Ephesians chapter three this
morning. Just thinking of what our brother read this morning,
predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son. I just can't think of anything
more wonderful than that. To be like him, so I will spend
eternity to be like him. There's nothing in this world
more precious, more wonderful, and more needful than what we're
doing right here, right now, this morning. Nothing in this
world, nothing, I'm telling you. To be there when the gospel is
preached, to have the opportunity to worship Christ, As we're gathered
this morning, I believe that we're gathered in the name of
the Lord. And I rest assured, confident in the promise that
he said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I
am in the midst. And I stand confident in the
fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is with us right now, this morning.
And I rest in that. I rest in that. Because in order
for us to be able to understand this gospel, It's gotta be by
the power of the Spirit. We can understand things from
a mental aspect. Our mind's capable of learning
many things. The Scriptures declare that many
have come to great understanding concerning the truths of God.
But to truly know them, to know them in the heart, that's the
work of the Spirit. And that's why we're here today.
David said that there was one desire of his heart, And that
was to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to behold the
beauty of his tabernacle. And that's Christ. Christ is
the only thing that's beautiful. Mary, there was one thing needful,
right? One thing needful. And that was to be at the feet
of the Savior, hearing his word. And I pray that this morning
as we're gathered here, that's where we are. not just in pews,
not just sitting here, not just a body in a building, but a soul,
a spirit, seated at the feet of the Savior, just desiring
to get a few crumbs, just a few crumbs, And maybe by the end of this
message, maybe we'll find ourselves resting on the bosom of our Savior. Ephesians chapter three, verse 14, Paul says, for this
cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God. I love to think on, to contemplate,
to meditate, to truly meditate upon the love of God. The love
of God is special. The love of God is wonderful.
It's amazing. It's matchless. It's effectual. It's sovereign. It's everlasting. There is nothing in the world
that can be compared to it. Absolutely nothing. The love
of God is so great that heavenly songs of the saints praising
Christ for his love must be and will be sung for all eternity. Eternity cannot even contain
those songs. The word of God declares that
God is love. And as our brother just read,
the love of God is in Christ Jesus. In order to know the love
of God, you must know him as he's revealed, as he's declared
and revealed in his word. And you must be in Christ. You
must be. Paul's desire for the church
at Ephesus and for all God's people was that they would know
the love of God, and yet he declares unto us in this passage that
a passive knowledge. There's so much that can be said
in this text. We could spend a lifetime preaching
from this text. But I want us to consider just
a little bit this morning what Paul says regarding that
impassive knowledge. How do we know that which paths
of knowledge? How do we communicate that which
passeth knowledge? How do I do that this morning
as I'm trying to declare something, the love of God that passeth
knowledge, how do I even communicate that? If it passeth knowledge,
are there any words which can adequately and completely describe
and communicate the love of God? And if it was within our ability
to do so, would our mind even be able to understand and comprehend
the love of God? By nature, we're ignorant. By
nature, we have no understanding. To truly know the love of God
goes beyond the mind's ability to understand and comprehend
and beyond the tongue's ability to communicate, to describe. This knowledge is known in the
heart and not just the mind. We're gonna be talking about
heart matters this morning. Many have a true doctrinal understanding
of the love of God, but they don't know the love of God. And
the reason is because they don't know Christ. In the experience
of salvation, when God performs a work of grace in the heart
of a sinner, that is where the love of God is truly known. And
we cannot enter into the knowledge of the love of God until he reveals
himself to us and in us. And that's why we're here this
morning. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
If we're gonna know him, it's by this means, it's by the preaching
of the gospel. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because they're foolishness
to us. Neither can you know them because they're spiritually discerned. May the things of God be demonstrated
by the Spirit this morning as our pastor preached the other
day. Demonstrated by the Spirit. The knowledge and understanding
of God's love is not fully made known by words. Words are powerful. Words are effectual. James talks
about the power of the tongue, right? Wars have been started
over words. Relationships destroyed. That's
the negative side, but at the same time, friendships are created,
are they not? Bonds are made. Love is communicated
and expressed. However, you will not come to
a heart knowledge and understanding of God's love by words alone.
