Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians
chapter 3. I intend this morning service
and this afternoon service to finish this chapter. My greatest
fear the last two or three weeks has been that I'm wearing it
on this, but I'm having difficulty getting out of this chapter.
And I have two or three more messages that need to be preached,
but I promise you this afternoon will be the last Time we'll visit
chapter 3 and we'll go on to chapter 4. I want to look again
this morning at verse 19. And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all
the fullness of God. Now unto Him that's able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thank, according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus, world without end. Amen." How can we
know the love of Christ? How can we know the love of Christ? And I want to begin the message
this morning by offering you two things. First, I want to
give us something by the way of instructions, and secondly,
by the way of encouragement. First, by the way of instructions,
I want you to remember who this epistle was written to. It was
written to saints. He begins in chapter 1 to address
these Ephesians as saints. And then he goes on to tell them
that they had heard the gospel. It had become the gospel of their
salvation. They had believed this gospel.
And then he goes on to tell them that they were dead in trespasses
and sins. And the Lord had quickened them.
He come to them and give them life. He goes on in the fourth
chapter and he tells them that they had been taught of Jesus.
That Jesus had taught them. All that they knew of themselves
truly, and all that they knew of Christ savingly, He had taught
them. And then He closes the epistle
and He says to all of you who love the Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity. Now, why do I emphasize these
things? Well, I do it for this reason.
Because this epistle is written to save people. It's written
to the regenerated people. Those who have been given life
eternal. Those who have heard the gospel
and believe the gospel. It's only those people who can
know the things of Christ. And that's what we're talking
about this morning. The love of Christ. How can we know the
love of Christ? Well, we first must know Christ.
We must first know Christ. The Lord Jesus told His disciples
when He was going away. He said, Glenn, you reminded
us this morning. He said, what I'm telling you
now, you can't receive it. But when the Holy Spirit has
come, when He's come to your heart, He won't speak of Himself. He won't glorify Himself. He'll
speak of me. He'll glorify me. He'll take
the things that's mine, and He'll show them to you. He'll guide
you into truth. Now, why is that important? Because
it comes back to this, doesn't it? That if you and I are to
know the love of Christ, we must have the Spirit of Christ. We
cannot know Christ, we cannot know the love of Christ, if we
don't have the Spirit of Christ. To know the love of Christ, we
must have His Spirit. To know the love of Christ, we
must know Christ. I'm a subject this morning, and
the message is not, who does Christ love? I'm not asking the
question this morning, does God love everybody with that exception? That's not the message this morning. I'm not asking, does God love
the elect, and does He hate those that He's passed by in His election.
I'm not asking does God love the elect without loving anybody
else. That's not my message this morning.
There's good men and gracious men on both sides of that issue. You'll have to study the Scriptures
and come to that conclusion yourself. But my point this morning is
this, not who does Christ love, But my point is this, who knows
it? Who knows the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Who comprehends it? And how can
we know it? That's my question this morning.
Now why do I want to emphasize this? For this reason. The love
of Christ is something that has to be known. To know the love
of Christ. It's something that has to be
apprehended. It's something that has to be
perceived. And here's my point. The only
way we can know it is by its fruits. By the fruits of it. What do I mean? Let me quote
you three Scriptures. John says this, Unto him who
loved us. And then what follows? The fruit
of that love. and washed us from our sin. He said this, I have loved you
with an everlasting love. What follows? Therefore, with
loving kindness have I drawed you to Myself. See the fruit
of that love? He loved us, therefore He washed
us. He loved us, therefore He draws
us to Himself. We read it in the chapter 2 of
this epistle, where the Apostle Paul said, 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. What's
the fruit of that love? How can we know it? He's quickened
us. He's given us life from the dead. I would be of the opinion this
morning that it would be presumptuous and it would be dangerous to
go through this life merely thinking that Christ loves us. Merely assuming that it's so
without any evidence, without any proof of it in our hearts. The Apostle Paul doesn't say,
I want you merely to assume that Christ loves you. I want you
just to suppose that it's so. I want you just to take it for
granted. I want you to go through this
life and just claim it for yourself. No, he says this, that you may
know. That you may know. And that word
means to perceive with certainty. To understand clearly, to grasp
in the understanding that you may know. John was writing to
us and he says this, these things have I written unto you that
believe on the Son of God that you may know. How important is
it to know? How important is it for you to
know yourself that you have eternal life? To perceive it for yourself. We know we've passed from death
unto life because we love the brother. So what I'm getting
at this morning, and this morning my message is this, the only
way to know the love of Christ is to know it experimentally.
