WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:04.590 We've begun a new lesson series called overcome. 00:00:06.340 --> 00:00:08.640 Together, we're going to be going through the next four weeks. 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:11.120 We started last week, so we're three weeks left in this series. 00:00:11.620 --> 00:00:14.300 On the idea of what it means to overcome according to Scripture. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.540 We've really titled this series Nike. 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:22.140 We're not talking about Tiger Woods or tennis shoes. 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:28.720 We're calling it Nike because the word for victory in the Bible is Nike. 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:36.310 And you learned last week to those who enjoy the sports brand of Nike, that all this time you've been saying it like a bunch of hillbillies. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.720 The Greek way we pronounce Nike as Nike or Nike. 00:00:43.360 --> 00:00:49.300 It says in first John chapter five and verse four, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:53.240 That's Nike to get the victory over the world. 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:59.960 And this is the victory, the Nike, the Nike that has overcome or gotten the win over the world. 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:01.520 It is our faith. 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:11.200 But even though our faith gives us the opportunity to get the victory over the world, sometimes we don't live 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:11.560 in that victory. 00:01:14.220 --> 00:01:21.220 Last week we looked at overcoming our past, and the way that we overcome our past is not to 00:01:21.220 --> 00:01:27.040 identify ourselves through our past, but to identify ourselves in light of who Jesus says that we are. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:36.460 Ephesians chapter one reminds us that we belong to him, that we've been sealed with him, and that he's blessed us with his 00:01:36.460 --> 00:01:43.520 kingdom and all of his goods in this world tells us in Second Corinthians chapter ten and verse five that we have an opportunity in our 00:01:43.520 --> 00:01:45.300 lives on what we choose to believe. 00:01:46.520 --> 00:01:52.010 And it says that we, as people, should take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. 00:01:53.520 --> 00:02:00.780 I mean, there's all kinds of ideas and philosophies about who we are as people in light of our past or just what an individual 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:01.300 is. 00:02:02.660 --> 00:02:09.880 But the Bible tells us to take every single one of those thoughts that we like to think about our identity and our self-worth, and grab those thoughts 00:02:09.880 --> 00:02:13.800 out of the sky and captivate them and everything that Jesus says that we are. 00:02:14.040 --> 00:02:21.120 Through His Word to not be defined by what others say that we are, but in who Christ 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:22.180 says that we are. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:32.020 In addition, today we're going to look at another way of overcoming, and that's overcoming broken 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:32.760 relationships. 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:39.300 How do we get the Nike the just do it over those broken relationships? 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:47.240 You know a few things in life that compare to the opportunity of love and being loved. 00:02:48.220 --> 00:02:53.680 There's no greater joy and satisfaction that's found more so than in the depth of our relationships. 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:03.790 First being your relationship with God, and then how that lives out in light of your relationship towards other people. 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:11.940 The Bible says to us that real heroes are those who seek reconciliation, truth and love and relationships. 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:17.320 It says in Proverbs chapter 20 and verse three, avoid a fight. 00:03:17.540 --> 00:03:19.120 Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor. 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:27.240 Only fools insist on quarreling tells us in first Peter 122, now that you have purified 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:34.260 yourselves, obeying the truth, that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the 00:03:34.260 --> 00:03:34.480 heart. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.500 God carries this idea with our identity. 00:03:39.140 --> 00:03:45.900 In him is as we come to know him, as he has displayed himself truthfully, that we expand and forever grow in our ability to love. 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:50.400 And as we begin to see God for who he is, we begin to love others the way that we should. 00:03:51.160 --> 00:03:55.520 Love, truth and love Of are important. 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:01.420 God's desire for us as people, the real heroes of the world aren't those who are the toughest. 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:05.820 That by displaying that strength and going into the world and beating everyone up right. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:11.060 Society might have you to believe that whoever the last man standing in the battle is, that is the victor. 