use, is the power that raised Christ from the dead. He wants us to understand what is the riches of God's inheritance in us, what he thinks of us. And then the first one is what is the hope of his calling, and what is that? Heavenly. He wants us to meditate on those truths, and he's praying for us. Isn't that fascinating? We need to be prayed in that way because we don't think that way. We get all caught up in the world's troubles and the trials and tribulations of this world, and it becomes hazy, and we lose track of who we are in Christ Jesus and what is our possessions as Christians. Life is tough. Amen? Life can be hell. Let's call it what it is. But in Christ, you have the power to not only survive, but to flourish in Christ Jesus. Now, that's the prayer in chapter one. We're not gonna look at that one. We're gonna look at chapter three, okay? Look at chapter three. He's moved to write another prayer. And in the first chapter, he wants to inform us. I think this chapter three, he wants us to now, let's put this into practice. He's praying for us to put into practice these things, but he wants us to be, as you will notice, there's three, I'm gonna say three principles, there's three that's in chapter three, verse one. 16 and 17 and 19. Look at this together. Look at what it says in verse 16. He wants us to be, in the middle of the verse, to be strengthened with power. Let's just stop right there. To be strengthened with power, that's what he wants us to know. And then what will that do is in verse 17, you'll note, or verse 18, look at what it says. to be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. And then verse 19, he wants us to know experientially the love of Christ that is beyond mere intellectual assent. It surpasses any intellectual understanding. It goes beyond that. And the end of this notice in verse 19, I think it's sequential here. Verse 19, you'll notice in the middle of the verse, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. That's his heart's desire for Christians. Let's simply say to be like God. And then verse 20 and 21, which we often take out of context and stick on our refrigerator, right? But it's in the context, and it's in this context of asking to be strengthened in the inner man so that, verse 20, whatever we are able to ask, he has more power to go far beyond what you can even think about to ask him. So this prayer here is to realize what is ours, to live it out, to come to the knowledge of God's love for me in Christ, so that Christ would fill me up to make me like God, so that then I would ask for the the most extreme things within his will, and God has more than the ability and more than the resources to answer my prayer. And why would God be even concerned about that? Why would God even be concerned to answer your prayer? Look at the last verse in chapter three. It's for the glory of God. It's not for you, though we get the blessings. It's ultimately reflecting up into the heavenly so that God, the true and living God, receives the praise. Praise God. Isn't that the ultimate end of God in anything he does? So I'm gonna be so motivated to pray this because I know that God's behind it because God receives the glory. Let's read 14 through 21. Because they say I gotta be done before two, so I'll hurry. I thought I'd scare Corey. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you," now here's a request, according to, in harmony, the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man. He's almost Pentecostal, praise the Lord. Verse 17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, verse 19, and to know experientially, personally, intimately the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to him who's able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray and go home. Amen, right? Preachers are always in danger of ruining the text of God by getting in the way, aren't we? We're always in danger of ruining a good text. I trust I won't do that today. Look at where he goes here, please. And I'm gonna blast through this as fast as I can, but hopefully it'll be a blessing to you. In 14 and 15, you notice to whom he prays. It's to the Father. Now, there's many trees killed on verse 15. I'm just gonna say this. He's the father of every believer, whether they're in heaven or on earth. He's the father through redemption, okay? Now, if you wanna say he's the father of all people by being creator, like Acts 17 says, okay. He is the one and only creator. He's the one and only father of the redeemed. Notice, this is to whom he addresses his prayer. He does the same thing in chapter 1. His prayer in chapter 1 is addressed to God the Father. In the Trinity, the Trinity's always involved in Paul's prayers. In chapter 1, he's praying to the Father that the Son would be glorified and the Spirit would do the power. In chapter 3, he prays to the Father that verse 16, the strengthened by His Spirit. Verse 17, that Christ may dwell. You have the Trinity there. The Trinity's always active. Yes, you can pray to the Son, and yes, you can pray to the Spirit, but primarily in the New Testament, our prayers are addressed to God the Father. And no one's more Christ-centered than God the Father. So there's not