It's to know it by the fruits of it. What's He done for your
soul? What's He did for you in your
heart? And only the saved can know that.
That's my point. That's my point. That's the instructions. Only the saved, only the loved
ones know that for sure. This may sound somewhat narrow,
but here in verse 21, and I know that we're living in a day, well,
we've always lived in a time. One of the reasons the world
does not appreciate the church, is they say you're just too narrow.
You're too exclusive. You're too dogmatic on these
things. You make us feel like we're not wanted. You make us
feel rejected. You make us feel outside. We
don't like that. We want you to include us. But
did you know who Paul was writing to here in verse 21? Look how
he says this. Unto Him, unto God, unto Christ,
Be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages. Where
is the glory of God seen? Who is it that worships Him?
Who is it that praises Him? Who is it that serves Him? It's
the church. It's those who are in Christ.
It's those who know Christ. It's the body of Christ. And
nobody else, you see. It's the church who is blessed.
It's the church who lives under the favor and smile of God. Nobody else can know that. It's
the church. There's always been little groups
like this. Sometimes there are more, sometimes
there are less. But there's always been little
groups scattered throughout the world, throughout history. from
the Pentecost up until now. God has His little flops scattered
throughout the world. And the world don't pay much
attention to it. When the religious world writes
its history, you won't be in it. They'll write history about
those out in Houston filling the Astrodome. Those who had
the TV programs and all of that. What were the multitudes of religious
people doing? But they won't say anything to
you and about you. But who is it, brothers and sisters,
that worships God? Who is it that knows Christ and
loves Him and follows Him wherever He goes? Who is it that God accepts? accepts their faith and the worship
of their heart. Who is it after all? It's the
church. It's the church. And I tell you,
a lost man, a lost man has never worshipped God one day in his
life. He has never done one thing that's
accepted to God Almighty. He has never had one thought
that was holy. Everything he did is sinful. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. It's the church, you see. Don't
that sound exclusive? That's why people come up and
say, you're just too narrow, you see. You're just too narrow.
You're too dogmatic. I felt left out when I was out. I felt left out. And you know
why? I was left out. I was just like Simon Magus when
Peter says, you don't have part and a lot in this. This is for
those in Christ. This is the children's bread. Now that's what I wanted to begin
and give us instructions on this morning. But having said that,
I want to do this now. I want to give some encouragement.
Instructions and now encouragement. And first of all, I want to encourage
the lost. If there's any here this morning
who are lost, I want to encourage you. And here's what I want to
encourage you to do. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come and give yourself up this
very instant to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't leave this assembly. Don't go back home and say, I'm
going to do it when I get there. Immediately, at this present
time, in your heart, give yourself up to the Lord Jesus Christ to
be saved by Him. You may say, Bruce, I don't know
how to do that. I don't know how to come to Him.
I don't even know how to believe on Him. Well, listen to this. Let this encourage you. Jesus
Christ is a prophet. And as a prophet, He can teach
you. Therefore, begin by asking Him to teach you. Do you need
to know your need of Him? Then ask Him to show you. You
need to know how to come to Him? Then ask Him to show you. Ask
Him to teach you. You won't find a better teacher.
than he is. I encourage you to go to him
and say, Lord, I am the most ignorant fool this world has
ever known. Teach me. I'll tell you one of
the things that scares a lot of people when they begin to
consider their state and eternity. One of the things that often
scares them is, I'm afraid the devil's going to deceive me.
I don't know how to come to the Lord, and I'm afraid my heart's
going to deceive me. And it can. And the devil can. Therefore, you need a prophet.
And God has a prophet. He sent a prophet. Ask Him to
teach you. Someone may ask this question.
Bruce, you don't know how I'm bound by the power of sin. You don't know how it rules in
me. It's my King. It's my Sovereign. It's bound me. It's bound my
affection. It's bound my will. I can't break
the cords of it. I don't have a will to come to
Him. My will is so bound and in bondage, I don't have a will
even to come. You know who Jesus Christ is?