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:18.940 Whoever got the last cutting word that hurt the most or punched someone in the face the hardest and you are still standing, you win. 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:27.320 But in God's world, it's the those who lay down who 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:34.580 humble themselves to meet the needs of others, who seek after unity and truth 00:04:34.580 --> 00:04:36.040 and love. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:45.460 The Bible tells us in the book of Matthew in chapter five, therefore, if you are offering 00:04:45.460 --> 00:04:48.240 your gift, these are people attending the temple to worship. 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:55.780 If you're coming to church to worship today and you're at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you. 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:57.700 Leave your gift there in front of the altar. 00:04:57.960 --> 00:04:59.460 First, go and be reconciled to them. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.160 Then come and offer your gift. 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:10.120 It's saying to us, when we have wronged people in our lives, rather than carry the burden and the guilt of knowing that wrong exists. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:17.480 God desires for you to love and seek unity in those relationships through truth, and go back and confess that sin to the individual you have wronged. 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:26.380 Seek reconciliation in the Bible not only commands us to seek forgiveness when 00:05:26.380 --> 00:05:27.260 we've wronged people. 00:05:27.260 --> 00:05:30.580 It also commands us to forgive those who've wronged us. 00:05:32.460 --> 00:05:37.980 In fact, in different portions of Scripture, it tells us to then seek people who have wronged us for the opportunity of reconciliation. 00:05:39.780 --> 00:05:46.600 Matthew chapter 18 and verse 21 it says, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 00:05:48.640 --> 00:05:49.820 He says up to seven times. 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:56.020 And Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.300 Jesus is speaking hyperbole here. 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:05.620 He's not saying literally 77 times, but he's saying to us, you think seven times is enough? 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.780 I'm telling you, multiply that by a bunch and then keep doing it. 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:10.360 Why? 00:06:12.320 --> 00:06:19.820 Because in our forgiveness, in our humility, we mainly reflect the character of 00:06:19.820 --> 00:06:20.020 God. 00:06:22.440 --> 00:06:24.960 Jesus was all about forgiveness and grace. 00:06:25.580 --> 00:06:29.800 He says in Second Peter, not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:38.760 But it tells us in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15 in the including passages just below, that it tells us that not everyone who we 00:06:38.760 --> 00:06:44.200 come to for reconciliation, whether we're forgiving them or they're forgiving us, they don't want that reconciliation. 00:06:44.700 --> 00:06:48.240 Sometimes we experience still, even in our forgiveness, heartache in Relationships. 00:06:50.820 --> 00:06:55.740 It says in 1815, if your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault just between the two of you. 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:58.820 If they listen to you have won them over. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:07.100 It goes on to say if they refuse to seek forgiveness in you, then bring some more people along and hold them accountable before other people. 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:12.560 But ultimately, it goes on to tell us in this passage that they may not want to be forgiven. 00:07:15.520 --> 00:07:19.720 So the question becomes, what do we as people do? 00:07:21.460 --> 00:07:25.370 If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I'm going to invite you to turn to Ephesians chapter four. 00:07:27.780 --> 00:07:32.800 We're going to get a key idea from Ephesians chapter four inches the first couple of verses in that passage of Scripture. 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:34.800 Then we're going to go through chapter three together. 00:07:35.320 --> 00:07:37.180 We're going to look a lot into the Greek text today. 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:43.920 You know what they say once you go Greek, whatever what they say, it's all Greek to me. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.000 Greek is supposed to be hard, right? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:46.510 It's not true. 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:49.760 Ephesians chapter four and verse two. 00:07:49.780 --> 00:07:50.950 It says this to us as believers. 00:07:51.260 --> 00:07:57.060 Paul has established this book, and the central idea of all of Ephesians is all about relationships. 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:03.620 And the first couple of chapters Paul identifies for us as believers who we are in light of who Jesus is. 00:08:04.640 --> 00:08:07.360 How should we view ourselves in relationship to Christ? 00:08:08.400 --> 00:08:15.440 And as we grow in that understanding to a relationship with Christ, the rest of the book then compels us to pursue healthy 00:08:15.440 --> 00:08:18.620 and growing relationships with other people in light of knowing Jesus. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:28.460 In chapter three, he begins to define for us how to overcome broken relationships in our life, and he gets to the central idea of what he's digging 00:08:28.460 --> 00:08:28.840 for. 00:08:28.940 --> 00:08:34.480 In chapter four and he says in chapter four and verse two, be completely humble and gentle. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:43.400 Be patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:53.100 God's desire in our relationship is to carry an attitude of humility and forgiveness, an 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:55.620 opportunity to see and meet the needs of other people. 00:08:55.700 --> 00:09:03.240 That when we come to church, we have the idea that Jesus carried and wanting to just wash the feet of his saints make 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:06.640 every effort you understand in that language. 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:10.800 It's defining for us, just straining for this purpose, exercising, getting all sweaty. 00:09:12.760 --> 00:09:20.080 Make that effort to keep the unity of the spirit is saying with us in verse two, bearing with one another as if we're holding each 00:09:20.100 --> 00:09:24.830 other up for this desire that we may keep the bond of peace. 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:34.500 I think the heroes in God's eyes are those who work hard when the going gets tough, rather 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:41.640 than tuck tail and run, rather than sock someone in the face or to say a cutting word, Jesus loves those who 00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:45.160 suffers for the unity of His church. 00:09:49.300 --> 00:09:53.940 God's desire for us in Ephesians chapter four is to be at this point in our lives. 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:57.830 But the question is, how do we get there? 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.540 You know, today you can find all across the country lots of churches on a single street. 00:10:07.260 --> 00:10:14.510 And when you go to find out the history of some of those churches, you discover that there was someone who attended a church and they became angry in the church. 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:15.680 And rather than live. 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:18.750 Ephesians chapter four and verse two, in their lives, they just decided, you know what? 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:22.280 There's another church down the road, or we can just start another church down the road. 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:23.320 Forget them. 00:10:23.580 --> 00:10:24.330 Let's go do this. 00:10:26.220 --> 00:10:33.800 And I got to say, if that's how all churches started, I would find God very frustrated with 00:10:33.800 --> 00:10:35.080 church in America. 00:10:36.560 --> 00:10:43.600 But God's desire for us is rather than split rather than divide when it hurts, when we know we're at our lowest point, continued to humble yourselves and 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.760 make every effort in our lives to fight for that bond of peace and unity. 00:10:48.640 --> 00:10:50.320 Why? 00:10:50.880 --> 00:10:57.960 Because it's in forgiveness and grace in which God works through relationships without forgiveness and 00:10:57.960 --> 00:10:58.220 grace. 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:01.720 Relationships can never flourish and grow. 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:06.880 At some point, we all wrong each other. 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:12.380 At some point I will say something stupid and offensive up here one day. 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:14.920 I mean, I've got 45 minutes to say things right. 00:11:16.380 --> 00:11:18.420 Eventually, something bad may come out that you don't like. 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:22.280 So what's our heart, then? 00:11:23.300 --> 00:11:24.520 To seek what Jesus seeks? 00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:30.120 The unity and forgiveness in a broken relationship. 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:39.760 I was reading statistics this week and do you know by the year 2020, they say the second leading problem of people who 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:46.880 go into the ER for medical attention will be for depression in 00:11:46.900 --> 00:11:52.350 our society, in which we have Facebook and texting and tweeting and whatever else. 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:59.520 As forms of communication, though we have those things available, the depths of our relationships don't really grow because we are consumed 00:11:59.520 --> 00:12:00.860 in the time of our lives. 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:10.780 I think in so doing, we oftentimes find ourselves depressed and in the 00:12:10.800 --> 00:12:15.500 midst of our brokenness, we find ourselves experiencing heartache in relationships. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:23.680 Sometimes our response is, I'm never going to be open or close that close to someone again in my life, which 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:24.100 is good. 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:26.740 If your desire is to never have a broken heart again in your life. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:36.700 The negative aspect is that as you begin to experience loneliness and depression because God has created us for relationships, to 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:39.270 love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love others. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:47.680 And so how do we overcome the problems of broken relationships for what God desires in our lives? 00:12:49.140 --> 00:12:53.730 I encourage you, if you're in Ephesians chapter four, to go ahead and flip back to chapter three for just a moment. 00:12:55.060 --> 00:13:00.380 We're going to pick up in verse 14, and we're going to ask the question, how can God encourage me to overcome broken relationships? 00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:09.400 He says in the in the very first verse of that passage, for this reason, for this reason, 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:10.880 this is a culminating statement. 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:16.420 Jesus has done everything for you in chapters one and two for this reason. 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:24.080 For prescriptions that God has given us starts in the first two verses. 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:32.440 In order for us to overcome broken relationships requires for us to talk to God about it. 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:34.720 We call that prayer. 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:38.890 Paul says in this passage of scripture. 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:45.580 For this reason I bow my knees before the father, from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name. 00:13:47.180 --> 00:13:49.960 Paul saying, for this cause I am praying. 00:13:51.280 --> 00:13:54.820 Interesting that I would even have to bring up prayer to Christians. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:03.380 But you know my Christian life, what I oftentimes find with people that struggle in life, one of the first things I ask is, are you spending time 00:14:03.380 --> 00:14:03.800 with God? 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:06.920 Are you praying and talking to God? 00:14:07.280 --> 00:14:08.380 Are you reading God's Word? 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:10.440 Are you just letting God saturate your life? 00:14:10.540 --> 00:14:11.080 And you know what I find? 00:14:11.260 --> 00:14:13.340 Nine times out of ten, no. 00:14:15.280 --> 00:14:22.760 In the last place that Christians oftentimes think to look for the solution to their problems is God. 00:14:23.140 --> 00:14:27.260 We're so good in this world to gossip and go tell our friends about our struggles. 00:14:27.260 --> 00:14:28.870 Anyone that would have a listening ear. 00:14:28.920 --> 00:14:33.900 But the last place that we oftentimes think about is just communicating to God about our need. 00:14:35.640 --> 00:14:43.040 And Paul is saying to us, listen, if you if you have a struggle in your life, if you're fighting for unity, like Ephesians chapter four, if you feel that loneliness inside, 00:14:43.260 --> 00:14:49.290 it begins with prayer before God, the word before. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:53.430 And the Greek text means face to face. 00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:56.130 It's a place of intimacy. 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:06.700 You kind of get the idea that this individual Paul going in prayer is just making this the most personal, God 00:15:06.700 --> 00:15:10.620 honoring, seeking his face prayer that he could offer before God. 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:14.500 And he's saying why he's praying this. 00:15:14.660 --> 00:15:18.140 It's for all the families that God has brought together. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.390 Prayer is important. 00:15:23.040 --> 00:15:27.040 Prayer should be a regular activity of our lives seeking the face of God. 00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:33.420 And it says in Jeremiah 33 three, call to me, and I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know. 00:15:34.920 --> 00:15:36.500 David said in Psalm 73. 00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:40.340 David says, you, God, are my portion and strength forever. 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:50.460 You know, I find in our lives one of the reasons that God allows us to go through heartache is because it's not until 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:56.720 God is all that we have that we begin to realize that difficult lesson, that God is all we need. 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:05.750 Paul opens up for us the identity for you as an individual to find and begin to be strengthened. 00:16:05.760 --> 00:16:12.680 To overcome broken relationships in your life is to begin a healthy, growing relationship with the one who will never disappoint. 00:16:15.860 --> 00:16:20.280 So many times in our lives, we seek fulfillment in other people. 00:16:21.290 --> 00:16:22.020 Satisfy my need. 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:27.370 Fulfill that deep longing that I have inside of the pit of my heart. 00:16:28.800 --> 00:16:33.100 But God has created you to find Satisfaction in him. 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:36.340 People will always disappoint. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.180 Even if you're married and you know that more so if you are married. 00:16:43.710 --> 00:16:50.800 But the solution is to seek the understanding of who you are and your identity and love, and 00:16:50.800 --> 00:16:54.430 the one who created you, and the one who will never disappoint you. 00:16:55.920 --> 00:17:03.220 And Paul is saying, for this reason, I'm seeking the face of God for all the families so that they may begin to understand what we have in Jesus. 