1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,680 There are things that God has he longs to release to us. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,119 He says it's the fullness of God. 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,960 But in order you to step into the fullness of God, you've got 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,480 to have a revelation of the love of God. 5 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:18,520 Let's get into the word this morning. 6 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:24,600 Turn with me to Ephesians chapter one on Wednesday nights. 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,280 We are doing a, we're going verse by verse through Ephesians 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,360 and I am really enjoying it. I don't know if anybody else is, 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,760 but I know I am. And hopefully other people are 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,080 getting something out of it, but it's I, I haven't studied, I 11 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,640 haven't taught through Ephesians in a number of years. 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:44,200 We're going through verse by verse. 13 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,800 Matter of fact, the last time I did that was in 2017. 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,040 And so we're going to go through verse by verse, and at this 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,560 rate, we're going to be done around 2037. 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,720 We're on installment 3 last week and we're still in the 1st 17 00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,120 chapter. But seriously, it's, it's a 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,840 great book. And it's just really good to go 19 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,640 through a book verse by verse, chapter by chapter, because it 20 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,240 forces you to teach the whole councils of God. 21 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,040 You know, a lot of times preachers will get on their pet 22 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:15,800 hobby horse. I know I do. 23 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,560 So it'll force you to just deal with everything. 24 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,800 And so we're doing that in Ephesians, but I want to, I want 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:23,880 to revisit some of that this morning. 26 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,480 Not because it's just it's relevant to what we talked about 27 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,560 to you 2 weeks ago. Two weeks ago, I was talking 28 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:37,520 about marriage and how God in his word talks about making 29 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,760 woman for man and man for woman, and the two shall become one. 30 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,800 And then he applies that to his church. 31 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:49,200 And there's this this a lesson that marriage is a metaphor for 32 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,280 the church and the church is a metaphor for marriage. 33 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,880 And there's some some things that the Lord wants us to get 34 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,520 out of that. And the oneness in marriage is a 35 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,800 key that that God took the man. He said it's not good for man to 36 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,320 be alone. So he pulled something out of 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,720 man, shaped it into something he'd be attracted to, presented 38 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,880 it back to the man. Man thought it was a great idea 39 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,360 until he got in an argument with her and he thought, God, why did 40 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,800 you tell me to become one with her and when I was already one 41 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,600 with her? You just complicated matters and 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,080 the what the Lord was doing is he was challenging Adam. 43 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,280 It was it was only oneness through mutual sacrifice. 44 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,720 God did make things more complex, but it's more rewarding 45 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,040 as well. And there's an element of the 46 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,760 body of Christ is that same dynamic that there are things 47 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,120 that God wants us to have that will only get through a 48 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,680 relationship with the others. And so that's what we're going 49 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,120 to look at this morning. So let's pray, Father, Lord, I 50 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,520 ask that you would speak to us this morning. 51 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,880 Lord, I ask that your teaching would fall like rain. 52 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,040 Lord, that you would provoke our hearts, stretch us. 53 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,240 God, give us wisdom and understanding that we've never 54 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,400 had before in Jesus name, Amen. All right, we're going to get 55 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,360 into a few verses in Ephesians. Look with me at Ephesians 56 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:14,720 chapter 1 verses 22 and 23. Those are the 1st 2 verses. 57 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,640 Now just so you know, visions chapter 1 verses one through 14 58 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:23,480 is 1 long run on sentence. Paul would have drove his 59 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:27,200 English teacher crazy. There's no period in the Greek 60 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,800 between verses 3 through 14 and it's what's called a Trinitarian 61 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,240 doxology. What we have from the Father in 62 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,720 the Son and what the Spirit has become to us. 63 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:42,080 It's a glorious thing. And then he begins to unpack a 64 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,280 prayer, the first prayer that Paul gives us in Ephesians. 65 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,320 There's two Apostolic prayers in Ephesians. 66 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,200 And the good thing about that, when you see prayers in 67 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,240 Scripture, it's really good to look at because we, if we can 68 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,760 understand what's being prayed, we can pray the same thing. 69 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,080 And when you pray the word, you know, you're praying God's will. 70 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,320 You know, a lot of people pray prayers that are contrary to 71 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,400 God's will and you might as well save your breath to cool your 72 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,840 soup because it God's not going to answer a prayer that's 73 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,000 contrary to his will. And so we want to make sure that 74 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,680 we're praying according to the will of God. 75 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,000 And so we need to study these prayers. 76 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,200 They're very, very valuable. And this is the first of two. 77 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,520 We're going to look at the other one in a few moments here. 78 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,520 But he prays this prayer and then he lands it here. 79 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,520 Listen to what he says verse 22 and 23 he says and he put all 80 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,520 things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to 81 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,080 the church. So he's Speaking of Jesus, what 82 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,400 Jesus is to the church. He put all things under Jesus 83 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,160 feet, gave him as head over all things to the church. 84 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,720 So he's given us Jesus and Jesus has everything under his feet. 85 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,640 And then he defines the church in verse 23. 86 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,320 Now listen to there's many definitions of the church and 87 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,480 there's a number of them in the book of Ephesians. 88 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,400 He gives us a number of different perspectives, 89 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240 different pictures of what the church is in the Ephesians 90 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,000 chapter 1, or I mean in Ephesians in general. 91 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:18,440 But in chapter 1, this is what he says, the church, verse 23, 92 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,280 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills All in all. 93 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,640 So he tells us that the church is his body. 94 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,080 So we are the body of Christ and we're many members. 95 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,520 And Paul unpacks this in several different passages of Scripture. 