He's a King. You know what he said when he
sent his disciples out to preach the gospel to all the nations?
You know what he said? You know the very first thing
he told them? All power is given to me in heaven
and in earth. And to me, you know what he was
saying. He was saying, when you go out
preaching the gospel, you're going to run into these people
whom Satan has so bound them. And sin has so bound them, they're
so bound with habits, sinful habits, they can't break loose
from it. I want you to tell them that
I'm a king, that I have all power, and I can break the power of
counsel sins. I can set them free. I love that passage where the
prophet said, He shall turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. That's what we need. That's what
you need. You need somebody who can reign
over you and somebody who can reign in you and subdue your
will. Thy people shall be willing when? In the day of thy power. You
mean Jesus has that kind of power? then ask Him to do it. Ask Him
to do it. He's not only a prophet, He's
a King upon His throne. But somebody will say this, I'm
afraid to come to God. I was too when I was lost. And
you know one of the things that scared me more than anything,
if I come to Him and I start telling Him everything that I've
done and what I know about myself, I'm afraid he'll damn me. Would
you go to court, if they charged you for some crime, and you had
to go to speeding court, and you come up before the judge
and you say, Judge, this ain't the half of it. Let me tell you
something about what I've done. It ain't that I was driving 75
in a 55 mile speed law. I'd robbed a bank. I'd killed
a security guard. Did you know that? You'd never
tell that, would you? You'd know what the judge would
do to you. But you know that's the very way we must come to
God. But we're afraid. We're afraid
only. Can I go to God and confess this to Him? I'm guilty. How can I plead my own cause?
What can I say? You know what you need? You need
a mediator. You need a mediator. You need
someone between you and God. And you know something? He knows
it. He knows that He's too holy for you to come to Him, and you're
too sinful to come to Him. So He set this mediator between
Himself and you. And He says, I've set one there,
and He'll plead your cause. Come to Him, and come to Me by
Him. And He'll deliver you. Let that encourage you, my dear
lost friend. You cannot plead your own cause,
but there is One who can. And I'm telling you, if you'll
come to God by Him, He'll save you. He is willing to save you. He is fully able to save you. That's the only reason I know
of that He's seated at the Father's right hand is to save sinners. They used to have, back in the
old days, when somebody went into business, if he opened a
law office, if he opened a little clinic, that he'd go outside
and he'd advertise it. He'd send him a post and they
called it putting your shingle out. Advertising your business. I'm
a doctor and here's my business. I'm open from certain hours and
I close at certain hours. I've hung out my shingle. If
you need a lawyer, I'm in the business. Well, the Savior has
hung out His shingle. And it says on it, Jesus the
Mighty to save. And I'm telling you, every lost
sinner that turns in here, He saves them. They go in lost and
they come out saved. They go in sad and they come
out glad. They go in weeping and they come
out laughing. They're healed. The Savior. Come to Jesus. Come to Him. You cannot know His love until
you do. Now that's the truth. How can
I come to you this morning, my dear lost friend? How can I come
here and say, I want to teach you of the love of Christ? I
want you to know the love of Christ when you won't even come
to Christ. When you've never given yourself
up to Christ to be saved by Him. How can you know it? You cannot. See why I'm emphasizing this? Encouragement not only to the
lost, but now let me give some encouragement for just a minute
to the saved. to the little children of God. We sometimes look at passages
like this to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
And we begin to think that this is written for theologians. Oh,
Bruce, you're a preacher. You're a pastor. You've got time
to sit hours in the study and pore over these things and read
all your religious books. I've got a job I've got to work
at. I've got a family to raise. I've got children to take care
of and cares. But do you remember who this
epistle was written to? When Paul said, I want you to
know the love of Christ, do you remember who he was talking to?
He was talking to slaves. Probably that could hardly read
the Scripture. He was talking to children. You
read the 6th chapter and he is speaking to children. Children,
I want you to know the love of Christ. He was speaking to moms
and dads. Common people. Common people. There is no sense to me if this
is for preachers. Then I might as well shut my
Bible and go find me some and preach this to them. This is
to common people. This is to you. Right where you
are. The Lord knows you have to work.
He knows you have these cares. He knows you don't have the time
that preachers have. He knows you don't have the intellect,
maybe, that theologians have. But let this encourage you in
verse 20. Look at this. Unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly all that we ask or thank. It's not about your ability. It's about His ability. He is
able. It's not about your strength.
