The Love of Christ, Part 1

For those of you who received the announcements yesterday, you realize that the title of the sermon is, The Love of Christ, Part 1. So this is actually a three-part sermon. It's very important to cover this. And I know most of us. We talk about the love of Christ, and we hope we have the love of Christ in our hearts. And we hope that we show that in our lives, because it is very important, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have what? That's right. And they need to see it not only in the church, but to everyone. And that is a very hard thing to do. Sometimes it's hard to do. Sometimes it's in your family, isn't it? And sometimes it's harder than the ones out that you deal with at work or friends. Has anyone ever understood the love of Christ more than the Apostle Paul? I would argue that no one has, and if they have, they have not articulated it as well as Paul articulates it. I'd like you to go to Ephesians 3, if you will. Ephesians 3. I'll read from the New King James 1. Ephesians 3 and verse 18. A brygmid sentence, and he says that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, that's all of you, right? We hope. We pray. What is the width, the length, the depth, and the height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God? Read that from the New Living Translation here, because it actually says, And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. You think you understand that? I'm not ready to raise my hand yet, because it says it passes knowledge. That's why I think it's very important that we understand this time of the year. Verse 19. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. And I need that. I need to be full of the power so that that can be seen in my life.

The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus.

Somebody's upset.

Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus. And he wrote this while he was in prison. This is one of the prison epistles, as they call them. Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon. He wrote while he was sitting in prison. Now, the thing that's unique about this, of all the churches that he wrote while he was in prison, he spent more time in Ephesus than any other church. Any other church that we can really find. He spent a lot of time there. I'd like you to turn over to Acts 19, if you will. And we get to see that.

As we heard earlier in the sermon, as he baptized 12 men here in Ephesus, as the church was just getting started there.

In verse 7, Ephesians 3 and verse 7, Said, Now all the men were about twelve and all, And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, Reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, But spoke evil of the way before the multitude, He departed from them and withdrew to his disciples. And in verse 10 it says, And this continued as he was teaching, This continued for two years, So that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Both Jews and Greeks. So Paul was standing there, as one manuscript actually said, Five hours a day for two years. He was teaching over 3,600 hours. He was teaching the way. What's interesting here is that Ephesus was not that big a city, But it became a major city when Rome put their money into the road system.

Because Ephesus was at an ideal place for travel, for commerce, for trade. And so they put more money forth there into the city. And it became a major city. Even though it never had more than 50,000 people in it, It was well known. It was a very prosperous city at that time that Paul entered it. It was a very pagan world, pagan society. They had one of the seven wonders of the world. At that time, the Temple of Artemis, or we know it the Temple of Diana, Where people would come from all over Asia, Rome, to worship. This Diana. You might have seen pictures of her. She was known also as a fertility goddess, That if you thought you wanted to have, you couldn't have children, Or you wanted more children, you would come and worship at this beautiful temple, At which there was this humongous statue of her. If you saw it, it was a statue of a woman, but she had many breasts, 40 or 50 breasts, Which means she was ready to show a sign of fertility, And that you could live, the world could live off Diana's blessings. And people believed this. And you also had, at the time in Ephesus, you had, because this was a magnificent sight to come and see, This temple, and people came all over to worship, Plus, they did have a coliseum there, where they actually had gladiator games. And it actually seated 25,000 people to watch these games. Which would be interesting, because there was only 50,000 people in the city. So you can imagine Miami, of what, 5 million people? Can you imagine a stadium holding 2.5 million people? So what that tells you is that it was a very travel-friendly place. I guess you could say it was almost like the Disneyland, At its time, where people loved to come in, and they had games, and they had this worship.

So the church was started there with only about 12 people, but we know it became larger, As this spread, as these actual words said about in Acts 19. I'll even bring it down, you don't have to turn back there, but Acts 19, verse 26, He said, Moreover, you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, This Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods, which are made with hands. He came in saying that, because it's interesting, and I think Ridley Scott covered it very well in a movie, That was made probably 15 years now, called Gladiator.

I don't know if any of you saw that, I can't remember, Russell Crowe. But it was a historical piece about the gladiators, which was interesting at that time, Being this was one of the sites in which they had these gladiator fights. And you saw the men there, as they believed in these other gods, they believed in gods made of stone and wood, and various things. And all these, even the gladiators, would have these little statues. They would carry them in their pouches, they would carry them in their clothes, As they thought these gods would protect them, bless them. And so here in Ephesus, you had quite a few tradesmen, who made a lot of money, as you can read in their enacts.