96 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,120 But what he's telling us is that only together are we the body. 97 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,120 Christ is the head, we are the body, but only when we come 98 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,160 together. Otherwise we're just a severed 99 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,040 member laying in the street. We're a knuckle rolling around 100 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,320 or, or a we're a foot or whatever. 101 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,840 We we need to come to the together to make up the body of 102 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:56,960 Christ. And then he says this amazing 103 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:58,200 thing. Put that back up there, would 104 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,480 you? He says his body, the fullness 105 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,280 of him. So what he's saying is the body 106 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:08,040 of Christ is the fullness of Christ. 107 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,600 And this is a very important thing for us to understand. 108 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:16,000 We will never have the fullness of Christ in our life without 109 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,960 one another, because only in the body do we have the fullness of 110 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,360 Christ. Otherwise we have a measure of 111 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,440 the gift of Christ. And so God brings us into the 112 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,000 body just like he said in and, and again we talked about this 113 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,640 two weeks ago, but when he created man, it was the first 114 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,880 time in all the creation he looks, he said this ain't good. 115 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:41,360 It was good. It was good. 116 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,680 It was good for five days. On the 6th day he made man. 117 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,960 He stepped back, said it ain't good that man should be alone. 118 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,160 And so he put man into a deep sleep, took something out of man 119 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,200 and presented it back to him. And now there was the challenge 120 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,840 of becoming one with something. Previously he was already one 121 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:58,400 with and there wouldn't have been any disagreements. 122 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,680 I don't know how about you, but I've never had a disagreement 123 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,360 with my rib. Me and my rib get along just 124 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,080 fine. My wife and I, there's been 125 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,120 times where we've had some disagreements. 126 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,600 And so it's the challenge of something that God is offering 127 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,640 us in marriage that is inaccessible outside of unity 128 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:22,280 with another person. And Paul applies this as well to 129 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,520 the church. And what he's saying is the 130 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,640 fullness of all that God has for us in Christ. 131 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,800 The fullness of Christ is inaccessible to you as an 132 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,280 individual. You can only get it in 133 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,720 relationship with someone else. That's why we see this verse 134 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,960 where Jesus says wherever two or three are gathered in my name, 135 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:48,640 there I am in the midst of them. Jesus will commit His fullness 136 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,240 to a minimum of two people, two or three believers. 137 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,880 There are things that God has for you that He will not give to 138 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,280 you directly. He won't give it to you through 139 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,040 Bible study. He won't give it to you through 140 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,800 prayer. He won't give it to you through 141 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,320 fasting. You can cry out, throw a hissy 142 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,640 fit, you can sacrifice and do all kinds of things, but God 143 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,800 will reserve it through a relationship with another 144 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,200 believer. There are things he wants to 145 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,520 show you that are accessible only in relationship with 146 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,280 someone else. That's what Paul is saying. 147 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,640 The body is the fullness of him. Now let's turn to another verse, 148 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:36,039 Ephesians chapter 3, verse 19. So chapter 3 he says, if I can 149 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:38,600 find it here, chapter 3, verse 19. 150 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,560 Well, and, and just so you know this, the context of this is the 151 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:49,000 second prayer, Apostolic prayer of Paul in the book of 152 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,360 Ephesians. And this prayer he begins to 153 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,680 pray that we would have a revelation of the love of God, 154 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,880 that the Spirit of God would come upon us for a revelation 155 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,600 and that that's the Spirit of God coming upon us was not for 156 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,800 ministry. In this context there, that's a 157 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,520 valid application of the our need for the the Spirit to come 158 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,520 upon us. But in this case, it's more 159 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:15,760 fundamental, more foundational, more elementary than for 160 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,240 ministry. He said, I pray that the Spirit 161 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,120 would come upon you so that you would comprehend the immensity 162 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,360 of Christ's love for you. And then he says this in verse 163 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,280 19. Look at what it says, verse 19, 164 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,680 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. 165 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,800 He said He wants you to know something that's beyond 166 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,400 knowledge. That's in the English that 167 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,600 doesn't even make sense, but the Greek is clearer. 168 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,160 It's saying that I want you to have, I want you to experience 169 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,080 something in an encounter with God that you will not be able to 170 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,280 study yourself into. There is a dimension of the love 171 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,480 of God, and that dimension is required for you and I to step 172 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,200 into all that God has for us. Let me say it again that there 173 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,200 are things that God has, He longs to release to us. 174 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,840 He says it's the fullness of God, but in order you to step 175 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,080 into the fullness of God, you've got to have a revelation of the 176 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,480 love of God. And there are several reasons 177 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,440 for that that we can't get into this morning. 178 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,160 But one of them is that you're not going to trust him enough to 179 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,080 give you what you need. You're not going to trust him 180 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,280 enough for Him to take you where you need to go so you can see 181 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,200 what you need to see. You're going to stay in control 182 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,120 if you don't have a revelation of the love of God because the 183 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,840 love of God is essential for you to surrender and give him 184 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,040 control. If you don't have a revelation 185 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,680 of the love of God, you're going to keep God's God at armor link. 186 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,080 I'm not talking about salvation here. 187 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,920 I'm talking about a revelation of his great love for you to the 188 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,640 extent that you can surrender and say God, you take control. 