You will not. It is important we see what God's
word declares and understand some truth concerning God's love.
Charles Spurgeon said this, he said, true love cannot be dormant
for long. It is like fire of an active
nature. It must be at work. Love longs
for expression. Expression. It cannot be silent. Command it to be without expression
and you command it to not live. And true love is not satisfied
with expressing itself in words. It does use words, yes. I'm using
words this morning. We do use words. I tell my wife
every day how much I love her. We do use words. But it is painfully
conscious of their feebleness. For the full meaning of love
is not to be conveyed in human language. It breaks the backs
of words and crushes them to atoms when it lays on them all
that it means. Love must express itself in deeds,
and as our old proverb says, actions speak louder than words. When Paul described love, he
used words, but he used words to describe action, work. Doing, action is love's expression. As Spurgeon stated, love must
work, and it is by the work that love expresses itself, is fully
communicated and known to the recipients of love. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians, he talks about charity, and that word charity
is love, agape, the same word that we have in our text here
that Paul used, love. But he says, charity suffereth
long, and it's kind, It envieth not, charity varneth not itself,
is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not
her own, is not easily provoked, it thinketh no evil, it rejoices
not in iniquity, but it rejoices in the truth, beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things,
charity never fails, never fails. Whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they
shall cease. Whether there be knowledges, I'll vanish away.
These are actions, right? Love expresses itself by action. And love is so necessary. I was just thinking, Paul talks
about that from the very beginning. If you speak, but I don't speak
with love, I become as a sounding brass. Love is not dependent, does not
rely upon words, and for the believer, the children of God,
love is not fully known by words. And I can give you a very simple
illustration of this. Love is not known by words. I
have a dog named Lucy, and I know in my heart that dog absolutely
loves me. She is completely incapable of
telling me she loves me. but I know she loves me. And
it's because of how she expresses that love with her actions. And
that is just an absolutely simple illustration. But what is illustrated
is of eternal importance. And what is illustrated holds
the key to our understanding and knowledge of the love of
God. If the only way that someone knows you love them is because
you tell them that you love them, that's not love. We express it in what we do. John said, Beloved, let us love
one another. Why? For love is of God, and
everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. I'll tell you, it's... In the last, like what, five,
six months, I've been blessed of God to see,
and I mean to see, the hand of God's love. And that was expressed, that
was communicated, that was known and felt through God's people, through
the love that they have expressed and shown and demonstrated unto
me. I'll tell you, I've got a table
at home, a dining table, a good-sized table. It sits like about eight
people at least. And it's completely filled with
cards. Completely filled with cards. I love those cards. I look at
them all the time. But it's not just the card, right? It's not just the card. You see,
someone took the time to go to the store to buy that card. And then they went home, they
sat down, and they opened it up, and they thought about me.
And they wrote something in that card. Words of encouragement,
words of peace, scriptures, verses. And then they put that card in
an envelope, put a stamp on it, put it in the mail. And I received
that card and was able to open it. and bask in the expression
of love, to be comforted by their words, by their thoughts, by
their prayers. Love expresses itself in action. God calls us to love one another as he's loved us. Scripture says,
walk in love as Christ loved us. And I tell you, you'll see. You'll
see the love of God in us. You will. You'll feel it. That's
how we grow in love. We grow in love with that precious
bond between one another, where we love one another truly, because
in Christ, we have a new heart. And he dwells in us, and out
of that heart, what is the fruit of the Spirit? The very first
one is love. It's the fruit of the Spirit. John also said, whoso has this
world's good, and seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth up his
bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him? My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but how, but in deed and in truth. That word deed means an act,
it's a thing done. And that's how God loves us,
in deed and in truth. God is love, the love of God,
the love is of God, and he who knows not God knows nothing of
the love of God. The love of God is manifested,
it's made known, how? In salvation. And let us consider some truth
regarding the salvation of a sinner that will shed some light on
the love of God, or the love of God for his people, for his
elect. God chose a people in Christ
before the foundation of the world. When he and God the Father
entered into a covenant of salvation that was founded upon love, founded
upon love. And let us consider some truth
regarding this salvation. He chose them, why? Why did God
choose the people in Christ before the foundation of the world?