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:05.240 So what does Paul pray? 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:07.819 Prescription one. 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:09.920 Pray prescription two for? 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.790 It starts in verse 16, and it's simply yield. 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:14.079 That's easy to remember, right? 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:14.839 Pray yield. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:15.240 You got it. 00:17:16.020 --> 00:17:21.160 Well, in verse 16 it says that we would grant you according to the riches of his glory. 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:24.700 Let me ask, how bad is your need for God in your life right now? 00:17:25.300 --> 00:17:30.020 I mean, how difficult and depressed or how dark do you think your situation Is. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.360 Well, the answer to that is God is beyond wealthy in that area of your life. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.100 It's from his riches that he's going to meet your need. 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:42.080 It doesn't matter how bad your situation is, God is wealthier than the need that you have. 00:17:44.020 --> 00:17:51.260 He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may 00:17:51.340 --> 00:17:53.270 dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:18:01.880 Can I tell you, as we go through this passage for just a minute, before you can even transition to the next point, the next prescription that we make, it's important that we grasp really what 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.760 verse 16 and 17 is saying to us this morning. 00:18:06.060 --> 00:18:09.740 Listen, Paul says that God, we're praying this prayer, that God would strengthen you. 00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:12.260 This means to impart power. 00:18:13.060 --> 00:18:16.040 And it tells you from where this power comes from, that God is going to place it. 00:18:16.040 --> 00:18:18.520 It says through his spirit in the inner man. 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:21.580 It's saying religion and the rest of the world. 00:18:21.760 --> 00:18:26.490 Everything will just put pressure on you in your life and sometimes belittle you and make you go through heartache. 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.520 But God, when he changes you, he does it from the inside out. 00:18:31.080 --> 00:18:35.240 And while the rest of the world may, you may feel like it's beginning to crush you in your life. 00:18:35.540 --> 00:18:38.560 God imparts his power into your inner man. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:43.020 This is the will of the person. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.320 This is where you have the throne of your life. 00:18:49.260 --> 00:18:51.980 This is where you make the decisions of what you're going to do. 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:58.000 And it says in this passage that God wants to strengthen that inner man. 00:18:58.260 --> 00:18:58.740 And this is why. 00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:02.620 So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:09.580 Jesus wants to take the throne room of your life, the place that you think you're in control of. 00:19:09.820 --> 00:19:11.200 Ultimately, one day you'll find out you're not. 00:19:13.300 --> 00:19:14.660 But God wants to take that throne. 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:22.300 And once you make those decisions and he wants to dwell on it, it's saying the word dwelling here means to 00:19:22.300 --> 00:19:23.200 be at home. 00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:32.040 It's meaning Jesus wants to come in the most intimate place of your home, whether it's the bedroom or the living room or whatever you think is special about your house. 00:19:32.580 --> 00:19:39.520 God wants to come into that room, and he wants to sit right beside you, and he wants to begin to impart power into your life. 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:42.880 The key is it's according to your faith. 00:19:44.900 --> 00:19:46.730 You have a choice on what you believe in this world. 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:54.230 Whether you take every thought captive to Christ and give him the power over your life, or you choose to sit on that throne yourself. 00:19:55.340 --> 00:20:02.580 But let me just warn you, if you if you fail to give that throne room to Christ, that you may go through the rest of your life experiencing emptiness and 00:20:02.580 --> 00:20:03.540 brokenness in your relationships. 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:11.580 Because Paul shares with us in the very next verse why it's important to give Jesus the throne of our world. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:21.260 Says in the very second half of verse 17, and that you, being rooted 00:20:21.260 --> 00:20:23.540 and grounded in love. 00:20:25.320 --> 00:20:29.960 Did You catch that because you've given this throne over to Christ. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:38.680 You experience the rooting and grounding and love in the Greek 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:39.160 language. 