189 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,840 And so he he prays for a revelation of the love of God. 190 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:08,160 Now the the love of God really has three stages to it in 191 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,200 Scripture. The first stage of the love of 192 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:16,360 God is the love of God for you and you as the object of his 193 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,720 affection. OK, that's where it starts. 194 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,680 That's the entry level love of God. 195 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:25,080 If you are not convinced of His love for you, you will never be 196 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,480 able to move into the other stages of God's love. 197 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,880 And all of this has to do with Christian maturity. 198 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,280 You will never become who you're called to be unless you begin 199 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,560 with a revelation of His love for you, because His love is 200 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:42,200 what defines who you really are. There's not a person in this 201 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,840 room that has not struggled at some level to some degree with 202 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,640 self rejection. And it's the love of God that 203 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,920 begins to restore us. The same love of God that 204 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:59,840 restores us to God, reconciles us, reconciles us to God, is the 205 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,880 same love of God that reconciles us to ourself. 206 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,800 Because when you begin to see how much God loves you, you, you 207 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,160 can begin to be OK with yourself. 208 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,000 And so this is, this is a huge subject I want to tell you. 209 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,400 The love of God is the primary therapeutic agent in God's 210 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,720 economy. God's love comes to do deep, 211 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:32,320 deep surgery, deep psychological work in in the human soul. 212 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,480 And when we begin to get that to the roots of our identity, 213 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:38,360 that's what he talks about in this passage. 214 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:41,520 He says that the love of God, that you would be rooted and 215 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,280 established in love, rooted, that the roots of your identity 216 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,360 of your how you see yourself begins to latch on and drink 217 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:55,000 from the love of God. That your roots go deep and that 218 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,640 becomes the nourishment that becomes what shapes how you view 219 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,000 yourself. And when that happens, you begin 220 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,320 to be OK with you. And until you're OK with you, 221 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,080 you got a problem. Because when you're not OK with 222 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,440 you, you still got to take that person with you everywhere you 223 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,720 go. When you don't like you, when 224 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,840 you're struggling with self rejection and you arrive in a 225 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,440 package that you yourself are rejected, then you will expect 226 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,720 what you reject. You're going to expect the same 227 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,200 thing from others and you'll project that into your 228 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,680 relationships. What you expect, you project, 229 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:32,640 and people will begin to reject you. 230 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,560 They'll begin to agree with you because you will be so 231 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:40,840 convincing in how you interact with them in subtle ways. 232 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,880 You will actually push people away. 233 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,720 And so the love of God it the foundation of the love of God. 234 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,720 The first stage is for God so loved the world that he gave his 235 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:56,200 only begotten Son, his his gift to us of his Son is the primary 236 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,080 illustration, the primary demonstration, and that's what 237 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,640 Paul says in Romans 5. God demonstrated his love for us 238 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:07,080 in this that while we already had sinners, Christ died for us 239 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,360 and if he gave his Son for us while we were yet sinners, how 240 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,720 much more will he not give us all things now that we're 241 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,520 reconciled to him? That's what Paul says. 242 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,600 So the the love of God starts with the revelation of his 243 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,640 affection for us. So in stage one, I am the object 244 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,680 of his affection. I am the recipient of his love. 245 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,800 What that does though, when that really begins to get into us 246 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:37,920 and, and this prayer is towards that end, this second Apostolic 247 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,880 prayer, Paul is praying that the eyes of our understanding would 248 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:46,160 be enlightened and we would understand the magnitude of his 249 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:47,920 love. And then he goes on, he says 250 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,680 that you would know this love that surpasses knowledge. 251 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,760 So he's saying, I want to invite you into something that is 252 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,280 beyond your ability to study yourself into. 253 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,280 You're never going to touch the depths of God's love by a mere 254 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,880 book study. You literally have to encounter 255 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,400 the living God where He reveals His love to you. 256 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:14,480 And this is the foundation. Until that's nailed down, you 257 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,760 are. You are stuck in a loop of 258 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:22,520 immaturity because you can't. You can't accept who you really 259 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,440 are. So we've got we've got to have 260 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,840 that happen. So the first stage is the love 261 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,720 of God for us. The second stage is what does 262 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,360 Scripture say? What happens when we see his 263 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,160 love for us? We love him. 264 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,760 Why? Because he first loved us. 265 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,680 So a revelation of the love of God actually pulls us into the 266 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,520 next stage of the love of God in our life. 267 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,600 And that is we enter into the love of the Father for the Son. 268 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,880 We begin to love him. It pulls us into it. 269 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,360 We can't help but love him because we've seen his love for 270 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,080 us. Now Scripture says if you love 271 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:00,600 him, you're going to do what you're going to obey his 272 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,600 commandments. Obedient believers are those who 273 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,600 have have a revelation of God's love, but that revelation that 274 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,920 that that obedience is not. He's not inviting us into white 275 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:18,400 knuckled discipline that has a shelf life. 276 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,040 There's an expiration date on your ability to white knuckle 277 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,000 your own obedience. What The real obedient life, the 278 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,520 life and the Spirit is birthed out of a revelation of His love 279 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:36,200 that it it instills in US. It erupts within us a reciprocal 280 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,320 response to Him. We can't help but love Him and 281 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,920 so the taproot of this whole thing he said that you would be 282 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:48,600 rooted and established in love. That taproot of the Christian 283 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,880 life is a revelation of his great love for you. 284 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,040 And if you don't have that, you need to continue to ask it and 285 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,760 you need to study this passage. Visions chapter 3 verse. 