Okay, let's open back up to Ephesians
3. Monday, I listened to a message
that Brother Henry Mahan preached, and it was called, Why I Preached
My Son's Funeral. That was the name of the message.
And it was the recording and the message was from very shortly
after he preached his son's funeral in the 60s, whatever or whatever
year that was. His son's name was Robbie. He
was a believer. And he died in Vietnam. And everybody asked him, you
know, who was going to perform the ceremony, and he said, I'm
going to perform it. And everybody wanted to know why. Why do you
want to do this? Why do you want to perform this
funeral? And they were all asking him,
how are you going to get through this? And I understand them asking
him that. He said, in this message, he
said, everybody in town was asking me that. How are you going to
get through this? And the point of his message
was, God's grace is sufficient. That was the point of the message.
It was a great blessing. God's grace is sufficient. How does anybody do anything
or get through anything? It's only by the grace of God.
His grace is sufficient. And in answer to the question,
why did he want to do it, what he said in the message was, He
wanted to give honor and glory to the Lord. The Lord gave. The Lord had taken
away. And He said He wanted to be the
one to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Isn't that something?
That takes the grace of God. That's what it takes. I listened
to that message on Monday afternoon. The reality of the trial of losing
a child came over me. I just started hurting for Isabella
and Sophie. I just started hurting for them.
I was hurting for myself, I guess. Lord, save their souls. Save
their souls. Please save their souls. I pray
that God would save their souls. We are deeply burdened for the
souls of our children and the souls of our loved ones and the
souls of our friends. And the only hope that any of
us have is hearing of and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only hope that we have. May it be ingrained in our children. There's one thing that your souls
need in life. One thing that my soul needs
in life and it's Christ. That's it. This verse of Scripture popped
into my mind. Ephesians 3 verse 14. It says, For this cause I bow
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I bow my knees
begging Him, worshiping Him, praising Him, calling on Him
for this cause. Paul is talking about a particular
cause in this chapter. He says the same thing in verse
1. He says, for this cause. For this cause. What cause is
he talking about? What cause is he talking about?
Here's the one he's talking about. He's talking about the cause
that he just mentioned in chapter 2. Look at chapter 2 verse 1
with me. It says, And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. And for this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It never ceases to amaze me how
when I know a verse of Scripture off the top of my head, I don't
enter into it as much. But if the Lord will let me enter
into it, what a cause to bow our knees. For this cause, I
am so thankful that He quickened me. I really am. And I am so thankful that He
quickened you. I really am. For this cause,
I bow my knees. Lord, would you quicken our children?
Quicken our children. Give them life. For this cause,
I bow my knees. Verse 1 here in chapter 2 says,
You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins? wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience." We all know that we all did, don't
we? He says in verse 3, "...among
whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." But
God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, by grace you are saved. And for this cause I bow
my knees to our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
6 says, He hath raised us up raised us up together and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to
come, we're going to be together a
long time. And I'm looking forward to that. We are going to be together
for ages to come. I think that's wonderful. that
in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. He is
going to continually show us and prove to us His grace and
His kindness through Christ Jesus. And for that cause, I bow my
knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is just wonderful. Verse 14 says, For He is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us, that's between me and God, having
abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments,
contained in ordinances, for to make in Himself of twain one
new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you which were far off and to
them that were nigh. And for this cause I bow my knee
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Chapter 3, verse 2. He says, if you have heard, if
you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you, if you have heard, verse 11, according to
the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord, verse 15, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named, If God has opened your ears, and opened my ears, and
called us into His eternal purpose, and adopted us into Christ Jesus,
if He's done that, verse 15 says, of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, Paul says, if God has done a work in you,
then He says, I pray four things for you. I pray four things for
you. I bow my knees unto the father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray four things for you. And
I, Gabe Stoniker, pray these same four things for us. I pray it for Kingsport Sovereign
Grace. I pray it for every place where God has raised up a congregation
of believers. I really pray this for us. I
really deeply pray this for us. Paul says in verse 14, 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. And here's
