The Full Life | Ephesians 3:14-19 | April 14 | Derek Neider

Speaker [00:00:06] We're in the book of Ephesians chapter three. Get your hand up high if you need a Bible. And, we're going to start in verse 14. Stand up once you're there. Don't forget, we have refresh coming up. We're so excited about what God's going to do as he blesses our ladies. And that's in the beginning of May. Make sure you sign up for that will be in the lobby for a minute after the service. All right. Chapter three, verse 14. Y'all ready? Yes, yes. Okay, here we go. For this reason, I bow my knees before the father. From whom every family in heaven and on earth. Is named. He's talking about every ethnic group, right? This Paul is brought the revelation of the mystery that God's redemption wasn't just for Israel, but was for all nations. Verse 16, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. We have a series of prayers in sequence that Paul is praying for this church. Verse 17, prayer number two, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Prayer number three that you, being rooted and grounded in love, prayer number 4, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Prayer number five that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. That's our target today. Okay. The result of this is verse 20 and 21. This is our topic for next Sunday. Now to him who is able to do far, how much how much. Okay. Now to him who is able to do what far do you think? Aren't you thankful for that today? Aren't you thankful that you have a God who can do far more abundantly? Oh my.

Speaker [00:02:09] Come on people, let me hear it then. All that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. And all God's people said, father, thank you God. Our hearts are filled with gratitude and thanks. Today we love you God. I pray today that this prayer, father, this prayer would take root in our hearts. God that you would as as we engage, as we pray, as we pray this for ourselves, as we pray this for our loved ones, as we pray this for our church. God, would you fill us with all your fullness? God, may we be a satisfied, content people because we've learned to comprehend the love of Christ and God in that in that place of contentment. May you be the god. Who does far more abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. We love you so much, God. And we give you praise today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You can have a seat today. One of the biggest movies of 2023 was Oppenheimer. And I don't know if you saw the movie or not, but, for sure, it circled back around to a historical moment in, our country and the world where we were introduced to a weapon, a nuke, you know, a weapon that, was unlike any other weapon, that had been deployed during war time. You know, from that point and really sense, it was a weapon, for sure, that transformed and changed modern warfare. And even if you haven't seen the movie, I'm certain that, you know, as you recollect those moments of history and you think about the atomic bomb, one picture for sure, that comes into your mind is that massive mushroom cloud, right? I mean, it is, it's an overwhelming picture.

Speaker [00:04:23] It is radically significant as, as a global culture changer. It represents so much catastrophe and destruction. And if you know anything about nuclear physics, you know that that massive explosion, that huge catastrophic event all begins at the atomic level. If you trace back, nuclear detonation, what you have is a chain reaction. And that whole chain reaction as massive as the explosion is as devastating as the results are. It all begins when one little tiny neutron splits a uranium atom. And this is called nuclear fission divides that atom. And then consequently, atoms are divided, releasing this massive atomic power that holds together the nucleus of an atom. Now, I know you didn't come for a physics class today. Sorry, I'm sorry, but but I think I think that this is, an amazing illustration of what Paul is praying for this church. Like, if you start with verses 20 and 21, like, if you just look at this powerful promise that the apostle gives, you know, it's a doxology, right? It's a praise to God, but it's also over a request. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than you could ever ask or think. I mean, you know what I'm talking about. If that doesn't give you chills today, if that doesn't, if that doesn't excite you, if that doesn't light you up, I don't I don't I don't honestly know what will. But that's the picture. That's the explosive power of God according to the power that works within us. The apostle Paul says, and like you, would be foolish not to want to experience that in your life. How many of you want to experience God, who is able to do far more abundantly than you could ever ask or think? Let me let me see your hand today.

