Well today God's laid something on my heart that my five points of my message are now going to be five messages So I'm gonna preach point one today My wife says that's good. I'm actually looking forward to going to Africa in two months where I can preach for three hours Two hours, you know, and no, we're not gonna do it here. We're not gonna do it here But we're gonna preach we're gonna preach one point today So any quipping season, you know a few months ago We just recently updated changed our mission statement equipping the one that knows Jesus for the purpose of reaching the one that needs Jesus and so our series has been on equipping and we've taken it out of Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13 So I really want to launch from that But today's message is the the overreaching title is the fullness of Christ the fullness of Christ and the fullness of Christ and today's point will be on the nature of Christ or the love of Christ and So we'll get to that in a minute I'll actually give you all five although we're only gonna cover one point today And you're gonna say thank you because I had to cut a lot even out of this We find out today that pastor seth is gonna preach on the love of God next week. So He's gonna drive this home.
I'm sure he'll he'll take it to another level But he feeds in chapter 4 let's just pray This feels sense to pray father our desire is for the fullness of your son Jesus Like I don't ever want to leave anything left on the table Lord we want to leave it all in the field Lord that you always have more that your capacity and your your ability to give is unlimited Lord that we haven't even tapped into the more of you yet And so Lord even as we tackle the subject of the fullness of Christ I'm sure that will not be able to cover it in its entirety But Lord I thank you that you're gonna give us revelation from it that you're gonna bring understanding through my words today and that your holy Spirit will release and impart understanding and knowledge to each person here today Make it practical to their life in Jesus name Ephesians 4 11 says for he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ Until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man Some translations say to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ So the word perfect there does not mean that you're perfect. You're perfect in spirit You've been made like Jesus in your born against spirit, but obviously we still fail so the word perfect there is actually a better translation say Maturity and so if you remember the word equipping, I won't put up the Greek again But the meaning of the word equipping means to be thoroughly furnished It means to be completely trained So there's this aspect of fullness and I shared before that the verb form of the word is used to talk about mending a broken bone But it also in classical Greek has to do with the the furnishing of a house So if you've ever Wrened a new home or purchased a new home and you walk in and it's bare right the foundations there the structures there But there's no furnishings. It's a house, but it's not really a home And so this idea of equipping is to have a house that is not not you know It doesn't just have a piece of furniture here and a piece of furniture there But that it is fully furnished that every bedroom, you know, you shut the doors on the rooms You don't have money to furnish yet you ever done that or your junk room close that door So this has the aspect that every door is completely open that every room within the house is fully furnished And not just fully furnished but fully furnished with the best of furnishings And so it says here that For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying We talked about that last week when we talked about the building up and maturing It says until we all reach the unity of the faith and of knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect or mature man to what? What's the measure or what's the standard of measure of how well you've been fully equipped?
I've got them both in blue Equipping has to do with being fully furnished The measuring stick is then the fullness of Christ That wouldn't that make sense that if the goal of the fivefold is to fully equip the body That then the measuring stick then to know if we've been fully equipped or fully prepared is the matter measuring stick is then the fullness of Christ Like that's impossible. Well, it may be impossible But you know, I believe we serve a God of the impossibilities That that with God all things are possible And so if it's in his word Then I have to believe that we can tap into it at least in some measure that we can grow into it that we can increase in it Do I believe I'll ever reach that? I don't but I should be growing in and I should be more like Jesus today than yesterday I should be more like Jesus tomorrow than today Using that same word equipping but in a verb form Jesus says this in Luke chapter 6 verses 39 and 40 Remember I said the reason we want to equip because what happens if we're not properly equipped We go out to help somebody out of the ditch or pit and what happens if we're not equipped? We get up in the pit Jesus says this he says he spoke a parable under them He said can the blind lead the blind?
Can the blind lead the blind if I am blind and cannot see where I'm going how effective am I gonna be to lean the black guy? I was at the airport last week and there was a blind man walking through the airport doing an amazing job with a stick But all of a sudden he ends up almost facing a wall and another blind guy didn't come help him a Worker in the airport who could see clearly who knew the route within the airport come over and said sir Where are you going? Let me show you the way? You can't lead a blind person if you're blind Jesus says both will fall into the pit or into the ditch the word fall means to descend From a higher place to a lower one.
