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I'm absolutely convinced what we need

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in our families more than anything else

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are men and women who are putting on the new man

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in the power of God.

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Men that are living by faith,

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women that are living lives looking to Christ.

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Full of the Spirit. Full of the power of God.

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Full of joy.

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I really believe that this is the heart and soul of healthy families.

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That's why I don't believe, brethren, that I've strayed at all.

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Last week, as I've been progressing through Ephesians 4

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I came across that verse there in 4:30

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that has to do with grieving the Spirit.

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Well, from there I jumped back into Ephesians 3,

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simply because one of the main operations

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of the Spirit is described there.

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And if we grieve the Spirit,

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then we quench such operations.

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So it's key.

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If we live in families where the Spirit of God is quenched,

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true Christians though you may be,

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you can not survive spiritually without the power of God.

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Jesus said it. "Without Me, you can do nothing."

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And of course, what He means by that

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as we look at His teaching,

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when He said that He was leaving,

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How can we live with Him -

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without Him we can't do anything.

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How can we live with Him when He is departed?

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Well, He said, "I'm not going to leave you orphans."

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And what He did was He sent us the Spirit of God

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to be with us.

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And He lives with us.

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And in us, by way of that Spirit.

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That Spirit is the channel by which,

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that Spirit is the Person of the Godhead

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that puts the fire and the energy

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into the life of the child of God.

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Now, brethren, I'm not ready to leave it.

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What we dealt with last week and not grieving the Spirit.

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Then I went back to Ephesians 3.

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I'm not ready to leave there.

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In fact, I'm probably going to stay there next week as well.

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And then after that, Mack Tomlinson's coming in.

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I don't know if this is going to just be more

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of a devotional this morning.

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I don't know what this is going to turn out to be.

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I know where I want to go with it.

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And I guess where I'd like us to go right now...

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there's that simple passage there in Ephesians 4:30,

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it says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God."

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And by which we've been sealed

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to the day of Redemption.

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Now, brethren, let me just say something about that.

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Sealed. It's interesting - you find this idea 3 times

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in the New Testament, twice in Ephesians,

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that we've been sealed by the Spirit.

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Well, actually, the first time Paul talks about this concept...

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What's a seal? Before I jump any further?

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What's a seal?

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Basically, if you had a document,

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and they would have taken some melted wax possibly,

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and put it on that document right where it folded over,

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and pressed a ring into it or something.

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Basically, that seal would have been a mark

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as to who that document was composed by,

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or who it belonged to.

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Whose authority stood behind it.

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Now here's what the apostle says, the first time

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to the Ephesians back in chapter 1

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when he talks to them about the fact that they're sealed.

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He says that the Spirit of God has sealed them,

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and then He says this Spirit is the guarantee

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of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

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Brethren, the idea is this:

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The Spirit of God has been given to us

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who have not yet reached glory,

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as a guarantee.

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And I can tell you this:

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Something is not a guarantee unless

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you know it's there.

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It's basically the idea of a down payment.

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It's basically the idea of that pre-payment

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that's made that gaurantees that

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all the rest is going to come.

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And I can tell you this,

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if you were selling something and you demanded

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a down payment from somebody, and they say,

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"Well yes, I've given it to you, but you can't see it."

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It's invisible, it's hidden.

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There's no clear and visible marks to it.

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Well, that doesn't do any good.

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What guarantees us, what brings us that assurance

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in this life is that the Spirit of God is in our lives.

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He's within us; He's with us; He empowers us.

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He does things within us that we see,

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we feel, we experience, they affect us.

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And in so doing we look at that and we say,

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"Wow, I'm one of the Lord's."

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Have you never read right there in Romans 5

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that it says that the Spirit of God

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pours the love of God into our heart?

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Have you never read there in Romans 8,

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that it says that that Spirit bears witness with our spirit

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that we're children of God.

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That's what happens. We have a witness bearing.

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We have love being poured in.

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We have operations.

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The very heart of God is communicated to us

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by way of the Spirit.

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And that's exactly what we were looking at

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in Ephesians 3 last week,

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so let's go back there and read that.

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Ephesians 3:14 - you see, brethren,

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the reason I jump back here is

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because if we grieve the Spirit Who pours

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the love of God into our hearts,

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if we grieve the Spirit Who

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proclaims to us that we are children of God;

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if we grieve the Spirit Who makes

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the love of Christ comprehendable,

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then His fiery influences are quenched.

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And we don't want to do that.

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Oh, if there's anything that's key to healthy families,

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brethren, it's right here.

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I'll tell you this, the most transformed families,

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the most growing families, the most blessed families,

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are where the Spirit of God is most powerfully

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and actively demonstrating His influences.

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No question about it. Brethren, we want to be sensitive

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that we do not grieve Him.

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So let's go back there, Ephesians 3:14

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

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from Whom every family 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 with power

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through His Spirit in your inner being,

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,

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that you being rooted and grounded in love

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may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

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what is the breadth, and length, and height and depth

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and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

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that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

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Now brethren, I don't know whether

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it occurred to you just now,

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But this is a prayer.

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Do you all see that?

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Paul is bowing his knees in verse 14.

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Why?

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Because he's praying. This is a prayer.

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You bow your knees when you pray.

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He's lifting up the Ephesians

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in the sight of God.

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He's praying for them.

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Brethren, let me ask you this.

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Why?

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Why do you think he's praying for the Christians at Ephesus?

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Brethren, probably because as an apostle

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who had visited many churches and started many churches

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and planted many churches, and as one

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who was a Christian himself,

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he likely understood that the people at Ephesus

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were just like you and me.

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Struggling people. Real people.

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Brethren, I think sometimes we can get to thinking

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that because somebody - you know, the Ephesians,

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there they are, they're addressed by an apostle of Jesus Christ.

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They're called faithful.

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And I think sometimes we get the idea

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that because people are mentioned in the Bible,

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and they lived a long way away, a long time in the past,

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and because we don't know them personally,

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we can make super-Christians out of them.

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We can think them to be something that they weren't.

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You know what? Look, I know reality.

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Reality in this church.

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You know what reality in this church is?

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Men and women get married.

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They find out that Paul, when he said that

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he would spare people from difficulties,

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they get into marriage, and they find out,

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wow, that was true, we've got difficulties.

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We've got men who are striving to learn

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how to love their wives,

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women who are striving to learn how to

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submit to their husbands.

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Love their husbands.

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Men and women that are struggling to figure out

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how to raise their children; love their children.

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Properly discipline their children.

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I mean, you haven't had children if you think it's easy

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to just tow the line with regard to spanking and discipline

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and basically to set up the boundaries and to keep that perfectly,

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and to not compromise.

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Brethren, you know what?

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The ravages of divorce were real in that day.

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There were families without fathers, families without mothers.

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There were families where deaths occurred.

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There were people that were struggling.

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Look! Sometimes we have problems in our marraiges

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that we feel embarrassed.

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Sometimes there's sexual issues

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and there's struggles between husband and wife.

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Things that a lot of times we're embarrassed.

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Brethren, I'll tell you, it was real life back then.

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The same things that you struggle with,

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that you get angry over, that you have problems with,

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making ends meet, getting angry over your wife

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because she spent too much money,

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you don't know how you're going to be able to pay the bills

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and she's out there buying this and that.

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Men can do the same thing.

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Brethren, the realities, the things that cause frustration

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in your life, in my life, the greatest hindrances

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to moving and excelling in our families,

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they were real back then, brethren.

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The people back then were just like us.

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Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians.

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When you and I read it, we find,

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wow, it helps us. It's really tremendous.

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It's helpful. You know what?

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It was to them too.

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Why? Because they're just like us.

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Brethren, the same thing...

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the reason Paul's words seem so real,

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so alive, so applicable to us,

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when they were in fact first spoken to the Ephesians

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is because we're the same.

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There's nothing new under the sun.

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But here's the thing.

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Brethren, think with me.

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Here we are. We're in prayer meeting.

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It's not Sunday morning anyways, it's Wednesday evening.

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We meet here. We get together to pray.

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Let's just say, a sister says,

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"I'm married to a lost husband."

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She's here by herself, with her children.

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I'm married to a lost husband.

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Church would you please pray for me?

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I'm really having problems.

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Maybe the husband hits her.

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Maybe the husband is just lazy.

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Maybe he's a heavy drinker.

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Any number of these kind of problems can come up.

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Brethren, think about how we typically pray.

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How do we typically pray?

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Think. How would you?

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We have several brethren and they pray,

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"Lord, please help our sister."

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There's nothing wrong with that. That's good, that's fine.

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I mean what I'm about to say is just an example.

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I've been to prayer meetings for the last twenty years of my life.

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I've heard lots of them. I know how the brethren pray.

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And I'm not fault finding at all.

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It's fine. It's good. It's well.

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We'll get together and we'll pray.

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And there are different levels of maturity

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obviously in the prayers that come forth.

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But how often the prayer is, "Lord, bless them."

260
00:14:12,235 --> 00:14:14,095
That's a very common thing.

261
00:14:14,095 --> 00:14:18,084
"Lord, bless them." That's kind of where the new Christian goes.

262
00:14:18,084 --> 00:14:21,986
There's not a whole lot of depth there, but just "bless them."

263
00:14:21,986 --> 00:14:26,208
"Lord, help them." "Lord, our sister..."

264
00:14:26,208 --> 00:14:29,759
we recite back the things that are happening.

265
00:14:29,759 --> 00:14:32,494
"Lord, please protect her."

266
00:14:32,494 --> 00:14:38,702
A lot of times we pray, "correct the problem, Lord."

267
00:14:38,702 --> 00:14:41,140
She's got a lazy husband - make him work.

268
00:14:41,140 --> 00:14:44,119
She's got a drunk husband - make him quit.

269
00:14:44,119 --> 00:14:47,947
She's got a husband that beats her - make him stop.

270
00:14:47,947 --> 00:14:50,401
Lord, save him.

271
00:14:50,401 --> 00:14:53,197
Those are very common ways to pray.

272
00:14:53,197 --> 00:14:58,530
Listen. You know this is true.

273
00:14:58,530 --> 00:15:02,740
The ways that Paul prays

274
00:15:02,740 --> 00:15:04,678
they almost stagger us.

275
00:15:04,678 --> 00:15:06,848
It's almost like, "what?"

276
00:15:06,848 --> 00:15:09,292
It's like his words are so profound and so deep

277
00:15:09,292 --> 00:15:11,132
and he's got so many thoughts in there,

278
00:15:11,132 --> 00:15:13,433
it's like you almost have to read the thing for six weeks

279
00:15:13,433 --> 00:15:18,626
to even draw out what he's saying.

280
00:15:18,626 --> 00:15:22,418
Brethren, listen to this:

281
00:15:22,418 --> 00:15:24,694
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father."

282
00:15:24,694 --> 00:15:29,496
Ok, so far we're good. Right? We kind of get that.

283
00:15:29,496 --> 00:15:33,536
"From Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named."

284
00:15:33,536 --> 00:15:36,574
Now there I stop getting everything.

285
00:15:36,574 --> 00:15:40,424
"Every family in heaven and on earth is named."

286
00:15:40,424 --> 00:15:45,974
It's crossed my mind, I need to look at the original there

287
00:15:45,974 --> 00:15:47,772
and really scope that out.

