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[0:00] Take your Bibles and open them to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3 and I'm going to read verses 14 through 19.

[0:21] I started a series of messages out of this passage entitled The Riches of His Glory because that's what we have here. Riches that are ours to have and Paul is praying that we would fully apprehend in our lives.

[0:41] Alright, so let me read the entire text, not all that I read last week, but the part that contains the expression of Paul's prayer. Starting with verse 14.

[0:53] For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we know that this is a prayer. From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you.

[1:08] And here are His petitions. Grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

[1:21] That you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height. To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.

[1:36] That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.

[1:48] To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Alright, so this is a prayer.

[1:59] Or rather it is Paul expressing the substance of his, I think, constant prayer for the believers in Ephesus.

[2:12] And I think he probably prayed this way for the people, the believers, the born again believers in every church that he had anything to do with. In his great ministry of church planting and evangelism and so forth.

[2:25] So this is the substance of a prayer. And I have said that it is perhaps one of the best examples in the New Testament of the prayer of intercession.

[2:37] He's interceding for them. And it's very obvious that Paul is praying, of course. And that he is interceding for the Christian believer, the Ephesian believers, born again believers.

[2:51] But he's not praying for material needs, is he? Now they certainly had them. I would say that they had many needs.

[3:02] Materially and physically. But he was not praying for their material or physical needs. He was praying for the deepest of their spiritual needs.

[3:13] That's why this is such, I think, an important prayer for us. The substance of our praying and what ought to be our prayers for one another.

[3:27] So this is intercessory prayer. And Paul's prayer consists of four petitions. And the first one we looked at last week, to be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man.

[3:43] So we looked at that last time. Second, to be rooted and grounded in love. And this is what we're going to be considering tonight. And then third, to know the love of Christ.

[3:54] And then finally, to be filled with the fullness of God. Which is quite a lofty petition. To be filled with the fullness of God.

[4:05] In fact, that's where this prayer is headed. And so we're taking each one of these petitions and we're looking at them very carefully. In the hopes that, first of all, we would gain some understanding of what each petition means.

[4:24] Means to us personally, as believers. But also, we're looking at these petitions in hopes that we too would involve ourselves in this very serious type of praying.

[4:39] Which we call, the Bible calls intercessory prayer. Now these petitions are deeply spiritual, as I've said. Deeply spiritual.

[4:49] And they are progressive. And that's very key in our understanding of each of the petitions. There's a progression here. And so we really could say that for each of these four petitions.

[5:04] That is, each of the four petitions is building upon the one that comes before it. And each one then lays the foundation for the one that follows.

[5:17] Somewhat like a staircase, you know. And we could think of it in those terms. Alright, so, step number one in the staircase, or the first petition.

[5:28] Again, we looked at last week. Strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man. Or through the Spirit in the inner man. And that is to have spiritual power in our lives.

[5:42] A spiritual strength that comes from inside, within, where the Holy Spirit dwells. Because he says, by the Holy Spirit.

[5:53] Or through His Spirit in the inner man. And so, as I said last week, that Paul is really praying for something that in one sense, in a very real sense, very important sense, every one of us already has.

[6:05] Because every one of us is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And so, the provision for inner strength, inner spiritual power is not given by measure.

[6:17] Because we have all of the Holy Spirit there is to have. The prayer is really more that we would first acknowledge that presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

[6:31] And that we would yield ourselves to Him. To His power. His sway. In everything in our lives. Alright, so, here's what I want to do to begin with.

[6:44] Let's, I want you to repeat these words after me, okay? I'm not going to make you stand or raise your right hand or anything like that. But repeat these words after me. I've got it in me.

[6:55] Say that. To be all Christ wants me to be. Because Christ Jesus Himself lives in me.

[7:09] I can say no to sin. I can have victory through trials. I can know the will of God for my life.

[7:21] I can serve God with power and effectiveness. I've got it in me. Because Christ's power dwells in me.

[7:35] Alright, I hope you meant that when you said it. Because I hold you to it. But it's true. It's true. And it is something we need to acknowledge. And comprehend.

[7:45] And apprehend. In our lives. And that's the point of this very first petition in the prayer. And everything is going to build upon that as we go forward.

[7:57] And so the next step. As we move to the next step. And it's building upon this first step. We cannot enjoy the benefits of the next three petitions.

[8:07] Until the first petition becomes a reality. And here's number two. Rooted and grounded in love. Rooted and grounded in love. Now we're going to see in one of the other.