Speaker [00:06:27] That explosive promise. If you if you backtrack sometimes what we do as Christians, we stop on verse 20 and 21 like we want that God, we want that we're down for that. What we don't do is find the chain reaction of prayer that leads to that. And what I'm saying is this as you walk back from that powerful promise, what you see are five things that the Apostle Paul prays and working backwards, it is that you would be filled with all of his fullness that you would be able to comprehend with all of the saints what is the length, breadth, height, and depth of the love of Christ, that you would be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith. And then the beginning prayer. The first prayer, the seemingly maybe almost insignificant unseeable prayer that starts the whole chain reaction is that these people would would be filled with the power of God's Spirit, that the Holy Spirit would strengthen them in their innermost being. If you get nothing else out of today, I'll want to encourage you on the front side of this message to pray this prayer this week. To pray this prayer this week. Prayed for yourself. Pray it for your family, your loved ones. Pray it for your friends and pray it for your church. Because brothers and sisters, prayer changes things. And this very simple prayer, I promise you will change your life and it will change the lives of those around you. Paul is Paul's compelled to pray because, you know, Paul's been talking a lot about this mystery that had been hidden for the ages, that was otherwise unknown even among the Old Testament prophets, but now had been revealed that God's work, which had been predominantly, within contained within one nation, one nation that had the promises that had the covenants, one nation that was able to experience the presence of God and the power of God and the leading guiding and the protection of God now through the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Speaker [00:08:41] That work has now extended to all the nations. And that's that's what it's been exciting the apostle Paul. I think sometimes in our Gentile context, we're like, yeah, what's the big deal, Paul? Why are you so excited? Like, take a chill pill, bro. You know, I mean, what's the big deal? I mean, when you think about the middle wall of separation that has separated Jews from Gentiles, now it's been done away with because he is our peace that has caused the two to become one. Paul is excited because this was what the prophets had prophesied of all along. This was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise. This was the almighty, everlasting, mighty arms of God getting around all people, all ethnic groups for all time, for those who put their trust and faith in Jesus and will be ultimately fulfilled in revelation chapter seven, verses nine and ten, where every tribe, every tongue, every nation will be there before the throne of God and of the lamb, singing a song of praise to him. So I say that to say Paul's excited, right? And Paul, in his excitement, what he does is he prays. He's like, I bow my knees, I bow. His exact words are. I bow my knees before the father, from whom every family, from every every ethnic group, every nation I bow. I'm praying. I'm bending my knees. I'm on my face before God. Right. This is, Paul, who's under house arrest saying, this so excites me. And I see, I see the, the potential of all that God wants to do in your life. And through your life. I'm moved to pray. I'm moved to pray for you. Paul bows his knees. You know, when I was just a young believer, somebody said to me, Derek, God is more interested in the position of your heart than he is the position of your body.

Speaker [00:10:41] And. Yeah. And I said, that's that's true, right? That's true. It's like you can be on your knees before God positioning your physical body, but if your heart is not there, the position of your body doesn't doesn't matter at all. Having said that, it is good for you and me to get on our knees before God. I mean, it is good for our whole body, right body, mind, body, soul and spirit to be engaged in, whether it's worship, or whether it's prayer to be fully and completely engaged in. Sometimes when you get on your knees physically, the rest of your being sometimes follows. And Paul's like, man, I'm serious about this. I'm serious about this prayer and this. This was ultimately what Paul wanted then. And I believe it's what God wants for us today, for you to experience God doing far more abundantly than you can ask or think. You need to be filled with all his fullness for you to experience, for you to say yes and Amen to verses 20 and 21, for you to get to a place or live in a place where God is in fact doing, above and beyond what you could ever imagine or think. You need to be filled with his fullness. Like verse 19 is connected to verses 20 and 21, and not only is verse 19 connected to verses 20 and 21, verses 14 to 18 are as well. I mean, there's a sequence here of prayers that ultimately lead to a place where the Christian is experiencing the mighty power of God because they are filled with the fullness of God. So, you know, remember with me that God's not a good luck charm. Right. You don't just wear a cross around your neck and think, hey, you know, I'm wearing a cross around my neck.