288
00:15:47,772 --> 00:15:50,101
There's some concepts there that Paul's hitting on

289
00:15:50,101 --> 00:15:52,599
that I think are probably phenomenal.

290
00:15:52,599 --> 00:15:55,861
"That according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you

291
00:15:55,861 --> 00:15:59,489
to be strengthened with power..."

292
00:15:59,489 --> 00:16:03,106
Strength. Now, just catch that.

293
00:16:03,106 --> 00:16:05,558
That's a good thing. We want to be strong.

294
00:16:05,559 --> 00:16:08,119
And he's of course speaking about spiritual strength.

295
00:16:08,119 --> 00:16:11,037
And that spiritual strength comes from power.

296
00:16:11,037 --> 00:16:14,971
Right? Power. Energy.

297
00:16:14,971 --> 00:16:18,860
Power is what brings strength.

298
00:16:18,860 --> 00:16:23,665
"Through His Spirit." So the Spirit is that Person

299
00:16:23,665 --> 00:16:29,544
Who dispenses this power of God to us.

300
00:16:29,544 --> 00:16:31,427
"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,

301
00:16:31,427 --> 00:16:34,199
that you being rooted and grounded in love."

302
00:16:34,199 --> 00:16:36,032
So, I mean, he's saying this stuff,

303
00:16:36,032 --> 00:16:37,849
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."

304
00:16:37,849 --> 00:16:41,360
We get that. By faith, He dwells in us.

305
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,466
Of course, He dwells in us by this very Spirit.

306
00:16:45,466 --> 00:16:48,748
"You being rooted and grounded in love."

307
00:16:48,748 --> 00:16:52,627
So it's like you're planted. You're a plant of God's planting,

308
00:16:52,627 --> 00:16:55,873
and you're planted in the soil of love.

309
00:16:55,873 --> 00:16:59,973
And in this soil of love, with by faith Christ and His Spirit

310
00:16:59,973 --> 00:17:04,221
dwelling within you, the Spirit Who is this power giver,

311
00:17:04,221 --> 00:17:06,774
That gives strength, to do what?

312
00:17:06,774 --> 00:17:09,523
What's all this strength about anyway?

313
00:17:09,523 --> 00:17:12,395
Verse 18, "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

314
00:17:12,395 --> 00:17:15,147
what is the breadth and length and height and depth

315
00:17:15,147 --> 00:17:17,498
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

316
00:17:17,498 --> 00:17:22,690
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

317
00:17:22,690 --> 00:17:26,883
Now brethren, this is the way to pray.

318
00:17:26,883 --> 00:17:29,945
Because let me tell you something.

319
00:17:29,945 --> 00:17:35,187
Think with me here, brethren. Think with me.

320
00:17:35,187 --> 00:17:39,126
You've got a mother. This is real life.

321
00:17:39,126 --> 00:17:43,845
A mother who is about going over the edge.

322
00:17:43,845 --> 00:17:48,192
Her head's about going under the water.

323
00:17:48,192 --> 00:17:51,528
I mean, here she is, she's trying to figure out how to be a mother.

324
00:17:51,528 --> 00:17:54,642
Trying to figure out how to raise some little children.

325
00:17:54,642 --> 00:17:57,631
She's trying to figure out how to dish out her time.

326
00:17:57,631 --> 00:17:59,173
And then her husband comes home.

327
00:17:59,173 --> 00:18:00,931
He wants her attention. He wants to talk to her.

328
00:18:00,931 --> 00:18:02,707
He wants to communicate with her.

329
00:18:02,707 --> 00:18:05,037
He wants dinner. He wants intimacy.

330
00:18:05,037 --> 00:18:08,220
He wants this... she's just staggering all over the place.

331
00:18:08,220 --> 00:18:10,195
There she is at home one day,

332
00:18:10,195 --> 00:18:14,173
and you come along and pray like this.

333
00:18:14,173 --> 00:18:17,992
I come along and I call her up pastorally,

334
00:18:17,992 --> 00:18:19,282
and say, "Sister, I know you're struggling here,

335
00:18:19,282 --> 00:18:21,009
I'm going to bow my knees before the Father,

336
00:18:21,009 --> 00:18:23,363
I'm going to begin to pray to Him from Whom

337
00:18:23,363 --> 00:18:27,406
every family in heaven and on earth is named.

338
00:18:27,406 --> 00:18:29,345
That according to the riches of His glory He may grant

339
00:18:29,345 --> 00:18:31,269
you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit

340
00:18:31,269 --> 00:18:33,320
in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart

341
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,886
through faith, sister, so that you being rooted and gounded

342
00:18:36,886 --> 00:18:38,855
in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

343
00:18:38,855 --> 00:18:41,342
what is the breadth and length and height and depth

344
00:18:41,342 --> 00:18:43,902
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

345
00:18:43,902 --> 00:18:49,239
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

346
00:18:49,239 --> 00:18:53,709
Now I don't know, typically, but I'm thinking that

347
00:18:53,709 --> 00:19:01,636
if I just rattled that off, it'd just be like whew...

348
00:19:01,636 --> 00:19:07,360
that's nice, brother.

349
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,586
But I think she gets off the phone

350
00:19:09,586 --> 00:19:15,988
and she goes back to being overwhelmed, right?

351
00:19:15,988 --> 00:19:22,816
Brethren, we can look at this and we can think,

352
00:19:22,816 --> 00:19:26,490
"Come on, Paul! You're dealing with real people

353
00:19:26,490 --> 00:19:31,201
here with real problems. Can't you just pray,

354
00:19:31,201 --> 00:19:35,755
God, help the ladies in the church that are

355
00:19:35,755 --> 00:19:38,231
struggling with raising children?

356
00:19:38,231 --> 00:19:41,469
Can't you just come down off your theological high horse here

357
00:19:41,469 --> 00:19:45,334
and just meet us where we live?

358
00:19:45,334 --> 00:19:51,195
Brethren, I can only imagine Paul might answer

359
00:19:51,195 --> 00:19:53,686
something like this, you know, you read it there

360
00:19:53,686 --> 00:20:02,222
1 Thessalonians 2, he had a nursing heart,

361
00:20:02,222 --> 00:20:04,864
like a mother who nursed her children.

362
00:20:04,864 --> 00:20:09,553
He said that he was like a father to his children.

363
00:20:09,553 --> 00:20:12,576
I'll tell you this, he'd come along and he'd say,

364
00:20:12,576 --> 00:20:15,403
"Oh, my precious, precious children,

365
00:20:15,403 --> 00:20:19,059
in the midst of all your struggles and trials,

366
00:20:19,059 --> 00:20:23,787
do you not realize that the reason I pray this way for you

367
00:20:23,787 --> 00:20:27,863
is this is exactly what you need more than anything else."

368
00:20:27,863 --> 00:20:30,187
Now it's true there may be complexities here,

369
00:20:30,187 --> 00:20:32,466
and there may be depth here,

370
00:20:32,466 --> 00:20:36,568
but brethren,

371
00:20:36,568 --> 00:20:39,295
this is what we need.

372
00:20:39,295 --> 00:20:41,831
More than anything else.

373
00:20:41,831 --> 00:20:45,956
If you could just comprehend.

374
00:20:45,956 --> 00:20:51,868
Brethren, I want you to see what's going on.

375
00:20:51,868 --> 00:20:55,495
Paul is praying for comprehension.

376
00:20:55,495 --> 00:21:00,319
He realizes this: He realizes that when that mother,

377
00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:05,380
in that place, is sitting there with those children

378
00:21:05,380 --> 00:21:09,441
in that home, with her certain set of

379
00:21:09,441 --> 00:21:12,010
struggles and trials,

380
00:21:12,010 --> 00:21:14,911
or that man as he's trying to make ends meet

381
00:21:14,911 --> 00:21:16,195
as he's trying to provide for his family,

382
00:21:16,195 --> 00:21:19,173
lead his wife, love his wife, lead his children,

383
00:21:19,173 --> 00:21:22,027
instruct his children - in all these things,

384
00:21:22,027 --> 00:21:25,706
as he feels his failures, he feels the struggles of the flesh,

385
00:21:25,706 --> 00:21:27,813
he feels these things.

386
00:21:27,813 --> 00:21:31,817
Singles that are trying to keep single

387
00:21:31,817 --> 00:21:34,898
and to do it with contentment,

388
00:21:34,898 --> 00:21:37,043
as you feel these struggles of life.

389
00:21:37,043 --> 00:21:40,008
What Paul breaks in there and says,

390
00:21:40,008 --> 00:21:46,000
Look, it's fine to pray that God bless one another,

391
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,380
it's fine to pray that God help one another,

392
00:21:49,380 --> 00:21:51,585
but what you folks need more than anything

393
00:21:51,585 --> 00:21:53,926
is what I'm praying for right here.

394
00:21:53,926 --> 00:21:58,664
You need a comprehension of certain realities.

395
00:21:58,664 --> 00:22:00,948
But if you could just see them, if you could feel them

396
00:22:00,948 --> 00:22:02,334
if you could touch them,

397
00:22:02,334 --> 00:22:05,421
if you could have the hope in those things,

398
00:22:05,421 --> 00:22:09,460
you would come back to this world's cares and troubles

399
00:22:09,460 --> 00:22:15,421
as one has said, like giants refreshed with new wine

400
00:22:15,421 --> 00:22:17,989
caring nothing for anything that might happen.

401
00:22:17,989 --> 00:22:21,161
Christ would be so sweetly and blessedly within you

402
00:22:21,161 --> 00:22:24,487
that you could bear the burden and think nothing of it.

403
00:22:24,487 --> 00:22:26,914
Brethren, that's precisely where Paul is going,

404
00:22:26,914 --> 00:22:28,580
that's what he's praying for.

405
00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:36,737
The ability in you, in me, to be able to comprehend.

406
00:22:36,737 --> 00:22:40,494
The greatest realities -

407
00:22:40,494 --> 00:22:45,072
the love Christ has for His chosen people.

408
00:22:45,072 --> 00:22:51,450
Brethren, what was it it said in that song?

409
00:22:51,450 --> 00:22:59,015
It was that last stanza of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing."

410
00:22:59,015 --> 00:23:06,506
It said something about, "Lord, don't deny me Yourself."

411
00:23:06,506 --> 00:23:12,029
Brethren, the love of Christ...

412
00:23:12,029 --> 00:23:14,523
it was Spurgeon that said that giant thing.

413
00:23:14,523 --> 00:23:17,659
He's right.

414
00:23:17,659 --> 00:23:25,286
You will be like a giant refreshed with new wine,

415
00:23:25,286 --> 00:23:30,224
if you'll be struck by the love of Christ.

416
00:23:30,224 --> 00:23:36,918
You see, Paul wasn't trying to drown us theologically.

417
00:23:36,918 --> 00:23:41,183
He was bypassing the lesser things,

418
00:23:41,183 --> 00:23:42,957
the more trivial things,

419
00:23:42,957 --> 00:23:45,389
and he was going right to the heart of the matter.

