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Ephesians 3:14.

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"For this reason, I bow my knees

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before the Father..."

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So we know that we have prayer.

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The prayer of an apostle.

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And what he's praying

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for this church in Ephesus.

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"For this reason, I bow my 
knees before the Father

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from whom every 
family in heaven..."

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Or, "from whom the whole family

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in heaven and on earth is named,

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that according to the riches of His glory

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He may grant you to be strengthened

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with power through His Spirit

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in your inner man (or inner being)

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts

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through faith."

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"So that Christ may dwell

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in your hearts through faith."

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Now, we looked at this last week.

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And I don't feel like the few comments

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that I made last week

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on these mighty verses - or even verse -

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verse 17, "that Christ may dwell

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in your hearts through faith."

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I don't believe that they've 
been adequately handled.

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I feel like this is one 
of the greatest truths.

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I feel like most of us

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pass over this verse

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when we read Ephesians.

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I feel like it has very little meaning,

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very little substance,

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very little impact on our life -

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if the truth be told.

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I think this is a window

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into some of the richest possibilities

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of being a Christian.

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And I feel like we would do a disservice

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if we simply run on to 
something else right now.

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And I'll tell you this,

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all through the week -

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and I don't believe that this had to do

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with the fact that I was sick this week -

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but every time I would come

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and open up the Scriptures

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and I would look at this verse,

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the more I looked at it -

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you know what this is like -

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if you've spent any amount of time

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studying and meditating on Scripture;

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if something grabs hold 
of you in Scripture,

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you begin studying it,

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looking at it, mulling it over.

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The bigger and bigger it got to me,

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it felt like it sucked the energy

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and the life right out of me.

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What I was reminded of 
was the Queen of Sheba.

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You remember how it was said

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she saw Solomon's wisdom

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and she saw his house

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and she saw his servants

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and she saw how the whole 
thing was decked out

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and she saw the offerings 
that were being given,

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and you know what it says?

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It sucked the breath or it took the breath

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right out of her.

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And that's how I felt to this verse.

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I felt staggered by it.

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I felt ashamed maybe

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that a jewel was here

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and I haven't seen it for what it is,

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but this is how I felt 
about this verse 17.

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As I was being confronted by this,

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one of the things that I wanted to do

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was I wanted to say, Paul -

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this was the title of 
the message last week -

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Paul, teach me to pray.

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And you know one of the things

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that really strikes me 
about Paul's prayers

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is the way he prays for Christians.

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Go back to Ephesians 1,

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the first place where we found

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Paul's prayers in this letter.

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If you go back to chapter 1:16,

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Paul said, "I do not cease 
to give thanks for you

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remembering you in my prayers."

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We have the same thing going on here.

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He's praying for the Ephesians.

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"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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the Father of glory may give you..."

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now some of your Bibles say "a spirit."

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I think it should be "the Spirit."

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I think he's talking 
about the Spirit of God.

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In the original, it's difficult to know

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whether it should be a capital "S"

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or a small "s," but "the Spirit."

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Now, let's say he's talking 
about the Spirit of God.

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Praying for Christians

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that they be given the Spirit.

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They have the Spirit.

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And even if it's a small "s,"

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"the spirit of wisdom and of revelation

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in the knowledge of Him."

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What are we saying?

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Are we saying that they're void of that?

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Are we saying that these Christians

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at Ephesus lacked any bit of wisdom

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and of revelation in the 
knowledge of Christ?

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Listen, v. 18, "Having the eyes 
of your hearts enlightened

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that you may know what is the hope..."

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Now get this.

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That they might know what 
is the hope of their calling,

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or the hope to which He has called you.

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The hope of God's calling.

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But what are we going to say?

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Are we going to say that these people

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don't know anything of that?

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If they've experienced it, obviously.

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If they've been called of God

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and they're saved,

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they know something about this.

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Or, what's the next thing?

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"That they might know what are the riches

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of His glorious inheritance 
in the saints."

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Or the next thing,

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"what is the immeasurable greatness

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of His power toward us who believe

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according to the working 
of His great might."

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You see, what I'm learning 
about Paul's prayers

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is that Paul,

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all through this letter,

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do you know that every place

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that talks about his prayers,

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he's praying for something

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that at least in part,

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these people already had.

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And what that does,

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is it so powerfully comes home

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that there is so much more

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in the Christian life.

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You've got to see that from these prayers.

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That he's talking to God

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about the needs of Christians,

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and he's praying for the very things

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that if we were to be honest we would say

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they probably already have -

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at least, to some degree.

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See, that's the issue. To some degree.

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Why is he praying?

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Because he knows that they don't have it

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to the degree that they could have it.

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That's the issue.

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That's the issue all the way through here.

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These prayers don't mean 
that the Ephesians

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were void of these realities.

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It's enlargement. That's it.

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Enlargement.

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What more we could have.

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And that's what I want 
us to get a feel for.

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Before I just run on to something else,

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we need to feel it.

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I could have more.

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I could have more if I were to pray,

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if others were to pray for me

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and ask God for these very things.

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I could have much more.

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Christianity.

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Oh, I forget where it was.

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It's just coming to my mind right now.

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Spurgeon talking about the Christian life,

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and he sees it as many 
men in the Christian life,

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they wade in the shallows.

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And he said some, a few, 
they go out deeper

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to where they're waist-
deep in these waters.

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And he said, oh, just a scarce amount -

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the very fewest -

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dive in and find it an ocean to swim in.

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(incomplete thought)

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There's a possibility here.

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He's praying,

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"Christ may dwell in your 
hearts through faith,"

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to people who are already Christians.

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And you've got to let that register.

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They're already Christians.

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He's praying that Christ would dwell

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in their hearts.

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This - do you feel it?

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This is what you were meant to be.

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This is what we're to press on to be.

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This is what's possible for us.

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And I don't want us to be content

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to sit stagnant in our Christian life.

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Do you realize this about yourself?

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The potential.

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What more there is to be had.

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It's precisely because this reality exists

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that Paul prays the way he prays.

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If this reality didn't exist,

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if the Spirit of God was saying to Paul,

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"Paul, there's no more.

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Once you've become a 
Christian, you've got everything.

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You don't need anymore."

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If that was the reality, the Spirit of God

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would not have moved upon Paul

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to pray this prayer.

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The very reason that he's praying this way

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is because this reality is possible.

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Greater, greater.

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This is what is possible 
for you in this life.

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And I would just say this to all of us,

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can you be content

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when there's such verses as this?

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I'm telling you as this 
got bigger and bigger

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before my eyes and sucked the breath

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right out of me,

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it makes me want more.

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My greatest fear is that as a preacher

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that I would handle this 
verse in such a way

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as to just leave you all that way.

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Just the same and content.

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And walk out of here

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with no greater expectation

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than what you had before you heard

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me preach on these verses.

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And I fear having a church that knows

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very little in experiential fashion

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of what this verse means.

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See, this is the thing, 
when we even hear it,

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when we hear Paul praying

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that according to the riches

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of the glory of God,

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that we would be strengthened

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with power by His Spirit

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in our inner being,

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that we might have Christ

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dwell in our hearts through faith.

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When we hear that,

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what?

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My fear is that we would say,

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"I don't know what that is.

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I can't relate.

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I mean, yeah, that's nice.
Let's go on to something else

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because that doesn't really 
move me, that doesn't stir me.

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I don't really know what 
Paul's talking about there.

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I mean, yes, we walk 
by faith, not by sight.

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And I've got this faith that 
Christ is there somewhere

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and that He's real.

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I believe the facts.

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I believe Jesus died.
I believe He rose again.

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And I don't know about this,

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but you know, I guess I assume

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it should be true that Christ is in me."

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That's not what we want.

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That's not what Paul's talking about.

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Paul isn't talking about something

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that you should take by faith in your head

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to know it's true, but there's no

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experiential reality behind this.

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That is not what this is about.

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Because where he's going 
to go on with this

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is that we might have 
strength to comprehend

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with all the saints

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what is this breadth and length...

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This gets into the realities

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of being rooted and grounded

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in the love of Christ

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and having that love burst forth on us.

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If we get to the place where we say

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we don't know anything about this,

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I don't know whether we should

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00:12:01,005 --> 00:12:04,715
bow our heads and weep,

272
00:12:04,715 --> 00:12:10,100
or we should just try another religion.

273
00:12:10,100 --> 00:12:12,461
Or go back to the starting point,

274
00:12:12,461 --> 00:12:14,378
because if that's all we're getting out

275
00:12:14,378 --> 00:12:17,068
of what Christianity is all about...

276
00:12:17,068 --> 00:12:27,768
Paul is telling us something.

277
00:12:27,768 --> 00:12:34,532
Look, the Christian is called

278
00:12:34,532 --> 00:12:39,384
that one who hungers and thirsts.

279
00:12:39,384 --> 00:12:42,131
And I hope that there's 
a longing in your soul.

280
00:12:42,131 --> 00:12:45,240
And I was just reminded 
of Psalm 81 that says,

281
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,478
"Open your mouth wide, 
and I will fill it."

282
00:12:48,478 --> 00:12:53,160
It's like, Lord... give me this.

283
00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,384
Give us this.

284
00:12:56,384 --> 00:12:57,994
Give us the more.

285
00:12:57,994 --> 00:12:59,462
Don't tantalize us.

286
00:12:59,462 --> 00:13:03,719
Don't dangle this in front of us only.

287
00:13:03,719 --> 00:13:05,538
I'll tell you what this is all about.

288
00:13:05,538 --> 00:13:07,719
Craig talked about the glory.

289
00:13:07,719 --> 00:13:10,851
It's about that glory coming inside.

290
00:13:10,851 --> 00:13:13,297
It's that glory becoming real.

291
00:13:13,297 --> 00:13:15,782
The possibility.

292
00:13:15,782 --> 00:13:18,006
I want us to pursue this

293
00:13:18,006 --> 00:13:19,804
until we can all say,

294
00:13:19,804 --> 00:13:22,731
"yes, I know at least something

295
00:13:22,731 --> 00:13:24,120
of what Paul's speaking of."

296
00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:25,758
This is one of the greatest truths

297
00:13:25,758 --> 00:13:27,969
that a Christian can 
ever be confronted with -

298
00:13:27,969 --> 00:13:31,608
the possibility of more of Christ.

299
00:13:31,608 --> 00:13:35,122
Surely then, what could 
be more important to us?

300
00:13:35,122 --> 00:13:37,441
If that is a reality that for each of us

301
00:13:37,441 --> 00:13:40,348
to know what this is - what is this?

302
00:13:40,348 --> 00:13:42,376
And to know how to pursue it,

303
00:13:42,376 --> 00:13:45,157
how to arrive at this position.

304
00:13:45,157 --> 00:13:47,409
And I want us to think.

305
00:13:47,409 --> 00:13:52,023
I want us to think what's 
actually being said here.

306
00:13:52,023 --> 00:13:53,464
And we're just going to focus

307
00:13:53,464 --> 00:13:55,369
right in on verse 17

308
00:13:55,369 --> 00:14:01,033
and the first part of chapter 3.

309
00:14:01,033 --> 00:14:03,559
Verse 17, "so that Christ..."

310
00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,086
So that Christ -

311
00:14:06,086 --> 00:14:09,356
let's give the emphasis there first.

312
00:14:09,356 --> 00:14:13,263
"...That Christ may dwell in 
your hearts through faith."

313
00:14:13,263 --> 00:14:16,104
Christ.

314
00:14:16,104 --> 00:14:17,490
And what I want you to see

315
00:14:17,490 --> 00:14:19,704
as the apostle's prayer

316
00:14:19,704 --> 00:14:22,567
is that Christians might possess

317
00:14:22,567 --> 00:14:26,635
the indwelling Christ in the heart.

318
00:14:26,635 --> 00:14:30,380
This is Christ - actually Christ

319
00:14:30,380 --> 00:14:32,963
dwelling in the heart.

320
00:14:32,963 --> 00:14:35,795
What is this?

321
00:14:35,795 --> 00:14:41,630
It is far, far more than when we say,

322
00:14:41,630 --> 00:14:44,484
"Well, I bear you in my heart."

323
00:14:44,484 --> 00:14:47,707
Or, "I have you on my heart."

324
00:14:47,707 --> 00:14:49,829
And Paul talked that way sometimes.

325
00:14:49,829 --> 00:14:51,462
He would say things like this,

326
00:14:51,462 --> 00:14:54,221
"make room in your hearts for us."

327
00:14:54,221 --> 00:14:56,447
"We've wronged no one.
We've corrupted no one.

328
00:14:56,447 --> 00:14:58,034
We've taken advantage of no one.

329
00:14:58,034 --> 00:14:59,687
I do not say this to condemn you,

330
00:14:59,687 --> 00:15:04,091
for I said before that 
you are in our hearts."

331
00:15:04,091 --> 00:15:07,254
That's not what Paul's talking about.

332
00:15:07,254 --> 00:15:08,759
What is that?