[8:20] The very next petition. That love is involved in it as well. But it's an even deeper. A higher, more lofty sense of love.

[8:31] And we'll get to that next time. But this is the foundation. It's rooted and grounded in love. That was the petition. And so it's important to note here.

[8:43] Even though we covered part of this last week. In fact, let's just read once again. Let me read once again verse 17. So we can get this petition. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

[8:56] Now that's attached to the first petition. But it's also attached to this next petition. That you being rooted and grounded in love. And then he goes on from there.

[9:08] So there's the petition. So the point I'm trying to make. In this idea that these are progressive. That one is laying the foundation for the next. The point I want to make is that Paul links the first petition.

[9:21] Strengthened with might. With the second petition. Rooted and grounded in love. With this phrase that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

[9:33] That links these two together. And as I said last week. For the believer. It's not a question of whether or not Christ lives in you. That's not a question is it? It shouldn't be.

[9:45] Because he does. He lives in you. Dwells in you. In fact that's why the word dwell is used there. Remember I mentioned that there are two words in the Greek language.

[9:56] That Paul could have chosen from. And to convey the idea of dwelling. And the first word he could have used. Was a word that means to make a home.

[10:08] To feel at home. To make a permanent address. And that's the word that he used. As opposed to another word that he could have used. Which means to dwell as a temporary guest.

[10:22] A stranger. You know a temporary guest. Now he chose that word dwell. To convey the idea of a permanent residence.

[10:34] Within us. And that is Christ. Dwelling in us. And so let me ask you the question. Since you believed. Since you were quote born again.

[10:45] You were saved. Has Christ been dwelling in you. As a. From your perspective. As a kind of stranger. I think.

[10:55] Think about that. Is it your perception. That he's more of a stranger than he ought to be. That. I mean. You give testimony. Lives in your heart. And you.

[11:06] You. But you really have not. Gotten to know him. As well as maybe you should. Then. You. You need to think. Long and hard about that.

[11:19] Were you truly born again. And yet even for a believer. We can. Have. A. A kind of blindness. And kind of. Unconsciousness.

[11:30] To the very presence of. Christ. In our lives. And he's. Too much of a stranger to us. Than he ought to be. Then you need to get in God's word. And that's the point of this prayer.

[11:41] Really. As well. We'd be rooted. And grounded in love. Or. Can you say. And I hope you can say. That Jesus dwells in you. As a friend. As a loved one.

[11:53] Dearly loved one. Whom. You. Are getting to know better. Every. Single day. And one who always feels. At home. In your life. And I'm just saying.

[12:03] You know. From. From. From. From. From our perspective. That he feels at home. In your life. He's included in all things. Just like a family member would be. He is called upon for all things.

[12:14] He is honored in all things. That's. That's. The experience we ought to have. And. And if that's so. Then not only will you experience. His power in your life.

[12:26] You will also. Have a life. That is rooted. And grounded. In him. Rooted. And grounded. In love. Now what does Paul mean when he says. Rooted and grounded.

[12:38] These are obviously. Metaphors. Rooted. Grounded. In fact. We could accuse Paul of. Of. Kind of. Mixing a metaphor here.

[12:50] He's got two metaphors. In. In. In here. There. There is one that he borrows from. The first one he borrows from. Horticulture. Rooted. Rooted. And the other one he borrows from the world of architecture.

[13:03] Grounded. Grounded. And so the first metaphor. Rooted. Rooted. Describes the Christian life. Like a tree. Tree. With its roots. Deeply planted.

[13:14] In the soil. Of love. Love. And then in the second metaphor. Grounded. Describes the Christian life. As a tower. Now both reach to the heavens.

[13:28] But they're different metaphors. And so the tower. Has a substantial. Substantial foundation. And its foundation. Is love. So.

[13:38] The point of each. Metaphor. Is the same. But they're looking at it from. Two different. Perspectives. So. You could say it this way. Here's the petition.

[13:50] To be deeply rooted. In. And firmly. Founded upon. Love. Love. Now let's just.

[14:01] Consider these two metaphors. We move through this. Here tonight. First. The first metaphor. The tree. It's clearly. The picture of a tree.

[14:12] That's. Rooted. And. Where are its roots. What. What are the. Roots. In. And. Founded in. And growing in. Well.

[14:23] Paul says love. To be rooted. We're to be rooted in love. And just picture. A great oak tree. I've got a couple of oak trees. In my backyard. I don't really like them.

[14:34] All that much. When the leaves start falling. And I like them even less. Than my pecan trees. Because the pecan tree leaves. They fall. All at the same time.

