Alright, I invite your attention
to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. If you are visiting with us,
we're delighted to have you. In Ephesians chapter 3, the verses that I will read in your
hearing have been a 50-year search, over a 50-year search for me. Actually, a 60-year search for
me this coming October. See, October's tomorrow, right?
Okay. I was converted as an 8-year-old
boy and have been in search of experiencing and comprehending
and laying hold and entering into these passages since I was
a child. See, I want to know God. Because
this is eternal life. It's not to know about God. Most people believe there is
a higher power. Acknowledge that there is the
big guy upstairs. Many people know the Pope or
have met Billy Graham. But really, that's not the question.
The question is, do you know God? Because in knowing God is
eternal life. I want to experience God. I don't
want to go to church and play church. I don't want to be religious. The Apostle Paul said, oh, that
I might know Him. Well, Paul, you've established
churches all over the known world. You had such a tremendous experience
on the Damascus Road. And here you are 30 years later
crying out, oh, that I might know Him. We say Columbus discovered America,
but the truth is America is still being discovered. Knowing God deeper, fuller. richer, experiencing Him in my
daily walk where I never doubt. The songwriter said, my God is
real, for I can feel Him in my heart. Now let's begin with verse
17. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded Rooted. I want to be rooted. And I want to be grounded in love. That is, in the love
of God, in the love of Christ. And you may be able to apprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height I've never understood these passages. They are so full. And to know the love of Christ,
which passes knowledge. I want you to comprehend, but
I want you to know it passes knowledge. We know so little. We talk about
the five points of grace, but we know so little about God's
grace. And eternity will be spent with God showing His children
how good He has been to them, how much He has loved them, and
what He has done for them. That you might be filled with
all the fullness of God Oh, you ought to underline that in your
Bible. Let me ask you, dear saints today, how close are you to that? How close are you to being filled with the fullness of God? The Apostle talked about, in
the book of Romans, about the love of God shed abroad into
our hearts. And that this love of God will
not put us to shame. And love, perfect love casteth
out fear. How long has it been since every
crack and crevice of your heart was filled with the love of God? I read yesterday of one of the
old Puritans was on his way to preach at a particular city in
England. And he was riding horseback and
he got to contemplating the love of God. And somehow, at some point in
time, his horse stopped near a lake unbeknownst to him. Eight hours later, he realized
that he had been sitting there all of that time filled with
the fullness of God contemplating the love of Christ. And you might
be filled with the fullness of God. I can really say that as
a young preacher, I read that verse and read every commentary
that I have in my study to try to grasp what it means to be
filled with the fullness of God. And I remember one of the old
writers said, it's like taking a wine bottle, taking the cork
out of it and going down to the ocean and filling it with ocean
water. And then putting the cork back in and throwing it in the
ocean. Now you have the ocean in the bottle and the bottle
in the ocean. Maybe that's close. I don't know. But that's not all it means.
being filled with the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Amazing, isn't it? Are you there
in your contemplation, in your thought? Are you there in your
faith? Are you struggling with something
that you actually fear? that your God is not big enough,
not able enough to give you strength to overcome. I'll tell you, your
need and mine is to be filled with the fullness of God and
to know the love of Christ. If you're insecure, if you have
a father vacuum, a mother vacuum, or any kind of vacuum, God can fill that. and wants
His people to be filled with this love and a knowledge of
this love. Unto Him that is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the
power. You do know that there is a power
that works in us. You do know that you believed
according to the power of God, that your faith in Christ was
a gift. And that you were dead in your
cemetery of sins and trespasses. And God came to where you were
dead and in power resurrected you and gave you new life. There's
a power working in you, saints. And that power is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask. Or think! Think about that. A power worked within us. So
Paul's prayer was that the folks at Ephesus might be rooted and
grounded in God's love in Christ. That they might view the largeness
of Christ's love. And that He might dwell in them
and strengthen them. That they might comprehend the
breadth and the length and the depth and the height of God's
love in Christ. And that they might be filled
with the fullness of God. And quite frankly, dear folks,
this is what I've been praying for for some time now in my own
life. David prayed like this, Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation. Sometimes I I sense my coldness,
my lack of sensitivity to this amazing love of God for me. I
get mundane in my preaching and in my service. And my greatest
fear is coming into the pulpit with just me. And not be thrilled
and not be motivated and not be filled with the fullness of
God. Because the only way to bless
you is for the preacher to overflow on Sunday morning. I not only
must have enough for myself, I must have an abundance. So
at least you sense and feel He speaks under the power of the
Holy Spirit. We have heard from God today. My old quote that many of you
have memorized If my poor voice is the only voice you hear today,
you'll leave here none the better. But if in the providence of God
through my voice you hear the voice of God, you will leave
here a renewed or a changed person. To comprehend the breadth and
length and depth and height. I can't tell you how many times
I've read these passages. I've preached in thousands of
churches in 50 years. And I've never really conquered
these verses. I always feel inadequate when
I read them. And I always hunger and thirst
to have them filled in me. So these passages are beyond
us. Paul was wishing that they should comprehend and know that
which surpasses knowledge. Let me say, if there are theologians
here, you don't know anything. about this love of God. Theologians
don't make good church members. Only people who stand amazed
in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder that He could
love them a sinner condemned unclean. Those are the folks
that make good church members. Are you in a state of wonderment?