286 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,960 Was it 14 to the end of the passage and read over that begin 287 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,200 to pray that over your life. Begin to ask God for insight and 288 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,400 there are treasures in that prayer. 289 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,560 And as we begin to encounter His love for us, there is a 290 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,760 reciprocal love that begins to erupt on our heart. 291 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:16,480 We begin to fall in love with Him. 292 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,040 And when we do that, everything begins to set an order. 293 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:23,040 We begin to drop our guard and we can trust Him to fill us. 294 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,640 There's no things off limits in our life. 295 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:31,040 And the tragic reality is that a lot of believers live their life 296 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,840 with Jesus only welcomed into the front room of their life, 297 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,080 where everything is set in order. 298 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,720 Everything's clean, you know, everything's been vacuumed, 299 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,560 polished with the pledge, You know, everything's in order. 300 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:44,720 They don't let him in the backroom where the real living's 301 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,880 done. And when you really begin to 302 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,520 trust him, you can allow him into every room of your heart. 303 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,560 And that's when the real fun begins. 304 00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:00,880 So stage 2 is our corresponding or reciprocal love for Him. 305 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:05,600 Stage 3 is that then we begin to be carriers of that love. 306 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,200 The love of God for others begins to flow through us, and 307 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:14,680 we become the agent of His love. But we'll never get here until 308 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,400 we have the root system in place. 309 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,600 And the tragedy is a lot of people try to muster 2, two and 310 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,920 three and they've never comprehended #1 so we've got to 311 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,800 be rooted and established in love. 312 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,080 The Greek word established, that's an architectural word. 313 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,600 So Paul uses an architectural word and an agricultural word. 314 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,840 And both of them are reflective of the same dynamic, that what 315 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,680 is unseen and beneath the ground is what is responsible and, and 316 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:44,160 accounts for what is above the ground. 317 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,840 If you want a big building, you got to have a deep foundation. 318 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,720 If you want a healthy tree, you better have deep roots. 319 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,400 And so our root system and our foundation have to be in the 320 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:54,760 love of God. You following me? 321 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,160 So we need this. Everybody following me. 322 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,760 Everybody awake, OK. It's a little calm in here, OK? 323 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,160 I feel like I need to do some jumping jacks or something. 324 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,360 OK. So, yeah. 325 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,680 So this is what he's pranked. So look, look at what he says. 326 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:16,720 He says that you may. OK, verse 10 or 19 rather, and 327 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,320 to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, why that 328 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,080 you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 329 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,960 So we just read in chapter one that the body is the fullness of 330 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,200 Christ. And now he's telling us we need 331 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,400 the love of God to have the fullness of God. 332 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:42,400 And so the fullness of God is extended to those who are in 333 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,720 relationship with others. I'm going to make a case for 334 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,360 this. Look at the very next verse, 335 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,080 verse 20. Now to him who is able to do 336 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,520 far, abundantly more than we ask or think, according to the power 337 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,560 that has worked within us, to Him be all the glory in the 338 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,680 church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever 339 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:57,600 and ever. Amen. 340 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,680 That's the end of chapter 3. Now we're into chapter 4 and 341 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,360 Paul, This is classic Pauline theology. 342 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:06,640 OK, Paul's books are always like this. 343 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,280 This one is really clear. 3 chapters of theology. 344 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,200 And then the last three chapters are real practical. 345 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,560 This is where the rubber meets the road. 346 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,040 Husbands love your wives. Wives respect your husbands. 347 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,800 Kids obey your parents. Parents don't embitter your 348 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,560 kids. That's simple stuff. 349 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,720 It's just simple commands. I used to spend all my time in 350 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,640 the latter half of Paul's books because I'd read the first half 351 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,360 and I I didn't understand what he was saying these long run on 352 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,640 sentences theology, I didn't understand it. 353 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:40,000 The problem is this that I can't live the second-half until I 354 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,840 grasp the first half. The revelation of the first half 355 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,560 is what enables me, strengthens me to walk out the second-half. 356 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,320 And so Paul's books always have a transition point where then he 357 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,360 gets real practical. And here's here's Paul's 358 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:55,800 transition point, chapter 4, verse one. 359 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,920 It's very obvious. Therefore, what's the old 360 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,880 phrase, whenever you see a therefore ask what it's there 361 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,880 for. I therefore a prisoner of the 362 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,400 Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling to which you have 363 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,160 been called. So he's saying, listen, I just 364 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,120 unpacked all that you're called to, now walk it out. 365 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,840 So he says to which you were called and listen to how he 366 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,320 begins to unpack the practicality of this thing in 367 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,880 verse 2 with all humility and gentleness with patience, 368 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,960 bearing with one another and love, eager to maintain the 369 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,320 unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. 370 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,000 He's saying, listen, chapter 1. You want the fullness of Christ. 371 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,800 You want more than just the measure. 372 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,200 You have your little perspective and your your revelation. 373 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,640 We we grow in those things. But if we just, if we just hang 374 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,040 out alone with Jesus, we're going to have a very limited 375 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,480 perspective on who God is because God has placed 376 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,640 revelation and truth and other people around you that he will 377 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,120 not give to you directly. He will withhold it to you from 378 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:10,200 you and we'll only give it to you through them so that we 379 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:15,120 become interdependent. So the fullness of Christ is the 380 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:17,280 body. We're going to see in a moment 381 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,000 how he he unpacks this again in chapter 4. 