Speaker [00:12:30] And this is emblematic, you know, of this, God who is the Christian God. And I hope that because I wear a cross that somehow he'll do good things. He'll do good things in my life. You don't just wear a Christian shirt or tune into to Christian radio, or slap a Christian bumper sticker on your car thinking that if you if you do this thing somehow, this God who might be out there, you're not necessarily sure. Anyway, this God might be favorable towards you. That's not what the message of Christianity is. The message of the Christian faith is that God loves you so much that his own son came from heaven to earth, to die on a cross in your place. He was victoriously raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the father. And now you can have access to the father simply through faith in the son. And when you take that step of faith, God fills you. God fills you with all his fullness. And so a picture of that for you today is this video I have of a cup being filled with water. Now. This is good. All right. You. You were empty. You were empty. But you put your trust in faith in Jesus Christ. And when you did, God began to fulfill you. He filled you with his fullness to the place that it began to pour over your life. Poured over your life. And then that dryness all around you, the people in your life, your family members, your friends, your coworkers, all of that, overflowing began to touch and impact their life. That is that. By the way, the video didn't work at the first service, and so they had to use their imagination.

Speaker [00:14:18] And I just want to tell you, God loves the second service. All right. He made it easy on me and we got a great team. But I'm just saying, brothers and sisters, God wants you to have the overflowing life God want. When you look at that cup overflowing with water, what words come to your mind? What words come to your mind? Water. Awesome. But that's low hanging fruit. That's good. You're right. For what else? All right, all right. Yup. Those are good. Let me tell you some that came to my mind. Refreshing, right? Refreshing. Fulfilling. Satisfying. This is what happens when when you're parched. I mean, when you've been, when it's 40 mile an hour winds in the middle of July in the city of Las Vegas, and you literally can hear the water evaporating from your skin and your lips. You know what I'm talking about. And you go and you get a you get a cold glass of water. It is refreshing, is fulfilling. It's satisfying. There's a purity to when you when you're filled with the fullness of God, there's a purity, there's a clarity to it. It's powerful. It brings life, all of that. Now you want that in your life. All of that is based on these four prayers that lead to a place where you are filled with the fullness of God. Four prayers that I want to encourage you to pray. Check us out. He says in verse 16 that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. Prayer. Number one seemingly insignificant prayer, your reading of Ephesians in your devotional time, and you just roll right over that. That, by the way, is the neutron splitting, the uranium atoms, starting, starting the chain of events.

Speaker [00:16:13] Paul's like, hey, I'm going to start at ground zero here, where the detonation really begins, that you need to be strengthened. May God grant you to be strengthened with power through his every word. Listen. Every word is intentional. These are not just a sequence of words that Paul throws together. All of the matter strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being. In other words, may God make you strong with his power. The word power here is doing a mess. We've talked about this word dynamic dynamite dynamo. It's other other world power. It's heaven's power. It's a power that resides in God as its source alone. Paul. Paul says you need to be strengthened with Holy Spirit power. Say the phrase Holy Spirit power, Holy Spirit. And you need to be strengthened with Holy Spirit power in your inner being. So what is the inner being or the inner man? Maybe. Your translation says it's the human spirit that's been revived by the Holy Spirit. It is the epicenter of God's work in your life. It is the human spirit that's been revived by the Holy Spirit and is the epicenter of God's work in your life. So Paul is not talking about your physical body. Paul's not talking about your intellect. Paul's not talking about your emotions. Paul is talking about your spirit. The spirit that exists within you was dead before you put your trust in faith in Jesus Christ, but was resurrected when you believed in him. This is what the Bible means when it says born again, when you're born again, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, that spirit that had been transferred to you from Adam, from generation to generation, was dead. And Christ, through his power made it come to life.

