June 27, 2021 - The Anchor of Jesus' Love
Notes
Transcript
· For the past several weeks, Paul has been laying out God’s plan…
· And specifically, God’s plan of the MYSTERY of Christ…
· And how the church fits into that plan.
· Just as a reminder – we’ve seen what the Mystery of Christ is…
· …that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow partakers of the promise, fellow members of the household of God…BY FAITH
· And we’ve seen that the WAY the mystery is gonna PLAY ITSELF OUT – is through the church…
9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,
10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
· The church – WE – the church, as we CARRY out the mission of Christ in the world…
· …will MAKE KNOWN the mystery of Christ – to a heavenly audience…
AND PAUL – of ALL people – KNOWS what comes with that!
· He MENTIONS such in our passage from last week…
11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
· Many scholars believe that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians during his 1st imprisonment in Rome…
· And so HE KNOWS – that THEY KNOW – he’s in prison.
· He’s SUFFERING for their sake…
And he doesn’t want them to LOSE HEART…!
They might think it STRANGE that Paul is suffering – but PAUL KNOWS better!
AS did Peter – AS HE learned – OVER TIME - what the Christian life was going to be about!
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
· Could Peter have said this [HERE] – and MEANT IT, the night the soldiers came to capture Jesus?
· NO – he tried to FIGHT his way out of suffering….
· He – WAS SURPRISED – at what seemed to be coming…
But he LEARNED…as did Paul.
· And think about it – Paul used to PARTAKE in PERSECUTING the church…
· He KNEW firsthand – the opposition that was coming for HIMSELF – and for the church…
· And so he does something!
· What does he do?
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
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,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
· What does Paul do to PREPARE the church for the task at hand?
· He PRAYS…
· So let’s look at it…
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
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,
What’s Paul praying for?
· Paul knows the church NEEDS SOMETHING…
· What is it?
· Spiritual Power –
But even the Spiritual POWER is given for a PURPOSE…
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
· A lot of connections here, but we see that…
SLIDE: The Church Grows and Perseveres: Through Spirit-Powered Faith
· Paul prayed that God would grant the church – Spiritual Power…
· SO THAT Christ would dwell in their hearts – THROUGH FAITH
And so the Spiritual Power – ENABLES the Faith – to – Persevere!
· How many of you USED to have faith in something that you NO LONGER have faith in?
· We’ve said it before – If you are a BELIEVER in here today - You will wake up a believer tomorrow…NOT BECAUSE you’re smart enough to do so…
· You will wake up a believer tomorrow – BECAUSE of Spiritually-powered FAITH…
…GRANTED to you by God.
· It will be because of the PROMISES of God…
· And Paul KNOWS this – That’s why he PRAYS for it…
See – the church NEEDS Jesus Christ – WORKING IN THEM – to accomplish the mission of Christ!
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
· And I want us to notice here is how Paul connects:
The DWELLING of Christ in the heart – WITH
Being ROOTED and GROUNDED in LOVE…
And it takes us back to our Sermon Title today…
· Anchored in Jesus’ Love: Calling and Keeping His Own
Let’s look at the whole passage to see how it flows – and then DIVE into this PARTICULAR LOVE of Jesus that CALLS His people and KEEPS His people!!
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
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,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
· NOW – we see here that this particular LOVE of Jesus surpasses knowledge…BUT Paul’s call here is that we might KNOW this love…
· What about this love?
· V18
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
· It’s this love that CALLS God’s people…
· And KEEPS God’s people…
Let’s try to – the BEST that we can – dive into each aspect of this love here…
SLIDE: The Breadth of Christ’s Love
The Breadth of Christ’s Love
The Breadth of Christ’s Love
· How WIDE is the Love of Jesus?
· We’ve talked about it at length recently…
We’ve been looking at the Mystery of Christ…
· The INCLUSION of the gentiles…into the family of God.
The Love of Christ ISN’T partial to a people group or class…
· This love isn’t reserved for the BEST-BEHAVED!
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
· NOT ONE!
· AND YET…
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
· The LOVE of Christ is WIDE enough for ALL WHO BELIEVE…
WIDE ENOUGH FOR:
· Your unbelieving spouse
· Your unbelieving friend, or neighbor
· The addict whose life is spiraling out of control
· Your wayward kid
· The Biden supporter / Trump supporter
· The BLM supporter
· The guy on death row for a triple homicide
· The serial rapist STILL ON THE LOOSE
The Love of Christ…is WIDE enough – And BECAUSE it is…
· We all have HOPE!! A LIVING Hope!!
But that’s not all.
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
· We’ve seen the Breadth…of Christ’s love..