competition. Jesus isn't up there in heaven saying, golly, why come you never pray to me? You always pray to my dad. I'm here, too. I'm equal. I'm in the Trinity, right? You talk to some people, and they kind of think that way. You know what? Pray to God the Father. And the Son will applaud you. Because isn't that what He does? It isn't, according to 1 Corinthians 15, when everything's all wrapped up and the bow's tied on it and God's perfect will is done, the Son will hand everything over to the Father so that God is God in all things. Amen? He bows His knee in verse 14. Now, remember, the authors of Scripture just don't choose words willy-nilly. That sounds like a good thing to say. Let's bow our knees. No, obviously, he's got a point here. What is bow the knees showing? Bowing the knees shows a submission, a humility, a true need for God to do something, to bow your knees. Isn't that how you pray when you are so broken or so distressed or so much in need? Don't you fall on your face before God and pray, Lord, do something. This is what he's showing, showing the seriousness of this issue here. The picture, the posture of prayer in this text is one of a man in desperate need. That's the best place to be. He bows his knees before God the Father. Verse 16, he asks that He, God the Father, would grant you, would give to you, would give to you, Notice, according to the riches of his glory, according to the riches of his glory, according to, out from, in harmony with, he's asking that God the Father would do something that is out of his infinite resources. He says there, according to the riches, the wealth, His glory Why does he say things like that He's calling on God the Father to act and give out of the infinite untappable Resources notice of his glory. I What is His glory? Well, the Old Testament, the word speaks of weightiness. The New Testament speaks of radiant, glorious light. You put the two words together, the old and new, it speaks of someone who's so massively great and reflectively, radiantly glory, beautiful, majestic. Out of His glory is the summation of all His perfect attributes. Who He is is His glory. Out of the infinite resources of His perfections, He's asking the Father to do something. Now think about this. If He's gonna work in your life, Extravagantly because that's how he is He's not stealing from this guy over here You've heard that stupid statement, you know, you give to Paul and steal from Peter or however, they say that thing, right? No, if God's gonna lavish his Grace on you. That doesn't mean he has less grace for you because his infinite resources is like a artesian well You know what an artesian well is? You don't need to pump it out of the ground, it just comes out of the ground. This is the infinite glory, the riches of the glory of the Father, from which what he's going to request for you and I and for the Ephesian church, and you are gonna begin to pray this way for each other, you're gonna call on God out of his infinite resources in verse 16. Notice where he starts. to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. That's extremely Christian, by the way. Because only Christians are indwelt by the third person of the Trinity. Only Christians are indwelt by God. He's asking here that from his glorious riches that he would give strength through the power that comes from the Holy Spirit. And where does it take place? In the inner man. Now, I want to be as Pentecostal as Paul. Not as Pentecostal as Benny Hinn. I want to be as Pentecostal as Paul. All right? No amens? You're a Baptist church, man. This is an amen club, man. Let's get it on. Right? Yes, brother, yes. We want to be as Pentecostal as Paul, man. We want to be as Pentecostal as the Bible allows me to be. Don't shy away from the truth. Don't be afraid of your feelings. Just don't let them rule your day. Amen? Thank you. Now I'm amongst brethren. Now we're amongst the Baptists, right? I'm a Baptist, so don't take this wrong, man, right? So, okay. Look at what it says. I lost where I was, but verse 16. Oh, yeah. Strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. The Spirit, since conversion, has come into your heart and life. And if you are born again, you are presently and permanently indwelt by the Spirit of God. He will never depart. He will never leave. He's promised, remember in chapter 1, He seals you to the day of redemption. He is with you unto the end. He's who made you a Christian. He's the one who keeps you a Christian. The Spirit is in you. The Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The Spirit is equal with God in every way. Every attribute that's true of God the Father is true of the Holy Spirit. Co-equal, co-eternal. He's living and active. He leads the Christian. He teaches the Christian. He upholds the Christian. He seals the Christian. He comforts the Christian, doesn't he? He's called the paraclete, the comforter. He's a living, active person. He is God, the living God, and he indwells me. Dude, do you not know you are a temple of the Holy Spirit in whom the Spirit of God dwells? Amen? He's praying here, not that you would receive the Spirit. This is not a conversion prayer. He's praying for Christians to be strengthened in the inner man