Oh, what a wonder that Jesus found me. That's where we have
to stay. That's where we worship. That's
where we praise. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was so lost, but now
I am so found. I was blind, but now I see. I
know many in here today like me have tasted God's love. And perhaps there are some of
you I know better now, having been taught of the Spirit of
God in reading these passages, but maybe some of you think that
there is nothing more after that first love. I mean, you remember
that first initial strike of the Spirit of God where He quickened
you and gave you life and your burden became light. The burden
of your heart was rolled away and you experienced the peace
of God in a moment and you knew that you were justified before
God. That you had status and standing
because God had declared you not guilty and you had been born
of the Spirit of God. The lights came on and old things
passed away. You remember that time and that
moment. And somehow, as the days have gone, That initial burst
of love and light and power has dwindled. And maybe you contemplate,
that was all. My friend, God does not love
you less as time goes on. You know, when both of our grandchildren
were born, I was there. They had no knowledge. They didn't
even know they were alive. They didn't even know they were
alive. Now, you know, Hayden has come
along, three years old now. I've watched her grow. I've watched
her grow. God's people are to grow. And
they are to grow in grace. And in the knowledge of Jesus
Christ. And the more you find out about
the grace of God, the more wonder there is. The more amazement
there is. And the love of Christ. You think
God would love you less now that you're an old friend? He loved us in conversion. And
it was sweet. But my friends, the longer you
know Him, the sweeter He grows. Let me say it again. The longer
you know Him, the sweeter He grows. The best is still to come. Don't
you know there's more for you? Don't you know that you shouldn't
sit here bored and actually so sick and tired of the rituals?
Church should not be a ritual. The real church is alive with
excitement and wonder and praise and the glory of God. Yes, the
best is still to come. Do you ever contemplate how gooder
it's going to be? It just gets gooder and gooder
for a child of God. It gets better and better. Don't
you know that you're just in your bud stage of life, child
of God? Think about this. Your future
is glorious and wonderful. You have not arrived yet, but
there are plenty of great and awesome things ahead of you. Some great things happened this
week. God's been so good. I would not trade my job for
any job in the world. That's very true. I would not.
My pastoring this church and seeing people converted and watching
God do miracles. Somebody said, well, you've never
seen a Red Sea. I've seen many Red Sea openings.
Absolutely. But most of all I think about
this. Do you ever think about this? I think about this a lot.
Every blessing. Every blessing. And every benefit
that I receive from God. I make it a step and a stairway
up. to comprehending the love of
God. I don't know whether you got
that or not. But you know what? You got up this morning. That's
a blessing. Some of us had breakfast this
morning. That's a blessing. Some of us walked to church today. We have two legs to walk to church. That's a blessing. Some of us
got inexpensive automobiles and drove to church. That's a blessing. That's the goodness of God. Some
of us have a job. That's a blessing. And if you
just start there and begin to count your blessings, name them
one by one, you will begin to comprehend somewhat of how much
God loves you. You know God's in you getting
a job. And you know what the goodness of God does? It leads
us to repent of our mess. The more you see the goodness
of God in your life, the more you repent of your self-centeredness. It's very true. Real quick now, what is the breadth
of His love? The width. Paul said, I want
you to know how wide it is. from side to side, a wide expanse. Think about the breadth of His
love. What does that mean? It means that the love of God
extends to all ranks and all races of mankind. That the love
of God extends to the king on the throne, but to the slave
in bondage. The love of God extends to the
pure and virtuous woman. And it extends to the whore who
walks the streets. I wanted to make it plain. That's
why I used that word. That's why I used that word. That God can love and does love
and God's love extends to the whore. In fact, God's greatest
example in the Bible is found in the book of Hosea of God's
unmerited favor. The breath of His love will outreach
the devil's slimy hands as to the number who shall be touched.