333
00:15:08,759 --> 00:15:12,151
That means I have affection for you.

334
00:15:12,151 --> 00:15:15,256
I'm thinking about you.

335
00:15:15,256 --> 00:15:18,263
But that's not what Paul's talking about.

336
00:15:18,263 --> 00:15:20,836
We don't want to limit it to that.

337
00:15:20,836 --> 00:15:23,147
In Ephesians 3:17, Paul is speaking about

338
00:15:23,147 --> 00:15:25,169
far more than having

339
00:15:25,169 --> 00:15:28,109
feelings in our heart for Christ.

340
00:15:28,109 --> 00:15:29,678
Don't try to water this down

341
00:15:29,678 --> 00:15:31,691
by saying that it means that we simply

342
00:15:31,691 --> 00:15:33,134
have thoughts about Christ

343
00:15:33,134 --> 00:15:35,151
or warm fuzzy feelings toward Him

344
00:15:35,151 --> 00:15:38,886
or that our lives even resemble Him.

345
00:15:38,886 --> 00:15:39,961
That's not it.

346
00:15:39,961 --> 00:15:41,949
That's not what Paul's praying for here.

347
00:15:41,949 --> 00:15:44,262
Do you realize a dead Mohammad

348
00:15:44,262 --> 00:15:46,926
can produce that in his followers?

349
00:15:46,926 --> 00:15:49,260
A dead Joseph Smith can produce that

350
00:15:49,260 --> 00:15:50,649
in his followers.

351
00:15:50,649 --> 00:15:52,321
What? They think about him.

352
00:15:52,321 --> 00:15:55,208
They even are inspired by him.

353
00:15:55,208 --> 00:15:58,321
They even resemble him perhaps.

354
00:15:58,321 --> 00:16:00,419
They imbibe his teachings.

355
00:16:00,419 --> 00:16:06,635
But that's not it.

356
00:16:06,635 --> 00:16:09,654
What Paul is talking about here

357
00:16:09,654 --> 00:16:15,022
is the living Christ dwelling,

358
00:16:15,022 --> 00:16:16,740
dwelling in you.

359
00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:21,214
The living Christ does not 
influence His people

360
00:16:21,214 --> 00:16:24,733
far away, separate, from the grave.

361
00:16:24,733 --> 00:16:26,172
It's nothing like that.

362
00:16:26,172 --> 00:16:27,898
What Paul sees is this:

363
00:16:27,898 --> 00:16:30,103
The people of God being influenced

364
00:16:30,103 --> 00:16:33,210
by an actual living Christ

365
00:16:33,210 --> 00:16:38,066
that takes up His dwelling inside

366
00:16:38,066 --> 00:16:40,344
the believer.

367
00:16:40,344 --> 00:16:43,726
He is actually inside.

368
00:16:43,726 --> 00:16:47,723
It is the presence of His own self

369
00:16:47,723 --> 00:16:51,344
that influences us.

370
00:16:51,344 --> 00:16:53,767
Not just what we read about Him

371
00:16:53,767 --> 00:16:55,851
in a book.

372
00:16:55,851 --> 00:16:58,050
You see, if that's all 
that Christianity is,

373
00:16:58,050 --> 00:17:00,264
that is a miserable kind of Christianity

374
00:17:00,264 --> 00:17:02,510
where your Christianity comes from a book,

375
00:17:02,510 --> 00:17:04,204
where your faith is simply

376
00:17:04,204 --> 00:17:06,987
these abstract facts that are removed.

377
00:17:06,987 --> 00:17:10,767
That is not biblical Christianity.

378
00:17:10,767 --> 00:17:13,566
Biblical Christianity is Christ

379
00:17:13,566 --> 00:17:18,179
actually coming inside the believer,

380
00:17:18,179 --> 00:17:20,820
into the heart of the believer,

381
00:17:20,820 --> 00:17:21,871
within us,

382
00:17:21,871 --> 00:17:24,276
exercising influences upon us

383
00:17:24,276 --> 00:17:27,310
which are inseparable from His presence.

384
00:17:27,310 --> 00:17:28,744
That's it.

385
00:17:28,744 --> 00:17:31,953
Paul uses the term "dwell."

386
00:17:31,953 --> 00:17:33,445
And as I said last week,

387
00:17:33,445 --> 00:17:35,916
it's got a "kata" on the front.

388
00:17:35,916 --> 00:17:37,567
It means "down."

389
00:17:37,567 --> 00:17:40,946
He settles down into the believer.

390
00:17:40,946 --> 00:17:44,814
This is not some shallow thing here.

391
00:17:44,814 --> 00:17:46,679
And as I reminded you last week

392
00:17:46,679 --> 00:17:48,303
from John 14:23,

393
00:17:48,303 --> 00:17:50,292
I mean, hear Jesus' words.

394
00:17:50,292 --> 00:17:53,647
He says that "My Father and I,

395
00:17:53,647 --> 00:17:55,929
we will come to him

396
00:17:55,929 --> 00:17:58,183
and make our home with him."

397
00:17:58,183 --> 00:18:00,305
No matter what you 
want to say about Islam,

398
00:18:00,305 --> 00:18:02,061
Mohammad can't do that.

399
00:18:02,061 --> 00:18:06,589
"We will make our home with him."

400
00:18:06,589 --> 00:18:09,208
And I mentioned to you Revelation 3:20.

401
00:18:09,208 --> 00:18:10,865
There's Christ. He says,

402
00:18:10,865 --> 00:18:14,543
"I'm knocking at the door."

403
00:18:14,543 --> 00:18:18,225
And He says, "To those who hear

404
00:18:18,225 --> 00:18:20,302
and open that door,

405
00:18:20,302 --> 00:18:23,260
I will come in

406
00:18:23,260 --> 00:18:26,700
and I will sup with them and he with Me."

407
00:18:26,700 --> 00:18:28,352
You need to hear that.

408
00:18:28,352 --> 00:18:31,900
"I will come in."

409
00:18:31,900 --> 00:18:33,618
See, this isn't some teaching like,

410
00:18:33,618 --> 00:18:35,543
oh, this is just speaking of affections

411
00:18:35,543 --> 00:18:36,660
and feelings.

412
00:18:36,660 --> 00:18:38,657
Like: I bear you on my heart

413
00:18:38,657 --> 00:18:40,422
because I have a deep love for you.

414
00:18:40,422 --> 00:18:43,502
Sometimes the New Testament
speaks that way,

415
00:18:43,502 --> 00:18:45,667
but when it comes to 
Christ in the believer,

416
00:18:45,667 --> 00:18:47,592
that is not the issue.

417
00:18:47,592 --> 00:18:50,672
He says, "My Father and I,

418
00:18:50,672 --> 00:18:54,296
we will make our home

419
00:18:54,296 --> 00:18:55,889
in you."

420
00:18:55,889 --> 00:19:05,363
"I will come in."

421
00:19:05,363 --> 00:19:07,020
Paul is not praying merely

422
00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:10,733
for some thing to happen.

423
00:19:10,733 --> 00:19:12,973
He's not praying that we would simply

424
00:19:12,973 --> 00:19:16,266
grasp the truth of this.

425
00:19:16,266 --> 00:19:19,566
We're talking about Him.

426
00:19:19,566 --> 00:19:22,812
He wants us to be strengthened

427
00:19:22,812 --> 00:19:25,368
to receive Christ Himself,

428
00:19:25,368 --> 00:19:26,775
Christ in our hearts.

429
00:19:26,775 --> 00:19:29,612
We're not just pursuing 
some truth about Christ.

430
00:19:29,612 --> 00:19:31,456
That's not it.

431
00:19:31,456 --> 00:19:33,693
It's Him.

432
00:19:33,693 --> 00:19:37,361
And this isn't just theory here.

433
00:19:37,361 --> 00:19:44,264
It's to where Christ comes in.

434
00:19:44,264 --> 00:19:46,138
Brethren, do you recognize?

435
00:19:46,138 --> 00:19:48,880
You get some people,

436
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,121
and I had a brother telling me recently

437
00:19:52,121 --> 00:19:54,813
about his concern for people

438
00:19:54,813 --> 00:19:57,722
who they seem to talk the talk,

439
00:19:57,722 --> 00:20:03,037
but they seem to lack 
a sense of the reality.

440
00:20:03,037 --> 00:20:05,330
And you know when your Christianity

441
00:20:05,330 --> 00:20:11,274
is all theory, that's bad.

442
00:20:11,274 --> 00:20:13,393
That's bad because Christianity

443
00:20:13,393 --> 00:20:17,128
deals with more than 
just a knowledge up here

444
00:20:17,128 --> 00:20:18,823
of what the truths are.

445
00:20:18,823 --> 00:20:21,107
You know what I see?

446
00:20:21,107 --> 00:20:24,072
I see some people -

447
00:20:24,072 --> 00:20:27,612
and we don't want to be these people -

448
00:20:27,612 --> 00:20:29,514
they know the truth

449
00:20:29,514 --> 00:20:33,104
and they try to persuade themselves

450
00:20:33,104 --> 00:20:37,109
that what is true of biblical Christianity

451
00:20:37,109 --> 00:20:39,017
because it's described in this book,

452
00:20:39,017 --> 00:20:41,977
they try to persuade themselves

453
00:20:41,977 --> 00:20:45,074
that it's true of them.

454
00:20:45,074 --> 00:20:47,250
But we're talking of something -

455
00:20:47,250 --> 00:20:53,129
listen, if Christ indwells your heart

456
00:20:53,129 --> 00:20:56,850
and you're rooted and grounded

457
00:20:56,850 --> 00:21:02,084
in that love that He saturates you with,

458
00:21:02,084 --> 00:21:04,265
and you begin to have some idea

459
00:21:04,265 --> 00:21:06,270
about the breadth and length

460
00:21:06,270 --> 00:21:08,357
and height and depth

461
00:21:08,357 --> 00:21:13,287
and to grab hold of this 
unsearchable love of Christ,

462
00:21:13,287 --> 00:21:16,675
and you're filled with 
all the fullness of God,

463
00:21:16,675 --> 00:21:18,751
I guarantee, that's not the kind of thing

464
00:21:18,751 --> 00:21:20,549
where you have to sit back and say,

465
00:21:20,549 --> 00:21:22,934
"Well, I don't feel the reality of this,

466
00:21:22,934 --> 00:21:24,743
but because I believe it in my head,

467
00:21:24,743 --> 00:21:27,891
I'm going to try to persuade 
myself that this is real."

468
00:21:27,891 --> 00:21:30,324
That's not what's happening here.

469
00:21:30,324 --> 00:21:34,429
That's not the kind of 
Christianity we find in Scripture.

470
00:21:34,429 --> 00:21:36,622
Let me ask you this:

471
00:21:36,622 --> 00:21:42,081
is Christ real to you?

472
00:21:42,081 --> 00:21:46,168
Is Christ real within you?

473
00:21:46,168 --> 00:21:49,382
I'm not talking religion and church

474
00:21:49,382 --> 00:21:51,110
and reading your Bible

475
00:21:51,110 --> 00:21:52,382
and singing the hymns.

476
00:21:52,382 --> 00:21:56,220
Is Christ real to you? Him!

477
00:21:56,220 --> 00:21:59,009
Has He come in?

478
00:21:59,009 --> 00:22:01,972
And in the same way

479
00:22:01,972 --> 00:22:03,722
that He would sit down with somebody

480
00:22:03,722 --> 00:22:06,030
and have supper with them,

481
00:22:06,030 --> 00:22:10,507
and you would know it,

482
00:22:10,507 --> 00:22:13,359
do you know that reality?

483
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:15,066
Because if not, I'm telling you,

484
00:22:15,066 --> 00:22:18,114
don't be content.

485
00:22:18,114 --> 00:22:20,812
Look, if you're not ready 
to go further here,

486
00:22:20,812 --> 00:22:24,839
if you're content with this,

487
00:22:24,839 --> 00:22:27,197
you can be content with that.

488
00:22:27,197 --> 00:22:28,632
But I think verses like this

489
00:22:28,632 --> 00:22:33,216
are meant to make us not content

490
00:22:33,216 --> 00:22:35,538
and to take the prayer

491
00:22:35,538 --> 00:22:39,704
as an indication that this is a promise.

492
00:22:39,704 --> 00:22:43,079
If Paul weren't under inspiration,

493
00:22:43,079 --> 00:22:45,103
we might question:

494
00:22:45,103 --> 00:22:46,386
Well, he's fallible.

495
00:22:46,386 --> 00:22:47,980
Could he be praying for something

496
00:22:47,980 --> 00:22:49,519
God wouldn't maybe perhaps

497
00:22:49,519 --> 00:22:51,156
really be willing to give us?

498
00:22:51,156 --> 00:22:52,518
But he is under inspiration,

499
00:22:52,518 --> 00:22:55,215
which means Paul asking this for us

500
00:22:55,215 --> 00:22:57,726
is as good as it being a promise.