[14:44] But that oak. Those oak trees just hold on. And hold on. And they just keep falling. And yet they're magnificent trees. Huge trees. Wonderful trees. Massive trunks. And they.

[14:55] You know. They. Picture. You know. Stability. I hope that's the case. Fall on top of my house. Or my neighbor house. Neighbor's house. And the branches do.

[15:06] Reach out. They reach out over my house. And his house. And. All over that area. So. You know. There are huge trees. And magnificent trees. And oak trees. And we can kind of picture that.

[15:17] And. And. And. And that's how Paul wants us to picture. The Christian life. The way it ought to be. Like a mighty oak tree. That's. Firmly. Rooted. Deeply rooted.

[15:29] But rooted in what? Love. He says. I don't know about you. But. I would expect him to say something else. I would expect him to say.

[15:41] Rooted in. Truth. In the sense of God's word. Would you expect that? Now. Is the Christian life. Rooted in truth?

[15:51] It certainly ought to be. But that's not what he's praying for. In fact. Really. He's not praying. That. We would be rooted in truth. Or knowledge.

[16:02] Or faith. Or. Fruitfulness. We'll just take each of these. Here tonight. Just by way of explanation. So.

[16:14] But he says what? He says. Rooted in love. And so the petition. Is not. What we would expect. Maybe first and foremost. That. Our lives will be rooted in truth.

[16:26] That is. You know. To be firmly planted. In the truth. Of God's word. To be. To be. Men and women. And. Young people. Who are rooted. In strong conviction.

[16:38] Based upon the word of God. Who. Are not. Timid. To speak the truth of God. With boldness. And confidence. And to live out that word.

[16:48] Without. Apology. And with all conviction. That's pretty important. Isn't it? And. And these. That's good. That's right. Don't. Don't misunderstand me.

[17:00] We need to be. Be. In God's word. In that sense. To embrace the truth. To speak the truth. To stand for the truth. To live out the truth.

[17:11] But he does not pray that. He prays. That they would be rooted. In love. Rooted in love. Now how can that be? I mean. What. What do you think.

[17:22] We should. Think about this. Well. I would remind you. Of 1 Corinthians 13 1. 1 Corinthians 13 1 says. Though I speak with the tongues of men.

[17:33] And of angels. And have not love. I am become a sounding brass. Or a tinkling cymbal. I would have you look at chapter 4.

[17:44] Of this. This very book. Book of Ephesians. Verse 15. Listen to it. Look at it. You should be able to see it. Very close to where we were. But speaking the truth.

[17:55] In love. In love. That is rooted in love. May grow up. You may grow up in all things.

[18:06] Into him who is the head. Christ. From whom the whole body. Joined and knit together. By what every joint. Supplies. According to the effective working.

[18:16] By which every part. Does it share. Does it share. Causing growth of the body. For the edifying of itself. In love. In love.

[18:28] You see. Here's the point. Truth. That stands alone. Truth without love. Genuine love.

[18:38] Love. Love. Love of Christ. Operating. And flowing. In our lives. Truth without love. Becomes harsh. And hard. And dogmatic.

[18:49] And dry. And it does not build up the body. So my point is not to minimize. The importance of being. I would prefer to use the term.

[19:00] Grounded in the truth. The point is that we should not embrace the truth. And live out the truth. And be people who are grounded in truth. We certainly are. But if it's void of. Of love.

[19:11] Being. Your life being rooted in. True. Love. The love of God. Then it. It does not build up. It's not profitable.

[19:23] Also. He does not pray. That believers are to be rooted in knowledge. And this may be similar to. Truth. But we're talking here about. About.

[19:34] In. You know. The brain. The intellectual. Knowledge. And understanding. Of. Even. The word of God. Now we ought to. Ought to.

[19:44] Grow in our knowledge. Our knowledge of God. Knowledge of his word. Not minimizing that. Certainly not. Discounting that. In any way. But what happens when we're rooted in knowledge.

[19:57] And not rooted in love. Love. Well. Paul tells us. First Corinthians 8. One. He says. Knowledge. Puffs up. Puffs up.

[20:09] But love. What does it do? Anybody know that passage? Builds up. It edifies. So. Just pure knowledge. If you want to be rooted in knowledge.

[20:19] And you just want. I mean. You just have. All the knowledge of God's word. That. That any. Any. Anyone. More than anyone you've ever met. I mean. You just. You've. You've got a lot of it memorized. And you know.