420
00:23:45,389 --> 00:23:49,115
He knows if that sister with the lost husband

421
00:23:49,115 --> 00:23:52,832
would realize her true and heavenly Husband,

422
00:23:52,832 --> 00:23:55,273
and the love that He had for her,

423
00:23:55,273 --> 00:23:57,867
Oh, brethren, has it ever just swept into you

424
00:23:57,867 --> 00:24:01,793
where Christ is like there in John 17,

425
00:24:01,793 --> 00:24:08,197
and He's saying, "Father, I pray that they may be where I am."

426
00:24:08,197 --> 00:24:12,313
"I pray that they may see My glory."

427
00:24:12,313 --> 00:24:15,071
Brethren, I'll tell you this, have you ever read

428
00:24:15,071 --> 00:24:17,541
where it talks about the love that a man ought to have

429
00:24:17,541 --> 00:24:21,102
for his wife, but then Paul pulls back and

430
00:24:21,102 --> 00:24:24,574
shows us the love that Christ has for the church.

431
00:24:24,574 --> 00:24:34,316
Brethren, Christ - His whole heart is set on it.

432
00:24:34,316 --> 00:24:37,311
You have to understand something,

433
00:24:37,311 --> 00:24:42,741
God has chosen to put an infinite love on you.

434
00:24:42,741 --> 00:24:44,978
Do you know why Christ went to that cross

435
00:24:44,978 --> 00:24:49,797
and bore infinite wrath? He did it out of love.

436
00:24:49,797 --> 00:24:52,946
Scripture repeatedly tells us it's love that

437
00:24:52,946 --> 00:24:55,483
drove Him to that cross.

438
00:24:55,483 --> 00:24:59,129
It's love that as in the garden, He just trembled

439
00:24:59,129 --> 00:25:01,992
under that coming horror.

440
00:25:01,992 --> 00:25:04,692
He sorrowed nigh unto death.

441
00:25:04,692 --> 00:25:06,224
Why did He keep going?

442
00:25:06,224 --> 00:25:07,901
Yes, there was a joy there, brethren,

443
00:25:07,901 --> 00:25:10,338
but I'll tell you this, it's the joy.

444
00:25:10,338 --> 00:25:13,376
It is that joy to be with His people.

445
00:25:13,376 --> 00:25:17,137
It is that joy to have them and be with them.

446
00:25:17,137 --> 00:25:18,840
He longs for that.

447
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,504
The Christ longs for it.

448
00:25:20,504 --> 00:25:22,772
He prayed to His Father for it.

449
00:25:22,772 --> 00:25:30,166
He wants you with inexpressible love to be where He is.

450
00:25:30,166 --> 00:25:35,269
Brethren, I'll tell you this, if it wasn't for love,

451
00:25:35,269 --> 00:25:39,063
for the purposes of love, and for the sake of love

452
00:25:39,063 --> 00:25:43,245
to leave you right here where you have your present struggles

453
00:25:43,245 --> 00:25:45,702
love would bust open right now

454
00:25:45,702 --> 00:25:48,730
and He would pull you into His arms and take you to glory.

455
00:25:48,730 --> 00:25:52,204
It is only love that keeps you here.

456
00:25:52,204 --> 00:25:56,002
Brethren, the love...

457
00:25:56,002 --> 00:25:59,343
and Paul is saying if you could just comprehend

458
00:25:59,343 --> 00:26:03,477
that Christ is there and His heart longs for you.

459
00:26:03,477 --> 00:26:06,334
He wants you to be where He is.

460
00:26:06,334 --> 00:26:08,303
He is your heavenly Lover.

461
00:26:08,303 --> 00:26:11,417
And He loves you with a love that this world does not know.

462
00:26:11,417 --> 00:26:14,899
That your husband and wife relationships don't know.

463
00:26:14,899 --> 00:26:16,905
He loves you passionately.

464
00:26:16,905 --> 00:26:19,694
He means to make you pure and spotless,

465
00:26:19,694 --> 00:26:25,998
and to bring you to Him an undefiled, chaste virgin.

466
00:26:25,998 --> 00:26:29,995
A virgin, brethren.

467
00:26:29,995 --> 00:26:32,914
A virgin pure.

468
00:26:32,914 --> 00:26:34,763
And He will take you to Himself,

469
00:26:34,763 --> 00:26:37,466
and He will love on you,

470
00:26:37,466 --> 00:26:40,916
and pour His love into you forever

471
00:26:40,916 --> 00:26:43,889
and forever and forever and forever.

472
00:26:43,889 --> 00:26:46,980
Brethren, you'll go to Him a virgin but you will not stay a virgin

473
00:26:46,980 --> 00:26:49,881
because He will love you in ways that what we have

474
00:26:49,881 --> 00:26:56,674
in the human realm, in the physical realm, are only but glimpses.

475
00:26:56,674 --> 00:26:59,130
And I'm telling you, brethren, He'd break through right now

476
00:26:59,130 --> 00:27:02,053
and come get you, if it wasn't for the fact

477
00:27:02,053 --> 00:27:06,152
that love stays His hand.

478
00:27:06,152 --> 00:27:10,770
Because it is the very temporary light afflictions

479
00:27:10,770 --> 00:27:15,628
that work in you the eternal weight of glory.

480
00:27:15,628 --> 00:27:17,724
And it's working. You see, brethren,

481
00:27:17,724 --> 00:27:22,718
you suffer now because it's granted you to suffer,

482
00:27:22,718 --> 00:27:25,360
because it's good for you right now.

483
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,518
We're following that path where He went.

484
00:27:28,518 --> 00:27:32,660
And Paul's coming in and saying, "Brothers and sisters,

485
00:27:32,660 --> 00:27:35,885
I am not trying to lose you theologically.

486
00:27:35,885 --> 00:27:39,104
I am simply trying to pray that you would have the best thing,

487
00:27:39,104 --> 00:27:42,621
the greatest thing, brethren, we need to pray this way!

488
00:27:42,621 --> 00:27:46,063
When you see that brother, that sister, struggling,

489
00:27:46,063 --> 00:27:50,778
you pray that God open up to their comprehension

490
00:27:50,778 --> 00:27:55,618
an understanding of the love that Christ has for them.

491
00:27:55,618 --> 00:27:58,345
Because brethren, Spurgeon's right:

492
00:27:58,345 --> 00:28:00,619
Giants you will be,

493
00:28:00,619 --> 00:28:06,599
refreshed with the wine of Christ's own vintage.

494
00:28:06,599 --> 00:28:08,862
And you will face those things, and you will be able

495
00:28:08,862 --> 00:28:11,737
to march through them, and have victory.

496
00:28:11,737 --> 00:28:15,645
Brethren, when you're overcome with love,

497
00:28:15,645 --> 00:28:20,672
the problems and the struggles and the trials in this world

498
00:28:20,672 --> 00:28:25,496
they just, they don't disappear and go away altogether,

499
00:28:25,496 --> 00:28:27,920
but they become small in comparison.

500
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,826
Brethren, do you realize it?

501
00:28:30,826 --> 00:28:37,155
I went out front this morning of my house.

502
00:28:37,155 --> 00:28:39,243
And I've planted various trees there

503
00:28:39,243 --> 00:28:42,503
to try to recreate Michigan.

504
00:28:42,503 --> 00:28:45,975
Hey, don't laugh, it's kind of worked.

505
00:28:45,975 --> 00:28:52,999
I have maples that are red, and yellow, and orange.

506
00:28:52,999 --> 00:28:54,703
And I was out there looking at them,

507
00:28:54,703 --> 00:28:56,383
and I was admiring the beauty,

508
00:28:56,383 --> 00:29:02,859
and brethren, the love of Christ is like a garden,

509
00:29:02,859 --> 00:29:06,431
where as you walk through, there is beauty,

510
00:29:06,431 --> 00:29:10,787
there's roses, and the scents that comes, and there's fruits.

511
00:29:10,787 --> 00:29:13,140
And let me tell you something, brethren.

512
00:29:13,140 --> 00:29:17,195
Those that find eternal life,

513
00:29:17,195 --> 00:29:20,746
Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

514
00:29:20,746 --> 00:29:24,213
Brethren, those that find Him are few.

515
00:29:24,213 --> 00:29:33,582
Do you realize, brethren, not just anybody can tread that garden.

516
00:29:33,582 --> 00:29:43,207
Only a few.. brethren, only a chosen few can tread there.

517
00:29:43,207 --> 00:29:47,141
In that garden, there is beauty and there are flowers.

518
00:29:47,141 --> 00:29:52,466
It is full of healing and singing and color and wonder.

519
00:29:52,466 --> 00:29:57,145
And I'm telling you folks, if you have license to walk there,

520
00:29:57,145 --> 00:30:01,541
Oh brethren, why do you forfeit it?

521
00:30:01,541 --> 00:30:07,916
Only a very choice few, select few, can walk there.

522
00:30:07,916 --> 00:30:12,808
How often we purposely do not walk there, brethren!

523
00:30:12,808 --> 00:30:17,800
But to walk in the air of that place, in that garden.

524
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,578
Only the redeemed of the Lord can walk in that place.

525
00:30:21,578 --> 00:30:24,085
Only the redeemed of the Lord, brethren,

526
00:30:24,085 --> 00:30:27,865
can go up and smell those roses! Or pick that fruit!

527
00:30:27,865 --> 00:30:30,557
And you have the opportunity.

528
00:30:30,557 --> 00:30:33,242
Are you going to be like the man in Pilgrim's Progress

529
00:30:33,242 --> 00:30:35,810
where you're just raking the muck, raking the muck,

530
00:30:35,810 --> 00:30:37,874
here the garden is all about you.

531
00:30:37,874 --> 00:30:40,148
We're Christians, brethren, we're Christians!

532
00:30:40,148 --> 00:30:41,999
Christ loves us!

533
00:30:41,999 --> 00:30:44,815
And even in this world, there is a comprehension.

534
00:30:44,815 --> 00:30:49,821
If you don't grieve the Spirit, the Spirit has a power

535
00:30:49,821 --> 00:30:52,706
that He endows upon the children of God

536
00:30:52,706 --> 00:30:56,298
to cause us to comprehend such vastness,

537
00:30:56,298 --> 00:31:00,005
such breadth and length and height and depth, brethren,

538
00:31:00,005 --> 00:31:02,493
to stagger us, even in this life!

539
00:31:02,493 --> 00:31:07,133
We don't have to wait for heaven to get all of it.

540
00:31:07,133 --> 00:31:10,867
And oh, brethren, if we've been invited to walk here, why?

541
00:31:10,867 --> 00:31:16,585
Why so much of the world? Why so much of just raking,

542
00:31:16,585 --> 00:31:20,129
brethren, raking the muck?

543
00:31:20,129 --> 00:31:23,063
When it's held out there to us?

544
00:31:23,063 --> 00:31:28,676
Brethren, I just say in light of all this,

545
00:31:28,676 --> 00:31:31,918
don't grieve the Spirit.

546
00:31:31,918 --> 00:31:35,857
Brethren, when you grieve the Spirit,

547
00:31:35,857 --> 00:31:41,161
the scent wafts away.

548
00:31:41,161 --> 00:31:45,395
All of a sudden, in your sight, the fruit shrivels.

549
00:31:45,395 --> 00:31:52,431
The Spirit is the One that gives the comprehension.

