Ephesians 3:17-19 Experiencing The Love Of God

 

Call To Worship  Romans 5:6-11

Law and Grace reading  Psalm 103:1-13

Bible reading  Ephesians 3:11-21

Benediction: Ephesians 3:20,21

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith---that you, being rooted and grounded in love,¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

1. Your Evidence Of The Love Of Christ

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them. because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." The Lord understood the predicament; they were tired, and the children were restless. Jesus appreciated the difficulty. and His love overflowed "He was moved with compassion."

See Compassion Caring

But when he [Christ] saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd (Matt. 9:36).

See Compassion Curing

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick (Matt. 14:14). Matthew explained that Jesus was filled with compassion because the people were as sheep without a shepherd. They had no leader to provide sustenance for their souls. 

See Compassion Considering

Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way (Matt. 15:32).

The crowd was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The people had followed Jesus for three days. They were hungry, but no one complained. Their patience had been rewarded when the Savior healed all types of diseases. Matthew said "great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them." Language could not express the extent of the people's enthusiasm. They had witnessed sights at which angels would rejoice. Even the need for food was temporarily forgotten as they watched the miracles of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Lord was greatly concerned. Children were hungry, mothers were becoming anxious, and even men ran the risk of collapsing as they journeyed homeward.

See Compassion Cooperating

And behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by. cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, 0 Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, 0 Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes might be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him (Matt. 20:30-34).

See Compassion Cleansing

And Jesus, moved with compassion. put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will: be thou clean (Mark 1:41).

Lepers were the most pitiable beggars in Palestine. Their disease separated them from family and friends, robbed them of employment, and made them forfeit everything of value. Banished to a life of despair and loneliness, they were dependent on relatives to bring food and could only hope a premature death would terminate their sufferings. It was never revealed where this leper lived nor how he heard of the approach of Jesus. But evidently he had been stirred by the possibility of cleansing. He left wherever he was and, drawing near to the Lord, begged for assistance. His faith in the ability of Christ never wavered, but he was not sure Jesus would be willing to grant the favour. He said. "If thou wilt  thou canst make me clean." Defying the teachings and beliefs of the nation, the Lord touched the leper, which was forbidden by law. Jesus was filled with compassion when He saw a person who was waiting to die, a derelict without a friend, a pauper without money, and when He saw the extent of the tragedy before Him, he was "moved with compassion."

He touched me, 0, He touched me,                And 0, the joy that floods my soul:

Something happened, and now I know,            He touched me and made me whole.

See Compassion Conquering

Jesus . . . saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and bath had compassion on thee (Mark 5:19).

The Lord travelled across the Sea of Galilee to an inhospitable Gentile place, and there he saw a demon possessed man.  What the leper was physically the demon possessed was spiritually.  Just as He touched someone who felt unworthy to be healed, so He touched someone VERY unworthy to be healed. He delivered a soul from the bondage of Satan. Jesus deliberately made the journey to meet the demoniac who lived among the tombs. Elsewhere the Lord ministered to multitudes of people. In the cemetery at Gadara. he spoke to one, or two demoniacs (see Matt. 8:28). but that fact teaches how He evaluated the worth of a man. It is interesting that Jesus made that journey to meet the need of a demoniac, and one in a foreign inhospitable land. If people cannot come to Him, He will go to them. He loved those unfortunate men, and His amazing power liberated them from the bondage of evil.

See Compassion Comforting

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not (Luke 7:11-13). This poor woman probably wished she were dead! Her husband had died leaving her to care for her child, and now her son had died. Why had God permitted this to happen? Why had He not completed His work by taking her? She was beyond words and tears. The time for the hastily arranged funeral had arrived. She was expected to follow her boy to his last resting place. The sad event had aroused the sympathy of the entire city. and while funerals were generally attended by only family and neighbors. this one was different "Much people of the city was with her."

Sadly, with bowed head and aching heart, she followed the procession as they carried his body down the narrow street.

Who was this Man, and by what authority had He halted the funeral march? The distressed mother looked up and saw the Stranger gazing intently at her, and then a mystical warmth began to remove the chill from her soul. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier, and they that bare him the corpse stood still. And he said. Young man. I say unto thee. Arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he [Jesus] delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying. That a great prophet is risen up among us; that God hath visited his people (Luke 7:13-16).

See Compassion Crucifying

 Samuel Rutherford, The Trial and Triumph of Faith "Oh, what love! Christ would not intrust our redemption to angels, to millions of angels; but he would come himself, and in person suffer; he would not give a low and a base price for us clay. He would buy us with a great ransom, so as he might over-buy us, and none could over-bid him in his market for souls. If there had been millions of more believers, and many heavens, without any new bargain his blood should have bought them all, and all these many heavens should have smelled one rose of life; Christ should have been one and the same tree of life in them all. Oh, we under-bid, and undervalue that Prince of love, who did overvalue us; we will not sell all we have to buy him; he sold all he had, and himself too, to buy us."