00:20:41.080 --> 00:20:48.120 It means this is continually happening in the life of a believer, that you are forever rooting 00:20:48.120 --> 00:20:53.300 yourself and grounding yourself in all that Jesus is, and understanding his love. 00:20:54.600 --> 00:20:56.160 The fertile ground of true love. 00:20:57.360 --> 00:21:01.160 The fertile ground of finding fulfillment and satisfaction like we talk about in Jesus. 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:04.840 To live in that love starts with surrender. 00:21:06.620 --> 00:21:09.920 And I'm not saying one aspect of your life God, I have this hurt and I want you to heal. 00:21:09.980 --> 00:21:12.080 I'm saying everything that you are. 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:14.740 It starts with surrender. 00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:19.340 There's a farmer I was reading a story about when he. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:27.120 He enjoys planting fruit trees in his yard And when he plants the fruit trees, especially when they're young, one of the things that he likes 00:21:27.120 --> 00:21:29.240 to do is deprive them of water. 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:35.940 And the reason that he deprives them of water, because it teaches the young tree to dig down deep into the soil. 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:43.600 And the deeper it gets, the sturdier it is and the easier it is able to find water when it is plentiful and when it's in a drought. 00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:51.560 And might I suggest to us this morning that one of the reasons we're not finding our satisfaction is because we're looking to fulfill in other people. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.580 We've been babied in our relationship with God. 00:21:54.620 --> 00:22:02.250 And rather than dig deep in that soil, rather than root ourselves in the richness that is in Jesus, we've found satisfaction in other things. 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:08.940 And when the going gets tough, the tree of our life falls over. 00:22:11.120 --> 00:22:16.730 For us to begin to experience the love of God, it requires us to surrender, to yield to him. 00:22:18.300 --> 00:22:23.470 Prescription number three is that we ask God to begin to grasp his love. 00:22:25.120 --> 00:22:28.360 Yield to him and ask God that we may be able to grasp his love. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:35.660 Let me read in verse 17 it says, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:43.040 with all the saints what is the breadth and the length, and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses 00:22:43.040 --> 00:22:43.440 knowledge. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:49.320 That you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:57.200 Verse 19, when it says to know the love of Christ, it's not talking about intellectual knowledge in Greek, it's 00:22:57.300 --> 00:22:59.480 talking about experiential knowledge. 00:23:00.820 --> 00:23:07.860 Meaning you don't just know Jesus loves you because someone told you in your church hung a cross right behind people while they sang, you know Jesus love you because you surrendered to 00:23:07.860 --> 00:23:11.080 him, and you begin to experience the fullness of that love in your life. 00:23:12.530 --> 00:23:16.100 If we ask the question, why am I not experiencing the fullness of God's love in life? 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:19.300 The answer would be because you're not really surrendered to Christ. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:24.500 Until all that you have is God. 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:26.800 Is God that you understand that all that you need is God. 00:23:29.100 --> 00:23:37.120 That we may know the love of Christ, which surpasses the knowledge of God, that you may be filled up to the fullness of God. 00:23:37.580 --> 00:23:44.750 Notice what it says in verse 18 that we comprehend this love with all of the saints. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:53.580 It means we begin to grasp this, or we grab hold of what Paul is talking about here, and guess where it takes place with 00:23:53.580 --> 00:23:54.680 all the saints? 00:23:55.940 --> 00:23:57.900 This isn't just talking about church on Sunday. 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.260 This is talking about anywhere that Jesus followers gather together. 00:24:01.260 --> 00:24:05.320 What we should be actively pursuing is grasping the love of God in our lives. 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:13.740 And as we begin to grasp the love of God together, it tells us that we understand the depths and the heights and the width of everything that God wants to offer to us. 00:24:16.840 --> 00:24:19.440 How high would you describe your need? 00:24:20.580 --> 00:24:22.380 How wide do you need that love? 00:24:24.100 --> 00:24:26.910 How deep does Jesus need to go for you to find healing? 00:24:29.040 --> 00:24:30.560 Bible says to do that with his saints. 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:39.700 The Mariana Trench is located just off of the country of Guam, some hundred miles off of 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:40.120 shore. 00:24:41.300 --> 00:24:43.220 It's the deepest part of the ocean. 00:24:44.360 --> 00:24:51.360 Coincidentally, it also happens to be the place where the world record was set for the furthest anyone has ever dove into the ocean. 00:24:53.760 --> 00:24:55.580 Mariana trench is seven miles deep. 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:02.880 When the divers originally went down to the bottom of the trench, what they expected to find is nothing. 