They made these little idols, and people loved to have them with them. They felt like they could do anything that would be blessed. And so they made a lot of money. As I thought about Walt Disney and their little Mickey Mouse, you know, you go there, and there's Mickey Mouse stuff all over everywhere.

You know, that's on shirts, it's on this. These were little statues of Diana, because she was also known as the goddess of hunting. So you would have prosperity in food and all these various things, and you would not be defeated, Because she was such a strong, strong warrior type at that time. So with this background, we see that the church has started, and you even see where they were because Paul had made such an impact with the gospel in this pagan world, that they all got together and wanted to kill him, because he put such a dent in their profit making.

Because all of a sudden, they were throwing away. People that were coming to the truth were throwing away these idols. And they were beginning to grow in the church. Well, you can imagine someone like Paul, who didn't mind standing every day for five hours preaching the gospel right in the city. So obviously, the church grew. Well, you can see that the Gentiles were despised by the Jews.

Those who were in a Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, which was rather small, were actually Paul's started, but they didn't want him. They didn't want him there because he was teaching that not only could it be possible to have salvation through Jesus Christ for the Jews, it's also possible for the Gentiles. And it was open up for the entire world! And this did not go well. So the Jews despised the Gentiles, really hated them.

And the Jews also despised Paul. They hated him as also the merchants and those who were working in that humongous temple. One of the seven wonders of the world. They despised Paul. So can you imagine being in this city, trying to do that? Did it faze him? No, he just kept on. So the church grew. And so he knew what kind of church it was, being he spent that much time. He knew the people, intimately. He knew the area since he spent, as the Scriptures can tell, almost three years off and on in Ephesians.

But he spent, we know, at least two years and three months straight there preaching this incredible message, teaching them that this temple, which was the center of the city, which everybody looked at amazement at, because it was this beautiful, beautiful temple. And he was saying, see that? It doesn't mean a thing. That the God, God has said, your worship is false. That there is one God that we need to worship.

But the Jews had a hard time because of this entity or person of Jesus Christ, because Paul was teaching that he came. He died for mankind. And now, he is offering salvation. But not only salvation and eternal life, he's offering a part of himself that will live inside you. And you can actually have, not some God that you pull out made of wood or stone that will help you, but you'll also actually have an essence, a part of God inside you in your heart that can grow and grow and grow so that you can't even imagine. Pretty good product to sell, if you're Paul. Because the others didn't offer that. And we know that's true, just like the church is true today. That's why we're here. That's why you're here. I'd like you to go, if you will, with me as we take this journey to Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3. I'd like you to go to verse 8. That's where we'll start. And I hope you will find this as interesting and intriguing as I have.

Ephesians 3 and verse 8, and I'll read this from both the New King James and the New Living Translation, because I feel like the New Living adds something to it, but both help us to understand, because we're just going to cover a few scriptures here today. But they are so deep, so real, so impactful that we need to really, truly look at them. Because what he's saying here, it not only changes people's lives in Ephesus, it can change your life today. No matter where you're at, it will change your life. Ephesians 3 and verse 8, it says, as he's writing to his old church here, as he's sitting in prison, to me, who am less than the least of all the saints. So what's Paul saying here? Modern vernacular, I ain't nothing. I'm less than all of you. Well, Paul even talks about it at the church when he writes the church in Corinth. I think it's 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, whatever it is. I have to remember. Oh, 15. 9. 1 Corinthians 15. 9, where he says, I'm the least of all the disciples. So you see, Paul is not all about himself at all, which is a great example to them because they got a chance to see it for 2 1⁄2 years at least.

I said, less than the least of all the saints. This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Unsearchable riches. So he's saying, brethren, there are things you have not even searched out from Christ.