Speaker [00:18:16] Now that spirit within you, that spirit within you, is what drives you. It's what dominates now. Make no mistake about it, there is a trichotomy of every human being. We are spirit, soul and body. And all three of these are interconnected. But now that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, the spirit takes preeminence, the spirit dominates. The spirit sits at the top of the hierarchy. Before you were a believer, you were driven by the desires of your flesh. You are driven by the desires of your emotions and of your mind. You know, sometimes as Christians, we look at the non-Christian, we think, man, why don't they get it? Why? Why don't they understand? Why can't they do the right thing? Why can't they be moral people? Why are they all so lost? Well, listen, they're lost because they're lost. Right. They're lost because they're lost. They're lost because that spear within them is dead. And for them to understand and love and appreciate and desire the things of God, that spirit has to come to life again. And once that happens, that spirit that is within you needs to be strengthened and empowered on a regular basis. For instance, you strengthen your physical body through diet and exercise. I just depressed some of you. You strengthen your intellect through studying and learning. You strengthen your spirit through the power of God's Holy Spirit. It is when you're praying this prayer. It is when the Word of God is open and your heart is open to what the Word of God has to say, that you are strengthened. Paul is praying this, that the Holy Spirit would make them strong with God's power in in their real self, who they really are.

Speaker [00:20:17] Because you're not the physical body. You're not. You're not the physical image. That's not the real you. And you're you're it's you're really not just your intellect. As a Christian, the real you is now the Spirit of God or the spirit that lives within you, and that has been strengthened by God's Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit who's able to get there, who is actively working in your life, who strengthens you. And so prayer number one, and I want to encourage you to pray this, pray this for yourself. God, strengthen me, strengthen me, strengthen me by the Holy Spirit with your power in my innermost being. God, strengthen my husband. Strengthen my wife. Strengthen my children. Strengthen my friends. Strengthen our church. You know, sometimes we are living the weak Christian life because we've not learned how to rely on the strength of God's Holy Spirit. That's where it begins. What happens as a result is that Christ dwells. This is this is the second prayer and the fulfillment of prayer. Number one, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The second piece is this. This is certainly the desire of the Apostle Paul, that for these believers, Christ would dwell in their hearts. The word dwell means to have a permanent place. The word dwell means to be settled. It means not wavering. It means to be established. It means that Jesus has found an abiding place that Jesus resides. It means that we're in a place where, by faith, we've determined to have the settled conviction that we are all in. Listen, all in in our relationship with Jesus, that we put our full faith in him, and we're not mixing faith in him with anything else. Paul is implying here that is not a halfhearted dwelling, that we're not lukewarm Christians, that we've not just made a partial decision.

Speaker [00:22:23] You know, this is a decision that you have made as a follower of Jesus at some point in your life. You know, you came to the place like I did here as like, Lord, I'm all in. I'm all in, man. I've. I've lived with me as the master of my own destiny. I've lived with me as the captain of my own ship. And I ruined my life. I destroyed my life. I don't want that anymore. Jesus, your number one. Like I'm not just jumping in with one foot. I'm jumping in with both feet. I am all in. I'm completely in. I'm holding on to nothing in this world. You guys. You guys came to that place, right? Hey, listen, it's a choice that was made, and it's a choice that needs to continually be made. It's a choice that needs to be continually made in your life. Because sometimes what happens is it's like, yeah, I had that experience and that was five years ago or ten years ago or 20 years ago. But then over the course of time, over the course of time, you kind of drift back like the Israelites did in their mindset with Egypt. You're like, well, it wasn't that bad back there. It wasn't bad back there. Like we had cucumbers and leeks and garlic and we had onions. Like you forget about the slavery, you forget about Pharaoh, you forget about slaving away and making bricks with no straw. And pretty soon you find yourself with one foot in your faith relationship with Jesus and the other foot in the world. And in your mind, you're thinking, you know, that's not where I want to be. And sometimes you can't even see that. That's the reality in your life.