 

The Apostle Paul knew the evidence. He knew that the Lord Jesus was compassionate.

Just like the leper or the demon possessed man, Paul knew he was unworthy of the love of Christ.

1 Timothy 1: 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

And Paul entered into an experience of the love of Christ.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

David was apparently overwhelmed with the universality of that love when he wrote:

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me (Ps. 139:8-9).

 

2. Your Experience Of The Love Of Christ

Robert Harkness wrote:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained       Too deeply for mirth or song?

As the burdens press, and cares distress,    And the way seems weary and long?

But can you enter into this deeper experience of the love of Christ? That is a very real question, and one that often troubles us deep down to the root of our hearts.

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained       Too deeply for mirth or song?

As the burdens press, and cares distress,    And the way seems weary and long?

Oh yes, He cares; I know He cares;            His heart is touched with my grief:

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,      I know my Saviour cares.

Many hymn writers and puritan and reformed writers have talked about their deepening experience of the love of Christ.

One of the greatest attempts to express the love of God was made by Frederick Lehman who lived from 1868 until 1953. He wrote:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade.

To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

O Love of God, how rich and pure; How measureless and strong.

It shall for evermore endure, The saints' and angels' song.

John Newton knew this too.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds     In a believer's ear!

Bernard of Clairvaux says:

Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast.

Jesus, Thou Joy of loving hearts,    Thou Fount of life, Thou Light of men,

From the best bliss that earth imparts     We turn unfilled to Thee again.

 

Is He that to you? Is that true of you? It is possible to believe in His work for you. You can be a Christian and can be saved by Him without being able to say quite honestly that He is 'the joy of your heart'. The people who wrote these hymns meant what they said; they were being honest and were relating their experiences, It is not mere poetry. 

Bernard of Clairvaux which says:

O Hope of every contrite heart,        O Joy of all the meek,

To those who fall how kind Thou art,         How good to those who seek!

But what to those who find? Ah, this      Nor tongue nor pen can show;

The love of Jesus, what it is          None but His loved ones know.

 

'His loved ones know'. They cannot tell us much about it in an exact or logical manner, but they know it, they are rejoicing in it. 

Charles Wesley's hymns:

Thou hidden Source of calm repose: Thou all-sufficient Love divine;

My help and refuge from my foes, Secure I am if Thou art mine:

And lo! from sin and grief and shame I hide me, Jesus, in Thy Name.

Thy mighty Name salvation is, And keeps my happy soul above;

Comfort it brings, and power, and peace, And joy and everlasting love:

To me, with Thy dear Name are given Pardon, and holiness, and heaven.

Jesus, my All in all Thou art, My rest in toil, mine ease in pain;

The medicine of my broken heart; In war my peace, in loss my gain;

My smile beneath the tyrant's frown; In shame, my glory and my crown:

In what, my plentiful supply; In weakness, mine almighty power;

In bonds, my perfect liberty; My light in Satan's darkest hour;

My help and stay whene'er I call; My life in death, my heaven, my All!

 

He had not only seen it as an intellectual possibility, it had become a spiritual reality to him.

'Tis mercy all, that Thou hast brought  My mind to seek her peace in Thee;

Yet, while I seek but find Thee not, No peace my wandering soul shall see;

O when shall all my wanderings end, And all my steps to Thee-ward tend?

 

It is Soul Strengthening

John 3:16. A child recently said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten Son." It's not "forgotten." The word is "begotten." What does it mean? It is the Greek word "monogene." It's a combination of two words. "Mono" meaning "one" and "genes" is where we get our word "generation." It means birth. It means it's a "one and only kind of birth." Jesus Christ was born different than any other man. You were born the same way I was born. You had an earthly father and an earthly mother. 5 None of us are monogene. The only person who could ever say their birth was unlike any other birth is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He had a heavenly Father and an earthly mother.

Anna Waring: 

In heavenly love abiding,    No change my heart shall fear;

And safe is such confiding,      For nothing changes here;

The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid;

But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed?

Nothing but a deep love to God can stand up to the trials and the stresses, the hazards and the strains of life. Belief alone is not enough. Belief is essential, and it can take you a long way. But when the real storms come, belief alone is not enough. Love alone enables us to stand up to the storms. Another hymn-writer, Edward Mote, was able to say with certainty and assurance,

When all around my soul gives way,  He then is all my hope and stay.