by the dynamic power of God. In the inner man. You see, Christianity begins inside, doesn't it? Christianity is a transformation that God does inside. He cleanses the old out and brings the new. Anyone in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, is a new creature. The old is past, the new has come. We have a new mind, new passions, new desires. We are new creatures. We are indwelt by God. And God in our inner man is renewing us day by day. This is a prayer that the Holy Spirit would have His way with you. The power that created, the power that sustains, the power that sustains yet to this day the universe is the power He's calling upon to give you strength. You know what that means? There is nothing more powerful than that which He's praying for. Nothing. Let's go to 17. Look at what he says here. So that. That's a purpose statement. There's a couple of them sprinkled here. So in other words, why does he ask for this? is so that purpose, and look what he prays, 17. What's the purpose of being strengthened in the inner man? So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And you first thought I'd be, now wait just a minute. I thought he already did. Didn't he come to dwell in your heart the moment you were converted? Yes. So this is not a conversion text. He's talking to Christians. Well, what does he mean then when he says, dwell in your hearts through faith? The word dwell. It's an interesting term. The Greeks often will put prepositions on front of verbs and it changes either the word or it intensifies it. Just depends. This here has the preposition attached to a word which means to live. To live in a house, so to speak. But the preposition, it intensifies it. In other words, it has the idea of being settled down in. The best illustration I could come up with is living at some dwelling, but I'm not real comfortable there. You ever lived in a place like that? Right? It might be where I live, but it's not real homey, right? I lived in an apartment first time I moved to Folsom. I'm not from apartment country, right? That was like being puckered up in a closet, you know? I mean, it was home, and I was thankful. But I wasn't real comfortable there. That's the word here. Now look at this again. He's asking that we would have the strength through the Holy Spirit in our inner person so that Jesus Christ, second person of the Trinity, the Son, may be settled, dwelling in, comfortable in, at home. Where? In my heart. Interesting. Interesting. Christ's home in my heart. Isn't it interesting that it takes the power of the Spirit of God in the inner person to make that possible? So it's not... That'll begin to tell us a little bit about the power that he's requesting. Power to do what? You see? Power to, I'm gonna just throw this out and we'll get to it. I think it's power to overcome sin. I think it's power to overcome ungodliness. I think it's power to overcome doubt. Think of this, follow me please. Isn't it true that any sin I commit as a Christian At that moment, I'm living in a sense of unbelief. I'm not taking God at His word. I'm certainly not living as though I believe it when I choose to sin. Amen? That's doubt. That's unbelief as a believer, not unconverted. Is your faith perfect today? No. Some of you might be up here. Man, you're just nine foot tall and bulletproof, and the rest of us might be floundering down with just our head above the water. But we're believing. This text here says, I'm asking that the Holy Spirit would give power in your inner person so that you would walk righteously, that you would trust Jesus Christ. Because look at what it says in 17. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts. How? through faith. Do you see the connection? The power in the inner person is to produce a greater faith. Father, help my unbelief. Help me to trust Jesus Christ. Amen. And some of you who have been through many trials and tribulations and those who've experienced death of loved ones, you know this verse. There is no way to survive apart from the power of God in the inner person, man. It says Jesus is true, trust him. In the darkest hours, all you have is Jesus Christ. And that's from the power of God. It's not from you, it's a gift of grace. But he prays for Christians to experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the inner person that produces a greater faith in Jesus Christ. The result is Christ is at home in your heart. That's what this is talking about. And it's all related to doctrine. It's all related to truth. That which Christ, who He is and what He's accomplished on your behalf. You know, there's this really strange railroad track right here. And it really throws me off here. I need to learn how to straddle the track, I guess. Does that make sense? You'll have to go home and make sure it's true. But does it make sense? And then look where he continues. So faith, I believe, is what the Spirit... One other thing. Remember when... There's a consistency here. Remember when Jesus gave the incredible information to Peter when he said, Satan is asking permission to sift you like wheat? Do you remember that? And Peter said, well, you told him no, right? Jesus said, no, but I'm praying for you. Do you remember