550
00:31:52,431 --> 00:31:57,655
Brethren, listen to this:

551
00:31:57,655 --> 00:32:01,977
I came across this in my reading.

552
00:32:01,977 --> 00:32:06,200
And I really want to finish out this message on this note.

553
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,376
A man by the name of Edward Payson,

554
00:32:08,376 --> 00:32:12,002
anyone ever hear that name? Edward Payson.

555
00:32:12,002 --> 00:32:16,319
He was a godly man who lived here in the United States

556
00:32:16,319 --> 00:32:20,686
during the time just after the American Revolution.

557
00:32:20,686 --> 00:32:31,979
Listen, listen to him describe how the ungrieved Spirit...

558
00:32:31,979 --> 00:32:37,763
the Spirit wasn't grieved in his life - ungrieved.

559
00:32:37,763 --> 00:32:41,702
How that Spirit flooded His comprehensions.

560
00:32:41,702 --> 00:32:44,744
He says this, "The Son of Righteousness has been

561
00:32:44,744 --> 00:32:50,411
gradually drawing nearer and nearer."

562
00:32:50,411 --> 00:32:53,264
Brethren, I know we've been talking about revival.

563
00:32:53,264 --> 00:32:57,422
And I know that there have been times in history

564
00:32:57,422 --> 00:33:00,758
where the Spirit of God has fallen suddenly.

565
00:33:00,758 --> 00:33:02,530
But brethren, one of the things I'm encouraging

566
00:33:02,530 --> 00:33:07,048
and arguing for here is that you make it a practice

567
00:33:07,048 --> 00:33:12,748
to seek to habitually live with the Spirit ungrieved.

568
00:33:12,748 --> 00:33:18,474
Habitually living in the beauties of this garden.

569
00:33:18,474 --> 00:33:20,513
Oh, revival's great.

570
00:33:20,513 --> 00:33:22,526
And when people are smothered by the love of God

571
00:33:22,526 --> 00:33:26,245
instantaneously and miraculously and extraordinarily

572
00:33:26,245 --> 00:33:29,585
that's great, but brethren, there are people who walk

573
00:33:29,585 --> 00:33:34,033
in these choice places far more than others.

574
00:33:34,033 --> 00:33:37,311
They tend to live there. They tend to dwell there.

575
00:33:37,311 --> 00:33:39,222
And here's a man, brethren, here's a man

576
00:33:39,222 --> 00:33:41,012
that didn't always know it was so.

577
00:33:41,012 --> 00:33:44,245
He didn't know the realms into which it was possible.

578
00:33:44,245 --> 00:33:45,904
Listen to how he expresses this.

579
00:33:45,904 --> 00:33:49,416
It's like he gets to the end and he's just kicking himself.

580
00:33:49,416 --> 00:33:52,232
He's saying, "Oh, if only I would have realized

581
00:33:52,232 --> 00:33:56,259
twenty years ago that this was all real! That it was so!"

582
00:33:56,259 --> 00:33:59,084
Listen to him, "the Son of Righteousness

583
00:33:59,084 --> 00:34:02,246
has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer.

584
00:34:02,246 --> 00:34:06,305
Appearing larger and brighter as He approached."

585
00:34:06,305 --> 00:34:08,993
I mean, through his spiritual senses he feels

586
00:34:08,993 --> 00:34:13,208
and senses and sees and hears and smells

587
00:34:13,208 --> 00:34:15,880
the approach of Christ.

588
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,799
"And now Christ fills the whole hemisphere.

589
00:34:19,799 --> 00:34:24,448
Pouring forth a flood of glory in which I seem to float,

590
00:34:24,448 --> 00:34:27,385
like an insect in the beams of the sun.

591
00:34:27,385 --> 00:34:31,047
Exalting yet almost trembling while I gaze on this almost

592
00:34:31,047 --> 00:34:33,920
excessive brightness and wondering with

593
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,765
unutterable wonder why God should deign to shine

594
00:34:37,765 --> 00:34:40,547
upon a sinful world."

595
00:34:40,547 --> 00:34:43,348
Listen, he goes on,

596
00:34:43,348 --> 00:34:49,528
"Christians might avoid much trouble and inconvenience

597
00:34:49,528 --> 00:34:52,902
if they would only believe what they profess.

598
00:34:52,902 --> 00:34:56,310
That God is able to make them happy without anything else."

599
00:34:56,310 --> 00:34:58,961
Do you know what he's saying, brethren?

600
00:34:58,961 --> 00:35:02,297
He's saying take everything else away.

601
00:35:02,297 --> 00:35:06,626
Take all your comforts away. All your enjoyments away.

602
00:35:06,626 --> 00:35:09,133
All your pleasures away. All your toys away.

603
00:35:09,133 --> 00:35:13,367
All the idols away. All the stuff. Clear it all out.

604
00:35:13,367 --> 00:35:17,271
All the relationships.

605
00:35:17,271 --> 00:35:20,915
And walk through this garden.

606
00:35:20,915 --> 00:35:27,001
And it's enough. It will make you happy

607
00:35:27,001 --> 00:35:32,778
with a joy that only comes from heaven, folks.

608
00:35:32,778 --> 00:35:36,467
"They imagine that if such-and-such a dear friend were to die

609
00:35:36,467 --> 00:35:39,156
or if such blessings were to be removed,

610
00:35:39,156 --> 00:35:41,253
they would be miserable.

611
00:35:41,253 --> 00:35:44,634
Whereas God can make them a thousand times

612
00:35:44,634 --> 00:35:47,576
happier without those things.

613
00:35:47,576 --> 00:35:50,121
To mention my own case,

614
00:35:50,121 --> 00:35:55,232
God has been depriving me of one blessing after another.

615
00:35:55,232 --> 00:35:58,313
But as each one was removed,

616
00:35:58,313 --> 00:36:01,023
He has come in and filled its place.

617
00:36:01,023 --> 00:36:04,810
And now, when I'm a cripple, and I'm not able to move,

618
00:36:04,810 --> 00:36:07,483
I'm happier than ever.

619
00:36:07,483 --> 00:36:09,485
I'm happer than ever I was in my life

620
00:36:09,485 --> 00:36:13,963
before or ever expected to be.

621
00:36:13,963 --> 00:36:17,566
And if I had believed this twenty years ago,

622
00:36:17,566 --> 00:36:26,498
I might have been spared much anxiety."

623
00:36:26,498 --> 00:36:30,118
So here it is.

624
00:36:30,118 --> 00:36:34,295
Listen to this.

625
00:36:34,295 --> 00:36:42,995
Here's a test put forth by the same man.

626
00:36:42,995 --> 00:36:46,077
He gives a very practical way to examine ourselves,

627
00:36:46,077 --> 00:36:49,498
in order to test where we're at with regards

628
00:36:49,498 --> 00:36:51,920
to the love of Christ.

629
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,616
And whether we may have grieved the Spirit away

630
00:36:54,616 --> 00:36:56,875
from pouring the love of God into our hearts.

631
00:36:56,875 --> 00:36:58,320
Now listen to this:

632
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,833
Brethren, I know this is true.

633
00:37:02,833 --> 00:37:05,033
It caught my attention because I know it.

634
00:37:05,033 --> 00:37:07,167
I know it. I've seen it as a Christian.

635
00:37:07,167 --> 00:37:08,995
I've felt it in my own life.

636
00:37:08,995 --> 00:37:10,674
I've gone through seasons.

637
00:37:10,674 --> 00:37:13,297
I've met other Christians.

638
00:37:13,297 --> 00:37:16,988
I've read of other Christians.

639
00:37:16,988 --> 00:37:19,933
Not just people who've had the Spirit of God fall on them,

640
00:37:19,933 --> 00:37:21,663
and been filled with the Spirit,

641
00:37:21,663 --> 00:37:24,771
and had some sensation of the love of Christ

642
00:37:24,771 --> 00:37:27,066
that was just momentary or for a short season.

643
00:37:27,066 --> 00:37:29,114
Now that's happened, and we certainly don't want

644
00:37:29,114 --> 00:37:31,436
to despise that, but I'm talking more here

645
00:37:31,436 --> 00:37:34,775
about a way of life.

646
00:37:34,775 --> 00:37:37,900
Listen to what Payson says,

647
00:37:37,900 --> 00:37:42,063
"Suppose professors of religion,

648
00:37:42,063 --> 00:37:46,484
(those who profess to be Christians),

649
00:37:46,484 --> 00:37:51,554
to be ranged in different concentric circles around Christ."

650
00:37:51,554 --> 00:37:55,832
So He's imagining Christ in the center,

651
00:37:55,832 --> 00:37:58,642
and then you have these concentric circles.

652
00:37:58,642 --> 00:38:03,951
A concentric circle is another circle with the same center.

653
00:38:03,951 --> 00:38:05,641
But they're getting bigger.

654
00:38:05,641 --> 00:38:09,867
Same center. Which is Christ. There He is in the middle.

655
00:38:09,867 --> 00:38:13,425
But then you have these concentric circles moving out from there.

656
00:38:13,425 --> 00:38:16,725
And he says each of these concentric circles is

657
00:38:16,725 --> 00:38:19,191
like different Christians.

658
00:38:19,191 --> 00:38:24,349
Different Christians live at these different concentric circles,

659
00:38:24,349 --> 00:38:29,654
moving out and away from the middle.

660
00:38:29,654 --> 00:38:35,932
He says, "Some value the presence of their Savior so highly

661
00:38:35,932 --> 00:38:41,524
they cannot bear to be at any removed from Him.

662
00:38:41,524 --> 00:38:43,478
Even their work, they will bring up and do it

663
00:38:43,478 --> 00:38:45,642
in the light of His countenance."

664
00:38:45,642 --> 00:38:48,410
And I want you to see what Payson recognized,

665
00:38:48,410 --> 00:38:52,121
you don't have to be a pastor or a missionary

666
00:38:52,121 --> 00:38:59,724
or in some certain designated church ministry

667
00:38:59,724 --> 00:39:03,114
for this to happen.

668
00:39:03,114 --> 00:39:06,881
That's not the case.

669
00:39:06,881 --> 00:39:10,211
Remember, brethren, remember!

670
00:39:10,211 --> 00:39:13,833
That you might have strength to comprehend

671
00:39:13,833 --> 00:39:16,059
with all the saints

672
00:39:16,059 --> 00:39:21,109
what is the breadth and length and height and depth.

673
00:39:21,109 --> 00:39:28,246
It's for all the saints, brethren, it's not just for the pastor.

674
00:39:28,246 --> 00:39:31,091
"They cannot bear to be at any removed from Christ,

675
00:39:31,091 --> 00:39:33,373
even their work they will bring up and do it

676
00:39:33,373 --> 00:39:36,561
in the light of His countenance. Whatever work that is.

677
00:39:36,561 --> 00:39:38,119
Whether it's in ministry, whether it's building,

678
00:39:38,119 --> 00:39:43,786
construction, plumber... and while engaged in it

679
00:39:43,786 --> 00:39:47,005
will be seen constantly raising their eyes to Him

680
00:39:47,005 --> 00:39:52,977
as if fearful of losing one beam of His light."