There's things that I have not searched. Things that have not come into my life that I need to dig a little deeper, that I need to let the Spirit bring in my life. I read that from the New Living Translation. It says, Though I am least deserving of all God's people, He graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. Some incredible treasures. Now, you can think, well, wait a minute. There's forgiveness of sin, which is really great, as we heard about in the sermonette. Once we repent, there's the moment 623. There's a gift of eternal life, a gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life through that. And you know, we all think about that, but what else is there? There's so much more we have not even scratched. He says it passes knowledge that we have, because it is supernatural, what we're dealing with. We're having Christ live in us, and the more He lives in us, the more He will impact our lives, change our lives, and we will begin to see things we've never seen before in our lives. That's what it says. That's what this is talking about. Go to verse 9. It says, And to make all people see, what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ. There's a mystery. As a matter of fact, the heading in my Bible here actually said, the purpose of the mystery. Do you realize what you know, and so much of what you know is a mystery? I mean, I talk about it. We take this so lightly, the fundamental belief. And we're just kind of like, oh, yeah, it's here. Brethren, this is part of the mystery.

That God held back and has held back to only a few for 6,000 years.

And why did He hold it back? Why did He give it to us?

Because we're nothing special. He held it back because it's best for most people, because they don't want to walk this way of life. Because it's not just changing like you change your clothes every day. It is a dying of the old self. Right, Olivia?

Made sure before we baptized her, she understood that. And she came up. She's a new creation.

She lives for Christ now, not for herself.

And you've got to endure to the end. Remember that Scripture? And you put your hand to the plow, you can't look back. Right, Ampe? I made sure we went through that. It's that big, right, Lewis? You can't turn back. This, He's giving such a reward for following Him. There's no turning back.

And most people, if most people could handle it, He would give it to them. But you see, God can look upon the heart. That's what He called David. That's what He called you, called me, called all these people. Not because we're anything special, and Paul knew that. Why did Paul knew it? Know it? Because he knew who he was and what he was about before. Verse 10, "...to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church." Okay? You know I read that many times before? Thrown down through the years and I got it wrong every time. Because I kept putting in the church. Oh no, it was a mental thing. And that's what's fresh and new about these scriptures, and probably it was me. They're just like, oh well, yes, manifold wisdom of God might be made known in the church.

But it doesn't say that. It says, might be made. This wisdom, this plan of God. Where this is what's so great about this scripture. Let me finish reading it and then we'll look at it a little different. "...be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places." Let me read that from a New Living Translation. God's purpose, God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Do we see now through this one scripture? He's saying, I'm going to show all the powers in the heavenly places.

That's all the angels. The fallen, the leader of the fallen angels, and Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, if he exists.

All these angels, millions and millions of angels. God said that the wisdom He wanted to show His glory, and that's what Paul's trying to tell the church, is God reached down, grabbed some dirt, formed man out of this, put the breath of life in Him, and then later gave Him the opportunity to put His very essence, the Holy Spirit, in Him so that He would eventually become a Son of God and rule the universe with God on the same plane.

That is a plan. And He's saying, because you've got to realize, the angels were here millions and millions of years before us. And you can imagine, and I do, that that's when iniquity was found in Him, when God, out of His love, goes, you're going to love this idea. And I'm going to take that dirt, and they are going to be turned into divine. And so Peter says, we are partakers of the divine nature now. We're going to be fully divine when Jesus Christ comes. So this shows God's wisdom. That's what this scripture says to all the angels. That's why I think it's my speculation that that's when Satan was found with iniquity, because he was the top dog. And God reveals this. It's kind of like, I don't know how you do. I don't know, Dwight, whether you played this or, or, uh, Neil, whether you played this. But when I was a kid in elementary school, we were going to the playground, what we call recess. I don't know what they call it today. Well, we'd have recess, and you'd go out, and there wasn't a whole lot in our little country school to do of recess. You had 30 minutes. You'd go there, but the ground would just have this mound of dirt there from whatever. And so we would go, and the boys would all play king of the mountain. I don't know whether the girls ever did that or not. But we'd go there and get, and whoever was the first one up there got to stand on top of this ground. And then the game was that if you wanted to try to knock the king off the mountain, you had to come up there. Well, you had the advantage, so you would push people down. And they were trying to... Now, why we played it, I don't know. It was fun for boys. And so pretty soon somebody'd knock you off, and then somebody else would be king of the mountain.

And the only thing you remembered was who was king of the mountain when the whistle blew and you had to go in. Then you walked in like, king of the mountain. That's what boys do. So don't blame us, ladies. We were raised that way. But this is what I visualize Satan doing. He was king of the mountain, and then God just had this other beautiful plan that's going to encompass the entire universe. And raise this dirt. And if that doesn't show God's glory, power, and wisdom, rather than what else would? And that's why it's so important that just like Paul sets this incredible example here, it never needs to be about us. Okay? Because any time it is about us, and we do something that we're glorified, it takes the glory from where it should be. And that's God in us.