Because he loved them, that's why. And love is the source,
love is the cause, love is the foundation of the salvation of
God's elect. Look at Ephesians chapter one,
we're in Ephesians right now, but let's look at Ephesians chapter
one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. He says, grace be to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Every blessing is in Christ. Every blessing, all blessings.
It's the fullness of God Paul just wrote about. How did he
do that? According as he has chosen us
in him. When? Before the foundation of
the world. To what purpose? That we should
be holy and without blame before him. How? In love. In love. Having predestinated us into
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. But why did he do that? How did
he do that? In love, in love. He chose us
in love, predestinated us in love. There was nothing about
us that caused God to love us. We did not earn it, we do not
merit it, we do not deserve it. God declares his love for Jacob
and clearly declares it was not according to works, for he had
done neither good nor evil, but it was according to his purpose
of election. For the children not yet being
born, either having done good or evil, they had done nothing,
no good, no evil. That the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. It was not of works, but of him
that calleth. And God has clearly declared
unto us in the scripture who he calls. Paul said, you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen what? The
foolish things of the world. Why? To confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things that are mighty, and the
base things of the world, and the things that are despised
has God chosen. And the things which are not
to bring to naught the things that are. Why? That no flesh
is gonna glory in his sight. He chose weak, feeble, ignorant,
depraved, corrupt sinners. The cause of God's love for his
people is found in him. It's in him. We read in Deuteronomy, thou
art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself. "'Above all people
upon the face of the earth, "'the Lord did not set his love upon
you nor choose you.'" Why? Because you were more in number
than any people. That's not why. God's people are often described
as what? A remnant. Just a remnant. He says, "'You
were the fewest of all people, "'but because the Lord loved
you.'" That's the reason. But because the Lord loved you. And because you would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto our fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen. And that's what he did. He loves us, and how do
we know that he loved us? He delivered us from Egypt. He
delivered us from Egypt, was with us throughout the entire
wilderness journey, and was with us as we walked across the River
Jordan, or when we walk across the River Jordan into the promised
land of Canaan. His love is expressed from beginning
to end. He said, I'm with you to the
very end. For his great love with where
he loved us, he saved us. If we're still in Ephesians,
look at Ephesians chapter two. Who are the recipients of God's
love? Who does he love? Paul said in two verse one, you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Where
in a time past you walked according to the course of the world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, that's who and what we are by
nature, among whom we also had our conversation in times past
in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others, out of the same lump, the same lump, Christ made vessels
unto honor. He made son out of the same lump
who were just like everybody else. But God, and that's the
reason, that's the cause. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us. Why did he save
us? Why did he call us? Why did he reveal himself unto
us? Why did he choose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world? For his great love wherewith he loved us, that's why. Even
when we were dead in sins, his quicken us together with Christ.
By grace are you saved. The word of God is clear concerning
the salvation of its sinner. God chose a people in Christ
before the foundation of the world unto salvation, and he
chose them because he loved them. And when you consider the objects
of God's love, it reveals the greatness of His love. We were
not beautiful. We were not worthy. We were not deserving. We were
corrupt. We were depraved. We were defiled.
We were diseased, rebellious, going astray from birth. repulsive
and deserving of God's wrath and judgment. But because of
his great love, out of the mass lump of depraved humanity, he
chose some and made them vessels of honor. He made them his. He
made them his bride. He made them his people. He made
them his children, his friends. The foundation of salvation is
the love of God, and in salvation, the love of God is revealed.
Salvation is the expression of God's love. If you want to know
it, if you want to see it expressed, look at salvation. How do we
know that God loves his people? As we've already stated, love
is active, love does. It is a necessity, it's a fire
that burns, that must consume. And we know that God loves His
people because of what He has done for them, what He has accomplished
for His people. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. That's how much God the
Father loved this world. And we know what this world means.