Speaker [00:24:04] But you've drifted over the course of time. And what I'm saying to you today is we need to wake up every day and just not only say it to God, but say to ourselves, I'm all in, Lord, I'm all in. I'm not holding anything back. I'm not trying to find satisfaction in the things of the world. You have my whole heart. And this certainly was a message that Jesus had for the church of Ephesus. He's like, hey, you guys got it all going, man, you're a killer church. You got an awesome brand. Everyone wants to be like you. You're calling out false, false apostles. You're working really hard. You're laboring for those who are in need. But I have this one thing against you. You've left your first love. You're not all in anymore. Even though on the outward it looks like it. I want you to know that, he says. The prayer is that Christ would dwell in their hearts, in their hearts, through faith. So not not in their heads, but in their hearts. And so, you know, you can be in a place where it's like your approach to Jesus is just intellectual. Your approach to Jesus is that he was a historical person. You don't deny his reality. You do believe that he was a historical figure. And so somehow you've made this connection to him in your head intellectually, acknowledging him historically. Maybe for some of you, your your faith has gone no further than your head because you think, well, you know, Jesus gives me the best option for a flourishing life, best opportunity. So maybe there'll be a connection there or you're a cultural Christian. I mean, this certainly is true in the South, where a lot of people grow up in the church surrounded by Christian infrastructure, and they have it in their head, but it's never gotten from their head to their heart.

Speaker [00:25:59] And so that's not what God wants. That's certainly not what he says. He says Christ needs to dwell in your heart, which is the seat of your will, the place where all of your desires originate. It is the essence of who you are. It is the place from which everything else flows from your life. You can have Christ in your head, but not in your heart. But you cannot have Christ in your heart and not in your head. So when Jesus is dwelling fully in your heart by faith, it includes your mind. On the other hand, you can be in a place where you sit in a church year after year, and it's never seeped down into your heart and taken over your full life because it's just been a relationship with Jesus in an intellectual sense. You say, well, how can I know if I just have a faith that dwells in the head and not in the heart? Jesus said this. He said in Matthew 6:21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So I would say for all of us, what is it that you treasure? What is it that you treasure? What is it that you love? What is it that you desire? What is it that you spend your time on? What is it that you spend, your money on? What do you orient your life around? Because that's going to indicate where your heart is really at. Paul is like, man, I'm praying that the Spirit of God strengthens you with power in your inner being. So Christ dwells in your heart fully and completely, in the place where you know, the essence of your being is the next prayer.

Speaker [00:27:46] In verse 17, the second half of it is that you being rooted and grounded in love, that you being rooted and grounded in love. So when Christ is dwelling completely in your heart, you will be rooted and grounded. In the love of God. He gives two illustrations here. He gives a botanical one that's rooted. That's like in an organism, a plant, a tree. That's a living thing, that's rooted in the soil, is stable, is steadfast, it's steady and it's sourced, right. It's getting all of its nutrients from the soil. It's drawing out all of its nutrients. It's also grounded, which is a structural illustration or metaphor, which is like a building. A building is set on a foundation. And so what Paul is saying simply is this, that the firm and foundational footing of their lives would be built on the love of God. So when the spirit is at work in your life, empowering you in your inner being, and Christ has every part of your life, he is dwelling in your heart. By faith. Your foundation will be the love of God. The foundation for your life will be the love of God. I'm I'm saying to you today that not just your eternal life, because sometimes what we do in American Christianity is it's like, yeah, I'm the foundation of my future. Hope and expectation is the love of God. And so I'm basing my future in heaven off of the love of God. And that's true. But listen, that foundation isn't just for where you're going to be after this life. It is so that you can have a firm and stable foundation in this life. In other words, everything is rooted in everything is founded upon the love of God.