681
00:39:52,977 --> 00:39:55,571
Brethren, here's the truth, every child of God

682
00:39:55,571 --> 00:39:58,843
definitely knows the love of Christ.

683
00:39:58,843 --> 00:40:02,416
But not every child of God definitely knows that love

684
00:40:02,416 --> 00:40:04,077
to the same degree.

685
00:40:04,077 --> 00:40:07,140
Not all of us walk in the same circles.

686
00:40:07,140 --> 00:40:12,414
Not all of us live as close to Christ as others do or have.

687
00:40:12,414 --> 00:40:14,529
That's just a reality.

688
00:40:14,529 --> 00:40:19,371
Brethren, the innermost circle represents those...

689
00:40:19,371 --> 00:40:23,058
I can tell you this,

690
00:40:23,058 --> 00:40:27,278
when you live in the innermost circles,

691
00:40:27,278 --> 00:40:32,538
you are sensitive to Christ's love.

692
00:40:32,538 --> 00:40:38,920
Brethren, Christ saved us to love us.

693
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,648
He loved us and He saved us,

694
00:40:40,648 --> 00:40:44,610
and He saved us to love us.

695
00:40:44,610 --> 00:40:50,289
And those that live closest, they are sensitive

696
00:40:50,289 --> 00:40:52,064
to His approaches, they are sensitive.

697
00:40:52,064 --> 00:40:57,800
That's what characterizes people here.

698
00:40:57,800 --> 00:40:59,523
They watch for that love.

699
00:40:59,523 --> 00:41:01,549
They watch to respond to that love.

700
00:41:01,549 --> 00:41:03,924
Brethren, this is the real test of whether you're

701
00:41:03,924 --> 00:41:05,733
maturing as a Christian.

702
00:41:05,733 --> 00:41:08,388
It isn't simple whether today you can articulate

703
00:41:08,388 --> 00:41:12,993
limited atonement where you couldn't a year ago.

704
00:41:12,993 --> 00:41:16,601
Brethren, the real test, the real key to maturing

705
00:41:16,601 --> 00:41:22,084
in the Christian life is how close to Christ you're walking.

706
00:41:22,084 --> 00:41:24,519
How close to Him you live.

707
00:41:24,519 --> 00:41:26,566
How much of His love you're bathed in.

708
00:41:26,566 --> 00:41:30,445
And I gaurantee this, just that reality of 2 Cointhians 3:18

709
00:41:30,445 --> 00:41:32,834
Brethren, the closer you live to the glory,

710
00:41:32,834 --> 00:41:34,746
the more you behold His glory,

711
00:41:34,746 --> 00:41:40,362
the more you are becoming conformed to that image.

712
00:41:40,362 --> 00:41:42,823
Brethren, some just live closer.

713
00:41:42,823 --> 00:41:45,681
That's a fact.

714
00:41:45,681 --> 00:41:50,261
They live where there's greater apprehensions of Christ's love.

715
00:41:50,261 --> 00:41:55,039
And I'll tell you this, children of God that live

716
00:41:55,039 --> 00:42:02,413
in this innermost circle, they must be careful.

717
00:42:02,413 --> 00:42:04,357
You say, what do you mean?

718
00:42:04,357 --> 00:42:07,909
Have you ever thought about Moses?

719
00:42:07,909 --> 00:42:11,317
God would say if I'm going to speak to one

720
00:42:11,317 --> 00:42:13,548
of the prophets, I'm going to do it through a vision,

721
00:42:13,548 --> 00:42:14,750
through a dream.

722
00:42:14,750 --> 00:42:19,828
He says when I speak to Moses, it's face to face.

723
00:42:19,828 --> 00:42:23,516
Can I tell you this?

724
00:42:23,516 --> 00:42:28,733
Moses struck the rock.

725
00:42:28,733 --> 00:42:32,420
How many of us have done some fool thing like that?

726
00:42:32,420 --> 00:42:35,546
in disobedience to God?

727
00:42:35,546 --> 00:42:40,776
Yet the consequences were not so severe. Why?

728
00:42:40,776 --> 00:42:43,359
Brethren, I'll tell you what, when you live

729
00:42:43,359 --> 00:42:50,391
in those inner circles, you must walk carefully.

730
00:42:50,391 --> 00:42:58,904
Martyn Lloyd-Jones says the air here is very pure

731
00:42:58,904 --> 00:43:01,170
and very rarified,

732
00:43:01,170 --> 00:43:04,690
and slight changes are immediately felt.

733
00:43:04,690 --> 00:43:09,008
Responsiveness to Christ's approaches must set us to

734
00:43:09,008 --> 00:43:11,169
a careful watch, brethren.

735
00:43:11,169 --> 00:43:13,141
Think about Moses.

736
00:43:13,141 --> 00:43:15,823
Those who walk in the innermost concentric circles,

737
00:43:15,823 --> 00:43:20,662
must develop a holy sensitivity to the advances of Christ.

738
00:43:20,662 --> 00:43:24,214
They must be sensitive to sin. Sensitive to their conscience.

739
00:43:24,214 --> 00:43:29,129
Sensitive to any grieving of the Spirit of God.

740
00:43:29,129 --> 00:43:31,831
Brethren, do you remember how it was?

741
00:43:31,831 --> 00:43:35,268
There in the Song of Solomon 5?

742
00:43:35,268 --> 00:43:38,743
We find that the woman there,

743
00:43:38,743 --> 00:43:42,383
she had taken her clothes off.

744
00:43:42,383 --> 00:43:46,238
She had removed her garment, it says,

745
00:43:46,238 --> 00:43:48,604
and she had washed her feet.

746
00:43:48,604 --> 00:43:50,229
And she was there at the bed,

747
00:43:50,229 --> 00:43:53,186
and her beloved came to the door.

748
00:43:53,186 --> 00:43:58,273
And you get that wonderful intimacy, that language there,

749
00:43:58,273 --> 00:44:05,093
that just flows out of that first part of Song of Solomon 5.

750
00:44:05,093 --> 00:44:11,611
But what happened? He's knocking on the door.

751
00:44:11,611 --> 00:44:17,363
Here's the advance. He's come to just immerse her in love.

752
00:44:17,363 --> 00:44:19,532
And there was hesitation. Did you catch that?

753
00:44:19,532 --> 00:44:21,460
There was a hesitation.

754
00:44:21,460 --> 00:44:24,311
She had the thought go through her head.

755
00:44:24,311 --> 00:44:27,395
Wait, I've put my garment off, I've washed my feet.

756
00:44:27,395 --> 00:44:29,934
There was the hesitation.

757
00:44:29,934 --> 00:44:31,823
Brethern, the people that walk in those

758
00:44:31,823 --> 00:44:33,632
innermost concentric circles...

759
00:44:33,632 --> 00:44:36,158
By the way, that lady was not at that moment

760
00:44:36,158 --> 00:44:41,813
living in the inner circle.

761
00:44:41,813 --> 00:44:44,547
There was a hesitation.

762
00:44:44,547 --> 00:44:49,095
And when she got to the door, her beloved was gone.

763
00:44:49,095 --> 00:44:54,791
Brethren, I guarantee you, there are times in life

764
00:44:54,791 --> 00:44:58,337
that Christ waits to smother you in His love.

765
00:44:58,337 --> 00:45:01,612
But you do not respond to His advances.

766
00:45:01,612 --> 00:45:04,022
You say, can you prove that from the Scriptures?

767
00:45:04,022 --> 00:45:06,647
Well, brethren, it's everywhere.

768
00:45:06,647 --> 00:45:08,829
But how about this?

769
00:45:08,829 --> 00:45:11,829
I mean, speaking to a church,

770
00:45:11,829 --> 00:45:16,615
speaking to a group of covenant people,

771
00:45:16,615 --> 00:45:19,444
not the lost indiscriminate masses.

772
00:45:19,444 --> 00:45:23,053
He's speaking to a church, brethren.

773
00:45:23,053 --> 00:45:28,622
And He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."

774
00:45:28,622 --> 00:45:32,141
And He says, "if you will open to Me, I will come in."

775
00:45:32,141 --> 00:45:34,164
And do what?

776
00:45:34,164 --> 00:45:37,219
"Dine with you." Brethren, in that near Eastern,

777
00:45:37,219 --> 00:45:40,007
middle Eastern mindset, to have somebody

778
00:45:40,007 --> 00:45:42,338
come into your house and dine with you

779
00:45:42,338 --> 00:45:43,908
was a sign of intimacy.

780
00:45:43,908 --> 00:45:45,333
You know in the Muslim world,

781
00:45:45,333 --> 00:45:47,020
for them to bring you in

782
00:45:47,020 --> 00:45:49,779
and have you for dinner in their home

783
00:45:49,779 --> 00:45:54,451
means that they are now under an obligation now to protect you.

784
00:45:54,451 --> 00:45:56,317
Brethren, there's an intimacy I think that sometimes

785
00:45:56,317 --> 00:45:58,288
we don't feel in our culture.

786
00:45:58,288 --> 00:46:02,702
But Christ was saying, "I stand here."

787
00:46:02,702 --> 00:46:06,792
Brethren, those that have used that illustration for

788
00:46:06,792 --> 00:46:09,287
Christ calling the lost multitudes,

789
00:46:09,287 --> 00:46:11,466
that's just simply not what this is talking about.

790
00:46:11,466 --> 00:46:14,472
Don't use that verse in that context.

791
00:46:14,472 --> 00:46:16,031
That's not what it means.

792
00:46:16,031 --> 00:46:18,315
He's speaking to His covenant people,

793
00:46:18,315 --> 00:46:22,066
and He's saying, "Look, I stand here."

794
00:46:22,066 --> 00:46:26,927
He just got done saying, "Those that I love, I chasten."

795
00:46:26,927 --> 00:46:29,160
And He's saying, "I stand here."

796
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:33,368
He's been talking to those He loves, brethren.

797
00:46:33,368 --> 00:46:44,537
Brethren, to live in this inner circle,

798
00:46:44,537 --> 00:46:47,643
here's what it takes:

799
00:46:47,643 --> 00:46:50,165
the slightest tug of heart...

800
00:46:50,165 --> 00:46:53,879
I mean, you're sitting down to a meal,

801
00:46:53,879 --> 00:46:56,607
and you feel "Christ wants me to fast,"

802
00:46:56,607 --> 00:46:58,122
"He wants me to go be with Him."

803
00:46:58,122 --> 00:46:59,495
You're laying down on your bed,

804
00:46:59,495 --> 00:47:01,550
you feel Christ wants me to put my clothes on

805
00:47:01,550 --> 00:47:04,745
and go out and walk the fields and commune with Him.

806
00:47:04,745 --> 00:47:06,978
You're at work, you're in the middle of something,

807
00:47:06,978 --> 00:47:09,560
but you feel like God wants me to pray right now,

808
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:11,127
the Lord is calling me.

809
00:47:11,127 --> 00:47:14,932
Brethren, we put it off. No, just not yet.

810
00:47:14,932 --> 00:47:16,985
But when we go there, it's like the young lady,

811
00:47:16,985 --> 00:47:19,136
she goes to the door and He's gone!

812
00:47:19,136 --> 00:47:20,999
Brethren, that happens. That happens when

813
00:47:20,999 --> 00:47:25,499
you put off the loving advances of a lover.