382 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,800 The fullness of God requires love. 383 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,800 Why? Because I'm going to find it in 384 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,760 the body of Christ and I need to love you to get at what you 385 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,600 carry. And here's here's the problem. 386 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,400 God is hidden the the mysteries, God is hidden the Nuggets, God 387 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,560 is hidden the truth that I need in people that are imperfect. 388 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:49,240 I forget that when people come to me that I'm not perfect, but 389 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:50,920 I remember it when I come to you. 390 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:57,840 And the danger is is that we stumble over what that person 391 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,920 isn't and therefore forfeit what they are. 392 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,840 We we forfeit the truth that they carry because we're we're 393 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,680 stumbling over their weaknesses or their immaturity or fill in 394 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,680 the blank. That's why we need the love of 395 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,240 God. And in fact, your weakness and 396 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,280 immaturity is the very thing that kicks mind to the surface. 397 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,760 So not only are there things that God wants to give me that 398 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:30,480 are in you, there's also things want God wants to get out of me 399 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,880 that are in me. And both of them are 400 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,200 accomplished by the same dynamic relationship with you, 401 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,280 relationship with each other. Because there are things in me 402 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,400 that I don't even know are messed up until I get in 403 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,640 relationship. I've often said, you know, I was 404 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,600 a very, very patient person. Very I, I, I would come home and 405 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,440 I was patient with everybody I lived with when I was a single 406 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:59,080 guy, because I lived alone, I'd come home. 407 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,920 I was never irritated. I was convinced. 408 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,200 I was very mature as a believer. I'm a very patient person. 409 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:06,520 Love is patient. Love is kind. 410 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,040 Well, I'm really patient and kind when I get home from work 411 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,040 because there was no one to provoke me. 412 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,680 And then I got married. And then I realized, oh, oh, 413 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,240 there's some unresolved issues here. 414 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,320 There's some things I still need to deal with because now 415 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,280 someone's putting a demand on me that I don't want to deliver on. 416 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,720 And that was my problem. As much as I wanted to say, oh, 417 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,440 that, you know, I was pretty nice person until I got married, 418 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,080 I wanted to blame her. And that wasn't the case. 419 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:38,280 So my point is, in order for God to grow you up and give you all 420 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,040 he wants to give you, you have to have relationship with other 421 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:47,080 believers. You can live, you can be saved 422 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,040 alone, but you can never mature alone. 423 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,440 You've got to have a relationship with other people. 424 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,600 And in that relationship, you're going to discover your 425 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,160 weaknesses and you're going to discover their strengths. 426 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,560 And you'll, you'll also discover your own strengths when you get 427 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,560 in relationship with people. There's things that you take for 428 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,720 granted about your very makeup that you don't think's a big 429 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,000 deal, but they do and they talk to you and they're like, that's 430 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,000 amazing how you do that or how you say that or fill in the 431 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:17,880 blank. And you're like, well, that's 432 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,120 just normal. No, it's normal for you because 433 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,440 that's your gifting. And we don't even know the, the, 434 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,120 the, the, the weight, the strength of our gifting until we 435 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,200 begin to use it in other lives of other people because we think 436 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,800 everybody can do that. And there is a tendency for us 437 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,520 to minimize what we carry. And there's also a tendency for 438 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,160 us to minimize our character weaknesses. 439 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,920 And in relationship, we discover both. 440 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,520 And there are things that God will God wants to give you 441 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,440 things you need to go to the next level in God, the next the 442 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,400 next stage. And and there is other levels in 443 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,040 God. I felt that man, I just felt 444 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,880 that reaction there, there, there are levels in God. 445 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,960 We're to go from glory to glory. There are God wants to stretch 446 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,800 you and take you into new territory, but you're often the 447 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,240 territory that God wants to bring you in is you're going to 448 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,040 be ushered into that. Often new seasons will introduce 449 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,320 new relationships. There are going to be people 450 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,080 that stand at the gate to your new season and you're going to 451 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,960 need them. And so we've got that. 452 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,640 We've got to be able to do relationship. 453 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,520 So again, the foundation is I've got to know that I'm loved by 454 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:31,200 God and I'm not talking about you thinking that you're OK. 455 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,520 The only way you're going to know that you're you're really 456 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,360 going to come settled in who you are. 457 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:39,120 You're not all the therapy in the world isn't going to 458 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:43,000 accomplish that because you're going to see yourself in your 459 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,640 creator and as you know him, you're going to become OK with 460 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:52,640 who he's made you to be and you will embrace your humanity and 461 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,240 the the process of your maturity. 462 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:59,320 See, there's a lot of people who reject their humanity and they 463 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,600 want to be perfect today and they won't, they won't embrace 464 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,560 the process. And process is part of your 465 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,120 human condition. And God made you a humanoid 466 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,440 whether you like it or not. That's the state you arrived in. 467 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,120 And so process is part of the journey. 468 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,800 And we've got to embrace that. So we've got to, we've got to 469 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,800 encounter his love. We become OK with who we are. 470 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,800 We bring that into relationships and we begin to grow in our 471 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,120 relationships. And Paul makes a case for this. 472 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:32,360 He said that you would have, you would well, as you put it, be 473 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:36,440 filled with all the fullness of God and to know the love of 474 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,560 Christ that surpasses knowledge. Why that you may be filled with 475 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,040 all the fullness of God. You can't be filled with the 476 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,160 fullness of God until you know the love of God, because the 477 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,720 fullness of God is found in relationship. 