SLIDE: The Length of Christ’s Love
The Length of Christ’s Love
The Length of Christ’s Love
· How about the LENGTH? What does it mean by LENGTH?
Let’s ask it this way…
· How EFFECTIVE is the Love of Christ?
· Is it TEMPORARY or does it - - -LAST
Well – we know the answer to that!!
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
· God LOVED the world in SUCH a way that He offers ETERNAL life to those who believe!
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
· The LOVE of Jesus – endures forever…
· It is an EVERLASTING LOVE
· HOW many of you LOVE - WINTER?
OK- how many OF YOU – USED to love the WINTER?
· How many of you LOVE getting up EARLY on Saturdays?
Ok – how many of you – USED to love getting up early on Saturdays? (me – cartoons)
· How many of you LOVE bacon?
Everyone! Of course – you know why? It’s an EVERLASTING love!
But we GET IT - we ALL KNOW of things we - USED to love…and NOW DON’T!!
Those LOVES DON’T LAST!!! (watching baseball)
Think about it - Jesus’ LOVE toward you - NEVER fades!!
NOW - we usually THINK that it does!
WHY? - because we often convince ourselves that - WE OURSELVES - are on the throne!!
Don’t we?
See - we will BELIEVE that Jesus’ LOVE FOR US - has faded...
when we have to WALK thru a TRIAL (well He must not love me today)
We’ll believe that His love for us has faded...
When we find ourselves…suffering
Or dealing with financial trouble
Or even having to sit through THAT WORSHIP song when i REALLY LIKE THIS ONE!!
While God looks down and says - HEY - I’M ON the THRONE!!
His LOVE ENDURES - forever!
And so - COULD IT BE - that we’re WALKING thru suffering - BECAUSE HE LOVES US??
His LOVE is WIDE ENOUGH -
And His love is EFFECTIVE enough…It WON’T FADE!! It’s ETERNAL!
But what else?
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
SLIDE: The Height of Christ’s Love
The Height of Christ’s Love
The Height of Christ’s Love
What do we mean by - Height?
Let’s ask it this way?
How satisfying is Christ’s love?
Well what does the word SATISFY mean?
SLIDE: Satisfy
Satisfy: To fulfill the need, desire, or expectation
Now - we’ll SOFTEN the 2nd word of this definition in order to CONVINCE ourselves that things in this world actually satisfy us...
Did that new job - FULFILL your need?
Did that new girlfriend FULFILL your need?
Did dinner last night FULFILL your desire to eat? - NO - because you’re hungry today
Dissatisfaction in life is near the root of all kinds of sin.
Why do people abuse drugs and alcohol, mindlessly binge-watch ridiculous amounts of television, scroll endlessly on Facebook and Twitter, steal, or commit suicide?
All of these things and more happen because people haven’t found happiness.
At the root of our dissatisfaction is a never-ending thirst that nothing in this world can satisfy.
We’ve been duped into thinking that a better job, more money, cooler friends, another spouse, or a new life is really what we need.
And if we can’t obtain any of these things, or when they leave us dissatisfied, we resort to drug abuse, sexual immorality, or senseless entertainment.
We KNOW - this
And what we should ALSO know - are the PROMISES of satisfaction found in Scripture...
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The REASON that Jesus’ love is ALL-SATISFYING - is TWO-FOLD!
For OUR Good...
And for HIS glory!!
For OUR GOOD...
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
And for HIS GLORY!!
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
He works ALL things to the praise of His glory!!
In Jesus - THERE IS - INFINITE JOY…!
A Satisfaction we can ONLY imagine!
SO Satisfying - that the IMPACT on us is that we will - WILLINGLY PICK UP OUR CROSS daily....
We look at the apostle Paul’s life and we can see that the LOVE of Christ - FOR Paul...
was MORE satisfying than the suffering was - painful...
The HEIGHT of Christ’s love was HIGHER than the pain was deep!
But that’s NOT ALL...
We’ve seen:
The breadth of Christ’s love (the width of His love)
The length of Christ’s love (the effectiveness of His love)
The height of Christ’s love (the ALL-satisfying love of Jesus)
But there’s MORE!
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
SLIDE: The Depth of Christ’s Love
The Depth of Christ’s Love
The Depth of Christ’s Love
Let’s ask it this way...
How trustworthy is Christ’s love??
- We live is such a SHALLOW world don’t we??
We’re so EASILY satisfied - with temporary things...
We don’t really find TOO much today with - a LIFETIME warranty no?
The other day Rachel told me the transmission on her van has been slippin...
And then she said - But it’s under WARRANTY!
And we were excited because - there’s just not much today under a LIFETIME warranty!