501
00:22:57,726 --> 00:22:59,456
This is God telling him,

502
00:22:59,456 --> 00:23:02,353
"Paul, pray that way for them

503
00:23:02,353 --> 00:23:03,838
and let's record it

504
00:23:03,838 --> 00:23:06,076
in the letter to the Ephesians

505
00:23:06,076 --> 00:23:08,979
for all the future generations to see

506
00:23:08,979 --> 00:23:12,135
that this is a very valid and 
legitimate thing to ask for

507
00:23:12,135 --> 00:23:14,719
because I intend to give this."

508
00:23:14,719 --> 00:23:16,879
It's a promise.

509
00:23:16,879 --> 00:23:18,230
Christ came.

510
00:23:18,230 --> 00:23:19,330
You think about this,

511
00:23:19,330 --> 00:23:22,801
Christ came from the glory,

512
00:23:22,801 --> 00:23:24,498
and He dwelt among us,

513
00:23:24,498 --> 00:23:26,743
He tabernacled among us.

514
00:23:26,743 --> 00:23:27,868
And what happened?

515
00:23:27,868 --> 00:23:32,720
He lived and He died.

516
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,074
And He died on that cross

517
00:23:34,074 --> 00:23:35,808
and after three days,

518
00:23:35,808 --> 00:23:37,856
He came forth.

519
00:23:37,856 --> 00:23:39,749
Death couldn't hold Him.

520
00:23:39,749 --> 00:23:41,730
And for 40 days, He was here.

521
00:23:41,730 --> 00:23:44,286
And then He ascended to 
the right hand of His Father,

522
00:23:44,286 --> 00:23:46,699
and Scripture says that He is there

523
00:23:46,699 --> 00:23:49,312
to intercede on our behalf.

524
00:23:49,312 --> 00:23:50,686
And I'll guarantee you this,

525
00:23:50,686 --> 00:23:53,097
as much as it is a reality 
that He sits in Heaven,

526
00:23:53,097 --> 00:23:56,139
there situated at the 
very right hand of God

527
00:23:56,139 --> 00:23:57,916
making intercession for His people,

528
00:23:57,916 --> 00:24:00,121
I'll tell you this, it is just as true

529
00:24:00,121 --> 00:24:05,204
that He is within every 
believer in this room.

530
00:24:05,204 --> 00:24:07,053
That is a fact.

531
00:24:07,053 --> 00:24:09,599
Not just that you have an 
affection on your heart

532
00:24:09,599 --> 00:24:12,203
and soft, warm, fuzzy feelings about Him,

533
00:24:12,203 --> 00:24:15,332
it is that He actually has come in

534
00:24:15,332 --> 00:24:17,071
and He dwells there.

535
00:24:17,071 --> 00:24:20,932
He lives within the believer.

536
00:24:20,932 --> 00:24:23,546
That is a reality.

537
00:24:23,546 --> 00:24:27,713
We're not talking just about some theory

538
00:24:27,713 --> 00:24:30,646
or some "thing" or some "it."

539
00:24:30,646 --> 00:24:33,038
It's not just some doctrine.

540
00:24:33,038 --> 00:24:36,136
This is Christ - more of Christ -

541
00:24:36,136 --> 00:24:37,744
that Paul prays for.

542
00:24:37,744 --> 00:24:42,902
And look, I would say, we must pursue it.

543
00:24:42,902 --> 00:24:45,733
Because He dwells there by faith.

544
00:24:45,733 --> 00:24:49,268
And if we really understand faith,

545
00:24:49,268 --> 00:24:51,598
then it's something that 
we're going to pursue.

546
00:24:51,598 --> 00:24:55,131
Before I get to that,

547
00:24:55,131 --> 00:24:58,077
Paul isn't just using 
some figure of speech

548
00:24:58,077 --> 00:25:00,804
which actually doesn't mean, after all,

549
00:25:00,804 --> 00:25:03,494
that Christ is in us, 
but some other meaning.

550
00:25:03,494 --> 00:25:05,192
Do you remember what Paul himself

551
00:25:05,192 --> 00:25:09,081
said to the Galatians?

552
00:25:09,081 --> 00:25:11,760
He said, "I was crucified with Christ."

553
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,117
And then what does he say?

554
00:25:13,117 --> 00:25:17,397
"I live, yet not I,

555
00:25:17,397 --> 00:25:21,742
Christ lives..."

556
00:25:21,742 --> 00:25:23,131
Christ who lives in me.

557
00:25:23,131 --> 00:25:25,729
Or Colossians - Craig's been 
going through Colossians.

558
00:25:25,729 --> 00:25:27,571
Colossians 1:27,

559
00:25:27,571 --> 00:25:32,059
"Christ in you,

560
00:25:32,059 --> 00:25:35,298
the hope of glory."

561
00:25:35,298 --> 00:25:39,045
Now you should just 
stop right there a second.

562
00:25:39,045 --> 00:25:41,696
If you simply have a 
head knowledge of this

563
00:25:41,696 --> 00:25:45,472
and you're trying to 
persuade yourself of this,

564
00:25:45,472 --> 00:25:47,939
because there's no real evidence.

565
00:25:47,939 --> 00:25:51,435
You're just trying to 
hope and persuade yourself.

566
00:25:51,435 --> 00:25:53,267
You're seeking to persuade yourself

567
00:25:53,267 --> 00:25:55,003
that Christ is in there even though

568
00:25:55,003 --> 00:25:56,831
you're not really sensing this

569
00:25:56,831 --> 00:26:00,713
in any tangible expression.

570
00:26:00,713 --> 00:26:03,996
How can Christ in you 
be the hope of glory?

571
00:26:03,996 --> 00:26:05,322
You see what Paul's saying?

572
00:26:05,322 --> 00:26:07,976
To have Christ in you is the very thing

573
00:26:07,976 --> 00:26:10,627
that gives you the hope

574
00:26:10,627 --> 00:26:14,223
that Heaven awaits you at the end.

575
00:26:14,223 --> 00:26:18,024
Christ in me.

576
00:26:18,024 --> 00:26:20,007
Christ.

577
00:26:20,007 --> 00:26:24,307
I would say it again,
do you know the reality of this?

578
00:26:24,307 --> 00:26:28,787
Are you experiencing Christ in you?

579
00:26:28,787 --> 00:26:30,785
Inside.

580
00:26:30,785 --> 00:26:33,667
When Christ manifests Himself to us,

581
00:26:33,667 --> 00:26:35,546
this is not merely a figure of speech.

582
00:26:35,546 --> 00:26:37,084
It's real. It's actual.

583
00:26:37,084 --> 00:26:39,266
If it's not real, it can't give us

584
00:26:39,266 --> 00:26:42,662
the least hope of glory.

585
00:26:42,662 --> 00:26:45,533
So, it's Christ.

586
00:26:45,533 --> 00:26:50,466
Christ who dwells in you.

587
00:26:50,466 --> 00:26:53,268
Now let's think about the next thing.

588
00:26:53,268 --> 00:26:57,886
Christ may dwell in your 
hearts through faith.

589
00:26:57,886 --> 00:27:01,605
I want to look more closely at the heart.

590
00:27:01,605 --> 00:27:04,603
What is the heart?

591
00:27:04,603 --> 00:27:07,068
What is it?

592
00:27:07,068 --> 00:27:09,061
It's you.

593
00:27:09,061 --> 00:27:11,962
I mean, let me ask you this:

594
00:27:11,962 --> 00:27:13,868
Where are you?

595
00:27:13,868 --> 00:27:15,005
Where are you?

596
00:27:15,005 --> 00:27:16,686
You say, well, I'm right here.

597
00:27:16,686 --> 00:27:20,817
Can't you see me?

598
00:27:20,817 --> 00:27:22,557
Well, to about the fifth row.

599
00:27:22,557 --> 00:27:25,274
I can't see you after that.

600
00:27:25,274 --> 00:27:27,826
I see you.

601
00:27:27,826 --> 00:27:29,256
But see, I see your body.

602
00:27:29,256 --> 00:27:30,591
That's not what I'm asking.

603
00:27:30,591 --> 00:27:32,345
I'm not asking where your body is.

604
00:27:32,345 --> 00:27:35,149
Where are you?

605
00:27:35,149 --> 00:27:37,098
Where are you hearing me?

606
00:27:37,098 --> 00:27:39,623
Right here, but where are you

607
00:27:39,623 --> 00:27:41,583
processing what I'm saying?

608
00:27:41,583 --> 00:27:44,252
Where are you?

609
00:27:44,252 --> 00:27:49,782
Where is the center of 
consciousness right now?

610
00:27:49,782 --> 00:27:53,915
It feels like it's in our head, right?

611
00:27:53,915 --> 00:27:57,918
In our brain somewhere.

612
00:27:57,918 --> 00:28:02,148
And yet, we feel. We feel here.

613
00:28:02,148 --> 00:28:03,682
We can feel.

614
00:28:03,682 --> 00:28:08,043
And it's all mixed together 
in this mysterious way.

615
00:28:08,043 --> 00:28:10,390
Where are you?

616
00:28:10,390 --> 00:28:12,032
That is the heart.

617
00:28:12,032 --> 00:28:14,707
And Paul often talks about the heart.

618
00:28:14,707 --> 00:28:17,166
He loved the term.

619
00:28:17,166 --> 00:28:20,818
It comes up in his writings a lot.

620
00:28:20,818 --> 00:28:22,964
And let me just give you a sampling

621
00:28:22,964 --> 00:28:26,534
of the way that he used the term.

622
00:28:26,534 --> 00:28:28,261
Because I want us to get a feel

623
00:28:28,261 --> 00:28:30,012
for what did he mean by it.

624
00:28:30,012 --> 00:28:31,919
When he talks about Christ

625
00:28:31,919 --> 00:28:35,562
dwelling in your heart,

626
00:28:35,562 --> 00:28:37,329
where is the heart?

627
00:28:37,329 --> 00:28:38,717
What is the heart?

628
00:28:38,717 --> 00:28:40,521
Where is Christ dwelling?

629
00:28:40,521 --> 00:28:44,371
Where should we look for 
evidence of His dwelling?

630
00:28:44,371 --> 00:28:48,093
Well, in Romans 1 -

631
00:28:48,093 --> 00:28:49,195
don't look at these,

632
00:28:49,195 --> 00:28:51,396
because I'm going to 
shoot through them fast.

633
00:28:51,396 --> 00:28:53,014
You won't have time to get there.

634
00:28:53,014 --> 00:28:55,402
But Paul talking about fallen humanity,

635
00:28:55,402 --> 00:28:57,692
he talks very specifically

636
00:28:57,692 --> 00:29:02,330
about them being futile in their thoughts,

637
00:29:02,330 --> 00:29:06,049
their foolish hearts darkened.

638
00:29:06,049 --> 00:29:10,537
Their foolish hearts darkened.

639
00:29:10,537 --> 00:29:14,621
The heart is where the thoughts are.

640
00:29:14,621 --> 00:29:18,122
Their thoughts - they're 
futile in their thoughts.

641
00:29:18,122 --> 00:29:20,922
The thoughts of the heart.

642
00:29:20,922 --> 00:29:24,019
Only evil continuously.

643
00:29:24,019 --> 00:29:26,975
It's where we think.

644
00:29:26,975 --> 00:29:30,122
It's where we're thinking now.

645
00:29:30,122 --> 00:29:34,096
Paul talked about the lusts of the heart

646
00:29:34,096 --> 00:29:35,657
a little later on in Romans 1.

647
00:29:35,657 --> 00:29:37,423
The lusts of the heart.

648
00:29:37,423 --> 00:29:40,360
Or, the desires of the heart.

649
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,269
It's where we desire.

650
00:29:42,269 --> 00:29:43,941
It's where we think.

651
00:29:43,941 --> 00:29:46,961
He also speaks about an impenitent heart.

652
00:29:46,961 --> 00:29:48,174
You know what that means?

653
00:29:48,174 --> 00:29:52,211
That means we repent in the heart.

654
00:29:52,211 --> 00:29:56,382
That means we feel sorrow for sin

655
00:29:56,382 --> 00:29:58,894
in the heart.

656
00:29:58,894 --> 00:30:02,551
There is a turning of the will

657
00:30:02,551 --> 00:30:03,469
in the heart.

658
00:30:03,469 --> 00:30:04,795
That's where that happens.

659
00:30:04,795 --> 00:30:07,331
The work of the law - this is Romans 2 -

660
00:30:07,331 --> 00:30:09,041
the work of the law

661
00:30:09,041 --> 00:30:12,416
is written on their hearts.

662
00:30:12,416 --> 00:30:14,227
What does it mean to have the law

663
00:30:14,227 --> 00:30:16,893
written on your heart?

664
00:30:16,893 --> 00:30:19,476
It means you know it,

665
00:30:19,476 --> 00:30:21,453
you feel convicted by it -

666
00:30:21,453 --> 00:30:24,361
conviction, the conscience.

667
00:30:24,361 --> 00:30:27,236
That's where the heart is.