what Jesus is praying for when he allowed Satan to sift him his wheat? Do you remember? His faith. His faith. His faith. He's talking about Peter. Wouldn't you say Peter was a believer at that time? Of course he was. So then, here. Be strengthened with power so that Christ may be at home in your heart through faith, through greater trust in Him, and that," notice the second here, and that, you being rooted and grounded in love. Now notice, those are facts that he says right there, that you being rooted and grounded obviously gives the picture of stability, yeah? Rooted, you're not wavering anywhere, and you're grounded, you're fixed, you're stable. Notice the soil in which they are planted is love. So it goes from this greater faith that you being rooted and grounded in love Now I'm going to say this is being rooted and grounded in God's love for me because my love for him is imperfect. My love for him waffles, doesn't it? Just like my faith. Do you love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength 24-7? No. So this is not your love you're grounded in. This is his love for you. Now look at this. that you being rooted and grounded in love, what comes about from that wonderful reality is verse 18. Do you see it? Being rooted and grounded in love, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, and height, and depth. I'll stop you right there. Notice in verse 18, what comes about from being grounded in the love of God is that you have the ability, able, you have the ability to comprehend. Where does that take place? In your mind. In your mind. You see, Christianity is about the mind, the inner person, the heart, and mind are often interchangeable, aren't they, in the scriptures? It's your inner person. It says there that you would be able to comprehend, come to an understanding, get a grip with all the saints. This takes place in your mind, this comprehension. And notice it's not just for you as an individual in verse 18, but with all the saints, all the saints. Saints, as you know, is just someone who is born again, not one who's about to be worshiped. Holy one If you're in Christ, you're a saint and notice it's it's the result of being fixed and grounded in the love of God is that you may be able in your mind in your heart in your inner person to Comprehend to apprehend with all the believing ones the Saints notice what he's asking in 18 What is the breadth the length the height and depth? I? I think what he's saying there, without getting too wrapped up in breadth, length, height, and depth, what is he saying? He wants you to understand, comprehend the immensity of God's love. Breadth. It's as east to the west. You can't put your arms around it. How deep can you go and get away from love? And does his love run out the deeper you get? No, of course. How about height? Do you see what he's saying? He says, I want you to comprehend the result of this, the spirit in your heart and life and strengthening you is that Christ would be settled in your heart, in your inner person, because your faith is being strengthened and your trust in him. And he feels at home. He's at home in your heart. Settled and he wants the result of that is being grounded and fixed in the soil of divine Love and the result of under the result of being fixed in the love of God not wavering Can I say to you? And I won't be care I have never Doubted God's love for me I've questioned mine for Him, but I have never doubted that God loves me, ever. And I say that with fear, but I think this is what, you're rooted and grounded in His love. I'm assured of His love. If you have any doubt, begin right here at the cross. If you have any doubt whatsoever, meditate on the cross again. If he's given his son who is the greatest, everything else is lesser. Why would I doubt his love, even in my darkest day? He did not allow me to go off into the abyss. He did not allow me to doubt his love. He didn't allow me. In fact, he infused me with greater, greater conviction of his affection for me, even in my darkest day. Praise God. And being grounded in that reality, verse 18, then be able to comprehend in my mind, understand with all the believing ones the immensity of his love. Now if he's praying this and if it's recorded, how important is this to God that we understand this? This has to be a priority. In fact, the doctrine of the first three chapters Is it not the love of God for sinners? It's magnifying and emphasizing His love. Isn't it? Listen to chapter 2, verse 4. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great, what? Love, which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. To comprehend the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of that. And then he moves on, beloved, look at verse 19. And to know the love of Christ. So this is sequential, this is opening up, it's leading, the Spirit's strengthening our inner person, Christ is at home, we're grounded in the love of God, and he wants us then, we're able to comprehend, begin to comprehend the immensity of this love, and then specifically, in verse 19, he says, to know the love of Christ. He's talking to believers. How important is doctrine? Truth, biblical truth. Isn't that what doctrine culminates at? Doctrine culminates in the love of God. You can't preach the wrath of God without ending up with the love of God, if you're a Christian. How important is it to stick our little pointy noses in the book? And to pray this prayer, oh Lord, strengthen me on the inside that I would trust Christ and trust your word because I want to grow in my knowledge of you, which then is to grow in my knowledge of divine affection. I mean, the years that I have been in pastoral ministry, I think I could say that almost every person that I've had the privilege to minister to, their troubles came because they didn't understand the love of God for them. And if God should use you to show them the love of God, you see the light come on. Because when you understand God's love for you, it makes you rock solid. That's what verse 17's talking about, being rooted and grounded in love. When you lack an understanding and belief in God's love for you, you're like a shallow weed, man, in a sandy soil. Easily uprooted and easily swayed by the enemy. The devil is continually, isn't he, trying to convince you that God doesn't love you? Oh, you sinned again. Oh, you're out of here, dude. A holy God can't have you in his presence. You're too sinful. To which Martin Luther said to the devil, that's right, I'm a great sinner, but Christ is a great savior. Amen? Devil, you ain't surprising me with this accusation. What about the things you don't mention that's in my heart? That Jesus does know about. That Jesus went to the cross dying knowing they were in my heart. You see? That's doctrine. That's truth. And when those assaults come against you, you stand firm in the love of God. And you're not tossed to and fro. You're not defeated. But you stand strong. To know, verse 19, to know the love of Christ, to know, and we know this from years, I'm sure, the word to know there is beyond mental, intellectual assent. It certainly includes that because you have to read doctrine and form your mind, but then this knowledge goes beyond and says the knowledge that you take in, now you experience in life. This is an experiential knowledge. This is a personal, intimate knowledge. You who've been married any length of time, your knowledge of your wife is far greater now than it was the day you met her. And I'm talking the intimate, personal, I know how she acts. I know how she thinks. I know what makes her sad. I know what makes her happy. from experience. This is eternal life, says Jesus Christ, that they would know you, the living God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Here he says, to know the love of Christ. Can I ask you while you're sitting there, and just don't answer, We're not that Pentecostal. Do you know the love of Christ? Have you tasted of him? And found him to be good. That's first Peter to quoting Psalm 34. Taste of the Lord and see that he is good. How are you going to taste him? What's that inferring? What's that implying? Experiential knowledge, experiential walking with him. He's a living person who indwells every born again person through the Holy Spirit, living and active. He can be tasted. He has mercy on you, He comforts your soul. He disciplines you for your sin, but it's all out of love. Do you know the love of Christ? Are you even interested in the love of Christ? That should be our driving force in my soul. It's the reason we can rejoice in the midst of trials and tribulation and sorrows because God comes in the middle of the night and shows you more of himself. September 30th, 2021, 1.54 a.m., in my living room, my baby was pronounced dead. after about an hour and a half of exhaustive CPR. And when the EMTs came and the air almost leaves you, you almost pass out and you sit down on the ground. And because I know Jesus Christ, I asked Him to give life to my boy because I thought that would be a great thing in the midst of a bunch of pagans. Right? And I believed because God's done it before and He's going to do it again. Why not do it now, Lord? And I prayed that. But as time goes and you realize it's not the will of God. And I kissed my baby on the forehead And these words came into my mind from God because I did not search for this. It flooded my brain. It's the end of Job, chapter one. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. What's the rest of it? Blessed be the name of the Lord. I said, yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. I trust you. And the love that I felt, the comfort, the buoyancy to my soul is the love of Christ. It's manifest on the cross, but it's experienced at 2 a.m. in your darkest days, you see? And the Spirit comes to your aid and brings the cross of Christ and the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of that, to your life. And He grants you faith. That's why He says, I want you to be strengthened in the inner person through the Holy Spirit, so that Christ may be at home in your heart in the darkest of days. And I want you then to be able to comprehend because you're rooted in his love like a strong oak tree in the soil, like a strong redwood tree in deep soil. The soil is love, divine love. And as a result, you begin to comprehend, understand more and more the immensity of God's love for you. And He wants you to know