But you say, I feel so weak. It's not about your strength.
It's about His power. His power that worketh in you. Doubt your own abilities. Doubt
your own knowledge. But don't doubt His abilities.
Don't doubt His power to work in you. Don't be discouraged
about this. Apply yourself. Pray to this
end. Lord, teach me. Show me. Lead me. Let me know Christ. And let me know the love of the
Lord Jesus Christ. When the Spirit of truth is come,
He will guide you. There it is, brothers and sisters.
I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're a babe
in Christ. I don't care if you're a young man or woman in Christ.
I don't care if you're an old man in Christ. Here's the secret
of it all. He will guide you. He will guide
you. I want to give you four quick
reasons. Four quick ways. Four ways. I'll do it quickly
as I can. Four ways to know the love of
Christ. Four ways to know the love of
Jesus Christ. And I'm speaking from experience,
and that's the only way I know to know it. First of all is this. Do you love Him? Do you love
Christ the Lord? Grace be with all of them that
love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Do you love Him in
the sincerity of your heart? Do you love Him with your heart?
Do you love Jesus Christ with your soul, with your spirit?
You're not putting on a show. You're honest about this. You're
not playing a hypocrite. You really and honestly love
the Lord Jesus Christ. You love Him in a way, and you
love Him more than you've ever loved anybody in all your life. You love Him. You can say with
David, I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I love Him. You can say
with Peter and have the Lord to bear witness of it too. Lord,
You know all things. You know that I love You. He's
not talking about our love for Him. He's talking about His love. To know the love of Christ. But
the only way we can know it is by its fruits. And the first
fruit is we love Him. We love Him because... We love Him because... Aren't
you thankful you love Him? Aren't you thankful that you
love Him in sincerity? You're not playing with this.
You're not a hypocrite about this. You love Him. You're not
pretending to love Him. You love Him. Aren't you thankful
to know you love Him? There was a time you didn't love
Him. But now you do love the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do you love Him? Why do you love Him? You know why you love Him? Because
He first loved you. See that? How do you know Christ
loves you? How can you know the love of
Christ? Because you love Him. And you'd never love Him except
He first loved you. And you love Him. Sometimes you
doubt it. Because you know who He is. And
that He's worthy of The love of all your heart. But if He'd
come down to push and shove, you know what you'd do? You'd
let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. And you'd
say, I've got nobody in heaven, Lord Jesus, but you. And there's
none upon this earth that I desire besides you. Why is that? You
love Him. Why do you love Him? Because
He loves you. You see, the love of Christ is
reciprocal. That's something about it. You
may love somebody and they never love you back. But the love of
Christ is reciprocal. When he loves somebody, sooner
or later, they're going to love him back. That's the fruit of
it, you see. Old George Jones wrote his song,
He Stopped Loving Her Today. They placed a wreath upon his
door. Remember that? He loved her until he died, but
she never loved him back. But that's not so with the love
of Christ. When He loves you, sooner or later, you're going
to see the fruits of that love in your own soul, in your own
affections. You're going to love Him back.
Secondly is this. Not only do you love Him, but
what has Christ done experimentally for your soul? This is why some people know
more of the love of Christ than others do, because they know
more, they see more, they experience more of what Christ has done
for their soul. The Lord Jesus told us that when
that woman came to Him, that sinful woman, and she was down
washing His feet, and He talked to the Pharisee, and He said,
You see this woman? Her sins are many. Some people's
sins are like 50 pence, some are 500 pence. Hers is 500 pence,
and she knows it. And I've forgiven her. And you
know something about her, Simon? She's going to love a lot. Because
she's experienced a lot. What has the Lord Jesus Christ
done for your soul? What do you know about what He's
done for your soul? When you and I were lost, we
felt the fear of it. We felt some of the guilt of
it and the danger of it. But looking back on it now, we
see it more clearly now than we did then. Don't we? Back then,
we felt something of the danger of it and the guilt of it. But
looking back where we were now, don't we see much more of the
danger of it than we did then? I've often thought it was like
this. was determined to commit suicide.
But he was doing it ignorantly. And somewhat flippantly. And
here he is walking towards this high cliff. And those around
him are just agonizing him on. Go ahead! Go ahead! Do it! Do it! Go on! Jump! Jump! Keep going! The Lord puts things in his way.