Samuel Rutherford "If your Lord calls you to suffering, do not be dismayed, for He will provide a deeper portion of Christ in your suffering. The softest pillow will be placed under your head though you must set your bare feet among thorns. Do not be afraid at suffering for Christ, for He has a sweet peace for a sufferer. "

 

It is Soul Sustaining

I ask a simple and obvious question, Is this your experience?

Gerhard Tersteegen, a saintly eighteenth-century Prussian (though with Dutch associations), who had himself experienced these things. He had not only 'seen' this, he was persuaded of it, and he embraced it.

Thou hidden Love of God, whose height,   Whose depth unfathomed, no man knows,

I see from far Thy beauteous light,      Inly I sigh for Thy repose;

My heart is pained, nor can it be       At rest, till it finds rest in Thee.

 

It is Soul Sanctifying

Samuel Rutherford  "The greatest temptation out of hell is to live without trials. A pool of standing water will turn stagnant. Faith grows more with the sharp winter storm in its face. Grace withers without adversity. You cannot sneak quietly into heaven without a cross. Crosses form us into His image. They cut away the pieces of our corruption. Lord cut, carve, wound; Lord do anything to perfect Your image in us and make us fit for glory! We need winnowing before we enter the kingdom of God. O what I owe to the file, hammer, and furnace! Why should I be surprised at the plough that makes such deep furrows in my soul? Whatever direction the wind blows, it will blow us to the Lord. His hand will direct us safely to the heavenly shore to find the weight of eternal glory. As we look back to our pains and suffering, we shall see that suffering is not worthy to be compared to our first night's welcome home in heaven. If we could smell of heaven and our country above, our crosses would not bite us. Lay all your loads by faith on Christ, ease yourself, and let Him bear all. He can, He does, and He will bear you. Whether God comes with a rod or a crown, He comes with Himself. "Have courage, I am your salvation!" Welcome, welcome Jesus!"

Theodore Monod: 

O the bitter shame and sorrow,      That a time could ever be,

When I let the Saviour's pity     Plead in vain, and proudly answered: 'All of self, and none of Thee!' 

Yet He found me: I beheld Him Bleeding on the accursèd tree, Heard Him pray: 'Forgive them, Father!' And my wistful heart said faintly: 'Some of self, and some of Thee!' 

Day by day, His tender mercy, Healing, helping, full and free, Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,

Brought me lower, while I whispered: 'Less of self, and more of Thee!' 

Higher than the highest heaven, Deeper than the deepest sea,

Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered; Grant me now my supplication: 'None of self, and all of Thee!' 

 

'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God'. The Spirit is already strengthening us with might by His power in the inner man, and it is because He does so that we have got to do these things. If you truly desire Christ in your heart then you have to put this exhortation into practice. There is no other way. 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me' (Matt 16:24). 'They that are Christ's', says Paul, 'have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts' (Gal 5:24). 

 

Jesus loves me, this I know, Though my hair is white as snow;

Though my sight is growing dim, Still He bids me trust in Him.

Though my steps are, oh, so slow; With my hand in His I'll go;

On through life; let come what may, He'll be there to lead the way.

When the nights are dark and long, In my heart He puts a song,

Telling me in words so clear, "Have no fear for I am near."

When my work on earth is done; And life's victories have been won;

He will take me home above; To the fullness of His love.

 

When I was part of the Jesus movement in the 1970s one of my favorite singers was Andraé Crouch. He wrote many great worship songs. You may recognize the title of this message based on a song he wrote in 1972. I love the simple, but powerful lyrics: Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above Him, there's no other. Jesus is the way! The second verse speaks to us in a powerful way: I know you've got mountains, That you think you cannot climb, I know your skies are dark, You think the sun won't shine, But in case you don't know, That the word of God is true, Everything He's promised, He will do it for you. Jesus is the answer for the world today; Above Him there's no other, Jesus is the way! Jesus is the answer for the world today; Above Him there's no other, Jesus is the way!" When it comes to life's most important questions, Jesus not only HAS the answers, He IS the answer

 

 

Growth group Questions 

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

What evidences of Christ's love most deeply touch your heart?

When have you particularly felt Christ's love for you as more than an intellectual fact?

In what ways can we more deeply know His love for us?

Why is this so important?

Which hymns do you personally find most moving and reassuring?

Which Bible verses have you committed to memory ot remind you of the Lord's love for you?

 

Prayer points

Pray for Zwingly and Margie's family in the loss of Zwingly's older brother this week.

Please uphold Corrie and Saya in hospital at this time.

Pray for Rob as he continues his recovery.

Pray for little Lina, Lena's grand daughter who has an operation coming very soon.