[20:30] All the books of the Bible. And you. You know. You just have this tremendous knowledge. God's word. And yet. You don't have any love in your heart. Then. It. Puffs up. This very knowledge.

[20:41] Even the knowledge of God. Knowledge of his word. Can. Puff. You up. It. It. It. Can lead you to pride. But love. Edifies. It.

[20:52] Builds up. And so. If. That knowledge. That you're gaining. Does not lead you to love. Then it's a worthless knowledge.

[21:02] Again. First Corinthians 13. Two. And though I have the gift of prophecy. And understand all. Mysteries. And all. Knowledge. And have not love. I am.

[21:14] Nothing. I am nothing. So. We're. He's not praying. Here. He's very specific. He's not praying. To be rooted in truth. Rooted in knowledge.

[21:25] Those are important things. The Bible deals with those things. He's praying. That they would be rooted in love. Also. The prayer is not to be rooted. And this is a hard one.

[21:35] Maybe even seems strange to us. He does not pray to be rooted in faith. Rooted in faith. That is in the sense of faithfulness. Not. The faith that's saved. Or the faith.

[21:46] In the sense of. Of. The gospel. In a relationship with Christ. But. The activity of our life. And our outlook on life. Faithfulness. He does not say be.

[21:57] Rooted in faithfulness. Paul says in. Again. First Corinthians 13. Three. And he covers all the bases there. Though I have all faith. So.

[22:07] That I could remove mountains. And have not love. I am. Nothing. I am nothing. See the priority. Of love. Love. And you know.

[22:19] Too often. Our faithfulness. Can become. A drudgery. I know. You're looking at me like. Well. Maybe you. Brother Don.

[22:29] But not me. Let's just admit it. Sometimes. The life of faithfulness. Can be hard. It can be a burden. It can. It can. You know. We. We. We. We. Sometimes have to.

[22:40] Compel ourselves. And force ourselves. To serve the Lord. Faithfully. I mean. Duty only. Compels us. That ever been your experience?

[22:53] Well. Why? Because. We're trying to be rooted. In faithfulness. Rather than. Be rooted. In love. The Bible says. In Galatians 5. 6.

[23:03] For in Christ Jesus. Neither circumcision. Avails anything. Nor uncircumcision. Or the keeping. Of the law. But faith. What.

[23:14] What edifies us. He says. Or veils. Is. Is worth something to us. Is faith. Working. Through. Love. Even if you don't know the verse.

[23:25] You can guess what it is. Faith. Working. Through. Love. See. The priority. Of love. Paul said. In 2nd Corinthians 5. 14. For the love of Christ.

[23:37] Compels us. So. Love. Makes. The difference. In our faith. See. That's why he's praying. A very deeply spiritual. Prayer.

[23:48] This is a deeply spiritual. Petition. To be rooted. In love. In love. Not rooted. In truth.

[23:59] Apart from love. Or. Knowledge. Apart from love. Or faithfulness. Apart from love. And then he also did not say. Rooted in fruitfulness. Fruitfulness.

[24:09] We ought to be. That ought to. That ought to define our lives. Fruitfulness. Well. Apart from being rooted in love. There is no fruitfulness. No. No real fruitfulness.

[24:20] I mean. You can work like a dog. In the church. Some of you do. You know. That's the thing about Baptist churches. We just wear people out. Sometimes. You work like a dog.

[24:31] In the church. And you can do all kinds of very good. And needful. And wonderful. And things. But ultimately. The value of those works. Is zero.

[24:42] It's zero. If you're not rooted in love. See how important love is. Again. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13. 3. And though I bestow all my goods.

[24:53] To feed the poor. And though I give my body. To be burned. And have not love. It profits me. Nothing. I read a story about. About a. An artist.

[25:05] Very gifted young artist. And he had been commissioned. By a local museum. To. To. Produce a sculpture.

[25:17] That would be placed in this museum. And it was a tremendous opportunity for him. And he's very excited about it. Something he'd been waiting for all of his life. And been training for all of his life. It was a chance for him to create.

[25:28] The masterpiece. That he had always been dreaming of. And so he got to work on it. He labored. And labored. And labored. And worked on that thing. For several years. And then one day.

[25:39] He was finally finished. And it was indeed. By. By. By all accounts. A. An absolute masterpiece. Of. Of a piece of sculpture. And yet. To his horror.

[25:50] He discovered. That it was too large. To get out of any door. Or any window. In his. In his building. And it was apparently. Too cost prohibitive.