478 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,440 And if you don't love, if you don't have self acceptance and 479 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,400 enter into God's love for you, you're going to withhold 480 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,720 yourself from a relationship because you're going to be 481 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,400 convinced they will reject you, like you reject you. 482 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,240 And #2 you're not going to put up with the weaknesses of other 483 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,320 people unless you love them. That's why Paul says, how does 484 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:16,480 he put it? Look, it says, with all humility 485 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,720 and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in 486 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:24,840 love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit through the 487 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:30,680 bond of peace. The King James Version says make 488 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,640 haste. This one says, be eager to 489 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,160 maintain, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit. 490 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:44,680 So there's a unity that we walk in relationship with and keep 491 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,440 the unity of the Spirit through what? 492 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,600 The bond of peace. There's an adhesive that God has 493 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:55,440 given us and it's called peace. We're not going to allow 494 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,920 conflict to come between us. We're going to deal with those 495 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,880 things because if we're not in unity, it robs us of our 496 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,800 fullness. It robs us of what God really 497 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,720 wants to give us and it's one of the primary things the enemy 498 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,120 does. It's not a coincidence that on 499 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,120 the day of Pentecost they were all in one Accord. 500 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,920 It's not a Honda. It's not a four door Honda, he 501 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,000 says. They were all in. 502 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,560 They were in Unity together and that's where the Spirit fell on 503 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,320 them because God is looking for a people who will deal. 504 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,320 They will walk in Unity together and that we will overlook each 505 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,120 other's weaknesses. And in fact, we'll realize my 506 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,800 weakness is why I need you and your weakness is why I need you 507 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,800 need me. And it becomes an opportunity 508 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,520 for us to fit together and overlook those things and begin 509 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:53,400 to draw from one another. This whole thing of familiarity 510 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:03,000 is a huge issue spiritually. You've heard that phrase, 511 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,840 familiarity breeds contempt. I was taught in Bible school. 512 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,040 I remember the the first Bible school I went to the the pastor 513 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,080 of the church every Tuesday night, we'd sit in the boardroom 514 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,440 and he'd teach, there's like 14 of us and he'd teach us. 515 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,560 And he said, never get close to the people you pastor because if 516 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:25,600 you do, they won't respect you. I was like 20 years old, but I 517 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,360 had enough on the ball to think, wow, if just knowing me makes 518 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,160 you disrespect me, maybe I shouldn't be in ministry. 519 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,800 See, it's that thing to keep people at arm's lengths lest 520 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:42,440 they know us, when in reality that is the avenue to the 521 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,960 fullness we've got to be in relationship. 522 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,400 And so this thing of bearing with one another in love, 523 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,080 keeping the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. 524 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:00,520 It's, it's been many years since I, I looked this up in the 525 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,080 Greek, but if, if I remember right, that word bond, there's 526 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,320 two places in this passage, right in this little compressed 527 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,960 area of this passage where he uses the word bond and, and 528 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,560 having to do with unity. And the Greek word is ligaments. 529 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:15,840 It's where we get the word ligaments. 530 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,440 Your ligaments are those like rubber bands, so to speak, that 531 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,160 are on the sides of your, your skeletal system that hold 532 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:28,200 everything together. Remember those little toys when 533 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,320 you were a kid? You there, there's a little, 534 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,280 maybe a skeleton and there's a little button on the bottom and 535 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,840 you push it and it loosened the rubber band that held together 536 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,520 and the whole thing would fall. Then you put it back together. 537 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,720 That's it's, it's picture of ligaments. 538 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,240 And when you don't have the unity of the spirit, we're like 539 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,480 a body that's just laying there. It's not a lot of good. 540 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,960 If we want to stand, we've got to have the ligaments tight. 541 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,960 Ligaments are an amazing part of God's design because ligaments 542 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,120 hold your bones together, but they're flexible. 543 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,920 There's cartilage that so they don't, they don't rub on each 544 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,160 other, but it's the ligaments that hold it close together and 545 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:10,000 the muscles that move it. And those ligaments can take 546 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,960 stress. They can stretch beyond the norm 547 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,040 for a little while, but if you stretch them too far or too 548 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,320 long, then you injure it and the whole body is affected. 549 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,520 And Paul uses that idea to say the bond of peace. 550 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,640 In other words, the unit of the Spirit through the bond of peace 551 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:32,560 can absorb the stress of relationships, but if allowed to 552 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,960 remain too long, it will injure it and then it affects the whole 553 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,720 body. And so, and what Paul is saying 554 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,640 is don't allow that to happen because if you let it happen, it 555 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,920 will affect everything and you forfeit the fullness of what God 556 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:49,760 has for you. And essentially what Paul is 557 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:54,000 saying is I want to give you a vision, the fullness of God, the 558 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,640 fullness of Christ, all that God has purchased for you through 559 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:02,560 the cross. But you can't have it outside of 560 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:06,640 relationship with one another because God has hidden what you 561 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:12,400 need in human relationships. And this is so very important. 562 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,040 And it has to do with what we were talking two weeks ago for 563 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,960 a, for a married couple. God took out of Adam what he 564 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,440 needed, made it into a separate person with a mind, will and 565 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:25,560 emotions and brought it back, said become one with her. 566 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:28,160 And he thought it was great until they had an argument. 