00:25:04.860 --> 00:25:12.120 They say that the pounds of pressure that's placed upon anything that would survive down there is over £16,000 per square inch. 00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:13.970 I mean, you've got to be Hercules to survive. 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:17.420 And it's a dark, dark place. 00:25:18.780 --> 00:25:20.420 A place that light can't even go. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.700 And when the divers reached the bottom of the floor. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:28.580 And as they begin to dive into the Mariana Trench, you know what they found. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:30.360 Life. 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:39.980 God was able to create a creature that could survive at the deepest parts of our ocean, displaying 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:47.040 his glorious hand, saying to us today, if we are in a place of desperation and 00:25:47.040 --> 00:25:51.340 brokenness, how deep can your God go? 00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:59.860 We experience this with the saints, encouraging one another in our relationship with God, saying to ourselves, how? 00:25:59.860 --> 00:26:02.120 Why do you need Jesus to meet the needs in your life? 00:26:02.120 --> 00:26:03.620 How deep do you need to know this God? 00:26:04.020 --> 00:26:07.500 How high must he climb to overcome your need in your life? 00:26:07.840 --> 00:26:08.780 God can do it. 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:13.980 That we comprehend with all the saints. 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:16.350 The love of Christ. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.860 God's desire for us is to fill us up. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.580 God's desire is the world. 00:26:25.100 --> 00:26:31.700 Presses you down, is to take that cup that's empty and to fill you from the inside out. 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:36.040 And we seek satisfaction and longing in our lives. 00:26:36.040 --> 00:26:42.280 And we if we picture ourselves as just having a cup, we sort of walk through life and find trying to find happiness and peace in the things that we have. 00:26:42.340 --> 00:26:50.320 Maybe our marriage and relationships to our children, maybe it's some sort of entertainment, and for a while it may put 00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:52.900 a little in our cup to satisfy our lives. 00:26:54.360 --> 00:27:00.760 But what Jesus talks about in this passage of Scripture is that cup begins to overflow with the goodness of God. 00:27:02.040 --> 00:27:02.940 How do we get to the point? 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:05.920 In Ephesians chapter four and verse two, where we are able to serve one another. 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:13.100 It's because we have been satisfied with everything that Jesus has said about us in experiencing that relationship with him, 00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:17.060 as we've yielded our lives to him, we've rooted and grounded in our love for him. 00:27:18.060 --> 00:27:22.180 And in so doing, we can be humble in serving one another. 00:27:24.540 --> 00:27:30.000 We overcome our broken relationships through finding strength in our relationship with Christ. 00:27:32.850 --> 00:27:33.940 Prescription number four. 00:27:36.280 --> 00:27:37.280 You know we may get out of here early today. 00:27:38.600 --> 00:27:39.460 You guys hold on to that thought. 00:27:40.760 --> 00:27:42.650 That means a pastor just lied to you. 00:27:44.760 --> 00:27:45.950 I'm just kidding. 00:27:46.490 --> 00:27:47.270 Yes, I am, I'm lying. 00:27:48.300 --> 00:27:48.400 Okay. 00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:50.500 I'm kidding. 00:27:50.520 --> 00:27:51.230 We're going to get out early. 00:27:53.300 --> 00:27:53.640 Prescription for. 00:27:57.160 --> 00:27:58.120 Simply this. 00:27:59.120 --> 00:28:00.050 Expect God to do it. 00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:02.480 Pray to him. 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:04.280 Yield to him. 00:28:05.140 --> 00:28:09.870 Ask him to experience his love and expect him to do it. 00:28:11.760 --> 00:28:11.960 Verse 20. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:20.580 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:28.960 There was an older man who he loved ordering his clothes out of a catalogue. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.140 And on this particular catalogue he was ordering from, he. 00:28:33.300 --> 00:28:36.490 He liked this shirt, and he and he placed his order and he put it in the mail. 00:28:36.540 --> 00:28:43.660 But he noticed as he got ready to send this order out, that the very bottom of the card, it said, if we're out of stock in this 00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:47.400 particular item, can we send you another item of equal or greater value? 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:48.620 And he just checked. 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:48.960 Yes. 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:50.640 It's a guy who really doesn't care what clothes he wears. 00:28:50.820 --> 00:28:51.260 Right? 00:28:51.280 --> 00:28:52.000 As long as he has a shirt on. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:53.260 And so he mailed it in. 00:28:53.840 --> 00:29:01.000 And when the shirt came back from this catalogue that he had ordered from, he noticed that he didn't get the shirt that he ordered, but what he got was a 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:02.380 shirt worth twice the value. 