I'm not gonna sit here and debate that. That's God's people. It's
not everybody. He loves His people in this world. And He loved them so much You love him so much, you gave
him that which was most precious to him. Wow. And this was manifest to the
love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten
son into the world that we might live through him here in his
love, here in his love. Not that we loved God. That's
not it. We do love him, but we love him
because he first loved us. We love him because he gave us
a new heart and dwells in us. But not that we loved him, but
that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for
our sins. And this was manifested. Manifested
means to make visible or known what has been hidden or unknown.
God commendeth, that word commendeth means to comprehend, to show,
to prove, to establish, to exhibit. God commendeth his love toward
us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Hereby perceive we the love of God. That word perceive means
to learn, to know, to come to know, to get a knowledge of,
to feel. Hereby perceive we the love of
God. And if you read that in 1 John, those two words of God,
it's italicized, it was added. It actually says, hereby perceive
we the love. Because he laid down his life
for us. That's how we see it, that's how we know it, that's
how we feel it. We ought to lay down our lives for our brethren.
He said, this is my commandment, that you love one another. How?
As I loved you. Greater love has no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Paul said,
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
live within me in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me. Do we see that? In every application
there, in every application, the love is communicated by words,
yes, but it is backed up by expression, by an action. We see and know
the love of God and salvation. He laid down his life for us.
He gave himself for us. He died for us, for his people,
for those whom the Father gave him. This was the will of the
Father and the work that Christ came to do. He came to do the
will of his Father. And what was that work? that
all that thou hast given me shall not perish, and I'll raise him
up at the last day." And that's what exactly what he accomplished
when he suffered and died on the cross and shed his blood
for our redemption and our salvation. He finished the work, he finished
the will, accomplished the will of the Father that he gave him.
God the Father chose a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and Christ became their surety in that everlasting
covenant of salvation, and he came down to this earth and lived
as our representative, established righteousness for us, died as
our substitute on the cross, and now sits on the throne of
God to ever make an intercession for us. He was made bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. The Son of God, the Holy Son
of God became a man, the man, took on humanity. And as a man,
he suffered and died on the cross under the wrath of God for our
sins. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Why? Because
of love. He was despised and rejected
of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we
hid as that were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. He bore our griefs and carried
our sorrows, yet we did esteem him strict and smitten of God
and afflicted. He was wounded, why, for our
transgressions. He was bruised, why, for our
iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. and consider his
sacrifice, consider what he undertook, consider the work that he came
to accomplish and did accomplish. Christ redeemed us from the curse
of the law. How? Being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. He who was perfect and holy and
righteous was made sin. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. He his own self bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. That we being dead to sin should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes we are healed. What love. What love, how do we even describe
that? What a savior, what a redeemer,
what a high priest, what a brother, what a friend. There is no greater
expression or demonstration, no greater example, no greater
picture of love, more beautiful than the work of salvation accomplished
by Christ on the cross. Hereby perceive we the love. If you want to know what love
is, look to the cross. Look to his humanity and behold
the man. Look to the innocent one who
hung there. Look to the perfect one who suffered. Look to the
precious one who gave his life. Look to the mighty one who died
and rose victorious over sin and death, who loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood which he shed on that cross. Because he loved us and by the
work of salvation he accomplished on the cross, we're justified.
glorified, like our brother read this morning. We're saved. And because of what
Christ accomplished on the cross, we're able to enter into that
love. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. When
you read John 17, go home and read John 17 this morning, and
you go through that. Everything in John 17 just describes
everything we just talked about. And it talks about in the end,
we're gonna bask in the glory of the love of God, us in Him
and Him in us, He and the Father, all one, all one. And we've seen the love of God,
and I'll try to be brief. We've seen the love of God as
manifested, as revealed in the work of Christ, which He accomplished
on the cross. But the love of God is also made
known, and this is where we really begin to enter into that which
path is understanding, path is knowledge. The love of God is
made known in the experience of salvation, the experience. This is where what is known in
the mind is felt and experienced in the heart. This is where understanding
becomes real, knowledge becomes real. This is where it becomes intimate,
where it becomes personal. We are now about to fully enter
into what it is to comprehend and to know the love of God,
and only the children of God are partakers of this knowledge.