814
00:47:25,499 --> 00:47:28,904
That happens. That's how we cause grief.

815
00:47:28,904 --> 00:47:31,267
Brethren, it's not like Christ is somehow foreign

816
00:47:31,267 --> 00:47:34,333
and far removed. He's a Lover of His people.

817
00:47:34,333 --> 00:47:40,250
And we know what grieves two people that are in love.

818
00:47:40,250 --> 00:47:42,480
We know where the grief comes from.

819
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:45,051
We know the kind of things...

820
00:47:45,051 --> 00:47:48,913
Brethren, when one lover is making an advance to another,

821
00:47:48,913 --> 00:47:51,271
and it's put off, and it's resisted.

822
00:47:51,271 --> 00:47:55,364
Or something is deemed to be more important,

823
00:47:55,364 --> 00:47:57,295
then we come to the door and He's gone.

824
00:47:57,295 --> 00:47:59,679
Boy, if we would have gone right when He called us.

825
00:47:59,679 --> 00:48:02,471
He was calling us to His Word. He wanted to speak to us.

826
00:48:02,471 --> 00:48:04,150
And when we get there...

827
00:48:04,150 --> 00:48:07,854
well, it's not there now.

828
00:48:07,854 --> 00:48:11,342
Brethren, if we're going to live in the innermost

829
00:48:11,342 --> 00:48:16,496
concentric circles, there must be sensitivity.

830
00:48:16,496 --> 00:48:20,956
Sensitivity, brethren, sensitivity!

831
00:48:20,956 --> 00:48:24,362
Too many of us have too much noise,

832
00:48:24,362 --> 00:48:25,825
too much clutter.

833
00:48:25,825 --> 00:48:28,891
We can't hear when He's knocking at the door.

834
00:48:28,891 --> 00:48:31,093
And brethren, you know how it is,

835
00:48:31,093 --> 00:48:33,187
when two people are in love,

836
00:48:33,187 --> 00:48:35,556
sometimes it's just - what?

837
00:48:35,556 --> 00:48:39,939
You catch a glance from one another, right?

838
00:48:39,939 --> 00:48:42,035
I mean, come on, you that are married...

839
00:48:42,035 --> 00:48:46,074
it's just a look. It's a fleeting glance of the eyes,

840
00:48:46,074 --> 00:48:47,958
and you saw something in your wife's eyes

841
00:48:47,958 --> 00:48:50,640
or your husband's eyes that just shot back to you,

842
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,330
"I love you."

843
00:48:53,330 --> 00:48:56,444
Brethren, Christ is the same, and His ways

844
00:48:56,444 --> 00:49:00,794
of communicating His love are manifold.

845
00:49:00,794 --> 00:49:04,218
But brethren, so often we've got so much noise,

846
00:49:04,218 --> 00:49:05,814
we don't hear His voice.

847
00:49:05,814 --> 00:49:07,588
We don't hear the knock.

848
00:49:07,588 --> 00:49:09,886
Or we're so preoccupied with other things.

849
00:49:09,886 --> 00:49:13,026
Brethren, Payson's describing the people in

850
00:49:13,026 --> 00:49:17,362
these innermost circles, not as reading their Bibles perpetually.

851
00:49:17,362 --> 00:49:19,932
But even when they're in the workplace,

852
00:49:19,932 --> 00:49:22,145
they constantly have their eyes lifted up.

853
00:49:22,145 --> 00:49:24,538
"Lord, is this pleasing to You?" "Lord, is this right?"

854
00:49:24,538 --> 00:49:27,043
They're constantly talking. They're constantly singing.

855
00:49:27,043 --> 00:49:29,972
Their minds are constantly set on things above.

856
00:49:29,972 --> 00:49:33,121
They're constantly looking. They're constantly going there.

857
00:49:33,121 --> 00:49:36,354
They're afraid - they don't ever want to get to the place

858
00:49:36,354 --> 00:49:39,161
where they look up and "where is He?"

859
00:49:39,161 --> 00:49:42,000
"He's gone," or "I've drifted away,"

860
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:43,248
"I've wandered away."

861
00:49:43,248 --> 00:49:46,341
There's a fear, brethren, there's a fear

862
00:49:46,341 --> 00:49:48,712
to live in this circle.

863
00:49:48,712 --> 00:49:52,363
That you don't want to strike the rock

864
00:49:52,363 --> 00:49:53,874
and now I can't go into the land of Canaan.

865
00:49:53,874 --> 00:49:57,849
There's a sensitivity here. We need to be careful.

866
00:49:57,849 --> 00:50:00,332
Remember Moses, brethren, remember.

867
00:50:00,332 --> 00:50:04,689
The apostle Paul was one who sought to live in this realm.

868
00:50:04,689 --> 00:50:07,808
Do you know there in 1 Corinthians 4:4, he says,

869
00:50:07,808 --> 00:50:13,393
"I know nothing against myself."

870
00:50:13,393 --> 00:50:16,468
Paul was a man who lived with a conscience

871
00:50:16,468 --> 00:50:20,394
that was undefiled, all the time, before God and man.

872
00:50:20,394 --> 00:50:22,297
Nothing, brethren, nothing.

873
00:50:22,297 --> 00:50:24,233
I'm not saying he lived a perfect life,

874
00:50:24,233 --> 00:50:27,070
but I'm saying he kept his conscience clear.

875
00:50:27,070 --> 00:50:31,356
He let nothing stand between Him and Christ - nothing!

876
00:50:31,356 --> 00:50:34,290
No idol in his life. No sin in his life.

877
00:50:34,290 --> 00:50:37,235
Short accounts. He dealt with it right away, right away.

878
00:50:37,235 --> 00:50:40,293
People that dwell in this innermost circle

879
00:50:40,293 --> 00:50:43,813
of the love of Christ, that bask in that glow

880
00:50:43,813 --> 00:50:46,602
more perpetually than all the rest of us.

881
00:50:46,602 --> 00:50:50,886
Brethren, they're sensitive. They're sensitive.

882
00:50:50,886 --> 00:50:52,532
They don't want to grieve Him, they don't want to

883
00:50:52,532 --> 00:50:54,832
grieve His Spirit at all.

884
00:50:54,832 --> 00:50:57,714
And this power just floods them.

885
00:50:57,714 --> 00:51:00,457
And the more we strive, the more we give ourselves,

886
00:51:00,457 --> 00:51:03,684
the more we try to be attentive to His advances,

887
00:51:03,684 --> 00:51:05,890
and His glances, and His voice, brethren,

888
00:51:05,890 --> 00:51:08,399
the more we will find that voice being heard.

889
00:51:08,399 --> 00:51:11,209
And we will find that glance coming to our eye.

890
00:51:11,209 --> 00:51:13,286
The more, brethren, the more.

891
00:51:13,286 --> 00:51:19,731
Christ is not slow, brethren.

892
00:51:19,731 --> 00:51:21,623
We need to be sensitive.

893
00:51:21,623 --> 00:51:24,988
Brainerd. You guys know David Brainerd, many of you.

894
00:51:24,988 --> 00:51:30,512
He worked among the Indians in the 1700's.

895
00:51:30,512 --> 00:51:39,220
Brethren, he would confess his pride somewhat hourly

896
00:51:39,220 --> 00:51:43,240
trying to keep sensitive, trying to keep short accounts,

897
00:51:43,240 --> 00:51:45,660
trying to keep in the Presence.

898
00:51:45,660 --> 00:51:47,836
Oh, brethren, as you are more and more

899
00:51:47,836 --> 00:51:51,838
responsive to Christ and all His loving approaches,

900
00:51:51,838 --> 00:51:56,069
your comprehension of His love will grow.

901
00:51:56,069 --> 00:52:01,496
Don't let a frown of grief come across that Spirit at all.

902
00:52:01,496 --> 00:52:04,743
Keep all the channels open. All of them flowing.

903
00:52:04,743 --> 00:52:09,808
It's like that song says, "Nothing between, nothing between."

904
00:52:09,808 --> 00:52:13,535
All of it out of there.

905
00:52:13,535 --> 00:52:18,315
As Jude says, "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

906
00:52:18,315 --> 00:52:21,227
Brethren, that's not about being saved.

907
00:52:21,227 --> 00:52:27,570
That's about people, as our missionary in China loves to say,

908
00:52:27,570 --> 00:52:33,219
brethren, it's a sensible sense of God's love.

909
00:52:33,219 --> 00:52:35,158
Keep yourselves in the love of God.

910
00:52:35,158 --> 00:52:37,972
That doesn't mean that once God loves me,

911
00:52:37,972 --> 00:52:40,297
I can get away from His love.

912
00:52:40,297 --> 00:52:42,826
His love is eternal. His love is everlasting.

913
00:52:42,826 --> 00:52:44,554
When He lays His love upon somebody,

914
00:52:44,554 --> 00:52:46,874
nobody can pluck them out of His hand.

915
00:52:46,874 --> 00:52:48,795
That's not what He's talking about there.

916
00:52:48,795 --> 00:52:51,464
The idea is, brethren, there is a place

917
00:52:51,464 --> 00:52:54,958
where the love of Christ flows.

918
00:52:54,958 --> 00:53:00,899
Get you there. Get there. Sit there. Find that place.

919
00:53:00,899 --> 00:53:03,691
It takes sensitivity. It takes awareness.

920
00:53:03,691 --> 00:53:09,247
I'll tell you this, the lazy aren't going to find that place.

921
00:53:09,247 --> 00:53:11,715
Those that aren't committed to this;

922
00:53:11,715 --> 00:53:14,004
those that are in love with the world;

923
00:53:14,004 --> 00:53:16,225
those that would rather play at Christianity...

924
00:53:16,225 --> 00:53:20,393
you're not going to find this place.

925
00:53:20,393 --> 00:53:24,136
Keep yourselves sensitive, keep yourselves alert

926
00:53:24,136 --> 00:53:27,992
in this rarified air, brethren, of the inner circles.

927
00:53:27,992 --> 00:53:30,581
But then, here's Edward Payson.

928
00:53:30,581 --> 00:53:34,274
"Others, to be sure,

929
00:53:34,274 --> 00:53:39,424
would not be content to live out of Christ's presence,

930
00:53:39,424 --> 00:53:45,966
but they're yet less wholly absorbed by it than these first ones

931
00:53:45,966 --> 00:53:48,414
and may be seen a little further off,

932
00:53:48,414 --> 00:53:51,254
engaged here and there in other various callings;

933
00:53:51,254 --> 00:53:54,748
their eyes generally upon their work,

934
00:53:54,748 --> 00:53:59,635
but often looking up for the light which they love."

935
00:53:59,635 --> 00:54:03,789
You see, people, as we fall and we move further out

936
00:54:03,789 --> 00:54:07,539
of these concentric circles,

937
00:54:07,539 --> 00:54:11,710
the Spirit's work is somewhat more resisted.

938
00:54:11,710 --> 00:54:15,641
We allow somewhat more of the grieving of the Spirit.

939
00:54:15,641 --> 00:54:18,899
People in this category allow more noise,

940
00:54:18,899 --> 00:54:20,478
more distractions.

941
00:54:20,478 --> 00:54:23,484
Christ's knock at the door is less obvious.