I've had many people disagree with this statement, but I believe
this. I know this to be true. That
the number in heaven will be more than the number in hell.
Because God isn't going to let the devil beat him. That's how
far it extends. If you just think about this,
so far here since the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, we
have murdered 50 million babies. All of them, I believe, are with
the Lord. Think about that. 50 million
to start with. How broad was that love that
reached some of you? who are here this morning. You,
the thief. You, the drunkard. You, the blasphemer. You, the crack addict. You, the
fornicator. You, the adulterer. You, the
murderer. The river of His love got out
of its banks and overflowed to where you were. The love of God is not razor
thin. It doesn't just save the good, nice, church-going folks.
In fact, most of them are going to hell. It saves. It reaches
to the worst of the worst. It's amazing it's so awesome. God save me. Sin may be broad, but the mighty
love of Christ covers it all. Have you ever just thought about
this? You ever think about the providence of God? Think about
this. You're here and you're a Christian.
You're saved. You've been washed in the blood
of Jesus Christ. There's no condemnation for you.
Think about this. Where were you ten years ago?
Think about this. The providence of God. Think
about the blessings. Think about this love of God
in His providence. There you were down in the hood
with track marks up and down your arm, selling yourself, half
dead, hating life. Look where you are now. What
was that? What was it that kept you alive?
What was it that sustained you? You should have been dead, sleeping
in your grave. But here you are sitting in the
house of God with a hallelujah in your soul. was the providence
of God. Working for your good. Think
about it, child of God. Everything works for your good
in God's glory. That's the love of God. What
is the length of His love? Length has to do with duration
or extent and time. The longest of the long. Longest
dimension. You know, if Christ were to think
about his people for ten minutes, it'd be wonderful, wouldn't it?
If he condescended to think about you or me for just ten minutes. You know, years ago I got to
spend almost a day with Ronald Reagan. Man, oh man, what I thought
I was. What an honor that was. Think about Almighty God just
thinking about you for ten minutes. That would be something because
we're not worthy of God's thoughts for a moment. Now try to grasp
this. He has thought of His people
as long as He has existed. Put that in your pipe and smoke
it. I mean, if you hadn't already gotten rid of your pipe. I'm talking about eternal love.
There never has been a time when He did not love you. That's a long time. Jeremiah, before I formed you
in your mother's belly, I loved you. Before I formed you in your
mother's belly. Before you were ever formed.
Your name was written in His book. Before the foundation of
the world. That's what the Bible says. Paul said, I want you to know
this love. I want you to enter into this
love. I want you to experience this
love. I was thinking about an angel.
If an angel were to fly with the purpose to find out when
God's love began. And I think he would probably
fly back to Calvary. And there he might say something
like this. This is the source. Right here at the cross. Calvary. This is the source. But then
he would recall John 3.16 that God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. And then he would have to fly
further. And maybe he would fly back to Isaiah's day and read
Isaiah 53 where he was numbered with the transgressors. And know
that he would have to fly further. And maybe he would fly back to
the Garden of Eden and hear this, the seed of the woman shall crush
the serpent's head. And know he would have to fly
further. Divine instruction. would tell
him he must go back to the eternal councils where first salvation
was planned. You can get lost in this. Back when creation vanishes. When there's not a shred of existence
except the eternal mind. He loved you. That needs to just kind of settle
in a little bit. I will not preach a love that
begins with you. You'll never hear me preach a
message which love begins with you. Love did not begin with
you or me. It was a... Grab the seat. It was a causeless love. It was a causeless love. It ought
to bring every child of God out of His seats right now. God didn't
love you because you did something. God didn't love you because you
first loved God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He first loved us. Oh, He saw you in the hood. He saw you. He saw you working
all kinds of mess. Took out his big telescope. Looked
down through time. And there you were, little alley
rat, maggoting your way through life.