If you buy anything today...you're lucky if you get a warranty of any kind, let alone a year, 2 year, 3 year...
There's just no security in anything today is there....?
You buy a computer today...it's out-dated tomorrow
You win a championship today...the excitement wears off by next week
The headlines today...are old news tomorrow
We can’t TRUST anything today - can we?
We can’t trust our transmission
We can’t trust much of anything today…!
BUT - listen to this!!
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can SEPARATE us from - - - the LOVE of God IN CHRIST!!
Can I TRUST IT????
Is this thing SECURE??
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
And so WHAT ARE these verses pointing to - regarding whether or not we can TRUST the Love of Jesus?
Are these verse pointing to our SUBJECTIVE experiences?
Maybe you’re someone who has seen God’s PROVIDENCE all throughout your life...
Maybe you’ve seen God come through for you TIME AND TIME again!!
Well - these verses don’t POINT to your experiences as your ASSURANCE that Christ’s love can be trusted!
Your experiences aren’t a BAD thing!!
They are AMAZING blessings!!
BUT - they’re not THE BASIS as to why the Love of Jesus can be TRUSTED…!!
Not the basis as to why we SHOULDN’T expect His love to fail us at some point!!
WHAT IS the basis of our TRUST in His love?
- The basis of our trust IN HIS LOVE is - the objective truth of God’s Word.
We should have confident trust that we are saved AND LOVED by Christ - based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
The ASSURANCE we have that Christ’s LOVE won’t suddenly CEASE TOWARD US - is due to God’s WORD and HIS PROMISES!!
And we’ve just READ thru them today - His LOVE is DEEP enough...
DEEP enough to still LOVE YOU - A BILLION years from now!!
His LOVE - - CALLS you - - and KEEPS you!!
Amen?
We’ve seen:
SLIDE:
The breadth of Christ’s love
The length of Christ’s love
The height of Christ’s love
The depth of Christ’s love
The breadth of Christ’s love (the width of His love) - It’s WIDE ENOUGH!!
The length of Christ’s love (the effectiveness of His love) - - It’s ETERNAL
The height of Christ’s love (the ALL-satisfying love of Jesus) - It’s the HIGHEST JOY!!
And we’ve seen the Depth of Christ’s love (the trustworthiness of Christ’s love) - It CANNOT be Broken!
And what Paul wants this truth to DO IN US - is FILL US...
Paul wants THIS PARTICULAR LOVE of Jesus - to FLOW THROUGH US!!
Is OUR love for others WIDE enough?
Wide enough for the poor in our city?
Wide enough for those NOT LIKE US?
Wide enough for Biden supporters, Trump supporters, Homosexuals, and on and on and on?
Is our love for others EFFECTIVE - FOR ETERNITY?
Or is our love toward others only effective for 50 years on this earth?
If all our love ONLY points to is other’s temporary good - then I’m not truly loving them
BUT if my love toward them is EFFECTIVE for eternity - then my love toward them will contain the GOSPEL!
Is our love for others - ALL-Satisfying?
OR does my love for others only result in their temporary satisfaction?
Remember - ONLY Jesus can satisfy - FOREVER!!
And so AM I offering them the ALL-Satisfying LOVE of Jesus - or something less…because ANYTHING else…is less!
Is our love for others - Trustworthy?
When we offer others the LOVE of Jesus - we’re offering them a LOVE that will NEVER FADE!!
NEVER forsake them!!
But if we’re just BEING nice to people - we’re only offering them THAT WHICH is Temporary!
And Paul knows that for us to OFFER this particular love (the LOVE of JESUS) to others...
We will experience…what he calls - the FULLNESS of God...
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul’s prayer for the Gentile believers in Ephesus...
Is that they be filled with the FULLNESS of God..
That they be ROOTED and GROUNDED in the love of Jesus!
And here’s the thing - the love of Jesus LEADS to something…we mentioned it before...
it leads to GLORY!
To the glory that’s coming FOR the church…the glorification of the saints...
AND...
to the Glory of God...
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
SUMMARY:
The Anchor of Christ’s Love
The Breadth of Christ’s Love
The Length of Christ’s Love
The Height of Christ’s Love
The Depth of Christ’s Love
The breadth of Christ’s love (the width of His love) - It’s WIDE ENOUGH!!
The length of Christ’s love (the effectiveness of His love) - - It’s ETERNAL
The height of Christ’s love (the ALL-satisfying love of Jesus) - It’s the HIGHEST JOY!!
The Depth of Christ’s love (the trustworthiness of Christ’s love) - It CANNOT be Broken!
Let’s pray
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.