He said the disciple is not above his master But everyone who is perfectly trained Will be what like his teacher? Jesus is saying the exact same thing here that the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4 Jesus says if you're my disciple When you've been perfectly trained I put some other translations up here fully trained fully taught or fully prepared when you've been equipped Then you will be like me The measure of maturity in a believer is the fullness of Christ Does that make sense? That if I am have been trained by like if I have a little training, I'll probably be a little like Jesus Right some of you are there today See I don't want to I don't want you to feel condemnation if you're not where you need to be because none of us are See there's always room to move up So don't get down about the step that you're on because the step you're on is the most important step because that's where you're at But it doesn't mean there's not another level and it doesn't mean that there's not another level Jesus said that once you become perfectly trained, you'll be like me you'll begin to look like me You're gonna be again to act like me you're gonna begin to sound like me and you're gonna begin to think like me That you're gonna fully represent the fullness of Jesus See unfortunately most believers represent the partiality of Jesus But hey, let me show you what a 40% Jesus looks like Let me oh boy. I got you beat.
Let me show you what a 60% Jesus looks like But God's intention for us is that we represent the fullness See a cup is not fully it's not full until it gets to the point of overflow See what happens a lot of times we're like well is the cuff half four is it half empty and We get proud about being the positive person. So well, I'm a half full guy Well, can I tell you that just because it's half full you can be positive all day long, but it's still 50% See the goal is overflow That you're filled with the fullness of Jesus to the point to where you can't contain it and that should look a certain way The amplified says this it says to become a mature believer reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ manifesting That there should be a manifestation of his completeness and his fullness that's visibly evident To those that you come in contact with like there should be something about you that people say I may not know what that is But I want to that there should be a manifestation of the fullness of Jesus that's flowing out of you So what is the fullness? Let's go to the next line You only begin to manifest the fullness of Christ of the degree you're fully trained taught and equipped Next line. There we go.
So here's my five points. I'm getting to you today. You're gonna have to come back I don't know how many times it might take me two months. So I preach five times, but this is what you're gonna get The fullness of Christ and there could be more than this.
I'm sure there are because I'm saying but but the I'm gonna call this the five dimensions Maybe five pillars of the fullness of Christ the very first one the love of Christ Number one the love of Christ which talks about his nature or his character. That's what we're gonna talk about today Number two the gospel of Christ, which is his grace So we have we have the the love of Christ his nature the gospel of Christ his grace The word of Christ, which is his will that we find out what God's intention is on the earth from his word The next one is called the mind of Christ which releases his wisdom and his knowledge and finally the works of Christ Which demonstrate his power through miracle signs and wonders and and so the culmination of these five dimensions are what we're gonna Establish as the fullness of Christ you might say well I might have one or two or three or maybe I have all four there's operating in my life The intention is not for just to have one so you can't have fullness unless you have all of Christ flowing through you And I'm gonna start with love you like well, I want to hear about power. I want to hear about the mind of Christ Now those are all great things. I want to hear about the word of God I want to hear about the gospel of grace You know that love is the most important thing You know the number one thing an unsafe person needs to see is not the power God, but the love of God Like they need to see in demonstration the love of God Why do you think the Apostle Paul says this he said although I could speak with the tongues of men and angels?
But I don't have love I become a gong a clanging symbol in a sounding brass He said you could be the best orator on the face of the earth But if you don't have love it just sounds like that He said I could have the gift of prophecy to the point where I understand all knowledge and revelation I could have the gift of faith to the point where I could move mountains But if I don't have love then I am nothing You can be the most anointed prophet you could have the most faith you could visibly Do the impossible like moving a mountain is operating in the miracle working faith and power of God But Paul says if I don't have love it's a big zero He goes on to say this he says if I give all of my goods to feed the poor And if I give my body to be burned and I don't have love then it profits me nothing I could give all my money to charity I could give all my money to ministry to see people Transformed and changed but if I do it outside of the love of God, it's a zero I could go all the way of martyrdom But I don't love it to zero and so to me none of this works apart from love and we'll get to those other things We'll get to grace. We'll get to God's word and God's will we'll we'll get to the mind of Christ releasing Supernatural wisdom. We'll get to the works of Christ the miracles the power of God You're gonna see a common thread throughout all of these is how the work of the Holy Spirit weaves in and out of every one of these things That the fullness of Christ cannot manifest apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in your life And so start today with a prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians church We were in Ephesians 4 I'm gonna go back to Ephesians chapter 3 and we'll pick up in the middle of that prayer the entire prayer starts in verse 14 We're gonna pick up in verse 17. So the love of Christ is nature See if you don't have the nature of Jesus coming out of you, you'll probably never have a chance to impart Words of wisdom acts of faith Correction as somebody come up to me one time spent a few months ago With somebody attending our church that didn't look like us sound like us act like us which is great Because the fact that they were here is mean something and so right away this person said we need to go speak God's word to them Like I don't disagree, but how about taking them to dinner first?