And God loved you. No beauty. No merit. No cause except His own sovereign
grace and mercy. I know. This is the gospel of
the glory. This is not the message that's
preached from most pulpits today. I guarantee you. It's you're
going to get some holy water sprinkled on your head and because
of that, you're going to go to heaven. You're going to join
the church. You're going to get Christ in you by drinking a little
wine or letting the priest drink the wine and you eat the bread.
Somehow you digest Christ with gastric juices and... Oh, no. No, no. This whole thing is by
faith. Yeah. You remember? You had to trust God. You know
why? Because you can't trust yourself. You can't save yourself. Salvation
is totally outside of you. You didn't do it. It wasn't your
will. It wasn't your works. This love of God. This love is
not only without beginning, but it's without pause. God loved David when he was laying in the lap
of Bathsheba. and he committed adultery. God's
love did not pause. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that God doesn't go, uh-oh, Johnny just did a no-no? My love is cut off until he gets
right? No, God's love goes after you
and brings you back in repentance. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Never a moment when the Lord
ceased to love us. Don't you know, for whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate? Whom He predestinated, them He
also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. There
is no pause. Did you notice in Romans 8 that
there's not even a mention of death? When it says he foreknew,
he predestinated, he called, he justified. But what about
people dying? It's not even mentioned. He just
says they'll be also glorified. That's because it's certain.
That's because it's for sure. You are predestined to heaven. You're going to go because of
the God of love. Oh, say, but pastor, pastor,
I've relapsed. Oh, me too. But God never has. I'm about
to get happy by myself. God never has relapsed in His
love for you. Okay, now calm down, preacher.
What is the depth of His love? How far from the surface. Oh,
this is not surface love. I know we guys fall in love and
we tell that young girl, I love your teeth. I love your figure. I love this. I love your hair.
You better watch it. That hair might come off at night
and those teeth come out. That's surface love. Am I right
about that? What if her teeth decay? What
about when she gets old? Aren't you glad God's love is
not surface love? It goes deep. I'll tell you how
deep it goes. This is how you can think of
the love of God. Have you ever thought about the
stoop of His love? I mean by that, He came down here to be one like
us. Have you ever just thought about
it this way? How far He stooped to save you? How far down did He have to go
to get ahold of you? You remember the story of the
woman that was brought to Jesus? Taken in the very act of adultery. By the way, I think it's pretty
noticeable that, you know, most of the time women commit adultery
with a man Let me let that soak in just a little bit. But Moses'
followers didn't bring a man. They brought a woman. They threw
her down and said, the law says stoner. What do you say? And
the Bible says he stooped down, eye to eye, identifying with
that adulterous woman. And he said to her, neither do
I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Has He said that to you? Then
there ought to be joy in your heart. That He stooped to your
lowliness. That's how deep the condescension. Have you ever thought about the
invitations that He gives? Think about this. The invitations
are a stoop of His love. The invitations of Scripture
are not the words of an impotent God when He says... He doesn't
say it like this. Give me a chance. Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, because I am a weak Savior."