the first thing. Verse 16, 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 He would grant you and me
to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man. My prayer for
us. This is my prayer for us. It's
that we may grow weaker and weaker in the flesh. I pray that for
us. That's my honest prayer for us,
that we might grow weaker and weaker in the flesh. My honest,
sincere burden prayer is that our minds and our hearts might
grow weaker and weaker in our own ability. Weaker and weaker in our own
self-worth. That's my prayer. If God would
allow that to happen to us, this would be a blessed place, wouldn't
it? A blessed place. I'm talking to myself first. There is a big difference in
fake humility and forced humility. There's a big difference. Well,
you know, I know the Scripture says it, so I'm going to be meek
and humble. You watch me. You watch and see
if I don't be meek and humble. I'm going to be more meek than
anybody. And I'm pretty proud of my ability,
too. It's another thing to walk around
with a bent posture. You know what I'm saying? Jacob never walked the same after
God got a hold of him. Never. He was never the same. John said, he must increase. But I must, I must, I must decrease. I must. If I don't force me to,
God will. God will, won't He? Charles Spurgeon
said this, I love this, I put this in our bulletin two times
already and I hope to put it in 20 more. He said, prepare
yourselves, my younger brethren, to become weaker and weaker. Prepare yourselves for sinking
lower and lower in self-esteem. Prepare yourselves for self annihilation,
and pray to God to expedite the process. For this cause, I bow my knees
unto our Father. Why? Here's why. God's Word says, when I'm weak,
that's when I'm strong. When I'm weak in the flesh, I
am strong in Christ. You know that? When I am weak
in the flesh, I am strong in His Spirit. When I'm weak in
the flesh, I am strong in His ability. When I realize and I
come to that place where I realize, I'm done. I got nothing else. My only hope is that Christ is
going to do something for me. Man, that's a strong place to
be. I pray that for this congregation
with all my heart. That God might let us grow lower
and lower and lower and lower and lower. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Here's the second thing Paul prays for us. Ephesians 3 verse
17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Paul says,
my prayer is that this might be a permanent fixture in your
hearts. I can't do this, but Christ can. May that dwell, just live, reside
in our hearts. I can't keep myself, but Christ
can. I can't save myself, but Christ
can. I can't provide for myself, but
Christ can. He can. And He said He will. And I believe Him. By God's grace,
I believe Him. My prayer is that we all might
be reminded that Christ lives in here now. And I'm not alone. I'm not alone. Christ has taken
over. Christ runs the show. He really
does. He's in control. My prayer is
that Christ may dwell in your hearts and mine by faith." That's
a good prayer. That is such a good prayer. Lord,
dwell in me. Here's the third thing Paul prays
for us. Verse 17, he says, that ye being
rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in love. dug in, just sunk in to love. Love, love, love. What's the answer? Love. This
whole thing is built on love. For God so loved the world. That's,
that's where it all started. For God so loved the world. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life." There's a song that says, Oh
the love that drew salvation's plan. Love. My prayer is, verse 17, that
you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." The
love of Christ. He says, I pray that you might
know the breadth of it, the length of it, the depth of it, and the
height of it. I want to know that. I really
do. The breadth of it. How wide does
the love of Christ reach? How wide? He said it reaches
to every tribe, nation, kindred, tongue. What reaches to all those people?
His salvation does. He said, I'm going to take the
sin and the sins of all my people and I'm going to lay them on
me and I'm going to carry them away. I'm going to be a scapegoat. for my people, and I'm going
to send my people in one direction, and I'm going to take all their
sin in the other direction." And I used to hear the East and
the West, and for whatever reason, my mind always thought about
the world. You're on the East Coast, you're on the West Coast. And, you know, you go east, and
then you keep going east, and then you keep going east, and
if you keep going east, and you keep going east, eventually you're
going to be in the West. And it all got messed up, and
it all came back together. Not this. Not this. In God's straight line of infinity,
the east never ends. Never ends. And the West never
ends. It has no end. What is the breadth
of the love of Christ for His people? It is as far as the East
is from the West eternally. That's amazing. He is able to
save to the uttermost. The breadth of it. Then Paul
said, I pray that you might know the length of it. Turn with me
over to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13, look at verse
13. And now abideth faith, hope,
charity, and that means love. These three. But the greatest
of these is love. The love of Christ. Verse 1 says, Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not, possess
not the love of Christ. Christ's love for me. If I don't
have the love of Christ, I am become as sounding brass or a
tinkling cymbal. The greatest gift on earth is
the love of Christ. That's the greatest gift on earth.
Verse 2 says, And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so
that I could remove mountains and have not the love of Christ,
I'm nothing. I don't care what I know. I don't
care what I believe. If I don't have the love of Christ,
I'm nothing. I'm going to come to nothing.