668
00:30:27,236 --> 00:30:31,359
"The love of God poured 
abroad into our hearts."

669
00:30:31,359 --> 00:30:33,518
Have you ever read that one in Romans 5?

670
00:30:33,518 --> 00:30:35,151
What does that mean?

671
00:30:35,151 --> 00:30:38,733
That means we feel God's love for us.

672
00:30:38,733 --> 00:30:41,754
We have some cognizance of it

673
00:30:41,754 --> 00:30:44,434
and we're feeling His love.

674
00:30:44,434 --> 00:30:48,546
He bears witness of His love for us.

675
00:30:48,546 --> 00:30:51,494
That happens at the heart level.

676
00:30:51,494 --> 00:30:54,503
Or you read this, Romans 6,

677
00:30:54,503 --> 00:30:57,665
"obedient from the heart."

678
00:30:57,665 --> 00:30:59,541
Obedience.

679
00:30:59,541 --> 00:31:02,191
Where I'm surrendered.

680
00:31:02,191 --> 00:31:04,903
Where my will is operative.

681
00:31:04,903 --> 00:31:06,810
That is at the heart level.

682
00:31:06,810 --> 00:31:08,625
Or, "let the peace of God

683
00:31:08,625 --> 00:31:11,983
rule in your hearts."

684
00:31:11,983 --> 00:31:19,102
Being at peace, not at war.

685
00:31:19,102 --> 00:31:22,177
"With the heart one believes."

686
00:31:22,177 --> 00:31:25,177
You see where we're at?

687
00:31:25,177 --> 00:31:27,529
It's where we think.
It's where we know.

688
00:31:27,529 --> 00:31:29,583
It's where we believe.

689
00:31:29,583 --> 00:31:31,601
It's where we desire.

690
00:31:31,601 --> 00:31:32,956
It's where we repent.

691
00:31:32,956 --> 00:31:35,194
It's where we feel - he talks about

692
00:31:35,194 --> 00:31:39,729
the sorrow of the heart.

693
00:31:39,729 --> 00:31:42,015
"Deceiving the hearts of the naive."

694
00:31:42,015 --> 00:31:44,004
Or, "the imagination of the heart."

695
00:31:44,004 --> 00:31:46,211
"The purposes of the heart."

696
00:31:46,211 --> 00:31:48,492
"Their hearts may be encouraged."

697
00:31:48,492 --> 00:31:50,316
Or, "thankfulness in your hearts."

698
00:31:50,316 --> 00:31:53,352
You see everything that's 
attributed to the heart?

699
00:31:53,352 --> 00:31:56,980
And here's my question:

700
00:31:56,980 --> 00:32:00,579
The heart is you

701
00:32:00,579 --> 00:32:03,238
at the deepest level - it's you.

702
00:32:03,238 --> 00:32:07,977
It's at your level of consciousness.

703
00:32:07,977 --> 00:32:10,720
Your level of knowing,

704
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:15,857
your feeling, your desire.

705
00:32:15,857 --> 00:32:21,135
That's where Christ is going to dwell.

706
00:32:21,135 --> 00:32:22,513
Remember.

707
00:32:22,513 --> 00:32:26,996
It means to settle down.

708
00:32:26,996 --> 00:32:30,175
Where are you?

709
00:32:30,175 --> 00:32:36,323
Are you able to look where you are

710
00:32:36,323 --> 00:32:41,729
and say yeah, Christ is here with me.

711
00:32:41,729 --> 00:32:45,245
That's what Paul's praying for.

712
00:32:45,245 --> 00:32:47,817
Christ would settle down.

713
00:32:47,817 --> 00:32:49,666
That's what He means when He says,

714
00:32:49,666 --> 00:32:53,166
"I stand at the door and knock."

715
00:32:53,166 --> 00:32:56,403
You open that door.

716
00:32:56,403 --> 00:33:00,380
I'll come in and I'll sup with you.

717
00:33:00,380 --> 00:33:01,653
I'll have dinner with you.

718
00:33:01,653 --> 00:33:03,436
I'll eat with you; you with Me.

719
00:33:03,436 --> 00:33:06,544
There's going to be a closeness

720
00:33:06,544 --> 00:33:08,469
as there is when you have communion

721
00:33:08,469 --> 00:33:12,107
with somebody across the dinner table.

722
00:33:12,107 --> 00:33:14,935
And in Eastern mindset,

723
00:33:14,935 --> 00:33:17,976
this is extremely close.

724
00:33:17,976 --> 00:33:22,773
We don't take it like they did.

725
00:33:22,773 --> 00:33:27,359
Can you look, where are you?

726
00:33:27,359 --> 00:33:28,445
And just think.

727
00:33:28,445 --> 00:33:32,299
Look. Look where you are in there.

728
00:33:32,299 --> 00:33:33,497
Not your body.

729
00:33:33,497 --> 00:33:35,183
Not your physical eyes.

730
00:33:35,183 --> 00:33:37,483
But are you able in your consciousness

731
00:33:37,483 --> 00:33:41,705
to look above and beneath and beside

732
00:33:41,705 --> 00:33:43,980
to the right hand and to the left hand

733
00:33:43,980 --> 00:33:49,610
and say Christ is here with me?

734
00:33:49,610 --> 00:33:51,873
He dwells with me.

735
00:33:51,873 --> 00:33:55,396
Oh Lord, I want You here more.

736
00:33:55,396 --> 00:33:58,929
Or do you look around

737
00:33:58,929 --> 00:34:01,863
and you're just trying to 
persuade yourself that it's true,

738
00:34:01,863 --> 00:34:03,733
but when you look around,

739
00:34:03,733 --> 00:34:09,084
if you're going to be honest...

740
00:34:09,084 --> 00:34:11,047
The heart is you.

741
00:34:11,047 --> 00:34:14,539
It's the deepest part.
It's the consciousness.

742
00:34:14,539 --> 00:34:16,625
Where are you?

743
00:34:16,625 --> 00:34:19,637
See, this is what Paul's praying for.

744
00:34:19,637 --> 00:34:23,807
You're not alone anymore 
when this happens.

745
00:34:23,807 --> 00:34:27,563
Oh, how the world 
struggles with loneliness!

746
00:34:27,563 --> 00:34:29,246
But you're not alone.

747
00:34:29,246 --> 00:34:31,317
This is the greatest communing

748
00:34:31,317 --> 00:34:33,905
and fellowship that can be imagined.

749
00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:36,643
He comes in and He settles down.

750
00:34:36,643 --> 00:34:38,449
And so when you arise in the morning,

751
00:34:38,449 --> 00:34:40,325
when you go off to sleep at night,

752
00:34:40,325 --> 00:34:42,363
you know what happens?

753
00:34:42,363 --> 00:34:44,228
He's there.

754
00:34:44,228 --> 00:34:46,007
He's close.

755
00:34:46,007 --> 00:34:50,648
And you know He is.

756
00:34:50,648 --> 00:34:53,683
Where are you?

757
00:34:53,683 --> 00:34:55,863
Is Christ there?

758
00:34:55,863 --> 00:34:58,834
Because you see, this is what 
Paul says is the hope of glory.

759
00:34:58,834 --> 00:35:01,210
It's when you turn and you say He's here,

760
00:35:01,210 --> 00:35:03,443
and I hear His voice.

761
00:35:03,443 --> 00:35:05,332
Oh, the hope of glory!

762
00:35:05,332 --> 00:35:11,296
This is the seal that I'm heaven-bound.

763
00:35:11,296 --> 00:35:12,974
He wouldn't come with me now

764
00:35:12,974 --> 00:35:17,312
if He wasn't going to take 
me to be with Him then.

765
00:35:17,312 --> 00:35:19,394
That's the issue.

766
00:35:19,394 --> 00:35:21,764
You remember the two 
on the road to Emmaus?

767
00:35:21,764 --> 00:35:25,948
Because that's a tremendous visual

768
00:35:25,948 --> 00:35:28,159
of Him coming in to eat.

769
00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:31,717
Did not their hearts burn within them?

770
00:35:31,717 --> 00:35:36,968
Why? Because when Christ 
comes into your presence,

771
00:35:36,968 --> 00:35:40,109
it does something.

772
00:35:40,109 --> 00:35:42,636
Their hearts burned.

773
00:35:42,636 --> 00:35:44,610
Christ came in.

774
00:35:44,610 --> 00:35:46,453
And He dined with them.

775
00:35:46,453 --> 00:35:48,747
And you know what? While He was there,

776
00:35:48,747 --> 00:35:53,002
their whole self was 
consumed with that reality,

777
00:35:53,002 --> 00:35:57,133
that this One sat at their table.

778
00:35:57,133 --> 00:35:59,085
And you know what they weren't doing?

779
00:35:59,085 --> 00:36:01,237
They weren't trying 
to convince themselves:

780
00:36:01,237 --> 00:36:02,708
this is true.

781
00:36:02,708 --> 00:36:06,036
Well, we're trying to persuade 
ourselves that He's really here,

782
00:36:06,036 --> 00:36:07,511
but there's no evidence of it.

783
00:36:07,511 --> 00:36:09,269
We don't see Him. We don't feel it.

784
00:36:09,269 --> 00:36:11,064
Our hearts really don't burn.

785
00:36:11,064 --> 00:36:13,666
We basically are sitting

786
00:36:13,666 --> 00:36:16,126
with an empty table - 
it's just you and me,

787
00:36:16,126 --> 00:36:17,852
the other guy on the road to Emmaus

788
00:36:17,852 --> 00:36:19,174
and we're just sitting here

789
00:36:19,174 --> 00:36:22,877
and we're trying to imagine 
Him being over in the seat.

790
00:36:22,877 --> 00:36:24,802
That's not what they did.

791
00:36:24,802 --> 00:36:28,068
Oh, I know they didn't 
recognize Him for awhile,

792
00:36:28,068 --> 00:36:30,276
but they were totally consumed

793
00:36:30,276 --> 00:36:31,859
with this One.

794
00:36:31,859 --> 00:36:33,718
This is no theoretical thing.

795
00:36:33,718 --> 00:36:36,597
This is true.

796
00:36:36,597 --> 00:36:38,027
This is not the kind of thing

797
00:36:38,027 --> 00:36:39,458
where we don't know it's true,

798
00:36:39,458 --> 00:36:42,334
but we're always trying to 
persuade ourselves this is true.

799
00:36:42,334 --> 00:36:45,870
This is the possibility 
being held out by Paul

800
00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:48,095
in this prayer to all of us

801
00:36:48,095 --> 00:36:50,415
that Christ might settle in.

802
00:36:50,415 --> 00:36:52,171
Not like those two guys

803
00:36:52,171 --> 00:36:54,941
where Christ vanishes,

804
00:36:54,941 --> 00:36:58,134
but where He settles in 
and He doesn't vanish.

805
00:36:58,134 --> 00:37:00,495
Basically, He settles in

806
00:37:00,495 --> 00:37:02,783
and He comes more and more

807
00:37:02,783 --> 00:37:05,277
in His fullness and He takes you

808
00:37:05,277 --> 00:37:11,701
right on out to the eternal day

809
00:37:11,701 --> 00:37:14,318
when you'll see Him as He is.

810
00:37:14,318 --> 00:37:17,584
This is Christ in His personal presence

811
00:37:17,584 --> 00:37:21,809
and power in the center of your being.

812
00:37:21,809 --> 00:37:23,378
That's what this is.

813
00:37:23,378 --> 00:37:27,845
This is being permeated with Christ.

814
00:37:27,845 --> 00:37:29,084
This is Christ coming,

815
00:37:29,084 --> 00:37:31,187
Christ breaking in upon the soul

816
00:37:31,187 --> 00:37:34,981
with His presence.

817
00:37:34,981 --> 00:37:38,802
Brothers and sisters, 
there's more to be had.

818
00:37:38,802 --> 00:37:41,675
That's why Paul is praying.

819
00:37:41,675 --> 00:37:43,931
He wasn't doubting the salvation

820
00:37:43,931 --> 00:37:46,744
of the people back there in Ephesus.

821
00:37:46,744 --> 00:37:48,574
He believed every bit they were saved.

822
00:37:48,574 --> 00:37:51,211
In fact, he says confidently,

823
00:37:51,211 --> 00:37:54,506
you were chosen before the foundation

824
00:37:54,506 --> 00:37:55,888
of the world.

825
00:37:55,888 --> 00:37:58,243
He was confident.

826
00:37:58,243 --> 00:38:00,466
He wasn't doubting their salvation.

827
00:38:00,466 --> 00:38:04,108
But then on bended knee he pleads,

828
00:38:04,108 --> 00:38:08,429
Lord, strengthen them with the power

829
00:38:08,429 --> 00:38:09,872
of the Spirit of God

830
00:38:09,872 --> 00:38:13,498
according to the riches of Your glory.

831
00:38:13,498 --> 00:38:16,596
Strengthen them and sweep them

832
00:38:16,596 --> 00:38:21,495
into these fuller realities of Christ.