Puts things in his way to hinder him from going on to stop him
from committing suicide. He sometimes sends affliction.
He sends sickness. But what does a man do? Oh, he
just sidesteps it. He gets around it. He pushes
it by. And he goes on towards the edge.
He sends death in a family to make him stop and think of eternal
things. And what does he do? He puts
it on the side and he works his way around it. He sidesteps it.
And the Lord sends affliction to his conscience. These thoughts
of death, thoughts of the judgment to come. But what does he do?
He quenches that. And he sidesteps it. That's where you and I were,
brothers and sisters. Looking back on it now, can't you see
that's where you were? How often the Lord warned you? How often He broke in upon you?
And you just sidestepped it. And all the time, these devils
hovering in your mind and said, Go on! Get on! Hurry! Faster! Faster! Faster! Until there you
stood. There you stood. Just one step
away. From stepping over that edge
of which there is no return and no recovery. Ready to dash your
poor eternal soul and crush it to pieces. Owing, owing, owing
it to nobody but yourself for doing so. Can you see that? Can you perceive
that's where you were? You didn't see all of that when
you were there, did you? But you see it now. You see it
now. How many family members have
we had? How many friends have we had? Close relatives that
we've had? Who stepped off of that edge? And who are gone now into a lost,
dark eternity. How many have we had? How many
do we know? And yet you sat this morning
with some hope in your soul that you've been delivered. Well,
what happened? What kept you from going on and
stepping over the edge? Jesus stepped in between you
and that edge. And He says, you there too have
you come, but I love you. And I'm not going to let you
go any further." And He delivered you, and as
He did, you just saw a glimpse. You just saw a glimpse of the
abyss that you were headed to. The only reason you did not perish
is because He stepped between you and the brink and pulled
you back and delivered you from it. And why would He do such
a thing? If you can find the cause in
anything else but the love of His heart, then I miss the mark,
brothers and sisters. He loved you. He loved you. That's why. Ain't that amazing? Ain't that
amazing? David said it like this, O Lord,
I love You, because You have delivered my soul from death. And Paul said, from so great
a death. The wages of sin is death. And
the wages of that death is the second death. You have delivered
my soul. The most precious thing to me,
the most precious thing to You, is not this body. This body just
houses our souls, our eternal souls. You've delivered my soul. How important is that, brothers
and sisters? Hezekiah was a sick man. The
Lord sent a prophet to him and said, set your house in order.
You're going to die. And this cancer began to eat him away.
And it so burdened him, he couldn't sleep. He had company and He
just broke down and He turned His face towards the wall and
He said, Oh Lord, save me. Deliver me. And the Lord did. And He praised Him for it. And
here's what Hezekiah said about it. Thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption. What do you know
about that, brothers and sisters? What are you able to discern
about that? about Him delivering you. Therefore,
you'll see the love of Christ. That's the cause of it. You can't
attribute it to anything else but His love. If you're here
this morning and you attribute it to the power of your free
will because of something that was
in you, I'm telling you, you're still sidestepping. And you still
know little or nothing of the love of Christ. You want to love Christ more? You want to know more of the
love of Christ? Then consider your past situation
as it really existed, without God, without hope in the world,
dead in sins, ready to perish at the very next moment, and
nobody to blame but yourself and your ignorance and your rebellion.
And you're saved this morning because of the love of Christ.
What did the love of Christ have to do with it? Everything. Everything. Thirdly is this. Think about what Christ has done
for you since He saved you. The love of Christ. How can we
know it? What about all of his long sufferings
that he showed towards us? What about his patience? Go back over your Christian life.
Some of you have been saved for years. Go back over your Christian
life and meditate upon all your horrible
sins that you've committed since he saved you. Somebody thinks the way to know
something is to think positive. Remember the man whose entire
ministry was based upon the power of positive thinking? Norman
Vincent Peale? There is some power in negative
thinking. Go back over our life, our Christian
life, and look at all the sins that we've committed. The sins
that we've committed against our fellow man. How we've lied. How we've cheated. How we've
stole. Have we bore false witness? How
cruel that we've been! How hateful that we've been!