But he says in verse 13, now abideth faith. Faith is a wonderful
thing. It's vital. Faith is vital. But faith has a beginning and
faith has an end. You know that? It has a beginning
and it has an end. Faith is given to a sinner when
God calls him from death to life. The Holy Spirit sends faith and
it's created in a person. And it starts right there. But when God calls that sinner
home to glory, faith gives way to sight. I don't need faith anymore. I
see Him. I don't need eyes of faith. I
see Him with my eyes. It gives way to sight. The actual
sight of Christ. Verse 13 says, Now abideth faith
and hope. Hope begins in a person as a
result of their eyes of faith. When they see Christ with their
eyes of faith, hope comes in. They see it, they believe it,
they hope for it. But hope gives way to reality. Once you got it, you don't have
to hope for it anymore. You got it. That's it. You probably, maybe, I think
you might have wanted to come to Kingsport. And you hoped for
it. And you hoped for it. I did.
And I hoped for it. And I didn't tell you all, but
I did. And one of these days it happened,
and I don't hope for it anymore. I'm here. But love now abided faith, hope
and love. Love began in eternity. Way back in eternity. And the
love of Christ for his own is never going to end. Never, ever,
ever going to end. It is from everlasting to everlasting. That's the length of it. Back
over in our text in Ephesians 3, Paul says, I want you to know
the depth of it. The depth. He says, I pray that
you might comprehend with all the saints how far down the love
of Christ condescended for you. I hope you might enter into that,
comprehend just how far down He came for you, the depth of
it. The high King of heaven was made lower than the angels. And
He came all the way down and took upon Himself our nature,
sinful man. We talk about becoming a maggot. If I could become a maggot, that
wouldn't even come close to describing the condescension of God the
Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, when God sent His Son
down. It doesn't even come close to
describing the depth of the love of Christ. He came all the way
down to my griefs and my sorrows. I have grief. You know that? Just like we all do. I have sadness. I have sorrows and I worry about
things. And I have not a high priest
that has not been touched with the feeling of my infirmities. He felt my grief and my sorrow
troubled Him. Isn't that amazing? He came all the way down to my
guilt and my shame. I have some shame in my life. And I have some guilt that will
never go away until my body of flesh is laid down." And he felt
that. He came all the way down to my
guilt and my shame. He came all the way down to my
grave. The plot of land that I buy for
me, my grave. That should have been my tomb. It should have been my grave.
And thanks be to God, in Him it was my grave. That was my
grave. The depth of the love of Christ. Paul says, I pray that you might
truly understand the depth of the love of Christ. And then
he says, I pray that you might understand the height of it. How high does the love of Christ
go? You know how high it goes? It
goes all the way up to the throne of God. And you can't get any
higher than that. In the love of Christ, we have
boldness to walk up to the throne of God and say, Father. I love the word Abba. In our
own language and understanding, it would be like saying, Dad.
Personal. It's personal. I can't imagine that. I can't
imagine that. What love that He would allow
sinners like us to have that kind of access. Well, here's
the fourth thing that Paul prays for us. It's in Ephesians 3,
verse 19. The end of verse 19, he says, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God. He said, I pray 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's the first thing.
Then in verse 17, He said that Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith. That's the second thing. He said
that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. And
the last thing is that you might be filled with all the fullness
of God. Do you know what we're filled
with by nature? Envy, strife, hatred, nothing good. Paul says,
I deeply pray for this cause I bow my knees. I pray that we
all might be filled with all the fullness of God. Somebody
asked a man a long time ago, what does that mean? What does
that mean? Be filled with all the fullness
of God. You cannot fit the fullness of
God in me. How can you contain God? I cannot contain the fullness
of God. So they asked this man, what
does that mean? A long time ago, the man was
by the ocean, by the sea, and he went and got a bottle, and
he took the cap off of it, and he emptied it out, and he went
down and he put it in the water, and he filled the bottle up with
sea water, and he put the cap back on, and he threw it out
into the sea, and it sunk. And he said, that bottle is filled
with the sea. And it is in the fullness of
the sea. Paul says, I pray that you might
be filled with all the fullness of God. I pray that He might
be within and without. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he closes in
verse 20 by saying, "...now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think." Paul said, this
is what I'm asking. But he is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. "...according to
the power that worketh in us unto him Be glory in the church. And He is the glory of this church. He is the glory of the church. Unto Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Isn't that a wonderful
prayer? I pray the Lord would grant us
that prayer. Grant me that prayer. I pray
the Lord will bless his word. Let's stand together.