How about spending time with them and building a relationship with them? Do you get to the place to where you earn the right to speak into their life truth? That apart from the love of God all these other things fall flat on their face And so the first manifestation of the fullness of God this church will demonstrate will be his love It's gonna be a hallmark a pillar of this body of believers Ephesians 3 17 you want to read the whole prayer Paul praise with the church starts in verse 14? Oh my gosh I'll give her up.
All right, ladies and gentlemen fasten your seat belts. Here we go It says they let me read this I want to go back and talk through this that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend With all the saints. What is the width length depth and height to know the love of Christ? There's it to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with what the fullness of God There's no fullness of God apart from the love of Christ Actually, God bless you actually missed a spot Maybe but I'd like to go back to it because I want you to know this that the love of God is the love of Christ That it says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 it says that Jesus is The radiance the outshining of the glory of God It says that he is the exact image the exact imprint of his nature and that he upholds all things by the word of his power that Jesus Exactly and perfectly is the nature of God which makes sense because he is God, right?
So what is the nature of God? First John chapter 4 verse 7 and H say what it says let us love one another now granted There's some people that are hard to love Maybe it's you Right there are some like it's it's not easy But it says love one another for love is of God which means it emanates from him It love is source like God is the source of love everyone who loves is born of God and knows God He who does not who he who does not love does not know God for God is love Jesus was the only begotten son of God that that that Jesus we know that in the beginning was the word the word was With God and the word was God so Jesus is God it makes sense that if Jesus is God the nature of God Which is love it doesn't mean that God has love it means that he is love it too He is that's his nature and if Jesus is the exact nature of the Father and the Father is love that means the nature of Jesus is what love right? But what about us? You if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior your old nature is dead.
It's gone You get a completely new nature that is the nature of Jesus which is the nature of the Father which is love You got a love nature in you if you've accepted Jesus the term Jesus uses in John 3 It says you must be what born again? You were born one way with an old nature But you get born again with a new nature the nature you receive at salvation is the nature of Jesus the nature of the Father Which is the nature of love it says all who have been born of God, right? If you've accepted Jesus you've been born of God. He's your father It says in 1st John chapter 3 verse 9 speaking of sin It said whoever is born of God does not sin because his seed his sperm Remains in him that when you're born of God that the DNA the seed of God is in you and it changes your behavior At least it should so he's saying here that you don't have the capacity to love one another apart from getting a new nature But once you have a new nature you now have within you the potential and capacity to love others If you don't know Jesus as your Savior today, you don't have that capacity you might be a nice person You might be the like every parents got a favorite child won't tell you mine is You might be the favorite son or daughter.
You might be the number one employee You might be a doctor or an attorney or or a teacher But if you don't accept Jesus, you don't have the love of God in you Like you have to have a change of nature And so Paul follows that but Ephesians after three let's go back there He says rooted and grounded in love now what we're talking about is this it says that we're trying to get a place that says that you may know the love of Christ that Surpasses knowledge Like how you do that? How do I know beyond the ability to know? Well, it helps a little bit if I give you just a little background on the Greek here because the word that you may know is The word genosco, which means to which is knowledge that's birthed out of experience There's a knowledge you gain through experience experiential knowledge that actually surpasses educational knowledge See I could tell you see the word genosco is a is a Hebrew euphemism it's a hebraic euphemism for for the intimacy or Intercourse between a man and a woman that was how they they described it same word No, so I could tell you about what it means to be married to Kristen and the intimacy We share and I could tell you about that and you would have a level of knowledge You could get a bunch of books on marriage and intimacy within marriage and you could get more knowledge But the knowledge that you gain through education and from importation is never as great as the knowledge that I gain from I'm actually experiencing intimacy with my wife. So there's an experiential knowledge of love That's greater than the love the knowledge of love that you can actually get even from reading the Bible And we're gonna talk how to get that like I'm actually telling you where we're going we're gonna go backwards Paul says as he says rooted and grounded in love So so often we think this oh, I got to be rooted in God.