The love of God is particular. The love of God is peculiar.
God does not love everyone. The truth concerning the love
of God is contrary to the man-made lies and heresies that is preached
and believed by many in this world. However, Many may acknowledge,
confess, and agree with everything that we have seen so far, and
not yet know the love of Christ because they don't know Christ. This is where the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, where Christ
dwells in our hearts by faith, and where we are rooted and grounded
in love. We are about to enter into the
knowledge of the love of God which passes knowledge. To know
the love of God is a great privilege of the child of God and the child
of God alone. This is sheep's food right here.
This is God's garden. This is where the sheep go in
and find pasture and lay beside still waters and eat the fruit
of the trees up there. Think about this, faith cometh
how? By hearing. Purity cometh how? Through trials. Patience by experience. Wisdom and understanding by the
word of God and the preaching of the gospel. Love by application
in the heart. Look at Ezekiel chapter 16 real
quick. Again, the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And say, thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
And as for thy nativity, in the day that thou wast born, thy
navel was not cut, neither was thou washed in water to supple
thee, thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. Know
I pity thee to do any of these things unto thee, to what? To
have compassion upon thee. but you were cast down into the
open field to the loathing of that person in the day that thou
was born. This is our condition by nature, conceived in iniquity
as David declared it, right? That's where it talks about his
father was an Amorite and his mother a Hittite, conceived in
iniquity. And just helpless, hopeless. A bloody mess. He says, and when I passed by
thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto
thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. That's the gospel right
there, right? The gospel comes when you pass
by and he declares, live. Lazarus, come forth, live. I've
caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments.
Thy breasts are fashioned and thy hair is grown, whereas thou
wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, behold, thy time was what? The time of love. The time of love, this is where
it's experienced. This is where it's known. This
is where it's felt. The time of love. How do we know it? How do we
experience it? How do we know that which passes
understanding? What does God do for this baby?
Did God come onto this open field and look at this child and simply
say, I love you? He said that time was a time
of love. And look at what he did. He said,
I spread my skirt over thee. I covered thee in my righteousness. And covered thy nakedness, I
swear unto thee and enter into a covenant with thee, saith the
Lord, and thou becamest mine. That's the end result right there
of love. We become his. We're his bride. He told, what was it he told
Jeremiah? He said, I've loved thee with an everlasting love.
But he didn't end there. He said, therefore, have I drawn
you where? Unto me. You're mine. You're mine. And then I washed
thee with water, yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee,
and anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broided
work, and shod thee with badger skins, and I girded thee about
with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. And I decked
thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands,
and a chain upon thy neck. And I put jewel in thy forehead,
and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
Thus thou wast decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was
of fine linen and silk, embroidered work. And thou didst eat fine
flour, and honey, and oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful.
And thou didst prosper into a kingdom, and thou were now went forth
among the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect, how, through
my comeliness. which I put upon thee, which
I gave thee, freely, without cause, without price. He freely
gave it to us, because he paid the price. He's the cause, because
of his love. Look at Luke chapter 10. This is how we know. And this is the work of the Spirit
here. Words cannot communicate this. This is the work of God
in the heart. This is what my prayer is this
morning. My prayer this morning is yes, that you would hear my
words. They're not my words, I take that back. I pray that
you hear these words. I'm just a worthless vessel. This is God's word. I pray that
you hear these words, and by the hearing, God gives you faith,
and God causes the light to shine in your hearts, that we may know,
know, truly know that which passes this mind's capacity to understand. Know it here. Luke 10, verse
30. And Jesus answering said, a certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed,
leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down
a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when
he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed on the
other side. But a certain Samaritan, a certain Samaritan, As he journeyed,
came where he was. And that's what God the Father
does for us. He comes where we are, because
we can't get to him. We're like that baby in the open
field. We can't do anything. He's gotta come to us. He's gotta
come to where we are. And when he saw him, what did
he do? He had compassion on him. How do we know that we have compassion
on him? How do we know that? By what
he did. He went to him, bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an end, and took care of him. And on the
morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them
to the host, and said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever
thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which
now on these three thinkest thou? was neighbor unto him that fell
among the seas. Do we see that? He didn't come
to that man and say, I'm gonna have compassion on you. No, he
bound up his wounds and poured in the oil and wine. That's what
God does for us. And he does everything for us,
everything. Hold on. Five minutes, and I'll
cut out a lot on the end, because I want to look at one last thing.