[26:00] For him to. Tear down any part of the building. And it would. Would not. Couldn't work for the structure of the building. And so. His masterpiece. Would then forever. Be forever trapped.

[26:11] In the room. In which it was created. Pretty sad story. And yet. It's a good illustration. That many. A masterpiece. Of Christian. Works. And accomplishments.

[26:22] Have been done. In the name of Christ. Christ. But they were not done. For love of God. They were done. For love of self. And love of man. And they are forever. Captive.

[26:32] In this. Rotting. And passing away world. The importance. Of being rooted. In love. It's not rooted. In fruitfulness. It's rooted. In love.

[26:42] Which produces. Fruitfulness. Remember. Jesus. Commended. The immoral woman. That came. And anointed. His head. And his feet. With expensive. Ointment. And wiped his feet.

[26:54] With her hair. And he commended her. Because he said. She loved much. She loved much. Jesus said. To the widow. Who just gave.

[27:05] The might. You know. The widow's might. Or maybe we could liken it. To a penny. And he commended her. Because she had given more. He said. Than anyone else. Because of her love.

[27:17] Her love. She gave all that she had. All right. So then the tree. Rooted in love. The second metaphor. Is the tower. What I'm calling a tower.

[27:27] That's. What the metaphor. Points to. Not a tree. Rooted in the ground. But a tower. Founded upon a foundation. And. It's the metaphor.

[27:38] Speaking of love. A foundation of love. To be grounded. Or founded. Upon love. Now. Everybody knows. Even if you're not an architect. And I'm certainly not.

[27:49] But it just stands to reason. That the larger. And higher the tower. Or any building it may be. The more important. Becomes the foundation. And.

[28:00] And that's just common sense. And there's a principle. That's a principle. In architecture. That says. The height of the building. Above the earth. Must correspond. To the depth. Of its foundation.

[28:11] Below the earth. And. That applies. In a spiritual sense. And so the. Apostle Paul. Is praying. For the Ephesian believers. And he desires.

[28:22] That their Christian lives. Would reach. To great heights. In fact. That's what we're going to see. As we move through. All these petitions. Ultimately. When we get to the fourth.

[28:32] Petition. Paul's going to pray. A very lofty thing here. To be filled. With all. The fullness. Of God. That's. That's about as lofty. As you can get. And it takes. Some kind of foundation.

[28:43] To build a tower. The tower of your life. To that lofty height. And that foundation. Is love. It's love. And so.

[28:54] What we need to think about is. Maybe. In. When we think of a foundation. That foundation. Goes in. The importance of it. It goes in several different directions.

[29:05] It. It must be deep in the ground. It must. Spread out. Wide. It must. Come a certain. Distance up. As well. We just kind of think of that foundation.

[29:15] And so. Let me. Let me. Compare that. To. Our foundation. Of love. It reaches. First of all. Downward. And I'm going to call that.

[29:26] Love. For the knowledge of God. A foundation. A foundation. Of love. That reaches downward. It's a love. It's a deep love. For the knowledge of God.

[29:37] Jesus tells us. About a couple of men. Who build houses. Remember this parable. One. Built his house. Upon the sand. The other built his house. Upon the rock.

[29:48] And you know that parable. And. Well. Of the one. Who built the house. Upon the rock. Which stood. You. Of course. After the storm.

[29:58] Jesus said. In Luke 6. 48. Whoever. Comes to me. And hears. My sayings. My word. And does them. I will show you.

[30:10] To whom he is like. He is like. A man. Who built. A house. And dug. Deep. And laid the foundation. On a rock. And Paul said.

[30:22] And if he. In Romans 11. 33. Oh. The depth. Of the riches. Both of the wisdom. And knowledge of God. So I'd say. This foundation of love. Is a love for the knowledge.

[30:33] Of God. That. That. That puts that foundation. Deep. So that. So that. That the tower. Of our lives. The building. The. The edifice. Of the life. Can reach.

[30:45] All the way. To the. To the fullness. Of God. So. Love for the knowledge. Of God. Reaches deep. It reaches. Downward.

[30:55] Into his word. It also reaches. Outward. Or excuse me. Upward. We'll get to the outward. Here in just a minute. Reaches. Upward. And that would be. A love for God. Himself.

[31:05] That foundation. Would include. A love for God. Himself. The. Upward. Dimension. Love for God. Depends upon.

[31:16] The downward. Dimension. See. My love for God. Your love for God. Depends upon. Your knowledge. Of God. My knowledge.