Speaker [00:29:43] For you is the foundation of your life. It is absolutely everything Paul puts it. Or excuse me, John puts it like this. He's talking about a life that has been perfected by the love of God. And he says in first John 4:18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. And so and so when it comes to your past and the devil is is regularly present in your life, trying to heap on guilt and shame for those things that you've done in the past that you've taken to God for forgiveness, you've laid them at the foot of the cross. You can say, hey, listen, the foundation of my life is the love of God. The found it. You can silence the adversary by reminding yourself and reminding him that the foundation of your life is the love of God, and every sin that you've ever committed, past, present, and future was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ that you believe. First John chapter one, verse nine, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so there is no there is no burden that you're carrying anymore. There is no guilt and shame, because this is precisely why he died on the cross for you. And not only that, but the the love of God is the foundation of your life. So that in your present you stand stable, you stand steady, you stand firm. You're not all twisted up in the circumstances of your life. Why? Because God loves you.

Speaker [00:31:27] It is the almighty divine hand of God that upholds you and strengthens you. And he's not just omnipotent, and he's not just omniscient, and he's not just omnipresent. He is also all loving. He loves you. He knows you. He knows the circumstances that you're dealing with. He knows the struggles that are confronting you. And so you're not all wrapped up in turmoil and tossed to and fro by every wind and wave that hits you, because you stand firmly on the love of God. And then as you look forward to the future, even though you may not know what's coming, you may not know what the future has in hand for you. You know the one in whom your future resides. You know whose hand holds it, and God's hand holds your future. And so you don't look forward with fear. You're not concerned about what's coming around the corner, because you know that God sits on his throne and he is providentially sovereign, sovereignly working all things together for good because he loves you. You know the thoughts that he thinks towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil. And so your life is steady. It's stable. It's set because you live on the firm foundation of God's love. He's not done with that. The fourth prayer is this. Verse 18. He says that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. So prayer number four. Paul's like on a roll. He's not done with the love of God is like, hey, not only is it your foundation, not only are you steady and stable, not only are you strengthened and living in this place where the the foundation of your life is the love of God, but you are also strengthened by the Spirit of God to comprehend the love of Christ, the, the, the, the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth that you would be able to.

Speaker [00:33:44] Interesting word for comprehend in Greek is Carta lombardo. It means above, to below, above to below. So not only are you standing on the foundation, but from above to below, you are getting your arms around the love of Jesus. You are getting your arms around the love of Jesus. And not only are you getting your arms around the love of Jesus, but the love of Jesus is getting its arms around you. It's getting a hold of you. It is consuming and filling your life. Paul uses dimensional terms on a read for a reason. Before I get there, though, as I was thinking about this, I had a song that. I want to sing for you today. No, I'm not going to sing a song for you today. It's a really simple song, okay? No, this. No, I won't sing it, but I'll say it. I'll say it because it'll ruin the service. If I sing you the song for sure. Jesus loves me. Yes, I know this, I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. Yeah. Everyone together now. Now. We ain't done, y'all. Come on, sing the rest of it. Thank you. Chrissy. Chrissy's got us right here. It's awesome. It's always great when you have a worship leader sitting in the front of the worship center. Look, I know, I know, today you might be thinking, man, you just went intellectually low. That's not the high stuff of God's Word. And I just want to tell you, there's nothing more sublime. There's nothing more beautiful. There's nothing more extraordinary. There's nothing more powerful than the love of God presented in those amazing, simple terms that we just sang. And you need to be reminded. Listen, you need to be reminded, Christians, you need to be reminded today.