Look at Hosea chapter two. Hosea chapter two. You know the story of Hosea. God said, go now and love an
adulterous woman. That's us right there. This is
a picture of the covenant of salvation between God the Father
and God the Son before the foundation of the world. This is a picture
of that covenant. Go and love an adulterous woman. And look at verse 14, Hosea chapter
two. Therefore, behold, I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her.
Isn't that what God does to us? Allures us into the wilderness. There in the wilderness is just
us and him. It's just us and him. There's nothing in the wilderness,
right? but he allures us into the wilderness to where it's
just us and Christ, and that's it. He speaks to us in the wilderness,
doesn't he? Spoke to Abraham in the wilderness,
spoke to Elijah in the wilderness, spoke to Hagar, spoke to her
in the wilderness, spoke to David in the wilderness. He allures
us into the wilderness and does what speaks comfortably to us. And I will give her vineyards
from vents and valley of Acre for a door of hope, and she shall
sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when
she came up out of the land of Egypt. When they came up out
of the land of Egypt and God destroyed all their enemies before
them in the Red Sea, what did they do? Exodus chapter 15, they
sang that song in praise of God. And it shall be at that day,
saith the Lord, thou shalt call me Ishi, my husband. And thou shalt no more call me
Bali. The word Bali was used of foreign gods. For I will take
away the names of Balaam out of thy mouth. I'm gonna take
it all away. Our song is Christ. Our words
are Christ by his grace. and I shall no more be remembered
by thy name. And in that day, while I make
a covenant with them, with the beasts of the field and with
the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground,
and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out
of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely in green
pastures, and I will betroth thee unto me forever. I'm gonna
make you mine. You're my bride. You're my wife. You're my love. You're my desire. You're the apple of my eye, you're
my friend. Forever, forever. I only consider our love so weak,
so temporary, so conditional. I really, the love of man by
nature, it's all about him. It all comes from the love of
self. Most of the time when we do anything, it's only something
that benefits us, but we use love as a disguise by which to
make us feel good, or communicate, or act, look good. The Lord said, I will betroth thee
unto me, how? In righteousness, in judgment, and in loving kindness,
and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness. O God, make us faithful. God
calls us to be faithful to Him. And they shall come to pass in
that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens,
and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the
corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.
And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I'll have mercy
upon her that had not obtained mercy. And I will say unto them
which were not my people, thou art my people, and they will
say, thou art my God." That's the covenant of God of salvation
right there. I will be their God, and they
will be my people. You read that all through the
word of God. The covenant of God of salvation is so simple. It's so simple. Man likes to
complicate it and make it to be all these other divisions
and separations and categories and everything else. It's so
simple. I will be their God and they will be my people. Do you know the love of God?
Paul's desire was that we would know the love of God. If we're
gonna know it, that which passeth knowledge is gonna be by exactly
what we've just seen in the God's word and in this message. God
performs a work in the heart, in the heart. That's why you
know it. And that's my desire this morning.