567 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,800 And then he said, God, you just made this complex and he did it 568 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,720 by design. It was oneness through mutual 569 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:37,000 sacrifice. And we've got to have a vision 570 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,640 for this. And This is why the love of God, 571 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:44,480 his prayer there in chapter 3, is so crucial, a baptism of 572 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:49,120 love, really walking in the love of God, empowered by love, 573 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:53,560 enables us to walk together and to to maintain the unity of the 574 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,520 Spirit. And in fact, under those 575 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,360 circumstances, in that commitment of covenant of love, 576 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,080 conflict actually deepens the relationship. 577 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,320 You think back on the people you've had conflict with and you 578 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,679 worked it out. There's a deeper level of 579 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,080 relationship than you had before the conflict. 580 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,480 It's the love of God. So let's, let's read on here. 581 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:20,920 He says, I got 5 minutes. Oh my goodness, look at verse 582 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,560 four. Look at how many times he uses 583 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:28,239 the word 1114 through six. There is one body and one 584 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,199 spirit, just as you were called, the one hope that belongs to 585 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:34,880 your call. 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of 586 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:40,920 all, who is over all and through all and in all but verse in the 587 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,320 the middle of the verse he says but or that beginning of the 588 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:46,960 verse verse 7 but or you could say however, he's about ready to 589 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,560 transition. However. 590 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:50,280 There's all this oneness going on. 591 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,199 However, grace has been given to each one of us according to the 592 00:34:54,199 --> 00:34:57,520 measure of the of Christ's gift. Go ahead and put up that's 593 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,720 that's verse 7 in the ESV put that up in the King James 594 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:02,400 version. I want to see I want you to see 595 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:03,640 this. I really think that the 596 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,000 rendering of the King James version is more accurate because 597 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,240 of the flow of thought here. Now the Greek would allow for 598 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:14,840 either translation and so a lot of times context will drive the 599 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,600 interpretation. I believe this is more accurate 600 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:18,960 because of what Paul is saying here. 601 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,480 Look it, but unto every one of us is giving grace. 602 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,120 According to what? The measure of the gift of 603 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:25,600 Christ. In other words, you have the 604 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,200 gift of Christ. Christ has been given to you, 605 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,920 but you have a measure. You don't have the fullness. 606 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:34,560 Every one of us has a measure, and the only way for me to get 607 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,560 the fullness is to bring my measure to your measure. 608 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:40,200 We put our measures together and then we have the fullness and 609 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,960 it's by divine design. And what that requires is that 610 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,160 you and I walk in the love of God. 611 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,640 We first have to be reconciled to ourself. 612 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,800 The love of God has impacted us. So I'll bring the whole me to 613 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:56,800 the relationship because if I'm living under self rejection, if 614 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:01,160 I have diseased thoughts about myself that I allowed to stay 615 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:05,160 there year after year after year, I won't even bring myself 616 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,200 to the table. I'm going to keep you at arm's 617 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,040 length because I am convinced you will reject me just like I 618 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,880 have. And so the love of God has to 619 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,240 1st come and reconcile us to our self. 620 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,520 And that's a process. And and if you're struggling 621 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,960 with that, you need to cry out to God and ask Him. 622 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:28,560 Lord, heal my heart so that I come into self acceptance, so 623 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,120 that you can be OK with the package you arrive in. 624 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:37,240 And then that same love also makes me fight for relationship 625 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:40,480 with you. There is a supernatural 626 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:45,000 affection from heaven that you can feel for one another. 627 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:49,200 Other believers and many of you have touched it. 628 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,720 Some of you live in it. We need to all be living in 629 00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:58,720 that, so that we have this this perception of one another, that 630 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:03,680 we have this warm affection that we will fight through the issues 631 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,320 in our lives, otherwise we forfeit the fullness of Christ. 632 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,280 Are you following me? There is so much on the line. 633 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:15,840 The fullness of God is only accessible through the body of 634 00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:18,240 Christ. And that's why we need the love 635 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:20,240 of God. Because it's only the love of 636 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,880 God that'll keep you connected. Because often what you need most 637 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,080 is hidden within the person that irritates you the most. 638 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,360 It's God's way because that enables him you to deal with 639 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,840 you. And when we do that, man, 640 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,280 that's, it's a beautiful thing, the body of Christ. 641 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,080 So look at what it says here real quick. 642 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:45,160 I know we got to go look at look at verse 11 and he gave the 643 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,520 apostles, the prophets, evanders, pastors and teachers. 644 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,720 Why? To equip the Saints for the work 645 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:53,160 of ministry for the building up of the body until we all attain 646 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:56,240 what the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 647 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:59,600 God to the mature manhood and look at what he says, the 648 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:03,600 measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 649 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:08,320 So we've been each given a measure you want the measure of 650 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,440 the fullness and not just the limited measure you carry as an 651 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,360 individual. Then you've we've got to mature 652 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,800 together and the only way for us to mature together is to do life 653 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,240 together, to be in relationship with together so that we're 654 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:22,920 seeing what needs to change in US. 655 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,520 And I'm covering your weaknesses and we all grow up into Him as 656 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,080 the head that is the fullness of Christ. 657 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:32,520 So let me close with this real quick. 658 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,720 Some of you have heard me tell us this story, but it bears 659 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:37,680 repeating in this context. Go ahead and stance. 660 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,040 You know, I'm going to quit 2009. 