even more specifically in verse 19, as we're saying, to know experientially the love that Jesus Christ has for you personally. Amen? Personally, beloved, personally. I've talked to people who talk about the love of Christ. Of course He loves me. He loves everybody. No, no, no. Does He love you? Do you know that He loves you? You as an individual. Yes, we're part of a body, but guess what? Our walk does include our individual personal walk with Christ. Do you know his love for you? And I'm beating this because in the years of my ministry, I find that this is so minimal. And I'm not questioning, I hope it doesn't come across that way, I'm just encouraging you to dive deep into Christ. Don't avoid suffering, don't avoid sorrow. Walk through it, because it's there that he makes himself known to a degree you could never know before. And once you walk through and come on the other side, you're like Job at the end of the book, and you say, you know, I've heard of you, but man, now my eye has seen you. And I bless the God of heaven. Because He is the Comforter. He is the Sovereign One who loves you. He is the Omnipotent One who will never let you go. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He never kick you to the curb, no matter how sinful you act. If you're His, His commitment to you is eternal. And it can't, no one can snatch you from His hand. No one can jump out. The devil can't pluck you out and you can't jump out of the hands of Jesus Christ if you're His. And He wants you to know intimately, because it is His character, it is His nature, He cannot be any other way than loving and gracious and kind and good. If you don't know Him as kind and good, and you know Him as harsh and demanding, you don't know Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ to his saints is lavish in affection, lavish in grace, lavish in mercy, lavish in kindness. Amen? Amen, church. Amen, church. We are the ones who have tasted of him and found him to be good. He cannot be otherwise. And the Spirit has been sent by God to assure that in your heart, in your soul, beloved. Man, I love that. How glorious will heaven be when the sin is gone and unhindered, unbroken, hindered in the presence of the one who gave himself up for me and loved me. I will be in his presence and I will taste more and more of who he is and the love that he has for me. I will understand more and more and more and more and all I will do is just praise him for all eternity. and it'll be the joy of my heart as it is today. But it's not perfect today, because I'm still housed in unredeemed flesh that makes me sick to my stomach. Lord, I can't get away from you. That's why Paul says, to live is Christ, to die is gain, you know, and to depart, to be with Christ is very much better. Amen? We're not masochists, we're realists. Oh, beloved, we have opportunity by the Spirit of God. Let us pray that way for each other. Imagine the change just in my family, just in a small group of people that I meet with on Tuesday. What if we just started praying this and living this? You think it would change that little group? Yes, it would. And just let it permeate. Let it grow. Look at, oh man. Verse 19, and I'm sorry I'm rambling, but I'm weak, he is strong. To know the love of Christ, look what he says. Verse 19, which surpasses knowledge. It goes beyond. However, in other words, you cannot tax Jesus Christ, I mean you hang out with me for about 30 minutes and that might be long. You're gonna say man, I'm done with this dude. I already know everything about him and he's the most boring guy I can meet and I would affirm that. I'm not a very exciting person, right? But Jesus Christ, you cannot Tax him. You cannot go beyond him. You'll never be bored with him. You'll never say, I already know that. How many people have you met? Yeah, I already know that about him. What? No, you don't. What a foolish statement. I already know that. I tried Jesus. This didn't work for me. Yeah, well, he's going to try you. That's your problem. To know the love of Christ. which surpasses knowledge, so he's talking, it's beyond the intellectual, that, look at verse 19, that you may be filled. So here's the result of this intimate personal knowledge of the love of Christ is that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Oh, that's worth meditating on. I cannot do it any service, but I'm going to try for the next couple minutes that I've got. That you may be filled up. Filled up to the brim. Ephesians 5.18, he says, be filled with the Spirit. Okay? Plero is to be full to the brim. Notice 19. Be filled up to. all the fullness of God. There's a whole lot of fullness going on there, right? He's talking to mere humans. that as a result of growing in this intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ that goes beyond any kind of knowledge you can gain, the result will be that all the fullness of God, fullness of God. Obviously the language is this, all that is God. Nothing less than God. Nothing less than God. All that is true of God, all that is the reality of God would fill you. If you're full of wine, how do I know? Because he acts stupid, right? Among other things, right? If you're full of God, how do I know? You act like