And I appreciate this congregation. I love all of you. But I don't feel comfortable and don't like it when you clap. For my message. Because it's got to be God in me. Not me. All that does is set me up for something that Satan goes, mm-hmm, go. I mean, look, it said, let's go back and look at this. It says, To the intent now that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers. So he's saying what? Brother, we're all on display. To all the powers. To Michael. To Gabriel. To Lucifer. To all the demons. The church is on display.

That's why it's important that whenever they see us, they're here.

They see us glorifying God, not ourselves. That's why you see what? These basketball players? They're seven foot tall and they can just go up and just put it in there anyway. But what do they do? They put it in there and then go, They're glorifying themselves. That's what's so important about us. Having this understanding. Good to see you. I appreciate if a message moves you. Because I pray, my wife prays, hopefully you pray, that God moves in me and speaks through me. Okay. Go. That evening after services. And go praise God for that. And praise God that the spirit inside you has moved. That's what's important. That's what this shows. We are to display ourselves. And sometimes we don't like that. My wife, excuse me, my wife does not like getting up in front of people. And some people do not. Never bothered me. But some people don't like to be on display. We would like to be kind of quiet, you know. It's not. And that's okay. We're different kind of people. God gave us each different gifts.

But whether you like it or not, these heavenly power, these principalities, they know your thoughts. You don't hide anything from them. So these, this display that we are on, relish it. Because God called you for that purpose. That's how big this is. God called you because He knew you could do it. Are you going to stumble and fall? Yes. You may not, but most of us in here, they are.

We're going to stumble and fall, but that's where Jesus Christ's sacrifice comes in. Boy, it's so good to be cleansed. I'm be cleansed. I be perfectly clean, pure.

Just like that. By repenting, calling on that sacrifice.

And then guess what? Still on display. Even the world knows if you want to sell something in a store window, you put something good on display. Well, that's what God has done. Why? To see just how pretty that is? No. It's to show His glory, His wisdom, and that He planned this millions of years ago, and it is going to work. No matter what.

Verse 11, it says, See, it was all done through Christ, this plan.

Because the Scriptures say God created everything through Christ, and Christ was the one that picked up the dirt. He's the one that breathed. He was the God that came down and took our place as only He could do it.

And it's an eternal plan. That's what it says. I think in verse 11 here, in the New Living Translation, it says, this was His eternal plan. Okay. You were His eternal plan millions of years ago. He just didn't think you up 30, 40, 50 years ago.

From the foundations of the world, the Scriptures say, that's how special this calling is. That's how special this knowledge is. This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then He says something in verse 12, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence. Maybe you've met someone famous. Maybe you had an appointment with someone in business or whatever. You know, when I went and I would, my father was alive and he lived just down the road from me. I never was nervous or anything of going down to see him, because we were family and I just knew him and he knew me and knew my flaws and knew my, but he knew I loved him.

I had a job one time where I had to actually go to Nissan Corporation, which is the headquarters in Tennessee at the time, not that there was still one in Japan. This was in America and I had an appointment with the Vice President of Nissan to make this presentation.

You know, I felt sweaty. My gut was a little bit, you know, I was nervous. So I, you know, walking in, well, he's just a vice president. I should have thought that I'd go before God. Why should I be worried about... but we don't.

We sometimes take it a little lightly that God gives us access to him.

How wonderful is that? He says, in him we have boldness and access to go to God the Father. What a wonderful blessing that is. So we should be... we should never, ever be worried or nervous about meeting someone because of what's in us and who we have access to. New Living Translation says, because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence. The Maker of the Universe. We can do that. Who controls? God is so sovereign, He controls everything, everybody, everything, all power. And you're worried about a few dollars to pay a bill. You see those untapped riches? You see what Paul is trying to tell them? Okay, I'm not with you. Don't worry, though. You have the power. You have the blessing.

This is wonderful, brethren. And he says, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Through faith. Because we can't see God. We can't see Christ. Did He exist? People say, oh, well, He didn't really exist. How do you know? You weren't there 2,000 years ago. It's through faith. Plus, there's all kinds of examples of other writers besides just the Scriptures.