661 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,520 I was laying on the platform. The platform was over here at 662 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:45,280 the time. And we were in a soaking time. 663 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,040 And Paul Udall was here. He was one of our external 664 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,840 overseers. And he came and we were, we were 665 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,640 soaking. And I, as I'm laying there, I 666 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,840 felt something walked by me. This power, I mean it was like 667 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,080 this raw power came by me and walked down there. 668 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,240 I looked up and there was nothing there. 669 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:04,640 And I jumped up and this is what came out of my mouth. 670 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,120 There's grace for unity. And Paul said the do of Herman 671 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,680 will be released. And I thought, what does that 672 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,520 mean? And I just kind of forgot about 673 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:15,960 it. A year later, Pauls back and 674 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,760 we're soaking again and I was on the verge of snorking, going to 675 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,280 fall asleep. So I thought, that's not good. 676 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,200 If you're the pastor and you're supposed to lead this thing, 677 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,720 snoring wouldn't be good. So I got up and I walked out in 678 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:27,560 the hallway and I looked out through the glass and as I was 679 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,720 standing there just looking at the land, all of a sudden I went 680 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:35,120 into a vision and I saw as if someone had put a translucent 681 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:39,360 bowl over our entire property. And then oil came from heaven 682 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,440 and we were under this Dome of glorious oil. 683 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:47,760 And I was like, Oh my goodness. And he said, the dew of Herman 684 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:51,080 will be released. And I was excited by what I saw, 685 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,600 but disappointed by what I heard because I'm a revival guy. 686 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,280 So I thought, Lord, I don't want dew. 687 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:01,800 I want rivers of out of our belly, John 7, the baptism of 688 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,640 the spirit, wells of salvation, people getting saved. 689 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,640 I want out pouring. But river, I mean dew. 690 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:11,560 That sounds boring, you know? And the Lord spoke to me. 691 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,720 He said it is my non disruptive way of nourishing the land. 692 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:18,280 Well, he had my attention and then he said this and I actually 693 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,200 wanted to correct the Lord's theology. 694 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,680 He said outpourings were made necessary by the fall. 695 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:32,880 And I had to think about that. But if you recall, God didn't 696 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:38,880 design the earth to have rain. It was watered by hidden caverns 697 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,000 and it began to rain during the flood as an act of judgment. 698 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:49,240 And so God had my attention. Maybe we'll unpack this again 699 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:53,240 near in a near future. But so about a year later, 700 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:56,400 somewhere in there, we're in a conference and there was a bunch 701 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:58,600 of homeless people that were attending Heartland at the time. 702 00:40:58,600 --> 00:40:59,920 And one of them would always come up to me. 703 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:02,760 I left a church out in the park lot smoking a cigarette. 704 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:04,800 Hey, I saw 4 angels flying across. 705 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,280 One had this, you know, he'd tell me and I never knew what to 706 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:08,160 thought. Think of it. 707 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:10,040 You know, I thought, OK, let's. That's nice. 708 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,520 And so that morning and during this conference, he went over to 709 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:17,640 Roger Mckim and he said, hey, Roger, I saw it. 710 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,040 There's 2 angels on this platform this morning. 711 00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:21,560 What? They're standing right over 712 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,640 here. 1 is really tall. His head goes through the 713 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:25,040 ceiling. Big warrior. 714 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:27,640 He's got, he's got all this army equipment on. 715 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,520 He was like a Roman soldier kind of guy. 716 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,840 And the other one is a smaller one, but it's got a red, red 717 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,080 Garland around its head or red sash, red garment. 718 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,440 And it's, it's standing in the bigger 1 standing next to it. 719 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:42,760 Roger comes and tell me. I thought, OK, what do I do with 720 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,560 that? So I just introduced the speaker 721 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:47,720 and the speaker gets up. It was a gal named Kathy. 722 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:53,080 She gets up and she says, before we begin to teach the word, I 723 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:56,240 always ask the Lord about the Angel over any church that I 724 00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,880 visit. Now churches have angels that's 725 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:00,120 in scripture. I don't have time to give you a 726 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:01,400 case for that, but just look it up. 727 00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:05,880 She said, But what's interesting this morning is there's 2 angels 728 00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:09,920 here and she pointed over here and she said 1 is a very large 729 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:11,760 warrior Angel head sticking through the ceiling. 730 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,960 And the other is a it's red, it has a red Garland. 731 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:19,320 She begins to describe in vivid detail just what the homeless 732 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:21,960 guy said. So meanwhile, I'm on, you know, 733 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,480 I'm repenting. God forgive me my unbelief. 734 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:27,800 And she said, but she added some. 735 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,440 She said the smaller Angel is an Angel of unity assigned to this 736 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:35,560 house and the larger Angel is here to protect it. 737 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,360 And then I knew what walked by me that day. 738 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:43,080 It was an Angel of unity that dropped into this place and is 739 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:47,520 assigned. So we need to ask her. 740 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,360 So why would God give us an Angel of unity? 741 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:52,760 I'm telling you, it's what we just talked about. 742 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:57,280 Because there are things, there are valuable things that are 743 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,080 forfeited without the unity of the Spirit through the bond of 744 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,880 peace. And many, many, many, many 745 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,320 believers live well below their inheritance. 746 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,440 They have their some, some of them very profound revelation, 747 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:13,040 profound giftings. But we sit and we're just all 748 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,360 alone with our thing. And we think it's the fullness. 749 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:23,480 And there is a city and a state and a nation and the nations of 750 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:28,160 the earth that are longing for what we bring to the table 751 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,160 together. Hey, thanks for watching. 752 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,440 At Heartland Church, we love to worship the Lord and we love His 753 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,720 Word. In fact, if you could jump on 754 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,040 and subscribe to our YouTube channel, you could make sure 755 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:41,680 that you don't miss any of the services. 756 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,920 We'd love to have you join us live or in person every week. 757 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:46,280 See you next time.