I got to be grounded in God True, but that's not what this verse says this verse is written rooted and grounded first of all rooted means to strengthen With a root system right pretty obvious to strengthen it means to bring stability or make stable the word founded the word foundation Means to to actually lay a foundation It means to bring stability through a foundation if you remember the story Jesus told about the wise man the foolish man They have both built a house the one on the sand the other on a rock. He said what why I liken the wise man too It's like a man that dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. That's the same same word So in the Greek both of these words are in the perfect passive tense, which means this perfect done once and for all time Never to be repeated again Passive means that somebody else did it for you. You didn't do it yourself You are the recipient of the action not the doer the action so this is not talking about you rooting yourself in God's love It's not talking about you grounding yourself in God's love It's saying that when you have a new nature that you are placed in Christ and when you are in Christ He rooted you in him.
He grounded you in him once and for all time never to be completed again Only because you put your faith in Jesus. That's the platform that we grow from see too many believers try their whole life Though well, I got to get plugged into God No, you accept Jesus and the father roots you in Jesus the father ground you in Jesus that love is now the rock that you laid your Foundation on you're there. He said based on the fact that some translations will say because you have been rooted Which I think is a better translation than this because you've been rooted because you've been grounded because I brought stability to your life In my love, which doesn't change Now here's that here's that here's a shift the word comprehend it means to appropriate It means to take for yourself It means to attain to grab on to when it's used in a mental capacity It means to perceive to understand or to come to like you're grabbing it, but you're grabbing it with your mind Okay, because you've been rooted and grounded BAM now This is in the subjunctive mood which is the mood of possibility and potential now There's a possibility that you can now comprehend the love of God because you're grounded and founded and rooted in his love permanently See unless I'm permanently stable. I don't have the capacity to comprehend and so he says that you may be able to comprehend and look at this It's not just the apostle the prophet the evangelist the pastor the teacher that can comprehend who is it?
It's all it's all the saints you have the ability to comprehend the love of God the same as I do Like it's equal. We have the same potential, but what do you do with it from that point? See we got the same root system. We got the same foundation.
We got the same potential But now it's on you That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints What is the width the height? I'm sorry my bad That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints What is the width the length the depth and the height? What we're talking about here is getting this from your heart To your head to your hands. I get the love of God in my heart the day I get saved Salvation grounds me and founds me in the love of God because I'm grounded in the love of God.
I can now comprehend With my mind What the love of God is it's actually comprehendable because the Bible says it has dimensions if it's dimensions It means it's quantifiable, which means I can actually with my mind comprehend the love of God He says it has it has width it has length it has depth and has height See I get grounded it comes in my heart through salvation It gets to my head by study of the scripture When that when the God's word says that the love of God has with John 3 16 says for God so loved the world You want to know why God's love is it includes everybody he died for everybody He went to the cross for everybody not like some denomination to say God only died for certain people He died for all mankind and it's so wide it includes all people for all time It says that you may know the width and the length well how long is God's love Jeremiah 31 3? He says that I have loved you with an everlasting love that I may draw you with my loving kindness See that God's love is eternal so it's wide includes everybody. It's long It goes from eternity past to eternity future He said how deep is God's love that Jesus it said that being made in the fashion of a man made himself of no reputation And he became a man he descended from heaven to earth Willingly restricted himself from the use of his godlike qualities lived as a man died as a man and then Ephesians tells us that he descended Into hell He descended from heaven to earth, but when he died he descended into hell like you think you if you ever hit rock bottom Jesus was lower Like there's no bottom you can hit that he didn't actually go below He descended into hell preached the gospel to the spirits in prison grab the saints that were there from the old covenant Brought them back with him snag the keys to hell and death in the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father Then his love is wide includes everybody. It's long that it's eternal It's deep that he went to the depths of hell for you and it's high because Ephesians tells us That's because of his great love where with he which he loved us in that while we were still dead in our trespasses and sins Christ died for us And he made us alive together with him and he raised us with him and he seated us with him at the right hand of the Father So that in all in eternity he could show us his kindness through the grace of Christ Do you see how big this is?
See you can comprehend that by studying the scriptures You get it in your heart in salvation by faith You get it in your head by searching out the scripture the word of God studying God's word God begins to give you the dimensions of how like every way it's eternal every which way But then there's another level that's called knowing the love of God in an experiential way that actually transcends the knowledge I just got from scripture man That's at that point is where the fullness begins to overflow So you can be saved and not be full you can know scripture and not be full But when you have an experience and not just a one to see not a one-time experience This is an ongoing experience You've got to have an encounter with the love of God to know that you're a sinner and you need salvation You've got to spend time in God's word and renew your mind But then there's an ongoing experience with the love of God that begins to allow his fullness to manifest in your life I didn't know how much I love the love of God Man, all right if you guys can give me 20 minutes. I can land this. I can't not be done at 12 We're talking about maturity right the mark of maturity of a believer is the manifested fullness of Jesus So somewhere between becoming a Christian and manifesting the fullness is the place that most people live It's called carnality. It's called Paul calls it being a carnal Christian He calls it being some people say well you can't be you can't it be a carnal Christian well You can according to the authority of God's word because it Paul calls people that carnal just means that you you you Line up more with your flesh than you do with the spirit Your old nature is gone.