942
00:54:23,484 --> 00:54:26,421
It gets mistaken for other noises.

943
00:54:26,421 --> 00:54:31,312
Their minds tend to stray from Christ for longer periods.

944
00:54:31,315 --> 00:54:32,958
The young lady from the Song of Solomon,

945
00:54:32,958 --> 00:54:35,393
at least at that point there where she put off her lover,

946
00:54:35,393 --> 00:54:40,580
at least at that moment, she was in more

947
00:54:40,580 --> 00:54:42,541
of these outward circles.

948
00:54:42,541 --> 00:54:45,278
Brethren, you know what happens?

949
00:54:45,278 --> 00:54:49,746
There's a hesitation in our obedience.

950
00:54:49,746 --> 00:54:52,237
There's a hesitation in our love.

951
00:54:52,237 --> 00:54:53,959
Isn't that what happened?

952
00:54:53,959 --> 00:54:57,746
That lady when her lover came to the door,

953
00:54:57,746 --> 00:55:01,414
she hesitated. Isn't that what happened?

954
00:55:01,414 --> 00:55:03,420
She got to thinking, "well, I put my garment off,

955
00:55:03,420 --> 00:55:06,972
I washed my feet." There was a hesitation.

956
00:55:06,972 --> 00:55:09,279
Brethren, that is often what characterizes

957
00:55:09,279 --> 00:55:12,664
what the difference is that characterizes

958
00:55:12,664 --> 00:55:15,725
those in the innermost circles from the outermost.

959
00:55:15,725 --> 00:55:17,812
We tend to move more outward from those

960
00:55:17,812 --> 00:55:20,791
concentric circles of the love of Christ

961
00:55:20,791 --> 00:55:23,614
when there's more hesitation.

962
00:55:23,614 --> 00:55:27,670
There's more justifying that which probably

963
00:55:27,670 --> 00:55:29,887
isn't good in our life.

964
00:55:29,887 --> 00:55:32,389
They may be somewhat neutral things, but they're just stuff.

965
00:55:32,389 --> 00:55:34,421
They're just filler.

966
00:55:34,421 --> 00:55:38,488
We move more into the realm -

967
00:55:38,488 --> 00:55:41,368
you know how it says in Philippians,

968
00:55:41,368 --> 00:55:43,790
we need to approve what is excellent.

969
00:55:43,790 --> 00:55:45,820
The ones in the innermost circles, they approve

970
00:55:45,820 --> 00:55:47,492
what is most excellent.

971
00:55:47,492 --> 00:55:50,927
As you begin to move out, people tolerate stuff that's good

972
00:55:50,927 --> 00:55:53,405
at the expense of stuff that's excellent.

973
00:55:53,405 --> 00:55:55,926
People in this realm, to be sure,

974
00:55:55,926 --> 00:56:04,337
they're people that do love Christ.

975
00:56:04,337 --> 00:56:07,256
People in this camp, the love for Christ is full,

976
00:56:07,256 --> 00:56:09,334
it's rich, it's strong.

977
00:56:09,334 --> 00:56:13,659
But that recently put off garment; those freshly washed feet,

978
00:56:13,659 --> 00:56:15,698
often are the kinds of things that give rise to

979
00:56:15,698 --> 00:56:22,030
such the hesitation that puts them in a class

980
00:56:22,030 --> 00:56:24,226
as to where they get to the door and they don't enjoy

981
00:56:24,226 --> 00:56:27,946
the overwhelming embraces of Christ.

982
00:56:27,946 --> 00:56:29,869
He's gone.

983
00:56:29,869 --> 00:56:31,891
Brethren, some of us are too calculated.

984
00:56:31,891 --> 00:56:33,465
Over much calculation, over much deliberation,

985
00:56:33,465 --> 00:56:36,071
over much hesitation - hesitations of doubt,

986
00:56:36,071 --> 00:56:38,717
distractions by the world.

987
00:56:38,717 --> 00:56:43,628
Brethren, it costs.

988
00:56:43,628 --> 00:56:46,095
But moving outward still, Payson goes on to describe

989
00:56:46,095 --> 00:56:48,205
this last category. He says this,

990
00:56:48,205 --> 00:56:53,101
"A third class beyond these, but yet within the life-giving rays."

991
00:56:53,101 --> 00:56:56,126
In his estimation, as he lived his life when he's writing this,

992
00:56:56,126 --> 00:56:58,116
he's at the end of his life. He's observed,

993
00:56:58,116 --> 00:57:01,175
there are people who are genuinely saved.

994
00:57:01,175 --> 00:57:04,520
They're within the life-giving rays.

995
00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:06,888
It includes a doubtful multitude.

996
00:57:06,888 --> 00:57:10,437
"Many of whom are so much engaged in their worldly schemes,

997
00:57:10,437 --> 00:57:13,772
that they may be seen standing sideways to Christ,

998
00:57:13,772 --> 00:57:16,376
looking mostly the other way, and

999
00:57:16,376 --> 00:57:20,436
only now and then turning their faces towards the light."

1000
00:57:20,436 --> 00:57:22,140
Brethren, you can see the picture, right?

1001
00:57:22,140 --> 00:57:25,314
Christ is here in the center, and they're in these fading

1002
00:57:25,314 --> 00:57:29,605
concentric circles, and they're standing sideways.

1003
00:57:29,605 --> 00:57:32,254
Which means, they can turn and glance.

1004
00:57:32,254 --> 00:57:34,156
The people in the inner circles,

1005
00:57:34,156 --> 00:57:36,219
they've got their eyes on Christ.

1006
00:57:36,219 --> 00:57:39,999
They're just afraid, lest they take them off.

1007
00:57:39,999 --> 00:57:42,983
The people as you move out, they tend to turn.

1008
00:57:42,983 --> 00:57:46,277
They tend to turn more and more to the side.

1009
00:57:46,277 --> 00:57:49,106
Until you get in the outer concentric circles

1010
00:57:49,106 --> 00:57:52,745
of what still remains to be true Christianity.

1011
00:57:52,745 --> 00:57:55,903
And brethren, a lot of people live there.

1012
00:57:55,903 --> 00:57:58,701
It's kind of like that picture that Spurgeon paints

1013
00:57:58,701 --> 00:58:03,423
of the love of Christ being an ocean to swim in.

1014
00:58:03,423 --> 00:58:11,000
And that most Chrsitians wade ankle deep.

1015
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:18,842
Very, very few dive in to find it an ocean to swim in.

1016
00:58:18,842 --> 00:58:22,027
Brethren, what I want to ask you right now

1017
00:58:22,027 --> 00:58:25,286
is let's just bring it home.

1018
00:58:25,286 --> 00:58:27,374
Where are you at?

1019
00:58:27,374 --> 00:58:29,296
I mean is this true of you?

1020
00:58:29,296 --> 00:58:33,569
Where are you living? What are you content with?

1021
00:58:33,569 --> 00:58:37,044
Brethren, what happens in our life?

1022
00:58:37,044 --> 00:58:38,362
Can I tell you this?

1023
00:58:38,362 --> 00:58:44,533
Can you be a Christian and grieve the Spirit?

1024
00:58:44,533 --> 00:58:48,220
Obviously, or Paul wouldn't be telling those Ephesians not to do it.

1025
00:58:48,220 --> 00:58:49,517
Can you grieve the Spirit

1026
00:58:49,517 --> 00:58:55,470
and then His fiery influences are quenched?

1027
00:58:55,470 --> 00:58:59,075
And now this power doesn't flow in us, to comprehend this love?

1028
00:58:59,075 --> 00:59:01,565
Obviously, brethren, that's why there's danger

1029
00:59:01,565 --> 00:59:03,314
in quenching the Spirit.

1030
00:59:03,314 --> 00:59:05,464
That's why there's danger in grieving the Spirit.

1031
00:59:05,464 --> 00:59:08,813
We woudn't be told not to do it if it didn't matter.

1032
00:59:08,813 --> 00:59:10,585
It does matter.

1033
00:59:10,585 --> 00:59:13,087
It greatly matters.

1034
00:59:13,087 --> 00:59:16,777
But think about grieving the Spirit.

1035
00:59:16,777 --> 00:59:19,934
Think about it. What happens?

1036
00:59:19,934 --> 00:59:22,318
Brethren, I can remember one time as a kid,

1037
00:59:22,318 --> 00:59:25,017
my brother and I, we went to this carnival,

1038
00:59:25,017 --> 00:59:28,173
up there in Michigan, and we got on this

1039
00:59:28,173 --> 00:59:31,586
thing that went around in circles.

1040
00:59:31,586 --> 00:59:35,673
And what made it fun was that once it got going around,

1041
00:59:35,673 --> 00:59:45,513
it would shoot you way up in the air.

1042
00:59:45,513 --> 00:59:48,533
So there we were. My brother and I got in this thing,

1043
00:59:48,533 --> 00:59:51,262
we were spinning around, and every time we went around

1044
00:59:51,262 --> 00:59:53,392
by the ride operator, he'd shout something at us.

1045
00:59:53,392 --> 00:59:56,866
All the other cars are going up, ours wouldn't go up.

1046
00:59:56,866 --> 00:59:59,069
We just kept going in circles.

1047
00:59:59,069 --> 01:00:02,184
What made the ride fun was the fact you got to go up in the air.

1048
01:00:02,184 --> 01:00:05,135
But he kept shouting something. We couldn't hear him.

1049
01:00:05,135 --> 01:00:06,913
So we're moving around, moving this way,

1050
01:00:06,913 --> 01:00:09,104
going over here, we thought he wanted us

1051
01:00:09,104 --> 01:00:10,838
to move further in, further out.

1052
01:00:10,838 --> 01:00:12,928
We're moving all over, we're doing all this stuff.

1053
01:00:12,928 --> 01:00:16,670
In the end, the ride's over, and we never got to go up.

1054
01:00:16,670 --> 01:00:19,929
But you know that's a lot like a lot of Christians.

1055
01:00:19,929 --> 01:00:22,454
You know what he was saying,

1056
01:00:22,454 --> 01:00:24,664
"Pull the safety bar back."

1057
01:00:24,664 --> 01:00:27,787
We never did hear it.

1058
01:00:27,787 --> 01:00:30,994
But it's like that with a lot of Christians.

1059
01:00:30,994 --> 01:00:34,045
Brethren, you're being told by the apostle.

1060
01:00:34,045 --> 01:00:36,167
He's the ride operator. You're on the ride.

1061
01:00:36,167 --> 01:00:38,579
He's shouting to you:

1062
01:00:38,579 --> 01:00:41,292
"Don't grieve the Spirit."

1063
01:00:41,292 --> 01:00:43,958
"Pull into the inner circles,

1064
01:00:43,958 --> 01:00:50,400
that you might comprehend the love of Christ."

1065
01:00:50,400 --> 01:00:52,448
The vastness of it.

1066
01:00:52,448 --> 01:00:56,533
To be filled with all the fullness of God.

1067
01:00:56,533 --> 01:00:58,418
It will bring you power, folks.

1068
01:00:58,418 --> 01:01:00,880
It will help you. It will pull you through this life.

1069
01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:04,759
It will pull you through the problems.