When you know you know, then you know that you know that you know. Right? And we should know that we know. No one, no one, no scientist, no atheist, no theologian can teach me better than this. Can teach you.

In Hebrews 11, verse 1, it actually talks about faith is a substance of things hoped for. You should all know that Scripture. Hebrews 11, 1, faith is a substance of things hoped for. What does substance mean? I mean, faith, is there a substance of faith? That's what He's saying. There is a substance to faith. I can't see it. You can't touch it. You can't taste it. What is that substance? Interesting, that word substance in the Greek. In the Greek, it's actually, it's called hypostasis, but the transliteration, so we can understand it. Hypostasis, hypostasis. Okay, that's what the word substance there in the Greek means. You're saying, well, I don't really care about Greek. I do, you know, just like me, I struggle with English, much less Spanish, much less speaking Jamaican.

Okay? Hypostasis. Hypostasis, that actual Greek word is wonderful because it means not seen, but it's there. Not seen, but it's there. That's a substance.

See, what is love between my wife and myself? Can I see it? Oh, love, well, she may do something. I know it's there even though I can't see it right now. Okay, that's kind of a substance. But what's interesting is this hypostasis, it's actually described as, and I want you to think about it right now. Everybody look down at the floor. Okay? What's on the floor? Carpet? What's under the carpet? Ground? Right? Something else. What's the carpet put on? Foundation? Right?

You can't look out there and see the foundation, can you? You know, on a house, you may see something, but you usually can't see the foundation or even the footers. That's what hypostasis means. It's actually foundation. It's there, and it's a big, big part. You just can't see it. It actually means standing under because that's what it is. You have a foundation under this building. We see the building, we don't see the foundation. That's what faith is all about. That's the substance of faith. It's there. It's solid. But it's in here, you see. It's in here. Verse 13, therefore I ask you, do not lose heart of my tribulations for you, which is your glory. He's telling them, don't lose heart just because I'm in prison. Don't lose heart. It's not a big deal. This is my destiny. God's in charge, right? I told you that. I'm living by that. I'm living proof of that. Because He says, my tribulation, which is your glory. Why? Because He took it to them. He gave them the truth. He brought the truth. He brought the knowledge of God to this pagan city. And now they don't live like everybody else. Just like we don't live like everybody else out there.

Verse 14, for this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to read that in this. It says, when I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father. He says, I bow down. I fall to my knees. Isn't that what we do? Because why? We have faith that when we fall to our knees, guess what? God listens. Sometimes I'm having a drive and I'm sitting there and talking to God. I have faith that He's listening. But when I fall to my knees, when I come before Him, guess what? I get His attention because all of a sudden Chuck Smith is way down here where he should be when he comes before the presence. It's interesting you go back and you see all the movies or you actually see it today of where kings come in. And you're to bow before kings. In Japan, they're considered their emperor. You would actually have to make sure that your eyes never got higher than His eyes, no matter how tall you were.

Well, this is God. We need to know where He is and where we are. And by doing this, we glorify Him. He says, all of a sudden, you think when we ask something, we're glorifying Him, that He's going to go, well, no, I don't really care whether I give it to you or not. That's not Him because of His love.

Verse 15, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named? Was it telling us? He made everything.

He is over everything. God is sovereign and He's the originator of all. Now, verse 16. I'd like you to look at this as we wind this sermon up today.

Verse 16. Now, read this first from the New King James.

He said that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. Do we understand that? Verse 16. New Living Translation said, I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.

We have unlimited power through His Spirit, not us. We have very limited bodies. I went to the workout at the gym yesterday, or UFIT, or whatever it is, workout facility, because I need to. And I really worked on my legs, and boy, yesterday evening I was sore. This morning I can feel it. I am so limited with this 56-year-old body and this 56-year-old mind. But with His Spirit, I am unlimited. I can do things that people only dream of. And this is what He was telling them. Read that from the New Living Translation.

I pray that from His glorious, who's a glory? We must always, we must always keep that the point. Anything you want in life, if you want it, it's to the glory of God, not yourself. That's where we've limited ourselves, where we've been about us. God, I could really use a raise. Because if I did, I could pay this and buy that. No, God, if I had a raise, I wouldn't have to worry so much about other things. I could spend more time with you. You see the difference?