Speaker [00:36:03] I know some of you might be skeptics, and you might be thinking, why are you, Christian, so consumed with a dead man's love? And the answer is, he's not dead like that. That's the answer. He's not dead. He demonstrated his love like no other and going to the cross for us. He was laid in the tomb and buried. And he rose victoriously again on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the father. We we have a living God. We have a living Savior. He is alive today, and this and his love is to be experienced is to be experienced. This is precisely why Paul says breath length height. Depth breadth. Length height. Depth. Paul is saying this is not just an intellectual relationship with God that you founded your life on. This is a daily experience where he infuses his love into every aspect of your being, as multi-dimensional as you are, that there would not be one place in your life unaffected by the love of Jesus Christ. Now, listen, there's there's there are two ways to take this, dimensional aspect. One is the demonstration of his love. So the breadth of his love means that his arms are stretched out wide on the cross. It means that he would not exclude. He would not discriminate. He would not turn away. He would not marginalize. He would not cast away anyone who came to him in faith. This is the beauty and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It permeates in his possibility. Every single person, regardless of their background, regardless of their education, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their religious upbringing. There is the capacity of, of of Christ to receive everyone through his love. Length refers to it moving from eternity to eternity, from everlasting to everlasting.

Speaker [00:38:10] Length means its immeasurable. Length means its endless length means God won't stop loving you. It means you're never going to get to the end of God's love. This is why David called it steadfast love is pointed in one direction and it never stops moving. You're never going to be in a place where the love of God runs out on you, or you've run so far that you've that you've outrun the love of God. Height means that it it transcends the heavens. It goes higher than the heavens above. It means God's love never comes up short. It means that God's love is is able to lift you up. It means that God's love is able to flourish you. It means that in this life, the fullness of heaven is made available to you in every need that you have in your life can be satisfied by the love of God. Depth means that it reaches to the very depths. It reaches to the lowest. It means that you can't go so low that you've gone outside or beyond the love of God. Paul is saying this every dimension of your being. Some of you Christians today, you're thirsty, you're thirsty, you love God. But there's still a there is a sense in your life, in this moment in time, that you're longing for something else. And the truth is, what you're longing for is to be refreshed by God's love. It is God's love that upholds you. It is God's love that strengthens you. It is God's love that stabilizes you. It is God's love that is the source of every single thing that you need in your life. And so finally, he says that you may be filled with all the fullness of God that you may be filled with.

Speaker [00:40:01] I mean, that's a powerful statement. Is that does that describe your life today? Does that describe your experience of Christ's love that you today? And I ask this for myself, as I'm preparing for this study, that we are filled with all the fullness of God, that there's a deep richness in our lives, that we're like that cup that's just been filled to the extent where there's no empty space, we're refreshed, we're fulfilled, we're satisfied. There's a purity in our lives. We're experiencing the power of God's love and his life, and it's led us to a place of contentment. I love what Paul says in Philippians. He says, not that I'm speaking of being in need, for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content, I know how. To be brought low. I know how to abound. Paul says, in every circumstance I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Like that comes from a person who has been filled with the fullness of God, and being filled with the fullness of God begins with that simple prayer and the sequence of prayers. We're all full of something. You know what I'm saying, bro? What are you full of? What are you full of today? Are you filled with the fullness of God? When you're satisfied with God's fullness. You will be able to live a content life. One of my favorite U2 songs is I still I don't I don't even know this is the title of the song, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for, you guys know that song, right? And and, let me just say that that should not be true for the Christian. That should not be true for the Christian, for us, for us.

Speaker [00:42:06] We ought to be able to say, hey, the search is over. The search is over, man, I. I tried to get satisfaction and fulfillment and all those things left me more and more empty or empty or. And finally, I found Jesus, or Jesus found me, and he filled me with the fullness of God, the love of Christ, filling every dimension of my being. Sometimes, you know, we can be so anxiously looking for that thing that we think is going to hit the mark and satisfy us, and God all along is saying it's right in front of you. It's right in front of you. It's right in front of you, in my son and the love that he has for you. If you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, there's a step of faith for you to take today so that you can experience the very reason why God has made you, and that is to experience the love of Jesus. If you're a Christian today and you know you've just. You're just at that place where you feel like there's something missing. You need to. You need to remember what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus. He said. He said, repent. Turn back to me and redo those first works. Discover your first love once again.