God. You act like God. Isn't that the goal of redemption? Isn't that the goal of predestination? Romans 8, you've been predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Do you see? The process according to this prayer of coming to be like God is to grow in the knowledge of His love for you. Now think about that. If gaining a greater personal intimate knowledge, experiential knowledge of the love of Christ results in making me like God, Then what that is saying then is I experience his love, I am then going to live his love. As I experience his affection for me and his mercy, I'm gonna pour out his affection and mercy this way because I'm becoming more like him. How do you know when I become like him? You watch it in my life. How do you know I have faith? Faith works, James 2. How do you know what's in my heart? By the words that come out. They will know that you're my disciple, how? By how? Love one another. There you go, you see? To be then a disciple of Christ is to love one another. In other words, to be like Christ, to be like God is to love. The prayer here is for the church to grow in the intimate experiential knowledge of the love of Christ for me individually. That then fills me and makes me like Christ, and that changes me, and I begin to act like Christ. I love this way when I understand and experience the love this way. Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful, Luke 6. Isn't that amazing? That's amazing. So wouldn't you say then, just to say this, as we look at our world, I would say this prayer is the greatest need the world has. For those who know Jesus Christ to act like Jesus Christ. Because it's then that the world will see who Jesus Christ is. Are we not the body of Christ? What's that mean? We give manifestation to the invisible God. Don't we? To see the church is to see Christ. And it's connected to our being strengthened by the Spirit. The result of that is that we know Jesus Christ's affection for me intimately, personally. I have tasted of Him and found Him to be good. And that then fills me up with the fullness of God, which is to show that I know this love because I live this love. This all seems impossible. If you're like me, and you battle with your own heart, and it's like, dang. The only person I love extremely is me, right? In fact, I love me more than anybody I've ever met. That's my problem, all right? I'm trying not to do that. That's your problem, too, by the way. Not that you love me, but you love you, right? Verse 20, look at what he says. It's not impossible. Now to him who is able, Oh, the omnipotence of God. Look at the language here. To do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Is that stretching? I'm an OK kid that struggles with the human language. And that's an amazing thought right there. Far beyond, abundantly, not only what I can ask, but even what I can think. You know what that tells me? I think maybe we don't ask near enough or think high enough. I don't think we ask, I think we're miserly in our asking. Oh Lord, help my toenail. You know, those kinds of prayers. No, no, no, no. How about some, how about, you know what I'm saying, right? I don't think we ask for enough. I don't think we're guilty of asking God too much. How about that one? I don't think I'm guilty at asking God for too much. Right? In fact, I know I'm not. Isn't that sad? When Jesus says, you have not because you ask not. You know what? He wants to give more than you and I want to ask. Because who gets the glory when he answers? God. Look it again and I'll close here. Now, to Him who's able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to, notice, the power that works within us. Who's that? That's the Holy Spirit. Verse 21 is where we'll close. To Him be the glory, notice, in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Amen? Beloved, I love this place, I love you, I do. I've been blessed by God because of this place in some of my most trying times. You're dear to me, but you know what? You're more dear to Jesus Christ. You are objects of his supreme affection. Don't let the devil or any fool tell you differently. You are supreme object of His affection. Proof is that He died on the cross for you. Everything else is less. Everything else is less. He's given you the greatest. What keeps Him from giving the least, it's not good for you. Trust Him. Pray this prayer. that we be strengthened in the inner person by the spirit, that Christ would be at home in our heart, our faith would be strong, we would be grounded in His love for us, and we begin to get a grasp on just the immensity of His love, and that we would grow in this experiential, personal, intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we would be like Him in our life. Nothing you can ask or think is beyond Him. because it's all to His glory and praise. Thank you for listening. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your grace. Father, please take my feeble attempt, use it for your glory, and I pray, Lord, that we would all grow in understanding and experiencing your love for us, that we might love one another to the praise and glory of our King. And so we pray in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. Thank you.