Resources that He will empower you with the inner strength through His Spirit. It all comes from His Spirit. It's that inner strength. It is Him in you. We just have to glorify Him and realize where it comes. Every single day, it needs to be about Him.

I'm going to have a few hand me my... over there. Oh, I can go get it. I can get them not tied to this mic. I've got two young guys that are going to help me here. Right? I have assistance today. Okay? You gentlemen want to come up here and help me? You'll take this row, you'll take this side, and you'll take this one. Everybody gets one. Okay?

Don't forget Him over there, too. Yeah. I am the young lads here who are assisting my sermon. I'm glad you boys never gave a sermon before, have you? Well, they're assisting in this sermon today. They're handing you a picture. I'd like you to look at the picture. To me, it's a beautiful picture.

And it says underneath it, it's a bristlecone pine. I ask that you would do something while they are handing this out. I ask that you would take your pen right now. Every single person here. And I'd like you to write your name under bristlecone pine, your full name.

Has anybody here ever seen a bristlecone pine? Nope. Let me tell you a little something about a bristlecone pine. A bristlecone pine is one of the oldest trees that exist on planet Earth. The bristlecone pine is thousands of years old, some to almost 5,000 years of age.

The thing about a bristlecone pine, its long existence is due to its extreme root system. It has a couple of deep, strong roots in the very center. You might be able to see that in that picture. You see it? Thank you, boys. Did you get one yourself? You've got to have one yourself.

Thank you.

Remember your first sermon you ever gave? I want you to look at that picture, and you see in the very center, it has some very deep, strong roots that are in the very center. And then highly branched, shallow roots to provide structure support all the way around it. You see those?

Which makes it very hard when this tree is growing, it makes it very hard for wind to blow it over, right? You don't see like you do on these palms where you have to have wood pieces coming out to support it. But it's got these very strong, deep roots in the middle, and then it's got all these scattered roots all the way around that are actually on the surface of the ground. And the bristlecone pine is extremely drought resistant due to those shallow roots there, because when it does rain, the roots, they get wet and stay wet, plus the ground itself. And even the needles, or you might say the leaves, but they're actually needles. If you look there, those needles will sometimes last on that tree for more than 40 years.

And so they pull in whatever moisture, whatever nutrients they get from the outside. You know what the oldest tree in Florida is? Anybody? It's a cypress tree. A cypress tree. I knew that because I remember a story a couple years ago. Matter of fact, it's 2012. It was the oldest tree, the oldest tree in Florida. And that's where we had just moved here at that time, a year before. And I saw that story, and the oldest tree was called the senator. And I forget what part of Florida it's in, but it was this huge cypress that they estimated to be 3,500 years old. And its actual outside diameter was 17 and a half feet around. But unlike the bristlecone pine, it had a hollow side on the inside where it had grown and had this space of even 3 or 4 foot inside it. And to the dismay of everyone, in 2012, this young lady who was smoking crack got inside and decided to smoke crack inside this 3,500-year-old tree and burn it to the ground as she left it.

But I bring this up because the oldest tree they can find in the United States, or even they think in the world, they haven't really covered the entire world. But they know in the United States there's a bristlecone pine. It's in the white mountains of California. And it's up towards the mountainous side. They really grow better in 8,000 to 10,000 feet up. But they can grow about anywhere. But there's this tree that they won't mark because there's bristlecone pines all up there. They won't mark it because they don't want anybody messing with it because they call it Methuselah. Okay, that's what they've nicknamed this tree. And it's the oldest tree. You remember how old Methuselah was? He was 969 years old when he died. Right? Well, here's the thing. Methuselah. This tree is 4,846 years old. That's an old tree. And it's been able to take the cold, the hot, the wind, the dry, all because no matter... These things can even sit on the side of a cliff. Wherever would fall because of the root system, even the wind cannot push them over. And it is because the roots are the key to survival. Brethren, I bring this out because I want you to be a bristlecomb pine. A spiritual bristlecomb pine. Okay, that's why I want your name there. I want you to take this and put it on your mirror. Put it on your whatever. This is what we need to be. Let's finish this sermon. Let's go to Ephesians 3, verse 17. And it says that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, the depth, height of God's love.

Brethren, that's why I want you to be rooted and grounded in love. That's why next week's sermon, part two of the love of God, is so important because we're going to go into what is the width and the length of God's love.

Stay grounded, stay rooted. And this week, let's be a spiritual bristlecomb pine.