833
00:38:21,495 --> 00:38:26,107
Now, I want to emphasize

834
00:38:26,107 --> 00:38:29,279
the last two words.

835
00:38:29,279 --> 00:38:32,447
That Christ may dwell in your hearts

836
00:38:32,447 --> 00:38:37,598
through faith.

837
00:38:37,598 --> 00:38:40,907
These two words,

838
00:38:40,907 --> 00:38:43,485
they convince me

839
00:38:43,485 --> 00:38:49,008
that none of us should be content

840
00:38:49,008 --> 00:38:53,332
to simply let Paul pray for us,

841
00:38:53,332 --> 00:38:55,510
or let somebody else pray for us

842
00:38:55,510 --> 00:38:57,763
that Christ might dwell in our hearts,

843
00:38:57,763 --> 00:38:59,950
or that we just simply pray for it.

844
00:38:59,950 --> 00:39:00,997
We should.

845
00:39:00,997 --> 00:39:03,016
We should pray for it.

846
00:39:03,016 --> 00:39:05,201
But if you say, well, 
that's all we can do.

847
00:39:05,201 --> 00:39:06,638
Paul's praying, by the way,

848
00:39:06,638 --> 00:39:08,825
and you know, he's 
not really telling us

849
00:39:08,825 --> 00:39:11,681
that we should do 
anything else. It's by faith.

850
00:39:11,681 --> 00:39:14,236
We simply take this at God's Word

851
00:39:14,236 --> 00:39:18,112
and isn't that what faith is all about?

852
00:39:18,112 --> 00:39:20,203
We just sit passively by and wait

853
00:39:20,203 --> 00:39:23,216
for Christ to come into our hearts.

854
00:39:23,216 --> 00:39:26,232
And I would just ask this,

855
00:39:26,232 --> 00:39:32,713
since when is faith ever passive?

856
00:39:32,713 --> 00:39:36,242
It isn't.

857
00:39:36,242 --> 00:39:43,002
Since when does true, God-given faith

858
00:39:43,002 --> 00:39:45,848
in any aspect of life

859
00:39:45,848 --> 00:39:48,633
just sit passively by?

860
00:39:48,633 --> 00:39:50,423
Do we say God's going to save some

861
00:39:50,423 --> 00:39:51,912
from every tribe and tongue

862
00:39:51,912 --> 00:39:53,879
and so we're just going 
to passively sit back?

863
00:39:53,879 --> 00:39:56,015
We don't say that.

864
00:39:56,015 --> 00:39:57,752
Do we say that God is going to save

865
00:39:57,752 --> 00:40:00,686
whosoever He wills so we're 
not going to evangelize?

866
00:40:00,686 --> 00:40:02,856
Are we going to say, 
well, God's going to do

867
00:40:02,856 --> 00:40:04,862
what God's going to do, so we don't pray?

868
00:40:04,862 --> 00:40:06,744
We don't think that way.

869
00:40:06,744 --> 00:40:08,700
That isn't the way we want to think.

870
00:40:08,700 --> 00:40:11,205
Through faith. Faith.

871
00:40:11,205 --> 00:40:14,518
Listen, listen.

872
00:40:14,518 --> 00:40:18,309
Jesus Christ coming to a church,

873
00:40:18,309 --> 00:40:26,016
He says, "Behold, I stand at the door."

874
00:40:26,016 --> 00:40:29,077
To a church.

875
00:40:29,077 --> 00:40:32,117
"I'm standing at the door

876
00:40:32,117 --> 00:40:35,547
and I'm knocking.

877
00:40:35,547 --> 00:40:37,403
You open the door."

878
00:40:37,403 --> 00:40:40,289
He says, "I will come into him."

879
00:40:40,289 --> 00:40:43,873
And so I think the thing 
that we should ask is this:

880
00:40:43,873 --> 00:40:45,623
Do you believe Christ can come in?

881
00:40:45,623 --> 00:40:47,387
Do you believe He can come in more?

882
00:40:47,387 --> 00:40:49,241
Do you believe He can settle down more?

883
00:40:49,241 --> 00:40:51,226
That's certainly what Paul's praying for.

884
00:40:51,226 --> 00:40:52,688
For the life of the Ephesians.

885
00:40:52,688 --> 00:40:54,457
Is that reality that he's praying for

886
00:40:54,457 --> 00:40:57,028
in the life of the Ephesians 
also possible for us?

887
00:40:57,028 --> 00:40:58,872
I don't believe these truths are meant

888
00:40:58,872 --> 00:41:01,978
to simply apply to the 
Ephesians and not to us.

889
00:41:01,978 --> 00:41:04,964
This is the Word of God.

890
00:41:04,964 --> 00:41:07,662
It's profitable for every one of us

891
00:41:07,662 --> 00:41:09,369
for doctrine, reproof, correction,

892
00:41:09,369 --> 00:41:10,812
instruction in righteousness,

893
00:41:10,812 --> 00:41:13,584
that the man of God - 
that's for all of us,

894
00:41:13,584 --> 00:41:19,934
not just for the Ephesians.

895
00:41:19,934 --> 00:41:25,292
Shouldn't we ask ourselves the question:

896
00:41:25,292 --> 00:41:32,846
Lord, okay, You stand 
at the door and knock.

897
00:41:32,846 --> 00:41:38,545
That picture in itself is showing

898
00:41:38,545 --> 00:41:40,888
a responsibility on our part.

899
00:41:40,888 --> 00:41:43,275
Wouldn't you agree?

900
00:41:43,275 --> 00:41:48,135
If we are to open and He will come in,

901
00:41:48,135 --> 00:41:51,142
I think the question arises,

902
00:41:51,142 --> 00:41:54,287
how do we open?

903
00:41:54,287 --> 00:41:59,764
What do we do?

904
00:41:59,764 --> 00:42:02,685
We need to be strengthened here.

905
00:42:02,685 --> 00:42:04,764
Strengthened - that's where Paul started.

906
00:42:04,764 --> 00:42:07,655
Strengthen us!

907
00:42:07,655 --> 00:42:10,736
Why? Where do we need strength?

908
00:42:10,736 --> 00:42:14,586
Maybe in the area of resolve?

909
00:42:14,586 --> 00:42:20,159
Maybe in the area of the will?

910
00:42:20,159 --> 00:42:23,051
I mean, you can get 
gripped by this reality.

911
00:42:23,051 --> 00:42:24,215
There's a door here.

912
00:42:24,215 --> 00:42:26,184
Christ is saying, "I'm on the other side.

913
00:42:26,184 --> 00:42:28,826
Come and open, and I'll come in."

914
00:42:28,826 --> 00:42:29,740
And you know what?

915
00:42:29,740 --> 00:42:31,367
You can sit in a message like this

916
00:42:31,367 --> 00:42:33,206
and you can hear this and you can say,

917
00:42:33,206 --> 00:42:36,140
"Yeah, I want that."

918
00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:40,993
"I want that."

919
00:42:40,993 --> 00:42:42,768
Have you ever noticed -

920
00:42:42,768 --> 00:42:48,629
maybe the word "fickle" is a good word -

921
00:42:48,629 --> 00:42:52,951
have any of you ever been in the place,

922
00:42:52,951 --> 00:42:56,919
you sat under powerful preaching,

923
00:42:56,919 --> 00:42:59,581
you had a sweet time in prayer

924
00:42:59,581 --> 00:43:03,320
or powerful season in the Word,

925
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:05,832
and you're resolved.

926
00:43:05,832 --> 00:43:07,634
I want that.

927
00:43:07,634 --> 00:43:09,879
I want to go deeper.

928
00:43:09,879 --> 00:43:11,361
I want to go further.

929
00:43:11,361 --> 00:43:16,512
I believe it from Scripture. 
I can have it.

930
00:43:16,512 --> 00:43:19,405
But what happens?

931
00:43:19,405 --> 00:43:21,782
Any of you ever been there

932
00:43:21,782 --> 00:43:25,265
where you look up

933
00:43:25,265 --> 00:43:28,143
and it's like what happened?

934
00:43:28,143 --> 00:43:32,314
How did I get distracted?

935
00:43:32,314 --> 00:43:36,989
I mean, I was resolved for this.

936
00:43:36,989 --> 00:43:39,907
How did I get here?

937
00:43:39,907 --> 00:43:42,233
I was determined. I wanted that.

938
00:43:42,233 --> 00:43:43,820
I made certain resolutions.

939
00:43:43,820 --> 00:43:45,132
Have you ever been there?

940
00:43:45,132 --> 00:43:47,908
You make these spiritual resolutions

941
00:43:47,908 --> 00:43:53,214
and then what happens?

942
00:43:53,214 --> 00:43:55,222
What's the difference between

943
00:43:55,222 --> 00:44:00,174
the people that press on to know the Lord

944
00:44:00,174 --> 00:44:02,946
and the ones that kind of give up

945
00:44:02,946 --> 00:44:06,204
or are always struggling?

946
00:44:06,204 --> 00:44:07,798
Always falling short?

947
00:44:07,798 --> 00:44:09,812
What's the difference?

948
00:44:09,812 --> 00:44:11,587
Well, I think it comes back to this.

949
00:44:11,587 --> 00:44:14,087
I think it comes back 
to being strengthened

950
00:44:14,087 --> 00:44:17,598
by God Himself to have 
a will that's committed.

951
00:44:17,598 --> 00:44:19,761
I think it comes to having appetites

952
00:44:19,761 --> 00:44:22,089
that are strong.

953
00:44:22,089 --> 00:44:23,312
I mean, we know it.

954
00:44:23,312 --> 00:44:26,093
You know what, I got sick this week.

955
00:44:26,093 --> 00:44:30,429
My appetite has not been there.

956
00:44:30,429 --> 00:44:32,840
Do you ever go through 
seasons in your life -

957
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,213
maybe you're saying yeah, 
way too many of them -

958
00:44:35,213 --> 00:44:36,717
where you're hungry?

959
00:44:36,717 --> 00:44:38,422
You're hungry all the time.

960
00:44:38,422 --> 00:44:41,645
You can eat and you're still hungry.

961
00:44:41,645 --> 00:44:42,706
What's the difference?

962
00:44:42,706 --> 00:44:44,006
Well, there's a difference

963
00:44:44,006 --> 00:44:47,616
in the health of that appetite.

964
00:44:47,616 --> 00:44:49,560
I'll tell you,

965
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,409
if our appetite itself

966
00:44:52,409 --> 00:44:55,913
were to be magnified a hundred fold,

967
00:44:55,913 --> 00:44:58,145
we desperately needed Christ.

968
00:44:58,145 --> 00:45:00,783
Maybe some of the trivialities 
that have sidetracked us

969
00:45:00,783 --> 00:45:03,034
and derailed us -

970
00:45:03,034 --> 00:45:07,355
did any of you after last week's message,

971
00:45:07,355 --> 00:45:10,302
any of you go out of here thinking,

972
00:45:10,302 --> 00:45:12,296
yeah, I want that?

973
00:45:12,296 --> 00:45:13,880
I want that.

974
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:15,395
I want you to want it!

975
00:45:15,395 --> 00:45:16,243
I hope so!

976
00:45:16,243 --> 00:45:18,630
See, that's the kind of 
thing that I'm afraid of.

977
00:45:18,630 --> 00:45:21,240
That you went out of 
here not thinking that.

978
00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:23,517
I hope you did! I hope some of you did!

979
00:45:23,517 --> 00:45:26,204
You were feeling like: I want that!

980
00:45:26,204 --> 00:45:28,194
I want to know more of the fullness

981
00:45:28,194 --> 00:45:30,809
of Christ settling in to my heart.

982
00:45:30,809 --> 00:45:37,629
I want that. I want it deeper.

983
00:45:37,629 --> 00:45:42,145
But, tomorrow came and what happens?

984
00:45:42,145 --> 00:45:43,655
We forget.

985
00:45:43,655 --> 00:45:45,698
We become distracted by something else.

986
00:45:45,698 --> 00:45:47,631
Oh, you were fully resolved a week ago.

987
00:45:47,631 --> 00:45:49,414
A week ago right now, it was like,

988
00:45:49,414 --> 00:45:52,879
ah, I want that!

989
00:45:52,879 --> 00:45:54,271
I'm going to open the door!

990
00:45:54,271 --> 00:45:55,921
I want Christ to come in.

991
00:45:55,921 --> 00:45:57,171
You prayed last week:

992
00:45:57,171 --> 00:45:58,371
Lord, give me that!

993
00:45:58,371 --> 00:46:00,210
The thing that Paul prayed for.

994
00:46:00,210 --> 00:46:03,145
Give me people to pray that for me!

995
00:46:03,145 --> 00:46:05,013
I want it.

996
00:46:05,013 --> 00:46:07,632
But the cares and the concerns

997
00:46:07,632 --> 00:46:09,584
and the trivialities of the world -

998
00:46:09,584 --> 00:46:12,836
and you see, our commitment is weak.