That's dead But you still have a flash that makes you want to do wrong thing and he said most people appear He said they're babes right they're immature, but they're babes where in Christ So these are believers that choose although they've been grounded and founded and rooted they choose to live less than their potential Here's what he says. He says Brian. I cannot speak to you as spiritual So I'm speaking to you as spiritual people today. I believe you are for whatever reason Paul couldn't talk to them as spiritual He said but it's carnal as babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk not with solid food until now You are not able to receive it even now you're still unable for you're still carnal now He's gonna define what carnality is there's a reason I'm starting here because we're gonna compare scripture with scripture and God's gonna pull it He says where there is envy strife and divisions among you are you not carnal and behaving like what? Like you're living and behaving below your capacity and potential But you're choosing to do it and he said the reason that you're there is because there's envy strife and divisions Envy actually it's a bad translation. It's the word jealousy, but it means it literally means a contentious rivalry a contentious rivalry that oh man, well why did he get that gift and why does she get that gift and why am I here? Why are they there?
I want that I we're not competing You're a left guard. You're a right guard. You're a tackle. You're you're a wide receiver.
You're a quarterback You're you're a whatever, but we're on the same team. We're going for the same goal like we're not having competition here We're honoring the giftings that God has placed in each person He says where there is envy strife means debate and quarreling This is a political season. There's a little debate and a little quarreng right if you feel uncomfortable I'm sorry, but he said there shouldn't be Like if we can't get beyond that we're babies Said there's envy there's strife and there's division Phil taught about unity Thursday night that the word division actually means disunity it means the opposite of unity that we've allowed things and offense to get in the midst of the fact that we're all one Baby Christians the reason I bring this up is because these three are also three that are listed in Galatians 5 as works of the flesh These same three that keep you stuck in a baby Christian state are also listed identically in a list of about 15 That Paul calls the works of the flesh and Galatians chapter 5 he says this he says the works of the flesh are evident Which are I'm not going to cover all these you can read of adultery fornication and cleanest lootness idolatry sorcery hatred Contensions jealousy outwards the rest selfish ambitions dissension terrace is envy's murders drunkenness rivalries And if I forgot one he says and the like that means you can put something else in there All of those things including those three that define what a carnal baby Christian looks like are works of the flesh works of the flesh in Galatians 5 are contrasted to Galatians 5 22 and 23 to the fruit of the spirit Paul says but the fruit of the spirit is Love now if you want to believe that there are nine fruits of the spirit. That's fine I believe there's one the word fruit is in the singular the word works of the flesh is in the plural I believe that the remaining eight remaining eight are just descriptions of the main fruit which is love The fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering kindness goodness faithfulness Generous against such there is no law So you don't need the law telling you what to do when the fruit of the spirit love is at operation in your life Paul says in Romans 15 or 14 says love is the fulfilling of the law like if I'm actually operating in the love of God I'll do everything that God expects me to do I Don't need a law to tell me what to do and not to do because the love of God is the leading guiding thing in my life So here's where we are so the spirit so we got so here's the thing we're rooted in love But the fruit is not always love see we've got to get it from here to here It's going from my heart I'm saved.
I'm rooted in love To my head. I've studied the scriptures now. I understand the dimensions of love now to my hands Which are now manifesting the love of God and here's how it happens through submission to the Holy Spirit submission to the Holy Spirit So I took these out of order Paul talks about the works of the flesh he talks about the fruit of the Spirit But prior to that he says this go to Galatians chapter 5 He says this I say then walk in the spirit live your life in the spirit He says this and you shall not do what fulfill the desires of the flesh see too often believers want people to focus on not sinning That's not scriptural That is not scriptural Paul says walk in the spirit and you won't do the things that you don't want to do Like as I think oh, I'm not gonna cause I'm not gonna cause I'm not gonna cause guess what I'm gonna do I'm not gonna cheat I'm not gonna cheat I'm not gonna steal See what I think about my life is going the direction of my thoughts He says walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill those things. It's easy.