He doesn't say that. He says, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden. He scoops down. Or when he says
this to crazy people, come, let us reason together. How many know that an attic is
not reasonable? If an attic were reasonable,
he wouldn't use. He'd say, now let's say, this
is stupid for me to do the same thing over and over, expecting
that there's going to be different results. Why are you all looking
at me that way? I mean, is it reasonable to keep
doing the same thing that destroys you? No. So that means we're
not reasonable people, any of us, right? And yet the Lord stoops
and says to us crazy folks, let's talk it over. Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. Aren't you tired? Come to Me
and I'll give you rest." That's what He says. And then think
about this, the depth of His love. He took your sins. In your
wildest dream or mine, we cannot imagine What it was like that
day outside Jerusalem, outside the camp, on Galgathas Hill,
on Talvary, on the cross, when God started the computer of imputing
your sins and mine to Jesus Christ, who had never known sin, never
thought sin, never committed sin, never said a disrespectful
word to His mother or father. He was a holy Savior. And sin
was imputed to him. What strange and awful sensations
must have come over him. You know what it's like to do
something that's wrong and you've done something that's really
wrong and violated your own conscience. You know that awful feeling of
condemnation. Think about the Himalayas of
sin that was laid on Christ. The mighty stoop of the Savior
to bear your sins and mine. on the tree of the cross. He
bear our punishment. Can you imagine? He who was the
apple of the Father's eye. He of whom the Father opened
the windows of heaven and said, this is my boy in whom I am well
pleased. I am happy with him. I am continually
pleased with him. He does all things well. And then God got out His black
snake whip as your sins were laid on Him, and the justice
of God was poured out on Jesus Christ. And by His stripes you
were healed." The stoop of the Savior. And
now there's no condemnation to those of us who are in Christ
Jesus. Darren's going to be doing messages
on heaven and hell. When he does that hell message,
when he gives us all hell, I hope you'll contemplate this. He took
my hell. There is no hell for me. The
everlasting torment will never be mine. He's able to save even to the
uttermost, from the guttermost to the uttermost. Think about
it. And lastly, what is the height
of His love? The summit. I think this is the
height of it. And if children, then heirs.
Heirs of God. And joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Do you know you're in the will? Do you know He's going to take
you all the way? Do you know He'll never take you out of the
will? It's very difficult for us to disappoint God. Because
the only thing good that comes out of us is what He puts in
us. I think this is the summit in John 17. I want you to think
about this. John 17 is the prayer of the
Savior. And He says something like this,
Father, Thou hast loved them. This blows
my mind. has loved them as Thou hast loved
me." Now, wait a minute. Let me hear those words really
slow. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they
were, and Thou gavest them me. You see, God chose you. Ephesians
1-4, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Yeah, you're chosen. If you're
a Christian, it's because God chose you, not because you chose
God. You were chosen before the foundation of the world. And
Jesus says this, you love them just like you love Me. And then
He follows up with, and you love Me before the foundation of the
world. You say, you don't really mean
that Can this really be that? Are you saying God loved me when
I was in the crack house? When I was an atheist? Oh, yeah. And you didn't know it, but He
had a rope around your leg. And He was drawing you. And when you went in to use,
He said, pretty soon you're going to run out of steam. But He always had the rope around
your leg. He always had His eye on you. You were invincible.
You just didn't know it. You couldn't even kill yourself. Surely, there's no one in here
that tried to kill themselves. We've all thought it if we've
been out there long enough. But you didn't. And He kept drawing
you. And you didn't know it, but some
of you ended up at over 35 East Huron Street, and you thought
that was the worst thing that ever happened to you. You didn't
know he had a rope around your leg. You were shocked when you got
off the bus and it was right in front of the old Pontiac rescue
mission. You thought you were going to have to search for days,
maybe live in a vacant house. But somehow you just got miraculously
delivered. All you folks from Turning Point,
you're not here by accident. And those of you who know God,
you were brought here. Just so you know. What a testimony
it is. I love you seeing walking up
here to church. I love to see the folks walking
from 35 up here to church. What a testimony to the grace
of God. I want to say this to you saints.
I know things are tough. The world's looking mighty black.
It really is. I think things are going to turn
here soon in an ugly way. In a real ugly way. I see the
writing on the wall. I do. We may be past the redemption
point in this country. Maybe. We'll see. But I want
you to know this, because I know this. You get 68, you'll think
about this too. The best is yet to come. Yeah. The height. I love to have services where
the Spirit of God drops down and we're just all caught up.
We just don't want to leave. Let's build three tabernacles
and stay here. That's kind of what we say. Don't
have anybody pray and dismiss us. Let's just all stay here.
Let's stay here all day. That's really what happens when
the Spirit of God comes down and you're filled with the love
of Christ. You just don't want to go home. You love being with
one another. It's a great time. That's the way heaven's going
to be. We're not all going to be walking around with pickaxes
on streets of gold, digging nuggets. It's going to be real life, only
everlasting life, with no bugs. No cancer. No getting drunk. No using. No fornicating. No
adultery. free at last, free at last. Thank
God Almighty we're free at last. Let's stand together and praise
our God.