999
00:46:12,836 --> 00:46:14,731
Our will is too weak.

1000
00:46:14,731 --> 00:46:16,276
Your faith is too weak.

1001
00:46:16,276 --> 00:46:18,526
I mean, you hear the man in Scripture:

1002
00:46:18,526 --> 00:46:21,066
"Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief."

1003
00:46:21,066 --> 00:46:22,518
And I guess one of the things

1004
00:46:22,518 --> 00:46:24,641
that I would have our faith to go to

1005
00:46:24,641 --> 00:46:26,704
in the very beginning is this belief

1006
00:46:26,704 --> 00:46:30,477
that there is a God who can and will

1007
00:46:30,477 --> 00:46:35,710
and does strengthen His people.

1008
00:46:35,710 --> 00:46:38,898
Has your faith even 
latched on to this reality?

1009
00:46:38,898 --> 00:46:40,145
That there is more -

1010
00:46:40,145 --> 00:46:42,240
I can have Christ settle in.

1011
00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:44,300
I can have Him come into me

1012
00:46:44,300 --> 00:46:46,380
in a way that He's never come into me.

1013
00:46:46,380 --> 00:46:48,658
Go back and read the Song of Solomon.

1014
00:46:48,658 --> 00:46:51,523
You want to feel this at the level -

1015
00:46:51,523 --> 00:46:54,484
marriage is only the picture!

1016
00:46:54,484 --> 00:46:57,219
The intimacies of marriage 
are only the picture.

1017
00:46:57,219 --> 00:46:58,608
And you can go back there

1018
00:46:58,608 --> 00:47:00,685
and you can say yes,

1019
00:47:00,685 --> 00:47:06,260
"my Beloved, He put His 
hand to the door latch."

1020
00:47:06,260 --> 00:47:08,367
And what happened?

1021
00:47:08,367 --> 00:47:12,315
"Well, I already washed my feet."

1022
00:47:12,315 --> 00:47:17,216
Is that not the sad commentary 
on too many of us?

1023
00:47:17,216 --> 00:47:20,010
Yes, I want it! He stands at the door!

1024
00:47:20,010 --> 00:47:23,217
He's knocking! I want to let Him in!

1025
00:47:23,217 --> 00:47:26,206
But it's just like the Song of Solomon.

1026
00:47:26,206 --> 00:47:28,564
We hesitated.

1027
00:47:28,564 --> 00:47:30,841
We hesitated.

1028
00:47:30,841 --> 00:47:35,450
Something else was more important.

1029
00:47:35,450 --> 00:47:38,292
You know what will happen?
The Lord will test your heart.

1030
00:47:38,292 --> 00:47:39,797
I wanted to sing that song:

1031
00:47:39,797 --> 00:47:42,040
"I asked the Lord that I might grow."

1032
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,114
Because you know what happens oftentimes?

1033
00:47:44,114 --> 00:47:47,023
You say, "Yes, Lord. I want this.

1034
00:47:47,023 --> 00:47:48,966
And I'm going to seek to be careful

1035
00:47:48,966 --> 00:47:51,333
to not let the kinds 
of things into my life

1036
00:47:51,333 --> 00:47:53,721
that might grieve and offend You.

1037
00:47:53,721 --> 00:47:57,234
I want You to find my heart

1038
00:47:57,234 --> 00:48:00,583
a sufficient place for 
You to dwell deeply in."

1039
00:48:00,583 --> 00:48:02,551
And you know, you begin to pray for this,

1040
00:48:02,551 --> 00:48:04,089
and you begin to long for this.

1041
00:48:04,089 --> 00:48:06,414
And what happens?

1042
00:48:06,414 --> 00:48:07,710
You begin to pray,

1043
00:48:07,710 --> 00:48:09,938
"Lord, strengthen me for this.

1044
00:48:09,938 --> 00:48:11,997
More of this. More of Christ."

1045
00:48:11,997 --> 00:48:13,890
And then you know what happens?

1046
00:48:13,890 --> 00:48:18,779
The Lord tests your heart.

1047
00:48:18,779 --> 00:48:21,742
You remember the song.

1048
00:48:21,742 --> 00:48:25,528
Suddenly Newton's hymn breaks in upon us.

1049
00:48:25,528 --> 00:48:27,488
It can seem very discouraging.

1050
00:48:27,488 --> 00:48:29,535
Yes, brother, I went 
out of here last week.

1051
00:48:29,535 --> 00:48:32,642
I was very determined, but you know 
what I found during the week?

1052
00:48:32,642 --> 00:48:35,829
I found such manifestations 
of pride in my own heart

1053
00:48:35,829 --> 00:48:38,771
and idolatry or something else.

1054
00:48:38,771 --> 00:48:41,038
I asked the Lord that I might grow.

1055
00:48:41,038 --> 00:48:43,686
But you see, you forgot the song.

1056
00:48:43,686 --> 00:48:45,993
Because you hear things 
like this and it's like:

1057
00:48:45,993 --> 00:48:47,639
That's glorious! Christ coming in!

1058
00:48:47,639 --> 00:48:49,283
And oh, bringing His fragrance,

1059
00:48:49,283 --> 00:48:51,764
His power and His presence 
in my inner being.

1060
00:48:51,764 --> 00:48:55,035
Yes! I want that!

1061
00:48:55,035 --> 00:49:00,747
I asked the Lord that He might come in.

1062
00:49:00,747 --> 00:49:02,296
And Newton said,

1063
00:49:02,296 --> 00:49:04,646
"and seek more earnestly His face."

1064
00:49:04,646 --> 00:49:07,222
Yes, I want to seek more 
earnestly to open that door

1065
00:49:07,222 --> 00:49:09,887
that He might come in.

1066
00:49:09,887 --> 00:49:14,321
"'Twas He who taught me thus to pray."

1067
00:49:14,321 --> 00:49:17,852
Isn't Paul teaching us to pray this way?

1068
00:49:17,852 --> 00:49:20,376
That Christ may come in.

1069
00:49:20,376 --> 00:49:23,497
Lord, You're teaching us to pray.

1070
00:49:23,497 --> 00:49:25,423
"And He I trust has answered prayer,

1071
00:49:25,423 --> 00:49:26,757
but has been such a way as

1072
00:49:26,757 --> 00:49:30,004
almost drove me to despair."

1073
00:49:30,004 --> 00:49:31,635
See, that's often what happens.

1074
00:49:31,635 --> 00:49:34,877
Lord, please come in.

1075
00:49:34,877 --> 00:49:36,834
Come close.

1076
00:49:36,834 --> 00:49:38,332
Indwell.

1077
00:49:38,332 --> 00:49:40,057
Come in and sup with me.

1078
00:49:40,057 --> 00:49:42,373
And see, we hope the 
same way Newton hoped.

1079
00:49:42,373 --> 00:49:44,415
"I hoped that in some favored hour,

1080
00:49:44,415 --> 00:49:46,391
at once He'd grant me my request.

1081
00:49:46,391 --> 00:49:47,970
By His love's constraining power,

1082
00:49:47,970 --> 00:49:51,170
subdue my sins and give me rest."

1083
00:49:51,170 --> 00:49:54,313
Instead of this:

1084
00:49:54,313 --> 00:49:57,147
"He made me feel the 
hidden evils of my heart,

1085
00:49:57,147 --> 00:49:59,503
let the angry powers of hell

1086
00:49:59,503 --> 00:50:06,491
assault my soul in every part."

1087
00:50:06,491 --> 00:50:08,864
And you know what happens?

1088
00:50:08,864 --> 00:50:12,976
You suddenly feel like,

1089
00:50:12,976 --> 00:50:16,154
Lord, I want this.

1090
00:50:16,154 --> 00:50:19,784
I want to go deeper.

1091
00:50:19,784 --> 00:50:21,650
But as soon as I set my heart to it

1092
00:50:21,650 --> 00:50:23,615
and I begin to pray I feel like

1093
00:50:23,615 --> 00:50:28,261
I'm further away than ever from Christ.

1094
00:50:28,261 --> 00:50:33,135
You may actually feel much 
worse now than before.

1095
00:50:33,135 --> 00:50:35,644
Why? Because things have come up.

1096
00:50:35,644 --> 00:50:37,641
They've come to the surface in your heart

1097
00:50:37,641 --> 00:50:40,020
that you never imagined were there.

1098
00:50:40,020 --> 00:50:42,056
It drives you to despair.

1099
00:50:42,056 --> 00:50:44,982
It drives you to be desperate.

1100
00:50:44,982 --> 00:50:47,070
But you know what I say?

1101
00:50:47,070 --> 00:50:49,832
Is look, this is often part of it.

1102
00:50:49,832 --> 00:50:52,300
This is often what God is doing.

1103
00:50:52,300 --> 00:50:55,424
Why? You have to remember this.

1104
00:50:55,424 --> 00:50:57,720
I think this is key.

1105
00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:01,371
Those Laodiceans -

1106
00:51:01,371 --> 00:51:05,614
if Jesus would have 
just broken in right away

1107
00:51:05,614 --> 00:51:06,622
and said to them,

1108
00:51:06,622 --> 00:51:08,447
"I stand at the door and knock.

1109
00:51:08,447 --> 00:51:10,201
Open up."

1110
00:51:10,201 --> 00:51:12,676
Well, you know what they were saying.

1111
00:51:12,676 --> 00:51:14,165
We're rich.

1112
00:51:14,165 --> 00:51:17,126
We've got our act together.

1113
00:51:17,126 --> 00:51:19,322
We don't need anything.

1114
00:51:19,322 --> 00:51:23,625
We've prospered. In need of nothing.

1115
00:51:23,625 --> 00:51:25,337
And you see, you feel so boldly

1116
00:51:25,337 --> 00:51:27,702
and confidently, "Yeah, I'm good."

1117
00:51:27,702 --> 00:51:30,947
"Christ, come on in."

1118
00:51:30,947 --> 00:51:32,329
But Jesus said this to them:

1119
00:51:32,329 --> 00:51:33,714
You know what the problem is?

1120
00:51:33,714 --> 00:51:37,130
You don't recognize 
the reality about yourself.

1121
00:51:37,130 --> 00:51:38,617
What?

1122
00:51:38,617 --> 00:51:40,463
The reality is that you're wretched,

1123
00:51:40,463 --> 00:51:44,653
miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

1124
00:51:44,653 --> 00:51:48,920
And you see, what we 
have to recognize is this:

1125
00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:52,579
That when Christ comes in, 
we don't deserve it.

1126
00:51:52,579 --> 00:51:53,739
We don't deserve it.

1127
00:51:53,739 --> 00:51:55,225
Our faith needs to go there.

1128
00:51:55,225 --> 00:51:57,678
Our faith needs to 
latch on to that reality.

1129
00:51:57,678 --> 00:52:00,671
Christ coming in and settling down,

1130
00:52:00,671 --> 00:52:04,167
it's entirely a mercy.

1131
00:52:04,167 --> 00:52:05,572
You don't deserve it

1132
00:52:05,572 --> 00:52:09,155
and your performance 
isn't the basis of it.

1133
00:52:09,155 --> 00:52:10,646
Look, it's true,

1134
00:52:10,646 --> 00:52:12,865
you can do things to 
drive your Master away.

1135
00:52:12,865 --> 00:52:16,339
There's no question about that.

1136
00:52:16,339 --> 00:52:19,847
But how does Jesus want the Laodiceans

1137
00:52:19,847 --> 00:52:21,441
to approach the door?

1138
00:52:21,441 --> 00:52:26,142
Confident? Got our act together?

1139
00:52:26,142 --> 00:52:27,555
Let me tell you this.

1140
00:52:27,555 --> 00:52:29,494
If you began to pray

1141
00:52:29,494 --> 00:52:31,264
and you began to seek this,

1142
00:52:31,264 --> 00:52:32,606
and suddenly God began

1143
00:52:32,606 --> 00:52:35,558
to show you things in your heart,

1144
00:52:35,558 --> 00:52:37,675
then you know what?

1145
00:52:37,675 --> 00:52:39,981
What you want to do 
is like the Laodiceans,

1146
00:52:39,981 --> 00:52:40,911
you want to repent.

1147
00:52:40,911 --> 00:52:42,551
You want to recognize what you are

1148
00:52:42,551 --> 00:52:44,336
in your own strength.

1149
00:52:44,336 --> 00:52:47,799
And recognize that this is 
God's way of taking you on,

1150
00:52:47,799 --> 00:52:50,123
taking you deeper.

1151
00:52:50,123 --> 00:52:53,484
To sweep that heart

1152
00:52:53,484 --> 00:52:54,787
that Christ may come in.

1153
00:52:54,787 --> 00:52:56,015
Don't resist that.

1154
00:52:56,015 --> 00:52:58,261
And don't be in despair because of it.

1155
00:52:58,261 --> 00:53:00,283
Oh, the devil will be right there saying,

1156
00:53:00,283 --> 00:53:01,983
"Look at you. You're a mess.