00:29:03.120 --> 00:29:06.640 And so from then on, anytime he ever placed an order in this catalog, he checked. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:07.020 Yes. 00:29:07.020 --> 00:29:07.620 Really big. 00:29:09.540 --> 00:29:16.200 And the point is, whatever you think the obstacle is in your life, for you to be able to experience the joy in your relationship, you're thinking too small. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:23.480 God says in this passage that whatever it is, far beyond that, whatever you can think God can do in there, he can do so much more. 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:27.480 That's the God you follow. 00:29:29.620 --> 00:29:36.660 When we pray to him, when we surrender to him, and we begin to experience his love, God works miracles in our 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:38.060 hearts. 00:29:39.260 --> 00:29:43.320 Expect God to answer those prayers. 00:29:44.060 --> 00:29:48.760 I like a story that Jesus gave to comes in the Gospels from his disciples. 00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:55.400 Story begins in Matthew chapter 11, when Jesus goes up to a tree fig tree and it didn't produce fruit. 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:58.560 Remember what Jesus did to that tree? 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:01.420 He cursed it and he killed it. 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:06.120 He placed a curse on this tree that it would die because it's not bearing fruit. 00:30:07.280 --> 00:30:14.020 That day later, the disciples went by the tree, and as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:17.760 And being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, look at the fig tree which you cursed. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:18.590 It has withered. 00:30:20.120 --> 00:30:23.440 And Jesus answered, saying to him, have faith in God. 00:30:24.780 --> 00:30:31.860 Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what 00:30:31.860 --> 00:30:35.980 he has said is going to happen, it will be granted to him. 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.740 Now, I don't think that we're really going to move the Rocky Mountains when we leave today. 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:41.280 I don't think that's what Jesus is saying. 00:30:42.800 --> 00:30:43.780 I don't think there's a need to move. 00:30:43.800 --> 00:30:44.080 And they're pretty. 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:44.780 Keep them there. 00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:48.160 What Jesus is speaking to us. 00:30:48.180 --> 00:30:50.350 He's just taking something beyond our imagination. 00:30:50.580 --> 00:30:54.320 And he's saying to him, see how enormous this problem of this mountain looks in front of us. 00:30:54.540 --> 00:31:01.070 If you just had faith to just talk to it and just say, in faith through me, a mountain out of your life, it's going to happen. 00:31:03.520 --> 00:31:10.960 Might I say this morning one of the reasons that we haven't experienced the depth of God's love in our lives is because somewhere 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:17.960 along the way, we stopped believing in a mountain moving God. 00:31:18.420 --> 00:31:23.080 Whether it's because someone has came into come into your world, excuse me? 00:31:23.360 --> 00:31:27.190 Whether someone's coming to your world and hurt you so deeply that caused you to be isolated. 00:31:28.780 --> 00:31:35.960 Whether it's an obstacle or challenge you're facing through some sort of illness, whether it's a financial burden that you have. 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:37.890 God knows your need. 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:41.160 And God is a mountain moving God. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:51.400 God can meet our needs beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power of him that 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:52.430 works within us. 00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:59.200 How do we overcome our brokenness that we begin to experience in our lives? 00:32:02.280 --> 00:32:06.380 Can I say to you this morning to stop hoping in things that are going to disappoint. 00:32:08.620 --> 00:32:14.640 I'm not saying run away from the relationships you have, because we saw that what God desires is for us to enjoy those relationships and to humbly serve one another. 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:22.480 But how can we get to that place that we ever serve one another in that way, even when it's hard that we just want to serve and continue to love each other? 00:32:22.580 --> 00:32:26.540 The answer is because we have a healthy relationship with Christ. 00:32:28.760 --> 00:32:31.510 Believers, you're taking the time to go before God in prayer. 00:32:33.060 --> 00:32:40.410 And as you're praying and seeking his face, as Paul said, you are yielding the throne room of your life to him. 00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:46.280 And as you're yielding that throne room, it says from the inner man, God is filling you with his love. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:48.780 And you're asking God, God, fill me with that love. 00:32:50.340 --> 00:32:57.480 Because we know that even if our situation, no matter how deep and hopeless and dark it may seem, God is able 00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:02.880 to do well beyond all that we ever ask or think, because he is a mountain moving God.