I Literally sin less now walking in the spirit than I did the majority of my life trying not to sin He said the flesh in the spirit are contrary one to another Like you cannot cast the flesh out your old nature is gone, but the residual effects are still there The propensity the desires for those things, but he said you don't even need to worry about it What you need to focus on is walking in the spirit He goes on to define that as this he says the flesh lust against the spirit to go back the spirit against the flesh the contrary One of those you not do things you wish but if if You are led by the spirit See it comes down to an act of your will This is why I'm big one this two months ago I said that God does not want us to surrender because surrender is something you do to an enemy Enemy surrender to the offense. Oh God is already on my side He's already in me even an unsafe person I said that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their sins against them that even an unsafe person God's own friendly terms with whether they choose to be or not See I'm not surrendering to the enemy I'm submitting to a friend. I'm submitting to the will of the Holy Spirit. I'm submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit It's submission.
It's that he's not he's not he didn't cap take me captive. He's not driving me He's not forcing me if he didn't force you to get saved. He's not gonna force you to be led And actually I don't even think he's leading me from the front He's called the comforter. He's called the helper.
He's called the paraklete It's from the word parakletos which means defense turny attorney or the one called alongside He's literally called alongside me to lead me from the side That's why later in Galatians Paul says to walk in the Spirit uses a different term Which means to keep military step with the spirit you can't keep military step with someone unless they're to your side See he's leading me But see for me to be led by the Holy Spirit requires an act of my will Deciding that I can trust God I can trust God because he's faithful it takes an act of my will to say I'm gonna follow the Holy Spirit It takes an act of my will to say I'm gonna listen for his voice I'm gonna listen for direction in my life in the culmination of being led by the Spirit is obedience Like you cannot say see a lot of people will follow the lead of the Holy Spirit up until it gets to the point that he actually asked them to do something See you've got a foundation in the love of Christ You've got the capacity to comprehend the dimensions the width the length the depth and the height of God's love But you've got to make a choice to submit to the lead of the Holy Spirit in your life See if I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me in every area of my life if God is love and Jesus is love Then the Holy Spirit is also the spirit of love Because they're equal the Holy Spirit will never ever ever Lead you to do something that's outside of the love of God If it's outside the love of God then it's a different spirit You've submitted to a spirit other than the Spirit of God Because God is love everything he does his love everything he did and does is motivated by love everything seeks the best in your life It's love and to the degree that you submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life Is the degree to which the fullness of the love of God will manifest in your life? Let's just finish with 1st Corinthians chapter 13. I don't know if I have it up there. Oh Good Love is patient.
Love is kind. Love is not envious. See Don't tell me you have love in your life. I want to see patience See if in patience is there then love is moved out if envy is there then love has moved out if self-promotion is there Love has moved out if bragging and pride is there love has moved out if you rejoice in somebody else's bad situation Love has moved out So you can tell me you have the love of God all day But until these other areas are manifesting to the place where people can see them You're not walking in the love of God and ultimately you're not walking in submission to the Holy Spirit Love is patient.
Love is kind. Love is not envious. Love does not brag. Love is not puffed up Love is not rude.
Love is not self-serving. Love is not easily angered or resentful. You got resentment in your heart for anybody You need to submit that area in that situation for the Holy Spirit Love is not easily angered. Love is not resentful.
Love is not glad about injustice. Love rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things Love believes all things love hopes all things love endures all things and love never ends You might say well, I was patient once I was kind one time I had faith yesterday. I Didn't get happy about them falling into sin today.
I Didn't have contention and strife in my life today But tomorrow it's coming back. No See the desire God has for you is to live out your potential in the love of Christ To the degree to where it manifests not just like you know, you're like I cannot see your heart But I can see your fruit your co-workers can see your fruit your kids can see your fruit your spouse can see your fruit Your neighbors can see your fruit if I have submitted fully See how can you fully manifest the love of God if I haven't fully submitted every area of my life? If I pick and choose the areas of my life that I want to place under we talked about Jesus being exalted To the highest position above every name that every tongue should confess that he's Lord Like I can't submit every area of my life to the Lordship of Jesus Then I will never be able to fully manifest the love of God and I'll live less than God ever intended me to live The opposite is true if I fully surrender every area of my life to the Lordship of Jesus Then I can expect that the fullness of his love will manifest and flow through me to a lost and dying world That I'll be equipped to reach the one that needs Jesus, but if I don't manifest him I'll never have the opportunity maybe to reach that person. Let's pray