1157
00:53:01,983 --> 00:53:04,554
You think Christ is going to 
come in and dwell there?"

1158
00:53:04,554 --> 00:53:10,195
Listen, whatever his foul language may say

1159
00:53:10,195 --> 00:53:11,322
you remember this:

1160
00:53:11,322 --> 00:53:14,040
Christ came to save sinners.

1161
00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:15,957
And He came to save them

1162
00:53:15,957 --> 00:53:17,419
and He came to love them

1163
00:53:17,419 --> 00:53:19,111
and He came to commune with them

1164
00:53:19,111 --> 00:53:21,760
and He came to dwell within them.

1165
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:24,646
And never because of 
any merits on their part.

1166
00:53:24,646 --> 00:53:28,189
Simply because for their sake,

1167
00:53:28,189 --> 00:53:31,102
He's willing to die and to do this

1168
00:53:31,102 --> 00:53:38,572
that the glory of God might be shown.

1169
00:53:38,572 --> 00:53:40,028
Several years ago,

1170
00:53:40,028 --> 00:53:43,754
actually when I was in 
this portion of Scripture,

1171
00:53:43,754 --> 00:53:46,183
maybe a verse or two removed

1172
00:53:46,183 --> 00:53:47,603
from where we are right now,

1173
00:53:47,603 --> 00:53:54,368
I first brought up this picture.

1174
00:53:54,368 --> 00:53:58,001
Praying Payson - Edward Payson.

1175
00:53:58,001 --> 00:54:01,071
I'm going to his hometown.

1176
00:54:01,071 --> 00:54:03,592
I've seen his grave.

1177
00:54:03,592 --> 00:54:07,480
I'll be heading there in August.

1178
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:10,413
In Payson's works,

1179
00:54:10,413 --> 00:54:12,992
you remember the concentric circles.

1180
00:54:12,992 --> 00:54:14,870
He basically paints a picture.

1181
00:54:14,870 --> 00:54:19,777
Imagine the sun in the middle.

1182
00:54:19,777 --> 00:54:23,048
Concentric circles moving out.

1183
00:54:23,048 --> 00:54:29,628
Concentric means they 
all have the same center.

1184
00:54:29,628 --> 00:54:33,150
Concentric circles moving outward

1185
00:54:33,150 --> 00:54:36,905
like the orbit of planets 
in the solar system.

1186
00:54:36,905 --> 00:54:39,097
Christ is in the middle.

1187
00:54:39,097 --> 00:54:40,374
And you know what?

1188
00:54:40,374 --> 00:54:48,584
The tighter the diameter,

1189
00:54:48,584 --> 00:54:53,590
the more - more real, the closer

1190
00:54:53,590 --> 00:54:58,789
that Christ is dwelling.

1191
00:54:58,789 --> 00:55:04,651
And listen, Payson paints 
the picture like this:

1192
00:55:04,651 --> 00:55:12,066
he says those that are closest in -

1193
00:55:12,066 --> 00:55:14,670
closest to the sun -

1194
00:55:14,670 --> 00:55:17,530
he says, "they're the ones who value

1195
00:55:17,530 --> 00:55:20,440
the presence of their Savior

1196
00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:23,945
so highly that they cannot bear

1197
00:55:23,945 --> 00:55:29,726
to be at any remove from Him.

1198
00:55:29,726 --> 00:55:31,721
Even their work..."

1199
00:55:31,721 --> 00:55:33,347
He recognizes they need to work.

1200
00:55:33,347 --> 00:55:34,845
They can't be in prayer all day

1201
00:55:34,845 --> 00:55:36,845
or just sitting in their Bibles all day.

1202
00:55:36,845 --> 00:55:38,949
But even in their work,

1203
00:55:38,949 --> 00:55:43,482
"they will bring up and do it in the light

1204
00:55:43,482 --> 00:55:46,761
of His countenance."

1205
00:55:46,761 --> 00:55:50,057
They're knowing His presence

1206
00:55:50,057 --> 00:55:52,723
right there,

1207
00:55:52,723 --> 00:55:56,891
and they're mindful to find that presence.

1208
00:55:56,891 --> 00:55:59,751
Some of you have heard how Wesley said

1209
00:55:59,751 --> 00:56:02,889
he was determined to pray until he prayed.

1210
00:56:02,889 --> 00:56:06,120
He was willing to pray until he found God.

1211
00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:08,537
That's the kind of Christianity you want.

1212
00:56:08,537 --> 00:56:12,107
You want it to where you 
are going to press on

1213
00:56:12,107 --> 00:56:13,988
until you find Him.

1214
00:56:13,988 --> 00:56:18,483
These people - they don't 
want to ever lose Him.

1215
00:56:18,483 --> 00:56:20,636
They don't want to lose

1216
00:56:20,636 --> 00:56:27,273
"one ray, one beam of His light."

1217
00:56:27,273 --> 00:56:30,133
Now, he takes us out

1218
00:56:30,133 --> 00:56:34,999
to the next concentric circle.

1219
00:56:34,999 --> 00:56:37,819
He says, "Others,

1220
00:56:37,819 --> 00:56:41,105
who to be sure would not be content

1221
00:56:41,105 --> 00:56:45,926
to live out of Christ's presence,

1222
00:56:45,926 --> 00:56:49,152
but they're yet less wholly absorbed by it

1223
00:56:49,152 --> 00:56:54,058
than those on the inside.

1224
00:56:54,058 --> 00:56:56,445
And it may be seen a little farther off.

1225
00:56:56,445 --> 00:57:00,922
Engaged here and there 
in their various callings.

1226
00:57:00,922 --> 00:57:03,234
Their eyes generally upon their work,

1227
00:57:03,234 --> 00:57:06,809
but often looking up for the light

1228
00:57:06,809 --> 00:57:09,459
which they love."

1229
00:57:09,459 --> 00:57:13,614
But they're just not as sensitive.

1230
00:57:13,614 --> 00:57:16,188
Then he says there's a third class.

1231
00:57:16,188 --> 00:57:17,962
A third circle.

1232
00:57:17,962 --> 00:57:21,610
A bigger, broader diameter.

1233
00:57:21,610 --> 00:57:25,261
Further away.

1234
00:57:25,261 --> 00:57:27,516
It's beyond the first two.

1235
00:57:27,516 --> 00:57:32,096
"But, it's yet within 
the life-giving rays."

1236
00:57:32,096 --> 00:57:35,111
They're Christians.

1237
00:57:35,111 --> 00:57:37,308
"It includes a doubtful multitude."

1238
00:57:37,308 --> 00:57:38,969
And by "doubtful," he doesn't mean

1239
00:57:38,969 --> 00:57:41,006
doubtful whether they're saved.

1240
00:57:41,006 --> 00:57:44,220
He says they are within 
the light-giving rays.

1241
00:57:44,220 --> 00:57:46,150
They're doubtful

1242
00:57:46,150 --> 00:57:50,010
about what they really want most in life.

1243
00:57:50,010 --> 00:57:52,090
"Many of whom are so much engaged

1244
00:57:52,090 --> 00:57:55,161
in their worldly schemes.

1245
00:57:55,161 --> 00:58:01,910
They may be seen standing 
sideways to Christ."

1246
00:58:01,910 --> 00:58:04,729
Brethren, if the truth be known,

1247
00:58:04,729 --> 00:58:08,585
how many of us are sideways standers

1248
00:58:08,585 --> 00:58:11,468
to Christ?

1249
00:58:11,468 --> 00:58:13,539
"...Looking mostly the other way.

1250
00:58:13,539 --> 00:58:15,504
Only now and then turning their faces

1251
00:58:15,504 --> 00:58:18,729
towards the light."

1252
00:58:18,729 --> 00:58:22,014
Now he goes further out.

1253
00:58:22,014 --> 00:58:25,455
"Yet farther out, amongst the last

1254
00:58:25,455 --> 00:58:29,336
scattered rays of the sun.

1255
00:58:29,336 --> 00:58:33,328
So distant that it's often doubtful

1256
00:58:33,328 --> 00:58:36,269
whether they come at all

1257
00:58:36,269 --> 00:58:41,569
within the influence 
of those light beams."

1258
00:58:41,569 --> 00:58:44,001
They may not be real.

1259
00:58:44,001 --> 00:58:46,986
"It's a mixed assemblage of busy ones,

1260
00:58:46,986 --> 00:58:49,314
some with their backs

1261
00:58:49,314 --> 00:58:51,762
wholly turned upon the sun.

1262
00:58:51,762 --> 00:58:53,850
Most of them so careful and troubled

1263
00:58:53,850 --> 00:58:55,556
about their many things

1264
00:58:55,556 --> 00:58:57,653
as to spare but little time

1265
00:58:57,653 --> 00:59:00,000
for their Savior.

1266
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:01,799
The reason why the men of this world

1267
00:59:01,799 --> 00:59:04,556
think so little of Christ is 
they do not look at Him.

1268
00:59:04,556 --> 00:59:06,441
Their backs being turned to the sun,

1269
00:59:06,441 --> 00:59:09,512
they can see only their own shadows

1270
00:59:09,512 --> 00:59:11,578
and are therefore wholly taken up

1271
00:59:11,578 --> 00:59:12,621
with themselves.

1272
00:59:12,621 --> 00:59:13,818
While the true disciple,

1273
00:59:13,818 --> 00:59:16,927
looking only upward and inward,

1274
00:59:16,927 --> 00:59:18,692
sees nothing but his Savior

1275
00:59:18,692 --> 00:59:23,373
and learns to forget himself."

1276
00:59:23,373 --> 00:59:26,263
I would say this,

1277
00:59:26,263 --> 00:59:30,732
if Christ does not settle down -

1278
00:59:30,732 --> 00:59:32,970
this is the prayer -

1279
00:59:32,970 --> 00:59:36,333
that Christ may settle down

1280
00:59:36,333 --> 00:59:39,744
in your heart through faith.

1281
00:59:39,744 --> 00:59:48,112
If Christ doesn't settle down in you,

1282
00:59:48,112 --> 00:59:52,194
what do you have?

1283
00:59:52,194 --> 00:59:55,192
If you're in there by yourself,

1284
00:59:55,192 --> 01:00:00,548
and you look around and it's just you -

1285
01:00:00,548 --> 01:00:07,283
your will, your desires -

1286
01:00:07,283 --> 01:00:09,110
what do you have?

1287
01:00:09,110 --> 01:00:10,260
What loneliness!

1288
01:00:10,260 --> 01:00:13,326
What emptiness!

1289
01:00:13,326 --> 01:00:16,031
Are you there alone?

1290
01:00:16,031 --> 01:00:20,164
Or is the presence of Christ's 
own self there with you?

1291
01:00:20,164 --> 01:00:22,773
His personal presence. His power.

1292
01:00:22,773 --> 01:00:24,144
At the center of your being,

1293
01:00:24,144 --> 01:00:25,858
the center of your consciousness,

1294
01:00:25,858 --> 01:00:29,037
living there.

1295
01:00:29,037 --> 01:00:30,804
What the height of foolishness

1296
01:00:30,804 --> 01:00:32,818
to say, well, I believe.

1297
01:00:32,818 --> 01:00:34,633
So whatever you're talking about,

1298
01:00:34,633 --> 01:00:37,417
it must be real.

1299
01:00:37,417 --> 01:00:42,113
Height of foolishness 
to be content with that.

1300
01:00:42,113 --> 01:00:43,959
Look, you want to be like these people

1301
01:00:43,959 --> 01:00:47,553
who look up and there He is.

1302
01:00:47,553 --> 01:00:51,400
There are the beams of His light,

1303
01:00:51,400 --> 01:00:56,124
of His glory that radiate

1304
01:00:56,124 --> 01:00:58,465
and you have a sense:

1305
01:00:58,465 --> 01:01:00,792
I'm not alone.

1306
01:01:00,792 --> 01:01:02,762
He's here with me.

1307
01:01:02,762 --> 01:01:04,220
I'm not alone.

1308
01:01:04,220 --> 01:01:07,354
His blood has covered me.

1309
01:01:07,354 --> 01:01:10,550
I'm not alone. His voice speaks to me.

1310
01:01:10,550 --> 01:01:15,084
I'm not alone. I smell the 
fragrance of His presence.

1311
01:01:15,084 --> 01:01:16,707
I feel Him here.

1312
01:01:16,707 --> 01:01:18,377
I feel Him on my conscience.

1313
01:01:18,377 --> 01:01:19,945
I feel Him in my thoughts.

1314
01:01:19,945 --> 01:01:21,742
I feel Him in my desires.

1315
01:01:21,742 --> 01:01:24,189
I feel Him in my hungering and thirsting.

1316
01:01:24,189 --> 01:01:28,459
I hear Him.

1317
01:01:28,459 --> 01:01:31,814
That voice.

1318
01:01:31,814 --> 01:01:33,111
You don't want to just say,

1319
01:01:33,111 --> 01:01:37,129
no, it's not true, but I'm a believer,

1320
01:01:37,129 --> 01:01:38,461
so it must be true.