How discouraging that we've been! And more than anything, we have
not preached Jesus the mighty to save to our neighbors, and
our co-workers, and our friends, as we should have. Think of your sins against the
church, God's little flock. How often has one of His little
children been afflicted? And you could have called. You
could have talked with them. You could have comforted them.
Or you could have gone off by yourself and interceded in prayer
for them. But you didn't either. How many times do we go days
and maybe all week and never think of God's little flock and
their needs? How often are we among them?
Maybe there's two or three together. And we're so backslidden in our
hearts. We're so worldly that we can't
think of one spiritual thing to say to encourage God's little
children. The conversation always goes
to empty, vain things. Not one verse do we have. Not
one song can we sing to them. Not one prayer on their behalf. How much time? How much labor? and how much thought are we willing
to spend on ourselves and how little on the Savior's church. Think of your sins against the
triune God that you've committed. God has a holy law. He has a
good law. It's a just law and a spiritual
law. How often have you dreadfully
sinned against the law of God? How often have you grieved the
Holy Spirit by your prolonged, carnal, and covetous thoughts? How hard does your heart get?
How cold does your love grow towards the dear and blessed
Savior? Have you not did enough, dear
Saint of God, to provoke Him to anger and tempt Him to leave
you? Have you not did it? I'm saying this this morning.
If you want to know the love of Christ in reality, then look
upon your Christian life in reality. Be ashamed of it, but face it.
Be humble over it, but face it. Be broken over it, but face it. We're not what we ought to be.
Remember what you still are. Remember what you've still done.
and be ashamed. We've got nothing to be happy
about when we look at ourselves. But as we look and as we see
and realize, look out of your sadness and your brokenness and
know this, that the love of Jesus Christ for you has not diminished
one iota since He called you. Now, if you want to know the
love of Christ, there's the way you can know it. We're so shameful,
we're so unlovable, we're so undeserving, but He loves us
anyway. It's an amazing thing, and this
has been said before, but this is true. And somebody said we
shouldn't even say this because it gives people license to just
go out and live like the devil. But the Scriptures record this,
and it should be told. The Lord loved Noah when he laid
in that drunken stupor as much as he did when Noah was preparing
the ark to save his family. The Lord loved King David when
he lay in the arms of Bathsheba, another man's wife, as much as
he did when David was fighting the battles of the Lord against
the Philistines. The Lord loved Peter just as
much when Peter cursed and swore and said, I don't know Him, as
much as He did when Peter was preaching His name to the multitudes. That's no thanks to them, and
it's no thanks to us. But that's the reality of the
love of Jesus Christ. It does not diminish. Fourthly and lastly is this.
Think of this. Think of what great good Christ
has done for your soul since He saved you. Oh, think of what great good.
What can you perceive that He has done for you this last year? How many times have you gone
to Him in prayer and He answered you immediately? I mean, He answered
you and left no doubt at all but that He had did it. That's
how quick He heard you. How many times has He sent a
message to you especially? He may have sent it in the reading
of His Word, or in a song that somebody sang, or in a message
from His ministry, but it was to you. He came to you and spoke
to you, and there was no doubt about it. How many times has
He comforted you in the wee hours of the morning when you lay sleepless
upon your bed with your pillow watered with your tears, and
yet He came to you, finally, and He comforted you and gave
you rest and gave you sleep. Has He not done that? Has He
not did good to your soul in this last year? How often has
He given you grace to endear your afflictions even when He
didn't minister comfort to you? He's did that for you. He's given
you eyes to see. He's given you ears to hear.
He's given you a heart to understand. You compare yourself this morning
in your spiritual growth than what it was the first year after
the Lord converted you. Hasn't He been good to you? Hasn't
He been working in your soul? He's given you a heart to hate
sin. Has He not? Oh, what a blessing! Do you hate
sin? Do you love that which is good?
Do you see the vanity of this present world? Do you see the
insufficiency of human righteousness and the need of the righteousness
of another person? Don't you see that? He has opened
your eyes. He has given you a heart to want
to know Him and to be like Him and to be with Him for all eternity. Is that not good? As the Lord
not did you good. If the love of Christ is not
behind all of this, brothers and sisters, then I've missed
it. I've missed it. How can we know
the love of Christ? We have to experience it. We
have to experience it. Well, we're going to finish this
tonight and we're going to come back and look That's the love
of crafts.