That's all my desire. That's all my desire. May God, through the preaching
of his word and the power of the Holy Spirit, cause us to
know the love of God is my desire. It is the blessed burden that
has been placed on the heart for us this morning. I want every
one of us to walk out today knowing the love of God. I want our children
to walk out this morning knowing that which passes, knowledge
and understanding. the love of God. And the only
way we're gonna know it, the only way we're gonna feel it,
the only way we're going to experience it, the only way that these words
that are communicated can become personal and real, it's like
God's got a work in our heart. And how he does this is by this
very means right here, by the preaching of his word. Oh, may God work in us today. this morning, right now, right
now. As it is written, I has not seen
nor ear heard, nor either entered into the heart of man, the things
which God has prepared for them that love us. What are those
things? It's everything, everything, all spiritual blessings in Christ.
It's redemption, justification, salvation, conformed to the image
of Christ, being able to spend eternity beholding His glory
and worshiping Him with a true heart, with a pure heart. It's that robe of righteousness,
it's everything, everything. And God has prepared all things
for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto
us, how? By Spirit, that's what He's gotta
do today. If you're gonna know it, He's
gotta reveal it unto us by Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of man save the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the
things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we
receive not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
of God. Why? That we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. And he's given us all things,
all things. He loves us so much, there is
absolutely no blessing, no good thing that he will ever withhold
from us, nor has he withheld it from us. As Christ is, so
are we in this world. And my knowledge and understanding
of that is only so little, it's only so weak, because I only
see through a glass darkly, but one day when these eyes close,
when I take my last breath, I'm gonna open them up and I'm gonna
know as I'm known, I'm gonna see Him fully in all of His beauty
and in all of His glory. And that day faith becomes sight,
hope becomes reality, One day faith will end, right? One day our hope is gonna become
reality. You know what's the constant
throughout all eternity and time? Love. Now I wanna conclude by giving
us a little bit of rest and assurance. So I'm gonna repeat real quickly
what our brother just read, Romans chapter eight. Are you in Christ? Are you in
Christ? Paul said in Romans 8, 37, they
and all these things were more than conquerors through him that
loved us. Do we wanna know? Paul's desire was that they might
know what? The height and the breadth and the length and the
depth of the love of God. Do we wanna enter into that as
far as our security, as far as our preservation, as far as God's
power? then all these things were more
than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I rest in that. I rest in that
secure. I rest in that with confidence.
I rest in that with peace and with comfort. Nothing, nothing
is going to separate me. Nothing is going to separate
you if you're in Christ. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God. Why? Because love never fails. He loved us with an everlasting
love. His compassions, they fail not.
His love is patient, long-suffering, forgiving, enduring, powerful,
eternal, pure, and true, that we might know the love of Christ,
that we might experience it in our hearts, that we might taste
it and feed upon it and rest in it, that we, by the grace
of God today, this morning be rooted and grounded in love. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable
gift. We read in Jude, keep yourselves
in the love of God. Keep yourselves there. Keep yourself
there. Desire to know more of it. Seek
to know more of it. And the way you're gonna do that
is to know more of him. Yeah. and an amazing blessing, humbling
thought, humbling truth, that Christ would set his love upon
sinners and have compassion upon them. I pray this morning we can enter
into that. I truly do, again, that's my desire, that's my heart's
desire at this moment. How do words communicate the
love of God? How do we talk about that which
passes knowledge? May God cause us to know this.
May he reveal Christ to us in us. May he cause us like Jacob
said, I'm not gonna let you go. May we sing about him as Solomon
did in the Song of Solomon. My beloved, have you seen my
beloved? Where is he? I need to know where
he is. I need to be with him where he
is. And the disciples of John, they
came to the Lord Jesus Christ after John declared, behold,
I am of God. And the Lord said unto them,
he said, what seek ye? And their answer was, where are
you going? Where do you dwell? I'm a beloved. I am his. And he is mine. Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes, Many waters, many waters. We're gonna go through some waters.
You look at how waters is described in the word of God. Waters. Our Lord Jesus Christ went through
some waters. He said concerning the waters that came unto his
soul, they were overfloating. Jonah knew something about the
waters, did he not? The disciples in the ships, when
the storms came, they knew something about the waters. And we're gonna pass through
the waters and we're gonna pass through the fires, but many waters,
Solomon said, many waters, many waters cannot quench love. Let's pray.