1321
01:01:38,461 --> 01:01:41,127
You try to persuade yourself of that.

1322
01:01:41,127 --> 01:01:42,414
The question is this:

1323
01:01:42,414 --> 01:01:46,485
is Christ a living reality?

1324
01:01:46,485 --> 01:01:48,132
And you know what it seems like

1325
01:01:48,132 --> 01:01:50,982
to those who say, "yes, He is"?

1326
01:01:50,982 --> 01:01:55,073
Those are the ones more 
desperate to get more.

1327
01:01:55,073 --> 01:01:57,402
Oh, this is good.

1328
01:01:57,402 --> 01:02:00,284
Lloyd-Jones said this -

1329
01:02:00,284 --> 01:02:04,047
and I feel it's spot on -

1330
01:02:04,047 --> 01:02:06,026
he says, "I've often felt that there are

1331
01:02:06,026 --> 01:02:07,958
many people today

1332
01:02:07,958 --> 01:02:11,570
who have taken so much by faith,

1333
01:02:11,570 --> 01:02:14,580
that they have nothing."

1334
01:02:14,580 --> 01:02:17,988
You hear what he's saying?

1335
01:02:17,988 --> 01:02:21,760
Of course, he's not talking 
about genuine faith.

1336
01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:24,535
Because I'll tell you 
what genuine faith does.

1337
01:02:24,535 --> 01:02:27,126
You know it - those 
champions in Scripture,

1338
01:02:27,126 --> 01:02:29,671
or you find people that "by faith..."

1339
01:02:29,671 --> 01:02:31,995
one guy did this, 
"by faith" she did this,

1340
01:02:31,995 --> 01:02:33,778
"by faith..."

1341
01:02:33,778 --> 01:02:35,856
What did they do? They pressed forward.

1342
01:02:35,856 --> 01:02:38,182
They saw the promise.

1343
01:02:38,182 --> 01:02:41,467
And they sought to embrace that promise.

1344
01:02:41,467 --> 01:02:43,992
They saw a city

1345
01:02:43,992 --> 01:02:46,119
whose foundations were of God

1346
01:02:46,119 --> 01:02:47,381
and they pressed forth.

1347
01:02:47,381 --> 01:02:48,822
And you know what it says?

1348
01:02:48,822 --> 01:02:50,927
It says they had opportunity to go back,

1349
01:02:50,927 --> 01:02:52,337
but they didn't go back.

1350
01:02:52,337 --> 01:02:55,021
And you know what? You 
have an opportunity to go back,

1351
01:02:55,021 --> 01:02:58,992
just like it was before you 
ever heard this message.

1352
01:02:58,992 --> 01:03:00,853
But you know what they did by faith?

1353
01:03:00,853 --> 01:03:02,933
They embraced the promises.

1354
01:03:02,933 --> 01:03:04,726
They obtained the promises.

1355
01:03:04,726 --> 01:03:05,866
That's what faith does.

1356
01:03:05,866 --> 01:03:07,269
Faith presses in.

1357
01:03:07,269 --> 01:03:08,212
Faith goes on.

1358
01:03:08,212 --> 01:03:09,896
What Lloyd-Jones is talking about

1359
01:03:09,896 --> 01:03:11,170
is the kind of faith

1360
01:03:11,170 --> 01:03:14,875
that is not true faith at all.

1361
01:03:14,875 --> 01:03:17,628
It believes some facts 
it's content therewith

1362
01:03:17,628 --> 01:03:20,014
and it just seeks to persuade oneself

1363
01:03:20,014 --> 01:03:23,821
that all these theories in their brain

1364
01:03:23,821 --> 01:03:25,777
are somehow reality.

1365
01:03:25,777 --> 01:03:28,070
But it doesn't act on what it believes.

1366
01:03:28,070 --> 01:03:30,015
Listen, if you believe this;

1367
01:03:30,015 --> 01:03:31,426
if you believe there is a way

1368
01:03:31,426 --> 01:03:35,474
to go over and open the door,

1369
01:03:35,474 --> 01:03:37,064
then I would take up your mind

1370
01:03:37,064 --> 01:03:38,828
and your thought and your meditations

1371
01:03:38,828 --> 01:03:40,185
and your Scripture readings

1372
01:03:40,185 --> 01:03:41,533
and your prayers with:

1373
01:03:41,533 --> 01:03:43,941
"Lord, show me and teach me

1374
01:03:43,941 --> 01:03:45,339
and strengthen me

1375
01:03:45,339 --> 01:03:48,346
according to the riches of Your glory

1376
01:03:48,346 --> 01:03:50,063
that I might have the strength

1377
01:03:50,063 --> 01:03:52,481
to persist enough to 
make it over to the door

1378
01:03:52,481 --> 01:03:53,666
and open it up.

1379
01:03:53,666 --> 01:03:54,888
I want You in here.

1380
01:03:54,888 --> 01:03:57,067
I want to know something about You

1381
01:03:57,067 --> 01:04:00,298
beyond what I know now!"

1382
01:04:00,298 --> 01:04:03,496
Anybody else want that?

1383
01:04:03,496 --> 01:04:05,958
I hope you do.

1384
01:04:05,958 --> 01:04:08,717
Embrace it. Chase it. Pursue it.

1385
01:04:08,717 --> 01:04:10,711
Open that door.

1386
01:04:10,711 --> 01:04:12,436
Pray. That's what Paul was doing.

1387
01:04:12,436 --> 01:04:13,738
Pray.

1388
01:04:13,738 --> 01:04:15,994
We need to be strengthened to persist

1389
01:04:15,994 --> 01:04:17,688
and to pursue:

1390
01:04:17,688 --> 01:04:20,179
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

1391
01:04:20,179 --> 01:04:21,683
Lord, I want this,

1392
01:04:21,683 --> 01:04:23,489
but help me to want it more.

1393
01:04:23,489 --> 01:04:25,352
Strengthen me to pursue.

1394
01:04:25,352 --> 01:04:31,288
Strengthen me to press in.

1395
01:04:31,288 --> 01:04:33,006
Because we can get all lathered up,

1396
01:04:33,006 --> 01:04:35,321
and I know many times 
through my Christian life

1397
01:04:35,321 --> 01:04:37,050
I've been right there.

1398
01:04:37,050 --> 01:04:39,486
You feel so powerfully affected,

1399
01:04:39,486 --> 01:04:42,852
like, oh, I could never go 
back to how I was before.

1400
01:04:42,852 --> 01:04:44,628
And then what happens? A week later,

1401
01:04:44,628 --> 01:04:47,595
you're back to where you were before.

1402
01:04:47,595 --> 01:04:50,120
Why?

1403
01:04:50,120 --> 01:04:52,424
Why?

1404
01:04:52,424 --> 01:04:54,197
Because we need to be strengthened.

1405
01:04:54,197 --> 01:04:55,521
We need more resolve.

1406
01:04:55,521 --> 01:04:58,623
We need more commitment.

1407
01:04:58,623 --> 01:05:01,276
We need more humility.

1408
01:05:01,276 --> 01:05:02,929
We need to see ourselves more like

1409
01:05:02,929 --> 01:05:04,696
what Jesus was telling

1410
01:05:04,696 --> 01:05:08,471
those Laodiceans they needed to see them.

1411
01:05:08,471 --> 01:05:10,042
You're miserable.

1412
01:05:10,042 --> 01:05:11,144
You're wretched.

1413
01:05:11,144 --> 01:05:13,369
You're poor, you're blind, 
and you're naked.

1414
01:05:13,369 --> 01:05:15,653
By ourselves, we are.

1415
01:05:15,653 --> 01:05:20,376
Separate from Christ, 
that's exactly what we are.

1416
01:05:20,376 --> 01:05:22,987
"Vile" is how Wesley put it.

1417
01:05:22,987 --> 01:05:25,845
As Christians, aren't we obedient?

1418
01:05:25,845 --> 01:05:27,393
As Christians, aren't we good?

1419
01:05:27,393 --> 01:05:30,433
Yes, but you can view those realities

1420
01:05:30,433 --> 01:05:32,525
separate from Christ.

1421
01:05:32,525 --> 01:05:34,116
When we become self-confident -

1422
01:05:34,116 --> 01:05:37,202
that's where the Laodiceans 
were - self-confident.

1423
01:05:37,202 --> 01:05:40,895
You know what kind of 
Laodicean lukewarm attitude,

1424
01:05:40,895 --> 01:05:43,674
how it would manifest itself here?

1425
01:05:43,674 --> 01:05:45,643
It's just: I'm good.

1426
01:05:45,643 --> 01:05:47,575
That's what they were: "I'm good."

1427
01:05:47,575 --> 01:05:49,685
We got it. We're okay.

1428
01:05:49,685 --> 01:05:51,284
We're rich.

1429
01:05:51,284 --> 01:05:52,616
We've got our act together.

1430
01:05:52,616 --> 01:05:53,863
Things are good.

1431
01:05:53,863 --> 01:05:55,712
And you get done 
with this, and it's like,

1432
01:05:55,712 --> 01:05:57,922
"Whatever. I'm good."

1433
01:05:57,922 --> 01:06:01,125
"I'm out of here."

1434
01:06:01,125 --> 01:06:06,344
That's a present-day Laodicean.

1435
01:06:06,344 --> 01:06:10,513
May God help us to abhor that

1436
01:06:10,513 --> 01:06:13,049
and press on.

1437
01:06:13,049 --> 01:06:14,633
Don't be content.

1438
01:06:14,633 --> 01:06:21,783
Don't be content to not be able to say,

1439
01:06:21,783 --> 01:06:22,714
you know what?

1440
01:06:22,714 --> 01:06:24,652
I don't know the fullness of that text;

1441
01:06:24,652 --> 01:06:29,069
I don't know the fullness 
of Ephesians 3:17,

1442
01:06:29,069 --> 01:06:31,065
but you know what, ever since 
I heard it preached on,

1443
01:06:31,065 --> 01:06:33,118
I have longed, I have thought on it,

1444
01:06:33,118 --> 01:06:34,416
I have meditated on it,

1445
01:06:34,416 --> 01:06:36,562
I have given myself to thinking about it,

1446
01:06:36,562 --> 01:06:37,832
I've prayed for it.

1447
01:06:37,832 --> 01:06:39,793
I am pursuing God for it.

1448
01:06:39,793 --> 01:06:44,162
And you know what?
You know what the reality is?

1449
01:06:44,162 --> 01:06:46,820
I don't know as much as 
I think I can know about that,

1450
01:06:46,820 --> 01:06:49,177
but God has broken in.

1451
01:06:49,177 --> 01:06:50,442
There has been light.

1452
01:06:50,442 --> 01:06:54,274
There has been a closeness.

1453
01:06:54,274 --> 01:06:56,589
Things are happening.

1454
01:06:56,589 --> 01:06:59,563
Because when Christ comes in -

1455
01:06:59,563 --> 01:07:05,186
"I will come into him."

1456
01:07:05,186 --> 01:07:06,861
That's what He promises.

1457
01:07:06,861 --> 01:07:11,904
"I will come in."

1458
01:07:11,904 --> 01:07:13,605
Look, if it happens,

1459
01:07:13,605 --> 01:07:15,781
you're going to be able 
to have a testimony

1460
01:07:15,781 --> 01:07:18,673
that you're going to be able to share.

1461
01:07:18,673 --> 01:07:20,483
What could be better?

1462
01:07:20,483 --> 01:07:21,925
What can be more glorious?

1463
01:07:21,925 --> 01:07:24,622
What? You're too busy?

1464
01:07:24,622 --> 01:07:26,125
Are you too busy to sleep?

1465
01:07:26,125 --> 01:07:28,843
Are you too busy to eat?

1466
01:07:28,843 --> 01:07:32,513
Are you too busy for this?

1467
01:07:32,513 --> 01:07:33,855
What's more important?

1468
01:07:33,855 --> 01:07:36,152
Man doesn't live by bread alone.

1469
01:07:36,152 --> 01:07:40,259
What's most important?

1470
01:07:40,259 --> 01:07:46,525
Look at that prayer and say:

1471
01:07:46,525 --> 01:07:51,161
God promises something in that prayer

1472
01:07:51,161 --> 01:07:53,068
and I want it.

1473
01:07:53,068 --> 01:07:56,027
Lord, give it to me.

1474
01:07:56,027 --> 01:07:59,480
Please, Lord, give it to me.

1475
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:04,513
Father, I pray for all of us.

1476
01:08:04,513 --> 01:08:06,919
Give us more.

1477
01:08:06,919 --> 01:08:09,056
Give us more.

1478
01:08:09,056 --> 01:08:11,162
And give us a discontentment

1479
01:08:11,162 --> 01:08:15,898
to simply drink of the broken cisterns.

1480
01:08:15,898 --> 01:08:18,837
Give us more.

1481
01:08:18,837 --> 01:08:21,060
I pray in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ,

1482
01:08:21,060 --> 01:08:21,880
Amen.