1070
01:01:04,759 --> 01:01:11,478
Brethren, what does grieve the Holy Spirit?

1071
01:01:11,478 --> 01:01:14,317
And it comes back to this aspect of love.

1072
01:01:14,317 --> 01:01:16,144
It really does.

1073
01:01:16,144 --> 01:01:17,628
Somebody will come along and say,

1074
01:01:17,628 --> 01:01:19,587
well, the only possible thing that could grieve

1075
01:01:19,587 --> 01:01:24,044
the Holy Spirit is sin.

1076
01:01:24,044 --> 01:01:26,966
You know what I find?

1077
01:01:26,966 --> 01:01:31,461
I find even when there's sin, such as,

1078
01:01:31,461 --> 01:01:35,456
remember the prodigal son?

1079
01:01:35,456 --> 01:01:37,503
He lived in all sorts of sin.

1080
01:01:37,503 --> 01:01:39,397
And when he came back to his father,

1081
01:01:39,397 --> 01:01:43,381
his father didn't meet him with a grieved smile.

1082
01:01:43,381 --> 01:01:46,197
Remember, what grieves the Father, grieves the Son,

1083
01:01:46,197 --> 01:01:48,812
grieves the Spirit. They're all One.

1084
01:01:48,812 --> 01:01:50,868
As far as what grieves them. What grieves the Spirit

1085
01:01:50,868 --> 01:01:53,798
would be the same thing that grieves the Father.

1086
01:01:53,798 --> 01:01:56,920
But here's the picture Christ is painting for us of the Father.

1087
01:01:56,920 --> 01:02:00,118
Despite all the sin, the Father did not welcome him back

1088
01:02:00,118 --> 01:02:03,711
with a frown of grief.

1089
01:02:03,711 --> 01:02:07,119
There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents,

1090
01:02:07,119 --> 01:02:09,774
than over 99 that need no repentance.

1091
01:02:09,774 --> 01:02:13,039
Brethren, you cannot just nail it down to the fact

1092
01:02:13,039 --> 01:02:16,165
that sin...

1093
01:02:16,165 --> 01:02:20,146
brethren, it comes back to the intimacy thing.

1094
01:02:20,146 --> 01:02:24,525
The Father's rejoicing because here comes one now,

1095
01:02:24,525 --> 01:02:29,141
a repentant sinner, that's seeking the intimacy.

1096
01:02:29,141 --> 01:02:31,686
Coming back, returning to the Father,

1097
01:02:31,686 --> 01:02:37,115
the Father throws His arms, kisses, robes, sandals,

1098
01:02:37,115 --> 01:02:39,852
fatted calf, rings on finger...

1099
01:02:39,852 --> 01:02:43,474
brethren, again, it's intimacy.

1100
01:02:43,474 --> 01:02:46,139
You want to know what grieves the Spirit?

1101
01:02:46,139 --> 01:02:47,607
Listen to this, you say, well

1102
01:02:47,607 --> 01:02:50,259
certainly not keeping His commandments.

1103
01:02:50,259 --> 01:02:53,910
Yeah, but He says, listen to how He says it.

1104
01:02:53,910 --> 01:02:56,717
Yes, that's true, but that's not all the truth of it.

1105
01:02:56,717 --> 01:03:00,800
The truth is, if you love Me, keep My commandments.

1106
01:03:00,800 --> 01:03:04,650
Even there, Christ is making it an intimacy thing.

1107
01:03:04,650 --> 01:03:08,713
A relational thing. He's appealing, brethren.

1108
01:03:08,713 --> 01:03:10,846
If you love Me, keep My commandments.

1109
01:03:10,846 --> 01:03:13,187
I'm not so much interested in people

1110
01:03:13,187 --> 01:03:14,974
walking around through life who coldly

1111
01:03:14,974 --> 01:03:18,023
and mechanically just try to be law keepers.

1112
01:03:18,023 --> 01:03:21,313
I'm looking for people who are like these people

1113
01:03:21,313 --> 01:03:24,370
in the innermost concentric cirlces; they're afraid

1114
01:03:24,370 --> 01:03:27,976
they fear lest they should fall out of His love,

1115
01:03:27,976 --> 01:03:31,008
out of His loving beams, out of His gaze.

1116
01:03:31,008 --> 01:03:33,447
Keep yourselves in the love of God.

1117
01:03:33,447 --> 01:03:37,428
The reason that they're wanting to be so meticulous

1118
01:03:37,428 --> 01:03:40,321
is lest they should have any cloud come between them.

1119
01:03:40,321 --> 01:03:42,500
Brethren, when that's what drives you,

1120
01:03:42,500 --> 01:03:45,338
look how pleasing that is to Him.

1121
01:03:45,338 --> 01:03:49,957
Brethren, He says, have you ever read

1122
01:03:49,957 --> 01:03:53,185
what was said of the Ephesian church there

1123
01:03:53,185 --> 01:03:55,284
in Revelation 2?

1124
01:03:55,284 --> 01:03:58,228
Brethren, they were a good church. They were good.

1125
01:03:58,228 --> 01:04:00,038
If you go through the list of everything that Christ says,

1126
01:04:00,038 --> 01:04:03,661
positively about them, they are a tremendous church.

1127
01:04:03,689 --> 01:04:05,460
But in the end, He says this,

1128
01:04:05,460 --> 01:04:08,734
despite all that looks tremendous,

1129
01:04:08,734 --> 01:04:11,567
despite all that may seem to the contrary,

1130
01:04:11,567 --> 01:04:13,442
"You've lost your first love,

1131
01:04:13,442 --> 01:04:15,684
and that I hold against you."

1132
01:04:15,684 --> 01:04:18,816
Brethren, you want to know something that grieves the Spirit?

1133
01:04:18,816 --> 01:04:21,376
When you begin to lose this first love.

1134
01:04:21,376 --> 01:04:26,441
That in itself is grieving.

1135
01:04:26,441 --> 01:04:27,589
It's grieving.

1136
01:04:27,589 --> 01:04:32,524
Brethren, when you look at these things?

1137
01:04:32,524 --> 01:04:34,671
Where are we?

1138
01:04:34,671 --> 01:04:37,006
Where are you?

1139
01:04:37,006 --> 01:04:39,063
Where have you been?

1140
01:04:39,063 --> 01:04:42,461
Where have you been living?

1141
01:04:42,461 --> 01:04:49,591
Brethren, if we can press in. Press in. Press upward.

1142
01:04:49,591 --> 01:04:53,474
Brethren, I not only love reading about these guys

1143
01:04:53,474 --> 01:04:58,103
that have this burst of love come upon them.

1144
01:04:58,103 --> 01:05:02,015
But these men, these women, who lived

1145
01:05:02,015 --> 01:05:06,422
year in, year out, in the blazing glory.

1146
01:05:06,422 --> 01:05:09,515
Samuel Rutherford, I'll just end on this:

1147
01:05:09,515 --> 01:05:11,903
Spurgeon says of him,

1148
01:05:11,903 --> 01:05:19,013
"Old Samuel Rutherford used expressions sometimes so rapturous,"

1149
01:05:19,013 --> 01:05:24,316
Spurgeon says, "I won't even quote them."

1150
01:05:24,316 --> 01:05:26,014
And here's why. Spurgeon said,

1151
01:05:26,014 --> 01:05:30,690
"Love letters are not to be read in the streets.

1152
01:05:30,690 --> 01:05:33,495
And the words which souls inflamed with heavenly fire

1153
01:05:33,495 --> 01:05:38,435
sometimes use towards Christ are not fit for public repetition.

1154
01:05:38,435 --> 01:05:40,570
For there are passages of love, there are

1155
01:05:40,570 --> 01:05:45,278
sweet embraces of affections of which we must not tell.

1156
01:05:45,278 --> 01:05:48,292
For this were to commit treason such as Paul might have done

1157
01:05:48,292 --> 01:05:52,686
if he had told on earth those things that He had heard in heaven.

1158
01:05:52,686 --> 01:05:57,114
And which it would not be lawful for a man to utter here."

1159
01:05:57,114 --> 01:05:59,029
Brethren, do you know anything of that?

1160
01:05:59,029 --> 01:06:02,635
Do you know anything of such words, such exchanges

1161
01:06:02,635 --> 01:06:11,436
between you and Christ that it's almost unfit for the public?

1162
01:06:11,456 --> 01:06:15,909
They're there in the inner circles.

1163
01:06:15,909 --> 01:06:19,921
That you might be able to comprehend with all the saints

1164
01:06:19,921 --> 01:06:23,493
that you might be able to press into these inner circles

1165
01:06:23,493 --> 01:06:25,584
that's what that means.

1166
01:06:25,584 --> 01:06:29,483
Brethren, the power of the Spirit of God is there.

1167
01:06:29,483 --> 01:06:30,847
Don't grieve Him.

1168
01:06:30,847 --> 01:06:33,055
This is your life.

1169
01:06:33,055 --> 01:06:38,802
This is it. Basking in the glow of Christ's love is it.

1170
01:06:38,802 --> 01:06:42,594
That's what fills us with all the fullness of God.

1171
01:06:42,594 --> 01:06:49,519
You can't go in further.

1172
01:06:49,519 --> 01:06:54,879
There's no more further in than the innermost circles, brethren.

1173
01:06:54,879 --> 01:06:59,611
Now we will get swept, unless it's just to go into Christ Himself,

1174
01:06:59,611 --> 01:07:03,191
which we are in there.

1175
01:07:03,191 --> 01:07:08,501
We'll just be swept off into glory forever and ever,

1176
01:07:08,501 --> 01:07:15,683
just to be ravished by this love.

1177
01:07:15,683 --> 01:07:22,053
Well, I'm sorry I can't - I can guarantee you

1178
01:07:22,053 --> 01:07:25,796
there is a glory here to be brought out

1179
01:07:25,796 --> 01:07:32,421
that I feel I fail tremendously to be able to do,

1180
01:07:32,421 --> 01:07:36,356
but seek to dwell on these things.

1181
01:07:36,356 --> 01:07:39,535
Go after them.

1182
01:07:39,535 --> 01:07:41,958
Brethren, walk carefully.

1183
01:07:41,958 --> 01:07:47,732
Strive to know nothing against yourself, nothing at all.

1184
01:07:47,732 --> 01:07:49,373
Be careful.

1185
01:07:49,373 --> 01:07:51,378
Don't hesitate.

1186
01:07:51,378 --> 01:07:56,518
When Christ beckons you, go at once.

1187
01:07:56,518 --> 01:07:59,522
When He calls you to prayer, jump.

1188
01:07:59,522 --> 01:08:01,744
When He calls you to the Word, jump.

1189
01:08:01,744 --> 01:08:05,722
When He calls you to fast, move, brethren.

1190
01:08:05,722 --> 01:08:10,058
When He calls your name... don't be slow.

1191
01:08:10,058 --> 01:08:12,578
"Here am I."

1192
01:08:12,578 --> 01:08:15,796
When He puts that tinge in your conscience, don't go that way,

1193
01:08:15,796 --> 01:08:18,403
brethren, don't go that way.

1194
01:08:18,403 --> 01:08:24,021
When He knocks at the door, run to that door and open it.

1195
01:08:24,021 --> 01:08:26,070
And may God help us.