[31:27] Of God. That we get from his word. And the more I know him. Guess what? The more I love him. The more I love him. That is.

[31:38] Love for God. Depends upon. An intimate relationship. With him. You know. The philosophers. Refer to God. As. Some of them. Will call him. The absolute. You know.

[31:48] Some impersonal. Term. The absolute. Or the holy other. Or the uncaused cause. I really like that one. The uncaused cause. The armchair philosopher. Will call him.

[31:58] The man upstairs. You've heard that expression. Before. But all those. Place God. In some kind of. Impersonal. Category. And we. We can't put God. In some impersonal.

[32:09] Category. Of some. Some. Uh. Some fictitious. Uh. Kind of entity. Or. Or. Or. Or. Or. Force. God is person. Is a person. And.

[32:19] As a person. You can get to know him. And know him intimately. Know him personally. And when you know him. That way. Then you will love him. That's why I say.

[32:30] This foundation. Of love. To be rooted. In love. But now. To be founded. In love. To have foundation. Of love. Reaches. Down deep. Into the. Love for the knowledge.

[32:40] Of God. That we continually. Hunger for. And search for. We. Get that through his word. And our communion. With him. But it also reaches. Upward. Uh. As well.

[32:51] Not just downward. But upward. Upward. In our love for him. So that we would know him more. And uh. And then. It reaches outward. It reaches outward.

[33:03] Love for one another. Love for one another. Reaches in all directions. And this is really very logical. And uh. You know. How guilty.

[33:15] Uh. We uh. Have often been. And I have been. And uh. I know. For sure. Guilty. In my life. Because I long to be filled.

[33:25] With all the fullness. Of God. And. Yet. There is a glaring. Something glaringly wrong. It sometimes.

[33:36] In my personal relationship. With other people. You experience that. See. We long to. To go all the way. To the lofty heights. Uh.

[33:46] Of the fullness of God. In our life. To experience that. And yet. We don't love people. Like we ought to. And. That just won't work. These petitions. Of Paul's.

[33:56] Again. Remember. Are progressive. So. You know. You and I. Will never know. As Paul says. The breadth. And length. And depth. And height. Of the love of Christ. Which we're going to study next week.

[34:08] We'll never know that. Until we are firmly built. Upon. His foundation. This foundation. Of love. That reaches downward. And upward. And outward. Involves love.

[34:18] In all those directions. And I would add a fourth. His word. Not his word. Toward him. But his word. W-O-R-I-N-E-R-D. His word. Love for God's word.

[34:30] Is a part of that foundation. Now. What is your attitude. Toward. God's word. The demands of his word. Commands of his word.

[34:41] The instructions. The precepts. Of his word. What's your. What's your attitude. Toward the word of God. Do you love the. The word of God. Do you love his word. David wrote. Over and over.

[34:52] And over again. In the Psalms. About his love. For God's word. Uses the term. Laws. But that was the. Synonymous to his word. For example.

[35:03] Psalm 1910. More to be desired. Are they. That is his word. Than gold. Yes. Than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey.

[35:14] And the honeycomb. Moreover. By them. Is thy servant. Warned. And in keeping of them. There is great reward. There's no mystery. How. David felt.

[35:25] What David felt. About God's word. Do we feel that same way. Psalm 119. 97. Oh how. Love. I love. Your law. Your word.

[35:36] Psalm 119. 165. Great peace. Have they. Which. Love. Thy law. And nothing. Shall offend them. And over. And over. And over.

[35:46] We need to feel that way. About God's word. I hope you do. And if you really desire. To know the full measure. Of the love of Christ. And to. To. Apprehend. The fullness.

[35:57] Of God. Then you must love. God's word. Love his word. You. Do you love his word. If not. Then you can forget. About going any further.

[36:08] In your spiritual growth. You just can't do it. Jesus said. In the beatitudes. It is those who hunger. And thirst. After righteousness. That are filled. I believe.

[36:20] Filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with the fullness of God. It's those who hunger. And thirst. After righteousness. All right. So we're about finished. Repeat after me. You ready? Jesus Christ.

[36:34] Who is God himself. Dwells in me. Through the person. Of the Holy Spirit. Since God is love.

[36:48] And since God himself. Dwells in me. Then the love of God. Dwells in me. Therefore.

[36:58] I am rooted. And grounded. In love. I have it in me. To love. To love God. To love my family.

[37:11] To love my friends. To love strangers. To love my enemies. To love God's word.

[37:25]  And to obey it with gladness. Amen. and amen.